Some interesting tweets today

The Single Woman:
"In every girl's life, there's a boy she'll never forget & a summer where it all began" 
This is oh so true


Neale Donald Walsch
"Only when you require no approval from outside yourself can you own yourself"


Mastin Kipp
" You know someone Loves you when you can be 100% yourself around them and feel accepted for who you are"


The Single Woman
"Don't be afraid to live by your own rules. Sometimes a revised fairytale is even better than the original"


The Daily Love
"Dreams Come True One Step At A Time"


Marci Shimoff
"Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift" -Regina Brett


6_Minutes_a_day
"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong." -  Joseph Chilton Pearce


Marci Shimoff
"Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow.' -The Talmud

LifeRulezz
"Smiles never go up in price, or down in value"

Question of the day - What inspires you?

This question has appeared twice this week so I guess I need to answer it.

So what inspires me?

-  People who succeed against all odds

-  People who make a difference (good of course)  in other people's lives

-  People who give others hope and comfort

-  "It is achievable"  are words that constantly inspire and remind me that everything is possible

Quotes that inspire - May 29

Here are some quotes that I came across today that I had to share

What have I learned?

Sometime ago, I took part in a "30 days of me" meme which was great fun.

One of the questions I had to answer was - What have you learned in the last month?

But really I can apply it to any period of my life.

Paddle Downstream

No Ordinary Moments
What seems impossible is possible
Be Here Now
The Universe Sends Clues
Appreciate Life
The Lesson Must Be Learned

Each of the events described in the above posts and others in my life have taught me that the Universe has a plan all of its own.

Life becomes easy when we accept and follow its plan even when the plan at that moment makes no sense.

Yet more often than not we continue to stubbornly follow our own plan and make life inifintely harder than necessary. 

We seem to love paddling upstream.

I no longer plan my life.

And I have learned to have the faith and paddle downstream, to Be Here Now, to Go with the flow, to be Zen, and to Let it go.

The Lesson Must Be Learned

No Ordinary Moments introduces this post ...


Life sends you the same lessons to learn again and again until the lesson is finally learned.

I have been made redundant thrice and I have been unemployed twice. Each in hindsight has been a huge blessing for it has propelled me foward and moved me onto greater things.

My divorce caused the biggest financial upheaval of my life.

I tried to find the lesson in each situation as I was writing this post when my aha moment arrived.

I have read many articles, blogs, books etc on Abundance - the message is always "This is an abundant Universe. There is no lack only abundance".

Great ... so where is this abundant universe and why do I go through financial crisis after crisis?

And then it hit me  - only when you believe it and know it, can you experience it.

So how do I know this is an abundant Universe - every financial setback has eventually transformed into a financial gain and an opportunity to move onto greater things. Each period of unemployment was a well earned and needed break. 

The lesson is finally learned.





 

Appreciate Life

No Ordinary Moments introduces this post ...


Just a little over a year ago my father passed away very suddenly, very unexpectedly. 

He was my rock and my guiding light and I think of him everyday.

All that I have learned in life, I have learned from him.

He taught me how to live -  simply, kindly, lovingly, gently, generously, compassionately and above all humbly. He was a living example of all these and much more.

The last hours of his life have taught me to care with compassion and to lovingly let go so he could depart in peace.

They are by far the most difficult moments of my life - watching someone you love so much in so much distress, slipping away from you forever.

I will never forget the struggle of his soul nor forget his eyes pleading with me to end his distress.

His death has taught me to appreciate life and the people who arrive and depart within it.

Be at peace Dad.

The Universe Sends Clues

No Ordinary Moments introduces this post ...


About two years ago a misdiagnosed health condition sent me into a tailspin.

A pre-surgery check showed up an extremely high blood pressure reading that although alarmed and frightened me, was a saving grace.  My surgery had to be delayed and rescheduled to many months later.

A few days later on a busride home I bumped into a friend I hadn't met for years. I don't know how I got talking to her about my surgery but I believe I was meant to and that she was a Godsend as she sowed the seeds of doubt in my mind. I have not met her again since that day.

The Universe however does not rest until you get the right outcome.

Out of the blue my brother sent me a ticket to visit family and friends overseas. A holiday he said I needed badly. It was my second Godsend.

I am so lucky I have two gynaecologists in the family. I met one of them on my holiday.

On reviewing my reports she advised me to cancel the surgery as she believed I didn't need it. Instead she put me on a course of tablets that are MAGIC.

I now know, the Universe sends clues - and if I listen and follow, great things happen.



 

Be Here Now

No Ordinary Moments  introduces this post ...


A few years ago I went through the agonising pain of an ended relationship.

 It caused me a level of stress and mental turmoil I would not wish on anyone.

 It was a moment when I am convinced Spirit took over my faculties and commanded me to accept an offer of divorce. 

I know this because my logical, analytical mind would never have allowed it. 

It was a moment of sheer terror of stepping into the unknown. So many emotions go through your mind – fear, sadness, anger, hate.

But this event has taught me one of the biggest spiritual lessons of my life – Be here now.

To think of the past takes me back to emotions that serve me no purpose and thinking of the future takes me into spaces of loneliness, sadness, fear.

I can therefore only live in the moment – Being here now brings me peace.

What Seems Impossible is Possible.

 No Ordinary Moments  introduces this post ...


About 5 years ago while sitting at my desk at work one day, I found it immensely difficult to stand up and had to push myself up from my desk.

Once up, it was exceedingly painful to sit down. In both cases my knees simply gave way. It was as if my mind had forgotten how to sit or stand. I had to will myself to stand and sit. And it was a moment of sheer panic.

So began my quest in earnest to strengthen those knees and lose some weight - a battle I have fought for as long as I can remember.

I started climbing hills, working out at the gym and subsequently took up karate (in my late forties). Something I never imagined I would or even could do.

I have since learned that my true battle is not with my weight but with the acceptance that I am perfect just the way I am and that impossible things are possible.

No Ordinary Moments

A few days ago I  had an interview at 9.00 am and decided not to chance being late by taking the bus.  So instead I indulged and took a taxi.

 I had allowed for 50 mins in case of slow traffic but found myself zooming into town and getting in with half an hour to spare.

I thought I would stop by and say hello to my daughter but found her shop hadn't opened yet so I decided to walk to my favourite shop - Farmers.

Instead I found myself turning into Borders and up the escalator to my favourite section - Mind Body and Spirit.

I turned into the aisle and stopped right in front of a book that jumped out at me - No Ordinary Moments by Dan Millman.

In the last 16 months I have been to Borders several times - no books have jumped out at me. The urge to go into the bookstore hasn't been there either.

So when my feet took me in and stopped dead in front of this book, I knew I had to buy it.

Dan Millman is one of my favourite authors and strange but true his other books also jumped out at me at Borders - Way of the Peaceful Warrior and The Journeys of Socrates. They belong to my collection of favourite books and No Ordinary Moments is also proving to be one I can add to that.

This post is triggered from a paragraph in the book. A distinct and strong urge to write this post came over me as I read it.


"Life comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable. Sometimes, out of nowhere, Spirit lands a left hook that really shakes us up; we get slammed into the ropes, knocked to the canvas. Maybe the shock comes in the form of a financial crisis, a death in the family, a divorce, or an illness or injury. Hard times provide opportunities that don't come around when life is comfortable."


In the next few posts I will share some  of the major left hooks that Spirit has bestowed upon me, ropes I've slammed into and canvases I've been knocked into and the lessons each event has taught me.

Posts in this series:
What Seems Impossible Is Possible
Be Here Now
The Universe Sends Clues
Appreciate Life
The Lesson Must Be Learned
Paddle Downstream


 

Paint Write and Be Grateful - May

I've always wanted to do something with microsoft paint. But I also enjoy writing. And then I thought of the perfect post - combining writing with paint.

Paint Write and Be Grateful is a series of posts that I share with friends and family in a private blog. I'll post a selection of them monthly on this blog. So here is one for May:

Starting my new job on Monday - so thankful and grateful

I have family all over the world and keeping in touch with them through skype is awesome

Ho'oponopono - I am such a great fan of this technique. So simple, yet so effective (for me anyway).  Thank you Dr Joe Vitale and Dr Hew Len.

Meditation

Ideas are just flowing today - The Universe wants me to write, write, write.  So here is another post.

Meditating is a hot topic these days.

I love meditating and I try to meditate everyday.

I have been trying to find the "thing" that works for me for about 14 years. I was getting increasingly frustrated as meditating successfully seemed to be so elusive - something just out of my grasp.

I had tried all kinds of meditations - breathing while sitting down in a quiet area, even walking to meditate, repitition of affirmations, guided meditations, meditative music. Nothing worked.

To quiet my mind seemed to be an impossible thing. Breathing in and out and meditative music just seemed boring, my mind wandered even more when walking and I found guided meditations too fast paced or too slow. By the time I got into the swing of an instruction, the next one had come through or it seemed like I was waiting an eternity for the next one.

Of course the more frustrated I got and the harder I tried, the further it seemed to run. Until one day someone said to me ... The meditations you are doing are probably not right for you.  Do the things you like doing and the meditation that is right for you will suddenly appear.

So I let go of the need to meditate.  And then over the last six months I finally found my miracle meditation - the one that works for me!

I have adapted each technique that I tried from wonderful people who so generously provide their information and meditations free on the internet, to create my meditation.  I am so grateful to them for sharing their wisdom. Thank you all.

So here is what I did:

I created slides of affirmations that I call my life map - these are things that resonate with me and a way of life that I desire ( I used Microsoft Paint to make jpg files of each slide)

I also created vision boards of the areas of my life that I wanted to flesh out in more detail and stored them as jpg files. (I used Microsoft Powerpoint to do this)

I love ho'oponopono as a clearing technique - it is so simple and so effective for me. So I created a ho'oponopono slide as well

I also found that without breathing (the meditative breath) the whole thing just didn't jell, so I created a breathing slide. The technique that works for me is Dr Hew Len's technique.

And then lastly I added thanks to God and the Universe - using a mantra that I find powerful for me.

I love instrumental pop music so I set the whole thing to songs that touch my soul.

My whole meditation consists of - a guided meditation as I read the slides,  affirmations that resonate with me, clearing, intention and focus via the vision boards, breathing, music and thanks. The total time taken is under 20mins and each slide is under 4 mins. I created my little "meditation movie" via Windows Movie Maker.

I don't need to find a quiet spot as the music creates the "quiet" place for me and as I have downloaded my movie onto my ipod I can even meditate on the bus.

I can finally say I love meditating. 

love and hugs

Suzy.

Links
Dr Hew Len - ho'oponopono and his breathing technique - http://www.whatishooponopono.com/Interview_with_Dr_Hew_Len.htm

Surviving a Job Loss

I thought about whether I should post this or not and then felt guided to post it. I therefore trust that this information is needed by someone somewhere.

So continuing on the subject of taking action (from my first post - Adversity is a catalyst) ...  Take action to survive a job loss before it strikes.

This is how I survived my last job loss via a redundancy:

I did not kid myself that in a recession and with the Government announcing significant job losses in the sector, my job would be safe. So I created a risk profile and started to prepare myself:

• To get a job in my field I needed a top class resume and professional certification to ensure that I was always on an interview shortlist
• I would need to "nail" an interview
• I would need to safeguard my biggest asset (my house)
• I would need cashflow for necessities to tide me over while I was looking for a job

I got myself professionally certified as I did not have that.

I started updating my resume. Then I ran it past trusted friends and colleagues. I continued that cycle until I was happy with it. I searched the internet for sample resumes, took bits and pieces from here and there, and added my own unique style to it. The idea was to make my resume stand out. It took about three months to complete it.

I also started preparing for an interview. Again the internet has many resources available. I never underestimate interviewing. It is a skill I sharpen constantly. I practise with colleagues or just by myself out loud. After a while answering questions becomes easy. I have found that interviews where I over prepare do not go well. So I like to be spontaneous in my interviews - that is I don't "learn" the answers.

To safeguard my biggest asset, my house, I took out redundancy insurance. I did this while I was in a job. The insurance pays my monthly mortgage payments for a limited time if I am made redundant and while I am looking for a job. My loan also allows payment holidays. That is, my monthly payments can be temporarily suspended for a limited time.

The period of time for both is short but it's breathing space at a scary time - some peace of mind while you sort yourself out.

I also started saving in earnest so that I would have a cashflow for necessary expenses while I was looking for a job. I put aside a set amount each week even if it's a small amount. I have found for myself that saving becomes easy if I put aside a fixed amount each week into a savings account and then budget my expenditure from the remaining amount. This also helps me cull unnecessary expenditure. And even saving $20 a week adds up to a lot over the years.

Finding a job can be a daunting exercise. I use all resources I can - social networking - like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin. I also network professionally. And I take each failed interview as interview practise.

If redundancy strikes have the faith that you are prepared to deal with it and that there is a job there with your name on it. Eventually that job offer always comes through.

I have been made redundant thrice. I guess some would say to me that my thoughts attracted these redundancies but I look at it quite differently.  I know I did ask to move onto bigger and better, my life's work. I also know that moving from my comfort zone is a hard thing to do particularly in a recession. So perhaps the only way I could move onto bigger and better was through the redundancies.

Some things are meant to be because they are precursors to greater things.

Redundancies made me take a long hard look at myself and it helped me remove notions that were actually blocks to my progress.

Although scary at the time, in hindsight each redundancy has been a blessing. And as long as I am prepared, I know I can survive them.

love and hugs
Suzy.

Quotes that inspire

My late father collected quotes and hand wrote them painstakingly in books. His collection is one of my prized possessions. 

His love of quotes triggered my love for them and we often discussed them together. These are the moments that will live forever in my heart and mind.

Here are some of my favourite ones, quotes that continue to inspire me.

"I will dance in your heart until you are happy and free"

I believe that the Universe sends messages and clues. However, we don't always recognise them.

Over the past few years I have now come to realise that something stirs inside my soul when the Universe "speaks" to me.  I feel immense joy if it resonates and complete unease or doubt if it is trying to tell me I'm on the wrong path.

I came across this article quite by chance via a  blog post  and I know I was meant to read it. 

I was drawn to the word "Shaqqara" that led me to this page:  http://www.anamika.com/shalimandshaqqara.htm

As I love dogs, a doggie story is always great to read. But this one warmed my heart. And I also felt that there was a message in this for me.

Many years ago (during my teenage years) I met someone who has remained in my heart and holds a very special place in it. He unfortunately died in an accident the age of 20 (so I am told).

Over the years I have "felt" a deep connection with him. I have always wondered if he really had an affection for me (as I felt he did) and I have often asked why he had to die. (In fact I have asked these questions as recently as just a few days ago).

He was so sweet and so kind. It just seems so wrong and so sad that he had to die so young.

I had no idea what I would expect in the article or why I was led to it until I read the last section "Shalim's gift" and then the very last caption on the "Pookie love notes"  ...

"I will dance in your heart until you are happy and free". 

I just felt the joy surge into my soul and I felt like these words were written just for me.

I was given an answer.

Thank you and be happy wherever you are.  xoxo.

Adversity is a catalyst

Adversity strikes suddenly. How we react to it is entirely upto us.

I have been single for the last three years after a 28 year relationship ended. I have had two health scares (luckily turned out to be non events in the end) and I have been made redundant thrice. I have lost people so dear to my heart via death as recently as a year ago. And again I find myself in-between jobs. It's not an easy time in my life.



I would love to have the job of my dreams, financial freedom, abundance in all aspects of my life, and a soulmate to love, cherish and share life with.

I have read an endless list of books, blogs, articles, tweets, FB posts, listened to lectures, vlogs, all conveying the message that the Universe will provide, that we should have the faith, focus on the positive, set the intention etc. After all we attract into our lives what our thoughts focus on.

I know that all of these are true and I am grateful and give thanks that these wonderful people have shared their stories, wisdom and successes with us. A lot of what I have learned and practise is through their works. But in reality we simply cannot sustain the positive frame of mind constantly.

I keep my spirits high and I try to look on the bright side of life. I know the Universe has a plan and I must wait patiently but there are days when I go through intense fear, loneliness and sadness and there are other days when the hope comes shining through only to be dashed again.

So how do I cope?

I allow myself to feel the sadness, loneliness, fear, and sometimes even anger. I know that only when I allow myself to feel, can I heal. I tell myself that it's okay to feel afraid, sad, abandoned, lonely, and angry. Because eventually I know I will move into a happier and positive space.

So how do I move into the happier and positive space?

I take action.

Adversity is a catalyst for action. Often one you never dreamed you would do.

The action I take is not necessarily big. Sometimes doing nothing or inaction is also action. There are days when looking for a job becomes too stressful so on those days I just take a break and do nothing about the job search. Instead I send a prayer to the Universe for help and then I just blob - with a book, TV, blogs whatever I feel like on that day.

The point I make here is that it is okay for me to feel low as long as I take action to move out of it. And when I am inspired to do something I urge myself to - Just do it.

This blog is one of those actions - a just do it and something I never dreamed I would do. Writing helps me project what I feel. It helps me detach temporarily from the situation and provide some breathing space. Then I can deal with the situation a whole lot better.

I was Divinely inspired and led to start this blog. I have been blogging for just over a year via a private blog. I was guided to write a public blog. And it's scary. Sharing your words with people you know is entirely different to sharing with the wide world. I don't know why or where it will lead. All I know is that I must "Just do it" even if I feel the fear. And that if even one person is helped by what I write, I will have made a difference.

So I will trust the Universe that it knows what I must do and I will write as I am guided by it.

I hope it will bring inspiration and comfort to those who need it.

Love and hugs,
Suzy.