• Joy to the World

    • May 31, 2010 9:27 am

    Dearest Readers,

    Today, May 31st, is a special day in my life. Exactly eleven years ago today I began to walk the Healing Path. I made a decision that day to let go of My Way (sorry, Frank Sinatra) and instead follow the Higher Way. It’s been an absolutely amazing adventure.

    If you will indulge me, I will share with you some things for which I am grateful today. It seems the most appropriate way to give thanks for all I have been given over the years and in very recent days, too.

    • To the six brave souls who attended Cultivate Your Courage in Whitehorse on the 29th. Thank you for coming and for sharing your fears and your willingness to walk through them with me.
    • To the two women who first helped me find a way to stop using drugs and alcohol and to all those who have supported me in staying stopped. Eleven years!
    • To the Mama Duck and her wee little ducklin’s I saw over the weekend, first crossing the road on Saturday and then swimming in the river on Sunday. You were so attentive to them, so protective, looking behind you every few seconds, checking on them, making sure they were okay. You reminded me that the essence of our Nature is Love.
    • To the teachers, mentors, sponsors, coaches, counsellors, spiritual directors, family and friends who have supported and encouraged me to continue growing into my fullest potential by becoming whole and free of shame.
    • To the cat I live with who wakes me each morning with his mournful cries, making me crazy/angry and thereby teaching me compassion. By asking me for love you have grown it out of me. You, little monkey-cat, are the reason I started this blog. You get the credit.
    • To the Loving Power of Higher Guidance, which continues to reveal Itself to me each day as a Force that has my back, works for my Highest Good, shows me how to live the life I am supposed to be living and provides me with all that I need in every single moment of each day that I am Alive.
    • To you, present and future Readers, for being there and for supporting and appreciating this work. You inspire me to inspire you.

    My heart is really full of Love today. Thanks, everyone.

    Inspiring Message of the Day: What do I have to be grateful for? Today I will take the time to write a list no matter how I might be feeling. When I look at what I have instead of what I do not I find freedom from want.

    Well Well

    • May 19, 2010 9:49 am

    Dearest Readers,

    T’is a miserable day, t’ank Gahd.

    When I lived in Ireland I would hear this expression, and others like it, often. The pious Irish will thank God for anything, even the dreariest of days. Well, it’s pretty dreary out there right now but you know what? We desperately need the rain.

    After heading out into the rain this morning to attend the Toastmasters meeting, I was paid a wonderful compliment by a man who said to me, “You’re looking very well.” This is a fine thing to hear at 8 o’clock in the morning but it went over in a particularly favourable way because I feel very well.

    Yesterday, however, and the day before, I was not feeling so hot. I was dealing with some creeping anxiety about the future and so I answered him by saying, “Thank you. I just made my way back to wellness after a couple of days of not-doing-so-well.”

    “Well,” this man replied, “Wellness is relative, isn’t it? Your state of not-so-well-being is likely very different from someone else’s.” He then gave an example of a person he is working with who is overweight and riddled with illness. My “unwellness”, some low-grade anxiety about heading on a two-month adventure across Canada and the US, when compared with the health of his client, suddenly seemed relatively minor.

    Now I’m not a big believer in comparing pain and troubles. My difficulties are just as valid as your difficulties, however different they may be. But this man’s comment did help to put things in their proper perspective for me. It was a good reminder to be grateful.

    How easy it is to forget what we have, how far we’ve come, how well we’re doing. Even if we’re not doing as well as we would like we still have the opportunity to put things in perspective by using the “it’s all relative” tool.

    This brings to mind the idea of a gratitude list. When things seem less-than-perfect we can ask ourselves, “What do I have to be grateful for?” Instead of obsessing about how my trip is going to turn out I can be thankful that I get to go on a trip in the first place.

    It’s a simple but effective way of turning the not-so-well into the well. T’ank Gahd.

    Inspiring Message of the Day: How can I turn my focus from the negative to the positive? Am I willing to be grateful for what I do have rather than what I do not? Today I will practice putting things into perspective by looking at all that is right in my life rather than what is wrong.