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

I Love a Rainy Day

Its all relative. I live in Los Angeles and we don't see rain for 10 months of the year. When it rains the world is transformed. A puddle is news worthy and traffic is crazy and people just don't know how to cope.
Now, in Ireland where they don't see the sun for 10 months of the year we see the same thing in reverse. The sun comes out and everyone goes a little crazy, very quickly the heat becomes too much and people don't know how to cope.  I often joke with my family about having an exchange of days so we can bring balance to the experience of life in our diverse worlds.

Unfortunately I cant pack up a day of sunshine and hand it to the US mail for delivery in Ireland so we all continue to endure and make the most of our circumstances.

I think its a bit like that in our lives as we negotiate the circumstances we encounter at our age and stage in life, in our career or in our relationships. We are each given a complete different set of cards to play this game of life, and depending on our choices of what we have left down or picked up we must now deal with the hand we have got! So we endure and we make the most of its joys and its sorrows and even if we could we would not swop our set of issues for someone else's.

So we deal with what is and hopefully we can let go of judging if its good or bad, for all seeming good has a down side and all seeming bad has an up side, or positive to be gained if we look hard enough. All good AND bad come to pass, which is nice to remember when we are going through a bad patch. We don't like to remember that when things are good but more and more as I grow more mature I tend to "cast a cold eye" as Yeats epitaph says and just be with what is, fully living each moment, not wishing anything away but knowing things will change in their own time.

Today I am reveling in the rain. Looking out at the umbrellas running this way and that and the drops falling hard in the puddles, grateful California is getting what it desperately needs and hoping it lasts. Loving what is today is easy! Im warm and dry and the rain is falling across the dry plains and the farmlands that need it. And when the sun returns too hot for Christmastime I will do my best to just be with what is, casting a detached eye, observing and allowing this wonderful and mysterious life to unfold as it will.

"Cast a cold eye on life and on death, horseman pass by." William Butler Yeats

Happy Holidays

The holiday season always brings with it some stress and lately I have begun to understand that situations that stress or frustrate us are simply asking us to find the real truth at the heart of life.
Let me explain what I mean. Ups and downs are part and parcel of life, big ones like loosing a job and small ones like screaming kids at the mall; they are pretty much unavoidable so what do we do when we can't change something?
Viktor Frankl says “When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” And the Buddha said the more we resist things as they are the more we suffer.

I dont think its possible to go through life without encountering something that triggers our upset or annoyance or challenges our sanity in one way or another. Its part of being human.

The real truth at the heart of life, as I mentioned earlier, is that we all deserve and are love and understanding. Something that makes us suffer is asking us to find our compassion, to remember that on a soul level we can grow through this experience and find love for ourselves and those around us. Circumstances change, things come to pass not to stay. The only lasting thing is our consciousness.
No matter if you are heading out to shop for Christmas or caring for someone with cancer, in whatever situation you find yourself pushed to your limits, remember it is in your power to practice compassion.

Soften your heart and speak gently to yourself. There is already enough stress in the world. No less than we would wish for ourselves, let us also wish the best for others. Try to find the best possible reason for a person's rudeness or seeming insensitive behavior. There is always room for more love in the world and you can be a channel for it this Holiday Season.

It is a wonderful opportunity to practice goodwill to all men.

And remember if you feel your goodwill toward men running low maybe its time to take yourself back to your sanctuary and make yourself a cup of hot chocolate as you congratulate yourself on your patience and your ability to change yourself instead of fighting the inevitable.  How powerful you are!

Thanksgiving

I'm from Ireland where Thanksgiving is not celebrated which is a surprise to some people here.
I don't know why it surprises people unless they have momentarily forgotten that it was celebrated by the Plymouth pilgrims and the natives who helped them survive their first winter in the New World in 1621. It became an official holiday in 1863, when, during the civil war, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November.
I have a special relationship with Thanksgiving despite not growing up here, because it was the day I arrived in the US. Of course I had no idea that was the case then but over the years as I celebrate my anniversary as an Irish American I like to give thanks for the experiences that my journey has given me.
I try not to dwell on all that I left behind because I left so much. Every decision we make has a positive and a negative. Every decision we make adds something to our lives. Whether we deem the decision good or bad we still gain. 

I have gained very dear friends. I have gained amazing work experiences and financial rewards that allowed me to travel the world and see things I could not have imagined, from the top of Kilimanjaro to the depths of Death Valley and so much more. I have gained a life partner whom I deeply love. I have gained a spiritual philosophy that transformed my life and showed me my own power to choose what I think and how I act. I have gained more than I can say in this small piece of writing, I gained a life that is good and full and in which I can visit my home and family in Ireland regularly, and I am deeply grateful for that.

I have gained an official holiday to give thanks. I am grateful.
What are you thankful for this thanksgiving? Remember the words of Shakespeare,
 ... there is nothing either good or
bad, but thinking makes it so.

Patience is a Virtue

Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.

Joseph Addison, English Essayist 1672-1719

Patience is not my strong suit, I feel like a tethered wildcat ready to bolt into the next thing if I am forced to wait. I also hate being too early for an event or meeting for this reason. I might have to wait, horrors!

In life when things hit a slow down I'm like a cat on a hot tin roof, jumping from this spot to that looking for a place to find the next resting place or activity. The hardest thing has always been for me to sit quietly, to adopt the attitude of allowing things to unfold, trusting in the future, letting go of control. Anyone out there feel the same?

The first experience I had of meditation was at a yoga class and when I reported how uncomfortable I felt the teacher said, "You are the type of person who would most benefit from this practice." Her words often come back to my monkey mind!

That said I have know the benefits of the stillness. I practiced meditation daily for ten years and I began to feel more centered, content in myself, less frantic. Then life changed and my routine got disrupted.  I started to see how what I gained from all the years of practice started to unravel. The old or was it a new restlessness surfaced. There are more days I feel off kilter, more irritable and less calm and able to deal with life's up and downs.

A bit like fitness really. If you stop working out, or running very soon you lose the benefits of more energy, better sleep, weight control, feeling healthy and thinking more positive.

But as with anything there is always the option to recommit. Every day is a new beginning and no matter what the past looked like tomorrow can be different if we are willing to let go of the belief that things cant change. 

So I recommit on a regular basis to the practice of mindfulness and though there are days that I look like I never meditated a day in my life, I still return to it because I want the benefits. Life is so much better when I trust the process, when I can be with myself in silence. And when life slows down I can wait for inspiration before making a move. Life will unfold its wisdom if I can just have patience and wait.

Existential Angst Anyone?

 “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Proverbs

I find myself feeling stuck lately, without a vision or inspiration and when this is the case I tend to just do what is right in front of me. I take care of the details of life with a gnawing feeling of purposelessness. During a period like this lots of "why" questions tend to come to the fore and the I end up with "what's it all about Alfie?"
My sister's motto is a quote from Longfellow " I myself must mix with action, lest I wither by despair." It sounds like good advice.

Im very good at keeping busy, being a creative type, there are often not enough hours in the day. Part of that busy action must involve heart connection or it can feel very empty; heart connection with other humans, with animals and most of all with the creative self. There are so many rewarding ways to be involved in life.

And I think there is another layer to this involvement.
I have always been a proponent of Vision Boards for setting intentions, getting excited about new possibilities, creating goals, imagining a future we can feel happy about.

Michael Beckwith Spiritual teacher, leader and Minister of Agape church in Los Angeles says "...the visioning process is about engaging creativity at its utmost, embracing transformation, and saying 'yes' to the best within us ...creating a reality that is literally beyond your imagination."

The visioning process on which he built his very successful church involves getting very quiet, going within and really listening for guidance. We are each here with a unique gift to give. What works for another may not be for you. In the visioning process we ask a series of questions such as, what qualities do we need to embody, what things do we need to know, what do we need to change in our life, and how do we need to unfold spiritually in order to bring forth the vision? This process puts us in alignment with the one energy that animates us all and is a unique expression through each according to who we are. Going with this flow within each of us serves the world in a way that gives us purpose, feels authentic and enriches those around us. We may be called to let go of fear, to take action, to find a new courage in ourselves but for me the alternative is not an option.  
Please leave a comment if this blog was helpful to you, thank you and Namaste.

"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." —John 10:10.
(For more information on this process and Michael Beckwith's book on the subject;
 http://www.dailyom.com/library/000/002/000002846.html)

Spiritual Work

I overheard a conversation today which got me all roiled up. Its a subject close to my heart and it brought out the passionate in me. The conversation concerned charging money for spiritual work, whether it is counseling, energy work, intuitive readings, or passing on spiritual wisdom teachings.
One person argued that it was difficult to charge because its a vocation, something one loves doing and simply has to do for satisfaction in life, maybe something one has a natural ability for.

Well I know at least one accountant who feels that way about his work and he plans to never retire. Numbers have always been his thing. (Not mine!!) But do you think for an instant he would think he shouldn't charge for his work? Not a chance!
But energy work or prayer work is something anyone can do was another argument, or at least can be taught to do.
Yes and anyone can do mathematics or at least be taught to do it with great patience (if you consider me!!) I can teach someone to paint, does that make them an artist, I can teach someone the ropes of a library, but does that make them a librarian?
What makes a good or great librarian is the love of books and of passing on that love to the young and old and everyone in between. What makes a great artist is the inner desire and drive to express something through art.
There are many people doing jobs that don't come from their hearts, simply in order to pay the bills. Why should someone doing what they love not pay the bills also? Of course they do, if they are an accountant, or a lawyer, or a teacher, or a firefighter, the list is endless.
Doing spiritual work not only involves one's heart, it is also the giving of ones time and may have involved years, even a lifetime of training, studying and seeking to know more. There may have been formal training, as I have had as a spiritual counselor (five years through Centers for Spiritual Living) but often there is no degree program for some of the work that people are doing to heal, bless and shift consciousness.
If society does not value it I believe its because we are not taught to trust ourselves, our intuition. Credentials are great but even picking a lawyer I need to listen to my intuition to know if he/she is the right one for me.
If I choose to pay a healer, counselor, spiritual teacher I definitely need to listen to that inner guidance no matter their training or life experience. But pay, I will, as I value everyone's time and their life journey, whether it be butcher, baker or spiritual practitioner.
What do you think? Do you feel you should pay for these types of services?

Choosing Happiness

Happiness, the pursuit of it, the very state of it can be controversial. Some people don't believe that its a valid goal or that its really achievable. Instead I hear protests of accepting a contentedness as the best we can expect, or working to eradicate poverty or achieve world peace touted as a better use of energy.  The point of achieving peace or eradicating poverty is to give people the opportunity to achieve happiness, is it not? And as much as I like being content, its been shown that happy people are more generous and kind and able to give of themselves.

Its a bit like the chicken and the egg.

One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy.
One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.
Gretchen Rubin "The Happiness Project"

It takes a bit of effort to be happy. Yes we can have moments of happiness when something good happens, that's easy. If we depend on events, people or outside influences to make us happy there are no guarantees!! Choice is our greatest tool for happiness, that and gratitude. I just read on Facebook this morning...every day may not be good but there is good in every day. This is so true, its there for us to find if we look.
That's the effort, looking for the good and choosing a perspective of loving detachment from everything else. Choosing to stand guard at the door of our minds for thoughts that judge, are harsh, unkind, mean spirited, paint pictures of doom and leave us feeling powerless. We all know them and their effects. Choosing to be happy empowers us to be more effective in our lives and have a positive influence on others. It takes a bit of effort but I think its worth it, do you?

From the Heart

According to the Heart Math researchers it has been scientifically proven that the heart knows before the mind what the truth is of any situation. So often it is difficult to access this wisdom as the mind's rationality or irrationality tends to dominate.

Sacred geometry connects us with everything in the universe by the very beats of our hearts. Averaging 72 beats per minute resting, that number in esoteric numerology is known as a master number; one that encompasses patterns that replicate the frequencies and vibrations of certain energies of the manifested Universe.

• The axis of the earth moving one degree every 72 years.

• 72 degrees Fahrenheit considered to be room temperature.

• 72 percent of the human body is composed of water.

• 72 hours is the life duration of the ovule.

• The number of languages spoken at the Tower of Babylon.

• The mass of the Moon is the 1/72th of that of the Earth

• The volume of Saturn is 72 times of that the Earth. And on and on.

I have often become disheartened as I unsuccessfully attempt to break old patterns of thinking and have become aware of a process that connects the heart wisdom with the head using sacred geometry so a new perspective can be achieved, it is called Scalar Heart connection. On the website of the same name you can experience this process, a mini session for free. Give it a try, you have nothing to loose but an old limitation.For an extended deeper session I can be contacted by leaving your email in the comment box and I will be in touch. I would also love to hear feedback on your mini session.Namaste.

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?

Here to pass not to stay!

Today is the anniversary of my mother's passing. One year ago today I was probably in the air making the journey to Ireland to be with family and friends to celebrate her life. It was a stark new reality that was difficult despite her grand age of 92. We are none of us here to stay, we are just passing through.

In the year since her passing I have felt my world rearranging itself; priorities shifting, relationships rearranged, drawing closer to those I love, living my own life more fully. This is what death does to those who remain. We get to ask the important questions of our own life. What is most important to me? Where do I want to be, and how do I want to be and what do I want to spend my time doing? Hopefully loss reminds us to not make waiting a habit. Life is now. Its not forever and the moments, good or bad, come to pass not to stay.

This is a new moment and is unaffected by the past unless you bring old thoughts into it. Create from this moment, something that comes out of the past and all that you have been but allow it to be something completely new. Anything is possible and if we remember all of life is about letting go maybe we can go with the flow of change and not resist it. Life is always making itself anew, you can too.

My mother is a new being and so am I, we have let life change us and it is a wonderful transformation.
I am grateful for past present and future, life is good because I choose to see it this way.
Blessings, Joan

Who are you?

As I was on my way to drop off my portfolio to an animation company one day and feeling nervous, I said a prayer as I parked my car and began to walk to the building. Arriving at the cross walk a man was standing there with a folder of animation under his arm. "You must be going my way" I said, "can I follow you as it's my first time to visit this company and I'm unsure how to get there." We chatted and it turned out he was the owner of the company! "Who are you?" He asked.
My immediate thought was, " I am a spiritual being in this body that people know as Joan Doyle."
I wish I had spoken that out loud for it was my absolute truth in that moment but instead I fumbled with the mundane details of my work history.
I did not get any work from that company and it was all OK but I felt I missed an opportunity to open up a deeper conversation. For it is my belief that we are each not the labels we wear, nurse, artist, teacher, librarian....we are angels in each other's lives and here to be of service, to heal and be healed, to love and be loved and most of all to grow in understanding of who we truly are as the light.
The next time someone asks you, "who are you?" I wonder what you will say and if for a moment you will pause and remember this Truth about yourself, that you are a spiritual being in a body with a name looking at another beautiful soul wrapped in a shell.
Maybe you will!

The Dawn Has Come

Happy New Year to you all.
I hope you are feeling positive even if its just a date on a calendar it does give us the opportunity to re-evaluate our choices and make new ones, to look at the past and see what we might like to change about our direction and what ways we can be more proactive in creating the life we want.

I am feeling very positive and as always being conscious of the guidance there is available for us all as I navigate the mundane of my daily tasks.
As some of you know I have been grieving the loss of my beautiful mother. Having lived in LA for the last 20 years I have had a letter from her almost every two weeks over that period of time despite my weekly phone calls! In her thoughtful way she always tucked into the envelope a poem, a photo or a clipping from the Irish newspaper that she thought I might enjoy. I miss her little love notes but fortunately I kept quite a few and have been perusing some of them and sharing them with family.
Now in the first new year she did not see I have been blessed in being busy work-wise and I feel the shift of my focus to my future and not the past. And yet her love is always with me.
Just yesterday I was putting away some printer paper and there as I rearranged the drawer I found a poem and piece of card with a quote in my mothers handwriting. Coming upon it unexpectedly was like the delight of finding a letter in my mailbox. Seeing her familiar handwriting lit up my heart.
And the quote - like a message from beyond said;
"Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come."
by Rabindranath Tagore, Indian poet
I was delighted with my first message of 2014 from my mother in Spirit.
Keep your eyes open, Spirit is talking to you and together we can make it a great 2014.

Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.
Rabindranath Tagore
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/dawn.html#ymqbLvvb5IiKHLkm.99

Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.
Rabindranath Tagore
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/dawn.html#ymqbLvvb5IiKHLkm.99

Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.
Rabindranath Tagore
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/dawn.html#ymqbLvvb5IiKHLkm.99

A PSALM OF LIFE

How much does a parent love a child? Parents who are reading this know exactly how much they love their children, many would say they would lay down their own lives for them.
This is how much each of us is loved. 
Children of God. Children of the Universe.
What we need is always provided, consider the lilies of the field...

I offer this poem today. It is a gift from my own mother for it was a favorite of hers and from the writer who offers it to a forlorn or shipwrecked brother. We can make a difference in this life he says and so I hope today this poem may be just what you need. It is offered with love.

A PSALM OF LIFE
      WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN
                    SAID TO THE PSALMIST
    TELL me not, in mournful numbers,
        Life is but an empty dream ! —
    For the soul is dead that slumbers,
        And things are not what they seem.

    Life is real !   Life is earnest!
        And the grave is not its goal ;
    Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
        Was not spoken of the soul.

    Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
        Is our destined end or way ;
    But to act, that each to-morrow
        Find us farther than to-day.

    Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
        And our hearts, though stout and brave,
    Still, like muffled drums, are beating
        Funeral marches to the grave.

    In the world's broad field of battle,
        In the bivouac of Life,
    Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
        Be a hero in the strife !

    Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !
        Let the dead Past bury its dead !
    Act,— act in the living Present !
        Heart within, and God o'erhead !

    Lives of great men all remind us
        We can make our lives sublime,
    And, departing, leave behind us
        Footprints on the sands of time ;

    Footprints, that perhaps another,
        Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
    A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
        Seeing, shall take heart again.

    Let us, then, be up and doing,
        With a heart for any fate ;
    Still achieving, still pursuing,
        Learn to labor and to wait.

Your Soul's Evolution

Reading Deepak Chopra's book "Life After Death - the burden of proof," he says,

When the disembodied soul tunes in to the frequency of a loved one back on the physical plane, that person may feel the presence of the departed; two souls can commune even though one is vibrating in the material plane and the other in the astral plane.

Do you feel this is true?
Have you ever had an experience that has convinced you of the coexistence of departed souls in the same time and space as we inhabit?

Musing on this I realize for myself I have always felt this to be true, but it has become, over the three years since my father passed away, a more real experience, something I accept.

As I mature I am less rigid in my beliefs. They are results of upbringing, social influences and the ideas of those we hold in high regard. I have never spent time in Mongolia otherwise I might believe whatever Mongolians believe. I live in California and some might say that is a place that has some far out and bizarre ideas. I think coming from Ireland I have a nice balance in my belief system!

What I do know for sure is that beliefs change. Experiencing diverse cultures and trying out new ideas for size loosens firm beliefs, shapes new ways of seeing things and opens us to possibilities we might not have entertained before. I am grateful I can say yes to Deepak's ideas as I identify the evolution of my own beliefs. This I also see as part of the evolutionary journey of the soul in this lifetime. Can you identify how you have evolved because of some experience you have lived through?
I would love to hear about it, so please leave a comment on this blog so we may all learn from your evolution.

Every day a little rebirth

Every day as it passes becomes part of yesterday and by so doing it is a little death. And each morning we are reborn.This was my message for today from "The Book of Light" by Alexandra Solanado.

I've been thinking about my mother who passed from this world not three weeks ago. I recognize the truth of the statement and know for both she and I there is a rebirth with every passing day. Each of us continues on our journey.

Mothers are such special people in all our lives, whether our experience of them is good or not so good, whether we knew them or were nurtured by another. In our lives they are like the adverse wind that makes us stronger one way or another.

We have both mother and father in us forever. Created by the two we can never truly be separate of them. I breathe today because of them. They breathe in me today. Every tree or beam of light I see, I share with them if I choose to see it that way; being ONE.

"It is such a gift to still be in the body" said Thich Nhat Hanh this Saturday at the Pasadena Convention Center. "so enjoy the senses, give thanks for our eyes, be grateful for this mortal existence.
Let the mother in you breathe, let the father in you breathe, simply be here now with what is. This will lessen suffering and open us to joy."

I breathe in gratitude today for all that has been, all that is and all that has yet to be.
Namaste.

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.

New Year, Old You?

Its a new year today or so we are told. The old calendar is no use. We have to get a brand new one, it feels like a chance for a fresh start.
And it can be an opportunity to reassess the state of our lives, relationships, careers and implement changes, set new goals and adjust our sails, if we are willing to change our thinking, our actions and consciously create something new.

“You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it. You must learn to see the world anew.” Albert Einstein

"Learning to see the world anew," - that means the world does not change but we who looks on it change our perceptions, our consciousness. Only you know what shifts you need to make in your own thinking.

For me as I assess my own circumstances I have decided I need to simply be more conscious of how I use my time and energy, my greatest resources. I have a tendency to set goals and ignore opportunities to follow through on implementing the steps toward that goal. Negative thinking and fear are two major impediments to pursuing my goals. So seeing the world anew for me means really evaluating the truth of the doubts and fears I become conscious of as I allow myself in the moment to be mesmerized by the worlds distractions.  If I want to create a new experience in 2013, my way of seeing the world anew is being in integrity with myself, becoming more conscious of how I spend my time and energy and creating a new consciousness with which to see my world.
How will you see the world anew and create a Happy New Year?
For inspirational stories from others who look to a higher power for support in change see www.SpiritIsTalkingToYou.com

Divine Operation

This quote from Judge Troward is one of my favourite affirmations of our co-creative ability with Spirit.
So often we see whats possible because we know some one who achieved a particular thing that looks like something we would like to do also. We forget that even more is possible, something unique to us, our version, something never seen before. In the field of possibility only Spirit can imagine what our limited minds cannot. Use this to allow Spirit to dream your dream.

"My mind is a center of Divine operation. The Divine operation is always for expansion and fuller expression, and this means the production of something beyond what has gone before, something entirely new, not included in past experience, though proceeding out of it by an orderly sequence of growth. Therefore, since the Divine cannot change its inherent nature, it must operate in the same manner in me; consequently in my own special world, of which I am the center, it will move forward to produce new conditions, always in advance of any that have gone before."

Beyond Fear

A big part of this life is about embracing our fears and not running from them or diverting attention elsewhere as much as we would like to. Challenging times can be seen as opportunities for growth rather than something we need to avoid at all costs.

As part of that, we can remember that being brave is not about having 'no fear'  As Susan Jeffers tells us - "Feel the fear and do it anyway." These times are asking us to know our own strength and creativity, ingenuity and courage. We truly are stronger than we think. Do you believe this?
I absolutely know it and so I invite you to trust it too.


"So the next time you encounter fear, consider yourself lucky. This is where the courage comes in. Usually we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear. When I was first married, my husband said I was one of the bravest people he knew. When I asked him why, he said because I was a complete coward but went ahead and did things anyhow."
~ Pema Chodron from "When Things Fall Apart"