Universe Responding

During the three years that this program has been aired, Universe Responding has evolved, Valleri has evolved, and you have evolved. As the Universe Responding Spiritual Model For Life has more clearly come into focus as the engine of the Law of Co-Creation, we have found limitless ways to use these concepts to help us achieve our “cocreated best.” As Valleri’s path of growth is leading her to additional ways to apply the Universe Responding concept, this will be the final Universe Responding program for a time. During this episode, she will highlight some of the important points she has discussed in prior broadcasts and, most important, will take this time to express gratitude and love to all her loyal listeners and to Unity Online Radio. We invite you to continue to enjoy the 140 episodes we’ve recorded as they will continue to be available for free download on our Universe Responding host page.

Program after program, we’ve shared with you how the Law of Co-Creation and the Universe Responding Spiritual Model For Life will give you what you need to be your “co-created best” in all things. But is all this for real? Can I really trust that the Higher Power of My Understanding will co-create with me if I faithfully follow this formula and apply it consistently? The answer is yes, yes, YES! Think of today’s program as a way to neutralize the unhealthy brainwashing we hear from all the naysayers and doubters (even when it is us who do it to ourselves). It’s designed to be one you will want to download and keep; one to be listened to over and over again; and one that will keep us on track when we start to slip off.

What if the guidance I hear and the guidance you hear about the same topic seems to send us in different directions? If our lives are intertwined and my actions affect your actions (and vice versa), how do we reconcile these messages? Maybe we don’t need to reconcile them at all; instead, one of us may be hearing our guidance through the wrong filter—the one that allows a little of the I WANT to taint it. Join us as we explore what happens when God’s messages of guidance appear to be pulling us in different directions.

How do we know if someone is telling us the truth … or not? Are we able to determine when deception has been substituted for honesty? When faced with alternatives, how do we decide which is the better path for us? Unfortunately, the temptation of the I WANT (“I WANT to believe what I am being told.” “I WA NT to pick the prettier, shinier, more popular, or easier choice”) can sometimes outweigh the guidance we gain from listening. This episode is about how to proactively allow the guidance of our Higher Power to ignite our sense of discernment so that the choices we make are evaluated co-creatively through perception shaped by the wisdom of the I AM.

What is gratitude? Do we really know what gratitude is? Do we actually feel and practice gratitude, or do we find ourselves just mouthing platitudes of thanks? What does gratitude do to help us co-create with our Higher Power? At the beginning of this week of our 2012 United States Thanksgiving holiday, we examine how we can develop a much more sincere sense of gratitude and how this deeper awareness will affect our thoughts and our actions, driving away the I WANT and reinforcing the I AM.

This program celebrates and charts the course award-winning songwriter and performer, Unity of Gainesville (Florida) Music Director, and Musician in Residence/Music Director for Shands Arts in Medicine (of Shands Hospital, University of Florida) Cathy DeWitt has been guided to travel throughout her exciting life. Hear Cathy and Valleri discuss how Cathy has actively worked with her Higher Power to achieve her “co-created best” in so many avenues of her life.

You may have heard that spirituality and politics are incompatible. Nothing could be further from the truth! When we remember that the division between the secular and the spiritual is completely artificial, we realize how important it is for those who LISTEN to messages of guidance to express their opinions, support candidates, and to cast informed votes. This week’s program takes NO positions on candidates or their platforms; what it does do is to encourage those who may have said, “I hate politics; I never get involved,” to re-examine the vital role which they can play when they use the wisdom which the I AM provides to shape the future co-creatively!

“When our memories outweigh our dreams, we have grown old.” This quote by President Bill Clinton is applicable whether you are 9 or 90 as he is referring not to age but to attitude. There is a reason why our past overtakes our future, our dreams dry up, our life becomes stagnant, and we become “old” in our outlook —we’ve stopped co-creating with our Higher Power! In this program, we will explore ways to reignite that flame of inspiration that has gone dim and, for those running at full co-creative blast, share suggestions to keep those dreams burning brightly.

Every experience—no matter how large or small, no matter how happy or sad, no matter how significant or insignificant—is worth our attention. Many of us spend much of our day having snippets of activity in which we engage, and then discard forever. If what we are doing doesn’t invoke some sort of mental or physical sensation or emotion, or if it isn’t something we know requires our concentration, it will likely be regarded as nothing. This episode honors the minutia we encounter throughout the day—those tiny trickles of time that contain much more guidance and wisdom than we may appreciate—and suggests how we can capture and squeeze every bit of co-created good from these moments!

This wise observation from Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us of the simple Truth that things change. We can become trapped and stagnant in beliefs, ideas, expectations, and relationships that may have, at one time, manifested our “co-created best,” but have now lost their co-created luster. During this episode, we will examine what happens when we stop listening and evolving; why yesterday’s “co-created best” joy may be today’s “create on our own” problem; how we can tell when we’ve crossed over from being motivated by the “I AM” to being motivated by the “I WANT,” and what we can do to ease the good-bye to the familiar as we pursue the new path of the unknown.

Are you becoming frustrated and discouraged that what you dreamed your life would be like is falling short of your expectations? Do you feel that you have tried everything—and failed—to transform your current position into one you feel is more desirable? Are you becoming resigned to feeling that where you are is all there is? It’s time to let Universe Responding help! This episode is especially designed to help us re-examine those dreams, use guidance to readjust them, learn affirmations to reinforce them, and co-create plans of action to realize them. Enter this episode with an open mind and a willing heart, and discover the dreams that will lead to the reality that manifests your “co-created best!”

Jesus instructs us in Matthew 5:38-41 to avoid retaliation when we perceive that we have been wronged. But why? What lessons can we learn about God’s guidance when we have been hurt? How can we use the Law of Co-Creation and Universe Responding to avoid the “I WANT to get even” reaction and to embrace the “I AM listening to the messages of guidance” approach? Please join us as we discuss how to really pay attention to what is for us in another’s disturbing behavior toward us.

Please join us for this continuation of last week’s program. Our September 17 program explored the reasons why our goals may not reflect our “co-created best”—the need for control of both the process and result that arises from the “I WANT,” the “create on our own” motivations for setting our goals, and how the path to those goals is strewn with barriers and issues. This week, we learn how to take another path and discover ways to set our goals, grounded in the “I AM,” keeping our thoughts and acts focused not on success or failure but rather the achievement of our “co-created best.”

I did everything the motivational speaker said to do. I followed all the instructions in “Goal-Setting 101.” I was somewhat flexible as I made adjustments here and there as long as it didn’t seriously disrupt what I had written down to accomplish. But it just didn’t work out. Either something kept getting in the way of achieving my goal or I ended up where I didn’t anticipate. Am I a failure? Or was it that my highest and best good—my “co-created best”—just wasn’t in sync with my goal? 

The Blame Game … it seems like everyone is playing it. But is our participation really what we are being guided to do? When we read Jesus’s words in the New Testament, it’s clear that it was responsibility—not blame—that was encouraged. When we consider co-creation in partnership with God and the messages we receive, we find the same thing. We find that guidance leads us to take responsibility. We can be ready to walk away from the Blame Game as a winner when we realize that this is one game in which a high score counts as a loss! In this episode, we discuss how to use Universe Responding to move from the tendency to blame others as we co-create a comfortable space of responsibility that allows us to grow, learn and prosper.  

It’s time to revisit the Law of Attraction and explore how our Universe Responding version of this spiritual theory—“The Law of Co-Creation”—removes what many may find to be barriers to the practical application of the more traditional view. If you have had difficulty manifesting what you have held in your mind, this program may contain just the answers which you need. Approach “The Law of Co-Creation” with an open and receptive mind and heart and you’ll be delighted with what you discover!

The Silence, which we use to communicate with God, does not arise from the quietness of an external environment, but rather from going into the room (Matthew 6:6) that is within us. It is here, with our intellect and intuition fully engaged, that we center ourselves and discard the noise, which is likely to distract us. We can then decipher the guidance that is there to lead us. Last week’s program introduced a way to embrace all the inputs that surround us and discover the messages intertwined within them, through a formula of Focus, Filter and Find. This week, we learn how to use this approach so we are always ready, at every instant, for our next message of guidance.

Our Higher Power’s messages of guidance come from everywhere, all the time, and in every form. While listening in the Silence gives us the opportunity to focus on God, we cannot spend every moment in the Silence; we must also learn to listen in the Noise. Once we develop the skills to hear with our intellect and our intuition in both these environments, we will truly “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), to “listen without ceasing,” and to never, ever again miss an important message of guidance.

Do you see difficulties in opportunities or opportunities in difficulties? The answer to this “glass half-empty/glass half-full” question is a critical component as to whether we reach our co-created best … or not! Explore with us why these two approaches are so very different and how our choice of viewpoints affects every part of our lives. We’ll also discuss how we can work with our Higher Power to evolve (or help those we know to evolve) to a glass half-full attitude.

Has your special relationship lost some of its luster? Are the cracks that have formed between the two of you giving way to canyons? Has meaningful communication become a thing of the past? This program, based on The Law of Co-Creation and the Universe Responding Spiritual Model For Life, will help you to determine if this is still the relationshipthat reflects your “co-created best” and, if it is, how to help it get back on the track of co-creation. Even if you have a great relationship, this program will provide ideas to help you with the rough spots that we sometimes encounter.

What comes to mind when you read this? A book by Dr. Steven Lamm? A record album by Molly Hatchet? A military rallying cry? Let’s take another look at this phrase through the prism of Co-Creation: Without “guts”—the courage we build through our trust in our Higher Power, which compels us to act in harmony with guidance—we won't experience “glory”—the achievement of our “co-created best.” Today we examine what it takes to have “guts” and why it is so important to each of us, as well as to those whose lives we touch, to not be afraid to use them! 

Death is difficult to consider, whether it is our own or that of a friend or loved one. Without God’s guidance, death can become our greatest fear. While this program does not address what may be on the other side of this transition, it does suggest ways that we can work in partnership with our Higher Power to co-creatively align our thinking—and our own “bucket lists”—so that we can approach this step in the circle of life with trust rather than with fear.

This program explores what life is like when all aspects of life—spiritual, physical, emotional and mental—are properly blended and in balance. We contrast this with times when these four parts are managed so that some receive too little attention and create dissonance, rather than harmony, in our lives. This lack of balance, which can be traced to “creating on our own,” can lead to all sorts of destructive situations—health issues, relationship problems and financial challenges. Is your life always in co-created balance? If not, this program may help you learn new ways to work with God to find and retain the balance, which is your “co-created best!”

For some of us, “co-creation” is more of a theory than a way of life. While there may be many reasons for this, the root cause is often found in challenges that we may have encountered in forming a relationship of total connectedness and trust with our Higher Power. Without this foundation, reaching the level of continuous communication with God to effectively co-create every aspect of our lives won’t happen. In this episode, we suggest five “painless” ways to BELIEVE—methods so straightforward and so enjoyable that you will look forward to these opportunities to strengthen your divine partnership with your Higher Power.

Galatians 6:7 says “… for you reap whatever you sow.” Is this a well-worn Bible verse that folks are just fond of quoting (often in disapproving voice while condemning someone’s actions or behaviors!), or does it actually hold much wisdom for us? In this episode, we’ll be examining what seeds we are sowing in our lives and whether we are allowing these seeds to germinate and grow in an environment of co-creation. We can have a life that is a co-created garden of abundance! Let’s explore together why some of the seeds, which we sow, produce plants that wither and die, while others give us a strong, healthy and beautiful crop!

How often we find ourselves praying to God to make something better—make us well, help us get the job, or untangle a mess we’ve created! But consider this: What if we communicated so closely with God all the time that we trusted that our outcomes were co-created, even if we didn’t expect or didn’t like one of them? Would we opt for a prayer that ignores all this prior co-creative work? What if, instead, we experienced a negative result that was traced to “create on our own” actions? Would prayers imploring God to fix it really be the best way to communicate with God at that point? Or is there a better way to get on the co-creation track, even when circumstances appear to be at their bleakest? Please join us for this very important program.

What is your self-image? Is it filled with positive, constructive adjectives—loving, helpful, generous and kind—or negative, destructive ones? Is your self-worth dictated by factors, which others believe are important, or is it determined by what you have been guided by God to know is important? Have you been shaped by the “I WANT,” rather than the “I AM”? If so, now is the time to honestly examine your view of yourself, get reconnected with divine guidance, and transform yourself into the person who exemplifies co-creation! It is never too late to start!

Never changing, never growing and never learning may seem to be a safe and secure approach to life. The “steadiness” of having a viewpoint and holding firm to it no matter what happens may be regarded by some as a virtue. But this is not the approach we suggest in the Universe Responding Model. When we shut down our willingness to reconsider or to evolve our thoughts and our actions, we are saying to our Higher Power that we are not interested in listening to any messages of guidance, which are different from our beliefs and opinions. With this attitude, we may soon find we are drowning in a pool of stagnation rather than joyously swimming in the clear, fulfilling stream of a co-created life. 

Worry can undo much of what we’ve co-created with our Higher Power. Worry can become a blockage that keeps us from listening to guidance, which, in turn, can grind the co-created evolution of our thoughts to a halt and cause our actions to be out of sync with the I AM. Why do we worry? Why can’t we seem to completely trust God? This program is designed to look at the fear and insecurity that underlie worry, explore how that worry interferes with The Law of Co-Creation, and describe practical ways to release worry. Don’t Worry, Be Guided!

A healthy ego contributes to our emotional balance, our self-confidence and our ability to appreciate the worth of others. It gives us the courage to whole-heartedly embrace the “I AM” and co-create! But if we feed the part of our ego that is driven by the “I WANT,” we will find that these positive aspects are overshadowed as the value placed on Interconnectedness and Oneness shuts down and any guidance, which contradicts this self-centered approach to life, is shut off. Join Valleri as she suggests ways to shrink the negative part of ego while growing its positive and constructive aspects.

We go through a lot in our lives. Folks say mean things to us, we find ourselves in the middle of controversies, we get into arguments, and we go through periods of mild to serious upheavals. And all this makes us really upset! Should we reject these unpleasant experiences as completely useless and forget them as soon as we can? Or would it be better to be open and receptive to another way of thinking—a way that would encourage us to listen, to learn, and to take another step toward becoming our “co-created best”? 

Most of us have heard this quote. It’s interesting that both the identity of its original speaker (many, but not all, attribute it to Samuel Johnson) as well as its meaning are subject to disagreement. This episode looks at how, in a metaphysical way, this quote could become true if we misapply the Law of Attraction and rely on our intentions alone to construct our path and to determine our destination.

As a follow-up to this past week’s program, we ask the question: How can we prove the existence of God? It sounds like a tall order, doesn’t it? But in reality, proving the existence of God in our lives is very easy! And once we understand the logic of how we gather this evidence, we will be even more convinced that God is real, that a relationship with the Higher Power of our Understanding is essential, and that a co-created life is the only way to live! 

Recently, there has been a great deal of discussion that beliefs and movements which do not recognize a Higher Power, such as atheism and secular humanism, are a fine substitute for a relationship with God. But are they really? Consider the electricity which comes into our homes to connect with our appliances, computers and televisions. When we plug into that source of power, our existence is enhanced in so many ways; alternatively, without that flow of energy, we find ourselves in a very different, much more challenging world. “Why God?” Please join us as we answer this question by examining these “create on your own” approaches and dispelling any ideas that these avenues could ever guide us to our “highest and best good.”

It’s spring! It’s nearly Easter! The theme of the season is that of rebirth. But it’s not just for baby chicks and budding trees … It’s for us too! But what if you just don’t feel like you are connecting with the joy of the renewal which surrounds you? What if you don’t seem to be able to escape the attitudes and behaviors that keep you “creating on your own”? Join us as we discuss why your path to co-creation may be blocked and how together we can roll away the stone that stands in your way.

On occasions when we experience off-center, creating on our own feelings or those “low” moments, we’re sometimes not sure what we can use for a quick remedy to return us to a co-creative space. It’s gratitude! This episode is devoted to demonstrating how acknowledgement and gratefulness can quickly transform our attitude and outlook, so that we can think more clearly, listen more intently, and act more harmoniously.

The Law of Co-Creation, through the use of the Universe Responding Spiritual Model for Life, provides us with the formula so that we may always achieve our “co-created best.” But where does the concept of “sin” fit in to all of this? Or does it? How can we reposition this age-old, fear-based idea to help us learn and grow in our vibrant, positive New Thought approach? Tune in to learn how to extract from the concept of “sin” some surprising—and useful—tools to stay on the path of co-creation.

Are we afraid to love? Is commitment to a person, a community, or even to a Higher Power a scary idea? How can we tell when our desire to love or to be loved has become adversely affected by an “I WANT” approach, rather than through the Truth found in the “I AM”? In this episode, we explore how fear—a “create on our own” impulse—can destroy love and cause us to question our ability to be loved. But we will also share solutions inspired by The Law of Co-Creation to kick fear out of our consciousness once and for all and make plenty of room for love for ourselves, for others, and for God.

Prejudice and discrimination are two concepts that can absolutely destroy our ability to co-create. Not only is Oneness and Interconnectedness with others and with God severely damaged, but these distorted views of and actions toward others encourage destructive thoughts, block our abilities to hear messages of guidance, stifle opportunities to act harmoniously, and remove much of the gratitude that gives meaning to life. Our program examines how we can combat these feelings and impulses in ourselves and how we can each increase our contribution to the evolution of a just and fair society—a society in which co-creation can thrive! 

Are you ready for a change in your relationship, your finances, your health or your attitude? On this, our 100th episode of our Universe Responding program, we review how to put the The Law of Co-Creation to work in our lives, using the Universe Responding Spiritual Model for Life as its engine, so we can make the changes that we feel guided to make—the changes that will lead us to the joy of experiencing our “co-created best.”

This episode is inspired by my birthday … I will be 55 on February 22! Am I too old to be setting goals and striving for the excellence inherent in my “co-created best?" Heck, no! I’m ready to follow my Higher Power’s guidance, wherever it leads. I pay attention to messages from God, as these affirm my abilities, not messages from the media, which depict age as a disease. So whether you are 18 or 88, this program is for you, as positive aging takes place at every age. This program is full of ideas about how to co-create a perpetually youthful attitude as we experience excitement and anticipation about all the opportunities which await us in our future.

Have you ever come out of the movie theatre or the supermarket to find a fear-inducing religious tract (a pamphlet or leaflet of religious propaganda) placed under your windshield wiper? I have. How did you feel when you read it? Are you ever subjected to the electronic version of this—the “religious” programming on radio or TV which seeks to build its following through threats of hell and brimstone with a sprinkling of prejudice? Join us as we discuss ways we can stay on the path of co-creation in words, thoughts, and actions when exposed to these viewpoints.