Creating Hope from Heartache
Barbara Marx Hubbard says that "Crisis is an evolutionary driver." Our world is certainly in crisis. I passionately believe the ultimate way to take part in the evolution of humankind is to wholeheartedly embrace our unique individual gifts and ferociously share them with others. The God within is calling out to all of us to contribute to each other in unconventional and profound ways. Rather than search for love, be love. Rather than wish the world would change, be the change. Honor your divinity within. Embody kindness, and let your generous spirit guide you. Cherish all your relationships, especially those…
11 Simple Ideas for a More Fulfilling Life
Remember that you are not alone. Just when you think you are, God sends an angel your way to remind you. The morning my husband was scheduled for triple by-pass surgery, I found myself in a waiting room, alone, and trying desperately not to cry in front of strangers. God sent me an angel, a pastor we did not know from a local church we had never attended, to comfort me and pray with me. This was just one of many times in my life that God used to remind me that I am not alone. Praise each day. It…
Unleash Your Champion Within
When you wake up in the morning, express gratitude for another day. You came into this world with unlimited potential; don’t waste it on pursuits that fail to fill your mind, satisfy your heart and increase your character. Don’t base your value upon the flawed perspective of others. Your worth is divine, it is pure and you do not need approval to throw off the shackles of expectation and fly free from fear, insecurity and doubt. Listen to your heart; our noisy, busy society is far too loud and if we are not careful we can lose our ability to…
Ask These 4 Questions to Improve Your Life
Open your heart to possibilities, allowing the light of God to give you what you need. You can have plans; however, you must allow space for surprises, delights, connections, and the time it takes for things to unfold. Hope comes from the head and heart, through the soul and the spirit. Don't get stuck in a 'little idea' of you, but find freedom in knowing that beyond you, there is a force working to pick up the pieces in the darkest hours, the brightest days and even through confusion and healing! The four-letter word "Life" has allowed us to be…
The Circle of Love
Life is precious. Often we get distracted by day-to-day trivia - those oh-so-important must have's and must do's on our lists. But, in the end, most things and activities don't matter people do. That's what hit me - hard - as I visited my father in the ICU. In one week, he had endured two open heart surgeries - the first one planned, followed by an emergency second one to correct the first one gone bad. Magically, all trivia vanished. Priorities crystallized. The power of love and human connection reigned. It soothed, healed, and beckoned hope. It was palpable. My…
When Life Gives You Lemons, Make HOPE Lemonade
People often ask me how I do what I do -- the basics are simple: From childhood, I was taught never to say, "I cannot." To this day, I excel at whatever I'm doing, especially if someone tells me that I can't do it. Be true to your core beliefs. Go where God leads you, even if you feel like asking "who me?" God will bring the people into your life that you need, when you need them. In short, He will take care of the details. Aristotle said, "Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, lies…
6 Things You Need for a Fulfilling Life
I have survived cancer four times, two open-heart surgeries and multiple brushes with death over my 46 years. What do I know about life? Or more accurately, what do I think I know? Well, I think I know this. I need love as much as I need air, water and food to survive and flourish. I have to love everyone but you don’t have to like him or her. The closer people are to me, the more love I radiate towards them and the more I accept their presence. Acceptance is the key to serenity. I only control my actions, not…
The Truth About Transformation
Transformation is a process and a journey, not a destination. You will not wake up one day and be “transformed.” Though some people, teachers or speakers may make it look like eternal and ultimate bliss, keep in mind that you're not seeing behind the scenes. It takes real effort, reflection and passion (drive and motivation!) to expand into a higher version of yourself... and to not fall back into old patterns. It’s a cycle, just like the wheel of life. You will have good days, bad days, slip ups, successes and everything in between. This doesn't mean something is wrong…
Write Your Bucket List
By B. Lynn Goodwin. I never saw Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson in The Bucket List, but I know the movie inspired people around the world to make their own lists. In case you've never heard of such a thing, a bucket list is a list of goals, dreams, ambitions, and the experiences you'd like to have before you die. It can include countries and people you want to visit, events you want to see, and sports, hobbies, and activities you’d like to try sometime. Whether you want to run a marathon, learn a foreign language, see the Aurora Borealis,…
A Gratitude List
I'm in a unique and special free-writing group. Our rules are quite simple. We follow Natalie Goldberg’s practice of doing timed writings. I bring in prompts, which are sentence starts like the ones in my book. One woman reads one, while another woman sets a timer. When it goes off, we go around the circle, reading what we wrote. We don’t comment. Sometimes we respond to each other’s writings during the next round of writing, offering sympathy, understanding, and occasionally offering advice, if it is requested. After eight years, I think of these women as my writing sisters. We’ve seen…
The Pain Is Real
By Penny Kane. It's hard for me to write this. The emotion that it stirs up even after all of these years is intense. It’s real. I want to share my story with other people who are grieving, whether it be from the loss of a baby, or the loss of the opportunity to conceive a baby because they are both devastating. I have experienced pain on the loss side, and the complicated pregnancy side. Pregnancy never came easy for me, and I always wondered if I was different, and what was wrong with me. The first loss that I…
Finding Hope and Dreams Amidst Adversity
There is a special invitation that whispers to us from the midst of our greatest challenges. It is an invitation to honor our spirit as we keep hope alive for ourselves and others. The truth of this brilliance was brought before me the other day when a friend wrote a note distilling the lessons learned over the past year as he and his wife battled and beat back cancer. In sharing what helped them make it through the nights of doubt, pain and uncertainty, they turned to ancient words recorded more than 1,800 years ago... 'It is my bad luck…
You Are Not Your Problems
It's an overcast Spring day in Montana, as I'm sitting here by the lake watching the wind create waves on the surface of the water. Clouds are blowing by, slowly. Patches of blue sky can be seem intermittently through the passing clouds. It's dark, gray and a bit dreary. Raindrops are beginning to fall. If I were just looking at my immediate surroundings it could be quite depressing. But... in the distance I can see the sun shining brilliantly on a mountain peak. Just at that one place, the clouds part, the mountain breaks through and the peak glows in…