Zeal aka Enthusiasm aka...

When I hear the word zeal I think of zealot, as in fanatic, so the concept never really connected with me in a positive way until I started to read about Zeal, one of Charles Fillmore's The 12 Powers of Man. According to PowerUP, another book on the 12 powers, by Paul Hasselbeck and Cher Holton, “Zeal is the ability to be enthusiastic and passionate, as well as to inspire and motivate oneself.”

That description resonated much better with me. The authors, who use the terms power and ability interchangeably, use an analogy of a rocket to describe the ability of zeal and how it combines with other abilities.

"Zeal is like the first stage of a two-stage rocket: the burst of energy lifting the rocket off the launch pad. After getting the rocket going, the fuel is spent and the second stage must take over….Our zeal or enthusiasm for something can burn out quickly, leaving things undone. 

This is where the second stage comes into play…. With Zeal we combine a few other Abilities to ensure this second phase kicks in. We use the Ability of Life … that enlivens and energizes whatever we are doing. In addition, when Zeal starts to wane, we must engage the Ability of Strength to stay the course and keep on going….We may also engage Dominion (Power) to control any thoughts or feelings about quitting."

The Ability of Zeal in my life helps me to prioritize my time and energy. My zeal keeps me focused on or getting back to spending time on what’s important to me. I apply my Zeal to answer this question each day: What is mine to do today?

When I lose my way, eventually the reminder comes to me: get back into my spiritual practices. As the years go by I value my time more and more. It’s easy to feel enthusiastic about doing what’s important to me. And I am only willing to spend my precious time on what’s important to me. 

Charles Fillmore assigns one power to each of Jesus’ disciples. He too writes about how zeal needs to be combined with other powers: “As zeal alone, it is without intelligence or discretion as to results. As Jesus taught His disciples and combined their various talents, so every (hu)man must grow in wisdom and zeal.”

A few specific areas I have chosen to focus on throughout my study of the Twelve Powers/Abilities are:

1.  Make time for prayer/meditation daily
2. Accept aging symptoms gracefully
3. Pay attention to how I eat when I travel, eating out, all the time - one meal at a time

Activity two at the end of the chapter on Zeal in PowerUP challenged me to identify ways I can claim and activate the ability of Zeal to help me be successful in the above areas. In particular what affirmations could I write to spur me to action? These are my answers:

1. I love my daily meditation journaling. I will never skip it.
2. My body is amazingly resilient. I heal beautifully.
3. Eating is a pleasure – eating just enough is great for me. Eating treats is okay - fits into my goal.

As I continue to study the 12 Powers, I have grown to love and appreciate all the powers in me and how they each step forward when I most need them – helping me to deal with my life, one situation at a time.

~ JEAN

Stop Prioritizing "Easy"

I have discovered a new source of inspiration recently – have you ever heard of an author and motivational speaker named Brendon Burchard?  There have been numerous references to Mr. Burchard’s work on Facebook recently, and if you know anything about me from my previous blog posts, you know that I am always looking for fresh, new sources of both spiritual and practical inspiration.  Otherwise, it’s too easy for me to lose sight of what’s GREAT about life! This guy has both spiritual and practical tips to offer in spades, and so I’m taking some time to learn from him as I consider my next steps on the path toward becoming fully who I’ve come here to be.

A lot of what Mr. Burchard has to say is very much in alignment with what Unity teaches – the importance of gratitude, the power of your thoughts to create your reality, the benefits of meditation for centering and gathering spiritual strength.   When I hear somebody speaking my language like that - the language of Unity - I generally find myself eager to hear more of what he or she has to say on the topic of spirituality.  But for me, right now, the most helpful lessons I’m learning from watching Brendon Burchard’s videos and completing the exercises he has developed are the practical lessons – the lessons about moving out of thinking-and-wishing mode and into action.   

One of the most powerful things I’ve heard so far in my exploration is the Mr. Burchard's idea of “stop prioritizing easy."   Prioritizing “easy” is when you look at your To-Do list on any given day and your eyes are automatically drawn to those simple, little tasks which are ultimately meaningless, but which let you accomplish something quickly and accumulate a bunch of check marks on your list.  I’m famous for prioritizing “easy.” For example, many times I find myself wandering aimlessly around the house tidying up because it gives me a sense of accomplishment, even though it does nothing to move me forward in the direction of my dreams.  When you’re not sure what to do, do the dishes or the laundry.  That’s my M.O.   And that’s not all bad – after all the dishes and the laundry have to be done.   But when entire days are devoted to housekeeping tasks when I have much bigger dreams on my list, that’s something for me to take a look at – that’s me prioritizing “easy.”

According to Mr. Burchard, the tell-tale sign that you are prioritizing “easy” is when your days are chock-full of busywork but largely devoid of your life’s work.  He offers a great tool for planning your day that puts your biggest priorities at the top and helps stop the cycle of getting caught up in busy work rather than making progress on your life’s work.

Rather than try to explain further, I think I’ll just hook you up directly with some of his great videos.  Check out the links below, and let me know what you think.  If you like what you see, search "Brendon Burchard" on YouTube, and you can view more of his many helpful videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDAYUN92i70

http://www.highperformanceacademy.com/vid3top

http://www.highperformanceacademy.com/HPA-1pageproductivity.pdf

Namaste.

~REBECCA