There is a special little dog that lives in Manvel, Texas.  Her name is Hershey.  She is a 2-year old Chihuahua.  For those unfamiliar with this breed, she is a wee little thing.  However, what she lacks in size and stature, she makes up for in love and compassion.  

Hershey’s family has a beautiful home.  They have lots of property, room to run, pretty nice digs for a dog.  And, what they also had was a momma cat and a litter of kittens.  Within this litter, was one special kitten.  I am going to call her: Survivor. 

Recently, Hershey’s owners decided that it was time for the cat and her kittens to go.  They attempted to adopt them out, without any success.  Therefore, this meant a dreadful trip to the Humane Society.  On this infamous day, the entire cat clan was rounded up and kenneled except for one kitten.  You got it, Survivor!

It seemed that Survivor must have gotten a whiff of what was about to transpire and she hid.  After searching and searching for her, the family gave up, traveled to the Humane Society and dropped off the rest of her family. 

What happens from here is the miracle.

While no one was looking, Survivor slinked out of her life saving hiding space and found Hershey.  She must have known that Hershey was an angel in a fur coat.  Never having puppies herself; however, apparently filled with love and compassion for this little orphan, Hershey adopted her as her own. 

And the absolute miracle is that while Hershey had not been pregnant, or recently  delivered puppies, the love she felt for that little orphaned kitten allowed her to produce milk!

Needless to say, Survivor is not going anywhere.   She and her dog mother have clearly demonstrated that miracles happen, especially when fueled by love and compassion. 

Yes, I do believe there is a reason that dog spelled backwards is God.  And, the story of Hershey and Survivor is living proof.  ♥

When I hear the word kindness, I immediately think of Mother Teresa.  She was the living embodiment of compassion and love.  She recognized no limitations – not even church policy - in her devotion to the world’s poor and her desire to serve them. 

While I have many quotes that I love by Mother Teresa, this is one of my favorites:

“Be a living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.”

This is a powerful statement to “be” a living expression of God’s kindness.  I invite you to really think about that for just a moment.  Then, think about your day up to this point.  What has your expression been?

There is much talk about random acts of kindness (RAOK).  Which, defined by Wikipedia is a selfless act performed by a person or persons wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual or in some cases an animal.  There will generally be no reason other than to make people smile, or be happier.  Either spontaneous or planned in advance, random acts of kindness are encouraged by various communities. 

When I hear people encourage others to participate in ROAK, I often hear the usual things: pay for someone’s toll, buy the coffee for the person in the drive-thru behind you, put a note on a co-worker’s desk, deliver cookies to an unsuspecting neighbor, give a snack to a homeless person, etc.  What I have not heard is placing the emphasis on our outward expression, as Mother Teresa so eloquently shares. 

This is exciting! Think of how many people are put on our path, on a daily basis that we just walk on by without ever noticing.  With a bit of attention to this detail, what a difference we can make.  Sharing kindness doesn’t have to cost anything or even take extra time.  Kindness can be a part of our expression.  It can be the way we show up in the world. 

I personally believe it begins by waking up in gratitude.  Taking that first deep breath upon waking and being grateful for a new day.  Touching one foot down and then the other and saying, “thank you.” Throwing the curtains wide open and feeling the sunshine on our face! We’ve set the tone.  Now, it’s onto a day of spreading kindness.  

If you cross my path, I promise to spread some kindness.  If I do not, please share yours with me, I’ve had a momentary set back.

I spent years being angry with my Father.  Years of recounting, remembering, and rehashing alllll of the ways he disappointed or damaged me. 

For example, when I would chew crunchy food, he would remark, “You crunch so loud, you must have a hollow head.”  Or, when I laughed loudly, he would say, “You laugh like a jackass.”  Another memory was when I had a new boyfriend come over to take me out for a date and my old one showed up in a rage.  My Father quickly left the room stating, “What do you want me to do, he is bigger than me?”  And, the big daddy of them all - - - he had an affair and our family broke up when I was seventeen years old. 

Now why in the world would I mention these things at a time when we are so focused on honoring our Fathers on Father’s Day?  Because I have forgiven him of allll of these things! I have also learned that for every one of these awful things, there are ten good things.  And, I have also discovered that it does not serve me to hang onto all that stuff.

Forgiveness is the pathway to love.

Forgiveness is a spiritual practice.  I am eternally grateful to Louise Hay for being the teacher that I needed to heal the hurts and to guide me in acknowledging that my Father “was doing the best he could with the knowledge, experience, and awareness” that he had at that time. 

Louise also taught me that people “do” what they have learned to do.  This made total sense to me.  I also heard Jack Canfield make the statement .. “Do you think that our parents wake up in the morning and say to themselves … How do we mess up the their lives today? Of course not!”

My Father learned how to be by his parents.  Then his parents learned from their parents, and it goes on and on and on. 

The point is that my Father has always done the best he could.  Through the eyes of love and a heart filled with compassion I’ve been able to grow and completely understand this. 

The result: My Father and I have a wonderful relationship.  I honor him for ALL of who he is.  And, today I choose to remember all of the great things he did for me.  He may not have given me what I wanted, but I do believe that he gave me what I needed.   

I am grateful for my Father and I love him exactly as he is.              

Yesterday as I was leaving the grocery store a man walked by and sneezed.  After a moment’s thought, I said, “Bless you!”  His reaction included a big smile, to be followed up with, “Thank you! How are you?”  I returned the smile, and with a new skip in my step said, “Great, thank you!” 

That brief interaction felt really nice.  It was a pleasant interchange between two strangers.        

It was only when I got into my car that I began to think about the situation.  I thought, hmmm … why do we say “bless you?” Where did that come from?  And, was I being “BOLD” (see Joy’s blog entitled, “Listen to Your Intuition and BE BOLD)? www.houstonbelief.com/inspirationzone   

I would say that I not only followed my intuition, I took it a step farther by thinking about it and going forth with saying, “bless you.”   So, yep, I can be bold.   

However, is it really about the blessing? Or is it just being polite?  This is where the wheels started turning … What if he didn’t want a blessing? What if he believes different than me? How did this whole “bless you” thing get started? 

This is some fascinating stuff! J

When you think about it, do we say anything when someone coughs? What about when someone belches? Now, we may be thinking something; however, there’s no “bless you.” 

I’m also familiar with a few other ways to acknowledge a sneeze.  I grew up saying, “gesundheit.”  Which means “health” .. this I never knew.  I’ve heard my Spanish speaking friend Rita (originally from Mexico) say, “Jesus.”  And, of course, I’ve also heard people say, “God bless you!” 

In digging in a bit deeper, I discovered that for the most part, the various sneeze responses orginated from ancient superstitions.  There was a belief by some that a sneeze allowed the soul to escape out through the nose.  By saying “bless you” the devil was stopped from stealing the escaping soul.  (Interesting).  Then of course, on the opposite side, people believed that the evil spirits used the sneeze as the portal to enter the body. 

And let’s not forget the notion that the heart stops when someone sneezes.  Which is false.  Offering up a blessing (coming from that belief) would mean welcoming the person back to life. 

Finally, there are also cultures that see the number of sneezes significant and offer up a different blessing with each sneeze.  I am liking that one! The succession of blessings include health, love and prosperity. Who knew?

For me, this all started with a simple “bless you.”

Cheerful Jumper

As I type the headline for this blog, I can totally hear Julie Andrews singing, “Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down …” And, the dancing, singing, super nanny just may have been onto something with this one! 

There are lots and lots of things going on in the world that people are chewing on and griping about.  There seems to be a bountiful buffet of “ain’t it awful” stuff to commiserate about.  Yes, it is awful – and … there is plenty of good stuff happening out there too, that we “could” be turning our attention toward.     

What to choose?

Well, this is how I look at it.  Choose that which makes you feel good.   

Proverbs 17:22 states: A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

This has always resonated with me, “a cheerful heart is good medicine.”  I read this to mean that if I choose to be cheerful in spirit, it is good for my soul. 

What does cheerful mean? The first things that come to mind are that cheerful is happy, joyful, pleasant, grace-filled, having a go-give attitude, looking for the silver lining, focusing on the good stuff, and reaching for the best possible outcome. 

Cheerful does not mean critical.  Criticism is one of those spirit crushers.  So, why do we find ourselves doing it so freely and frequently? 

Our world appears in great need of “good” medicine.  Our local communities could use some “good” medicine.  Clearly, all of the prescriptions are not making a dent in the betterment of our society.  Therefore, it seems to me that the prescription of the day is to be cheerful. 

With that, I am going to get my spoon full of sugar.  

~ Sharing Life and Love through the eyes of a happy goddess. 

I recently had the great pleasure of attending a Abraham-Hicks Art of Allowing workshop.  On the WOW scale, I’d give it a bazillion stars.  A real treat for me was having the ability to jump in my car and see them just down the street.  That rocked!

As about 400 of us sat in eager anticipation of what the intended message would be, I could feel the collective excitement.  Sort of like a giggle about to burst out.  Here is the message:   

MOOD MATTERS

Meaning, how we are feeling in any given moment is an “indicator.”  It’s a sort of alert, indicating what we are thinking, to create the feelings, which then … create our mood.  And in doing so, it indicates to us whether we are in alignment with our greater good or not.  Abraham says, “the farther out of alignment we are with Source (God/Spirit) the worse we feel.”

How we are feeling in any moment is a choice.  We can reach for a better feeling thought .. or not.  (Of course all feelings are very important; however, I’m keeping this simple). 

The foundation of Abraham’s teachings is that we are vibrational beings and attract things into our life experiences based on the vibration that we are sending out.  Therefore, if we are loving and appreciating (highest vibration) we draw more of that into our lives.  If we are irritated, grouchy, angry, negative, and complain all the time, we draw more of that into our lives. Ewwww.   

If this resonates with you, or you’d just like to try it out for a while, I encourage you to do so! After all, it feels good to feel good.  While practicing pay attention to what happens all around you.  

Here is a great way to get into the “zone.” Practice the ABC’s of Appreciation!  Whenever you find yourself in a *bad* mood or being critical, edgy, grumpy, etc. rather than park your tent there or take up residence, choose new thoughts!  Begin with the letter A and think of a word that brings you good feelings and FEEL the word.  For example mine is appreciation.  FEEL it.  Move to B.  Mine is bubbles.  FEEL it.  Move to C.  Mine is colors.  You get it.  It can be a lot of fun.  Think of how it could work within a family.  A workplace.  Our communities.  The world! I have begun to utilize the ABC’s of  Appreciation upon waking.  It’s a great way to begin the day feeling good, thus drawing more goodness in.

Thus far, I am having a delicious day .  Play along and watch front row parking spots appear, smiles happen, experience greater ease, notice coins appearing on your path, the intoxicating fragrance of flowers, and beams of light gracing your days. Joy abounds.   

I awoke this morning with the following lyrics playing in my head:

Oh! Come on people now

Smile on your brother

Everybody get together

Try to love one another right now …

How fitting! Yesterday, I discovered The Love Foundation (LF).  It’s mission really resonated with me.  The information also appeared at the “perfect” time, in my opinion.  It surfaced in my awareness, smack dab in the middle of all the National Prayer Day controversy.  Nice. 

I see love as the perfect way to help neutralize negativity.  So, on that note, I decided to share this information and be a part of their vision to unite one and all in a celebration of love and compassion.  ♥ 

LF is a non-profit organization with the mission of inspiring people to love unconditionally.  It was founded 10 years ago and tomorrow is the 7^th annual Global Love Day.  The foundation is not affiliated with any religious creed or perspective.  Rather, it’s focus is on practical use, personal understanding, and experience of unconditional love. 

We are encouraged to be a part of this global day by choosing love, compassion, peace, and unity.  And by spreading the word, so more people can join in this collective effort.   

Love locally, spread it globally!

Just sharing this information already creates feelings of joy for me.  It is my “business” to share love and as a result of this, so much has changed in my life.   

I spent years in Corporate America with hours spent criticizing others and/or gossiping.  I’m not proud of it; however, it seemed to be a breeding ground for sharing the “ain’t it awful” stories.  Yuck! That’s not love.  That’s misery.

Rather than wait until tomorrow, I am going to commit right now to an even bigger focus on love in my life.  How about you?  It doesn’t have to be really big things.  It can be simple little things:

a smile

a hug

praise

holding someone’s hand

really listening

picking a flower for a friend

letting someone in your lane when their blinker is on

returning someone else’s grocery cart

complimenting a clerk

saying hi in an elevator J

picking up random pieces of trash

taking a moment to pet your animals

With that, I sign this with love.  Happy Global Love Day! 

It seems that whenever I’m a part of an experiential intensive, retreat, or workshop …  there is always one person that really touches my heart, leaving a lasting impact.  Recently, at the Heal Your Life® Workshop Leader Certification, it was Cindy.

Cindy is striking.  Actually, she is downright beautiful.  She stands tall, graceful, and looks like a model.  It therefore goes as no surprise that at the age of 15 her dream was to be a professional model.  Then, life took her in a different direction.  However, last year, with the dream still alive in her heart, she auditioned for a Reality Show, which happened to be a model competition and at the age of 39, up against thousands of women - she won! 

During the opening session, we went around the circle sharing.  Cindy shared that just hours before arrival, she received a phone call from her husband.  He was calling to tell her that he had just talked to her doctor and she had been diagnosed with non-invasive breast cancer.  The room went silent.  Her husband wanted her to come home right away; however, she replied, “this is exactly where I need to be right now.”

During the powerful week, surrounded by like-minded amazing people from all around the world, Cindy knew what she had to do!   She took responsibility for her role in the dis-ease, accepted it, worked to forgive herself and others, physically released damaging emotions stored in her body.  Then, through healing meditations, powerful affirmations, mirror work, more forgiveness work and prayer, she was able to come to a place of loving herself.  She remarked that she left with “more self-love and respect than she had ever had in her life!”  And, “it was the most life-changing week of my life.”

When she returned home, she met with her doctor to discuss treatment options.  First step: MRI.  Second step: lumpectomy in two weeks.  In the meantime, she continued with her mirror work, affirmations, and meditation.  People commented on how happy and peaceful she appeared.  Cindy had come to love and accept herself unconditionally.  (Which also meant her condition as well).  Without fear or resistance, she chose to treat herself with love and exist in a state of peace. When her surgeon asked how she was “doing,” she replied, “Great!” Her surgeon was shocked and suggested that she was in denial. 

Cindy went into surgery, with the understanding that there was a chance of having another lumpectomy, if not enough tissue was removed.  However, she wasn’t worried. In fact, she had her husband plan a trip to Vegas for Easter weekend. Their flight was to leave the next morning, but her doctor didn’t think that it was a good idea to fly the day after surgery. So instead, they drove to a resort near their home and enjoyed the holiday.

And here is the inspiring part …

Two days later, Cindy went to her post-op appointment. Moments after her arrival, her doctor came into the office, waving the pathology report, beaming from ear to ear and announced “we did the surgery for nothing! There was nothing there!”

What Cindy knew, that the doctor did not know, was that she was healed.  She loved herself into wellness.

Have you ever found yourself facing a personal challenge where you were uncertain about what to do or where to go? 

I am in Orlando assisting the Heal Your Life® Workshop Leader training.  During this powerful seven-day experience, thirty-six individuals came together to heal old emotional wounds, forgive, and deepen their level of self-love and self-respect.  . 

An exercise was introduced to assist attendees in finding an answer to a personal challenge by connecting to nature/Spirit. In silence, they were instructed to go out into nature and see what they could learn from being silent and observing.   Afterwards, a participant expressed that she looked to the sky to see what it revealed.  She saw nothing.  There was not a cloud.  There was not a bird.  There was nothing.  Her question was a “do I do it or don’t I” type question.  Every single day, there had been clouds.  In this moment there was nothing.  She thought, “Is my answer to do nothing?”  She doubted.  So, she repeated the process with the same result. 

On the very last day, with this experience still in her consciousness, she went to her room and took a short break on her balcony.  Glancing into the reflection of her sliding glass patio door, she caught the site of a “U” in the sky.  Huh? She shook her head.  She thought to her self, “Have I gone crazy?”  Then, she stood to her feet and looked up to the sky to discover the message, “U + God = J! Tears streamed from her eyes!  She ran to the workshop room sharing her discovery.  Many flocked outside gasping.  She decided that her message was “God is always with me.” 

Clearly, this experience moved me.  Earlier, I too had been searching for direction as to what to write about.  Then, perched upon the patio of Joe’s Crab Shack, I received confirmation.  As I re-read what I had written, I glanced up to the blue sky through a square of available space (as I had done the entire time I was there) … only this time, guess what I saw? A “U.” 

I shook my head, jumped to my feet and goose bumps ran up and down my arms.  There was an airplane scribing the message to me: U + God = J

Coincidence? Maybe. However, I have to admit that I too gasped when I saw the “U.”

Each one of us is a unique and divine expression of Life.  Just like snowflakes, leaves, blades of grass, and the bark on trees, we are all different. Yeah! Let’s embrace that.  Why would we work so hard to be like anybody else? When we do, we simply set ourselves up for disappointment.  I believe that we can change our hair, physical size, lift our chin, tuck our tummy, and even go to church … but, if we do not love and accept ourselves, we will never find true happiness.  

Being ourselves in a world where there is pressure to remake ourselves can be a challenge.  Disapproval of others can be a powerful deterrent; yet hardly a strong enough reason to choose to be less than who we are.  If we want to be happy, at peace, experience joy, and feel contentment, sooner or later we must exert our right to be accepted for who we are. 

It is often said that we cannot give what we do not possess.  Therefore, it would make sense that to love another, we must first love ourselves. Yet, there persists the idea that to love one’s self is egocentric, destructive, and selfish.  Wow! Wouldn’t simple logic back up the notion that we can only give what we have and that the more we have, the more we can give?  It seems to make sense to me.

I have personally found that it takes a lot of energy to be someone else. Whew! Once I allowed myself to embrace my “warts,” life became a bit more ease-y.  In fact, when I decided to love myself and be myself, great love walked right into my life.  ♥

So, if you are looking for love, I suggest you begin by loving you.   

Sharing love and life through the eyes of a happy goddess.  With love & gratitude, Diosa