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Don't be afraid of the dark. You can reveal your true purpose in the mystery. When you are forced to sit still you are unequivocally getting to know yourself. While the unknown may be scary, these kinds of tests can catapult you into your calling. Can you tap into the fear and see if you have the courage to see it through?

Remember, wherever you go, there you are. So don't try to hide behind your spouse, or best friend, or your job. Don't run off to the gym, or go jogging or drinking. Don't camouflage it behind whatever hobby, service or action you have come up with in your life to protect yourself. It's not protecting you.

Whatever it is, it's a crutch. You are enabling yourself to stay the same. You are stifling your possibilities with the hustle and bustle. You are not encouraging yourself to grow and you can't overcome the darkness if you run from it. 

Quiet yourself. If you don't face the dark it will always catch up to you anyway. So why not stop, be still and see where it takes you? Don't put on your boxing gloves, put out your arms to hug yourself. Don't blast the music, make it as quiet as you can. 

If you trust it, the darkness will show you your true passions, intentions, and desires. Important discoveries can be found when we follow our inner path. We can plant new affirmations for ourselves that help us be better people. We will  invoke peace in our hearts so that we may know humility. We are beings made from love and the most important love of all is the love we show ourselves. 

Isn't it time you set yourself free from the darkness?

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Some Assembly Required

Beautifully warm weather on the water and the rippling reminds me of moving forward. With a strong sense of propriety I've decided my hand-book must be missing pages but beating to my own drum has served me well. Missteps and mayhem keep the humor alive and it's ironic that I have a sense of comedic timing at all.

One step forward and two steps back and thank God for second chances.

While not being privy to all of the instructions may be cause for alarm, our common sense should be able to fill in the blanks. Life is a like a game of ad-libs. Venture to follow the culprit of necessary struggles, and here in lies the rub. It's in the struggles that we can become friends with our sunny disposition.

If everything was easy, who would that make us? When putting ourselves together we need to have some faith. We need to know when to use a little WD40 to loosen our grasp and when we should take out the wrench to help reign it all in.

Assimilate all there is to be thankful for and widen your reach. When you find yourself somewhere, you just don't fit, laugh it off. Embrace the differences of every piece of the puzzle. Accept that what you bring to the table might just round out the edges.

Don't be homogenized in someone else's scrabble game. Know who you are and spell it out loud and clear. Even if sometimes you are missing a letter, don't let it keep you from being you. As long as you are learning and thinking outside the box you are automatically adjusting according to size.

Don't be afraid that a little assembly is required. Keep rolling the dice and see where it takes you. There are usually a few bolts left over anyway, right? Hold on to those like a monopoly piece. Let them be your get out of jail free cards.

What are you going to do with yours?






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Release the Hold

It is a great thing to know our vices.

                                                                                  Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

For those of you of have ever struggled with a vice, you know that the grip can be as strong as an anchor at the bottom of the sea. It can render you immobile, keep you struggling and it can drown you. There is no grey area. It encourages us to fight or to give in. It tempts us and taunts us and threatens to be perfect. It makes false promises and gives us hope of temporary courage. It lets us see what we want to see. The mirror mirror on the wall and who's the fairest of them all?

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

                                                               Abraham Lincoln 

Not having the gift of mortality lends itself to a sense of getting it right, right now. There is integrity in the honesty.  Their is hope in the fortitude of the approach. Your moral fiber isn't covered in sin. You just branded yourself a survivor so you could overcome the memories. You buried your thought process behind the misguided representation of a life left behind. You did what you had to do to face the day.

He has all of the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.

                                                              Sir Winston Churchill

Whatever habits you picked up along the way, you did it because you needed someone or something you didn't know how to ask for. Or you thought your prayers went unanswered or the strife of time became too much for you and you couldn't hold on. It alludes to the fact (whether you want to admit it or not) that you are human and deep down below the surface you are ready to release the hold. 

Our greatest virtue will always be the art of humility. It is in weakness that there can be strength. It is in bewilderment that there can be courage. It is in admission that there can be freedom. When released from the clutch of your internal story, you realize things will inevitably be different. 

You won't need recognition. You will trust that your honor holds great promise. You will settle in to being who you were meant to be and you won't be afraid to see who that is. 

What are you holding on to?

photo from http://www.designzzz.com/gorgeous-sunrise-photography/

thanksgiving

Early morning overcast above the rippling ocean and the birds pretend they're not paying attention. Inanimate objects come to life as eyes open, boat engines rev and a sea lion says good morning in the distance.

Thoughtful moments and somewhere laughing children play in the snow. Your past catches up to you and you're reminded of your moms home cooking and you wish she was still alive. Being alone isn't always lonely and tears a long lost friend. Someone out there never even knew their mom and you remind yourself how lucky you are.

So much to be thankful for and you hope the angels hear your prayers.

Dearest God, Universe, Buddha, Angels,

Please help us all.  Please help us be humble, grateful, plentiful, and giving. Please help us be nicer to each other. Please help us be respectful. Please help us go out of our way to make others lives easier. Please help us behave toward others as we would have others behave towards us.

Please help us give a helping hand whenever we can because we are the fortunate. Please help us remember that we represent the few and we are capable, willing and able so we must put that to good use.

Please help us remember how fortunate we are while others sleep in the streets. Let's find a way to help them. Please help us remember how courageous we are while others lay scared in hiding. Let's find a way to help them. Please help us be gentle with the elderly for if it wasn't for them we wouldn't be here. Let's find a way to help them.

Please help us take notice of a wounded child for they are our future. Let's find a way to help them. Please help us bring laughter to the sad for we no not what made them unhappy. Let's find a way to help them. Please help the greedy find a way to give. Let's find a way to help them. Please help us be thankful for what we have but remember those less fortunate. Let's find a way to help them.

Please help us remember that life is fragile and can be taken away at any given moment. Please find a way to help us help ourselves so we may uplift our global consciousness to a state of service. Please help us not feel entitled because we can lose it all tomorrow. Please help us remember what matters and to know that it's not what we have but what we do with it.

Please help us know in our heart of hearts that we are all the same, we are all people and we all deserve to be treated equally. Please help us be humble, grateful, plentiful, and giving. Please help us all.

Amen, Namaste, Om

Quiet Please

It seems as of late, there hasn't been much to say. There have even been moments when the thought of never writing again didn't scare me. Maybe it's all been said, maybe the exhaustion got the best of me, maybe the quiet was just too perfect.

When something moves you, follow your instinct and see where it leads.  When you're tired get some rest.  When you are feeling lethargic force yourself to exercise.  When you're life isn't working the way you would like it to, change it.

The unhappiness and negativity surrounding my living space finally hit home. It was breeding like a cancer and the only evident cure became to adhere to the proverbial vortex and wait it out. It wasn't easy to relinquish the control that was fooling me all along but the key would be to stop engaging. To just be quiet.

In the vulnerability was the hope of something new. In the quiet were the answers. In the peace, it was okay to wait. There was prayer, and meditation and rethinking objectives. There was determination and humility and embracing new beginnings. There was some fear but it was overcome by the power of prayer and meditation. When you believe in the powers that be a funny thing happens, the world will give you what you ask of it.

What is your quiet telling you?







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Pocket full of Empty

Time passes and doesn't ever wait. Like a train in the night it will show us the scenery if we can focus long enough on the landscape whizzing by.  We jump off from time to time to see what's in store for us and when we're ready, we get back on.

Rustling through our pockets we find our ticket, stamped over time like the passport of a world traveler.  Branded once again we stuff it back away and we head down the aisle to find our new seat.  We have no luggage here. We have our armor, our knowledge, and our memories.

Traveling through the experiences we're lucky if we learn something. We learn to treat people a little nicer. We commit to not engaging in negativity.  We familiarize ourselves with hope.  We acquire skills that ensure our successes. We embrace humility so our mistakes will catapult us forward.  We become proficient in self forgiveness. We memorize what makes us happy. We hold hands when we feel alone.  We try to smile when we feel sad.  We establish relationships that make us want to be better people.  We stay away from those that bring us down.  We soak up the beauty in life. We gain comprehension. We assimilate growth. We love.

We commit to being along for the ride and we are open to where it might take us.  We reinvent ourselves when is needed and we embrace the change. We don't always make calculated guesses and sometimes we throw caution to the wind.  

Sometimes the sound of coming to a stop wakes us from a slumber and we realize so many stops have passed us and that's okay because now we are well rested and aware. 

It's then we realize it's time to get off and we won't be getting back on for awhile, so at the next stop we empty our pockets, letting our ticket fall to the floor, because for now, we're home.

Where's your ride taking you?

photo from brendonburchard.com