Abundance

I am feeling abundance in these days of fall.  I have always loved the idea and experience of harvest.  Farming, harvest and abundance are closely connected, but harvest of food is not the only way to experience abundance.  Abundance can be energetic (warm interactions with others or sunshine on our skin), it can be what we enjoy (participating in a favorite activity) -- it can mean many things to different people.  This autumn time can be a time to revere and honor all that has come to us, possibly through a garden, or through cultivating the growth and outward  expression of our own true lives.  For me, this year feels like a time of receiving a large harvest, definitely from the garden, but also from my life of claiming my own personal power and peaceful center.

I believe abundance is the intended natural state of being human.  Sometimes we aren't able to recognize or receive the abundance that is authentically who we are or how we were created to to live and to be.  It is vital that we each create a path to our own meaningful abundance by releasing layers of beliefs that have kept us from living fully in this natural state of Being.

At this time of harvest and grateful attention to the richness of our lives, I invite you to reflect on what abundance means to you.  Notice and name clearly how you are receiving and living your own abundance on your Earth journey.

"Abundance is not a number or acquisition.  It is the simple recognition of enoughness."

                            --Alan Cohen

"Abundance is not something we acquire.  It is something we tune into."

                            --Wayne Dyer 

Here We Are...

Our planet is embroiled in the throes of Large Change.  The Oxford dictionary definition for throes is this:  "Intense struggle, especially accompanying birth, death, or great change."  Wow, all of those circumstances apply to our current situation!  We are all present and moving together with this change.  

In the midst of this we always have a choice:  Love or Fear?  It's hard to believe that everything really breaks down to this simple and basic choice.  For me, I know that the decisions of my life have been guided by the quality and quantity of energy I am expending.  Does this particular endeavor give me energy or does it drain my energy?  My choice for Love has come from that consideration.  

Early in my life I had no awareness of this choice.  I allowed much of my life force energy to be drained out of me by situations that didn't really align with who I was.  Over time I have learned that my life improves -- situations get better -- if I make choices for the things that I am energized by, not the things that will ultimately empty my fuel tank.  These are the choices that show me that I am on my path of purpose.  In addition, by making these choices to maintain my energy I am gifting myself, my life, and my involvements with more Love and positive feelings.  My choice for Love has been made in my lifetime through a thousand different decisions about energy expenditures.  Even though I may feel fear, I have come to know that choosing in favor of my best energy will bring me Love and satisfaction on my life path.  Fear easily falls away.

As we all continue to make our way through this transformative time we can stand in our own strength and make choices that will contribute toward bringing more Love into the world.  I wish you joy and well-being as you move through your life choices and changes. 

"Every day we're given a choice:  we can relax and float in the direction that the water flows, or we can swim hard against it.  If we go with the river, the energy of a thousand mountain streams will be with us... if we resist the river, we will feel rankled and tired as we tread water, stuck in the same place."  

                 --Elizabeth Lesser

 

Reorganizing

I am presently feeling that I am experiencing a different sort of organization in my brain, my body, my life.  That's a lot of shifting, but it feels very quiet and manageable to me, as well as being huge.  A new structure is being created.  I feel like my old foundation is crumbling.  Things that used to be important are dissolving into the background.  A new way, for me, of being and moving in the world is coming forward to be expressed.  It's unfamiliar to me and it feels like everything is a growing edge.  My focus is now on the new items of priority that are taking center stage in my life.  I am in a gentle discovery time of learning what is most important for me to consider at this time.  In general, this has to do with staying in a place of wonder and lightness in the world.  It also has to do with acquiring a new clarity about how my time is spent on a daily basis.  I don't have all of this worked out yet, but unfolding time will show me the way. 

"Choose your thoughts carefully.  Keep what brings you peace, release what brings you suffering.  And know that happiness is just a thought away."

                                 --Nishan Panwar 

   

Adventure

Recently, I wouldn't say I have thought of my life as an adventure.  I've just been doing a lot of gardening, watering, walking, and spending time at home.  No complaints--it has been my kind of peaceful time.  Also, after many years of completing tasks in various jobs and meeting life's obligations, I have felt like adventures have mostly happened on vacations or during planned activities with family or friends.

And yet... isn't every day a gift offered to us to enjoy and to express who we are in the world?  Lately, I have been feeling some energy stirring in my life toward change and new expressions.  My perception of my life is transforming.  My life is beginning to feel like an adventure.  It feels like each day is waiting for my imprint, and that means I can make the choice to step into a New Unknown.  I can stay open and ready to move differently and to choose differently.  Sounds like small actions that may add up to large adventures.

"Adventure is a path.  Real adventure, self-determined, self-motivated, often risky, forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world."

                          --Mark Jenkins

    

Simple Joys

Life keeps going.  The energy that we express in life determines the direction life will go.  I find that my life works better -- goes in a creative/constructive direction -- when I pay attention to the simple joys in my day.  Large things are always competing for our attention.  And small things sometimes get overlooked if we lack attention or the intention to take note of them.  If we are able to stop In the middle of our busyness and reflect on the uplifting moments of our day, then we are refreshed.  These moments are the building blocks of life.  They will lay the best foundation for the day we are living right here, right now.  These days accumulate and make up our lives. 

Sunshine, blueberries, rainbows, loving pets, summer flowers.  Make your own list and enjoy!

"When you are happy with what you have, something magical happens.  Everything you have becomes enhanced.  You see the value of everything around you increase with your appreciation of it."

                           -- Stacie Martin  

Lighthearted

I have been thinking a lot about what it means to be lighthearted.  I personally am invested in having a light heart as much as possible.  Not wanting to be bogged down by the troubles of the world or of my own day.  Lately, I have felt light-hearted through no effort of my own.  For me that's the best kind of light heartedness.  It tells me that I am well aligned with my soul's energy--so much so that heaviness can't even settle in my heart.  Yay!

It doesn't need to take much effort to feel light of heart.  We can access this kind of peace anytime.  We can fill our hearts with the light of love and compassion by choosing to dwell on topics, experiences, and images that bring warmth and love to our hearts.  Even when faced with tragic stories there are many parts of those stories that can lift our hearts--people  showing great courage, amazing rescues, others who offer generous help in the midst of a disaster.  Beauty and strength can be found and celebrated in many ways.  Inevitably we will feel joy and peace with this kind of focus, and a light heart usually follows as a result.  Our world is clamoring for us to put our attention on its trials and troubles.  But we are free people and we have choice about where we place our best energy.  I am choosing to focus on all of the uplifting things that are in this phenomenal world.  That always lights up my heart.

"Love is the light that brightens every heart's darkness."

                      --Bryant McGill   

The Spark

We humans come to this life with a spark of Light.  Many things can happen in life that might cover it over and add layers on top of it.  We may feel that the spark has dimmed, and we may even believe that it has been extinguished.  The great news is that it can never be fully extinguished.  As long as we are breathing and have a heartbeat, our spark is also still alive.  Sometimes life gets heavy.  Finding or reconnecting with our spark feels like it will never happen.  If we take some time for ourselves, become quiet and listen, we can find our way back to the spark.  Others may help or suggest a way, but each of us has our own way that can only be discovered by us.  You will know in your heart when the connection has happened because  you will feel a growing warmth within.  You will feel brighter and lighter.  Go toward that warmth and light.  Follow any activities that connect you with those feelings.  There is a way back to your spark always.  Keep going. 

"Trust yourself.  Create the kind of self you will be happy to live with all your life.  Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny inner sparks of possibilities into flames of achievement."

                                         --Golda Meir