If the meaning of life is to find your gift, then the purpose of life is to give it away!
Buddhist Boot Camp.
Join me on the quest to love the journey of life, to be in progress, to enjoy the process, and to become more deeply present in each moment!
Follow @ZestForTheQuest
There is nothing that I can give you that you don’t already have.
- Danielle LaPorte
What seeds do you water?
To be positive, content, or healthy doesn’t mean there is an absence of negative thoughts, restlessness, or craving. Far from it. The seeds are always there. You just don’t water them.
The Journey
One day you finally knew what you had to do,
and began, though the voices around you
kept shouting their bad advice
-though the whole house began to tremble
and you felt the old tug at your ankles.
“Mend my life!” each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations,
though their melancholy was terrible.
It was already late enough,
and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper into the world,
determined to do the only thing you could do—
determined to save the only life you could save.
-Mary Oliver from Dream Work
There is an impulse within us all - a creative urge, a quest- that is compelled to manifest. We can absolutely trust it and yield to it, and as we do so we will receive feedback from the universe in the form of guidance & inspiration about the purpose for which we were born.- Michael Beckwith.
At A Loss…
12.14.12. Newtown.
Definition of UNSPEAKABLE
a : incapable of being expressed in words : unutterable
b : inexpressibly bad : horrendous
What does one attempt to say
in tragic times that render
all that is,
all we thought we knew,
Unspeakable.
Our outrage as bold as blood
and spills out of us just as fast
Our tears soon follow.
No anger nor frustration
can ward off anguish well enough.
The devastation suffered
is a loss of life, innocence, beauty.
Everything we trusted comes undone
and there is no consolation
in such senselessness.
Passionately plunging into procured solutions
we try to make some safeguards
against the wicked.
Wickedness grows in our own hearts sometimes,
there is no easy way to sketch a villain
no easy way to claim revenge.
We weep, and our grief could melt mountains.
We listen, and our love could conquer oceans.
We bow our heads, we fear, we tremble, we pray…
The world should halt when the unfathomable occurs.
But it keeps on turning.
And we are left to mourn.
When something precious is taken,
everything becomes more cherished.
Do not forget to hold the ones you love
-and may you never need
a reminder such as this.
All the suffering in the world comes from seeking pleasure for oneself. All the happiness in the world comes from seeking pleasure for others.
Shantideva (via lazyyogi)
Diamond in a Box: Hiding your gifts from the world
“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, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is 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.”
- Marianne Williamson
We have all been given innate gifts, talents, and unique qualities to discover, explore, and share. Mine are expression, compassion, empathy, creativity, and elated energy. But most of my young life, I have kept these gifts to myself out of fear.
It’s what I call my “Diamond in a Box” metaphor. If all your beauty and inborn characteristics were contained in your own precious, rare, and ultra valuable diamond ring, what would you do with it?
Eradicating the word “Busy”
Published here on Positively Positive!
“It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?”
Henry David Thoreau
We’ve all been there. “Busy.”
So many of our conversations seem to start and end with “Hi, how are you?” “BUSY!”
Having been a really “busy” person who felt overwhelmed by days and weeks and years of running around in its clutches, it’s time to re-examine this four-letter word.
Often, we toss this word around without much thought. (Maybe we’re too busy to examine it further!)
If you’d like to see how often this word pervades our daily life and in what context, do a keyword search for “busy” in your email inbox and sent box and witness the results.
Meanwhile, Three Key Observations about “Busy”:
1. Busy-ness Is a Word Laced with Self-Importance
“I would love to attend your thirtieth birthday party, but I’m just too busy.”
How do you feel when you call someone or they finally call you back, and their constant excuse for not making the time is that they were “busy?” Busy can sometimes unknowingly imply “you are not one of my priorities; I had too many other things going on, and I’m really important for having all this ‘stuff’ to do, while I imagine you must sit around at your house all day tapping your fingertips on the counter.”
Let’s face it—chances are, most of us have jam-packed lives, many demands on our time, and lots of stuff to do. So, we get it, you’re “busy.” But guess what? So are we! When you use your “busy-ness” as an excuse, you unwittingly devalue the fact that everyone else is busy too.
2. Busy Means Something Is Running Your Life, and It’s Not You
“I’m so sorry I haven’t called you back until now, I’ve been soooo BUSY!”
To be busy insinuates that you are caught in a whirlwind of commotion, a hamster wheel of activity that seems to never end. Think about it—in most cases where “busy” is often used, the context is often that busy-ness is an excuse given in an attempt to apologize for missing out on something that you wish you could have done.
“All the way to heaven is heaven” - Catherine of Siena.
Adventures in Manifesting: Love and Oneness
I am honored to have been a contributing author to a recent publication of a book called “Love and Oneness”, a part of the “Adventures in Manifesting” Series. The book also features such luminaries as Marianne Williamson, Lisa McCourt, and Danielle LaPorte.
You can read the whole thing and buy the books here.
Meanwhile, here is a short summary of some of the ideas in my featured chapter:
~~
“Becoming a Vessel: Being Ready and Available for Your Highest Good.”
Our Highest Good is something that we often lose touch with. Most times, we get in our own way. I know that I have been my own worst enemy time and time again, in giving in to self-pity, self-doubt, & negative thinking.
But, I realized - there was another way to live, the choice was mine. In the end, it all boils down to love. We want to love, be loved, be Love in the world, but the interplay of our humanity and our divinity can frequently be a rocky terrain.
Recently, I’ve utlized self-awareness to personally grow, beginning with this quote: “I am available to more good than I have ever experienced, imagined, or realized before in my life” -Rev. Michael Beckwith.
Embracing Our Darkness -by Jeanine Nicole
Published today on TinyBuddha!
“It is better to be whole than to be good.” ~John Middleton Murray
Discouragement is usually an unwelcome guest. Every time it comes knocking on my door, I try to shoo it away, or sweep it under the rug.
In fact, many of us want nothing more than for happiness to be our constant state of being, and have a hard time forgiving ourselves when we falter.
It happens: We can get immersed in the thick of discouragement for days, feeling mopey, downtrodden, physically, mentally, and emotionally “burnt out” and all in all “not ourselves.”
When I am in this state, I avoid the page, others, and even my own feelings, not wanting to face the dark and shadowy sides of my own being.
Asking for the “Best Possible Thing!”
Originally published here on Positively Positive!
“Relax your grasp on anything or anyone. Permit the universe to realign itself with the Highest, without your interference or control.”
Marianne Williamson
I have the phone in my hand and a million thoughts running through my mind. It’s too late. You blew it. You lost your chance. You messed up. It won’t work out. She’s going to say “no.”
Then, I suddenly saw how each of these thoughts was focused ONLY on the worst-case scenario. I wondered about that.
“Dear silly head,” I asked myself, “Why does the worst thing have to happen?”
What if the BEST thing happened instead?
Effortless Surrender -by Jeanine Nicole
“Have no envy, and no fear”- Joshua Radin. (Song)
It’s my day off today, and I realize a feeling that has been pervasive the last couple days: I am at peace. It feels funny to say, and doesn’t roll easily off the tongue after years running around “doing stufff”. But it’s true, I’ve come to a place, or at least a juncture, where I am more present than ever before, more relaxed and serenely confident, more at ease, fulfilled, and content than ever.
I think in part this softly alighting state of grace has resulted as a welcome symptom or by-product from my One Month of Surrender.
It has taken work to get here. It has been a choice. But once that choice was made, - once I committed to meditating every day, having a faithful yoga practice, setting intentions, and working in calming and supportive environments, - then the rest fell into place naturally.
