Setting Your 2013 Intentions

"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever." ~ Keri Russell

What do you want the new year to look like? What do you want to be, to do and to have?

This is where you can begin your process of setting your intentions or goals. Envision what it is you would like your life to be. Make the decision that this is what you want.

STOP, TAKE A BREATH, and ASK:

What would it take to make that happen?

What small steps can you take every day to reach that desire?

Taking small, consistent action will move you towards your desired intentions.

“You cannot make progress without making decisions.” ~ Jim Rohn

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Author and teacher Byron Katie says that when you question your stressful thoughts, the freedom that comes out of that graces the world for all of us.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking?

"What is the one small step you can take to create your 2013?"

“You can tell whether a woman is clever by her answers. You can tell whether she is wise by her questions.” ~ attributed to Naguib Mahfouz

Seek Determination for 2013

A blind boy paid his way to a master’s degree at Northwestern University by taking notes on class lectures in Braille, typing them, and selling copies to classmates who had stronger eyes but weaker ambition.

One of the great mysteries of life is why some people who seem to have all the advantages – the right connections, education, and experience – never seem to amount to much while others who have had to struggle for everything they have reach incredible heights of success. It hinges on determination. If you have the will to succeed, you will somehow find a way, regardless of the obstacles you encounter.

Do you use all of your assets to achieve your goals, or are you handicapped by your lack of ambition? No other person can create in you a desire to succeed. With enough motivation, you will see things all around you that will help you reach your objectives, things that you may have overlooked many times before. ~ Wisdom from Napoleon Hill

Just for today, think about your life to date. STOP, TAKE A BREATH, and ASK:

Do you have the determination to receive your goals and intentions? Or, do you have a lack of ambition?

What is one small step you can take right now that will move you closer to your goals?

Take that one small step today!

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“In order to stay awake and be able to create a future that reflects our goals, we need to question the present. We need to question every choice we make and look at the positive or negative consequences of our actions if we are to align our daily actions with our deepest desires.” ~ Debbie Ford, The Right Questions

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking? 

"What does your creative muse look like and how do you connect with it?"

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question." ~ Decouvertes

Reconnect to Your Creative Muse

As children, we were creative beyond belief. We played and used out amazing imaginations to create anything we wanted to be, to do and to have. The sky was the limit. The most wonderful part of this was no one told us we could not, should not or must not be, do or have whatever we imagined. We were allowed to imagine freely without limits and without any restrictions. Oh, those were glorious times! Those of you baby boomers like me may remember when our parents purchased a large appliance – a washing machine or a television set. Remember those endless hours playing with the box and packaging? I created a life-sized doll house, a forte, a bus, and I played for hours on end, never getting bored. Whatever happened to those wonderful days and memories?

I’ll tell you what happened – we grew up! We not only grew up but we grew up and conformed to the masses. We had to go to school and the school had to have conformity. There was no way to teach children in the allotted amount of time all the things they had to teach if one child was a princess in her tower awaiting her prince and another child was an astronaut awaiting take off! It just would not do! So as we grew up, we were taught to suppress our beautiful, creative spirits and not to use our imaginations. We had to be realistic, practical, with our heads out of the clouds and our feet planted firmly on the ground.

Now as adults, we have lost touch with our inner creativity. Unless you are an artist, you have somehow mislaid your creative spark. As an aside, if you are an artist, you either had to be damned good to convince everyone or you took a lot of flack about your fanciful ideas. This is a very sad demonstration of creativity. The world will pay the Barbra Streisands, the Derek Jeters, and the Julia Roberts millions to live in their divine creative spirits. Yet, the rest of us poor unimaginative souls must eek out our meager existences as realistic, practical conformists!

Well, I say it’s high time for a revolution! It’s time for the rest of us to reconnect to that inner creative spirit who used to create out of television packing boxes. We may not be a Streisand, a Jeter or a Roberts – that may not be our divine call – but we are just as imaginative and just as creative and can choose to use those wonderful gifts to create more vibrant lives for ourselves. There is no reason on earth why we must live dull, lackluster, mediocre lives. We are all meant to shine our lights and shine them brightly.

There is a wonderful passage in my favorite book that says why hide your light under a bushel basket? This is a question for all of us. Why are you hiding your amazing creativity and gift? Perhaps there is something you love doing, you have gotten raves about it, yet you don’t see it as a divine gift. You could bake outstanding cupcakes, or sew beautiful children’s clothes, or create amazing scrapbook layouts. This is your bright light and when you can shine your light brightly, it not only illuminates all other areas of your life, but it shines light on those you come in contact with. When you are not living in your creative light, you not only do a disservice to yourself but you deprive the world of the gift you incarnated into this world to give.

So, just for today, stop, take a breath and ask yourself:

“What do I really enjoy doing?”

“What have I gotten great feedback about?”

“What truly lights me up?”

Then, listen for your Divine Inner Wisdom to bring you the answers. Someone once said that what the world really need is people living out their true passions – so go out and reconnect to your creative muse and live your life with passion!

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“In order to stay awake and be able to create a future that reflects our goals, we need to question the present. We need to question every choice we make and look at the positive or negative consequences of our actions if we are to align our daily actions with our deepest desires.” ~ Debbie Ford, The Right Questions

Author and teacher Byron Katie says that when you question your stressful thoughts, the freedom that comes out of that graces the world for all of us.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking?

"What radical transformation will you make for 2013?" 

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question." ~ Decouvertes

Your Radical Transformation

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ~ Victor Frankl

When you make the decision to change any area of your life, you are also making the decision to release yourself from your old way of being. This means that if you are going to make any kind of transformation, then you must make it across all areas of your life. You cannot transform in one area of your life while remaining the same in the others. Your life will be out of alignment and incongruent to who you are becoming.

For example, you make the decision to release about 30 pounds because you want a healthier lifestyle. With this decision comes many other decisions; like not spending all your time with those friends who are over weight and content to be so. Or, you have made the decision to become an entrepreneur, yet your family believes the only way to earn is by working for someone else and having a steady paycheck. Get the picture?

Just because you have made the decision to change, does not mean everyone else in your life has made that same decision; or worse, will even support your decision to change. People do not like change that is forced upon them because it challenges their belief systems. If you become an entrepreneur, you are breaking the belief about job security that your family has bought into for generation. Without this kind of support, you won’t have much success with your new dream.

What can you do about this? This appears to be an age old question, “What do I do when I want to change but those around me won’t change?” You have two choices, both are quite radical and must be done fully, lest your change won’t happen and your dream remains just that – a dream.

Both choices involve disassociating yourself from anyone who will oppose your dream – either for good, or for as long as it takes for you to reprogram your mind and make your dream a reality. You see, you cannot change yourself while remaining in the same environment that keeps you stuck. This is one reason there is such a high recidivism rate. A person is released from prison back into the same environment that created the bad behavior in the first place. Without the proper support and encouragement, this person will pick up the same habits and repeat the same behaviors that got him incarcerated in the first place.

One of my favorite films is the 1942 classic, “Now, Voyager” starring Bette Davis, Claude Rains and Paul Henreid. Not a typical classic love story, but a psychologically brilliant one. Bette Davis plays Charlotte, the overweight and repressed spinster daughter of a Boston aristocratic and dictatorial mother, brilliantly played by Gladys Cooper. Charlotte is on the verge of an emotional breakdown and through her sister-in-law meets Doctor Jaquith, played by Rains, who brings Charlotte to his clinic for treatment. Charlotte releases the weight, the eyeglasses and the neuroses. Away from her mother’s control and abuse, Charlotte blossoms. But instead of immediately sending her back home, Dr. Jaquith suggests a pleasure cruise. There she will be able to practice what she has learned at the clinic, with no interference from her mother. No one knows her on the cruise ship, so she can be the person she is meant to be. Not only does she find the courage and the confidence to be her authentic self, but she finds love as well.

  

"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." ~ E.M. Forster

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“In order to stay awake and be able to create a future that reflects our goals, we need to question the present. We need to question every choice we make and look at the positive or negative consequences of our actions if we are to align our daily actions with our deepest desires.” ~ Debbie Ford, The Right Questions

Author and teacher Byron Katie says that when you question your stressful thoughts, the freedom that comes out of that graces the world for all of us.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking? 

"You have what it takes. Do you truly believe that? If you don't, why not? What would you need to do to believe it?"

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question." ~ Decouvertes

You Have What It Takes

Consider the following. Just consider... 

Picture in your mind the most incredible thing designed by mankind that you have ever seen. Perhaps the Empire State Building, the Shuttle built by the technicians at NASA, The Golden Gate Bridge or even the intricate detailing in a painting you've seen.

What name comes to mind when I say the words "creative genius?"

Who do you think of when I mention God-like compassion, caring and loving?

What author's name do you think of when I mention "poetry," "drama," "mystery," "fiction," and "comedy?"

What do you see when I say "strength," and "stamina?"

Finally "winner," "successful," or "role model?"

I'll bet you a Kids Meal at McDonald's you never saw yourself in any of those images. And yet...

Look at your hands. Are they not the same as the hands of the skillful artist, architect, mason, or technician?

If you were to x-ray your skull, would you not find the same brain matter that takes up the space between the ears of Einstein, Plato, and Disney?

Hold your hand to your chest. Can you feel the beat of a heart capable of paining for the homeless and starving? Have you not the same heart that beat in the chest of Jesus, Gandhi, Mohamed or the thousands of missionaries around the world?

Look at your fingers. Are they not like the fingers of Frost, Churchill, Stevens, Wilder and King that held tightly the pens that wrote the words that shaped the world?

Look at your feet. Show me the difference between yours and gold medalists of the Olympics or the rescuers who carried the people out of the rubble in a tragic earthquake.

Finally. Close your eyes as you stand in front of a mirror and picture in your mind that man or woman who you think of as a success, a winner and role model. Open your eyes and explain to me the difference between you and that person.

There is no difference...except in how you perceive yourself.

You have the mind, the hands, the feet, the fingers, the heart to be exactly what you want to be. The only thing that is stopping you is the person you see in the mirror.

You have all that it takes.

By Bob Perks

Just for today, what if... you have all it takes?

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Author and teacher Byron Katie says that when you question your stressful thoughts, the freedom that comes out of that graces the world for all of us.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking?

"How can you improve your attitude to improve your life?"

“You can tell whether a woman is clever by her answers. You can tell whether she is wise by her questions.” ~ attributed to Naguib Mahfouz

A Winning Attitude

Did you know that you have the power to either make your day or break your day? Not just your day but your entire life? How? With your attitude. Your attitude determines what your day and your life will be. It determines your circumstances and how you behave in those circumstances. Your attitude determines how people react or respond to you on a daily basis. It is extremely important to have the right attitude, a winning attitude, each and every day.

What is an attitude? An attitude is an outward expression of an inward emotion. It is your mental approach to life consisting of your thoughts, feelings and behaviors that determines your disposition toward yourself and others. You see, how people react or respond to you is all determined by your attitude. If you are grumpy and sour, people will tend to avoid you and steer clear of you. If you are cheerful and happy, then people will want to be in your company. Winston Churchill said your attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. It is a mindset and you must get into the habit of having a positive mindset. Are you one who wakes up each morning and think, “Good God, it’s morning!” Or, are you one who wake up and think, “God, it’s a good morning!” The subtle difference will make a huge difference in your attitude and how you face the day.

“I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street,

I met a man who had no feet.” 

~ Ancient Persian Saying

Writer and poet Oscar Wilde once said, “The secret to life is to never have an emotion that is unbecoming!” Remember, your attitude is your outward expression of your inward emotion. If your inward emotions are fear, anger, irritability, and bitterness most of the time, then this is going to become your outward expression; which is expressed in your behaviors.

“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems,

but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.” 

~ Herm Albright

How do you create a winning attitude? First, you must decide to change your attitude. Look at your life. If you are not enjoying the level of success you desire; if you don’t have the quality of relationships you would like; then perhaps you need to make an attitude adjustment. Next, get in the habit of re-programming your mind for the success you desire, the relationships you want, the lifestyle you would like to have. Get in the habit of consciously creating your ideal day. Every morning before you begin your day, determine what kind of day you want to have. You must stop, take a deep breath, and ask yourself:

“How am I going to meet this new day?”

“What kind of day would I like to have?”

“What must I do to have that kind of day?”

Let the questions soak in; then allow the answers to come. A daily practice of this kind of conscious asking and planning and soon you will see not only your attitude change, but your life change as well. Someone very wise once said that attitudes are contagious; you want to make sure yours are worth catching.

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“In order to stay awake and be able to create a future that reflects our goals, we need to question the present. We need to question every choice we make and look at the positive or negative consequences of our actions if we are to align our daily actions with our deepest desires.” ~ Debbie Ford, The Right Questions

Author and teacher Byron Katie says that when you question your stressful thoughts, the freedom that comes out of that graces the world for all of us.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking?

"How are you mindfully taking care of yourself?" 

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question." ~ Decouvertes

Mindful Self Care

We live in a society of instant gratification, fast foods and speed dialing. If we think about it, what are we actually hurrying to? Where are we trying to go in such a hurry? As morbid as it sounds, we are essentially speeding towards death, the final destination. But life is not about the destination, life is about the journey. You cannot enjoy the journey if you don’t take the time to stop and experience it.

In working with women and men going through difficult life transitions, they too continued on the proverbial treadmill called life until something caused them to stop. I am here to tell you, you don’t want to wait for a life transition or setback to happen in order to take a mental and spiritual time out. When clients and students seek me out, they are in crisis mode. They were going along on their treadmill called life, speeding faster and faster until something stopped working for them. Perhaps it was a job loss, a health challenge or the illness or sudden death of a loved one. Whatever the crisis, it forced them to stop.

I teach women how to stop before the crisis strikes; so that when it does strike – and believe me, it will – they are better prepared to take care of themselves physically, emotionally and spiritually. If you intentionally and mindfully stop for self care, you will have spiritual practices in place when your transitional moment does come. I have discovered in my own journey of pain and grief, that it is not enough to know what to do because when the crisis hits, you immediately reverted back to what you have always done – whether it worked or not.

Yes, we have read all the self help books, listened to all the personal development audios and attended all the self growth lectures and workshops. So we know what to do to take care of ourselves. But as the proverb goes, to know and not to do is not to know! You don’t really know how to practice self care of you don’t do self care. Taking care of yourself must be a selfish practice. If you have ever flown in an airplane, then you know the flight instructions say in case of an emergency, put your own oxygen mask on first, then help your dependents. You cannot give what you do not have. When you are overly busy and overly tired, how much of you is left for your loved ones? Not much!

So, I invite you to cultivate the practice of taking a present moment time out every day. No, you don’t have to join an ashram or go sit in a temple – unless you want to! Simply take a time out during your daily water moments. You have water moments each and every day. You shower, you wash, you pee, you flush, you wash your hands, you water plants, you use water to cook and clean. Whenever you encounter water in your day, stop; take three deep, abdominal breaths and say, “Thank you, Mother Earth, for this water I am blessed to use!” Then, resume your day. This takes all of three minutes and it is three minutes you are fully present in the moment as you honor one of our most sacred resources in gratitude. It is a simple meditation and a simple way to cultivate a spiritual practice of present moment self care.

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Author and teacher Byron Katie says that when you question your stressful thoughts, the freedom that comes out of that graces the world for all of us.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking?

"Where in your life can you manage your tasks to gain more time?"

“You can tell whether a woman is clever by her answers. You can tell whether she is wise by her questions.” ~ attributed to Naguib Mahfouz

Manage Tasks, Manage Time

For any of us who have extremely busy lives, we all still have one very important fact in common: we all get the exact same 24 hours in a day. In all my years of coaching, teaching and counseling, I have come to realize there is no such thing as time management. You cannot manage time; no matter which way you slice it, you still have the same 24 hours in a day. What you can manage are the tasks you choose to do in that 24 hour period. When I say choose, I mean you have complete control over them. The tasks you do everyday are the tasks you choose; no one else chose them and you can choose not to do them as well.

In my coaching and counseling practice, I hear so many women say those dreaded four words: “I don’t have time!” When pressed, it is because they are so busy. I do understand being busy, but I don’t understand being too busy to do the things you truly want to do and enjoy doing. If you have opted doing busy work for doing productive and creative work, then something is out of harmony in your life.

It is said that time flies when you’re having fun. This is very true. My days fly by because I choose to fill them with the things I am passionate about. If I choose to fulfill a task that is a drudgery, then I need to either delegate that task, if possible, or change my view about that task. I know several people who do not like doing laundry. If I chose to view this necessary task as just cleaning a bunch of dirty clothes, then I would probably hate it as well. But I love the smell and the feeling of clean clothes. I love folding and putting away fresh, clean clothes. To me, it is like a new beginning. The truth is, I enjoy doing laundry because I have a positive view of the outcome. Also, laundry is one of those low maintenance tasks that I can do while doing a high maintenance task that I enjoy. A low maintenance task is a task you begin and it can basically run itself; you don’t have to do much and there is no active brain work involved. Doing laundry is a low maintenance task because outside of adding the detergents and fabric softeners, there isn’t much else to think about. While you are doing this low maintenance task, you can also do a high maintenance task – one that needs your complete focus and attention. This high maintenance task should be related to your daily goals and intentions – not random acts of doing.

Multi-tasking is counter productive unless you pair a low maintenance task with a high maintenance task. Doing two high maintenance tasks at the same time only means they each get 50% of your attention and effort. Doing two low maintenance tasks at the same time is a waste of your time and energy. You cannot drive your children to school while working on that proposal – those are two high maintenance tasks which require your full attention.

Look at your daily tasks and determine which can be paired up. Allot enough time to complete those tasks and stick with them until they are completed. Save your high maintenance tasks for when you have the physical, emotional and spiritual energy to do them. While you are at your lowest energy level, you can do things like check your emails, fold and iron the laundry and the like. These tasks do not require much brain power.

Eliminate or delegate those tasks you don’t need to do yourself. If chopping vegetables is a pain, then buy vegetables already chopped. Be creative and find ways to add value to your time and life. And make sure you add a creative outlet for yourself – like crafts, scrapbooking, baking, knitting, gardening, playing tennis or swimming. Find something you can do just for you as a release. We all need this. You must create a space in your day just for you – even if it is just 30 minutes; those can be the most precious 30 minutes of your day.

You have time for what you make time for. You have the power to choose what you make the time for.

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Author and teacher Byron Katie says that when you question your stressful thoughts, the freedom that comes out of that graces the world for all of us.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking?

"What areas of your life can you grow your confidence muscles?"

“You can tell whether a woman is clever by her answers. You can tell whether she is wise by her questions.” ~ attributed to Naguib Mahfouz

Living Fearlessly Confident

I have discovered that living a fearless life is a myth. Fear will come to pay you a visit at one time or another; there is nothing you can do about that. But I have realized that when I befriend my fear, I can then use it to my advantage and create a life of confidence, abundance and inner peace.

We are born with two fears – falling and loud noises – all other fears are learned; and we have learned them all too well. Although someone has taught us those extra fears, they failed to teach us how to befriend them when they come calling. Fear is one of our innate emotions, therefore we do need it. When we feel fear, our mind and body knows exactly what to do to kick us into fight or flight mode. Unfortunately, we have allowed our fight or flight engine to continue running. Our minds and bodies cannot perceive a real threat from an imagined one.

If we want to live a confident life – the life we were created to live, by the way – then we must first become comfortable with our fearful side. Fear comes along not to harm us but to alert us that something new and exciting is about to happen.

Incredible innovators like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs must have felt the pangs of fear all the time. The difference is they learned how to use their fear to their advantage. They knew that if they allowed the voice of their fears and doubts to get louder than the voice of their passions and dreams, then nothing would have come of those passions and dreams. Just think of the inventions and creations we would not be using today if those innovators gave into their fears.

So, what was the difference between those innovators and everyone else? What did they do that helped them to befriend their fears and realize their dreams? They made the decision to pursue their dreams; they decided that their dreams were more important to them than their fears and doubts were. They used their amazing power to choose. They all made a choice then took action on that choice.

Author Napoleon Hill wrote in his classic, Think and Grow Rich, that indecision breeds fear. This has been very true in my life and the life of my students and clients. When I made a conscious decision to be, to do, or to have something, my world would shift. It was as if I have given the universe permission to begin my own symphony. Opportunities would come my way, resources would come into my awareness, and the right people would connect with me. Once I could make the decision, I set into motion a whole operating system – just for me and my dream.

We all make decisions everyday; but most of those decisions are made unconsciously. Most of our life is lived on autopilot and we choose by default. This is just as bad as indecision; because the decision is not made consciously. Although we make decisions consciously, our subconscious mind has the task of rejecting any decision or dream that is not aligned with how we have been taught. If we have been taught fear, then the subconscious mind will respond to our dreams with fear. We become frozen, paralyzed by the fear and we do not proceed with making our dream a reality. But once we make a conscious decision that we will be, do and have what we desire, then inspired action steps come into our awareness and we can proceed to take those action steps.

The subconscious mind will bring into your awareness everything you need to create the confident life you so desire. Making conscious choices and taking small, inspired action steps on those choices will lead to more confidence in yourself and in your dreams. But again, not making the decision to act on your desires will only bring up more fear and doubt. Once you take an action, there is no more doubt because you know that you are capable to take the action.

You begin to take on your fears as a challenge; knowing that you are moving forward on your dreams and desires. You know that when you feel the fear, it only means that you have a desire that will stretch you to become bigger and brighter, and lead you to a more confident life.

Just for today, live your life fearlessly confident!

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“In order to stay awake and be able to create a future that reflects our goals, we need to question the present. We need to question every choice we make and look at the positive or negative consequences of our actions if we are to align our daily actions with our deepest desires.” ~ Debbie Ford, The Right Questions

Author and teacher Byron Katie says that when you question your stressful thoughts, the freedom that comes out of that graces the world for all of us.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking?

"Where in your life are you judging instead of simply noticing?" 

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question." ~ Decouvertes

Stop Judging, Just Notice

There will be a never-ending flow of external circumstances that you will meet with everyday. Some you will label as negative and others you will label as positive. No doubt you will take the positive circumstances for granted – placing those moments on the back of the shelf. It will be the negative circumstances that you choose to give your undivided attention to. You will give energy to those negative experiences; and that energy will be charged with anger, doubt, frustration, sadness, disappointment, and sorrow or fleeting moments of all of these. This energy determines your vibrational resonance, which in this case is extremely low. Thus you attract more of the same – more vibrationally low experiences.

You may determine that your low vibration was caused by those negative circumstances. You may also determine that because of those negative circumstances, which was not your fault, leave you feeling powerless and helpless in those circumstances. This unfortunately, has become a fallacy of most people’s thinking. Granted, you have no control over anyone else’s behaviors and choices; but you do have control over your own. You can choose to determine that the external circumstance is not negative or positive, that it just is. Nothing that happens in life has any inherent meaning unless we assign it one.

How different would you feel and behave is you chose to see that same external circumstance as either positive or having no meaning at all? This kind of thinking would not leave you feeling all those negatively charged emotions, and thus you would act on your more positive feelings. Think how different your life would be if you would stop judging the external events in your life and just notice them as a stepping stone along your path of life.

Nothing in this life happens to you, it happens for you. Anything for you can only lead to your greatest and highest good. But you must make the conscious choice to be in the noticing and not in the judging. When you assign labels you are judging. When you can just notice without assigning or attaching a label or meaning, then you create an unlimited amount of freedom and possibility in your life. When you can just notice what is going on in your external environment, and not judge it, you will no longer feel powerless or helpless in those situations. Being in the noticing creates more awareness, more freedom, more power, and much more inner peace in your life.

Just for today, don't judge... just notice.

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“In order to stay awake and be able to create a future that reflects our goals, we need to question the present. We need to question every choice we make and look at the positive or negative consequences of our actions if we are to align our daily actions with our deepest desires.” ~ Debbie Ford, The Right Questions

Author and teacher Byron Katie says that when you question your stressful thoughts, the freedom that comes out of that graces the world for all of us.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking? 

"Look closely at your life. Are you satisfied with the choices you are making? How can you choose more wisely?"

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question." ~ Decouvertes

It's Your Choice!

"There are two ways to look at life and the world. We can see the good or the bad, the beautiful or the ugly. Both are there, and what we focus on and choose to see is what brings us feelings of joy or feelings of despair." ~ Lloyd Newell

One way to look at life and the world will bring you happiness, peace and joy. The other way will bring sorrow, gloom and doom.

It is all about choice. You have that power – to choose.

You can either choose peace or you can choose this – this, being gloom and doom.

Choose wisely.

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“In order to stay awake and be able to create a future that reflects our goals, we need to question the present. We need to question every choice we make and look at the positive or negative consequences of our actions if we are to align our daily actions with our deepest desires.” ~ Debbie Ford, The Right Questions

Author and teacher Byron Katie says that when you question your stressful thoughts, the freedom that comes out of that graces the world for all of us.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking? 

"How are you exercising the Power of WE in your life?"

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question." ~ Decouvertes

Blog Action Day ~ The Power of WE

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." ~ Margaret Mead

Founded in 2007, Blog Action Day brings together bloggers from different countries, interests and languages to blog about one important global topic on the same day. Past topics have included water, climate change, poverty and food with thousands of blogs, big and small, taking part. This year, close to 2000 blogs from 108 countries, using 43 different languages, have registered to take part in Blog Action Day.

This year, the theme is the Power of We. The Power of We is a celebration of people working together to make a positive difference in the world, either for their own communities or for people they will never meet half way around he world.

What I particularly love about Blog Action Day is it is the Power of We. Blog Action Day partners with some amazing organizations that are working to create a more peaceful and loving planet. This is the Power of We in action; people and organizations working together to make a positive difference in our world.

Just a few of the organizations are Greenpeace, founded in 1971, a small team of activists sailing from Vancouver, Canada, ignited their vision of a green and peaceful world.

Oxfam, an international confederation of 17 organizations networked together in more than 90 countries, as part of a global movement for change, to build a future free from the injustice of poverty. Oxfam works directly with communities, seeking to influence the powerful to ensure that poor people can improve their lives and livelihoods and have a say in decisions that affect them.

As a child, I thought a heifer was the nickname for an aunt. Then, I found out that every woman my mother was pissed off at was a heifer. Needless to say, Heifer International, founded in 1944 with just one cow, has a mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth.

These organizations, along with the many people who work, fund, and service them, are the Power of We. There are many things that are going on within these and other organizations, but I believe the Power of We begins with awareness. None of these organizations would survive if it were not for people power, "we" power.

So, how can we continue this power of we? Volunteer, donate your time, talent or treasure to any of the organizations that tirelessly work to make a positive and peaceful difference and care for creation.

Just think, almost 2000 blogs posting about the Power of We, calling attention to, raising awareness of, and creating a global shift in our world. Now that is the Power of We.

Blessings of peace,

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“In order to stay awake and be able to create a future that reflects our goals, we need to question the present. We need to question every choice we make and look at the positive or negative consequences of our actions if we are to align our daily actions with our deepest desires.” ~ Debbie Ford, The Right Questions

Author and teacher Byron Katie says that when you question your stressful thoughts, the freedom that comes out of that graces the world for all of us.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking?

"Which of your friends are toxic and which are nutritious?" 

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question." ~ Decouvertes