12 - The way we view the outside world of places, circumstances, and things, is largely the result of perception, imagination and belief. Beliefs are dominant, powerfully ingrained thoughts. What I see in the world is not an “exact” reality, but a version of it shaped by my internal filters. Every thought and emotion constitute a piece of the puzzle of my existence. Thoughts, and the feelings they invoke, are not neutral. Every thought reinforces a level of vibrational frequency that attracts more of what that frequency represents. Every thought either uplifts or down regulates my vibrational setpoint. Therefore, my reality is largely a mirror of my subconscious beliefs.

13 - Negative thoughts age the body and down-regulate the mind and emotions. Positive thoughts enhance both body and mind. To improve things in my life, I accept responsibility for everything as it is right now. Whether I like it or not, all struggles are a learning opportunity. In effect, struggle is spiritual curriculum. Karma, for example, is not punishment, it is spiritual education. Personal struggles provide an opportunity to rise above conflict, to develop greater compassion, patience, and loving kindness. It is my choice whether to rise in energetic frequency or vibrate in lower realms of confusion. I decide. No one else chooses for me. This is free will in action.

14 - If I want things to change in my world, I must fervently imagine what new reality I want to experience, feed that desire with positive emotion, and sooner or later that new reality will appear in as much clarity and focus as I have given it. Every day we are choosing love, and gratitude, or allowing ourselves to be manipulated by fear. Society is largely fear-driven, a result of worry and anxiety over money and assets.   

15 - Short-term decisions are best weighed against life’s long-range objectives. For example: I cannot afford to mistake what I want most (spiritual evolution) for what I want now (temporary pleasure).

16 - When short term needs take priority over long-range objectives for any length of time, I tend to experience frustration and irritation. When this happens, it is typical to blame others and external circumstances. Instead, I must stop and consider: What can I learn from this situation? Can I release my negative feelings? Will I release them? In essence, will I reach for a more evolved feeling and rise above an ego-centric reaction? Or will I blame others and play the victim? I choose how I feel.

17 - I am the source of my fears, struggles, misery, and pain. I am the source of my gratitude, forgiveness, loving-kindness, harmony, joy, and happiness. I decide how every situation will impact me. I choose how to feel. No one else is responsible for the way I decide to feel. Happiness is a choice. It is not something that happens to me. It is not something to search for, it is a decision on how to think and feel. Pleasure, no matter how wonderful, is temporary. Pleasure is usually an effect of fun, or excitement. It is a personal response to attitude and circumstance. In contrast, heartfelt happiness flows from forgiveness to everyone for everything, coupled with sincere gratitude for everything as it is and as it may become. Happiness evokes peace, harmony, generosity, joy, and good health.

18 - I must refuse my ego’s clever desire to have me suffer due to difficult circumstances and the decisions and opinions of others. Impatience and blame are expressions of the ego. Patience is the path of loving-kindness and spiritual growth.

19 - We live in a world of fluctuating middle ground. We are influenced continually by apparent opposites. It may be that there are no real “opposites” as everything is a continuum and relative, however, there are obvious contrasts such as light verses dark, hot verses cold, love verses fear, righteousness verses sinfulness, etc. Fear is the doorway to darkness. Love is the way to light.

20 - The term "sin" is a highly charged, misunderstood religious word. Sin equals poor conduct. Poor conduct is the effect of faulty thinking. Faulty thinking is ignorance. For the most part, sin is ignorance, EXCEPT for the highly conscious choice to do specific wrong with clear intent. This is evil.

21 - The choices that flow from faulty thinking, or ignorance, are unhelpful to personal progress. Therefore, sin impedes personal evolution. The term “sinfulness" simply means wrong choices made often.

22 - The term "righteousness," is a religious term that means right choices made often. Righteousness is the physical effect that flows from clear thinking.

23 - All humankind experiences and participates in both sinfulness and righteousness. The way to joy and happiness is to make more right choices and less ignorant ones. When we master emotions, we master reality.

24 - Love is the greatest power in the universe. Love over-arches and undergirds all personal evolution. It is the force that includes and governs all others. In the distilled words of Albert Einstein: “Love is light. It enlightens all those that give and receive it. Love is gravity, the attraction between people, and all life forms. Love is power. It multiplies the best we have and allows humanity to not be extinguished in their blind selfishness. Love unfolds and reveals. For love we live and die. Love is of God. God is Love.”

25 - Sexuality is powerful. Respect that power. Sexual activity is the source of birth and life. When experienced with love, kindness, and caring, sexual intimacy is a gift of beauty, coupled with physical and emotional rejuvenation.

26 - The purpose of life is not bodily gratification; it is occasion for the soul’s growth. Sexual conduct outside of love, goodness, and compassion, is lust. Lust is unchanneled physical and emotional energy. Lust energy can be redirected into creative endeavors, compassion, and service to others. Lust energy left undirected, down-regulates character as it disrupts emotional and spiritual progress and lowers an individual’s vibrational set-point. Excessive focus on pleasure reflects an empty soul.

27 - Humility equals teachableness. Teachableness is not weakness, it is un-prideful power. Rapid and excessive judgment reveals insecurity, arrogance, and pride. These lower vibrational feelings erode teachableness.

28 - Karma is an eastern religious term referring to the law of cause and effect. In other words, my intent and actions influence events. Good intentions and honorable conduct contribute to good karma, which leads to greater happiness. Selfish intent and harmful conduct create negative karma, which leads to suffering.

29 - Repentance is an acknowledgment of wrong-thinking and actions. It is the humble request for forgiveness coupled with a re-focusing on correct principles, thereby providing an improved way forward. Thus, repentance constitutes moving back on to the path of personal evolution.

https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif30 Sin causes suffering. Repentance relieves suffering.

31 - The conscious mind plants seeds of goodness, love, and kindness, deep within the subconscious. Seeds of ugly, resentful, jealous, and hateful feelings also embed within the soil of the subconscious. These seeds of thought, both the uplifting and down-regulating ones, derive from conversations, personal reflections, exposure to the fear-based world, all forms of media, and to others. The seeds that take root deeply are the ones fertilized by the level of emotional impact they engender. Feelings represent what we are attracting. Again, we do not get what we say we want in life, we get what we most powerfully feel.

32 - Thoughts grow to fruition as the subconscious mirrors into our reality whatsoever it is we focus upon that is nourished with feeling. The subconscious mind does not separate me from thee, so talking or thinking badly about others ultimately determines what subconsciously we believe about ourselves. Think good of others, we raise our opinion of ourselves. When we dwell on negative thoughts and think evil of others, we down-regulate our self-worth. It is critical to guard thoughts and avoid wrong thinking to be happy, healthy, and well.

33 - Beliefs are tricky things. Strongly held, well-reasoned beliefs can engender great power. Beliefs held in mind with sincere conviction is FAITH. Faith can bring amazing things to pass. Things impossible for science to explain. However, when I say “I believe” I tend to narrow thinking and reduce expanded insight. Well-reasoned beliefs are good. Nonetheless, I shall hold most beliefs loosely enough to allow for new information to be integrated and further inspiration to be gained. Beliefs can sometimes keep us trapped in a way of thinking that does not allow us to rise above problems at hand and learn the lesson each problem has presented. When this happens, we are stuck. When we’re stuck, we are not learning. That’s when we suffer.

34 - Positive religious participation can be emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually beneficial. This is easily demonstrated by both practice and science. But excessive focus on the “Shalt not,” is a prescription for negative reinforcement. That which inspires and lifts one’s vibration and frequency to higher ideals, such as love, peace, joy, beauty, kindness, and happiness, is the essence of spiritual focus and religious activity, not judgement, blaming, and the criticizing of others.  

35 - Spiritual development comes from looking within for improvement, not without. Not by blaming anything, any group, or anyone, for feelings of anxiety, stress, illness, anger, or confusion. Blaming is the ego’s way of avoiding responsibility. I must reframe negative responses into something finer and more evolved. Religious organizations typically begin as spiritual instruction, then tend to devolve into institutions of doctrine, dogma and control. When love is the prime motivator, not obedience to doctrine, the religious structure serves humanity. Spiritual growth comes from within. Whatever supports spiritual growth is valuable and praiseworthy.

36 - I believe in God. I believe that I am a child of God. I am immortal and in training. I am trusted, good, honored and loved. God is over all, the total of totality, the Source of all there is. Universal hierarchy is not domination, it is order. Spirit is consciousness, resonance, and the energy of all life and creation. The Soul is personal interface energized and illuminated by spirit. Soul is who I am. Spirit is the life energy of the soul. Each soul, or the “I am” is the record of a sojourn in mortality, its preexistent state, and beyond. The soul retains individuality beyond the veil of mortality, yet it is intimately connected with all things. In mortality, the soul has its own individual biological body. Ego is the soul's physical function in temporary mortality. Ego is a powerful program; it adapts to physical reality as it perceives it. It is driven by subconscious programming. The ego’s mission is to protect and make safe, physically, emotionally, psychologically, etc. Ego is not bad; it is simply a human program subject to soul. When soul, (the higher self) is ignored, ego reigns. Ego is a protective system; therefore, it considers everything as a potential threat. If left unchecked, ego will automatically down-regulate the human body and the soul within, based on its determination to protect. Matter and all physicality evolves from consciousness, from spirit, the quantum realm. Intention shapes and defines personal experience and therefore the reality we perceive. We do not get what we say we want, we get what we subconsciously feel, believe, and intend. These are frequently different things. Ergo, it is needful to seek internal clarity and have higher consciousness, the soul, shape, direct, and control ego programming.

37 - Forgiveness is the very foundation of emotional and spiritual evolution. Without complete and utter forgiveness, we are mired in self-pity, which prevents peace, harmony, joy, and happiness. Forgiveness is a component of loving-kindness. The level of my personal enlightenment is a function of the quality of my thoughts, and the vibrational set point of my consciousness. My sojourn in this mortal life is my current classroom. Human life is designed for us to collect experiences, learn from them, serve others, and evolve. Mortal life is not a courtroom; it is a classroom.

38 - Happiness is NOT found in the accumulation of things. Happiness is NOT derived from external experiences. Physical experiences may have a powerful and positive impact, but they are usually based on temporary pleasure and excitement. Happiness is a way of being. It is a fundamental attitude of gratitude. To be happy, I must decide with sincere conviction to focus on uplifting thoughts and feelings, even under difficult circumstances.

39 - Radical gratitude expands both happiness and abundance. I am responsible for my personal happiness; this is a basic choice of being. I choose. No one else is responsible for my happiness or the lack thereof. Only me.

40 - Finally, “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8 KJV. Love is the language of our creator. Earth life is an experiential school, our classroom for personal growth and development. Death is not permanent. Death is the birth of soul back to spirit realms, and likely an eventual transfer to another classroom. Evolution continues unto perfection.