The Shiny Rocks

Let's play a game.

Look at the following picture:


Now, focus on the dark rocks...

See how they start to pop out at you?
Go back to the picture, and now focus only on the light rocks.

See how your brain organizes color?
Now, try paying attention to just the dark spaces between the rocks.
Cool, huh?

Focus.

Why not only choose to focus on the happy rocks? By that I mean...

Why not choose to focus on only that which is good in our lives? Look how simply your brain will reorganize and allow................

Everything in your life has positive aspects that you can shift your focus on. Try it as an exercise for the day.
Focus on the shiny happy rocks in your life.

Fortune cookies

I have recently tried to pay attention to the lessons from the Universe. Not certain if Fortune Cookies count toward those lessons, however, I guess they can't hurt. I keep the ones that make me smile. I think, often, what a cool job it would be to think of those sometimes life-changing phrases that fortune cookies can be.

Recently, mine have been interesting in the journey "for me" of late:




Hmmm. gonna ponder on them. Not certain they have relevance. Not certain they mean anything. However, I am a student of Universal life lessons. (some call it divine intervention, angels, loved ones, or even GOD) Sometimes they have something to tell you!!!


Maybe Chinese fortune cookies are the way... Hmmm.

Thought of the day: Is the Hokey Pokey all that it is all about?

Manifestations

So.. Today I brag.
Today I give thanks to the Universe for the giving me the answers to my very specific prayers.
I have been a Law of Attraction teacher and student for several years. One of my favorite "games" to play, is to set your sights low and ask for easy things, paying attention every time to the little manifestations along the way.
As a background, a few years ago, I was working hard on the Law of Attraction, clearing my energy, focusing my vibrations through positive thought, when one day, I couldn't find a hair elastic for the life of me! Now, trust me when I say that I couldn't believe that I couldn't find one little hair elastic.. I knew I had lots of them, but they weren't in their usual spots! I could feel my energy boiling, as the stress of the search turned me from nook to cranny with no results. (you know the feeling, when you are fishing for something small... the stressful feeling that comes naturally?) Suddenly, I stopped, and practiced what I preached. I stood up, took a deep breath, and decided clearly that I would find just one hair elastic now, but I actively decided to manifest more hair elastics. I knew at the time it was a silly thing to actively ask for, and I also knew that somewhere in my house there were plenty of them. But I was all up into my Law of Attraction is Magic thing, and decided then and there to manifest hair elastics. Well, I did find one elastic right away, and during the next few days.. I stumbled here and there upon hair elastics.
Fast forward about a week, and I was looking for a pair of tweezers. I began my fruitless search for tweezers by reaching into a make up bag. I found about 10 hair elastics. (no tweezers). I smiled. I went to the next place I might have put the tweezers... more hair elastics. (Just to describe where I was looking, I have these containers with lots of little organizational pockets. In almost every one of them.. I found hair elastics. It was no longer about the tweezers, as I gleefully found stash after stash of hair elastics. Including an unopened package of them. I must have found a hundred elastics (but no tweezers, lol), and it felt like a cartoon where the elastics were seriously jumping out at me.
I stopped and marveled at my manifestation. I opened my overnight cosmetic bag and stopped myself as I joyfully reached through several loose dollar bills and reached for a few prize hair elastics. Suddenly, I realized that if I could do this with hair elastics, why couldn't I do this with money. Instantly, my focus shifted to the loose bills I hadn't even noticed a minute before. Boom, about $7 bucks. I went into my bedroom and looked in a junk drawer for my final attempt at tweezers, and I found more hair elastics, and a roll of $150 cash. (I work in the restaurant business, and just found some tips I had forgotten about) I also found 3 gift cards, and an uncashed check. Irresponsible? Maybe. But I was STUNNED how quickly, and how animatedly I had attracted those things.
Are you still reading? lol.
So, Long story long.. This spurred me to get more focused on the things I wanted to attract in my life. I wanted extensive travel for example.. and boy, oh boy, have I been the recipient of incredible travel. I have been so blessed by the many places I have visited, and I am scheduled to travel again in the next few weeks for a trip of a lifetime with my family.
Picture the energy around you like a big thick foggy pea soup. You inhale energy as it passes by you, the vibrations, like internet emails, flowing in and out of your unconsciousness.
What do you think as you inhale? as you exhale? What energy are you emitting into this thick pea soup of energy that we all connect to? What energy are you absorbing?

Is the road to hell REALLY paved with good intentions?

I set out to do this blog a few years ago with the intention of exploring different churches and writing about the way they made me feel. That lasted about a few weeks. In fact, life got in the way so fast, and I found myself working on Sundays, and soon, I was out of the blog habit. Plus, as I read the posts from that era. Holy smokes. Edit much? Very lengthy. Oops. Anyway, The last few years have been filled with much spirituality, and the path has led me to many wonderful manifestations and epiphanies. I continue to learn about religions around the world. I love to find the common denominator. Is it Love? Is it Peace? Is it Kindness? What do we have in common? What are our differences? In my quest for spirituality, I continue to gravitate towards a more science based religion. Energy, Universal influence, Quantum physics... all fascinate me and can be applied to religious prayer and belief. I will continue to study, ask, think, listen, learn about religions and God (call it what we will). I will continue to write about my experiences on this journey. I'll try to keep them a little shorter in the future. Intentions sometimes lead us onto different paths than the one we start out on. I am trying to give myself permission to change paths on this blog. Since I am in charge of my own path, my own destiny, my own blog. Permission granted.

Being Present is a Present

I am currently enjoying a personal project where I try to practice the art of being present. By this I mean, every time I find my mind wandering, I force myself to pay attention to the details of what I am currently doing and to find enjoyment in the detail. It's kinda fun. For example, yesterday, a beautiful day, I went for a short bike ride. A time when I usually let my mind wander freely, I write stories in my head, plan businesses, spend imaginary money, travel the world, plan art projects, laugh about this and that. I am rather adult ADD at times, but I enjoy my own distractions, and since I follow through with my responsibilities, I usually let myself have this little indulgence. I digress. Anyway, on the bike I decide to be aware of every little detail of my bike ride. The moment observed, if you will. I listened to the songs of the birds, felt the sun warming my skin, smelled the flowers and the freshly mown grass. I felt thankful for the ability to ride a bike. I felt thankful that I had the time to do this. I found myself in a vibration of utter peace. It was truly uncanny. I continued to do it while driving, while sitting here right now at my computer. I am consciously finding the "Zen" in every moment. All I can say is that I feel great every time I do this. Not sure where it will take me, but feeling this peaceful vibration is totally worth the occasional thought shift.

My backyard Jesus

Last summer (2014) I noticed in the backyard there was a dead branch in the woods and it looked like Jesus to me. I found myself sitting on the porch and saying things like, "Hi Jesus!"

Soon, I found myself talking to him, telling him my burdens, asking him for advice. Now, I knew full well that this was just a dead branch.

So, as I said before, I was so enchanted by this backyard Jesus that I found myself opening the blinds and saying, "Good Morning, Jesus!" each day. I looked forward to it. This picture was from last summer. Looks like Jesus, right? So, summer turned into fall, and fall turned into record snowfall winter. (remember the snow?) Life went on, and frankly, I'd forgotten about the branch in the backyard, and went on to other things (Like shoveling).

Fast forward to Easter morning....... I was getting ready for work, and thought about the whole Easter morning resurrection thing and thought to myself, "I wonder if backyard Jesus made it through the winter?" So I went to the window and looked out. I saw nothing. No Jesus. For a few minutes I was sad...... Genuinely sad. I walked around the house moping a bit about it.

About an hour later, I looked out the window again, and there we was. Backyard Jesus HAD made it through the winter!!! (I learned the next morning that at certain times, he was in the shadows and couldn't be seen easily) So, a true Easter morning resurrection!! He no longer resembled the full, vibrant Jesus of last summer. Now, beaten, battered, and downtrodden, Jesus was still there anyway. He had battled the cold of death, the winter of 2015, and he stood strong through it all. For me? Who knows? I got giddy again, and said something like, "Hallelujah! he has risen!" Ok it wasn't that dramatic, but still... the parallels.. the whole Easter thing. I got goosebumps. This picture was taken Easter morning: So, to sum up...I told this story to a friend of mine who said that I probably could sell backyard Jesus on Ebay or something and get real money. Which is funny to me, because, it could be true. However, I don't know.. I like having him out there. I like saying my good mornings to him (Yup, the branch). Hey, it makes me feel good, ok? Anyway, he doesn't look like he did last summer anymore. He may not make it through next winter as he is looking mighty weak.

 So... for now. I'm keeping my backyard Jesus just the way he is. Praise be.

Beautiful Minds Inspire Others

I passed by a pile of unread magazines this morning only to find this on the cover of a catalogue. It jumped out at me and is certainly going on my next vision board. Next I looked down and it says, "Thank you for inspiring us for 50 years." Since I just turned 50, I felt that this was directed at me as a sign from the universe. Immediately after that, my eyes went to the next magazine, and the cover caption read, "The older I get, the better I get." I believe in the power of energy creating what we call coincidence.. therefore, I don't believe in coincidences. I want to get better as I get older, and inspire others with my beautiful mind. Lol. Well, at least I'll try.

Today's mantra

I believe in this: Honor your soul/spirit by keeping promises to yourself. Honor your humanness by making promises you can keep.

Is GOD sending me messages to buy stuff on the internet?

I was surfing on GoDaddy website the other day to see if a domain name I had in mind was available. Indeed it was, however, I have a rule that when I want to spontaneously buy something on the internet, I leave the window open for at least 24 hours, think about it, and if I still want it, I buy it. So, I leave the window open and move on to other things. The next day I turned on my computer and there were windows still open. The front window was partially covering the GoDaddy window to reveal what looked like a message. GoD.. yes, Buy It. (see attached photo) A sign? An awesome subliminal marketing strategy? A coincidence? Well, I don't believe in coincidences. So, I bought it.

GOD: my definition

GOD... such a strong word. Defined differently for so many. I used to think that GOD was a big Santa Claus looking guy with white hair, a beard, and kindly eyes. I had a hard time using the word for so long because of all of the ways I didn't agree with other people's definition of GOD. Was GOD masculine? How could GOD let bad things happen? I have come to understand GOD my own way, and identify with my own spirituality. I am a child of science. Energy is my GOD. Vibrational energy that is present in all things. All things earthly. All things in the Universe. All things beyond the Universe. GOD is the connection we all have vibrationally. Thoughts are prayers. Vibrations are things. GOD is listening to our vibrations, and we are creating our worlds and manifesting our prayers. G oodness O neness D ivinity GOD is not human. GOD is not a man. GOD is the energetic and vibrational connection we share. GOD is what we connect to as we live our lives. We pray all day every day as we think our thoughts. Intentional prayer and meditation can help shift our focus if needed. (and don't we all need it?) The name GOD is just a name for that power we all know exists. Some call the power different names. It's all the same thing. So I use the word again. I just don't use masculine pronouns, and I don't picture Santa. I do pray. I do believe in higher power. I know that GOD exists. Energy does not die, it simply changes forms. Our spiritual journey and our connection to one another is far bigger than one life. And certainly bigger than one blogger's opinion.