The Gift of Gratitude

 

Hello again my friends! It is great to reconnect with you on my blog. Although it has been awhile since I last posted, I’ve been feeling a pull to write again, so here I am! There are currently so many ideas for topics swimming through my brain to write about, but let’s keep it simple today and re-remind people about the gift of gratitude!

One of the fastest ways to bring more joy into your life is to focus on gratitude. It can be done in as little as a minute, but is something that it often forgotten about in today’s hectic life (I’m just as guilty as you are). However, this simple little exercise has brought me to a space of joy quickly when I needed a little reminder amid the chaos of life. 

How does it work? Sit down in a quiet place and write down all of the positive things currently occurring in your life. It can be something as simple as, “I am grateful for my health,” or as grand as you’d like. There are no limits!

Why we all need a bit more gratitude. Today, we are faced with negative media coverage, nasty political debates, and many fearful people. If you are anything like me, hearing negative news coverage night after night can become exhausting and leave you feeling jaded about the world.  However, the media chooses to highlight the most extreme cases and they leave the "feel good stories" to fall by the wayside to in order to keep ratings high. 

Taking a little time out each day to center yourself and focus on the good in life can help bring balance, peace and joy into your life.  Try doing this for a couple of weeks and see if your outlook on life changes at all. Even events you might have seen as negative, could in fact have been a blessing as they redirected you on a new path. If this exercise is too touchy-feely for you,that's perfectly fine. We are all different and what works for one person doesn't work for everyone. Just don't knock it until you try it!  

What are you grateful for? Comment below and be sure to follow my blog, Higher Minds.

A New Day

A New Way

By Brittany Taylor

Thoreau discovered it

At Walden’s Pond

The Dali Lama discovered it

On his own

Gandhi found it

From the silence within

Peace, space, tranquility

You find within

Cultures today have found a disease

To always be searching, but never find peace.

To cultivate greed, anger and despair,

To think you’re broken and there’s something to repair.

We've created a monster that’s never satisfied,

Always looking to another to complete their lives.

When the fog lifts one day and you suddenly see,

How misguided, misled are we.

There is hope, there is a way out of this tunneled vision.

Each day, each ray of sunshine cleanses our soul,

Renewing us to find a better way, a new day is dawning.

How often do we sit, absorbed in front of the TV, computer, or staring at our phones?  When is the last time you simply turned off your electronics and experienced nature?  The more technology expands and is integrated in our daily lives, the more chance we have to lose our way.

I find that the best memories I have in life were not spent sitting watching TV, but rather out there experiencing life.  The good, bad, sometimes frustrating things life throws at us makes it all the more a mystery.

You can't always control situations in life, but you can control how you react to them.  I was all set to move into a new apartment (new to me anyway) when I got there and smelled a horrible odor.  Spending just 5 minutes inside this place made me nauseous and feel uneasy.  So, struggling to pull together any last minute options, I finally was able to renew my lease at my current place.  And you know what?  I couldn't be happier! 

Now amid unpacking all of the boxes, I realize what a cleansing experience this is for me.  I have been shedding all of the things I no longer needed, to make way for only things I love.  Some of you may be thinking, "How can she be so happy?  Why aren't you mad or frustrated?" To those I answer that happiness comes from within.  It is always a choice that you have at your disposal. 

When you experience something you have the power to decide how that experience will shape you.  Will you see it as an opportunity to grow or will you allow it to control you? 

As you go through the next few weeks, make some time for silence.  To listen to that ever-knowing voice within that will always have the answer your heart seeks.  Namaste my friends.

Dispelling Shadows

I live my life

dispelling shadows

of doubt so that my

True Purpose may

shine in the sun.

It is easy to stay in a world full of confusion and doubt.  There are many things, as humans, we assume we know, until proven wrong.  The world used to be thought of as flat.  I see all the doubts that we have in life as a "flat" view of the world.  Through life experiences, I've learned that when we have doubts, it is usually because we are off of our true path.

Whenever there has been something I was so ecstatic about, I never had a single doubt.  I was just living in the present moment.  Whether it be dancing and running on the beach, choosing an apartment, or finding joy written in noodles in Tuscany, I was just soaking up the joy.

Sometimes doubts really are trying to wake us up to see that what we think we want isn't really the best for us.  Doubts about a partner, doubts about a job, there are a plethora of doubts out there to choose from.  The most important thing when you have a doubt is to LISTEN!  Pay attention to what it is trying to tell you. It may be your intuition trying to guide you back onto the right path.

One thing that helps me when facing any situation I'm unsure about is to stop and listen to my body.  How do I feel about x?  Do I feel sick, nervous, weary, stressed, or angry?  If so it probably is something I'm better off letting go of. Do I feel happy, joyful, laugh, or cry with joy?  If that is the case, then I usually don't have any doubts. I just KNOW.  And getting to a place of knowing is absolutely wonderful!

It may take longer than expected to know what you truly want.  Sometimes you have to sit and wait for the answer to come with time.  In other cases, you know right away what is right for you.  I should clarify that there is a HUGE difference between wanting something and what is aligned with your soul's purpose.  You may want to be a millionaire or have a sports car, but it may be your soul's purpose to find happiness within yourself instead of with an object.

As you go about your days may you dispel the shadows of doubt from your heart so your soul can truly shine!  Many blessings to you all.

Namaste,

Brittany

Sickness or Health? It is ALWAYS a CHOICE.

Recently, I have felt as if I am coming down with something.  This, of course, was not a surprise since I had been spending time taking care of two sick little children.  However, thanks to a couple of special people, I was reminded that it is all a choice we have when we look at "sickness".

I believe that when you identify with a cold, for example, it will stay with you longer than when you can observe it from an objective viewpoint.  When you get "sick", take time to look at where it is you feel bad in your body.  A lot of times when we are working through an issue, cleansing out old negative beliefs and thought patterns, it can manifest to look like sickness.  At the root of every illness, it is asking us to slow down and take a look at our lives.  Where is something working and where is it that we need to change?

My chiropractor recently was ill and witnessing how he handled being sick with such grace was an enlightening lesson for me.  We are taught that if we are sick then we must go to the doctor and get medicine to make ourselves feel better.  However, from my beliefs I like to delve deeper into seeing what is it within me that brought about this situation.  From that point of view it takes us out of being a victim to having more control over our own health.  If our thoughts can manifest into illness, then the same goes that they can also heal us.

My life is not stress-free, and just like many of you I struggle trying to find a healthy balance.  When given the chance to focus on what is not going well in your life or focus on all they positive things you have and all that is on it's way to you, I choose the latter.  There is a calmness within me right now as I take time to listen to my body, respecting what it needs and figuring out how I can live my life to attain the life of my dreams.  Another wise teacher once told me, "happiness is not being able to stay in a joyful state when everything is going well in your life, but to stay in a state of happiness or joy inspite of what is occuring in your life."

You can never guarantee what will happen during life.  Change is a constant that you can always count on.  The one thing you have control on is how you choose to live your life.  Do you choose to react to events, relinquishing your personal power. Or do you choose to respond to events, letting yourself be able to make your own decisions and stay in control?

Heart to Heart

Your heartbeat. How often do you take the time to slow down and listen to the organ that pumps life into you?

We all may be different on the outside, however inside we beat as one.  Some of us have broken hearts, mending hearts, or hearts that will never be the same.

Lately all I have been doing is mentally beating myself up. Yes, I've been to the pity party where yours truly is the guest of honor.  I was struggling with all the changes I want and essentially need to make, and wondering why the UPS man hasn't delivered them to my door yet!

I've tried blame.  It doesn't work! Blaming yourself or others is just a little thing called denial that is your mind's way of preventing any soul growth.

So the blame and the pity party served it's purpose in distracting me for a while, until I finally broke down.  I won't hesitate to say it has been tough this past week in more ways than one.  I'm not perfect by any means.  I have faults that have limited me from being the person I really want to be.

So one of the steps I'm acting out is being true to my emotions.  Blocking them or ignoring them only makes me that much closer to becoming a robot.

Another is to take time to show gratitude.  Gratitude you say?  Yes the warm fuzzies, the sun shining, flowers blooming, I'm alive feeling.  Why? Because I believe that when you focus on all the positive things happening to you, it not only manifests more of the same, but rewires the way our brain is programmed to think.

Those of you that know me well, know I am an avid collector of books.  I'm thinking about becoming a member of Book Addicts Anonymous (just kidding)!  Anyways amid a couple of books I have, I read about the importance of taking time to slow down, experience an emotion, and heal from it. 

 None of us are without hurt or pain, whether past or present. Yet to experience this pain doesn't require a 24/7 gloomy assessment of all the things going wrong in your life.  Experience whatever emotion plagues you and move forward.

Remember that we all are connected through this one beat can unite us.  It's the human experience to have emotions.  I am choosing the good ones!

Sweet Rosalie

It has been twelve days since my grandmother started making her shift to leave this world.  For my friends I apologize upfront for not staying in touch during this time, but it was all I could do just to get through the day.  After I graduated, there was something that made me hesitate to take a job right away.  For my higher self knew on some level what was going to happen.  The universe had planned it out so I could be there with my grandmother during this time in her life.  I am forever grateful for the time I got to share with her and with my family.

Rosalie was born in 1916 and lived through the Great Depression, World War II, and many other interesting and trying times.  She learned not to waste anything and always valued what she did have.  Rosalie leaves behind three children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Those who know her best remember her radiant smile that touched your heart and her nickname of "bright eyes".  Towards the end of her life she lived to appreciate all the sweet moments life had to offer.  During this time I got to grow closer to my uncle, aunt, great uncle, and of course my mom. One of the lasting gifts Rosalie gave me was profound, but subtly so.

You see, we come into this world with nothing, no material possessions whatsoever.  Throughout our lives we accumulate these "things" we think are essential.  Then as the years go by, what once filled an entire house has now dwindled into a small room, and those things that were left can be dispersed quickly when one's life ends.  What we leave behind is not what most of us strive to work so hard for, all the material possessions, but rather it is our love we have shared and those people we have touched.

Things can be taken away in a blink of an eye, and I know my generation is obsessed with having the latest gizmo's and gadgets.  Rosalie gave me the gift that opened my eyes to what truly matters in life, family and friends. She taught elementary school, and yet it went beyond that, teaching others far and wide.

We all will leave this world one day as we make our transition back home to be with all of our loved ones and friends.  I want to look back on my life and be proud of the person I am.  It is an honor to have been taught by my grandmother to be brave, and go forward in life while keeping a smile on your face.  No one's life is easy as we go along our paths, yet trust and faith can bring you a long way.

As I sang to you Nana, you will always be in my thoughts and prayers.  I know that while the body is only a vessel, the spirit continues to live forever.  I am happy for you dear, that you finally are free and at peace.  I love you sweet Rosie.

Women.  We pluck, we prick, we squeeze, we agonize.  It is no wonder women are so obessed with looking perfect when that is all we are surrounded by.  It's on TV, on the radio, magazines, movies, and all other types of media.  That image of the perfect woman who is happy, thin, beautiful (body and hair), and smart.  We are expected to attain and attempt to achieve this look, without ever really achieving it. After all, the images you see are touched up, the women have eating disorders, and I'm willing to bet a lot of them aren't truly happy.  These images and messages are ingrained in us from the time we are little.  Girls wear pink, girls wear makeup, and blah blah blah.

So each day we the female species find ourselves doing this routine to no avail.  We stare in the mirror and criticize the things that jiggle, the things that sagg, those puff eyes or dark circles.  Then we attempt to cover up those imperfections with the latest miracle cream or some women even go as drastic as surgery.  All of this is an endless cycle that is designed to make women feel as if they aren't good enough and have to constantly improve themselves by purchasing the latest must-have easy fix.  When really there is nothing lasting, even plastic surgery will fade over time.

One thing that has become clear for me, is the need to take care of myself.  And that is on a variety of levels.  Our bodies act as a machine, only working as well as we maintain them.  Regular exercise, a healthy diet, and getting enough sleep can go a long way to making us feel better.  I find it interesting that many women who are beautiful don't feel like they are deep down. Beauty is more than skin deep, something society may know but as of right now we aren't willing to live by.  Inner and outer beauty start with feeling and believing.  You have to feel beautiful, happy, and joyful. If you believe it to the depths of your soul then you can have lasting happiness, which will make you beautiful.  If however, you choose to focus on all the things that make you worse, all your flaws it only brings more attention to them.  Take the time to consciously focus on everything you LIKE about yourself, instead of dislike.  Then focus on being the best person you can be all around.  That way we can stop obsessing so much over our image and take a breather.  One last thought for now: we constantly are being judged by others and judging ourselves.  Make an effort as a woman to be JUDGE FREE and not base a person's beauty by what is on the surface.  Sometimes there is a lot more under the surface left to be discovered.  It just takes the effort to look.