The Power of Remembering

Transcript

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Hello, and welcome to this episode of Decide on Joy, a podcast coming to you from Harmony Spiritual Center in Fort Worth, Texas. My name is Jim Koval. And my name is Reverend Dr. PJ Stanley. Thank you so much for being here today. Our topic today is the power of remembering. And why looking back can help us move forward Honoring our own story. Yeah. So why does it help you move forward? So because if you don't know where you've been, you're gonna keep traveling the same path, and you won't be m- you won't move forward. And I just think, I think as human beings we're naturally wanting to continue to move forward, to have progression in our lives instead of just marking time. So just remembering where you've been, what you've already done. Think about relationships. If you don't remember how that relationship went, and I always talk about relationships 'cause to me, whether it's one with yourself or with others that's where you learn the most about yourself, is when you're in relationships and how how things grind on you or how they work really well. And the more you remember how that worked, or how, that last relationship I was in, this is what went wrong or what went right. And you either wanna repeat what went right or you wanna definitely let go of and say it's a different way of doing that, so I'll come to a different conclusion." So it's really good, I think to just remember what works for you, what doesn't work for you, what you've tried, what you haven't tried, what you've been brave enough to step into. Because maybe you've seen someone else do that well, or that seems like it'd be interesting to you. But whatever it is, you, you just, you definitely wanna remember that you've been here before. Yeah. And what are the lessons you've learned. Yeah. Hopefully you've learned some. You don't always learn. And so you're- And, and- you're destined to repeat it it seems like there's a possible trap there because if you're, if you're thinking about the past, whatever, you might wanna get stuck. You wanna stay there, yes. You might wanna say, "Oh things were much better when I was younger and I had whatever," exact- I do. I do know exactly what you're talking about. And so sometimes f- as a human being, I think sometimes it is okay to just say, "You know what? I'm just gonna rest here for a minute." There's nothing wrong with resting as long as you know that's what you're doing. It's just resting. Because you know what? It's a... Moving forward is work. And sometimes it doesn't go, it doesn't go quickly. Sometimes it feels it's just a grind. But where you're trying to go, it's like going to, let's just say we just went to a graduation ceremony, and some of the classes are easy, and some of them are not. You gotta grind your way through it. But the point is, because you want to have that next degree or move forward in your life or whatever it is. So it becomes about what you desire to do, who you desire to be. And it's a fallacy to think that you can stand still. You can't. You're either- moving forward or going backwards. There is no such thing as standing still 'cause the world moves around you. Everything's moving around you- Yeah whether you do or don't. Yeah. So there's no such thing as that. So just as long as you're aware of that. And to me, and when we talk about here and deciding on joy, it's to just be intentional. About your life. That way you feel more in control of your life because you intended to rest or you intended to attempt to move forward. And so that makes you feel more in control- of your life by making those decisions. Yeah. Yeah. Certainly I know people who would like to think they can stand still. Yes. Yes. But- And they absolutely are not because the world... Think ab- just us trying to think about how we're going to record something. And I'm looking at this phone and I'm thinking, "What is this button all about?" Be- 'cause I have a new phone. So i- if I kept the flip phone that I had back in, I don't know, 2005, whatever- Where would I be now? Where would I be now in 2026 where phones are concerned? Yeah. I'd just be... I'd have to keep handing it over to my kids around me and go, "Hey, can you fix this for me?" Yeah. Do we wanna do that? No. Do we want them to say, "Oh my God, old people," 'cause that's- certainly what the young people will say. They'll probably say that anyway, but- They say it anyway, regardless. Even if you know how to use the phone, they'll say it. But still whether it's true or not for you is the thing. So you know, it just, it's a part of honoring life, of honoring yourself, of fighting the fear, because the fear of the unknown is real. It's real. Oh, yeah. And so to, to decide to move forward is to decide to jump into something you don't know anything about, and assuming that you can move forward, that you can learn something. And the fact is, I believe it's true, you can. Yeah. Maybe it's not gonna be as easy as you thought, but somebody knows how to get there. Yeah. And as long as you're setting an intention to move forward, you can move forward. The, this is what we know about the universe. This is what we believe in new thought. That when you set an intention, whatever you need to meet that intention will come your way, will come across. You'll be, you'll, it'll be attracted to you. You'll be attracted to it, but only when you make the decision. And sometimes I think the learning a new thing can turn out to be easier than you expect it. I think so. Yeah and certainly- I know someone who's always very hesitant about doing anything new because he says I haven't done that." I said why are you so hesitant- That's why it's called new to try that?" I haven't done it. I don't know how to do it." Huh. We're c- we're circular in this conversation, buddy. How can we solve that? And it is fearful. That's not a... It is fearful. Yeah. I get that. But I believe that the more you do something, the more you try stuff new and you, then you begin to trust yourself and your own abilities, not only trusting yourself and your own abilities, but trusting the universe, that whatever you need to get that accomplished will come your way. It's really amazing to me how it works. I have a girlfriend who w- you know was looking for work, and she does she loves helping people, particularly older people. And so she just couldn't find work and she was accepting, she accepted a job that she didn't necessarily care for. And so I was talking with her about it and I said, "That's okay. You take that job until the better yes comes along." And she goes, "Huh." I was, "Yeah, Spirit knows what you want, but you don't know where the yes is coming from. It may come from out of this particular job." "So just take what's there." And she understood that. And so she was brave enough to go ahead and do what she didn't wanna do, and she actually did, that's exactly what happened. There was a person there who recognized what she could do, and they wanted her at another job, which was what? Right across the street from her house. So the better yes- does come. And I believe in saying that. Just step into what you can step into until the better yes comes along, because it will. Yeah. It will. Good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And now once again, that's just what we, that's what we talk about here in, in New Thought, and I think in any spirituality. If you recognize that you are the divine, and we believe that, we are individualized expressions. That's what we believe. So if that is the case, then whatever we need is available to us as, and t- once we say, "This is what I'd like to see happen." We do have to say it. We have to claim it. We can't just think it's gonna fall into our laps. We have to claim it, and then that energy just it focuses and g- and comes and brings to you. And then you also get to recognize that it has come. If you don't say it- yeah you don't know it's come. So that's part of it as well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Of course, you could get something it, in, that you forgot you asked for back then. That has happened too. "Where'd this come from? Oh, yeah." Oh. Oh my gosh part of that intro line there was about honoring your own story. I think something that some people have a challenge with possibly? Yeah, absolutely. We want a nice clean story. We want, us to have been, we went from A to B to C to D and it was just all a beautiful journey. But I'm sorry, you go from A to B back to A to below whatever is before A, then all the... But it- life doesn't occur in a straight line. We'd like that to happen. It doesn't. And if you are aware that if you've done enough in your life, you know that's the case. And so you so the power of remembering that, of knowing how life actually works, how your life works, takes away some of the anxiety about what's happening. Say, I've been here before." If we can say that, "I've been here before," then we're not as anxious about where it's gonna end up I know. We know. I really I believe this with all my heart and why I... One of the things that I love to do the most is to be what I call a PIB, a partner in believing. It's actually a partner in knowing, but PIK doesn't really work- as a, as an acronym. But to be a partner in believing with someone is to know what they're capable of, and the reason why you know what they're capable of is because you know who they are, which is individualized expressions of the divine. If we're all that then I know what's possible for you, and I can hold that belief until you can believe it yourself. This is what we get to do with and for each other. So I don't always, but sometimes it's, it seems like a bigger challenge. It, th- it's not. It's all what it is. It's all spirit and all that. But for us, because we haven't been there before in the, on the physical plane, some things seem bigger than another thing. Yeah. And they really aren't. But if you have partners in believing that can hold the truth for you and you know that's what they're doing, 'cause you've been there before in a different situation, then you can keep going until you see the light, until that whatever you're working on comes to fruition. And possibly one of those people too could, if you're in a situation where you have not been before- they may have been and can- That's correct and can help you that way too. Exactly, and can honor, because they do know, and they know you. They can honor and say I've been here before. You can do this." This is like having a coach, a life coach. Having a partner in believing is like having a life coach. They know what's possible for you. They know what you've done before. They know your strength. They know what things about you they... Sometimes you forget. You forget that. And so this is what I think having people in your life who can know for you, who can remember with you, and who can remind you of who you are, what you, how far you've already come. There's no reason that you won't go further, and I'll walk with you while you do it. Okay. This is a beautiful thing. Give Petra a call. She's standing by. Okay. Okay. The power of remembering. Yes. And we'll end it there for today. Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next time.