Where do I get these amazingly wonderful ideas? From my angels, of course! You probably get them too, right?
Here is my latest-and-greatest angel/guide download, and I am having a great time with it.
Vision boards became popular several years ago with the rise in interest in the Law of Attraction. By creating a poster with things that you want on it, you draw those things into your life. There are lots of great stories about how effective vision boards can be. I have made a number of them over the years, when I was feeling extra-creative (like I am now–what is up with that?).
During one of my numerous moves over recent years, I ran across a travel-themed vision board I had made. When I made it, I didn’t have any plans (or money) for any travel, and I put places on my vision board that I didn’t even have much great desire to go, such as New York City and Paris. They were just popular travel spots that I thought I “should” visit. When I unearthed the travel vision board, I discovered that I had indeed visited a number of the places on it, including New York City and Paris! And most of those trips came to be via something other than me having the money to do it. They were gifts and special offers.
Back in January of this year, I created a vision board for 2015, but I did it in a photo editing software. (www.picmonkey.com) Working in this medium can feel less creative to people who prefer working with their hands, but it was very satisfying for me. Here’s the result.
Without digging any further into the phenomenon of vision boards, I offer this simple suggestion: shrink it down. The nice thing about vision cards, such as the ones I created, shown in the picture above, is that you can carry them in your wallet or purse, you can put them under your pillow, you can stick them in a little box or book. Vision boards tend to be bulky, and vision cards are completely portable. That way, you can refer to them any time you want, and storage is simple.
I envision a world where everyone creates vision cards to make their lives better! And we put them into photo albums, which we stuff onto our bookshelves, where we can go back and look at them any time we like! And we’ll say, “Oh, look what I created! I brought that happy thing into being!”
Ever been attacked? Bullied? Cyber-picked-on? Outright screamed at?
I recently got verbally crucified by a life-long friend. (And I rather doubt the friendship can survive.) For some reason, she posted a diatribe about what a terrible person I was as a comment on a Facebook post of mine. I don’t know what triggered her revelation of her apparently-long-held anger, but she let me have it. Hard. And it hurt.
I removed the post from Facebook and messaged her privately, apologizing for her pain and my contribution to it–which was, of course, innocent. I would never cause her pain on purpose. But I did so accidentally. And she turned it around, years later, to hurt me back.
My many apologies seemed to soften her anger slightly, but she did not forgive me. And she repeatedly described her own pain and anguish, of which I had been a part. She did not acknowledge my own horrific pain at the same time, nor do I think she is aware of it even now. And that makes me think she does not care.
Being excluded, ignored, or treated with apathy may be some of the worst pain in the world, especially when you are suffering from some of life’s hardest blows. Apathy serves to add insult to injury. But I did not defend myself to my friend, I only acknowledged her feelings and apologized again.
Now, this lady is by nature very sweet, one of the nicest people I have ever known. Her unkind behavior and downright cruelty toward me were extremely out of character. I believe that she has been “tutored” by someone to be angry with me. I only hold her accountable for being so ugly to me with absolutely no consideration for where I was coming from.
My response to her was to apologize repeatedly and to make mention of all of us having pain. She didn’t know, probably still does not know, how deeply she hurt me with her harsh words, words that accused me of being just an asshole, someone who doesn’t care at all, or even someone who would hurt another person on purpose.
As I am processing this incident–and it knocked me for a loop–I wrote up a little something on Facebook that I’d like to share with you here. It is for those who have been hurt, but it is also for those who do the hurting, intentional or not. And we all have been both.
Before you accuse someone, before you lash out in anger, before you even have a bad thought about someone, please try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Most people are not trying to hurt or offend you. Most of us are doing the best we can to get through every moment. Life isn’t always easy, but love is what makes it worth it.
Here’s my note:
Have compassion.
Show some compassion today. Not just to one person, but to everyone.
Assume positive intent. Not everyone is being rude or mean on purpose.
Include the person who never goes. Maybe you’ve left her out, thinking she’s shy. Maybe she’s depressed. Maybe including her will do her a world of good that you can’t imagine. Maybe excluding her–again–will hurt her more deeply than you’ll ever know.
Some people get depressed and get treatment for it. Some don’t. Many people who seek treatment for depression take a long time–years even–to get the right balance of treatment for them to feel okay.
Sometimes a depressed person seems grumpy, because that’s the best she can do to keep from crying in front of you. Or all the time. Sometimes “grumpy” is her M.O., because that’s how she manages to show up for work and tries to get through the day. Maybe it is taking every ounce of courage and energy she has just to get out of bed.
Be kind to someone who is poor. Being poor is not necessarily a reflection on how hard a person works or how willing a person is to work. You know the old saying, “If wealth were the inevitable result of hard work, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.” And so would I.
There is no excuse for showing contempt for someone simply because he is poor. He’s not poor because he wants to be, or because he is trying to cause an affront to you. Nobody enjoys being poor, believe me.
Call your friend who has lost a loved one within the last year or two. Let them know you’re thinking about them and that you care. Grief is a pain that lessens over time but never goes away.
Warning: If you are religious, especially very Christian, you may find this offensive, blasphemic, and/or inflammatory. Proceed at your own peril.
Have you ever heard the expression “A myth is just a religion that no one believes in anymore”?
I’ve given it some thought. You know I am always seeking answers for you and for myself, right? And you know I’m not religious? But I do believe and feel that there is something that creates and feeds us, Source, God, the Force, whatever you want to call it. I just don’t believe in the God of the Old Testament (and some of the New, although I dig Jesus for the most part), who is all judgy and wrathful.
Thus, here’s a little game I just came up with. (I’m sure I’m not the first to come up with it, but I don’t recall having seen it elsewhere.)
Take verses from the Bible and replace “God” (or “the Lord”) with “Zeus”. If you have forgotten your ancient Greek mythology, Zeus was the BIG god, the main guy, the head honcho and Gran Queso. (That’s “Big Cheese” for the uninitiated, or “uninicianado”.) At least, he was after he overthrew his father, Cronus. But I digress. Let’s play!
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of Zeus’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Zeus…” ~ Isaiah 2:2
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Zeus, and the Word was Zeus.” ~ John 1:1 (This is actually one of my favorite verses, and I like to replace “Word” with “Thought”, because thought is energy and isn’t that where it all begins? But that’s another blog post.)
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of Zeus.” ~ Ephesians 2:8
“Zeus is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” ~ Psalm 145:8 (Not judgy and wrathful, yes, I know, but it still works.)
Do you think the ancient Greeks were any less serious about their religion than many people of today? I know that I tend to think of mythology as silly and I can hardly imagine someone actually believing that it was true. But people did.
What do you think? Can you give me some verses that will give us a giggle, at least? Can you expand on this idea? Leave your thoughts and scriptures in the comments below.
I received an email from a fellow spiritual teacher in which she talked about “lessons”. You’ve probably heard something about lessons all your life–you have to learn your lessons, you came into this life to learn certain lessons and you’ll keep being challenged until you learn the lesson.
Bullshit.
Pardon my profanity, but I never like using the word “lessons”. The word “lesson” contains implicit reference to your ability to pass or fail. And that’s just not how it works.
The Universe is logical. There is no pass or fail, no right or wrong way to live your life. There is only what you like and what you don’t like.
Yes, you learn, but not because anyone is keeping score and not because you might fail and mess up and fall down and never get it right. You don’t have to get it right. Your mission is to live in the way that you like.
Yes, there are consequences to actions, thoughts, and feelings. What you get to learn is which actions, thoughts, and feelings bring the consequences you like, instead of the ones you don’t like.
Yes, it can be a little tricky. But you have plenty of cosmic help and support. Instead of “lessons”, think of “messages”. Messages come at you all the time. This is the word I prefer to “lessons”. If you think of “messages” being provided to you through the consequences you are experiencing, you can figure out which messages lead you to the consequences you like.
Pay attention! Thoughts that pop into your head, conversations you overhear, something that gets your attention on the radio, experiences that happen to you, and eventually your own body… all of these contain messages that are intended to guide you toward what you like.
We all start out in the Garden of Eden. We know we are fully loved without condition and that all our needs are met before we even recognize them.
Do you think the baby comes out of the womb asking, “Did I do all right? Do I get a good grade? Does my hair look good? Does my mom love me?” Of course not. Infants have just experienced nine months of having every need met instantaneously. It doesn’t occur to them that this trend won’t continue.
After being born, we know instinctively to cry when we have a need, and that need is usually met pretty quickly, since a baby crying is annoying and, to its mother, unbearable. We have come from unconditional love and we KNOW it, we have a full knowing of it, without doubt.
Then, one day, Mommy has to say “NO.” She has to stop you from touching the stove or pulling the TV over on your head. And that feels like NOT LOVE. So we start trying to please her in an effort to get back to LOVE, back to the Garden.
We start making our beds and good grades, singing if we can sing, being funny if we can be funny, smiling if we’re good at smiling. We seek approval because it’s the only thing we can figure out how to get. It only works sometimes, but it feels pretty good when we can get it.
And that’s the paradox: You can’t earn unconditional love. You can only earn approval, which is a pale shadow of unconditional love. But we keep trying, because in the back of our heart, we remember unconditional love and we want it. We want it bad.
Here’s the secret: You’re still in the Garden. You never really left; it’s an illusion that you have to earn someone’s approval. You are MADE of unconditional love! Your soul is a piece of it, and you carry it around in this vessel you call a body. All you have to do is REMEMBER and FEEL.
Can you feel it? Have you ever felt like you’re back in the Garden? Close your eyes and feel it. It is within you now and forever.
Where do I get these amazingly wonderful ideas? From my angels, of course! You probably get them too, right?
Back in January of this year, I created a vision board for 2015, but I did it in a photo editing software. (www.picmonkey.com) Working in this medium can feel less creative to people who prefer working with their hands, but it was very satisfying for me. Here’s the result.
