Sunshine is here to stay

Many people feel positive and upifted by the light and warmth of longer days.  Allow yourself to tap into the sun shining from the heart. What happens as you begin to feel as though sunshine is here to stay? How does this shape your outlook and evolving life?

Look around you. Be aware of the living creatures, plants and everything else around you.  Maybe you are familiar with mountains or valleys, beaches or desserts.  Maybe you gaze into the sky at the stars.  Notice what feels natural, what brings a twinkle to the eye.  Notice what you have to feel happy about.  Allow the silly jokes and laughter to erupt from within you.  Take life less seriously.  Allow all that you have been missing to capture your attention.

Appreciate the little things

Whatever situations are unfolding in your life, you choose where to focus your attention.  You decide how to interpret your unique  experiences, whether you get something meaningful out of each stage of your life journey.  Notice the true nature of any restlessness you feel.  Why find anything wrong where you are, doing what you do? Be creative.  Love something about where you are now. 

Notice your conditioned ways of thinking.  Notice whether you focus on thoughts that trigger sadness, joy or evoke other emotions like anger and fear.  Notice when you focus on gratitude or allow discomfort or dissatisfaction to cloud your focus.

This said, you can always renew appreciation for 'the little things.'   This brings clarity. They may be people, aspects of nature or the environment, conditions or anything that uplifts your spirit. Notice whether you view the glass of life as half full, half empty, or as something else. What happens as you are kind to yourself and show kindness to others? The sun always shines.  You see, you take it with you wherever you go.

Take a few moments to reflect on little things that  bring joy.  What stands out? Share your perspective of 'the little things' that truly make life feel worthwhile.

"It is good to appreciate that life is now. Whatever it offers, little or much, life is now - this day - this hour."  - Charles Macomb Flandrau

"None of us has gotten where we are solely by pulling ourselves up from our own bootstraps. We got here because somebody bent down and helped us." - Thurgood Marshall

Love is in the air

Ever notice that love is in the air? In other words, if it is your intention to feel good about yourself, then regardless of the conditions that arise, you find the silver lining and love yourself anyway. Deep down, you know you always do your best.  What occurs if you forget?

Well, if the outcome you expect doesn't always arise, you can remind yourself to accept that, be okay with it,  and move on.  Still stumble along the way? What if the state of your house, your relationships or life does not meet your expectations? What if you sometimes feel down?

Come what may, you can remind yourself that if you change the way you look at things, then what stares back at you seems to change. If you regard your situation through the eyes of fear, what you see reinforces that.  If you view through the lens of humour, love and acceptance,  you see everything is an means to uncover something new about yourself.  You also discover a sense of abundance and prosperity reflects back how you feel about yourself.

This said, you begin to see how you view things is itself a powerful tool. Everything arises from intention. Is yours loving or not? To make a positive difference in the lives of others and yourself, know a focus on love allows you to see abundance, and bright sides to everything.

"A gift consists not in what is done or given but in the intention of the giver or doer." - Seneca

Direct knowing is here

You dare to see for yourself what the world inspires you to explore.  You do not have to embrace one possibility at the exclusion of another.  No experience invalidates another.  None is lesser or greater. They are all equal.  Only the inner judge invites you to create hierarchies or tune into a disharmonious frequency.  This blocks direct knowing.  The energy radiating through your form simply invites you to see and experience life in different ways.  How you respond is up to you.  

The truth and the way it manifests is completely unique for each person.   The truth is a pointer to seeing itself.  Seeing does not see illusion.  As you simply see experience, you are in a state of natural balance, harmony, equality. It is a state of fearlessness that is ever-present and accessible when you do not look away.  Look more deeply into experience to see which aspects of self do not change in time and which parts of you are in no way limited or obscured by experience.  Everything invites you to discover the reality of love. This arises as you see clearly, without conditions, through the divine lens of equality. If you are tempted to see through mental filters, shift focus.  Look again.

To be free of all forms of understanding is the end of inner doubt, the end of the need to understand.  Everything you discover about yourself is an ally or a doorway into a true aspect of inner being.  Notice what doubt invites you to do.  Doubt is an opportunity to face the most vulnerable parts of yourself.  The flip side of doubt is the innocence within that reaches out to be loved and accepted.  Do not fear losing what you give, or losing what you let in or being rejected.  Love without question.  Being true to yourself is attuning to that which you cannot explain and letting go of all resistance.

"The final freedom is freedom from the need for certainty." - Matt Kahn

Move beyond the suffering

When you get upset, lose focus or balance, pay attention to what your emotions are telling you.  Stop giving credit to others for the way they seem to behave.  The world around you only ever responds based on your expectations.  Notice what happens when you are alone.  Notice what agitates you, makes you feel impatient.  Notice what happens as you separate yourself from source.  You cannot be mad at someone or be afraid of anything and be true to yourself.  Brace yourself: a conflict with anything is a conflict with yourself.  So, what can you do about it?

1) Stop allowing yourself to be offended.  Whatever offends you only weakens you.  Being offended creates the same destructive energy as that which is used to press your emotional buttons in the first place.  Monitor your thoughts and inner dialogue.  Nothing irritates you unless you allow it.  What to do? Stop resisting. Look deeper at the nature of your own suffering. It actually begins and ends with you.  The real issue is a yen to control the uncontrollable.

2) Let go of your need to be right.  You are conditioned to believe some people are right and others are wrong.  If you allow yourself to get agitated, you are disconnected from your loving, creative spirit.  Letting go of the need to be right helps you embrace kindness and gratitude for lessons at hand.  Imagine yourself in another's shoes.  Would you feel the same as you do in your own skin?  Would you behave in the same way or see more than one 'right way'?

3) Give up the desire to win, compete or be superior.  Whenever you get stirred up, and lose sight of inner peace, observe the ego.  As you let go of the desire to be better than others, you recall a feeling of calmness.  You begin to see all experience invites you to evolve within yourself, to see the nature of impermanence.  Give up any unwholesome state of mind.  Sadness, grief, fear, regret, and pity do not arise when you have true self-understanding. As you feel inner gentleness, you strengthen compassionate, wholesome states of mind.  Love reigns.  The heart knows all is always well, that everything is equal, that every situation is win-win for all. 

4) Know its all unfolding in divine order.  Whatever your role or stage in life, you attract the perfect conditions and people.  See things from a higher vantage point.  When people do not show up to assist you, then you have the skills, self-discipline and emotional intelligence to handle it on your own.  Before you judge others, ask yourself how you would deal with the situation from their perspective.  Only when you know the cause of suffering is that the end of suffering. You benefit others by nurturing a non-judging mind, and keeping an open heart.

5) Recognize you cannot separate wisdom from compassion.  You know things as they truly are through your own direct experience.  The more you grasp reasons for your emotions and your own suffering, the more you understand the suffering of others. You strengthen a more conscious connection with all beings.  Be loving and kind toward yourself. Accept you are not who you think.  Forgive yourself.  Ask yourself questions and allow answers to emerge. Nothing fazes the essence of being. You can inspire people into a place of non-suffering by existing in this state.  Be present.  By direct inner seeing, you see what matters without study, logic or reason. 

"You can't suffer yourself into their understanding.  You have to succeed yourself into their success." -Esther Hicks

"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit.  Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset."  - St Francis de Sales