Being and Receiving Positivity

They say a picture is worth a whole lot of words. I can't recall how many, but I remember it's a lot.

If something as simple as a picture can give someone that profound of an experience, imagine what kindness could do.

It would probably wreck their day.

When another busy human stops the flow of their focus to grin or greet you, doesn't it make you feel like you're special?

It sure makes me feel important. If I'm going about my own business, and someone just smiles at me, I am suddenly overcome with emotion within.

In a literal sense, I can feel their genuine attempts for attention or love and affection, and as their deed of kindness is exposed, along with the action is the flow of positive energy.

The "warm fuzzies" present a valid example to further explain this transfer of positivity, caused by a heartfelt movement of consciousness.

It seems as if each action has some type of energy that is attached to it, and as you express emotions through the variety of actions you choose, which may have negative impacts or bear positive impressions, it transmits a force.

This force, or energy, when perceived can give the other person melancholy feelings or hopeful ones. Either way, with each action is a positive or negative reaction.

The question is how can we bring more serenity to people?

Once you've noticed your own instances of positive interactions, you can become more aligned and turned on to how tremendous and effective a little action of goodness will do for someone.

Can you look at someone with kind eyes? Will you calm your anticipations in conversations to listen more to the thoughts and concerns of others?

Can you let your soul show it's capacity for compassion toward other living beings? How can you bring a positive rush of energy and emotion for someone else to feel?

The biggest part is the giving, but do observe the events that occur when you share a piece of your soul's sound and energy with another person.

The actions are reciprocal. For every action there is a reaction, and when you find yourself in the wake of being kind, the inside of you receives energy as well.

You may find that you are more alive than you've ever felt, as you communicate positively toward others. It also transcends our normal time dimension, and draws us into the power of presence.

You can practice presence. Be still and calm, and allow the rest of the world speak to you. Find that energy, and give it away to someone else.

As you share positivity, you can give someone the hope to calm their fears or feel loved and appreciated.

Your love may even hurt someone so good with hopefulness, that they will have to keep moving on.

Open your soul.

Carry the sound.

Give it to others.

Let love be found.


(This post was completely inspired by my husband's sweet smile he gave to me this morning, simply walking past me. It doesn't take much effort to make someone feel loved. *Thank you.*)

Filling Your Life with Positive Sounds

So, how can you tell what sounds to fill your life with?

Well, number 1, you're going to probably know how well you mesh with certain activities or elements in life, by just spending some time with them.

What kind of energy does an activity give you?

Does it give you excitement in the end for the next time's encounter with it, or does it drain you of your life, leaving you a pitiful mess on the couch?

Truly think about it. Now, I'm not knocking a nap here. I take naps like a champ when I get them.

There is something refreshing, being 30-something, and waking up from a personal time-out, because you've lost about a third of your metabolism in this stage of your life.

Rest is not the go-to indicator that says you're failing at something. It may just be that your body needs to shut down and restart. It comes with aging, and that goes along with the territory of being human.

The kind of energy drain I am describing here is one that depletes certain emotional stability, and sometimes sort of rips pieces out of your soul.

Let me tell you that I have been there numerous times, and it took a very long time for me to realize that I was spending all my energy investing in activities that didn't fuel me with positive sounds.

I didn't want to quit those things, because quitting is for losers, right? (Ha!)

So, I just kept on trudging through every moment with uncertainty and a starved spirit.

Thankfully, I am learning to set more boundaries, and whenever I feel like I am taking on too much, or just need to change the direction of how I'm approaching something, I can sense the tensions I have inside.

If life isn't quite as __________ as you would like it to be, then change it. If things are getting out of hand, and you have all the time in the world for keeping up the chaos, but no time for maintaining the peace, then make the decision to alter your receivers for the activities, friendships, and environments you are involved in.

You are in charge of how you will respond to what life gives you, and also what you will fill your time with.

Who says you have to be everything? Wouldn't it be better to be honest with yourself, and spend more of your fleeting energy chasing something that makes you peaceful in the middle?

If you sat down and thought about the things that make you happy, what would those things be? Now, what can you do to incorporate those things in your life more?

Make room in your life for the things that are important to you.

Spend your time genuinely and lavishly, by being what is real to you.

Filtering the Noise

In the midst of becoming more aware of the various noises in my life, I can't help but notice how agitating they are as distractions.

Do you ever find yourself feeling caught up in rushing from one thing to the next?

It's as if life is some big race that we are all a part of, and it's our job to get "there" as fast as we can.

But, "where" are we going, and when we get "there", will we just stay "there" forever?

Or will the need within to keep moving forward push us past our destination to the next traveling expedition?

There have been points in my life, that when I finally reached my dreamed points of destiny, I saw that they really weren't these big, glorious events to be had after all.

Some pursuits were faced with disappointment, discovering that what I thought would be such a "perfect" fit for me, didn't sum up to any grand value to me at all.

One thing I realized about this that helped me to better understand why my hopes and dreams weren't there for me, added up to the fact that I wasn't there anymore.

For some reason, the aspirations continued to be held in positions of higher status over all else, and I wanted to complete them. I wanted to make them mine, and possess them as my life.

But, I had changed...

I had changed so greatly, and therefore the focus of these plans had shifted, but the dismay for such greatness not being achieved took a toll on my heart.

Then, something mystifying occurred to me. I thought, that if I had moved my attention away from these prized ideas, then my ideas concerning progress, achievement, and goals had to evolve, too.

It can be devastating to watch your life fall upon an unexpected path. I know it was for me, personally.

But, it can also be the beginning of a very beautiful place in your heart and mind.

The more I follow my heart, and not a set of pre-determined rules or conceptions as to how I should live this life, the more I am finding myself feeling alive.

When I settle for the societally inspired standards for accomplishment and how I should measure my success, I burn out.

I now know that I can't keep the pace of this wickedly busy world, and the vicious cycle just gets worse when you add your own guilt on top of everyone else's.

So, today, I am observing this and taking notes on the areas of distraction in my life.

Once I notice them, I can start to weed them out, minimalise their efforts, or change how I interact with them.

Make a list of the things that make you anxious.

How can you expect to have more peace and joy in your life, if you aren't aware of what is causing all the noise?

How to Slow Down Your Life

How fast are you going? What does your day look like?

If you had to write it all down before your eyes, what secrets would unfold, and what would they say about you and your real connections with just living?

When I think about my list of things that clutter my day, I cringe a little, my pinky shakes, and my body shows it's in a state of terror. How much more can I cram into my already over-committed day?

You know what it feels like? It feels like I'm on a large rollar coaster. That's my day: Going up and down too many hills of achievement that I expect myself to accomplish on this daily quest through life.

But, why should it be that way? Should it really be that intense? My flesh is quivering, and with each upward stride toward the peak of the task, my anticipation feeds on me, like an afternoon snack.

How much is too much?

When I reflect on this thought, it gives me the understanding that I really do have too much going on in my life.

When your body and mind feel like they are threatened, then it's time to really actively listen and properly respond to those indications of stress.

What I can't stop thinking about is how I need more time to work on the few projects that make me feel fulfilled and alive.

What that means, is that in the wake of this epiphany, I must sacrifice the other time-wasters in my life that are choking me of the opportunity to complete my "destiny".

What is calling you? How can you answer the call to create or be in your elements of passion more?

Make a list and start pruning now. This is your chance. Take it.

Or....

Live a life doing the things you only sort of care about.

(You know the rest).

The Power of Presence and Breath

We're a complicated species, afraid to turn up our brows in acquisition, and wonder about the world we belong to.

Many of us hold tightly to our soap boxes and all the knowledge that's been funneled into our perceptions with fear.

We don't want to lose what we've had.

We don't want to lose what we know.

And when a challenging circumstance presents itself, in worried shrugs of our shoulders, we hang our heads with sighs.

Unwilling. Not wanting to give up what we have.

As children we engage in our world in an opposite way.

The journey is foot by foot.

The tasks are breath by breath.

Our attentions are awakened and held in each playful, curious moment we embrace.

This common and seeming phenomenon, which regularly can be met so easily by the young ones, can also be encountered by us, as well.

It's not too often that I am blessed by the pleasure of presence.

This is a new concept for me, and I have a lot to undo. In that sense, it feels overwhelming, and I think it makes it harder for me to want to start practicing something so new.

Something that is very encouraging to me, is that I don't have to know how to do everything "perfectly" or "just right".

Everything that I know now is exactly what I need to live in the moment.

I don't have to have all the answers figured out, and as I have explained before, I have more questions than answers.

That can be a bit scary if you focus on it, so don't do that.

It's not terribly productive in the way of bringing you to positivity.

Each of us can be, create, and give in some form.

And whatever you are doing, be sure that you are fully engaging in the moment.

The situation becomes alive as you become present.

There is life that is tangible, and you can wear its energy, if you are living there with it, making yourself ready and available for it.

So, how can we begin to experience more of these timeless experiences?

I am reminded of very simple applications of practicing what you want to surface more in your life.

It just takes our effort, in small chunks, to get it going.

This week, we can begin by practicing presence.

Starting with awareness, we can sit with our breaths and notice that we are ourselves alive.

In a quiet spot, or with headphones on, still yourself for a few minutes to become aware of your breath.

Become connected with this vital breath that fills your body with its duty of survival.

Refresh yourself in knowing that you are alive, and that within you lies something powerful and treasured, that this universe longs to know more about.

Allow yourself to connect with the life force within you, and fall into the peace that it creates as you open up to its calming power.

A New Journey

Something has become apparently clear to me, lately.

As I am challenged by the new surroundings met with traveling upon an open and alien pathway, everything is a surprise to me.

Former me, full of understanding and precise answers is vanishing in the wake of curiosity and question-asking.

I find it a struggle battling with the veracious need within me that begs for me to discover the genuine truths as I search.

That's the ending result, as of yet.

Beauty can be revered in more than one embodied expression of tradition or spirituality.

Now, I am turning to seek the greatness and mystery that is to be experienced in various forms.

These modes of reality are becoming more awakened and heightened in the hungry openness I provide, in surrender to the idea that I believe the idea of God and who "he" is, and how we should invest our breaths, moment to moment, is more than what I can figure out.

Hell, it's God we're talking about here, right?

So, don't leave it to me, or to someone else to define how you'll spend this life in conscious efforts of gratitude, adoration, and compassion for the elements in our existence.

Let me make it a note here, that before this point in my current standing in life, I was very close-minded.

I attached myself to leaders and doctrine, and allowed them to decide for me every movement that I should make.

Right down to the pleasure of other's approval, I'd spend my time adhering to the "only rules" that have survived our human race.

With dedication I banded with like minds, and rejected the rest.

I even cast my husband out of my heart for the sake of the law which had won over my attention.

It took several painful years of dying to myself, and removing the layers of deception to provide for me a new escape into reality.

And what a scary place to be.

When you've turned your head, and run away from a burning city, in this case, the religious ideals I was bound by, the journey is terrifying.

I am still troubled  each time I gaze upon my past, in comparison to how deeply I feel about life and humanity now.

How could I have rested so confidently in the security of a model that told me to renounce other living human beings?

How could I have allowed peace to settle in my soul, when I had to elevate my status over the lifestyles and decisions of others?

These other people had hearts, too, and weren't as demonic as I had dreamed.

But my attitude and my expressions of love weren't pure and limitless.

I was limited, and I was no angel when it came to the real love in my heart, that had yet to be awakened.

This much I know: Good people are everywhere.

They don't only exist under a steeple with folded hands.

They don't have to be married to a singular series of ideology.

Real people can be found when simply being real people.

Authenticity lies in the hands of people who give their truest of hearts in the vulnerability of present moment and honest mind.

And that is what stirs hopefulness within me.

That I may be willing enough to risk myself for the sake of love and limitless transfer of compassion toward other human beings.