Happy Days

I have been having some very Happy Days in the last week - new adventures, catching up with friends and finally a day at the beach -yay!!! 

After having a relaxing holiday, plenty of relaxation and sleep I headed up the Coast to visit my great friends who have recently moved to a new home.  For over a year now my friends have had a Vision to live on land and be self-sufficient, growing their own food, water tanks, solar power, remote location, no financial pressure - this has been their dream.  And how great to see them living their Vision.  My Man and I have been planning this trip up the Coast for months and after him hurting his back playing golf, I decided to venture on my own.  I met my friends in their nearest town Wingham - and how great to see them.  After getting our shopping and some local sightseeing, I was happy to drive to their home and wow, I was amazed, they live up a Mountain, right in the middle of over 500 acres of bushland - they call their home Paradise Mountain.  Once we were at the home, I couldn't believe the beautiful views in every direction - truly Paradise.

They have a Rooster called Bruce, chickens and 200 varieties of fruit trees (WOW!!!) and a permaculture garden - lucky for them, the previous owner is a horticulturist and so he has done so much.  There is such diversity in the vegetation - I enjoyed white strawberries and also heard about the unusual fruit and seeds such as an ice cream bean that tastes like ice cream, as well as so many other delights.

I loved spending time with my friends - they are great company and I felt Inspired by their lifestyle - quite incredible - their wood oven heats the water for the shower and washing up and they have beautiful fresh rainwater,  their lights are all solarpowered and they also have water from the freshwater creek for watering their gardens - no water or electricity bills and they are definitely committed to doing their bit for Mother Earth.  I loved that there was no television - silence - I loved the silence - I love silence!

I also loved our trip to Ellenborough Falls - this is one of the largest single-drop waterfalls in the southern hemisphere.  We enjoyed a nice walk down to the bottom of the waterfall - beautiful, breathtaking!!!  

A few members of our group headed down to the rocks and enjoyed the spray from the waterfall.  I would have liked to be spontaneous and adventurous but my common sense and fear of slipping on the rocks won and I stood on the sideline.  However, I was so hot walking back up the stairs, on the return  up the  valley, that I wished I had have taken the chance to go for a swim in one of the rock pools.  It was a big effort walking back up all the stairs - thank goodness for the seats along the way - we took every opportunity to sit down and rest and then gather our strength for the next round of steps.  Once upon a time, what seems like a lifetime ago now, I would have been racing up those stairs.  It was a great day with friends.

I look forward to other adventures in the countryside of my friends' new home, many more Happy Days to be enjoyed - next time we will enjoy the walk to their creek, there is a local vineyard, also a nearby cheese factory, and I am really excited to visit their nearest beach which I have been told has the most beautiful stones (and I have seen some of their collection).

Talking about the beach - another of my very Happy Days this week was when My Man and I went for a nice long walk along our local beach and enjoyed such a great swim at Darook Beach.  I love the ocean.  I love warm sunny days.  I just love being in Nature.  I especially love floating on my back in the water - love it!!!  I didn't take my camera and it was nice being so Present to the day - I love my camera and love taking photos and sometimes it seems that you miss being in the moment, sometimes.  And how great that I found this great picture on the internet - this is Darook - it is a beautiful paradise.

I definitely look forward to many more Happy Days just enjoying our local beach.  It is one of my greatest joys.

And so after a few weeks holiday it was back to work today.  I have really enjoyed having a rest - sleeping in, sometimes even having an afternoon nap - just time to relax - I couldn't believe how tired I have been over the last few weeks.  And yet today, I was happy to get up early so that I could enjoy some "me time", some quiet time, before heading to work.  I was organised in allowing time to snooze my alarm clock twice, enjoyed some quiet time reading inspiration for about 5 minutes and then went Walking to the Bay, one of my favourite places.  I love being outdoors - even when it started pouring rain and I had no umbrella, I felt happy to just be alive and out enjoying the start to the day.  I realise that it would be easy to sleep in, usually this is a much easier option and yet by making a Commitment to get up and get out before work, I can have the best chance of having Happy Days.

On my walk today I was thinking about thoughts and our ability to change our thoughts.  I am usually conscious of not getting caught up in my thoughts when I am out in Nature (as I do not want to miss the beauty that surrounds me), usually only allowing myself a certain part of the walk or a set time to allow thinking, although always open for inspiration.  I was thinking that it would be easy for me to not have a happy day at work, especially since my Team Leading role is separate to my lifework of being a Life Coach - and yet I can choose positive, happy thoughts.

I was reflecting that my thoughts are not me, they are just a perception.  And from my own experience and witnessing this in others, I see how negative thoughts just attracts more negativity - more negative thoughts or negative people - contributing to us feeling lousy, unhappy, powerless.  And I am on a mission to have Happy Days and so I came up with an easy acronym for a process to help put negative thoughts at an arm's length away:

A - Awareness - Being an observer to my thoughts can help me identify if I am being negative or holding thoughts that do not serve me - I may not speak these thoughts but even internally thinking them is keeping my mind busy and not bringing me peace.  Sometimes just an Awareness of my thoughts, "hmm, that's interesting..." can be enough to allow me to move on in a different direction, without any negative thoughts attaching to other thoughts.  The key for me is to not be caught up thinking or overthinking, the Goal for me is to be present in the moment.

R - Reframe - With recurring thoughts that do not serve me, I can Reframe them, look at it from another angle - what is another way I can think about this person, person's behaviour, situation?  I can think of at least 5 other explanations or possibilities?  I can reframe the negative thoughts to have a positive spin - at least for 2-3 new thoughts - by moving to a positive thought - positivity attracts positivity

M - ME - "If it's to be, it's up to ME" - What is in my Power?  What can I change?  I love the Serenity Prayer, "God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference".  I can reflect what is the message for me and what choices do I have to make changes within my sphere of control - this allows me to feel empowered.

- Acceptance - perhaps I can just accept this situation and let this go from my worrying and overthinking
- Alteration - I can choose a pattern breaker to alter my thoughts that are not serving me - for example, every time I have a thought that is not serving me, such as thinking about a past issue that I cannot change, I can image a bright red STOP sign to help me stop thinking these thoughts

- Affirmation - I can say a positive affirmation to strengthen new beliefs 

- Action - perhaps I can speak to someone or change something to make this situation or relationship better
- Attitude - I can choose to look at the positives and as I look at the situation in a new positive light, I will begin to gather evidence that will support these new thoughts, with the Reticular Activating System in my brain activated to support me (a good example of when the RAS is activated is when you may buy a new car - let's say a Ford Focus - your friend suggests this car to you, you buy one, and then you see them so often, much more than you ever noticed them before, it seems that a lot of new people have also just bought this new car - actually your RAS is just activated so that your attention is alerted) - so I can choose to say I enjoy my work and I will begin to see evidence that supports this belief.

I love that in Positive Psychology in defining Happiness, for a rich and meaningful life, this will involve a range of different emotions and I love that I have learnt to sit with the depth and darkness of pain and sorrow and be so present to joy in my life.  And I also believe I can be active in having Happy Days, whether that involves a walk in Nature, or simply me choosing how I choose to look at every day.  I don't want to waste my days or life, just feeling that I am in Groundhog Day or "I hate Mondays" or "I hate work" - I intend to Love My Life and be Grateful for all of the Gifts in my life.  A ritual that I love, that I intend to make time for every night, is to name 3-5 things that I am Grateful for from my day and it is important for me to thank God and Spirit - to be Grateful to God and Spirit - to pray, to reflect, to rejoice.

So here's to many and most Happy Days in 2011!!!

2011!!!

2011!!!  I love the beginning of a New Year - it is such a great chance to set a Vision for the New Year - it is always a great chance for reflection and a great opportunity for excitement. 

It has been great being on holidays this week - just a chance to relax and recharge and get ready for NOW, the New Year, 2011!!!  One of my favourite things this week has been going to the Moonlight Cinema - I love being outdoors and I love movies and so it is a perfect enjoying this setting with My Man.  We watched 'Life As We Know It' - a love story with a baby, loved it, love love stories, love babies.

This week I have also loved the chance to read a novel - wow - a story - fiction.  I have always loved  reading non-fiction, self-development books - and since becoming a Coach I now read personal development books with a broader agenda, which means I am always thinking how I can apply this knowledge for myself and to help my Clients.  And so WOW - how great it feels to not think and just read a story.  I read 'The Forgotten Garden' by Kate Morton - loved it - loved it so much that I just wanted to keep reading every chance I got - and what a great way to relax.

Another highlight this week has been planning our wedding - still a lot to do - and yet we got started.  It is exciting and there is so much to do - and I feel relaxed trusting it will all come together. 

New Year's Eve was great!!!  We went to our favourite restaurant - an intimate Japanese restaurant - great food - just the two of us.  We had been invited to a party with friends and yet we also like to enjoy a quiet night together as a great way to begin the New Year.

I loved the chance to reflect on our highlights of 2010 over dinner - so many highlights - getting engaged, starting to try for our own baby, my Mum feeling healthy, my Dad bouncing back after heart surgery, starting my own Coaching Business, My Man getting a new job (his dream job), My Man's Mum enjoying a nice holiday, time with my Nieces, time with our Families, day trips, dinners out, birthday celebrations, holiday away to Nelson Bay.  For us there have been big things - and there has been much simplicity and small things being the big things.

After a lovely dinner, we enjoyed taking a walk along the beach  I really love where we live.  And then at home I loved watching a love story and watching the fireworks.  It was nice to be at home when we enjoyed the 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 Happy New Year 2011!!!  It is great to feel so at home in our home, feeling so at home in my Self, feeling so at home with another.  How many New Year's Eve nights, how many nights was I wishing I would kiss My True Love - I have always been looking for Love - and now I can stop searching - YAHOO!!!

So here we are - 2011!!!  We enjoyed a nice lunch with Family and then a nice relaxing afternoon - a perfect start to the New Year.  And how do I want this year to be for me - where do I want to be when I am sitting here on the first day of 2012 - how will I know it has been a great year?  This time next year I will be a happy wife, a Mum, we will be living in a new home, my main work will be my lifework working one on one with my Coaching Clients and also running Workshops and Group Coaching and I will be writing books.  What will not change - the most important thing to me is time with everyone I Love - Love will always be most important to me.

I love that I have my Vision Board for my Life Design in our bedroom - it is great seeing this when I wake up everyday - it is simple and it is clear - everything that is important to me.

And I love that I am in touch with my Passions and my Values.  I have these on a board that I will also post up next to my bed - so that everyday I will remember what makes me feel alive - here I am 2011!!!

This is what it reads -

What are my PASSIONS?  What Brings Me Alive?
How would I wish to spend my last day on earth? 
Actually this is how  I want to LIVE EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE...
”And these are a few of my favourite things...”

Love - Partner, Family, Friends, Clients, Love to All - I also can’t wait to be a Mum and have our own beautiful baby

God  -  Living InSpirit - Open to Inspiration, Space for the Rising of Spirit, Belief that we are all here for a Divine Purpose - I Am Here to Love and Serve

Connection - One-on-one sharing of Sacred Space, PRESENCE with another - Seeing, Honouring, Acknowledging the Light and Gifts in another - Loving and Encouraging Uniqueness and Greatness  (Unity in Diversity, Joy of Differences and Similarities, Moment-to-Moment we can Rejoice in ‘X-Factor’ in each other - one of my favourite parts of College has been enjoying and being a Witness to the AMAZING Gifts and Uniqueness in each of us - WOW,  AND Connection even when it is hard - Conscious Acceptance and  Love of What Is...)

Coaching - I am very Passionate about Coaching  and the opportunity to help Clients feel Self-Love, learn to be true to Self and feel Empowered to Create a life that Inspires and Excites them

Nature - Birds, trees, flowers, walking through the bush, floating in the ocean

Personal Development - Learning, Reading, Studying, Self-Reflection, Growth

Balance - Being/ Doing, Life/ Work, Personal/Professional, Solitude/ Intimacy - Allowing Space in my life for new interests to emerge - looking forward to enjoy time for sewing, writing, cooking, creating

Health - Self-Care Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, Spiritually

Gratitude - Daily Reflection of all the beauty, wonders, miracles and Gifts in my life

Community - Feeling of Home and Belonging - Desire to Contribute - Feeling a sense of Love and Connection with others - Passionate about Encouraging Community to be Inclusive rather than Exclusive - Passionate about Contributing and being of Service Locally and Globally

Being Present - Mindfulness, Living in the Moment, Being Spontaneous and EMBRACING NOW,  Enjoying Now, Trusting the Flow.

And I find that by Being Present in 2011 I am able to enjoy the Gifts of every day.  Today when I am glancing out the window I am so Grateful for the Frangipani Tree that I can see - the flowers are beautiful - a Gift from God, and I have such great thanks.

And now I am so Grateful that I can make a nice cup of peppermint tea and relax with my Man.

To 2011 - to making every day a great day living a Passionate life.  To making dreams come true.  To being Me.  And so important is to Love and Serve - to live my life on Purpose - to Spread The Yellow.

2011!!!  I am ready.

Manifesting My Heart's Desires

For a long time I have been reading self-development books.  I started reading these books when I was 21, I had just finished university - this is when my real education began - stepping out into the world - LIFE!  And in the last 10 years of my life I have experienced many HUGE life lessons - and I am still learning - learning everyday.

Like many people I enjoyed 'The Secret' - I read the book 4 years ago, I watched the dvd, I listened to the CDs.  I read it and thought that it sounded like a great idea - and yet it has only been in recent months that I have been a lot more focused on developing the skills of Manifesting My Heart's Desires.

A few months ago I had a wonderful conversation with a friend from the Clinic where I work - she is a Master of Manifestation.  It was around this time that I set the intention to bring my Magician Archetype onto the Stage in my life - I started this Process of learning Manifestation by Manifesting my Magician - by consciously inviting this Part of me to be more present in my life.

I started to read the great book  'Ask and It Is Given’ Esther and Jerry Hicks - this was a great book for me to read - I learnt a lot.  This book has so many wonderful words of wisdom, including:

- "... you came from a Source of love and well-being.  When you're matched up to that energy of peace and love, you then regain the power of your Source - that being the power to manifest your desires, to summon well-being, to attract abundance where scarcity previously resided, and to access Divine guidance in the form of the right people and the precisely correct circumstances."

- "there is nothing that you cannot be, do, or have"

The book talks about being in the right vibration - "The reason you have not already gotten what you desire is because you are holding yourself in a vibrational holding pattern that does not match the vibration of your desire."  Now this is a key part of what I read "Whatever you are giving your attention to causes you to emit a vibration, and the vibrations that you offer equal your asking, which equals your point of attraction.  If there is something you desire that you currently do not have, you need only put your attention upon it, and by the Law Of Attraction, it will come to you, for as you think about this thing or experience that you desire, you offer a vibration, and then, by Law, that very thing or experience must come to you.  However, if there is something that you desire that you currently do not have, and you put your attention upon your current state of not having it, then Law Of Attraction will continue to match that not having it vibration, so you will continue to not have that what you desire.  It is Law."

"Sometimes a person will say 'I'm not happy over here where I'm standing.  I would much rather be over there - over there where my body is not sick, or over there where I'm not overweight, or over there where I have more money or a better relationship'... We then explain that it is important to talk about what is believed to be 'over there' and try to find the feeling-place of what's 'over there'."

Since inviting my Magician on the Stage in my life I have been so Excited and Thankful for so many wonderful Gifts from God and the Universe.  There have been so many examples in my life recently of where I have been putting thoughts and desires out into the Universe and if by magic, so many things are appearing for me.  Recently, I had many thoughts about looking for Meditation Resources and Scripts and was Excited when one of the other girls from where I work, was talking about a great author and I looked at the books and found some great Meditation Scripts including one on building Self-Esteem, which a big area of interest for me, in terms of working with Clients.  I was also saying to My Man that we didn't have a song and it would be great to have our own song that we love - and I forgot about it (rather than searching for one) - and then one day when getting ready for work, they had a guest performance on 'Sunrise' and I loved the song - I showed My Man the 'youtube' clip - we found our song!

Just the other day I was planning to go to 'Peter Alexander' in the city (didn't have enough time in the end) and then the next day I was shopping locally and I was just about to leave and then felt Inspired to go a certain way in the Shopping Centre.  And then I was so surprised to see this new 'Peter Alexander' store - and I bought this great new pink and yellow nightie - my favourite colours, and even having yellow wattle on the nightie, I love wattle.

And a big one for me was when I put it out there that I would like to earn around $300 more per week and  I put it out there that I would be happy to take on more responsibility at work - within a few days a position was advertised at work, I applied and I was offered the job.  The great part of this job is that I will be able to bring more Coaching into the workplace.  And with some other opportunities I will be earning the extra money that I put out there to the Universe.

Also once I changed my vibration to being so Grateful and Excited about my current Clients with a trust that more Clients will continue to come to my Business, rather than focusing on the lack of a full diary of appointments, my Coaching Business has been building and I have been attracting new Clients - which I love!

Of course there is always the times when you think of someone you want to talk to or see and then you see them.  It can also work against you - I was talking at College about an ex-partner and all of the stress that it caused me - I really remembered the emotion of this chain of events - and to my surprise, I was checking my phone in the break and at the same time I received a call from this man - someone that would be unlikely to call me on a Saturday and who I hadn't spoken to in over 6 months.

I have learnt now to Consiously choose my thoughts and choose my vibration.

So how does it work - I am still learning and experiencing the power of Manifesting My Heart's Desires - I am not an expert - in fact that is why I have included so many great words of wisdom from 'Ask and It Is Given’ Esther and Jerry Hicks.  I do believe that in sending out the energy of what we desire, this connects with other energy in the Universe and draws that to us.  Likewise if someone sends something out to the Universe, this can also draw us in - like when people say "your ears must be burning" if someone is talking about you. - or just the other day I had the thought that I wanted to hear from my friend, and then realised that they had sent me an email - perhaps them sending out the energy, attracted in my thoughts.

I also believe that when we are very clear about what we want, the Universe, our Angels, God will bring opportunities into our awareness, send messages to us via our intuition.  I also love the Reticular Activating System in our brain - an example of the Reticular Activating System is when we buy a certain type of car or want a certain type of car, and then all of a sudden we see this car everywhere on the road - it has probably always been there - and now this is filtering through to our awareness.

When we are clear about what we want, and when we are totally relaxed and in the flow, we are going to notice and be drawn to that which we desire.

For me I have been practicing Manifesting My Heart's Desires by:
- being clear in what I want, consciously putting an order into the Universe
- feeling into the vibration - being positive and Grateful for all of the positive in my life and in this area of my life (a good step here is to use Visualisation and Imagination)
- letting go of the attachment to the outcome and having TRUST - I recently read about the Law of Detachment - “in order to acquire anything in the physical Universe, you have to relinquish your attachment to it” - it is all about TRUST - what is TRUST? TRUST - To Rely Unto Spirit Totally (I love this acronym - a great reminder to me).

I love this analogy that my friend shared with me about TRUST - which helps me a lot when Manifesting My Heart's Desires.  Consider you are at a restaurant with a friend and you look at the menu – there are a lot of nice things – you decide what you want – you order the fish – the trick is to TRUST that the fish is being prepared and will be delivered to you – and so you enjoy conversation and be PRESENT IN THE NOW with your friend (rather than sitting there wondering when it is going to arrive, asking the waiter when it will be here, thinking about it a lot, talking about it with your friend about when is the fish going to arrive) – the fish will come.

I love that 'Ask and It Is Given' talks about having your own unique desires and preferences and from this place, as we are unique, there is abundance for us all - once again we can just TRUST.

ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT BELIEF FOR ME is that I am also conscious that my Magician cannot work alone - I need all Parts of me to allow my Dreams to come true - other Parts of me such as my  Destroyer (to let go of what does not serve me), my Organiser (to help me with my Priorities), my Sage (wisdom for and from my Highest Self), my Creator (Action from Intuition).  My Innocence is very important, helping me work out what I truly want, what is at the Heart for me.   It is also important that I invite in my Caregiver to listen to and look after my Innocence, and also consciously bring in the presence of my Warrior to defend my Innocence and stand up for my Truth (and overcome any fears or doubts).

I imagine all of these Parts of me dancing together in Celebration as I live my Vision.