Category: Transforming 2014 and Beyond

Based on Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Book, Simple Abundance – A Daybook of Comfort and Joy

April 28: The Intuitive Sense

SuzettePersonal Growth

pinkpalmtreesIntuition is a spiritual faculty, and does not explain, but simply points the way.  Florence Scovel Shinn

Sarah refers to intuition as “the subliminal sense Spirit endowed us with to maneuver safely through the maze that is real life.”  We have all experienced the positive results of listening to our intuition, as well as the negative results that come when we ignore it.

When I decided to move to Florida from upstate New York in 2005, I knew, deep down in my gut, that it was a move I was supposed to be making.  Intellectually, it made no sense.  I had a great job.  I had just bought the house I was in and renovated it barely a year before.  I was a single mother.  I had no idea how I would find the energy or wherewithal to do everything it would take to sell my home, find a job a three-hour flight away, find a new home, and have all of the pieces of the puzzle work in such a way that I could make it all happen.  I couldn’t imagine how it would all come together, I just knew deep down in my spirit that I had to do it.  I forged forward in a total leap of faith, and the entire process went off without a hitch.  My house sold the day I flew to Florida for job interviews.  I had a job offer before returning to New York at the end of that weekend.  My new employer was willing to wait three months for me to start so that my son could finish the school year.  I somehow found the energy and strength to pack up the house, find a new house, and get everything moved 1300 miles away. During that period, I heard a sermon at church that couldn’t have rung more true:  When you listen to where you are being led, and you follow, you will find yourself in the zone. Continue reading “April 28: The Intuitive Sense” →

June 10: “A Nook of Your Own”

SuzetteCreativity / Art / Design

“In solitude we give passionate attention to our lives, to our memories, to the details around us.”  Virginia Woolf

Sara tells us that in 1928, Virginia Woolf taught that women, in order to create, need privacy, peace, and personal incomes.  Sara’s Studio modifiedchapter today has so many aha tidbits for me.

Five years ago, my husband blessed me with the opportunity to quit my office job and stay at home full time to create – to write, to play and record music, to paint.  There was just one problem:  I never seemed able to take full advantage of it.  It seemed no sooner was I home full time, then I was plagued with one health issue after another, and I never found my way to making my dreams a reality.  Eventually I went back to work.

Since that time, Danny has created an art studio for me.  A bedroom in our home was transformed into a place of my own where I could create art and jewelry, paint, write … anything my heart desires.  With my own space and a door to shut out the world, I have finally found my ability to focus and be creative as I had once dreamed of doing. Continue reading “June 10: “A Nook of Your Own”” →

April 18: “The Face in the Looking Glass”

SuzetteBeauty

Helpful-Hints-165x200-Play-Experiment-Have-Fun“One of the ways that we can begin to love our faces is to enhance them with makeup.” Sarah Ban Breathnach

Sarah has captured so beautifully in today’s reading how I feel about makeup. Like Sarah, I have had different phases in my life when I questioned the authenticity of plying myself with “war paint,” but I finally came to the same conclusions that she did:

“I began to become aware of the fact that looking your best, working with what you have, and bringing out your natural beauty with makeup was not as superficial a goal as I had originally thought. Makeup was simply a tool to help me look my best. When I looked my best, I felt better. When I felt better, I had more energy and accomplished more and was more outgoing.”

Everything Sarah says here rings true for me. It is why I love being a Mary Kay beauty consultant. Giving women makeovers, taking before and after photos, and seeing their faces light up at the transformation is so rewarding for me. Likewise, teaching teenage girls the proper way to wear makeup so that they don’t hide their true beauty is equally as rewarding. There is something so gratifying in helping people to feel good about themselves, whether it is the application of makeup or helping them to earn some beautiful free jewelry. It all makes them smile, and making people smile is who I am.

Shalom!

April 12: “Learning to Love and Honor Your Body”

SuzetteBeauty

beauty-1“The body is a sacred garment. It’s your first and last garment, it is what you enter life in and what you depart life with, and it should be treated with honor.” Martha Graham

We women have such a love hate relationship with our bodies, don’t we? We envy the best features of another while discounting our own positive attributes. We wish we had Sally’s eyes or Megan’s legs, and we fail to appreciate and be grateful for our own unique qualities.

We all have them. Each and every one of us has been blessed with gifts that make us who we are. If you look critically at some who you find especially attractive, you may be surprised to realize that there really isn’t anything particularly outstanding about them compared to someone else – what makes them appear so spectacular is the fact that they feel spectacular, from the inside out. Continue reading “April 12: “Learning to Love and Honor Your Body”” →

March 24: “The Secret Saboteur: When You’re Feeling Blue”

SuzetteTransforming 2014 and Beyond

plateau“Listening to your heart is not simple. Finding out who you are is not simple. It takes a lot of hard work and courage to get to know who you are and what you want.” Sue Bender

Ah, this chapter resonates with me today. I have been finding it so difficult lately. Difficult to be still and go within. Difficult to be quiet enough to read or write. Difficult to get in my studio and be creative. Difficult to be me!

“Personal growth also comes in spasms: three steps forward, two steps back, and then a long plateau, when it seems as though nothing is happening.” Sarah Ban Breathnach

I have been a step beneath a plateau! Not only has nothing been happening with my spiritual growth these last few weeks, but I lost the foothold I had gained in this inner journey we have been on. I let go of the lessons I’d learned. I can attribute the setback partially to how busy I have been with my business and having difficulty finding balance, but I think there is more to it than that.

“When you’re about to step into a new level of your destiny, don’t be surprised if you hit a setback. That’s a sure sign you’re about to give birth to what God has placed in your heart … The enemy would leave you alone if you weren’t a major threat. He wouldn’t bother you if you didn’t have something amazing in your future.” Joel Osteen

Indeed, the closer we get to our purpose, the harder the enemy will work to keep us from it. When we are on the brink of reaching our highest potential, he works harder to hold us back.

“It’s important to realize that this dormant period always seems to precede a growth spurt.” SBB

The great thing about staying the course and never giving up is that you will prevail. There is nothing and no one who can stand in the way of God’s plan for you except for you. If you keep your eye on the prize and remain steadfast in your faith even through the plateaus that will inevitably show up, you will reach your highest potential, which is God’s plan for you.

I am ready to shed this dormant period and step up to the next riser. How about you?

 

February 27: “Committing to Your Spiritual Awakening”

SuzetteSpirituality

Suzette1“If you commit to your spiritual awakening as the most important part of the process, something marvelous will happen.”  Sarah Ban Breathnach

The impact that I see from this spiritual awakening is subtle and substantial at the same time.  I notice it most often at times when I would normally have found myself frazzled or tense, like when I need to be someplace and the dog is taking forever in the yard, or I am in traffic and want to hurry up and get where I am going.  I don’t have the same frenetic response that I would have had six months ago.  I am (mostly) no longer scolding Abby to hurry up; rather, I am enjoying the fresh air and listening to the birds sing to me while she finds the “perfect spot.”  I am peaceful in my driving, no longer rushing the person in front of me with frustrated words mumbled under my breath.  I am, simply, more relaxed.

“With each day of the journey, you have become more open to the mystery, the magic, and the majesty of the Master Plan because you are committed to your spiritual awakening.”  SBB

I am no less busy, nor am I working any less hard.  I am just less stressed about it.  I am relaxed, feeling the presence of Spirit, and paying attention when I get the message to take some time to feed my soul.  Tonight, for example, after enjoying dinner with friends, I took one of my guitars off the wall and played for two hours – the first time I have played in months.  There was work to be done, but I chose to listen to the whispers telling me that the work can be done tomorrow; for now, it is time to create.  I find that creation, artistic expression, is a beautiful form of prayer, and I am grateful to have awakened my soul enough to heed the message that this certain prayer time is long overdue.  I am transported to heaven, bowing my head over my guitar, smelling its varnished wood and listening to its melody while I sing with the voice that God gave me.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

Shalom!

February 25: Reordering Your Priorities

SuzettePersonal Growth

boyCAYJN0F7

“Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose.”  Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

How have you been doing at taking your quiet meditation time each day? I hope you have been doing better than I have recently.  I am sorry to admit that these last few weeks, I have not spent enough time in silence.  I am living at this harried, frenetic pace, so much to do and so little time.  But then, once again, I hear the now familiar voice coming from within … “Relax.  Enjoy the moment.  All will be done as it is supposed to be.”  I smile to myself during those moments, recognizing the progress that I am making on this journey of transformation.

I took one of those moments last night, enjoying my grandsons for a few hours and ignoring the work I had planned for the evening.  I have been working so much I have barely seen them in recent weeks, and they were so excited to see me (and I them!) that I couldn’t leave them.  So I stayed.  I stayed and let my heart fill with the joy of listening to one after the other say, “Nana, watch this!”, so excited were they to have my attention.  They have no sense of time.  These beautiful little spirits live in the moment and enjoy it to the fullest, with no thoughts about needing to hurry up and finish what they are doing because it will be bath time soon.  They don’t worry about that.  They don’t worry about what is waiting for them.  They are completely, wholly in the present and loving every minute of it.  Oh what we can learn from them, and what a gift it was to myself to allow myself time to be still and enjoy their presence without thinking about the work that was waiting for me.

“Today make getting in touch with the Silence within your first priority.  As you do, you will be amazed at how everything else seems to find its own order.”  Sarah Ban Breathnach

I didn’t get here overnight, and the transformation isn’t going to happen overnight either, but as long as I am moving in the direction of positive change, I can be satisfied.  I will try harder to learn the lessons my grandsons teach me about enjoying the moment without worrying about what is next.  And I will work harder to get my butt in that meditation chair every day.  Maybe if I write it on my schedule that will help …

Shalom!

February 24: “Now That I’ve Gotten Your Attention”

SuzettePersonal Growth

“Sometime in your life you will go on a journey.  It will be the longest journey you have ever taken.  It is the journey to find yourself.”  Katherine Sharp

Hopefully everyone will take this journey at some point in their life, before it is too late for them to do so.  I wish I had done so earlier, but I am glad that at least I am doing it now.  Some days it is easier than others.

“I know how easy it is to find heartfelt excuses for why you can’t begin something new even if you yearn to, desperately.”  Sarah Ban Breathnach

There have been many days in these past two months were I have spent time searching my soul, searching my memories, and listening to my heart and Divine guidance in this quest to become the person that I was put on this earth to become.  There have also been many days when I’m just tired.  My real estate business is important to me, and I am committed to making it a success.  I’m busy with my mind going in multiple directions, and sometimes I find it hard to remove that distraction long enough to be still and do the soul work that is so important to me right now.  But at least I am moving in the right direction.

“How many times in the past have we chosen not to change our lives for the better simply by not choosing?”  SBB

I have chosen.  I have chosen to become the very best version of my authentic self possible.  It is a commitment that I have made to myself, and I am sticking to it.  I may have days of lapse, but they are only temporary, and I know that the next day I will be back in my chair, meditating and listening to the voice of God whispering in my ear, leading me in the right direction.

“Keep your eyes on the horizon.  Or stay on shore.  But choose.”  SBB

I pray that you are keeping your eyes on the horizon with me.

Shalom!

February 22: “Excavating the Real You, Part II”

SuzettePersonal Growth

EXCAVATION“The excavation process expands your sense of the possible because it provides you with inner knowledge.”  Sarah Ban Breathnach

How are you doing so far on your transformation?  Are you finding that Sarah’s book is helping you to discover and appreciate the real you?  I have found that the inner knowledge I have gained through this soul work has helped me to identify where some of my improper thinking has come from.  To gain this knowledge, to identify the errors in our thinking, is the first step in making real, authentic change.

“Would you really dig into yesterday’s garbage to make tonight’s meal?  Do you dig into old mental garbage to create tomorrow’s experiences?  The past cannot be changed.  The future is shaped by our current thinking.”  Louise Hay, You Can Heal Your Life

By identifying the errors in our thinking about ourselves, we can change our thought patterns, and hence our future.  Do you think you are not good enough?  Not talented enough?  Not smart enough?  Not _______ enough?  Fill in the blank.  Whatever it is, you are wrong.  For each and every one of us was created exactly as we are meant to be, perfectly designed to fulfill our individual purpose.

“Self-approval and self-acceptance in the now are the main keys to positive changes in every area of our lives.”  Louise Hay, You Can Heal Your Life

Whatever your erroneous thoughts about yourself are, and wherever they came from, it is time to change them and recognize the perfection that is you.  Not in an arrogant way, but in a way that you have the knowledge that “God don’t make no junk,” and He created you the way you are for a reason.  If you start each day affirming this to yourself, I guarantee you’ll have a better day, and you will see your future begin to change.

Shalom!

February 21: “Excavating the Real You, Part I”

SuzettePersonal Growth

IMGP2707“We must dig patiently with our pens to excavate our real selves.”  Sarah Ban Breathnach

It does take time to discover who we really are, doesn’t it?  Or maybe we know all along, but we deny it or ignore it out of fear.

“Maybe being oneself is always an acquired taste.”  Patricia Hampl

I never liked myself growing up.  I always wished I was more like someone else.  I wanted someone else’s hair, someone else’s body, someone else’s athletic talents, someone else’s “coolness.”  I always felt awkward, like I didn’t fit in.  As an older adult, I learned that my shyness was sometimes taken as an aloofness by others.  Boys I had crushes on were actually afraid to approach me.  I guess the joke was on me.  I wish I could go back to that young girl and tell her that she was just fine, just the way she was.  Teach her that by being so shy, she was robbing herself of so much.

“Faith Baldwin tells us: ‘Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations.’  The delay of our dreams does not mean that they have been denied.”  SBB

So the teenage me missed out on some things due to her lack of confidence.  But the beauty of life is, I am still ending up where God had planned for me to be all along.  It may have taken me longer to get here, and there may have been some painful detours along the way, but the final destination is the same.  Here I am in 2014, transforming my life with Simple Abundance and becoming the woman that I was always intended to be.  Doesn’t get much better than that, does it?

Shalom!

P.S.  If you are new to these posts, Transforming 2014 is an online book club of sorts.  We are reading Sarah Ban Breathnach’s book, Simple Abundance:  A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, together so that 2014 can be a transformative year for all of us.  Use the comment section to inspire fellow readers or share your difficulties so that we can support you.  You can find Sarah’s book on Amazon, and it is available in the Kindle version as well!