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Let’s Talk

16 May

The Value of Connecting

 Even the hard conversations matter!

  • They are not easy to approach
  • They are not easy to have
  • They are not easy to get through

They all have one thing in common, they are very important to finding resolution.  I always try to put myself in another’s shoes when trying to understand where someone is coming from and how they are affected when in conflict.  Being open and committed to resolution is a necessity to finding a positive outcome.

However, not all conflict can be resolved, not because it’s impossible but because change only occurs when there is productive commitment to that goal.  You don’t always know what another person is experiencing in their life.  Not all reactive behaviour can be understood on a surface level and if someone is willing to share please always let compassion be part of the essence of that conversation.

I have had experiences on both sides, with those who are open and those who are defensive.  It’s obvious as to which side is most compatible with resolution.  I don’t think understanding defensiveness is really that difficult but if the person you are in conflict with will not let it go then resolution can be challenging if not impossible.

It’s difficult to take a hard look at your contribution to any experience and no one is innocent whether you believe you are or not.  It takes two to tango so being conscious and owning your part is a requirement in finding peace.  If not able to within a conflict then at least with yourself and from there you will grow.  Personal growth is the staple your evolution with the most important aspect being open to taking responsibility for your decisions and choices.  A stone thrown cannot be retrieved or undone, understanding how powerful or damaging the words you choose can be the doing or undoing in your relationships and minimizing how they affect someone else is a short sighted and foolish miscalculation.

Even though we can connect with anyone and everyone at any time all over the world, which is a great feature of the technological advancements, I feel it disconnects us more in many ways.  I see it used in both positive and negative pursuits and while I see many beautiful positives the negatives still lurk in the background.  I don’t believe that one chooses to hurt another simply for the sport of it.  Striking out usually comes from a place of hurt and pain, similar to an injured animal protecting its wound because they’ve lost trust that the help is sincere.

Trust is very precious and when exploited it becomes near impossible to re-establish that very delicate balance.  If we all understood this as deeply as it should resonate within I think we would all be less likely to challenge that risk.

During this global pause we have an opportunity to explore the things that elude us including the ability to connect through real conversation.  Before this my life was going so fast, every task and experience was the equivalent of being late to work and trying to rush as fast as I could to get there on time.  A constant race in testing the boundaries of how much I could really get done in a day, leaving me with no time for personal nourishment of soul.

How much have you taken for granted as the world has progressed to become so crazy busy and are you embracing these now for the gifts they are?

There are so many things I feel blessed with and am thankful for.

  • Clean air to breathe through healthy lungs
  • Strength and the ability to actively move as I desire and need
  • Solitude to recharge, fortify and nurture my mind, body and spirit
  • An environment that provides me with beautiful and breathtaking scenery
  • Blessed connections with those who inspire, motivate and nourish my soul to move in the direction of my dreams.

It’s these basic foundations that at times are taken for granted, overlooked as the blessings they are when forgetting that life’s offerings are not part of the mindset encumbrances you imprison yourself with.  Your mind is more powerful than you realize, it can either inspire or paralyze you and the difference between which side you reside in is entirely your choice.  It takes one thought, one decision, one shift of mindset to step into your power, to embrace and engage in all things that improve your world.  It is right there proof positive in whatever shifts that for you whether it is a book, movie, seminar, infomercial, whatever elevates you to feel inspired, to believe.  Notice how it takes only that one moment to shift?  Shockingly that moment can be really hard to advance to because it is in direct conflict with the ego.  The ego loves and thrives to be in control whether that is beneficial or detrimental to you, it does not discern, it serves only itself.

If you approach, embrace and inhabit this wave in all things you do there is no other outcome except positive change.  If you knew you could not fail would you attempt to try something?  It’s an intriguing thought isn’t it?  I wonder how many would take the chance.  You see our biggest detractors is ourselves.  It’s a lot easier to believe in someone else, inspire someone else because the risk to you is lower, you don’t have to put yourself out there but you also don’t receive the inner bliss that is the reward.

What anyone else thinks of your path is none of your business, simply because it is what ignites your soul not theirs.  Ego inspired thoughts from others designed to distinguish your spirit come from a place of one’s own fear.  When someone tries to discourage you for whatever reason know that they are telling you their story, not yours.

We all have our own unique ways to elevate our lives and we all inherently know how to fan and expand those flames.  I think now is a really good time to explore, to find your inspiration, to allow your own beauty to shine!

 
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Posted by on May 16, 2020 in Blog

 

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Off the Beaten Path

02 May

Finding Your Way with Feeling

Have you at one time experienced the moment, day, week or month (hopefully not a year) of feeling lost without hope or options?  Most times feeling lost creates a sense of panic and the extent of that panic of course depends on how much of an over thinker you are.  Getting a hold of yourself and your thoughts to find the way out is your best and only option.

It is my sense that feeling lost is related to some sort of conflict that you feel overwhelmed, overpowered or minimized by.

Conflict itself is just your soul’s way of communicating to you that are off your path, that you aren’t where you are destined to be.  I think many of us get so caught up in the details of a conflict that we miss the lesson while heading toward our intended destiny.  I don’t mean exactly that certain people aren’t meant to cross and/or be in your life but rather that instead of focusing on the conflict try to figure out why it is there to begin with.  What or who are you really battling against?

Keep the bigger picture in mind when assessing conflict or issues of any kind, not everything is as negative as it seems to be.  Just maybe it is meant to propel you into a new direction, a direction you might not otherwise have discovered had you not been pushed.  Maybe it is connected to a quality or characteristic you need to develop to fit into the puzzle that is your future destiny.  I kind of see things in that perspective as each of my experiences pass and I have time to reflect on what the real purpose/lesson was.  I usually find that I have gained greater clarity and that what I’ve learned or developed as a result of the experience will help me going toward my purpose.  There are some that I had to repeat, I guess I just felt I knew better at times and how wrong I was and pained to have to go through one again but thankful at least that I could look back and make the connection changing it from the negative experience into a positive result.

Taking back the power, your power, that you’ve allowed the experience to take control of is your bridge to freedom.

It is my thought that the four elements to embracing this perspective, attitude and outlook are to focus on what you’ve gained instead of what was taken away and/or needed to be shed.

Intention:  When you go into any experience it isn’t likely that your intention is to falsely represent yourself, at least I hope not.  If your intention is pure and positive than it is important to include your intention as reference when you look back to assess what went wrong and why the outcome did not turn out as you had hoped.  Everything happens for a reason!

Receptive:  Are you receptive to the thoughts and opinions of others, not in the way of dismissing your own but open to meeting another’s actions, behaviours and opinions with love and acceptance?  Allowing them to be who they are without judgement or constraint?  By remaining receptive you show that you are considerate and respectful and not trying to force a response or outcome you want which in turn shows another how you also want to be treated.  We teach people how to treat us!

Abundance:  I used to associate abundance in a monetary sense very long ago and of course that was a very naïve assumption.  Abundance is present in so many areas of life and monetarily is actually the least valuable.  Abundance in love, respect and compassion towards yourself and for others are the highest of value and my most cherished.  You cannot buy any of these nor can you force them, they are most beautiful when given freely and without attachment.  The authentic moment is priceless!

Gratitude:  It’s important to have gratitude for even the difficulties as terrible as they are because it is both good and bad experiences that shape you into the person you become.  When I have experiences that don’t turn out the way I hoped I have always concluded that there must have been an aspect of myself I needed to grow or strengthen to better serve me in the future.  Becoming aware of each and every success or challenge that has changed something in me for the better is why I continue to keep this faith.  Even the small steps matter!

When you find yourself off the beaten path do whatever you need to rein yourself back in, look for your signs they truly are all around you trying to guide you back and remember:

  • Everything happens for a reason
  • We teach people how to treat us
  • The authentic moment is priceless
  • Even the small steps matter

Forge ahead with intention, change your negative experiences into positive, stay open and receptive to welcoming abundance in your life with a big dose of gratitude!

 
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Posted by on May 2, 2018 in Blog

 

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Raising the Bar

23 Feb

Living through your Lessons with Joy

Your lessons shape you:

You are a product of the environment that you grow through, all your lessons build and shape who you are to become so they are definitely essential.  Even the more difficult experiences carry with them important elements of a plan that has not yet come to fruition.  No one knows their life plan and what things will look like ten, twenty or thirty years down the road.  Sure you may have ideas of what you want to see but how things actually turn out is really dependent upon how you play the hand you are dealt, how you process it internally and externally.

Your experiences and lessons are meant to challenge you to rise to the occasion and I guess the internal question to ponder is how are you doing with that?  Are you allowing the experiences to define you or are you daring to rise up stronger?  I can say with certainty that the lessons are not meant to tear you down to oblivion but instead to dismantle the elements you may have taken on that do no serve your spirit well, the elements you need to let go of or transform.  Not everything we carry with us emotionally is meant to continue past the experience except to be a point of reference (a signpost) for developing awareness.

My lessons have been challenging but not so challenging that I couldn’t recover or find a new path and that’s not because they weren’t very difficult but rather because I refuse to let any difficulty break me.  For sure they take time to go through and not every part of an experience is easy to step back from and be objective about but you need to be kind to yourself when you stumble.  It’s easy to chastise yourself for allowing something to go farther than it should have when you believe you should have known better and the inner dialogue that results can only damage your self-worth and self-esteem.  So the next time you are in the midst of a dilemma allow yourself a moment to step outside of that struggle, look at the experience as if you were providing an analysis or solution for a friend.  If it wasn’t your experience what would you advise a friend to do?  In that moment when you’ve stepped outside of it you’ve allowed yourself a little more objectivity and that can be very empowering in to finding resolution and/or a way to manage through to the end of the experience.

Fake it until you make it:

As difficult as some lessons feel keep telling yourself that you are loving them for the wisdom you know you are going to gain, embrace them even when they aren’t even remotely satisfying because without them you don’t get through to an ending, a closure.  Every experience can have a positive side effect come out of it you just have to want to find it.  It could be renewed strength, personal empowerment or an elevation of gratitude, many effects really.  What you are looking for to define the experience (positive or negative) is exactly what you will continue to find every time you relive it.  Your thoughts and how you perceive your experiences are entirely up to you, you can either lessen the damage or increase it, this is determined by the perspective you are encouraging.

When you talk about an experience you have the opportunity through your thoughts and words whether or not to let that experience be one that broke you or one that made you stronger, it’s your choice!  I say fake it until you make it, maybe at the beginning of that conversation it feels like it broke you but what you can relate to others is that it didn’t break you but made you stronger.  After a while of continuing to repeat those thoughts and words you begin to change the fabric of that story, you inevitably become stronger and while at the beginning you may have been faking it you are now making it true.

Stay present:

Not everything that happens to you occurs because of who you are, try not to take things too personally, I know at times that can be difficult but most often when you experience conflict it isn’t in direct relation to your lessons but maybe another’s, you may just be a part of their experience that is designed to awaken them.

It is a normal response to look for ways to escape the more difficult aspects in life, no one longs for difficulty or struggle but keep in mind it is a lot more taxing on the stress in your mind to resist the natural flow than to allow it.  As easy as letting go sounds in theory, it can be extremely difficult to actually begin that process, it starts with acceptance and brings immediate relief.  I think everyone at one time or another struggles with letting go, when I had the experience I hadn’t realized at that point how much effort it was taking from me to hold onto the resistance and how much relief I felt when I finally let things be.

Life’s ups and downs occur so you can develop boundaries, balance, happiness, clarity and direction.

Sometimes the necessity to find a way out when feeling overwhelmed can be the beginning of a new opportunity so it is important to stay present, eyes wide open.

It is important to me to learn from my past and look forward toward the future with hope while maintaining a strong presence in the now.

Connecting with others on a soul level is the most beautiful part of presence, don’t miss out pursue it passionately!

 
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Posted by on February 23, 2018 in Blog

 

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Your Destiny Awaits!!

30 Jan

Who Do You Want To Be?

After an extended holiday break I’ve had lots of time to relax and recharge my thoughts and of course with a new year comes new ideas, resolutions and personal promises but I think the burning question is “who do I want to be?”

Life isn’t just about me and it isn’t just about others, it is the harmonious and meaningful balance between the two that help develop the best version of yourself.

It’s not about what you have done or attained, I think it’s more about what you’ve overcome or changed to ensure a more awareness enhanced life that benefits not only you but those around you.  Getting in touch with the “real you”, your core, is actually quite easy because your instincts/intuition is always plugged in, it’s just a matter of letting that inner voice be heard.  What does your soul tell you, what does your heart want and are you listening to them at all?  Are you being true to yourself for yourself and not for others, that is where the true happiness and inner peace comes from, its internal, not external.

who do you want to be

What is deemed important for you by others is not necessarily what is best for you and learning to heed the warnings and understand the signals are what will keep you self-aware and grounded.  Your best self is the one you don’t have to pretend to be, what you present in all naturalness is your most authentic and usually what others are most drawn to.  When you are unauthentic or trying to suppress the “real you” because you think others won’t like you then not only are you not giving yourself a chance but you aren’t giving others a chance and everyone loses.

Authentic is the “real you”, being yourself gives others the chance to know your heart, your soul, your passion and your many other qualities.  When you are truly authentic you are completely in check with humility, gratitude and inspiration, all the beautiful qualities that create the moments to cherish and the opportunities that flourish.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best:

To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) American Essayist & Poet

Now that is success!  If you achieve one you’ve succeeded, if you achieve more than one, that is twice blessed, more to aspire to and more to be proud of.  An enormous amount of personal gratitude comes with personal successes like these not because of any sort of adoration or recognition that may accompany it but because of the personal rewards from seeing others truly happy, knowing you were a part of it.  Gratitude for having been given the opportunity not because you are looking to tip the scales of karma in your favor but simply because you can, because you are able to.

There is a bigger meaning to life and I think all of us at one time or another get lost in the hectic and forget the blessings in our own lives not because of a lack of gratitude but because the distractions in life become so over-stressed.  Humility becomes familiar again when things slow down and you have a moment to look around and reflect, to realize how quickly things could change and how easily that might shift your emotions.  It is only through compassion and empathy when you see others down on their luck that you realize that could be you and if it were would you handle it as respectfully as some people do?  Would you fall apart and blame others and/or life or would you get back up, dust yourself off and try again?  Strength of character runs high in those that refuse to give up their tenacity, ambition or integrity.

Alternatively when you see others that are high on the success scale, those who seem to have it all but are also very grounded and happy.  Does it motivate or inspire you to also seek higher goals for yourself, to emulate and/or aspire to be like another, not because you want to be that person but because the qualities and personality as a result of that inner peace and connection is magnetic and you too want to feel that happiness.

You always hear that when people get to the end of their lives they start reflecting and thinking about the beginning, times that they regret and wish they had made better choices or taken different paths.  While I always think it’s great to reflect and even better not to have regrets the important aspect of it all is the learning and I say “why wait, start asking yourself these questions now, the earlier the better”.

Your Destiny Awaits!!

Who Do You Want to Be?

Click the link below for some light inspiration 🙂

Dance with Me Tonight; Tim Halperin

 
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Posted by on January 30, 2016 in Blog

 

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You Must Be The Change You Wish To See!

06 Dec

All Gestures Matter

Change doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you.  When change occurs try to accept and embrace that it’s the catalyst to propel you in a different and better direction.  Having appreciation at that moment can be difficult but knowing within that everything works out as it’s meant to for the betterment of you and those around you is the silent blessing.  Sometimes certain changes push us into directions we ought to have found ourselves but are too preoccupied or unaware to see.  Taking your own form of a “time out” to become aware of the benefits behind your changes whether they are apparent at the time or not is a great way to ground and humble yourself.

Recognizing and having gratitude for the basics that you live with every day is a good way to keep yourself in check, it’s easy to forget and/or take for granted that they are in fact luxuries.  There are many people that can’t perform the basic tasks simply because they have limitations and most of them are grateful for what they can do, are you?  It starts with the little things, the little gestures, and this is no different, on the smaller scale if you want to see more people offering a moment of kindness to strangers, then start offering it to strangers yourself.  You must be the change you wish to see!

present moment

It doesn’t matter what end of the scale you are on the concept is all the same and when you start paying attention to the smaller things and having appreciation for them, the bigger things change from wants and needs to “it would be great if it happened but I appreciate what I have” because your level of gratitude has been elevated.  As a result more of what is in alignment with your state of gratitude shows up in your life and while it may appear to feel like luck it’s actually just more of what you are starting to gravitate toward and embrace.

An attitude of gratitude tends to shift your perception which as a result changes your reality and the way you connect with those around you.  We are all universally connected to one another but don’t always realize it because there is so much else going on around us, in our lives and in the world.

It doesn’t matter what you call it (God, source, a higher power, the universe) the essence of that which connects us all to each other is very real, even though we don’t always sense and/or feel every other person’s emotions they are there and usually just under the surface.  I think we feel and notice more when something on a global scale or more intense level brings that sense of human emotion to the forefront.

Connecting with others is the true essence of authenticity because it binds you in such unspeakable ways you can’t even explain, you just feel it.  These are the golden connections and are as rare as they are pure, the ones where you almost don’t have to say anything but feel an abundance of love through the connection.  It touches your soul so deeply that you feel as one and not because you’ve blended together but because these unexpressed or guarded emotions which are rarely on open display are sitting just below the surface waiting for the right person to inspire them out.

The more I see these kinds of conversations and changes going on around me and in the world, the more I believe in the value and promise of positive change.

There is no shortage of inspiration for being the changes you wish to see, everyone inherently wants to connect with others, that’s what we are all here for, to make connection.  Things get skewed and foggy when presented with the opportunity at times and I think that’s because vulnerability, a large level of openness is required to make the real difference.  It is a scary step to take because of fear, fear of feeling too exposed, too open and too available for criticism.kiefer-sutherland-kiefer-sutherland-the-most-significant-piece-of

Real changes, real opportunities and real moments happen outside of your comfort zone, take a step out there and give it a try, you won’t regret it.

You must be the change you wish to see!

I think what is authentic about this statement I found quoted by Kiefer Sutherland is that I believe it applies to all aspects of life and not just acting which is what he is referencing.  My take from it is that when you “believe in the moment” it is when you are being your most authentic, with authenticity comes a sense of truth.  When you are being genuine with others it is felt, recognized and appreciated and as a result reciprocated.  When you trade the protective walls of personal security for authenticity you increase the opportunity for connection and I believe “being the change you wish to see”.

 
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Posted by on December 6, 2015 in Blog

 

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Change is a Gift

02 Nov

Let it Be

Change is inevitable, how you view change is ultimately going to define your state of being, happiness and outlook on life.  Not every change is welcome but every change is necessary because without it you won’t progress or have the opportunity to evolve your level of consciousness.  It is through change that you become more defined or shall I say more refined but you will end up becoming more connected to your world and those in it which is definitely a gift.

I don’t know if there is some cosmic shift going on or not right now, I know the astrology forecasts are always talking about specific shifts but I feel that some kind of change is in the air even though I can’t quite figure out exactly what it is, it feels positive though and hopeful and I sense it will be fulfilling.

The shift itself feels similar to how you feel when you are coming out on the end of some sort of emotional process that you had to work through like that of failure, disappointment or heartbreak because these kinds of experiences change you in ways you wouldn’t have expected, they seem to cause a deep stir in the make-up of who you are.

How do you make it through the transition of tough and emotional experiences like failure, disappointment or heartbreak; are you letting these experiences define you or are you defying the odds you feel are against you to overcome them?  Probably the most soul-crushing experiences because they ultimately alter who you were and from there who you are to become and while the words “growth period” is usually what is used to describe these kinds of experiences it doesn’t ease the challenges or hurt any less.you get to choose

Finding the light at the end of that “oh so long” tunnel sometimes seems non-existent and that is because you are so enmeshed in the grief period that the other side is unseen and unimaginable.  Growth periods take time, patience and your personal understanding in realizing that there isn’t anything wrong with you even though you may feel broken.  Jane Fonda described this particular experience as “not being broken but rather broken open” which I think is the best description because when you are broken open you are fully exposed, fully vulnerable and fully open because there is nothing left to damage and nothing left to give.

This is the key moment to change that is now to become a part of your path, because you have been stripped bare and are open there is no resistance left, there is now room for new and positive experiences to enter your life.  I think how you view each of these experiences is ultimately going to be your guiding force to get you back into your life and feel positive and hopeful about your future.

Sometimes the presence of emotions over failure, disappointment or heartbreak is not existent during a major time of transition but I think the process in getting through it is similar in that you aren’t really sure of what you are doing or where you are going but the need for some kind of change feels imminent.  Balancing a sense of peace and patience (knowing that things will work out in a positive way) when things feel a little scattered or misdirected will be what grounds you.

Failure:  I’ve always been hard on myself and viewed my own personal failure as a huge sign of defeat but in the last 5-10 years I’ve taken on a different view.  I no longer believe it to be failure, instead I’ve come to the understanding that the word failure is the word I had interjected into my experiences because my faith that “everything happens for a reason” and “all things happen as they are meant to” conflict, my faith and failure cannot logically co-exist.  If all things happen as they are meant to then how could it possibly be failure, it would have to be an intended outcome, which I do believe it is.  It is the ego that constantly tries to override the soul and the emotions that our soul relates to us are our signals that the ego is trying to gain control.

Disappointment & Heartbreak:  I think these two are the more heartfelt emotions because they are usually connected to your hopes and dreams.  Everyone gets caught up at one time or another in the fairy tale idealism and why not, there’s a wisp of it in almost everything within our view through magazine, television, books, etc.  I think problems start to arise when the ego tries to control who and what is going on, and of course to make people, places and things that are currently in your life fit into your soul’s hopes and dreams.  As a result disappointment and heartbreak happen because this is not something that is guided by the ego but rather felt by the soul, you can’t rush or fit it.

I really believe that “everything happens for a reason”, I really believe that “all things happen as they are meant to” and I really believe that when the time is right all of that falls into place and not a moment too soon.

Without gratitude for where you are now how could you ever get any further without struggle or resistance while trying to rush the future?  It’s all about allowing your soul to speak, enjoying the moments in between and appreciating what you have in the now.

the experience of gratitude

 
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Posted by on November 2, 2015 in Blog

 

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The Magic of the Season

15 Dec

The Spirit in My Christmas

What does the holiday season mean to you? Does it mean too much hustle, too much spending and way too busy? If it does I think you may have become disconnected from the true meaning and value of the holiday season.

magic of the season

The Spirit of Christmas is supposed to carry so much more than just how much you’re hoping to get or how much you’ve given. The holidays should be a source of happiness, the time to connect with the people you may not see so much during the year, to celebrate with those you love and cherish and remember those that are no longer here with you. It is the family traditions from the holidays that keep us rooted within our heritage, connected to our past, remain active in our present and are carried into our future.

For me it’s not just the 12 days of Christmas but rather my 6 most cherished spirits of Christmas:

  • Family
  • Friends
  • Gratitude
  • Compassion
  • Giving
  • Sharing

I think it’s important to embrace these spirits all year long but I find for myself that they become heightened during the holiday season. It starts with the music and lights and I know many don’t want it but I love the addition of snow because it makes the holiday that much more magical, everything sparkles so much more with the backdrop of beautiful white snowflakes. It takes the season in the direction that the best stories of Christmas have come from, like sledding down the hills.

There is so much creativity that comes from everyone during this time, not just with their lights but food and crafts too, not everything needs to be bought the best creations are those that are made from a pure place of love. I think probably everyone has at least one but probably more arts and crafts from their children displayed somewhere within their decorative décor and likely well past the years when their kids originally made it because it has become part of the tradition.

My traditions? The entire family stuffing themselves until they feel too full to eat another bite, listening and/or singing the songs, kids running around creating all sorts of havoc, laughing and being crazy. It’s all about visiting and sharing good food, good drinks and good conversation with good company and if there is someone new to include into the festivities, even better because there is always room for new friends.

I know the holiday season doesn’t provide everyone with the warmth and joy that it does for me and I believe that the spirits of compassion and giving become even more important to share with those you encounter that aren’t feeling the love. It doesn’t take a huge gesture to share the season, sometimes the smallest acts carry the biggest weight.

Tis the Season, embrace and enjoy it!

seasons greetings

 
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Posted by on December 15, 2014 in Blog

 

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Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

13 Oct

A Day of Gratitude

Although the day of Thanksgiving is different in Canada than in the United States, the meaning is the same, it’s the day of thanks for all we appreciate and have gratitude for.

It’s important to have gratitude in your life, not just on Thanksgiving but as a daily ritual. I think too many times at the end of the day we find ourselves focusing on the things that didn’t go right instead of the things that did and it’s the thoughts that you feed the most that are going to grow.

If I am going to increase any specific state of being gratitude is the best place to start, it positively enhances all aspects of your life and builds an inner strength of character that is unmatched and unaffected by negativity.

gratitude, parent

Gratitude, appreciation and thanks for all that your life has brought to you so far will increase growth in the direction you seek. Your path will have many opportunities, obstacles and lessons along the way and understanding that they are all a part of your personal journey will help you to embrace the wisdom that gratitude ushers in.

Gratitude isn’t just a “means to an end”, it is a way of life that opens up so many other doors, ones you couldn’t imagine or know were there because it’s not just about giving thanks, it is a conscious shift into this state of being that is transitioned not just through forgiveness but awareness, vulnerability and acceptance as well and with it comes a state of happiness that you cannot buy, manipulate or manufacture.

There are many different ways to transition yourself into a daily gratitude ritual and it’s just a matter of finding the one that fits best for you. Possibilities I’ve heard of are starting a gratitude journal that you make entries into on either a daily, weekly or monthly basis. It’s a matter of being able to find that time to focus and make it an important part of your life because once you do those are the thoughts you are feeding and as a result they will grow.

The more you have gratitude for the more you will see the results of that gratitude manifest in your life. If you aren’t one that finds it easy to write your thoughts down, you could take a period of time in your day where you use your thoughts internally, like some of do at the end of the night before falling asleep. Honestly I think it would be better to replay thoughts of gratitude before falling asleep instead of occurrences of the day as it is a more positive place to have your subconscious drift into while you sleep and can then permeate those thoughts into flourishing throughout the following day.

It takes discipline at the beginning to maintain whichever gratitude process you create but as soon as it starts to become personal habit it will then be effortless and you will see your life change in all the ways you had hoped for.

happy thanksgiving

 
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Posted by on October 13, 2014 in Blog

 

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To Err is Human

06 Oct

To Forgive is Divine

Forgiveness allows you relief from carrying the burden that causes you to remain present in a moment that has hurt you deeply.

It takes courage to allow yourself to be in a place that helps you to forgive others for feeling disempowered by their words or actions. Vulnerability is a necessary component of all relationships, without it you won’t experience the true connection but with it there is a risk of being hurt. If you take your past hurts with you into your present and future it may provide you with a false sense of security, a wall that you think may protect you from getting hurt again, but it prevents you from truly shining and others from getting to know your heart.

When you’ve been hurt deeply the ego’s logic is to hold onto the hurt and anger in the hopes that it will somehow affect the person that caused you the hurt. This couldn’t be further from the truth, chances are very likely that they are unaffected, unconcerned and/or unaware. That hurt, however, will continue to writhe inside of you until you finally reach the place of letting it go and letting it go you must!

Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die

–        Buddha

I absolutely love this quote I got from an Oprah show a while back, it bears repeating again and again until you allow yourself to feel and embrace the power in these words.

  • Forgiveness does not mean you have to accept the person back into your life.
  • Forgiveness does not mean you are condoning what they did or that you are in any way saying it was OK what they did.
  • Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.

Forgiveness is where your strength lies because it allows you to embrace more fulfilling aspects of character like compassion and empathy. That strength says “I’m letting you go so you can’t continue to hurt me with this memory that I’m remembering daily”. By releasing this memory as past and allowing the grief of the hurt to be felt you then give yourself the opportunity to heal and become stronger, strong enough to never find yourself in that same place again. Sometimes the hurt caused by another can feel very personal and intense and to hold yourself in the same place day after day after day can be a way of punishing yourself for letting someone get close enough to hurt you, although I don’t think that is realized at the time.

Forgiveness paves the way for all things beautiful and positive. It gives you the opportunity to see and feel the miracles of life that we often overlook or take for granted. Forgiveness helps you into the state of gratitude so you are able to recognize the blessings you’ve had and those that are still to come.

There are so many before us that have gone through so much more than we will ever have to know because they have lived, their sacrifices paved a better road for us. Without the blessing of their sacrifices, our miracles in life would not be as abundant. Take a moment to acknowledge and recognize history and know that no matter how difficult life may be right now, there are always options, if there weren’t then those before us wouldn’t have been able to provide us with the changes we know in life today.

Your crown has been bought and paid for. All you have to do is put it on your head.

  • James Baldwin

Appreciate yourself and life enough to know that you have every opportunity to pave that path even better for the future of those you do not know and in doing so you may have positively inspired hope in another.

Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.

  • Jonas Salk

how we ran the race

 
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Posted by on October 6, 2014 in Blog

 

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What You Can Become!

04 Sep

Closing the Gaps

It’s not how long you live, it’s what you do with the time you are here! If you want or expect positive experiences and blessings to occur you must make room for them to manifest and exist in your life. Pursue them with everything you’ve got and rest only when you are satisfied!successful mindset

Quote by Leonardo da Vinci:

“It has long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”

It starts with you!

  • Do you really want what you desire?
  • Or do you believe that it should come to you?

These are the defining questions that determine the ultimate direction of your life and your desired goals.

Positively speaking; if you really want what you desire you will go after it without any thought other than success. You must believe in yourself and your goal wholeheartedly and when your belief is this strong there is no room for anything other than success. Everything I have put my heart, mind and soul into has been successful and not for any other reason than that I left no room for any other result. Your belief can actually produce the result and if this sounds crazy to you then put it to the test, I dare you!

Keep in mind that the belief must be felt within every fibre of your being, you cannot half-heartedly pretend to believe in something and in the back of your mind not believe it as that is counter-productive and the reason it WILL fail.

Negatively speaking; if you believe what you desire should come to you then you are already in the wrong frame of mind and the one that will not manifest anything other than an increase in that negative thinking. Intention and attitude are everything when it comes to manifesting your goals and dreams. Appreciation and gratitude for all that you have been blessed with so far is the only way to change a negative frame of mind. If you think or believe that you’ve just not been given the opportunities you deserve I hope that you already see and realize that you are blocking yourself. There is an abundance of opportunities but when you don’t have appreciation for the little things you end up building a wall around you that prevents you from ever seeing the bigger things you have access to.

The same statement as above applies here as well except in opposite effect. If you are unable to connect or tap into the abundance that the Universe has to offer it is because you believe within every fibre of your being that it should come to you. Good Luck with that!

Yes there are times when what we work toward doesn’t go as we may have envisioned but in my experiences I’ve discovered that it has always led me to something better. Even though a vision changes or is changed for another reason I still view it as success because it takes me in a direction that I never considered and it’s always a better fit for me. I believe that what we envision and the directions we seek to go in are ultimately and divinely guided by the Universe and I have no reason to question that. I know the Universe is a force of all things positive and there is no better reinforcement than that.

Everything I have been taught from the time I can remember through every experience has provided me with the incentive I need to passionately pursue what I desire without pause. If you really want something, you go for it, bottom line!

Words are great, they can be inspiring and motivating, but actions are what prove the words true!

actions, words

 
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Posted by on September 4, 2014 in Blog

 

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