Conspiring With The Universe To Achieve Your Goals
At a very early age, my maternal grandmother taught me about faith. My grandmother was very evolved for her day and also very spiritual.
She was Christian Science, and she would take me to the Christian Science Reading Room in Boston, where we would sit and read for hours. I loved how peaceful it was there, and I especially loved reading the children's Bible.
I still have one and when I read those stories now, I am amazed at how frightening they seem especially for a young child.
Lots of violence and death but always with strong messages of faith. It drove my dad nuts that I went there because religion played a powerful role in my early life.
The story goes that when I was a baby, the Italian side of my family whisked me off and had me christened Catholic without my mother's knowledge.
Then my mother's side of the family had me baptized Methodist.
I guess I was double-blessed, but always a little confused about religion, but never confused about faith. My grandmother always told me “faith will be rewarded.” She reminded me to have faith even when encountering the smallest problems in life.
If I lost my glasses, she would say: “if you have faith, you will find them.” When I found them, I knew it was because I had faith. I've carried this conviction with me my entire life, and it has helped me through some very difficult times, and has helped me achieve my goals.
Unfortunately, not everyone has an influential person in their life who encourages faith in the universe, but there are ways to increase and build your own personal spiritual faith.
Stillness is the fastest way. Stillness as in meditation.
Most people think that the purpose of meditation is to tune out and get away from it all, but the real purpose of meditation is to tune in.
When you meditate you access the gaps between your thoughts and your deep consciousness, wherein infinite possibilities are contained. Every meditation purifies you and you get in touch with something much bigger. Meditation can reconnect and restore your faith and trust in the universe.
If you have never meditated before, just sit down in a comfortable position.
I recommend picking a particular room in your home to meditate. Somewhere you feel safe. Turn off your phone and make sure you will not be disturbed.
Use a timer and start with 5 to 7 minutes. Breath slowly and meditate with purpose. I like using a mantra or one word, so if I become distracted I can always come back to it and repeat it in my mind. It can be anything from peace, love or compassion.
Don't get stressed if you start thinking of food or paying the bills, just come back to your mantra.
When you're done with your meditation, sit for a couple of minutes and see how you feel. Be determined and most importantly be enthusiastic. After a couple of weeks of meditation, your thought process will change, and you will have more control over your destiny. You can now conspire with the universe and achieve your goals.
Now on to food. I made a simple, yummy noodle dish last night with a basil, cashew sauce. I topped it with all my favorite vegetables.
I love recipes like this because they make a great family meal, they are high in protein, super healthy, and you can top them with any and all the vegetables you love.
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Thanks for stopping by. Wishing you a peaceful and compassionate day, and I hope you conspire with the universe to achieve your goals.
Pad Thai Noodles with Basil Sauce & Fresh Vegetables
- 10 ounce package of whole wheat Pad Thai, Chow Main or your favorite noodle
- 8-10 mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup sugar snap peas
- small bunch of baby bok choy, sliced into strips
- 1 red pepper, sliced into strips
- 2 cups of spinach
- 6 green onions, chopped (whites and light green)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- juice of two small limes
- 4 Tablespoons veggie broth
- 1 cup fresh basil
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- ½ cup dry roasted unsalted cashews (and a handful chopped for topping)
- 1 red fresno chili, chopped
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Remove from heat. Add noodles. Stir to keep from sticking. Every minute or two, give the noodles a stir to loosen them up. Keep tasting to make sure they don't become mushy. You definitely want to under-cook them a bit since they will cook the rest of the way through once in the stir-fry. Drain and rinse the noodles in a colander and set aide while preparing the other ingredients. You can also follow the cooking instructions on the noodles.
- Put the basil, cashews, garlic, lime juice, fresno chili, soy sauce, veggie broth and a couple of twist of fresh ground black pepper in a food processor. Process until smooth. Add more veggie broth if it is too thick. In a large bowl, mix half the sauce with the noodles.
- Place the boy choy, sugar snap peas and spinach in a steamer basket over simmering hot water. Cover and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a wok or large frying pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and red pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the noodles, bok choy, snap peas and spinach. Cook for another 1-2 minutes, gently tossing. Add an additional ¼ cup of remaining sauce and cook for another couple of minutes, tossing gently. Remove from heat. Add more sauce if desired. Top with chopped green onions, chopped cashews and fresh chopped basil. Serve.
Made this recipe tonight. I didn’t have cashews so I substituted with Peanuts. The dish turned out delicious – no complaints at all. I have leftovers and can’t wait to dig into it tomorrow! Thank you for the recipe 🙂