Reflection

Today, on the last day of the year, emotions are mixed. There is gratefulness for all the blessings of the last year, sadness/happiness for days gone by, anticipation of what is to come, etc. Change is in the air. Resolutions are made (or not) and life goes on.

As you count your blessings and cheer in the New Year, whether in company or not, take a moment for yourself and be good to yourself (for example: say something nice to yourself, praise yourself). There is only one you and you are special. Happy New Year.

Moment Of Peace

Once everyone has gone to bed, the house is quiet. Peaceful. And all is well. Take a deep breath and enjoy that moment, enjoy the peace, enjoy it's wholeness.

Tomorrow is another day...

Alternatives

Persevere when one way doesn't work. There are always alternative approaches, new perspectives, and different paths to take. When you feel you are in a dead end street, look closer, turn around a bit, look up, do something different. You will find that the path does, after all, continue.  :)

Feeling Alive

Do you feel alive, truly alive? You do feel alive when you are completely in the moment, when the present moment is all that matters.

If you don't feel alive, step out of your comfort zone. That will zoom you back into the now from wherever you are.

Be You

"By being yourself, you put something beautiful into the world that wasn't there before." by Edwin Elliot

You are a beautiful, unique person. Your uniqueness makes this world a better place when you are you, when you share your gifts, when you shine your light. Be you, now and always.  :)

Simplify

Simplify your life. The more stuff you have, the more you need to take care of and think of. Consider letting go of things that are weighing you down. Take a look in the basement, garage, closets, anywhere you 'hide' things and give yourself permission to cut your emotional tie to all these objects you are holding on to. You will feel a lot lighter when it's done.

Count Your Successes

Count your successes at the end of the day. No matter what your day bore, there are always positive things you have accomplished. Many of us have the tendency to rehash issues, unresolved situations, things you could have done better. Why not focus on what you did do, did accomplish, did well?

Everything counts, even something as simple as making yourself a cup of tea (where you are taking a minute to be good to yourself, to breathe and relax!). Count your successes, pay attention to all the good you do, to all the good in your life.  :)

Thank You*

During this holiday season I am deeply thankful for family and friends, for all the special moments shared, for the laughs and the tears, the hikes and the kayaking, the hugs and the love. Thank you to all of you who have made my life complete. Because of you I am who I am today, and I am deeply grateful. Love and light to everyone who has touched my life. You are forever a part of me. :)

Friends

Having a same gender support/friend group is a true blessing in anyone's life. Knowing that someone is there to have your back when the going gets tough, as well as to simply have an easy, fun time is priceless. Cherish the time you get to spend with them, nurture your friendship(s), and know you are blessed.

Honor Your Time

There are some days when there are too many things you could do. Even if they are fun things to do, too many are too many. There is a point after which the fun is gone and you are stressed. Be mindful of that tipping point and let go of what is too much. Enjoy what you do end up doing doubly, because you honored your time and thus honored yourself. :)

Trust

"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them." by Ernest Hemingway

Give the benefit of the doubt. If you let fear/caution rule you before you even begin a human interaction, there is no where to go and you become your own prisoner. So not only will you learn if the person is trustworthy, but more importantly, you are opening your world to life as a whole.

YOU

Confidence shines through you when you feel it. Believing yourself trumps everything else. When you believe yourself (not just IN yourself!), everything else will fall in line. When you are you, you are the best you can be. And there is no better place.

Knowledge

Do we come into this world with or without knowledge? If we are a spark of God/made in the likeness of God, then isn't knowledge already a part of us when we enter this world?

When you listen to your gut, aren't you listening to your divine essence? Are there times where you just know something without having learned it? Food for thought...

Don't Give Up

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try one more time." by Thomas Edison

Isn't that the beauty of life? You CAN always try one more time. Maybe in a different way, in a different form, but there are always alternatives, new ways of doing things, innovative ways of giving it one more shot.

Instead of giving up, put your imagination to work, change your perspective, and come up with a new altered plan. And then go for it.

To Succeed

In order to succeed in anything you need to fully commit to your goals and believe in yourself. Hesitation, procrastination, and wavering will confuse and thus slow down your process and progress.

When you find yourself stalling, reassess your situation. Ask yourself:  Are you committed? Do you believe in what you are doing and in yourself? What fears are steering you off course? Your answers will help you gain clarity and get back on track.

Life As A Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is defined as a journey, especially a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion. An additional definition (by dictionary.com) is 'any long journey, especially one undertake as a quest or for a votive purpose, as to pay homage'.

If you think on it, life in a way is a pilgrimage or even made of multiple pilgrimages. Whether you are devoting yourself to your kids, or committing to a career or focusing on your personal journey, or writing daily insights, etc, you have a purpose you are committing and devoting yourself to. So what are you devoted to? :)

Let It Be

There are days where you may not be quite sure as to why certain things have happened in your day. On those days remember that there is a purpose that simply eludes you and that is okay. This is where faith and trust in God (a higher power, whatever that may be for you) and in yourself come in.

Instead of agonizing on how to figure out things, use the time to let them be and trust. Make peace within yourself. Not everything can be rationalized and all is well as it is. Accept what is without judgement and allow life to evolve.

Compassion

Feeling compassion for yourself is the only way to develop true compassion for others.

Subtle Dance

Not all people feel comfortable talking issues through. So how do you resolve challenges?

The most important thing is to be clear where you stand, what works for you and what doesn't. Then it is not about enforcing your method, nor is it about succumbing to the other person's approach. It is about entering into a subtle dance where you find a third way that is acceptable to both.

Whole

Friendships come and go. It is not always clear what moves and shakes human interactions. While we can philosophize and talk about how we are mirrors for each other and how we need each other, when an end draws near, the parting is seldom peaceful.

However, instead of getting lost in the sensations and emotions, which will guarantee a painful break, the one thing that will help you part peacefully or maybe even make amends, is to go inward and ask yourself:

Why are you in this friendship?
What makes you hold on to it?
What are you afraid to loose?
Then ask:
Are you being true to yourself,
are you honoring yourself,
are you being all that you can be?
Are you reliving/recreating a lesson to be learned?
Where are your boundaries and your limits (you need to take care of you first and foremost)?
What serves you in this relationship and what doesn't?

It helps to take an overall look, not just focus on the current tangled, emotional state. Look at the whole friendship history. Answering these questions will give you clarity and peace in the end. You will know where you stand, how you can support yourself and how to proceed. In any relationship, you can only be the best you are and by being your best you are giving others the opportunity to shine their light too. Whether they choose to shine their light with you or not is not up to you, but you will find that you can be whole with AND without their light.

The Big Picture

When you are working on resolving something in your life and you feel like you are spinning your wheels, take a step back out of the situation. Then look at it in the context of your life and how it fits into the big picture, into YOUR big picture.

This shift in perspective will help you make a more grounded, less emotional decision, take a more grounded approach, one that is true to who you are and where you want to be.

Join The Flow Of Life

The one thing you can count on is that life moves on. Whether you choose to live in the past, present, or future, time moves forward and life goes on. Though the pull to the past and the future can be very powerful and all consuming, notice how you truly only feel alive when you are in the present moment.

In the present you combine all your senses, the whole of your physical being with your emotions and your mind to form something tangible, something that can fulfill your whole being and morph as it needs to, morph with you as life moves on. Join the flow of life.

Perfect

You are perfect just the way you are. Perfect in your imperfection. Perfect in your light.

See the good and the bad in yourself. Find your pillar of strength in this self knowledge. Draw from this strength. As you do you are feeding trust back into yourself, which turns into inner strength, which you can draw from again, thus creating a positive self sustaining growth cycle.

Shifting Tension

When you are around someone who is irritated or angry, instead of joining in the irritation/anger and making it personal, ask him/her how he/she is doing/feeling or how his/her day is going. You'll be surprised how, more often than not, it diffuses the tension. You are giving the other person a "safe" way to release some pent up personal emotion and thus the interaction becomes more positive again.

F.L.Y.

F.L.Y. stands for 'First Love Yourself'.

If you want to learn how to fly you need to do just that!  :)

Fun Loving Energy

The fun loving energy of youth is intoxicatingly good. The great thing is that this fun loving energy is not just for the young. There is a well of it in all of us, no matter what the age. As you get older you might use it less or even forget that it is there, but all it needs is to be uncovered and tapped into again.

A great way to feel it again is to simply be around younger people. For example, if you have teenagers, it is as simple as volunteering to drive them to where they want to go. They often naturally exude this type of energy. Then, when you feel it, locate it within you and reach back in whenever you feel like it. :)

Canvas

"The world is but a canvas for our imagination." by Henry David Thoreau

This is so true! Your imagination creates your reality which is realized in the world. Make the most of your canvas with your thoughts. What do you want your canvas to look like?

Remove Unsettledness

When you are removed from your center, you feel unsettled/uneasy/restless/anxious/not you. How can you get back to your center? The best way is to get grounded. This means do something physical like taking conscious breaths, going for a walk/hike/bike ride, walk barefoot in the grass, etc. It will bring you back to your root, to your being, and will provide you with a renewed perspective and positive attitude.

Loneliness

"You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with." by Wayne Dyer

When you are at peace with yourself, who you are, you don't need anything or anyone else to make you whole. Loneliness is a self-perceived lack within oneself.

Next time you feel lonely ask yourself what you are missing. You know you have the answer when you feel whole again, when you don't feel lonely anymore. Being alone can be a wonderful thing, a very fulfilling state of being without loneliness.

Brain Washing Yourself

Do you give yourself pep talks about how good your life is? When you have to convince yourself that you are happy it is a sure sign that, despite all the good things/people that surround you, you are not.

This is very hard to admit to oneself. It is a type of brain washing you do to yourself which leads to denial of your essence and thus the disassociation from who you are.

The good news is that once you see what you are doing, you can change it, if you choose to do so. Awareness is always the first step toward change. How you talk to yourself tells you a lot about how in tune you are with yourself.

The Core

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." by Albert Einstein

I love this quote! Simplicity and clarity is the way to teach/explain anything. It shows that you know the core of the subject, the one thing that matters. Everything else can fall away because it is not important.

This is the same when it comes to you. When you know your core all pieces fall into place and you gain clarity.