I’ve been through a lot of tests/lessons in my life, some of which I wondered how (and even if) I would make it through them. Undoubtedly, you have too. Loss of the people we love can trigger old grief, unhealed, dangling events from childhood that call for attention. There are so many layers in life that emerge as we grow. I think they only come when they come because that is when we can deal with them. If we don’t address them then, they will emerge again, until that layer is resolved. The best we can do is feel them, understand them, let them speak to us and give to ourselves the very thing that was probably wasn’t present when they occurred: compassion and Love. Excellent investment = a journal. Write, write, write – even if it’s a sentence or two each day!
In The Nice Girl Syndrome, by Brenda Engel, there is an exercise asking the reader to list all the areas where one’s parents were neglectful. Not being aware/conscious of these areas can cause repeated reinactments in one’s life, to resolve the pain. After listing these areas, the next step is to do these items on the list - for yourself, now. So, if you felt neglected because you always got the hand-me-downs in your family, then make a conscious effort to buy new things (if that’s do-able). If you felt neglected because one or both of your parents seldom/never said “I Love You”, then tell yourself “I Love You” in the mirror every night. Say it until you see your face soften and you really feel it. I’ve done it. It feels weird at first, but it does work to soften the heart. In what ways did you miss out? Did you miss out on being allowed to freely express your feelings? Do it now. Start with the safe people in your life and take small steps, but keep this in mind – we were socialized as women to be nice, good and never get angry (oh my!) – it is your perfect right to feel what you feel. I highly recommend Brenda’s book (above) for some great insights.
If you can use this tool for your childhood issues, then why not use it in your adult life as well? What things are missing from your life now? How can you give them to yourself? For instance, maybe your list includes an issue of being lonely. A solution might be to volunteer at a hospital or take up a hobby that you really enjoy. With the latter, investing time in the things we love to do scatters lonliness to the wind. For me, some favourites include reading, painting, and hiking. What do you love to do that you are so pleasurably absorbed in that you lose track of time?
In the meantime, it’s easy to get off track with exercisingbecause the mind/emotions are so engaged, but it’s important to feel strong and flexible. I did an amazing dvd yesterday and wanted to recommend it to you because it is so free-ing to do it! Click on the link to find some info. on it… Shiva Rae – Yoga Trance Dance. Good stuff if you like to dance and like yoga, but you’re not at the hard-core toes in your ears level yet! : )) I also find that investing a bit of time to move my body helps me to make better, healthier choices later on. In what ways do you support your body, your temple?
It’s now a lot easier to step in if someone has collapsed to help keep them alive. The last time I was in a CPR (cardiopulmonary resusitation) class, I was given a dummy to practice administering the breath of life on – to make sure I had the technique down. At that time, it was fifteen compressions then one breath, and re-start the sequence. You just counted the beats to yourself and The BeeGees were never involved! More on the Gibb brothers later…
The revised guidelines exclude having to do the pulmonary part because it has been found that most people have high enough blood oxygen levels that it can be omitted. The cardio part is of most importance and the aim is the same – to circulate blood throughout the body (especially the brain) for the failing heart. Interestingly, it was found that some people simply would not step in to help if it involved putting their mouth on the other person’s mouth, leaving people to perish without the critically-important immediate help! Every minute of no help equates to a near 10% decrease in their ability to survive.
But, how do you know if you are going fast enough to pump the blood around? One hundred beats per minute is the measure to hit and that’s pretty fast! Well, it appears that The Bee Gees will forever be your co-partner in saving lives because of their huge hit “Staying Alive.” Just get that song going in your mind and compress to the beats…. Uh, Uh, Uh, Staying Alive….. That’s good stuff!
Check out the revised technique here…
Life is precious. Please pass this info. on to others. And, if you didn’t notice the hyperlink to our BeeGees buddies above, click HERE. It’s okay to get up and dance around – it was a good album!
What happens to us as we grow from children to adults? What happens to the magic we see everywhere and feel in our hearts? What happens to that wonderful direct and honest approach that is first nature? Why do we speak through our heads instead of speaking from our hearts? What the hell are we so afraid of as time tackles our dreams to the ground?
Here is a lovely poem that helps us look through our child’s eyes and I mean our child as in the one that stays within our own heart and Soul – the child we “used” to be. Read along and remember how different our perspective is as adults now. Why? Because we’ve built walls and won’t listen to each other’s hearts, having been “stung” before (so, that must mean we’ll get stung again, right? Better put up a wall!!)
If we aspire to make this planet a better, more peaceful place, it is imperative to talk to one another, resolve issues, approach relationships with honesty and respect.
I will continue this thread of thought with the next post and, in the meantime, please read the poem and remember how an innocent heart views the world.
To a Child
The greatest poem ever known
Is one all poets have outgrown:
The poetry, innate, untold,
Of being only four years old.
Still young enough to be a part
Of Nature’s great impulsive heart,
Born comrade of bird, beast and tree
And unselfconscious as the bee –
And yet with lovely reason skilled
Each day new paradise to build.
Elate explorer of each sense,
Without dismay, without pretense!
In your unstained, transparent eyes
There is no conscience, no surprise:
Life’s queer conundrums you accept
Your strange divinity still kept.
Being that now enthralls you, all
Harmonious, unit, integral,
Will shed into perplexing bits –
Oh, contradiction of the wits!
And Life, that puts all things in rhyme
May make you poet, too, in time –
But there were days, O tender elf,
When you were Poetry itself!
— Christopher Morley (1922)
Until next time, work on yourSelf, for that is all there is you can truly share in the world.
These are just some of the terms used for money and I’m sure you’ve heard or spoken a few of them yourself.
Most of us have spent our lives worrying about, not having enough of, hating it, spending it, saving it, investing it, earning it, blowing it, giving it, receiving it, or hoarding it. It is only a tiny fraction of the world that was born with lots of it, but even they had to make sure they didn’t lose it!
For me, money often equated to stress because there wasn’t always enough. One thing I have learned is that it does follow movement and flowing energy. The ebb and flow of the mind and body will often show up externally, and the realm of money is not missed. Think “down” thoughts a lot – poof, watch your money go down (unless you have enough to hire someone to manage it for you).
What else can be expected but to form subconscious beliefs about money when wealth is not a reality in one’s family, when parents fight over it, when we go without because there isn’t enough of it and where society paints it with so many negative connotations (“money is the root of all evil”)? Well, those are places I’ve been and one of my missions is to finish re-constructing my relationship with money because there are many more perspectives/realities about it than my own and, frankly, I don’t believe we were born to be enslaved by it.
While what I grew up around affected my perception of money, the daily ebb and flow of emotions, particularly feelings of rejection, belonging, purpose and even Love, have a pronounced impact as well. Bruise those areas and it’s easy to knock the money block into a seized-up situation and, because we are unique individuals, each person will have their own list of emotional triggers.
I am an explorer, seeking out solutions that “stick” so that I have a holster of tools to use when I need to change a situation that isn’t working or move through places that need healing. Helping others to do the same feels natural and good as well. I did use EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) some time ago, but it didn’t work 100% for me because I found the necessity of using specific scripts restrictive. Well, it was a breath of fresh air to be invited to a series of interviews this week that focused on releasing money blocks. Pamela Bruner, an EFT practitioner, did a great job interviewing experts and I had a few AHA moments which, to me, is like an ever-patient Divine kiss on my cheek and a hearty hi-five! In case you haven’t heard of EFT, it is a very simple system that works on energy meridians in the body (akin to accupuncture but without the needles). Sometimes, energy gets blocked/trapped along these lines and we don’t feel so great. That’s where unblocking and EFT comes in.
I feel a bit of a renaissance with the EFT practice because of how Pamela has adapted the practice to focus on the emotions and not so much on a script = Freedom! Taking care of what I am feeling by shifting old stuff makes room for new, good stuff and more energy! It feels great. Here are a couple of videos from Pamela. You may be pleasantly surprised if you give it a whirl, or two!
These are the tapping points…
Here is a way to work through whatever emotion(s) you would like to shift, without a script!
Feel free to leave a comment about your results or if you have any questions! [superemotions file="icon_smile.gif" title="Smile"]
A comment from Neale Donald Walsch’s daily insight has highlighted an important phrase to remember and also reminded me of the growth I have experienced in the last few years. What phrase is that? Well, it is…
You are not your story.
A long time ago, I had a great loss in my life and it was incredibly painful. When I reached out for wisdom and guidance, I found that very phrase shared with me.
You are not your story.
What is your story? And, why do we tend to incorporate and wear the negative aspects more than the positive ones anyway?
Is your story one of injustice, abuse (sexual, emotional, physical…), lack, being victimized/used, abandoned, lied to? Look at those words – how do they make you feel? Juicy and alive? No, ‘didn’t think so.
We can really feel the weight of negative words/experiences – they suck energy away from the Soul and dull the eyes. Fortunately, when the weight is heavy enough, and we are tired of it, we can choose to relinquish the load. There will come a point when life’s finite reality seeps in and we wish to live in a more abundant state. And by abundant I mean – abundance of self-love, courage, assertion for that which you want to experience in life (a family, a home, travelling, etc. – fill in the blank). There will come a time when accepting the old “story”lines just don’t work anymore and you will say “I want, and deserve, more” and that very shift will be part of the crucial elements that will manifest it. Please take a moment to listen to this video, and follow the suggestion made in it… It will only take a moment! (then scroll down because there is more to follow….) No peaking!
Okay, hopefully, you took a moment to follow along to this beautiful meditation. Can I ask you something? While you were watching it, were you “there” in the places suggested or were you thinking about the past (your story)? Chances are that you were present for all or parts of it and that is where you left your weighty story behind without even realizing it! Now, the next step is to do it consciously! And you can – because it will bring you more of what you DO want in your life. Internal abundance! We resonate richly from inside and it beams outwardly – and, one by one, the world becomes an ever better place! “Be the change…” <3
We are all called but not everyone answers! What is calling on the other end of the line? Your Higher Self, of course!
Ring, ring…
Earthly You: Hello!….
Godly You : Yes, a big Loving hello to you! This is You speaking, on Spiritual steroids, and I am nudging you to listen to the hints I’ve been sending you, which you’ve been ignoring, dismissing, or laughing at!
Earthly You: Yes, I’ve felt something but they don’t make sense. How can I quit my job and go climb Everest-that’s crazy! I mean, I know I’ve always been interested in mountaineering but it doesn’t pay. In fact, it costs!
Godly You: Trust, you must trust, that fulfillment and wealth originates in the heart, not from the wallet. Do what you can to prepare and then follow your heart.
Earthly You: What?!! I’m hanging up now, Yoda!
Does this conversation sound somewhat familiar? I know I’ve had it a few times with myself. Well, not that one exactly but something similar. This matter boils down to an important issue: getting only 2/3′s of life’s pie, 2 parts of life’s trinity. What trinity? Well, the Heart, Soul and Mind. The heart informs the mind, which is first guided by the Spirit. If our minds have a bunch of static from false beliefs and such, it will override (shadow out) the Light of what we were meant to do in life. There is not only “one” thing we are meant to do either, because life is an evolutionary dynamic and change is its base. Perhaps, instead, we are lead through our special path by our hearts/interests/passions.
There is a simple but incredibly powerful tool that I came across a few years ago that illuminates where are hearts are really at. It’s easy to “think” them being somewhere, when in fact they are somewhere else completely. The tool is The Passion Test, found in the book that carries the same name “The Passion Test” (by Chris and Janet Attwood), and it can also be taken online. Once completed, it is difficult to go back to living tuned out from your heart. Every time we make a conscious choice to follow our hearts, we strengthen that way of Being. Wonderful things start to happen and things start to feel “right”. I am not saying there won’t be hurdles, but hurdles are much easier to get over when a deeper, brighter target (goal) is calling us from beyond.
Am I doing something I am passionate about? Yes, I love to share with others, write and work on-line. I have had many hurdles to overcome to be able to write this but they have only strengthened me. More will arise because they go hand in hand with growth and evolution – there as a readiness preparation for that new place I envision. Keep growing – keep changing – keep loving. If you would like information on The Passion Test, please click here.
Scroll down to watch an interview with Janet and Chris!
To a life of brilliant passions!
Nancy [superemotions file="icon_smile.gif" title="Smile"]
While I was driving the other day, I happened to catch an Tapestry interview on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) with Jill Bolte-Taylor and, even though I knew of her experience from a previous TED talk, it became clear to me that what happened to her could fall into that etheric, secret law of attraction realm. I think that everyone’s does.
In case you aren’t familiar with Jill Bolte-Taylor, she is a scientist who studies the brain. What was very interesting was that she had a stroke and described what it was like while going through it. Very fascinating stuff. I couldn’t help but think of how deep her understanding of the brain would be after experiencing, and recovering from, a stroke. I also couldn’t help but think that Spirit has a Higher purpose for this – and that she would go on to great works with what she knew, intimately, and thoroughly, from experiencing it herself.
Now, what of our works? Do we have to be a scientist, celebrity or astronaut to have a deeper sense that what we have experienced and what we are to experience is not as relevant to the grand mystery of life? That each experience we go through will not help us with something important down the road or help one soul, or many souls, to give pause, to change their mind, or to know that they are so right on with their next move…. all through the communication of a look, a nod, a word, a phrase. You get the idea. The thing is that it is coming from a knowing place – that sharing. There is a Higher part of us that brings in what we need and perhaps, in time, that the secret won’t be such a secret anymore…. that what is attracted will be far more conscious than where it stands now. For me, I am working on it and am far from perfect, but it is neat to see more and do more.
What if we all started opening our eyes more – made our lives more conscious, filled with the work we were passionate about, people we love, places that take our breath away, better ways to live, or world peace? Think about that because I am going to write a lot more on it.
In the meantime, check out Jill Bolte-Taylor’s presentation. I think you will enjoy it – it’s amazing.
I believe, in this life, we are meant to build bridges in this world, bridges to each other, through our hearts. We go through our lives and most of us end up with a few protective walls or with losses, wounds or scars that run deep. It’s no wonder there is so much conflict in the world; we are all sensitive creatures. The missing link is compassion and communication. What if we could just relax a bit and really try to hear what the other person is saying?
We all have different styles of communicating and this is tinted by our particular walls and wounds, in general, and, if applicable, specifically with that person. We also all live by different values and principles. The only way to make anything better is to speak your Truth.
I had an incident this week that was rather enlightening which will help to illustrate my point. Because this friend of mine communicates differently than I, I misinterpreted (for a long time) what his silence meant. For me, my learned pattern was that silence was not a great thing – it usually implied anger and rejection. Using this old template, I interpreted my friend’s silence in the same way, and my interpretation manifested as a sadness in my heart that I carried around with me. Sadness came from caring about/for this person and feeling the ditch of misunderstanding between us. How interesting when a door opens a little! The wonderful thing about communication is that it leads to understanding of not only the other person, but of ourselves and where we jump when there is something we don’t fully understand.
I could never quite totally “get” the “theory” that people would share with me about feelings being a choice one makes, but they are if there is a willingness to see what filters are bending an event. For me, they were old filters. Seeing this clearly allowed me to release it.
When we communicate with each other, we come to see that we are mirrors for each other. What are we creating within ourselves and with those we care about? Here is a neat video that touches on some of these issues and goes a little further. I’m sorry that it ends a little abruptly but you can access the next one on Youtube; watch for the link. (cont’d…below)
I am doing a lot of releasing work right now. I am grateful for all the insights this is bringing me and I will be posting further on this.
Thank you for reading along and, as always, I wish you a bright and beautiful day!
At some point in our lives, most of us have stopped to wonder…”Who am I?” I don’t mean what you do, if you have a six pack or knew Tupac, who you’re married to or who you slept with, if you had a zillion-dollar mansion, tons of toys, and 24Kt gold faucets… I mean – if you took all the “stuff” away – would you be okay? At the core, would you still feel tall, strong, worthwhile and Loving/Loveable?
I subscribe to Neale Donald Walsch’s daily notes. I love them because, often, they are succinct and spot on with something I am feeling or thinking about. Here is a note I received recently….
On this day of your life, Nancy, I believe God wants you to know…
…that you are loved on this day for all the wonder that you bring to your world with the gift of being you.
Hard to believe, isn’t it, that you are that special in the eyes of God? Yet you are–and not because of what you have done, but because of who you are. You are God’s own creation, an expression of Divinity in human form. The fastest way to experience this is to be the vehicle through which others sees it in themselves. Each person is walking his or her path and doing his or her best. God knows this and that is why God loves you all.
Sometimes, we need little nudges to remind us that we are Loving, spiritual Beings and not just physical bodies climbing up Maslow’s pyramid. We need to remember that the mere chance of our existence is so miniscule as to be the near equivalent of a microscopic dust particle in the entirety of Universes we are, at present, aware of… and there will be many more unveiled in years to come, I am sure. Just to be conceived is a sheer miracle. When we pass, our Spirit leaves the body and travels on somewhere else. Who were we while we were here? What did we stand for? What moved our hearts that we made better? Who did we Love? What was beautiful to us?
Think about that. No matter what people may have said about you, in their non-understanding, it is imperative to hold your True, Spiritual self at the core of your heart. Leave the tags and labels behind – they are meant to discourage and sink you – hold God’s mirror to your heart and go experience why you are here. It may be to touch one life, millions of lives or to evolutionize your own.
And, for the record, please know that when I speak of God, I know there are many, many names used through all the belief systems – please fill in the blank with what you choose, if any!
I love to cook and part the adventure of it is trying new foods to cook with. I was looking up what to do with some Thai eggplant I found the other day and made another discovery…. an on-line menu planning system that is free to use. Unless you have someone in your household that does the cooking for you, you will probably find this nifty tool quite ….well … nifty! [superemotions file="icon_biggrin.gif" title="Big Grin"] The thing is – when meals are planned out ahead of time, it saves money, decreases the stress of foraging for last-minute menu items, decreases extra trips to the grocery store, creates more room for healthier meals and, overall, simplifies life.
There are tons of great recipes on the site that you can just click and add – how easy is that? !!! [superemotions file="icon_wink.gif" title="Wink"]
If you’d like to try it out, here’s the link: CLICK HERE
Let me know how that works for you in the comment box below!
