Who am I? The Scintilla Project #1

The Scintilla Project is an opportunity opened for bloggers to write on a prompt given daily for a two week period. I decided to check it out after one of my fellow blogging friend posted about it. So of course being who I am—I decided in the flash of a moment and the speed of my fingers clicking the keys that I would like to be a part of this opportunity. So thank you Jennifer Lopez for posting it on your Facebook and I am happy to give this a try! Oh and BTW, those of you who are used to getting only one email feed a week from my blog you will now get one a day for the next two weeks. YAY!

So the prompts for today were:

1. Who are you?

2. Life is a series of firsts. Talk about one of your most important firsts. What did you learn? Was it something you incorporated into your life as a result?

Well so I thought about it and anybody who knows me…really knows me, knows everything about me is perfectly pinned on my sleeve. No hidden compartments, or secret plots to gain control of anyone/thing. Everything’s dangling from my 70% cotton t-shirt. I’ve never been who could origami my emotions into perfect folds of little frogs or beautiful swans; it’s just too many steps to remember. I never liked pink, always thought being a princess was passé and I’m a vegetarian who eats fish and truly doesn’t like to cook.

I could blame it on being taught from an early age to be my own person. Don’t conform to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

I grew up with two older brothers, and yeah I had every excuse to play the princess, hell I was the baby girl they all (even my brothers) wanted. But the idea of fingernail polish and ribbons in my hair when the world was waiting for me to discover it was unthinkable.

I believe that everything happens for a reason, even when we don’t know what the reason is. I believe I married the man I did because the Universe knew I needed someone who was easy going, loving, and accepting. I believe when we started our family, the guy upstairs looked at me and said, “Let’s makes sure we give this one, all boys.” (Thanks God) And I am a writer, because at 40 something I finally know it’s what I am supposed to be.

And as far as the second prompt about my firsts? Oh heck, I have so many firsts so let me just keep it simple. My first kiss, keeps me kissing because it’s renewing; my first hug, keeps me hugging because it heals; and for the record, my first “time” didn’t happen with my government teacher. But that’s a topic for another post!

Thanks for hanging out and I’ll write you tomorrow~

Learn to Trust Again

There comes a point in everyone’s life where they finally realize that they’ll never have IT all figured out. There are things we’ll never understand and things we don’t ever want to understand. Hey, let’s own it and be okay with where we are!

I am beginning to understand that each and every person in this world is a perfect expression of life. From the feeblest of minded to the truly enlightened; each brings something to this world that creates every life experience.

Let me explain….

When we choose to live from the outside in, instead of the other way around, we set up the consciousness to become feeble minded. In fact we begin to lose sight of our authentic self until we cease to recognize the creative greatness that lies just below the dithering façade we created.

It isn’t the bigger house, the nicer car, the better clothes that make us whole. It isn’t prudent to place any value in things that can be gone in a heartbeat. Those things will come and go as our consciousness changes. We can’t stop that train from coming; it barrels down the tracks without any forethought to who’s crossing or what obstacles are sprawled across the tracks ahead; its motion is definite and with intention; just like our purpose.

What perpetuates our apparent weakness laden with judgment, hate, lack and fear is our belief in the idea that we are separate from our source. We strap our faith to worldly things and bodily conditions and wonder why our life is spiraling out of control. Instead of allowing the illimitable power of the Universe to elevate us, we keep waiting for someone else to come along and do it.

That’s all fine and dandy for someone who wants to blame the world for where they are and what is going on in their life; but we know that isn’t the truth.

The truth is straightforward~ if there is something going on in your life that you don’t like, don’t want or isn’t what you expected, change your thought about it. Simple as that; you want peace in your life, treat people around you peacefully, more love comes to you when you are more loving to everyone around you. Prosperity and abundance shows up when you first give without constraint.

You want to be elevated? Take a moment to be grateful. From grateful hearts peace is born. The sun shines on everyone equally. It doesn’t have volition, it just is. It’s the same principle with the truth about you. You have an inalienable right to live your life filled with Joy, Peace, Love and Prosperity. So give much before you receive any. Stop judgmental thoughts before they are spoken. Listen often to the silence that screams the answers. It is the space between the words that births the most creative thinking.

And above all…learn to trust yourself again.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.

The Seeds of Fear

Why do we work our way up to a cliff that seems so steep and jagged that when we look over the side we feel we only have one option—JUMP? What is it, within us that makes us resort to the fight or flight mentality? Have we become so imprinted with the comfort of fear and pain that we’ve intricately woven it into every experience we have?

We’ve all done it—something great happens and yet we wait for the other shoe to drop. We get ahead with a little money and something dramatic happens. We receive something valuable and we worry it will be stolen from us. We are conditioned from childhood to live in fear.

How often have you heard, “don’t leave (fill in material object) out, someone will steal it.” or “don’t talk to strangers.” We have been bombarded with good intentional lessons filled with fear all of our lives; innocent statements filled with fear ridden tactics. Now, we don’t do it to be Negative Nillies. It usually isn’t taught with any thought of malicious intent. It is just a way we’ve been controlled into doing what makes others comfortable. We’ve adopted other people’s beliefs and interpretations of who we are supposed to be or how we are supposed to act.

Fortunately, you are an independent thinker and being your own thinker, you have the ability to make changes in how you choose to react to fear based feelings, thoughts and words. But it starts in your own mind. You must first wake up and realize that you are the only person who has access to your thoughts. Nobody on the face of the Earth can determine or know what you are thinking all the time. Isn’t it amazing, you are the only person who knows exactly what you are thinking—24 hours a day 7 days a week? Next you must understand that what you feel and think within your own mind creates what’s happening outside in the world. When you understand that even the tiniest feeling or thought of lack and fear will taint every corner of your mind, you begin to pay attention to what you’re feeling and thinking about.

Once you awaken to the idea that the only constant in every condition or situation is you—you begin to understand the true raw power of changing your thoughts and feelings will change your life. Nobody can do anything for you or to you, unless you allow them to. Think about it, how many times have you misread an email? How many times have you over reacted to a situation or condition that you looked back on later and felt embarrassed or stupid? How many times have you accused someone only to find out it wasn’t them or you felt guilty or blamed yourself for something? These actions and thoughts are useless and have no room in your life. Guilt isn’t a consciousness or righteousness builder, it is a life sucker. Guilt and blame are nothing more than time stealers and you have more important things to do than to be stuck in the muck and mire of that negative thinking.

You are more powerful than you think. As you begin understanding that you are the most powerful person in your life, you will begin to move away from guilt, fear, blame and pain and you will come into alignment with your true nature. Begin by forgiving yourself for anything you may have done or thought from this exact moment back. Listen—the past is the past, keep it where it belongs. Don’t drag yesterday’s mistakes into today. It doesn’t do anything but poison your opportunity to do great things. Learn from your mistakes and don’t cling to them for security.

Think of your thoughts and feelings as dandelion seeds. When a gust of wind or a wishful breath is blown across the spherical poof, the seeds are wisped away and carried by a vast potential of renewal. The wind doesn’t think about where it is taking the seeds, it just does what is in its nature. Once the dandelion seed lands in the fertile waiting ground, the seed and soil begins to cooperate to nurture the potential within the seed. The dirt doesn’t fear the seed; it embraces it, surrounds it, protects it and helps the seed reach its full potential. Everything the dandelion is—is contained within that seed, and just like a dandelion seed everything you need is contained within you. All you need to do is trust the soil of your life to nurture it. What is your soil? It is the power in the Universe that continues to say yes to every thought, every word and every action you give it.

Give the Universe something great to work with. Let the old spent ideas of fear, doubt, lack and guilt blow away into the nothingness they belong and watch Love, Assurance, Abundance and Forgiveness begin to bloom back into your life!

Thanks for reading my ramblings! 

dandelion_by_SimonKonrad

Shake Off the Sand Under Your Feet

“And when you leave that place, shake off the sand under your feet.”*

I recently read this and it resonated with my soul. As a matter of fact, it shook me up and thumped relentlessly against all the bubbling doubt that seems to swell in my head. I call it a “ah-ah moment.” It’s the most basic use of words (aren’t they all), but very powerful none the less.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dragged my old worn-out past into a bright new experience. All the times I’ve fretted over someone’s interpretations and judgments because in my mind they must have been right. They said it—so it must be true. I can’t count how many times I’ve let the thoughtless words and actions of people live and breed in my soul. 

So when I read this section of the passage I stopped and pondered (Yeah, there were words hanging out before and even some after). But it was these thirteen strung together words that flooded every crevice of my consciousness and blasted the insecurity, worry and doubt from my mind. Okay that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I will say, it made me really understand how to move through experiences that are less than comfortable.

See the way I interpret this passage is like this…We must stop giving power to the limited ideas of others as we move forward in our journey. Stop owning the labels that are thoughtlessly plaster across every ambition burning tirelessly in your soul; whether it is someone’s opinion or the distracting voice in your head.  Isn’t it time to shake off the sands of doubt, fear, and judgment and leave it where it belongs? 

It’s not the words of others that poison our hearts, it’s the fear and doubt that we keep cultivating in our minds that does us in. Don’t blame anyone, or even yourself for past choices or mistakes; it does nothing in moving you forward in your life. You are better off learning from your mistakes and keeping them where they belong….in the past.

Hey I’m not saying drop your friends, join a monastery, and ohm twelve hours a day. Let’s not go to extremes. But what I am saying is that as you let go of judgment, let go of fear, and let go of limited ideas you will find that your world begins to blossom into a life of unlimited possibilities.

Hey I know it is a lot of work! Not every day will be filled with raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. There are days you’ll curse the world, fear the outcomes, and downright wish you could pull the covers over your head. BUT (and it’s a BIG but) as you stop relying on old expired ideas, worn out excuses and worthless fears you will begin to experience a renewed faith in yourself. You will begin to see who you are again. You will feel your dreams bubble to the surface, taste the excitement for living, and uncover the love you inadvertently buried deep in your heart.

Start small, wake up and begin your day in gratitude. Maybe the sun is shining, or there was just enough toothpaste left to brush your teeth. Find EVERYTHING that you can be grateful for; no matter how small or insignificant it seems, stand in gratitude for it. Eventually you will begin to pile up those small moments of gratitude and before you know it the scale of your life laden with disharmony and fear will lose its impact and you will become light, lifted, and empowered again. 

It is up to you~ this is your life~ your moment to shine. Stand in the wake of discovering who you are with a clear mind and an open heart.

No words can explain how much it means to me, knowing that you keep coming back to read my blog. Thank you from the deepest crevice of my heart. 

I AM GRATEFUL.

*St. Mark 6-11

Trust Yourself

It's not the monstrous waves of disappointment that keep crashing relentlessly against the jagged edges of our lives that determine which story we'll cling to for rectitude; it’s the momentary flashes of calm in between.

How often do we struggle and gasp for air as the titanic wave of fear and pain crash upon us? Where has it been determined that drowning in everyone else’s expectations is righteous? Please show me where it’s acceptable to live our lives clinging to the rocky cliffs of the well intentioned.

When will we truly let go and trust the tides and swells of our own magnitude? It’s in our nature to be submerged in peace and love not anger and hate. The day we decide to hurl ourselves off the cliff riddled with blame and hate and dive into the refreshing weightless pool of responsibility and respect our lives will change. We will begin to swim in the limitless ocean of creative discovery. We will float in an endless sea of unlimited potential. Our lives will mirror the magnificent ideas and affirmative thoughts that pour from our minds.

It first starts with trust. Trust in yourself; trust in a power greater than you are. Trust in the idea that you deserve the best that life has to offer. Eventually that trust grows into Faith and in your Faith you will see a real change occur. Faith in something greater than your limited ideas of yourself; in the untapped potential you haven’t even seen yet. Faith is when you believe in something you can’t see, but you know exists.

For example, we can’t see love; it is invisible, yet very real. We experience the residual effect of love all the time, but we can’t see the cause of it; we just know it exists through feelings and experiences. The same thing with Peace, Joy and Abundance; they aren’t tangible material things and yet we ache to have them.

Peace, Love, Joy and Abundance are all states of being and in order to want them, we must have experienced them at one time or another. If we never experienced them, we wouldn’t even know they existed. But fortunately we know the Truth. It is in our nature to Love and it is in our nature to live in Peace. When we come from Unconditional Love and Complete Peace the Universe can’t help but say yes to us.

My your day be filled with so much Love it radiates from every cell of your body and may Peace permeate every place you go~ Thanks for checking out my blog and reading my ramblings!

The Difference Between Hope and Expectation

Growing up and in life now as an adult, we hear sayings or statements that are designed and intended to create teachable moments. Words people deliberately speak in a certain order to make the most impact possible. We hear about the early bird getting the worm or what you sow so shall you reap; all the best to remind us how we are supposed to embody goodness and wholesomeness in our lives. I totally get it.

But there is one statement that people might not have heard before that I believe is a legitimate teachable moment. Words that I listened to my father link together my whole life; words that can be looked upon as harsh or vulgar, but are poignant none the less.

If you are one to shudder at the use of curse words, I might advise you to click away. Today, I am going to repeat a statement that taught me why it is important to look beyond the powerlessness of hope.

Now hold on—let me give you the statement and explain the metaphoric lesson in it, then if it’s crap click away and live the way you’ve been livin’.

READY?

“WISH IN ONE HAND AND SHIT IN THE OTHER, SEE WHICH ONE FILLS UP FASTER."

Vulgar right? Well to some maybe. But let’s look beyond the word shit, and put anything tangible in its place.

I understand the importance of wishing when you believe you don’t have any control of your life. You can sit around all day, every day hoping and praying for a job, dreaming of the day someone will walk up to you and offer you a job. Wouldn’t that be nice, but I can almost bet, it will never happen because hope and wishes are born from the belief that there is a possibility it won’t happen.

There is a difference between Expectation and Hope—a BIG difference. When one hopes for something they believe there is a chance it won’t come to be; while when one expects, there is only the belief that it is done.

Hey I know this is gritty but it is time I got a little gritty. Look at it this way, when you go to take a bath, or turn on the sink do you hope the water will turn on; or do you expect it to flow? We don’t go around flicking on light-switches with the hope they’ll work. We know they work. That is the difference between hopes and expectations.

Now if we can expect light-switches to work, water to run, and gravity to hold us to the earth, why can’t we expect peace in our world, prosperity to flow in our lives and health to be our normal every day? Just because we can’t see it, doesn’t mean we can’t expect it. When we fill our hands with expectations instead of hope we watch them overflow with possibilities of greatness and the opportunities of demonstrating everything we desire. But we mustn’t hope, we must know.

We would never look at a child with a dream of becoming a dancer and tell them to stop dreaming. So let’s not confuse the ideas of dreams with hopes. They are two different thoughts. Dreams ignite the spark of thoughts that produce expectations. Hope gives us an escape route. There is nothing more powerful than a made up mind. 

Look back at examples in your life where you expected success in your life. Then think back at the times you hoped for something to happen. Let’s face it we really don’t need the naysayers in the world to cut us off at the knees; because the doubting voices in the back of our heads seem to be doing a bang up job.

You want your life to be different? Start coming from expectations instead of hope. Want to have a baby, go out buy the car seat and put it in your car. You want to be a writer, write that book and learn how to become published. Want to lose that weight, walk everyday and expect results. You gotta know you deserve it. Know it is your right—expect it to be so and don’t let any thoughts derail your intentions.

It isn’t miracles that are happening while you’re hoping for change; it’s your demonstrations showing up because you expected them to.

Thanks for reading!

On the Canal Trail...

I was out for a walk yesterday and as I turned to go up the canal trail I noticed the level of the water in the canal had dropped significantly. It was so low in fact; I actually experienced the shock of choking on my breath and the expansive drop of disappointment in my gut. My only thought ~ what the hell are we going to do? Immediately I went into the belief of doom and gloom and not having enough rain this winter. What are the ducks and fish going to do with such little water? 

Why do we do that? Why do we immediately assume the worst? Automatically our minds drop right into the “Eeyore” mentality. Well we are conditioned that way because we’ve bought into something called, “race consciousness.” Race Consciousness is the collective thought of the human race. All thought seeks to express through the paths of least resistance. When we become negative or fearful we attract that kind of thought and condition in our lives.

So when I realized I was “buying” into the belief that we didn’t have enough water in the canal; a thought came to me. What if the canal workers drained it on purpose?

Here let me explain.

There is a certain upkeep they must do to maintain the walls, pumps, and fences of a canal. When things need to be repaired or replaced, they must empty the space to see the problem, rectify the situation and make it more efficient and proper. They didn’t dry it out and destroy the life that depends on it. They simply made the decision to drain the old, fix the problems and let it fill back when it’s time.

Now what if we thought of the canal like our own consciousness? What if we took all of our negative beliefs, conditional thinking, limited ideas and fearful thoughts and let them drain from our mind? Once we have stopped the flow of old ideas, we can see where we need to repair, replace and renew the frame or walls of our beliefs. Let the new fluidic thoughts of prosperity, love, joy, and peace fill the canal of our minds. Water is formless and without intention until we use it with purpose; same with our thoughts. Until we make a conscious decision to change our thinking, we will continue to blame the water for drowning those who can’t swim.

Hey I’m not saying it’s easy or without having to do some pretty intensive work. Okay, sometimes we might have to put on our slickers and wade through the muck and mud of some pretty gnarly, stagnant beliefs. But once we repair the cracked cement, replace the old inefficient pumps and mend some fences we’ll notice our lives flow so much better.

There must first be an intentional thought before anything can be made manifest. We live in an ever expanding universe, why are we so afraid to stretch? Life wants to give us everything our hearts desire, why won’t we take it?

I know I say the time is now—a lot, but hey it really is. It is time to let go of hate, let go of limited belief, let go of the idea of lack, and powerlessness. It is time to let all of that go and know right here and right now that you are a force in this world that deserves to experience the greatest the Universe has to offer.

It is in our nature to live a life of gratitude; a life of service; a life of eternal peace. Science has already proven that we are all interconnected. This is your opportunity to experience it. Start today; give someone a smile, a hug, an encouraging word; start seeing the world you want to live in and before you know it, your world will change.

Thank you for hanging out and reading my ramblings.