Category: Beginnings - Essence For Abundance

FRIDAY'S RESULTS

9/26/2014

Today’s post is simple and to the point. To get the results you want you have to do the work. The only secret to success is you. To get a healthy body, you have to do the workouts. If you hire a Personal Trainer at the gym, they are there to guide and teach you how to exercise properly but expecting them to do the workout and the 6 pack abs magically transfer to your body is insanity.

The same holds true for all 9 areas of a fulfilled life. Health, wealth, relationships/family, hobbies, social, spiritual, education/personal development, work, time alone.

You do yourself more harm by procrastinating and carrying the weight of those burdens so it’s time to get really honest with yourself. Plan your work. WORK your plan. Get out of your own trap of self-deception that still “thinking about it” is “doing something” toward your goal. Commit to taking action and doing the work or let go of wanting something you aren’t really interested in.

I encourage you to spend some time over the weekend reflecting how you are creating your life. If you are unhappy with any areas, then it’s time to get to work, start creating the life you love and achieving those results.

RETURN TO WHOLENESS

9/25/2014

In this era of Industrial Revolution, humanity has shifted its focus to the outer world of “things” and forgotten their own internal connection to the Divine Will of Love, Intelligence and the vital life force that sustains us all. Humanity mistakenly believed the quantity of things would fulfill the quality of life they were in desperate need of. But instead we became angry, bitter and fearful when those empty promises could not satisfy our innermost needs.

This week’s focus has been about the body, mind and spirit connection. Becoming healthy, whole and complete and finding balance in health, wealth and happiness. Living a passionate, meaningful, quality life can only be fulfilled when we are loving and joyful on the inside first. It will never be fulfilled by the quantity of things we acquire. Material goods can only provide convenience in how we do things.

Forgiveness is the key to your inner peace and end to your suffering. Forgiveness provides the immediate correction, healing and solutions to the vocation of our minds that reconnects with the spirit that creates peaceful loving, intelligent life again. It is the end of the destructive thoughts, illusions and false perceptions that love and joy are not a part of our life.

It is for our benefit that we allow forgiveness into our daily practise. It means we are allowing ourselves to be worthy of love and kindness. It gives us the courage and strength to stand up for what is good, right and true in our interactions with others and walk away from the ill will of others by ending the power struggles. It does not make their actions right, nor should we allow another to continue harming us.

In my daily practise of forgiveness I ask, “Divine Creator of the Universe, please grant that ________ receive your forgiveness for __________(whatever action they are doing). Thank-you. Thank-you. Thank-you.” Then I ask for my own correction. “Divine Creator, please grant that I may be granted your forgiveness for my _______(whatever feelings or perceptions of the behavior). Thank-you. Thank-you. Thank-you.”

By letting my negative thoughts and emotions go in this way, I am making space for love, gratitude and understanding to take its place. I always feel better and usually see a perspective of the situation I didn’t see before. When I resolve the conflict with myself, there is no need to continue the conflict with others. I have given myself the love, acceptance and freedom I need. I can choose and be okay with the outcome either way. I can accept my own imperfections as part of my growth and learning and I am patient and tolerant of others who are doing the same.

Forgiveness can be practised in any area you are experiencing conflict in. Your health, wealth, relationships, business, coping skills, communication, etc. Conflicts in one area will show up in other areas until we change the root beliefs that drive it. Forgiveness will release these roots and show you a more peaceful, loving truth. Life can only grow and be sustained in love and joy. Forgiveness is the light that shines the way.

THE THIRD PRIORITY

9/24/2014

This week’s focus is the body, mind and spirit connection to achieving a whole and complete life. In order to be active, and feel good our first priority and focus has to be on health. We cannot focus or achieve anything else if we are sick. The second priority to focus on is wealth. Without money we cannot lay the foundation for our basic survival needs. Hunger, shelter and clothing outrank all other thoughts until these needs are satisfied.

It is this energy vitality, peace of mind and self-contentment that enhances the quality of this third priority which is relationships. When the first two priorities are adequately met and stress goes down, the quality of our relationships goes up. When we become creative, loving, happy and prosperous we also become attracted and attractive to other like-minded individuals. We want contribute to the care and well-being of others and the world. We want to grow, expand, evolve and be part of something bigger than just ourselves and we can do it because we have the means to do so.

If we approach relationships from a state of fear we overreact and behave from one of two extremes. One is being too dependent, needy and burdensome, trying to bring others closer or holding on too tightly from fear of being alone. Or the opposite extreme of being too independent, pushing others away with ignorance, arrogance and demanding our need to control and have others do what we want them to. We falsely believe we don’t need other people but under the surface there is a fear of being hurt, losing love and friendship and, in the end being alone.

The same ugly fears, beliefs and challenges will come around again about our worthiness, acceptance, approval and validity that we faced when making changes to health and wealth. Just when we thought we had our baggage sorted out, we realize the old friends, co-workers and possibly even spouses or partners just have nothing in common anymore and we find ourselves wondering “what purpose does this relationship serve?”

The loyalty card will come up again for observation. If we live by the “win/lose, good guy/bad guy beliefs” then it will be difficult to leave the relationship and it will become another weight that holds you down and slows your progress to move forward. Emotional manipulations and guilt may set in when we want changes they aren’t ready for that exposes their fears of loneliness or change. Not wanting to rock the boat, we may put their comfort and happiness at the top of our priority list and we remain miserable.

When we approach others from a state of love, we are balanced and deal with others in a manner that is inclusive, warm, friendly and inviting. We have an attitude of compassion, empathy and caring and even strangers are looked upon as friends not enemies. There is a flow of give and take that is co-operative, seeks togetherness, teamwork and strives to meet individual needs as well as the group as a whole. We can happily interact with others knowing we can love and care about them but we are not responsible for their thoughts, beliefs, feelings or outcomes of their behaviour.

Interdependent relationships whether at home, work or socially are respectful of the thoughts, feelings and needs of every individual and tend to achieve greater accomplishments. Values shift and trust, responsibility, accountability and follow through are mutually held in high regard. Differences that exist amongst each other and are embraced, viewed as valuable assets and unique contributions. These types of relationships expand our knowledge, resources and experiences that can dramatically impact optimal health and wealth that everyone benefits and grows from.

WEALTHY HEALTHY AND HAPPY

9/23/2014

Yesterday’s blog talked about making your health your number one priority. I mentioned some other areas of health that get overlooked when taking care of physical well-being and maintaining optimal health. There are many excuses people use for why they aren’t healthy and they all relate to lacking in time and/or money in some form or another. None of these excuses are in fact true.

Once health is achieved at a relatively sufficient level, the second priority to build and focus on is wealth. I find it surprising how many people shrink and reduce their needs, wants and dreams to match their income instead of increasing their wealth and prosperity to match their desired lifestyle. Why do people do this?

For most people, the fear of success is much bigger than the fear of failure. We are conditioned at a very early age to cope and deal with failure, disappointments and setbacks. Everyone has dealt with this many times. We have learned coping skills to deal with it. We have gotten so used to it in fact that not only have we accepted it but now come to expect it more often than we expect successful outcomes. The lessons and coping skills to deal with success and prosperity are lessons most of us have never been taught.

Because we aren’t prepared to handle wealth and expect massive success, it continues to be something to be feared. Fear of the unknown gets perceived as something illusive, bigger than we are, dangerous, the enemy to be avoided at all costs. Loyalty to our parents becomes another factor on why we set limitations about what we achieve financially. We don’t do things that would create their fear or have them think of us as a threat or their enemy. We choose to live up to their expectations to gain approval, acceptance and validation of our worthiness. This self- preservation seems the safest path. Our parent’s happiness becomes a bigger priority over our own and ideas of success, wealth abundance and prosperity become something to fear a threat to our love and survival.

In order to change the fear of wealth and success you need to look at the meaning you have given it. If you have given wealth or your self-worth meanings of good/bad, right/wrong than success can be frightening. Attaching attitudes of arrogance or entitlement that come with comparing yourself to others “I’m more than or less than others” has a devastating impact on your confidence and self-esteem. That too can seem scary, unpredictable, and out of our control.

All of these attachments to these meanings are weights that pull you down and make success seem difficult, out of our control and too far to stretch or beyond our reach. Inspiration, creativity and motivation all collapse under these weights. Success is only scary because of the deceiving meanings you give it. Success doesn’t validate you, make you smarter or better. If you believe these false expectations, then success will become very frightening to you.

In the process of creating something new, something old has to be let go and destroyed. Abundance and lack cannot co-exist together. Lack is destroyed in the creation process of prosperity and wealth. Loneliness and despair are destroyed when new friendships and loving relationships are created. Unlikeable becomes likeable.

It is not the “material things” that make you happy. It is overcoming our own limiting ideas, false beliefs, fear and connecting with the goodness and spirit that already is within you WHILE you are in the process of creating wealth and success that reveals our true inner happiness. It is a process of growing not an end result or final destination. Change does not need to be feared but embraced with positive expectancy that good things are happening in the process.

Wealthy people are happier and healthier in general because they have done the work to lighten the load and learned how to handle success. Just because you may not know how right now, doesn’t mean you can’t. It simply means there is an abundance of opportunity for you to learn and grow in wealth, health and happiness. Enjoy the process and be grateful for what is being revealed to you about the greatness of who are along the way.

QUALITY OR QUANTITY

9/22/2014

Now that that summer is coming to a close and the final quarter of 2014 is approaching it is a good time to do a quick review on the quality of life you are living. Many of us have agendas and planners that are jam packed with meetings, appointments, “should’s”, and “have to” things to get done. We micro-manage on the outside but we are exhausted and miserable on the inside. At first glance it may seem like we are doing everything we think we are “supposed” to but at the end of the day we go to bed feeling like it’s not enough. Something is missing.

The first priority of planning that always needs to be at the forefront of your focus no matter what, has to be your health. Without a healthy body everything else in life suffers or ceases to exist. Proper diet and exercise balanced with a good night sleep is crucial for optimal energy and output. Your body is speaking to you all the time. Are you listening to what it tells you it needs?

Many times I was surprised when I took the time to sit and listen to my body and realized some other aspect required attention that hadn’t been on my radar. My feet hurt and needed a good foot soak and rub. My muscles ached and needed a massage to release tension and relax. Sometimes the constant nagging was my intuition telling me to detox.

I learned to recognize when my mind started over-analyzing the same problems like a merry-go-round that there were situations I needed to stop and make some decisions about. I admit I was being a proverbial donkey and couldn’t decide which bale of hay to eat from. I was starving myself in my own indecision, avoidance, procrastination and excuses. Problems would grow and nothing was getting resolved. I justified to myself time and again that I was taking care of things. Mistakenly, I too focused on the quantity of my “to do” list and not the quality of my “health list”.

I learned that allotting time-outs from the world was healthier. In peaceful silence, I heard myself screaming to go sit in the balance and grounding of the forest to re-connect with the life force energy. Other times I wanted to go swimming where the water soothed me emotionally during crisis or transitions. The quality of relationship I had with myself was poor and definitely had room for improvement.

When it comes to taking care of your health it is necessary to consider these 4 levels of being. Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual all require maintenance for optimal health. They are just as important to factor in to your daily, weekly or monthly time schedule as your exercise routine and nutritional eating habits.

If saying “NO” to others and “YES” to you having the time and freedom you need to make your health a number one priority is a challenge for you, there is a workshop, 7 Simple Ways To Say “NO”, that teaches stress management, negotiating and problem solving skills that pertain specifically to communicating in relationships with family, friends, co-workers or clients. You can increase your success, achievements, confidence and self-esteem and take care of the quality of your healthy, happy life.

FABULOUS FRIDAY

9/19/2014

The word fabulous means extraordinary, especially large, amazingly good and wonderful. When you declare today to be a fabulous day, you are also setting an intention and positive expectancy to have extraordinary results and encounters with others. Your enthusiasm will be contagious. Others will know that you are giving your excellence and you are expecting theirs in return.

Fabulous also holds within it though a certain element of fun, excitement and light heartedness. There is joy and exuberance in the activity that takes away the boring, mundane stagnancy of normal daily routine and tasks. People are drawn to those who know how to laugh and have a good time but still get the work done.

Today, be a trend setter. Let your excellence shine and be the light that shows others what is also possible for them. Have a fabulous day.

THRIVING ON THURSDAY

9/18/2014

Every single one of us is in the perfect situation right where you are right now to completely thrive in love, joy and abundance. So why aren’t you? Because you think you aren’t or can’t or whatever form of denial, dis-belief or negative thoughts you are holding onto that rejects it. This kind of attitude rejects, repels and pushes away the very people and opportunities we want. When they do show up in our lives we push it away and give some reason or excuse why it’s not true, not possible or not real.

We have all had our moments of backwards, delusional thinking when we have denied ourselves as being the problem. It is a part of our human nature to avoid pain and seek pleasure even if it means fooling ourselves for a while until we come to our senses and accept that we aren’t perfect. It is very humbly to accept mistakes and misunderstandings are part of our growth and learning process. There is a correction for every single thought, attitude and behaviour that will bring love, joy and abundance back into proper perspective as soon as we are willing to be 100% responsible and accountable for it.

“I am the problem, I am the solution.” The world changes when you do. When your thoughts become congruent and aligned with what you want, then you will have it. You can’t have a loving relationship if you are constantly affirming all the reasons you think are un-loveable. You can’t get a better job if you are affirming all the reasons you think you aren’t smart enough, good enough. All of these thoughts that “go against you” are delusional, disempowering thoughts. They are inside of you. Other people may have put their graffiti on your wall but you continue to read it every day. Only you can change whether you continue to look at it or put something more pleasing and satisfying in its place.

Our minds are like computers. Every once in a while we need to defragment and clean up what has entered into our programming and clean up our filters. Do a virus check. Has someone else’s poor attitude or negativity affected you? Hit the delete button. Has someone else’s judgment, opinion or criticism swayed you in ways that don’t feel right to you? Spam it as useless information. That is about them and has no bearing on the truth about you or your potential. Has somebody else’s negative or irresponsible behaviour broken a link to your love and joy? Repair the relationship. If the other person won’t participate then trash it and repair your link with yourself and re-connect to your loving, joyful spirit.

As you go about your day today, make a conscious effort to do some mental clean up. As your thoughts come up ask yourself “Keep it. Spam it. Trash it. Delete it.” Make a decision to keep what is yours and appropriately let go of anything that comes from someone else’s operating system if it doesn’t support you or bring goodness to your life. You have grown and changed your style and preferences so stop trying to put on old, outdated clothes that don’t fit anymore. Get yourself off the clearance rack. You are not damaged goods. You are a hot commodity with skills, talents, abilities and a loving joyful heart. The world needs the best of you so affirm the best is within you and be all that you can be.

80 LIVING LIKE SHE'S 30

9/11/2014

Today’s feature of inspiring people is Bertha Suthon’s. What inspires me about Bertha is not so much what she did but the age she did it all at. In a world where we stop “living” at age 50 and merely coast along for our remaining years, Bertha was a pioneer, she went the opposite way. At a time when all her peers were letting the excuses of “age” confine them to their living rooms, Bertha was still out seeing the world and living in Spirit.

As a young woman, Bertha faced the normal challenges of everyday life just like everyone else. She was a war bride and had married a travelling salesman who had problems with alcohol, and engaged in multiple affairs. She became a single Mother raising 3 sons at a time when divorce was socially unacceptable and opportunities for women to work, provide for a family and succeed financially were almost non-existent. She struggled financially and suffered mentally and emotionally and eventually had a nervous breakdown.

It wasn’t until she was in her 50’s that Bertha started to heal and find peace with her life. She started a new relationship with a man who loved her dearly. They bought 100 acres of property and had a dream to build a completely self-sustaining house with natural energy sources. After her spouse passed away, she continued to live on that property until the age of 79. Bertha brought in the fire wood for the wood stove, fed the birds, deer and had mutual respect for the bears and other animals that inhabited the environment. Bertha stated that she never felt “alone” in this environment. She felt more connected to God and life and it gave her love and joy that she had not experience before.

At age 79, Bertha got an apartment and moved to a new town to be closer to her family. She took on the adventure of a 4 hour white water rafting trip and completed it. In her 80’s, she took up art classes and learned how to paint. She gave back her contribution by volunteering weekly at the Senior Center. Bertha ate healthy, exercised regularly and joined the weekly walking group. She went on trips to Cancun Mexico and at age 86, Bertha went on a 4 day camping trip to Algonquin Park and roughed it all the way without any complaints. The group portaged by canoe into the camp site and slept in tents. For Bertha, this was her “Happy Place” and she became energized by the experience of connecting with all life once again.

A couple of weeks after the Algonquin trip, Bertha boarded an airplane and went to a Family Reunion in Calgary. She looked at all of life as an adventure to be experienced. She believed her purpose and gift to the world was the medicine of laughter and she gave it abundantly to anyone and everyone. She read books, magazines and took a course on abundance. Bertha believed until we take our last breath, we always have something new to learn and a blessing we can give away to others that costs nothing.

I know the ripple effects of inspiration Bertha sent out to other’s who loved to be in her presence. Young or old, people were always in awe of her courage, creativity and zest for life. This woman of greatness is my Grandma. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t give thanks and gratitude for having such an awesome woman who inspired me to live my life and taught me how to be something more. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to experience this kind of mentoring. Grandma showed me what the future can look like when I don’t limit myself by irrelevant excuses of age.

NOBODY WILL READ IT?

9/10/2014

What could a 34 year old unemployed divorced English teacher and single parent, reduced to living on welfare possibly have left to look forward to? Do you think the literary legend, J.K. Rawlings, ever imagined the magnitude and wonder of the miracles that would transform her life when she was riding the train from Manchester to London? Did she have a vision for a series of books that would sell into the hundreds of millions and go on to become a blockbuster film franchise?

What J.K. Rawlings started with was a seed, and idea that was planted, tended to and allowed to grow into a legend of history over a period of time. She possessed all the qualities of a woman inspired by her dream. Rawlings had a flow of creativity with the courage to write it on paper and a passion for children’s novels. Like any endeavor worth pursuing, J.K. Rawlings had her challenges, setbacks and fair share of rejection letters. There were critics who told her nobody would read books about wizards, spells and the make-believe world of magic.

The author got her first break selling Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for $4000.00. From there, The Harry Potter series achieved top ranks on the best-seller list in UK, going on to achieve the same ranks and taking over the top three spots on The New York Times best-seller list. The fourth volume in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire became the fastest selling book in history.

Harry Potter and the order of Phoenix, the fifth book in the series received orders of over 1.8 million copies. The biggest opening in publishing history hit just 24 hours after the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released, with 6.9 million copies sold in the U.S. alone! The largest ever pre-ordered book in chain stores Barnes & Noble, Borders and Amazon was the seventh book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.

Harry Potter films held the same success as the novels. Smashing box office records, earning $20 million more than the previous record holder, the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s stone earned an estimated $93.5 million. It became the top grossing movie of the year in 2001. The second and third films reached the same box-office success. Today, J.K. Rawlings is the 13th wealthiest woman in Britain, even wealthier than the Queen.

So much for the critics who rejected her manuscript and told her the idea wouldn’t sell. Having enjoyed Harry Potter movies with my own children I am grateful for those who had the vision to make it all happen. No matter what your idea, craft or talents are, never let anyone steal your dream, no matter who they are. Do what you are passionate about and keep putting forth the effort to find the visionaries who will eventually support your idea. You never know, you might just make history!

Resource: http://www.biography.com/people/jk-rowling

PARALYSIS BY ANALYSIS

9/10/2014

Last week the theme for my posts was about the power of Gratitude. While meditating on all the things I was grateful for, I also became aware of something else that is inherent in gratitude. That is INSPIRATION. I decided to make it this week’s theme and share the stories of some very inspiring people who, in spite of some crippling defects, have overcome the paralysis of their physical conditions and achieved some very great accomplishments.

What does it mean to be inspired? It is the opposite end of the spectrum of the state of fear and anger that leaves us weak and powerless. To be inspired means to be in a “loving accepting state of courage to do and move in whatever way the heart desires.” It opens a vision of unlimited potential, possibilities and opportunities that enter into the realm of miracles.

We see miracles happen all around us every day and yet we still doubt. Why do we do that when there is so much evidence all around the world that other things are possible? Why do we limit ourselves to smallness and weakness and tell ourselves this is true of our potential outcomes? Why do we sell ourselves short on the life we really want to live that brings us love, joy, wealth and health in the ways we want to do it?

Today’s inspiration is Nick Vajicic. Born with no arms and no legs, Nick swims, surfs, plays the drums, he’s a Husband, a Father and does everything any other “able bodied” man can do. Nick is not bitter about the hands he “wasn’t” dealt in life. Nick has the courage and strength that doesn’t come from having legs to stand on to show the world how big he is. What Nick does have is the power of confidence and the courage that comes from his heart. He has the truth that allows him to believe in himself in a world that would be all too happy to promote hopelessness and tell him he can’t do, be and have a life worthy of living.

I encourage you to watch today’s short but powerfully packed video as he shares his message of love, faith, courage and the will to live the life he was given with vitality. Every life can be seen as a great blessing when we let go of the paralysis and illusions of fear that diminish our worthiness, confidence and self-esteem. You are great! Go forth today and create miraculous ripples that show the world what an awesome blessing you truly are.

http://youtu.be/zOzsjEmjjHs