How to Be More Powerfully Present

There's been quite the hubbub lately about mindfulness. You know something is catching on when there's an article about it in the Costco magazine. Mindfulness has made its way out of the yogic realm and into mainstream society.

Our culture has us moving faster and faster with the plethora of electronic gadgets and social media. Many feel pressured to "keep up" with the pace of the world and every Facebook post, Tweet, Instagram photo and news event. Perhaps like me, you wonder if such activity is really a good thing.

In the midst of this information overload, are we losing sight of what is truly important and failing to enjoy the precious moments in our every day lives? Maybe the ancients were on to something, so this week's post is devoted to answering this question:
What is mindfulness exactly and how can it help us in our daily lives?

When some hear the term "mindfulness" they conjure up visions of cross-legged yogis with eyes-closed chanting. Perhaps a more realistic and comprehensible word for mindfulness is "awareness" or "being present". Being present & fully engaged is the best gift we can bestow upon our spouse, our child, our friends and ourselves. Mindfulness is a form of meditation one does to learn to clear one's mind and to be aware of one's thoughts as they pass by. An untrained mind is mindless and unruly. Our thoughts jump from one thing to another, like a monkey on tree. We are easily distracted, forgetful, sucked in to the emotional reactions of others, while not being fully aware of our own emotions and feelings.

One way to judge this is to notice the rate of speech we use. When we are talking a mile a minute, our minds are racing. My mother always used to tell me "You think too fast," and now I realize she was right. I thought too fast and I talked too fast so that is one reason I have taken up the study of mindfulness.

Nowadays, I am often bewildered by someone's conversation when they seemingly go off on an unrelated tangent. I ask myself "How is this related to what we were discussing?". What happens is in their mind there was some connection to another event. Their mind monkey-jumped to this other thought thread and they started following it without realizing it was not related to the discussion at hand. As we age, this happens more and more because the circuitry of our brains has been wired for years. However, it is possible to stay focused and connected, even as we age, by learning this ancient practice.

Relationships:
Nothing is more upsetting to a wife than to come home to her hubby all excited about sharing something about her day and he tunes her out by reading the newspaper or being fixated on the boob tube, computer, or video game. I remember when I was married and I used to teach aerobics one night a week. I would come home from class all excited to share how the class went and my then husband would look at me briefly and then go right back to reading the newspaper. Is it little wonder then we ended up in divorce court? These days people substitute their cellphone, the television, the internet or a video game. It's all the same problem - lack of mindfulness. Otherwise known as not paying attention.

Your kids:
When you are with them, make the effort to be truly with them. Don't be doing dishes, talking on the phone, grading papers or whatever else needs to be done. Stay in the present moment and really be with your child. These things can be done after the kids are in bed. If you're a working mom, like I was, you only have a few hours to develop a relationship with your children. Those hours are precious. I made sure eating dinner together was a priority. I'd ask them about their day and get them to talking. Some nights we'd have a bible study session where we would take turns reading the Bible. Now it doesn't have to be the Bible. I wanted to make it a two-fer and use the connecting time as a teaching time as well. Then at bedtime, I'd often read them a bed time story. In other words, I made sure the hours I had with my kids, I was present.

Personal life:
How often do you forget where you put your keys, your wallet, the grocery list? You start one task and find yourself doing something else two minutes later. No, it's not ADD or ADHD. Most likely it is the normal state of mindlessness. Not being aware of what you are currently doing. I think if we taught our kids mindfulness at an early age, far fewer kids would be on prescription meds. When we learn to slow down enough to pay attention to the present moment, we actively engage in the here and now. You know how you get so involved in your gardening, or playing tennis, or dancing and then wonder where the time went? That's because you were mindfully present. You were actively aware in what you were doing. You were being mindful.

Inner world:
One of the most important benefits of mindfulness is being more connected to our thoughts and feelings. When we slow down and pay attention to our thoughts, we are more aware of what is going on in our internal world. We are able to feel our feelings before they cause us to react in an unhealthy or unproductive way or keep us up at night thinking about things. Even though we are asleep, our mind is still trying to process the events of the day. This is why we wake up in the middle of the night ruminating.

When we learn to be mindful during the day, we will process our thoughts and emotions real-time, so our minds don't have to work overtime at night to do it. Just yesterday, I caught myself having negative feelings towards an old friend. Rather than ignore them or stuff them, I allowed myself to sit with them. I realized why I was feeling upset, which led to an understanding of what I need to change about myself in this situation.

Mindfulness is a practice, like most things worthwhile in this life. When we make the time to train our minds, we will have better control over our thoughts and our actions. We'll sleep better at night. Our relationships with others will be more intimate and connected. We will be more focused and less distracted in our daily lives and accomplish more of what we want to do. There are several ways to practice mindfulness and I have attached a link here with more information.

Love to hear your thoughts on this relevant and timely topic. Please leave a comment below or on Facebook. If you'd like to join our community, simply enter your email address in the box provided and you'll receive my bi-weekly posts. In addition I'll send you a copy of my recently updated free e-guide entitled "7 Steps to Finding Your Spiritual Path".

Stay tuned for more on how to ignite the power within and discover your destiny!

Until next time, stay present and keep looking up!

Ariel

4 Ways You Can Benefit from Meditation

How often do you sit down during the course of the day, close your eyes and just do and think nothing at all? Most people are so tired that when they do sit down and close their eyes they fall asleep. Others find it difficult or even uncomfortable to sit still and do nothing. I know, because I used to be this way myself.

As a single mom of two boys working at a mentally draining career while balancing the demands of home, health, and child-rearing, I wish someone would have suggested this to me years ago. Sit down and rest my mind. The second step in learning to discipline the mind is meditation, a practice which archaeologists and scholars believe has been around for over 5,000 years. The earliest documentation of meditation is found in the Hindu sacred text known as the Vedas from ancient India but it has its own place in Western religions as well.

Industrialization and the rapid advancement of technology have dramatically increased the pace of life and the hurry up, get-it-done-yesterday mindset has side-lined this important discipline. As the rate of stress-related illnesses soars, many are realizing this non-stop freneticism is not only unhealthy but unprofitable as well.

In the same way the body needs a good amount of rest to restore and renew itself, so too does the mind.  Often, even when the body is asleep, the mind continues to churn away on the problems and issues of the day. No wonder we wake up feeling unrefreshed. The mind didn't know it was bedtime.

When we sit down to meditate, we allow the "mental clutter" to settle.

Benefit #1: Meditation calms our minds and our bodies. 
It slows the heart rate, the breath, and lowers the blood pressure. Also, it allows confusion to dissipate and clarity and creativity to spark so we can find answers to our problems.

There are different forms of meditation so whether your spiritual path is eastern or western, you can benefit from this ancient practice. In eastern religions, such as buddhism, the goal of meditation is to focus the mind on something constant such as the breath. The basic premise is that by focusing the mind, the practitioner becomes increasingly aware of the flow of thoughts as they occur and is able to disengage, clear the mind and enter the place of rest where the mind is calm. Some well-known forms of eastern meditation are Vipassana and Transcendental meditation.

Benefit #2: Helps us to connect with ourselves and God
When we still our bodies, the monkey thoughts in our minds settle as well. This allows us to see what is going on with our feelings and emotions and to get in touch with what we truly desire in life. When we are moving so fast all day, we ignore that still small voice and our thoughts and emotions rarely get noticed.

The practice of meditation in Christian religions is similar in that the goal is to focus and calm the mind. In addition, Christian practitioners also have the goal of calming the spirit and connecting more deeply with God which is done by reading or repeating phrases or words of Holy Scripture or Christian devotions. Early proponents of Christian meditation are St. Teresa of Avila, St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. John of the Cross.

Benefit #3: Brings awareness of negative thoughts
Whatever your spiritual path, meditation is an important skill that will help you bring more awareness to your life.  When we slow down and calm our minds, we are more able to identify the types of thoughts that float through on a daily basis. I find I am more aware of the pesky negative thoughts that try to steal my peace and joy and then I am more easily able to dismiss them, refocus, and carry on with my day. Unawareness leads to a vicious downward spiral and becoming more aware of our thoughts is a tool to stop this cycle.

Benefit #4: Increases sense of peace and well-being
Many of us run around all day frenetically going from one thing to another. As a single parent, this pace became my norm. Although I no longer have the need, I have to untrain myself so when I feel like I'm moving too fast, an alarm goes off in my mind and I make myself sit down and meditate for 15 - 20 minutes. If I fall asleep, then that means I'm tired. I don't berate myself for falling asleep. Meditation helps us to become more aware of when we are feeling stressed and hurried and we will enjoy a greater sense of peace and well-being during our busy days. You will come to find stillness as a gift and look forward to your times of meditation.

If you enjoyed this post and would like to join our community and receive my bi-weekly posts simply enter your email in the box provided. You'll also receive a copy my free e-guide entitled "7 Steps to Finding Your Spiritual Path". 

Until next time, I wish you peace and stillness and remember...

Keep looking up!

Ariel 

How to Tame Your Unruly Mind

Have you ever said something "without thinking"? Do you often find yourself feeling down and depressed but don't really know why? What about the dreams you have at night that keep you from getting a good night's rest. What's going on then? If we want to ignite our personal power so we can move forward towards our goals and dreams, we must tame and train the unruly beast known as the mind.

Before we can talk about how to discipline the mind, we need to understand what exactly do we mean by "the mind". To keep this as simple as possible, the mind is the non-physical part of us that is composed of both consciousness and unconsciousness. It is separate from the physical part of the body known as the brain. The brain is the organ that is part of our central nervous system and controls our physical and bodily functions.

The mind, on the other hand, controls our emotions, our thoughts, and our will. Some believe that the mind is the eternal part of us known as the "soul". Undeveloped and unconstrained, the mind will take off like a runaway train or a wild horse. Buddhism calls this "monkey mind" meaning unsettled, capricious, restless, uncontrollable, confused. Picture the monkeys you see in the zoo or the wild and how they flit from tree to tree hanging on and jumping around willy nilly. This is how undisciplined minds behave. Thousands of thoughts fly by in the course of everyday life, yet we are unaware of the majority of them.

 If we want to harness the power of our minds, we need to discipline it to think the right kind of thoughts. There are three main steps to cultivating a disciplined mind and today we will cover the first one which is:  Feed your mind positive input.

Our minds are like computers. How they are programmed is how they will perform. Many of us grew up in an environment of worry, anxiety, fear and the like so we already have a library full of negative thoughts. If we feed our minds junk, violence, and negativity which abound in the media, on television and in our world, our thoughts will be full of this stuff.  You may not even be aware of the negativity that is coming out of you. The good news is we can change the way we think by changing what we feed our minds.

If we want healthy, vibrant bodies we will feed ourselves healthy, nutritious food and drink plenty of water. In the same way, if we want healthy, peaceful and emotionally stable minds we need to feed our minds life-giving,  positive and faith-filled thoughts.  I prefer to use phrases from the Holy Bible and I can attest to the fact that they work. Here are some of my favorites:

     -If we want to conquer fear and doubt, start thinking thoughts of faith. 
       "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind". 
       "I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me"

     If we want to become more bold and less timid,  
      "The Lord is my rock and my fortress." 
      "No weapon formed against me shall prosper."
      "If God is for me, who can stand against me". 

    If we want to be more loving,
       "Love your neighbor as yourself"
       "Love is patient. Love is kind. Love keeps no record of wrongs."
    
    If we want to be more at peace
       "The Lord will give keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him."
       "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything pray and give thanks to God and He will give you peace that passes all understanding".     

    If we want more ease and less struggle, instead of thinking "This is too much for me"  or "I'll never be able to ....." think and say out loud
       "I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me".
       "God will make my crooked paths straight". 
        "Be still and know that I am God"

     If we want more abundance and provision, stop thinking thoughts of lack.
       "My God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus". 
       "No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly"

These are just a few examples I personally use to reprogram my thinking and you can too! Pick out some verses that resonate with you and begin to verbalize them daily. I post them on sticky notes around the house to remind me.

If we want to be more powerful and more successful, we need to be more positive and more confident in our abilities. We need to reprogram our thinking with truth and the best source of truth I know is the Holy Bible. Now you can use whatever sacred texts or affirmations you choose, but I suggest the Holy Bible and here's why.

God is obligated to fulfill His Word. He is not obligated to follow through on anyone else's word. The words of scripture have supernatural power in them and that is the missing ingredient in using anything else. Positive affirmations that are not the Word of God will only take us so far. Why?
Because God rewards Faith! He wants to know that we are depending on Him and him alone and not merely our own will and self. When we learn to depend on God more, and ourselves less, we will see strife, turmoil, and unease evaporate from our lives and we will enjoy more harmony, joy, and rest.

This covers the first step to disciplining our minds. Stay tuned for more on Step 6 of igniting the power within when next time we'll talk about the importance of meditation. 

If you enjoyed this post and would like to join our community, enter your email address in the box provided and you'll receive my bi-weekly posts. You'll also receive a copy of my free e-guide entitled "7 Steps to Finding Your Spiritual Path".  I'd love to hear your thoughts so please leave a comment and share it with your friends on social media.

Stay tuned for more on how to ignite the power within and discover your Destiny!

Until next time, keep looking up!

Ariel  

The Blessing in the Battles of Life

We’ve all heard the saying about "anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”. Ever feel like that is the case? The furnace goes up. The car battery gives up. The phones die. The computer goes on the fritz. Seems like things all hit the fan at once.

I have learned that these are all tests in the school of life and when we learn to respond in a patient and gracious manner, we can trust that God will give us double for our trouble.

So the other day I was having lunch with two friends. We had all had a tough week and we were looking forward to spending some time together. Since I was in not in the mood for overly-salty soups and sandwiches, I decided to head over to the nearby Asian place. I placed my take-out order and asked the cashier how long the wait would be.

"Ten minutes or so," he says. 

“Ok, that should be fine,” I answered and checked my phone for the time.

Ten minutes goes by. Then fifteen. Then twenty.

Ok, it’s been twice as long as the time he quoted me. I think I better check on my order.

“It’s on the grill now,” replied the cashier.

“Ok, just wanted to check on the status,” I replied and sat back down against the wall.

After a twenty-five minute wait, the cashier packs up my ginger broccoli chicken and says “Here’s your order”. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper, but I thanked him and hurried over to meet my friends, whom I was sure had finished their lunches by then. I looked at the receipt in my hand with the customer survey at the bottom and thought, "They are going to hear from me about this." 

About a week or so later, I get an email from the company.

“We regret to hear about your take-out experience and we appreciate your feedback. We’d like to send you a “Be Our Guest” coupon to regain your confidence.”

Now THAT is customer service. But wait, it gets better. The next day, I received a phone call from the manager of the establishment. He, too, was apologetic, and offered not only a “Be Our Guest” card but he said,

“The next time you are in the area, stop by and your meal is on us.” Wow!

A few days later, as I sipped my hot spearmint tea, enjoying my full course meal on the house, I sensed that still small voice speaking to me.

“I’m giving you double for your trouble.” I paused and said a quiet prayer.  Somehow I felt that it was more than just the meal He was talking about.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you.

If you’re going through a tough season right now, take heart. God sees everything you that is happening to you: the stress of the job, the family, the health issues, the financial woes. He is sovereign and He will not let anything happen in our lives without giving us His grace to endure. I love the verse in 1 Peter 5:10 which says:
“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 

Nothing is wasted with God. Every tear, every heartache, every broken relationship serves a purpose.  If you have a minute, listen to the song below by Rascall Flatts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_Vzpjv_kR4

If this post encouraged you and you'd like to join our community, enter your email address in the box provided. In addition to my bi-weekly posts, you'll also receive a copy of my free e-guide entitled "7 Steps to Finding Your Spiritual Path". 

Stay tuned for more on how to ignite the power within and discover your destiny!

Until next time, keep looking up!

Ariel

How to Surrender More and Stress Less

Ever notice how some people are so happy go lucky? Nothing seems to bother them and they act like they don't have a care in the world. Then you have the other type: much  more serious, very responsible, perhaps overly responsible and often, much more stressed. What explains this? Personality differences? Upbringing?  Gender differences? Today we're going to talk about how to live life with less struggle and more ease. 

First, let's talk about the possible reasons why some people are more easy-going than others. I've read that men have more serotonin, the mood regulating neuro-transmitter that helps us to feel calm and relaxed. For more on this, read this article.  Another contributing factor is the environment in which we were raised. We learn patterns of thinking from our parents. Often we do not even realize we have unhealthy thinking patterns. Here's a recent personal story that made me aware of how I was thinking.

So I purchased a cutlery set recently - first one in my entire life. I decided to test it out on a watermelon, which are usually an arduous effort to slice. I pulled the chef's knife out of the wood block, blade gleaming, and felt the smoothness of the handle.

"I think I like this knife" I thought as  I drew the blade almost effortlessly across the melon.
"Wow, that was easy!"

All these years I had been struggling with a knife that despite sharpening still made cutting a chore.

"This is like life" I thought.
"If we have the right tools, life can be so much less of a struggle." By tools, I mean our thinking patterns. When we have unhealthy thinking patterns, life becomes so much more difficult.

The next monday, I woke up dreading the day's activities.

Then I remembered the knife.  I decided right then and there to change my approach to my monday morning. Instead of thinking "This is going to be a tough day", I changed my thoughts to "This is going to be an easy day," I kept repeating the phrase over and over during the day. And guess what? It worked! Despite the hours on the phone with financial people, the ex-accountant and dealing with my mom and her worries, I did not feel drained at the end of the day. It was a miracle!

As author, Norman Vincent Peale, puts it in his book, "The Power of Positive Thinking", "the rough is in the mental". In other words, it's how we perceive situations in life that makes them easier or harder to deal with. Now I am not minimizing the hardships we endure, by any means, but I am saying our perspective can make them seem tougher or easier. It is all in how we look at things.

We can either believe God is on our side and working things out for good, or we can play the woe-is-me victim card. We can choose to look for the positives or we can focus on the negatives. There will always be both and it is up to us which we will magnify.

So how do we live with less struggle and more ease? Here are five realizations that have helped me feel less stressed and more at ease.

1. Realize God is in control, not me.
2. Realize God is working things out for my good, no matter how it looks at the time.
3. Realize things happen in God's timing, not mine.
4. Realize I don't have to make things happen in my own strength.
5. Realize that my troubles are temporary.

Life does have it's difficulties, that is for sure, but as Dale Carnegie once said, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade." Get up in the morning and speak out positive affirmations like "This is going to be a great day", "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me", and "I am strong in the power of the Lord". Before long, you will feel more energy, be able to accomplish more, and find life easier to deal with.

If you enjoyed this post and would like to join our community, enter your email in the box provided. You'll receive my bi-weekly posts as well as a copy of my free e-guide entitled "7 Steps to Finding Your Spiritual Path". 

Stay tuned for more practical wisdom for igniting the power within and discovering your destiny!

Until next time, keep looking up!

Ariel 

4 Things You Can Do to Be Emotionally Free

The Fourth of July is already upon us. For many, it is an extra day off from work, a time to grill burgers and get together with friends, and a time to watch fireworks light up the sky. Most of all, it is a time to celebrate our freedom here in this country.

It was on July 4, 1776 that our founding fathers gathered to sign the declaration of  independence to free themselves and many others from British rule. We owe them a great debt of gratitude for the price they paid to loose themselves from bondage under England and to establish this great nation. We also owe a great debt to those who continue to give their lives so that we may remain in freedom.

We in America are free from the oppression that faced our founding fathers, but many today are in bondage of another kind -  emotional and spiritual bondage.  They lack peace and joy so they become addicted to drugs, alcohol, work, exercise or some other means to medicate themselves, but these things are only band-aids that mask the real problem. There is a freer life awaiting each of us and there are steps we can take to make it a reality. Here are 4 things you can do to have more joy, less drama, and experience more freedom:

1. Choose carefully. 
We in this country have freedom of choice. We can choose who and what we allow into our lives. We can choose to learn better patterns of relating to others. We can choose what thoughts we dwell on. We can choose thoughts of faith and positivity, rather than thoughts of fear, worry and negativity. Emotional freedom begins first and foremost in our mind.

2. Pay attention. 
Contrary to how I was raised, it is very important to pay attention to our feelings. Now, I am not saying we should let our feelings control us but we do have to be aware of them and figure out what they are trying to tell us. They are internal indicators of what is going on with us. Am I feeling depressed? Anxious? Sad? Hurt? Rejected? Lonely? All of these are warning signs that something is not right. Ask yourself what is going on in your life that is making you feel that way and then ...

3. Take action.
The founding fathers had a cause they believed in and were committed to. They took action. In the same way, if we are committed to a freer life, we must take action: to heal ourselves emotionally and spiritually if we want to achieve our goals and dreams, enjoy better relationships, and live a freer life.
Change doesn't just happen. We have to make it a priority if we want to enjoy a better life. When we do what we can, God will step in and do what we can't. So what can we do?

4. Set  boundaries. 
Just as the early settlers said "No" to England's oppressive rules and taxation, we, too, must say no to people and behaviors that are not good for us which includes saying "No" to people we love and care for. To be emotionally free means to be free from the drama and turmoil that spiritually immature people bring with them such as verbal assaults, constant chatter, guilt and blame trips and manipulative and controlling behaviors. Once we learn to recognize these behaviors for what they are, we can call attention to them and set limits with these people. The energy we expend dealing with negative people can be better used to focus on our goals and dreams.

We must also set limits on the demands on our time and energy. The world is always clamoring "do more, have more, buy more". This is lunacy. We really don't need to do as much as we think we have to do or have as much as we think we need to have. You will survive without the latest iPhone or high def television. These are not necessities. They are luxuries. There is a blessing from living a simpler, slower, less complicated life and that is emotional peace.

We don't need to feel guilty about setting boundaries. Saying "no" is a form of self-care which is crucial to living an emotionally free and peaceful life.

If we want to live free, we must choose peace and freedom every day over being controlled or manipulated by someone or something else. I escaped from a controlling and abusive marriage long ago, but the lesson remains. As it says in Galatians 5:1 "Stand fast therefore in the freedom of Christ, and do not be entangled again in the yoke of bondage." Did you get that? Entangled. If we are not paying attention to who and what we allow into our lives, we will be entangled again.

Do you feel emotionally free?  Or do you feel entangled in something that is stealing your freedom, peace, and joy? What or who are you committed to? What actions are you taking to see your dreams become a reality? What do you need to say "no" to in order to have more freedom?

If you enjoyed this post please click the +1 icon. If you'd like to join our community and receive my bi-weekly posts as well as your copy of my free e-guide entitled "7 Steps to Finding Your Spiritual Path" simply enter your email address in the box provided.

Have a safe and celebratory Fourth of July! Happy birthday, America, and may God bless us always! 

Stay tuned for more practical and spiritual tips on how to ignite the power within!

Until next time, keep looking up!

Ariel 

Ignite the Power Within Step 2: How to Move Past Status Quo

Are you moving forward in life?  Achieving the goals and dreams you've longed for? Or do you feel like you're always busy but not seeing much progress? Perhaps you're stuck in the status quo. If you're happy where you are, that's fine, but we were not meant to stay at status quo. We were meant to SOAR, to grow, to fly higher and to become all that we were made to be, but it is a choice we make.

If we want to see transformation in our lives and in the world around us, then we have to change. People often wait for their circumstances to change but real transformation starts from within. You've probably heard the saying "If you keep on doing what you're doing, you're going to keep on getting what you're getting" and this is the truth. If we want to move forward in life, we have to change and the most important area to change is our thinking.  

Do you get aggravated by certain types of people? Do you feel frustrated often? How do you react when things don't go as smoothly as you would like? There is always another way to view the day's events that will bring us peace instead of frustration and stress.

The mindset we've developed over the years is like a pair of glasses through which we interpret events and circumstances. In order for us to move forward in life, we must change our mindset. Albert Einstein put it like this:

If we want to move forward in life, we need to clear out all the old programming, beliefs, and thought patterns, and start with a clean slate. This means being open to a new way of seeing ourselves, others, and external events. How we perceive the world does indeed make a difference, so this month I'll be sharing on Step #2 to transforming your life which is:

Now you may think you already have an open mind. But I can guarantee you some thinking patterns need to change. If we want to move forward in life and enjoy more peace, more joy, and more fulfillment, we must change the way we perceive life.

Imagine putting your old thinking on the shelf for the time being, like a pair of well-worn shoes, while you try on a new pair of shoes.  Like breaking in new shoes, it might feel uncomfortable for a bit.  Slowly but surely, we will enjoy the peace and freedom new ways of thinking will bring us. I can assure you, once you start on this journey, you will never want to go back to your old shoes.

Science used to say that the brain cannot be changed, but now we know better. We now know the brain can be restructured and regenerated. To find out more about neuroplasticity, read this article.  Keep in mind that the brain and the mind are two different things but are critically linked together.

Step #2 asks us to be open to seeing and processing life in a brand new way. As we unfold the next steps together, how we do this will become more clear but for now ask yourself this question: "Am I ready and willing to change my thinking?"

If the answer to this question is yes, then you are ready to begin the adventure of a lifetime. You will be amazed at how your life will begin to change. You will see more miracles, experience more peace and joy, and see more of your dreams come true.

To hear this on audio, click here.

If you enjoyed this post and want to join this adventure and my blog community, enter your email address in the box provided. You'll also receive a copy of my free e-guide entitled "7 Steps to Finding Your Spiritual Path" . If you liked this post, click the +1 icon and share it with a friend.

Stay tuned for more on this transformational journey and as always,
Keep looking up!

Ariel