Used Bike Lot

All morning my driveway has resembled a used bike lot. That's one of the reasons I just love my neighborhood. :) Kids have been up and down the street, riding bikes, scooters, skateboards and flying turtles. They've played legos and nerf-war. The kids are just great together....my 2 year-old-daughter is always surrounded by older kids trying to help her and entertain her. I got to sit in the shade and read a cookbook while watching them. Summer is good.

Amends

This is a follow-up to yesterday's post. Here are some ways we can make amends to ourselves and get back on track. Again, this is taken from Debbie Ford's, The Secret of the Shadow.

Making Amends to Yourself

....."Now is the time to make a commitment to honor ourselves where we have once violated ourselves. Here are some suggestions for transforming our relationships with ourselves.

• Tell the truth to ourselves and others.
• Take time for the people we love. Schedule time every day to go for a walk, connect, and share what is truly important to us.
• Meditate every day.
• Volunteer our time to causes and organizations that inspire us to help: children with learning disabilities, reading programs in schools.
• Stop gossiping.
• Take care of our physical bodies with nourishing food, adequate rest, exercise, fresh air, and recreation.
• Honor our boundaries and listen to our inner sense of what feels good and what doesn't.
• Make a daily connection with the Divine.
• Process our painful emotions when they come up so they can be healed.
• Keep our checkbooks in balance and clear up our past debts.
• Take time to acknowledge ourselves for all we are, for the joy we bring to others, and for the contributions we've made to the world.
• Eat foods that nourish our bodies, and stop eating when our stomachs are full.
• Feel gratitude every day for what we have."

Violations

I've found the following excerpts very thought-provoking. They're from The Secret of the Shadow by Debbie Ford.

"Many of us get alarmed and inspired into action when we witness violations in the world. When someone is mugged, raped, or abused, we feel an immediate sense of injustice. It is more difficult to catch sight of the violations we perpetrate against ourselves, for we often violate ourselves in seemingly small and unnoticeable ways. We violate ourselves when we don't listen to ourselves or trust our instincts or claim what we want.........We violate ourselves when we look for what's wrong instead of what's right. We violate ourselves when we fail to do what brings us joy. We violate ourselves by keeping ourselves small."

Some of the ways we may betray ourselves:

"We violate our bodies by:

• overeating
• telling ourselves we are going to exercise and not following through
• not taking enough time for rest and recreation
• abusing ourselves with cigarettes, alcohol or drugs
• criticizing ourselves when we look in the mirror
• paying more attention to our flaws than to our beauty
• staying so busy that we cannot hear the signals our bodies send us
• listening to our self-loathing internal dialogues."

"We violate ourselves in relationships by:

• staying in relationships with physically or emotionally abusive people
• doing things for or with friends that we don't want to do
• having sex when we don't want to
• depriving ourselves of intimacy when we want it
• breaking agreements and commitments with others
• gossiping about others
• pretending to like people we con't
• not spending time with our loved ones
• withholding our feelings from others
• stepping over our personal boundaries or compromising our integrity
• making other people's needs more important than our own"

"We violate our financial security by:

• spending more than we earn
• running up credit card debt
• bouncing checks
• lying about our income
• not saving money
• being unconscious about our spending
• stealing
• ignoring our debts
• paying bills late"

"We can read thousands of self-help books, meditate every day, and sit at a guru's feet, but if we use the wisdom we've gained only to put ourselves down and diminish our worth, we have violated ourselves. Each time we look in the mirror and see only part of who we are--every time we spend more time listening to our unconscious internal dialogues, rather than acknowledging our greatness---we have committed a violation of self."

This is something that needs to stop.

Let's have a good day today.

It's a fresh new day, let's enjoy it for all it's worth!

Make Strong Choices

Greetings! I'm back from vacation and ready to re-enter the blogging world. :) Commitment is on my mind today. I like these excerpts from Dare to Be Yourself, by Alan Cohen:

"Make strong choices. Strong choices require commitment. Choose one path or another, but don't try to straddle the fence. When you commit, you may make a mistake, but at least you will know it and you'll be able to move on with the benefit of what you've learned. If you don't act, you won't make any mistakes, but you also won't learn."

"Whatever you choose to be, embrace it with strength, conviction, and a whole heart. Be whatever you really are, and go all the way with it. If there is ultimately a higher path for you, action with conviction will lead you to it. Make strong choices. Make and be a strong statement to the world. Don't apologize for your dreams and desires. Make up your mind. Step ahead. Dive in. nd if you commit with a loving heart, your life will be different forever."

Hiatus

I'm going to be taking a short hiatus while we go back to visit family in Kentucky. I'm going to practice being present and enjoying every second of our time together. AND....I'm going to give my new nieces LOTS of love. :)

I will return in a couple weeks. Love to you all!

Love

A couple months or so ago, I sat down w/my journal and asked myself what is most important to me, what do I need to focus on the most in my life? The answer I found was that the most important thing in the world is Love. Period. So the most important thing for me to do is create more love and share the love I have with the World. I know some will think that sounds nuts, but...so what? :) I still believe it with all my heart and soul. "Radiate my love to the World." Has become one of my mantras. I do this whenever possible. When my children are hurt or upset and I hold them in my arms, I imagine love emanating from within and enclosing them in a sphere of love and peace. When I see a stranger who looks troubled, I send love their way as well, along with a smile and kind word. It costs me nothing, but I truly believe it does help the World be a better place. If nothing else, it helps me be a better person.

Love to you all.

"Demonstrate that love is the most powerful force in the universe
as it finds expression through your belief in your life and yourself."
--Alan Cohen
Dare to Be Yourself