Dear Uni-Friends,

As I write this, I am sitting in the Sheraton Hotel in the middle of the Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, France.  I stayed at this same hotel about 11 years ago, and it hasn’t changed as far as I can tell! I even remember the picture on the wall and the unusual furniture.  The hotel building is shaped like a narrow football to fit the available space.  Even though the hotel hasn’t changed, I have.  Scratch that! My perspective has changed; I am the same.

I am 230 pages into the Eckhart Tolle book, “A New Earth”.   The universe had been quietly screaming at me to read this book, and now I think I know why.  For some of us, we allow ourselves to stress or worry over various things that we think are important.  For me, it is mostly work.  For some reason, I tend to think what I do at work is important.  Some great person is quoted as saying that the beginning of a breakdown is usually preceded by thinking that our work is important (or something like that).  For others, stress or worry may come from a family member, an in-law, global warming, how many murders occurred in D.C. over the weekend, or a neighbor who doesn’t mow his grass often enough.  You get the idea.  Any number of relationships or situations can lead to frustration, anger, anxiety, and unhappiness.

In this book and in several others I have read lately, the repeated theme is: what is really important to us is inner peace and happiness.  And I would certainly have shared that thought.  However, I sometimes find that my thinking does not support this quest for peace and happiness in spite of how passionately important it may be to me.  I continually sabotage myself without knowing why.  Echhart Tolle says that it is our ego that gets in the way.  We identify ourselves as our thinking rather than as pure being.  We continually assess our situation and measure ourselves based on a variety of comparative data.  For example, how much we own, what we know, who we are, what we do, etc.  In my case, I am here in Paris for meetings and my thinking tells me that it is important for me to be right and to know stuff.  You see, if I am not right, then I must be wrong.  If I am right, then others must be wrong.  If I don’t know something, then I am diminished.  Eckhart Tolle suggests most people feel the same way.  It’s amazing that we can meet and still be civil to one another!

Now, since I am on page 230, I have become aware of this ego block.  I realize that the importance I have assigned to being right and knowing stuff is not real.  I am not what I know, nor am I diminished by being wrong or important when I am right.  I am able to be aware of others’ egos pushing my ego into action.  This is helping me to be in the moment, knowing that what I say is not really terribly important and does not determine who I am.  I have been able to attend and participate in two days of technical meetings with greatly reduced stress.  I felt much more present…..after only 230 pages.  Imagine how good this will get when I have completed the book!

The reason I feel compelled to tell you this is because it is also changing my perception of prosperity.  Unity teaches prosperity through 4T, Keys to the Kingdom, Catherine Ponder, and other classes.  Up until today, I have felt that this was about achieving goals and getting what you want in the form of stuff, better relationships, a new job, an improved situation, etc.  However, deep down at the subconscious level, I think we all really want peace and happiness.  If I am right, (and you know it is important for me to be right) then prosperity is really about attaining our inner peace.  All else will follow.

Also, I want you to know that this book is potentially life changing good.  I recommend all 309 pages, even though I haven’t yet read them all!

Love, light, and true prosperity to you all! ~ Tom