The simple way to true happiness.

Life is simple. Our minds like to complicate matters and tell us otherwise; but here it is, we choose what we presently have in our lives. We do have complete control over our lives; though most of us would like to not take responsibility. Happiness is not some magic force that just appears for a few lucky people; it is a conscious decision that we can make each day. Want happiness; then do the things that make you happy, surround yourself with others who are happy and who make you feel good. It really is that simple. If your mind tells you otherwise, or you come up with a million excuses then perhaps you don't love yourself enough to choose happiness.
Are you bored? Well then, you must be a boring person. Want fun? Do something fun! Hang out with someone who you have fun with, do things that make you laugh. Choose fun. It really is that simple.
Angry? Figure out a solution to your problem and/ or let it go. Then do something you love to make yourself happy. Choose happy.
Sad? Likely you are dwelling on sadness; there are exceptions of course so if necessary take the time to heal then choose happy. And while your healing look for the goodness in things, see the beauty. Choose happy, even if its little bits at a time.

Really the key to life is doing the things you love and being with people who you love. People who bring fun and laughter into your life. Don't settle for anything less. Love yourself enough to do so.

And remember that there is a lot of joy in life's simple pleasures and its your choice to enjoy them.

 I found great joy out of watching this tree full of baby squirrels, they were so quick I could only get two in one picture but there must have been about 5 of them!

From the Ashram

As you can tell by my slow speech the Ashram had a very calming affect on me :)

India!

Follow your heart! Follow your dreams and allow the flow of beauty and abundance to stream through your life guiding you. Right now my heart is guiding me to India, in fact I'm at the airport now. Where is your heat guiding you?

Manifest on the New Moon.... or any other time!

Where I have been and how I got there

Creating Your Life - Allow Flow and Change

Part 2 - So Is Everyone Else!

The Importance of Connecting to Nature

Connecting to Nature is so important, here I share how I realized this and how you can get a little closer to nature.

Being a part of the Food Chain

I live in a small town, this town in located on a big lake and most everyone either lives on the waterfront or else on the mountainside. I live on the mountainside so not only is the town surrounded by the forest but where my back yard ends the forest begins... or it is all overlapping really. I grew up here but left to find work in the city for quite a few years. I have always loved this community that I never stopped calling home and I moved back a little less then a year ago. I was immediately happy when I moved back but wanted to take some time before I wrote about it. I wanted to make sure that my feelings were long lasting, I wanted to get out of the 'honeymoon' phase and give myself some time to process - but I feel the same. I feel like my life is so much more rich with what is truly important.
I feel so much more deeply connected to the rest of the planet.

It is amazing how quickly the city can disconnect you from nature and therefore disconnect you from a much bigger picture. It is so easy in the city to get lost in the hustle and bustle, not only that but to forget what lies beyond the confines of concrete. I mean sure you can watch a documentary about birds, or sharks but to step into their world you truly realize that we are living amongst these amazing creatures. Last night as I was driving home from work there was a herd of Elk on the road, I stopped - well of course I did they're friggin' huge! I watched them for quite some time, they were in a big grassy yard just on the side of the road, I saw 2 bulls fighting, I saw Mama Cows standing aside with their calves, and the rest of the herd which I counted out to be 22 in total grazing away on the cool grass. When you witness such an event it really makes you feel rather insignificant. Like you are a small part of something much bigger, a much bigger picture which is truly amazing.

In the city you are the strongest link on the food chain, but when you walk through the woods and see these huge creatures, or when you go outside and there is a huge bear in your yard, or you catch a glimpse of the ever illusive cougar you realize that you are rather low on the food chain and it really brings everything in perspective. You realize that you aren't the 'something' you are only a part of something. (And if you have ever been into a bar in the city you will see that there are many people who have not learned this lesson - lol!)

This knowledge is not only truly humbling but also I find it rather comforting. There is a certain feeling that you get when walking along a stream, when you realize that this stream is connected to a river and that river flows to the Ocean creating an amazing network that connects all of the worlds water, it makes you feel connected to this amazing planet in a way that nothing else can.
I am so glad that I have this connection to nature, and I encourage you all to find a deeper connection that you may already have.

Skepticism

I fully believe in psychic abilities and love to interact with those who have a good grasp on them. (I would like to note that I believe we all possess the ability to develop these abilities)
Anyways... feeling a little perplexed I decided it would be fun to go and have my tea leaves read, so I went with a friend and we both had amazing 30 minute reading incorporating the tea leaves, tarot cards the a clairvoyant, I had never had it done and was really curious. Because so much can be said in 30 minutes I had the session recorded onto a tape... a little old fashioned but my only option.

I left feeling great, so clear and hopeful for what lies ahead of me. Everything was as I thought with a lot of victory.

I was planning on listening to my tape right away but the old tape player that I thought I had in my basement was actually just an old radio. Then I kept thinking about the things she had said and began to doubt it, things can't really be that good can they? Were some of her answers vague? Was I offering too much information to her? Maybe they were just lucky guesses, after a few days I was skeptical about the whole thing, even though when I left I felt so sure, and like her answers were straight forward and direct.

Then I finally borrowed a tape player and listened to it, and using my own intuition I was able to understand what she said and even see further into the things that I wasn't able to focus on because I was too busy thinking about the last thing or the next thing, alot can happen in 30 minutes!

My point is that the answers are within ourselves, it wasn't until I was able to step back and listen to my heart that the clear answers stood out to me, and while I think she was bang on it was up to me to interpret it the way that resonates with myself, so go ahead and ask for help and when you do so be open to everything they have to say and then listen to your own heart about what it all means.

Questions for Spiritual Leaders

 

Like others I follow many people, from the teachings of spiritual leaders, Reiki masters, my teachers right to people who I resonate with on Youtube - yes there can be a great deal of information on YouTube  and generally I take what resonates with me and try to apply it to my daily life. But even as a Reiki Master myself I will admit that this is much easier said then done. I would love to be a raw foodist who meditates for hours each day and finds time to offer service to others and immerse myself in new spiritual practices constantly but sometimes I feel like I am the only one who admits that sometimes this is not possible - and that is ok. I do what I can when I can, and I don't beat myself up if I end up watching tv, or eating something that will block my energy flow, I mean ofcourse I am mindful and I try to be who I want to be but there is something beautiful about surrendering into who you are at that very moment. There is something absolutely amazing about being so comfortable with yourself that you can admit you are not perfect and feel good about it. 

Maybe I am not on as fast a track to 'enlightenment' as others, but I know that I will get there and I think that is what is important. So here is my question - Am I alone on this? Do those who would call themselves spiritual leaders sometimes embellish on how closely they follow the regime that they preach? Am I asking do raw foodists never eat cooked food? Do vegetarians always shy from animal products? Do meditation experts practice as much as they tell us to? Do Reiki masters really stay zen and true to the motto 'Just for today I will not anger' surely some days you anger??

And the real question if you do slip up, why will you not admit it? 

Be true to who you are - Love yourself - All of yourself!

Controling the Uncontrolable

Its amazing how people in our North American culture have just accepted that life is stressful. I mean sure it can be. But it is my personal view that we can only become stressed when and if we choose to allow ourselves to be. While some emotions are harder to control; Stress is quite easily mastered.
I know a man who becomes easily stressed at the drop of a hat, suddenly one thing leads to the next and his negative energy attracts more negative energy and 'the whole world has turned against him' Does this sound like someone you know?
Here is my dealing with stress lesson 1: When it really is out of your control-

I am talking about a situation that you really can't change at this present moment, not something with a true solution. Something like being in traffic or waiting in line
Now:
Think about it from a very subjective point of view, think of what you can control. I'm going to give you a huge tip here: the thing in any situation that you can always control, is you. The thing that you can always change is your perspective. For example when your in traffic; rather then focus on the slow moving vehicles and how you wish they would go faster; change your perspective and just accept that this is where you are now. Acceptance is huge and lets face it if you are waiting in line, or if you spill something, break something, if your car breaks down the fist thing is always just accepting what has happened. No need to get upset about it, its done, it happened and you can't change it now. Most people will get stressed maybe express a few expletives but really all you are doing is causing stress to YOURSELF. Why would you want to do that?
So lets recap lesson 1:
If you find yourself in a situation that would usually cause you stress but you just have to wait it out; change your perspective, accept that you are here right now, remember that you will not be here forever and for good measure find a way to enjoy something. Be it focusing on something visually enjoyable, listening to something you like, or taking a moment to just focus on something that does make you happy.