Now is the Best Time!

"If you are wondering when is the best time to make a change in your Life, remind yourself - any NOW will do."  

~ Robert Holden, Shift Happens!
 

As December makes its way toward Christmas and the celebration of our savior's birth; many hearts will soften and pause in reflection.  Some will renew their resolve to be more loving, to forgive more readily and to live with greater tolerance and compassion.

And some of us begin to review the ending of another year. We assess our success or analyze where we believe we have fallen short in some way.  

This is also a time for going within, for hibernation, for Winters rest.

Settling into contemplation, we rekindle that inner dialogue with ourselves.

This experience may be uncomfortable for those who have been complacent.  The general direction of this conversation can be more revealing than we're ready for!  

Still, it is in these times of introspection where we receive our gifts of clarity and direction. Our bold message challenges us to wake up, to heed its truth, to make new choices and to take responsible action!

So just for today, I invite you to consider:  

What habit or behavior are you ready to let go of? 

What is it that you want more of  in your Life?

What have you been ignoring or running away from?

What could you do differently to Celebrate your Life?

And when you show up next year. . .Who do you want to be?

Holiday Breakthrough

"Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

~Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet      

As the holiday season rolls around, some of us lose the balance we have in our daily lives, and instead, dive full blown into feeding our egos.  Our focus can become distorted and our familiar structures and routines literally disappear.  Stretched in overwhelm, we can spend our energy trying to look good, do enough, chase perfectionism or seek approval. We can lose ourselves in the creating of our holiday production!

This is a recent attitude shift for me regarding the Christmas season. It stems from personal loss and my own profound grief.  Expressing this truth prompts me either to hide or to "lighten up" as societal pressures whisper, I shouldn't feel this way. Yet, my perception has changed and my life filters are dramatically different.

I have a new found understanding and appreciation for many whose holiday experiences and memories aren't so full of joy and abundance.

This can be a dark time of year.  Not just in earth's night but in the hearts of those who suffer.  Today there exists great anger, unrest and destruction ~ dramatically born from pain, loss, and confusion.  Our world and the speed in which we live, greatly challenges us to commit to a higher calling. 

What if we surrender our blinders?  What if we allow our sacrifice and experience to transcend judgment and limitation?  Could we breakthrough our own pain to emerge with compassion and love for others?  And could we make a conscious choice to trust our light to our brothers and sisters?

After all , isn't that what Jesus came to show us?

Gratitude for You

At times our own light goes out 

and is rekindled by a spark 

from another person. 

Each of us has cause to think with 

deep gratitude of those who have lighted 

the flame within us. 

~ Albert Schweitzer

I especially like this quote from Albert Schweitzer. It reminds me of the immeasurable influence and power each of us has to lift another. Weeks prior to Thanksgiving, I was focused on past memories and lost in the emptiness without my parents.  I felt swallowed in grief and in longing for my familiar.

Yet everywhere I turned was someone ready to support me, remind me of the truth, or to share their light and love with me in the moment. 

Whether it was a patient ear, an empathetic message, or a loving hug, I sensed a constant energy holding me up and reminding me that life is good.  

I have so much to be grateful for ~ past, Present, and future!

Today I Celebrate my gratitude for you ~ my friends and family. 

Thank you for "being the spark" that reignites my heart, again and again. 

BE - Your Gratitude

"Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. 

Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. 

Thankfulness may consist merely of words. 

Gratitude is shown in acts." 

~Henry F. Amiel

As most of us jump into the business of Thanksgiving, we might forget to show up for the meaning of this holiday. The busy-ness of shopping, preparing, scheduling, or traveling could dictate our actions while expectation and emotion might dominant our thoughts.

In this next week, let us consciously demonstrate our gratitude by being present, slowing ourselves down, and actively listening to others.

May we participate in "acts of thanks~giving" by honestly expressing our acknowledgement, Gratitude, and Love. 

Who I am NOT!

Every once in a while I need to be recharged, to be inspired a new, to reconnect with my tribe and to step out of the rat race and into the "human" one.

Spending five days in San Diego with Dr Robert Holden, his Coaching Success workshop, and being immersed in a loving conscious community, successfully accomplished all of that and more.

 Robert Holden was all about having "a conversation", posing challenging inquiries, and deliciously entertaining us. We welcomed new perspectives and refocused ourselves to a more engaging presence.

 So much of what Robert shared was familiar to me. I recognized the truth in his instruction and his stories. I was reminded of what I know, yet had forgotten. I felt encouraged to shed my coat of armor to don a cape of courage!

"Success....is knowing who you are." ~ Robert Holden
 

Knowing who we are is rediscovering our "unconditioned selves". It's about reconnecting with our real selves, our original potential, our spiritual essence, that true nature that existed before we identified ourselves by outer words and others' criteria.

 We mostly live our lives as our "learned selves" seeing the world through the perception lens of our self image. Our self image is a shadow of ourselves, our Ego, a conglomerate of how others have defined us, our acquired beliefs and our own self judgement.

 I thought about the ways I still limit myself and the occasional punishing language or messages of self-doubt that can surface. I thought about the way I feel every time I deny my intuitive voice and make choices and decisions that do not serve me. I thought about the times I get derailed from my goal and spiral off my path in distraction. Then I thought about how I feel whenever I'm aligned with my false self of . . .who I am not! 

And then Robert invited us to ask ourselves this question:

"What's it like to be me when I'm not playing the role?"