The Attitude of Gratitude Changes Everything!

In honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday in the USA it is time to explore and tune into the energy of gratitude and giving thanks. Having gratitude for what you have and all that you are is a powerful energy that will change everything in your life!

When was the last time you took a moment to look around you and appreciate, I mean REALLY appreciate all that you have? How about yourself? When was the last time you sat quietly to appreciate and give thanks to your body for all it does for you? Been a while? If so, it’s time to CULTIVATE your GRATITUDE!

Gratitude and giving thanks allows you to have more in your life by healing what you wish to heal therefore creating a space for more! It takes your attention out of the past or future and into the present which is where all creating takes place. It sends a message into the universe that you are grateful for what you have NOW.

Think of it this way, if you brought a gift to someone and they didn’t say thank you then you brought another and they tossed it aside with no acknowledgement, do you think you would continue to give them gifts? You are receiving miracles and gifts on a daily basis. Having gratitude for these gifts sends a vibration into the universe.

As an energy vibration gratitude can heal a broken heart, clear communication & stuck energy, bring awareness to the abundance you already have in your life and is naturally steeped in forgiveness.

Gratitude and giving thanks is not mutually exclusive to the positive things in your life. It also means finding gratitude and GOODNESS in difficult times, or for a person who has hurt or invalidated you.

It may not be easy to find gratitude for, let’s just say, someone who broke your heart but give thanks and be grateful for the beautiful moments they brought you. You wouldn’t have had the experience if they hadn’t come into your life! There is a lesson you learned and more often than not, you discovered how strong and capable you really are!

How do you begin changing and shifting your attitude to gratitude? Very simply, begin by writing down the things you are grateful for! Include gratitude for the lessons you have learned and for those who brought you those lessons. Include gratitude for all that you are and the abundance that already surrounds you! Notice how your mood changes the more you write!

To cultivate your gratitude, keep a gratitude journal for 30 days. Each day write at least 5 things you are grateful for. Be sure to include those things or people you are having a challenge with. There is always something to appreciate and be grateful for when you look for it!

Creating change is a process and initially change is invisible because it happens on a vibrational level. That said, these changes ARE affecting your life. At first you will notice subtle changes, then as you continue the process, the changes you see and feel are more profound! You hold in your hands the power to cultivate the ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE! Take time each day to appreciate your loved ones, your body & spirit, ALL you are and ALL you have!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I want to extend my deepest gratitude and appreciation to each one of you. You touch my life with your light and inspire me to continue doing my work in this world. BOUNTIFUL BLESSINGS TO YOU AND YOURS!~Shine Your Light Debbie

SpiritLightInsight.com

Nov 9 2011

There’s ALWAYS a bigger picture…What’s Yours?

As I gaze out the window of the plane at 32000 feet, I’m suddenly in awe of the landscape below and the infinite universe above. As we ascended into the sky the view of movement below becomes indistinguishable and finally vanishes altogether. For a time we are lost in the clouds which act like a comforting blanket of soft fluffy cotton in the sky.

What started out as a rainy, gloomy Chicago morning turned into being surrounded by magical, billowy cloud castles with the sun casting a pinkish red glow on the clouds adding to the beautiful sight. I slept for a time (truth be told I love to sleep on planes!) and when I opened my eyes the sky was clear, showing brown majestic mountains below and the brilliant azure blue atmosphere above.

There I was in a 737 bubble flying overhead while the earth was teaming with life below. People are going to work and getting on with their busy-ness. There is worry, stress, joy, happiness or whatever consumes and demands ones immediate attention. From where I sat in my bubble the vastness of the landscape and the limitless possibilities took precedence over the details and worries of the past or future.

There are times when what demands your attention creates a vortex which sucks you in causing you to be stuck in the middle of swirling energies. The bubble you sit in is filled with so much other ‘stuff’ that you lose your sense of self. It is this very ‘loss of self’ that causes you to get caught up in the bubble of demands which consume your thoughts until it is all you can see. When you begin to see the bigger picture, you will find that your immediate circumstances are a mere blip on the radar of infinite possibilities!

Losing yourself in the details it’s almost impossible to see the bigger picture and there is ALWAYS a bigger picture. If you take a step back for a moment you may even find an answer or two which has eluded you. There is clarity and comfort in the big picture. When you find YOUR bigger picture, you find there is a purpose to what you are going through. That purpose teaches you something and adds depth and meaning whether it is good, bad or indifferent.

It’s beneficial to step out of your routine and the details of everyday life for a moment to get a sense of the bigger picture. Take a step back, turn your attention inward and when you have gotten back to yourself, just observe.

How about a little game to illustrate? Stare at your thumb for one minute. Keep focusing on your thumb. Now, while still staring at your thumb, tell me the details of your surroundings. Not from memory, no cheating! Tell me in detail what’s across the room while staring at your thumb. Interesting isn’t it. You can’t see much else while all your attention is focused on just your thumb. It is the same with your day-to-day life.

Stepping out of the energy to look at the big picture gives you an entirely new perspective and you don’t have to get on a plane to do it! Take time to meditate and return to your own personal energy bubble. This separates you enough to stop you from staring only at your thumb. It allows you to come out of the clouds, see the sun which has always been there and gives you space to see the bigger picture. What’s yours?~Shine Your Light Debbie

SpiritLightInsight.com

Oct 1 2011

How would you spend 525,600?

Photo Courtesy of Kate Janes

Say I were to give you $525,600 per year for the rest of your life. That’s $1440 per day! I’m sure you can think of many ways to spend it but the catch is you can’t spend any of it on yourself! Altruism aside, how would you feel if you were given that amount of money and couldn’t spend any of it…not one dime, on yourself.

To be sure that’s a lot of money and you might get a little angry if I dropped a sack filled with money on your doorstep every year yet none of it was for you. Wouldn’t it be great if we ALL had $525,600 per year, every year for the rest of our lives! The things we could do, places we could go, the things we could see & experience. If you could use it for yourself would you place value on every $1 and use it to enhance not only your life but the lives of those you hold dear?

Certainly with that kind of money coming in every year your life would change. You’d probably relax, take time to focus on those things and people who are important to you. You’d spend your time and energy on things that make you happy now instead of worrying about the future. Now follow along with me here. What if the ‘currency’ I’m really talking about is your TIME and how you value yourself? Do you value your time and energy as much as the value you place on money? Play along with me here for a few moments!

Every year you have 525,600 valuable minutes. That’s 1440 minutes per day and it renews every year. I wish I could say there is ‘roll-over’ time but that’s it! It’s finite. There is no ‘do over’. Once you’ve ‘spent’ your time it’s done, over, finito. Similar to spending money don’t you think? Every minute has value. What you spend your time and energy focusing on has value just as you have great value. Do you spend some of your precious minutes on YOU? If not it’s very much like the ‘catch’ I mentioned in the beginning of this…you are not placing value on yourself!

So how do you spend your 1440 minutes each day? What could you create with the valuable time you spend thinking about the past or worrying about the future? How many minutes do you spend nurturing your spirit? How many valuable minutes do you string together for beautiful moments in your life?

Noticing where you put your time and energy is the first step toward valuing each moment. With awareness you have a choice about how you’d like to spend your minutes. You can choose to spend time creating wonderful experiences and living life or unable to move forward and stuck in the past. You can choose to love or hate. You can choose to spend your time and energy worrying or creating something new. Whatever you choose, remember that once you’ve spent it, it’s gone and merely a memory. Why not choose to Live On Purpose?

In the movie “RENT” the song “Seasons of Love” says it best. ’525,600 moments so dear…how do you measure a year….’ There is value to who and what you spend time loving. There is value to where you place your time and energy. Be sure to spend time on your most valuable resource….YOU!~Shine Your Light Debbie

SpiritLightInsight.com

Sep 22 2011

Do you have a Fear of Success?

Fear is a powerful energy that can stop you dead in your tracks. It is an energy that can run in the background without you even knowing it. It could simply be that little doubt in the back of your mind or on a larger scale, cause panic attacks, or self sabotage. Typically we delve into letting go of our fear of failure but there is another side to it; The fear of success.

Rather than focus on failure, it is helpful to focus on success. If you are focusing on failure, guess what’s going to happen? You are probably successful in many areas of your life but there’s this one thing….the one you want most which eludes you. Do you have a picture of what life would be like if you succeeded in that particular area? If you can’t see your success clearly it’s time to begin seeing yourself as successful!

Fear is a funny thing. Not the haha kind of funny but interesting to look at. If you’ve been unsuccessful achieving your dream there may be an underlying invalidation or a doubt in your mind that says you ‘can’t do it’ because you’re somehow not worthy or good enough to have it. There is also the ‘what will I do then’ thought. Oh yes, that one! If your focus has always been on say losing weight, what will you focus on once you hit your goal? If you’ve spent time and energy trying to ‘find the one’, what happens when you do?

If you succeed at the very thing you’ve wanted most whether it be happiness, love, a successful career, a family, it means life as you know it will completely change and you must focus your time and energy on something else. Many people (maybe not YOU but many people) are so comfortable in the seeking that just when success is in their grasp they quit because they don’t believe they can succeed or can’t picture what life will be like once they get it.

When you create a clear picture in your mind of having the relationship you want, losing weight, visualizing your book being published, painting or putting an idea on paper, a successful career, whatever it is for you, trust me the fear will come up! Just let it bubble up and then send it on its merry way!

Here’s where it get REALLY interesting=>Is the fear really yours? AH HA! Take everything I just wrote and throw it out the window because more often than not the energy of fear you experience IS NOT YOURS! In fact, any energy that doesn’t feel good, is out of your control or stops you from moving forward IS NOT YOURS!

Take a moment to ponder this. When you are successful in ALL areas of your life, it changes in ways you can’t even imagine. What does that mean for your friends and family? Might one or two of them be uncomfortable because they don’t feel successful in some area of their own life? Are you being ‘nice’ and not taking steps toward your success so others are comfortable?

I now recommend you take a deep breath! Let go of everything that just came up for you. Indeed it might not be a fear of failure that gets in the way but the fear of actually succeeding…and that fear might not even be yours so LET IT GO! ~Shine Your Light Debbie

SpiritLightInsight.com

Is it Fear of Failure or Fear of Success? (inkspeare.wordpress.com)

Sep 14 2011

Tell Someone You Love Them; You Never Know What Tomorrow Brings…

Today I found out that one of my friends who was in fact my next door neighbor growing up, passed away suddenly at age of 50. We had just recently re-connected on Facebook and he took the time to reach out to me via private email. He asked me to call him to catch up which I very much wanted to do.

I never made that phone call. Not because I didn’t want to but I was in the middle of a dark moment of my own and needed to keep busy and to heal. A sad excuse to be sure. I’ll call tomorrow, I told myself, but after a few months I still hadn’t made the call.

Life is too short to dwell on the past or worry about the future. Imagine if you logged the time spent not living life to its fullest. How much time do you spend worrying about things that you have no control over? How much time do you spend lamenting about something in the past that you can’t change? How many times were you just ‘too busy’ to make the call? How much time do you spend worrying about a future that is only yours to create from the present?

This reminds me of the Harry Chapin song “Cats in the Cradle”. All those times we intend to re-connect, spend time with someone, tell someone we love them or forgive them are merely intention and while the intention is there unless you act on it, your moment might just pass; You never know if tomorrow you might not be able to do it.

Back in 1980 there was a man I re-connected with after living out of the country. It was a beautiful night, the moon was bright and the stars were shining. I so wanted to tell him I loved him but was afraid of his reaction. That night he asked me to call him in the morning. On my way home that night I decided to tell him when I saw him the next day. I called in the morning. His father answered the phone and told me he had been shot and killed after I left him. To this day if there is something I want to tell someone I tell them without fear or regret.

Life is much to short to spend it worrying. There should never be a time when you are too busy to pick up that phone and make amends, tell someone you love them or go on that lunch date. Don’t let time slip between your fingers until it’s too late. You never know what tomorrow will bring.

Live well, follow your passion, laugh often and spend real TIME with those you love. If you’ve intended on doing it, make time in your busy schedule to re-connect, reach out, forgive and tell someone you love them. How about right NOW? ~Shine Your Light Debbie

This blog is dedicated to and in memory of Alan Wolkoff. Rest in peace my friend.

SpiritLightInsight.com

Jul 13 2011

Choose to see yourself as I see you….

….and see the magnificent spirit that you are! If you choose to see yourself as I see you, you will see your purpose for being on this planet at this particular time and how many lives you’ve touched along the way. As spirit you are a perfect being so why see yourself as anything less?

This is not about ego, thinking you are better than someone else or about exerting your power over another. It is not that you don’t have anything to learn or that you will never have challenging experiences which often leave you asking why this or that happened or is happening in your life. It is about seeing the light that is the very core of your being and accepting that others may or may not choose to see it for themselves.

There are some on this planet who only see and feel pain or become detached from themselves and others. Others numb the pain and find comfort with alcohol, drugs or food. They hide behind their addictions wearing them like a suit of armour blaming everyone else or giving over their power to the pain. It is a choice to allow pain and addiction to take over ones life. It’s not easy to break the cycle but it IS a choice to seek other ways to deal with pain and bring comfort to oneself.

Many give away their beautiful energy to others looking for validation. You don’t have to give away your energy to heal someone else! In fact at some point if you are doing this, the person you are healing will exit your life because your energy does not belong in that person’s space and there is always an exchange. You give them your energy and take on their pain. When they look at you, all they can see is the pain you’ve taken on.

There is strength in seeing spirit and how you choose to see yourself is a choice you make each day. Choosing to see yourself as the radiant being that you are is not always easy because the choice of awakening means seeing, accepting and letting go of the pain and choices you’ve made in the past. When a light shines into the darkness it illuminates what is there and it may indeed highlight painful moments. However, light also brings truth and eventually transforms darkness into a new dawn.

I see you as a truly unique being. A creator of your life. A bright light shining like the stars in the sky. I see you in your radiance and that you have the ability to choose to live from your magnificence. I see you as having purpose on this planet. I see you as a being of light and love. I see you as a child of God with grace and goodness in your heart.

With all that said, it really doesn’t matter how I see you. What matters is how and what YOU choose to see for yourself. Awaken to and see your brilliance! Allow it to burst forth from the inside out! Remember the Ugly Duckling story about the homely little bird who suffers abuse from his neighbors until, he matures into a beautiful swan? You have the ability and the choice to see your inner swan! What you see is what you get!~Shine Your Light Debbie

SpiritLightInsight.com

It Takes Courage to Heal… (dailymuse.spiritlightinsight.com)
Please EXcuse the exCuse’! (dailymuse.spiritlightinsight.com)
Did You Turn Off Your Ability to See? (dailymuse.spiritlightinsight.com)

Jun 25 2011

Step Out of the Drama Drama Drama!

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely
players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”~William Shakespeare As You Like It

Let’s face it, life can be full of DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA. Personal drama, someone else’s drama and the drama that takes on a life of its own when you inadvertently get in the middle of someone else’s. The Shakespeare quote is a great way to describe the leading role you play in your life in all its different stages. Now the question becomes is there drama in your life? Do you enjoy it? Is it a comedy or tragedy? If your life is full of drama and you’re not enjoying it maybe it’s time to exit stage left and then Enter Laughing!

There are people whose lives are full of chaos and drama. You may know some of these people or notice it in your own life. At times you may find yourself drawn into a drama wondering how you got there in the first place. Perhaps you wanted to help a friend or found yourself vulnerable because you are a giver and healer. It may even be that you have a flair for the dramatic and it adds a bit of excitement to your life.

Drama is different from life challenges. Everyone has challenges. They are a part of life. Drama occurs depending on HOW you react, what you do and how you handle those challenges. On a daily basis you can simply turn on the news to see the diverse reactions to catastrophic events. You see interviews where some go into drama, others do not. Drama is full of, well….the DRAMATIC. It tends to feel like you are in the middle of a soap opera that will continue on forever.

Every scene in your life is an experience and will play itself out whether you take charge with awareness or not. You have the ability to enter the scene consciously, owning your part, adding and enriching the experience or you can allow yourself to get sucked into a vortex of drama, gossip, lies and competition swirling around you.

You also have the ability to exit the scene gracefully, with honor, forgiveness and your head held high. You can do this at any time during the scene by deciding that your role in the scene (or the play) is complete. If you’ve played the same part over & over again and the ending is always the same, it might be time to re-evaluate the role you have taken on and agreed to. It’s never too late to change the scenery, the script and your agreements to create a brand new ending.

You will have many scenes and play a lot of roles in your lifetime. At some level you agreed to each one of them. If you enjoy the drama, chaos and the same ending, by all means continue. If you’d like to change the part you play step out of the drama! Step out to center stage and take command with awareness! Life is what you make it so live it AS YOU LIKE IT! ~Shine Your Light Debbie

SpiritLightInsight.com

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Jun 20 2011

Honor What You’ve Been Through

This post was inspired by a recent very insightful reading session

In life there are events that have a profound transformational effect on our lives. It could be an illness/disease, an injury, an accident, sudden death of a loved one, a major upheaval or uncovering truth about a person, a relationship or situation. Often times these events are traumatic and take years to recover from and heal.

The tendency when a major event happens is to ask ‘how did’ or ‘why did’ this or that happen. Sometimes we dwell on it or become a victim to it and other times we pack it away and ignore it altogether because we are just trying to put the pieces back together, make sense of it all and return to a ‘normal’ life.

It’s important to remember that the cathartic events in our lives are pivotal and lead to true healing and transformation. These events hit so hard that you have no choice but to open your eyes to the fact that you will no longer be able to live your life ‘business as usual’. They cause you to change direction and more often than not this reality shift is very positive even if it doesn’t feel like it while you are going through it.

Once you have acknowledged and accepted what has happened and you begin to see the ‘light at the other end of the tunnel’ it is time to embrace and honor the enormity of what you just went through. Letting go and then taking back your energy and power is only a part of the healing process. Honoring that you’ve just been through something, allowing yourself to process and feel your feelings about it is just as important as letting go and moving on!

It’s not so much about honoring the experience in detail but that you’ve actually come through something SO big that it rocked your world to the very core. This is precisely the time to be extra gentle with yourself, rest and meditate more. You may need to forgive yourself if you blame yourself and think it’s your fault for not being able to control the situation or that you somehow could have prevented it from happening in the first place.

Cathartic events are gifts! They open your eyes and make you realize what is really important to you! They offer you a chance to see with clarity how strong you are! They give you the opportunity to know you can persevere, change and heal those things which you have control over; Your energy, your thoughts and how you live your life.

If you are in the middle of one of these major life changing events remember that it’s always darkest before the dawn and this too shall pass. Once it has passed, honor that what you’ve been through has forever effected and changed your mind, body & spirit. Decide to move forward with renewed strength, fortitude and the knowledge you’ve just received!~Shine Your Light Debbie

SpiritLightInsight.com

You can’t do it for someone else….. (dailymuse.spiritlightinsight.com)
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It’s ALWAYS Darkest Before the Dawn (dailymuse.spiritlightinsight.com)

Apr 23 2011

There’s a Prize Inside!

“We’re so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it is all about.”~Joseph Campbell

Remember a long time ago when you were promised a prize inside of a box of cereal, cracker jack or your ‘happy meal’? You searched through the box wanting little to do with the food until you found that coveted prize! Although the prizes were little more than cheap pieces of plastic or paper, you not only valued finding them but they had value to you.

As one grows older what you value changes. The ’prize’ is very different. It could be something like being asked to the prom, spending time with family & friends, owning a home or car, and in this work-a-day world a vacation or adventure. No longer is there excitement about dumping out the box, moving everything else aside to find the cheap, valueless prize inside the box. When you’re 5 there’s a great deal of value in that prize but by the time you’re 35…. not so much!

What prizes do you seek that hold value for you today?

Is it money? Time? Space? A relationship? Fame? Happiness? How do you go about emptying the box of all the ‘stuff’ that surrounds and covers up all that you seek? What is the value and meaning when you ‘find the prize’? More importantly when you get to the prize does it still hold the same value and meaning you thought it would?

Have you ever noticed how sometimes the prize isn’t as great as you imagined it? It might feel like something is missing or it didn’t bring about the ecstatic joy you thought it would. The reason for this happening is that if you are seeking a prize from an external source, it will never have true, infinite value and meaning until you find the real prize.

The REAL and most valuable prize you can find is within you!

You ARE the prize! You have value that goes beyond that which words can describe and until you value yourself and what’s already inside, nothing outside of you will confirm how valuable you really are. Money is nice but it’s not going to bring you value. Fame is great but it will never validate who you are until you do! It’s difficult under the best circumstances to find or even recognize true happiness until you find it within!

Every breath you take has value and meaning in this world!

Everything is energy vibrating at a different speed therefore everything you do, every breath you take, every choice you make has an effect on your inner world AND the one you live in! Your value is not measured by your wealth, how much you have, your status or fame. You value and self-worth is determined by how you see and what you feel and think about yourself!

Empty out the box called your life and find your inner value not based on those things outside of you or what you do but based on the very thing that gives you life…the prize inside…YOU! Appreciate and think of yourself as the prize and watch as things change! Cha Ching! ~Shine Your Light Debbie

SpiritLightInsight.com

More Inspiration on the web:

Debra is a gifted clairvoyant reader, spiritual healer and intuitive coach providing insight and guidance to clients around the world. Based in Chicago, Debra also leads meditation workshops that help people awaken to their own truth and spiritual gifts. To schedule a session or for more information on readings and workshops please visit her website or send an email request to Debra@SpiritLightInsight.com .

Apr 17 2011

Are You an Energetic Punching Bag?

Have you ever felt like a punching bag or magnet for punishing energy? You know what I’m asking here! It’s those times when you were feeling pretty good, went into a meeting or family gathering and walked out like Muhammed Ali just delivered a knock-out punch and laid you out in the boxing ring.

Your head is ringing, eyes are blurry, everything seems to overwhelm you and all you want to do is curl up in a corner and take a nap even though nobody actually touched your physical body. I’m pretty clear that at one time or another each of us has experienced this or something like it! When you finally get back into your own space, you are left wondering what happened, if it was you that caused it or you get angry and blame the person (or group) who ‘did it to you’. Often it causes you to feel like a powerless victim.

If you have ever asked why you feel punished like this, you might want to take a look at what it is that you are resisting! Resistance is an interesting energy to explore. Energy gets thrown around all the time and you can’t control what others do whether it be in the body or energetically. The reason energy ’sticks’ or feels like a knock-out punch (whack) has everything to do with how much you are resisting!

In fact, resistance acts as a magnet for punishment and what you resist, persists! The same goes for if someone ‘pushes your buttons’ (this is a figure of speech). When a sensitive spot is hit, if you resist it’s going to feel like someone just stuck a knife in you. The good news is when you clear the energy of resistance the punishment begins to clear as well.

You are not powerless nor do you have to fight or try to control the energy of others. Your power lies in the ability to neutralize resistance to the energies or pictures that YOU are working on in your own life. The first thing to do when you experience a knock-out punch is to take time in meditation to find those places you resist. Be extra gentle with yourself and bring in lots of forgiveness.

A windmill does not resist the wind! It allows the wind to spin its sails and converts it to energy that is generated. You too can stand tall like a windmill allowing the winds to blow and not resisting. You can use the winds as a learning experience and renewable resource to transform yourself!

You too like the windmill can use what you learned to further you on your life’s path so you are generating energy instead of being the effect of it! You can also resist and fight the winds…it’s YOUR choice~Shine Your Light Debbie

SpiritLightInsight.com