New Year

As the New Year approaches, it is time to reflect on the past and to plan the future.

This year has been full of changes for me.  At first, I did not want to accept the changes and made my life more difficult than it needed to be.  Once I accepted the changes, life got a lot more enjoyable.  I realise now, that my life had to change if I wanted to achieve my dreams.  I guess I was hoping I could achieve my dreams without changing the way I live.  The old adage if you alway do what you always did you will always get what you always got comes to mind.  The changes may have been painful but they were certainly worth while.  My life has changed dramatically and I am so thankful for that.

Part of my changes helped me to really appreciate the family and friends who surround me now.  They helped me through a difficult time and stood by me.  I am truly blessed to have these people in my life.  I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and the laughter and wellbeing associated with their company.

I have grown as a person and have started to work towards my goals and dreams rather than waiting for them to be handed to me on a platter.  I will no longer hang on to anyone else's coattails to get the life that I want (hanging on someone else's coattails didn't work anyway).  I do sometimes worry that I have left my run a bit late then realise that worrying is a part of my past I will leave behind.  I have become more aware of my useless habits and endeavour not to make use of them in my present or future.  It is not always easy but the more I practice positive life choices the easier it becomes.

After spending Christmas Day with family, I realised how truly blessed I really am.  I could not ask for a better family.

The New Year is looming.  I will not make any New Year's Resolutions.  The thing is that I have been enacting my new resolutions during the year, I did not have to wait for a New Year to change.  I will welcome the New Year as a celebration of the past and anticipation for the future.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Just Accept

Many is the time that I have caught myself saying "I don't understand why they would do that" or "What were they thinking" when someone did something that did not make sense to me.  By asking those questions I am doing two things.  One, I am trying to put myself in someone elses shoes, and secondly, I am making a judgement call on someone else's actions based solely on my experiences and perspective.

I will never be able to put myself into someone else's shoes because I have not experienced the things they have experienced and will never be able to copy their thought patterns.  They are unique and so am I.  Also, it is not my place to make judgement calls on the choices other people make.  If I was perfect, maybe, but until that time arises, I have no right to judge others.

I have arrived at a place where I now put effort into understanding myself. Changing thought patterns and improving on choices I have made in the past and regretted.  I strive to acknowledge the good choices I have made and to improve on choices and behaviours that I am not particularly proud of.  This life is about me and no one else.  I need to spend time on me rather than distracting myself with thoughts of improving other people.  I am the only person I can change.

I believe life is about living your own life in your own unique way and allowing others to do the same. 

Everyone needs a sanctuary

It is important that everyone has a sanctuary, a place of safety.  It is a place where you can sit and chill, or a place you can go to when you are feeling down, or a place to ponder a decision you have to make.

My main sanctuary is a room in our house.  We call it the 'quiet room'.  It is a room that houses all our crystals and is used solely for spiritual things.  The vibrations are very calming.  Every morning I go into that room and have my quiet time, being thankful for all that I have and to prepare myself for the coming day.  I also go to that room when I need to have some time out or to rid myself of negative thoughts.  This room enables me to maintain my balance.

I also enjoy nature as a calming influence.  Sitting on the beach watching the surf, or in a harbour watching boats come and go is very soothing.  Sitting in a park or a forest with running water also helps to let my mind wander.  I find water is my relaxant however when we lived in a place with limited water, I found a sanctuary in the red dirt and the night sky. 

No matter where you live, try to find a place you can spend time every day to help you with lifes trials and tribulations.  Find a place you can visit every now and then to go to when you are feeling troubled or to recharge your batteries with different vibrations to top up your feelings of wellbeing.

Everyone has a different idea of what a sanctuary is to them, whatever that may be find it, and enjoy it.

Attitude is everything!

We have the choice to treat life as a challenge or we can treat it as an adventure.  Life is all about learning new things.  No matter what you do, you will continue to learn lessons throughout your lifetime.  Your attitude will make a difference to how easy or difficult it is to learn the lessons.

If you treat life like an adventure, you can wait with anticipation for the next leg in your journey.  If you treat each episode as a way to learn as much about yourself as you can, the journey is so much more fun and, I believe, you will learn so much more.

If you treat life like a challenge and a chore, you are more likely to just get through the drama as quickly as possible.  The trouble with this thinking is that you may not learn everything you need to learn first time around.  The same problem will keep coming back, and more severe each time, until you do learn the lessons you need to learn.  So it takes longer to learn your lessons and you limit your time on moving forward to the next lesson.

When you treat life as an adventure, you have more energy.  You may not get what you thought you wanted but you bounce back quickly because you realise that there is something even better out there to experience.

Make your choice, adventure or challenge?

Count your Blessings

My Mother used to tell me to count my blessings when I was moaning that someone could do something that I was not allowed to do.  I never really gave it much thought as a child but now it is really important to me.

I must admit that I have a tendency to have a poor me attitude.  It is something that comes out every now and then when I least expect it.  I fight it every time it comes back with the art of counting my blessings.

Sometimes it is very hard to find something positive to start counting with.  I always resort to the love of my family and friends.  I have about 5 people who really love me, not the superficial kind of love, but a deep love and they accept me unconditionally no matter what I do.  Now sometimes, I can only really feel that love from one of those five people and I will concentrate on that love as a blessing.  Each day I would list first thing in the morning who or what was a blessing to me and I was very fortunate to have in my life.  Just before I went to bed I would go over my day and find at least one instance of something good happening to me during the day.  Sometimes it was to see a baby smile or to see a perfectly formed flower.  Other times it was the kindness of a loved one or a stranger.  Each day my list would get longer of the good things in my life and the happy moments during the day.  Before long I was appreciative of my life again.

As soon as I start to appreciate my life, so many good things seem to happen and more opportunities open up for me. I am not sure whether all the good things happen because being positive brings about more opportunities or whether my attitude has changed and I recognise the good things happening around me.

So next time you are feeling a little down or things are not going the way you want them to, start counting your blessings.  It works!

You don't have to be poor to be spiritual

I used to believe that you had to be poor to be spiritual.  I think the notion came from my Sunday School lessons and I embraced it with a passion.  Hence, I was happy to be poor.

As I have progressed in life, I have come to realise that money does not make you happy.  Conversely being poor does not make you happy either.

It is very hard to stay connected with your spiritual side while you are constantly worrying how you are going to pay for your next bill or keep a roof over your head.  Lets face it, we live in a material world and money is needed to live in a material world.  We can't all be self sufficient to the extent of not needing money.

I have observed people who have touched my life.  I have met many lovely spiritual people both rich and poor.  They are all just really nice people and the amount of money they have makes no difference to the people they are.  The only thing I have noticed is that the rich people have the means to help people spiritually as well as physically.

As soon as I made up my mind that I no longer needed to be poor to be spiritual, my material world started to change.  Very slowly at first but it is getting better every day.  As the financial pressures disappear, the more I can concentrate on the spiritual and physical side of my life.

Life has a lot of challenges and opportunities for you to grow.  Don't waste them all by conentrating solely on your material life.

Be thankful

I have just finished a year that I wish to never repeat.

My old life collapsed around me and for so long I wanted it back.  I was 'told' you can't move forward while still looking back.  That did not provide much comfort for me at the time.  Now, I have a new life.  I look back at what I have been through and I am thankful for the experience.  A lot of good things came out of the experience.

First and foremost is my spiritual growth.  I have a totally different attitude to my spirituality and I am comfortable with the change.

I gained an insight to how much my husband loves me.  The support he gave me cannot be expressed.  No longer do I take our love for granted.  I also found the most amazing friend whose company is uplifting and most of all - fun!

I would never have discovered how much I enjoy writing.  These blogs are very therapeutic for me.

Money does not make you happy.  Try telling that to someone who has no job, the rent is due, the cupboard is bare and they only have $5 in their pocket.  Lack of money does not make you happy either.  I have learned to appreciate money but not to idolize it or expect it to solve all my problems.

I learned so much about myself, good and not so good.   I know the areas I need to work on and I appreciate my good qualities.

Sometimes we need to go through the hard times to shed the old life and attitudes that are not good for us to be able to make way for the new life that is so much better for us.

This morning I am looking back at my old life and appreciating my new life.  Everyone I meet, personally or on the internet, are really nice people.  To be surrounded by such wonderful people is something to be truly thankful for.

When you are in the middle of a hard time, do not look too far into the future.  Look at getting through an hour or a day.  When you have finished that day, be thankful you made it through.  Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.  One day you will wake up and find that you are in a much better place than you were in before.  Then you too, will be thankful for the hard times that you have been through.