“In addition to creating happiness in our lives, we need to cultivate the spiritual practices that lead to joyfulness, especially gratitude. We need to live from a place of gratitude and joy.” Brene Brown
Happy New Year! Another whirlwind of a holiday season has passed. We try to catch our breath as we turn the page of the calendar to a new year.
We can sometimes feel conflicted declaring what we want in the new year. We want change and yet we resist it. Sometimes we like change as a concept rather than reality. We want to have something new in our lives but we don’t want to let go of the old way of doing things. We resist change because we don’t like to be uncomfortable.
What if we looked at change as an opportunity for growth and transformation, rather than something to be feared? What if we embraced the discomfort and uncertainty that comes with change, knowing that it is a necessary part of our evolution?
The new year is an invitation to welcome new beginnings and let go of the old patterns and habits that no longer serve us. The new year is an opportunity to open to new experiences and opportunities that come our way, even if they make us uncomfortable.
Gratitude is an important step in accepting newness. There is something powerful in appreciating the present moment, the journey that has led us to where we are now. We expand our awareness when we feel gratitude for the lessons we have learned, the growth we have experienced, and the people who have supported us along the way.
In this new year, l invite you to make gratitude your guiding principle. Let’s find joy in the little things, the simple pleasures of everyday life. And let’s remember that change is not something to be feared, but something to be embraced and celebrated.
So here’s to a year of growth, transformation, and gratitude. May we have the courage to embrace change, the wisdom to appreciate the present moment, and the gratitude to be truly happy.
“In the short term and in the long run, how we treat people is our legacy. We have a daily responsibility to stay conscious of that and show up in ways we can be proud of.” – Sam Horn, Talking on Eggshells
It’s holiday time! That exciting time of year when we navigate the emotional terrain of spending time with loved ones. Anxiety, anyone?
Some loved ones are a joy to be with. Others can be more challenging.
Here are some helpful tips:
It’s not about them. We often have attachment as to how we would like our loved ones to behave. In fact WE have lots of ideas about how they can live better lives. Breathe and step back. Practice letting go.
Respond not react. Our loved ones know how to push our buttons. Disable your button. Disconnect from your high mindedness. Dissolve the need to have the answers. Practice responding peacefully and not reacting to situations.
Claim your intention. Instead of imagining all the terrible, awful, dreadful things that the holidays might bring, practice visualizing what you do want. What is your intention? To have loving communication? To have peaceful interactions? To have joy-filled experiences? Set your intention before you venture out the door.
Remember to breathe. Conscious breathing keeps us grounded in our awareness of our divinity and our oneness. Allow your breathing to center yourself in love. Pause and take a breath.
Practice gratitude. Gratitude lifts us up to a higher vibration. In that vibration of love, all things are possible.
I am grateful for my many blessings… I bless my family…I bless my body…I bless my finances…I bless my home…I bless my neighbors…I bless my co-workers…I bless the economy…I bless our country…I bless my spiritual community…I bless the world.
“It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong. – Barbie, The Movie
This is an except of an amazing monologue delivered by actress America Ferrera in the Barbie movie. We have all felt, on occasion, like we are doing it wrong. We have all struggled with the belief in not being enough.
Our worthiness may seem elusive if we look for validation from the outside world. Worthiness is not based on your financial portfolio, career achievement, or the car you drive. Worthiness is an inside job and a conscious connection we make knowing we are an extension of the creative energy of life itself. We are loved unconditionally just as we are.
Making that connection with worthiness lifts us into a sense of well-being. We have an inner knowing that each aspect of self— spirit, mind, body and emotions— is an intricate part of our wholeness. We have an awareness of this holistic nature and have an appreciation of how it all works together for our highest good.
This deep appreciation lifts us into the powerful presence of love. Love opens us to Infinite Wisdom available to us at every moment. Divine Wisdom is the creative spark, inspiration, illumination that shows up just when we need it. It can appear as needed information, project support revealed or simply a connection from a friend. Wisdom is inner knowing that all is well.
Yet this can all feel elusive when we are stressed, worried and hurried in life’s busy world. It takes conscious effort to stop, listen, and allow ourselves to be nurtured and nourished.
Take time to step away from your calendar, computer and commitments. Schedule a time and place where you can renew and replenish. Hone your spiritual practice in on your sacredness. Celebrate your Oneness with the Divine.
You are worthy and powerful. You are amazing. You are loved.
P.S. Please consider joining us October 22-25, 2023 at our Wisdom of the Heart Women’s Retreat at Alton Collins Retreat Center in Eagle Creek, OR. Our all-inclusive retreat is exactly what you are looking for. Click here for details.
“Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.” — Marianne Williamson
Have you ever held a grudge against someone? I did and noticed it was keeping me pretty occupied—avoiding them, trying not to think about them, trying hard to pretend they didn’t hurt me. It was exhausting.
When we don’t forgive, we stay in the struggle. We are in bondage with anger, bitterness and resentment. When we don’t forgive, we find there is a wall that separates us from love and keeps us from moving forward.
Forgiveness is an opportunity to let go. Forgiveness puts an end to the illusion of separation. It takes courage to let go. And when we do, it is one of the most important processes that brings harmony to our life and peace to our soul. Forgiveness sets us free to express love into the world.
In “This Thing Called You,” Ernest Holmes writes, “It may seem strange that the law which now holds you in bondage can as easily give you freedom. But this is the truth.”
Who are you willing to forgive?
Affirmation: I am willing to forgive and allow love to be expressed in the world.
“We are at the “beyond reason” point of our evolution, meaning that the type and scope of the problems we are now confronting cannot be resolved by a mere gathering of “reasonable” people around a table.” Carolyn Myss
Carolyn Myss goes on to say that we cannot reason with Mother Nature, sanction our way through global warming, or “declare war on the melting ice caps in the Arctic in order to make them cease their melting.” We are at a crossroads in humanity.
Albert Einstein’s statement, “You cannot solve the problem at the level of the problem,” wakes us up to the fact that the challenges of the world are not going to be solved by people sitting around the table debating the best strategy. We are all being called to step up and contribute to the bettering of the world.
It is time to rise up and answer the call for greater healing.
But that doesn’t mean we have to quit our jobs, leave our homes and go in search of answers to world peace and global warming while neglecting our responsibilities. We can awaken to the fact that we each contribute to the change in the world as we deepen in consciousness. Every time we forgive someone, let go of an attachment, remove a mental block, transcend an emotional conflict, we are raising the vibration and contributing to the consciousness of the planet.
We don’t need to know how things will change, we just need to be willing: Be willing to be held accountable for our own healing. Be willing to have the difficult conversations. Be willing to know there is a Power and Presence for Good working in our life and in all humanity.
Be willing to envision a world that works for everyone.
Affirmation: I know that God is my Good and all things are possible in God.
“Use your intellect, imagination and feeling for the purpose of seeing and sensing freedom instead of bondage, joy instead of unhappiness, plenty instead of want, health in place of disease. The very denial of your good keeps that good from you.” —Ernest Holmes
Every year around election time, I pull out Ernest Holmes “Prayer for My Country.” I pass it around to friends and social media and pray it feverishly in hopes that people who think like me will step up and vote so that my candidate will win.
When I read the prayer recently, I realized that what I was doing was based in fear. I slipped back into my childhood ways of beseeching God — please bring me the bike I want for Christmas or please help our team win the football game.
Ernest’s prayer has nothing to do with elections, politics or winning. The prayer is acknowledging a vision of our country where “success, prosperity and happiness are now operating in the affairs of every individual in this country.”
In his recent talk (October 9), Dr. David Alexander stated the importance of embodiment. He said we are missing the point if we are trying to GET something. We already live in a divine flow of life. Ernest Holmes states, “God’s Creative Power of Mind is right here. We have as much of this power to use as we believe in and embody.” It is our work to align, believe and embrace this good.
I realized Ernest’s Prayer for My Country is an opportunity for me to stand in agreement with this vision, to heal my places of unforgiveness, release resentment and fear. My work is to surrender my belief in separation and my belief that my way is the right way. My work is to be of service to my community, take responsibility for my actions and speak with good purpose.
My work is to vote with a loving heart for our country and embody the vision “…this spiritual democracy shall endure, guaranteeing to everyone in this country personal liberty, happiness and self-expression.”
