Give up the fight and lean into your pain.  What you resist, only persists.  Keeping a lid on things, just getting through, looking outside,  and trying to fix problems, only prolongs your suffering.  It takes so much energy to resist what upsets us.

Instead, face what is bothering you while turning your heart to God.  When you turn your heart to God, many beautiful and wonderful things happen.  You will receive the perfect medicine for you.  You are turning to the One who made you, who knows you inside and out, and who loves you more than you love yourself.  Why go anywhere else, but to the Love.

When you finally realize how miserable you have been and that you can’t do it on your own anymore, this is the real blessing.  You heart softens, say yes to the pain and it opens the door for your healing, for your transformation.  It is much easier to let go of what no longer serves us, when we see how miserable we are.  The letting go , creates space for us to receive what we are really needing.

“You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?”
- Rumi

I love this quote by Rumi.  It made me think of how we can use our wings everyday.  What are you spending your time everyday focusing on?  If you want to live the life you dream of, it helps to have direction as to where you are going.

It’s Monday, and you wake with a thousand things to do.  You know you have to get so much done today and plan for the rest of the week.  The calls, the emails, the kids, errands, dog, work goals, what to cook for dinner, you get the idea.

Feels like the to do list never ends and you go to sleep and start the same thing over the next day.

Instead of getting through your day and waiting for the fun on the weekend.  You can find real meaning and beauty in everything you do, in every moment .  Imagine feeling like you have everything you need to move forward in peace and harmony no matter what you are doing or facing. (more…)

There are many spiritual lessons we can learn from anything we experience  in life.  I got inspiration for this topic from watering my flowers this morning.

How caring for our garden is a great metaphor for living an amazing spiritual life…..

1.  In order for your flowers to really blossom, you have to care for them everyday.
Do the flowers have enough water?  Do they need fertilizer?  Do they need to be weeded?  What is the condition of the soil?  What about pests and diseases?   Are they getting too much sun or not enough?

To really blossom as a person, you have to put some time into nurturing  and caring for your spirit.   Whether it is prayer, spiritual practices or some type of meditation – cultivate this everyday.  Think of yourself as a spiritual being dressed with a human body, not the other way around.  Absorb yourself in Divine reality and move from that place.  Let  the Divine be the foundation for your day.  It takes both inner reflection and outer action to beautify ourselves and rise to our potential.

2.  The external conditions will always change.
When you look at flowers, they are in complete surrender to what God has for them, whether it is the rain, the heat, the cold or pests.

There will always be difficulties in life.  We grow from facing our challenges and walking through them.   Adversity shows you who you really are.  When we feel we are completely sufficed by Divine in any given situation, we can then respond beautifully to whatever we are facing. 

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These hot  days of summer, have me thinking about swimming in the ocean.  Splashing about and riding the waves is a thrilling experience!

Riding the waves made me think of how often we resist what we are feeling and swim against the current.

I have been there, believe me.  I understand how it seems overwhelming to feel, you are too busy, there are so many other things you would rather do then work on yourself….right? – I get it.

What you resist – persists.  Feelings just don’t go away.  They will show up somewhere, somehow.

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Seeing the Divine in our lives…

This is a short personal story of witnessing the Divine in our everyday lives.  I pray that it fills you with what you need and at the very least offers you HOPE and INSPIRATION for your healing and your life.

It was the summer of 2004 in Baltimore, MD.  I was going through a very difficult time.  My health was headed downhill again, emotionally and spiritually I was bankrupt.

I was ripe for taking the next step in my journey.  Often it is when we feel we can’t do it anymore that the space opens up for transformation.  (more…)

“Life is a journey sometimes walked in light, sometimes in shadow.”

This is a short story from KEEP GOING by Joseph M. marshall III.

This is a wonderful story about facing our fears.    The author sets the story of a wise grandfather ( Old Hawk) talking to his grandson (Jeremy) saying, “We are all afraid of something.  But that shouldn’t stop us from going on every day.  We should not always walk in fear of the shadow while we are in the light.  It is certain we will not know when or how the difficult and bad times will come, but if we accept that they will come, then they are easier to face when they do.

“And always remember that anything that causes the shadow is smaller than the source of the light.”

To further illustrate shadows and sunshine the grandfather tells a story of two travelers. (more…)

Whether you are facing physical disease, emotional illness or a difficult challenge in your life, there are some simple things you can do to help yourself heal.

1.  Want it.
You have to really want healing.  Even the smallest amount of desire will help move you forward.  Setting intention is key.

2. Have hope.
Never give up hope, always hold it out there.  Even when you feel you don’t have any hope, I firmly believe it is inside of you, you just have to uncover it.

3. Keep going.
Say, Yes!  When you feel like you don’t want to ‘go there’, say ‘yes’ and open.  Please understand, I don’t mean force yourself unnecessarily.   Just the power of saying ‘yes’ will do wonders and help you to open and move in ways you could not have imagined.  Seek until you find your answers.

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1. Joy!
My dog Sammy, a 4 year old Lab/Golden Retriever mix, wakes me up every morning with a tail that wags around in circles, like a helicopter ready to take off.  His ears move up and down, his eyes are wide open, his nostrils are flaring as he waits with anticipation of my response.  Whether it is the slightest movement to show him I am awake or I say the word, “breakfast” he then washes my face with a lot of kisses, gleefully jumps off the bed, grabs a toy and dances around me as we walk to the kitchen or go outside.  He is happy to  just be awake and start his day.

2. Wonderment.
No matter how many times my dog has walked the same path, it is new to him.  Everything is important and beautiful to him.  I would liken it to a child looking at everything with amazement and innocence that sometimes we adults tend to take for granted.

3. Live Simply.
Eat. Sleep. Poop. Play.  Need I say more.

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