YOUR LIFE A-Z: IGNITE

IGNITE

IGNITE YOUR SOUL FOR LIFE

IGNITE means to render luminous by heat , which is a perfect command for your life.  IGNITE your life to become full by heating it up to make it luminous in every way.  You are not alone if the spark has gone out or diminished in your life.  The inner spark often fades when it becomes ignored by the drudgery of daily life.  Think about a campfire.  It does not last all night and has to re-lit every evening to continue to provide the mystery and magic of camping.  IGNITE your daily life as if it is an amazing campfire waiting for you to show up and tell your story to your fireside community.  The dimness of natural light and the brightness of the campfire makes everyone’s face luminous sitting around the fire.  The atmosphere becomes magical and stories are shared that have been kept secret in the daylight.  Something shifts and changes as the light is IGNITED and the flame begins to develop a life of its own.  Nurture the IGNITED flame within your heart, prod it and provide it with the necessary wood and kindling to develop into the amazing gift you have been waiting for.  IGNITE the stories, dreams and desires within you. Choose a space, a time, and the resources you need to IGNITE what you love just as if you are preparing a campfire.  A campfire for one has a particular meditative feel to it.  A campfire IGNITED for the community builds a resource that grows beyond it.   IGNITE something within and watch what happens.

YOUR LIFE A-Z:LOCK

LOCK IN NOT OUT

LOCK

LOCK your doors. LOCK your car. LOCK your safe. LOCK your gate.  But do not LOCK your heart.  Yes, you have probably had your heart open and someone probably has broken it a few times by now. But if you LOCK your heart you are setting yourself up for a lot more grief.  A LOCKED heart can lead to heart disease, diabetes, and other physical illnesses because a LOCKED heart does not allow one to feel.  When you don’t feel you become addicted to substitutes that distract you from feeling and one of the best substitutes is food.  The billion-dollar food industry wants you to love them so they make everything attractive and the unhealthier it is for you, the more attractive it becomes.   If you walk down the isles of the grocery store with a LOCKED heart, pretty packages full of additives, carbohydrates, and sugar will jump out at you and say something like, “You need me.  I will help you feel better and forget your loneliness.”  The grocery store can be the number one enemy to a LOCKED heart.  The next suitor for a LOCKED heart is the TV.  How many hours can you sit and watch aimless reality shows because it helps you not think about your own lonely LOCKED heart life?  A LOCKED heart needs to be UNLOCKED.  The key to UNLOCKING your heart is to begin to feel again.  It is okay if you cry.  It is okay if you are angry. It is okay if you are sad.  Those emotions will not kill you and if you let them come out, they will diminish over time.  Don’t LOCK your heart.  That will kill you.

YOUR LIFE A-Z:UNLOCK

UNLOCK YOUR HEART TODAY

UNLOCK

UNLOCKING something that is shut up, stored away or even in prison is an important step in our heart’s growth.  As children we lock away emotions, feelings, huts, and beliefs often because they are too painful and we vow never to remember or talk about those painful things again.  However, our psyche does not do a good job of compartmentalizing pain.  Our psyche or soul generalizes pain.  So at  the age of six  you promised yourself you would never trust your mother again because she left you or abandoned you for a bottle of booze then that promise has hurt you the rest of your life.   That promise became a “vow” or a life script that you have acted out unconsciously every day and every other relationship since you were six.  It is a good thing not to trust a mother who abandons you but it is a life- harming thing to not trust other people because of your mother’s weakness.  Not everyone is like your mother and it is time to UNLOCK  the caverns of your heart where you have been hiding and come out into the light of life and learn to live with an UNLOCKED heart.  Be gentle with yourself as if you are going into a dark prison cell and show your locked in self the key.  Tell yourself, today I UNLOCKED your heart.  You are safe with me. I will help you learn to trust and live again and not be so afraid.  UNLOCK those closed off places today and step into all that life has to offer you. 

YOUR LIFE A-Z: GIVE

THERE IS ALWAYS ENOUGH

GIVE…GIVING…GAVE

The word GIVE implies to GIVE something to someone without expecting anything in return.  However, complex emotions often attach themselves to the word GIVE.  Often jealousy and competition compete for space in our heads when analyzing who received what, who reciprocated, or how much to spend or what was spent on certain gifts that were GIVEN.   Kindness and compassion are kindred spirits that come along side the word GIVE and allow to experience joy when we release the heart and GIVE.  Take an inventory about your values around GIVE.  Who do you GIVE to and under what circumstances do you choose to GIVE?  How do you decide which charity to GIVE to and do you only GIVE to receive a tax deduction?  To GIVE and have no strings attached is a great personal value.   When we GIVE we naturally receive a sense of personal joy that makes our insides light up and enjoy a sense of meaning in our life.  What if you GAVE bottled water to every homeless person you passed this summer, how many thirsty lives have been made a little better as a result of your GIVING. To GIVE requires that you put yourself in someone else’s shoes for a moment and imagine what it is that you can GIVE that will bring true enjoyment to his/her life.  GIVE today.  GIVE blood.  GIVE food.  Go shopping for very special birthday gifts and Christmas presents, so you can GIVE mindfully.  Do not procrastinate FINSH your GIVING today.  

YOUR LIFE A-Z: FORGIVE

NATURE IS A SAFE HEALING SPACE

FORGIVE-FORGIVENESS

The words FORGIVE and Forgiveness are complicated and often misunderstood.  Yesterday, The Twenty Minute Coach spoke about Expiate, making right our wrongs by doing some action that costs us energy, resources, and humility.  FORGIVENESS is a more complicated process.  A victim who has been harmed by someone else’s actions FORGIVES by intentionally and voluntarily letting go of vengeful and angry feelings toward the perpetrator.  This is a process of multiple actions and work.  If one FORGIVES before they work through the feelings of hurt, betrayal and anger then FORGIVENESS is an empty action.  To truly FORGIVE is work and does not come easy.  Being hurt is a part of life.  We have a choice to harbor our hurts and become bitter, hostile, and angry old people or we can choose to FORGIVE.  Many times the lack of being able to FORGIVE does not hurt those who victimized us but hurts us instead.  If you notice you have become hateful and bitter, do an inventory of the people and hurts that have built up inside of you.  They are like prisoners and you must release them in order for you to be free.  Emotional freedom is such an exhilarating feeling of personal accomplishment and leaves you with a sense of contentment.  A simple way to start is to write journal letters to those on your list above.  Start there and notice how your heart begins to change over the next few weeks as you choose to FORGIVE those you hold responsible for your pain.  You can’t change what happened, only how you cope with it. 

YOUR LIFE A-Z:LUSH

LET YOUR COLORS SHINE TODAY

LUSH

Do something today to make your environment LUSH.  As Merriam Webster says: “be lavishly productive.” You are the KINGFISH of your life.  Yesterday you discarded, tossed, and deleted unnecessary chatter in your life.  Today spice up you life with accents that highlight your heart. Add flowers, music, candles, and light to your space.  Be colorful in your clothes and add a special touch to your hair. Smile.  Bring the outside in to the inside of your life.  Create in ways that make your life feel fertile with expectation of change. JUMP into your life in a new way today, exploring the abundance of your blessings and gratitude, and allowing new opportunities to flourish by nurturing them.  Fertilize areas that need attention so that they can be all that you want them to be.  Dance, sing, make today count in LUSH ways that make your feel like, “Oh, yeah.  I want to be here now.  I like my self and my space.  I enjoy being alive this moment.”  This is soLUSH that I want to drink in every moment of now.  We once had someone tell us that if we tossed some green around our house that we would highlight our art.  They were right.  We finally understood what those fake green plants at department stores were for.  What can you do today to jump in and add some LUSH to your life?  Brighten up and smile.

Your Life A-Z OPEN

OPEN TO ALL POSSIBILITIES

OPEN

Open up to life this year. Do something different than you have ever done before.  Open the door of possibilities.  Everything is possible with a plan.  You can save for the vacation of your dreams once you decide what it is and how much it will cost.  Maybe you will have to get a second job to make it happen, but you can do that for a short period of time.  Open your heart to people who you have closed off.  Do you need to forgive someone?  Always walk in forgiveness to yourself.  Have you closed yourself off from yourself?  Open up to the possibility of change.  Yes, change is scary but just like that vacation of a life-time, any change can happen with a plan.  Have a plan and work the plan and you will get closer to the things you want in life than not ever trying.  Do not be afraid to make positive things happen.  If you are closed off to life out of many doors of fear that live inside of you, open those doors and let the fears dissipate into the light.  Open up and live fully today.  Notice throughout the day how often you pull back and encourage yourself to gently open up to the light like a beautiful flower responding to the sun.  

Photo: RbDilley