Be Proud of Who You Are

Expanding Heart by Alicia Crystalus

 

Be proud of who you are!

No one sparkles or shines

like you do in the entire world!

Being proud of who you are is not about bragging or boasting. It is about knowing and accepting who you are with unconditional love.  Use your strengths to help yourself and others. 

Take time to meditate on the Expanding Heart above, let it gently remind you to expand your love outside of yourself.  Let your heart expand with unconditional love, mercy and compassion for yourself and all others.

Upcoming Event on 9/11/10

Energy of the Earth

 

I will be presenting at the Tarot Illuminations Circle at Unity Church for Creative Living on Saturday, 9/11 at noon.  

• Address: 2777 Race Track Road,  St. Johns, FL 32259
• Telephone: (904) 287-1505
• Website: www.unityinjax.com

I hope you will be able to join me there.  Cathy Mason leads Tarot Illuminations and it is a wonderful circle of spiritually active adults who support one another as we explore the tarot and other spiritual topics.  

This session’s topic is: Energy of the Earth  

Science and spirituality continue to suggest that we are all made up of
energy, every particle of our being is energy in motion.  Everything in the
Universe is energy, from the Earth and everything that lives upon her to the
stars above. We are connected through this energy, whether we can see it or
not, energetic flashes pass through and around us every second of the day. 

I will guide us through exercises to help us increase our awareness of our own energy, aura and what we can achieve when we tap into that energy. I will also conduct a brief meditation that helps you connect deeply with the Earth and the realm of light.  This meditation will ground you to the Earth and support you by connecting to the Earth’s energy grid.  You will walk away from this experience feeling fully connected and supported by the Earth.  

If you have never experienced this before, you don’t want to miss it!

Affirmations for 2010

For Christmas, I created a special spiritual journey calendar for a dear friend of mine.  It included rituals, meditations and reminders for her healing journey and spiritual development.  For each week, I wrote an inspirational and empowering affirmation for her to focus on that week.  After writing them all up, I decided that they were too powerful for them to be shared with only one person.  I hope that they provide you with inspiration, empowerment and encouragement for today and all of 2010.  May this New Year be blessed with infinite possibilities for you and your life.  You have the power within you to truly move beyond any barriers that are keeping you from living a life that is extraordinary, filled with love, passion and peace.  Be blessed on your journey!

Affirmations are a wonderful tool to help focus your thoughts and intentions on what you truly desire for your life.  Repeating affirmations help keep your thoughts positive and overwire the negative thought patterns that have been crowding your mind, keeping you locked in negative cycles.  Use the below affirmations to assist you in turning your life in a new direction where you are fully empowered to be the beautiful, luminous and loving being that you already are!

2010 is a year for empowerment.  It is about being empowered not only for yourself and with God, but also about sharing what has empowered you with others.  If you break down the numbers for 2010, you can look at it this way: 2 (you plus others), 0 (God), 1 (You), 0 (God) = 3 (You, God, Others working together in harmony).  Everyone has something important to share.  You have something important and vital to share with others.  Don’t let fear, doubt or insecurity keep you from sharing the awesome blessing that resides in your soul.  You have something unique and beautiful to share that no one else on the planet can in just the same way.  Raise yourself up and allow the light in your heart to shine, spread and cast away the darkness that tries to keep you and the world surrounded in fear, doubt and mistrust.  Believe in yourself!

Expanding Heart by Alicia Crystalus

2010 Affirmations

1. I accept the divine power within me.
2. My higher self is in control.
3. I am enlightened and know my true self.
4. My higher self walks in my shoes.
5. I am one with God.
6. I experience joy deep in my heart.
7. I see my truth and accept me just as I am.
8. I am divine love and light alive on the Earth.
9. My awareness expands and includes peace every day.
10. My thoughts and emotions line up with my divine purpose.
11. I experience divine magick every moment of every day.
12. I say YES to life and release all that blocks me.
13. I reclaim my power in this moment.
14. I let go of all that does not serve me.
15. I embrace my inner child with love, understanding and peace.
16. I align myself with the infinite power of the Universe.
17. I embrace life and wonder at all the beauty around me and within me.
18. I release all that binds me by shining the light of my soul.
19. My soul evolves and expands every moment of every day.
20. Who I am is someone who is powerful, creative and infinitely loved.
21. I see the divine light in myself and every one I see.
22. I accept all of me, every strength and every weakness with grace, mercy and compassion.
23. When I shine my light and walk my path, I am at peace.
24. I am free of illusions, doubts and fears.  I see the truth.
25. I choose peace – in each moment – I choose peace, always.
26. I release all pain from every aspect of my life. I am 100% pain free.
27. I am ONE with the Universe and All That Is.
28. My soul’s vibration raises with every breath and is 100% positive.
29. In each moment my soul is at peace and in harmony with my life.
30. In each moment I am in a state of peace and love.
31. Who I am does not change regardless of what I do or how I feel.  I am always love.
32. I stand at peace in the spiral of the storm’s storms.  My peace shines like a welcoming light.
33. My life is my friend, together we create beauty, wonder and joy.
34. My life unfolds with beauty and grace.
35. I am aligned with my higher self and empowered to create miracles in my life.
36. Every breath I take unites me with the divine creator, in that union I am free.
37. In moments of stress and chaos, I am centered to receive wisdom and guidance.
38. I am Spirit living a divinely inspired life. I am eternal.
39. As I accept myself, my heart expands making my spirit soar.
40. My expression is limitless, sparkling with divine infinite grace.
41. I have infinite power to create the best possible life for me.
42. I allow myself to feel the exquisite pleasure that is my human body.
43. Every breath I take breaths the Spirit of God within me.
44. As my heart expands I feel more alive and joyful to be here now.
45. When I am silent and still, my spirit speaks words of love, wisdom and support to me.
46. I walk as my true self in every time and dimension. I see the truth of me always.
47. I am awakened and enlightened. There is nothing I need to do but accept that enlightenment is who I am.
48. I release all expectations for myself and others and move my heart to unconditional love.
49. I align with my soul’s purpose and create a life filled with prosperity, abundance and peace in all things.
50. My mind, body, heart and soul are aligned with my highest and greatest truth.
51. As I am One with God and the Universe, divine inspiration flows through me.
52. I am content and enjoy each moment of my life for in each present moment I receive the gift of positive awareness.
53. I open up to the infinite possibilities for my life without fear of change.
54. Out of chaos, I emerge powerful, alive and filled with creative energy.

Open Your Heart

Open your heart is a phrase that I have heard over and over again throughout my spiritual journey, beginning many years ago when I first began this intense journey with a dedicated and compassionate teacher, Chase Carter.  He helped me to understand so much more about myself and who I am, through his healing ability, using vibrations of both light and sound, shamanic practices and channeling to help me to open my heart to all that I am again and to humanity as well.  I had closed off for so long that I didn’t even realize how far I had taken my need to protect myself.  Over the years, there have been so many teachers that I am thankful to have crossed paths with of all variety, physical and purely spiritual in nature.  Thank you to all who have shared this journey with me.

 

Looking back now, that seems so long ago, both in time and in how I feel about myself and others.  Though still opening my heart to all that I can, it is not closed any longer to love and compassion for myself and others.  I can now stand in the place of love and hold it for others to heal and learn to open themselves to love.  It is an amazing realization to see within myself and one I never thought would happen.  This past year I truly felt myself open to all that I am and embrace it while helping others on their journey.  I have worked and helped others for many years and each year it continues to feel more genuine and easier to embrace all the work that I do without worrying about what others think or say.  I trust that I know what needs to be done, hear clearly the divine message to increase each clients healing and hold onto a loving and compassionate intention for their highest good. 

 

Over these last few weeks, I have been reading an awesome, amazing and insightful book titled Now is the Time to Open Your Heart by Alice Walker.  I hadn’t read anything by her since The Color Purple; and had not realized all that her journey has led her to discover.  This book captures the spiritual journey so many are on at this time and in such a graceful and compassionate way.  There is no condescension at others who are on different paths or any judgment on those who are at different stages of evolving.  There is acceptance that each one is beautiful and unfolding like a flower.  It has a gentle grace about it that is so hard to put into words for those who experience these soulful journeys.

 

I would recommend this book to anyone who is walking their spiritual journey, it spoke to my own experiences and helped me to also get a glimpse of others’ journeys and where I can continue to head.  I am going to post a few lines from the book — a random quote because there are too many good passages to pick one.

 

From Now is the Time to Open Your Heart by Alice Walker,

 

Page 165.

 

You Must Live: A Future Consequence

 

YOU MUST LIVE FOR AT LEAST TWO YEARS IN SPACE, SAID Grandmother.  It will take at least that long to make you positive that space is where you have always lived.  There are people who think they must travel through the air to reach space, but that is because they do not understand.  You are born into space, out of space, space is your home forever.  Earth is like a dust mote in the cosmos.  An interesting, even fascinating, dust mote.  But a dust mote.  It is like a raft on a river and the river is space. 

 

Page 166.

The ability to visit what is ugly and to transform into beauty anything you touch.

 

To me, it seems like all of healing and living is to turn something ugly into something beautiful and loved.  This can be done either by accepting the ugliness and loving it for what it is and that transcends it into something beautiful or by truly releasing the ugliness and filling it with something sparkling and beautiful.  All of life is a transformation in motion, never ending, always changing, and always spiraling higher and higher.  Allow yourself to spiral freely in love and peace.

UPCOMING EVENT: Guest Speakers at Spiritual Lighthouse Church

In a few weeks, Donald and I will be sharing a special service at the Spiritual Lighthouse Church in Jacksonville, FL.  We will be sharing an inspiring message about healing for a personal relationship with God and at the end giving messages to all who attend.  This is a special chance for anyone who wants to grow in their relationship with God to experience a new way to feel God’s presence and worship in a whole new way.  We hope you can join us on Sunday, March 22 at 5pm for this wonderful event!

 

Below is the address and website for Spiritual Lighthouse Church:

 

Spiritual Lighthouse Church

Telephone: (904) 764-7639

Address: 1049 Crestwood St. , Jacksonville, FL

Website: http://www.spirituallighthouse.org/

 

Below is a short biography about Donald and myself and a summary about the service. 

 

Reverend Donald Chelf grew up in a small town in northern Indiana.  He was raised by Buddhist and Christian parents.  This special spiritual upbringing helped him to develop his own spirituality and Donald began meditating when he was around 9 years old.  Donald came to realize that spirituality opened him up to many worlds beyond this physical reality.  As the years progressed, he learned how to astral travel, learn shamanic practices and commune with the ascended masters where he learned how to heal beyond the body and mind, so that the healing included the spirit of himself and others.  This healing of spirit leads to the healing of each person’s own spirituality and allows for greater control and oneness with All That Is.  It is this deep spiritual healing that Donald wishes to teach and share with others. Donald was ordained by the Universal Life Church and became a Reiki Master in 2003. 

 

Reverend Alicia Erchul grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  She started feeling God’s presence around her when she was a small child, almost as though He was watching her while she studied.  When Alicia was around 7 she began to see spirits and angels.  Throughout her school years she had dreams that would come true at school the following day and had visions of many of the places she has lived over the years.  After attending college in Iowa, she moved to San Francisco and met a healer who taught Alicia many methods of healing, including Reiki, channeling and shamanic practices.  Her own healing journey has helped Alicia develop a heartfelt compassion for others and an inner knowing of how to share words of healing and forgiveness from the angels.  Alicia’s special connection to Angels and the spirit realm have helped her bring peace and comfort to many people over the years through both healing touch and written words of inspiration and encouragement.  She hopes that all will one day experience the infinite and unconditional love that God has for all of us and what it truly feels like to be one with All That Is.  Alicia was ordained by the Universal Life Church and became a Reiki Master in 2001.

 

Alicia and Donald met over 5 years ago on a spiritual chat where they would discuss healing methods and encouraged each other to further develop their healing abilities.  Often they would meditate and journey through the spirit world together till the wee hours of the morning.  As they grew to know one another, they learned how their spirits were twin flames, and that when they joined together for healing they shined brighter and helped bring about greater healing to those who asked for their help.  Many times long distance clients have commented that when they saw Alicia and Donald coming to them in spirit, they would see them join as one and shine so bright and bring so much peace that they were amazed and awed by how they felt afterwards. 

 

Alicia and Donald felt a call by Spirit to move to Florida almost a year ago.  They always respond to God’s call on their life, no matter if it seems strange or not particularly a place they may have considered going.  The call talked about how they would help bring healing, peace and hope to this area by raising its vibration and sharing the special healing that they have learned together.  God has placed a strong call on their hearts to start up a healing ministry so they can teach others their healing methods and inspire them to do the same. 

 

On Sunday, March 22 at 5pm they will be sharing a special service with us at the Spiritual Lighthouse Church.  The topic they are sharing is titled “Healing for a Personal Relationship with God”.  Alicia is going to share an inspired poem called “Where Does God Go?”and Donald will be speaking about his experiences with healing others and how that has lead others to a personal relationship with God.  The songs they have picked out have been chosen for their uplifting and heartwarming qualities that will open your heart to a fuller relationship with God and move you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.   The music they have chosen comes from contemporary worship leaders who have made a name for themselves in churches across the country and around the world that leads people to higher forms of worship and praise for God.  Following the service Donald and Alicia will be sharing messages with all.  This should be an extraordinary experience for all to enjoy!

Care of Crystals

Care of Crystals 

  

If you have never used crystals before, below is some basic information on the care and use of crystals.  Crystals offer many benefits to those who use them as they are conductors of energy and can provide healing and insight into different areas of your life.  The crystals should help ease some of the coming changes, provide more insight and wisdom in how to proceed and, of course, more unconditional love for yourself and others. Sometimes after you have used crystals for a very long time for extensive healing of deep seated soul issues and pain they will need some rest and cleansing.   

  

Crystals that you are using every day should be kept in sunlight or at least not tucked away in a drawer or in the dark if at all possible.  Sunlight will help keep the crystals clear and ready for use.  There are several methods for cleansing crystals, and you can generally feel what the crystal wants or ask the crystal to tell you when you are holding it in your hand. Working with crystals is a highly intuitive process, trust what you feel in your heart and you will not go wrong. 

  

There is more information about the cleansing, care and use of the crystals in the Love is in the Earth book by Melody.  Some of her crystal information may differ from mine, as I deal with each crystal on an individual basis and her definitions are for the crystal group as a whole.  Take what you feel is truthful for you and apply it how you see fit and leave the rest behind. 

  

Different cleansing methods are: 

  

•Placing the crystals in a bowl of water and setting in sunlight, moonlight or during a thunder storm for greater intensity. Some crystals do not like water – due to their chemical makeup – water will cause rusting or dissolving of the crystal.  Selenite does not enjoy water – so do not leave in a bowl for long or the polish will wear off and the crystal will become rough.  Sometimes you can just hold a crystal under a stream of water for the same effect, than dry off quickly if it is one that does not like water. 

  

•Place the crystals in a bowl of sea salt, rough or fine grain salt can be used.  Cover the crystals with the salt and let sit for several days or weeks, depending on how dirty the crystals feel. Once the crystals are completely cleansed, flush the sea salt down a toilet or drain, do not throw away in the garbage.  Water will cleanse the salt and carry away the negative energy. 

  

•Smudge some sage or incense over the crystals.  This is an easy method for light cleansing and is good to do often when needing to clear your home as well.  Buy a sage smudge stick – looks like a roll of twigs and then light the end of the sage stick.  The end will need to be blown on to get a good amount of smoke going and not a flame.  Then waft the smoke over your crystals, around you home with the intention that all that is not of your highest and greatest good be released from the crystals and your home.  There is more to this for house clearing but is enough information for now. 

  

•If the crystal feels completely devoid of energy and lifeless, sometimes a few months in good soil is necessary to rejuvenate the crystal.  This is done by placing the crystal in a pot or bowl filled with soil.  Never bury the crystal in the ground, as that will allow the crystal to wander off and you may lose your favorite crystal.  The soil will help restore the crystal and make it ready to work with you again.  Much like a needed vacation. 

Love Does Not Fear the Darkness

Love does not fear the darkness.  The darkness fears love.

Love surrounds the darkness in light and truth

until the darkness no longer exists.

Cloak yourself in love and there is nothing to fear.

 

 

What do I mean by saying the above?  Love does not fear the darkness, darkness fears love.  Simply means that when one is in a state of pure love and pure light that there is nothing to fear from that which is darkness, for one in that state realizes that there is truly nothing in the universe that is dark. 

 

Within all is a spark of light that comes from Spirit even if the human factor has decided to deny it. When one denies the light within, they become quite confused, thinking that others are attacking them.  This confusion leads them away from the true cause of their discomfort.  The true cause of their discomfort is their own betrayal of self.  It is their own denial of the darkness within them.  This has nothing to do with anyone else but themselves.  Yet they will continue to blame others, going to such lengths as to lie, betray and accuse others of wronging them.  When in reality they should be looking themselves straight in the mirror. 

 

Deal with your own darkness; do not force that darkness on others.  It is not becoming and does not serve anyone.  The betrayal has come from within yourself!  You have betrayed your spirit and your own spirit is attacking you with love! 

 

Spirit loves you so strongly and wants you to return you to a state of love, health and peace that you continue to deny and battle against it, causing no end to your suffering, no end to your pain.  So think all you like that someone outside of yourself is harming you, attacking you from the spirit realm.  One day you will realize it is merely yourself, harming yourself because you will not love yourself. 

 

Love surrounds the darkness in love.  Darkness, because it has been lost so long, alone with itself for so long, does not recognize love.  Darkness thinks love is an attacker, when in actuality; love is love and always has been love.  Darkness suffers and retreats from love because it has no place there anymore.  Darkness withers in the face of love because darkness is based on fear.  Fear is the opposite of love.  Fear is baseless, ego-filled moments of lies, betrayal, attacks, rage, sorrow, jealousy, grief, envy of others happiness and love. 

 

Darkness fears love because it is the end of loneliness and suffering.  When one has been living in that space for so long, it is hard to imagine a place filled with love and light.  Allow yourself to be surrounded in love and light, allow yourself to be healed of all darkness that you carry.  Release the fear from you, release the rage from you, and release the sorrow and pain from you.  Release all that is not love from you.

 

Return to the light, return to the love that is your birthright.  Those of us who care are around you, surrounding you in love.  Do NOT mistake love for attacks. 

 

Your own guilty conscience attacks you, you know what you have done in this lifetime and without forgiveness and healing you will continue to attack yourself, attacking your darkness with love.  Do you not realize that all you have to do to get these attacks to end is to say you are sorry and forgive yourself?

 

Be filled with love, be filled with light, be filled with peace.  Be at peace with who you are and the life you have chosen.  It is all up to you, child.  Allow yourself to be healed and filled with love.

 

I have chosen to place this entry here as well, since I wrote about how to deal with ‘attacks’ and learn to rise handle them.  I wrote the above in response to someone claiming I was spiritually attacking them.  It has been interesting and a learning experience to see how much energy can be placed into feeling someone is attacking you – it becomes your never ending focus.  With that much focus it creates the cycle over and over again. 

 

It goes against everything I believe in to attack another, in any way, physically or spiritually.  Unless it is in defense for my own life or someone I love’s life, then one must do what is necessary to survive.  To attack another takes away their free will and choice over their own life, it takes away the other’s choice to choose another path, another way to return back to the Light and back to Oneness with all. 

 

Many times I come across ‘dark’ entities that ‘attack’ me due to their own loneliness, emptiness and jealousy to be back within the Oneness and love of the Universe.  Many times these entities will rejoin the Light after being sent an incredible amount of love.  It is up to that entity to accept the love, though I cannot deny that to some of those entities, that love feels like an ‘attack’ of its own.

 

When you have been in such deep pain, such emptiness and loneliness, when love surrounds you it sometimes hurts because it is such a deep pain to be healed.  Many of us who have been on a healing path have felt this pain, hurt from healing when we release all of the old pain and hurts that we have carried deep within our souls.  It hurts to let those go – because that is all we have know – pain, suffering, despair, sorrow, grief, loneliness.  It takes courage to let go of what we have always known, courage to allow ourselves to be free from that pain, free from that weight of sorrow and rage. 

 

It takes unbelievable courage to step back into love, back into trust, back into faith.  It is hard and painful to allow your heart to open to love, but baby step by baby step, it hurts less and starts to feel good, starts to feel joyful, blissful and happy.  It brings back the balance of peace, serenity, unity, beauty in the world around you.  Open the heart and it leads you back to Oneness with All. 

 

Back into the Void

 

It has taken me a long time to come back to this topic, have been digesting it these last few weeks and growing with experiencing the Void.  Somehow I think the use of it has led to a deep inner cleansing, releasing huge amounts of volatile rage, anger and doubts that have been repressed, much to the chagrin of my boyfriend and others who I have taken it out on without meaning to even though I knew I was reacting way out of proportion to the situation I could not help myself as all of this pent up emotion from this lifetime and others came forward.  It was overwhelming to me. 

 

Many times during this past week I have tried to go back into the Void and recapture the experience I had with it last week.  It has not been so easy this week, I think due to my own holding onto the rage that came up and sometimes my own enjoyment of feeling that intense emotion.  Sometimes it feeds the ego so much to carry so much rage, to feel the desire to explode or feel like you could set things on fire simply because you are so filled with rage.  At last I am moving out of this by expressing some deep hidden fears I was carrying and a few loving zaps of energy from a good friend, Ed, has helped bring some relief and release.

 

Ed commented that perhaps people avoid going ‘down’ into the Void due to ingrained religious ideology – particularly Christian where gong ‘down’ means to go to Hell, and all things that are down are not high and good.  Entering into the Void is neither going down or up, it is going within yourself.  Energetically it is going under the high pressure current of what is happening within our environment at the time that is trying to take us into the growing chaos, high emotions, stress and negativity that we all can get sucked into so easily.  Allowing ourselves to enter into the Void within, helps to secure a space that is free of the higher pressure, and merely empty, clear and free.  The Void then can be used to create a space of harmony, serenity, love and calm.  Letting you be the calm one in the chaotic storms, so you can help yourself and others to weather what is to come that is going to challenge us on levels we have never seen before.

 

Another point he brought up was how many people may not want to enter the Void for once you enter it you have to deal with the monsters created by one’s ego.  I tend to agree with that idea, as ego surrounds us with a shadow self that once in the darkness of the Void we have to deal with, it is part of us that we do not like to look at or accept.  We all carry so many different aspects of ourselves, it is worth it to experience and accept those areas we may not like to benefit from this space.  Once the shadow is cleared the light shines brighter, easier to be seen and easier to accept that we are One with all that is good and One with the Creator and all Creation.

 

By my entering into the Void, it brought out the rage I was not willing to look at or deal with, or accept as part of who I am as human.  Anger and rage are ok to experience and they can also be released healthy and easy ways without causing harm or hurt to anyone else, especially yourself.  If I am honest with how I feel there is no need to carry the anger and let it burrow within me to grow into rage and resentment.  As that is clearing it is easier to hold the space for positive thoughts, love, and unity with all. 

 

Many blessings to all on their journeys, we are all One and all Light.

Inner Child Video

Since we completed the inner child meditation last week, I thought it would be nice to share a very special musical artist, Shaina Noll (www.shainanoll.com), with you. Her music has played a large part in my healing journey and in my healing practice. Shaina has created music that touches the very heart and soul of the listener. Her albums Songs for the Inner Child and Bread for the Journey assist in the healing process. The lyrics to her songs are so simple and yet very touching, and her voice is hauntingly clear and gentle, helping the songs spiral further and further into your heart and soul until there is nothing left but a feeling of deep love, peace and release of old pain and emotions that have been carried for far too long.

 

The song I am sharing today is one titled How Could Anyone which is featured on Shaina Noll’s Songs for the Inner Child album. This song speaks directly to the inner child, help that part of you to understand and learn that she is beautiful, loved and connected to you. This is the first video I created over 2 years ago.  It has now had over 50,000 views and touched more lives than I thought possible. I wanted to create the video to this song to correspond with the Inner Child Meditation that I posted a few weeks ago. I have included my artwork and words to help assist in taking the Inner Child journey. My artwork is always created with the intention that it will help others to heal by being attuned to Reiki and Vijarden. While I paint, I hold the intention that all who view the piece are healed, allowing them to receive love, light and peace if they accept it upon viewing the artwork. I hope that those who view my art are filled with sense of peace, surrounded in love and feel a little better after viewing the artwork than before.

 

The Beauty Within

 

Where does the idea that you are not beautiful come from? 

Where does the idea that you are not good enough come from? 

Where does the idea that you are ugly, stupid, worthless come from?

 

So many of the negative thoughts that replay in our head stem from words we heard as children and were not even created by us.  As children, we hear everyone else’s opinion of who and what we are and take that to form our identity.  This identity isn’t always true or even accurate of who we really are.  Sometimes parents, friends, teachers and others around us say some of the most awful things that as children become planted like seeds and instead of growing into beautiful flowers of self confidence and inner strength, they fester and grow into life draining weeds.  We can stop the weeds from growing and draining our self worth and stop the havoc of what was planted so we can create a garden of beauty within us. 

 

Take the time this week to really look at the inner thoughts and dialogue you have with yourself.  What thoughts replay over in your head, what thoughts are hurting you and causing you pain?  When you look at yourself in the mirror – do you immediately turn away or say something negative to yourself?  Look for where this idea came from, did it truly come from yourself in that present moment or are you merely repeating a cycle of thought that you have had for too many years?  These thoughts have no real basis in your life and aren’t true. 

 

For each negative thought, replace it with a positive thought about yourself.  If you think to yourself, I am too fat and I can never lose weight.  You are right – you will continue to be too fat and never lose weight.  But if in that moment when you think ‘I am too fat’ immediately replace it with “I am beautiful and becoming healthier every day.” you will be retraining yourself to succeed.  Each negative thought you have is written on your heart a hundred times, making it harder for you to believe in yourself and transform yourself into who you truly want to be.  It is harder to clear away the negative thoughts because they multiply like weeds in the garden, but one positive and powerful thought can stand over them all like a beautiful rose. 

 

These thoughts extend past weight and beauty to every aspect of our lives.  As children, we soak them up like sponges.  Some of us were lucky to be told positive and uplifting messages, but even the smallest and most meaningless negative thought can sit hidden and block us from embracing all that we are.  A child told that she is stupid and will never amount to anything is just as damaging as being told she is ugly and fat.  Or being told by those around you that you can’t do something, you aren’t good enough or strong enough to live your dreams or accomplish all that you dream of doing.  The only one who can truly limit yourself and the possibilities you have for your life is you. You don’t have to keep believing what others say or think, you can stand tall and know you can do anything you choose to do.  Believe in yourself and there is nothing that can stop you from doing what your heart desires!

 

Some activities you can do to help erase the negative thoughts and start to think about yourself with powerful and positive thoughts are below.  I hope they help you to begin your journey to a positive and healthy new attitude about yourself and your life.

 

·                     Look in the mirror, and really look at yourself.  Take the time to see yourself and not just glance at your appearance.  What thoughts pop into your head as you look yourself over?  Are they positive or negative?  As negative thoughts pop up – consider why you think them.  For each negative thought about yourself, come up with a positive thought or a way to improve yourself so you don’t think so negatively about yourself.  Next really look yourself in your eyes and say “I Love You.”

·                     Every morning as you get ready for your day, say one positive affirmation about yourself.  To help you remember, post it on your mirror so every time you look in the mirror you will see this awesome thought about yourself.

·                     Compliment others – each day compliment someone on something different.  Maybe you have to find something positive about them if you always like them; this just makes it more of a challenge.  As you are less critical of others, you will become less critical of yourself.  This will help you find more positive aspects of yourself!

·                     Pamper yourself – take time to renew your spirit and feel your body at rest.  Take a long bath with some sea salts and light some candles.  Let yourself take a luxurious nap in the sun on a beautiful afternoon. 

·                     Treat yourself to a new haircut, manicure or outfit.  Even the smallest treat can boost your spirits and self esteem.

·                     Take a walk in the woods, by the lake or in a garden.  Look at the beauty in everything you walk by, really discover all the beauty in the world around you.  Think of something that you don’t think is beautiful, something you think is ugly and try to find the beauty in it.  Sometimes we think bugs are ugly and gross, but if you really look at how they are created, the detail and texture of their bodies, you may be able to find the beauty even in bugs.  If you can look at what you once considered to be gross and ugly in something else, how can you not look at yourself and see the beauty of all that you are?  If you still cannot think of yourself as beautiful, figure out why you can’t and find ways to change those thoughts. 

·                     Write down all of the positive and negative thoughts you think about yourself and your life.  If you count more negative thoughts than positive thoughts, find ways to increase the positive thoughts.  Talk to friends, family members, clergy and others to see if someone who has a different perspective on you may think about you in a better way than you think about yourself. 

·                     Think of 3 beautiful thoughts to say about yourself.  Write them down each day and say them to yourself every time you see yourself in the mirror.  Also say them every morning and every night before you go to bed.  These thoughts can be powerful affirmations to help change your life if you choose to create a new positive thought to replace a long held negative idea about yourself.  For example, this thought “I can never lose weight, I always fail.” can be replaced with “Every day I am losing weight and will succeed at my goals.”

·                     Every time you have a negative thought about yourself or your life, imagine a chalkboard and strike the negative thought out with chalk.  Write a new positive thought over the negative one, clearing it out of your heart and memory. 

 

 

Cloak yourself in the stars,

let the sun and moon beams flow down your hair.

 Stand tall knowing that you are a child of light,

filled with all of the hope and promise

that dawns every morning.

Take your inner beauty and wisdom

 and let it gracefully flow from you

 to all you encounter today,

 for your light is special and shines brighter

 every time it is shared with another.

~ Alicia Crystalus