Yes, It Must Be So

The inspiration for today’s blog is a beautiful and powerful poem that poses the necessary questions whose only answer is, “Yes, it must be so!” "What if our religion was each other If our practice was our life If prayer, our words What if the temple was the Earth If forests were our church If holy water--the rivers, lakes, and ocean What if meditation was our relationships If the teacher was life If wisdom was self-knowledge If love was the center of our being." ~ Ganga White

So what if our religion were each other and we cherished and honored the glory of our family and friends, if we respected and revered the beauty of all souls that walk this earth? What if? How different would be receive and accept one another?

And could you bring so much integrity into every day that your life became your service to others? Imagine how your actions would be affected and how your choices may be different?

Think of the words you speak. Could you speak them as though in prayer? Could they leave your lips and be sacred enough for the gods to receive? What would you say differently? How would they shower blessings onto others?

Each day we awaken on our temple’s floor. We are blessed beyond what we can conceive. What if we rose each day and strode across this temple floor with the utmost awe and wonder of its majestic beauty and we tended it with the loving care that would carry it for all universal time? Imagine the spires of the trees rising to the heavens bringing our prayers into the realms beyond our reach. See the waters as the cleansing and purifying tonics of life that we can sip from to replenish our tired soul and wash away the wounds of old and then splash with delight in as we celebrate its flow of life.

What if we relied more on our own personal lessons as the instructive gifts and not seek teacher after teacher to show us the way? What if our inner truth and authentic story held the wisdom of our path and we only needed to be present and live within the moment to learn fully what is being offered for our progress, growth and fulfillment?

Can you see yourself as love, not simply being loved or offering love? What if love were the core of your essence and everything that emanated from it became love, sought to love and brought back love. Imagine!

Yes, the only answer can be, Yes, it must be so! Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade

Imagine

Imagine having a safe haven to share your most inner truths. Imagine sharing without fear of judgment, shame or blame. No ridicule or criticism would be allowed. Imagine sitting there and revealing your inner wounds, your darkest fears, your biggest flaws, your more revealing scars and having a compassionate and understanding reception, an open heart of love and a warm embrace to lean into. Imagine all the self-admission you could share and the healing that would follow. Why is this so unavailable in our society? Are we not all human? Don’t we fail, screw up, hurt others, make mistakes, crash and burn, lie, or fear at some point in our life? I doubt there is anyone of us that has not, perhaps we are striving not to, or may even not want to admit it, but let’s face it…it is there.

Some of the biggest soul wounds come from a sense of abandonment, of alone-ness, and isolation. Imagine if we were to hold one another in our ugliest of places and be comfortable in doing so, knowing that it is part of the perfect balm for the spirit and soul. Imagine if we went to a place of self-acceptance and released the shame in a healthy environment of support and focus on moving forward with lessons tucked under our belt. Imagine if we were told we were exactly who we should be and are a being of love, even when we were really messing things up and felt unlovely, imagine how our perspective would change.

The only way we can begin to create this utopia of supportive understanding is to begin with ourselves first. If we cannot be this for ourselves, it will be impossible to be this for any one else and if we try to fake it all the inauthenticity will be revealed. It must be genuine, it must be intentional, it must be unconditional and it must come from within. Begin today. There will be a moment when you can stop and begin to respond to your own inner critic, embrace your wounded self, offer compassion to your fool and hold your tender heart. Begin today with you and the change will begin for all.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade

The Practice of Balance

It seems that life is more than willing to give me ongoing opportunities to keep practicing balance. Whether it be a balance of giving and receiving, a balance of rest and work, or a balance of willing and surrendering. I am given chances to ignore what does not honor the work I am doing and to cherish the moments of alignment. My times of struggle are purposefully well balanced with times of play. As I approach my 50th birthday I think about how at one time in my life I actually believed a day would come that the seeking balance would not be an everyday occurrence…silly me. It seems that the better I get at this act of balance, the more I am aware of its necessity. I see it as it comes around the corner of my day! I am ready for the challenge. I have learned that with each attempt I become stronger and more adept at the act of balance. And life, being the wise teacher that it is, keeps me on my toes with more and more ways to stretch and expand in my balancing skills.

I am proud to say I look forward to these opportunities. Hindsight always shows that they serve me well. The learning curve sometimes is larger and longer than at other times, but that is the point! Isn’t it? I no longer expect life to be easy, struggle free or even keeled. I no longer have any expectations. I have learned to live with possibilities and that is probably the best tool I now have in my tool belt to approach balance with.

Whether it feels like a stroll over a high wire or a hop, skip and a jump along a few stumbling blocks of my path, I don’t let it hinder me or turn me away. I just take a deep breath, seek my intention, find my focus and stay open to what will happen next. It is the only way I know to do it and after all these years, it is serving me well. How about you? What does your balancing act look like?

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade

Escape Definition

There is a wonderful quote by Eckhart Tolle that discusses the importance of not defining yourself. I find it very powerful and was called to it today to share with you all. “Give up defining yourself - to yourself or to others. You won't die. You will come to life. And don't be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it's their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don't be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.” — Eckhart Tolle

What a beautifully freeing way to present yourself to the world. Imagine not being boxed in by definitions created by others or yourself. Imagine the freedom to be whomever and whatever you are in this very moment. And then imagine the freedom that you can shift and change from that moment’s perspective to the very next without need of worry about how it will be perceived or understood. This can be your reality!

Our possibilities in life are limitless and our beauty has a presence that has no boundaries, except when we create them or allow others to. Being fully present and authentic to yourself means being the full expansion of who you are, now. And then again, now. We are ever evolving and growing, sometimes constricting or sometimes in a place of pause, but we are ongoing in our personal design in life. There is a permission given to us by our souls to live in this place of power. That is exactly what it is, you know? A place of self power, because it is not dictated by expectations or presumptions. It is raw and unbridled. It is free and flowing. It is all and nothing at once.

We lose some of this power when we become boxed in and restrained. If we are performing to meet someone’s expectations or to keep ourselves comfortably stagnant, we are bleeding from our soul the essence of our potential. It takes an understanding of the fact that we are meant to be vibrant and present, filled with light and love, open to growth and at peace with stillness and everything in between. Even in our time of pain or loss, we are exactly as we are meant to be. We are not failing or faltering from what has been designed for us. So if we can accept this, we then open ourselves up to the gifts and lessons of that moment as well.

Blessings ~ Lisa ©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade