In contemplating today, this first week of this New Year what I want from my life, the thought occurred to me…”I want a greater capacity to accept my Good.” And what does that mean, exactly? It means to me, the ability to take in my joy, to be grateful for all that I have and am. To accept my own Glory as an amazing, talented, loving, sensitive being. To honor my evolvement – the very evolution of wonder that God has given me.

I read today in Mary Morrissey’s book The Miracle Minute, about the spiritual law that says, “You can have anything you are willing to become.” And I thought, “What am I willing to become?” the answer came back, “I want to be successful.” And what does that demand of me, first and foremost? That I accept my success. That I am willing to, right here, right now, accept that I am success. That I am accomplished. That I am worthy. Continue reading →

Yesterday, I did not know if I could sing. I was scheduled to sing at my church. Well, my Spiritual Center to be accurate. Unity of New York in Manhattan. It is a glorious place where all walks of life come together to celebrate, to laugh, to cry, to be, to share, to radiate, and ultimately to remember. To remember who we are.

But yesterday I was scheduled to sing. I had previously chosen a “peppy” song as one of my selections.

Saturday night the musical director called me, “It doesn’t seem right in light of what’s happened this week.”

 “Yes.” I agreed.

 So, I chose something else. I chose Climb Every Mountain. It seemed right. It seemed hopeful. 

 But as our minister, Paul Tenaglia read from the stage the names of the 20 children and 6 educators who had been gunned down, I didn’t think I would be able to sing.  I checked in with my mind and she wasn’t sure we could do it.

 So, I checked in with Spirit and she said, “Yes, there is love and power here.”

 So, I sang. Held together by some unseen force. And it occurred to me, there are some things the mind should not be consulted about. Some things over which the mind has no say, no frame of reference. Sometimes the mind is better left out of things. Don’t let your mind try to figure out if you can “sing.” Sing from your heart. There is love and power there.

When we let down the guard of what is “supposed” to be, we open the gates to possibilities we could not have imagined. When we stop seeking permission from somewhere outside ourselves to be our highest and best and choose instead to listen to the soul voice within, we become our highest and best. When we stop worrying about doing it right or if anybody is going to like what we do, we can soar.

Listen to your soul. Give yourself permission to live your dreams, trusting that Spirit will give you direction.

In one’s life, there are many turning points. Always the opportunity to go this way or that. Take the high road or the….not so high road! But always choice. Choice in the face of whatever life places before us.

What differentiates a turning point from a choice? Well, I want to think that a turning point is some huge significant shift that takes me in a direction I might never have considered. Something fate deems my destiny. Whereas a choice seems less consequential. As in, I choose strawberry instead of chocolate. But the mere choice of turning left instead of right can have huge repercussions that we can’t possibly anticipate.  And that seemingly innocuous choice can become a turning point.

I moved to New York from California in 2005. I knew it would be a huge turning point in my life. One day coming home from the gym I turned right instead of left and was in a death defying automobile accident. It was a simple choice that became a huge turning point in my life. Continue reading →

Sometimes we travel through life thinking the struggle gives it meaning. Thinking the only truly worthy goodies come with tremendous effort, sacrifice and manipulation. But what if that isn’t so? What if that is just a story we sell ourselves to give our achievements more significance? To give ourselves more importance. To be the victor in the war of, Look how hard I had to work to achieve that. Or, Look at how much I had to give up to have this life.

I hear people talk about how hard marriage is. How difficult to share a life with another person always in your orbit. But what if it didn’t have to be that hard? What if we could hold the ‘challenges’ that come up in our partnership as the ‘opportunities’ they are for self-reflection? What if those challenges are the world’s way of saying, Yes, let’s look at this issue. Let’s look at this opportunity for personal growth.

People come into our lives loaded up with trigger points for us to access. Full of goodies for us to mine. Marriage, or any relationship for that matter, are microcosms of life. In-your-face invitations to deal with yourself. And we have the choice to say, ‘Yes’ to that invite or, ‘No, that party is not for me.’ But even if we choose not to go to the party, we must deal with the invite. Because if we don’t, we’ll keep getting invites to similar parties until we agree to show up and see what the fuss is all about.

Our ego wants us on this roller coaster. It wants us to think ‘life is hard and then you die.’ It wants us to think we have to fight and struggle and give up our ideals. It wants to remind us that if we do make it to the top of the mountain, remembering that so few do, that it was damn hard, so don’t try this at home! Continue reading →

Who was the first person to tell you that you could do or be anything you wanted? Your mom? Dad? A teacher? A neighbor or close friend? And once armed with that information, how powerful did you feel in your world? With endless possibilities and boundless energy, you went out into the world ready to take it by storm.

And just as you prepared to launch yourself into the stratosphere, who was the person who told you it couldn’t be done? A parent? A teacher? A classmate? A competitor? And what did you do with that conflicting information? Yep. You lived your life! You engaged in the experiences that help define who you are…your own personal stamp on this lifetime.

For most of us, that conflicting information is the very essence of our journey. That duality that drives us to find out how we really feel about life and where we fit into the greater scheme of things. We go about living while trying desperately to return to the knowing that we can do or be anything we want. The realization that our own unique voice matters in this world. That we can celebrate our own crazy, ‘What the hell were you thinking?’ selves and be damn proud of it. That we can own our crazy…celebrate our quirkiness… or our quiet strength. Or our take charge ‘tude! Free to rejoice in whoever and whatever we are…a million different things that may or may not fit with someone else’s agenda for us.  >>> Keep reading this post