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

  If you are who you really are there’s no need to constantly prove yourself to the masses . Euphemia Someone send me a message yesterday "you have no idea what's its like when you're never not enough" Listening to her I was taken aback because on the surface, she seemed to have everything together. A thriving career, a beautiful house, an active social life and all the material possessions, she also mentioned that she had to keep proving and proving and proving.  That conversation peaked my interest because there was a time when proving was a part of my life. It also peaked my interest  because I wondered if and how I am still in the proving mode. Upon reflection, I have learnt two main lessons: 1. There is nothing to prove. When you know who you are there is never a need to prove, grasp or justify anything. You show up do your best and leave the rest. 2. We are enough just be being born. You are enough, a manifestation of God's greatest idea. 3. We have to const...

  Whether it’s a Crisis, Cleansing, Clarifying, or Claiming, I’m gathering up all my little C-words as I steep in what feel like big and ruthless decisions. Chela Davidson My grandmother transitioned from this life last week, at eighty eight years old, she was able to see many generations grow in front of her eyes - what a blessing! I would consider her to be the glue that held us all together, now that the glue is now unstuck, there seems to be a gap left to be filled. Lessons on the Journey during the process of putting my beloved Sheils to rest: 1. Everyone handles grief differently. Respect everyone's process. 2. Someone will emerge as the glue to hold the family together if you let them. Keep an open mind to embrace a different type of glue. 3. Grief is all the love you have inside that has no where to go but ends up in your chest and explodes as tears or lump in your throat. 4. Go through and grow through the feelings, rather than hide, avoid, dismiss, deny them. 5. Celebrat...

  No matter how we engage the future it will never be the same again.  You  will never be the same. Alica M. Rodriguez 2021 picked up where 2020 left off, still quite a bit of uncertainty and many many changes due to the pandemic, exposure of systematic racism and natural disasters such as the Soufriere volcano in St Vincent and the Grenadines. I have heard many times, and even said it myself  sentences and statements that begin with or include- "when we go back" or "when the pandemic ends"   When we go back to what? What if the pandemic continues for a long time? What if this is our life for a little bit. I asked myself these questions and vowed to be more present in the moment rather than think about "going bac" and "waiting"  I made a vow to be use what is in front of me rather than complaining about what is gone and cannot come to me I promised myself to feel all the feelings but not take up residence in them. They will be used as guides I w...

  Self-reflection  is the habit of deliberately paying attention to your own thoughts, emotions, decisions, and behaviors. Nick Wignall Deliberately paying attention - I am learning how to deliberately pay attention to how and what I am doing or not doing in the present moment. It is almost like stepping outside of myself to see how I am responding in every situation I face. Creating new habits take time and discipline. It is very easy to stay where we are because of uncertainty, comfort and fear. Doing the same thing over and over is more times easier than doing a new thing. What if I fail, what if it does not work comes to my mind until I become self aware, until I self reflect that doing something new takes time and consistency to get to a point of comfort.  Self Reflection is holding a mirror up to ourselves, there are times we may love what we see and there are times when we see something that requires some work, some changes, some refinement. Can we move to new mir...

  To affirm, “I am spirit” is to let go of all illusions of a split identity, of a good and bad self, and of all attempts we might make to somehow reconcile the ego self that is bound to a body with the spiritual self that is unlimited by a body. ACIM Growing up, I was given a list of things at Sunday School then at Confirmation class, then at home which were on the "bad list". That meant, if I did any of those things I would immediately and automatically turn into a bad person and go straight to hell. Now there were some items on that list I wanted to question - how can wearing micro shorts send me to hell, or partying at a club? Doesn't God want us to have fun? As I grew older, I would see my friends and neighbors doing things on the list and they did not go to hell, in fact, they seemed to be quite happy going about their business. I decided to bring up the topic with my grandmother - naturally!  "Who told you that rubbish?" she went on a tirade about brainwa...

  Good Grandmothers live forever For the first 13 years of my life I lived with my grandmother. To me she was a mystery. She would be cool one day, I go to stay up late to watch a show called Prisoners with her- the show depicted life in a women's prison in Australia, after the show which was during the week, she would say come and sleep with me in my bed, because trust me, the show would freak me to hell out. Then there were times, she would be mad and tell everyone off and disappear and return as if nothing happened. She forgives easily, she gives giving second chances a new name- give hundreds of chances. Other times she would be entertaining people at the house from all walks of life and teach me how to talk to adults, to eat with a knife and fork and drink juice "properly" aka not chewing up the ice left in the glass. As I look back, I reflect on the top ten lessons I got from my grandmother: 1. It is okay to be considered "quiet and shy" - I was her sunshi...

  You don’t need to try every type of meditation, or read every spiritual book - Mind will lure you into “spiritual shopping” to keep you entrapped. Truth is always accessible Here Now - Lesson to Self Searching for the answers outside of ourselves is an unsustainable strategy for a peaceful life. Searching for perfection is also an unsustainable strategy for peaceful living. Searching for both perfection and outside answers can be a form of fear. What we must remember is, your inner guidance will lead you to what you need. If your inner guidance points you towards mediation, courses, books, and other type of information, that is usually the way to go, not the other way around. Many times we place our intellect before our intuition. There has to be a balance. Many times we live only from our head, and leave the heart out and vice versa. There must be a balance. In order to listen and trust our intuition stillness must be part of our daily lives, whether it is 5 minutes or 50 minu...