Life lessons

We all get life lessons, whether we choose to acknowledge them or not. If we ignore them, I can promise you that they will continue to reappear. Some people think they have bad luck, but that's not really true. What they see as bad luck is actually the lesson they've been ignoring, popping back up again.

Remember that lessons are gifts meant to enrich our lives by teaching us things such as forgiveness (especially for ourselves), making better choices, learning to love ourselves so we can love others more purely, and sometimes our lessons force us into dealing with the emotional baggage we think we have cleverly buried from sight.

No more secrets

 

No one likes to talk about addiction or alcoholism.... It's a messy, shameful topic, but nonetheless, but most of us have been affected by this disease in some way or another, whether we want to admit it or not.

I'm grateful that I am able to tell my story today without shame and can use my experiences to help others... I'm grateful that I don't subscribe to secrets... Secrets are the cause of shame... I'm also grateful for recovery programs like AA and Al-Anon... They not only changed my life, but saved it... This disease doesn't discriminate... It doesn't care where you live, what kind of car you drive, or what your degrees are... And for those who have family members with addictions, it doesn't matter how much you love or try to help them, you are powerless. Having lost a child to this disease, I know this to be true...

I want to end by saying that this not just about addiction today... I'm also bringing to the light that it is our tendency to hide whatever we don't want the world to see... We pretend to be okay, while we silently carry the burden of pain, fear, unworthiness, loneliness, guilt, shame... If we don't deal with our issues, we are forced to wear a mask... I did that most of my life. And I can tell you that it was more painful than telling the truth...

Heart wide open

 

Self-will versus God's will

 

 How do we know the difference between self-will and God's will? Self-will/ego can be tricky. It can even disguise itself as being spiritual. I certainly have fallen for ego's convincing behavior many times, but what I have learned is that God's will comes from a place deep in our soul. Ego is of the mind. If the inner voice is loud and pushy, it's self-will. God's voice is quiet, kind, never controlling. 

A soulful life

 We all have an ego but some ego's are louder than others. The more we engage with it, the more it talks. What if, just for today, you didn't listen to it. Instead you search what your heart and soul desires...

Letting go

Letting go of people we love is not easy. I recently lost my partner of 25 years.

Because he was older than me, I expected that one day I would be facing myself on a deeper level than ever before. No holding on. No hiding behind. Just a void that can't be filled with anything except God and my authentic self. It has been 2 months since his heart gave out but as for me, my heart continues to beat. Adjusting to a new quietness. Feeling hopeful about the future and grateful for all the beautiful memories I will carry forward. 

How recovery can heal loneliness

 

There were years that I felt very lonely, especially in my teen years. No matter what I did, I couldn’t make that feeling go away so I suffered in silence. I didn’t even tell my best friend or any of my family how I felt. It was my painful secret. It wasn’t until I found recovery that I began to feel a sense of belonging. Imagine my surprise when I heard people sharing things in meetings that I could relate to. They spoke in a language I understood. Feeling that sense of belonging though, took time. I had a lot of work to do, especially when it came to shame and self hatred. But what I know to be true today is that all things can be healed with the help of the program and God. Will be internally grateful that recovery gave me a life more beautiful than I could’ve ever imagined.

Soulful words

 

Simple but deep words

Picture yourself as….

 

Peace and Serenity

Peace and serenity come from accepting things as they are, not as we want them to be. In other words, we learn to trust our Higher Power enough to surrender to His wisdom. This has not been an easy thing for me to do, but when pain becomes my teacher, I will let go of control.

Empathy

Because our emotions rise from “self”, we think compassion/love is a feeling. However, compassion doesn’t have a feeling. I would describe it as quiet and kind. If we feel a surge of emotions towards a situation, it’s because we are being triggered. Being triggered means we have a wound that we haven’t addressed yet.

Trusting our lessons

Everyone that shows up in your life is a gift. You may not always like the package that the gift comes in, but nonetheless, every person has something valuable to teach you, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. Rather than make others wrong, you can ask yourself “What am I to learn from this experience”?

Love to create

 

What our soul wants

Who would you be without your story? What are ways you’ve identified yourself? We are not our story and the things that we identify ourselves with such as a dependable worker, a good girl… is only a small part of who we are. This may be how we have identified ourselves, but there is a deeper part of us waiting to be explored. We’re so used to living in our minds, but learning about your soul and what it wants, would probably surprise you and delight you at the same time. 

New quotes

 

Peace of God

What brings you peace? What about a sense of connection? This journey called life is about love, turning inward to God and serving others. It’s about finding peace that no storm can disturb. Overcoming our fears that allows ego to control us and offering a love so pure that there are no expectations or conditions on it…

Praying for God's Will

 

When we align ourselves with what God wants, there will be nothing to pray for. We often pray for things to go the way we think they should. For example, we may pray for someone who is ill but illness is often the teacher that moves us closer to God and softens our rough edges. 

Sometimes behind our prayers is a lack of faith. Let's address the fear instead of asking God to move it aside. There is a natural order to things. Our part is to trust it, soothe our fears and keep our will out of God's plans...

A life based on truth

Picture yourself as a woman whose life is founded on wisdom and truth. Clearness of mind has liberated her from the illusions of the world and fulfilled her desire for freedom.

The simple things

 Sometimes it's the little things that mean so much. 

Having fun learning how to make cute videos.

What do you love doing?

Cleansing the soul

 

Most of us don't like feeling uncomfortable. We tend to ignore the inner voice that beckons our attention from time to time. But there comes a day for each of us when life begins to feel noticeably heavy.  Some may call is depression. I merely see it as a wake-up call. A time to do some soul cleansing. We aren't meant to carry old baggage. When it piles too high, it can choke the joy out of living...

Welcoming the New Year

 

We're starting 2023 with a new family addition. 

Her name is Noel and she is a little firecracker 

but is bringing loads of fun and joy to our home.   

We wish everyone a blessed new beginning.

The best is yet to come...