All week I have been working with this concept of going “above and beyond,” trying to make it real for myself. It is really is a simple concept, but it does take discipline to practice it. If I want to be successful at anything, I have to be consistent and practice it in every moment.

What does it mean to go above and beyond anything? It isn’t about denying that something is happening. In fact, it is about looking what is happening right in the face, realizing it is a fact in time, but seeing beyond it to something new and different. It is knowing that in every moment change can take place. It takes place because nothing ever stays the same.

I think it is about not giving power to the conditions in our life. I must have a higher understanding if I want to have a better experience in life. I can’t keep living the same thoughts over and over and expect different results. I can’t keep living the present from my past consciousness.

I monitored myself this morning when I woke up. I started to do the same things I do every Sunday morning until I got into the kitchen and noticed a roach on the counter. My first programmed instinct was to get upset. Everything about a roach came into my consciousness and I reacted.

This is all fine, but it set off a million negative triggers that really weren’t healthy for my soul. I immediately took all the power away from that roach and centered myself in the present moment and the experience I was having. I could still take care of the roach, but with a different state of mind. This is just a small example of how we can derail ourselves when we are living past memories, instead of just being in the now moment.

There are bigger and more important ways of going above and beyond than dealing with a roach at 5am in the morning. However, how will I ever experience those big moments successfully, until I have mastered the small moments.

Working on staying present with what is while releasing what has been is what I believe to be the road to making positive changes in our lives. We can think from a new place, a place of unlimited possibilities. We will not get derailed when something doesn’t go the way we planned it. We’ll see opportunities instead of obstacles. That roach was an opportunity for me to practice non-resistance, instead of an obstacle to my coffee.

There is a lot to contemplate and practice all the time. Mindfulness is the journey that is most worth taking.

By the way, are you having a reaction to the picture I’ve chosen for this blog? Negative or positive, would you be willing to accept the fact that it is all based in past programming? It’s just a roach. LOL

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita