Permission Granted What do you do when faced with a challenge?

Panic, pray, try to run away, or muster your courage and work your way through it? We all have challenges, big ones and small; from annoying to seemingly impossible, and there’s no one-size-fits-all single solution to them all. But there is good news; every challenge provides a lesson, or as my colleague Jack Kern used to say, “I can hardly wait to see the good that will come out of this mess.”

Perhaps you’ll find the following simple story about Terry Gilcrest, a character I’m in the process of developing for my unfinished novel, will show you what I mean. His lesson outweighs his experience.

# # #

Between the time when the alarm went off and he

finished shaving, Terry Gillcrest received three demanding phone calls. The first was from his now ex-wife telling him that he would have to take the children to the dentist Thursday morning because she was going out of town on a business trip with her new boyfriend. The second caller was the ‘client from hell’ who told him the marketing presentation had to be completed this week and not next Wednesday as originally scheduled. And the last one was from the printer who said he had to get paid TODAY for the color brochure he had just finished for, who else, the ‘client from hell.’

“You’ll get paid as soon as I do,” Terry said. “He still owes me for last month’s billing, but he’s promised I can stop by for a check this Friday. That’s the best I can do.”

Terry slammed down the phone in the receiver.

Three calls, and all three demanding something for him to do for them. No acknowledgements, no compliments, just obligations!

As he finished dressing he said aloud to no one but himself, “I wonder what else lies in store for me today. All I know is that I have more obligations now than I can handle.”

Terry was fuming. He wanted to escape. Here it was Monday again, and he had let another weekend slip by without a break from the stress and worry over deadlines and pressures. He couldn’t remember the last time he had done anything for fun. Well, today was going to be different!

Terry turned on his answering machine and

recorded a message saying that the world had stopped spinning and he was going out and fix it. He changed from business suit to Dockers and a polo shirt and grabbed his golf clubs, loaded the car, and headed for the freeway. His plan was to drive to a golf course in Olympia, an hour and a half from his home in Seattle.

Once on the freeway it became obvious that Olympia was way too close to home, so he just kept heading south and west until at noon he found himself pulling into the resort community of Ocean Shores - ten miles of smooth, hard packed Pacific Ocean beach, filled with all the related and typical resort businesses that stretched up and down the one and only main drag, the golf course at the far end of the road. Restaurants, motels, and real estate offices lined one side of the street; bicycle rentals and souvenir shops held forth on the other.

Terry’s first choice was easy: It was noon and he

UPWARD BOUND J *O *U *R *N *A * L

SPIRITUAL LESSONS FOR YOUR PERSONAL GROWTH

Issue # 22

Art Holt photo

was hungry. The restaurant he selected was on the corner - ocean on one side, main street on the other, a side road connected the two, giving cars and horses, and mopeds and beach walkers easy access. As he ate his lunch at a window table Terry watched cars and motorcycles driving down to the beach, and across the street he spotted a rental store with dozens of motorized bicycles standing in a row at the side.

A sandwich board sign with huge letters read:

“MOPEDS - For Rent.” In small print it said: $15 per hour. Terry debated for a long time because spending money foolishly had become a big issue for him, but the temptation won out and within a few minutes he was on his way, jerking and jumping, as he tried to learn how to operate the accelerator and hand brakes on the fly.

He reached the beach without incident, and suddenly magic took over. He sped up the endless beach on sand packed hard by the constant rolling in and out of long gentle waves. His tracks squeezed down on top of the brown, bubbly foam, matching their scalloped pattern, and mirroring the shore birds running up and down, back and forth, at the very tips of the waves as they became completely spent on their journey shoreward.

As Terry began to relax and get the hang of the little machine, he looked out to where the waves were breaking and became aware of the heavy constant rumble offshore, feeling the energy of the wind bringing all this action along what seemed to be an endless misty gray beach front. The moped hummed too, creating a harmony of background sound mixing with the roaring sea. Relaxed at last, Terry joined in, singing at the top of his voice and feeling filled with a joy he had forgotten he could feel.

Stopping to rest by a driftwood log, Terry discovered that even on a very cool day in April, solar energy had warmed the sand. He took off his shoes and socks, and after checking to make sure that no one was

looking, wiggled his toes in the warm and healing grains. He was happy. He was content. For the moment he was totally removed from all his problems, and not one thought of them entered his mind. He began experiencing the healing energy of resting his brain and filling his senses with the fragrance of the moist salt air, and was almost overcome with a wonderment and joy of life itself. All too quickly his hour was finished, and the moped had

to be returned to the rental shop. Ah, but he was more than content, and the rental money he had spent had become an investment in peace of mind!

Terry returned to the coffee shop and bought a

postcard so he could share his experience with someone, lest it be lost and forgotten much too soon. Then it occurred to him that the only address he could remember was his own, so he addressed the picture post-card to himself. As he contemplated what he would write, he became aware that he had learned a great lesson along with this wonderful experience. Looking at families and couples who were interacting with one another, he realized that had another person been with him on this trip, he would have asked if they would like to go for a moped ride too. But if they had resisted at all he would not have rented the bike or gone for the ride by himself. For years he had been asking someone else for permission to do what he wanted to do with his day, and even his life. But, today he had given himself permission to rent and ride the moped.

With the simple resistance of a companion not sharing his desire to explore the ocean shore on the fast moving narrow wheels of a motorized bicycle, he would have forgone his desire and missed an hour of pure delight.

Asking himself why this was so, he stared out the

window at the distant ocean waves and pondered for the better part of an hour. At last it dawned on him, “Seeking Permission started as a child for me (and for

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much of the rest of the world, too, he was sure). As children we come into the world expecting to get everything we want or need. But our parents trained us as infants to ask and not just take, which is a perfectly reasonable lesson for them to teach. But - and this is a major but - since we didn’t know that we gave away the authority to decide what is best for us as children, we failed to take it back again when we become responsible adults.”

Contemplating this idea for a few moments

longer, Terry gave thanks for the wonderful, life-changing lesson he had learned this day. He vowed to take responsibility for his desires and the decisions that would follow; taking action on everything that would bring good into his life. So, on his postcard he wrote: “Permission granted! Be it! Do it! Have it!”

When the postcard arrived a few days later, Terry was reminded of the great time and the even greater lesson he had learned. He pinned the postcard to his front door so that he would read it every time he left his home to go out and re-enter the world.

Windshield time can be a

valuable thing. Driving back from the natural wilderness of the ocean shore to the hustle bustle of the metropolitan city of Seattle provided Terry with a wonderful time of contemplation. As he began thinking about his revelation he realized that there was something profound going on inside himself. He’d heard about Divine Guidance, Inner Knowing and the Christ within, but it had no personal connection until now. Suddenly there was meaning. The still small voice that had nudged him to steal away from the pile of day-to-day pressures was the Presence of God urging him to quiet himself. It’s often in the quietness, the time of contemplation or being in nature, that we become aware of the always present guidance of God.

In the silent time at the café, looking out at the ocean’s misty shoreline, he had opened his mind to his inner knowing and received the lesson, because he had shut off the busy talk of his constant chatter superficial mind. He had gone into a state of meditation without knowing it and found the still small voice of wisdom

and guidance. That was what this trip was really all about and he knew he could find it again, anywhere, by simply getting still and turning his concerns over to something greater than himself.

Terry’s choice to rent a moped was a simple act,

hardly worthy of more than a momentary acknowledgement. Yet, while some might say his experience was nothing more than giving in to self indulgence, what actually happened was the breaking of the bond of his dependency on others; helping them to fulfill their goals while giving up on his own. By granting himself permission, he accepted responsibility for his actions, his attitudes and his life.

Back in Seattle on Tuesday, Terry returned to the obligations and pressure issues that precipitated his adventure, but with a clear and refreshed mind he took a new look at his life and the reasons behind his self imposed stress. Could it be that the client’s attitude had really been a reflection of Terry’s resentment about being in a constant state of obligations to others and deadlines to

meet their needs? Changing his own perspective and being able to find a state of simple appreciation for the opportunity to be of service, would enhance his life in ways he had never considered before.

Terry had spent too much time feeling obligated

to other people’s lives, because he hadn’t set a positive direction and appreciation for his own life. He made a decision to do his work with a passion for expressing his creativity and schedule time for refreshing himself by reconnecting with his source through nature walks and spiritual contemplation.

Permission Granted meant not only permission

for personal achievement, but personal satisfaction as well. The doors to his own success, fulfillment, and satisfaction opened for Terry, on a wide ocean beach, from the saddle of a gas-powered bicycle, as salt sea air washed his face with a wonderful realization. He had permission from the highest authority, deep within

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himself, to do, to be, and to have anything he could ever possibly want or need to make his life fulfilling.

There’s a beautiful thing about a lesson learned,

once learned it’s rarely necessary to learn it again. Our challenge is met not just to get through it, but because it helps us grow. In that growth is the strength to rise to a higher level of consciousness and, yes, perhaps a more perplexing challenge later…which means an even greater lesson in the making. Perhaps that’s the primary reason we have challenges in the first place.

Opening ourselves to the awareness of our

Higher Power helps us to realize that God has a plan for each of our lives, a plan far greater than any plan we can come up with without our Divine Guidance. When we’re in the flow the plan unfolds simply and seemingly automatically. When we’re not, and that seems to happen to most of us either occasionally or sometimes repeatedly, we are given challenges. Sometimes simple, sometimes severe. In every case, however, there is both a lesson to be learned and a blessing to be received. The lesson can be simple, or it can be profound. Whichever it may be, as long as the lesson is learned, the result will be a positive change in life’s direction; leaving behind the downward spiraling path leading nowhere. If the lesson goes unlearned, beware of the cosmic two-by-four. The challenge will be repeated, more and more difficult each time, until it gets our attention. Once the challenge is faced for what it is, an opportunity to learn our lesson and move upward and onward with life, that lesson will be complete.

It is in the knowing of the power of God’s ever present Love that we have total freedom. We have the freedom to choose to be whatever our heart desires. As long as we abide in God’s Love, we are unlimited. We take off the shackles of limited thinking and restricted beliefs, and come to know we are the beloved children of Good.

Three Questions to Ponder

1. Do you remember the time when you became

aware of God’s presence in your life? 2. Do you remember how the weight was lifted from your shoulders when you turned within and

released your burdens to the Greater Source? 3. Do your know the power and freedom in

God’s love to guide you and strengthen you through any challenge you might face?

Whatever happens, God is there. God will see you through. And, God will turn it to good. Permission Granted! Be it! Do it! Have it! Thank You, God. Art Holt

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Looking at Good from God’s Side - “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,

whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is

anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

To see the good in this moment requires steadfast faith that goodness is always present, even when we are not.

My Life is Filled with God’s Goodness and Grace

I invite you to take a moment now to begin to

feel the joy of relaxation, and the peacefulness of

allowing your cares and concerns to simply

dissolve into the invisible realm of contentment.

Set aside the worldly items in your hands, and

slowly begin to take in and release one or two

deep refreshing breaths.

Peace, be still.

Lord, the music of the silence

opens the window to my soul. Here in

the softness of quiet sounds I feel the

peace and calmness I have longed for.

I am now open and receptive to Your

living Spirit of Truth. I am open to

Your loving guidance. I am open to

Your Presence and to the awakening

of that part of me where I become

consciously aware of the abundance

of goodness that is such an important

part of my life.

Where ever I turn, Your good is already

there, awaiting me. Whichever direction my life

seems to take, You have gone before me to

prepare the way. The path I walk is not on rough

stones newly paved, or overgrown and forgotten

by lack of use, but a path worn smooth by the

many times you have walked it – for me – in

anticipation of my awakening to Your Spirit

guidance.

At every milestone that marks the progress

along my individual life path, there is a reminder,

not only of Your Omnipresence, but of the love

You pour out for me through the gifts of both

substance of life and the essence of joy and

peace. Sometimes the gifts take on human form,

through friendships and acquaintances that

enrich and support my life; or that give me extra

strength to face and overcome a challenge; or to

fill me with laughter and joyfulness in moments of

real celebration.

Sometimes the gifts are simply the

awareness of the scent of a rose that sweetens

a day made sad by the passing of a friend. Or the

sound of a stream of water rippling over and

around granite boulders, etching them smooth,

and reminding me how infinite time is in Your

Presence.

Sometimes the gifts are material in

nature, teaming with living substance

and prospering manifestations. And

sometimes the gifts are simply the

silence itself where I can feel lifted by

a sense of gratitude and thanksgiving.

And sometimes the gifts come when I

think I am least worthy to receive

them.

But, there are always gifts. My life is

filled with Your gifts and my cup truly

overflows with Your goodness and

Your grace. Lord, my heart swells with joyful

gratitude as I realize that I am truly one of Your

beloved children. I feel wonderfully blessed and

privileged to have the life you have given me.

I begin now to let my thoughts return to an

awareness of this physical place and this passing

moment of time. As I focus on taking in another

life sustaining deep and refreshing breath, I begin

to feel the life energy circulating throughout my

body. I am once again aware of the friends and

loved ones nearby and even those beyond the

distance of my reach. I feel the Divine connection

with all of life and particularly with the enriching

energy of your living presence. It is all here and

now and I realize just how blessed my life has

become this day.

Thank You, God, for everything!

Thank You, God.

Amen

M E D I T A T I O N

A Seed Thought from Art Holt

We are guided by our knowledge that our thoughts and words create our reality. Let us acknowledge another word that will impact our lives in wonderful ways if we give it its proper due. The word...

Enthusiasm!

Do you ever feel empty inside? Are you wishing for something that will make your life more fulfilling? Are you waiting for God to come into your life and fill that empty space? What if God has done all He can and it’s up to you to fill the void?

There was a minor league baseball player, named Frank

Bettger whose story says it all. When Frank began his baseball career, he was talented,

ambitious and athletic, but he found himself cut from the team in just a few weeks. Demanding to know why, Frank was told he was lazy. “You drag yourself around the field like some old timer. Wake up – put some enthusiasm in your game or you’ll never make it.”

Frank said that he was just nervous and scared, but the coach let him go anyway.

Luckily he tried out and was hired by another minor league team, and he made himself a resolution that no one would ever accuse him of being lazy again. He decided to become the most enthusiastic player on the field and his spirited play immediately caught the attention of the major league scouts. He began playing for a major league farm team and turned up his enthusiasm another notch. Two years later he was hired to play third base for the St. Louis Cardinals at a salary 30 times higher than where he started in the minors. One of the news men asked him what brought about his meteoric rise? “Enthusiasm,” he said, “nothing but enthusiasm.”

An accident ended Frank’s professional career and he turned to sales, bringing with him the same degree of enthusiasm he had exhibited on the baseball diamond. In his time, Frank became one of the most successful salesmen in the country.

We all have the capability to be energized, to be enthusiastic, but most people shy away from it. Enthusiasm is one of God’s greatest gifts to us, but it is a gift we must choose to use. Whatever our endeavor, the use of our enthusiasm for our work and for a job well done will return ten times the rewards we might imagine.

Enthusiasm is a Word We Can Live By.

Upward

Bound

Journa

l

A Unity Publishing Ministry

Rev. Arthur Holt,

Unity Minister

Dottie Holt,

Licensed Unity Teacher

Upward Bound of Unity, Inc. 10870 SW 71st Circle

Ocala, FL 34476

Phone (352) 861 - 5518

Email: UpwardBoundRev@aol.com

Upward Bound Journal is a Unity publishing ministry based on Biblical

teachings and dedicated to writing and presenting spiritual, inspirational, and metaphysical principles which empower people to enrich and transform their lives.

For more information about Upward Bound check our website: www.upwardboundjournal.com. Issue # 22 Upward Bound Journal is © of Upward Bound of Unity, Inc.

Member: Association of Unity Churches International, SunCoast

Unity Ministers Association, and affiliated with: Unity School of Christianity and Silent Unity, publishers of Daily Word.

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WORDS WE CAN LIVE BY

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Website Bonus Page “Quantum Mechanics: The Dreams Stuff is Made Of

Thought Affects Electrons

Nowhere is the importance of conscious choice in the shaping of manifest reality better demonstrated than in the delayed-choice experiment conducted by physicist John Wheeler.

There was a new kind of technology in the 1970's that allowed scientists to accelerate free electrons to a speed approaching the speed of light. In it's simplest terms, in Wheeler's study, when they would fire the electrons at a screen with two apertures, they were amazed to find that the electrons, which were believed to be particles, would sometimes behave like waves. Sometimes they would go through the top aperture, and sometimes go through the bottom aperture, and sometimes the electron would change into a light wave and go through both apertures and converge on the other side and become a particle again.

The scientists at first could not figure out how this happened. Finally after extensive experimentation and deliberation, they began to recognize that what determined the way the electron would behave was the observation, perception and expectation of the experimenter. When they looked for particles, they found them. When they looked for waves in the same experiment, they found waves.

For the first time in scientific history, it was re cognized that you cannot have any experiment absent of the perceptual influence of the experimen ter. Nor can you have a life that is absent the influence of the way you see it.”