In times of feeling powerless due to circumstances "beyond our control", it can be a relief to refocus thoughts on empowering possibilities. Rev. Michael Beckwith offers words of wisdom on CNN Newscast.

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One of my favorite sayings is from Martha Washington, who said, 
I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions, and not on our circumstances.

In times of feeling powerless due to circumstances “beyond our control”, it can be a relief to refocus thoughts on empowering possibilities.

Rev. Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center in Culver City, CA, and well known as one of the voices of wisdom from the movie, The Secret, was interviewed by anchor Tony Harris on the Oct. 10th, 2008, CNN Newscast, about this type of refocusing:

TONY HARRIS:  Let's take a look now at the New York Stock Exchange, in just a moment you can see it right there in the lower right-hand corner of your screen. The Dow down 468 points and you can see sort of the cloud hanging over traders right now.

Investors and everyday people from around the world here reacting to what's going on. Now, the negative financial news has almost everyone in some kind of a slump. Again, the market down 460 points, better than 460 points right now.

But you know what our next guest says--you need to actually figure out a way to turn that negative into a positive to get the best out of life. Michael Bernard Beckwith is the author of the new book, Life Visioning, and joins us from Los Angeles.

Michael, boy, we need a positive message from you today. But I have to ask you, you know, what is it that you're hearing from the people that you're working with right now? How stressed out are people over what is going on now in the financial markets?

MICHAEL BERNARD BECKWITH: Thank you, Tony. There are many people that come to my congregation and my services that are you know, engaged in a lot of fear and doubt and worry, anxiety. Projecting the fear into the unknown.

And so the idea is to begin to understand that fear is misdirected interest. It's placing all of your attention and all the things that have gone wrong and all the things that could possibly go wrong … and when you're in that kind of fear, you block your own creativity and your ingenuity and your own inner guidance that would move you into positive directions …

HARRIS: Boy, that's so interesting. But it's hard -- it's hard to do what you suggest. It's hard not to be bottled up. It's hard not to jump on the fear train. Give us some ideas of what we might think about to turn so much of the negative energy that's out there into something that's positive.

BECKWITH: Absolutely, it is a little difficult … and we're not talking about magical thinking here.

HARRIS: Yes.

BECKWITH: Most people are placing their attention on what they have lost or what they could possibly lose. And the idea they have the ability to put your attention on what you have right now, to move into a feeling of gratitude about what you have and how things are working for you in some area of your life. And if you begin to do that, your whole neurological system begins to change, you become available to insight, you become available to guidance …

HARRIS: Yes.

BECKWITH: …that you're not going to get if you're addicted to the bad news. So most people are glued to the bad news.

HARRIS: Yes.

BECKWITH: And you want to stay informed, but at the same time, you want to give yourself enough time to begin to listen, as to how you can reorder your priorities, how you can serve, and how you can develop yourself so you can be of some good here.

HARRIS: Ah-h-h-h-h, I've got so many more questions, but we're flat out of time. Michael, thanks for sticking around for us because we wanted to get some notion of a positive outlook on what's going on right now.

Michael Beckwith from Los Angeles with us. Michael, appreciate it. Thank you.

BECKWITH: Thank you, Tony.

The Agape International Spiritual Center absolutely rocks! Website: www.agapelive.com/
 
 

Authors Website: http://www.OceanViewArts.com

Authors Bio:

Meryl Ann Butler is an artist, author, educator and OpedNews Managing Editor who has been actively engaged in utilizing the arts as stepping-stones toward joy-filled wellbeing since she was a hippie. She began writing for OpEdNews in Feb, 2004. She became a Senior Editor in August 2012 and Managing Editor in January, 2013. In June, 2015, the combined views on her articles, diaries and quick link contributions topped one million. She was particularly happy that her article about Bree Newsome removing the Confederate flag was the one that put her past the million mark.

Her art in a wide variety of media can be seen on her YouTube video, "Visionary Artist Meryl Ann Butler on Creativity and Joy" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcGs2r_66QE

A NYC native, her response to 9-11 was to pen an invitation to healing through creativity, entitled, "90-Minute Quilts: 15+ Projects You Can Stitch in an Afternoon" (Krause 2006), which is a bestseller in the craft field. The sequel, MORE 90-Minute Quilts: 20+ Quick and Easy Projects With Triangles and Squares was released in April, 2011. Her popular video, How to Stitch a Quilt in 90 Minutes with Meryl Ann Butler can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrShGOQaJQ8

She has been active in a number of international, arts-related projects as a citizen diplomat, and was arts advisor to Baltimore's CIUSSR (Center for Improving US-Soviet Relations), 1987-89. She made two trips to the former USSR in 1987 and 1988 to speak to artists, craftpeople and fashion designers on the topic of utilizing the arts as a tool for global wellbeing. She created the historical "First US-Soviet Children's Peace Quilt Exchange Project" in 1987-88, which was the first time a reciprocal quilt was given to the US from the former USSR.

Her artwork is in collections across the globe.

Meryl Ann is a founding member of The Labyrinth Society and has been building labyrinths since 1992. She publishes an annual article about the topic on OpEdNews on World Labyrinth Day, the first Saturday in May.

OpEdNews Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in "Beyond Surviving: How to Thrive in Challenging Times" at https://www.opednews.com/articles/Beyond-Surviving--How-to-by-Joan-Brunwasser-Anxiety_Appreciation_Coronavirus_Creativity-200318-988.html

Find out more about Meryl Ann's artistic life in "OEN Managing Ed, Meryl Ann Butler, Featured on the Other Side of the Byline" at https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/OEN-Managing-Ed-Meryl-Ann-in-Life_Arts-Artistic_Artists_Quilt-170917-615.html

On Feb 11, 2017, Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in Pink Power: Sister March, Norfolk, VA at http://www.opednews.com/articles/Pink-Power-Sister-March--by-Joan-Brunwasser-Pussy-Hats-170212-681.html

"Creativity and Healing: The Work of Meryl Ann Butler" by Burl Hall is at
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Creativity-and-Healing--T-by-Burl-Hall-130414-18.html

Burl and Merry Hall interviewed Meryl Ann on their BlogTalk radio show, "Envision This," at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/envision-this/2013/04/11/meryl-ann-butler-art-as-a-medicine-for-the-soul

Archived articles www.opednews.com/author/author1820.html
Older archived articles, from before May 2005 are here.