Prosperity Challenge™

Question from R:

I just read about Esther’s story about Burl Yves (he was great!) and the feeling of bliss in crossing over.

Now if we are all spirit in these bodies and we never die, what is the big problem of suicide? To me, all negativity concerning suicide comes from religion.

I’m extremely tired of being here and would love to go home…to me it would just be giving up this vehicle called the body..no big deal… If you have the time, could you reply?

Thanks, R.

Here are my thoughts:

Hi there,

I agree, it seems the negativity concerning suicide is religiously oriented, or politically oriented.  Esther/Abraham says that all death is suicide, and that makes sense to me – especially if we take responsibility for being here in the first place.

I used to worry about people who wanted to commit suicide, or worse, I thought they were avoiding responsibility. In some cases that’s true, but in other cases, it can be a clear understanding of when your time is up.

People think about suicide as an “out”, which it is in some ways.  It is mostly a desire to move away from pain, and it is certainly one of the options.  I guess you could think of suicide in the same way as bankruptcy – a chance to clear it all up and try again.

Esther tells a story (probably on one of their CDs of the month) about watching some young children play with sticks and marveling at their absorption. She and Jerry talk about how soon they will be able to come back and play like that. I don’t think it means they are contemplating suicide, just that they realize their time on Earth, and in these bodies, is limited.

Now, in your case, I’m reminded of my dad who was disabled at 40 and as he got older he was afraid his body would outlast him.  He was a hemiplegic (paralyzed on his left side), but otherwise pretty healthy.  In his last few years he began to withdraw – not as extreme as an Alzheimer’s patient, but he had his own dementia of the memory-loss type. And his personality seemed to retreat, too.

When he lived with us in his final years, he – the Dad I knew – wasn’t really here most of the time.  He was just this nice old guy who lived with us and expected us to take care of him.

As time went on, he stopped taking care of himself at all.  He gave up his desire to thrive, and was interested in only the most basic stuff – like his dinner and going to the bathroom, and watching Jeopardy.

After we moved him into a nursing home because we could no longer transport him safely from his wheelchair, he came down with a cold one day. Then it became pneumonia.  We all expected him to recover, even the nurses. Suddenly, however, it became very serious (like within a day or so). Then he was gone.  Even the death certificate stated “lack of thriving” as the cause.

Dad would never have consciously chosen suicide, but I personally think he had enough presence of mind to take advantage of the opportunity and decided to “go home” and give up the body he had dragged around for 35 years after his illness.  Some think that Alzheimer’s patients retreat mentally because they don’t know how to give up their body, even though they are ready to leave.

When you’re ready to go, you’ll find the way, whether it’s consciously or not.  You will create the circumstances that are acceptable for you (and/or those around you – your family, friends, clergy), and you’ll go.

As for me, I have many, many more things I want to do this time around – things I didn’t have the courage, understanding, and/or means to do when I was younger.  Perhaps I’ll feel the way you do someday.  When that time comes I *think* I’ll be smart enough to recognize it consciously, but for now I’m having too much fun.

It is strange to me that almost all societies have laws against suicide – and some of the penalties include death!  My feeling is that if you have made the choice that it’s your time to move on, that’s your business. Hope this helps!

Katie P.S.  My husband has willed $1000 to each of 10 of his friends, to be spent on a celebration of his life once he is gone.  He wants all 10 of them notified of the others and encouraged to all get together, but they don’t have to.  He is in the middle of writing his music playlist for the party.

You may want to think of something appropriate for you regarding how you want people to celebrate and remember you.  It can be simple or large. For me, I think I will be leaving some money to an art scholarship fund, but I don’t want any services, just my ashes scattered on our property.  But again, for now I’m having too much fun to think much about that!

Question From RGC:

Hi, I truly enjoy receiving my daily quotes and ideas. I understand that feelings are the key to knowing what’s going on. I have a question. Today, I went to storage to find a piece for my juicer that I have misplaced. I went with feelings of happiness that I had found it but I didn’t find it. So of course, I had feelings of disappointment. The quotes say that I must continue to think positive thoughts and have positive feelings but how can I do that when I’m so disappointed? What should I do?

Thanks. In love and peace, RGC

Here are my thoughts…

I’m glad you find the emails useful, and thank you for your comments. I can understand that you would be disappointed to not find something you had been hoping to locate.

Even though it may seem like it, there are no musts in the messages – only suggestions. The only “message” in the Prosperity Challenge is to find the best feeling place you can at any moment. It’s perfectly fine to feel disappointment from time to time. We are human, and isappointment merely means we did not get an outcome we had wanted or hoped for.

Trying to deny disappointment is, as Abraham-Hicks would say, like putting a happy face sticker on an empty gas tank. It doesn’t change the level in the tank, and it doesn’t make anything better. So go ahead and feel disappointment – it is, after all, a way to notice contrast and become clear about what you want. When you are finished being disappointed, simply look for a way to start feeling a little bit better. Once you notice you do not feel the way you would like, look for a way to close the gap between how you are feeling in the moment and how you would prefer to feel.

It doesn’t have to be a big step, just find anything that makes you feel better. For instance, when you were at your storage place, did you find something else you’d been looking for? Or did you empty out some of the stuff that had been just sitting in there? Or did you feel good about the place or the conditions of your storage unit? Or, are you glad you know know one place where that item isn’t?

Remember, when you are disappointed, it’s a reflection of the fact that you did not get/accomplish/create something that you wanted. The disappointment is a result of the gap between how you are feeling at that moment and how you want to feel. It’s just that you are tying the emotion to the “thing” instead of remembering that nothing can make you feel bad unless you let it.

At times like this I get up and walk (great stress reliever), or I reorganize something, or I make something. Each of these activities help me get back to feeling like myself instead of feeling powerless or at the mercy of my circumstances. And that’s the true message here – to make our way back to feeling like ourselves.

For most people it’s far too difficult to make that transition in one quick movement, so any little step you can make will help.

Warmly,
Katie

Got a question?  Feel free to send it (or post to the blog) and I’ll do my best to answer.