This beautiful, love and life-affirming song will lift your spirits, guaranteed! Try focusing on all that makes it a wonderful world today, let yourself be open to grace and gratitude and use the music as a force for healing...
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." ~ e.e. cummings My previous blog post on New Years Day was all about releasing the old and creating the new. Little did I know that the very next day I was going to be given a golden opportunity to practice what I was preaching, to walk my talk. My job was eliminated as a result of downsizing! I was not expecting to begin the new year by falling off my own personal fiscal cliff. But there it was -- staring me in the belief system.
Once I got through the reaction, which was admittedly not very pretty and very highly emotional (shock, fear, limitation, denial and a dose of healthy anger) -- all probably pretty normal, I stopped, quite literally and with great effort, my negative thinking. I began to re-frame the event by reaching inside for what I know to be true at the deepest levels: 1) I am a creative, versatile, human being with many good qualities and a heart full of love and compassion. 2) I have survived and indeed thrived in the past while being self-employed, and recessions notwithstanding, I can do so again. I have many talents, ideas and goals with all kinds of potential and I have a deep, abiding faith in the goodness of life and in God who guides my being and my "doing". 3) And I have a wonderful support system of friends, family, business contacts and kind-hearted aquaintances to whom I can turn for recommendations, job leads, emotional support and gentle hugs. I am rich in all the ways that count! Plus, I have a lovely home and a great organic garden (thanks to my husband) and all is well. So, if you have just joined the ranks of the unemployed, rather than letting your negative emotions overwhelm you and bring you into an even more stress filled place, try breathing deeply, getting quiet, and literally count your blessings. Write them down in a gratitude journal, and keep focused on them, adding to the list as new blessings come into your life. They are there if you can clear your vision long enough to see them. Coming from a place of gratitude and "enough-ness" will completely change your energy and your outlook and it will open doors and windows that you might never have imagined in a more negative, fearful state of mind. You don't have to be perfect. Just be yourself. Trust yourself. Find a path of service to others. Be grateful for all the gifts you have and apply your own unique creative mind and heart to create a satisfying, abundant future. After all, a crisis is just an opportunity standing on its head to get your attention :) The holiest of all holidays are those The new year starts with fireworks, parties, celebration of all kinds, but I think the real joy and beauty may belong to those who go "in silence apart" to search their hearts deeply for wisdom in two things: what they want to release of the "old" (habits, stuff, damaging emotions, ideas, limitations, excess weight or addiction) and what they truly wish to create "new" (peace, nurturing relationships, meaningful work, space for spiritual practice and contemplation, service to others, healing).
To me, the new year has always felt sort of sacred -- a little oasis of time in which to reflect on the year just ended and all it brought, for good or not. To find any lessons we can count as "learned", growth that happened, mistakes made, and also triumphs to celebrate. Often, a year will contain a theme that recurs, such as change, loss, joy, love, awakening...but, no matter what challenges the year brought, they can be set aside, somehow, at the ending. You get a fresh slate, a new shining chance to start again to identify and solidify thoughts, desires and actions. It really is a happy time if for no other reason than that! I have seen an idea to "capture" moments through the year, since they are often fleeting and can easily be lost in later experience. In order to properly recall and cherish the moments that bring joy, write down a short (or whatever length appeals) reminder in prose or poem, or even pictures if you are so inclined. Place them all in a glass jar or other decorative bowl or vessel and let them accumulate all year long. Then, on New Year's Eve, take them out and revisit each one, to reawaken the beauty therein. After all, it is quite easy to remember the traumas, the events that feel as if a cosmic 2x4 has walloped us! But, we surely also want to bring the joys alive and appreciate them fully, rather than let them be lost along the way. Another idea is to use a technique taught to children: write a letter to God. Children tend to be very direct in their observations and requests (and often quite funny, too!). Why not do your own adult version of a letter in which you put your fondest desires for the new year into words. I challenge you to take the time to do this exercise, and put the letter in a safe place to be opened next New Year's Day and see how life has changed. You may be quite pleasantly surprised that many of those things you deeply desired have come to pass. A treasure map also works to produce these results, if you find that more appealing. You use photos, magazine clippings/images, words, or whatever represents your desire and place them all upon a poster board or other surface, adding and changing as needed. This is used to then focus and concentrate your attention and intention. It has amazing power for many folks. I've done this and then forgotten it and rediscovered it later, to find so many of my desires did indeed manifest, even without my continued energy. Whatever method you choose, do at least find a creative, fun way to capture the moments of your own life and rejoice in those that have blessed you. You can think of it as collecting cherished ornaments for your heart and inner life. And may you find peace and prosperity in all your special moments in 2013! |
 AuthorI am a singer, a writer, a craftswoman, a student of life and of Spirit, a wife, a friend, an inquisitive adventurer on the learning path. Seeking, sensing, sifting and now connecting! Please join the fun by leaving a comment or passing on a favorite post via your social network. As you can tell from the category list, my interests are varied and somewhat eclectic. I am seeking all that brings joy & excitement to life, purpose & passion to our daily round. I am curious about pretty much everything. 
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