Choosing Love in Difficult Situations
I wish it was easy for me to choose love in every life situation. It’s not. Sometimes I want to avoid a difficult conversation or pretend I don’t get scared when I hear disturbing news. Even with a consistent spiritual practice, I can still get triggered by a harsh comment, chaotic world event or when faced with a difficult decision.
After practicing degrees of avoidance, dodging, pretending and the occasional “forgetting” for decades, I’ve remembered the truth. All these tactics are simply an ego dance that keep me feeling constrained, stressed, uncomfortable and in conflict.
The truth is equally simple.
Every time I go within and ask Love for guidance on a specific issue or ask for help to react from love instead of fear, something miraculous happens.
There’s a shift.
Sometimes subtle, sometimes more pronounced but a definite shift to a feeling of peace. The shift is physical, mental, and emotional. My shoulders relax, the knot in my stomach...
Freedom Through Inner Peace
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Viktor E. Frankl
This week my country celebrates July 4th as Independence Day. The holiday marks the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the 1776 Second Continental Congress when my forefathers declared our freedom from Great Britain.
While the last few years have been cited as the reason many in America feel oppressed, in truth, significant swaths of our population have never been free. At least not like it was described in the history books I studied as a kid.
I’ve been thinking a lot about freedom. And who, what or in what circumstances I truly feel free.
I realized something.
My freedom comes from an inner sense of peace. While laws, ordinances and Supreme Court rulings can restrict my actions, movements and outside choices, my freedom lies in my ability to choose my response. As...
The Only Safe Place Left to Go
I was on the phone yesterday with a dear friend. As we discussed recent world events, she wondered out loud, “Where can I move that would be safe, protected from this chaos?”
We both immediately knew the answer.
Within.
“Within where?” you might ask. One of the Scandinavian countries? Australia, New Zealand? Somewhere in the Caribbean?
The safest place for you, me, and everyone we love is much closer than that: within the wisdom of our own heart.
Your best guidance forward, the way to navigate the world events and help consciously evolve our communities, countries and the world will not be found within current government structures. Or in rhetoric created to induce fear. It is always available within the quiet space of your own heart, however.
How do you access it, the wisdom of your inner divine heart? Meditation and spending time in nature are excellent options and here are three more:
- A favorite tool of mine is the free app offered by the Brahma...
How to Do a Life Reset
Ever felt like this? Like nothing is going right, you feel out of flow, full of fear and life doesn't make sense?
That's been me the last two months.
I needed a life reset.
In retrospect, I had allowed myself to be consumed by world events and gone down a very dark hole of fear.
As a result, I wasn't consistent with my spiritual practice or meditations, made poor food choices and started to feel unwell physically. I still took care of my clients and my family responsibilities during this time, but I wasn’t myself. I was “off.”
And then I remembered something my mentor, Robert Holden, often says, “If you think something is missing in your life, it’s probably you.”
Oh, right!
I had temporarily put more emphasis on the external world noise and not as much on the quiet divine wisdom that resides in the silence of my own heart. That’s where my truth lies. Where my guidance, peace, and joy flows from. How could a spiritual teacher forget...
How to Expand Love Today (and Every Day)
Each February we see a heightened focus on Valentines Day and romantic love. While I’m all for beautiful romantic relationships, I’d love to see the Love Month concentrate on ways to expand love within ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world.
Might sound like a tall order, but not really. Very doable.
How could we “expand love” within ourselves? Here’s a few ideas:
- Spend quiet time in nature. Take a silent walk and use all your senses to truly be in the experience.
- Listen to music that touches your soul.
- Cuddle with your pet or volunteer at the local animal shelter (everyone benefits)
- Take a few minutes to shut your eyes, put your hand on your heart and imagine breathing in, and out of your heart space.
- Write in your journal using a prompt such as: “I feel loved and loving when_____” then act on what you wrote.
- Write a love letter to yourself. Mail it.
- BONUS: OK, here’s the big one I learned from the incredible Louise...
Happy LOVE Month
This month we're looking at LOVE. Not the Hallmark Valentine’s Day card or sappy romantic movie kind of love. The real Love. Divine Love. The intelligent, creative, expansive energy that creates galaxies and beats your heart and mine.
The BIG Love.
Miracles happen when you consciously tap into your own inner divine wisdom. Most people use a type of contemplative practice such as meditation, prayer, or silent time in nature. I have received some of my most profound guidance through daily journaling.
My beloved mentor, Dr. Robert Holden, often shares a profound exercise using a writing prompt. He invites his students to settle into a quiet space, connect to their heart and write this prompt to begin a journal entry, “Love, what do you most want me to know today?”
I’ve written that question hundreds, if not over a thousand, times in the last years. Sometimes I get short sentences addressing a general life issue,...