Lightarted Living: Lost Soul Found

Lightarted Living: Lost Soul Found: 

Lost Soul Found

 

LOST SOUL FOUND

While looking for my lost soul one day,

I found it had never gone away.

Beneath the surface, she waited patiently for the day

I'd remember my basic goodness was always here to stay.

Soon, my soul, she blossomed and bloomed,

filled with perfumed love and compassion--more than I could ever presume.

OH JOY!

"Here I am," she whispered in my ear. "Welcome home."

Lost Soul Found

 

LOST SOUL FOUND

While looking for my lost soul one day,

I found it had never gone away.

Beneath the surface, she waited patiently for the day

I'd remember my basic goodness was always here to stay.

Soon, my soul, she blossomed and bloomed,

filled with perfumed love and compassion--more than I could ever presume.

OH JOY!

"Here I am," she whispered in my ear. "Welcome home."

Lightarted Living: Anxious? Be Cunning to Loosen Anxiety's Grip

Lightarted Living: Anxious? Be Cunning to Loosen Anxiety's Grip: 

Anxious? Be Cunning to Loosen Anxiety's Grip

 

Anxiety is Secretive

"Anxiety is secretive. He does not trust ~ not even his friends worry, terror, doubt and panic. He has a way of glombing onto your skin like smog and then you feel unclean." 

J Ruth Gendler

The Cunning and Persistent Anxiety Must be Shooed Away 

"Anxiety likes to visit me late at night when I'm alone and exhausted. I have never slept with him but he kissed me on the forehead once and I had a headache for two years." 

From The Book of Qualities by J Ruth Gendler 

To shoo anxiety away, you must name what is causing him to linger and make him come out into the light.

You must Be Cunning to Get Rid of Anxiety 

"Anxiety is sure a nuisance to get out of the house. He has no respect for locks or curtains or doors. I speak from experience. 

It takes cunning to get rid of him ~ a combination of anger, humor, and self-respect. A bath helps too. 

He does not like to get wet. As a last resort, if you are not near a bathtub wet your face with tears." 

From The Book of Qualities by J Ruth Gendler

 

Loosen Anxiety's Grip

Go on ~ kick anxiety out of your head. Be cunning ~ discover the right combination of anger, humor and self-respect to take up residence in your head, making no room for long-lasting anxiety. Take little actions to help you face the source of your anxiety. Find ways to poke fun at it. Laugh out loud once a day. 

Let humor wash over you and refresh your spirit.

Get mad enough to take positive action.

Name what's causing your anxiety 

with the help of a trusted love one, then let it go.

The Book of Qualities

I first fell in love with 'The Book of Qualities' 35 years ago. This brilliantly intuitive work of art breathes life into the rich diversity of human qualities making them come alive to resonate deep inside us. 

The other day I stumbled across my copy of 'The Book of Qualities' that had been sitting quietly in my library for years waiting to be rediscovered. Gendler's description of anxiety was just what I needed to consider today, and I wanted to share it with you. 

You can order The Book of Qualities on Amazon. 

Anxious? Be Cunning to Loosen Anxiety's Grip

 

Anxiety is Secretive

"Anxiety is secretive. He does not trust ~ not even his friends worry, terror, doubt and panic. He has a way of glombing onto your skin like smog and then you feel unclean." 

J Ruth Gendler

The Cunning and Persistent Anxiety Must be Shooed Away 

"Anxiety likes to visit me late at night when I'm alone and exhausted. I have never slept with him but he kissed me on the forehead once and I had a headache for two years." 

From The Book of Qualities by J Ruth Gendler 

To shoo anxiety away, you must name what is causing him to linger and make him come out into the light.

You must Be Cunning to Get Rid of Anxiety 

"Anxiety is sure a nuisance to get out of the house. He has no respect for locks or curtains or doors. I speak from experience. 

It takes cunning to get rid of him ~ a combination of anger, humor, and self-respect. A bath helps too. 

He does not like to get wet. As a last resort, if you are not near a bathtub wet your face with tears." 

From The Book of Qualities by J Ruth Gendler

 

Loosen Anxiety's Grip

Go on ~ kick anxiety out of your head. Be cunning ~ discover the right combination of anger, humor and self-respect to take up residence in your head, making no room for long-lasting anxiety. Take little actions to help you face the source of your anxiety. Find ways to poke fun at it. Laugh out loud once a day. 

Let humor wash over you and refresh your spirit.

Get mad enough to take positive action.

Name what's causing your anxiety 

with the help of a trusted love one, then let it go.

The Book of Qualities

I first fell in love with 'The Book of Qualities' 35 years ago. This brilliantly intuitive work of art breathes life into the rich diversity of human qualities making them come alive to resonate deep inside us. 

The other day I stumbled across my copy of 'The Book of Qualities' that had been sitting quietly in my library for years waiting to be rediscovered. Gendler's description of anxiety was just what I needed to consider today, and I wanted to share it with you. 

You can order The Book of Qualities on Amazon. 

Lightarted Living: May the Sun Shine Upon You in Your Darkest of Days

Lightarted Living: May the Sun Shine Upon You in Your Darkest of Days:   

May the Sun Shine Upon You in Your Darkest of Days

 

In The Dark Days of Your Life

May the sun shine upon you

and fill you with light.

May you seek and find moments of lightness 

to uplift you to get you through your days.

May you find ways 

to rest your weary soul.

May you allow love and friendship

to uplift your spirits in little moments.

Small Daily Decisions Over a Lifetime Add Up

Choose to seek little moments of lightness

each day that soothe your soul, 

especially in the darkest of your days.

Keep looking for things that will

give you little moments of optimism.

Listen intently to optimistic and positive people,

and consciously choose to let them influence you.

Take little steps you know will make you feel better,

even when you don't feel like it. 

Believe in your inner strength and resiliency. 

You have everything within you 

to successfully navigate life.

Do it Now

Go ahead--seek a little moment of lightness right now. 

Find a moment of optimism right now.

Connect with an optimistic person right now--

and let them influence you a little.

Take a little step you know 

will make you feel better right now.

May the Sun Shine Upon You in Your Darkest of Days

 

In The Dark Days of Your Life

May the sun shine upon you

and fill you with light.

May you seek and find moments of lightness 

to uplift you to get you through your days.

May you find ways 

to rest your weary soul.

May you allow love and friendship

to uplift your spirits in little moments.

Small Daily Decisions Over a Lifetime Add Up

Choose to seek little moments of lightness

each day that soothe your soul, 

especially in the darkest of your days.

Keep looking for things that will

give you little moments of optimism.

Listen intently to optimistic and positive people,

and consciously choose to let them influence you.

Take little steps you know will make you feel better,

even when you don't feel like it. 

Believe in your inner strength and resiliency. 

You have everything within you 

to successfully navigate life.

Do it Now

Go ahead--seek a little moment of lightness right now. 

Find a moment of optimism right now.

Connect with an optimistic person right now--

and let them influence you a little.

Take a little step you know 

will make you feel better right now.

Lightarted Living: The Calming of my Spirit

Lightarted Living: The Calming of my Spirit:  

The Calming of my Spirit

 

Gentleness Surrounds Me

Like a falling leaf

Your spirit flutters by,

Cheering my spirit

With your nearness.

My heart flutters 

and pitter patters

as I feel 

your gentleness 

surround me.

The winds of life

may have whisked you away

but your spirit remains

to comfort me.

Your gentleness, 

now living deep within me,

wells up and hovers

around me,

bringing a calm 

to my day and 

a loving spirit to my heart.

What a blessing

to have had you 

in my life 

to gentle my spirit.

You put a smile

on my face,

and brought a sorely needed 

lightness to the world.

Thinking of you

gives me hope for the future.

The Calming of my Spirit

 

Gentleness Surrounds Me

Like a falling leaf

Your spirit flutters by,

Cheering my spirit

With your nearness.

My heart flutters 

and pitter patters

as I feel 

your gentleness 

surround me.

The winds of life

may have whisked you away

but your spirit remains

to comfort me.

Your gentleness, 

now living deep within me,

wells up and hovers

around me,

bringing a calm 

to my day and 

a loving spirit to my heart.

What a blessing

to have had you 

in my life 

to gentle my spirit.

You put a smile

on my face,

and brought a sorely needed 

lightness to the world.

Thinking of you

gives me hope for the future.

Lightarted Living: Feeling Pressured? One Simple Step to Center and C...

Lightarted Living: Feeling Pressured? One Simple Step to Center and C...:   

Feeling Pressured? One Simple Step to Center and Calm Yourself

 

Do You Trust Everything will Work Out?
 
Think back over the last three days and ask yourself: 

• How many times did something happen to make me worry something in my life wouldn't work out?
• How many times did I respond to that fear by relaxing and letting myself know instead that life always has a way of working out in my favor?

When Life Gets Challenging, Lighten Up

These days, there's certainly lots to worry about. But when life gets more challenging, that's the very time you need to be more nimble and flexible in your thinking. In short, you need to lighten up and change how you think about situations you find troubling.

Do You Feel Pressured or Challenged? It Makes a Difference!

Your view of your situation determines if you'll have limited or more expansive choices for responding to life. The good news is you can change how you think, and therefore open up options for yourself. You're in control of choosing your role in difficult situations, and therefore your response.

When you sink into feeling pressured, fearful or worried about a situation, you downshift into your lower, or reptilian brain, where only low level flight-or-fight responses are available to you--the extremes of fighting and withdrawing--outbursts, yelling, arguing, quitting, ignoring, denying, running away and pulling the covers over your head and never going back. It's not a very empowering or engaging place to come from, and leaves you feeling weak, threatened, out-of-control and unsuccessful.

By switching your view from feeling pressured to feeling challenged, you move up to your higher brain, or cerebral cortex, where conscious, critical thinking is possible.  Now you're in control. It is from this place you are capable of considering calm, clear, focused choices, and listening to your inner wisdom.

Chose the Self-Satisfied Calm of Knowing You Can Handle Life

Give up the adrenaline rush of feeling pressured for the self-satisfied calm of knowing you can handle whatever life throws your way. The next time you feel the angst of your situation, consciously choose to say 'I feel challenged' in place of 'I feel pressured'.

No, things don't always go as you planned. But you do have what it takes to successfully move through life's challenges. So switch it up and regain your Mojo! Look for the challenge and give up the pressure.

Apply the Three-Day Rule

When something happens to put you off your game, apply the three-day rule to rebalance yourself. When you apply the three-day rule, you act as if there are no problems for three days after the event. No matter what comes up for the next three days you just accept it as information. After three days you can deal with it as if it is a problem, but by then you've given yourself time to get out of your reptilian brain, and can now more calmly problem-solve out of your higher brain.

You got this!

Feeling Pressured? One Simple Step to Center and Calm Yourself

 

Do You Trust Everything will Work Out?
 
Think back over the last three days and ask yourself: 

• How many times did something happen to make me worry something in my life wouldn't work out?
• How many times did I respond to that fear by relaxing and letting myself know instead that life always has a way of working out in my favor?

When Life Gets Challenging, Lighten Up

These days, there's certainly lots to worry about. But when life gets more challenging, that's the very time you need to be more nimble and flexible in your thinking. In short, you need to lighten up and change how you think about situations you find troubling.

Do You Feel Pressured or Challenged? It Makes a Difference!

Your view of your situation determines if you'll have limited or more expansive choices for responding to life. The good news is you can change how you think, and therefore open up options for yourself. You're in control of choosing your role in difficult situations, and therefore your response.

When you sink into feeling pressured, fearful or worried about a situation, you downshift into your lower, or reptilian brain, where only low level flight-or-fight responses are available to you--the extremes of fighting and withdrawing--outbursts, yelling, arguing, quitting, ignoring, denying, running away and pulling the covers over your head and never going back. It's not a very empowering or engaging place to come from, and leaves you feeling weak, threatened, out-of-control and unsuccessful.

By switching your view from feeling pressured to feeling challenged, you move up to your higher brain, or cerebral cortex, where conscious, critical thinking is possible.  Now you're in control. It is from this place you are capable of considering calm, clear, focused choices, and listening to your inner wisdom.

Chose the Self-Satisfied Calm of Knowing You Can Handle Life

Give up the adrenaline rush of feeling pressured for the self-satisfied calm of knowing you can handle whatever life throws your way. The next time you feel the angst of your situation, consciously choose to say 'I feel challenged' in place of 'I feel pressured'.

No, things don't always go as you planned. But you do have what it takes to successfully move through life's challenges. So switch it up and regain your Mojo! Look for the challenge and give up the pressure.

Apply the Three-Day Rule

When something happens to put you off your game, apply the three-day rule to rebalance yourself. When you apply the three-day rule, you act as if there are no problems for three days after the event. No matter what comes up for the next three days you just accept it as information. After three days you can deal with it as if it is a problem, but by then you've given yourself time to get out of your reptilian brain, and can now more calmly problem-solve out of your higher brain.

You got this!

Lightarted Living: Gentleness Can Accomplish what Force Cannot

Lightarted Living: Gentleness Can Accomplish what Force Cannot:  

Gentleness Can Accomplish what Force Cannot

 

Leaf it Alone

What are you struggling with in life at the moment?

What are you trying to force to happen?

What's frustrating you and making you feel discouraged?

Let it Be.

Leaf it Alone.

Pull back from pushing your way through.

When frustrations arise, learn to be gentle with yourself.

Sometimes its better to just let life unfold gently.

The Wind and The Sun

In an old Aesop's Fable, the Wind and Sun are arguing about who is stronger. To settle the argument they decide to see which of them can get a traveler on the road to remove his coat first.

The Wind begins the test by blowing as hard and as forcefully as he can to try to rip the coat from the traveler. But with every gust of wind, the traveler pulls his coat tighter and tighter around him. The Wind, who blew as hard and long as he could, finally gives up exhausted, and the sun takes up the challenge.

The Sun begins, and with very little effort, gently warms the air with it's rays. The traveler soon begins to sweat, and with no thought, unbuttons his coat and simply removes it.

The moral of the story: Gentleness can accomplish what force cannot.

Sometimes we just need to let life unfold gently. Give yourself a break. Stop pushing so hard to achieve your goals and allow life to gently unfold, bringing good things your way. Lay the seeds, then let them germinate and grow.