Clues From the Universe

Clues From the Universe

Clues - signs you get them all the time. They’re there to let you know which direction you should take. The problem arises when you’re not always hearing or seeing it.

So what are these clues that you keep missing? They’re the initial thoughts that pop into your head telling you do this or don’t do that.  Sometimes you listen and sometimes you don’t.  You can call it your gut instinct, a knowingness or intuition.  Like any instinct such as the fight or flight response it’s there to protect and guide you.  Its only concern is for your well-being, be it emotional, mental, physical or spiritual. It’s the direct line of communication to your life force. How awesome is that!

Now all you have to do is listen to it. It takes practice.  Typically you’ll get an initial thought and bypass it by consciously disregarding the message as being invalid, nonsense or not making sense.

In reality it’s you inner protection gauge and it comes from a place of your personal authentic awareness.  It’s your spiritual side stirring you in a direction that’s best for YOU.  Your challenge is to listen to it and to start heeding its advice.  After all, it’s just you wanting to shine by being your authentic self. 

The Key to Your Success

The Key to Your Success

Education? It certainly helps but that’s not it.

Connections? Again it helps but that’s not it.

Money? Nope. 

It’s the internal conversation you have with yourself that manifests itself through your thoughts, words and ultimately your actions. It’s the conversation you have with the people around you.  What you think, feel, and believe you can achieve is verbalized constantly. Therefore, if you want to be successful your thoughts, feelings, and language must match that success level as if you’re already there. We create our world with our thoughts and words.

But how do you go about doing that you might ask. You can start by changing your everyday language to become the powerful positive force you wish to become. You may not be aware of it but our language is filled with many negative words which then creates that what we just said we didn’t want.

Our brains are a positive producing organism which means that is doesn’t process negative commands. Your unconscious mind cannot process what is not.  It simply responds to the key words you give it. Children under seven are inclined to respond like the unconscious mind.  Tell a child not to touch something or not to drop something and what do they do, touch it, drop it?  

Here are some examples of what I mean and how to change it.

1. Its hard becomes - It’s not easy – It’s easy.

2. I’m broke becomes - I’m not rich – I’m rich.

3. I’m afraid becomes - I have no courage – I have courage

4. I’m sick becomes - I’m not very healthy – I’m very healthy

Here are some more common expressions that should be changed to more high energy positive language.

No problem – Thank you

Problem – Opportunity

Bad/Difficult – Challenge

Trying –Working on

Failure – Learning experience

If – When

Don’t’ /Can’t – Will

Undecided – Choice

Strange / Weird – Unique

Now let’s see if you can catch yourself in time to change your language to more high energy words.

It starts by changing how you think. Eventually with enough practice your actions will start to mimic your language. As a side benefit, you’ll notice that you’ll start to feel happy about life in general. It’s a win – win scenario for your key to success. 

Top 10 Things about time and space

Top 10 Things about time and space – The Universe

The Top 10 things about time and space that most people seem to forget...

10. You chose to be here and you knew what you were doing.
9. There are no "tests" and you're not being judged.
8. Everyone's doing their best, with what they know.
7. You already have whatever you're looking for.
6. You are of the Divine, pure God, and so is everyone else.
5. Religion needs spirituality; spirituality does not need religion.
4. You're naturally inclined to succeed - at everything you do.
3. You happen to life, life does not happen to you.
2. Order, healing, and love belie every moment of chaos, pain, and fear.
1. Following your heart is the best way to help others.

The truth shall set you free,
The Universe

Wake Up!

Wake Up!

Have you ever found yourself driving along a familiar roadway and suddenly realize where you were and thought to yourself, “Did I remember to stop at that stop sign?”

That’s sometimes referred to letting your mind wonder, zoning out or drifting. Don’t get stressed out about it. You’re not the only one it happens to. We all tend to lose our conscious awareness of what’s going on particularly when we’re around familiar or uninteresting situations.

Let’s face it. It’s difficult to be fully conscious at every moment all day long. But it’s when you’ll discover how alive you really are because you’ll become totally engaged in the present moment.

Being conscious means to synthesize, organize and direct our thoughts from the “how” you are “what” you should be conscious of in your mind.

There are ways to determine to be more present and therefore more conscious of your surroundings.

a)   Be conscious of your thoughts. Ask yourself where you should focus your thoughts right now.

b)   Be conscious of your physical and emotional now. What is your energy level and how shall I feel right now.

c)   Your behavior speaks volumes on which you are and dictates your results in life as well as how others feel about you.

d)   Be conscious of others. Imagine what it would feel to be in their place and what kind of mindset does the other person have.

e)   What is your progress? Are you moving forward, taking the necessary actions, managing your thoughts, feelings, behaviors and relationships that will help you progress and grow?

f)    Be conscious of the present moment. It means being fully aware and attentive but at the same time you release yourself from any expectation. Be at peace with and fully present with what is.

g)   Be conscious of coincidence and intuition. There are no coincidences and trust your gut instinct. It’s your personal survival mechanism.

h)   Finally, live in wonder. Remind yourself what it was like to be a child and marvel at all the life going on around you.

Eckhart Tolle has a few books out on accessing the present moment but I’d like to recommend two others. “Loving What Is” by Byron Katie, is a really good book about learning how to see the beauty in what is. The other book, “The Precious Present” by Spencer Johnson, is a short story you can read to your children but it’s a lesson for all of us.

Let me know how these books work out for you.

“I’m trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You’re the one who must walk through it” ~ Morpheus from The Matrix

Source: The Charge by Brendon Burchard

The Ultimate Goal

The Ultimate Goal

Is it a new house, fast car, great career, a healthy life, the love of family and friends, the respect of colleagues and the inner knowingness that you made a difference?

What if I told you it’s all of those things yet none of them?

You see the ultimate goal isn’t a person, place or thing. It’s a way of Being.

It’s such a simple word yet people will go to great lengths believing the ultimate goal is a person, place or thing only to find out that once the goal is achieved an emptiness take over and they’re off again looking for that three letter word.

It can be found anywhere if you take on a perspective of gratitude. When you are grateful for the growth you experienced with a set back as well as the happy positive experiences you’ve had you will have found the three letter word.  And what is this three letter word that everyone is seeking and yet keeps slipping away?

JOY – yep joy.

What you should be asking yourself when you go after that person, place or thing is “Will this bring me joy?”

You must ask yourself, “If I lose this person, place or thing will I still be joyful? Will I be joyful that I had this experience even if it doesn’t work out or doesn’t last?” Be in the moment with that person, place or thing. Grateful for the experience it has brought. And if and when it ends, be grateful for the experience because it let you live your life fully.

Choose to be joyful no matter what the outcome. 

Living Out Side the Box

Living Out Side the Box

I’ve never really like the term “outside the box”.  I didn’t know I was in a box but I guess that’s the point. You don’t’ know you are until you start thinking differently, viewing the same criteria but from another angle.

Now there are ways to get you to think outside the box - by accessing your right brain.  You can do something physical like run, play a sport, meditate or just take a walk.  Some people can access it by reading, painting, writing, listening to music or having an enlightened conversation.  Figure out what works for you. 

You know you’re accessing your right brain when out of the blue the solution to a problem you’ve been working on suddenly pops into your head and Ka...BAM there’s the answer. This has happened to me many times. I’ll be sitting at my desk working on a solution to a problem and not getting anywhere with it yet I can feel the answer is just eluding me.  I decide to take a break. I get up from my chair and take a few steps and ka...BAM the answer suddenly pops into my head. Four seconds ago I was stuck and now I have the answer.  Amazing!

But how do you go about living outside the box? The box represents your comfort level.  In order to live outside it, to excel and become what you know you can be, you need to have the courage, strength and perseverance to continue to grow.  And you know you’re growing and expanding your world when the thought of doing something makes you a bit scared yet excited at the same time. It’s what takes you to the next level. 

People don’t just fall into their greatness.

People don’t become fulfilled by playing it safe.

People succeed by their growth spurts, each one elevating them higher and higher to greater outcomes until one day they stop and realize it was all the little things that made them who they are.

I know living outside my own box is not always an easy thing to do. For me it’s much easier to fall back into the comfortable business aspect of my business instead of expanding my spiritual aspect.  It’s a conflict of interest.  My spirit says to speak my truth while my natural talents want me to fall back into the to-do list of running a business.

Guess who wants to win?

My spirit continues to push me to live outside my box.  I’m not going to lie, it’s a bit scary and uncomfortable but I’m getting so much more out of life. How about you?

Focus on What You Want

Focus on What You Want

There tends to be a lot of discussion and comments on the past and the present in relation to the future. And therein lays the problem in achieving our desired outcomes.

In order to move forward and create a better future, there must be more talk about the vision versus where we are.  By painting a picture in our minds of the vision that’s possible activates the Law of Attraction on a broader spectrum. Imagine not only just a few envisioning a brighter future but masses of people envisioning the same one?

Each time a positive thought enters your mind or a word in uttered about this vision, the masses start envisioning how it would look in their world. The wheels of imagination start spinning and soon actions start taking shape bring the vision into reality and WA...La, there you have it. That’s how it’s done. That’s how it’s always been done.

You first have a thought. You then start to build on it by creating in your mind how you could make it happen.  You ask around and get other people’s opinions and do some research. If it looks good you start gathering the materials or people necessary to make it happen.  At any point if it isn’t going as planned, a new thought arises to create an alternate scenario in which to still keep your ultimate vision intact.

It all starts with a thought that creates a vision.

As a country the people need a vision to focus on where they can visualize a brighter future.  They need to be able to paint the picture in their minds so that they can start to take action on it. They need the Law of Attraction to work for them. 

What Makes a Good Leader?

What Makes a Good Leader?

As populations increase and cultures and people become more diverse, more issues and problems face us more than ever before. Many people assume these problems and important issues will be taken care of by government but this assumption is becoming less and less of a reality. Many of the critical issues and problems are the kind government is least equipped to handle. And some of the issues and problems are caused by government itself.

This is why the world needs strong, competent leaders now more than ever before. Progress can only happen when someone assumes a leadership role – when someone tackles these problems and takes action to solve the problem and correct the injustice.

There are plenty of managers out there but what propels someone to leadership status? What is it that a leader has that a manager or an authority person doesn’t have?

We tend to admire people who can lead-people who can capture our imaginations, turn us on to important ideas, and recruit our energies for great and noble purposes. Progress happens when someone decides that a better way exists and influences others to find that better way.

What is it that these great leaders had while many others try and fail?

There are leaders who are followed because they have authority, they have a formal title or rank and command respect and attention like Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln and George S Patton.  People follow them because they are the boss.  On the other spectrum there are people who are leaders who have earned their leaderships status without a title. They are respected and followed for what they stand for like Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King and Mohandas Gandhi.

In all cases, these leaders were individuals who knew how to influence others. They understood people and they knew how to use the tools of authority. Of course the ideal way to influence is to have both formal authority and earned authority. Interestingly, it is common for a person with no formal authority and high earned authority to have greater influence over others than someone who has high formal authority but little or no earned authority. Just look at what MLK, Mother Teresa and Gandhi accomplished. They earned the respect, trust and allegiance of those who followed them. In retrospect, can you say the same thing about the bosses you’ve had, your government officials or even the Presidents of the U. S.?

Today leaders are being asked to provide a new kid of authority; service leadership. This viewpoint suggests that the role of a leader, no matter what type of authority is involved, is to lead by helping or enabling others, not by forcing them. It requires the capacity to lead both with a focus on service to those benefiting from the end result, and to those who do the work achieving the objectives. Such leadership requires working with a spirit and set of values that emphasize worthwhile contributions. Service leaders see their role as enabling or empowering others to accomplish something worthy. They are willing to place empowerment above personal power; contribution above their own ego satisfaction; and the needs of the team above their own needs for credit and acclaim.

With that said, how many people do you know who qualify as a leader? Are you a leader?

Source: Toastmaster International –High Performance Leadership

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses – ENOUGH already!

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses – ENOUGH already!

Excuses keep you small. They keep you from having a fulfilling life, reaching your goals and ultimately achieving the happiness you so desperately deserve and crave.

Every excuse keeps you from becoming all you can be. It’s fear rearing its ugly head and stopping you in your tracks. It casts self-doubt in your abilities and knowledge. It really serves no purpose but to keep you staying small and comfortable in your current position.

Why! It’s easier to find an excuse than do what’s necessary to achieve your dreams. The problem is by not facing your excuse, thus fear, it can have a snowball effect.

If you don’t do your taxes on time because you know you might owe money you’ll end up owing even more money because you didn’t pay your taxes on time.

There is also a physical and emotional by product of making excuses. Deep down you know you should take action but the very prolonged in-action can cause anxiety, restlessness, depression and unexplained outbursts because you’re holding the disappointment of yourself inside. Fear exhibits itself in procrastination and indecision.

The best course of action is to confront the excuse and take action on it. Be it a job, weight, project or a relationship problem confront it by making a decision and taking action on it.

Another way to think about it is how would you feel if everything you’ve been meaning to do and be came true? How would that make you feel? How would you show up in the world?

Would you feel relaxed, free, like the weight of the world had been lifted off your shoulders? When you blame others as your excuse it gives them power over you. You’ve just given them the power to dictate your outcome whether you’re aware of it or not. You’re essentially saying that this agency, group of people, history and society is the cause of you not achieving your goals.  It keeps you from taking responsibility for your life and keeps you small.

You can remain small in your excuses or you can take control by taking responsibility for your own outcome. Only then will you truly be free. 

Mistakes, Missteps, Regrets – They’re Memories Made

Mistakes, Missteps, Regrets – They’re Memories Made

There is something out the ordinary about experiencing major setbacks and disappointments in your life. It’s as if when you’re not paying attention the Universe will put something directly in your path that you can’t avoid.  You must deal with it

. 

There are no coincidences so it must have been put there for a reason.  Some of the most time-consuming, annoying, and inconvenient setbacks have also been the most memorable because I learned something from them or because it allowed me to explore something new.

One of my most memorable setbacks was when I took a trip to California with my girlfriend. Our plan was to spend a week in San Francisco, hit the wine country, and on one of our last days to drive through Yosemite National Park on our way to Reno, spend a day there and then fly out the following day. It didn’t go as planned.

The drive into the heart of Yosemite takes two hours. When we got there we were just in awe of its beauty. The combination of trees, fresh water creeks and rock formations was breathtaking. It was then that I decided if I could live anywhere in the world, this would be it.

We walked and drove around the area but then needed to be on our way as the drive out of Yosemite also takes two hours and we had to make it to our hotel in Reno. I always did the planning of our trips and since we wanted to see as much as possible in two weeks our time frames were pretty tight. Part way out of Yosemite our rental car stalled on the mountain side. It took hours before anyone actually stopped to ask why two young women were parked along the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Sure vehicles went by but they were far and few between. By the time were heard them through the dense forest they had already gone by. Usually it was when a vehicle honked that we were aware there was another motorist on the road. Eventually someone going into the park stopped. They said they’d let someone know about us. A few hours later a tow truck came to bring us back to the main area.

We now had two problems. It was almost 10 PM when we arrived back at the main area and they wouldn’t be able to work on our vehicle until the next day. The second problem is we were stuck there and had no place to stay. The driver found us a cabin with community restroom facilities to use. Whew!

Since we hadn’t eaten since lunch we were starving so the driver took us to a grocery store. We had ten minutes to find what we wanted before it closed.

In a cabin with two beds and two dressers we had the time of our lives. In our haste to acquire food we neglected to get some utensils. There we were with a fully cooked chicken and no way to eat it but with our hands. We had chips, chicken and a cocktail to drown our mishap. We DID remember cups for the alcohol. We sat on our respective beds while trying to eat bare handed and laughing at how barbaric we must appear. We reminiscing and laughed like crazy. Eventually we decided to find the community restroom in total darkness. That was a challenge and a whole other story.

The next day our vehicle was fixed by noon and the tow truck driver asked how our night was. We told him we had so much fun. He then asked if we went to a certain lodge. “There’s a lodge with music!” No, we didn’t go there. Well then he figured we must have gone to another lodge. We were a bit embarrassed to say we didn’t know any of those places he mentioned and that we instead had a blast hanging out together in our cabin. He was a bit shocked.

We never got to see Reno. When I look back I don’t think Reno would have been as much fun as the time we just had.

In the end it taught me to slow down and enjoy the ride. The vacation wasn’t just about getting from one tourist attraction to another but to enjoy the scenery and the company I was with. Mission accomplished.

This is just one story I have about inconvenient setbacks that I’ve experienced. The one thing that stands out in all of them is that they may have been annoying and inconvenient but I always gained something out of it.

How about you? Are your setbacks really a mask for something else to happen in your life?

Love Equals Caring as much as Caring Equals Love

Love Equals Caring as much as Caring Equals Love

Let’s make a distinction about love. There’s the romantic love that is felt between two people, the love of your children, family and friends. But caring encompasses a broader sense of love in that it’s the love of all that is. It’s the love of life and everything we experience in it.

We show kindness and caring to one another through the simple act of opening a door for someone, asking how someone is doing and actually listening to their response, even cleaning up after yourself so that others won’t have to deal with your mess.  These are but a few of the everyday acts of caring that we demonstrate to one another. The capacity to care and be cared for is a human strength. It’s what connects us to one another.

When you don’t demonstrate care to others consistently, life loses its color and connection. You may end up feeling less engaged with those around you. If you’re not making a point to be caring of others in your life, the people around you don’t feel cared for, love, appreciated, respected or engaged by you at the heart level. When this happens they may contact you less frequently, trust you less, buy from you less, and leave you more. It’s an easy formula to figure out: care more, connect more.

Our drive for caring, in a broad sense, makes us feel that we are safe, worthy, and loved, through our own actions and the actions of others, we are cared for.  Caring is something you do and receive.

Of all the human drives, caring seems to get the least attention. Instead, caring’s sexier sister, Love, gets all the attention, despite the fact that it’s probably impossible to feel or demonstrate love without caring.  Plus you likely wouldn’t be kind if you didn’t care. Kindness, caring, love - as you can see they’re all connected.  

We’re all hardwired to demonstrate care for others. Our brains are remarkably well equipped biologically to relate to and care for others’ emotions and experiences. What that means is our brains are built to mimic that which we see and feel in others. It’s why when you walk into a room you pick up the energy of the room and your brain starts to mimic it whether it’s a sad or happy occasion. The more we experience that state and behavior the more we start to mimic it. So if we constantly see others behaving a certain way our brains will likely tell us to mimic that behavior. It’s a key reason why kids smoke when others smoke, why infants smile when their moms smile, and why so many of us yawn or feel impatient when someone else does. We feel what we see.

Caring is more than just a nice action. It’s the basis for our human existence and experience and the foundation that makes love possible. 

The Top 5 Ways to Know You are being True to Your Self

The Top 5 Ways to Know You are being True to Your Self

Do you sometimes feel irritable, angry, off, frustrated, agitated or out-of-sorts and have no explanation for it? Perhaps it’s because you’ve lost sight of what makes you come alive and are living someone else’s expectations of you instead of following your own voice.

“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.” ~ Janis Joplin

To live in consistent alignment with whom you are, how you want to be perceived and what you want to become takes courage and self respect to stand grounded in your own space.

So how do you know if you’re being true to yourself? What does it look like? What does it feel like?

Here are the top 5 from my perspective.

1.   You stand and walk more confidently.

2.   Your are filled with positive energy

3.   You seem to have a skip in your step and a song in your heart

4.   Your thoughts and words are in sync with who you are. No disconnect

5.   You feel good about yourself as if you are finally whole and complete

If you are not in being true to yourself here are some suggestions on how to get there.

-Think more of yourself and demand that your actions be congruent with the best of who you know you can be.

and

-Act each day in congruence with your self-defined image so that you feel authentic, proud, complete, fulfilled and trustworthy to show up in every situation as the unique, gifted true you.

Remember your self-image is and always has been chosen by no one other than you.

Create the vision for which you can be and actually be that vision.

The power plant doesn’t have energy, it generate energy. Choose the color of your own sky.

Who Told You Life was Supposed to be Fair?

Who Told You Life was Supposed to be Fair?

I don’t ever recall being told that and I don’t know where it came from. Realistically, is it even possible?

It’s not possible and I’ll tell you why. Everyone has their own version of what is fair.  The bulk of society could agree on what is the fair and equitable distribution of wealth, education and taxes but there will ALWAYS be the rest of the group who disagree.

Fairness is in the eye of the beholder.

Think for a moment if everything were fair. Everyone made the same amount of money regardless of the hours or value they contributed, received the same amount and type of education even though their talent and ambition were elsewhere, could only get a certain type of house with limited amenities and drove the same quality of vehicle. How boring life would be.

How hard would you work and strive for your goals knowing your increased effort would receive the same results as someone who didn’t put in any effort? How fair would that be? What would happen to a person’s drive and ambition? I don’t know. Maybe you could ask someone who’s from a communist country and ask them. I have. My 92 year old mother-in-law remembers it well and still curses that kind of life.

Life is unfair for a reason. It gives you something to strive for. It challenges you to become more than what you ever thought you could be. It makes you learn patience, humility, empathy, respect, hope, and love to name a few. It makes you grow as a race, religion, gender – as a person- and ultimately spiritually. That’s what being unfair is all about, growth.

Unfairness is disguised as a learning experience, take it for what it is and identify the challenge where you need to grow. It could be to learn how to stand up for yourself, how to accept others or even how to face your own beliefs.  Yep. Fairness isn’t necessarily out there but inside.

Karma Works Like a Boomerang

Your Actions are like a Boomerang

It’s been said many times in different ways but it basically means the same thing.

·         Karma.

·         You reap what you sow

·         What comes around goes around.

·         The Law of Attraction. 

It all means the same thing and it bears repeating because people aren’t getting it.  You get back what you give. 

For example there’s the women who is upset when she’s not respected, chances are she’s not respecting herself because she’d allowing someone to treat her badly. She needs to respect herself enough to do whatever it takes to get address it or get away from that person or situation.

Or, the guy who vents that the world is racist yet doesn’t see that he’s racist against another group. He doesn’t get that if he wants the world to change, it starts with him. He must become what he wants the world to be.

Morgan Freeman gets it, “If you want to stop racism stop talking about it”.

How about the person who is always asking for a hand out but never takes the initiative to help others? Why should anyone care about you when you don’t care enough about yourself to improve your situation?

See a pattern here?

What goes around comes around. It’s the Law of Attraction at work.  You get back what you think about most.  If you believe you’re frequently disrespected than that’s what you’ll see through your lens, disrespect. Your view will be steered to the times you’re disrespected instead of remembering how many times you were respected. The same goes for anything else.

Call it what you will but life has a way of balancing itself out. It may appear that life is unfair but I’ve found that eventually the person or company who treated me badly, cut me off in traffic, discriminated against me etc. gets what they deserve. It may take a few years but they do reap what they sow.

 

Remember the boomerang is designed to return to you. 

Baby Love

Baby Love is Disguised as Self-Love

Babies are so easy to love even if they do keep you up at night and dirty their diapers several times a day.  Their miniature hands, feet, tummy and face are just too adorable to resist. They’re a mini you.

You find yourself thrilled with each new stage of development and going through great lengths just to get a little smile.  Who would have thought such a little bundle of sleepless nights could have so much power over you and yet bring you so much joy.

As she physically develops you start noticing which parent the features came from.  Even though you realize she’s going to end up with her daddy’s big nose you love her just the same.

You see the parts that came from you, the nicely shaped eyebrow, the long legs and even those ugly stubby toes of yours but you love her just the same.

And as the child grows you start to notice some aspects, talents, and personality traits of both parents.  Some you like and some you don’t but you love her just the same.

Isn’t it amazing haw you can love all those attributes, both physically and personality wise in your child but you have a hard time loving those same things in yourself?

Your child is a reflection of you and the other parent. Therefore, when you love your child even with all their ups and downs, in essence you love yourself.

Did you ever think of it that way before?

Dog Lessons

We could Learn a Lot From Dogs

First off there’s forgiveness.  It doesn’t matter how bad a dog is treated he wants so much to have your acceptance and approval that he’ll come back to you.  He may roll over and submit, rub his nose under your hand as if to say pet me or lick any part of your body like he’s trying to say I’m sorry.  It’s sweet and how can you not forgive him when he’s just turned around and gave you his affection even though he’s misbehaved.  Too bad people aren’t as quick to say I’m sorry and give forgiveness to each other

Second, when he’s making amends with all those gesture he’s killing you with his kindness.  The slight tilt of his head, the pink tongue hanging out and the sad eyes sure do work in his favor.  How can you resist?

Third, the need for affection is amazing. What dog doesn’t like to be petted and have his tummy rubbed? Then there’s the out of now where lick on your hand, face, leg, you name it.  Let’s not forget the cuddling, if you can call it that. It’s when the dog likes to lie right next to you. In some instances he basically takes any area around, top, or side of you and lies across your body. Whatever position he finds most comfortable.  Sometimes I think they believed your part of the furniture.

Forgiveness, kindness, and affection - sounds like love to me.  I believe every part of nature is here for a purpose.  Maybe dogs were put here to show us what love looks like.

Your thoughts? 

Mirror on the Wall

Mirror Mirror on the Wall who’s the …

What is it that you see?

Do you like what you see?

If you’re unsure on how to answer these questions a good exercise is to take a look at the people you do and don’t like.

First, think of someone you don’t care for. What is it about that person that you don’t like?  Pinpoint exactly what it is. For me there use to be a person in my life that would always keep tabs on what I was doing at work or reporting it to others, which by the way was none of her business. I did the same thing to her but I brushed if off because I was her boss.  But then I came to realize that the more she kept tabs on me the more I kept tabs on her even if it wasn’t work related. 

Here I was criticizing her when I was doing the same thing.  That was my own reflection in the mirror coming back to me which I didn’t like in myself.

Second, now think of an attribute you like in someone else.  I have a friend who is always giving me encouraging words and who is basically my cheerleader for my business. I also realized she did this for lots of other people and I really admire and am thankful for her support.

Then one day we were having a conversation and she complimented me on how I’m always encouraging and supporting others to be true to them and what a service I’m providing to them.  

Now isn’t that interesting? The same thing I liked about her is what she liked about me.

You could say you reap what you sow here but you can also say what you see in the world is actually a reflection of how you show up in the world. You notice these traits because they are in some form a part of what you do.  Sometimes it’s a nice reflection and sometimes it’s not so pretty.  If they didn’t have an effect on you then you have no emotion attached to it.

When you find yourself liking what someone else does or complimenting them then take notice, you likely have a similar attribute but it may not show up exactly like theirs.

Now the hard part, when you find yourself saying or thinking negative comments about someone else take a good honest look at yourself. Is it possible that you do the same thing in some way or another? That’s what I do and I find myself having less negative thoughts about others.

What does it do for me? It makes me more calm and accepting of other people’s behaviors. I realize they’re just being themselves.

What are your thoughts on this?

Your True Colors

Show Your True Colors

What are your true colors? Most people are only vibrating at a pastel hue when they could be a vibrant orange, red or blue.

Come alive. It takes not only knowing but acting on what makes you come alive that makes your true colors shine. Unfortunately what holds people up is the belief that what they want to do or be won’t be liked, accepted, respected or acknowledged. That is a shame because then it’s fear that is holding you back from being who you are and thereby letting your true colors come shining through.

The song True Colors sums it up quite nicely.

“You with the sad eyes
Don't be discouraged
Oh I realize
It’s hard to take courage
In a world full of people
You can lose sight of it all
And the darkness inside you
Can make you feel so small

But I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful,
Like a rainbow

Show me a smile then,
Don't be unhappy, can't remember
When I last saw you laughing
If this world makes you crazy
And you've taken all you can bear
You call me up
Because you know I'll be there

And I'll see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful,
Like a rainbow”

So what colors will your rainbow be?

Turning the Table

Turning the Table

Turn the table is a term used most frequently used in the restaurant industry as the act of moving from one set of customers to another on the same table.  They need to turn the table as in how many times they can service the table with new customers.

You also can turn the table in your own life. Sometimes you have to just to turn the table and move on even if you haven’t come to a conclusion or closure in your relationship or career.  It can be a difficult decision to make because so often you want some type of closure and there just isn’t one coming.

It’s the times when you stay in a relationship hoping that things will change for the better or the career path you’re on just isn’t panning out.  Most often when people look back at those times they wished they would have made the decision to move on a lot sooner.  Fear of the unknown is what keeps a person hanging on.

There are so many ways to say it, move on, get over it, get out while you still can and turning table is just another way. When the taste for the endeavor already leaves a sour taste in your mouth you should have already turned the table otherwise you just end up building up resentment. And who do you have to blame for that, yourself for not moving on sooner?

Are you in a situation like that now?  Trust your gut feelings and do what’s best for you.  It’s the only way you’ll feel good about yourself. 

Searching for Mr. Right

Searching for Mr. Right

Women and men will go to great lengths searching for their Mister or Misses Right, their soul mate, as if there were only ONE person on this whole entire planet that is right for you. That would be a cruel God and its just nonsense.

What if your Mr. Right lives on another continent?

What if that person has just passed on?

What if that person is just being born?

What if that person is already married, then what? Are you doomed to a life of unhappiness? Hardly!

If that were true, look at all the happy partnerships that end in death only to be reborn again in another partnership. It’s not the same but then it never could be.  There are too many facets to a person’s personality.  Where on one alliance brings out some attributes another taps into others.  It’s a mixed blessing, the end of one but the beginning of something new, a new adventure.

A soul mate is a person’s spirit that one feels completely combatable with, as if they were made for each other.  It’s the Ying and Yang complimenting each other.  There’s a deep connection.

However, every spirit (soul) belongs to a soul group and that group is very connected. So much so, that they show up around you in your friends, family, neighbors, community, co-workers and relationships.  You are connected to these people for a reason. Have you ever met someone and felt an instant connection with that person but you never met them before yet some how you’re very comfortable expressing yourself?  It’s as if you’ve know each other for a long time?  Well, you have.  You’re both in the same soul group which can consist of thousands of spiritual beings.

Therefore, the good news is there isn’t just one person for you so keep looking.  Don’t bypass someone just because he or she doesn’t fit your ideal mate.  Instead be aware of any connection you feel.

(Source: Light Collective - Kathryn Harwig)