Tag Archives: Gift

Did You Receive the Gift?

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When I took the dogs outside for their break yesterday, I was gifted by a single strand of spider’s web that was reflecting the colors of the rainbow. As I stood and watched it blow gently in the breeze, it was like watching a symphony of light as brilliant undulating colors moved up and down in different combinations. All caught on this single silky strand.

It was absolutely and utterly beautiful. And it would have been so easy to miss.

These kinds of moments are gifts from All-That-Is. How you receive them is how you receive life. How you receive life is how you receive everything—including that slim, healthy, and sexy body that you want.

Here’s a quick test to see how open you are to receiving the gifts from All-That-Is (God, the Universe, Source Energy, Higher Coach—whatever works for you).

When someone gives you a compliment, do you:

  • Explain why you don’t deserve it?
  • Explain why it’s a fluke?
  • Discount the value of it?
  • Say “thank you,” but feel uncomfortable?
  • Appreciate that they noticed, that you have that momentary connection, feel your worthiness, and bask in the positive remark?

If it was anything but the last one, you’re basically saying “No” to all the good things that Source is trying to bring into your life; whether it is a moment of exquisite beauty, a compliment from your partner, or the perfect functioning of your body.

Too often, women are so focused on checking off the next thing on their to-do list, are feeling guilty about not getting in their workout or eating something “bad,” or are just generally feeling bad about themselves or angry at others, that they miss those moments of synchronicity, coincidence, happenstance, miracle, chance, luck.

You miss the gifts of life that confirm your connection to the Universe, that are affirmations of how much you are loved and adored, that are the answers to the very questions you have been asking.

The reason is negative thoughts and emotions generate catabolic energy. Even a little bit of catabolic energy has a huge impact on your life.

For example, have you ever walked around with a pebble in your shoe? Even if you were in the most beautiful spot on the planet with mountain or ocean views, fragrant flowers in bloom, and lovely meandering paths, how long were you able to keep going before you had to stop and remove the stone, even if it was tiny?

While you had the stone in your shoe, how much did you focus on the beauty of the day and path, or was much of your attention on the discomfort? How much beauty did you miss being even a little focused on the stone?

Catabolic thoughts, feelings, and beliefs are much like that stone in your shoe. It doesn’t take much for them to distract you from the life you are creating, the joy and opportunities that abound, and the love that surrounds you.

The problem is, as we grew up we were told to “suck it up” and get used to the stones. That negative emotions are “normal” and that “others are responsible for our happiness.” Many don’t even realize they have the ability to shift their thoughts, feelings and beliefs, so they spend most of their time in catabolic energy.

It shows up as stress, dissatisfaction, feeling overwhelmed, angry, and even stuck.

The draining effects of catabolic energy accumulate over time, which literally impacts your body down to the cellular level. It is now common knowledge that stress impacts your health—and makes it easier to gain and harder to release excess weight.

It’s time to begin emptying your shoes of those catabolic stones. It’s time to take responsibility for how your feel, what you focus on and think about, how present you are, and how you receive the gifts of life.

Emmet Fox said the word “salvation” in the Bible means “perfect health, harmony, and freedom.” He also said that this was “the will of God for man.” And I would add women!

How willing are you to look for, acknowledge, and appreciate those subtle but profound gifts today? How willing are you to receive the health, harmony, and freedom that you have been asking for? How willing are you to believe that you deserve them and that your Higher Coach wants you to have them?

Together we can do it!

You Can Change the Past

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What came first, the chicken or the egg?

While I don’t have the answer to that one, I can tell you the thought or belief comes before the experience.

If you can accept that as true at least the majority of the time, it can change your life. Even if you are just willing to believe it’s possible and will look at some of your life experiences differently as a result, it can have a profound impact on your happiness—and how well you achieve your goals.

Most people are unwilling to see their past experiences with any other interpretation than the one they gave it in the moment and have been recounting for years. They think, “That experience was hurtful to me. End of story.”

But what if it’s not? What if it’s your very interpretation that is keeping that painful experience alive for you? That is limiting you? That is holding you back from the body and life of your dreams?

Don’t believe me?

I’ll give you an example of how I shifted an interpretation of a painful experience to one that now inspires me and fills me with appreciation.

When I was in the 7th grade, my brother called me “Buffalo Butt.”

Now this is typical older brother stuff, right?

But to me, that nickname was incredibly hurtful. I felt diminished. For many, many years I carried the belief in my heart that my bum was unattractive, unworthy, less than, and that was the painful story I told myself and believed to my core.

But what if you take the emotional pain and judgment out of the picture for a moment and look at the experience as a gauge of where my thoughts and beliefs were before he made the comment?

What if it was my existing low self-esteem and self-critical thoughts that inspired my brother to make that joke? And what if that comment was totally and purely like having a mirror held up to me of what I already had going on in my head?

Now my brother is not someone who is intentionally trying to hurt me. In fact, his reflection back to me of my existing thoughts and beliefs was actually an opportunity for me to get awareness and change my thoughts.

Now I’m no longer the victim. I’m the creator. I’m in the driver seat. I am empowered.

And the beautiful thing is I was still able to take advantage of that opportunity almost 30 years later when I reflected back on that experience with this new perspective.

What a gift his comment was!  At 13, I was completely in the self-critical weeds and his joke was a perfect reflection of what was already going on in my head.

When I take my brother out of the equation, not only do I let go of long-standing grudges against him (which benefits me down to the cellular level, by the way), I can also change my thinking about myself.

Of course I didn’t have an ugly tush at 13. I can recognize the insecurity for what it was and right now, I can give my 13-year-old-self all the love, acceptance, and appreciation that I wanted in the moment. And if my having an ugly behind was not true at 13, then it is not true now. All that’s ever held me back was my own thoughts and beliefs.

And that right there is like I had a time machine and went back and changed that experience. The past is now and forever altered in my mind.

Once I made that shift, the love and appreciation I had for my body surged. And those new thoughts and beliefs are now creating my current—and future experiences.

And I’ve seen my body change as a result.

How can you begin to see those painful past experiences as purely a reflection of where your thoughts and beliefs were in the moment?

Begin to use them as your gauge of how well you are lining up your thoughts and beliefs with your desires. If you aren’t getting the reflection back that you want, know that you have the power to change your thoughts and beliefs and get a different experience–past, present, and future.

Together we can do it!

How Do You Compare?

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While off celebrating my 20th anniversary, I’m sharing a few of my favorite blogs that you might have missed.

It’s easy to compare yourself with others, particularly when it looks like they have what you want. A quick way to determine if that is beneficial or not is to look at how it makes you feel.

Does looking at someone else’s journey inspire you? Convince you that you can get the same results? Make you feel like you are that much closer to achieving your goals? If so, by all means continue to look and be inspired.

But, if looking at someone else’s journey makes you feel defeated before you even begin, frustrated that they have it and you don’t, or unworthy because you aren’t doing it “right” or haven’t made enough progress fast enough, then it does not benefit you to keep looking.

Part of “enjoying the journey” is recognizing just how unique your perspective and life is. No one else has had exactly the same experiences as you. No one else sees the world the same way as you. No one else will do things exactly the way you do them. And no one else will have the answers that are right for you. It is this unique perspective that is truly your gift to the world.

It is only when you embrace the real you and your unique perspective and path that you can see how far you really have come. By comparing yourself with you, you get a clearer picture of the amazing progress you have made, and are truly inspired to continue the journey.

Together we can do it!

Photo by Suvro Datta / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Feeling Generous?

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As we were getting ready for bed last night, my husband David shared an unexpected experience he’d had in the dentist’s chair that afternoon. While the doctor was busy in his mouth, there was a TV screen for him to watch, but with the sound turned off.

The program was the Ellen DeGeneres Show and he watched as Ellen gave a young single mother a stack of cash tied in a bow, and a new car that had yet another stack of bills stashed in the glove compartment.

Even with no sound and no idea of the woman’s story, David was moved watching this demonstration of generosity, and we both marveled at how much fun it would be to give so abundantly.

As I contemplated giving before drifting off to sleep, I realized that whether we know it or not, each of us is giving all day, every day, in ways that are more profound than the gift of money, things, or even our time.

You are the gift. And how you show up in life is the gift you are giving. The question is, are you giving the gift you intend?

Imagine being in line to check out at the grocery store. There are people in front of you and behind you. Are you giving them the gift of impatience and frustration, which is emanating out of you at a frequency that can be measured, or are you perhaps giving them contentment or peace?

What do you want to give?

How about when you get to the checkout person? Are you giving that person the gift of a smile and appreciation, or gruffness and criticism, or perhaps even indifference?

How do you think what you are giving makes that checkout person feel? What gift do you think they are giving in turn?

We are not islands stewing in our own emotion. What we are feeling and expressing is what we are giving to everyone we encounter—and to the world.

What are you giving most of the time? Is that what you want to be giving?

If not, how can you begin to shift your thoughts, emotions, and beliefs to better align with Who you want to be?

How would it feel to be able to give the gift of a smile, pat on the back, praise, or just emanate appreciation and joy right now?

Together we can do it!

Photo by akeeris / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Empowerment is Shifting How You See Yourself

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What do you see when you look in the mirror? What are your thoughts about yourself? How much praise is there compared to criticism?

Would you speak to someone else the way you speak to yourself? How would they feel if you did? What if you said those things to a child? Would it nourish them, or make them tremble?

Often, what we say to ourselves would get us arrested if we said them to a child. If it’s not OK to say to someone else, why is it OK to say to yourself?

One of my client’s biggest limiting beliefs—and one that I used to share—is believing that they are less than; less valuable, less important, less smart, less beautiful, less worthy, etc.

I wish that I had a mirror I could hold up so that you could see the Being that you truly are. To help you see that you have intrinsic value—no matter what you do or don’t do.

In this mirror you would see that you are as unique as a snow flake. There is not anyone else in the world that has had the exact same experiences as you, or who sees the world in exactly the same way. Your unique perspective adds value to this world. It is important to All-That-Is.

You are more powerful than you can even imagine. You have complete creative control over your life if you will just take it. All it requires is shifting your focus to where you want to go, knowing that it is an absolute fact that you will get there, and releasing control of how you arrive at that place. Simple, but not necessarily easy.

You are uniquely gifted. Your gifts add to this world the way an instrument adds to a symphony. Your instrument sounds beautiful all on its own, and adds to the whole when it is joined with others. Your instrument only sounds flat and out of tune when you are being less than you truly are.

You are resourceful and are much greater and wiser than you appear to be. Your solution to any problem is always there if you will but take your eyes off the problem long enough to look for it.

And you are loved more than you can possibly imagine. Not only by your families, but by people whose lives you have touched as no one else has, and by the Source of All-That-Is.

Allow yourself to begin seeing yourself this way. There are no reprimands or limitations in your mind other than the ones you shackle yourself with. No angry hordes will come after you with pitchforks for acknowledging that you are unique, powerful, gifted, resourceful, and loved.

In fact, that spark of good feeling, that sense of upliftment, that outright feeling of joy is letting you know that you are speaking the Truth about yourself—maybe for the first time.

This Truth can only come from the inside out. You cannot depend on anyone else to see or confirm it. But I see it. I know this is who you are. And when you allow yourself to see it, too, you will be empowered to live as who you are meant to be.

Together we can do it!

Photo by luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A Wonderful Gift!

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The night before my surgery last week, I received a message from Sparky Laurie that she had nominated my blog for the Liebster Award.

Liebster is an award given to blogs that have less than 200 followers and deserve more recognition and encouragement. While I was thrilled—and immediately told Sparky Laurie so—it’s taken me a little time to pull together the requirements for this wonderful gift.

The Rules

Here are some guidelines in giving or receiving the award:

  1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.
  2. Link back to the blogger who awarded you.
  3. Copy & Paste the award to your blog.
  4. Nominate 5 blogs to receive the award.
  5. Inform them of their nomination by leaving a comment on their blog.

Thank You

First off I want to thank Sparky Laurie at http://sparkylaurie.wordpress.com/ for nominating me for this award. It means so much to me! From the heart, thank you.

And I truly love her blog. Her gift is finding mystery in the mundane, and her writing shows we can never underestimate the power of the small things in life.

The Nominees

There are so many bloggers deserving of this award. Since I was recently fortunate enough to receive the Versatile Blogger Award, I’ve made the decision to nominate difference blog sites in order to spread the love.

These are all bloggers that I follow and read regularly, and who have touched and supported me. In no particular order of preference, I present to you the five bloggers (though I’m not sure if all of them have less than 200 followers ) who I believe deserve this recognition:

  1. Kewsmith, a wonderful writer who shares her journey as an empty nester with honesty and humor. http://randomreasoning.net/
  2. Visionkeeper, who is trying to create a better world by inspiring individuals to make internal changes. http://oneworldrising.wordpress.com
  3. Will Of Heart, who shares poems, short stories, and thoughts to inspire, and add color and spice to life. http://willofheart.wordpress.com/the-journey-from-the-heart/
  4. The Tale of My Heart, who shares light, love, and beauty through poems, music and writing. http://justsimplyinlove.wordpress.com/home/
  5. Iamforchange, a man tapped into the power of his heart who honestly shares his journey towards being his best self. http://iamforchange.wordpress.com/

There are so many more I could have nominated. It was incredibly hard to limit this list to five. I hope you will take the time check out these blogs, and if you are looking for other wonderful blogs, please check out the people commenting on mine—and other’s—sites. You might find yourself surprised, inspired, motivated, and thoughtful as a result of what you read.

Now I’m off to inform the lucky winners.

Together we can do it!

 

 

Photo by m_bartosch / FreeDigitalPhotos.net