Author Archives: Teresa

Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 1)

October 15, 2012

For some, hearing from their intuition is easy, but for many, it is so foreign, they don’t even know where to start. So, I thought I would give some ideas from my experience about how intuition speaks.

Let me start by reminding you about the two polar opposites of feelings: feeling good and feeling bad. Of course, we have many different words for emotions, and here are a few:

feeling good — excited, thrilled, happy, overjoyed, at-ease
feeling bad — tense, nervous, uneasy, anxious, cautious

Your intuition often speaks through feelings. That makes it tricky, because lots of other things can affect how we feel, like what kinds of thoughts we have been thinking, or even if we are hungry. However, if you aren’t hungry and you take a few minutes to breathe deeply and clear your thoughts, you can receive a message from your intuition by how you feel.

Feel the Answer

Try this. After centering yourself as described above, ask yourself a “yes/no” question that you already know the answer to. Think of something you like to do and ask yourself a related question. Then, see if you get a “feeling answer.” Let me give you an example.

I really enjoy knitting, so I might ask myself “should I do some knitting later?” The answer is Yes, and the corresponding feeling is one of happiness and anticipation of continuing my latest knitting project. If I ask myself a “no” question, like “should I get back together with my ex?” the answer is a most definite “no!” For me, I can almost hear the answer verbally, but I certainly get “yucky” (“no”) feelings — anxiety, stress, heart-pounding feeling.

Once you do this and feel both the “yes” and “no” answers, now you can try a less-obvious question and one that you don’t know the answer to. If you stay still, calmly breathing, you should feel the answer — either a good feeling, or a “bad” one. If you can’t feel the answer for some reason, try rephrasing the question or break the question down into a smaller part or get more specific. For example, if you ask if you should take a new job you’ve been offered, but you can’t feel the answer, try asking

– Should I leave the job I am at now?
– Is this job offer good for me?
– Should I look for an even better job out there for me?
– Is this new employer right for me?

A slight variation on this method is to use your fingers instead of just feelings. Make the a circle with your index finger and thumb, like the universal “ok” sign, on both your left and right hands. Now, interlock them like two links of a chain. Calibrate your response by asking yourself a “yes” question as before. Tug to see if your fingers will come apart — for a “yes” answer, your fingers will be strong. When you ask a “no” question, or say something that is untrue, one of your finger-thumb connections will give way and your fingers will come apart. This process is called muscle testing, and the video below will show you exactly what I mean. If you have a hard time feeling the answer, muscle testing will work for sure!

Tomorrow, I will talk about some other ways to connect with your intuition. Subscribe to this blog to make sure you don’t miss it (use the RSS button near the top-right of the page), follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook. Mention that you read my blog!

– The “Hearing from Your Intuition Series” –
Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 1) Feel the Answer | Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 2) Tapping Your Imagination | Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 3) Detailed Messages/Knowing | Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 4) Centering Yourself

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When Times are Tough… Stepping into the Dark

October 13, 2012

When I step from a well-lit area into the dark, an interesting thing happens. My heart starts to beat a little harder and I feel almost like I am blind — I cannot see anything, so I turn my head from side to side and blink furiously. But in a very short time — ten to fifteen seconds — my eyes start to adjust and then I can see again. The longer I am in the dark, the better I can see. After several minutes, I can see almost everything around me and aside from reading small print, I can function totally normally. I bet you’ve experienced the same thing, moving into the darkness!

The same can be true in our lives. When you enter a “dark period” in your life, it feels very unpleasant and your heart starts to pound, too. You can’t see what’s coming up, or what resources or obstacles are around you. Your reflex is to stop everything — instinct won’t let you move unless you can see what you’re walking into. However, if you just wait a little while, the darkness begins to lose its edge, and in no time, you can start to see what is going on. If you stay calm, you can adapt and continue functioning normally. If you panic or think that this is the end of the world, even though your eyes are adjusting, you won’t be able to understand what you are seeing clearly. You won’t know where to go.

So, remember that if times are tough — or if you are remembering a skeleton in your closet that brings back those feelings that times are tough — just wait a little while and you will start to see clearly again. It won’t take long, I promise. It’s a good idea to pause while you regain your vision, just don’t stop there indefinitely. Once you can see again, you can move forward.

Take care, everybody!

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Affirmations to Try

October 4, 2012

I just thought I would take a quick minute to share some of my favourite affirmations with you! Although some are “deeper” than others, they have all been very helpful and powerful. Give them a try or make your own!

“I am surrounded by people who love and support me.”

“Everything I eat goes into the building blocks for healthy cells.”

“Every time I brush my teeth, they get healthier and healthier.”

“I have all the money I could possibly need for anything and everything I could possibly want or need to pay for!”

“Nothing can harm my eternal spirit.”

“I love my job and I’m really good at it!”

“My car is awesome; it cruises along so smoothly and operates perfectly.”

“Good things are coming my way!”

And the one I use most frequently: “Everything always goes smoothly for me.”

May these affirmations help you be kind to yourself, love yourself more, and overcome your past. Do you have any affirmations you’d like to share?

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What’s Your Soundtrack?

September 29, 2012

I wonder what would happen if, all of a sudden, I was a ridiculously talented musical composer? What kind of music would I create? If, right now, I had a full symphony and every possible instrument at my disposal, what would the music in my mind and heart create? If my vibration were to suddenly be transformed into sound, what would it sound like?

Sometimes, I think it would be a bit like the background track to a scary movie. Other times, it would be the soaring, exalting melody of a hero’s homecoming, a struggle completed, the fight over…

Interesting idea, isn’t it? If you want to connect deeply with your inner guidance, this is an excellent way to do it. Imagine that right now, the sum of how you are feeling were music. What would it sound like? This helps you realize how you are really feeling and since your feelings are a very good barometer of the direction your thoughts are taking, you can discover the path you are on/things you are manifesting. As Abraham-Hicks says, when you feel bad, that is simply your inner guidance/higher self telling you that what you have been thinking or doing is not in alignment with your true purpose or your best course of action. So, if your internal music is sounding like a horror soundtrack, your might be manifesting trouble — ominous things are afoot. Thrash metal? Perhaps you have some sub-surface anger you weren’t aware of.

If you decide you don’t want trouble or anger (or whatever), then consciously change your thinking towards what you DO want, picture it as clearly as you can, and now imagine the new soundtrack. Will it be bubbly and happy? Will it be cheerful or peaceful? Dramatically uplifting? This is just another way to play with your vibration and get in touch with what you are manifesting before it appears.

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The Uncertainty Principle

September 22, 2012

I was thinking lately about the Uncertainty Principle. It is a concept in physics, and before you tune me out because that word (physics) scares you, let me explain. It’s a very simple idea.

The Uncertainty Principle says that you can’t know everything about a particle, and I am going to make the analogy that you can’t know everything about a situation. If it happened to you — and I’m thinking of skeletons here — then you know a lot of the details, facts, feelings, etc. But you may never know why that painful thing happened to you. On the other hand, you may have a very good idea why a situation unfolded, and in that case, you won’t know very much about the details of the outcome. You may think you know, but you don’t.

I share this because I hope it will help you come to peace with things in your past and help you to stop searching for “why.” You simply may never know why. You may spend a great deal of energy looking for the reason why, but it is like banging your head against the glass — it will not get you anywhere. It is more helpful to change the story that you are telling yourself about the situation, to reframe it into something that has a more positive spin and acknowledges that you have had many positive experiences as a result of that particular skeleton in your closet. That helps you dissolve any shame and release resentment — how can you resent something that was ultimately for your good? How you talk to yourself is very important (that’s why I have Tell Yourself This affirmations at the end of each chapter in my book). How you center yourself is very important.

So, accept that there are things that you don’t know, can’t know, and will never know. And that’s okay. We were never meant to be omnipotent. We were meant to live in the moment and wherever there is loveliness, beauty or joy, to experience it fully, deeply, and without reservation.

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The Value of Being Self-Centred

September 21, 2012

Did the title of this blog post throw you off? Well, I am not trying to deceive you, but it is important to be self-centred — centred in yourself — and I wanted to expand on that a little.

What does it mean to be centred in yourself?
It means that you know who you are. You know what you enjoy doing, and what you don’t particularly enjoy. You know what you are good at and what is best to leave for someone else to do. It doesn’t mean being conceited.

It means you know when you are acting in your best interest, and when you are acting toward your best goal/higher purpose. It means you are aware of your thoughts and how those thoughts make you feel. You can hear from your intuition any time you like. It means you don’t have to look outside yourself to make decisions.

It means you know what you want. A commercial you see on TV isn’t going to compel you immediately to start buying products or questioning your lifestyle. You know what physical things you want and what emotional things or life situations you want.

Most importantly, it means you are aware that your actions and thoughts (your physio-spiritual vibration) create your reality and you don’t blame anyone else for your situation.

Somehow along the way, many of us have lost track of the principle of cause and effect. When you do something, there is an effect. When you say something, there is an effect. When you think something, there is an effect. When you do, say or think something repeatedly, there is a greater effect. This shows up in many, many ways:

– actual, significant events in your life, such as getting/losing jobs
– how the people in your life treat you
– seemingly random events, like flat tires or hail storms
– painful events, like skeletons in your closet

Being self-centred is another way of saying you are self-aware. You are tuned in to what is going on in your life — you aren’t half-awake — and you are tuned in to what is coming your way. You can predict the future, somewhat, when you are truly self-centred. But only YOUR future. Why would you want to be messing around in someone else’s future anyway?

Ever watch Star Trek? Well, here’s one way I sometimes think of it: there are countless alternate realities within my reach at any given moment in time. How I chose to conduct this moment in time — the attitude I take and thoughts I think — determines which of the infinite realities I will live in for the next few moments. Only this moment matters. Only what I do matters. Only those things I am immediately interacting with in this moment are real (seeing, listening to, speaking about, touching, moving, etc.).

So how can you get in touch with your self more? Here are a few ideas:
– Spend some time alone, just breathing and being aware of your thoughts.
– Spend some time in nature.
– Spend some time alone in nature. 🙂
– Appreciate each day. Look for and/or journal about things that you find lovely, precious, enjoyable or otherwise good.
– Live in the moment more.
– Remind yourself there is a source of higher wisdom within you.

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Sore Muscles, Sore Feelings

September 8, 2012

A very simple truth struck me today, in a new way, so of course, I wanted to share it with you: You cannot heal from a skeleton in your closet unless you are willing to look at it, yet, in looking at it, you must not obsess about it.

The same is true when you are trying to use the Law of Attraction to manifest something in particular in your life. You must see or know the reality that you want to change, but you cannot look at it too closely or it will only grow. The reality of the past cannot be “too real” to you. You have to have a stronger vision in your mind’s eye for what you are wanting to create.

Bear with me for a minute while I digress on this analogy: If you have a sore muscle, it won’t start to feel better if you baby it too much. You need to stretch it, move it gently to get the blood flowing and the healing power going. I know this from experience and it is a fact. You cannot ignore a sore muscle or try to never move it. For some types of sore muscles, working out intensely is the best thing you can do for them. I have a friend who even did this with a broken arm, but I’m not advocating that for everyone!

Now consider sore feelings. If you have been hurt by someone, you cannot ignore it or pretend it never happened and try to never “use” that feeling again. You have to look at it a little, move it, think about it, gently, to get the healing power going. But at the same time, obsessing about that hurt feeling is only going to make it feel worse, and “working it out intensely” is the best thing you can do for it. Ernest Holmes, the founder of the Science of Mind new thought movement said it well:

“We must be willing to look at a thing until it has no power over us.” – Ernest Holmes

Do not shy away from your hurt feelings. On the other had, you cannot give them more power over you. Acknowledge the way you feel, talk it out with a trusted friend or counsellor, and when you are ready, start to imagine how you’d like to feel. Imagine that you are happy most of the time, that you feel content and that you eagerly look forward to the future and good things that are coming your way. Even if you don’t quite “feel” that way yet, imagine that you will someday. This activates the Law of Attraction and will also help you to feel better now.

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Small Lessons from Nature

August 31, 2012

The leaves on many trees have sawtooth edges, yet they don’t function or sound like a saw. Similarly, people who appear one way aren’t necessarily that way at their core. For example, a harsh-looking teenager, with piercings, dyed hair and dark makeup isn’t necessarily a trouble-maker or a violent person. He or she is, most likely, a hurting person, or perhaps they are just conforming to the norm in their group of friends. Likewise, someone who seems to have their life all together often doesn’t; he or she is just working very hard to keep up the illusion, in order to hide the true chaos within.

This is just a reminder to never judge things by how they appear, nor people by how they act. There is always more going on below the surface. Why not give people a chance to show who they really are? When you are genuine, it encourages others to be as well. It isn’t complicated, and I guess it all comes back to the golden rule:

Treat others as you would have them treat you.

If you can get a leaf to actually cut wood, let me know! Wouldn’t that be handy?!? Then again, if that were true, when a breeze tickled its branches, the tree would cut itself to pieces, and like everyone else, it has a will to survive — to thrive — too! Nature never harms itself. It aims for all species to thrive together, and left undisturbed, that’s exactly what it will do. We are a part of nature; do not harm yourself or think unkind thoughts toward yourself. Let yourself thrive! (Perhaps connecting deeply with nature will help you do this.)

This is a wild rose, but many trees have similar leaves… Isn’t it beautiful!?

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Ordinary Day (Great Big Sea)

August 13, 2012

I love Great Big Sea! If you’re not from Canada, you might not have heard of them, but they are awesome. This song in particular, “Ordinary Day,” has great lyrics! It’s all your state of mind!

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Don’t be Like a Fly

August 12, 2012

I was cleaning windows today when I came to the one in the porch. This one is out of the way, so it rarely gets looked at or tidied up. The window sill was littered with dead flies, and there was a live one bouncing incessantly, they way they always do, against the glass.

Why do flies do this? I tried to shoo this one away, because I was going to be spraying glass cleaner and it would die if it got sprayed. That fly just wouldn’t be shooed — it was intent on bouncing its head up against the glass over and over again, trying to break through the barrier — invisible but unbreakable (for a fly).

So, I sprayed around it, but the vapours made it woozy and it flew strangely. Eventually, it flew away, and maybe once it turned around, it even saw the open door and flew outside to freedom. This whole experience made me wonder — how are we like the fly, bouncing our heads against a barrier we can’t get through?

Do you have anything in your life that you’ve been struggling with for a long time? Like a fly trying to fly through a window, you think there should be a way through. You can see the light and just can’t figure out how to get to it. You try and try, over and over, but you’re just acting like a fly.

If this is striking a chord in you, don’t ignore it. What is coming to mind right now? Don’t shy away from it — it doesn’t make you a bad person. It just means you’re human. Sit for a minute and think about whatever is coming to you.

So what can you do? If you keep bouncing up against that glass, you might end up like all those other flies — dead on the window sill. I’m not just talking about being physically dead, but emotionally or spiritually dead. It could also be a death of your freedom, creativity, joy, happiness or health. What are you afraid might be dying?

If you don’t want this to happen, just turn around. Stop trying, stop bouncing against the problem and look the other way. Look for the open door. Look at what is lovely and beautiful about your life, about the world, about you. Stop focusing on problems, either in you or in the world around you, and trying to fix them. If you just fly away from them, you’ll find another way to the light, to the great outdoors, and never have to worry about another window again.

There’s a common expression that goes something like “when God closes a door, He opens a window.” I would say “when the window is closed, look for the open door!”

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Picking up Good Vibrations…. in Your Body

August 6, 2012

Have you heard of the concept of “raising our vibration”? In the New Thought realm (wikipedia page), we often talk about raising our vibration. I was thinking about what this means and how it works, and got these tidbits of inspiration.

We are all familiar with microwaves, but few of us know how they work. Microwave ovens work by beaming actual microwaves — electromagnetic radiation, similar to light but with longer wavelengths — that are tuned to the frequency that excites water. The radiation then heats your food by heating the water within the food. Stay with me here! I am going somewhere with this.

How about MRI machines? They work on a similar principle, using electromagnetic radiation. Once your body is magnetized inside the huge magnet, the machine beams radio waves towards your body and the hydrogen atoms in your body — which are everywhere, and very abundant in water — “reply” to the incoming radio waves by producing weak radio signals of their own, which the MRI picks up. So an image of your body taken with an MRI is actually made from radio signals your body produced.

I wonder how else our bodies react to frequencies? Every atom or molecule has certain frequencies of electromagnetic radiation (microwaves and radio waves are just two types) that can make the atom excited or make the molecule vibrate in particular modes. It follows, then, that the calcium in my body might react a certain way to certain energies. Or any other element, like iron or oxygen or sodium.

From the Heart-Math Website

What about molecules? The water in the microwave is a molecule, and there is lots of water in our bodies (plus lots of other molecules). I wonder if unsettled energy like anxiety or worry might cause certain atoms or molecules to act differently? I remember reading The Hidden Messages in Water by Dr. Masaru Emoto, and he certainly proved that water reacts to different thought messages! I also remember reading this article on the Heart Math website that talks about how our heart’s rhythm and electrical signals change when we are focused on appreciation compared to being angry or frustrated.

And then there are the really long chain molecules like RNA and DNA. These ones are certainly far more complex than simple H2O, but it stands to wonder if more complex frequencies — those created by thought energy itself — could affect them.

Could playing and staying youthful keep you healthier?

Could having faith, i.e. not worrying, help your cells to function better?

Could being positive and thinking loving, appreciative thoughts make your cells “happy?”

Well, the only way to know personally is to try. Imagine that your cells are happy. Love your body. Appreciate the life-giving forces that inhabit it. Feed it with healthy food and thoughts. Don’t give in to worry. Breathe the fresh air deeply, consciously. Do this, and I BET you will feel better than ever!


video about Dr. Masaru Emoto’s work

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Energy Beings

August 2, 2012

We are Energy Beings.

We live on more than just food. We live on energy. It’s simpler to think of our bodies just as chemcial-food-energy factories that convert chemical energy from food into energy for use in our bodies, either as motion, heat or building blocks for cells. That is true, and what you tell yourself about the food you eat is one part of the equation of health. If you think that the food you are eating is bad for you, it will be (no matter what its actual content). If you think that the food you’re eating is good for you, that will be true for you!

Tell Yourself This: Everything I eat contributes to my healthy body. Everything I eat comprises the building blocks for perfectly healthy cells.

Although this is true, there is so much more to it than that. We absorb other types of energy too. Have you ever noticed the “mood of a room” change when a new person walks in? Have you ever felt tired and frustrated one minute and then perky and happy the next, because a friend called you or you started doing something you enjoy? Your thoughts are a form of energy and your body benefits or suffers based on the type of energy that you are creating with your thoughts.

The next time you feel tired or mildly depressed, rather than eating something, why not try feeding your energy body another way? Read some jokes or look at cartoons (Savage Chickens is one of my favourites). Remind yourself that life is supposed to be fun — put on a playful attitude. Sit quietly and breathe deeply. Remind yourself that everything is working out perfectly. You are a good person, and good things happen to you. Put your feet up and focus on your breathing. Imagine that you are reaching upward, tapping into a higher energy (literally and metaphorically). Think of someone who inspires you and imagine that you are entering his/her energy-space… you can tap into the place their higher self lives. Keep breathing!

Tell Yourself This: I am an energy being. I am in a healthy, happy energy field right now. I am “recharging my batteries” right now with pure, loving, abundant, expansive, boundless energy.

Your energy body can be described further by chakras, but for now, just realize that there is more to it than food. Sometimes when I am vaguely hungry but I don’t know why, I just sit and have a short meditation and then I feel better, centered. I am no longer hungry (although I am still sometimes thirsty). I wonder how different your body would be if every time you ate, you also topped up your spiritual batteries? Would you feel like eating less, because your spiritual body has also been consciously fed? Would your digestion be better? Would the food-chemical building blocks be used more perfectly? Leave a comment and let me know how this works for you!

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Relating to the Future

July 30, 2012

Although the skeletons in your closet are all about the past, it is very important to consider how you relate to the future. As I talk about in the last chapter of Love Your Skeletons, finding a way to have hope is crucial.

Even if your past is a mess of mistakes, abuse, bad parents, crazy friends and terrible relationships, the future isn’t written yet. Life can be anything you make it. But you have to learn to leave the past behind and look forward with hope — make plans, imagine the best, think kind thoughts about yourself — in order to make a new future.

How can you actually do this? It’s not as hard as you think. Here are a few ideas:

-Think of someone who is successful, and imagine that she had a messed-up past too. She found a way to overcome whatever happened, love herself and allow her abundance and success to come in! Now imagine that you can do the same!

– Whenever you feel tempted to deny yourself something you enjoy, or punish yourself, take a deep breath and say “I am not going to be mean to myself. I am a good person. I deserve good things in my life.”

– Sit down in the morning with a hot cup of coffee or tea and watch the sun rise. As its rays lighten the sky and then break over the horizon, hopefulness comes naturally.


Photo by Mary Klassen

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Connecting with the Essense of Appreciation

July 19, 2012

Gratitude is so important to focus on. It makes the difference between smelling the roses and just inhaling a different flavoured air.

Making a list of things to be grateful for is nothing new. Many people keep a gratitude journal to help them to remember all the things they have to be thankful for. I think we all know intuitively that this is a good practice, and that connecting with gratitude is the way to a more enlightened life. There is a little more to it than just scribbling in a book, however.

Mindlessly writing is mindlessly writing. It doesn’t matter what’s actually getting onto the page. When you are making a list of things to be thankful for, do so consciously. Pause and really picture what it is you appreciate about that thing. Connect with the wonder of it, the beauty or the specialness. This isn’t a “head-thing” — making a longer list, or adding more adjectives (details). It’s a “heart-thing.” Activate your imagination and feel the appreciation grow.

In fact, if you think about it, sometimes when you are thankful for something what’s actually active in your vibration is the very thing you don’t want. For example, you could be thankful for your health, but in your mind, you are thinking of this-or-that person who has the flu, and *whew* you haven’t caught it yet. If you continue down this road of thinking, you may end up with the flu after all, because of the Law of Attraction. You spent more time thinking about the flu than thinking about how healthy, energetic and spunky you feel! This may actually explain the increase in cancer we are seeing lately. Rather than focusing on being healthy, people everywhere are focusing on the illness, the symptoms, the treatments, and the deaths.

Shift your focus. Be sympathetic to those who are ill, but don’t forget what it means to be healthy. Be more grateful, but make sure that your focus is on the thing you love and the gratitude or appreciation itself. In fact, just changing your lingo from “gratitude” to appreciation can be enough to remind you that it’s all about the positive aspects, the light, and the beauty.

Note: You may like to join the Gratitude log — a place to post whatever you are grateful for!

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Live and Let Live

July 5, 2012

Sometimes, I wish the world was more of a “live and let live” kind of place. It occurred to me that there are two aspects of this: “Live” and, of course, “let live.”

Live

You gotta live! When we don’t live our life to its fullest, that’s when we get grumpy, snarky, and we stop accepting others around us. If we “settle,” give in, or just play it safe all the time, we cheat ourselves out of all the best life has to offer and deep down, we know it. So we feel unhappy, because being unhappy is a signal — sort of a neon sign! — that we need to change something in our lives, and quickly!

So, if you’d like to join me on this planet of Live and Let Live, please make sure you do the first part thoroughly! Go on that vacation you’ve always wanted, or at least start planning it! Spend time with your favourite people in the world. Go to the park, the beach or the bookstore — whatever you enjoy most. Go to your favourite restaurant or listen to your fav band play. Take time out to visit a friend. Leave work early. Live it up!

Let Live

What does it mean “to let live?” It means to accept others as they are and not have any great desire to change them. It’s not about tolerating people who are different — it means celebrating each and every person exactly as they are!

photo from http://eatsleepquilt.blogspot.ca/2011/06/my-mid-morning-walk.htmlHave you ever watched a child play? Didn’t you feel joy or fascination at their freedom, playfulness and exploring spirit? Imagine watching a couple of little children splashing in a kiddie pool or public fountain on a hot summer day. They are having fun and living in the moment, and you can’t help but smile as you see the joy on their faces. That feeling (what you feel while watching them) is pure acceptance. You don’t have any desire to prevent them from splashing, or to make them conform to your way of splashing. You feel happy just watching them do what they do. That’s what it feels like to accept others as they are and to “let live.” You don’t need them to be more like you, to agree with you, or to stop doing something they are doing. You simply accept and love them as they are!

Another aspect of accepting others relates back to accepting ourselves. If we don’t accept ourselves, we will find it very hard to accept others. The aspects of another that irritate you the most are probably aspects that you are not proud of in yourself. Why not look at yourself like you look at those playing children — in wonder and amazement at your growth and how far you’ve come.

Let me know your experiences with “live and let live.” Is this easy for you? Do you struggle with it? Or do you think it’s not even very important these days?

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