Are YOU Ready to ROCK YOUR LIFE?

How does one ROCK one's LIFE? Shake it up! Do it different. Make a change. Take a risk. Look within. Explore. Heal. Be willing to grow. Sit still. Move your body! Surrender. Trust. Trust yourself. Practice. Forgive. Forgive yourSelf. Believe your WORTH it. Invest in your life. Stop making excuses. Make a difference and mean it! Take a stand. Be bold. Be humble. Wake up! Use your voice. Listen to your Soul. Follow the tug.

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It's time. Are YOU ready?

Then I Woke Up

There was a time in my life when the conditions of the world felt very personal and I felt completely inadequate in my attempts to reach peace…even in my own heart. I wanted to scream at those who didn't “get it”...who couldn't see that they were causing their own dismay and discontent, and at choice in their misery. It was painful and often irritating to hear their complaints, while witnessing as their actions and choices kept them stuck in painful cycles of revenge and hurt. I felt impatient and agitated with their complacency, and their righteousness disgusted me. I wanted to shake them awake!


Then I woke up.


I woke up and realized…I was the one who wanted to scream; I was the one who was discontented and irritated with other’s behaviors; I was the one judging and blaming and miserable. I was…them! I was shrinking in my capacity to love at a time when I needed to love more. And it hurt like hell. Spirit was trying desperately to show me something and when I finally surrendered, took a deep breath, and listened, this is what it whispered…

"You cannot sit at odds with the conditions of your life if you choose to deny your own integrity and default to old beliefs and habits. You must move to recover yourself and let your integrity do your bidding. You cannot blame your humanness, for if you are aware enough to blame, you are awake! And do not fool yourself with anger, prejudice or victimization, because these are of fear and fear does not exist where Truth resides. Nor should you coax yourself into believing you are choosing from Truth if you have even a morsel of shame, because Truth exists without shame, without regret, and without fear. Do not blame others for what you lack, for it is your own lack of compassion that breeds your blame. Nor blame your humanness for your lack of will...for humans exist only by will; God’s will, the will to breathe, the will to love, the will to choose.

Be willing to choose love...again and again and again, when in doubt, when in pain, when in fear…and love until there is nothing else. Nothing but endless, boundless, love! You ARE love. Nothing more. And nothing less.”

Sometimes I still go back to sleep, even now, but Spirit always has a way of waking me up, just before I hit the ground. Thank Godness! :)

“I have found that if I love until it hurts, there is no more hurt…there is only more love.”  ~Mother Theresa 

Amazed by Grace

After dropping my daughter off at school this morning, I was making my way back through the parking lot, mindfully observing those who weren't observing me (so as not to smush 'em like bugs on the blacktop) and something quite amazing happened. Keep in mind, this is high school. There are no crossing guards in high school. And these are high school kids...entitled as they are...to cross wherever they like, whenever they like, taking full ownership of their "right of way" as pedestrians. 

So, this morning, as I slowed to a stop to let a young man and his girlfriend cross, he looked directly at me and in what seemed to be an automatic response, raised his hand and smiled a "thank you". In an instance, I was snapped out of my "still-on-my-first-cup-of-coffee" daze and filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I smiled back, but he'd already looked away. Had I not been in my pj's, I would have jumped out of the car and hugged him right there on the spot! 

Why so amazed and elated by something as common as a courtesy wave? Well, because it's not very common any more. Not just in high school parking lots, but anywhere! And I'm not just talking about the obvious. (Think "metaphor")

Having the "right of way" does not necessarily guarantee safe passage, regardless of what one is "entitled" to and I think a little common-sense kindness goes a long way. I personally do my best to make sure I wave, smile, nod or offer some measure of acknowledgement for the courtesy another extends me, whether I'm jogging, driving, or in the shopping-cart-chaos that is Costco on a Saturday afternoon. Why? Because it's just good manners, for one...and two, I like good karma. But most importantly, because a young man in a parking lot made my day this morning with a simple smile and a wave when he had no reason to do so other than simple, every-day grace. Enough said. 

You're Gorgeous Inside!

I saw this sign posted in front of a home for sale one day and thought, "I WANT A SIGN LIKE THAT!" A bumper sticker...a name-tag...SOMETHING! It sounds silly, but I swear that house actually stood a little straighter...a little more confident. And it was a beautiful house on the outside as well, but that didn't stop the seller from inviting the world to look on the inside, where they would actually live every day. 

Where they would be comfortable and safe; where they would love and be loved; where they would be vulnerable, and creative, and cleansed and fed. Where they would be naked and real and at "home" with their families. It was an invitation to go past what we see on the outside and step inside, where the good stuff is! 

I thought it was a brilliant metaphor for how we present ourselves in the world. How many of us would be bold enough to boast an "I'M GORGEOUS INSIDE" sign? At first thought, it sounds arrogant or conceited, but in reality, it requires a great deal of humility to invite others to see us on the inside...to be that real and willing to own the beauty of ALL of it. The truth is, we ARE gorgeous inside...in all of our humanness and realness, but the "signs" we tend to drag around more often say things like, "NEEDS WORK", or "REDUCED TO SELL", reflecting our Self-judgments rather than celebrating our true beauty!

So, since that day, I decided to wear a virtual "I'M GORGEOUS INSIDE" sign around my neck...and I do believe I've walked a little taller, been a little kinder, and smiled a whole lot more!