The Courage of the Lion

There are so many lessons we can learn from watching the beautiful creatures of the earth.  

They operate purely from instinct and are not hampered by judgment or conditioning.  They only do what feels natural to them.

And herein lies one of their most beautiful gifts to us.

When faced with a threat they contract and protect themselves; afterwards, they expand and return to their native physical expression and presence.


Our problem may be that we also contract when we perceive a threat but then choose to STAY IN CONTRACTION...never allowing the healing of expansion to occur because we refuse to fully experience our feelings.

 

Raphael Cushnir has written extensively on this critical subject.  A few days ago I finished reading his book, The One Thing Holding You Back.

I found it mesmerizing...powerful.   

It was easy to understand what he was saying and to see the steps he outlined for mastering the full expression of our feelings.  

Simple...but very, very challenging...because our lives are full of obstacles to this free, full expression of feelings (possibly because it is one of the greatest barriers we face in earth school).

And the price tag for staying contracted (in fear, judgment, anger, anxiety, resentment, etc.) is a deterioration of our health and well-being.

 

Like all of God's creatures we are exquisitely designed to experience...and that means experience fully...bravely and boldly.   Cushnir instructs us:  "You don 't just feel the moment but lean into it, let it ROAR right through you, and meet it with equal intensity."

Truly not for the faint of heart.  But the cost of shutting down...of staying in contraction,  Cushnir says, is becoming  "unavailable to love".

 

And so I pose this question to you:

If you wish to live your life filled with love, can you open yourself courageously to a FULL EXPRESSION OF YOUR FEELINGS...accepting and embracing them without judgment...thereby inviting the inevitable and highly treasured EXPANSION that leads to LOVE?

                                                                                  Marie Helena

image from grandmaideas.com

 originally published June 13, 2012

Our Agreement with LOVE

There is a crack in everything--
  that's how the light gets in.   

                        Leonard Cohen
                                                     


Have you ever noticed the cracks in your pavement where little wisps of beautiful green grass peek perseveringly through, compellingly drawn by instinct to find their way into where the action is?  These tender, growing, green wisps are drawn to the Light and they are a beautiful example of the Life Force we all share.

Those random cracks in the pavement cannot hold back the irresistible drive to see, to learn, to grow.  And we, too, are drawn to feel, to experience.  This PRIMAL FORCE is lovingly evident in the curiosity of the child to peek under the pebbles, step into the puddling rain, chase after the toad hopping across his path.  Though life's challenges may weary us, the longing to grow remains as an earth school marker, a testimony to the journey we willingly embarked upon.


The Light comes in through the cracks (our adversities, our difficulties, our challenges, our limiting beliefs, our pain) because that is our DIVINE AGREEMENT.

We seek what is unknown to us and are guided through our earthly "adventures" by the LoveLight that comes in through the cracks.

                                                                      
                                                                                                      Marie Helena                                                                                                



 image from vivian-institches.blogspot.com -
 vivian - in stitches: February 2008

And the Oscar Goes to

   

       There are no accidents in a world 
              governed by Divine intelligence.
                                                  
                 Pamela Hope DeLuca-Price






Try to imagine the most creative, awesome, inspiring adventure for the story of your life. 

Did you cast this year's Oscar winning actors and actresses in your production?  Hire the best costumers and sound crew?  The director of the year?  Do you have research gurus at your fingertips and an unlimited budget?

Use every ounce of your imagination and creativity and you still cannot come close to the unparalleled beauty of your endowment from the Divine Universe....in earth school terms...
the OSCAR of oscars!


The unfolding of THIS creation is beyond imagination for it finds the most powerful, most compelling, most perfect way to take you where your soul desires to go.  And the journey there is exciting, unpredictable, challenging and surprisingly satisfying BUT (and this is the important part) you cannot see the script even while you're living it.  It's a mystery...a puzzle...a conundrum.


Your life is filled with interconnecting communications and occurrences with countless others.  Each one mysteriously moves you closer to what your soul desires...and in the most compelling way...but this may not be obvious in the moments you are living it.


And because you are a SPIRITUAL being having an earthly experience you are a part of this DIVINE unfolding.  Your words, your actions, your thoughts, your intentions...vibrate out into the universe, affecting untold numbers of lives...most of whom you don't even know exist.


It is the beauty of your heart that blesses so many...and those hearts go on to bless others and on and on it goes into infinity.  You are writing the history of the universe and its inhabitants with every breath you take, every thought you think, every word you say.

The MOVIE of all movies!  What an exquisite space in which to be a part of a global healing!



Such a BEAUTIFUL plan.

Divine Intelligence is orchestrating the manifestation of your soul's desire as your life builds upon each experience to move you in the direction of that dream and, while it does this, it is beaming the vibrations of your heart out to the universe to bless others and share your joy.


There are no accidents...only your soul's desire coming fully into fruition through Divine Intelligence and your life efforts at Love expressing itself the best way it knows how touching (and often healing) lives.

What contribution will you make to the movie of YOUR life in this A MA ZING Universe?


                                                                                                  Marie Helena 



image from www.oscars.org

HeartSounds

 








 
image of Andrea Bocellil from sonbab.deviantart.com 
Andrea Bocelli by sonbab


The Voice of an Angel...Andrea Bocelli...
  my go-to place for heart connection!

Italian tenor and singer/songwriter Andrea Bocelli is a very important part of my morning ritual.  I am not by nature a morning dove...rather a night blooming jasmine.  But when this jasmine awakens to (very slowly) acclimate to the morning, Bocelli's music is what begins the process of my energizing.

I've been listening to and loving Bocelli for quite some time.  His voice connects with my soul and though I studied a little Italian in preparation for a beautiful encounter with Firenze several years ago, the fact is I do not understand what this impressive tenor is singing.

And it makes no difference to me because it is ONLY the words I do not understand. 

The FEELINGS expressed by his beautiful voice ARE  the MESSAGE and they SPEAK to me.  And they do MORE than that...they vibrate with the sweep of my heart.


And I am mesmerized by this vibration...it SUSTAINS me.   This impulse tells me it is my HEART that is designed to direct the music of my life...not my intellect (though I dearly love to exercise it).     

I believe this is true of everyone.

In some individuals the heart may be sleeping...hibernating...because of unhealed pain, protecting itself from life's countless and often unpredictable adventures.  But the desire to FEEL is a human need we all share.

And the OPPORTUNITY to feel and to have the feeling RECOGNIZED is a Gift of Life.

The Divine Universe is unendingly creative in the way it sends its messages to us. Just this morning I realized I had received another tapping of this awareness a few days ago when I attended a planning meeting in Florida with David Webber, Chief Operating Officer of Practice Technology, Inc., who commented to me that he always reads his email for the FEELING of the writer, not for the words. 

It is not the words of Andrea Bocelli that affect me so profoundly.  It is the WAY he sings those lyrics.  And it is not the words of an email that David Webber "hears"...it is the message of a heart.


Is your heart vibrating with emotion?  Have you given yourself permission to feel this primal longing?  And do you "hear" the HeartSounds of everyone around you?


                                                                                                         Marie Helena 





 

Hug the Ice

...when you hug ICE, it has 
    no choice:  it must 
    gradually disappear.
       
                    David Mutchler


HUGGING  ICE?

This would probably NOT be the first idea to occur to us.  But, according to David Mutchler, perhaps it's THE  BEST.


Let's consider this rather strange suggestion for a moment and also think about our typical reactions to the "icy" moments in our life.


*What's usually our first reaction to someone's cold shoulder?
 
Who needs this?  I'm outta here.
We make our quick getaway and we're "safe"...until the unresolved problem that caused the cold shoulder comes up again.  And it will.  It didn't go away.  It went underground and it's waiting for the next opportunity to surface.



*What about the Icy feel of self-judgment when we trash our self-concept 
    with labels like...
    Nice move, stupid
    Loser!
    I can't believe I did that AGAIN.

It's difficult to get motivated into some positive action after we deliver that kind of speech to ourselves.

 

*And how about feeling trapped in the ice of some old, unconscious, non-productive habits...and beating ourselves up about this behavior time after time?

 


The escape hatch from these dilemmas, according to Mutchler, is to LOVE our way out.  That's right.  HUG THE ICE!
 
Love what is...accept what is...whether it's someone's negative attitude, our own poor judgment or decision or the repetitive, hair-trigger responses that never serve us well.

Call up a boatload of  COMPASSION (my favorite elixir) and apply liberally to the unsettling situation.  

There's a REASON for what is happening.  And there is undoubtedly a back story of unresolved pain and hurt.


Compassion first.  That's the mantra we need.
 

After giving this first application of compassion we soften our hearts and feel more open to and caring of ourselves or whoever is undergoing the suffering because we or they lacked the tools to deal with it...to release and resolve it...and are now acting out the hurt...once again.

And here's the really beautiful part.  When someone feels truly cared for and understood, that individual is perfectly poised to begin to envision their own view of how to approach their problem. 

They see the solution themselves...and they are willing to consider undertaking it.


But they won't do this if they don't feel loved and understood.  Oh no, they'll be fully engaged In defending themselves AND their behavior or in condemning themselves as the dregs of society.


Maybe that someone we're describing is another person...or...maybe it's us.  

Whoever it is, receiving the "hug" of attention and interest and, most of all, compassion will melt the icy outer layer we wear and reveal the bruised heart inside that's been protecting itself with the cold.

 
So hug the ice wherever you find it...in your heart or in the hearts of others.   Hold fast to your faith in acceptance, understanding and love and watch this magic melt AND heal  all of the pain we have ever encountered.

Melt the ice!

website for image: 

Fractal Art by Nathan Smith.      Melt the Ice by zueuk

creativefan.com

originally printed September 28, 2012