I am struck by the image of an iceberg as I think of the idea of our hidden strength. What we see of our lives is like the tip of the iceberg peeking out of the water. The hidden strength of us is what lies within, beneath the surface. It is our subconscious mind.

We do not have two minds, but we do have two aspects of one mind. Our conscious objective self that thinks and reacts to the environment, that has the ability to choose and give direction; and then that part of us that lies below our conscious awareness, our subconscious mind.

As we now know, our subconscious is running the at least 90% of the show called our life. Within it are all the stored messages we have received even before our birth when we were in our mother’s womb. Then top that with all the messages we received as children, when we were in a receptive mode. “Give me the child for the first seven years and I will give you the man,” wrote Ignatius of Loyola. Hitler knew this, when he said, “give me the child, and I will mold the man.” My father lived during Hitler’s time and even had the horrible experience of being marched into the streets by the dictator Mussolini on display to Hitler to show him the control that Mussolini had over the youth of his country.

So, what of this? It surely can sound depressing, no? Well, for me, I do not get discouraged by this idea of the subconscious running the show called my life because I know that the way that Life itself created us also created the true hidden Power that we all have access to. It is the Power we have to change our subconscious programming. The mystics throughout the ages have spoken of it from Greek times to the present. The ability to change our thinking and in turn change our life is our gift as homo sapiens. We have free will. Although at times, it seems that we are helpless to the programming of our subconscious, it is the biggest lie that we can swallow. We have free will and we are powerful beyond measure.

Awareness is our gift and as soon as we know of this hidden strength, it is our privilege to make use of it. We’ve been given many methods: self-hypnosis, meditation, affirmations, Spiritual Mind Treatment. We can no longer say that it is impossible to change our subconscious programing.  The question is: Will we take the time it takes to do it? 

For me, I feel that every day of my life is a gift and an opportunity to think beyond the consciousness of the race. The place I start is with self-acknowledgement. I must know who I am. I must tap into my innate God-self, my conscious mind, my unlimited potential. I do this through meditation and constant reminders throughout the day. Then, from that place, I continue to feed myself self-loving thoughts. I continue to focus on what is possible everyday in the way of healing, abundance and love. I continue to give immense gratitude for the here and now.

I know that I am not the same person that I was when I became truly consciously aware about twenty years ago. It has been a long road to where I am today; and yet, in retrospect, I could have changed it in an instant. However, I didn’t. It took daily work and daily reminders and it still does.

This earthly life is an amazing place to learn that spiritual thought force is greater than material resistance. It is a glorious experiment that we all get to take part in should we choose. Changing our minds, our energy, our life is a glorious adventure, a great experiment. The benefits of the journey unfold in new ways for me everyday. I am truly grateful for conscious awareness and for all the great teachers that assist me in this journey. I am especially grateful for myself and my efforts that have brought great rewards in the way of peace of mind, so much love in my life and an ever unfolding new life, day by day. There is always more to come.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita