“There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.  By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world.”  Robert Louis Stevenson

Happiness truly is a choice, and you can make it a habit!  We talked yesterday about the fact that things that money can’t buy aren’t really what makes us happy.  So why then do we give our happiness away so easily for frivolous things?

Sometimes it can be hard to maintain a happy heart in spite of what is going on around us.  The car breaks down and we have to deal with the expense and the inconvenience.  A boss or a coworker treats us unkindly.  How much power would you have over your day if you could learn to maintain a happy heart in spite of these disappointments?  After all, everyone has disappointments.  Life is full of them, and no one is exempt.  The only difference for each of us is how we choose to react to those disappointments.

“By tending to our inner garden and uprooting the weeds of external expectations, we can nurture our authentic happiness the way we would nurture something that’s beautiful and alive.”  Sarah Ban Breathnach

Have you ever tried being kind to someone who was being rude to you?  Isn’t it amazing how quickly the store clerk turns that frown upside down when you choose to be kind to them instead of returning their scowl with a scowl of your own?  We never know what is happening in another person’s life.  Perhaps they are stressed about a sick family member or bills they can’t pay, and they haven’t learned the ability to carry a happy heart in spite of external circumstances.  You have a tremendous opportunity to make a difference in that person’s day by doing nothing more than turning up the corners of your mouth.

You know what it means to you when someone does that for you.  What if everyone decided to return the favor by doing the same for someone else when they are having a bad day?

Choose happiness, both for yourself and those whose paths cross yours.  Let us know what impact that choice has on your life.

Shalom!

“Perhaps if one really knew when one was happy one would know the things that were necessary for one’s life.”  Joanna Field

Do you know what makes you genuinely happy?  There are so many things, aren’t there?  A tender moment with my husband.  Snuggling with any one of my grandsons.  A phone call from my grown sons.  Hearing a great song.  Reading a great book.  Playing music and singing.  Writing, painting, cooking.  My dog.  The smell of the air when we drive over the causeway to Lido Beach.  The sound of the waves.

I could go on and on, but do you notice the one thing in common among all of these things that make me happy?  They’re all free!  In fact, on the top of my “happy list” would be every time I reach out and help someone else.  I cannot begin to describe the lift in my spirit and joy in my heart that comes from helping another living being, or just making them smile.  We put so much time and energy into the acquisition of things, working in jobs that make us unhappy so that we can have a bigger house, a nicer car, more spending power … and for what?  None of those things are on my happy list!

How liberating!  If you know what truly makes you happy, then you can make decisions in your life accordingly.  It’s kind of like a corporation with a vision and a mission statement.  Once these things are defined, the answer to every decision you need to make is obvious.

Time is precious.  We only have 24 hours in a day, and none of us knows how many of those days we will have.  Do you want to waste any of them doing anything that doesn’t promote your happy list?  Obviously we have to work to pay our bills, but your happy list will define what is important to you beyond a roof over your head and food on the table, and you can choose your profession accordingly.

Make your list and reflect on how that impacts how you live your life and the choices you make.  You are sure to have some aha moments, and I hope you will share them with us here!

Shalom!

“Standing Knee Deep in a River & Dying of Thirst” – how appropriate a description for how so many of us live our lives, isn’t it?  Are you feeling parched while standing knee deep in a river?  Are you like I was, feeling depressed in spite of all of the blessings that surround you?

“The revelation that we have everything we need in life to make us happy but simply lack the conscious awareness to appreciate it can be as refreshing as lemonade on a hot afternoon.” Sarah Ban Breathnach

Make a list of everything you feel grateful for today.  Share some of it here with us if you will (comments button at left), and tell us how your spirit changed when you took the time to recognize all of your many blessings.

Oprah recommends keeping a gratitude journal – a separate journal where at the end of every day you write down five things that you are grateful for that day.  She feels that the action of writing them down has more impact than just thinking them with your mind or speaking them with your mouth.  How many of you will start a gratitude journal with me today?  I’m willing to bte that that gratitude journal, coupled with becoming your authentic self, is going to contribute to making 2014 the best year you have ever had!

Shalom!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWyFW1siCwQ

“Many women today feel a sadness we cannot name.  Though we accomplish much of what we set out to do, we sense that something is missing in our lives and – fruitlessly – search ‘out there’ for the answers.  What’s often wrong is that we are disconnected from an authentic sense of self.”  Emily Hancock

Are you living life as your authentic self?  Or do you, like Sarah describes, look in the mirror without recognizing the face staring back at you?

“Perhaps the heart of our melancholy is that we miss the woman we were meant to be.”

This was me several months ago.  Going through the motions, knowing that I was created to do certain things and knowing I wasn’t doing them.  Staying busy and not settling down to ask the questions and make the changes that would lead me to living my authentic life.  This, I know, is what caused depression, this not living my authentic life, this not being me.

“Listen to the whispers of your heart.  Look within.”

Have you tried meditation yet?  If you haven’t, I hope you will.  Once you commit to gifting yourself with this time of self-exploration, you will find that “the journey you were destined to take has [indeed] begun.”  Click on the comments button to the left to share with us how this has impacted your life, and you can motivate your sisters to finally embark on their soul’s purpose!  It is not too late to start living life as your authentic self – make 2014 the year that it happens.  You deserve it!

Shalom!

Are you the leading lady in your life?  What habits do you have to make your day more special?

Candles seem to be a popular custom for many people.  In my home, it is just my husband Danny, me, and our dog Abby, but I light candles in the kitchen while I am cooking dinner and while we eat.  It makes everything feel more special.

If you make a conscious effort to be present in every moment, everything that you do can be a special ritual.  Feel your feet connect with the earth when they hit the ground in the morning.  Listen to the sound of the shower, smell the scent of your soap and shampoo, feel the warmth of the water on your skin.  When you head out the door, smell the fresh air, listen to the sound of the breeze and the birds.  Don’t you love birds?  Every time I see a bird, I smile.  Every time I see a butterfly, I drop what I am doing and drink in its mysterious beauty until I can no longer see it.

Focus on your family members when they are telling you about their day.  We all want to be heard.  Stop what you are doing and look them in the eye.  Feel their energy in your presence.  How different would the energy be in your home if everyone stopped what they were doing, took their eyes off of their electronic devices, and looked each other in the eye when they were being spoken to?

For your rituals that make your day more special, do you practice them whether or not you are feeling well or having a bad day?  It occurs to me as I am writing this that while I was feeling poorly, I did not follow my usual routine.  I didn’t bother to light candles, nor was I present in every (or any) moment.  But now I wonder, if I had sucked it up and lit those candles and focused on the peace that they normally bring to my heart, what would my experience have been?  Would it have helped me to find the peace and contentment that live inside me in spite of how poorly I was feeling?

What do you do to feel like the leading lady in your life?  Please share with us!

Shalom!

“… you already possess all the inner wisdom, strength and creativity needed to make your dreams come true.”  Sarah Ban Breathnach

As Joel Osteen often preaches, “If God puts a dream on your heart, he has given you the ability to make it happen.”

Do you believe it to be true?  Can you rise above the overwhelming chaos and chores in your life and access the knowledge that you have what it takes to fulfill your life’s purpose?

“When we can’t access our inner resources, we come to the flawed conclusion that happiness and fulfillment come only from external events.”  Sarah is so spot on with this statement, isn’t she?!  Does what is going on in your environment control whether or not you are happy?  How much power does that give to the enemy?

Have you ever noticed that the closer you get to something you really feel is meant to be for you, the more difficult it becomes to access it?  And you start to think, “Well, maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.”  Have you done that, given up because it just seems too difficult?  I have.  But we shouldn’t!  It is when we get closer to God’s purpose in our life that the enemy works harder to keep us from attaining it!

American Idol winner Phillip Phillips had EIGHT kidney surgeries during the competition.  Most people would have tossed in the towel and said it just wasn’t meant to be.  Phillip didn’t buy in to that philosophy.  Through severe sickness and pain, he persevered and won the competition!  What if he had given up?

Have you ever thrown in the towel too easily?  Fear not!  God does not give just one chance to achieve your life’s purpose.  He will bring opportunity knocking again.  The next time he does, think of Phillip Phillips, and if your heart is telling you that the path you are taking is the right one, don’t give up!

Sarah talks about bringing about an emotional transformation by inviting the Spirit to bring in you an awareness to “the abundance that is already yours.”  In Dr. Wayne Dyer’s Book, Wishes Fulfilled:  Mastering the Art of Manifestation, he talks about calling things forth as if they already were.  In addition to the meditation I spoke about yesterday, this practice has made an immense difference in my experience.  Dr. Dyer recommends that you use this practice before you go to sleep so that your subconscious is focusing on it while you sleep.   You should never lie in bed at night thinking about all the horrible things that are happening in your life, because your subconscious will focus on that while you sleep and bring more of the same into your life!

Since reading Dr. Dyer’s book, my bedtime ritual is to repeat the following:  I am well.  I am healthy.  I am strong.  I am love.  I am kind.  I am gentle.  I am generous.  I am successful.  Since I was a child, I have struggled with trying to go to sleep at night.  Since beginning this ritual, I drop off almost immediately.  I also wake in the morning a much more cheerful person!

Do you have anything to share with us today?  Do you believe that you possess what you need to make your dreams come true?  Have you tried Dr. Dyer’s bedtime mantra above?  What affect did it have?  Please share with us – I can’t wait to hear about it!

Shalom!

Sarah tells us “… a year from today you could be living the most creative, joyous, and fulfilling life you could imagine.”  If you could imagine this, what would it look like?

Several months ago, I would not have been able to answer that question.  I was lost, in desperate need of a roadmap and having no idea where to find one.  As a brief explanation, a lot of things have changed for me in the last few years.  I married the love of my life. I retired from my job as chief operating officer of a law firm.  My youngest son moved away.  I had challenging health issues, including a hysterectomy, throwing my body into instant menopause.

Some of these changes were positive, some were negative, but it was a lot of changes in a short period of time.  I lost my identity.  I was no longer a mother raising her children.  I was no longer a law firm executive.  The things I had identified myself with no longer existed.  I was lost, and I felt so foolish for being unhappy with such a blessed life, I couldn’t talk to anyone about how I was feeling.

Unable to share my discouraged spirit with anyone and allowing my fears to keep me from asking the necessary questions, I poured myself into self-help books, and kept coming up with the same answer – meditation.  It was difficult at first, not accustomed to sitting still with “so much to do,” but I kept at it.  I cannot tell you what meditation has done for my spirit and my life.  By taking the time to “tune in” and listen to my heart and God’s whispers, I am finding my purpose again.  My creative energies are back.  My art studio is no longer gathering dust.  I am writing again.  I have fulfilled my lifelong dream of becoming a realtor.  And best of all, I think I am a better wife and more fun to be around.

How do you listen to your heart?  Do you have a routine that you follow to make sure that you are listening to your heart and to Divine Guidance?

I have to be honest, my meditation time is not what it should be.  I quickly become distracted by something that comes to me during meditation, and I am no longer able to sit in stillness, because I simply must go and do whatever it is that has come to me.  Nonetheless, the resulting ten minutes of meditation time makes a world of difference in my day.

Proponents of meditation declare that if you devote 30 minutes a day to meditation, you will find that you have more time, not less, because you are more focused and purposeful throughout the rest of your day.  I have to agree, as I can see what a difference ten minutes makes for me.  It sets me on the right course for the day, and everything just seems clearer.

Will you give it a try?  Will you find your place of contentment and give yourself time each day for contemplation so that you may start realizing your dreams?  Please share your experience with us so that you may inspire others.  If you are having trouble, let us know so that we can help.  If you want to ask a question anonymously, email me directly and I will post the question on your behalf.

Thanks for sharing!  Shalom!