Making room for new

 walking in nature...

 

“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

 

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Loving yourself

 taken at the beach yesterday...

Living life without self-courtship has a high cost. We risk losing our sensuality, our senses, precious moments with those we love, our smile, and our joy. When we romance ourselves, it prepares a fertile garden for a profusion of love to bloom in all areas of our lives. We regain passion and now becomes a moment not to be missed!

Corrie Woods
 

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Releasing shame

 

Shame is the dark, powerful feeling that holds us back...

 

In dysfunctional families, shame can be tagged to healthy behaviors such as talking about our feelings, making choices, taking care of ourselves, having fun, being successful, or even feeling good about ourselves.

 

Shame may have been attached to asking for what we want and need, to communicating directly and honestly, and to giving and receiving love...

 

In recovery, we are learning to identify shame. When we recognize it, we can begin to let go of it. We can love and accept ourselves-starting now.

 

Melody Beattie- "Language of Letting Go"

 

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One of my creations...

 

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Doing our best

 

We learn wisdom from failure
much more than from success.
We often discover what will do
by finding out what will not do.
And probably he who never made a mistake
never made a discovery.

~ Samuel Smiles ~

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Life

 My morning view as the sun rises...

 

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Even when you think you have your life all mapped out, things happen that shape your destiny in ways you might never even have imagined. The coincidences or little miracles that happen every day of your life are hints that the universe has much bigger plans for you than you ever dreamed of for yourself.  

― Deepak Chopra

 

Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment, are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution.”  

― Deepak Chopra

 

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Being yourself

“The Bhagavad Gita...says that it is better to live your own destiny imperfectly
than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection. 
So now I have started living my own life. 
Imperfect and clumsy as it may look,
it is resembling me now, thoroughly.”

 Elizabeth Gilbert    

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Acceptance

When I tried this morning, after an hour or so of unhappy thinking,

to dip back into my meditation,

I took a new idea with me: compassion. 

I asked my heart if it could please infuse my soul

with a more generous perspective on my mind's workings. 

Instead of thinking that I was a failure,

could I perhaps accept that I am only a human being--

and a normal one, at that?”

 

― Elizabeth Gilbert

 

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Growth

 

I'd learned enough from life's experiences to understand that destiny's interventions
can sometimes be read as invitation for us to address and even surmount our biggest fears. It doesn't take a great genius to recognize that when you are pushed by circumstance to do the one thing you have always most specifically loathed and feared,
this can be, at the very least, an interesting growth opportunity.”  

―Elizabeth Gilbert   

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What you long for

 

"Your soul’s desire are with you at birth like a hidden treasure chest of possibilities for you to discover as you grow and evolve into the person you were meant to be. Give voice to what you long for in the deepest place in your heart."

 

Debbie Ford

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True to ourselves

 love photographing dragonflies...took these yesterday

I used to spend so much time reacting and responding to everyone else 
that my life had no direction.

Other people's lives, problems, and wants set the course for my life.

Once I realized it was okay for me to think about and identify what I wanted,

remarkable things began to take place in my life.”  

― Melody Beattie

 

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“...the pain that comes from loving someone who's in trouble
can be profound.”  

 

― Melody Beattie

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If you'd like to visit my website, go to www.creativehealingforwomen.com 
 

Little heart warmers

 On my evening walk...

 a baby duck paddling quickly after it's mother

this little rabbit thinks it's hiding from me...

 

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...to find the air and the water exhilarating;
to be refreshed by a morning walk
or an evening saunter;
to be thrilled by the stars at night;
to be elated over a bird's nest
or a wildflower in spring
- these are some of the rewards of the simple life.

 

~ John Burroughs

 

 

Check this out- you'll need a tissue

http://wimp.com/puppytherapy

Letting go

 

 

“Holding on to anything is like holding on to your breath.

 

You will suffocate.

 

The only way to get anything in the physical universe is by letting go of it.

 

Let go & it will be yours forever.”  

― Deepak Chopra

 

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Friendships

My friend (Sue) next to her papaya tree...

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Lissa's Personal Prescription for Relationships

 

Be willing to be vulnerable, expose my flaws and allow deeper intimacy through the connections that result when I give up the impossible quest for perfection.

 

Stop trying to save everyone I love. Love them unconditionally just the way they are...

 

Commit to filling myself first, so I'm full enough to help others.

 

Stop expecting people to read my mind and fully communicate what I want...

 

Make a list of all the people whose opinions I really value and then let go of caring about what everybody who is not on the list thinks.

 

Lissa Rankin, M.D. - "Mind Over Medicine"

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“A friend is one that knows you as you are,
understands where you have been,
accepts what you have become,
and still, gently allows you to grow.”  

― William Shakespeare

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Ruffled feathers

When I hear someone say "just be happy" or "just be grateful" instead of listening, my feathers get a little ruffled.
 

There's no doubt I'm happy most days! But it's only because I've met and made friends with the unhappy parts of myself. I don't need to gloss over or hide my humanity.

Our goal shouldn't be happiness anyways. Let's choose freedom instead. Free to you...free to be me.
 

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“There's nothing more inspiring than the complexity

and beauty of the human heart.”   

 

Cynthia Hand

 

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Helping others

First photos taken with my new iPad 

My office/meditation room

My brother, sister, and myself

 

I am only one, but still I am one.

I cannot do everything, but still I can do something;

And because I cannot do everything

I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

 

~ Helen Keller ~

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