Looking for clarity? Looking for insight?

Let us fill our hearts this morning with all the love and compassion that comes from knowing that we all make a difference in this world and that everything we do, say and think has an effect on the universe. A beautiful poem I read.

Little Solutions (Author Anonymous)

"A little less impatient with those we deem too slow;

A little less arrogant because of all we know;

A little less conceited since our worth is slight;

A little less intolerant even when we are right;

A little more forgiving and swifter to be kind;

A little more desirous of the word praise to find;

A little more eager to help others to rejoice;

A little more careful to speak with gentle voice;

A little more effort to see another's view;

A little more willingness to extend to helping hand;

A little more committment to our people and our land;

A little more eagerness to listen and understand;

A little more resole to do what must be done;

And a greater understanding that truly we are one."

Breathe

 Breathe, just breathe. 

Be aware of your breath. 

Breathe in and Breathe out.    

Notice your breath as it flows gently in and out of your body without effort. 

When there are stressors, or worries, return your focus to your breath.

Breathe in and breath out. 

Breathe in love, breathe out love

Breathe in gratitude, breathe out gratitude.

That’s what it means to just breathe; to concentrate solely on the experience of nourishing our bodies with air and in doing so foster a deep sense of internal safety.

“The breath of life. 

Each time you breathe in, you take oxygen to your lungs, your bloodstream, and your cells. Have you ever noticed, we are changed with each breath. 

“Feelings come and go like clouds in the sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

This reminds us that no matter how chaotic  things may seem, we’re okay. We’ll get through it. We are still here, still strong.

Breathing exercises are now such an important part of my daily routine. I couldn’t think of starting a day and ending my day without doing my breathing exercises. Breathing techniques has become my biggest tool and best friend. Breathing has become a foundation for living with conscious presence and awareness.

Every breath is a chance to begin again.

Playfulness

 “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” ~George Bernard Shaw

How do you make life more playful?

Playfulness becomes difficult when we get bogged in worries. Worrying nurses the joy out of everything. I know, because I’ve been there many times before.

We don’t stop playing because we no longer enjoy it. We stop playing because we think we should be doing other things, and that creates fear, anxiety, and, eventually, numbness towards life. There will always be something that needs to be done.

It’s natural to connect, explore, and discover. Every day brings discoveries, wonder, and excitement. Every day is new.

I’ve never stopped being “playful”. When I stop noticing the playfulness of the world around me, I know I’m in a bad mood or too stressed, and I often make myself stop and re-engage in the world in a playful way, even if just to watch a funny movie.

When we lose ourselves in play, whether creating a make-believe world, throwing a ball between friends, or watching silly YouTube videos, we allow ourselves to get out of the linear, problem-solution, adult mindset.

We can learn a huge lesson from little persons. I certainly have.

Luckily, my career path ended up being immersed in the whirlwind of teaching children.

I decided to rediscover my silly, consequence-free side, to unlock my optimism.

I observed children make every task bright, fun, and interesting . . . and chaotic. Their infectious excitement and belief in good things pervaded my every working day. Their unconscious behavior and easy emotions filled my every weekday thought.

I owe those little smiley faces a heck of a lot! Being surrounded by children has helped me realize, “You don’t need to be childish to be childlike.” You can find happiness in everyday routine.

Re-discover your sunshine…Live, love, and laugh like you never lost the magic.

1. Give your happiness a boost by delighting in your own unique sense of humor.

2. Trust good things will happen, and put your hand up for every opportunity that comes your way.

3. Follow your gut instead of overthinking. 

4. Encourage feelings of excitement to bubble up more often by giving them glorious, physical free rein.

5. Give yourself the gorgeous gift of looking forward to birthdays by focusing on sharing, receiving, and celebrating all you’ve contributed in the past twelve months.

6. Take a break from meaningful activities to relax by being deliciously frivolous.

7. Sing out loud when a tune pops into your head to bring on feelings of pure joy.

8. Have upbeat conversations with yourself out loud to silence your inner critic.

In the land of play, we make connections we wouldn’t normally make. We see things in new ways. Play can boost our creativity, heighten our mood, make us laugh, and can engage us in the world in ways that regular “adult” life often doesn’t.

To Love

 Imagine opening up your heart and allowing love in.

Imagine feeling more confident in who you are. Confident enough to be open, honest, and kind in a relationship. To be willing to listen, understand, accept, support, and forgive.

But the very idea of opening up and letting love in can bring on the wrong kind of palpitations.

Saying yes to love that’s like standing naked, bare naked, every inch of you on show. Completely vulnerable.

“The greatest asset you could own, is an open heart.” ~Nikki Rowe

Love doesn’t grow and flourish because you dress up or make yourself up. All it needs is for you to show up, to be fully present. To let love in, you need to believe you’re worthy of love, that you truly are enough for another’s heart to fall for. Love is a powerful force, but you can’t share it if your heart is closed. 

Love doesn’t have a complicated vocabulary. All it wants to hear is “That’s okay. I love you for who you are.” 

Each relationship is unique, just as each person is unique, so how your relationship unfolds will be unique too. You can’t plan for it to go a particular way. You have to engage with the process of it and with each other, and then make decisions as you go. There is no one-line you can say, no one-action you can take, that will lead to a particular result.

All you can do is live your life more fully, learn to accept and love yourself more fully, and you will love and be loved more fully.

“Our interactions with one another reflect a dance between love and fear.” ~Ram Dass

But I learned, you just need to let your defenses down long enough to let someone else in. Accept that in a relationship you’re one of two wonderful, separate, yet intertwined individuals. You can be the amazing you that you are, and they can be their wonderful self too.

Whenever there are two people involved, there are going to be miss takes and miss understandings. That’s a given.

“Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving.” ~James E. Faust

Love needs to be heard to flourish. But it took me years to figure out that it was as much my responsibility to listen as to talk. Because love is a conversation, not a monologue.

I had to learn that I didn’t need to be perfect. And I never could be. And doing my best was plenty. I had to accept that about the other person too. 

Although I know my own work of self-love and acceptance will continue, I see now the rewards of opening my heart. To let love in we must practice not shutting it out. In the end, it’s all we really want, and we can have it, if we open up to it.

Beginnings

How can we create a manageable and enjoyable year where, not pressure, but pleasure and joy is leading the way?

”Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” 

– Martin Luther King Jr.

To get to where you want to be, you have to start walking in that direction. 

Don’t see it as a sprint, but more as a marathon. The beauty of new beginnings is that they can happen any time; not just with the new year.  Every morning is a new beginning.Every time the hour hand moves, it’s a new beginning. Every breath is a chance to begin again.

The true wonder of beginnings is that they are infinite; you can begin again whenever you like and there is no end to how many beginnings you can have. That is the magic of beginnings. That is the magic of creating our own happiness.

We are the creators of our own destiny. We are the creators of our own happiness. Therefore, we have the opportunity to start over. 

Life changes constantly, and that is what makes this life so wonderful. Everyday is filled with choices. 

A few days ago I found a letter I had written to myself on New Year’s Eve in 2019 describing how I wanted 2020 to unfold. I described what I wanted to accomplish for my career, the kind of people I wanted to surround myself with, and most importantly, how I wanted to feel through it all.

To my surprise, I noticed how much I actually had accomplished. I noticed how my vision, focus, and intentions had placed me in the right direction throughout the year. In previous years, my focus had been on achieving things such as exercising three times per week, eating only healthy food, and quitting bad habits. You know, concrete results. 

This time, however, my focus was on working toward my vision of the future I desire while growing and enjoying myself in the process.

In simple terms; making sure I was happy while working toward a compelling future. 

So, whenever I put down a goal, I also made sure to define how I wanted it to feel.

We think change has to come from the outside, that we have to be the recipients of change. Something needs to happen to us before we do something about it.

Last year was not at all like we expected to be. So many of us were excited about what a year of 20/20 vision would look like, remember that? While it may not have been the vision we expected, 2020 surely has taken us to a deeper level of sight.

The beginning at this time is the perfect time to remember that success is accomplished one step at a time.

Here’s to a year filled with possibilities!

Be honest with yourself and others. 

The worst thing you can do is lie to yourself. 

Would you rather be honest and temporarily uncomfortable, or slowly convince yourself that what you want, need, and believe doesn’t matter?

One of the biggest challenges in my life has been understanding when I’m doing something because I want to, and when I’m doing it because I’m scared to do what I really want to do.

It’s tempting to lie to yourself, especially when it allows you to stay in our comfort zone. It’s much easier to believe you just don’t want something than it is to acknowledge you’re really terrified.

It’s not always easy to stand up for our beliefs and opinions. At one point or another, we all conform to our opinions, either to avoid confrontation or judgment or because we’re losing faith in what we feel is right.

Only you know if you’ve been lying to yourself. 

Only you know what you believe. 

Only you know what your values.

Speaking up for what we believe and sharing our opinions can be helpful and beneficial, when it’s appropriate, kind, constructive, and consistent.

 

“Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.” ~Unknown

Life is a dance. Life has feet. There is so much more than your day-to-day life. Look upon things that are important to you. My biggest problem was how to support myself emotionally and spiritually.

I had so many questions, but I was absolutely convinced that there was another way. There is always another way of doing things. There are Infinite number of choices and an infinite number of possibilities. I can do something different.  I can!  Everything is a potential. There are no perfect answers. There are no single answers. There are no absolutes. 

Learn to discover, explore and ask questions. Trust YOUrself. Your heart is your impulse. It will be your heart that will intuitively discern what is and what is not right for you. Each new situation in life has much more to offer than you can ever imagine. Open up so that you may learn and receive more.  You cannot do it wrong, just your way of doing things. 

I was determined to find it and just needed to trust what my heart told me. 

Open your heart to those things that give you joy. Honor the playfulness of Spirit. Trust You!