Hopes

I remember as a child being told, "Don't get your hopes up." It immediately deflated my balloon of hope and all its possibilities that I had floating about me. It immediately told me that life was bound to be filled with disappointments. This statement told me that I should not aim too high in any of my dreams as it was likely not to happen. This statement and others that were similar were often shared with me as I grew by many different adults in my life; parents, teachers, coaches and more. Statements like, "In the real world things like that don't happen" or "You are getting too old to think like that" or "Well, I used to believe that too until I wised up." After a while I stopped looking to life to bring me good things, magic or wonder. I have since learned that my thoughts are very powerful. They are so powerful that they create my reality. I was not willing to accept that my life did not hold miracles, that my life had to be mundane, that my hope was part of my powerful tool collection that I brought to my day.

I bring my hope to the day. Hope adds fuel to my actions, delight to my efforts and it buoys me through my struggles. It reminds me to believe in the miracles and to look for them. It shows me the path of my dreams. It is something I offer to those in my life as a bright burning star to shine on their actions and thoughts.

Hope is a brilliant light that can serve as a beacon in our dark days. It shares a light onto the places where we feel stuck and shows us where to find the flow. It wakes parts of us that want to turn away and bury under the blanket of life when we feel overwhelmed, undone, or simply tired. Hope allows us to lean back into Her arms and reminds us of all the times she has helped us through.

My story is not one of disappointment or mundane. My story is full! It is packed with wonder, beauty, dreams, possibilities, growth, and gifts. There are parts of the story that have struggle, challenge or pause and hope is the light I look for to empower me to move to the next moment of the day.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade

What Inspires You?

Have you asked yourself this question lately? Do you know? It is important to know the answer. It is important to honor the answer and celebrate it in your life. What inspires you feeds your passion. What inspires you awakens your soul. What inspires you challenges you to grow. We often let our self judgement or our fear keep us from creating from our inspiration. We think things have to be perfect, the best, final, or complete. Inspiration grows within us as we evolve in the process of its unfolding. Helen Keller once stated, "Life is either a grand adventure or nothing." That is how to approach the wonder found in your inspiration. Let it fuel your grand adventure!

If your inspiration is singing, don't wait until you "think" you are the best at singing, share your song with others and share your inspiration. If your creative fire is part of your inspiration, allow your art to be shared and see how it moves others. If your time in Nature inspires you, then be sure to make regular time to be out in it in your life, not only when there is time.

How often have you allowed fear or criticism stop you from doing something that you are inspired to do? When we allow this to happen it stops us in our tracks of experiencing our grand adventure. Our inspiration is a potent force that runs through us. Grab a hold and enjoy the ride!

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade

Making Time for Play, Adventure and Delight

Giggles erupt from mouth, tears are rolling down my cheeks and my sides ache from the continuing belly laughter. I am with my family, laughing away at some silliness, some funny personal story, some delightful joke shared among us. These moments are often in my home. The laughter becomes contagious, the mood lighter, the memories deeper and we fall in love with one another again and again. Our souls are at play together, sharing and delighting in the energies. Our souls are alive and vibrantly dancing in the flow of the creative energies of the moment. These energies are what help our souls thrive. These energies of fun, freedom, playfulness and wonder are what keep our creativity alive. Creativity grows in the fertile ground of play and wonder. It finds an ease in being. Our soul finds newness and vibrancy in the folds of it and expand its many colors, it flavors, it sounds and it textures. It awakens ideas, encourages actions, empowers dreams and expands visions.

Stress and and overwhelm stifle our creativity. When we fail to make time for play, when we stop seeking adventure and we hold off on delight, we limit the space our soul can breathe in. The flow for these energies can become blocked off. We need to feed our soul healthy doses of this generative time so that there is an abundance of energies flowing for the gradual pooling of our creative juices.

Marion Woodman shares, "If we fail to nourish our souls, they wither, and without soul, life ceases to have meaning.... The creative process shrivels in the absence of continual dialogue with the soul. And creativity is what makes life worth living." We can always find another thing on our list of what needs to be tended to, someone is always around to ask a favor of us, and we often find ourselves stuck in the rut of doing and find it challenging to break the cycle and step outside of it to find adventurous play time. But like most activities that are really good for us, as difficult as it can be to get started, once we do them and begin to enjoy them...we don't want to stop!

Our soul let's us know we are on the right track. There is a beautiful flow to our day. Obstacles do not stop us in our tracks, instead we find creative ways to incorporate them, to move through them and to appreciate them. Our soul encourages us to keep our commitment to the time for play, laughter and delight. It knows how much it will fuel us. It knows how strong our energies become and how inspired we become from these energies. Our days become filled with focus, with dreams, with vision, and with love. Soul is always creative, fresh and new. It is part of its very essence.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade

Finding the Union With My Soul

Have you noticed that life is filled with comparisons? From the time we are born it begins. And it continues to go on to varying degrees throughout our lifetime. More often than not, comparison is our ego trying to get us to focus on how we are different from others. In a society that does not support healthy self esteem and loves to invest in the energy around the haves and have nots....this is a dangerous path to walk to. It shuts us down. It divides. It disengages us from our soul. To find the union with my soul I prefer to focus energies on recognizing and celebrating the ways we are the same. Finding commonality between peers creates a bridge that communication can cross over. It is what often draws the heart to follow the love thread when we meet our partner. How much we share in common offers a sense of recognition and delights the soul.

When we separate ourselves from others through our beliefs we think we are in control. We get big in ego, we are not being authentic and do not invite positive energies into the relationship. When shift our perspective to be open and receptive, welcoming and inviting, non-judgmental and hold the vision of love, we have moved into our soul presence. Positivity begins to flow and we find ourselves invested in the relationship.

When we hold the vision of our connection with everything, life expands. As Wayne Dyer states, "As a holistic being you shatter the illusion of your separateness and reveal your connection to everything. This empowers you in a way that the ego-driven self could never contemplate." We learn that egoic beliefs separate while soul love unites.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade