“You are word. You are an aspect of God being brought forth into light.” – Paul Selig. I Am the Word
Have you ever noticed that some days a brain fog seems to set in and we forget about the power of our words? We often speak aloud words of criticism, complaint, and judgment coming from our inner critic instead of empowered messages of love and inspiration from Spirit within. The words of the critic come from the head, and the empowered words of Spirit originate in the heart.
From The Book of Knowing and Worth, Paul Selig reminds us, “What you give your authority to becomes your God. And if you want your pain to be your authority, or the memory of your pain, that will be your claim, that is what you put into your basket, that becomes your broadcast, or your resonance and you call it back to you in every moment of your waking life.”
Yikes! I don’t know about you, but I prefer not to call back my pain and suffering every moment of my waking life. I choose to be aware in the present moment. I choose to pay attention to my thoughts and words.
Do you ever talk out loud to yourself? When we do, we tend to say things that are not positive and uplifting. Try this practice: Speak your gratitude and words of empowerment out loud. Your heart needs to hear your voice. Your heart hears constant words of error and false beliefs. But when your voice speaks words of truth aloud, your vibration is raised, your awareness is heightened, your experience of love expands.
Practice your spiritual readings out loud, as well as your prayers. Speak your gratitude for being aware in this moment, for loving friends and family, for your delicious meal. Affirm your success, prosperity and good health.
Our words are adding to the vibration of humanity. Let’s make them count.
Speak this aloud for yourself, your family, our country.
“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” – Ruth Baer Ginsburg
I’ve been so inspired watching the determination, grit, and drive of the athletes at the Olympic games. Many of them have moved through so many physical, mental and emotional challenges to be there. To hear the stories of devotion of the athlete’s persistence and support of their families and friends is amazing.
I was especially in awe of watching Katie Ledecky swim the 1500 m freestyle. When she was previously interviewed she was asked how she stayed focused. She said she trained herself to not let any negative thoughts distract her from her goal. She monitors her self talk and has trained her inner voice to be a motivational speaker. So while she’s swimming, her only thoughts are ones to empower her to keep going, past pain, doubt, and limitation.
Wow! What a dedicated spiritual practice! Most days I can start out with a positive mindset, but my thoughts so easily revert to what’s not working or what I didn’t get done. Watching her persistence and determination was a reminder of the importance of staying focused and take one step at a time.
Disappointment, illness, financial challenges, loss are all life experiences we have at one time or another. Part of the practice is to acknowledge the pain and emotion and not bury it. Feel the feelings, talk about the pain, acknowledge the sadness. Have patience as you move through the process. Be gentle with yourself and your self talk. Reach out and talk with a friend. Know that this too shall pass.
After Katie finished her event, she told her a reporter that she let her mind wander near the end of the race. Her thoughts went to all the people who helped her achieve her success, and she was appreciating each of them. She ended the race with gratitude, humility and grace and a gold medal!
Feeling gratitude for even the smallest awareness helps to lift us up. Feeling grateful changes our vibration and allows us to be fully present. I am reminded of this quote from Melodie Beattie, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more.”
What are you grateful for today? Is there an Olympic athlete that inspires you?
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Power of Conscious Choices Class Series: To Be Announced
We make thousands of decisions each day. Too often our decision-making can be confused with outdated beliefs and limitations.
As little girls we obeyed the rules and expectations of family, church and society. Our choices were dictated by others and we were often stifled. Years later, many women awoke to find their souls yearning to be set free to express, to love and to find joy.
Believing we are not good enough is our deepest secret. We’ve been trained to keep our secrets and pain to ourselves. As a result, we tend to think we are alone and are the only ones dealing with doubt, self-judgment, and lack. We come together in community to encourage and support each other. After all, empowered women empower women!
It is time to bring those old beliefs out of hiding and free ourselves from limiting thoughts, behaviors and actions.
“Mindfulness is about love and loving life. When you cultivate this love, it gives you clarity and compassion for life, and your actions happen in accordance with that.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
Before you even get out of bed in the morning do you ever find yourself getting ready to fight in the battlefield? When we’ve been offended, misunderstood, dismissed, unrecognized, we often wake up ready to go out to the battlefield, prepared to fight the enemy. You know them—Boss, coworker, spouse, friend. There’s a need to fight and make things right. There’s a need to be understood, to right the world that is spiraling out of control.
However, if we are disciplined enough to make it over to our meditation chair to sit in the stillness and quiet the mind, we can tap into peace. Then we can assess the situation and find our voice. I appreciate author Sam Horn’s A.N.G.E.R. Method of taking a step back to find a conscious, peaceful way to take action.
Imagine what would happen if we put aside the battlefield and instead went out to work in the garden? What if we allowed the warrior weapons to morph into garden gloves and channeled the emotions of battle into energetic vitality? We could use this newfound clarity of the situation to nurture and till the soil, feeding the precious seedlings (thoughts) with love, peace, wholeness, harmony. Take time to smell the flowers and take in the beauty of nature’s bounty.
If we are willing to stop and assess the situation, we have clarity and can lay down our weapons. The challenges of the world can be transformed by the presence of peace. It takes mindful intention and a willingness to let go. Buddha reminds us that “Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.”
Practicing mindfulness can give us the resources to face the difficulty of the day. It can help us find words to heal, thoughts to soothe, acts of kindness to share.
Affirmation: I am willing to lay down thoughts of separation and practice the radiant oneness of love.
“It’s hard to let go of anything we love. We live in a world which teaches us to clutch. But when we clutch, we’re left with a fistful of ashes.” – Madeleine L’Engle
Is there something you are hanging on to? Afraid to let go? Worried about what might happen?
Perception plays a big part in attachment. We perceive a specific outcome or result that may or may not be realistic. Because our emotions are tied in with the attachment, we are absolutely positive that the outcome we want is the only outcome there is. When we don’t get what we want, we feel disappointed.
The difference between expectancy and expectation is attachment. Expectation comes from the mind and expectancy comes from the heart. If I let go of attachment, I open up the realm of opportunity. The more attached I am, the more restricted life seems to be. Feeling restricted can make us feel incomplete and that somehow we have failed.
In surrendering, we free ourselves from the constant chatter about what isn’t working. We are then open to discover other possibilities in store for us. We tap into our inner wisdom when we let go of the suffering from the past, and the neediness of the future. Learning to live in the moment helps us stay centered in love.
When I live in the moment, I allow love’s healing power to take charge. If I can take time in the silence, I return to the extraordinary place of peace and harmony. Instead of planning, changing and fixing, I allow myself to just be and connect with the flow.
Affirm: I am willing to release and ready to receive.
As I approached seat 6D on my flight, I smiled and told the gentleman he was sitting in my assigned window seat. He smiled back and said he was sure he was in his assigned seat. I looked again at the diagram on the overhead bin and yes, 6D was the window seat, and it was the one listed on my boarding pass. He started looking for his boarding pass. “Do you mean they gave us the same seat?” he mumbled, as he searched for his boarding pass. I did not want to hold up the long line of passengers and quickly said, “You know what, it doesn’t matter.” I hastily stowed my luggage under the seat in front of me and let the line move forward. It was no big deal.
Or was it? Was I just conned into giving away my window seat? Why was I in such a hurry to give it up? I reflected on how many times I didn’t speak up when someone got in front of me in line or ignored my request. I remembered times I felt invisible to those around me. One part of me felt that giving up my seat wasn’t an issue. It was a short flight, and I had a book to read. Another part of me was livid because I felt manipulated, controlled, disrespected. Was I just trying to be nice?
We all want to be liked, accepted, and included. As a result, we don’t always say what we’re thinking. We often hold back from telling the whole truth so we don’t hurt someone’s feelings. We go out of our way to do things for others so they will approve of us. We suppress what we really think. We hold our tongues. We were taught: Little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice. We are told to be seen and not heard. Don’t argue. Don’t yell. Don’t jump around so much. Don’t talk back. Don’t be greedy. Don’t get dirty. For goodness sake, just be nice!
We can learn to set boundaries and not be in such a hurry to give up our own good for the sake of others. It takes patience, as we learn to speak up for ourselves. The passenger in 6D was not the cause of my pain. If I felt empowered, I would be free to speak up and hold my ground knowing that was my seat. I would speak my truth rather than silence myself.
Are you ready to speak up, stand up, and show up for yourself?
Affirm: I am aware, alert and willing to take charge of my life.
