What does Christmas have to do with Becoming the Best Version of Yourself?

Welcome back and Merry Christmas. I started this blog to be as inclusive as possible for everybody out there, but it is Christmas today and I do come from a Christian background. So, I thought it’d be good to do a Christmas special and talk about what Christmas has to do with BECOMING THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF. If you come from a Christian background, you know around Christmastime, we hear a lot about LOVE, JOY, PEACE, and LIGHT. We’ll spend a little time talking about that today because it relates to where we’re headed with this blog because when you can live from a place of LOVE, JOY, PEACE, and LIGHT, everything just works better.

What do Christians say and what does the Bible say about LOVE, JOY, PEACE, and LIGHT? Well, in terms of LOVE, in 1 John 4:8, it says, “The one who does not LOVE does not know God, for God is LOVE.” In terms of JOY, my favorite passage is John 15:11 where Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you so that my JOY may be in you and that your JOY may be made full.” 

In terms of PEACE, it is Jesus’s birthday today, and he was the Prince of PEACE, Isaiah 9:6. Jesus said two things in particular in the New Testament. Whenever he healed somebody, he said, “Go in PEACE.” He always told people to go in PEACE. When he came back after his resurrection and he entered into the presence of others, the very first thing he said is "PEACE be with you." Now, I can imagine why he was saying that because it might have been kind of weird seeing somebody who’s died come back alive again. So. he wanted to make sure that those that he was encountering were at PEACE in that moment.

Then, finally, in terms of LIGHT, there’s a lot of stuff on LIGHT in the Bible but some of my favorites are John 1:9 where he says, “There was the true LIGHT which, coming into the world, enLIGHTens every man.” Of course, that was at the beginning of John, and he was talking about Christ and Christ’s birth. In John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the LIGHT of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the LIGHT of life.” When Jesus transfigured, he turned as "white as LIGHT." Then, there’s of course the Acts of Apostles reference to Paul being blinded by the LIGHT of God. The references to LOVE, JOY, PEACE, and LIGHT are throughout the Bible. See the end of this post for a list of my favorite LOVE, JOY, PEACE, and LIGHT verses.

The Map of Consciousness

What does that have to do with where we’re going? Well, let’s look at The Map of Consciousness. The Map of Consciousness was brought into the world by Dr. David Hawkins who is no longer with us. We’re going to cover The Map of Consciousness quite extensively in future posts but look at what the top four levels of the map of consciousness are - LOVE, JOY, PEACE, and enLIGHTenment - no coincidence. That is where we’re all headed if we continue to focus on our personal development and becoming the best versions of ourselves because who wants to be in the red or orange zone, in anger, desire, fear, grief, apathy, guilt, and shame? I don't think anybody does. So, I'm assuming we would all rather be in a place of LOVE, JOY, PEACE, and LIGHT.

12/17/18 - MAP OF CONSCIOUSNESS IMAGE REMOVED AT THE REQUEST OF THE LATE DR. HAWKIN'S SPOUSE, SUSAN HAWKINS. WHILE I WANTED TO SPREAD HIS GREAT WORK, I ASSUME SHE DOES NOT WANT THAT. AS SUCH, I HAVE ALSO REMOVED LINKS TO HIS BOOKS. 

My coach, Michelle Humphrey, actually calls this Map of Consciousness the "treasure map of life", and if we look at what it’s really trying to tell us, it leads us towards LOVE, JOY, PEACE, and LIGHT, which is also towards Christ if you're a Christian. If you look at the map closely, at the level 200 is where there’s a break point between truth and falsehood, between power and force, between strong and weak, and then everything below 200 is moving away from God and everything on 200 and above is moving towards God. In other words, the more that you can come up in your level of consciousness, the closer you can get to God.

Quotes from Dr. David Hawkins

What did Dr. Hawkins, the creator of the Map of Consciousness, have to say about some of this? Well, the first thing he said that I thought was interesting is about being. He said, “We change the world not by what we say or do but as a consequence of what we have become.” He’s talking, of course, about becoming higher and higher in level of consciousness to LOVE, JOY, PEACE, and LIGHT.

About LOVE, he said, “LOVE is misunderstood to be an emotion. Actually, it’s a state of awareness, a way of being in the world, a way of seeing oneself and others.” He also said, “The more we give LOVE, the greater our capacity to do so.”

In terms of JOY, he said, “It is said that most people spend their lives regretting the past and fearing the future. Therefore, they’re unable to experience JOY in the present.” One of the other things we’ll be talking about in the future posts is being present and being able to feel JOY in the present moment.

In terms of PEACE and enLIGHTenment, this is a long quote but he said, “EnLIGHTenment is not something that occurs in the future after 50 years of sitting cross-legged and saying "OM". It is right here in this instant. The reason you're not experiencing the state of total PEACE and timelessness is because it is being resisted. It is being resisted because you're trying to control the moment. If you let go of trying to control your experience of the moment and if you constantly surrender like a tone of music, then you live on the crest of this exact always-ness.” Kind of deep. He goes on, “Experience arises like a note of music. The minute you hear a note, it’s already passing away. The instant you heard it, it’s already dissolving, so every single moment is dissolving as it arises. Let go of anticipating the next moment trying to control it, trying to hang onto the moment that has just passed. Let go of clinging to what has just occurred. Let go trying to control what you think is about to occur. Then, you live in an infinite space of non-time and non-event. There’s an infinite PEACE beyond description, and you are home.”

What he’s describing there is the path up the level of the Map of Consciousness to LOVE, JOY, PEACE, and finally, enLIGHTenment. It's very profound, and we’ll be talking about that a lot in the future posts.

Pulling This All Together

Finally, how does this all relate back to what this blog is about? I want to spend the last few minutes talking about the quote that I started this blog post off or this blog off with, which is from Marianne Williamson from A Return to Love. What I've done here is I've highlighted the red energy from the map of consciousness in red and the love, joy, peace, and light energy in purple to kind of mirror the map of consciousness. Let’s read it with a new set of eyes now.

Love that. Now, you have a new lens to look at this quote with with The Map of Consciousness. We’ll be digging into this more and more as we move forward and I want to leave you with a couple of actions this week on Christmas Day. It’s almost New Year’s. Based on previous posts, you should be working on your vision and you should be working on your goals for 2018. So, if you still have work to do on vision/goals, keep it going! The New Year’s not here yet. So, start writing down your goals for 2018. You have a little more time left to do that as well.

Finally, invite some others because I know this is good stuff. Some of you had let me know that you’re really enjoying it, so invite others to share this material with.

We’re going to get New Year's started with a bang. I’m coming back next week, and we’re going to take the goal setting work that we did last week to a whole new level. We’re going to talk about goal setting and achievement mastery. I look forward to talking to you then and certainly enjoy your Christmas Day. Have a great holiday and we’ll see you in the New Year!

Bible Verses for Love, Joy, Peace, and Light

(not exhaustive - just my favorites)

Love

1. 1 John 4:8 - The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
2. Gal 5:22 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, …

Joy

1. Luke 1:14 - You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
2. John 15:11 - These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
3. John 16:24 - Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.
4. Rom 14:17 - for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Peace

1. The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)
2. Mark 5:34 - go in peace and be healed …
3. Luke 7:50 - And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
4. Luke 8:48 - And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."
5. Luke 10:5 - "Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house."
6. John 14:27 - "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
7. John 16:33 - "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
8. John 20:19 - … Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you."
9. John 20:21 - So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you."
10. John 20:26 - After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you."

Light

1. Matt 5:16 - "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
2. Luke 2:32 - "A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel."
3. Luke 11:36 - "If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays."
4. John 1:4 - In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
5. John 1:5 - The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
6. John 1:7 - He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
7. John 1:9 - There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
8. John 3:20 - "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed."
9. John 3:21 - "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
10. John 8:12 -"I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."
11. John 12:36 - …believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light…
12. John 12:46 - "I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness."