Tag: ACIM

What Is It You Desire?

So often we focus on what is going wrong in our lives or our day… but how often do we spend time thinking of what we already have or would rather have?

I see way too many people focus on what is lacking, versus the abundance that already is, or the possibility of what is to come!

Take a moment to answer this question and don’t skip ahead 😉

  • What are the 3 words that pop into your mind with this word: Job

Pause a moment

Pause a moment

Pause a moment

Pause a moment

Pause a moment

Pause a moment

Pause….

Ok, do you have your 3 words? How easy was it to come up with the words? What were the FIRST words that popped into your head before you started analyzing for the perfect 3 words?

You see, there are categories of words that reflect your own resonance with the word “Job”. For example:

  • Words that are similar to: Sucks, 9-5, Ok, Annoying, Not Fulfilling, etc. tend to reflect all the things that are going wrong.
  • Words that are similar to: Love, Thankful, Creative, Friends, Mentors, etc. reflect all the things that are enabling you to feel gratitude and the things that are going well.

This exercise is a great way to see in which areas of your life you focus on the lack rather than the abundance/desire.

You can apply this exercise to any word and you might be surprised to see what words pop into your head. And of course, try not to analyze or change the words right away. The point here is to allow yourself to be honest with what comes up so you can pinpoint what’s truly going on.

Do you see how changing your focus can make you see and feel things differently? How one word can change your enter feeling state toward something much more positive and healthy?

Give it a shot today, focus on what’s working or what you’re sure is coming into your life and see just how different the world looks.

In Abundance,

Susan

Photo by Jazmin Quaynor on Unsplash

May We Love More

May we trust our heart more than our head.

May we smile more than we frown.

May we see the good more than the bad.

May we detach from outcomes and trust in the unfolding.

May we lean in to discomfort, only to find our own true capacity to love.

May we love…more.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash

There Is Only Love

Love. 

I was having a heartfelt conversation yesterday and we were saying how the pain and joy in life all stems from one thing – people and our capacity to love.

Some of the hardest parts of our lives stems from our interactions with one another, strangers even! And yet, some of the greatest joys in our lives come from the very same source. Ironic isn’t it?

When we feel pain, oftentimes at the root of our suffering is the perception of non-acceptance, feeling unloved or even judged.

I say perception because the deep truth of it is that we all stem from the same Source, the Universe, whatever you like to call it. We are ONE,  and yet we see each other as separate.

You see, all we want is to be loved at our core.

And here’s the bottom line – no matter what seems to be happening on the outside, recognize you are already love. Instead of looking out and the effects, look inside and recognize the truth of who you already are.

No one can take that away from you.

No one can say or do anything to make you less than what you already are.

All that needs to happen is to lift the veil so that you may recognize your own truth. Your own self.

When things do get tough I like to share a thought process Matt Khan speaks of called, “Thank you for teaching me”. 

You see, when we turn the focus around from analyzing a false thought pattern of “what’s wrong with me” to “thank you for teaching me”, it allows us to realize there is nothing wrong with you, but it is an error in our way of perception of the person or situation. Thus, “thank you for teaching me” allows us to truly give gratitude to the person or situation and allow us to learn and build our very own capacity to give love.

Beautiful isn’t it?

So here’s to truly understanding our very own essence and capacity to love.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Friday Focus – 1/26/18 {The I Should Have Syndrome}

It’s easy to look back with 20/20 vision and see what could have transpired; what you think would have been a better outcome.

But one thing is for certain – we can only look back as a function of learning and trust we are now using this knowledge and experience to make the best decisions in the present to build a brighter future.

Unfortunately, what happens more often than not, is people find ways to look back guilting, blaming, or shaming themselves for what they couldn’t have possibly knew.

Just remember this – you did the best you could in that moment.

The key here is to learn from yourself and the results as the necessary and appropriate steps to move forward and take action for a future you look forward to building; because when you get stuck in the past guilting, blaming or shaming you are only putting yourself in a painful memory lock. It’s function of learning no longer exists.

So remember, trust you did what you could and trust yourself to have learned the lesson.

Most importantly, love the part of you that feels the need to hurt. Love is the answer.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Corinne Kutz on Unsplash

What Can Put A Smile On Your Face Today?

Today’s post is short and sweet, and the message is simple:

Do one thing today that makes you happy!

For me lately, it’s taking advantage of this brewy Seattle weather, creating space and personal time to read books on vibrational frequency and quantum physics. It’s quite fascinating and with a side of hot coffee, you just can’t beat it.

So, I’m curious… what’s one thing you can do today that makes you smile?

Maybe it’s helping someone smile themselves, or paying for someone’s parking meter when it’s about to expire, maybe it’s a hot bath, lighting a candle for some much needed quiet time, or writing a love letter to yourself.

Whatever it may be I invite you to reflect and see what comes up for you today. Ask yourself, what would put a smile on my face? What small thing can I do for me today?

And even better… when we can uplift ourselves, we naturally uplift others.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

 

Your True Light

“Only the light within us is real. We are not afraid of the dark without ourselves, so much as we are afraid of the light. The dark is familiar. It’s what we know. The light, the thought that we might indeed be good enough, is such a thread to the ego that it takes out its very big guns to defend against it. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…”

~Marianne Williamson

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Rhett Wesley on Unsplash

Friday Focus – 12/29/18 {YOU Are Your Own Best Guide}

I had an idea of what I wanted to share today; it was going to be about the New Year, and I decided to scrap it at the last minute because something else was calling me to write about a very powerful message.

You see, sometimes we need to seek answers and that is completely OK. We need to go through different teachers whether it be yoga teachers, therapists, astrologers, psychics, chiropractors, life coaches, massage therapists, etc. to obtain the information we need at that time in order to grow and move on.

The beautiful thing is we begin to learn what works for us. Does touch work as a healing modality? Perhaps talking things out without the other person’s judgement is a form of release. Or maybe specific movement patterns such as Tai Chi, Qi Gong, or Yoga seems to alleviate emotional and physical pain vs. the typical bootcamp or hard core spin class. Maybe typical meditation doesn’t work for you right now. Or you discover that talking to your best friend is the best therapy, and it’s free!

As we learn to intuitively feel into what we need, we begin to learn what works for us (and mind you that always changes as well!).

However, almost always there comes a time when we reach a point of the constant search. Soon, we forget what we truly needed in the first place. Perhaps we got what we needed and quickly developed a new need. Or maybe you are searching for a specific answer but you haven’t received it just yet.

Regardless of the root cause, if you find yourself ridden with anxiety in a constant search for X, I’m here to tell you to take a deep breath and pause.

No matter what you hear out there or what you learn from your guru, we are all human at the end of the day. I mean, can we really know all the answers? Is there only one answer? Aren’t we changing all the time, in every moment as well? Plus, there are new discoveries made in the spiritual and scientific realms every. single. day! There’s no way anyone can come to learn everything in this moment – possibly ever!

So what can we do?

Listen to the small, still voice inside of YOU.

Remember, no one has every answer, and no one is YOU. Only you know for yourself what truly clicks and what doesn’t. You are designed as uniquely as a snowflake and so is everyone else. If discoveries are being made daily, who is to say this one way is the way? Or that it even exists?

Take a deep breath and pause. Listen to your heart. Place one hand on your heart, and the other on the ground in front of you and listen for as long as you need to until you feel the strength and all knowing truth that is already within.

It’s ok to search. It’s ok to seek. We’re meant to grow, learn, and evolve. But if you’re beginning to feel anxious in hoping to discover THE answer, always remember this – the TRUTH is within.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Jimmy Chang on Unsplash

How To Love Every Situation (Even The Bad Ones)

There’s irony in tough situations. Why?

Well for one, when we are in some of the hardest times of our lives the easiest thing we most often choose to do is ignore, delay, bury, or distract ourselves from the very thing that causes us pain and suffering!

You’re probably wondering, “You’re mistaken because none of this feels easy!”, and you’re right. From the outside it’s tough. We muster up every ounce of our energy to get through the day and push through until one day we feel a bit better and can move onto something else… until it comes up again.

But what if I told you that the harder thing to do would be the fastest way to feeling better?

Not that feeling better should be the goal, nor should getting anywhere faster be the right way, but these are some of the benefits of going harder and faster. Let me tell you why…

When we ignore the situation we’re in, we are burying a part of ourselves that doesn’t want to face the music so to speak. There’s fear of the unknown, fear of more hurt, and our minds are so powerful it convinces us there’s no need to go there.

That’s where TRANSFORMATION comes into play.

When we learn to go in and face the demons we are telling a deeper part of ourselves that we are ready. We are ready to learn, dig deep, love every part of ourselves, and transform the situation and ultimately, ourselves.

We are pushed to our transformative edge so that we can actually get to where we want to be. The old adage is true, no pain, no gain. Sometimes we need to step through and into the unknown (perceived pain and fear) in order to come out the other end. Otherwise, we are metaphorically always on the other side of where we ultimately want to be!

Can you remember a time in your life where you faced the situation and/or your demons and came out completely different? Revived even?

Every time I do the work to face inward I come back again and again to a wider more expansive heart. The true self, and therefore realize the truth in each situation.

Every situation only brings you closer to YOUR TRUTH, and that’s how we come to love every situation – yes, even the “bad” ones. When we meet our transformative edge we are always growing to become the person we always wanted to be.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Alphacolor 13 on Unsplash

Loving The Contrast

When we’re in the muck… you know, the parts of our lives where we want to ignore, numb, or just wish time would speed up so we can get to the happy bits, is a place I’ve learned to honor and cherish (cherish seems to be a theme this week!).

You see, I call this part of our lives Contrast.

Why have I come to love Contrast so much? Oh, let me explain the ways… 🙂

Contrast is when we feel something other than at our center, our true, deepest self. When we feel any form of emotion that is other than Love, say, fear, anxiety, anger, depression, etc., this is an opportunity for Transformation.

I’m not saying we just skip all the work and tell ourselves, “I’m now in a place of Love and everything is ok!, no, far from it. But, when we can become aware of the Contrast and truly thank it, we can now do the work to understand where transformation is needed.

It’s much harder to ignore, push away, numb, or be in denial of what we are truly feeling deep down in our state of Contrast. Wait harder? YES. No one tells us that the fastest and easiest way to rise above Contrast is to go through it!

When we come to terms and are willing to do the work, we are entering into a state of deep transformation. We are saying Yes to the deeper part of ourselves that wants to be seen and loved.

Can you name a time when a situation or emotion presented itself over and over again, yet you just pushed it away hoping it wouldn’t come back?

I wish someone had told me in my teens and 20s; unfrotunately, the situation and/or emotion always came back, and now, I thank the Contrast for allowing myself to open up to deep and radical transformation so that I can do the work now.

And on that note, how much better does that feel energetically?! Rather than pushing it away, doesn’t stepping into it provide a much higher vibrational state? A curiosity even?

While there is the nuances of timing, readiness, and willingness that may need consideration, the next time you find yourself in Contrast try looking at it with curiosity… you never know what deep truth is waiting for you.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Caleb George on Unsplash