Seeking Wholeness

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves: Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” 

 Marianne Williamson

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Greetings and salutations!

the following is a message that I feel is very worthy of sharing with those of us who are seeking wholeness, especially on this day many call “valentines day”. This message was sent out yesterday from the founder and leader of Young Living brand essential oils. if you don’t know who or what i’m talking about then here’s my quick shpeel: Young Living is passionate and serious about producing therapeutic-grade products; Gary has the strictest standards for purity, potency and safety when it comes to the essential oils that Young Living produces, and he is passionate about bringing a higher quality of life to all of the world. if you are new to ‘essential oils’, they can be considered, but are far from limited to the word aromatherapy. they are basically considered the blood of a plant/tree/fruit/flower and this blood contains enormous healing potential, and is imbued with the intelligence of nature.

I am a distributor of these oils-
i use them in a variety of ways daily, on myself, on dogs, and in my massage and healing practice, so i have stories from using the oils myself, as well as from other people over the last year and a half, since I first heard about Young Living.

i hope you have a wonderful valentine’s day! know that i love you, and care for you so very much. You are an invaluable piece of the giant Cosmic Puzzle, I will say. and that is no small thing! I mean, your ability to realize grander dreams and desires for ourselves and others, is important. Your health, happiness, fulfillment and satisfaction in life IS IMPORTANT. i think you came here to this thing we call “Life” to evolve and achieve deeper fulfillment in your own unique and perfect way. And really, right here and now, you are doing that just perfectly. You are perfect, whole and complete. You are lovely. I love you!

if you would like to get to know more about the Young Living essential oils on your own, you can click here or just get in touch with me.

peace!

~angie

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People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you … See More spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you’ve got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, It is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway.

Mother Teresa

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Peace …comes within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the Universe and all its powers, and when they realize that…the center of the Universe… is really everywhere, it is within each of us.

—Black Elk, Oglala Lakota, 1947

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Be kind, the better we treat others the better we feel about ourselves. The more we build and affirm people the more we grow as human beings.

By: Hal Urban

Also, remember, be kind to yourself!
Your opinion and view of yourself is the only one that matters so be careful what you say to yourself, your unconscious mind is always listening.

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I came across this music recently thanks to a dear friend, it’s pretty mellow . Enjoy

www.lemonjelly.ky

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Great Music video from the nineties !
The lyrics are taken from a famous essay — written in 1997 by Mary Schmich, a columnist with the Chicago Tribune (article) — which gives some amazing advice for life, thoroughly recommend everyone to watch this ! enjoy !

THIS IS THE ORIGINAL MUSIC VIDEO

Lyrics:

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of 99 Wear Sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they’ve faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts. Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Read more…

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Enjoy!

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It is sad how people experience stress during the holidays, but things don’t have to be this way!

The shopping, driving, mailing out greeting cards, going to the post office, budgeting, traveling and seeing relatives. Sounds familiar?

I want to tell you now, that you can change this. You do not have to be stressed. In fact, you can be happy and make a bunch of other people happy.

You do not have to navigate crowded malls, get stuck in traffic, drive long distances, deal with airports and air travel, worry what gifts to buy, wrap gifts, mail gifts, send cards… nothing! Yes, you can simply say “no”.

Many alternatives to the commercialized, stressful, costly and polluting norms exist. Consider finding a bunch of friends that are close to your heart and locale (in your same state or region) and spend time with them.

Give people good words, give good wishes, give hugs, give love, give smiles, do good deeds, be extra relaxed, open doors for people, plant trees, etc.. The sky is the limit. You do not have to venture into these pesky malls.

You have the power to save money, save the environment, save yourself from headaches and have a greater more positive impact this season by being a better friend to yourself, to others and to nature.

Yes, YOU have to power to keep things simple. To say no. To start new traditions. To be unique.
Consider giving a donation to non profit organizations, give the Gift of Microfinance , be selfless, serve others, or make some good food and invite people to eat.

Consider spending time alone in meditation, in counting your blessings, in reflection, in prayer, in adoring Nature or a candle’s flame. Take a walk on a trail, go alone or take a loved one, if it’s cold bundle up and go out, adore the snow, adore the sky, adore the trees, spend time with your God or Nature.

Make the new years, Christmas, solstice or Yule a time to be good, truly good to yourself, to nature and to other people.

If you celebrate Christmas, this year remember that Jesus said “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” and “sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Rid yourself of materialism and stress, keep things simple, honest, spiritual; you will be happier and make others happier while saving a bunch of trees, reducing your carbon and waste footprint and feeling better than ever for having done what you KNOW is right, not what you are told is right.

Remember, you are not alone.

Blessings, Love & Wisdom

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This is amazing.

Enjoy

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Ask yourself what do you need right now:

Do you need to breath deeply?
Do you need close your eyes?
Do you need to drink water?
Do you need to eat?
Do you need stretch?
Do you need to use the bathroom?
Do you need to relax and take a break?
Do you need to plan something?
Do you need to stop?
Do you need look away into the distance from whatever you are doing?
Do you need to stop eating that snack?
Do you need to go on a walk?
Do you need fresh air?
Do you need a nap (to sleep)?
etc …

Now that you’ve asked, will you give yourself what it needs?

The lesson here is to check in with yourself from time to time, listen to the most important person (YOU).

This sounds simple, doesn’t it?

It is, but sometimes when we are at work, studying or working a project and too busy with life, paying attention to others, we forget to pay attention to ourselves.

So,

from time to time,

Ask yourself

“What do I need now?”

&

you will be more present in the now and more alive

Ethan Z

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Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

- Calvin Coolidge

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He who fears he will suffer, already suffers from his fear

Michel de Montaigne

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When life throws a rock at you (in the form of opposition, challenges, sickness, ideas, etc) What do you do with this rock? Do you throw it away, perhaps throw it at someone else? Do you keep it and put it on the mantle next to the family photos, or do you shape it with a tool?

A rock can be useful.

Place it on the ground in front of you, fill in pot holes with it, put it in a puddle of water and step on it. Step on it, it’s a rock.

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Speak well to yourself because your deep mind is always listening.

By Devin Hasting

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I’d like to share with you this phrase

develop the courage to be imperfect

Think about this for a second, is anyone perfect? You can seek perfection all you want but you will never be perfect, will you? do we even know what perfect is, do you ‘really’ know what it means?

Now, that you’ve seen these questions, I ask why do we fear being imperfect?

Isn’t it natural to be imperfect?

Can you seek perfection while finding the courage within you to be imperfect, and be OK with that reality?

Can you develop the courage to be imperfect?

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Consider these famous quotes on courage:

Courage, an optimistic attitude, common sense, and a feeling of being at home upon the crust of the earth, will enable (us) to face advantages and disadvantages with equal firmness.

–Alfred Adler

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.
~Ambrose Redmoon

Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.
~Mary Anne Radmacher

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
~Winston Churchill

Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.
~Edward Vernon Rickenbacker

Fear and courage are brothers.
~Proverb

Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.
~Raymond Lindquist

Courage is knowing what not to fear.
~Plato

Courage is a kind of salvation.
~Plato

Have the courage to live. Anyone can die.
~Robert Cody

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Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, but today is a gift, it is called present

By: unknown

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I have a story for you:

Once Upon a Time In a Land Far Far Away, there was a young king who suffered from mood swings.

He would be confident of his decisions and his own greatness, until he got depressed and fell into a deep depression. When this king was feeling blue, he would sit and stare, he would sleep for hours on end, he would do nothing, and he would also become convinced that he was worthlessness and unimportant.

If this king lived today, we would have called him bipolar or perhaps manic-depressive; but this was a long time ago, and back then no one had names for these symptoms. The king was left with no real help, he brought the best herb doctors and they gave him special attention only fit for a king, but his mood swings did not improve much.

Read more…

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According to a new report released by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), happiness levels are highest in northern European countries.

Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands rated at the top of the list.

Outside of Europe, New Zealand and Canada also made the top 10. The U.S. did not.

The U.S. ranked the highest for child poverty and obesity among the western nations polled.

Other Very Interesting Findings include:

Adult height: Americans are not getting taller. The United States is the only country in the OECD where men and women aged 45-49 are no taller than those aged 20-24 years old, indicating no improvement in health and social conditions determining gains in height.

Health care: The United States spends the most per capita on health care, but despite their high levels of health spending the Unites States has relatively low life expectancy.

Net National Income: The United States is one of the richest countries in the OECD. In 2006, the United States had a per capita National Net Income in excess of USD 35 000. Only Luxembourg and Norway were higher.

Fertility: The United States has a much higher fertility rate than most other OECD countries of 2.1 children per mother, compared to an OECD average of 1.65.

Child poverty: Child poverty has fallen since the mid-1990s but one in five US children still live in poverty, a rate exceeded only in Poland, Mexico, and Turkey

Social protection: The United States is the fourth lowest in the OECD in terms of income shares of public social spending. However, when tax breaks for social purposes and private social spending are also considered, social spending in the United States rises above the OECD average of 28% to 31% of income.

Eating time: Americans spend around an hour and a quarter eating every day, slightly more than only Canadians and Mexicans but less than half the eating time spent by the French. Despite this limited time spent eating, their obesity rates are the highest in the OECD.

Leisure time of men and women: American men have nearly 40 minutes more leisure time than women per day.
Find the report here: http://www.oecd.org/document/24/0,3343,en_2649_34637_2671576_1_1_1_1,00.html

Let me ask you,

• Are we a nation of Me’s or a nation of We’s?
• How can one justify that it is more important to have a fetus develop into a baby and then be born than to give that new born baby and child health coverage or keep them from poverty?

We may make more money per capita in the US but we spend most of it on health insurance and other ‘fees’ – These are what I call hidden taxes.

These hidden taxes go to corporations not to benefit other citizens; they suck money up the ranks to make the rich richer, making huge profits and paying CEO’s millions of dollars that are basically denied health care reimbursements to you.. In other words, money from your pocket to theirs.

Taxes are used by governments (i.e. we the people) to benefit the population at large, these fees are simply how some corporations (after lobbying congress) dip their hands in your pockets and ’steal’ your money.

Read more…

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What you resist persists

By Carl Gustav Jung : Swiss psychiatrist, student of Freud & founder analytic psychology – (1875 – 1961)

This quote is interesting, some claim it relates to the ‘law of attraction’ that if you think of something a lot you will get it, in other words if you obsess about something bad it will happen to you and if you think of something good it would also come to you. Some in the new age movement relate this quote to quantum physics, while others say that Jung’s quote has been miss interpreted by these people.

I am not sure what Jung meant by this quote. To know, I would have to find the whole text and read this quote in context.

It may be that he meant that, say in the case of a young girl who’s parents did not want her with a certain boy, the more the parents try to part them the stronger their bond gets…

What do you think Jung meant?

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Carl Gustav Jung was a famous Swiss psychiatrist, a student of Freud & the founder analytic psychology. I find some of his words very interesting and worth thinking about. This is one of the quotes I like:

I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become

This one is so true.

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I found myself at urgent care having trouble breathing last week. After many hours of tests and waiting, I was admitted in at the hospital and diagnosed with Pulmonary Embolism (a blood clot in the lung with a 30% mortality rate). Luckily, the one I had was small in size and I bounced back on my feet quickly.

If you know me you will know that I’ve always believed that everything in life has positive aspects, even seemingly dangerous, unpleasant or unforeseen situations can still offer glimmers of positiveness, sometimes lots of positiveness. Not only that, but that negative events could be turned around and used as opportunities for improvement. Unfortunately, some people take offense when I mention that ‘bad life events‘ can be positive things.

I am about to share with you actual thoughts I had while I was at urgent care and from the time that followed at the hospital. You will soon notice the majority if not all the thoughts were somewhat silly, somewhat childish, but that doesn’t matter because I know that all of them made me smile.

I am often amused easily by nature and seldom by man made things. I believe that anyone can be as amused as me by what nature has to offer, it’s not difficult; it is also possible to amuse at life events just the same. The way I see it, people and life events are parts of nature.

Now let me share with you my thoughts. Some of these thoughts were vocalized as soon as they materialized in my mind resulting is some chuckles, smiles or laughs by people that were there. In general, finding the positiveness in little things made the whole experience of being at the hospital much more pleasant for me and more tolerable for others.

You may want to read the post about my Pulmonary Embolism (here) to get the time line of events. The thoughts below are organized in chronological order.

Feel free to laugh at my easily amused self

Why am I sharing theses?

To show you that you can find intriguing, exciting, amusing, beautiful, even amazing and positive aspects to everything and every event, including when you are in pain and at the hospital.

Here goes:

On the CT scan

Thought: Wow, my first CT scan, I wonder how different it is from an MRI.

Read more…

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Wont you say that the pursuit of happiness is one thing that is programed in most of us?  Not counting mentally unstable individuals, its safe to assume that we all want to be happy. The interesting thing though is how little we know about what it takes to be happy or satisfied. We often seek happiness only to create suffering.

I use the words ‘happy’ and ’satisfied’ interchangeably, the way I see it they are the same. Suffering also needs to be clarified here, suffering encompasses any of these: stress, negative emotions, misery, pain, etc.

Why is the list below so long (80+ topics)? Well, after getting a pulmonary embolism last week, a potentially lethal medical condition, I decided to write down a list of ideas and concepts that are dear to me in one post and to push them out on the Internet. This article is essentially my message to the world; I was planning on writing an article for each of (or a combination of) the topics listed below; as you will notice some article have already been written; however, who knows if I’ll live long enough or if I’ll ever have the time to write articles on all these topics.

The list below is a compilation of things I learned or developed (through thought processes), philosophies, beliefs and ideas that I consider dear to my heart and I do live by.  I do not want to take credit for any of the topics below, these were passed on to me through people, nature and other life events. I only learned them, tried to sincerely live them, and now, wrote them down. I believe that the more of these that you embrace the more satisfied and happy you will become.

Please share your tips for happiness by leaving a comment.

Message to the world, brought to you by Wholeness Blog:

1. Appreciate and delight in the smallest things and the simplest things.
2. Plan the future but don’t get obsessed about it. You can plan so much, but when something unplanned happens, then it is what it is, collect yourself and move on.
3. Many unexpected things may happen, sometimes things are what they are, sometimes they are not. Know which is which.
4. If you are faced with bad news, a bad reality, you will have to first accept it before you can deal with it. Some people go through denial and other moods, but you cannot move forward until you accept reality.
5. Take what you have and go along with it. Make the best with what you have.
6. See the positives and the lessons in everything  you experience.
7. Don’t see the obstacles and the so called ‘negative’ things, you will only pull yourself away from living a better life.
8. When you dream or plan, be free, explore all the possibilities, identify your dream as if no restrictions exist at all. Then, add the restrictions, examine which are real and which are self imposed, then create plans.
9. There is no good or bad. A few things are absolute good or bad, the rest are all in between, they are shades of gray. Even in your life, what you see as bad, may actually be good, your evaluation of something as bad is your own opinion, your own view, and your view is influenced by your mind set. (Read this on the good and bad).
10. Keep your mind OPEN to seeing the good in everything.
11. Stop and notice nature, birds, the wind, beaches, rain, smells, grass, dew drops, plant leaves, etc.. and see the beauty and life in them.. See the good in them.
12. See the good in you, all you’ve done, all you’ve overcome, the past events and challenges you lived through. Appreciate what you’ve managed to do and deal with. See how all these things made you who you are now and how they made you more mature and stronger.
13. Respect yourself. If you don’t no one will.
14. Love yourself. If you don’t no one will.
15. See the good that you have, your healthy blood, brain, eyes, ears, oh so many things that you are fortunate to have.
16. Demand respect of others, BUT give it back.
17. Treat others as you wish to be treated.
18. Make peace not war, in your mind, in your heart, with others, with nature and with everything.
19. Appreciate what you got. Do not take anything for granted. We got countless of things that should not be taken fro granted, for instance: Your house, the roads, the water, sewers, the food, the highway system, having fuel, electricity, the sun, the clean air, the money you have, your job, pets, rain, the night sky, green plants, fruits and on top of them all your health.
20. Remember, so many people are not as blessed as you are.
21. Read more…

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I always try to see the positive side of things; it’s a habit of mine. I always tell people that there is ‘A’ positive in every thing, even in the seemingly negative. Pick any event in life and I can argue that it was neither good nor bad, and that it has positive aspects. Some people get offended when I say this; I am not trying to offend you here, but if you are, please keep on reading and let me know if you still feel the same when you’re done.

I often tell people there is something to learn and a chance to grow in every life event even horrible events. Now I am getting the chance to live what I preach in more serious ways than I had expected to. What you might find weird is that I find myself excited about this opportunity, to live what I preach, to see how I will react, how well I will utilize this opportunity to improve my life and to hopefully be an example to the few of you who don’t agree with me.

The badness of bad things, the goodness of good things, and the goodness of bad things, your memories of them and your future, all, depend on your view (attitude and mind set).

In a previous post titled ‘I Could Have Died’ (click here to read it), I explained a recent health situation I had to deal with. I was diagnosed with a blood clot in the lung; things could have ended much worse than they did. I walked away from this alive and (lightly) kicking, with a lot of positive emotions.

I write this at the risk of shocking some, but the truth is I don’t think of this recent situation as a ‘bad’ event, because I know how lucky I was, I could have died and I didn’t, and that’s lucky. I am not labeling it as a ‘good’ event either, whether it is good or bad is something for history to judge based on the outcome, by how my present and future are shaped or changed. What this event really was, is an ‘opportunity’.

There were many elements that made up this event, some more positive than others, some were arguably negative. This does not make the health scare (i.e event) negative or bad.

See, when a person labels something as ‘bad’, so many ‘negative’ things (emotions, memories and future events) are bound to be influenced and changed.  Bad and good are nothing but labels that we apply to otherwise, well, label-free, not good nor bad, events.

This reminds me of what Jesus once said. In Matthew 7:16-17 He said “You will know them by their fruits.” Just as Jesus asked men to judge other men according to their fruits (actions and outcomes) I ask that you judge your events by their fruits.

One should not label an event, but rather judge their outcomes. Outcomes happen in the future; thus one must only judge an event in the future to have an honest judgment otherwise she would be predicting, not judging. As we all know, most predictions are self-fulfilling.

Labeling an event before waiting to see the outcome is pre-judging, it predetermines to a degree the outcome. Thus, if you judge an event as bad, you are actually making it produce bad outcomes.

Since I don’t want to pre-judge this event by labeling it, how then would I describe the event? Let’s look at the facts:

• It was unforeseen.
• It was concerning, sometimes scary.
• It was challenging.
• It was a serious medical event.
• It was not as bad as it could have been.
• It is inconvenient.

Read more…

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