May 2011 see all your dreams come true! I think it’s going to be a good year, I can feel it. For me, I’m not a big New Year’s resolution person, but my goal is to live positively, work hard at my craft, travel as often as I can, and to perform random, and not so random acts of kindness. Basically, to be the best person I can be…What about you? What do you hope for in 2011?
Tag Archives: spirituality
What is the secret?
Is it ever okay to share a secret? I suppose it depends on what that secret is…There is a book by Rhonda Byrne entitled, The Secret. It promises to reveal the keys to obtaining health, wealth, and happiness via the laws of attraction. Based on centuries of the ancient wisdom culled from the religions, philosophies, and civilizations of humankind, we learn that like attracts like, the golden rule exists, and that you get back what you give. Sometimes the secret is so no secret at all…
Sounds simple enough. I haven’t read the book, but I’ll share my secret to happiness. Of course, life gets in the way at times, and certain events are out of our control, but why not control what we can, and say nay to the rest? Do you have a dream, a passion, that you’ve thought about for a long, long time? Have you told yourself that it was impossible to accomplish for a variety of reasons? Isn’t it time to explore again that dream or passion that lives inside you? George Eliot, (1819—1880), said, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” I find the quote inspiring. What might you have been?
I have encountered many female friends throughout life who’ve felt they were nothing if they didn’t have a man in their lives. Their passion was to find a man…I listened as they told me how each new man could possibly be “the one”. It just didn’t seem possible to me. I wasn’t judging. I just felt that finding the right one was worth the wait, that you couldn’t make it fit. It saddened me to see my friends in such a state. What if they were as passionate about their dreams, their personal goals—that didn’t involve another, as they were about finding a man? I wondered why they didn’t feel that their hopes and dreams were as important as finding the right guy. Could it be that if they pursued their dreams they would feel a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment that would in turn make them more attractive to the opposite sex?
What if they made themselves happy first by enrolling in that class, taking that trip, or moving somewhere they’ve always wanted to live? What if they picked up that paint brush, typed the first words of that novel they’d been meaning to write? What if they took that first step toward making their dreams reality? I’d bet they’d find not only themselves, but also their complementary souls…What do I know about it? It happened to me—in the process of fulfilling my dreams, I found love when I wasn’t looking. I tell you about it one day…
In the interim, check out my links section…Read one of my favorite blogs, The Bold Soul. It’s the story of a woman who decided to follow her dreams. She too, found love along the way…
Staying Centered
One practice that has enhanced all aspects of my life is yoga. With the practice comes not only physical strength and flexibility but an accompanying inner strength and confidence. I have taken classes on and off throughout my life but have seriously returned to yoga again and have been practicing regularly for the past three years. While performing the postures I have experienced a sense of well-being and an inner stillness that allows me to see beyond myself, perhaps glimpsing what’s behind that mysterious veil we call life. What I have found so enchanting about yoga is that it is the one physical exercise – but it is more than that – that I’ve never become bored with or dreaded doing. Each seemingly difficult posture becomes a personal challenge, and in time, it is overcome. The posture becomes easier with each practice session, progress comes in slow, steady, and rewarding stages.
What does this have to do with writing? Perhaps much, perhaps little…But when the rush of the everyday is pushed to the background, the voice of the muse can be more easily heard, the spark of an idea gathers momentum and I know where my story should go. Yoga isn’t about the whole fitness craze compulsion, it has been around for centuries – it isn’t about being pencil thin, it’s about being who you are and the best you can be for you, your body type and your age. I’m not buying into what society tells me I should be, not going to look or act “my age” but will stay true to who I am – and that is what yoga helps me to discover, who I am beneath the many layers of self, with the confidence to be that person.
Two of the greatest instructors I’ve discovered are Shakti Mhi and Patricia Walden. Check out the links section and purchase one or both of their dvds – you won’t be disappointed!
