Where Do You Place Your Focus?

Albert Einstein once stated, “Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” We often forget this piece of truth when we are struggling, overwhelmed or at our wits end. But it is vital to our living in grace, embracing happiness and in finding peace. The problem for many is the process of moving from point A to point B. How do you find the simplicity, the harmony or the opportunity when you are feeling like your life is falling apart? Where we decide to focus our energies is key. If we continue to put our focus on the negative then that will be all we see and feel. But if we can find one piece to hold onto that is lighter or brighter and invest our thoughts and discussions on that, removing ourselves from conversations about the negativity surrounding us, we find our energies begin to shift. We have all experienced it. You bump into a friend, they are in a very sour mood, feeling as though there is a black cloud hanging overhead, or feeling like the world is out to get them. Their entire conversation with you is spent spewing, unraveling and re-raveling the tired story of why their life is a mess, who is against them, how unhappy they are, how things will never change and so on. No matter what optimistic or hopeful comment you make they push it aside and insist on stepping back into the mud puddle they are carrying around with them. Almost every encouragement you offer is met with a “Yes, but…”. It is exhausting not only for them, but for anyone else who crosses their path! Focusing on the negative is hard work!

It is hard to break the cycle, to step out of the repeating dialogue and negative mantra. But once you do, you feel the energy shift. At first your mind may try to persuade you to come back, to give it more to fester over, to offer you excuses and rationales of why this or that. Continue though to place your focus on one thing that can be seen as a positive possibility, on way to simplify, on peaceful thought and you will see that your soul responds to the life line being tossed its way!

Grab ahold of this and take it with you and move yourself away from the triggers of the negativity. It could be a situation, it could be a conversation, or it could be a relationship. Step away from it until you feel you have a better balanced, healthier perspective and can embrace the positive possibilities of dealing with it, if you even decide to return to it at all. Many times once we are able to do this we find that it matters so very much less to us than we originally thought and we can just let it go. As Henry David Thoreau wrote, “It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.” What you have learned to see in these situations is that you are in control of how you react to what happens to you. Then in response to the you choose to react, the future and how things unfold for you change. It is a beautiful equation.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 LISA MEADE

Supportive Distance

The past few days have been spent, for me, in service to others, mostly family members. It was a full week of decision-making, events that provoked stresses and feelings of vulnerability for many of my family. Each one sought me out to vent to, to share with, to inquire from and to explore possibilities with. Being a mother of five children, this is something that I have grown accustomed to, but admittedly it is these times when two or more of them need me in this manner all at the same time that I feel the weight of it all. After much good work, insightful processing, patience and gentle unfolding, each has found them selves on the other side. They were able to walk through the door of decision and lesson on their own with my tender encouragement and love. Now we can celebrate the forward movement each has made on their path. Now we can look back at the lessons that sparkle like gems for each. It is beautiful.

And for me, now I can find some time for pause. As Cesare Pavese states, “Just a bit of silence and everything stops in its actual place.” And that is what I need on this day, just a bit of silence so that life can return to where it needs to be, so that I can engage with it in the place that I am and so that my family can continue moving on. I think there are times when we become engaged in the lives of our family and friends, sometimes because we are invited in, other times because our energies are required and then sometimes because we want to be. Regardless of the reason, it is important to our family and friends that we stay present and that we remember it is THEIR story that is unfolding. We do not need to be brought into the drama of it. Loving support means we are able to remain nearby but do not become so involved that we are living it for them.

I think for some this can be challenging. There are those who are the fixers, who want to undo any hurt or wrong. There are those who are the diversion makers who try to draw away the loved one from potential pain or suffering. And there are those are the participants who become enthralled in the story, even though it is not there own. Learning how to be supportive and caring without stepping into any of these roles is sometimes challenging, but always important. It is within this space that we are allowing the one we love to learn what they need to, be who they are becoming and gain the lesson that is waiting for them, while we continue to love, encourage and witness for them with honor.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 LISA MEADE

The Deep Understanding of the Feminine Soul

The feminine has deep understanding of the power of matter. Women carry the instinctual knowing of the divine substance in matter and of how to bring this substance into life, because this knowledge is fundamental in the process of giving birth, in bringing a soul into human form. Now this wisdom is needed for the regeneration of the earth, for the earth’s awakening. ~Llewellyn Vaughan Lee There is an essence to the creativity of women that brings healing to life. The nurturing power of the divine feminine lives in us all, but it resonates with a woman’s soul. A woman is a powerful alchemist. She knows how to make gems from nothing, she knows how to bring blessings to pain, she is able to calm where there is chaos and she can bring celebration to the ordinary.

This lineage of wisdom flows through the veins of a woman. And now she is called forth to shower her blessings upon the earth. The earth is awakening and beneath in the stillness and the darkness await the seeds of our truth, reaching out are the trembling fibers of capillary like roots merging forth to find grounding. The woman knows how to tend and care with her gentleness. She knows how to fiercely guard this new growth with her intentions of care. She understands how to slowly share her wisdom, like gently rain, so as not to flood but to quench the thirst.

Our feminine understanding will empower many as we step up and hold out hearts of compassion. Our matriarchal insight will shed light to the darkness, inspire those who have not been supported and empower those whose time has come. We are the healers, the teachers, the artists, and the authors. We are the storytellers, the drummers, the medicine women and the shaman. We are the dancers, the fire tenders and the magic makers. We bring this and more to fill the gaps and chasms time has created. We bring this and more to breathe life into what is dying and should not. We bring this and more to release what is passing into the realms beyond. Because we intuitively know how to. Because we have been charge this mission and because we have seen what must now unfold.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade

Burst Into Bloom

“I hope you will go out and let stories happen to you, and that you will work them, water them with your blood and tears and you laughter till they bloom, till you yourself burst into bloom.” Clarissa Pinkola Estes We have had stories written about us in the minds of others, sometimes those stories are told so often to us that we make them ours and carry them over the lifetime with few alterations and seek supportive characters and scenes to add. But what truth is there in these stories, and if there is any does it even still apply? Have you ever dared to challenge it, to step out of the role, to author a new scene that does not fit the story at all and turns it on its end?

The above quote supports this idea. The shaman celebrates this concept. You need to work your story and bring your essence, your passion, your joy and your soul into it and allow it to unfold as you work with it into the beauty and the truth is revealed. It may have a few familiar verses of the old story. It may visit some of the pages, though torn and tattered, but it will have its own vibrancy, its own unique flavor of the you that you are now and are becoming. It will not need the history to support it or back it. It does not need the drama of the past. It cannot thrive or flourish there.

Instead take your new story and bring your authorship to task. Bring it out into the light of the day. Let it experience itself in the now. Bring to it new relationships, new experiences, new concepts and more. The more you invest in the story of who you really are the fuller and richer it becomes and the more vibrant and joy filled you become. You begin to see the possibilities in every situation, event, relationship and more. You let go of the excuses and step away from the stumbling blocks that you allowed to obstruct you in the past from moving forward to the gifts that life holds out to you.

It can be challenging to do, but it will be worth it. The power of your thoughts and your words will become clear as we begin this process. Be mindful of them. Be aware that others in your life may not want you to change the story. That is ok, that is their process, not yours. Step by beautiful step you will unwind the old and create the new. Be gentle and compassionate to yourself. Be honest and brave. And remember it is your life story, you are its author, you are the artist with the paintbrush, bringing it to its colorful life!

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade