The Truth of Thankfulness

Giving thanks is often a focus around the holiday season. The gathering of family and friends brings it to the forefront of our thoughts and in our hearts. When we hear of tragedy across the globe we often give thanks for all the blessings we have in our life. When we have faced a challenge and come through it successfully, we are thankful. And so on it goes. Yet, our ancestors would tell us quite plainly that we need to give thanks daily, for every step we are given on our path. We are to be thankful for each person who we meet. We are to be thankful for each lesson life gives us, for each opportunity to be of service, for every small act and connection we are part of, for our everyday life; thankful.

We are immersed in powers that support our lives. Some call it the love of God, others call it Spirit, others the energies of the Universe…but in times of thanks, all that matters is that we recognize we are part of a whole and for this our gratitude rises within us. We often forget our connection to each other, to community, to family and friends. And even more to be thankful for are the connections to complete strangers that bless us as well.

No random act of kindness should go unnoticed. No simple smile should not be mirrored back. No request for hope or compassion should go unheard. Random acts of kindness are prominent at this time of year and in response to life events around the world. It does our world so much good to express our gratitude for each other, to reach out in kindness and support and to be a part of the global community with awareness and integrity.

Our thankfulness is prayer in action, our gratitude restores some of the balance in life. Our connection to each other creates bonds that may never be broken. And the world becomes a better place.

Blessings ~ Lisa ©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Celebrating Life

Today is Monday, just a few days since the tragedy that happened at Newtown’s Sandy Hook Elementary School. A few days that felt like a lifetime. I live beside this grieving and suffering community. Our hearts will heal, our lives will go on and our memories will always hold the sweetness and bravery and kindness of the victims, the community and the nation. But today I am choosing to celebrate life. I have to move into that place of energy and view it as my best choice in honoring those who lost their lives on that horrible day. For those of us not intimately affected by this shooting the best we can offer is our love and honor. Celebrating life will be good for us, for our families and especially for our children. They are looking to us for understanding, which there really is none of. They are looking to us to gage how to move forward and somehow we must find a glimmer of honoring the celebration of life, as difficult and impossible as that may feel.

Finding ways to incorporate our traditions and family rituals into these days of sadness will be ever so important to us and to our healing. We need to gently find a way to bring a glimmer of joy to someone’s life, a ray of hope, a smile and hug, and we will then help in the spreading of the love that will be integral in the healing. Parties, perhaps not, but intimate gatherings of family and friends, cherishing the gift of each other, celebrating the delight in our relationships…this is what I mean by celebrating life.

We cannot stop living the lives we have been gifted with. We cannot stop celebrating the friends and families who grace our path. We cannot do this because it will only dim the bright light of those innocent victims who lived beautiful lives and celebrated family and friends. Lit candles and other memorials line the streets in Newtown. All these are beautiful sentiments and prayers being sent out to the hearts of those who are grieving. Today I am sending the light in my heart to those around me. Today I am sharing gentle joy with those I love. Today I am trying to restore balance to the energies that flow through me, knowing that my heart is big enough to hold both my sadness and my light.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Not Just A Dream

Do you dare to dream a big dream for yourself? Are you willing to live large, to take risks, to shine brightly? The only way you can truly get what you want in life is to do these things. Sitting idly by and talking about what you want, but not doing anything to move forward to reach it…well, we all know how that unfolds, don’t we? When I look back on my life and think of all the times I said I wanted this or that to be in my life, the times that these “things” manifested is when I brought myself fully into the equation of creating, when I was fully present, when I was intention filled and willing to explore ALL the possibilities!

We have the capacity to be so, so much more of our most brilliant self on our best day more often than we think we can! In fact we can be in that capacity most of the time. It means tending to our needs though and creating space for this in our life. Tending to our needs? If we do not honor our bodies and our health…what good can we be if we need endurance, strength, and sharp focus. If we do not provide care for our souls…what happens to our pain and our feelings of loss? We bring it to our day’s unfolding energies and we drain the resources we need trying to stay afloat. If we do not nourish our connection to source and live by the principles we believe in…we send our hearts mixed messages of inauthenticity and we doubt ourselves. If we do not live in the present…we miss the gifts and the abundance that the Universe holds out to us, we miss our opportunities to grow or to share and we miss the wonders that fuel us and keep us committed to our desires and our longings.

Dare yourself to BE! Dare yourself to live the life that is intended for you. To be a part of the unfolding of peace, healing, joy, and beauty of this lifetime you need to show up! When you make this change in your life, everything else will begin to change. You will begin to create the life you want. It won’t just be a dream!

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Words

A beautiful little poem crossed my path today and I used it for my morning reflection: WORDS. So powerful. They can crush a heart, or heal it. They can shame a soul, or liberate it. They can shatter dreams, or energize them. They can obstruct connection, or invite it. They can create defenses, or melt them. We have to use words wisely. ~ Jeff Brown

It is so true isn’t it? Think of the way your heart expands and your soul resonates when someone shares kind words with you, words of appreciation or love, words of acceptance and grace, our body embraces the energy with peace and warmth and we radiate as we walk away with the words echoing in our thoughts.

But we all have also been the unfortunate victim of harsh and unkind words, words that act like curses, words that sting and cause horrible pain, words that emphasize negative patterns and create harmful thoughts. Our souls shrink, our hearts ache, our body’s drawn inward and feel the need to protect and conserve as our inner light dims from the pain.

These are the extremes of our words, but what about the more simple utterances that are spoken in the everyday conversations about the mail, or homework, chores, request of assistance from a co-worker, ordering our lunch and more. How can we add a vibrancy to those simple words? How can we soften any criticism so that it is positive and not harmful? How can we show appreciation without turning it into a Hallmark moment, but maintain genuine gratitude? How do we become mindful of this and intentionally choose to use our words wisely?

I am specifically carrying this in my heart today as weave my way through my day. I will cross many paths, I will meet up with many strangers, I will share exchanges with family and friends and I will be selective in my words. I will also be observant to the energy created in this specific act. It feels like a sacred act as it is holding intention of grace and beauty, compassion and acceptance, peace and consideration. May it ripple and ripple and ripple out into other’s wise words.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade