Today…I choose to adore.

There is a Native American proverb, which says, “A woman’s highest calling is to lead a man to his soul, so as to unite him with the source.  A man’s highest calling is to protect woman, so she is free to walk the earth unharmed.”

     I love this proverb.  For me it comes to the heart of the matter of our relationship as husband and wife.  There are a number of ways I believe we do this but I’d like to offer up one today for your consideration. I believe that every man deserves to be adored and every woman deserves to be cherished.  In being this for one another I believe we each remind one another of our beauty, our grace, and our Source.  In psychology we learn to reward the behavior we want to see repeated.  I believe this is something each of us needs to bring more into our own lives with our self and our partner, actually every one we touch.  We hear this a lot in businesses, “Catch people doing something right,” but how often do we remember this with our family?

            I remember my self as a young girl adoring my father and my brothers.  This is a quality that I have brought into my relationship with my husband, Sammy, and it has deepened the quality of our relationship.  I have to admit that there was a time in my life, when I had a great deal of fear of reflecting to someone all that I loved about him.  I had an irrational belief, that if he truly saw how amazing he was that he would never want to stay with me.  This doesn’t mean I didn’t do it anyway, I did.  But as I have let go of the fear and unraveled the lie of that story, I believe I have grown in my ability to authentically share with another their beauty, and I am a happier person for it.

Sharing with Sammy all that I believe to be amazing about him is something I find my self naturally doing all the time.  In fact, in the past I often joked with him that I needed to send thank you notes to all of his ex-girlfriends.  He tells me that he wasn’t as good to them as he has been to me.  I think perhaps they were too young to see the truth of him.  Having had older brothers who often hid their emotions behind actions, I learned to pay attention to the action to understand the man.  As I reflected the man I saw him to be, he only became more of him, more cherishing of me, and more willing to let me see into his soul and know him.  For me in adoring Sammy I have gotten to know the deeper, most inner being that he is.  The soul with such compassion and love, someone so generous with all of who he is, one who is passionate about supporting, and empowering others.

            In return I have been truly cherished beyond even what I knew to be possible before this relationship.  The more I adore him, the more he cherishes me, and the more he cherishes me, the more I adore him.  It is fostering the love between us through being mindful and aware of the blessings and gifts we each bring to one another.  It is our willing-ness to let down our guard and let each other see our vulnerability, our heart, and each other through the love we feel.  This is one way I believe we reflect our understanding of this proverb in our relationship and our relationship has been deepened and blessed because of it.

            Today…I choose to adore.  In Joy.

Today I am grateful for my journey.

Today I choose to be grateful for my journey…each step…each so called mistake, each choice, each experience has brought me here.  Today, I choose to love all of me, the compassionate, loving woman I’ve become and the strong-willed, sarcastic teenager that I once was.  I choose to see my growth instead of my short-comings.  I choose to see the beauty of the life I have co-created with my Source, my husband, and my family.  I choose to smile, to be me, playful, quirky me…and to laugh in true joy for the gifts of my life.  Today I am grateful for all the beautiful beings who have seen the good in me when I was unable to see it in myself.  Today, I celebrate the opportunity to become the person my young self once hoped I could be and to know that I am closer than I have ever been before.   In Love and In Joy. =)

Today I choose to remember to breathe…

Today I choose to remember to breathe…to slow down…to let go of all that feels urgent and focus on what is important – the people in my life. I choose to remember that, “The soul would have no rainbow had the eye no tear.” Today I choose to recognize that my blessings and joys are so much greater than my challenges. Today…I choose to relax and be in love and in joy. Love and Joy to us all. In Joy.

The Gift of a Hug

Yesterday I received an unexpected gift.  A beautiful, precious, nine-year-old girl gave me a hug.  It was an incredible one.  You know the kind, when someone puts all of herself into it.  She came up to me, put her arms around my neck, squeezed me tight, and in the process wrapped me in her love.  This little girl is not my daughter.  In fact, she is not related to me in any way.  Her expression of love so freely given felt like a special treasure just for me.

You may be wondering why this dear, sweet, little angel hugged me.  I can only answer with guesses and perhaps even assumptions.  You see this special little girl comes in to our office to get adjusted by my husband.  Since she has been coming in to see him, I have had the pleasure of getting to know her.  She is so open, spontaneous, and generous with her conversation.  Filled with innocence, youthful wisdom, and spirit as she shares with me stories of her family, friends, and school.  I have learned the names of her dolls, her friends, and even those things that drive her to distraction and better those that bring her great joy.

Yesterday, as she showed me her loose tooth that had yet to come out, I shared with her the story of my brother, David, taking a pair of pliers and a towel and attempting to pull out my tooth.  Her face became full of surprise as she imagined this and as I teased her of the possibility of having someone do the same for her, she laughed as she vigorously shook her head.  I find myself remembering my own nine-year old self when I’m in her presence, and it brings me great joy to laugh with her and to get to know her a little more upon each meeting.

There was a time in my life when I would have been intimidated by someone her age feeling as though I didn’t know what to say.  Largely because I was too busy “trying” to be an adult I suppose.  I have discovered that a huge part of being an adult is remembering what it was like to be a child.  Not just remembering, but perhaps something more akin to rediscovering and then allowing that rediscovered part of myself an opportunity to come out and play.  How many of these precious gifts have I missed simply out of fear or a need to “be” an adult or whatever “role” I felt it was “appropriate” to play at the time.

I am grateful that I have overcome that fear and the need to be anything other than me.  I am grateful that I seek the opportunity to know people especially children for the gifts I have received from them in opening up my own heart and allowing my own inner child out to play seems so much greater than anything I am able to give.  The smile that lights the eyes of a child when we listen to them is like the sun coming out from behind a cloud on a grey day.  It lifts the spirit, and awakens the heart.  It brings laughter and joy and a hug filled with unbounded love.  I think this is the true gift to us (in fact one of many) of children…unconditional love.  At least it is for me.

I often wonder if I offer my own children this same piece of me.  In the reflection they offer to me I see both my wins as well as my learning opportunities.  The gift of this little girl’s hug reminds me to keep learning and celebrating each moment I am blessed to receive an act of such genuine, unconditional love from one being to another and to offer the same to all those I touch whether literally or figuratively.

In Joy.

Today, I choose to see miracles everywhere.

Today, I choose to see miracles everywhere…to be filled with wonder and awe at the beauty and grace of creation. I intend to relish in the possibilities of life with arms wide open in child-like exuberance and joy. Today, I will remember that I am a miracle…that we all are. In Infinite Love & Gratitude. In Joy.

Today, I choose to live my life from the perspective of realized dreams.

It is a beautiful morning filled with the sun shining bright and spreading warmth.  I feel a yearning inside to make this day special and yet at the same time I know that it already is.  =)

Today, I choose to live my life from the perspective of realized dreams. I am abundant and overflowing – there is nothing anyone can take from me as all is freely given. I am open and present, centered in my being-ness, and offering to my self and all those I touch love free of judgment or expectations. Love that supports, empowers, and promotes all to be free of shame, guilt, chains, bonds, limiting beliefs or limiting perceptions of reality and to express freely the beauty of who we are into this day.

In Infinite Love & Gratitude.

In Joy.

Today…I choose to see the love in every one.

Today…I choose to see the love in every one.

Several weeks or so ago, I received a shared story via Facebook, http://www.ted.com/talks/israel_and_iran_a_love_story.html?source=facebook – .UT45QcP70L_.facebook. It was about an Israeli graphic designer, Ronny Edry who had heard that war was inevitable with Iran.  He decided to create a poster and post it on Facebook. It was a picture of him and his daughter, and on it, he wrote, “Iranians we will never bomb your country. We heart you.”  He created a movement simply by acting upon his heart, his creativity, through the medium he knew best…and he has touched the lives of millions across the globe and inspired a response first from Iran with the reply, “Israelis, in the end we are all brothers and sisters.” and “We love you too.”

I cried and cried and cried as I watched this story. My heart was simply overflowing with love, joy, and wonder. Behind our governments, we are all people with great hearts. It saddens me to see that our governments promote animosity, and fail to see that as people, our answers are not in hate but in love. This story reflected this so gracefully and beautifully as literally people from all over the world responded.

Perhaps I am an idealist and a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. =) I believe it is a time of coming together. It is time to come together as people, to seek how we are alike especially at our core, our heart, and to honor and respect our differences as opportunities to learn and grow in our understanding and compassion for all people everywhere. How can we best serve one another in support of each other, not in tolerance, but in true acceptance, understanding, and love for the simple fact that we are all beings undergoing the journey of life seeking our truth, seeking to love and be loved, seeking our purpose, seeking to be known and to know, to understand and be understood, to be heard?

Today, I choose to see the love in every one.

In Infinite Love & Gratitude for us all.

I Love You! In Joy.

Today…I choose to walk by faith not by sight.

A close friend of mine said to me this weekend, “Walk by faith, not by sight.” I had read these very words in a book while visiting my mom and step-dad last October and shared with my mom at that time that I wanted to use those words in a blog. So I choose to do that today.

My practice, my belief, and my faith center in this: for me, God is Love. The word of God is Love. We are each infinite expressions of Love, and I believe that I am meant to be here now expressing God’s word (Love) into the world. With this as my core belief, I do my best each day to reflect Love into the world through loving everyone I touch as best I can in this moment. At times I stumble, oh believe me, I stumble perhaps fall flat on my face is more accurate. Yet that is the beauty of it being my practice…I can grow.

This starts with me. I choose to see the Love within me, and I choose to see the Love within everyone I meet. I must admit sometimes it has been more of seeing the Love in others first, and then from being so surrounded by loving beings, I could see the love in me. I am so very grateful I am open to seeing all the Love that surrounds me. My heart overflows, and it has changed my life.

Today, I choose to remember that God is with me…that I am an infinite expression of God’s Love…that we all are.

So, today, I choose to walk by faith, not by sight. This or something greater for the highest good of all concerned. So it is.

Today…I choose to be playful and free.

Today…I choose to be playful and free.  I choose to let go of any ideas about how I or it “should” be, and blissfully surrender into the moment…opening to the experience and all the grace it offers.  Today, I choose to be here now engaging in my life and celebrating the opportunity to simply be. This or something greater for the highest good of all concerned. In Joy.

Today…I will love as my daughter loves…

Today as I was fixing her some breakfast, my daughter asked me, “Mommy, you know what?”

“What, Sarah?”

“I really, really, really, really, really love you,” she replied with such a sweet smile on her face and joy in her eyes.

The lessons my children teach me are so much greater than anything I will ever teach them.

Today, I will really, really, really, really, really love all with a smile on my face and joy in my eyes and the spirit of my precious, little girl in my heart. In Infinite Love & Gratitude to us all. In Joy.