Last Days of the Old

I just heard the news of the passing of an old family friend who had reached the spectacular age of 102. She let go of her body after already letting go of so much, including friends and loved ones. We all must let go of so many things along lifes road.
In these last days, of what is soon to become the old year, it is a great time to reflect on what you would consciously like to leave behind you. 

Its also a great time to set intentions. Wayne Dyer wrote a beautiful book called The Power of Intention. He says the intention we set must not be self serving or material, it is more about a state of consciousness. 

“ Its not about attracting what you want, but attracting what you are. You have to just be. You have to let go. You have to allow. You have to be free and make this your consciousness. Basically, what you would see is a frequency (of energy) that manifests itself through the process of giving, of allowing, of offering and of serving. It asks nothing back.”

I think this is a worthy intention; to be true to oneself, with honesty, and kindness, in reverence and consideration for all life and in service to humanity. Being in the flow of life as our unique selves, with the gifts we have to share and the blessings we give asking nothing in return but the simple joy of showing up, fully present to life. That is my intention this year, to release any efforts at forcing, or feelings of struggle, to let go of efforts to control or manipulate outcomes, to make no judgment of good or bad but to adopt a Buddhist mantra;

"Everything that happens to me is the best possible thing that can happen to me."

I know this wont always be easy when things dont go pleasantly but I do believe I can grow from every experience that comes my way and I allow this to happen. I attract what I am by letting go.
What are you intending or allowing in the New Year?

Time out

If we are always busy how can we truly savor life's greatest gifts? 

As you move through all that needs to get done this holiday season I urge you to make the time for some stillness. In the quiet is where we really get to be with our truest feelings and we get a chance to reflect on all that we have achieved in our busy times, our family gatherings, all that our senses have so quickly absorbed. We can access if there was something left unsaid, or undone, we can access if how we spent our time was truly valuable or if we need to make adjustments. Remember too than in the stillness daydreams bring in valuable visions and new ideas.

Its my intention this year to create this kind of time intentionally because I wont be travelling home. In my mind I will make many journeys. I will visit with people I have known who are no longer with me, some of my past Christmases have been my best gifts and I intend to truly savor them in gratitude. I also intend to be grateful for whatever days are left to me, for there is not one of us who knows the day nor the hour that we will take our leave. I reap as I sow, I intend to sow a lot of love. In stillness I imagine how that will be.
Make time to savor and to intend, its your life, is it good? If not, look harder for the good in it. There is always, always something to be grateful for. What actions can you actively take to make it better? You are the creator of your own experience, there is no one else to look to to make a change.

I wish you time, peace and balance, and stretches of stillness at all times of the year but especially now so you can access what your heart wishes to experience this Christmastime and for all time. 
Namaste.

In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.

Deepak Chopra

Great Expectations

Do you or did you have expectations of how your life would turn out; of what you might be when you grew up, expectations of a certain amount of achievement and happiness?

In my teens I remember a teacher going round the class asking each student what they hoped for in their future. She got varied answers; I want to be a fireman, I want to be married with children, I want to live in an exotic place, I want to have a big house. My answer was, I want to be happy.

All of the answers were lists of things imagined to bring happiness. I just didn't know what that would be for me in the future. How could I, at 13 years of age know what, at 30, 40, 50 would bring me happiness?
Naturally we have basic needs that must be met for happiness and we expect that they will be met, like having enough to eat, a warm dry place to sleep, like-minded friends and family who love us.

What I am realizing in my 50s is that I also have unconscious expectations that I believe may relate to how my parents lived their lives. In contrast to my parents who lived within 20 miles of where they were born, I live 6000 miles from where I was born. In contrast to them I have no children while they had 10. They lived in one house that they purchased, for over 60 years. I on the other hand live in a rented apartment and the longest I have lived in any one place ever is 12 years.

I have been wondering lately if this is why I have the feeling that there is no stability in my life, that everything is impermanent as if my life has not yet taken the shape it will be. I believe that I feel this because of the contrast with my family's choices and feel that I judge this as somehow not acceptable. The expectation that somehow it will turn out like my parents lives lurks in the unconscious.

 My life path and choices have brought me to this moment and asked me to evaluate and appreciate what I now have and what I have done. I say "asked me" to evaluate, as who else is qualified. Only I can truly decide if I have succeeded, if I am happy. I realize the power is in me to choose to look at what I dont have or compare my life with other lives and find it wanting OR appreciate what I do have and see the unique good. I am always going to long for more of what I love and that which makes me happy and I can also practice gratitude for my good fortune thus far. My life has been amazing and I am so grateful for the experiences I have had. Every life has a road or many roads not taken. Hopefully fear has not restricted us and love leads the way. This has to be part of the evaluation. How have you done in that regard?

Do you believe all you think?

We all have bad days, I certainly do and today started that way.
At the beginning of the year I committed to doing things differently and the key to that I believe is thinking different thoughts because our thoughts are the seed we plant and soon see the results of in our experience. So as today started with some ugly thoughts rattling round in my head I wondered what should I do here, will I go with these self defeating thoughts that feel so familiar even if unpleasant?

Even as I was wondering about this my friend called and we prayed together. Ahh what a salve to my soul, to lift my thoughts to a higher level and see from the perspective of the Divine. How interesting too how I can instantly see the Truth for her sooner than for myself. And vice versa. I guess that's why we keep friends around.

Following that phone call I listened in to a 30 day Prosperity program I committed to 17 days ago and again I got a message I needed to hear and here it is...

Just because I think I cant I don't have to believe me!

Ha ha! I loved it, thank you Spirit! All my negative thoughts just got shot down because I choose not to believe them. Like the Wizard of Oz they have been shown up to be a load of hot air! So what is the Truth I replaced them with, its this, from Ernest Holmes...

"Good and more good is mine. An ever increasing good is mine. There is no limit to the good that is mine. Everywhere I go I see this good, I feel it, I experience it. It presses itself against me, it flows through me, expresses itself in me and multiplies itself around me."

Your beliefs are your choice, so what will it be today? I believe this the best day of my life because I am here and I am alive and I have free will. I am creative and a blessing and I expect to be blessed today. You can too.

Blessed day

Today its a wonderful day...
because I am alive,
because I feel no pain,
because I love,
because I am loved,
because I am creative,
because I made carrot soup,
because my cat sleeps beside me,
because I went to church and met lovely people,
because I meditated,
because I set an intention and carried it out,
because I prayed,
because a friend said something nice to me,
because I have a friend,
because I did something nice for someone,
because I know my power today,
because I am free.


What was the best part of your day today?
Give yourself credit for bringing about the bast part of your day.
And if it has not been a good day, listen to this, its almost guaranteed to lift your spirits.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFoXcO8llNI&feature=fvsr

Resistance is Futile

What have you been resisting lately? There is a certain energy to resistance, we have to use our will to push something away or to hold ourselves back. I find that effort exhausting personally. But I will resist all manner of things that I absolutely know are good for me, like hiking in the hills which is a boon on any given day I choose to do it. I resist cleaning my office and I wonder why when I finally give in and delight in the order I have created. I often resist invitations to events that don't feels like they might be comfortable for me and even when I say Ok I'll go, with a "I suppose this could be a good thing" attitude,  I can feel my feet dragging and my enthusiasm lagging. Can anyone relate?
Then I go and I have the best time possible. I've heard similar stories from friends, "I didn't want to go to the party and I ended up meeting my soul mate!"  I wonder why we don't  approach the thing with less resistance and more expectation of good, especially as we give in, in the end. It would make the entire process more pleasurable.
Maybe there was a bad experience once and we let it color our vision of the future event. Slowly I'm learning that precedent has no power over the present, that its possible that new experiences can have no relation to the past. The more I learn to give up resistance, the sooner I can allow more good into my life!
A little trust, a little optimism, a little visioning of a positive outcome, more consciousness of my own power to create and  releasing of a need to control, can add up to being in the flow. In the flow who knows what might come? Can I handle it? I say yes, yes, I am willing to accept more good. At least I'm going to try to let go of that energy of resistance, and say yes to life. I trust, I imagine good - I'll keep you posted as to how its working for me.