Wasting Time

I really have an issue with wasted time. I don’t mean to sound bitchy, but I really do. There is so much I long to do in this world, so many places to go, people to see, acts of service, lessons, gifts, possibilities…and I don’t want to stop! Nor do I want to waste the precious time we are given in each lifetime with pettiness. Life gives us opportunities to make good use of this lifetime, and for me, every day counts! Living authentically awakens your soul and shows you how to be present in the moment. To explore it fully. To squeeze the last drop of its juicy-ness out and enjoy it thoroughly! We all have those days where we end it curled up in bed asking ourselves what did we actually carry out or do in that day. I want each day to be filled with intention. That does not mean I have to be working furiously and on the go continuously either. If it is a day of pause, that is important and can be intention filled as well! I just don’t want the day to be mindless and without any consideration of how it is best serving me on my path.

We are all gifted with the chance to share our calling or gifts. Part of that sharing means learning from our path. Taking the time to refocus, to find our purpose, to learn from our missteps or mistakes is all part of that process. Living fully and with awareness brings great intention to everything we do and say. I love that!

Finding our sacred purpose in life and owning every minute of it brings our soul to the day and we grow and shine brighter than ever. If we begin each day this way, we learn to ignore the things that are so distracting and worthless to our growth and forward movement. We don’t need to play with that negative energy or with that draining force. Instead we turn our attention back to the empowering opportunities that will feed us with the life force we need to live the life we have been gifted with in a healthy way for our body, our mind and our spirit.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade

Growing the Soul

"It's not just about keeping soul in the body. It's about growing soul, becoming more than we ever were, embodying more of the Greater, or Higher, Self. It requires the willingness to take the creator's leap and bring something new into our world. A myth we requicken brings us creative juice and serves soul. Dreaming, we find the myths we can live by, the stories that put soul at the helm of the ship in our odysseys." – Robert Moss, "Dreaming the Soul Back Home". Reading these powerful words of Robert Moss I feel my soul quicken. I love the idea of growing the soul. As a shaman I work with many who are tenderly holding their souls in need of healing. I work with those who have experienced soul loss and long to be whole and full once again. I work with those who have had trauma in their lives and have never fully recovered. Once the souls needs are tended to it awakens with a desire to be alive, full, vibrant and shining. You can see it in the twinkle of the eye, you hear it in the power of the voice, you feel it in the essence of the person, the spirit radiates with a presence and the soul reaches out and touches all that it meets with grace, compassion, beauty and verve.

Growing one’s soul is no task to take lightly. It takes commitment and focus on the moment. It means not wallowing in story or excuses. It means showing up and being present. Growing the soul takes creative energies to meet the soul’s needs. Growing the soul calls us to take notice to our dreams, to our conversations, and to our actions. Just like an athlete preparing for an event we honor what we feed our soul as every bit of nourishment counts.

The adventure of this lifetime awaits and the healed and whole soul is ready to answer the call. Is it your call to be of service? Is it your call to lead? Perhaps your soul is ready to create and share. The possibilities and potential of one’s soul is endless. The myth of our soul is grand! We can be richer, fuller and brighter than we dare to imagine! And our soul will not disappoint!

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade

Things Will Never Change...

It seems lately that the same phrase keeps rolling off my tongue in a variety of conversations, “Things will never change unless you do things differently”. I have said it at least six times in the past three days. And each time the situations and the circumstances were different. Stop for a minute and think about it. Isn’t it the truth? When we feel stuck, the best way to get the energies flowing is to step off the beaten path and look for ways to create a new path. Staying in a place of stuck and complaining or fretting or getting angry over it….that gets us nowhere.

It takes a bit of bravery, a little courage to do this. I am not saying that it is easy. We find comfort in the familiar, even when the familiar is not really working for us. Creating a new path may take some calculated risks, it may take some asking for support, it may take some pause and reflection and NOT doing…and sometimes these are scary things for us.

To pull a new key out of our pocket and open a door that has been locked to see what we need to face on the other side is not always a choice one is happy to make. It takes hard work, it takes honesty, it takes truthfulness and it can be exhausting. But what if it is worth it? What if that is the very next step to reaching your greatness, your potential, to embracing your next lesson, or to receiving your next gift? What if?

Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is something we are not taught in life very often. We live in a very complacent society. The same old spins around and around. Living beyond the expected takes great intention and focus. It takes a healthy soul that has been tended to and cherished. It takes community that offers inspiration. All of that takes time and effort too. But, I ask myself, I ask you…if not all that, then what is left? The same old, same old. And I am up for the adventure of life. I am answering of the call of service. I cannot do it any other way, nor do I want to. Life is too short each time around. It is time to do things differently. So let this time be full!

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade

There Is No Comparison

I have raised five beautiful children and been involved in communities with many other children and young adults where I was a mentor, role model and friend. I have always been the one to hold this conversation with the young ones: there is no comparison. It seems that many people spend a good amount of their time and days comparing themselves to others. They compare their looks, their knowledge, their beliefs, their values, their possessions, and their faults among other things. I am puzzled by this activity as I only see it as a terrible loss of time. Comparison gets you nowhere. We are all meant to be unique and have our own personal special qualities, so why would we want to compare? To see the contrast perhaps? Usually what I find in these conversations is that the comparison often leads to disappointment in self. Or worse it leads to negative judgment of the other. Not what I consider a good use of one’s time.

Instead I propose that we compare ourselves to ourselves. How have I changed since yesterday, last month, or two years ago? How have I let go what does not serve me? How have I moved on to face my challenges? How have I grown in my strengths? These are worthy comparisons. These put one’s time to good use.

In these conversations, when this point is made, if it makes its way through some of the drama of the moment, the pain that is being held on to, or the old patterns of behavior…I see a twinkle in the eye. I see a relaxation of the brow and the corners of the mouth begin to create a small smile. What a better and more powerful place to be. Our journey has many pieces that are beyond our control and we learn to trust that what is happening is happening for a reason. But how we react to the happenings is fully within our control.

I recently shared an image with a client. Emotions do not rule us, they simply flow through us. Imagine a wave rolling onto the shore. It builds momentum, just like an emotion, it increases with speed and intensity. We can brace ourselves to receive the wave, firmly standing there or use our judgment and if we feel the wave is too big to withstand we can back up a bit, move to a safer place before we get pulled under. So is the case with our emotions. We can ground ourselves firmly and prepare for them to roll in or we can step aside, retreat a bit and put distance between the emotion and ourselves to prepare our reaction. Pause and space helps. It gives us the opportunity to allow the wave of emotion to flow through us and then beyond. We can be in control and not need to spin comparisons to cling to.A comparison does not make a good life raft!

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade