support to change

When you judge others, you do not define them, you define yourself.

Earl Nightingale

If you and I are friends and I decide to try something different in my life, how do you react? What is it about change that affects the person not changing? I have seen and experienced many times in my life when someone gets upset about another’s change. It is very clear to me that it has nothing to do with the person who is changing. Change is uncomfortable for people who do not wish to change. If I change then it will make you think about what you aren’t changing. It’s a funny thing how its not even about me its about you.

I was having this conversation the other night with friends who decided to move in together and they are getting some resistance and judgment about this new venture in their lives. People are afraid of what they don’t know and if you change then that will affect my life. “I need you to stay the way you are so that it’s more comfortable for me” Yes it seems pretty selfish but I don’t think its intended that way. If people had better tools to communicate and better tools to understand why they feel what they feel then we could eliminate so much judgment. People judge because it’s easier to pick you apart then to look at what is happening over here. If I look at me and try to understand what I am going through, it could be scary or sad. If I focus on you then somehow I feel productive.

So today look in your life where you are the judger and where you are the judgee. Where you are making change and getting resistance, know that you are right where you are supposed to be. Where you are knocking someone else down….well just STOP IT. Stop putting your two cents in….be supportive of someone else’s growth and don’t give your opinion unless asked. And be sure that you are coming from a loving place. If you desire the best for everyone around you then you can let go of the details.

Today I am so grateful for my magic room. Yes I have a room dedicated to creativity and magic. Wish you a magical day today!

peacefulness

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. Unknown

It’s the day after Thanksgiving and my belly is full. Isn’t it crazy how much we eat on Thanksgiving. So many dishes and you have to have some of everything. It’s abundance at its best and the evidence of what happens when people come together. There is more than enough. So what if we applied this to our everyday life. What if we came together more? What if we asked for help? What shows up is community. Evidence that we have everything we need.

You have it all and the more you can embrace that and be ok with what is right now the more you can have the joy that is waiting to express itself. Joy wants to be a part of your day. It’s you who is fighting it, trying to control everything around you. It’s humorous actually if you can back up and take a helicopter view of yourself. There you are getting all worked up because something isn’t going the way you think it should. Your body language is rigid and tense. It’s like you’re holding on so that you can lengthen the experience of your discomfort. Looking at it from a distance hopefully can help you have some space to see that maybe holding on isn’t worth it. What’s worth it is your peace. What if you asked yourself every time something bothered you and you want to react….Is this worth giving up my peace? Maybe this will help.

I wanted to share about my giving miracles. I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the moments of connection. When I gave change to someone I looked into their eyes and took a moment to give some of me and receive some of them. It was pretty awesome to just experience someone and their humanity. Knowing that I am no better or worse, we were just human beings connecting. I want to practice this more in my life. Giving thanks beyond Thanksgiving.

I was fortunate to have my meal with my long time friends. Friends I call family, thank you Mike and Elise for a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am forever grateful for you in my life. I love you guys and thank you for having us.

theres always time to give

Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.

Og Mandino

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have much to accomplish by the end of today. It’s a challenge to stay in a centered peaceful place when your to-do list is bigger than the day. I can only take a deep breath and start at the beginning. These are challenging moments especially in the light of Thanksgiving when I am reminded that it is all about giving. So how do you give when you feel like a machine trying to work through the day? I think this is the most important moment. This is the moment where I put space between the to-do list and my robotic mind that wants to just take off.

I am striving to live in gratitude all year round. In being thankful and giving from an abundant place not only feels good it allows me to become more fully expressed. I recommend it to anyone looking for more fulfillment in their life. If you are feeling stuck then maybe helping someone else will give you some perspective. We sometimes can only focus on ourselves thinking that we have to solve our lifes problems by staring at them. I’m just saying that maybe if you focus your attention elsewhere, maybe on someone who needs help with their groceries or any number of things that we see every day. Someone is struggling and we walk by because we are in a hurry and just don’t have time to help. Today try to make time. Let the person with all the children have the booth or the parking spot or whatever it is that you are fighting for, let someone else have it. Let’s see what opens up in your life by taking your time and offering assistance. I want to hear about it. Please share about your miracles today. I will share mine tomorrow. I will make space today to give even when I think I don’t have any time.

Today I am grateful for this blog reminding me of my peaceful center.

give and give some more

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

Leo Buscaglia

Maybe you can’t change the whole world but you can make a difference in a life. Its Thanksgiving week and Cecilia and I decided to provide a local neighborhood family with a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. Just by saying what we were doing people wanted to contribute. Last night we were able to hand off a whole car full of groceries to provide a whole family a meal that they could share together. Did it take a lot from us? No. I say this because I really want to share how much I believe all of us have the capacity to give yet we hold back. You may be struggling in your life but you must remember that there is always someone worse off than you. By giving you get to tap into a different energy which will in turn change your whole outlook, I promise. Even when you think you don’t have anything to give, you have something to give. Small acts can change someone’s life.

Today, give because you are abundant and full of much love. Make a difference in someone else’s life.

Today I am grateful, grateful for my life, grateful for always having everything I need.

life in motion

Everything you need you already have. You are complete right now; you are a whole, total person, not an apprentice person on the way to someplace else. Your completeness must be understood by you and experienced in your thoughts as your own personal reality.

Wayne Dyer

I was looking at my dog, petting her and talking to her saying how wonderful her life must be. She has no worries. She doesn’t need to worry about food or shelter or companionship. It’s all here, it’s all provided. Ok maybe this sounds silly but there was something that I saw in this moment. I caught a vision. I saw my life through her eyes. Why do I make mine so hard? Do I not think the universe provides for her and not for me in the same way? I have everything I need exactly when I need it. It is my own limitations that stunt my growth. It is only in my fears and doubts that life is hard and a struggle. I have everything within and yet I am staring at my dog seeing her blessings unable to see my own. I think we all do it. We plead our case why life is difficult, why struggle is just part of life. Is it? Or do we infuse struggle because we don’t know how to just accept life. It reminds me of when I see Tai Chi. It’s peaceful movement without struggle. It’s the ultimate acceptance of what is. What if we thought of our life as peaceful movement accepting and giving as if to be in motion with life? Ooooh I like that. Makes me want to learn Tai Chi.

I noticed myself today wanting to go into struggle mode. I literally felt myself being pulled into the heaviness of life. I am grateful for a way out. I am grateful for my center which speaks even if so softly sometimes that I can barely hear….but it speaks. Something in me knows better. Something in me knows to choose the light over the darkness. I choose light. I choose a life of joy, peace and happiness.

What do you choose for yourself today? Do you want to live in lack or do you want to live in abundance? Just be conscious of your choice.

Today, I am grateful for a new day. I am grateful for a peaceful send off of my brother yesterday. We wrapped up our visit with much love and understanding for each other. I look forward to our next visit.

gratitude is key

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

Melody Beattie

It is rare these days for me to find a quote that I haven’t heard before. This one fell into my lap and felt like a warm blanket wrapping around me. I truly believe that by having gratitude in your life you can tap into the fullness of life. We often can get stuck on what we don’t have which blinds us to what we do have. When you enter the state of gratitude you stimulate the part of your brain that is already in a state of enoughness. Gratitude allows us to be thankful for what we do have and actually celebrate it. When we can live in a field of gratitude we are actually available for more to be grateful for.

I always say, “you will find exactly what you are looking for in life” Meaning that life is here for us to experience and if you are looking for drama and sadness, you will find it. If you are looking for joy, peace, and harmony you will find that. The world has all of it -- the good, the bad and the ugly and the question is, what do you see? I see amazing things and when I don’t I look harder. It’s there, it’s always there.

Today look for the small wonders in life and be grateful.

I am grateful for my cozy blanket, my sweet sweet dogs, my loving friends and the always providing universe.