A bit of wisdom

 

Sorrow prepares you for joy.
It violently sweeps everything out of your house,
so that new joy can find space to enter.
It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart,
so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place.
It pulls up the rotten roots,
so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow.
Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart,
far better things will take their place.”
― Rumi

 

 

“You wander from room to room
Hunting for the diamond necklace
That is already around your neck!”
― Rumi

*****

 

Being all that you can

“A queen is wise. 
 She has earned her serenity, not having had it bestowed on her
but having passer her tests.
She has suffered and grown more beautiful because of it.
She has proved she can hold her kingdom together.
She has become its vision.
She cares deeply about something bigger than herself.
She rules with authentic power.”  
 

― Marianne Williamson

 

*****

Saying goodbye to yesterday

 

“Release and detach from every person,
every circumstance, every condition, and every situation
that no longer serves a divine purpose in your life.
All things have a season,
and all seasons must come to an end.
Choose a new season,
filled with purposeful thoughts and activities.” 
 
― Iyanla Vanzant

 

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Living from the soul

I believe we are all born with a purpose in life.

I used to think my purpose was to have a perfect life:
a perfect job, husband, children, house....,
because as a child,
I was conditioned to believe that was the goal.

I spent a lot of years buying into this belief.
I had long periods of time where...
 I had everything I thought was suppose to bring happiness,
but couldn't escape the aching, empty, unfulfilled place in me...
 that longer for something more.
I had a lot of wonderful years where I should have had contentment and peace,
but I didn't.

Today I am fulfilling my purpose.
As a result, I feel a deep sense of peace and joy...
because I am connected to what feels really true for me.
I listen to my gut and follow where it leads me.
It leads me further and further away from...
 the fairy tale story I once bought into.

 

*****

 

A joyful life

 

Every morning as we wake up,

we can bless the world.

We can pray to be servants today...

 to something holy and true.

We can take a deep breath and...

 surrender ourselves to God's plan for our lives.

And when we do,

we will experience miracles.

Marianne Williamson

 

*****

 

Letting love in

Love is all around us,
but we're in the mental and emotional habit of deflecting it.

With every attitude of attack or defense,
we send love away.

With every perception of anyone's guilt,
we tell love to leave.

With every thought of limited possibility,

we tell miracles we don't want them.

And then we wonder why we're depressed.

 

Marianne Williamson

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Healing our fears and insecurities

 

There is a huge difference between "owning your power" 

as opposed to "being in control".

When you know how powerful you really are,

you let go of your need to be in control.

Control is purely based on FEAR!

Ultimately, you give your power away when you give into fear,

when you try to micro-manage life...

instead of trusting your needs will be met.

When you're afraid, there's a good chance...

 you'll be trying to micro-manage other people's lives too.

It may give you a false sense of safety.

You may call it love, being helpful, extending kindness to others...

 but I will call it what it is; boundary crushing and disrespectful.

Interfering with someone's right to have their experiences,

trying to cripple them with your fears and insecurities,

 will destroy any chance of having a lasting, healthy relationship with them.

There is nothing powerful about giving into fear.

It is only when we face and heal our fear...
 that we own our true power.

*****

Hustling for approval

When I heard the term "hustling for worthiness",

I thought of all the ways I used to hustle for approval

from my peers, men, bosses...

That's a lot of power to give away.

A big price for acceptance.

And guess what?

Because I didn't value myself enough,

I attracted a lot of unhealthy situations.

There is no blame here,

just consequences of my "unworthiness". 

 

******

 

Lessons learned

I am still work in progress when it comes to worthiness. Something that became very clear to me in 2013 was this: I was still giving my trust to people who hadn't earned the right to have it. And not just once...this is a pattern/story I have played out through-out my life. Had I listened to my intuition instead of ignoring the red flags, I would have made better decisions. Lessons learned...

*****

Our weakness is often simply a weakness in faith -

 believing more in the limitation of the world than in the limitlessness...

 

Marianne Williamson

*****

 

Making good choices

 

Do you try too hard to be perfect...

 rather than accept yourself?

Do you hold a belief that if you're perfect,

people will then accept you?

Do you hustle to get love?

 

The truth is this:

if you don't love and accept who you are,

you will either choose less than you deserve...

or sabotage relationships when they are good.

 

 *****

Being humble

 

People who carry shame have a strong attachment...
to being right. 
If you already feel flawed,

being wrong exposes the underlying shame.

It will be hard admit to others when you make mistakes.
You try to blame them...
because humbling yourself to admit you were wrong...
feels humiliating.
 

Shame hides behind pride, stubbornness, and defensiveness.
 Getting more honest, being vulnerable, and doing your work,

is how you begin to heal it.

*****

 

Sharing our shame story

 

Shame and blame go hand in hand.

If we're quick to point the finger at someone else,

be certain that shame is lurking in the corner.

To heal shame, we have to expose it.

Being secretive about it only adds to the problem. 

When we tell our shame story to someone trustworthy,

the shame begins to heal.

Sharing our shame isn't comfortable,

but enduring a few moments of being uncomfortable is

far better the a life sentence of unworthiness.

 

*****

 

Healing the shame

 

Shame is something I am very familiar with. My mom had me when she was 17. It was during a time when it was disgrace to have sex before marriage. I am certain that her parents and my dad's parents shamed them, so in my mother's womb, I was already being exposed to shame.

Because my parents never knew what to do with their shame, they shamed me and my siblings. I got so many shaming messages over the years. These messages left me feeling shattered, flawed, and hopeless.

I finally came to place in my life when I couldn't ignore the damage the shame was doing to me so I began to expose it. In telling on the shame, I began to heal. I started to see that I was more than the shame, but the shame held me back from being all that I could be.

What I know to be true is this: there is no way out of shame, but to face it. If you don't, you will never know the love and joy that life means for you to have. You will never feel good enough. You will never feel loved enough. You will never think you do enough. You will not pursue your truest desires. You will settle for things less than you deserve. Get honest with yourself. Don't waste the rest of your precious life in denial. Denial will only give you more of what you already have.

 

*****

 

Taking risks

Though we may think we are protecting ourselves

by keeping a wall around our hearts,

what we are actually doing is

blocking our blessings (love, trust, friendship...)

It's not until we take the risk to lay down our swords,

drop our defenses, and open our hearts,

that we truly feel a deep sense of connection

to our surroundings and to others.

*****

 

Practicing faith

 

Because of the way women are raised, to be caretakers and servers,

to put others needs first, most of us do not have enough self-esteem.

We have great fears of abandonment.

We fear loss and lack of security.

We were not raised to believe that we could take care of ourselves...

 

So how do we overcome fear...?

It is in learning  to trust the process of Life.

Life is here is to support us, to lead us and guide us if we will allow it to...

 

Louise L Hay

Welcoming change

 

Try not to resist the changes that come your way.

 

Instead let life live through you.

 

And don't worry that your life is turning upside down.

 

How do you know that the side you are used to

 

is better than the one to come?

 

Rumi

 

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Everyone is my teacher

Everyone we meet, every situation we find ourselves in,
 

represents a lesson that would teach us how to take our next step forward...
 

Everything that happens is part of a mysterious educational process...
 

With every lesson we're challenged to go deeper,
 

become wiser and more loving...

Marianne Williamson

****

 

Getting connected

The only way to gain power

 

in a world that is moving too fast

 

is to learn to slow down...

 

The world we want for ourselves and our children

 

will not emerge from electronic speed

 

but rather from a spiritual stillness

 

that takes root in our souls.

 

Marianne Williamson

*****
FYI- topics I write about and quotes I post are things that speak to my own heart; lessons I am working on or things I have recently learned. I am never writing about anyone, but myself.

My view on life comes from my own personal philosophy. I enjoy sharing, holding the intention that it may be helpful to someone else. But know that there are many paths on the journey we call 'life". We honor ourselves best by choosing the path that feels right for us. As the saying goes "take what you like and leave the rest".

*****

Our life lessons

 

In the midst of the deepest, darkest night,

 

when we feel most humbled by life,

 

the faint shadow of our wings

 

begins to appear.

 

Marianne Williamson

 

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Practicing compassion

Compassion means

 

I have healed my own pain enough

 

 that I can sit with yours.

 

Compassion means

 

I can walk along side you 

 

without trying to fix you.

 

Compassion means

 

I trust your journey because

 

I trust my own.

 

*****
 

Being imperfect

 

Don't think you have to be perfect. 

 

Simply be who you are.

 

The best part of you 

 

is the very thing you may hide-

 

 your imperfections,

 

your truest self.

 

*****

Don't you know yet?
It is your light
that lights the world.

Rumi
 

 

Ruling your kingdom

 

A queen is a woman...
 

 who grows more beautiful with age...
 

who rules her kingdom with her heart...
 

who refuses to compromise her values...
 

who creates a life of passion and adventure... 
 

who finds the good in everything..
 

who knows herself deeply...
 

who claims her right to be loved.

******