“Forever trust in who we are, and nothing else matters…”

Trust is a funny thing.  As kids we learn to trust our parents.  We learn to trust our siblings. We learn to trust our friends.  But at what point do we learn to trust ourselves?

In our desire to be accepted, in our desire to fit in, in our desire to simply be happy, our focus will at times shift away from who we really are to who we think we really need to be.

But trusting in your self is simply listening to the real you. It’s listening to the inner voices of inspiration, the voice of God. The inner voices that are telling you that you are good enough exactly the way you are. Not worrying about the opinions and expectations others may have for you. Trusting yourself allows you to transcend any insecurity and doubt and allows you to fully become all that you were created to become. This is the real you, the natural you, the one created for greatness.

The one the world needs you to become.

Forever trust in who you are.

It’s a great day to be you!

(This quotes comes from James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich who are better known by their day jobs as lead vocalist and drummer, respectively, of the band Metallica. The above quote is from their 1991 song “Nothing Else Matters”.)

School trips require a signed parental consent form. Without my approval, my kids will not be allowed to get on the bus and travel to their education destination.

Asking permission is a good thing. For a class trip. But when it comes to our own lives, are we waiting for others to give us permission to become all that we really are?

Sometimes we’re the ones that don’t sign off on our own trip to our own fulfillment. Sometimes we empower others in our lives, giving them the pen and awaiting their signature before we feel comfortable becoming who we really want to become.

But what happens if they refuse to sign?

Unlike our children, no one needs to sign off on where it is we hope to go in our life. Others may express their reservations and concerns about our plans. They may even question our judgement. But the map to Greatness is in our hands. The only person we need permission from is ourself.

All that you need to become all that you already are is within you. Bringing you to life requires one simple decision to allow yourself to fully bloom, to bear all the fruit you were created to bear.

It’s a great day to be you!

My TV is always telling me that no matter how happy I think I am, I’d be much happier with whatever it was it was trying to sell me.

Marketers thrive on creating a sense that who I am and what I have just isn’t good enough. They construct a new standard, raise a higher expectation, and I simply don’t measure up. I must be incomplete. Unless, of couse, I buy what they’re selling. Then I’d be cool/beautiful/accepted.

The advertising world works to create an illusion that we are incomplete. Then they offer us the solution to the problem we didn’t even know we had. Pure genius, creating a disease just to sell us their cure. Retail therapy anyone? Why do they do this? Because it works. If you let it.

There’s no money to be made off of complete people, people who have reached the point in their lives where they understand and accept their innate complete nature. The message of “something is missing in your life” simply doesn’t resonate with people who know that nothing is really missing in the first place.

The greatest gift is to look inside and see that nothing is missing.

Because nothing is.

It’s a great day to be you!

What can a month teach you?

There’s a small window of time each year that I quietly look forward to. It’s the time when gone are the spectacular fireworks of the fall foliage, when the last leaves on the oaks and maples have finally found their way to the ground below. The bitter cold of winter’s chill has yet to arrive, but we are reminded that it is on its way. 

November.

I’ve always had a special place in my heart for November. It was a great companion for me during the frustrating and challenging [Read more →]

Have you ever questioned gravity? Ever denied that it even exists?

Probably not. Most people never question gravity. There is nothing to doubt. Gravity is a natural law universally accepted as the truth.

It’s easy to accept the truth. So then why is it that so many people don’t accept the truth about themselves? The Truth…that they are already more than good enough, smart enough, strong enough, beautiful enough? The Truth…that greatness resides in everyone, including themselves?

Perhaps us not fully buying into the idea of our completeness has something to do with the voices that challenge us on a fairly regular basis. Voices, both external and internal, that plant little seeds of doubt within us that cause us to question our worthiness and deny our Truth.

Those voices are clueless.

Dropping a pencil on the floor is all you need to prove that gravity is real. After all, we’ve all been told that seeing is believing. Sure, there is no dropped-pencil test to validate our own inner Truth. But does this Truth really need any external validation?

Seeing is believing. The good news, though, is we are the ones who decide what we see when we take a deeper look into who we are. And if we do decide to look deeply into who we really are we will see the inner perfection that resides in each and every one of us. When we are willing to entertain the possibility of our own Truth we will begin to see that yes, we already are that perfectly beautiful person we’ve been hoping to find for so long.

The time spent searching for confirmation of who we hope we are is time that should be spent manifesting the greatness that already exists within us. There is nothing to look for, no approvals to seek.

Rediscover the Truth of who you really are. This Truth will certainly set you free.

It’s a great day to be you!

I imagine the story would go something like this:

It’s Judgment Day. You have a final interview with God, at which time you need to turn back in any of your unused potential. Any excess capacity that was never utilized. Any unused gifts that were bestowed upon you but simply never used. And I can see God cringe every time he asks to see what’s been left unused. He knows the answer already. Not just because He’s God, but because He knows that the vast majority simply never  live up to the greatness they were designed to achieve. God simply shakes his head as he throws the unused potential into the big rusty steel dumpster behind him.

[Read more →]

We all have some place we’re trying to get to, we all have something we’re trying to become…

Along the way to where you are in life right now, there have been people who’ve shaped your life, who’ve made you stronger, smarter, made you aware of your greatness…

They believed in you even when you didn’t believe in yourself…

They gave you a chance, gave you an opportunity, gave you that one break that got you to the next level…

Life is about moving forward, about looking ahead, but every once in a while shouldn’t we stop for a moment and look back and recognize these people and say…

… “THANK YOU” …

 … to offer our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude for what they’ve unselfishly added to our lives?

Think of…

The parent…who wasn’t perfect but was always trying to do their best for you…

The teacher…who took the extra time to be sure you understood the lesson…

The coach…who pushed you harder because he knew you could be more…

The boss…who took a chance on you…

The friend…who has always been there…and always will be…

Are there two more beautiful words than “Thank You”?

We all hope we are appreciated, we all hope that what we do matters to those whom we do it for…

Appreciation and gratitude create a spark…a positive energy that creates physiological changes within the receiver and the sender…

When was the last time someone told you that you matter…that you are important to them?

That’s the point.

The greatest gift is expressing gratitude to those who’ve helped us become all that we are, and all that we’ve yet to become…

All it takes is a phone call…a letter…a card…

From your heart…to their’s…

“Thanks for making a difference in my life.”

Go ahead…let them know.

Create a spark…that touches the soul.

“It’s a great day to be you.”

Will our potential ever be anything more than something we’ve failed to live up to?

Thankfully, that’s up to us.

My Honda can go 160 miles per hour. That’s it’s potential, according to the speedometer. For various common sense reasons my car has never reached 160 MPH. Not even close, actually.

Something about a speed limit.

There are a lot of limitations placed on driving. Signs tell us how fast we can go, which lanes we can drive in. Enter Here. Do Not Enter. One Way. A lot of restrictions placed upon our desire to get where we are going.

I understand the need to regulate the rules of the road. (Ever drive in Massachusetts?) For the common good I can appreciate all the limitations and restrictions placed upon us.

But what about the limitations and restrictions we place upon ourselves?

[Read more →]

“He’ll get what’s coming to him someday.”

I overheard this in a conversation at a store today. Apparently this person was rather upset with another person, but at the same time she seemed to take some comfort in her gleeful anticipation of his impending demise.

In the world of Karma, what goes around comes around. And this person just couldn’t wait for Karma to settle the score. As if Karma was some sort of big brother thug with a baseball bat about to smash the headlights out of this guy’s pickup truck.

Karma is a force in this world for sure. It’s a magnetic energy of attraction with a “give and you shall receive” tattoo on it’s bicep. I, like many people, believe in karmic energy. But for some Karma is a means to an end. It’s a way to get stuff from the Universe. An “I give, I get” strategy. Like a boomerang, there is an expectation of something coming back.

Is Karma supposed to be used like that?

Karma has a good friend named Grace. Grace has a different expectation. Nothing. Grace is a one-way street of unconditional love. No terms and conditions to apply. She loves without judgment. Without expecting anything back in return. Just like throwing a stick. Grace is acknowledging the God within others which we can only do when we first acknowledge the God within ourselves.

WISDOM WHISPERING Grace isn’t always easy for me. It requires a higher version of me which at times is difficult for me to find. But when that version of me is present I am transformed by a confident tranquility. I am able to look beyond the bitterness and disappointment of an imperfect moment and reframe it within a context of love.

I like the higher version of me.

When Grace whispers in my ear she reminds me of the higher purpose of love. To give. Without condition.

The noise of the world often drowns out the voice of Grace. When we are busy keeping score or plotting our revenge we fail to hear her wisdom. But Grace is always there, always whispering, always reminding us that in any given situation we can call upon our higher self and respond to the challenges we face with the divine love that radiates from within us all.

Listen. Deeply.

It’s a great day to be you!

photo: Johan Vandenberg

My dog doesn’t have earrings. And neither do I.

But everyone else in my house does, along with their collection of rings, bracelets, and necklaces. None of which belong to me.

Or my dog.

Jewelry. It gets dirty and dull sometimes. Gunk like hair spray, soap, gel and other yucky stuff build up and the jewelry loses it’s sparkle. From what they tell me, the best way to clean such delicate items is by using ultrasonic sound waves. Rings and bracelets are placed in a small water-filled container and the thousands of microscopic bubbles created by vibrations within the container gently remove all the dirt particles.

Once cleansed, the jewelry regains it’s original luster, allowing it to shine as brightly and radiantly as it originally did.

Life has a way of coating all of us with it’s own residue of yucky stuff which can prevent us from shining as brightly as we were made to shine. Even trace amounts of negativity, uncertainty and doubt can cloud the clarity of our spirit, dimming our own light.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

UPLIFTED Uncertainty and doubt don’t have any power to minimize our natural glow. Unless, of course, we give them the power to do so. Thinking is either abrasive or non-abrasive. Abrasive thoughts, the thoughts that placate the voices of doubt, become a sandstorm of negativity, tarnishing and even damaging our soulfullness. Non-abrasive thoughts, the thoughts that nourish and uplift our spirit, will polish our inner diamond, allowing us to brilliantly shine. But life is neither abrasive or non-abrasive; it’s only exactly whatever we think it is.

So, what are you thinking?

The quality of our thinking is directly proportionate to how we really feel about ourselves. It shapes our expectations and to an even greater extent our overall happiness. So how do you see yourself? Are you a diamond? Or are you a cubic zirconia, the low-cost alternative to the real thing?

SO PRECIOUS We don’t live in a world where people are actively reminding us of our value and worth. Too bad, because we all need to hear that we matter. But the most important person who needs to remind you of your value and worth is you. We all need to see the diamond inside. We were all created as precious gems, designed to shine and radiate our own unique individual light. Worldly opinions of us from others and especially from ourselves can never redefine our divine magnificence. Unless we let them.

There is no greater cleansing process than to see ourselves through the eyes of God, when we reframe ourselves in the love that created us. When we do, a new vibration is born and the residue of negativity that surrounds us gently and peacefully dissipates. Suddenly the clarity of who we really are again resonates from within.

Love. The ultrasonic cleaner for the soul.

The world needs you to shine as only you can. To bring forth the divine light inside of you that never dims, the light that radiates from your soul.

Never doubt your inner diamond.

It’s a great day to be you!