Friday, March 29, 2019

The difference

Nothing changed. No-thing in her life changed. Everything was the same. Her job was just as far away from home, her mother was just as critical, her ex-boyfriend was just as un predicatble, her relationship with her family was just as complicated, and her circumstances were just as difficult. Yet, she was calm, healthy and, even, happy. She finally realized that though she controlled nothing, it was all up to her.

What we experience has less to do with others and external factors and more to do with our perception of others and those external factors. We can accept what is or resist it. In acceptance, we grow and flow. In resistance, we struggle and exhaust ourselves. Our perception can help us deal with what is or can block us. We can see every obstacle or every challenge. We can see every ordeal or every adventure. We can see the annoyance or the opportunity to exercise patience and to grow in understanding.

Today is a good day to change nothing, except the way we see things. Life is full of events. The meaning of those events is up to us. We can see things in ways that are helpful to us or in ways that will hinder our personal evolution. Let us see things as happening for us and not to us. In seeing differently, we give ourselves a break from thoughts that bring us down to thoughts that lift us up and carry us through. Between a life full of meh and a life full of growth and joy is our perception. And that is the difference.




Image found at teleflora.com

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Friday, March 22, 2019

Growing

This is probably the wisest thought I have ever resisted: it is in crisis that we grow. I´m a very pragmatic person. I like to flow. I avoid obstacles. I plan. I organize. I like things to go as expected. I wouldn´t say I like it easy. But I like the flow, uninterrupted. So accepting complications and hurdles was not easy for me. That is until I started to appreciate the challenge, the growth, the evolution, until I started to see what I perceived as difficulties in a new light. I started to see things as happening for me instead of to me. In relaxing my defensiveness and resistance, I gained clarity and openness.

What is your challenge right now? What are you struggling with? What are you resisting? Could you see it without judgment? Could you accept it as it is? What can you learn from this experience? How can you grow as a result of it?

Today is a good day to set our emotions aside, to detach feeling from our thoughts of our present circumstances. We grow when we bust out of our comfort zone. We bust out of our comfort zone only when we accept our situation as it is, not wishing it were different, not opposing it or denying it. If we are able to see things as they are, without judgment, we are able to change them and in changing them we are brave, we are wise and we grow.
Image found at mandalasforthesoul.com

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Friday, March 8, 2019

In with the love, out with the jive

In with the love, out with the jive. I heard this in a cartoon many, many years ago. Since then, it has become one of my favorite mantras. There are moments that are so overwhelming that it seems like the world will collapse under my feet at any moment and I will fall into a deep, dark, bottomless whole. But a pause, a deep inhale and an In with the love, out with the jive as I slowly exhale brings me back to center, to a place of wiser perspective and an almost surreal calm. It allows me a moment of forbearance long enough to reach for inner strength and to remember what I've learned. Yet, many times I forget that I can do this, that I know how to detach from nervous reactivity to the chaos around me. When I react, I echo the turmoil. Nothing great ever comes of this. I end up tired, confused, angry, sad, and so unproductive. I keep going back to thoughts that cannot help pull me out of the storm. What can I do?

Ah, I can choose a different thought. I can choose to do something different. I can remember to breathe in love, breathe out the thoughts that cannot help me. Today is a good day to make a short list of thoughts and actions that can help us. Worry never protects us, fear never motivates us into creative action, anxiety never pulls us out of distress, negativity will never open us up to new ideas, and mused anger does not give us clarity or positive direction. What can we remember today that will inspire us? What thoughts can we cultivate that will move us into inner peace, prosperity, joy, or simply feeling good? What thoughts can we repeat to ourselves that will bring us up rather than keep us down? What action can we take in order to reap in beauty, enthusiasm, excitement, passion, and good vibes?

Image found at topsimages.com.
© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Friday, March 1, 2019

How do you do it?

How do you do it?, she asked while wiping away her tears. She was feeling overwhelmed, tired, anxious, and sad. She couldn't understand how I manage everything that I do while she can never finish anything on time. She feels she is drowning in obligations and responsibilities. I smiled and said, one little bit at a time. People are amazed at everything I accomplish in a day, seemingly without getting frazzled. The truth is I'm on the verge of getting frazzled many times in a day. Yet, feeling that way is my signal that something is off, that I'm reacting, forgetting what I believe in, answering to the speed at which others would have me run. And it is then that I remind myself that the way to do it is one little bit at a time.

There is, of course, more to it than just doing it one bit at a time. There's my list of priorities, my to-do list, my appointments and commitments. Ah, and there's my list of non-negotiables: my spiritual and contemplative practices and my self-care rituals. Once I'm clear about all of these, I do them one bit at a time. It doesn't fail. It's magic.

One little bit at a time I'm able to focus on the task at hand. Not having my attention divided allows me to complete whatever I'm working on in a shorter amount of time than when multi-tasking. I also make less mistakes and am able to enjoy whatever I'm doing. When I exercise this level of awareness I flow knowing what to do next, when to readjust a plan, how to respond to the unforeseen, and to be in sync with the cosmos. One little bit at a time also allows me to see when I'm loosing my groove, giving me the opportunity to refocus, to stay disciplined, and motivated.

Today is a good day to practice mindful doing. Let's take a few minutes this morning to breathe in gratitude for all that we have and are responsible for and breathe out our grievances. Let's take a few minutes to breathe in clarity and breathe out confusion and the rush of the world. Let's breathe in trust and breathe out doubt. Let's breathe is belief in possibility and breathe out contrary feelings. Let's be clear on what is important and what we have to do today, and then, let's do it...one little bit at a time.

Image found at society6.com.
© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.