No Matter a Mountain or a Molehill, The Outcome is the Same

When you stand at the base of a mountain and look up, it can appear to be insurmountable. You can feel insignificant and too small to climb the face of something so massive.

Life can feel that same way at times. But if you lower your head and face forward, you will see the ledges, roots, rocks and crevices you can use to pull yourself up. When we give our attention to that which is right in front of us, the mountain that towers above us, doesn't seem so huge.

Every once in a while, you can look up and see the magnitude of work ahead of you, and in the same token you can look down and see how far you've come. But your resiliency isn't measured in where you came from or how much further you have to climb. Your resiliency and strength is measured by how you move forward from where you are.

You can't look up or down the face mountain and at the same time be successful in placing your hands and feet in the best positions to climb. You must focus, be aware of the moment and make the choices that will keep you clinging and climbing that mountain!

In other words, you must be consciously aware of what you're doing. It's a matter of life and death, success and failure, and eventually reaching the crest of that mountain.

If you are too busy worrying about what's to come or what you've already been through, the significance of the moment you have right now will be lost on your past and what hasn't happened yet. You have an opportunity right now, to either reach for that ledge and pull yourself to the next phase of your climb, or keep clinging to the edge until your hands and feet become tired. You know what to do and how to do it. It's time to start trusting your intuition and let go of the needling fear that's like weights around your ankles.

You have been given the best climbing equipment, ever, it's state of the art and it costs you nothing! You have been trained and equipped for climbing those proverbial mountains your whole life.

You've always possess the ability to think, reason, deduce, and understand. You've always have had the ability to choose, to love, to forgive and to forget! You have everything you need right where you are to reach up and pull yourself to the next section of your climb.

YES, sometimes you'll lose your footing, or grab a rock that's loose, you'll slide and have set backs, but guess what? That's part of being alive. Who doesn't have experiences that seem to kick you when you're down? But it's important to remember that you have a safety rope, a lead rope, and that rope is the one thing that's strong enough to keep you from falling to your death. That lead rope is called faith. It's that faith, in which you have for yourself and others. Faith allows you to start again, keep going and reach for your potential that resides within you. Faith's that still small voice inside of you, faint as a whisper which tells you, that you're worth it, that you can do it, and that love, compassion, peace and strength resides right where you are.

You're a child of God, a reason why life is happening. You are the most valuable person who's climbing the massive mountain called, Your Life! Don't you think it's time to start embracing your strengths and finding the strongest rocks and roots to grab?

Listen, it's not what you were, or what you can be that defines who you are in this moment, you are not yesterday's news and or tomorrows headlines; you are the decisions you make right now, at this moment of your life. Empower yourself and know that you are love, life, joy, peace, compassion, harmony, light and abundance. Know that you are the perfect expression of life, living life to the best of your ability, right where you are.

Thanks for hanging out and reading my ramblings!

Love,

Gretchen

Are You Ready for This?

What does it mean to you … to be grateful?

Gratitude is one of the most powerful abilities we have.

To give thanks for ALL that’s in your life is one of the most empowering actions you can do. When you give thanks for what you have, or what others have done for you, or even the smallest of miracles that grace your life, you learn to recognize the strength that resides deep within your soul. When you come from a place of gratitude, an authentic space where you’re truly grateful, it gives you the ability to strengthen your connection to the universe. It’s your purpose, your birthright  to experience life, to use the manna poured upon you from the heavens in the most loving and unconditional way. You’re the light that overcomes the darkness, you’re the love that’s waiting for a place to show up. You’re the epitome of life that should be living out loud.   

I’m totally aware that life can be tough, scary, sad, painful, and dark. I understand the inequality and injustice of people who have been victimized, who struggle to live, who look at everyday as a burden. Believe it or not, I have scars that run deep, betrayal that’s formidable and experiences which have shaped who I have become. There was a time in my life that I was voiceless, sad, burdened and broken. But I learned at a young age that the more I focused on my sorrows, the less power I felt I had. The more I clung to what was wrong, the deeper I would fall into the definition of who I didn’t want to be.

We’re all living the best life we know how at this point. We can’t blame or shame people for who they are or the limited belief they have in themselves. We’ve been taught that we are powerless. From the cradle to the grave we are taught  to believe that we’re a product of our environment. Well, in some cases that appears to be the case … but that’s only because we were never taught how to change our thinking.

All of us have been suppressed by the consciousness of disease, doubt, worry, fear, anger, frustration, and jealousy. We’re exposed to the darkest part of humanity on a daily basis through the media, and yet, we’re expected to rise above the very noise which suppresses us. We’re bombarded every second of our lives with the world telling us how insecure, inadequate, and uneducated we are. We’re told that we are limited people, living in a limited society where only the righteous few have been kissed by enlightenment.  

We’re handed life with the expectation to make something of it, and yet we’re never given the proper tools to build it. We’re told to make a difference in the world but never shown an instruction manual. We’re trained to live our lives on the surface of who we truly are! Words are carelessly tossed our way without forethought of how they will be interpreted. We’re told we are too fat, too thin, too smart, too dumb, too ugly, too beautiful, too this and too that, each and every word finding a place to soak into the fabric of who we are and with every interaction it becomes the dye that colors our existence.

I’m not writing this to give excuses or judge people who are living the best they know how at this point in their lives. I’m writing this to tell those of you ... who are feeling stuck, feeling overwhelmed, and burdened, that you’re not alone. I’m writing this in the hopes that someone will read these words and find their inner strength of who they are and what they mean to the world.

Your life isn’t meant to be stagnant. It’s always moving forward, always expanding, always changing at every moment of every day. Even if life feels like it’s moving at a snail’s pace, it’s always moving. It’s your responsibility to find your place in the world, your job to recognize the small moments where you can celebrate who you are. Nobody’s going to do it for you, and BOOM, that’s where gratitude comes in to play. When you live from a place of gratitude, the world opens up and pours blessings onto you. When you let go of the anger, frustration, jealousy, pain, hurt, and sorrow that has rooted itself into your soul, you clear the way for your inner spark to burn bright. Suddenly, you’ll begin to see that those experiences you called miracles are nothing more than everyday moments you let yourself shine.

It isn’t easy, letting go of past stories, definitions you’ve been saddled with, or the alter ego which keeps convincing you to believe all the bullsh*t you’ve been fed. It’s a lifestyle change, a way of thinking that will change the way you view the world. It’s empowering to know you have total control over how you view the world. Because, nobody’s in your head policing your thoughts, controlling your ideas. You’re the only one who has access to your head, so begin there! Change the self talk that fills your thoughts. When you say the words, “I am” decide to put something meaningful behind it. Make it a habit to find something in your day to be grateful for.

Find a moment where you would have had self deprecating thoughts, and praise yourself for resisting that negative pattern. You’re the most amazing, dynamic, beautiful, wonderful, worthy, intelligent, loving, compassionate expression of life there is! You just don’t feel that way because you’ve been told your whole life that you must be meek, humbled, guilty, poor, limited and small. Well, guess what? I’m saying you don’t have to be that way anymore! If you need permission to be happy, well, then I’m here to give it to you! You’ve always had the right to be everything you’ve ever wanted to be, don’t let the past transgressions of others be the deciding factor of who you are today! Today’s a new day, a brand new moment to find something to be grateful for.

So, I say to you, embrace your inner light, let it shine around you, remind yourself that you are the miracle that shows up every moment of everyday! You deserve to be happy, you deserve to live a gracious life. Start small, give gratitude for the littlest things, and I promise you, if you make giving gratitude a habit every day, you will see those things you're grateful for, and they will continue to show up in your life! 

Have a fantastic day, and I am grateful you stopped by and read my ramblings!

LOVE,

Gretchen

Do We Really Need Will Power?

Where there's a will there's a way. Well, if there's a way, where will it take me? 

Too often we think we have to believe in this elusive power that some how bubbles up within us when we finally reach the end of our rope. A power that magically show's up because we've FINALLY gained the "will" to make it happen. We dig deep to find this infamous "will power" that's lost or gone, or nonexistent until we're desperate enough to find it. We don't have to search outside of ourselves or plunge into the depth of despair to find that thing called will power. We've always had it, and it never runs out!

Within you, at all times, whether you recognize it or not, you have access to an infinite power that's always residing in your soul. At the center of who you are, at the level of your understanding, there is greatness, an energy, a power that is willing to work for you 24/7. You don't have to coerce it, bargain for it, or manipulate your place in this world to get it. You don't have to do anything of the sort, because this power is with you constantly and never runs out! 

See, we're so busy believing in our limitation, that we miss the truth about who we truly are! We're limitless, we're plenty-filled, we're the light that dissipates the dark. We're the manifestation of the greatest gift of all ... LIFE! Never forget, we give to the world, exactly what we believe we're worth. Too often we're caught up in the belief that we don't have the will power, or we can't find a way to make it work, so we start believing we are too old to start, too set in our ways, too unlucky, too poor, too sick, too unhappy, too fat. blah, blah, blah.

STOP.DOING.THIS.TO.YOURSELF! 

You're so important to your world. You're the expression of love, you have a vital role in this thing called life! You don't have to search for this power, because it is right where you are. It isn't misplaced or lost, nobody stole it from you, or hid it away. It's that still small voice that rings truth into your head, it's the pride you feel when you did something amazing, it's that energy swirling in your belly when you look back at what you've done and see progress, it's the bigger than life thinking, the unconditional love you've shared, it's you, my friend. You don't need Will, or Tom, or Harry, or even Dick!

You don't need to believe or rely upon any power outside of yourself. Stop listening to the naysayers of the world or the ones in your head. YOU have the most influential thing in your life, your thoughts! You have within you everything you need to navigate this world. Stop listening to those who want to see you suffer, those who want you to be as miserable as they are! See those people and experiences for what they are, time suckers, energy zappers! If you took a couple of minutes a day, just the time it takes to brush your teeth, and closed your eyes, and said (out loud) one great thing about who you are, and where your power lies, you will see the truth of this thing called will power. It isn't something you fight for or believe doesn't exist; your "will power" is nothing more than your recognition of your inner power you've had all along.
You're the expression of your life. Every morning your feet hit the floor is another day, you have the privilege to find your purpose, dig deep into your soul, and start believing that you're the "will" that makes the way.

I know my posts are lengthy, I know what I'm writing here is a broad stroke with a utopian brush. I totally get that everything isn't so peachy all the time and that my idealistic beliefs are too much for some. But sometimes in order to get the pendulum to move we must pull it to it's highest point possible and let go. Never believe you don't have the ability to pull back on that pendulum and let it go. You have as much right as anyone else to live a dynamic, healthy, loving, prosperous, harmonious, peaceful life. Take a moment today to find a quiet place and just tell yourself, I AM BEAUTIFUL, I AM SUCCESSFUL, I AM THE LIGHT DISSIPATING THE DARK. You say it enough, eventually the naysayers have to believe it ... even the ones in your head!

Thanks for hanging out and reading my ramblings! 

What is Our Purpose?

What is our purpose? Why are we doing…what it is that we’re doing? Is it a burning passion, a deep seeded obsession, maybe it’s a gripping vice, or as simple as a convenient habit? I’m not talking about what we do for a living, our jobs or hobbies…I’m talking about that unwavering intention we can’t seem to shake from our souls. No matter what happens around us, we can’t stop thinking about it; we can’t stop feeling the need to move toward the light of its discovery.

Whether it’s painting, writing, raising our children, or feeding the hungry, what motivates us to drag our battered bones across the finish line? Is it self-preservation or just plain ego? Or does it even matter?

We all come into this world as intention that grows within the womb of possibility. We are the ones that think the thoughts that birth the realities within our lives. It’s our swirling ideas that we allow to setup shop in our consciousness that creates our heavenly or hellish experience. It is the stories we cling to until our knuckles turn white or the superstitions we embody in order to keep people from knowing who we truly are, that create our bondage.

More times than not we’ve twisted conversations into “poor me-s” and “look at how bad I have it-s” in order to feel important, accepted, or empowered. We lost sight of our purpose before we even had a chance to realize we had the power to discover what our purpose was.

How fast the world would change if we came from the unconditional love within our hearts and true forgiveness when someone has forsaken us. Let’s face it, in order to love the world we must first love our place in it. We can’t embody peace if we are always walking around pissed off at the cat for scratching the couch or the kids for spilling red sport drinks on the cream carpet. We can’t come from happiness if we keep posting on the internet about someone who has hurt us. What stories are we fostering? What words and thoughts are we using to create our realities?

You see…in order for us to truly be free in this world, we must learn to live in freedom. In order to feel love we must come from love. We want closer friendships, so we must begin by being a close friend. Open our hearts and feel the greatness within every person we come across. If we need to change our financial situation—start by giving. Prosperity begets prosperous actions. Give first and all else shall be add upon you. Ask and you will receive, Seek and you shall find, knock and the door will opened.

The Universe is reciprocal; we see it in nature; the changing seasons, the rotation of the planets, and the life cycles of all living things. What goes around comes around in every aspect of existence. Whether we are talking man made experiences or natural phenomenon, life always finds a way to constantly produce. Purpose is the driving force in nature and everything has a purpose.

When we realize that there is something creative within us waiting for our discovery of it, life opens up and shows us the way. Unfortunately, most of us are too busy living in fear and listening to self-judgment. We are too caught up in believing we aren’t worthy or good enough. But once we move from that place of race consciousness or worldly beliefs, and we take a moment to silence our minds, we will realize our purpose has always been waiting patiently to be discovered.

Thanks for reading my ramblings…I am truly grateful for your visit!