{PHEW!}

Here, on this the twenty-seventh day of the year, as we wind down to yet another year ending, I can't help but feel...relieved. Oh, how happy I shall be when this horrid year is over. Me thinks it has been tough for many on our Planet. Not just here in the United States, but all 'round the world. There have been so many dreadful happenings. AND rather than go through that "list", let us simply say,

"THANK THE GODS IT'S OVER!" and move on to the business of BETTER.

Many of you make your lists of New Year's Resolutions, with, I am sure, great hope of accomplishing those things. For those of you who've been here for any length of time, you know I am not one who does ("resolutions"). I've never found them to be anything more than lies I told myself. For every one I didn't accomplish, I always felt badly for my lack of willpower or consistency or determination.

UNTIL...

I realized that I'm just not a person who fares well under such rigid rules. I am, instead, the kind who envisions whatever it is I would like to modify/add/remove from my world. One step at a time. One day at a time. Works for me. Without all the guilt!

To that end, I thought it might be a good time to pose a few seeds for your new year too.

WHAT IF...

You were to focus on what makes you happy and leave misery for those who seem to enjoy it.

You were to begin each and every day with a simple prayer of gratitude for all the many JOYS that are your world.

You were just not so damned hard on yourself. YOU are a GIFT. Treat yourSELF as one.

WHAT IF...

You simply apply LOVE to all your days.

How grand a year it will be then, yes?

Wishing each of you a splendid, joyful, merry, loving, satisfying, creative, MARVELOUS

NEW YEAR!

From Fear to Trust?

Read this today:

"contemplating fear"

First thing that popped into my head was: "WHY????"
Why would anyone contemplate fear? Then...a second later I thought, "hold on a minute. Contemplation of any thing doesn't necessarily imply succumbing to it. Contemplation is merely a consideration or observation of a thing. NOT surrender."

Back to {the use of} words...again. How often we misuse them. How often we misunderstand them. How often we jump to conclusions rather than allowing the thought process to continue beyond the initial perception. It happens all the time. We all do it. And some do it more often than not. Still...to contemplate fear...could it be that by observing rather than surrendering we could eliminate it entirely?

I got to thinking that maybe fear is nothing more than a lack of trust. When I got to that one, I scanned the memory banks to places when I was in deep trust. Those moments in my life when I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that what I was doing was absolutely the right thing (for me). Those moments when I jumped off the cliff knowing full well that my wings would keep me from crashing. That enormously empowering kind of trust that wipes out all manner of fear.

The more I thought about it the more it resonated. Trust (or you might call it 'faith'. Whatever works for ya.) is the antidote to fear. Or maybe, better put: it is the key to transmutation.

{By definition: TRANSMUTE:to change from one nature, substance, form, or condition into another; transform.}

Seems to me that is exactly what trust does. It transforms fear into faith. Kinda like alchemy. Turns lead into gold. Same same.

Really liking that I read that little blurb. Made me really solidify (clarify?!) the whole fear/trust thing. Been working on that piece for a while now. Like that it's not cloudy anymore. REALLY like that the seed has been deeply planted so that the next time my little Lizard Brain goes to fear, I can tap on that seed and remember:

TRUST.