Raising the Bar this Year

As this year comes to its end, may we ‘take heart’ and claim the mantle of Light for ourselves. May we finally acknowledge that, first and foremost, we are Spirit beings – Beings of Love and Light. Let us be responsible to this expanded perception of ourselves.

In Clint Eastwood’s movie “Invictus”, Nelson Mandela tells Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon): “We all must exceed our own expectations.” May we all do just that – raise the bar on ourselves. May we be inspired to embody our innate magnificence, exuding Love, Peace, Kindness, Joy.

Let this be our mission. Let us all commit to being an ongoing blessing to ourselves, each other and our world. Let us be filled and thrilled by Gratitude. When we are experiencing Gratitude, we are filled with the Great. We are Great-full. May Greatfull be the context of our lives. A most Glorious 2014 to everyone, everywhere.

Thank you, Marianne and Nelson

In Marianne Williamson’s 1992 best selling book, A Return to Love, she gifts us with this inspiration. Nelson Mandela shared it in his 1994 Inaugural Address:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.  Your playing small doesn't serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us;  It's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

This Christmas season, may all our hearts open to the Light that we are, and generously share the Love ever-present there. We are not “joined at the hip”. We are joined at the heart! EnJoy! And always choose to embody being “Greatful".

Neale Donald Walsch Inspiration

Neale Donald Walsch very generously shares a daily spiritual lesson today@nealedonaldwalsch.com with his mailing list. And this particular message truly struck a chord within me. Being the Better & Better woman, I encourage all, when in the throes of crisis, particularly physical dis-ease, to know that, as arduous as this may be, it is an opportunity. It is purposeful and meaningful. It is a "rite of passage" that when held in that perspective, can deliver blessings beyond our wildest dreams. Most of us have forgotten that we’re much more than these physical bodies. We are Spirit beings on our Soul’s journey and the Universe occasionally has to give us a jolt - some would call it a wake-up call.

On this day of your life, Dear Friend, I believe God wants you to know...

...that illness is not a sign of spiritual weakness, 
but of spiritual strength.

When we fall ill there are some who will say, "Why

did you create that for yourself?" They might convince

you to see it as a sign of spiritual weakness or failure.

It is not. It is a sign of spiritual strength.

All challenges are a sign of spiritual strength, and of

the readiness of the Soul to move on;

to evolve even further.

                                                                                              Neale Donald Walsch 

Blessed

In February, at a synagogue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a fabulous group was featured. That evening My Favorite Enemy consisted of seven (sometimes there are more) first rate musicians from Israel, Palestine, Jordan, USA and Norway, and they set the room on fire with their passion and commitment to inspiring harmony in the hearts and minds of all mankind. Theirs is a blend of Middle East rhythms and sounds, and contemporary pop and rock, and since 2009, they’ve been sharing their transformational programs all over the world. Their sumptuously rich, eclectic music captivates and nourishes our souls.

Since gratitude has been a cornerstone of my life for many years, I was totally taken with their song “Blessed”. The music seeped right into my bones and the recurring lyric is:

Thank you for the sorrow / The times I had to borrow / 
When my heart was hollow /

All my tears and quarrels

Thank you for my madness / All my pain and sadness / 
Without it I would be less / 

Without it I would not be as blessed.

Is that not the human condition? Does that not speak to us all?                                                                                                                                                                                            

Thank you, My Favorite Enemy, for your inestimable gift to our world.

myfavoriteenemy.com

Ben's Journey: Telephones When I was a kid we didn’t have dial p...

Ben's Journey: Telephones

When I was a kid we didn’t have dial p...: Telephones When I was a kid we didn’t have dial phones. In fact, we didn’t even have a private line; we had a party line. Only rich people...

Valerie Harper Again

Valerie was on the Today Show and The Doctors this morning. And it was terrific to see and hear her being so grounded and open and generous with her journey. As the purpose of my former blog had been to take the fear out of the air for her and encourage us all to uphold her with positive healing thoughts, she herself shared this morning that she went so public with this to dispel fear. Despite what would be called a most difficult diagnosis, she ended the Today show saying she was open to a miracle. On both shows she had wise thoughts to share with us. I'm paraphrasing here:

Live while you live.

Don't go to the funeral before the funeral! 

No one's getting out of here alive - we're all terminal.

She ended The Doctors telling everyone to embrace themselves and know that they are magnificent. We are all magnificent, flawed, yes, but nonetheless, magnificent.   

I'm going on a Talk Show in Minneapolis today to speak of Valerie and how we can assist her energetically. Everything in the Universe is energy, and our thoughts are most powerful. Whenever we're dealing with critical disease, our own or someone else's, it behooves us to stay optimistic so that the thoughts we've hosting and the energy they're eliciting will be constructive and empowering. I feel that's our job now - to empower this beloved woman. 

Thank you, Valerie, for sharing so much Joy with our world.

Valerie

When I heard about Valerie Harper yesterday, I was immediately into my ‘facilitating the journey’ mode. I wanted to reach out to assist her in some way by sharing whatever was appropriate from my own challenging experiences. We were in theatre together years ago, and though our paths have taken us on different routes, I’ll always remember her as a delightful woman with an immensely caring heart. It was thrilling to watch her richly deserved successes throughout the years. 

Now she’s hosting critical disease, and I’m here to lend support to Ed Asner's statement that he's not convinced she's running out of time. In a NY Post article he said:

 “Valerie Harper is a century plan and I have come to know her much better in my latter years and have every confidence in the world that she will shock the hell out of us and survive to keep functioning as the great talent and human that she is,”

Harper promised she’d hang around as long as possible.

“Life,” she said, “is amazing. Live it to the fullest. Stay as long as you can.”

Life is amazing. It’s a sacred mystery and we never know what’s going to happen.  So for now, I’d like to encourage everyone to drop any negative thoughts  about Valerie’s diagnosis and see her well and happy and getting better & better everyday. Valerie’s spirit is enormous, and she has innate healing power within her. We all do. So while bowing to the marvels of modern medicine, let’s also put into the equation what Hippocrates said over two thousand years ago: “Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease.”

Our heart-felt thoughts of radiant well being for Valerie are the best gifts we can offer her at this time.

A Precious Gift

Dr. Julia Assante’s brilliant new book, “The Last Frontier”, is an invaluable gift to our world. She takes on humanity’s profound and all-pervasive fear of death. And with erudition and great humor, she demystifies it and relaxes our body/mind/heart and soul into a state of welcoming acceptance. She draws on years of study, culminating with a PhD in Archaeology from Columbia University, as well as from countless personal experiences as a professional intuitive, psychic, and medium. I admit that reading an entire book about death may seem bizarre, but strangely enough this is not the case. The experience is life enhancing and very liberating. Julia’s writing is easeful and most accessible. Her philosophy of the beneficence of the Universe resonates powerfully and her wisdom supports us in calmly looking at death and the afterlife for ourselves and for our loved ones. She’s covered every aspect of the ultimate journey even to counseling us on how to converse with the dead. With this richly multi-faceted work, Dr. Assante is illuminating the preciousness of life here and on the other side. This is a great service to us all and I am most grateful. Thank you, Julia.   

Wonder of Wonders

“A willingness to be still and feel the Wonder, works wonders.”

These words came to me the other day. I was very Greatful* and knew I was to share them. 

We’ve all been given this wondrous gift – the ability to choose. And the gifts that emerge from our choice ‘to be still’ are boundless. Choosing stillness and dropping into Wordlessnss within, as Martha Beck encourages in her fabulous book “Finding Your Way in a Wild New World”, are two of the most salubrious and delicious things we can do for ourselves. In our tenaciously raucous world, this is not always easy, however, it is simple. Sit or lie down, making yourself as comfortable as possible, close your eyes, and notice your breathing – the inhale, the exhale – and choose for the breathing to be more and more easeful. As you’re letting the breath relax you, feel your beating heart and slowly become aware of the pulsations all through your body as the result of your beating heart.  Really allow yourself to feel these pulsations. What a Wonder is this Life Force within us that simultaneously pulses throughout all space. Now, for as long as you choose – Be inside yourself – Be still – Feel as though you’re listening to silence. Keep relaxing more and more into the stillness. Feel the Wonder. Say “Thank You”.

*I've begun to spell grateful – Greatful – because when we're feeling gratitude, we're full of The Great.