Inspiration Above Everything Else
by Harris Gates
articlesbase.com
Legend has it that Robert the Bruce of Scotland was losing the battle and he barely escaped with his life. His soldiers were hard pressed to keep up the fight as many were wounded and dying. The Bruce, tired, dismayed and broken-hearted found a hidden cave where he took refuge.
He threw down his sword and sat to rest a while. Gloomy thoughts filled his mind and he reflected on the insurmountability of the task he had tried to accomplish. Perhaps Scotland would never be free -- at least not in his lifetime. Perhaps he should abandon all efforts, give it up and lead an obscure life as a fugitive.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a tiny spider trying to climb a strand of web that extended from the top of the cave almost to the floor. Up went the spider and just a few feet from the top, it slipped and fell all the way down.
Over and over again the spider repeated the process as the exhausted Bruce watched, fascinated by the perseverance of the little life form. Once again the spider climbed, this time almost reaching the top. Again it slipped and fell to the floor of the cave. Now with rapt attention, Robert the Bruce watched to see its next move. A few more tries and finally, with one quick dash, the spider reached the ceiling. The Bruce slowly got up, picked up his sword, cleared the depressing thoughts from his mind and went back into the battle, inspired by the strength, will and perseverance of such a tiny creature as a spider. The rest is history. The battle was won and the Bruce was, once more, the triumphant, gallant leader of his people.
There are times when everything in life seems dark and dreary. There are those times when we feel we are totally unable to take the next step or to even move one inch. These are precisely the times when we most need inspiration.
Why inspiration? It helps recharge our energy when all seems hopeless. It gives us encouragement when our "spiritual well has gone dry".
The dictionary gives different meanings to the word, "inspiration". But I think "inspiration" actually means divine messages from the Universe. There are many sources of inspiration and I want to list a few of them below.
1) Nature
In the middle of the worst crisis, we could take a few minutes to clear our minds and look up to the sky or the stars. A little walk in the park or in the woods will do wonders for the body, mind and spirit. Breathe in the fresh air, watch the ripples on a pond or river, get inspired by the sheer magnificence of Nature.
2) Music
Listen to some music you really like. The sound will take your mind to another place and you'll find that miracles can occur.
3) Books and tapes
Spend a little time absorbed in a good book. And I don't mean just self-help or spiritual books. It could be any book that engages your mind and thoughts. For example, when things seem really gloomy to me, I'd read one of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan tales. For me, that works. For you, it might mean a totally different type of book.
And audio tapes, CD's, video tapes and DVD's have been a wonderful gift from technology. Just the other day I watched the movie, Richard Bach's "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" on my video player. Shortly thereafter, I watched the western movie, "They Call Me Trinity" on my DVD player. Talk about being recharged! I was able to face the seeming impossible and come out smiling.
4) Friends
We are fortunate if we have a few good friends. Somebody once asked me if I told my friends about something I was very involved with. I smiled and answered, "Yes, I told them all -- both of them." Real friends are few and far between, but they can be a tremendous help to you by just being there and listening.
There are other sources of inspiration and I am sure you can come up with your own list that works for you. For example, take a long drive, go fishing, bake some cookies, paint a picture or make some pottery. The point is simple. Use all the sources of inspiration available to get you through your tough times -- to help you, not only to overcome but to prosper. Remember, the Universe is on your side. Just give it a chance to show its magnificence in your life. Happiness should always be our most important goal. All else is secondary. Lift up your eyes and look beyond your troubles. Perhaps you'll see a whole new, beautiful day dawning for you. It's there. Go for it.
SaturnsLady
Intend And Act From A Place Of Love And Not Fear
by Enoch Tan
upublish.info
In everything we think and do, there are only two positions that we are intending and acting from. Fear or love. You can have the same intention or action but it can be either fear based or love based. The same intention or action will have two different affects on reality depending on the kind of energy that goes along with it. When you act and intend out of fear, you attract corresponding conditions created by fear. When you act and intend out of love, you attract corresponding conditions created by love.
Thoughts and actions of courage can be fear or love based. Although courage is supposed to be the opposite of fear, yet the perspective of courage can support or negate fear. When you think and act with the mindset of courage that is from a perspective of fear, you are trying to conquer your fears. The intention of becoming stronger than your fears acknowledges the existence of fear. But when you think and act with the mindset of courage that is from a perspective of love, you are transcending your fears. Courage becomes an unspoken concept. You have no fears to conquer; you are just there to act from your heart and to express what's inside freely.
All intentions and actions that are fear based serve to accumulate power over others. You gain power so that you can defend against what is trying to harm you or to attack and defeat whatever is stopping you from getting what you want. The more power you accumulate, the more you need to keep accumulating. Fear based intention and action creates opposition, competition and enemies. The stronger you become, the stronger the opposition and competition will manifest to test your power.
All intentions and actions that are love based serve to love with power. You already have everything you need from the infinite source and therefore you are here to be a channel of light and love to the world. The more you give, the more you want to keep giving. Love based intention and action creates more love, joy, happiness and abundance in your life. The more you are a blessing to others, the more opportunities will be manifested for you to give and receive blessings in the universe.
There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out all fear. When you act from a position of love, there is nothing to do. All your actions are expressions of your being. You are not doing something to get what you don't have. That is fear based action that comes from a position of lack. You are doing what you do because you have something to give. Love based actions come from a position of abundance and completeness. Gain power in order to become more powerful at loving. All power is meant to serve love.
We all want to come to a place of peace. We can arrive there through fear or love. When we seek peace from a position of fear, we will have to keep increasing our power until we are more powerful than anyone else around us, so that they will have to be in subjection to us due to their fear of our power. But when we seek peace from a position of love, we already have peace within because we know we are connected with everyone and everything is taken care of by the one in heaven who loves us.
Saving money is a good thing. But when your action of saving money is fear based, you are saving for a rainy day. You are accumulating resources for a time when you could be hospitalized because of illness or accident. When you action of saving money is love based, you are saving for opportunities to invest. You know that situations to do good will come along in the future and you want to be prepared with the necessary resources to undertake them.
When you are living in fear, you are living in the past or the future. You do things to make up for something that has already happened, or to prevent something that you expect to happen. But when you live in love, you are living in the present. You do things to enjoy what is happening now. You are not burdened by the past or worried of the future. You let go of what was before and you commit what is to come in God's hands. You are free to simply live the present moment and experience it fully.
The effect of fear and love applies to the area of perseverance as well. When you act from fear, you persevere in your actions in order to overcome something eventually. Success is like a goal with many barriers that you have to breakthrough until you finally get to it. But when you act from love, you are simply expressing the love that you are. You will not be denied expression of your love and you will keep doing what brings you joy. Loving action comes without the need to persevere. It just can't be stopped.
If you were truly fearless, would you still be doing what you are doing now? Would you be leaving something for the future or would you choose to act upon it in the present? People who are fearless do not wait for an imaginary future that never comes, but they choose to act on their desires in the now. They choose to express what's in their heart without holding back until a later time. They choose to give what they really want to give, to whoever they want to give now.
SaturnsLady
Looking for Love
It’s not where you look but who you are.
by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
DrWayneDyer.com
You must be that which you desire. There’s no point whatsoever in an unloving man or woman bemoaning their inability to find a partner. They’re doomed to endless frustration because they don’t recognize the perfect match when it appears. That loving person could be right there, right now, and their resistance doesn’t allow them to see it. The unloving person continues to blame bad luck or a series of external factors for their not having a loving relationship.
Love can only be attracted by and returned by love. The best advice I can give for attracting and maintaining spiritual partnerships, is to be what it is that you are seeking. Most relationships that fail to sustain themselves are based on one or both of the partners feeling as if their freedom has been compromised in some way. Spiritual partnerships, on the other hand, are never about making another person feel inferior or ignored in any way. The term spiritual partnership simply means that the energy holding the two of you together is in close harmony with the Source energy of intention.
This means that an allowing philosophy flows through the partnership, and you need never fear that your freedom to fulfill your own inner knowing about your purpose is questioned. It’s as if each person has whispered silently to the other, You are Source energy in a physical body, and the better you feel, the more of this loving, kind, beautiful, receptive, abundant, expanding, and creative energy is flowing through you. I respect this Source energy, and I share it with you as well. When either of us feels downhearted, there’s less of this energy of intention flowing. We must always remember that nothing is disallowed by the universal mind. Whatever is not allowing us to be happy is being disallowed by us. I’m committed to staying in this energy field of intention and watching myself whenever I slip. It’s that very Source that brought us together, and I’ll work to stay in harmony with it.
Mystically speaking, there’s no difference between you and another person. A weird concept, perhaps, but nevertheless valid. This explains why you can’t hurt another person without hurting yourself, nor can you help another person without helping yourself. You share the same Source energy with everyone, and consequently, you must begin to think and act in a way that reflects your awareness of this principle. When you feel the need to have the right person show up, begin to change your inner dialogue to reflect this awareness. Rather than saying, I wish this person would show up because I need to get out of this rut, activate a thought that reflects your connection, such as: I know the right person will be arriving in divine order at precisely the perfect time.
If a friendship or partnership requires the submission of your higher original nature and dignity, it’s simply wrong. When you truly know what it is to love, as you’re loved by your Source, you won’t experience the kind of pain you did in the past when your love was unnoticed or rejected. It will, instead, be similar to how a friend described her experience of choosing to leave a relationship: “My heart was broken, but it felt like it was stuck in the open position. I felt love flowing toward this person who couldn’t love me the way I wanted to be loved, even as I left that relationship to seek the love I felt inside of me. It was strange to feel the pain of my broken heart. And at the same time feel its openness. I kept thinking, My heart’s broken, but it’s broken open. I shifted to an entirely new level of loving and being loved. The relationship I’d dreamed of having manifested 18 months later!”
You are love. You emanated from pure love. You’re connected to this Source of love at all times. Think this way, feel this way, and you’ll soon act this way. And all that you think, feel, and do will be reciprocated in exactly the same fashion. Believe it or not, this principle of the right person showing up has been in place forever. It’s only your ego that’s kept you from seeing it clearly.
SaturnsLady
>Positive Healing Energy
by Gini Grey
helium.com
Energy within us and around us is very real. Have you ever walked into a room and felt the energy in it? Sensed and felt the silence and somberness of a library, the buzz and effervescence of a concert, or the love and joy at a wedding ceremony? In the 60's and 70's they called it the vibe' and now it's referred to as energy, but it's all the same thing; waves of energy particles that vibrate at certain frequencies. And it's not just in the locations we enter; it's within us as well. We are each filled with energy which is affected by the foods we eat, thoughts we think and emotions we feel. The higher our bodies vibrate, the healthier we are. Therefore having uplifting thoughts and emotions supports our overall mood and health.
Notice how you feel when you focus on problems in your life or judgments of other people or situations. Now reflect on all the things you are grateful for in your life. Think of as many things as you can and notice how you feel. Those thoughts have their own vibrations which affect your body's emotions which contribute to your overall flow of energy. When your energy is flowing with ease and lightness everything within you matches that. Imagine how healthy you would be living your life from this place. And because like attracts like, imagine how many wonderful things you would attract into your life from this energized state.
At our true essence as spiritual beings we are naturally in a state of ease, lightness and amusement. This gets clouded over by our analytical minds and emotional bodies. When we forget who we really are we let our analyzers run the show and allow our bodies to over react. This can lead to complicated thoughts, judgments, and heavy emotions. Yet when we reconnect to our true self and operate from this higher place of wisdom and neutrality, we can easily redirect our thoughts, clear our emotions and shift our energy. It's amazing how quickly and easily we can do this when we are centered in our spiritual selves.
Experience this now by playing with the following spiritual energy tools:
Centering:
Bring all of your awareness into the center of your head, back a couple of inches behind your forehead. Notice the still peaceful quality there. Now move all of your awareness into the front of your forehead. This is often where we are concentrated when thinking and planning. Losing ourselves in this space can feel busy and complicated. Move back to the center of your head and find yourself there. By being in the center of ourheads we are more aware of ourselves as spirit and can access our neutrality and truth. From this place we can choose to use our analyzers rather than letting them run us. We can also communicate with our bodies and be aware of our emotions rather than becoming them. Notice how you view yourself, others and life from this centered space.
Grounding:
Become aware of an energy connection between your body and the center of the planet. Feel this connection flow from the base of your spine all the way down to the center of planet and allow it to be as wide as your hips. Being grounded supports you in being more present in your body, having an appropriate level of energy, and allows you to release any problems or foreign energy down your grounding.
Aura:
Your energy space doesn't just end at your skin. Surrounding your body is an electromagnetic field of energy which is what you see through and are seen through. By owning this space and being aware of the edges of your aura you develop clearer boundaries. This supports you in having more of your energy in your space instead of spreading it out, depleting it. It also prevents others from moving their energy and emotions into your space. Play with expanding and contracting the size of your aura as a way to get a feel for it. Generally, having your aura about an arms length away from your body, in front, behind, beside, above and below will support you in owning this space for yourself.
Have Your Energy:
Your energy often gets left with the people, projects and situations you have been focusing on throughout the day. To bring it back into your space you can create an image of a gold sun five or six feet above your head and imagine it's like a magnet calling all of your energy into it. Then bring it down through the top of your aura and into your body releasing all of your energy back into your own space. You will feel more refreshed and replenished having your energy with you.
Shift Your Energy:
Become aware of yourself as a spirit in the center of your head and play with shifting your energy from this place. Tune into your state of ease and lightness as a spiritual being, then say hello to your body and notice how it feels. If your body is feeling heavier than this, set your intention to have your body match your lighter state. Here are a few exercises to support you in doing this. Imagine having an amusement dial which you can turn on and turn up the volume. Allow this vibration of amusement to fill all the cells in your body. Create a dot of clear gold in the center of your head and let it fill your whole head and then your whole body. Become aware of the vibration of pure love and let this energy flow throughout your whole body.
The more we operate through our spiritual awareness the more easily we can shift our energy and create a healthy life. As the saying goes, we are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience. It's up to us to decide who's in charge; our spiritual self or our analyzers and bodies. From there we create our own reality day by day, moment to moment.
SaturnsLady
How to Deal with Jealousy
3 ways to kill this evil
by Gyan Rajhans
hinduism.about.com
What is good and what is bad?
Fools cannot see at all
With a garment tied to its tail
Can the rat enter its hole?
~ Sant Kabir (1398-1448)
Sant Kabir says that foolish people cannot discriminate between good and evil. Such men cannot be happy because the load of evil gets too heavy for them. Jealousy is one of those unnecessary evils we burden ourselves with. None of us could honestly say that we have not ever been jealous of more fortunate ones.
Ironically, however, jealousy is generally found among equals or near equals like friends of equal social status, colleagues in the office and relatives. We are not jealous of someone who is either too highly placed or too distantly connected with us. How many of us care who becomes the president of USA or prime minister of India?
Jealousy keeps us under a sense of discouraging frustration and disappointment. It makes us gloomy. It is such a depressing feeling that we cannot tell about it to even our best friends nor can we contain it within ourselves. Consequently, it leaves us with an inconvenience of a peculiar misery and if allowed to grow unchecked beyond a limit, it works like a slow poison to our healthy nature.
The question is how to annihilate this undesirable evil? The following three suggestions may help:
1. Stop comparing yourself with others. Comparisons are always harmful. If they are in your favor, they bring false pride in you; if against you, they depress you. Pride can make you overconfident and eventually can be the cause of your downfall. Conversely, with jealousy you lose self-reliance, seek unjust methods of putting down your friend, colleague or relative, and ultimately end up in frustration. So to bring jealousy under your control, avoid comparing yourself with others as much as possible. Think that you are unique because that is how God wanted you to be. Pursue in all seriousness your own ideal, whatever it is. Do not waste your precious time in idle and miserable envy.
2. Have patience and wait. No one is lucky or unlucky every time in life. Work hard and wait for your lucky days when fortune will take you up and others will look up to you in envy. This may sound like a defensive strategy, and a doubtful method. But use this waiting period in driving jealousy out of your mind. Thus, you can turn a mere defensive strategy of biding your time into a positive blessing. And…
3. Believe in, “May all people be happy”. You have said it numerous times in temples and other places of prayers. It is about time you practiced it. It is a golden principle that you must adopt if you wish to rise above petty jealousy. Think that you and others, being fragments of the Universal Soul, are the fingers of the same palm. Among whom no jealousy can exist in spite of differences in their lengths. If one of your children is more intelligent than you, you are not jealous of him or her. Are you? Why? Think, can’t you love others the same way. If your friend or your colleague or your relative is enjoying some advantages over you now, be happy for him or her. Surely your turn will also come. Full justice is meted out to all individual souls in the long run. This is the divine law. Have faith and adopt this spirit in action.
Etat Sarvam Ganesharpanamastu
SaturnsLady
How an Outer-Body Experience can Change the Way One Lives
by Lynette Bell
helium.com
One day, I decided to die. Pain from years of Rheumatoid and Psoriatic Arthritis, before miracle drugs, had brought me to the lowest I had ever been. A few months before this, I had watched a documentary on how Tibetan monks, that were ready to die, left their body by meditation. Death was the result.
Meditation was something I knew nothing about. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and I had become desperate. Living in pain, frozen in time, unable to move even an inch without extreme pain, was just no way to live. I had lived that way for over 5 years and felt I had hit the limit of what I could bear.
Being a Christian, I was taught, God never puts on you more than you could bear, and I believed that with everything in me. Until that day. That day, I felt I had all I could bear. Even though God might have wanted me to believe I could bear more, I could not.
Knowing nothing of mediation, I began by closing my eyes and making peace with my world, my family and my God. This was to be my intro to leaving this world. After making my peace, I began looking around in my mind's darkness for something to stare at. I eventually found a tiny white light and so began to stare at it, quieting my mind. After a bit, the tiny white light began to grow larger, and my mind began to drift. As I drifted, I came to a serene, beautiful flowing river with rocks and many trees bordering it.
I saw people gathering at a bridge over the river; it was my family. They gathered there to throw my ashes into the river, as I requested. In my realization, I found myself identifying with and becoming the ashes that were falling silently into the flowing river. For a bit, I flowed along the top of the river water, and then, in glee, I began washing over and around the rocks. I became one with the bubbling and gurgling, and felt the joy of being free. I was being carried away and away, flowing on and on, for miles and endless miles. Eventually, I came to where the river met the sea. I heard the roaring ocean waves rushing towards me as I flowed haphazardly onward. My soul felt total elation as the salt water wooed me like a lover towards the ever widening inlet. Nothing could have made me happier than the thought of living forever, flowing and churning with sea life, a witness to and being a part of the power of the all mightyocean. But this was not to be.
As the the salty water carried me toward the ocean, the waves began to push me back toward the shore. It was as if the waves, hearing my heart's desire, determined it was not be. Aggressively and without mercy, the waves herded me quickly onto shore. There I lay. Forever, the sands to be my crypt. Watching my true heart's desire flow before me.
As I lay there, disheartened, my ashes slowly began to come together, recreating my form within the warm golden sands. Then, becoming fully formed, my golden being glistening, wrought from the sands of time, I felt the sun, beam it's warmth into my soul, giving me life. I was renewed. Born again.
Suddenly, I came to myself. My eyes flew open! Lying there, back in my bed, I could feel the warmth of the sun beam still tingling within me. The memory of the joy and elation of my trip down the river, reverberated within my body. What struck me immediately, I felt no pain. Gently, not knowing what to expect, I moved to get up and walk. It was affirmed. No pain. And for weeks, I felt no pain. And although some pain did slowly creep back in, it never returned to what it was before that day.
I did not die that day, but I did find the power of my mind and of meditation. My life has not been the same since.
SaturnsLady
Reduce Stress by Surrounding Yourself with Positive Energy
Positive Energy Can Be Yours!
by Elizabeth Scott, M.S.
About.com
Negative self talk and negative energy can affect you in many ways and cause you additional stress. Because of this, developing more positive self talk is an important way to reduce stress in your life. You can help yourself maintain a positive frame of mind—which will help with positive self-talk—by surrounding yourself with positive energy in your life. You can get that by adding the following elements to your life:
* Uplifting Music: Listening to music that not only has a soothing melody, but an uplifting message, can be great for developing positive self-talk. Have you ever had a song ‘stuck in your head’ for a few hours or days, the lyrics repeating themselves in your mind? If those lyrics were positive and inspirational, that would be a good thing. It’s a much better mental soundtrack to have than a running stream of complaints, criticisms or self-limiting thoughts, or even songs that had more depressing or sad lyrics. (When times get tough, I often think of Wilson Phillips’ classic, “Hold On”, but there are dozens of good ones out there.)
* Inspirational Books: Books on strength, personal power, enlightenment, or self help can be good resources to help you change your outlook and the things you say to yourself. Rather than triggering habitual self-defeating thoughts, you can find yourself thinking of new can-do concepts when times get tough. (For shifting your paradigm, I love Gary Zukav’s “The Heart of the Soul”, or Sarah Ban Breathnach’s classic “Simple Abundance”.)
* Positive People: One of the most important ways you can get (and keep) positive energy in your life is with the company you keep. Do your friends uplift you, or bring you down? Are they critical, or complementary? Ideal friendships provide support when you’re down, fun when you’re up, wisdom when you’re lost, and positive regard. Good friends can inspire you to reach greater heights, and see your strengths even when you don’t always. Pay attention to how your friends make you feel, and if they’re less than supportive, start putting your energy and time toward people who are better suited to be your friend.
* Practice Affirmations: Positive affirmations can subtly but pervasively change your self talk from negative to positive. See this article for some creative ways to begin working positive affirmations into your life.
SaturnsLady
Forgiveness
Moving from Dense Energy to High Energy
by Carolyn Gwiazdzinski
helium.com
Forgiveness: Moving from dense energy to high energy ~ I have had to learn a lot about forgiveness in the years that I have been on this fair planet, actually more than one person should experience in their life. As an empath, sensitive and intuitive, I have been aware of human behavior and attitudes since I was a kid. There were many times I found myself witnessing some very challenging behaviors from the adults in my life; adults that should have understood the rules for being a responsible adult.
As a child, I found myself in protective mode for my brothers and sister; I couldn't have been more than ten years old and that is not counting my younger years. As a kid, I always felt that I understood how to get through the emotional difficulties, that society, in general has difficulty in feeling and understanding.
In my 20s and through 25 more years of a direct experience to the discoveries of my life path, I would finally have the appropriately healthy information, on many levels, that would assist me from going from being in stages of anger, which creates and generates a very dense energy; to forgiveness ~ a higher and lighter energy.
For the longest time, being aware of human behavior and being sensitive to trying to act from a better place, was difficult for me. My question for me was why was I always taking the high road, while the important people in my life just stopped traveling the road of awareness and common sense altogether. Finally, with much digging, healing and teaching, I came to the understanding that we all come into this life with the lessons, experiences and path that we are meant to live and to walk. Some of us may know this logically and some of us are just moving through life.
I had to finally understand that if I stayed in the denseness of no information or insight, my feelings and emotions became stuck in this energetic field and in essence, I would be jamming up my own energy by not moving forward with this newfound understanding. I would also come to understand that although for me, moving through emotions and feelings is a given, and I am pretty good at staying clear and in alignment, to remain in the higher energies, that society is not comfortable in feeling emotions and feelings.
The reality is; feeling emotions and feelings is not always easy and it takes time, focus, discipline and commitment to want to consistently apply insight and information to life changes, challenges and obstacles. It would be with what I have learned and taught in my life experiences that I would accept that we each move through our life lessons in our own way and that if we are not able to vibrate in similar understanding and learn about emotional balance and compromise, that our roads to travel become a different road for moving forward in our lives.
Forgiveness: moving from dense energy to high energy is a much better way to live life. It keeps us updated in our own personal energy field and it assists us in remaining in alignment with our soul knowing; a much lighter and higher energy.
So, for any of you sensitives out there, who are finding your relationships changing and you are not having the chance to be on the same page with each other, when forgiveness transforms the denseness of lower vibrating energy to an energy of insight and understanding; our energy level becomes lighter and clarity becomes the light that shines us on our path forward.
SaturnsLady
Using Animal Energies to Enhance Your Life
by Linda Terhune
helium.com
Have you ever wished you had the joy of a dolphin, the wisdom of an owl or the feeling of freedom that an eagle has? Have you ever dreamed of an animal "out of the blue" and wonder why? Well, with the wisdom of the ancient Native Americans, you can obtain the unique qualities of chosen animals and also have an understanding of what your animal dream is telling you and what action you need to take.
Ancient Native Americans believed that all animals had special gifts and lessons unique to them. They believed that the animals could teach us their lessons, enlighten us and even heal us. They also believed that when an animal came to them, it was to make them aware of qualities in life that they needed.
Today, many people still use the beliefs of the ancient Native Americans to enhance their lives and obtain the gifts from animals in much the same way as was done so long ago. By paying close attention to animals coming to us in our lives, we can become aware of qualities in us that we do not have but need. Animals can come to us at a time or in a place that is not normal for that animal to appear; appear to us years after the last time we saw the animal or even come to us in a dream featuring. For instance, if an animal comes to you in a dream, a Coyote for example, he may be telling you that you need to be more "light-hearted" and perhaps see more humor in life as he does.
For those qualities that we want or need in our life, we simply seek the animal that has those qualities and request them. For example, if you are facing a tough situation in the near future and need more wisdom, vision and insight to handle it, you would seek the teachings of the owl. Each day you would take time to meditate with your owl token in hand, ask the owl for help in learning his lessons and then carry the token with you throughout the day.
All you really need to use the animal's energy and gifts is some sort of token or charm with the picture of your chosen animal on it. You can make your own by painting or drawing with a permanent marker the animal of your choice on a smooth stone. You can cut out a picture of the animal or print one from your computer and glue it on a smooth stone or small piece of wood, (Hint: To seal the picture well, let the glued down picture dry and then put another coat of white glue over the picture and let it dry). Purchase a necklace with the animal on a charm and wear it around your neck, or, just purchase the charm to carry with you. You can print a picture of the animal on iron-on paper and iron it on a small piece of cloth or use one of your own creative ideas!
The following is a list of animals and their gifts. If doesn't matter if you have an animal coming to you or you are seeking an animal's qualities, the list is the same for both:
Bear Strength, Contemplative, Self-knowledge
Beaver Building, Shaping
Bird - Unity, Freedom, Kinship
Buffalo Abundance, Healing, Good Fortune
Cougar Balance, Leadership
Coyote- Humor, Trickiness, Reversal of Fortune
Deer Gentleness, Sensitivity, Peace
Dolphin - Joy, Harmony, Connection with Self
Eagle Strength, Healing, Power, Illumination
Frog Cleansing, Emotional Healing
Hawk Awareness, Truth
Hummingbird Beauty, Wonder, Quickness
Lizard Letting Go, Illusiveness
Mouse Illusion, Charm
Otter Joy, Laughter, Lightness
Owl Wisdom, Vision, Insight
Rabbit - Conquering Fear, Safety
Seagull - Carefree Attitude, Versatility, Freedom
Snail - Perseverance, Determination
Snake - Power, Life Force, Sexual Potency
Squirrel - Trust, Thrift
Turtle Love and Protection, Healing, Knowledge
Whale - Creativity, Intuition
Wolf Teaching Skill, Loyalty, Interdependence
SaturnsLady
Gratitude When Life’s a Train Wreck? by S. James Webb, D.D.handlinganxiety.com “You’ve got to be kidding. My life is falling apart, and I’m supposed to be grateful?” Well, yes. I know that sounds just insane when everything has turned to disaster. If you or your loved one is battling a serious, even terminal disease, if you’ve lost your job or even your home, if your marriage or long-term relationship is in serious trouble or over…Sometimes life can be just plain hell, and I’m not going to sugar-coat it. But you still have a choice. You always have a choice. You may not have a choice about what’s happening, but you always have a choice about how you react to it. “Doc, this sounds like a bunch of irrelevant pie-in-the-sky happy-talk. Give me something real to help me.” Well, here’s the deal: the reality is, here you are standing in the middle of the bleeping train wreck. That’s the reality, so let’s acknowledge it for what it is, and not try to pretend that it’s a wonderful thing. Maybe later you can see a blessing in it, or maybe not, but right now the situation frankly sucks. So first, ask yourself: “Do I really help myself or anyone else by sinking into depression, rage, self-pity, or mental paralysis?” I guess the answer’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s not really easy to get into a resourceful state of mind when you’re deep in a crisis. But being in a resourceful state is the absolute best way to get through it. One of the best ways ever to get into a resourceful state is to practice gratitude. That’s right, I said practice gratitude. That means you’re going to have to work at it, because if it came easy you wouldn’t need this article. Now, this is basically simple, but don’t confuse simple with easy. So here’s your homework. Get something to write with, and something to write on. Start numbering. List just one thing you can be grateful for. Anything, I don’t care how small. If you can’t think of anything to be personally grateful for, think of something out there in the world to be thankful for. Be thankful that not everyone is going through the same thing you are. That there are beautiful wonderful things happening out there, somewhere, to somebody. Now do it again. And when you run out of things, stop. Then tomorrow pick up your list again, write down the next number, and re-read your list from the day before. Then add at least one more thing. Repeat every day. Pretty soon you’ll find yourself seeing good things. You’ll find that the depression, the rage, the hopelessness begins to lift a little, a moment here, another moment there, before long maybe even two or three moments at a time. “Yeah, but…”No, this may not magically turn the situation around. But it will start to put you in a more resourceful state of mind, and you’ll find yourself choosing more positive thoughts, and even finding some solutions that you never would have seen had you stayed in the negative state of mind. The situation might not change, but you can find peace, empowerment, and unbelievably, even joy within tragedy if you’re faithful to this simple but profound process. At first, every time you think of something good, you might find your mind automatically presents you with a “yeah but.” Example: “I’m grateful that I still have eyes to see.” “Yeah but – all I see is sadness.” Okay, That’s normal. Expect those things, and when they come along just say to yourself “oh, that’s one of those yeah-buts.” Go ahead and notice it, just don’t give it a lot of thought. Then turn your mind back to your gratitude list. You’ll probably have to do this over and over again. It’s kind of a discipline, really. It’s your homework. Do this. Seriously. Get started now. Can’t think of anything to be grateful for? Here’s one: Be grateful this article is over ;-).SaturnsLady
Life Loves You!
Be courageous and live the adventure.
By Louise L. Hay
LouiseHay.com
Life can’t give to you if your hands are closed.
Life on this planet is an adventure—
from the moment we’re born until the time
we take our last breath.
Life is a madcap caper—scary, exhilarating,
boring, peaceful, loving—it’s an escapade.
Life is a quest. Life is a thrill.
Life is romance. Life is a lark. Life is!
We all experience every emotion possible,
and oftentimes, we don’t like being in
the game of Life.
We can be afraid and try to protect ourselves
from criticism.
We can hide, but then we may miss the wonderful
adventure that’s available to us.
Everyone is afraid of something,
but we can do it anyway.
Part of the adventure of Life is going through
our fears and coming out on the other side—
stronger and even more triumphant.
No one is more courageous and adventurous
than a baby fighting its way down the birth canal—
struggling for its first breath,
or a child taking its first steps.
You can’t hide from Life.
Life is here for you to live to the fullest.
Take your courage in your hands
and move out into Life.
Ask for what you want.
Believe that you deserve it,
and then allow Life to give it to you.
Be sure that you’re willing to receive.
Life can’t give to you if your
hands are closed.
Open your mind, open your heart,
and open your arms.
Life loves you and only wants
to give you the best.
SaturnsLady
Can You Hear Your Angels?
by Doreen Virtue
AngelTherapy.com
A LITTLE GIRL STARES at the space near her left shoulder, having a seemingly one-sided conversation. “Who are you talking to, sweetheart?” her mother asks.
“My angel,” the girl replies matter-of-factly.
The girl’s mother recounted to me later, “The funny thing is, we aren’t a religious family, and we’ve never discussed angels in front of her. As far as I know, she hasn’t had any exposure to the idea.”
I’ve heard similar stories from parents around the world. Children are definitely more receptive to seeing and hearing their angels than the average adult. And why is that? In my research, I’ve found that the primary reason is that children don’t care whether the angel and its message constitute reality or fantasy. They simply enjoy the experience without questioning its validity. Perhaps that’s why a study by Dr. William MacDonald of The Ohio State University found that children had more verifiable psychic experiences that any other age-group.
We adults get so uptight about whether we’re imagining an angel’s presence that we often dismiss legitimate Divine guidance! If we could be a child and suspend disbelief for a while, we could enjoy deeper and richer experiences of God and the angelic kingdom. However, our grown-up left brain often rules the roost and demands proof and evidence. And perhaps painful experiences have made us guarded in this respect. We want guarantees that our lives really will improve before we’re willing to quit our jobs and become self-employed, or leave the town where we grew up.
Fortunately, some distinguishing characteristics help us to tell true angelic experiences from wishful thinking (or fear-based energy). They occur to us through our four Divine senses: vision, hearing, thoughts, and feelings. We all receive angelic messages through these senses. However, we have one primary sense that we’re particularly attuned to. For instance, I’m a highly visual person, so most of my angelic experiences come as visions. Others might be more attuned to their gut feelings, thoughts, or inner ears.
FEELING HEAVEN’S MESSAGES
An emotional or physical “feeling” is the way in which most people experience their angels. When you’re unsure whether you’re really experiencing an angelic visit or message, here are 11 signs you can check for after your encounter:
1. You feel warm and cuddly, like a loving hug.
2. It makes you feel safe, even if it’s warning you of danger.
3. It is accompanied by disembodied fragrances of flowers or your deceased loved one’s distinct scent.
4. It leaves an indent in the couch or bed, as if someone has just sat next to you.
5. It causes air-pressure or temperature changes.
6. You feel like someone is touching your head, hair, or shoulder.
7. It causes you to be sleepy or hyper afterward.
8. It gives you a deep belief that “this is real.”
9. It creates repetitious and consistent gut feelings to make a certain life change, or to take a certain step.
10. It seems as though a familiar person is next to you, such as sensing a particular deceased loved one.
11. It feels natural as if the experience is coming to you freely.
Instead of doubting your ability to connect with your angels, look at how you already receive messages from Heaven and how you can enhance that connection even more.
SaturnsLady
Is it as simple as Friendship?
by Neale Donald Walsch
spiritlibrary.com
My dear friends...
I hope and trust that your life has been wonderful this week. Let me say that the important thing is to be friends.
Be friends with everybody.
Be friends with your spouse. Be friends with your children. Be friends with your relatives. Be friends with your neighbors and your fellow workers and your acquaintances. And yes, even be friends with your enemies.
Just...be friends.
One of the most stinging criticisms I ever received was when someone to whom I was once married, and who I truly and dearly loved, once said to me: "You treat your friends better than you treat me."
I never, ever forgot that. Because I knew it was true. It is absolutely, stunningly true that I had more tolerance for, more patience with, more leniency regarding my friends' behaviors than I did with the person with whom I was sharing my life.
I said things to my life partner that I would never say to a friend. I criticized my life partner for things that I would simply "let go" with a friend. I noticed things with my life partner that I would overlook with a friend. And I let things bother me---annoy me, actually---that my life partner did that wouldn't even phase me if a friend did the exact same thing.
What is this about? I began to wonder. Why do we so often treat those closest to us as if they were not "close" to us at all? Is it because we know them better than we know our friends, spending more time with them day in and day out as we do? Could it really be true that "familiarity breeds contempt"?
No, no...say it isn't so! Shouldn't familiarity breed compassion, understanding, patience, tolerance, acceptance, and deeper and deeper love? Shouldn't intimate relationship be the place of greatest safety, not of the least?
When I was a small child (which was very, very long ago) there was a song that was popular. Even then it was an Oldie But Goodie, and we had an old phonograph record of it sung by the Mills Brothers that I used to play on the family Victrola (Ha! Does anyone even know who or what I am talking about here---???)
The song was called, You Always Hurt the One You Love. And the lyrics went something like this...if I can remember them now...
You always hurt the one you love
The one you shouldn't hurt at all
You always take the sweetest rose
And crush it 'til the petals fall
You always break the kindest heart
With a hasty word you can't recall
So if I broke your heart last night
It's because I love you most of all.
The irony of that song sticks with me to this very day. I have come to deeply regret (and to beg them and the heavens forgiveness for) the many ways that I have treated beloved others who have been close to me, and to realize that one of the greatest gifts we can give to a loved one is friendship. Pure and simple friendship. Just treat them like a Friend. Like we would treat someone we are afraid of losing.
So yes, be friends with your spouse. Be friends with your children. Be friends with your relatives. Be friends with your neighbors and your fellow workers and your acquaintances. And yes, even be friends with your enemies. And most of all...be friends with yourself!
That may be the hardest thing to do of all. And so we'll take a close look at that next week.
Love and Hugs,
Neale.
SaturnsLady
Great Shift of Consciousness - The Passion
by Gerald O'Donnell
probablefuture.com
A great shift is in the making: A time for very deep purification and cleansing from the inner core within ourselves and within the Earth up to the outer manifest reality. How this will all play out is our choice.
Many will understand the need for inner and outer focus on unity and love. However, many others will remain under the grip of their programmed old ways and thus experience this world with much fear while focusing on dis-unity.
This is a time where our greatest force shall emerge from its hidden inner recesses as we face our greatest challenge: a transformation and trans-evolution of mankind when our thought processes transmute from a harsh concentration on lack toward a gentler constant awareness of the beauty and unity of all within the ONE that we all are here to manifest.
This is a time prophesied for eons where, in this world created around the notion of polarity, the "real" caring and nurturing Female energy is ready to interpenetrate each of our hearts and balance out the Masculine expansive powerful energy that has overtaken alone much of Creation and destabilized it. It is in the balancing and the unity of the two that our inner smiling probable future lays. Please allow this great and sacred energy in, and wish deeply for unity, for in that act lies the path to our happiness and salvation.
All great changes bring about in many much initial resistances, the degree of which will define the course of this Creation for a long time to come.
As many impacting events are about to happen, and even more unfold in the next months and years, often in an accelerated manner, one core issue will emerge as paramount in being the only real question to be asked and the only solution to be had.
"Where does your passion lay?"
Does it lay upon a world where all thoughts and common efforts are on com-passion, forgiveness, unity, happiness, and the notion that we are all - without any exception -connected within the notion of ONE?
Is it your truest desire to unite the parts within yourself, the family without, and our greatest and most beautiful family: mankind?
Or does your passion lay upon events, stories, legends, and philosophies which evoke and trigger separation, elitism, fear, violence, control, gore, and the anti-force to the sacred notion of Unity of all and everything within the One and Only?
Do you want to unify all polarities to usher the proclaimed glorious era, or polarize even more? For this is the only question to be asked.
Please, I beg of you, watch carefully what you invite in your heart.
If you invite within and resonate only with what unites us as one family and therefore exalts life, then the peace of the ONE, wondrous Creation, and life, longer that you can ever imagine, will be yours.
However, if you invite and resonate within upon visions of death, fear, and all that differentiates, divides, and separates us, then war, suffering, insecurity, and death will be yours.
All great spiritual masters came to tell us of this choice and the two ways of seeing the same reality, and some even expressed it in their lives and experiences on purpose, in order for us to understand the consequences.
A glass is either half full or half empty depending on your focus of attention. Both are true at the same time. It is your focus which will determine which path you will experience. You can either focus on what is lacking, or what is wondrous. You can focus on the unity and common thread of all existence, see the spectacular awe-some reality of creation, and experience the miraculous, or focus on what is lacking and then experience nothingness.
Please do not fall into the trap of "passion" for death again.
Please fall in love with yourself again, and with all your human brothers and sisters. For all are precious, magnificent, and sacred expressions of the ONE life force flowing through all living things.
Happy thoughts and Creation
SaturnsLady
