This morning's journey began with frustration. Frustration because some things I'm working towards are not happening, or at least not happening at the speed I want. So my meditation began with a bit of cursing the challenges I face. Why me? Why not me? What good is it to be grateful for my troubles and challenges? That just smacks of my old religious upbringing to be grateful for what little God gives me!
So there I sat with my questions and gave thanks for them. Even if I couldn't feel grateful for the challenges, I was at least grateful for the questions. It didn't take long for the answers to move through me.
Gratitude must come from the inside. When I look outside of myself to what I do or do not have, it is easy to lose that sense of gratitude because gratitude will never come from outside of myself. It is an 'inside job' and that's where the powerful of gratitude lies--within each of us. Not out in the world we experience, but within each one of us is the seed of gratitude.
'Challenges, problems, troubles, difficulties, not-enoughness'--are words we have assigned a negative meaning to and they come with energy that contracts us rather than expands us.
What if I shifted my perspective and thought of them as 'opportunities'? After all, isn't that what they really are--opportunities to take action, make a new decision, re-evaluate, let go, embrace, to say yes please or no thank you to situations in our lives. How would that change my feelings about what happens around me?
An instant internal shift happened and I again slipped into that gentle warmth of gratitude. Thankful for a new understanding; thankful that I asked a better question and received a better answer. Thankful that by simply changing my perception of words I shifted from contraction into the expansive energy of gratitude.
So now I understand that the situations I face are opportunities for me to re-think and re-choose the direction I want to move on this journey that is my life.
That is a powerful understanding to receive!
And it makes all the difference in the world to me. Instead of contracting into frustration and old patterns, gratitude expanded me into new ways of thinking about my reality. How 'real' do I want this situation to be--and what do I want to be real for me instead? Again--a better question yields a better answer.
I am grateful for the opportunities to succeed that are now open before me. I have some re-thinking and re-choosing to do today!
In gratitude,
Bonnie
Showing posts with label unlimited. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unlimited. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
My Journey of Gratitude - Day 13
A funny thing about opening to feelings--you can't just pick and choose which feelings you allow. It's not possible to say "I will only feel the 'good' feelings today." That's because feelings are neither good nor bad, right nor wrong. They are just feelings brought on by your thoughts.
So the other day when the dam burst open and everything that was backed up came pouring forth, I understood that would mean that all my feelings were free to express themselves. And they certainly have!
Yesterday was my impatience and today my sadness made its appearance. Not the profound sadness of years past, but the sadness of unanswered prayers, missed opportunities and things I have done or left undone.
Earlier this morning I read a passage that fit perfectly for this moment. "Bask in the luxury of feeling fully understood and unconditionally loved." So I did. As I stepped more fully into that state of gratitude feeling fully understood and unconditionally loved, I allowed the sadness to flow through me, freeing it from the prison of my body. A sweet gentleness flowed in to fill the empty spaces where sadness had previously lived.
The more I let go of what no longer serves me and what I have imprisoned in my body, the more free I am to fully live the life I love. I begin my day in a place of serenity and knowingness.
Today I am grateful for my ability to fully experience all my emotions and to bask in the luxury of being fully understood and unconditionally loved.
In gratitude,
Bonnie
So the other day when the dam burst open and everything that was backed up came pouring forth, I understood that would mean that all my feelings were free to express themselves. And they certainly have!
Yesterday was my impatience and today my sadness made its appearance. Not the profound sadness of years past, but the sadness of unanswered prayers, missed opportunities and things I have done or left undone.
Earlier this morning I read a passage that fit perfectly for this moment. "Bask in the luxury of feeling fully understood and unconditionally loved." So I did. As I stepped more fully into that state of gratitude feeling fully understood and unconditionally loved, I allowed the sadness to flow through me, freeing it from the prison of my body. A sweet gentleness flowed in to fill the empty spaces where sadness had previously lived.
The more I let go of what no longer serves me and what I have imprisoned in my body, the more free I am to fully live the life I love. I begin my day in a place of serenity and knowingness.
Today I am grateful for my ability to fully experience all my emotions and to bask in the luxury of being fully understood and unconditionally loved.
In gratitude,
Bonnie
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
My Journey of Gratitude - Day 7
Wow--a week has gone by already? I guess that's what happens when you can step outside of time for a while. In some ways it feels like just yesterday I began this journey and in other ways--by the changes I'm experiencing--it feels like ages ago. When you step outside of time and into that state of Gratitude, you open to so much more than your conscious mind can imagine.
And speaking of conscious mind--that is what came up for me this morning in my gratitude time. I slipped into gratitude gentle and easy this morning. No resistance, just thankfulness. Yet as I sat there breathing in, breathing out and focusing on all that I'm grateful for, I felt something missing. A part of me not there. So I waited--in gratitude.
And who shows up but my ego mind. Also known as beta mind, conscious mind, personality self and a myriad of other names. Letting me know that I have left this very important part of who I am out of the equation of my life way too long.
You see, as a medical intuitive and teacher I work with the subconscious mind because that's where the belief systems are held. But I have ignored a part of me that also plays an essential role in who I am and what I do. My ego.
Ego has been given a bad rap for a long time, being treated like an unwanted, troublesome, and annoying child. And it is anything but. While the ego/conscious mind is only 15% of our reality, 15% is a very big deal and I have spent years pushing it aside, even trying to defeat it as if it was bad.
So we sat together, my ego and I, as I listened to what it needed from me. Acknowledgement, acceptance, love and...wait for it....gratitude. It is that part of me that discerns, makes quick decisions, makes sure I pay my bills on time and even gets me out of bed every morning. And she is the 'gatekeeper' to my subconscious mind. Everything that comes my way that doesn't already fit with my subconsciously held belief systems gets deleted or blocked. The positive intention--and our ego/conscious mind always works from a positive intention, no matter how weird that might seem.
So why is this important? Because the changes I've made internally--in my subconscious belief patterns no longer match what my ego/conscious mind believes. For decades I have believed that struggle, strain, suffering and lack was the only way to live--that's neither good nor bad, that's just what I was trained as a child to believe about life. My life reflected that core belief and I can look back at every situation in my life and see how it played out exactly that way.
Now here I go changing everything subconsciously, but not updating my conscious mind. It's like changing someone's job description after years of doing the same tasks every day, then being being angry because they aren't doing their job!
No wonder I have been experiencing conflict in both my inner and outer world. I now believe something new, but my ego mind is still functioning from old programming. That explains why when I get close to a goal, something happens and it falls short of my desired outcome. Not because anything is wrong with me or not because I can't get what I want. But because I have not let my ego mind in on this new gratitude 'thing' where everything is ease and flow.
I sat there listening to this conversation in my head and my only response finally was....oh...duh.
So I sat in gratitude of my ego/conscious mind, thanking her for all the wonderful, amazing things she has done for me over my lifetime. And I brought her up to speed with my new belief systems. She's on board now--in fact she's REALLY on board. The vision I received was a baby chick riding the waves on a surf board yelling "Ride the waves baby. Ride the waves."
In gratitude,
Bonnie
And speaking of conscious mind--that is what came up for me this morning in my gratitude time. I slipped into gratitude gentle and easy this morning. No resistance, just thankfulness. Yet as I sat there breathing in, breathing out and focusing on all that I'm grateful for, I felt something missing. A part of me not there. So I waited--in gratitude.
And who shows up but my ego mind. Also known as beta mind, conscious mind, personality self and a myriad of other names. Letting me know that I have left this very important part of who I am out of the equation of my life way too long.
You see, as a medical intuitive and teacher I work with the subconscious mind because that's where the belief systems are held. But I have ignored a part of me that also plays an essential role in who I am and what I do. My ego.
Ego has been given a bad rap for a long time, being treated like an unwanted, troublesome, and annoying child. And it is anything but. While the ego/conscious mind is only 15% of our reality, 15% is a very big deal and I have spent years pushing it aside, even trying to defeat it as if it was bad.
So we sat together, my ego and I, as I listened to what it needed from me. Acknowledgement, acceptance, love and...wait for it....gratitude. It is that part of me that discerns, makes quick decisions, makes sure I pay my bills on time and even gets me out of bed every morning. And she is the 'gatekeeper' to my subconscious mind. Everything that comes my way that doesn't already fit with my subconsciously held belief systems gets deleted or blocked. The positive intention--and our ego/conscious mind always works from a positive intention, no matter how weird that might seem.
So why is this important? Because the changes I've made internally--in my subconscious belief patterns no longer match what my ego/conscious mind believes. For decades I have believed that struggle, strain, suffering and lack was the only way to live--that's neither good nor bad, that's just what I was trained as a child to believe about life. My life reflected that core belief and I can look back at every situation in my life and see how it played out exactly that way.
Now here I go changing everything subconsciously, but not updating my conscious mind. It's like changing someone's job description after years of doing the same tasks every day, then being being angry because they aren't doing their job!
No wonder I have been experiencing conflict in both my inner and outer world. I now believe something new, but my ego mind is still functioning from old programming. That explains why when I get close to a goal, something happens and it falls short of my desired outcome. Not because anything is wrong with me or not because I can't get what I want. But because I have not let my ego mind in on this new gratitude 'thing' where everything is ease and flow.
I sat there listening to this conversation in my head and my only response finally was....oh...duh.
So I sat in gratitude of my ego/conscious mind, thanking her for all the wonderful, amazing things she has done for me over my lifetime. And I brought her up to speed with my new belief systems. She's on board now--in fact she's REALLY on board. The vision I received was a baby chick riding the waves on a surf board yelling "Ride the waves baby. Ride the waves."
In gratitude,
Bonnie
Friday, November 4, 2011
Gratitude Experiment--Day 3
My 10 minutes of gratitude was very different this morning. After my mind blowing experiences of Day 1 & 2, I met the resistance to change that seems to be pop up when change is threatening to occur. While we often say we want change and even work towards change, when it comes right down to it there is a part that resists the change out of fear.
And that's what I met this morning--my fear of changing! I sat with the fear and listened to its message. What if you get what you want? What will happen to 'me'? ME? Who is the 'me' that was speaking and what is the fear?
Sitting in the energy of gratitude is so powerful because I didn't have to do anything about the fear but witness it. Being in the freedom of gratitude opens me up to more Light and with more Light comes understanding. No judging, no arguing, no wishing anything away. Just more Light.
So in this expansion of gratitude what I realized was that a part of me has been so identified with scarcity, lack and struggle that the very thought of living differently meant annihilation of self. Powerful understanding!
In gratitude I looked at my patterns of struggle and lack--beginning with my parents and how they lived. Reviewing my childhood programming growing up very poor and how I lived what I believed to be real in my first marriage and even now in my relationship with my husband. My unconscious EXPECTATION was that life & marriage IS about struggle, lack and scarcity. What else would I expect because that was what I was trained to believe and trained to do--always worry about money, regardless of how much or little I had.
It explained that no matter how wonderful my life was going I had an unconscious limit to how amazing I could let it be. When I tapped the 'fun meter' as my husband puts it, then my old anxiety and fears were triggered. Once triggered I made decisions and took actions that brought me back to my
old expectations of what was real for me.
Fascinating experience! As I witnessed this all playing out in the Light of gratitude, the old patterns dissolved on their own. And in their place was born something new and fresh and without words--feelings of being more than just OK. An openness to experience a new reality.
That's my thought for today! I would love to hear about your experiences with the Freedom of Gratitude.
In gratitude and thankfullness,
Bonnie
And that's what I met this morning--my fear of changing! I sat with the fear and listened to its message. What if you get what you want? What will happen to 'me'? ME? Who is the 'me' that was speaking and what is the fear?
Sitting in the energy of gratitude is so powerful because I didn't have to do anything about the fear but witness it. Being in the freedom of gratitude opens me up to more Light and with more Light comes understanding. No judging, no arguing, no wishing anything away. Just more Light.
So in this expansion of gratitude what I realized was that a part of me has been so identified with scarcity, lack and struggle that the very thought of living differently meant annihilation of self. Powerful understanding!
In gratitude I looked at my patterns of struggle and lack--beginning with my parents and how they lived. Reviewing my childhood programming growing up very poor and how I lived what I believed to be real in my first marriage and even now in my relationship with my husband. My unconscious EXPECTATION was that life & marriage IS about struggle, lack and scarcity. What else would I expect because that was what I was trained to believe and trained to do--always worry about money, regardless of how much or little I had.
It explained that no matter how wonderful my life was going I had an unconscious limit to how amazing I could let it be. When I tapped the 'fun meter' as my husband puts it, then my old anxiety and fears were triggered. Once triggered I made decisions and took actions that brought me back to my
old expectations of what was real for me.
Fascinating experience! As I witnessed this all playing out in the Light of gratitude, the old patterns dissolved on their own. And in their place was born something new and fresh and without words--feelings of being more than just OK. An openness to experience a new reality.
That's my thought for today! I would love to hear about your experiences with the Freedom of Gratitude.
In gratitude and thankfullness,
Bonnie
Thursday, November 3, 2011
The Freedom of Gratitude--the 30 day experiment
Gratitude is a powerful tool for change and it is available to you in every moment of your life.
Last night I spoke to about 40 women at a networking group. My topic was the Attitude of Gratitude. Katie & I are teaching a teleseminar this month on the Freedom of Gratitude. It seems that the topic of Gratitude is in the air this month—and much needed at this time too.
The experiment is simple—10 minutes a day sitting in gratitude. Doing nothing—no journaling, no commanding—just being present to the presence of gratefulness in your life. That’s it. 10 minutes a day for 30 days. Come join me!
Every day I will share with you my experiences from my 10 minutes of gratitude. Ii'm excited to discover what lies on the other side of 30 days!
Last night I spoke to about 40 women at a networking group. My topic was the Attitude of Gratitude. Katie & I are teaching a teleseminar this month on the Freedom of Gratitude. It seems that the topic of Gratitude is in the air this month—and much needed at this time too.
Yesterday morning while preparing for my talk, I was guided to spend minutes sitting in gratitude. No asking for anything, no writing in a journal, no ‘doing’. Just 10 minutes of being grateful for what I already have. What an experience!
Now 90% of my life is amazing and running smoothly. That leaves 10% just not where I want to be. What I didn't realize until I sat in gratitude for 10 minutes that the past several months I was so focused on the 10% that wasn't working that I forgot about being thankful for the 90% that IS wonderful! Worry & fear wil do that to you--make you forget everything but the loss, the disappointment, the lack!
Within just a few minutes I felt such incredible warmth spread through my body & my heart opening in ways it never did before. As I became aware of my old negative thinking, it began shifting and changing—remember no ‘doing’ just ‘being’.
Suddenly I was shown every situation, time, event in my life where I had ALWAYS gotten what I needed and asked for. I mean EVERY time. I also realized that the limitations and trials that came with each opportunity were of my own making.
Even when I was receiving everything that I asked for—my negativity was limiting my experience. Everything showed up according to what I expected and what I allowed.
Wow! Talk about a total shift in consciousness and emotional healing! I view my past completely differently now. My whole life has opened up in new ways---just using the power of gratitude.
SO—I have committed to spending 10 minutes in gratitude for the next 30 days. I’m doing this because the past 2 days have opened me to so much more than I imagined existed.
The experiment is simple—10 minutes a day sitting in gratitude. Doing nothing—no journaling, no commanding—just being present to the presence of gratefulness in your life. That’s it. 10 minutes a day for 30 days. Come join me!
Every day I will share with you my experiences from my 10 minutes of gratitude. Ii'm excited to discover what lies on the other side of 30 days!
In gratitude,
Bonnie
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Magic!
I am so thrilled - one of my articles was accepted for publication in the most wonderful New Spirit Magazine! This is one of those things where for years I thought...Gee, I'd really like to submit an article for New Spirit Magazine...but I just didn't. When we get clear on our intentions, magic happens.
I have also been asked to write for several online magazines and even though my first book was published years ago, when asked on surveys if I was a writer, I never felt comfortable saying yes, because my book didn't make the NY Times Best Seller List!
How many ways can we find to limit ourselves? It is almost unlimited - and the good news is that when we finally get clear on who we are and what we truly want - that's when the magic happens!
Where is the magic happening in your life?
I have also been asked to write for several online magazines and even though my first book was published years ago, when asked on surveys if I was a writer, I never felt comfortable saying yes, because my book didn't make the NY Times Best Seller List!
How many ways can we find to limit ourselves? It is almost unlimited - and the good news is that when we finally get clear on who we are and what we truly want - that's when the magic happens!
Where is the magic happening in your life?
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