So often we carry more than we need as we travel through life. I have been doing this much of my life. The other side of this is that I have also been letting go. This letting go clears the way for new expressions, new exchanges, and takes us to new places. It also releases burdens that are not necessary on our paths. This process brings us peace, calm, and courage in these high energy times. I am daily finding the ability and the permission to let go, and to rest and relax as I release.
"I used to carry the weight of the world, but now all I wanna do is spread my wings and fly."
--song lyrics by Chantal Kreviazuk
Dreams are like seeds. We are in that season of the year when seeds are germinating and becoming the plants that they are coded to be at the heart of their seed. Dreams are similar. They begin with the germ of an idea, and that idea begins to grow when it lives in the right environment under the best conditions. All of the necessary elements exist within the code of the seed or within the germ of the idea. It is our task to listen, to attend, and to act with our highest being in ways that will nurture the plant or the dream into full flowering. It is there for our enjoyment and for our full interaction. Being and allowing are the greatest gifts we can bring to the experience.
"What you desire to create is not down a path into the future. It is not just beyond your reach. It exists right now, and is simply waiting for you on a higher spiral of creative consciousness.... Do not strive and struggle, but dream, create, and manifest as you co-create with Divine Consciousness."
--Celia Fenn
At times recently I have felt discouraged. I have been watching my life unfold, and I have also wanted to push for change. After some quiet time to myself I received the wisdom that I am in a process. My growth within this process is taking me where I want to go. Changes are happening within this process, and I am the steward of my process. So I will listen and act when that fits, and I will watch my life emerge from these actions. I am witnessing and letting it be.
"Now today, moment by moment, realize that each person and event that happens is life for you. Life is not somewhere else. See how fully you can accept the life that presents itself to you now."
--Brenda Shoshanna
Compassion trumps everything--judgments, criticisms, brokenness, negativity, ignorance. Being compassionate triumphs in all circumstances--wins out over anger and denial. It allows us to feel and be who we are in the moment. This is one of the most important things in life.
Practice loving-kindness, give yourself permission to receive compassion, bring compassionate energy forward in your daily exchanges with the world.
"In cultivating compassion we draw from the wholeness of our experience--our suffering, our empathy, as well as our cruelty and terror.
Unconditional
good heart toward others is not even a possibility unless we attend to
our own demons. Everything we encounter thus becomes an opportunity for
practicing
loving-kindness."
--Pema Chodron
Light out of darkness. Long, dark nights are giving way to lighter, longer days. Longer daylight causes seeds to germinate. Light shines into our lives physically and inspires us spiritually. We just experienced the unfailing light of Hanukkah and the growing light of the Winter Solstice. We even had light in the night with a full moon at Christmas. Now the lights of Kwanzaa focus on Unity, a light for our souls. All kinds of holiday lights sparkle in the dark evenings. I am opening to the light. I want to invite light into my life in the form of my higher self, my higher consciousness. This is a rich time of filling ourselves with literal and metaphorical light.
"The winter solstice triggers a time in which the Inner Light is kindled in spite of outer darkness. It is a time to give birth to and awaken the higher self. If celebrated properly, spiritual impulse is born anew within us, adding light and strengthening the love principle within our life."
--Ted Andrews
I feel like my life is a living, breathing Thank You. Every moment is infused with the wonderful mystery of All That Is. I may not be fully aware of this all the time, but I know that my life force energy continuously flows from the Source of All Being, and I feel grateful for this truth. This is such a time of abundance. Blessings flow freely to us as much as we are able to fine tune ourselves for opening up to receive them.
"Gratitude is an astoundingly reliable, immediate way of becoming present."
--Danielle LaPorte
We worry about lots of things in life. We're wired that way, and the culture has trained us about acceptable ways to live. When we step out of the mainstream, or challenge the cultural ways, we worry even more. I have learned this week that worry gets us nowhere. I have also learned that compassion gets us somewhere. More important than addressing cultural values is the act of bringing compassion into our daily lives. Compassion for our friends, neighbors, strangers, tragic victims, animals, plants, all of nature. As well, we must find compassion for ourselves. Especially the kind of compassion that allows forgiveness. We all carry negative energies/experiences that we would just rather not look at. Rather than avoid these, we can turn and face them, and then offer the compassion of forgiveness--to ourselves. My experience of doing that recently allowed me to dispense with worry--it seemed irrelevant; insignificant. I immediately found myself easing up on my life, myself. I found myself spontaneously breathing deeper and easier.
"May I live this day
Compassionate of heart,
Clear in word,
Gracious in awareness,
Courageous in thought,
Generous in love."
--John O'Donohue
