INSPIRATION – Page 6

Have you ever asked yourself why meditate and turn your attention within? What’s the purpose of quieting the mind, getting grounded and centered? Why meditate at all? Do you use meditation to solve your problems? Why bother meditating when things are going well? What’s the benefit? These are interesting questions to ponder!

Often times I come across people who only meditate when they are going through tough times. Other times I hear from people that they are going through tough times and they can’t meditate. It does surprise me that the simple act of quieting the mind is so difficult when the drama and chaos of life, in other words ‘a growth period’, stops us from doing the very thing that is needed to get through it!

Meditation helps you get through a growth period FASTER!

It allows you to find answers by listening, changes your vibration and gives any energy or problems that you’ve taken on from others to gently fall away. A grounded meditation and release actually gives the energy a place to go. Meditation helps you access your inner sanctuary and is a safe place to get away from the swirling chaos. It’s very much like taking a vacation from your life for a few moments.

Meditation doesn’t solve problems.

You don’t need to “solve” anything! In fact, you are not a problem, your life is not a problem and NOTHING needs solving! You were born into your body to learn and experience exactly what you are learning and experiencing! It would be wonderful if our lives were all perfect with nary a stumbling block but that is not the case. Meditation doesn’t make your life perfect and bring you everything you want. It does however, bring you into present time and might even allow an answer or two to sneak in! Trust me, your problems will still be there when you finish meditating but perhaps they won’t seem as monumental as beforehand.

Meditation creates a sense of peace.

It allows you to change your perspective about what’s going on. Much of the time you will notice that most of the chaos has nothing to do with you personally, however it also allows you to own the part you played…and there is always some part you played. If you find it difficult to quiet down your thoughts, just allow them to float by, acknowledge them and the fact that you have that much going on then bring your attention back to the peace and safety of your inner sanctuary.

Why meditate when things are going well?

When everything is happy and moving along smoothly taking the time to meditate not only helps keep things moving along smoothly but when (not if) you run into a road block you will handle it more easily. It is a great time to dream, create something new and focus on your passion. It is a time to validate all that you are and shine your light even more brightly. Each time you do this when you are feeling good, your body will remember what it feels like and make it easier to come back to that space other times!

The great thing about meditation is that by changing your vibration and releasing that which isn’t you, you change your life and heal. You change how you view life with its many obstacles AND find answers for how to handle them. You don’t need anyones permission and you may even heal those areas of your life where you feel stuck! Don’t believe me? Goggle it and check out the latest scientific research on the benefits of meditation. Why not start today and create a whole new world?~Shine Your Light Debbie

Photo Credit: ©Steven Bauer Photography

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Spiritual messages and reminders come in many forms but no matter how or when they come it is important to learn what they are trying to tell us. Our spirits must be nourished and filled with dreams, passion, enthusiasm and creativity or they eventually shrivel up into an empty shell and die of thirst…

A few days ago I was ready to let go of the last remains of a cactus I (barely) kept alive for over 25 years. Truth be told it’s been sitting dead on my windowsill for some time but I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it. That cactus was the first thing I bought when I moved out of my parents house. Perhaps it represented a right of passage or perhaps it represented life itself. Whatever it represented at any given time my heart is saddened by the realization that I killed what was once a living, breathing thing.

I remember when I bought it and if memory serves it was only about 12 inches high. I cared for it faithfully. It outgrew its pot, was replanted and grew some more. I was quite proud of how it was flourishing with new “arms” sprouting all the time. What started out one taller spine with one little arm was over 5 feet tall with dozens of arms! It was a beautiful shade of green with little leaves constantly sprouting from the end of the arms and main spine. Although it started to fall over to one side and I could no longer move it, I would turn the pot so it would rest against the wall. I felt and communicated with the spirit in that cactus and knew that as long as I gave it nourishment it would stay happy, healthy and growing.

One day I had a cleaning person come to my apartment and when I returned home from work, there was my cactus tipped over on the floor. The main spine had split and a few of the arms were dangling from the place where they were once firmly attached. They oozed white liquid and I clearly remember crying hysterically about my broken and obviously bleeding cactus. Sadly I could not save the main spine but I did replant one of the small arms. It took root quickly and season after season it sat on my windowsill and grew although not as full or tall as its mother.

For whatever reason, I stopped watering my cactus as often as necessary even though it would tell me what it needed by turning slightly brown. I would look at it and be too tired or too busy to simply get a glass of water to water it. I’d tell myself ‘I’ll water it tomorrow’ and maybe I would get to it, but soon my tomorrows became more frequent. A cactus has an amazing resilience. If it doesn’t have water it lays dormant using little energy to live but after so many tomorrows (about 3 years worth) my cactus was brown and shriveled. I wept as I moved it from the windowsill to the front door so I could get rid of it. Yes it was dead and it was finally time to let it go.

The day after I moved the cactus I put it back into its corner home to take a picture for this post and I noticed green at the tips of the spine and arms. Wait, maybe it’s not dead after all! Is it possible to bring it back to life after years of neglect? Could a bit of water, and love and light make a difference? I don’t know if my cactus will fully spring to life again but I can tell you that for now it is watered and the small green tips are getting greener and expanding.

Like the cactus our spirits are very much alive inside. We are more resilient than perhaps we give ourselves credit for. At times we may feel ‘dormant’ but once we begin nourishing our spirits with love, excitement, passion and light we have the ability to come back to life. If you’ve had a stressful time or painful experience it is natural to want to push it aside, isolate or dull the pain so you can’t feel it but a sprinkling of forgiveness and love goes a long way! Your spirit may be calling out for water now. Find the nourishment it needs! Your spirit wants to shine brightly and light your way.

As long as your heart is beating and you have breath in your body there is always hope. It’s never too late to nourish your spirit and find the spark within. If you are always too busy or too tired or stressed to nourish your spirit and you want to wait until tomorrow that’s fine but how many tomorrows will it take before you wake up to find years have passed? There’s no tomorrow better than today to start nourishing your spirit.

What are you enthusiastic about? What do you love? What are you passionate about? What excites you? Find those things and live vibrantly again! Today is the first day of the rest of your life! Choose today to nourish your spirit and soul!~Shine Your Light Debbie

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