What did I learn today? Lessons on the Journey to Unconditional Self Love

We seem to prefer our pain over risking something new; at least we know how to suffer, and we are oddly afraid that we won't know how to function if we are happy. But we don't really want suffering; how could we? How could anyone? Our will, in truth, is happiness . ACIM This is what I have learnt, unless you really want to move, you won't! Unless you want it more than your are afraid of it, you remain there! Unless there are people who are not accepting your excuses and enabling you, its ok to stay where you are and complain or just stay and keep quiet?! Unless you start taking responsibility for your actions, for your happiness, for your life, well I have learnt that forget it, you're stuck! Make a move!!! However small, one step, one shift, move move move!!!! Just do it! Just do do do!!! As master teacher Iyanla says " Only you have a say in what gets to happen in your life!" Peace!!

Living well is not about needing or having or getting. Living well is about being genuinely thankful for your situation in every moment, and choosing to make it even better. Ralph Marston   Been working in Tobago! The work was more like play!! I went there not knowing where the training session would be, all I knew was that I had to train this group and the topic! So imagine my pleasant surprise to be training on a beach, with blue water, white sand and coconut bake for breakfast (my favourite slice of joy!) I immediately looked up to the heavens and gave thanks! So this was the reason for the journey, just for one day like this? All worth it, I must say it was one of the best days I have had in a while, and these days , many of my days are so awesome! Give thanks!  

Saw this post and wanted to share it! Enjoy!! http://www.lifebuzz.com/just-stop/ Peace!!

The winners in life are people who look at every situation with an expectation that they can make it work, make it better -Barbra Pletcher My Moscow journey has come to an end! Grateful for the opportunity to see a new place and learn from the experiences of people in another country! What did I learn? Moscow is a pretty city, especially at night with the lights on the bridge by the river, the buildings are grand and historic The women entrepreneurs in Moscow insist on putting family first before anything Cold weather isn't my favourite - it physically pains me!! The city is spending time and money on their young entrepreneurs and innovation programs, its nice to see Don't believe everything you see on the TV!! Back to the sunshine to defrost! Looking forward to being barefoot on my verandah!! Peace!!

When we fulfil our function,which is to truly love ourselves and share love with others, then true happiness sets in. Gabrielle Berstein I've been hearing that happiness is a choice and I never really thought about it much until recently, I've been seeing about a day of happiness and seeing on the social media all the hoopla! So I asked myself, what makes you happy? Can you answer that at this moment? Are you waiting on something to be happy? And what I know is that I am happy! I am happy to be alive, to be able to wake up everyday and see a new day to read a new book' to laugh, to chat with my friends, to travel, to watch arsenal play football and I don't have to wait on anything or anyone to be happy I can just choose to be happy use like that wherever I am whomever I am with and if what I am doing is not making me feel happy I can just Ike that make another choice. There is no one to hold responsible for my happiness and that is just really very awesome! So who ar...

"See if you can catch yourself complaining in either speech or thought, about a situation you find yourself in, what other people do or say, your surroundings, your life situation, even the weather. To complain is always nonacceptance of what is. It invariably carries an unconscious negative charge. When you complain, you make yourself a victim. Leave the situation or accept it. All else is madness." - Eckhart Tolle , German born best-selling author. ok confession time on the journey! Cold weather is not my favourite! The starting temperature here is minus5 degrees Celsius! Its been snowing all week! Cold makes me move fast, I have been rushing through everything! Walking, learning, eating, you name it I am doing it fast so I can either get inside or finish and leave Moscow! I saw a few homeless people and I was like OMG! how do they survive? Brutally honest I am rushing through so I can finish and leave tomorrow! Cold weather and me? we need to get reacquainted but ...

Decide to rise to explore your place in the universe.  Danielle La Porte Ok well I wish that I can say Moscow got warmer but nope, it got colder!! And how amazing is this? I wanted to go home and sleep during lunch, somehow I start feeling tired around lunch, still adjusting to the time difference. I come out the building and police like peas! Well golly what is really going on here? I don’t know, they don’t speak much English, all I know is that they want to search my bag and frisk me and I can’t pass in front the Kremlin to go home and sleep! I walk further and then people like peas! I ask what’s going on. ( to a few people) would you believe there was a rally celebrating Crimea being included as part of Russia and the president was giving a speech? Well blow me down with a feather I start to walk faster! I am in the middle of Red Square on a historic day! And honestly all I want to do is get warm, get inside and watch it from a far!! The police are super professional...

Its been a few days of travelling and settling in and moving around. Moscow is pretty, and COLD!! I have been having some really long days, all part of the journey right! Fell right back into the solo vibes, I actually missed it, gives me time to think and reflect! In the airport, the first person talked to me asked "Are you from Trinidad?" I got pretty excited and blurted out yes yes! Do you know it? He said of course I am Trini! No way!!!!! How did you spot me? I just saw a Caribbean Airlines tag on your hand luggage! Oh! So we chatted a bit, he lives out here working in the oil fields of Siberia, he told me for December it was -54degrees! I told him that is a morgue! It was a nice welcome to Moscow, then he disappeared and that was that! Another long day learning about crowd sourcing, new trends in youth entrepreneurship and wrapping up warm! Peace out!  

We seem to prefer our pain over risking something new; at least we know how to suffer, and we are oddly afraid that we won't know how to function if we are happy. But we don't really want suffering; how could we? How could anyone? Our will, in truth, is happiness . ACIM I noticed that many times I try to avoid pain rather than go for then joy, you know what I mean? I look at the options and say what would cause me the least pain and that's what I would do! Less risk, less out of the comfort zone but now I decided listen I'm going for what makes me happy, taking the risks and just bloody happy! And that's all! There will be lessons on the way, as they say where I'm from "ah ready" So I'm off to Russia, see you in a few days, when I land I will check in and say hey!!! Still on a high from the Trinidad book launch, so much love, so much support, so much old and new friends!! thank you everyone!!! Ah gone until Monday!! Peace  

Reflection. The quiet proceeding a storm. Thought. Solution. Hindsight . Natalie Stewart It’s launched in Trinidad and Tobago, On March 12 th 2014, the book “ What Did I learn Today, Lessons on the Journey to Unconditional Self Love” was launched in Port of Spain at the National Library of Trinidad and Tobago (NALIS).   I woke up in the morning and I went for a run, I ended up on the top of Lady Chancellor Hill, one of the places with a most spectacular view of Port of Spain, I sat down after at the top and looked out at the city and thought to myself, wow, isn’t the Universe a miracle making awesome machine? Here it is, my journey, a simple story, one that is not dissimilar to many many other stories, is being told, by me, to heal me and just like that, may heal others. I sat there and just breathed in the thanks for a bit The energy in the room was high, full of love and laughter, my family and friends whey sah!! Dem peeps come through for me in a way that I cannot ...

I pray today to be EMANCIPATED. . .   EMANCIPATED from fear and all its children: worry, fret, doubt, can't, shoulda/woulda/coulda, procrastina- tion, shrinking, hiding and 'don't know'.   EMANCIPATED from pride, arro- gance, thinking I know what's best, thinking I'm superwoman and erroneously believing I can do it all on my own . Innervisions       Living in the deep, breathing in the deep, loving in the deep, growing in the deep, grieving in the deep. Coloring outside the lines even when you’re afraid. Stepping outside of the box jumping on top. Make no mistake, there will be the temptation to re-enter the box thinking it is a safe place because you have lived in that box for so long. It was more than an acquaintance. You may have even call ... ed it your friend, lover and home. But, let’s take an honest look at the box. It can be suffocating, claustrophobic...it strangulates the very core of your soul’s essence and threatens to silence you once ...

When you set out on an ambitious path, there are plenty of things that might go wrong. Prepare yourself to deal with those possible pitfalls, but don’t allow them to become excuses even before they become reality. Don’t let yourself be stop ped by what might not even happen. Rather, let yourself be pushed forward by the positive value of what you intend to achieve, to experience, to create . Ralph Marston Went to the venue yesterday and was like OMG! this thing is really happening, nearly peed myself! Seriously, it got that intense! In one day's time the book will be launched in Trinidad and then yea, I guess its on like boil corn as we say here! I'm pretty darn nervous, I guess being away, or in Africa it seemed a bit remote or far away but now its all real! So here goes, I suit up, show up and own it! Wish me luck Peace!! 

Every moment of every day you have the ability to set something new in motion, wake up and do a new thing! One the road in Trini again! This time I headed to the Heights of Aripo. It was my first time in this village. Absolutely stunning, surrounded by rivers and hills and contains the highest peak in the twin island republic. I was supposed to do a training session within this rural community. I must say they really treat you like family in the rural areas, lunch, breakfast, everything just like homestyle! I applaud these communities for the desire to be self sustainable, to be the ones who want to take the community forward, to stay rather than to "head to the City" for a better life! Thanks to this community for today, a nice nice training se ... ssion! And the other lesson? It is not in the doing. It’s not what you do it’s who you are! and if you are doing anything it is because you can become something the doing isn’t about the doing its about who you become. Ca...

You won't find glory at the center of safety, but at its edge. You won't find love at a place where you are covered, but in the space where you are naked. You gotta take some risks. You have to not only pick up the dice, but roll 'em. So go ahead, take the gamble. You have nothing to lose except the chance to win. Life is not long enough to spend it on the sidelines Neale Donald Walsh So a few more days for the book launch and for the book to drop in the stores here! Boy oh boy, it's an unbelievable ride that has me filled up with sooooo much gratitude, its hard to put into words Been doing the rounds over the last few days and surrendering the outcome because really, what do I control but me and my responses to the events around me! Wish me luck!!  

People do what people do.  Things happen that seem unfair, unjust, unwarranted or unnecessary.  This does not make them wrong or us right.  This is reality.  How we respond to our reality is a matter of choice, not anger.  It is a matter of using our voice rather than feeling victimized.  We all get to choose who we speak to, who we interact with, how we stand or choose not to stand in our relationships with all people.  There are no exceptions.  When someone in your life engages in behaviour that you believe is offensive, dishonorable, destructive or unproductive, it is self-honoring, self-supportive and self-loving to protect yourself .  Iyanla I was just about to set it off! you know blow a fuse! Lose my mind and say something outta timin! (as we say in Trini) and it kicked in! People do what they do! One of my greatest lessons was to never take things personally! So instead of that approach I just calmly said " Hey, that behavi...

Don't worry about losing. If it is right, it happens - the main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away."    - John Steinbeck , author. What’s the rush? What’s the anxiety? What’s the impatience? Haven’t your folks ever asked you that growing up? Now I get it! And only because of doing the work and the experiences! What is for you is for you!! End of!!! When you rush, get anxious, be impatient trust me you are blocking the blessings and sending a signal to the Universe that you either don’t trust it or you aren’t ready! What is for you is for you! End of! And yes maybe you have been working hard, been probably praying hard, and watching other people getting through before you but hey that’s all part of the process, when your thoughts, words and actions are out of alignment the thing that you are working, praying longing for either never shows up or takes longer than you want it to take! Newsflash, you really aren’t in control! So here’s the thing, do...

In this moment am I willing to smile anyway, in this morning am I willing to stop being so self absorbed, in this moment am I willing to find something to be grateful for am I willing to be of service and give something, In this moment am I willing to get out of bed and   still show up? In this moment am I willing to still embrace, to still smile, to just be nice. Just THIS MOMENT and Newsflash this moment is ALL you have! You can only ACT in the now!   That joy you put off! It’s worth it to live in the NOW! Check out who made their Champion of the Month! Peace!!

Lives fall apart when they need to be rebuilt. Lives fall apart when the foundation upon which they were built needs to be re-laid. Lives fall apart, not because God is punishing us for what we have not done. Lives fall apart because they need to. They need to because they weren’t built the right way in the first place. A broken life is a test of faith of the highest order. The good news is that when you have something to do, life will not allow you to move forward until you do it. The bad news is the same Iyanla Vanzant,author and spiritual coach This here is one of my favourite lessons by the boss Ms Iyanla! I can so relate to it (on so many levels, as my friend Maxine likes to say) I mean, how awesome is it to know you get a chance to rebuild on a solid foundation and learn the lessons at the same time! What might look like a disaster is really something giving you a message, a story even a blessing! So confessions on the journey today, I have been super freaked out ...