Friday, February 26, 2010

You Inspire Me


If you are trying your best and know when to ask for help, You inspire me.


If you are expressing yourself without thought to what others will think, You inspire me.


If you are following your heart in all that you do, You inspire me.


If you know how beautiful and perfect you are, You inspire me.


If you hold others in your thoughts each day and surround those thoughts in love, You inspire me.


If you move and stretch and bless your body everyday, You inspire me.


If you stop yourself before saying something unkind, You inspire me.


If you are comfortable in your own skin, You inspire me.


Know that if you are reading this, You inspire me.

Friday, February 19, 2010

What Would Love do?


This is a question I have decided to ask myself from now on. I will ask it when I don't get what I want, when I am interrupted, when my children yell and scream, when my cat throws up on the couch....you get the idea. What would Love do? The answer to me is that Love would just be. Love would just be the ever-presence of itself. Love would accept what is and move on. Love would only acknowledge that which is real and the only real thing *is* Love.

I am not saying that it's not ok to get upset, to feel hurt or even to lash out. These are perfectly understandable reactions. The problem for me is that these don't serve me. I do not learn from that anymore. I am 30 years old and have spent too much time feeling hurt and not feeling good. When I let Love in, I feel better. I learn more about myself and all that I am capable of. We all do.

Our world could benefit so much from more kindness and compassion. It's not about being in control of every situation, or getting our fair share. With a shift in your understanding you can realize that you do control your surroundings and you always have. You also realize that there is enough to go around. There is plenty of good for everyone and sharing your good only brings more to you. You can give more, laugh more, hug more. That is what Love would do.

**Know any women in need of a mentor? Check out herfuture.com today!

Friday, February 12, 2010

This Woman's Work


I have to confess. It's harder than it looks.
As a mother, wife, human on a spiritual journey there are times.... Times when I feel so overwhelmed I think I may just break down.

Just yesterday I was in a class at my spiritual community and a friend who is in her late 50s was commenting to me how she remembers the struggle being at home with 2 kids. And I thought to myself "Struggle? What struggle? I'm just fine thanks.". Of course there are days where everything is fine. There are days when everything is wonderful! I am living in the flow and full of love and joy. But then there are days when I am not.

There are days when I am quick to anger, annoyed by every little thing and feeling trapped.

As a "spiritual person" I sometimes forget that these feelings are ok. I forget that repressing these feelings doesn't get rid of them. If I don't acknowledge what is going on within and forgive myself, it just pops up later...and tenfold.

I am busy. I juggle a lot of things and I know I do it well. That does not mean that I don't sometimes drop the ball. The trick is to forgive myself; to replace those icky feelings with feelings of love and acceptance. When I do this I can transform. I change not only myself, but those around me.

Denial never helped anyone and this woman's work is too important to be stymied. When I live in love and acceptance, I change the world one day at a time.
**Check out www.herfuture.com to find a mentor or to mentor another woman today!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Guilt - A Waste of Your Precious Thoughts


How could I have done that? Why did I say that? He'll never look at me the same way again. She'll never know how much I really do love her.

Thoughts like this can consume us. They suck us in to a Negative-Thinking Black Hole that seems impossible to pull ourselves from. Guilt. It's our way of beating ourselves up and telling ourselves we are not lovable; that we are not enough. What a waste.

What if we could be more gentle with ourselves? What if we could remember that we are here to learn?

Often we convince ourselves that something we have said or done is so awful we begin to wonder how anyone can love us. We start thinking that others are talking about us and how bad we are. More often that not though, the thing that we thought was so terrible, was really nothing to the other person. We blow these events so out of proportion that we begin to create a very negative picture of ourselves.

That is not who you are.

You are a divine being and love is your only reality. Be kind and loving to yourself. Apologize when necessary and right those wrongs, but do not get caught up in your mistakes. Learn from them. Let them be guideposts on your path to discovering who you really are, what you truly value.

As you forgive yourself you give leave for others to do the same. As you release your guilt you let love and light in. Guilt keeps us down. Forgiveness frees us to take the lesson to heart and move forward.

Be gentle with yourself. Guilt is a waste of your precious thoughts and it only serves to keep love out. Always let love in.
Danielle Boonstra
http://twitter.com/LiveWealth

Monday, February 1, 2010

You Are More Than That


When we meet people for the first time, what is the most common question that is asked? "What do you do?" right? It gives us a gauge of who that person is, their station in life, their likes and dislikes...or so we think. The truth is that for everyone of us, no matter what it is that we do, whether we are married or single, whether or not we have children; we are more than that.

We are more than sons, more than daughters. We are more than nurses, more than mechanics. We are more than mothers, more than fathers.

We are divine beings with limitless potential; every last one of us.

It is empowering and frightening at the same time. Marianne Williamson has a famous quote: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

So the next time you meet someone for the first time, you may consider asking: "What is your passion?" or "What lights you up?". And watch as he/she delights in realizing that another person has seen more in them.