Thought for the day

SIT, MEDITATE, AND TRUST

A few days ago, I read this quote by Sylvia Bookstein, which read, “Don’t just do something. Sit there.” I had spent some time thinking about what this means to me personally, but this morning as I was thinking more about trust, I began to think about how it is one’s meditation practice, which awakens our ability to trust in the knowledge that all the wisdom and compassion we need in life is already within us. When I take the time to sit there and spend time with me, then I become more aware of all of who I am, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I get to sit with my passions, my aggression, my wisdom, and my ignorance. I remember Pema Chodron talking once about a form of meditation, which meant tranquility insight. It was through this approach to meditation, which one was able to get to know each other. We gain peace and trust with and within ourselves when we get to know all of ourselves.

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Thought for the day

Thought for the day

Thought for the day

SIT THERE!

It seems like most of my life I have been told don’t just sit there, do something. As a result, I have become the just do it girl. I was the just do it girl long before Nike ever coined that slogan. So it was interesting this morning that I received yet another confirmation that I need to reverse the lesson I was taught as a child. As Sylvia Bookstein said, “Don’t just do something. Sit there.” I have been getting this message that I need to be intentional about taking time each day to just sit, do nothing, and spend time with myself.

So this is my new behavior to work on making a part of my life – doing nothing. I am sure Zoe is going to laugh when I tell her I am going to work on doing nothing for at least 10 minutes a day. Doing nothing and just sitting here does not mean I sit and play a computer game or I sit and talk with her. Doing nothing and sitting here means I spend that time with myself, having those conversations with myself and the Ultimate that I somehow think I can avoid, when I know that I really cannot avoid myself or the Ultimate.

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Thought for the day

Thought for the day

Sometimes we have to trust that Spirit will bring us where we are supposed to go.

EGG ROLL EDUCATION

Several months ago, I wrote about the basic black dress in cooking. The notion came from a makeover show, which Tim Gunn was co-hosting at the time. He would often say every woman should have a basic black dress in her wardrobe. He talked about how you start with the basic black dress and then accessorize it to make it personal. Thus far, I have applied this to vegetable stock, grilled cheese sandwiches, and cheeseburgers. Last night, I was craving some comfort food and for me that was egg rolls.

I love egg rolls and have eaten them most of my life. In fact, while I was writing my doctoral comprehensive exams, I think we bought the local restaurant out of egg rolls I ate so many. Egg rolls are one of the few foods that taste good to me when I am going through a stressful time. So egg rolls are what I requested when our housemate was elected to go to Wegman’s and get each of us something “deserty” or “comforting.” What he brought me were egg rolls, but nothing like what I have ever had before.

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Thought for the day

“We are all mistaken sometimes; sometimes we do wrong things, things that have bad consequences. But it does not mean we are evil, or that we cannot be trusted ever afterward.”

― Alison Croggon
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thought for the day

“For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.”

― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
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TRUST ME

When I was intentionally beginning my personal healing work, the writer my therapist was using and encouraging all clients to read was the work of John Bradshaw, author of Home Coming: Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child. This book discusses how the process of healing your wounded inner child is one of grief, and it involves these six steps. The first of these six steps is trust.

The person we most need to trust in our lives is ourselves. In order for us to begin our own healing process (emotionally, mentally, physically, or spiritually); we must begin by trusting ourselves. For many people, our wounded inner child is in hiding. That wounded part does not trust others and to some extent does not even trust the older version of who we are. To keep themselves safe, they learned to hide until they could find someone who would be a supportive and non-shaming ally.

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Thought for the day

“Everyone suffers at least one bad betrayal in their lifetime. It’s what unites us. The trick is not to let it destroy your trust in others when that happens. Don’t let them take that from you.”

― Sherrilyn Kenyon, Invincible
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Thought for the day

“To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.”

― George MacDonald
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thought for the day

“You see, you closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too--even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling.”

― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie
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Somewhere

One of my favorite songs is from the Wizard of Oz, Somewhere over the rainbow, as it reminds to dare to dream. It inspired me to write a poem of my own.

Somewhere over the rainbow
way up high
are the dreams that I dream of
As I walk in the light

Somewhere over the rainbow
where the angels fly
are the visoins I dream of
experiencing them in the light

Sometimes I dream of falling asleep and
waking up on a pillow of clouds
where the struggles are beyond me
Sitting on a cloud of peace
with the warmth of a blanket made of fleece

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Thought for the day

“None of us knows what might happen even the next minute, yet still we go forward. Because we trust. Because we have Faith.”

― Paulo Coelho, 
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WHERE IS YOUR FOCUS?

As many of you know, I am a Food Network junkie and have no plans to join a 12 step group to kick my addiction. A friend of mine and I were discussing some of our favorite and least favorite shows, especially the competition ones. What we realized is that there is one ingredient, which we have seen several cheftestants use, which regardless of the show seems to get them eliminated and losing. This ingredient is the opposite of an ingredient I discussed a few weeks ago in my blog on humility.

This ingredient is cockiness. Ironically, it is those who you hear complain about the quality of the ingredients and how they are beneath them or who, like on Beat Bobby Flay, are overly cocky about their ability to beat him that they are not able to execute properly the very dish they have spent years perfecting. This tendency to focus on the prize and not the process is one that has been discussed for years. It applies to everything from cooking to learning to competitive sports. It is a lesson that I always associate with a poem called The Archer by Lao Tsu.

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Song of the week

No matter what you are going through in your life, trust in the Higher Power you know. That is the message in this week's song of the week. http://inspiritual.biz/inspiritual-song-of-the-week1/

Thought for the day

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

― Corrie ten Boom
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Thought for the day

“Friendship- my definition- is built on two things. Respect and trust. Both elements have to be there. And it has to be mutual. You can have respect for someone, but if you don't have trust, the friendship will crumble.”

― Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
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Thought for the day

“Trust is like a mirror, you can fix it if it's broken, but you can still see the crack in that mother fucker's reflection.”

― Lady Gaga
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THE ONE YOU FEED

There is an old Cherokee tale that I share quite frequently, normally when I am talking with someone about choices and energy. However, the other day I came to realize it was about learning to trust the voice of the Divine within. The story goes like this for those who have not heard it yet.

One evening, an elderly
Cherokee brave told his
grandson about a battle that
goes on inside people.

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Thought for the day

“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”

― Ernest Hemingway
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Thought for the day

“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.”

― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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What do you intend to create

What do you intend to create in your life this week? http://inspiritual.biz/my-intentions/

What have you been inspired by this week or felt inspired to do ? http://inspiritual.biz/my-inspiration/

What are you grateful for?

So what are you grateful for this week? http://inspiritual.biz/gratitude-journal/

ON THE DAY I WAS BORN.

Dear God,

As I finished reading Doreen Virtue’s book, Assertiveness for Earth Angels, I found myself thinking back to the day I was born. It was, as you know, not an easy time for my birth mother or me as we both almost died in childbirth. For the longest time I blamed myself at some level for the challenges she went through. At the same time, I missed the experience of feeling welcomed into the world and spent a good bit of time in my life feeling as if I just was not good enough. It was as if I blamed myself for not being Jewish enough for my birth mother and her family to keep me, not being black enough for my birth family and his father to take me. Then when I was finally adopted, I battled to feel Jacobson enough next to my brothers who were biologically my parent’s children. I remember my brother once telling me I was not a real Jacobson. I have had to work at releasing those feelings and realize that the near death experience I had as an infant was a central and key part of my life and of who I am today.

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Thought for the day

“I don't trust people who don't love themselves and tell me, 'I love you.' ... There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.”

― Maya Angelou
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Thought for the day

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”

― William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well
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Kindness challenge

Today as many remember what happened on 9/11, may we take time to send healing energies to those who are still grieving and commemorate this day by performing a random act of kindness. We invite you to be a part of our ongoing kindness project. http://inspiritual.biz/about-the-kindness-project/ Feel free to share your experiences with us

Song of the week

Do you have enough trust in your Higher Power to follow it where it leads you? This is the theme of this week's song of the week http://inspiritual.biz/inspiritual-song-of-the-week1/

Thought for the day

"By learning to trust your intuition, miracles seem to happen. Intuitive thoughts are gifts from the higher self."

Susan Jeffers
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SACRED AND SACRIFICE

Recently, I re-watched a film (Gods of our Fathers) with my students, which made me think about how the way we, as human beings, have voted with our food has changed over time. During the time of hunter-gatherers, they never took for granted where their next meal might be coming from or what it might be. My sense is that they found food along the way to nurture their bodies. I have a hard time envisioning them stopping at regularly scheduled times to eat. My sense is that not knowing where their next meal was coming from or when; they did not take any morsel for granted.

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Thought for the day

"Each of our lives is a path. To know this requires intuition and trust. If we are true to the steps we take, the travel makes sense and the journey confirms itself."

Lin Jensen
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TRUST THE PROCESS

Long before I was ever exposed to the book of Galatians in the New Testament, I had heard the saying “you reap what you sow.” I have come to understand that there is a truth behind this saying. Recently, someone shared with me that it was important for people to tell their torch song, that woe is me song, that somebody done me wrong song. I told them that the only thing that needed to happen with the torch song is that it needed to be torched. See when we sow our torch song and focus on all that we think is wrong with our lives, what we reap are more things that are wrong with our life.

Conversely, when we focus on the positives and the blessings in our lives, then we reap more of those in life. One of the things I have learned is that we really do reap what we sow. If I am going to sing any song, it is going to be my praise song, my what I have overcome, what I have to be grateful for, how blessed I am song. What I have come to realize in my life is that it is this positive energy, attitude, and momentum, which carries me through.

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Intention Journal

What do you intend to create this week? http://inspiritual.biz/my-intentions/

Thought for the day

"What if being free, loved, and accepted is already reality? In stillness, something is receptive and nothing is listening. Trust the universe only ever supports you. As the light of wisdom arises, the mind of the perceiver is seen as it is."

Liara Covert
http://inspiritual.biz/thought-for-the-day/

Thought for the day

"I always trust my gut reaction; it's always right."

Kiana Tom
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Thought for the day

"Trust your hunches. They're usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level."

Joyce Brothers
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Your Inspiration

What is inspiring you this week? http://inspiritual.biz/my-inspiration/

Thought for the day

"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live."

 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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Gratitude Journal

What are you grateful for this week? http://inspiritual.biz/gratitude-journal/

THANK YOU GHANDI!

This morning began like any other morning until I turned the page on my calendar. Then I began reading my quote for the day from Mohandas Ghandi, which read, “If you do not find God in the next person you meet, it’s a waste of time looking for him further.” I had to sit with this one for a while because it brought me back in time to when I was taught this lesson before. I wish I could remember who it was or what it was that taught me that I must look for the Divine in every person I meet. I think it was related to a lesson I learned while reading The Mastery of Love by don Miguel Ruiz who reminded me that if I cannot love everyone unconditionally, then I cannot love anyone unconditionally. It is a similar lesson. If I cannot see the Divine in someone, then I have to spend more time with them and look deeper into who they are to see the light hidden within them.

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Thought for the day

"The more you trust your intuition, the more empowered you become, the stronger you become, and the happier you become."
Gisele Bundchen
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Song of the Week

this week's song of the week brings us back in time, but the lyrics are powerful trust in your intuition and the spirit within you -- http://inspiritual.biz/inspiritual-song-of-the-week1/

Thought for the day

"Its not about learning to trust. Its about learning what it is I place my trust in and why. Its like learning to see the forest for the trees. You cannot see the forest for the trees unless you are outside the forest."

Bashar
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A Dash of Humility

I have often talked about the importance of cooking with love. It is that secret ingredient which people seem to be able to taste in your cooking. However, I have found that love without humility seems to affect the outcome of the dish. One of my favorite stories about this is told by Mary Beth Crain. She tells the story of making a dish for her mother which she should not have been eating as it was not a diabetic friendly dish.

I feel, however, that I must issue a warning: cooking with love doesn’t always bring great results. Over the holidays I got an old American Home Magazine from 1937, in which I found, of all things, an ad for Royal Baking Powder featuring a recipe from none other than the mother of famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart. For some odd reason I was entranced by the tinted color photo of white-haired old Mother Earhart, looking maternal and saintly, presenting her beautiful platter of fried chicken, gravy and biscuits made with foolproof Royal Baking Powder. The promo read, “’Amelia’s Favorite Dish is My Fried Chicken and Biscuits!’ Says the Mother of the World’s Most Famous Woman Flyer.”

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Thought for the day

"A human being is only interesting if he's in contact with himself. I learned you have to trust yourself, be what you are, and do what you ought to do the way you should do it. You have got to discover you, what you do, and trust it."

Barbra Streisand
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TRUST AND FAITH

After having spent a month reading about, reflecting on, and thinking about faith, I realized how natural it was to transition to trust. Trust is the belief in that in which we have faith. It is the ability to believe in what we know in the core of our beings to be true. We have faith in that which we trust. Simultaneously, we trust that which we have faith in, that which we know to be true at the core of our being.

Some people struggle to trust things that raise their consciousness and/or vibrational level. We sometimes wonder what we are sensing is really happening, or are we simply making this up because it feels good. So how do we trust that which can help us to grow and evolve in our connection to the Ultimate.

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Your intention

What do you intend to create this week? http://inspiritual.biz/my-intentions/

Thought for the day

"Trust in the inexhaustible character of the murmur."

Andre Breton
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Thought for the day

"Be in the NOW. This is your key to operation at this time. This is how you receive the information you need at any given moment. In the now you can 'hear' and 'know' what to do from the information received. It is not hard. It is not difficult to learn. You have all done it before. Try it now. Ask the universe a question and listen. This is the key - empty your mind and listen - stop being afraid - still your ego and truly listen. What does the still small voice say to you? This is your way to hear your information. Let the information come from your stilled heart and be interpreted by your brain. Then you can trust..."

Amaterasu
http://inspiritual.biz/thought-for-the-day/