Practical Advice for Uncertain Times

How to Stay Centered, No Matter What

12 Tools for Achieving Inner Peace in a Chaotic World

When we feel our inner peace persistently challenged, Unity offers an answer. Unity teachings include the awareness of our own innate power. We were born with the attributes of the Infinite, and our life’s work is to develop and express them.

Each divine faculty offers a way to view the world and to stay centered, no matter what comes our way.

Our theme, “How to Stay Centered, No Matter What,” is based on a system devised nearly a century ago by Unity cofounder Charles Fillmore.

Fillmore defined the 12 powers—attributes that he believed formed the basis of our Christ consciousness. The more we develop them, the closer we are to expressing our true being, our divine nature.

The 12 powers provide the subtopics for this spiritual resource program. Each month, you’ll find a section of new resources related to one specific power, with ideas for using it to stay centered.

January 2021

Faith—My faith assures me that every event in my life has meaning and brings gifts.

No Matter What Comes Your Way, Trust in the Unknowable—and Let Life Gain Its Purpose

“Everything happens for a reason” has been tossed around so much that it has nearly become a meaningless cliché.

But think about it. If you chose to look for the reason in things you’d prefer were not happening, imagine all you could learn. How would that shift the way you move through challenges? How would life change?

Stressful life events crisis, Faith during hard times, Power of Faith, How to Stay Centered No Matter What

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We find what we seek. If we look for lessons and possibilities—with faith that they are knowable—life becomes one of purpose and evolution, no matter what comes. Everything about our journey is transformed if we let go and let God—another well-worn aphorism that is also incredibly powerful when truly embodied.

For me, that defines practical spirituality, and I want in.

The year 2019 began bright and new with our annual White Stone service at church, a meditation in which we allow a guiding word for the year to come to us from intuition, guides, and God—call it what you will. It’s a way to claim my yearly intention.

Living “on Purpose” When Hard Times Come Calling

The word that came to my mind was purpose. I remember thinking that I always try to live “on purpose” and found it interesting that I would need reminding.

And then …

Within weeks, my daughter, a mother of two young children, shattered the bones in her leg simply by stepping off a curb. After her major surgery but before life showed any semblance of a return to normalcy, my husband had emergency quadruple bypass heart surgery.

Knock, and the door shall open. It will, no matter which door you knock on—hope or despair.

I engaged survival mode. Do what’s next on the list. Don’t look too far ahead. Breathe. Pray. Stop. Go. Work. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.

And then the real horror erupted, one lesion at a time. A rare and deadly infection, a cousin to tuberculosis and leprosy, developed under my husband’s healing wound. It took months of hospitalizations, multiple surgeries, and near-lethal doses of antibiotics before they would say he might survive. Maybe.

And the bills must be paid. And the family has needs. And we live in South Florida, and here comes a hurricane.

And … everything happens for a reason. Does it? Really? Do I truly believe that?

Turning a Life Crisis Into a Revelation of Faith

Turns out I do. I had to claim my truth and remember my Source, digging deep into my well of faith to let go and let God in ways I never thought I could. But I did. And what did I find?

Meaning. Purpose. Love, so much love. That people truly are how God gets around. That my husband is some sort of superhuman superhero. That nurses are angels on earth. That my family is far stronger than I ever knew, and naps are glorious gifts.

That my Unity community is amazingly generous and supportive and loving and grounding. That Facebook can be a lifeline. That attitude actually can be everything, and life really is a gift. That clichés become clichés because they are true. That acceptance is evolutionary, and even a one-minute mini meditation can work if it’s all you have time for. Just for starters.

Because I claimed my faith, it was there for me to claim. I found meaning because I insisted upon it. I was eager to learn lessons, and so I did. I let myself dive when needed, trusting I was immersed in the divine flow. Reasons abounded because I sought reason.

Getting Centered Fast

Choose one or more actions to get centered when you only have a minute to calm yourself.

  • Pause, take a deep breath, and release.
  • Put your hands on your heart and connect.
  • Breathe in with I am and out with in God.
  • Look up, literally. Watch the sky for a bit.
  • Take off your shoes and stand on the earth. Feel.
  • Call a trusted friend.
  • Count to 60.
  • Reach out to Unity Prayer Ministry to ask for prayer by calling 816-969-2000.
  • Think of three things to be grateful for.

“I Believed I Could Make It, So I Did.”

I processed feelings as they came and relied on my support system. At my core, I believed I could make it, so I did. It was incredibly simple and beyond complex at the same time. So easy it takes mere lifetimes to master.

For 2020, my word was sync. Medical journeys continued for my daughter and husband, and yearly themes about clarity of vision abounded—20/20 being perfect vision.

Then came COVID-19. What is it we collectively needed to see?

Center. Pause. Care. Breathe. Pray. Seek and ye shall find. You will find what you believe you will—good or bad. Knock, and the door shall open. It will, no matter which door you knock on—hope or despair.

I can’t explain it in words—it’s beyond words. I can feel it though. I let myself be still and know. I am God. You are God. It’s all God.

Do you believe that? Really? Because if you do, no matter what you face, you will find the God-ness within it.

The reason and purpose will be there for you to claim. And it won’t take a crisis or pandemic for you to realize how powerful your faith can be.