Back to Real Life Again

Homeward bound today, refreshed, renewed and excited about life. My head and heart are bursting with all the wonderful knowledge and tools I learned and am so ready to try! When you get focused on it, the steps to peace, joy and happiness are extremely simple. For three weeks, I heard different versions, illustrations and testimonials which drilled the principles into my mind, but the most compelling by far was the fact that I saw people living these principles and practicing them daily. I saw faces glowing, heats open, sincere compassion, honesty, vulnerability "in action". It was sort of a microcosm of what I would expect to see during the Millennium. There were people of all races, religions, ages, incomes and sizes. Their differences were transcended by the common goals and atmosphere at OHI. In a nutshell, here were the basics of the principles that resonated most with me.

We choose our own thoughts which create our perception of reality.
We can learn to change our thoughts and change our own reality for the better.
Our egos alone (not other people, places or things) are our biggest enemies and downfalls.
Every experience, emotion or thought we have resides within the cells of our bodies. It is our responsibility to understand this and work to release all negative energy they hold through forgiveness, meditation and healing techniques.
Peace, happiness and joy are available to ALL, no matter what our experiences or circumstances.
We can re-learn how to love ourselves, freeing us to really love others.
It is imperative to visualize our future, use our imagination to clearly see ourself, our circumstances and what we are doing -- because we create our future through thought and action through the laws of intention/attraction.
One of the most important tools is the discipline of spending time in an "alpha" state, meditation or prayer.
One of the most important places to start is to completely forgive ourselves and others. This is a process that can take time, but is absolutely essential to any progress.
We each have a spark of the divine within us, which makes us creatures of limitless potential -- limited only by ourselves, our habits, thoughts, choices.
There are tools and teachers who are here as guides to help s along the many pathways to change and we can find just the right one to fit our own particular taste, religion, culture and style.

Thank you God for OHI and for the privilege of my experience and the wonderful people that I met. I envision myself in the future as a missionary at OHI to serve others in helping teach what I am learning along this wonderful pathway called life.