Archive for Spiritual
Are you Alive?
Posted by: | CommentsDo you wake up on Monday mornings with dread? Is it another day of the same old same old…
Here’s a challenge to help you bridge the gap to brilliance:
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs.
Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then do that.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
Harold Thurman (1899-1981), American author, theologian, philosopher, educator, civil rights leader
It’s never too late to come alive to your joy. Make the time to ask and answer that question and watch the magic unfold.
Loving yourself Happy
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve heard it said that life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans.
How true. James, my late husband, left 92 single spaced pages of ideas and thoughts for his books and poetry. He never lived to see retirement nor get them published. A school friend signed as a professional football player at 17, and never made it to training camp. His motorcycle slid into a car and he spent the rest of his life as a quadriplegic. Instead of football, he became an engineer, and even drove his own van, operated by the touch of his finger on the controls! It’s up to us to create happiness from the opportunities we’ve been given. Rest assured, in the thick of things, it is hard to see beyond the current upset into the potential for growth and happiness. Life isn’t for the fainthearted.
James suffered with life long chronic pain. When he got past the idea of, “Why me?” he accepted life as it was and lived a full, productive and happy life – even though he left an unfulfilled dream of being an author. He spent weekends at his writing craft. James was a writer and he wrote. That was his process and the end result didn’t matter.
My grad school chum and I used to dance together. He would use his fingers on the joystick of his electric wheelchair to make it move, and I’d dance around him. He told me shortly before he passed away that he had the most amazing life. He confided that his condition was a great gift – a living experience of being loved ‘from the inside out.’ – and he knew himself as a Beloved Child of God. He lived a happy life.
It’s not what happens to us that determines our happiness and joy.
Happiness is a moment by moment process, not a one time event.
It is up to us to choose happiness.
I like knowing what’s ahead. I also like to control outcomes! Health challenges, the uncertainty of change, financial, physical, emotional, mental or spiritual pain are signals that something’s afoot. I can attempt to control the outcome of everything and plan my life, but life really plans me. When I decide to consciously choose positive thoughts, I get to emerge victorious! Some days I play the romantic, the martial artist, entrepreneur or author. Other days the victim, victorious, wise one or fool. They are all facets of my personality. Life is my playground, and I can change thoughts as I please. When I change those thoughts to ones of loving, compassion, acceptance and gentleness, life gets happy indeed. It’s so much more fun to be happy!
Life is an adventure. Letting go and trusting that all is well, regardless of how it looks on the outside, sometimes comes down to breathing in and out. They say in 12-step programs that the first step is to say, “God (Higher Power) I can’t, you can, please help.” That’s great advice for all of us when the going gets tough.
Here’s your challenge for the week: Drop the story of why your life is or isn’t what you want and love yourself happy. If not how, when?
St. Patrick and the ANTS
Posted by: | CommentsMost of us know that St. Patrick is credited for driving the snakes out of Ireland. St. Patrick is also my hero.
Maybe it has something to do with being born o
n St. Patrick’s Day, or perhaps the amazing story (some say legend) of how he was captured into slavery and taken from Britain to Ireland, spent years oppressed by his masters, escaped as a result of listening to God’s inner direction, and ultimately went back to help the Irish. It’s the stuff of fantasy, triumph, despair and determination.
He overcame almost insurmountable odds to be become a priest and then later a bishop. He risked being disowned by his wealthy parents, almost certain death when he returned to face his captors, and later persecution by the Church for his unorthodox hands on approach and ministry. St. Patrick persevered in spite of the prevailing ANTS of his time, both his own and others! The snakes may be long gone from Ireland, but those ANTs are still alive and well.
Fast forward from old world Ireland to New Jersey. My sister called yesterday and mentioned she’d had an unrelenting toothache for several months. I took her through a Bridge Process™ (pardon the pun) to help her identify the issues being represented by her aching tooth. As she got in touch with her answer, she laughed and said it was the ANTS at work! “What do you mean?” I asked. She giggled as the pain had already diminished, and said, it’s my automatic negative thoughts. She asked me if I had heard of Dr. Amen and his PBS series. Actually I hadn’t seen the series, nor read his books (they’re on my list), but I’d referred a client to him. He’s a brilliant psychiatrist, whose cutting edge research is changing how we look at brain dysfunction and aging. See more at Change your Brain and Change your Life.
Our ANTs are alive and well. They are so ingrained that most folks never notice them. ANTS are toxic to our health. Science proves it and I’ve experienced it first hand! Left unchecked they stop us in our tracks and keep us from expressing our brilliance. Continue eating daily doses of ANT food, and you will find your health and relationships at risk.
What can we do to banish ANTS in our life? A lot. Pay attention to those negative thoughts! Set an intention to pay attention to how you feel, notice what thoughts trigger your upset, and begin to build a bridge to your own inner wisdom and brilliance. Relinquish the ANT food story you tell yourself: judgments, blame, shame, guilt, anger resentment, etc. and you are sure to experience far greater health, fantastic relationships, increased abundance and joy.
As the Irish say, “You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your father was.” Let’s drop those ANTS today, because everyday is a great day to PLANT (Place Loving And Nice Thoughts) for ourselves and others. It takes nothing less to become our own visionary leader and a leader in the lives of those we touch.
The Great Secret
Posted by: | CommentsSome days I just don’t know which way to turn. I may feel paralyzed, fearful or just plan ornry. Here’s the great secret: no matter how paralyzed, fearful or upset we might be, there is an immediate solution. Bless it all and just keep on breathing.
Thoughts are energetic things. They leave their imprints on ourselves and those around us. Long before we discovered the truths of quantum physics, the Chinese had a saying, “Though the bird of sadness may land on your head, don’t let it build a nest.”
We allow negativity to build a nest when we fail to observe the subtle and not so subtle presence of negativity. Most of us are inundated with TV, the radio, and of course of newspaper or online home pages and negative friends or colleagues. A steady diet of this low level negativity may turn the most optimistic individual into a pessimist, wearing us down through association.
Take heart, the secret of secrets is no secret at all. Love it all, love yourself through whatever apparent mess you are in, and know that gratitude and forgiveness will lift and restore you Soul.
I don’t know about you, but life is sweeter when there is a diet of joy, laughter and contentment…so choose where you eat!
Friend-Power
Posted by: | CommentsFriends are the stuff of life. Good friends are solid gold. They tell you the truth you don’t want to hear, and just know when you’re in need. Many of us have other friends who suck our energy and drain us with their neediness.
I’m blessed with friends who show up in the most amazing ways. They offer their gifts, kindness, honesty, and playfulness. They offer their time. That is priceless!
Let’s face it, we are wired for connection. We may think we can do it ourselves. Maybe we can. But life is so much sweeter when the joys and sorrows are shared.
Don’t have a close friend around? Become your own best friend. Lift, inspire, and support yourself in every way possible. Then share that with others.
You will automatically begin to attract people that lift, inspire, and support you. You may be surprised to find your energy higher, your smile wider, and life sweeter.
Oh, and those negative friends, they will likely disappear.
