No More Debbie Downer!

Maya Angelou is vigilant about the words people use around her. She calls negativity 

poison which gets into your mind, under your skin and into your life. So true! 

We create and expand our lives by what we think and feel in every moment. If 

you want to know what you've been mulling and cogitating with regularity look 

at your life. It mirrors your inner landscape. If you want to change something, 

be vigilant about the thoughts you think, the words you use and the things you 

let into your life. My husband and I watch far less news than ever for this very reason. 

It is sensationalized, overblown and likely to imbed fear and worry. As 

 Marianne Williamson said, "Nothing binds you except your thoughts; 

nothing limits you except your fears; and nothing controls you except your 

beliefs." Be mindful of what you let into your life today. You will feel better 

in your moment and create a life that is in alignment with your dreams.

Think Again!

Our Consciousness dictates everything - all experiences and everything we attract. Through Grace everything has already been given. It's only a matter of how much we are willing to receive. It is the unlayering of beliefs, resentments and painful stories that will enable us to usher in everything we want. It's like electricity, you don't have to beg, plead, pray or implore for it to come on. You simply have to flip a switch and allow it to flow. If you cut the cord to the outlet, the lamp will not light. Today, practice more allowing, more expansion, more of your authentic self. Move out of hoping and into knowing. It's been there all along.

Inside Out!

If you don't know Martha Beck, I highly recommend her work. She is inspirational while she delivers practical advice for one's life. Among my favorites of her books are Steering By Starlight and Finding Your Way in A Wild New World. In Steering by Starlight she says, "External circumstances do not create feeling states. Feeling states create external circumstances." It is our inner landscape that always directs our world, not the other way around. Go there to find your peace, happiness, joy, laughter and fun and then watch your external world reflect those very feelings.

Liar Liar No More...

I attended a lecture by the wise and wonderful, Tom Shadyac last Tuesday, hosted by a great group called "First Tuesday." First Tuesday is led by a remarkable woman by the name of Marcy Cole. Tom's claim to fame comes from movies like Ace Ventura, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty to name a few; but his life's work, love and heart are realized in his documentary I AM (I highly recommend seeing this) and his insightful, new book "Life's Operating Manual." Dedicated to living an authentic life and reveling in each joyful moment, Mr. Shadyac is contributing to the movement of peace, that is proliferating this planet, by being that place of peace. One person at a time, realizing one's own magnificence, going for one's own joy is becoming a glorious viral movement like none other. Focus on that, speak of that and the darkness of this world begins to serve you by showing you the light. We are spiritual beings living a physical existence. We are more powerful than we know and it's teachers like Marcy Cole and Tom Shadyac that help guide us to that sweet understanding. 

,

Worry Wart?

There are so many things that are elevating this planet's consciousness as our collective vibrations play into the whole. Amazing, mystical and magical events are transpiring all around us. As the darkness seems more profound with events like the bombing in Boston, so also does the light become brighter. As was said in that wonderful documentary, "Searching for Sugarman," "These are days of miracles and wonder." It's all a matter of what we decide to focus on. Will we go within and nurture our higher selves so that we might contribute more light or will we continue to complain, worry and fear for our future. As Abraham asks, "Whatever you're thinking about is literally like planning a future event. When you're worrying, you are planning. When you're appreciating you are planning...What are you planning?" Dwell in appreciation and you will expand your own capacity for joy, as well as contributing to the well-being of this planet.

Happy Now...!

Let's get busy living happily ever after! I used to wait for happiness - like a reward, a long sought aftereffect of hard worked causes. I used to wait and wait until all those "ducks" were lined up perfectly - until I got my degree, succeeded in my career, married my perfect mate; as if those things weren't occasions for happiness in and of themselves. Then I realized that hard work and consequences were not the source of my happiness. They may have even contributed to forestalling it, much like that proverbial carrot and stick. It was not until I dug into appreciation as if my life depended on it that I realized how predominant my good was. Happiness was teeming in my life and I was pushing it aside waiting until...? Our lives are here and now, rife with joy - not tomorrow not after XYZ happens, but now.  If we just stop to notice all the good that surrounds us, we will ignite the flame of happiness. As my friend Esther (Abraham) advises, "Start living happily ever after right now!" 

Happy Where I am...!

Happy where I am, eager for more! It's such a perfect sentiment for living, as the Buddhists so wisely name it, The Middle Way. If you are happy in your present moment, appreciating your life exactly as it is, you are in a position to savor your life and live it fully. So many of us reach for a future that we hope will happen and bemoan the fact that it is not here now. Life is meant to be enjoyed. As you focus on all the good that dominates your life, providence sneaks in the back door to help move you toward your dreams. Let your hopes and dreams for your future thrill you while you love and appreciate your now. That is a life well lived.

Affirmations!

Louise Hay reminds us, through affirmations, how powerful, loved and supported we are. In this affirmation, "All is well. Everything is working out for my highest good. Out of this situation only good will come. I am safe," we are reminded that whatever we are going through, we will come out the other end stronger and happier. Joy in every situation is the realization that a higher purpose is in motion for our lives and to focus on that instead of the difficulty. It is an opportunity to change the belief in who we are (our story) to one that is more true - we are spiritual beings living a physical existence. As Rumi would say, ''You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?" Today, for whatever you are going through, remember "...Out of this situation only good will come."

Affirmations are powerful tools. Christian Northrup sums them up this way, ""Affirmations do not make things happen, they make things possible." They open up a pathway in our brains for belief. They break through limited to beliefs and carve a path to possibilities. They are for opening our own consciousness to believing what is possible for our lives. As Theodore Roosevelt so eloquently stated, "Believe that you can and you're halfway there."

Time to Step Up

Today, right now, right where you are, have appreciation for who you are. You are a unique individual, with gifts that only you can bring to the table. Don't compare and despair, look at the value you bring because it is vast and it is precious. Joseph Campbell tells us, "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." Give yourself as much love, compassion and forgiveness that you would give a loved one and you will bloom. Don't hide who you are any longer because Life waits for you. As Rumi so beautifully put it, "You have no need to go anywhere - journey within yourself. Enter a mine of rubies, and bath in the splendor of your own light." 

The Prevailing Winds!

The Mayan energy that was supposed to end the world is urging us to put an end to our negative, limited thoughts. We are being beckoned to expand our capacity for more good, joy, love and happiness on this physical plane. There is more opportunity and assistance to help us live the lives we were intended to live. Download more of your spiritual self simply by asking and allowing. Let your capacity for joy, abundance and fullness expand little by little by focusing on what's working in your life right now. We are powerful beyond measure and it's time to allow more of that energy into our lives. That's what the prevailing energy is all about - a new beginning, building upon all the good that already exists. We are spiritual beings living a physical experience and we are given the opportunity to merge those energies for more joy than we've ever known.

Great Tidings of Comfort and...!

All we have is the moment. It is in the moment that we live, dwell and have our being. In this busy time of year, stop and enjoy each moment. Take a deep breath, listen to the Christmas music, feel all the love that the Season has to bring. Forget "to do" lists for the moment. Everything will get done. Don't let the frenzy of the holidays take you out of that joyful moment. As Stephen Covey tells us, "Begin with the end in mind." Have a picture of your loving, wonderful and happy Christmas Day and the Universe will conspire to bring it to you. The shift happens in consciousness, not in the manipulation of external circumstances. Enjoy each precious moment and by doing so you will usher the holidays of your dreams.

Joy Rising!

In Marianne Williamson's new book, The Law of Divine Compensation, she tells us that, "Nothing binds you except your thoughts; nothing limits you except your fears; and nothing controls you except your beliefs." And the good news is that it's within our power to change it all in order to usher in the life we so strongly desire. Remember, a belief is a thought you just keep thinking. It has no other hold on you. Think differently today. Tell yourself a better story about your life. Include moments in your day to play, imagine and banish thoughts that make you feel bad, in order that your life may serve you in a magnificent new way.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!

I am a big believer in gratitude and appreciation. It shifts your consciousness from that of victim to that of creator. When you're feeling stuck, appreciate everything in your environment, right now, right where you are. As Maria Forleo tells us, "Gratitude changes the lens through which you see everything." Your world will change in the instant you focus on what have - not what you had or what you want, but the glorious things you have. It will elevate your life instantly and send endless ripples of good into your future. Appreciate right where you are. As Joseph Campbell said, "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." Revel in all your good today. Make lists. Count your blessings and your blessings will expand - Tis the season for Thanksgiving!

Awakening to Your Good!

I had a teacher who used to say, "If you feel separate from God then who moved?" We are spiritual beings living a physical experience, we are never apart from that which we are. We are never alone or without everything we need to feel absolute joy and fulfillment in every moment. Martha Beck, a great life coach and self-proclaimed "way shower," tells us that, "if we are are encountering a morning of small annoyances to a year of crises, please realize that part of your awareness is asleep." It's easier than you think to wake up and give your higher self the reigns. Take a moment, be still and ask to connect. You'll feel a shift instantly. Expand on that as you are directed and and your life will blossom in unexpected and delightful ways.

Fall into Joy!

Let your joy rise to the top! Let your happiness be the most important thing you can do. Take time to enjoy your life. Have fun, laugh and appreciate every wonderful thing you have. It's a simple recipe for ushering in the life you want. Don't let your "to do" list be your life, while leaving happiness on the back burner as superfluous. As Martha Beck tells us, "Whatever your joy comes from, if you maximize the amount of joy you feel every day, you are more likely to make a living at it." Let your joy rise to the top today and revel in the feeling that will make you feel alive. Let's begin a campaign of viral joy.

Pronoia!

I learned a new word this weekend from John Styn - Pronoia. It is the opposite of paranoia. It is the belief that the Universe is conspiring for our good. I've also taken to using words like, "Free floating Joy" to describe the elation that overcomes me at any moment. All the joy that we seek comes from within. The more we tap into our true nature, the more we experience what it means to be truly happy; not just the temporary sensory pleasure that we get from acquiring something externally. Remember, we seek those external things because we think that in the having of them we will be happy. Actually, the opposite is true. By seeking our true joy within, we create an attractive environment for good things to come our way. We are happy in our now, while attracting more of the same for our future. We are spiritual beings living a physical experience. Let us be led by that. Take on an air of Pronoia and watch the Universe bend over backwards to bring you that deep, eternal joy that you seek.    

Ushering In My Good!

The glass is not only half full, it is over-flowing. It all depends on where we choose to put our focus. What we focus on becomes dominant in our lives. Do not spend time arguing for your limitations with sentences like "Yes, but...the economy is this; I didn't have wealthy parents; I am too old, don't have enough education..." Stop yourself and change the mind-chatter. Take a deep breath, shift into appreciation and realize how good you have it. THAT will usher in more good. As Abraham says, "Happy where I am, eager for more." An unpleasant journey will not produce a happy end. As Steve Jobs team remarked when asked, "For us, the journey IS the reward." Focus your attention on the good that abounds everywhere you walk and it will grow exponentially and begin to infiltrate your life with more good than you could have dreamed - your glass will over-flow. Focus your attention on what's going right, and you will begin to see it everywhere.

Pray Rain Journal!

A Course In Miracles says, "Beware the temptation to perceive yourself as unfairly treated." Taking a victim stance, however justified, and I am not saying that it is not, only sets up more situations for us to be victimized. We live in a compliant Universe that gives us exactly what we think we are. Appreciation not only zaps the victim mentality but it gives us more of what we appreciate. Stop talking about how hard you have it - even if it's true. Put a guard up at the portal of your mind, as my teacher Vetura Papke used to say and don't let "poor me" infilitrate your life. It serves you not. Remember the 4 emotional cancers - competing, complaining, criticizing and comparing. We create our lives in consciousness. If something feels bad, stop thinking about it and replace it with countering thoughts. Talk better about yourself and you will feel better about yourself and your life will change in accordance.

Be vigilant about how you describe your life and your circumstances. We are spiritual beings living a physical existence. The power we hold is significant and it takes its direction from our Consciousness. Take small steps to change the ways you describe your life. When someone asks you how you are tell them, "Never better!" We are powerful creators. It's time to put that power to use for our joy and happiness. 

Martha Beck  tells us to write a Pray Rain Journal where we write a page as if we were living our ideal life and are journaling about it. Use present tense and write about all the wonderful things that are happening and the ramifications of every event. Live long enough there and your brain does not know if you are actually living it or not. It is cognitive reality and vibrational attraction will take it from there to create it in your physical reality. You don't have to know the how, just the what. What do you want for your life? Revel in the imagining of it. Don't resist it with countering thoughts, don't argure for your limitaions and you will launch creation from there. 

Thoughts + Emotions = Creation!

Thought coupled with strong emotion is a fantastic attractor to what we desire. Don't let your painful emotions, dredged up by stories from your past, be the thing that attract your future for more of the same. Maya Angelou tells us that "We cannot change our past, but we change our attitude towards it." Let's not let our past direct our future - the tail wagging the dog - let's deliberately create the future of our dreams by coupling our newly designed thoughts with powerful positive emotions. Change your thoughts, change your life. It's really that simple but not necessarily easy. It requires diligence. It's a mind training effort that will make your present happier while changing the trajectory of your future to bring you more joy than you can imagine.

“The best reason for having dreams is that in dreams no reasons are necessary." - Ashleigh Brilliant

Reality is Not Real!

Why is it so easy to believe the bad stuff? Why are things of the divine - love, oneness, appreciation, the intercession of our higher selves to deliver miraculous transformation - so hard to accept and even at times considered silly or fanciful? We tend to equate reality with sanity and reason. We are more credible and erudite when we base things in reality. But our reality is the manifestation of our thoughts, not the other way around. We have the choice, at any moment to change our lives by subscribing to a different, higher thought base. Do not argue for your limitations simply because they are based in reality. As my friend Jacob says, "If you have to argue for anything, argue for the power of miracles to heal any situation." Lots can happen when we let go of the confines of our limited beliefs. Argue for your good today. Argue for those fanciful wonders that usher in your happiness and you will create a reality that thrills your soul.