May/June 2002
Feature Articles
Holistic Health Q & A
by Dr. Carol Anne Bates
The causes of heartburn and indigestion
- a holistic approach including acupuncture, Oriental Medicine, kinesiology,
homeopathy, and lifestyle changes.
What is... Fair Trade?
by Robert Roman
What Fair Trade is and how it creates
a win-win situation for the producer, the environment and the consumer.
UnCommon Sense! - The Middle East Conflict
by David Findlay
A military or a political solution?
Should we negotiate with terrorist-sponsoring states?
Articles on the theme "Prosperity"
Prosperity Practices
by Jim Malloy
Eight principles and practices to help
manifest great prosperity.
Enough for Everyone
by Patricia Crane
Tapping into the consciousness that
determines distribution.
Journey to Prosperity
by Lorri Ritter
Practical steps to increase prosperity.
True Prosperity
by Maria Moraca
Achieving happiness and contentment
regardless of what is going on in one's life.
My Cosmic Bank Account
by Dr. Audrey Craft Davis
The rewards of opening and "investing"
in a Cosmic Bank Account.
Prosperity Consciousness
by Rev. Linda Lou Kearns
How to get what you want and enjoy
what you've got. Some basic prosperity principles.
What is Prosperity?
by Charles Bleistein
How prosperity is linked to flow in
all aspects of life - including consciousness.
True Prosperity
by Maria Moraca
To prosper is to be successful, to thrive and to flourish. Many of us feel to prosper is to be financially comfortable, to be happy in one's personal and professional life, to have friends who are supportive, to have good health and good times. These are the things humans crave. For many of us, prosperity is touch and go. We have a job we love for a few years, earning a good salary, then the company we're working for folds. We're surrounded by good friends who we love, then situations arise, relationships change, and suddenly our social circle is dwindling. We have an unexpected health problem, and it is hard to believe there was ever a time we felt good with practically no effort.
If we look back over our lives, we have all experienced these ups and downs. It is part of living, part of the journey. If life were too easy, it would be difficult for us to evolve and learn. Realizing and coming to terms with this is true prosperity. Being happy and content with life, regardless of what is going on externally, is the ultimate goal. Being happy even when money is tight, or relationships are falling apart, is true balance.
True prosperity is feeling content and happy within ourselves, regardless of outside circumstances. This is a simple concept, yet can be very difficult to practice. How can one achieve the goal of happiness against all odds? I believe a high level of self-esteem is important. Believing in ourselves, our purpose, and our ability to overcome adversity; these are qualities we find in those with high self-esteem.
Life is a series of peaks and valleys, and part of maintaining self-esteem is not beating ourselves up or blaming ourselves (or others) when things don't go our way. Examples of things not going our way are a boss we think has it in for us, or a life-threatening health issue. Either way, we must realize this is the direction our life is going. Obviously we must be proactive and do whatever we can to improve/correct our situation, but wasting precious time with negative emotions never serves. The ability to remain content despite circumstances is true prosperity. Life is short, and should not be wasted with too many unnecessary, unhappy moments.
Self-esteem also comes with balance. Balance is a broad term; in this context I mean physical, emotional, and energetic balance.
Physical balance is achieved through exercise, health maintenance, a healthy, whole-foods-based diet, and good sleep. It comes with not working too hard at the expense of our family or our health, and making time in our schedule to take care of ourselves. It means being in touch with our physical body and paying attention to what it says. Pain is a sign of a larger issue that should not be ignored. Feeling worn and tired is a signal to slow down, and take some time for relaxation and rejuvenation. We only get one body and we need to make it last.
Emotional balance is a little tougher. It comes with experience, trial and error, and learning to be present when we are experiencing emotions. We must try to be conscious of where our emotions are truly coming from. Often we may feel anger toward a loved one, only to realize after some thought we are truly angry at another, or at the same person but for a different reason. We must also learn to let go of the past. Dwelling on old emotions and situations causes regret. Regret is the most wasteful activity; we cannot re-live the past and learning to let it be is part of emotional balance. It is necessary to feel and honor emotions, but we cannot let them rule our life and moods.
Energetic balance is a combination of physical and emotional balance, with a healthy dose of wellness thrown in. What is energy? Energy (or qi) flows through our bodies; it has function, but no form. In natural medicine, we believe, before there is a physical breakdown in the body, an energetic breakdown occurs first. Meditation, yoga, qi gong, tai chi, visualization, massage, acupuncture, reiki, and other energetic therapies are imperative to keeping the body's energy flowing and supple to avoid this breakdown. Disease is described as stagnant energy, due to physical or emotional cause. Taking preventative steps to avoid this and maintaining a regime of treatment to keep the energy flow balanced is a fabulous way to improve life. Besides avoiding disease and helping our bodies process emotions more effectively, energetic modalities are fantastic at stress release. We all know the negative effects stress can have on our body. And what makes us unhappy? Stress, worry, putting too much negative focus on a particular area. Teaching our body and mind to deal with stress better is the first step to getting and staying happy.
True prosperity is not friends, or health, or money. It is our happiness.
Maria Moraca is a licensed acupuncture physician who maintains a medical practice combining acupuncture and other natural approaches. She is an associate of Clearwater Natural Medical Center. Clearwater FL(727) 726-7333
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