Have you ever noticed that your thoughts sometimes get caught up in a cycle where you are thinking the same thing over and over, until you finally catch yourself, and purposely move into the present moment? Or does that just happen to me?
Wikipedia states, “A habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously; a more or less fixed way of thinking, willing, or feeling acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience.”
What I have noticed is, much of my thinking is habit. In other words, I think without thinking about what I am thinking about. Some of my habit-thinking is a result of embodying certain spiritual principles; and, without effort, those thoughts provide an avenue through which God’s grace flows unimpeded. The more grace I experience, the more I affirm: “I live by Grace.” Through repetition, I unknowingly solidify that habit of thinking.
On the other hand, I also experience habit-thinking that is out of alignment with what I know to be true. There are times I ask myself, ‘Is that what you really want to be thinking? – Is that really what you believe?’ It is always surprising when I discover that what I believe, think, say, and do are not always in agreement.
When I am awake, and ask myself: ‘Where did that thought come from?’, I know it is time to deliberately take on the task of defining what I really believe about what I am saying to myself; and to begin cultivating the habit of thinking the thoughts I truly believe. This task requires the commitment and resolve to push through opposing thoughts until there is a breakthrough in consciousness.
Howard Thurman refers to this task as, “the exact struggle of the soul.” In fact, mystics of all time have acknowledged this point on the journey of enlightenment that truth seekers encounter. Stories like Jacob wresting with the angel come to mind. It says that he wrestled all night and said to the angel – “I will not loose you until you bless me.”
Old habits die hard, and unchecked patterns of thinking may very well sabotage our experience with loved ones; with our health; with our careers; with our finances, and so on. After all, our subjective thoughts eventually become the experiences of our lives. Paul of the bible expressed his frustration that resulted from the cross-currents of habitual thinking, saying, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
P.U.S.H. ~ Pray… Until… Something… Happens.
Prayer is the avenue through which our beliefs are birthed into the world. it is important to stay in the consciousness of the ever-present Presence of Truth that delivers that moment of fulfillment. Remember to breathe-in the Divine One, thus staying in the flow of the here and now, while consciously and deliberately affirming the Truth you know to be so. Do not fall asleep, and by so-doing, let the habitual thoughts of the subconscious take over. Just breathe, and push through any limited self-talk, until you can say with Michelangelo, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
The breakthrough to Divine consciousness is a demonstration of a mind stayed on Truth. Yes, the key is to pray until something happens. PUSH!
“I consciously develop the habit of practicing the Presence daily and allow Spirit to flow through me in everything I think, say, and do.”
By Angela “Chris” Beam
StillPoint 
Thank you Rev Mary and Chris and Keith. Your words are deeply affirming. I love the story of the sculpture who. Sees thanked and works until I set it free! Blessings
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