Archive for Gratitude

Happy Hearts

February 14, 2008 Jean No comments

Yes!  I Love Valentine’s day!  It’s so important to have as many days as possible throughout the year where people give themselves more permission to be Loving and giving and laughing and sharing and playing and being silly, and just really enjoying themselves!

Yes!

It’s my favorite holiday.  Although you might hear me say that about another holiday when it comes along.  Again, any day that somehow fosters more havingness for Love and play and celebration is a Fantastic day in my book.  Let’s Love more!  Let’s have Happy Hearts every day!

I received a Happy Valentines email from my mother earlier today entitle Happy Hearts Day.  How appropriate.  So I have to credit her with that new fabulous name for today, and every day we give ourselves total permission to Be.  To be Happy, Grateful, Open and Bright in our very happy-grateful-open-bright Hearts.  Thank You Mom. And Thank You All for the Love you give and receive freely today and everyday you allow yourselves to have this ever-present Gift of the Heart.

May we all always have the Joy, Love and Giving that is our heart and our Self.

Thank You St Valentine!

Gratitude

Gratitude and Givingness: the way of Peace

February 7, 2008 Jean No comments

I love Thanksgiving. Isn’t it great to have a holiday that’s really all about giving thanks?! While it’s certainly important to practice thankfulness every day, I’m celebrating that our culture holds space for Gratitude on this national holiday. It really is commendable that, as a collective, we share a day focused on remembering what we’re thankful for.

Thanksgiving offers many opportunities, not only for gratitude, but for forgiveness, generosity and cultivating peace. For so many of us, Thanksgiving is a time to be with our family,indeed, many travel great distances to be with their family. And often, there is more of a sense of apprehension, resistance and discomfort at the thought of seeing and being with family members than there is enthusiasm and joyful anticipation. What a great opportunity to notice where we hold resentment, fear, judgement or grievances of any kind. What a fabulous time to practice forgiveness and allow a deeper healing of ourselves and our family.

Gratitude and Forgiveness are really very alike. When we are grateful we are giving thanks. We are giving the energy of thankfulness, the joy of gratitude. Gratitude cannot be contained: it must be given in order to be had. We must share gratitude in order to experience its joy. And, it’s the same with forgiveness. Notice, it is for-giving. Forgiveness is generosity. It is giving and honoring the peacefulness of sharing our heart, the heart.

Givingness comes from remebering our oneness, our not-twoness or not-separateness. Givingness is validation of Spirit, for Spirit is whole, undivided, One. Gratitude is the effect of choosing to validate spirit, to honor the truth of our wholeness. And, it is the same with forgiveness. When we forgive, we are really seeing and honoring the truth: that we are not separate, that if I hold a grievance about anything or anyone, I am condemning myself. Givingness says, I will give to you in order to give to myself. I will give you appreciation and validation of your light, your beingness, your divinity. Then, gratitude celebrates the joy of our union, our wholeness. And peace becomes our only reality.

Gratitude, Morning Meditations

Laughing all the way

January 30, 2008 Jean No comments

I love to laugh.  It’s not something I try to do.  It just happens: laughter pours from my heart.  And, unless someone asks me  “what are you laughing about?”, or “what’s so funny?”, I usually don’t stop to ask myself these questions.   There’s nothing to laugh at, literally.  Laughter is.  It’s truly an expression of the realization that only God is, and everything else that appears to be is just an absolutely laughable and absurd illusion.  : )

This past weekend, I had the delightful opportunity to attend a Laughter Yoga leader training in Las Vegas. What a Joy!  To laugh and laugh for no reason at all was the entire purpose of this training.  How validating that was for me!  Yes! my heart responded, there are more happy, laughing-for-no-reason hearts in the world, of course!  Excellent!

Laughter really is the perfect exercise.  As an aerobic activity that stimulates the heart and lungs while massaging other internal organs, it’s an excellent exercise for those who of us who don’t enjoy jogging or going to the gym.   (They say 1 minute of laughter is equal to 10 minutes of jogging or rowing!)  Of course, the benefits of laughter go far beyond the physical.  When we laugh, we let go…of everything.  You can’t hold on the fear, grief, pain, anger…you can’t hold on to anything.  In fact, when you really laugh, and keep laughing, you can’t even think.  Ha Ha Ha!!  It totally clears the mind.

Laughter is an excellent prescription then for any ailment, whether it seems to be of the body or of the mind.  Since we know our thoughts create what we see and experience in this world, what better way to experience joy, then to laugh?!  Why wait to be happy about something to laugh?  Let laughter be the cause, not the effect.  And then, aaaaahhhhh….. nothing but a smile of peace and recognition.

My favorite poet, Hafiz, knew the secret of laughter.  “What is this love and laughter budding in our hearts? ” he says, “It is the glorious sound of a soul waking up!”

Let’s wake up now, shall we!

Gratitude

I’m Back…Whew!, Choosing Wholeness again

November 26, 2007 Jean No comments

Aah, it’s good to be back! Where’d I go? Oh, let’s just say away from computer-land for a while. I thought about all the lovely posts I could create over the holydays and into the New Year, full of the Joy of Christ and the miracles of that sparkly time of year. But, instead I chose to take a long break from computer-land, as I love to call it. Yes, a whole new and seemingly endless world opens up when we surf the web. So many possibilities! We can make universes of social circles and inter-connecting networks of communication. This is great fun, and truly a gift for expanding our horizons in this world! And yet, it’s easy to dive in and forget to “come up for air”, to join with the stillness, quietness and Truth of our Being. Balance is key. This winter has gifted me with opportunities for more balance. Time for “work” and time for play. Time to go inward, and time to bring the Light from within “out” to the world. Time to rest and time to go, go, go! Time to speak and time to listen. The balance I’d like to create is the right in-between space of Now. Now is where I nurture Self while I nurture “others”, give as I receive, listen as I am being heard, see as I am being seen. Because in the Now, there is no space and time, there is no separation between us. In Now, I give to the all, and so I receive. In Now, I listen to the All, and so I am heard. In Now, the vision of the All is given, and so I see and am seen. And so, Now, I choose balance. I choose again to have the Wholeness I am, from which true balance is recognized, given and received.I am so happy, so grateful, for the many reminders to choose again to have What I Am. It’s so simple. When I notice imbalance in my life, I choose again my wholeness, which is absolute balance, completion, fullness. And so, when I seem to have no time for rest, or not enough time for work, or feel too tired to play with my son, or seem to be traveling too much to stay connected with friends at home… Whatever it is that appears to be out of balance is really a Reminder, an opportunity to forgive and choose again. Choose Wholeness, choose Now. Choose divinity. Choose Spirit. Choose That Which Gives, That which is unlimited, That which IS.Yay!!!May you always recognize the gifts in any experience of “imbalance”. May you always know it as a reminder, a gift that appears, reminding you to choose Wholeness again, and then disappears.Isn’t that great!!Try it! ; )Namaste

Forgiveness, Gratitude, Next Step

Into the Great Write Open

October 6, 2007 Jean No comments

Writing has always been an internal process for me, of opening up to what’s inside my heart and mind in the moment.  It’s a bit different, if not scary, to actively choose to write that way online.  But that’s what I’m doing!  I’ve decided not to write any differently than I do when I’m scribbling away in my journal, recording thoughts in the moment, delving for some wisdom and guidance to come through the words as they pour forth from my pen.

Now, the pen is a keyboard, and I’m publicizing the thoughts.  How fun!

This morning I went for a walk in Lithia Park, a beautiful piece of the earth in Ashland, with stream and gardens and paths and natures diversity.  I encountered deer and chilly air, and happy morning walkers.  As I followed the path up the creek, I enjoyed the song playing in my mind, whose words come from one of my favorite lines in The Course in Miracles:  “Teach only love, for that is what you are.”   As these words repeated over and over again to a heart stirring, joyous melody, my pace quickened and I smiled and laughed in deep gratitude for God’s Presence.

Life is good, when we listen to Its ever-present song.  I feel full, completely whole and at peace, despite outer circumstances.  Outwardly, there is rapid change, uncertainty, instability.  And yet, as I allow myself to deepen into the certain, unchanging Peace that is Spirit, I experience what is True, what is Reality.  And I hear it’s song of Joy, celebration, laughter and miracles.  This song calls me home, to infinite peace, fullfillment, and absolute certainty.  It’s the most beautiful song: the song of Trust, freedom and Love.  It’s the song of the Heart, ever-present, unchanging, singing in the stillness of surrender.

May this song be heard by you today, even amidst the seeming chaos of the world and its worries.   Despite any emotions, feelings or perceptions you experience, know that the song of Peace, which is the voice of Spirit, can always be heard, if we but choose to hear it.

Blessings dear ones.  You are the Light of the world.

Gratitude, Morning Meditations, Next Step

A Blogging we will go…!!

September 3, 2007 Jean No comments

Ahh, I have entered the world of blogging!  With great amusement and enthusiasm, I write this first blog.  May the laughter and joy spread to you as you witness my entry into the world of Blog.   Where <em>did</em> that word come from..it’s hilarious!

As this is a beginning for me (of blessed adventures and new connections!), I am looking at the energy of new beginnings, and celebrating the creativity, courage and playful enthusiasm it takes to choose new beginnings.   Each day, each moment, is a new beginning, although we may not always actively <em>choose</em> to <em>have</em> the new beginning, the potentiality and miracle of each day, each moment, is there for us to receive.

Today I am witnessing the fruits of choosing to receive the miracle of each moment.  This blog is born out of my choice to listen to the voice that speaks in the miracle of the moment, and to follow that voice into new and ever-present beginnings.  The energy of new beginnings, as I see it now, is Innocence, Trust, Receptivity, Openness, and Willingness to act upon Guidance.  As I step into that space of new beginnings, with the eager, enthusiastic willingness and innocence of a child, I see each step with clarity and fearlessness.  And, following each step is a joyous adventure into the delightful gifts, miraculous surprises and the next new beginning.

May the new beginning that is today, that is the moment, Bless you with the Joy and Trust of Innocence, the Grace of Guidance and the Ease of receptivity in action.

Welcome to the Heart of Wholeness Blog, and Thank You for witnessing this new beginning with me!

Gratitude, Next Step
  Recent Entries »