Morning Meditation - Vitamin Daisy

 Morning Meditation™️. One of the many meanings daisies communicate in the language of flowers is happiness. Vitamin Daisy for your soul! ✨

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Morning Meditation - Happiness Is Vital

Morning meditation™️. Your happiness is vital in this world! ✨

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Embrace the choosing

Photo:  S. Dawn Sievers

Someone close to me has positively commented, more than once, on my habit of taking charge (i.e., control) of my own emotions.  What this person is pointing out is that I tend to only allow myself to dwell in negative thoughts for a short amount of time.  Over a lifetime of learning and experiencing the myriad emotions we are given on this Earth School, in these physical bodies which house our souls, I have come to the firm opinion that a vast majority of my existence is fully within my power to govern.  I don't know whether this habit is especially noteworthy, or cause for praise; I do know that I have a short window of tolerance for being and feeling miserable.  So, when I find myself on the brink of dwelling in negativity, I choose to change.

Some will argue the point that we have even a modicum of control over our lives.  Many will say that we are merely pawns of cause and effect, being tossed about on the tides of chance and Fortune.  I don't deny the school of thought that there are fragments of chance that affect us all.  I think a great deal of the beauty of life is what we perceive as the unexpected.  If Life were all neatly planned out and responded to tidy lists and projections, I think we would all be a very dull, bland bunch.  Getting back to my point, though, I believe we have choice in everything.  I believe that even that which we perceive as an "accident" is something that has come to us, that we have invited and allowed in order to learn and grow.  Call them surprises, if you like - the moments that throw us off kilter and force Life to shift in the blink of an eye.  By their very nature, surprises force change, so they are an integral part of life for us all.

Can we control when tragedy hits our horizon?  When someone we love leaves us, whether through death or the end of a relationship, can we control this?  Can we control losing a job that is needed to pay bills and keep a roof over our heads?  Of course not.  The only thing that we can control is how we react to a given situation.  I have said time and time again that we are defined by how we choose to react to Life.  We define ourselves by the choices we make and by our subsequent actions.  When negative moments hit, dismay, anger, sadness, grief and a boatload of equally negative emotions are there at the door, waiting to set up housekeeping inside us.  It is normal and healthy to feel all of those feelings, honor them, process them.  Dwelling in those negatives indefinitely is not healthy, and we all know this as a sure truth. We can remain apathetic and downtrodden, as this is a conscious choice.  Or we can choose a different reality.  There is no shame in this process taking a while, by the way.  Healing and growing has a different time table for each of us, and will also vary per the situation and circumstances.  Being kind and loving to ourselves during this part of the process is essential.

As I write this article, 2012 is ticking down to its final days.  It is human nature to reflect on the waning year and take stock of what we experienced.  Looking back on my own Life Path, I note a year that was challenging on several levels.  It was interspersed with beautiful moments, yet I found myself focusing on the sadness as I reflected.  I didn't like sadness being my immediate perspective, so I began to ponder.  I began to ask myself why I was coloring this year in sadness, and the answer is that I am currently going through some personal experiences that are not what and where I want them to be.

That's when the moment of epiphany hit my fair self.  If I were driving a car, I would have hit the brakes to come to a screeching halt, it was such an "A-ha!" moment.  That epiphany moment was this:

Life is rarely what we want it to be.  

We all know this, yes?  This wasn't news to me, obviously.  It just popped into my mind in a manner, and at a crucial moment, that woke me up and shook me out of this current gray stage I've been inhabiting.  So, I repeat:  Life is rarely what we want it to be.  We also...most of us, I would think....have come to the realization that when we do not get that cherished wish, it is a blessing in disguise.  Sometimes we DO get that cherished wish, but it is delayed.  The timing simply hasn't come to fruition.

So, I pondered.  And I contemplated.  And I turned my thoughts over and over, considering options that would shift how I have been feeling.  In doing so, I came to another moment of epiphany.

What is at the moment is not what has to be in the future.  

I think I want that statement on a t-shirt.  I mean it!  That statement flowed from my fingertips effortlessly, and as I read the words back, I am struck by the profound truth of the thought.  I have it within my ability and power to create a new version of what is, and I am able to do this, create this new version by choosing my thoughts, feelings and perceptions.  I can choose to release limiting thoughts.  I can choose to believe that what is, at this moment, is necessary for this moment, but it is not necessary for the future.

I was perilously close to creating more of the same sadness and negativity for my immediate future, by the very act of focusing on it and mentally bewailing what I perceived to be infinite.  That's where I slammed on the proverbial brakes.  2012 brought a great many lessons for me.  It was not an easy year, and I do not throw those words out lightly.  It was, however, a year of learning on levels that I hadn't been privy to up until this point in time.  I wasn't ready for those lessons until now.  They weren't for the faint of heart, and I managed to weather them with a certain amount of Grace.  Those lessons, the Big Ones, the ones that delivered big wallops of wow, they're not finished.  I recognize that there is more to be done there.  More to learn, more to absorb, more to embrace, more to share, more to live.

So, I shifted my perspective.  I stopped pouring regret into my current experience, and I began to pour appreciation into who I am as a result of those lessons.  I released frustrations, regrets and resentments, as those are three of the most self-defeating, crippling emotions that I have ever identified.  I am pouring appreciation and anticipation into the immediate future where all is possible.  This may sound very overly optimistic, perhaps unrealistic.  To the contrary; I believe it is vitally necessary to be aggressively optimistic and to ignore more of those self-defeating words/thoughts such as "unrealistic".  Being happy and fulfilled is never unrealistic.  How we choose to address that need, that dream, that expectation....that is the important facet.

Consider what a facet does in a gemstone.  It is designed to reflect and refract light...to bounce that light in multiple directions, to multiply it and create a light storm that is dazzling to the soul.  A simple, flat plane gives finite reflection and a flat, one dimensional view.  I consciously choose to create that light storm with my thoughts, with my perspective, and in so doing, provide conditions that are limitless for that light to amplify, to expand in all directions.  And in the very doing, the very choosing, I felt an instantaneous lifting, a lightening of my Spirit.  A weight literally lifted from my heart.  Feeling better, reaching for that next best good feeling...these are Divine and Universal Laws.  That which we focus upon, we amplify.  That which we amplify, we invite more of into our personal experience, and it becomes an exponential act.  This amplifying applies to both positive and negative emotions - this is a key fact for all of us to remember!  If we dwell in negativity, it amplifies and sets the tone for our immediate future.  I certainly see the logic in focusing on positive emotions, expectations, dreams and wishes, as those are all what I choose as the set points for my immediate future.  Feeling better feels better.  So simple, yes?  It can be, but we have to choose to allow it first.

I am like most people in that I've experienced a couple of moments in life that fall into the category of clinical depression.  I know what that disordered chemical imbalance does to the thought process.  I know how dismal and dark the whole world can look and feel to anyone going through that level of depression.  I know the irrational thoughts that are processed that, at the time, make complete sense as they're being thought.  For whatever reason, I was either blessed or cursed with a stubborn character that refuses to let me completely give up.  Even in the midst of the worst depression episodes I've experienced (there were two - one hit when I was 19 and the other in my mid-30s), I knew in my heart that they would pass.  This is when the aspect of impermanence becomes one of the most valuable tools we are given as human beings. When we view a single life span, it is so fleeting.  From that perspective, that life truly is such a short span of time, there is hope to be gleaned from the canvas of impermanence.  "This, too, shall pass" is one of the most loving, reassuring statements to reflect upon when the world feels permanently dark and sad.  Our free will to choose is there, waiting for us to remember the power we are granted from our very first waking moment.

Those moments of epiphany are powerful, either as a sudden clap of thunder or as a soft brush of insubstantial mist drifting by.  It might not be that slamming on of proverbial brakes, big wallop of wow moment for you as it was for me.  I tend to be a bit more hard headed than some, so it occasionally takes a bit more force to grab my attention.  For some of you, the epiphany may come as easily as your next breath slipping into, and out of your body. The very slight shifting of perspective is simply powerful, regardless of its delivery, and it all narrows down to choice.  Choosing how we want to feel.  Choosing how we want to think.  Choosing how we want to view a set of circumstances.  Choosing how we want the tone of our life to resonate.  It might be different for each of you, this awareness manifesting.  Easier said than done, of course, but oh-so-powerful when we come to recognition and embrace the choosing.

What do you do when....

Photo:  http://www.siaphoto.com/

What do you do when you can't breathe?  When something occurs that literally strips the breath from your body and you're suspended in that polarizing moment, gasping.  This can take many forms.  Some beautiful, some incredibly raw and angry, some reaching a level of sublime happiness, and others so steeped in sadness that  it is beyond words to express.

That moment, when the air is taken from us seems to last an endless forever.  Our minds and emotions seize up in a sort of shock as we grapple to understand the enormity of the moment.  A whole slew of physiological effects set in...pupils dilating, heart rate increasing, fingertips and lips going slightly numb, slightly tingling, goosebumps hitting at times, sweating occurring at others, stomach twisting and pitching, laughter bursting from us in a glorious ripple of smiling notes, or gut wrenching sobs the next sound we're capable of making. 

Most of the time when this happens, we are forever changed.  Uplifted at times, devastated at others.  It's one of those very pure moments when everything narrows down to a literal pinpoint of focus.  From that one breath suspended, to that next moment when we finally inhale again, the world changes.  We change.  A remarkable shift occurs.

It's a curious thing, how all that we are, who we are, can change in such a blinding, rapid manner.  It can happen in a fleeting rush, barreling upon us in a wild, dramatic swirl.  Or it can slip through and brush softly as a whisper.  Regardless of the delivery, it is profound and dramatic.

We experience it from the hands of another....from the words of another.  Or from our own initiative.  Sometimes it is a moment in Nature.  Or a song lyric.  A fragrance that teases the heart and the memory.  A touch so sincere that we cannot resist it.  And we are undone.  Unraveled, or conversely, wound so tightly, so quickly, that we must shatter into a million pieces of delight or maddened grief.

Peace walks these same halls.  As does love.  They both grab the breath from us, lifting up and embracing us in an inestimable manner. 

What do you do when you can't breathe?  You endure it.  Or you celebrate it.  You continue to live, accepting that infinitesimal moment that has shifted everything that you are into a new person.  And you are born anew, taking fumbling steps, uncertain on wobbly knees and feet.  Pared down to your elemental self, vulnerable, naked and alone, and seeing the world through brand new eyes.

What do you do when you can't breathe and the cold vapor of that crashing experience stuns you?  You momentarily become a creature of ice, shards of silvered frost entwining throughout your very cells, turning you crystalline.  Waiting for a touch to warm and melt you back to humanity.

Waiting for a touch to enfold.  To stutter-start your breath again.

There in an indefinable space that simultaneously lasts both a nanosecond and a limitless, echoing eternity...what do you do?  You feel.  Simply that. 

You feel.

Clearing the road

Image courtesy of Bing images

I'm in one of those stages where life in general is on the verge of improving in myriad ways.  Personal life is good, new work and projects are in the pipeline, so I can't complain about the near future.  What I find interesting is that just prior to good things hitting many of our personal horizons, Life seems to throw some curve balls.  I'm experiencing this myself, and I find it a curious manifestation.  I don't know what the purpose is of hardships being visited just prior to prosperity manifesting, but it does seem to be a common experience.  I know it isn't unique to my life, as I've discussed this with friends many times over the years.

A good analogy would be that you're driving along a beautiful road, enjoying the journey, only to keep getting slowed down by small or large landslides.  You can see beyond the pile of debris to clear road, but you have to stop and clear the rubble away before driving on down the beautiful vista.

It could be argued that it's just Life...that it isn't necessarily a good or a bad thing, nor should it be looked at as any deep, dark cloud of Doom being visited upon us.  I don't dispute that thought - Life does hand us all manner of energies.  I've said time and time again that we define ourselves by how we choose to react to a given set of circumstances.

So, when you can see happy times within a fingertips' grasp, yet you find yourself also swimming against the proverbial current to get there, how do you deal with it?  I find myself focusing on my breathing.  When I feel conflicted, or scared that something insurmountable is approaching, I feel a sense of heaviness in my chest.  This reminds me to search for calm, to stop the vicious cycle of fear based thoughts, and immediately choose to switch the focus of my conscious thoughts to something of a lighter and happier emotion and vibration.  Does this work 100% of the time to ease that moment of stress?  A great majority of the time, it really does.

Yes, the issues of concern remain, even when I am changing my conscious set point and pattern of thoughts.  However, when I focus on happier thoughts, I'm better able to come back to that issue of concern with a more clear head.  Solutions are more easily accessed, if I just take time to breathe through the initial fears.  I admit that even knowing this fact to be true, I sometimes fall victim to those encroaching worries.  They build up in our mind's eye with ferocious and astonishing speed, don't they?!

What I'm focusing on today is that my near future has a lot of wonderful things that are on the verge of happening. These things are mere weeks away and will bring some much needed stability and security to my freelancing business.  On a personal level, my life is also changing and that energy is growing and improving, and is also mere weeks away from further clarity happening.  It is the here and now that is a bit challenging and worrisome.  I'm falling back on a lifetime of practicality to weather the temporary bumps in the road, and I'm very appreciative of having these coping skills.

Am I still harboring some fears, deep inside?  Yes, to a degree, because reality can be downright harsh at times.  To be fair, adopting a temporary hunkering down mode doesn't slow down or prevent all the good energy that is approaching; I remind myself of this fact quite often.  Perhaps the bumps in the road are Nature's way of clearing out a bunch of junky energy.  Sort of a way to clear the road by dramatic means....a catharsis.  If looked at in this manner, then the series of troublesome moments that hit prior to the good stuff occurring can be looked at as a blessing.  It is my habit to look for the positives in any situation, and these thoughts have been circling in my mind for the past several weeks.  I would much rather find a way to appreciate these annoying little tangles in my path than to lament and embrace them, building them into an even larger ball of worries.  I think we all know that focusing and pouring energy into a negative mindset just encourages more of that same energy to grow and manifest.

So, yes, Life sometimes throws us unexpected unpleasant moments right on the eve of wonderful things approaching.  Is this some sort of Divine test to see if we're strong enough to persevere, strong enough to hold our faith, strong enough to keep smiling?  It may be a modicum of all of those, and it may be none of them.  It all depends on our perspective and our conscious choices.  There's obvious merit in not giving in to despair.  No one wants to dwell in such a sad mental and emotional space.

I like the thought of clearing the road for better energies to manifest.  That empowers my Spirit, and lifts my heart, and it most certainly eases that heaviness of breath that was making itself felt.  Choosing to look at this situation as a positive, this clearing of the road for better things to come, allows me to feel a rush of anticipation.  A sense of sureness that yes, this is all part of the Greater Picture, the Greater Plan, and is a necessary piece of the process.  It is a strong truth that before order can be created, chaos usually is the precursor.  With that in mind, I am now better able to face these smaller bits of detritus littering my path, because I recognize that this is a clearing of discordant energies that no longer serve a positive purpose.  Logically, if I move through these smaller moments of  frustration and weather them with equanimity and a sense of Grace, they will clear away that much more quickly.  I just have to be willing to roll my sleeves up and be purposeful in how I choose to direct my energies to clear the debris littering my personal path.  It's the concept that is resonating the most strongly for me, so that is what I am choosing to embrace.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Newly vacated space

Photo courtesy of
Bing images

From the moment that our human minds mature enough to understand cause and effect, we are in an endless search for peace, satisfaction and happiness.  Life definitely throws us curveballs regularly, keeping us challenged in new ways.  I don't think that we ever truly maintain the same definition of "normal" throughout the years.  In fact, I've often thought that achieving an endless state of satisfaction might be a death knell to myriad facets of life.  I know that I thrive when I am consciously aware that I am growing, changing and being pushed to broaden my horizons. In fact, I tend to pursue such a state.  I call it "Low Boredom Threshold", as I am always happiest when I have something new to conquer in my personal or business life.

A recent question was posed about how our immediate environment affects our emotional state.  What works best to create a sense of calm?  Obviously, this is going to vary widely from person to person, and from day to day.  I have found, on a purely personal level, that where I am emotionally is what strikes the tone for experiencing solid happiness and contentment.  That sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it?!  You're thinking, of course your emotions dictate your level of happiness.  Yes, they do, but what I'm talking about is delving deeper. 

For a good part of my life, I based a lot of my personal happiness on outward labels.  The most important label was what I did for work - what I did to pay the bills, where I occupied 80% of my time in the business week.  Given that I also spent a good number of years searching and trying on various careers to find the right fit (Low Boredom Threshold, remember?), I kept thinking that it was me....something I was doing was the problem.  In a way, that was the truth, because I was identifying my dissatisfaction with each job I held.  That dissatisfaction boiled down to the fact that I wasn't recognizing who and what I really was. 

I wasn't any of those jobs.  I just hadn't come to that state of conscious realization yet.  I did identify myself as what I was doing at any given time - be it office management, retail management, real estate, medical research, holistic health provider, and a whole slew of other industries.  Underlying the success that I experienced in each endeavor, there was always this nagging sense of dissatisfaction.  Some of it came from various corporate rules, and I'm the first to admit that I'm not a fan of a lot of those rules.  The majority of it came from the fact that I was putting so much weight and demand into the label I carried.  Those various job titles never felt "right" to me.

Fast forward to the last four to five years and the whole global economy changing so drastically.  Like everyone else in the world, my cozy little existence got turned upside down and I was forced to revamp and reinvent myself, more than once....more than twice, to be honest.  In a curious manner, the ups and downs that I experienced forced me to be much more present and practical about what worked best for me in all areas of life.  When things get pared down to bare essentials and you're starting from zero more than once, you quickly develop the ability to identify key elements that make the most sense. 

For me, this translated into creating a freelancing business and being my own boss, per se.  It's not always the easiest existence, as you're dependent upon the vagaries of the job market and economy in a slightly different manner, but it is a satisfying one.  I am able to choose the clients and industries where I want to work, and I am able to focus my career in directions that I choose.  I no longer depend on any sort of corporate entity to be the sole source of income, and I don't know that I ever want to go back to that way of life.  I am much happier knowing that I have multiple streams of income, and multiple opportunities in a much wider pool of clients and industries.  When bad things happen - as Life has a way of handing us those challenges in that out of the blue delivery mode - knowing that I have alternative options immediately available gives me a stronger peace of mind.

While this is my own specific experience, the deeper message that I am conveying is that it took me almost half my life to learn to stop identifying and qualifying who I am with any job that I do.  I now identify myself as a writer, plain and simple. And an entrepreneur.  Whatever I do in an ancillary manner to pay the bills is simply that....a means to an end.  I no longer invest my whole identity into someone else's vision, unless it is in a support application with my freelancing business.  I now invest my heart and soul into what gives me joy, and that is being a creative person.  The emotional freedom and sense of wellness that comes along with this new approach cannot be underestimated.  The fascinating thing is that by freeing up myself in this manner, I have noticed that prosperity seems to flow more efficiently.  Connections flourish more easily and timing seems to click more readily.

Does this mean that I no longer have difficult moments?  Absolutely not.  In fact, a bad moment hit me today that I wasn't quite prepared for.  I had had an intuition that things with this specific situation might not be all they appeared on the surface, but I wasn't prepared for the hitting the brick wall at maximum velocity delivery manner that occurred.  Ten or fifteen years ago, this type of bad news would have been devastating to me, as I would have internalized and beaten myself up as the sole source and reason for things going wrong.  I no longer do that these days.  Instead, as many dear friends pointed out upon hearing this news, this type of abrupt closure is always a clear indication of better things being prepared to come into that newly vacated space. 

What I am appreciative of at this point in my life is how I react to seemingly bad news.  I look much deeper than I used to.  I delve into the message and lessons being conveyed and I take the obvious opportunity for growth very seriously.  I recognize where I have impacted any given situation in a positive or negative manner, and I learn from it.  But the most important realization, for me, is that I am at a point in my life where I do not predicate my self worth on outside sources.  My emotional health definitely comes from within, and from there springs my complete happiness.  Even in the midst of admittedly bad news, such as that which I received today, I can honestly say I'm not broken hearted, dismayed or even too terribly upset.  I'm at an emotional and mental stage where I see balance and logic in every occurrence.  I won't lie and say I'm not frustrated with this temporary snag, because we never like to weather bad news, but all in all, I see Divine Order in everything around me.  This newly vacated space is waiting for new and different energy to set up housekeeping and provide new experiences.

So, from the perspective of how our environment affects our emotional well being, I guess the stronger message would be to first look inward and see how reactive each of us may be to a given situation.  I'm choosing to view my own recent experience of this newly vacated space as an opportunity.

In this moment



Photo courtesy of
Bing images

If you read my blog occasionally, you'll know that quite often I will gather inspiration from a quote.  This has happened today.  Being a fan of Jerry and Esther Hicks, authors of many books on Universal Law as delivered by Abraham, I receive weekly emails to my Inbox that contain a Quote of the Day.  Today's quote is as follows:

No one can deny you or grant you anything. It all comes to you by virtue of your vibration. - Abraham (Excerpted from the workshop in Lincroft, NJ on Tuesday, October 15th, 1996 #600)

This is such a simple, yet powerful thought and statement. Just before it hit my Inbox, I was sitting here reflecting on how I feel.  I do this on a regular basis, throughout each day, becoming a sort of bellwether for myself.  The way that I feel in that specific moment in time indicates how I react and move forward throughout the rest of my day.  If I'm not feeling so great in that specific moment, that is my immediate signal to shift my thoughts, per Jerry and Esther's books' suggestions, and create a different harmony, or vibration.

You know how sometimes, God/Universe will interact with us in a beautiful way and deliver just the most perfect thought that matches how we're feeling?  This is what occurred with the above quote, and it is the personification of Universal Law, to my way of thinking.

I have made no secret of the fact that Life isn't always a bright, sunshiney, flower-strewn meadow for me.  I step out of bed each day with my own personal challenges, responsibilities and dreams to better myself and my circumstances.  Some days I hit the best note possible, other days I don't.  Here very recently, I have been making more of those wee steps of progression, embracing the better thoughts, choosing to focus on uplifting mindset. 

And today, in the small, quiet hours of the morning, just moments prior to reading the Hicks-Abraham quote, I was smiling because I was very consciously aware of feeling....happy.  That warm, satisfied, just all around good feeling that we are occasionally blessed with was suffusing my mind and body.  Then I opened the email containing the quote above and I laughed out loud at the delightful Divine Order of it all.

I am in a space where my skills are being recognized and appreciated by colleagues - both those in the blogging world, and also those in the professional arenas where I make my living.  I am building up a client roster of people that I truly enjoy working with, and this makes me equally happy.  As Abraham has indicated, this generates happiness and that uplifting tone, harmony and energy begets more of the same.  It has happened over a vast stretch of time for me, yet now that it is clearly manifesting, it has almost caught me off guard with the gentle evidence. 

My last post, Choosing Positivity, was a requested guest post for Mansi Bhatia's wonderful blog, First Impressions.  Perhaps this post is an adjunct, or continuation of that general theme.  Normally, I do my best to not repeat themes in concurrent blog posts, but this is what hit me this morning and it felt appropriate to write about.

I have pondered esoteric laws and concepts from my very early years, as I have always been a rapt student of this type of knowledge.  For a great many years, I understood the concept of Universal Law on an intellectual basis, but it was the nuances that escaped me.  I spent many years focusing more on the "Don't wants" than focusing on what felt better in that particular moment.  When I finally came to clarity on that specific application of Universal Law, I remember rolling my eyes at myself with how I managed to overlook that part of the whole equation for so long.  As we all know, the Lightbulb Moments hit when we are ready to receive them.  I was close, so very close in my younger years to that clarity, but not quite ready to fully grasp the simplicity therein.

Photo courtesy of
Bing images

I'm very good at what I call "getting in my own way".  I have a strong tendency to do things the hard way first, every time.  Why, you might ask?  My brain just seems to be hardwired in that manner.  Until someone points out the exquisite beauty and obviousness of the more simple approach, it just doesn't occur to me to do it that way.  It can be comical to family and friends, because I confuse them at times with my elaborate approach to some very simple task, applying great amounts of energy and concentration and enthusiasm...until someone says, "Dawn, have you ever thought of doing it THIS way?"  This is the point where I always stop dead, absolutely captivated by their suggestion, my brain all a-goggle with the searingly simple method they have suggested.  It is as though the Heavens open and a bright ray of sunshine beams down upon my fair head, with an accompanying orchestra and choir in the background.

No, I'm really not kidding.  Sometimes I really do just do things the hard way first.  Okay, LOTS of times I do things the hard way first.  It's just my nature, apparently.  This is not to say, however, that I enjoy making things difficult for myself! Indeed, it is always a goal of mine to simplify and find more logical methods. 

At this point in my life, I feel I have come to a very solid, positive approach that serves me well.  I know this because when I check in with myself throughout the day, the majority of the time, I detect joy.  Happiness is the note of the morning for me and I have to admit, it feels pretty darned good!  What makes it even more enjoyable is that I am quite aware that I am responsible for this inner feeling of satisfaction and happiness.  I have chosen the steps to maintain that positive outlook, even during the days where I would much rather embrace gloom and irritability.  I've made that conscious effort to focus on the next best feeling thought and emotion.

Oftentimes, that next best feeling thought is tiny....minor to the point of being relevant only to my heart.  Yesterday, it was me standing at the mailbox and glancing up in the sky to see a cloud shaped like a bird's wing.  This morning, it was the simple realization that although my work is not where I would wish for it to be just yet, it IS getting there.  I have work coming in the door after a very long, stressful dry period, and it is work that I enjoy.  I am helping people and making a difference in the world with these new projects, and for me as a writer, this is sublimely satisfying.  That satisfaction is glowing inside of me this morning, blossoming into a larger sensation of happiness as I take time to identify it, focus upon it and feel appreciation for it.

So, today, my inner feeling is one of simple happiness.  Nothing complex, although admittedly the path to get here was riddled with obstacles and myriad frustrations at times.  I am happy, in this moment, and I am taking time to focus on this emotion that is welling up inside me.  I imagine it to be a warm glowing ball of Light, much as I have described in other blog posts, and I imagine that this same emotion, this same energy, vibration and tone is calling out.  Remember, my friends, that thoughts and words are energy and translate into electrical impulses that dart outward to the Universe!  According to Universal Law, this energy is attracted to similar energy...vibrating and spinning, flying outward to unite with more of the same, then returning to us, bringing again, more of the same.  More of the same, only amplified! 


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Bing images


I am reaping the benefits of structuring my thoughts, habits and actions, and these benefits are that I am happy, satisfied and feeling fulfilled on many different levels. My plan for navigating the day is to continue to dwell in this feeling of happiness.  In each moment that I focus on this quiet sensation of bliss, I am, in effect, dialing accurately into the vibration of God/Universe/Spirit and creating a high level of harmony that will continue to perpetuate itself.  In this moment, this awareness brings a smile.  In this moment, I greet myself as an incredible part of the bigger picture that creates my reality.  In this moment, I am basking in a lovely, happy place.  I hope your own day brings you equal joy, my friends.

Simple choices

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There is a lot of distress, sadness, worry and hopelessness going on in our world right now.  The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a daily focus of concern and frustration as the fallout affects our environment, ecosystems, marine, mammal and avian wildlife, and robs hardworking people of their livelihoods.  This newest affront is striking our country already hard hit by a tumbling economy that has caused unemployment rates to soar, affecting millions of people across the nation.

Today I read a blog post of an online acquaintance who is in a very difficult situation and seems to be at wit's end.  I have been there, more times than I would prefer to remember.  I sat and reflected on these constant bombardments of challenging occurrences, wondering how in the world it is possible to reach out and make a difference.  I feel frustration that I cannot help others who are struggling and feeling fear and hopelessness.  While I realize that each person has a responsibility to address their own life and deal with their own struggles in an authentic manner, it is still difficult to see so much sadness in the world.  I recognize that I have a duty to my own life and that the majority of my energies must focus on keeping my own house, physical and emotional health in good order.

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None of this keeps my heart from being affected by the sadness that is sweeping the world.  Do I have any widespread solutions to address that sadness?  I wish I did.  That would be any sane person's wish, to be able to make sweeping and positive changes and improvements to negative situations the world over.

Some days, the simple truth is that the best each of us can do is put one foot in front of the other.  Choose to get out of bed today.  Choose to get dressed and go through the process of searching for a job along with the millions of other unemployed U.S. citizens.  Choose to find reasons to smile, despite overwhelming odds and concrete situations over which to feel concerns.  Choose to seek uplifting experiences, however small they may be.  Choose to reach out to someone else who might be fearful and struggling and offer them a kind word.  Choose to find happiness in the midst of admittedly trying circumstances.  Any single one of these choices can make a difference.  Any single one of these choices could, quite possibly, cause an energetic shift in an individual's life and start the ball rolling.  As most of us know, just getting forward momentum to happen is one of the biggest challenges when our life feels stuck in permanent limbo mode.

My life is no different.  I am living with professional setbacks that have hit over and over due to the struggling economy.  I am faced with daily challenges that try my patience and have me concerned about my own livelihood.  I, too, struggle with fears and doubts about how to keep my own momentum moving forward.  For me, what works is to step outside of my own situation and touch other lives.  I do that here, at Healing Morning blog.  I also do it with small gestures where I reach out to friends with phone calls and emails, encouraging and supporting them through their own dark days. 

http://www.greenbeanscoffee.com/

Most recently, I stumbled across a wonderful website that has a program called Cup of Joe for a Joe that allows anyone to purchase a cup of coffee for a soldier in any branch of the Armed Services.  It is a very simple process.  Click on the website link under the photograph to the right to pull up their page.  Scroll down a little bit and look on the right hand side of the page where it says Buy a Cup of Joe Now.  In this window, you will see that you can purchase a single cup of coffee for $2 U.S., and the window will also give you the opportunity to purchase larger gifts, or even choose your own amount.  I chose to purchase $30 worth of coffee gifts.  This will purchase 15 cups of coffee for 15 soldiers.  It was a stretch for my current financial situation, but it was a conscious choice I made. 

Less than two days later, I began receiving email alerts telling me that my coffee gifts were being picked up.  Some of the soldiers are writing very kind Thank You emails.  Some of them are requesting to become email pen pals, and they are all based around the world at various installations.  This was the small thing that I did this past week to lift my heart and help me feel that I could make a difference in the world.  It might not be a huge thing, buying a cup of coffee for a soldier, but it made me happy to do it.  Many of the emails I have received tell me that iced coffees and fruity smoothies are popular, along with some type of cappuchino drink that has enough caffeine shots in it to keep a bull elephant wired for a month!  Every single email alert I have received has been full of sincere thanks from each soldier. 

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I know from many friends who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces that many soldiers do not receive regular mail from home.  This is something that I find troubling, and this was another motivation to send these Cup of Joe gifts.  I want our soldiers to know that people back home do care and that we think of the hard work they do everyday, and that we appreciate the sacrifices they make to uphold the tenets upon which this country was founded.  This is my small thing that helps me to feel hopeful in the face of difficult times.  As I am able, I will send more Cup of Joe gifts and touch more soldiers' lives in this small way.  Yes, I am unapologetically patriotic.  Yes, I think it matters to reach out and support every soldier who is far from home.  Now is not the time to debate politics and argue what is right and wrong about where U.S. troops are based.  This blog post is meant to focus on a simple kindness that I think and know makes a small difference.  I choose this action because it does touch lives and it makes me happy to do so.

For those of you who are interested, you can also follow the Cup of Joe program on Facebook, and also via Twitter with these links.  I make it a habit to share the program on both social media forums in the hopes that friends and colleagues will decide to join the program and share it with their friends.

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http://www.greenbeanscoffee.com/

Life is a series of challenges for all of us.  It is the small moments in between that I believe add color, texture, depth, growth and beauty.  For an avid coffee avoider - I really dislike the smell of coffee and prefer tea - I find it a bit ironic and entertaining that coffee is proving to be such a thing of beauty in this manner.  The Cup of Joe for a Joe program is my simple choice and I find it satisfying that through my eyes, it produces beauty and hope.  That, for today, is enough to encourage me to continue.

Just Be

I have spoken many times before in blog format about the frantic pace we lead daily, particularly here in the United States.  I'm no different from the majority of people in this regard; I've been working diligently to establish a new branch of my writing services.  The lagging economy affected everything about my writing career two years ago and I am still adjusting and laying new foundation blocks.  So focused am I that I become my own worst enemy with taking care of myself, not getting enough sleep, not eating correctly and most importantly, not taking time off!

We all know the basic rules - you can't have day without night, hot without cold, light without dark, happy without sad.  Subsequently that old axiom of "All work and no play makes Jane a dull girl" truly has merit and weight to it.  When I begin to feel smothered in this manner, I know it is time to step back.  So, recognizing that certain frustrations have been building within as I'm racing madly down the road to a serious lack of balance, my thoughts turn to the exact opposite of my current daily existence.  In a word...FREEDOM.

What does it mean to you?  Freedom.  The very word conjures up all manner of emotions and mental images, feelings, expectations, hopes, dreams and wishes.  Freedom represents my beloved country, the United States of America, with her symbol that of the noble Bald Eagle.  I cannot witness one of these beautiful birds in flight without getting a lump in my throat and feeling the sting of tears.  Watching these majestic birds wheeling freely across the blue skies seems to speak to something very elemental within most of us.  When the word 'freedom' comes to mind, invariably, I mentally conjure up a bald eagle in flight.

Specific to my current frame of mind, freedom represents making a living doing what I love.  Not being chained to a dead-end existence in corporate America, as that experience always slowly saps my vitality and energy.  I chose to leave that world and pursue my own path with freelance writing.  Yes, I am accomplishing that goal in slow and sure steps.  Yet there is a niggling sense of frustration and lack that tells me I am getting in my own way.  I tend to excel at dancing with this particular nemesis.  So, with this recognition comes knowledge that it is time to stop.  Simply stop everything and just be.

At times such as these, I always reflect on the few true vacations I've taken.  One in particular was a 12 day trip to Hawaii.  I went with a group of friends and because of the time zone changes wreaking havoc with my Circadian rhythms, I regularly awakened fairly early.  Now, if you know me even slightly, you're aware that I'm not a morning person.  Not even close!  But during that time in Hawaii, I would wake up before the majority of my room mates, shower, dress and take a walk around the neighborhood where our hotel was located.  Across the street was a Catholic church that was always open and I would stop there to sit in the quiet, holy space, listening to the birds singing and just soak in that blissful feeling of freedom we have on vacation. 

I loved it - I chose what to do each day and I answered to no one but myself and the group of people I was with.  No bosses, no phone calls, nothing but my own personal choices and whims for the day.  I can remember being clearly conscious of the delight of that daily existence, feeling the surge of endorphins and pleasure coursing through me that freedom brings.  This is what I need to find a way to incorporate in my life now.

Tomorrow will be a day of freedom.  At times it is necessary to make a ruthless shift and literally walk away from the world for a moment.  Breathing, embracing a certain isolation to purge what was becoming a tangled jumble. Focusing and being what some might deem selfish in order to come back to quiet, come back to balance and reconnect with the pureness of my dreams.  An outward, deliberate and physical act of meditation.  Recapturing that sense of absolute freedom and pleasure in just being.

Law of Attraction concepts dictate that unless we are feeling joyful, we are out of balance and out of connection with the Source, that which we call God/Universe/Spirit...the names for Divine Energy are numerous.  I am feeling that disconnect and it is manifesting as frustration and dissatisfaction.  Yet these same unbalanced emotions are tools.  I am now at a point in my life and evolution where I am able to identify these potential obstacles much sooner than in the past.  I am happy for this awareness, as it allows me to consciously shift and adjust more quickly.  It isn't always easy or enjoyable, but it is necessary.  It is also not feasible for most of us to live in an eternal vacation mindset.  This is not what I am suggesting in this post; I mean more for us to access the pure happiness we experience when on vacation and create an environment that encourages those feelings to manifest daily.  I have stumbled with this in my own personal daily experience, so it is time to recalibrate.

This moment in my life is high charged and delicately balanced.  Webster's Dictionary defines the word Fulcrum thusly:

1 a : prop; specifically : the support about which a lever turns b : one that supplies capability for action

This is what I feel to be taking place - I am at one of those pivotal points.  I can ignore the warning flags and emotions and continue to create more of a tangle in various areas of my life, or I can heed these emotions and be proactive.  Obviously I am choosing the latter.  This is not to say I am in the midst of crisis or impending doom; to the contrary, life is good.  What I am focused on is making it better, and keeping a weather eye on anything that distracts me from embracing happiness and feeling a true sense of satisfaction in my existence.
 
What will this produce, this moment out of time?  I have no idea.  The main goal of the whole exercise is to just be.  I am promising myself a day of bliss in whatever form that manifests.  No contracts will be thought about; looming deadlines will not exist, bills can wait and troublesome connections are relegated to a distant back burner.  I am taking a personal holiday and re-establishing the bonds within myself with the dreams I came here to accomplish.  The laws of quantum physics and nature dictate that energy given is energy that returns, amplified.  My intention is to dwell in an energetic mindset that is positive, happy and open to all that is good.  Negative energies and people who get in the way of this objective are stumbling blocks that distract us all from dwelling in perfect accord and balance with our purpose and dreams.  The amplified energies that return to me are within my ability to shepherd and guide.  This is my own gentle reminder to myself that I chart my own course, and it is healthy and intelligent to choose happiness and freedom.
 

Oftentimes when I begin to feel bogged down with a lot of junkie energy, I meditate on the mental image of being suspended in the mist that blows down off a waterfall.  I imagine that mist floating through my physical and etheric bodies, sweeping clean all dark spots, all smudges of other peoples' energies, dissipating fatigue and disappointments and leaving behind a refreshed person.  A cleansed body, mind and spirit.  This is such an effective mental meditation that I do it quite often...unless I allow myself to get distracted and caught up in superfluous issues, people and circumstances.  Time now, to be.  Just be.
 

I don't know if this will resonate with anyone else.  No doubt anyone reading this post will remember a similar moment in their own lives where they had to slam the proverbial brakes on and symbolically leave the planet for a while.  I'm off on a journey to reconnect with myself, take silken energetic thread and stitch my joyfulness back into brilliant, fluid fabric that will ripple and shine and as a Dream Catcher would, capture those corresponding energies that match my dreams.
 

Just be.  That's the goal.  Those are the instructions.  Two simple words that allow a world of experience, releasing of spiritual blocks, and soaring until I feel renewed.  Writing about this with clear intentions is already lifting my spirits and I am smiling as I come to a close.  Perhaps this blog will nudge you to take a personal moment...a day of freedom for yourself.  If so, don't freeze up - don't stress out, as those are contradictions of your goal.  Be good to yourself.  Be joyful.  Be free.  Breathe in each individual beautiful moment.  Absorb it all.  Release the negatives and for this one moment, concentrate completely and magnificently upon YOU.  Just....Be.

It changed everything

The title of this blog post above is taken from a great newsletter email that I receive regularly.  A girlfriend told me about this website that sends affirmations that are tailored to your personal wishes and dreams.  The website is called Tut's Adventure Club.  You register with them, fill out a brief form and then you begin receiving these wonderful, positive, happy emails from The Universe.  I encourage anyone reading this post to check the website out at the link provided above. 

Now, to get back to my point.  Today's email from The Universe was as follows:

"Thanks, Dawn, for every single time you ever fell in love.  Whether or not it was obvious. Whether or not it lasted. And whether or not you were loved back.  It changed everything." Notes from The Universe

That was such an electrifying comment to me!  How beautifully simple and concise a thought to ponder.  We as humans are more apt to focus on the attendant baggage of love, aren't we?  "I loved him, but..."  or "It was almost perfect, except for..."  or "If only..."  or "What if..." Do any of these sound familiar? Who hasn't had at least one, if not all of those thoughts? It's so much easier to get distracted with all the detritus of a romantic relationship, and indeed, many of those details are very important and deserving of our focus. There is so much more, however, to remember from past relationships, with much of it being positive. 

This note from The Universe in my Inbox just stopped me in my tracks.  I call those "polarizing moments", where a thought, a book, a remark - something grabs your attention with such impact that you are literally forced to stop and ponder.  Personally, I love those moments.  They cause me to consider different angles and perspectives that I might not have reached as quickly if left to my own slower approach. I might end up not agreeing with the polarizing moment, I might not adopt that new perspective, but I always come away from those moments changed.  I always learn something new about myself.

How refreshing a perspective from which to view love.  If we're alive, we're going to meet people, fall in love, fall out of love, be blissfully happy, plumb the depths of despair and feel every minute facet, shade and nuance of love.  Love found, love lost.  The loves lost are usually ones that spark feelings of regret, anger...a whole boatload of negative emotions.  How freeing, may I say, is it to draw an imaginary mark on our personal journey or calendar and say that perhaps this is the moment that I learned to think about past loves in a completely different light?  I kind of like that idea.

We are all the sum total of our experiences - the good, the bad and the ugly.  Change an experience and you change who you are today.  Obviously, we can't turn back time and cherry pick the moments.  I think most of us can admit that the difficult times, difficult relationships and memories taught us valuable life skills.  "I'll never do THAT again!"  Right?!  I've had plenty of those epiphanic experiences, haven't you?  And I'm a more balanced, more richly evolved person as a result. 

Today, as a result of that lovely email from The Universe, I am reaping one of those unexpected lessons that I always find such a delight.  I've shifted my habitual tendency to view past loves with predominantly wistful perspective.  Mind you, I don't dwell in sadness or negative thoughts in regard to every single romantic relationship I've had - many of them make me smile when I look back. 

I just happened to feel very struck by the quote above - having loved anyone, anything, anytime, is never wasted or misplaced energy.  I have always firmly believed that to be written in stone fact.  I do not regret loving anyone.  I have, however, regretted some of the outcomes.  The above quote magically lifted that need from my heart - it is simply unnecessary.  Instead, I choose to focus, from this point forward, on the fact that by the simple, open hearted act of loving, this can be nothing but positive, uplifting and lasting.  Perhaps we might not see the repercussions and outward ripples of our moments of love, but they happen.  Perhaps we cannot reach into someone else's heart and change their perspective to just simply appreciate the fact that love was given and received.  Indeed, we can change nothing but our own perspective. I would suggest that by shifting how we feel about those past loves doesn't mean the bad stuff ceases to have happened - it just means that we can release some of the burden we've carried in relation to those past loves.

I am not, by any means, intimating that if you have lost a loved one to death, that you should not grieve that loss.  That is a process all its own and deserves your time and attention to reach a balanced point of acceptance.  I will say that I see, quite often, people who have become stuck in the grieving process to the point that that is who they become - "My name is...and I lost this person to death."  They cannot move beyond the grief to recognize that they are no longer the vibrant, wonderful person their loved one would wish them to be today.  So, I say this gently to everyone reading this post - if you have lost in love, whether it is because one person needed to move on apart from you, or whether it was from losing a loved one to death - think of shifting your perspective.

I'm sharing the quote above with you in the hopes that it gives you one of those moments to ponder that I experienced myself. It is up to you how you receive the statement and how you feel, think and react to it. One immutable point is this: if you have loved, you are/were existing in the most positive energy it is possible to feel on this planet. We cannot see love, except perhaps in the happy faces of the ones upon which we bestow this gift. Love isn't concrete or tangible to touch, unless maybe we're talking about loving touches, embraces, etc.

Rather than eternally grieving the loss of any love, endlessly looking back with regret, for anyone or anything, contemplate celebrating that love existed. Let me repeat that I am not writing this to tell anyone how to think or feel about love.  I was changed by the email message in my Inbox and wanted to share it with you. Celebrate that love has happened numerous times in your life and recognize it in a positive manner.  Be joyful! Love is an energetic presence.  It has a physical, lasting energy that never dies.

And that does change everything.

Peaceful thoughts

It is morning in East Tennessee and outside my window the world is wreathed in typical winter fog, with the grass and trees tipped in frost. This year winter has been a bit sluggish in arriving, but this past week ushered in true cold temperatures that seem to be here to stay. The fog drifting dreamily about the landscape, combined with the cold temperatures evoke a quiet sense of peace.

That word, peace, has been cropping up in my mind quite a bit recently. It is a presence that I find palapable in my life, those moments of peace. They occur unexpectedly and delight the senses with the moment of surprise. Other times, peace will seep slowly and surely into my bones, surrounding me like a warm blanket. The method of delivery varies, but the end result is that I am reminded that there is order and a sense of logic in this world which applies to all of us. Admittedly, we are living in a world full of distractions, chaos, strife and most days it is a challenge just to survive traffic, work and family issues. Small wonder, then, that we forget to take those moments to experience what is so readily available to soothe our Souls.

One of my friends provides an outlet for me with her photography. She is a gentle, loving spirit who sees the world with such different eyes. Whenever she posts a new set of photos on her Facebook page, I always take time to pull them up because I am confident she will have snapped a shot of something that will just "click" with me on a very elemental level. I also make it a point to tell her when something she has said, done or photographed made a difference in my life; I think that is another important thing we overlook due to daily stressors. We forget to reach out and acknowledge the beauty that those we care for bring into our lives. Friendship in general is a blessing to all of us that we should remember to nurture, cultivate and appreciate.

Another source of peace for me is nature, looking about me to witness the continually unfolding drama of the Tennessee Valley. It is truly breathtaking here, regardless of the season. Finding time to walk in the woods, go up to the mountains, or visit one of the numerous rivers or lakes in the area and just sit quietly allows me to soak in the sense of peace that is unique in nature. I always come away feeling a motherly source of love - as though the earth recognizes one of her children taking a moment to check in with her.

I could go on with an impressive list of experiences from which I draw a sense of peace. They are unique to me, so I won't go into exhaustive detail. I think the important thought here is to take time in your day to access that place of quiet for yourself. It is there, just waiting to be tapped into. Some small moment is fluttering in your line of sight, waiting to inspire you, make you laugh, make you cry, soothe you, uplift you, encourage you. If you take a moment to honor that presence, you might be surprised at how the rest of your day, or your week will open up and flourish with success, satisfaction and happiness. Like begets like, after all. Embracing peace and allowing it to become a thriving daily presence for yourself means that it will begin to compound itself and you will recognize it more and more surrounding you. This thought is not specific just to the concept of peace - it applies to anything that you would desire to have more of in your life. Laughter, happiness, success...they can all become a focal point if you open your heart up to recognizing them in their purest form. I think that starting this practice with recognizing and welcoming peace is a good place to begin, as peace opens doors to so much that is beautiful and desirable.

Enjoy your day, my friends. Peace be unto you!