messages – Begin Again

Slow Down. Wait For Me!

Wait for me you guys!

Why be in such a hurry?

Let’s enjoy today.

Remember when days seemed to go so slow?

When waiting for something seemed like an endless chore? “I can hardly wait until…I turn sixteen so I can drive.. graduate from high school… turn 21 so I can legally drink… graduate from college… get married… have a baby… buy my first house.” And then something happens. All of a sudden, the “I can’t wait until” becomes “I don’t want to turn 30…40…50…60! Slow down! Hold on! Everything is going too fast!”

And then, something inside your head says, “Just breathe.”

You stop for a moment and do just that and it’s like the first time that you actually heard birds singing or saw that tiny flower poking through the ground. It’s the first time that you stood still and actually felt the warmth of the sun and saw the rays beaming through the branches of a tree. And hearing a baby cry sounds more like a miracle instead of a noise.

Slow down

It’s at this point that you realize that each day is a gift and you have a choice. You can rush through the day and fall exhausted into bed each night feeling as though you will never ever get everything done and time is passing you by. Or, you can find it in yourself to slow down and look at everything as a gift. Today is a gift. My home, the people who surround me, my health, the food in my cupboards, and that sunshine are all gifts.

Enjoy the moment

Once you allow yourself this moment, you realize that nothing is more important…not yesterday…not tomorrow. This moment is a gift. Enjoy it.

Did I Choose That Path or Did That Path Choose Me?

Originally posted in 2015 – Time to revisit this message

My life has been the ultimate journey. I’ve heard it said that your life is a series of choices.

But really:

Do you actually get to plan your trip?

Do you really get to lead your life your way or …

Do you simply follow paths that are laid out for you?

I Was Not A Planner

I remember realizing, during my junior year of high school, that my friends had plans to go to college. What? I hadn’t even given it a thought! Good god! I visited the guidance counselor for the first time, about then, saying something like “HELP! Should I be going to college?”

Two years later, I was in college and started out in the Business School. Why? Because, I don’t know. It sounded like a good idea, and I had to start somewhere. It didn’t take long to realize that I actually hated business classes and there I was, sitting on the floor of my shared apartment, combing through a course catalog trying to find something that sounded interesting. Did I plan on the field of education or was I guided there? I don’t know. Did I choose to leave the field of business or were my lack-luster grades telling me to GET OUT while I still have a grade point average of some kind?

Subtle little messages along life’s pathway are not planned. They’re just there. When I got married, did I plan to get a divorce? Not at all. Yet there it was. And when I retired from thirty plus years in education, did I plan to walk away from a beautiful new house to move to a little apartment? Ummm. NO!

Planning Without A Plan

I’ve never gone on a vacation without some forethought. I choose the destination and pack accordingly. I also take enough money to allow me options once I arrive. However, I never enjoyed vacations where too many things were preplanned. And, it’s been that way with my life as well.

Of course, there is fore thought that goes into choosing a career, getting married, or having children, but beyond that initial “plan” there are no guarantees. And so, I have learned to plan without a plan. I plan for things to change. I plan for surprises. I plan to sometimes be disappointed and sometimes be pleasantly surprised.

Feeling Blessed To Be Alive

I come from a family burdened with heart disease and cancer. My father died when I was in 7th grade, my mother when I was a brand new mom. Since then, two brothers have passed away and one more brother had a severe heart attack and has had triple bypass surgery. Add to all of that, my girl’s father gave up on life, choosing suicide, instead.

I need to simply be thankful for each day. I know that I can not choose every path my life takes but I can choose what I do…today! I choose to be happy. I choose to accept life as it is. I choose to reflect light.

I Choose To Breathe In Positive Thoughts

I produced this video during a time when I could have been depressed. Instead, by some miracle, I found myself living on the edge of this beauty. Some people, who live in this same apartment complex, have never stepped into this woods. They say “It’s too hot! There are so many mosquitos!”

I, on the other hand, chose to follow the paths and listen to the messages that were there to guide my way. If I hadn’t done that, I would never have seen the beauty that lived right outside my back door.

For Me

I walk the woods
in silence,
letting my thoughts
lead the way.

Today,
my eyes are drawn
to someone’s
abandoned bouquet.

They’re delicate
in shades of
purple
and white.

I think
they’re simply
beautiful
as they rest there
in the evening light.

Who were they
meant for?
And why were they
just left in this tree?

I let the answer be
simple.
They must have been
for me!

Life is Fragile. Handle With Care

It’s spring time. New life is popping up all around us. It’s delicate. We need to handle it with care.

“Be gentle”, we tell children. “Soft touch.”

Sometimes, though, when something new is happening, even we, as adults, forget to be careful, and accidentally step on this delicate new life.

But, it’s not just new life that should be protected.

All life is fragile.

Any life can be, quickly, broken with a single step.

Snowdrops

So before you step on someone’s life, remember:

Watch where you’re stepping.

Tread lightly.

Be gentle.

Soft touch.

Life is fragile.

Handle it with care.

If I Could Talk To The Animals, Learn Their Messages…

Someone needs your compassionate and loving attention right now and has flagged you down to get it.

Someone told me that I might enjoy reading animal messages when I shared a story about a particular bird seemingly following me around. So, of course, I purchased not just one book but two: Animal Spirit Guides by Steven D. Farmer and Animal Speak by Ted Andrews. I was intrigued by the thought that animals might be following me around to give me messages from the spirit world. Upon moving to my current residence, I started capturing photos of the animals most present. One of those was the cardinal. So, I have read and reread the messages associated with this beautiful bird.

This is my photo collection along with the messages of “The Cardinal” according to Steven Farmer.

Stop right where you are, observe your surroundings, then notice the sensations in your body.

This is a very creative time, one where it’s best to heed your intuitive guidance as to how to express this creativity.

Add color to your life in your home environment, your yard, and in your choices of clothing.

This is a good time to make a fresh exploration of the religion you grew up in, with your eyes and your heart open.

Over the past few years, the messages of the cardinal have been so important as I have navigated my way through this time in my life and I have tried to heed each message.

Gentle Spirit

Be Gentle With Yourself

I walk the woods nearly every day. The deer know me. We look each other in the eye and I say, “It’s ok. I am a good person.” And then they stand and wait while I take their picture. They are not afraid.

I walk carefully through their home, trying to be respectful of their surroundings. They, in turn, welcome me with that soft, gentle look.

In the books regarding the language of animals, it is said that the deer carry the message that we should be gentle with ourselves. I feel that sense when I look into their eyes. And as I walk on, I feel the message resonate through me. There is no reason for me to be hard on myself. I am just a humble being, here to carry out my life’s mission.

What Is My Mission?

Over time, I have wondered what exactly my mission was. Sometimes, I felt as though I was lost at sea, helping others survive. Is that my mission? If so, then I often felt inadequate. With each failed attempt to be the person someone wanted me to be, I feel a sense of guilt, frustration, and anger. I just want to do my life.

But, What Is My life?

And then, here I am greeted by the deer with this message to just be gentle with myself.

I take a deep breath and say, “Ok, ok. I hear you.” I will take it one step at a time. I don’t need to know the answers to everything right now. I can simply believe that things will happen as they are supposed to happen. I will believe that I am already living the life I was sent here to live.

For right now, I need to embrace this life and allow me to be.