A blog I ran across & enjoyed:
زنجبيل : ZINJABEELAH : زنجبيل: News Flash: People are Kind
Maybe it's the weather: 80 F if not higher, not yet humid, a nice lulling breeze, and people out and about everywhere, smiling at the genuine arrival of Spring, not those false promises of Winter's demise we had last month... -continued-
Image: zinjabeelah.blogspot.com
Life's Journey
Do not undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.
Do not set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you. Do not take for granted the things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless. Do not let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past nor for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live all of the days of your life. Do not give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying. It is a fragile thread that binds us to each other.
Do not be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave. Do not shut love out of your life by saying it is impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give love. The fastest way to lose love is too hold it too tightly. In addition, the best way to keep love is to give it wings.
Do not dismiss your dreams. To be without dreams is to be without hope. To be without hope is to be without purpose.
Do not run through life so fast that you forget not only where you have been, but also where you are going.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.
Author: Unknown
Image: "Jeweled Path" by Gilbert Williams
The universe supports the reality of your beliefs absolutely.
When you believe you must struggle for abundance, then it will bring about situations that are conducive to struggle; when you believe you cannot experience love without pain, the universe will give you exactly that—love with pain; when you believe it takes time for an illness to heal—then so it will.
There is not a single force opposing you, there is only ONE force supporting you absolutely.
It is called LOVE, the force that birthed you, that created you in its own image.
This love is so magnanimous it will give you exactly and absolutely whatever it is that your reality entails.
Change your beliefs and you change your reality.
Author: Unknown
Image: "The Crown Jewel" by William Schimmel
Live in This Moment Now
Unhappiness lives in the past and the future, there is no unhappiness in the present. What are you unhappy about? Is it about something that might happen in the future or something that happened in the past? When we spend time regretting the past, or worrying about the future, there isn’t room for happiness in the present.
What amazed me was the amount of time I was not fully in the present. It seemed like I was always thinking about what was next, or thinking about some event in my past.
Even while engaging in a conversation with someone, I would either be thinking about what they had said, or anticipating how I was going to respond to what they were saying. How many times do we miss vital information from those we love because our minds are elsewhere? Test this for yourself. Become a monitor of your own thoughts. I think you’ll be amazed at how often you “aren’t really there” with what is happening around you.
“The secret of health for both the mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.” —Buddha
Many times when we have insecurities and doubts, we have difficulty focusing on what is happening right in front of us. We’re thinking about what we said to so-and-so, how we could have handled this situation differently, thinking about what we’re going to do if this or that happens, all the while, missing what is happening now.
When you bring your awareness into the moment of now, all worries of the past and all imagined fears of the future gently fade away until all that's left is the vivid experience of the present. It is in this state that you actually start to see life. You'll see colors you never saw before. It is in this awareness where appreciation grows.
Happiness is not experienced in the past or in the future. Happiness is always experienced in the moment. If you are waiting to be happy sometime in the future, you might be waiting a very, very, very long time.
Excerpts: "8 Ways to Happiness" by SelfCreation.com
Image: "Now is the Moment to Live" by Jody Bergsma
In the infinity of life where I am, all is perfect, whole and complete.
I live in harmony and balance with everyone I know.
Deep at the centre of my being, there is an infinite well of love. I now allow this love to flow to the surface. It fills my heart, my body, my mind, my consciousness, my very being, and radiates out from me in all directions and returns to me multiplied. The more love I use and give, the more I have to give, the supply is endless. The use of love makes me feel good, it is an expression of my inner joy. I love myself; therefore, I take loving care of my body. I lovingly feed it nourishing foods and beverages, I lovingly groom it and dress it and my body lovingly responds to me with vibrant health and energy. I love myself; therefore, I provide for myself a comfortable home, one that fills all my needs and is a pleasure to be in. I fill the rooms with the vibration of love so that all who enter, myself included, will feel this love and be nourished by it.
I love myself; therefore, I work at a job that I truly enjoy doing, one that uses my creative talents and abilities, working with and for people that I love and that love me, and earning a good income. I love myself; therefore, I behave and think in a loving way to all people, for I know that that which I give out returns to me multiplied.; I only attract loving loving people in my world, for they are a mirror of what I am. I love myself; therefore, I forgive and totally release the past and all past experiences and I am free. I love myself; therefore, I live totally in the now. experiencing each moment as good and knowing that my future is bright and joyous and secure, for I am a beloved child of the universe and the universe lovingly takes care of me now and forever more. And, so it is.
Author: "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise Hay
Image: myspace.com
Namasté
I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells,
I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Truth, of Light, and of Peace.
When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me,
We are One.
Author: Unknown
Image: "Here and now" by Mario Duguay
Uncovering Your Shadow Beliefs
A "Shadow Belief" is an unconscious belief that influences our entire lives, tells us what we can and can not do, and drives our behaviors. Life coaches Debbie Ford and Cheryl Richardson have helped thousands of people uncover their shadow beliefs...including Oprah!
More About Shadow Beliefs
According to Cheryl Richardson, some of your shadow beliefs are preventing you from getting what you want in life. Most people know they have these beliefs, but are taught to hide them because we are ashamed and embarrassed. But you can overcome them and live your best life! There's nobody in the world smarter about you than you!
Do you believe any of the following statements? — There is something wrong with me. I cannot trust anyone. I'm not lovable. I don't deserve to have what I want. Love does not last. I am worthless. I am never going to be successful. — If you've checked off any of the previous statements, you have shadow beliefs that need your attention.
Three Steps to Uncover Your Shadow Beliefs
Life coach Debbie Ford [The Dark Side of the Light Chasers] says that we can all find what is holding us back in life. Start with these three steps and simple exercises. Debbie says, "To go deeper, you have to be radically honest with yourself. All of your emotions are there to guide you."
Step One: Get in touch with your pain and emotions. "You can't heal if you can't feel," says Debbie.
Step Two: Once you're feeling that pain or emotion, try and connect it to your past to uncover where that pattern of pain began.
Step Three: Embark on a healing ritual that will help you surrender that pain and anger once and for all.
Exercises to Uncover Your Shadow Beliefs
Shadow beliefs cause us to make the same mistakes over and over again. Try these simple exercises for uncovering these beliefs.
Exercise One: For one week, whenever you find yourself overreacting to another person's behavior, ask yourself: What traits in that person are you trying to disown in yourself?
Exercise Two: Also, make a list of the advice you give others and ask yourself if the advice is appropriate for your life. Cheryl Richardson often says, "We often teach what we need to learn."
Family Shadow Beliefs — Shadow beliefs often resurface during the holidays or other times when you are around family—home is the birthplace of shadow beliefs. Uncover why family and the holidays stir up these beliefs, and how you can turn a stressful experience into a journey of self-discovery. -continue here-
Transform Your Family Shadow Beliefs — Five steps. -continue here-
Uncover Shadow Beliefs — Four steps. -continue here-
Image w/parable: The Black Pearl - Crystalinks
"Hold the Light" by Bert Sommer
And I've seen where I'd like to be It's a place where your mind is free If you've seen it, better keep it, don't let go Hold the Light, it's so bright I can't describe it but it's right And easy to find it, Hold the Light.
And I know what I want to do I can try to enlighten you If you've seen it, better keep it, don't let go Hold the Light, it's inside And will be there day or night We can be somewhere, Hold the Light.
It's so hard to hold on, but you can if you try Don't be mislead by what you've been brought up to do It's for the better in you, and will be there day or night We can be somewhere, Hold the Light.
And I've touched what I want to reach And it's things I would like to teach If you've seen it, better keep it, don't let go.
Hold the Light, it's inside, and will be there day or night We can be somewhere, Hold the Light And will be there, Hold the Light We can be somewhere, Hold the Light And will be there day or night We can be somewhere, Hold the Light.
Listen here: "Hold the Light"
Check out these great sites: "The Great Illusion" journey by Victor Kahn and "Woodstock '69" story of Artie Kornfeld
Image: "The Road Less Traveled" by Jim Warren - Religious and spiritual beliefs are very important in this world but I think what is even more important is that we all have the freedom of choice in these beliefs.
"Age Of Aquarius" by The 5th Dimension
When the moon is in the Seventh House And Jupiter aligns with Mars Then peace will guide the planets And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius The Age of Aquarius Aquarius! Aquarius!
Harmony and understanding Sympathy and trust abounding No more falsehoods or derisions Golden living dreams of visions Mystic crystal revelation And the mind's true liberation Aquarius! Aquarius!
When the moon is in the Seventh House And Jupiter aligns with Mars Then peace will guide the planets And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius The Age of Aquarius Aquarius! Aquarius!
Harmony and understanding Sympathy and trust abounding No more falsehoods or derisions Golden living dreams of visions Mystic crystal revelation And the mind's true liberation Aquarius! Aquarius!
Listen here: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx2IRqBmW2Q>
Image: "Flight of Aquarius" by Josephine Wall - Soaring high above the clouds, a girl rides the Pegasus Unicorn, her hair flowing in the breeze created by the gentle beating of his wings. Together they follow the rainbow of hope as it leads them into a future of peace and love for all.
Been thinking about that commercial on tv where the lady talks about her cholesterol levels being "out of whack"... the bad was was too high and the good was too low! Funny how some things finally get through to me & then I manage to forget so fast... another great reminder.
Image: "Yin-Yang Harmony" by Rick Faist
I. Myth and the Modern World - People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.
II. The Journey Inward - One thing that comes out in myths is that at the bottom of the abyss comes the voice of salvation. The black moment is the moment when the real message of transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light.
III. The First Storytellers - The animal envoys of the Unseen Power no longer serve, as in primeval times, to teach and to guide mankind. Bears, lions, elephants, ibexes, and gazelles are in cages in our zoos. Man is no longer the newcomer in a world of unexplored plains and forests, and our immediate neighbors are not wild beasts but other human beings, contending for goods and space on a planet that is whirling without end around the fireball of a star. Neither in body now in mind do we inhabit the world of those hunting races of the Paleolithic millennia, to whose lives and life ways we nevertheless owe the very forms of our bodies and structures of our minds. Memories of their animal envoys still must sleep, somehow, within us; for they wake a little and stir when we venture into wilderness. They wake in terror to thunder. And again they wake, with a sense of recognition, when we enter any one of those great painted caves. Whatever the inward darkness may have been to which the shamans of those caves descended in their trances, the same must lie within ourselves, nightly visited in sleep.
IV. Sacrifice and Bliss - If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are—if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.
V. The Hero's Adventure - Furthermore, we have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us. The labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall slay ourselves. Where we had thought to travel outward, we will come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we will be with all the world.
VI. The Gift of the Goddess - Myths of the Great Goddess teach compassion for all living beings. There you come to appreciate the real sanctity of the earth itself, because it is the body of the Goddess.
VII. Tales of Love and Marriage - So through the eyes love attains the heart: For the eyes are the scouts of the heart, And the eyes go reconnoitering For what it would please the heart to possess. And when they are in full accord And firm, all three, in the one resolve, At that time, perfect love is born From what the eyes have made welcome to the heart. Not otherwise can love either be born or have commencement Than by this birth and commencement moved by inclination. By the grace and by command Of these three, and from their pleasure, Love is born, who its fair hope Goes comforting her friends. For as all true lovers Know, love is perfect kindness, Which is born—there is no doubt—from the heart and eyes. The eyes make it blossom; the heart matures it: Love, which is the fruit of their very seed. -Guiraut de Borneilh (ca 1138-1200?)
VIII. Masks of Eternity - The images of myth are reflections of the spiritual potentialities of every one of us. Through contemplating these, we evoke their powers in our own lives.
Author: "The Power of Myth", 1988 by Joseph Campbell, (1904-1987)
May the Peace of the Creator burn in your Heart
As this candle is carried from one site to another, the flame of spiritual love
and healing continues to light the way for those who seek to know the true self.
Take this light with you to your page that it may light the way to love and healing.
Watch as it travels from one place to another and in so doing it embraces our world with hope.
Peace, Love and Light!
Source: "Candle of Peace" by Eagle Spirit Ministry
The Parable of the Rose
A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully and before it blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom, but noticed thorns upon the stem and he thought, "How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?"
Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and before it was ready to bloom, it died.
So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The Godlike qualities planted in us at birth growing amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.
Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns and find the rose within others.
This is the characteristic of love - to look at a person and know their true faults. Accepting that person into your life, while recognizing the nobility in their soul. Help them to realize that they can overcome their faults. If we show them the rose, they will conquer their thorns. Only then will they blossom many times over.
Author: Unknown
Image: crystalinks.com
My hero — super squirrel!
This is sooo very cute... I'll never look at one of these critters in the same way again!
Does super squirrel live in your neighborhood?
Image: images.google.com
The Wise Woman's Stone
A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.
Author: Unknown
Image: images.google.com
Are You Creating a Different Reality Than Your Parents Did?
When you're a child you often have issues brought on by the family in which you were raised. You swear that when you grow up you will never bring a child into this world, to experience as you did. You grow up and life happens... Did you create a better situation or are you repeating patterns based on DNA family codes? Did you ever grow up at all and find yourself?
Author: Ellie Crystal, When I Grow Up - Crystalinks
Image: "Faith, Hope, Love" by Jody Bergsma - Therefor let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven. 3 Nephi 12:16
The Echo of Life
A man and his son were walking in the forest. Suddenly the boy trips and feeling a sharp pain he screams, “Ahhhhh.”
Surprised, he hears a voice coming from the mountain, “Ahhhhh.”
Filled with curiosity, he screams, “Who are you?” but the only answer he receives is: “Who are you?”
This makes him angry, so he screams, “You are a coward!” and the voice answers, “You are a coward!”
He looks at his father asking, “Dad, what is going on?”
“Son,” he replies, “pay attention!” Then he screams, “I admire you!” The voice answers, “I admire you!”
The father shouts, “You are wonderful!” and the voice answers, “You are wonderful!”
The boy is surprised, but still can’t understand what is going on.
Then the father explains, “People call this ‘ECHO’ but truly it is ‘LIFE!’ Life always gives you back what you give out! Life is a mirror of your actions. If you want more love, give more love!
If you want more kindness, give more kindness! If you want understanding and respect, give understanding and respect. If you want people to be patient and respectful to you, give patience and respect! This rule of nature applies to every aspect of our lives.”
Life always gives you back what you give out. Your life is not a coincidence, but a mirror of your own doings.
Author: Unknown
Image: "Nautilus" by Josephine Wall - Life! Where did we come from? Where are we going? Out of the vastness of space a sequence of events beginning with the tiniest of life forms ignites the spiral of evolution. Through fish, plants, animals and birds the path eventually leads to mankind. A pool of life bringing water cascades from the treetops to form a pathway to a bright and hopeful future.
Discovering Why You Are Here
I have heard it all my life, A voice calling a name I recognized as my own.
Sometimes it comes as a soft-bellied whisper. Sometimes it holds an edge of urgency.
But always it says: Wake up my love. You are walking asleep. There's no safety in that!
Remember what you are and let this knowing take you home to the Beloved with every breath.
Hold tenderly who you are and let a deeper knowing colour the shape of your humanness.
There is no where to go. What you are looking for is right here.
Open the fist clenched in wanting and see what you already hold in your hand.
There is no waiting for something to happen, no point in the future to get to.
All you have ever longed for is here in this moment, right now.
You are wearing yourself out with all this searching. Come home and rest.
How much longer can you live like this?
Your hungry spirit is gaunt, your heart stumbles. All this trying. Give it up!
Let yourself be one of the God-mad, faithful only to the Beauty you are.
Let the Lover pull you to your feet and hold you close, dancing even when fear urges you to sit this one out.
Remember—there is one word you are here to say with your whole being.
When it finds you, give your life to it. Don't be tight-lipped and stingy.
Spend yourself completely on the saying. Be one word in this great love poem we are writing together.
Author: "The Call, Discovering Why You Are Here" by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, 2003
Image: "Key to Eternity" by Josephine Wall - This image is all about the mystery of time. The lovers shown in negative form are Time Lords responsible for the smooth passage of time, and the key to eternity. He wears a blindfold to avoid distraction and to concentrate his thoughts on his important task. According to the language of flowers the White Poplar is said to represent time and the maiden wears a crown of its timeless leaves with their brilliant silver undersides. The water carrier represents the new age - 'Age of Aquarius' - and the past by the ancient stone circle within the everlasting clock. The girl sitting beside the clock carries a needle perhaps to put a 'stitch in time'. The wise old owl looks on as the dandelion clocks shed their seeds continuing the everlasting circle of life. This is only one interpretation…
ROCKVILLE, Maryland (CNN) -- I am a scientist and a believer, and I find no conflict between those world views.
As the director of the Human Genome Project, I have led a consortium of scientists to read out the 3.1 billion letters of the human genome, our own DNA instruction book. As a believer, I see DNA, the information molecule of all living things, as God's language, and the elegance and complexity of our own bodies and the rest of nature as a reflection of God's plan.
I did not always embrace these perspectives. As a graduate student in physical chemistry in the 1970s, I was an atheist, finding no reason to postulate the existence of any truths outside of mathematics, physics and chemistry. But then I went to medical school, and encountered life and death issues at the bedsides of my patients. Challenged by one of those patients, who asked "What do you believe, doctor?", I began searching for answers.I had to admit that the science I loved so much was powerless to answer questions such as "What is the meaning of life?" "Why am I here?" "Why does mathematics work, anyway?" "If the universe had a beginning, who created it?" "Why are the physical constants in the universe so finely tuned to allow the possibility of complex life forms?" "Why do humans have a moral sense?" "What happens after we die?"... -continue here-
Image: crystalinks.com
