Task 2 - Making Lists

The Honey-to-Do list has taken on a new meaning!

Yesterday, you made a list of everything you like. Today, make a list of everything you are good at. I'm good at organizing and directing. I'm good at yelling at the kids. I'm good at gardening. I'm good at...

You get the idea.We will get to the actual Test soon enough. These exercises are needed before one actually takes the test. By nature, so many of us are not clear. Most of society is stuck in what they don't like and that can be easier to identify  than what one likes sometimes. If that is where you are, let that be your starting point. If it is easier for you to identify what it is you are bad at, again, let that be where you begin. Make the lists and then turn it around - choose the opposite.For example, I do not like a dirty house but I do like a clean house.

When you are able to identify what you like and what you are good at, you are more than half way to identifying your passions. The things you excel at in life. Your purpose, your desires, the things or circumstances that make your heart sing.

The achievement of anything that you desire must be considered success, whether it is a trophy or money or relationships or things. But if you will let your standard of success be your achievement of joy—everything else will fall easily into place. For in the finding of joy, you are finding vibrational alignment with the resources of the Universe. - Abraham Hicks


Joy is the good feeling. Joy is feeling happy, content, and peaceful. Joy is alignment with God's perfect plan for you. The exercises I've given you are designed to help you feel good before you take the test. They are designed to get you clear on what brings your soul satisfaction. We all have wants and desires, but we need to find the 'happy place or alignment' first.

Make your lists and put them on the fridge, in the car, or on your calendar. Pin them to your shirt if you have to! Look at them often and feel good. You are a child of God and when you feel good, you see yourself the way God sees you - completely unique and wonderful.

The Passion Test - Lesson 1

What's my passion? 
What's my purpose in life? 
What am I here to do? 
Who am I and where do I fit? 

If any of you are like me, you may have hit a wall at some point in life and reached out for more. Not quite knowing where to go and how to get it, but more. More understanding, more peace, more joy.

When I first asked these same questions all those years ago, the Universe delivered a book to me from a prayer partner named Sandra. I didn't know her very well, but she was more than willing to be God's voice and tell me about this book. I started reading it over 2 years ago and I'm reading it again now. I'm inspired to share some of it's insight with you.

It's called The Passion Test. It promises to help you define what your passion is and create the platform from which you move towards it. If you know the law of attraction and read any of Abraham Hicks work, this will make total sense to you. Even if you don't, it's written as a down to earth, common sense approach to always making the higher choice. The premise - any choice  must be in favor of your passions.

One of the best attributes of this book is its simplicity and practical approach. There is nothing to figure out or wrap your head around. What I find most interesting is that I didn't quite get it the first time around and that was over 2 years ago. It was a great starting place then and even better to read now.

The first lesson - "When you are clear, what you want will show up in your life, and only to the extent that you are clear."  (p.24, The Passion Test, Janet & Chris Attwood)

This is so true! But before you start beating yourself for not being clear, let me make an observation. Many of us are NOT clear on what we want. Many of us are aware of what we don't like. This is where you start. Define what you don't like and then choose the opposite. Move in that direction. This experience, called life, is a vehicle for us to experience Joy - the ultimate good feeling there is! What is the easiest way to find your way to what you really want? Always choose in favor of the good feeling. Not the superficial good feeling, but the way down deep in your soul good feeling. The good feeling that helps you sleep at night.

The Universe, God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, Buddha - all of Creation is here to support YOU! Whether you are clear or not, you are supported and loved. We are co-creators with the Ultimate Creator. Our only  job is to choose the good feeling.

So let's start with creating the good feeling. Today's work - Make a list of everything you like and hang it on the fridge. I like the color red, I like when the kids get along, I like getting my toenails painted, I like low gas prices, I like smart people, I like kind people... you get the idea. Just make a list of everything you like. Lesson 2 will bring the next task.  For now, let the list make you feel good!

Kid Insight

Yikes, it's almost the end of the month and I've fallen behind on my posts! Summer is here and the kids are home. My attention has shifted a bit!

These little, tapped in, humans have been saying some really insightful statements as they make observations on their own lives. As a result, I'm sharing some of their simple, but highly effective words...

Do your best and forget the rest.
Sin is not feeling goodness.
If I don't love it, I don't do it.
Some people just don't know any better.
That makes no sense at all.
You don't want any part of that mess, just walk away.

Do any of these apply to your life? 

Thoughts...

Today is going to be a great day. Today IS a GREAT day.
I am safe in the Universe. The Universe loves and supports me.
Thank you for providing, protecting and guiding me.
Thank you for inspiring me to be the best version of myself.

When you can catch your first thoughts in the morning and the last ones before bed, you set yourself up for all good things. By programming the subconscious in a very simple way, you can help all the wonder of the Universe unfold as is promised today.

Peace and joy are just a thought away.
Heaven is my choice for the mind today.

It's that simple. Just choose a thought that feels good.

Grass you can drink

As promised, here is my first installment on the benefits of grass.

Yes, you can drink grass and one of the most powerful, healing and nutritive is wheat grass. Often sold frozen in freshly pressed cubes or powdered, it has been a mainstay in holistic health and natural remedies for years.

It became popular due to Dr. Ann Wigmore, founder and educator of the Hippocrates Health Institute in Boston although it was first discovered in the 1930s by Charles Schnabel. Dr. Wigmore reported that "wheat grass therapy along with a diet rich in "living foods" helped eliminate cancerous growths along with many other disorders. Wheat grass is rich in chlorophyll.  The molecular structure of chlorophyll is similar to hemoglobin which is the oxygen-carrying protein of red blood cells." Because of the similarity, the body easily recognizes and absorbs it readily. The only difference between human hemoglobin and wheat grass juice is that hemoglobin has iron at the middle of its molecule while wheat grass has magnesium. Several small pilot studies have taken place and the efficacy of wheat grass is proving to be worth more research to the clinical community. You can read more about some of this work through the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

I've been drinking 'green water' for years. That's what my four year old calls it and I can tell you first hand, that it improves my mood, my digestion and increases my energy. Chlorophyll, an important component of wheat grass is liquid sunlight and oxygen just waiting to nourish your body.  It is definitely a vibration raising food.

Nature has a cure for most anything an "illusional"  mind can manifest. I say illusional, because it connotes that one has bought into the illusion that this reality is the only truth. Dis-illusion would be separation from the illusion of what many of us call reality. Dis-illusion may just be a glimpse of pure Faith. Trust that all is good and that the answers can be as simple as we choose.

Well, enough contemplation for now. Get some green water, drink it up and feel good!

(PS; I'm reading an awesome book called The Passion Test. I hope to share insight on it soon!)

Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheatgrass; Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Phyllis A Balch

Image courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wheatgrass.jpg#filehistory

Licensed work under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0

Greener Grass

As I mentioned in my newsletter, green is the theme this month. I've been called to explore those laws of the Universe which we've taken for granted. The simple proverbs we heard growing up, "What goes around comes around; What goes up, must come down; The grass is always greener on the other side; The early bird catches the worm." Jesus and Buddha gave us more. One that comes to mind is, "As a man thinks, so he is."  These are simple truths to the guiding laws of the Universe.

The grass is always greener on the other side. The other side of what - a fence, a road? The idea is that we are looking away from ourselves thinking that what we have is substandard to what the other has. Everything we could possibly want is already within our grasp. What if there is no other side? What if the "Grass is always greener" is enough? Meaning it only gets better and better right where you are and the fence or the road is only your limiting belief system in the way of experiencing greater joy in life, right now?!
Something to contemplate.

I'll be writing about cereal grasses next week.  Grass you can actually eat that make life greener right where your standing!

Coffee with Tom

The house is full of relatives! My mother, aunt and cousin. More are on the way for the coming weekend. I've never had so many family in town all at the same time! It's great! They have many things in common, but the most obvious and consistent are coffee and wine. You can be giving birth or dying, running a 5K or sleeping all day, alone or with friends - the time is always right for either of these beverages. At least that's how it is in my family!

Today,  mom sent me out for a coffee. She wants to cut it out of her diet, but the more she pushes, the more the craving pushes back. So, what did I do? I'm a good daughter, I bought her the coffee at the local coffee shop up the street. This crazy thing happened as I walked through the door. I saw a man I thought I knew. I walked right up to him and said, "Tom?" He said, "Hello". It was not the Tom I knew. I apologized profusely, then he said, "My name is Tom. Nice to meet you." Something... someone was at work through me in that five minutes of embarrassment. I bought the coffee for mom, told Tom to have a great day and decided Tom must have needed a Hello that morning. The Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways. Even through coffee. It seems obvious now, anytime is the right time for whatever is happening at that exact moment.

Just like life, coffee has it's ups and it's downs. I love the smell, but can't touch the stuff. My brother, a RN, swears by it. Here are a few Pros and Cons to help you decide if it's time to cut back, try it out or banish it all together. By the way, next time you see Tom, say "Hi" for me.

Perks:
1. Alertness: Even in relatively low doses of 100 milligrams (the amount in about 8 ounces of ordinary brewed coffee), caffeine makes people more alert.
2. Mood: At 200 milligrams people report an improved sense of well-being, happiness, energy, alertness and sociability.
3. Concentration: Studies suggest that caffeine can help you perform a variety of cognitive tasks, such as recognizing visual patterns, more quickly.
4. Performance: Research shows if 3-9 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight is consumed one hour prior to exercise it increases endurance.
5. Reduce muscle pain: Stanley Segall, Ph.D., has found that caffeine might stimulate the release of B-endorphins and hormones that depress the sensation of pain or discomfort.

Quirks:
1. Cardiovascular Problems: Caffeine increases heart rate, elevates blood pressure and can contribute to the development of heart disease. Drinking both decaf and regular coffee may increase cholesterol and homocysteine, the biochemical that science has linked to increased risk for heart attack. Caffeine is also linked to coronary vasospasms. Coronary vasospasms cause 20% of all fatal heart attacks that kill otherwise perfectly healthy people.
2. Stress: Caffeine stimulates the excretion of stress hormones, which can produce increased levels of anxiety, irritability, muscular tension and pain, indigestion, insomnia and decreased immunity. Increased levels of stress can keep you from making healthy responses to normal daily stress.
3. Emotional Disturbances: Anxiety and irritability are hallmark mood disturbances associated with caffeine consumption, but equally important are depression and attention disorders. Depression may occur as part of the letdown after the stimulant effects of caffeine wear off. It may also appear during the recovery period after quitting caffeine while the brain's chemistry is readjusted. Rather than increasing mental activity, caffeine actually decreases blood flow to the brain by as much as 30% and negatively affects memory and mental performance.
4. Gastrointestinal Problems: Many people experience a burning sensation in their stomach after drinking coffee because coffee increases the secretion of hydrochloric acid, which leads to an increased risk for ulcers. Coffee, including decaf, reduces pressure on the valve between the esophagus and the stomach so that the highly acidic contents of the stomach pass up to the esophagus, which can lead to heartburn and gastro-esophageal reflux disease.
5. Adrenal Exhaustion: Caffeine consumption leads to eventual adrenal exhaustion, which can leave you vulnerable to a variety of health disorders related to inflammation and fatigue.

Resources: 
Caffeine Blues: Wake Up to the Hidden Dangers of America's #1 Drug by Stephen Cherniske.
Integrative Nutrition, 2009