Be Grateful even if things aren’t working out like you hoped.
Be Grateful first thing in the morning…even if you don’t want to face the day and all you think it will bring.
Be Grateful that…this too shall end.
Just live in a space of gratitude. Why not? Being Miserable….is a miserable way to live.
Be Grateful.
Forgiveness Brings Peace
Forgiveness Brings Clarity
Forgiveness Allows You to Move On
Forgive Even if They Don’t Say They’re Sorry (some people aren’t sorry for hurting you, some people don’t even know or care that they hurt you — just let that go –that’s more about them and their character than it is about you)
Forgive Even If You’re Still Hurting
Forgive Even If You’re Still Suffering
It “feels” like you are giving away something & getting nothing in return when you forgive,
BUT
What you discover is that by for -giv(e) – ing – you are giving YOURSELF the power to move on (it’s a paradox…you can’t move on as long as you and your mind are stuck NOT forgiving. You just keep re-living the hurt and pain over and over and over again)
Go Past the Hurt
Go Past the Pain
Go Past the Past
Step Into Joy
Step Into Love
Step Into Your Future
Allow your future to come forth without the burden of holding on to the grudges of the past
Walk and Step A Little Lighter Today
Do it for yourself. Do it for your health. Do it for your future.
Just forgive them (or yourself – if that’s who you need to forgive).
Even if all you do today is say out loud to yourself; “I forgive so and so for doing this or that or not doing this or that”.
That’s how you start and all you have to do is start the process and allow life to put everything else into place…and it will…just trust the process.
Letting go means change,
but change is going to come whether or not you are the one to let go or not.
Change is going to come if you are going to continue to grow and to progress on your journey.
You have to leave.
You have to move.
You have to say goodbye.
You have to go a different route.
You have to take the leap of faith.
You have to resign.
You have to not call or text back.
You have to retire.
You have to get the divorce.
You have to stop complaining.
You have to quit smoking.
You have to pay off your bills (eventually).
You have to save money for retiring.
You have to stop shopping.
You have to leave relationships that are not healthy.
No, you can just keep on doing what you’re doing BUT something will change because that which can not be sustained will end – as they say in medicine the bleeding will stop (one way or the other).
(no, it’s NOT easy and it takes courage…)
I never longed for no where,
No group of a Thousand Thieves
Take away the obvious, or the soil where I plant my seed
But each time, I close my eyes
I find myself, declined by the judgment of another day
Sitting in the silence, in the melody of the dark
He knows that sound is, the harbor of my heart
It only grows stronger, It only grows stronger
It only grows stronger, It only grows stronger
Wake up, to the soundtrack, of this chapter in our lives
Understand the playlist, skeems, within the scenery of time
Since the day, I was born, trying to make it, to the river while waltzing through the storm
No group of, a thousand thieves, shake the rumor, my heart release
It only grows stronger, It only grows stronger
Of what you say….what do I pay attention to?
You know the voice I’m talking about. The one that is talking to you ALL THE TIME. It’s talking to now as you read this. It was talking to you when you listened to the video of Trixie Whitley. Maybe it said things like: “Who is that? Is she new? I’ve never heard of her? I like her. She’s different. ”
On and on, that voice NEVER shuts up and it never will UNTIL you PAY ATTENTION TO IT. It just wants you to pay attention to it . Think about it like a child. A child screams until you “really” pay attention to him or her. That voice in your head is screaming and will continue to until you pay attention to it.
Just sit back and listen to it like you are listening to someone else talk to you.
Be a witness to it.
Be an observer of it.
Watch it like you’re watching a movie.
Trust me… even though many of you don’t personally know me…trust me when I tell you that if you can get this and do it, then it will change your life.
Because right now you are probably just “living in your head”.
You are EXPERIENCING life WHILE you are listening to this voice in your head BUT you aren’t PAYING ATTENTION to what you’re EXPERIENCING because you are listening to this voice in your head narrate to you, talk to you, debate with you, confuse you, and tell you what to do.
Once you understand that the voice in your head is NOT you. You know it is not you because you can watch it like you just watched the video. The voice is a thing. Thoughts are things. The voice is an object and you are the observer.
It is only once you have taken on the voice (wait, let me stop here) what do I mean by that? You have to allow it to do its thing…that MIGHT be scare the hell out of you with its fears, its “scary” predictions of what could go wrong or what is wrong or let it relive the hurts and pains of the past or things you should have said or should have done. That’s what I mean by “taking it on”. Face it down like it’s a bully. Just stand up to it and listen to its chatter. Until you can do THAT and show it you AREN’T afraid of where it goes, you’ll never win the battle.
NOW once you put the voice in its place (remember it is NOT you, it’s just the voice in your head) then you can now PAY ATTENTION to the EXPERIENCES that YOU are having in life. All the experiences.
I don’t care if that EXPERIENCE is washing dishes. The next time you have dirty dishes, PAY ATTENTION to every step of washing the dishes, rinsing them off, putting them in the dishwasher, putting in the dish washing liquid, starting the dishwasher or actually washing the dishes in the sink one by one.
I think about when Jesus taught that to FIND YourSelf (that one who seats in the deep space within and can observe the voice, the real Self) you have to LOSE Yourself (the ego, the psyche, the voice in your head, the little self). Also when he taught about how to come to a higher consciousness — as a little child. Think about a little child washing the dishes for the FIRST time. THEY are paying attention. THEY are thrilled to have the opportunity to have the EXPERIENCE. Move through your life like that…like a little child…just happy for the experience…no matter what it is…let the voice in your head and your emotions put a label on it as good or bad or how it makes you feel…but YOU just observe and experience it all.
Now of course while you are washing the dishes the “voice in your head” wants you to listen to it, but if you have practiced being able to separate yourself from the voice you can shut it off (practice meditation – no thoughts) and simply wash the dishes. You can go back to listening to that hypnotic un-harnessed voice later…that’s if you want to waste another minute, waste another day, waste another year, waste another decade of YOUR life.
Now…Fall in Love with the process of discovering your Self…It’s so Powerful!
You may be having a bad morning, a bad week, or a bad year for that matter.
You may be depressed. You may feel flat. You may feel weak. You may feel like you can’t go on.
It might be hard. You may feel hopeless. You may not want to get out of the bed.
You have come this far.
You have endured so much.
You will make it through this time in your life.
Think back…you’ve been through tough times before. You made it through.
You know this too shall pass.
~Ridea Richardson
(Even if you have to find and paint a teeny tiny rock and write the words “Don’t Give Up” on it as a reminder…Just Keep Going, Things Will Work Out, There is a Plan, The Plan is Good, It’s Better Than You Think…Don’t Give Up…)
Letting go and moving on is hard. It is difficult. It is painful. I don’t care if you KNOW you need to let go of your dead-end job, your toxic relationship or your addictions and unhealthy behaviors…IT DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN. It is a process, and it can be a very difficult process.
At some point you have to take full responsibility for your life and your decisions. Forget about the story that you are telling yourself in your head about how you got to where you are today. Stop beating yourself up. You are where you are. That is a fact. Just start from where you are right now — even if it is a crazy bad place and ask yourself:
1. What do I want?
2. What do I deserve? (Not what you “feel” you deserve – that will just take you down another rabbit hole.)
3. What is the worst thing that could happen if I let go/if I move on?
Moving on is not going to be what you have today, but you don’t know what it will actually be. That is the dilemma of letting go. I read somewhere to always and only visualize the end result, not the process. Visualizing the process can drive you crazy because there are so many pieces that need to fit into place. You can’t control all of that. You have to just take for granted that:
Just figure out what you want and visualize the picture of the end result and let the universe get you there. You will know as you start this travel to your destination if the sign post along the way are getting you to your end result. You may have to make course corrections along the way, but you have to know where you want to go.
You know the voices I’m talking about. The ones that say:
1. This will never work out.
2. I’ve tried this 100 times what makes me think this time will be different?
3. This is too hard. Why is life so hard?
…and on the voices will go…just listen to them, but know that they are just the gatekeepers. EVERYBODY has those same small voices in their head, but it’s only those people who get beyond the gatekeepers that actually realize their true potential. KNOCK THOSE GATES DOWN. It starts with the gatekeeper called FEAR…fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the future…
“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult-once we truly understand and accept it-then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.” ~ M. Scott Peck