Honor Your Freedom

“For to be free is not merely casting off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” 
~ Nelson Mandela

Last week, I had the privilege of experiencing the inspiring and courageous, Malala Yousafzai. In a packed house at Denver’s Bellco Theatre, I sat mesmerized as she spoke passionately for the right of every child to go to school and for women everywhere to free their voices.

Malala was shot by the Taliban just 2.5 years ago as she travelled home from school. Rather than silence her, it fueled her unwavering dedication and brought a new world view to this oppression.

Malala began her crusade for the rights of girls to receive an education at age 10.  Her bravery, exceptional clarity and focus to the Freedom of others stirs awake something special within each of us. 

Every time we express our truth or take a stand for our belief, we send a ripple of Freedom out into the world.  When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, to show up authentically, we claim our own Freedom.  With each personal courageous and impassioned act, we honor and acknowledge the service and sacrifice of others. We cast off self-bondage and move forward in truth and Freedom.

Just as Malala, we can lead by our example, elevating our own experience while enhancing the lives of others!

Ponder This:

Where in your Life have you taken a stand that has made all the difference for another?

Please share your own personal experience in the comment section below!

Teach Your Children Well

“Its not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It is our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.”  

~ L.R. Knost

Our Mother had this poem from Dorothy Law Nolte hanging in our home…

Children Learn What They Live

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with ridicule, they learn to be shy.

If children live with shame,they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

If children live with tolerance, they learn to be patient.

If children live with praise, they learn to appreciate.

If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.

If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.

If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and others. If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Our Father use to tease Mother saying she wasn’t realistic and looked at the world through rose colored glasses.  I guess in a way that was true.  Mother was optimistic and always had something positive to say about everyone and every situation.  She was affectionately known as Smiley and conveyed her love and interest in others through her generous smile and focused attention. I remember hearing her tell our Father that it was her choice to look for the good. That whatever we look for in Life, we’ll find.  She probably wouldn’t have related her thinking to the Law of Attraction yet she certainly practiced positive purposeful living. 

Smiley also raised us by teaching her own rules and lessons:

"It’s not so much what you say, but how you say it that matters. 

If you can’t change the situation, change your attitude. 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. 

What lesson did you learn from this?

I may not like your behavior, but I always love you.

I am sorry. I made a mistake. I didn’t mean to hurt you.

Take responsibility for your actions.

Just because it’s different, doesn’t make it wrong.

We were not allowed to tell anyone to 'shut up'  call someone, 'stupid', or use the word 'hate'.  And rather than I can’t…I’ll try."

If we said we were bored we were sent to the encyclopedia to look something up!  Or when we asked how to spell a word, we were directed to the dictionary to find our answer. My sisters & I often argued that this practice just didn’t make sense! 

One of the most important lessons we were taught was regarding sharing information we had heard from someone else. Before passing on this information, we must have a yes answer to these three questions. Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?  

This May we celebrated our fourth Mothers Day without Mom.  Although there continues to be a hole in my heart for her physical presence, I felt her Spirit everywhere hugs were given and laughter flowed freely.  And when the sadness and heaviness of grief began to creep back in, I saw Smileys face and could hear her whisper in my ear, “Oh honey, don’t take Life so seriously.” 

Ponder This:

What is one thing you learned as a child that still serves you today?

Please share your experience in the comment section below.

Compassion Begins at Home

"It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start."

  ~ Mother Teresa 

The front page of The Denver Post showcased both the terrible unrest in Baltimore and the philosophical debate of the horrific massacre in a Colorado Theatre.  As I shielded myself from reading further, my heart sank and again I searched for some understanding in all this insanity. Then in the next moment, I experienced great sorrow for the devastation and loss in Nepal from the earthquake.  

Being aware and trying to process this heavy, tragic energy made me feel overwhelmed and powerless. I’ve learned feeling this way creates an illusion of being separate and lost without direction.  What can I do? How can I help or support those hurting?

Compassion is defined as empathy, tolerance, kindness ~ Love. Whenever I bring my focus back to the present, my ability to feel, express and be compassionate strengthens. The path for my contribution narrows and becomes clear.  

The quote from Mother Teresa reminded me that empathizing and practicing tolerance and kindness appears easier with the strangers of world. I can look past the pain and loss of the real relationships I have with my family, friends, and community.

Today I can take a personal inventory of sorts. I can choose to see who in my family is hungry, lonely or suffering.  Today I can refocus my attention, time, and compassion by bringing my Love home.   When I take that one small action and seize the opportunity to express kindness and empathy in the here and now, my heart breaks open and sings its song! 

Ponder This:

Take a moment to really look at your Life and the people in it.

1) Which loved one could be healed just by expressing your compassion?

2) What is one small way you could express your compassion to that loved one?

The Integrity of Bridge Mix

"Honesty is telling other people the truth.  Integrity is telling yourself the truth."

~ Dr Robert Holden

I must have been around 8 when I tasted my first lesson of integrity. I had a sweet tooth and was known to scavenge whatever candy or sweets might be available. Rarely were we allowed candy except for on Halloween or Easter. Even then our intake was closely monitored and sanctioned.  

When Mom hosted bridge was the only other time candy was in our house. It was always Bridge Mix and Butter mints; candy for the adults.  

My parents might have told this story differently and I am sure my sisters remember it in their own way as well.  Still, several days before the group was to play bridge at our house, I found the Bridge Mix in a brown paper bag on top of the refrigerator.  

I cleverly opened the bag and took out just a couple of chocolates thinking no one would notice. I prided myself with  being clever. I made several additional visits to the bag, each time being careful to quickly pull out a few chocolates before stealthily exiting the kitchen.

So when I heard my Mother shriek, “Who ate all the Bridge Mix?” I knew it couldn’t be me. 

I held that “position of denial” for most of the weekend long after the bridge game had come and gone.  My parents took turns offering me opportunities to fess up, to tell the truth, to just admit that I had eaten the chocolates.

There was a small voice within me that climbed to the surface several times. It desperately wanted to be honest, to relieve the heaviness that had closed in on me and made my stomach hurt. 

As I lay on my bed, curled in the fetal position from holding back the truth, I finally screamed out, Yes it was me! I am the one who ate all the Bridge Mix!  I don’t know what I expected yet my family seemed neither impressed or interested.  Only I experienced a profound shift. Only I felt this great release. I was the One who was free!  

Funny thing when I look back now at that experience.  I learned that telling the truth to others is really just a practice of self- preservation. When I am honest with others, I feel within me, an internal consistency. And that sense of being whole and undivided, is precisely… what sets me Free!

Ponder This:

What's an experience you've had where telling the truth set you Free? 

Share your reflection in the comment section below.

The HOW of Resolution

 “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them.” ~Albert Einstein 

Do you think Albert Einstein meant that our troubles are of our own making?  Could he be challenging us to to look to our own thinking for the culprit?  Consider whether in our judgement of Life’s events, situations, circumstances, or relationships, we transfer our perceived limitations and fear onto that which we conceive as a problem?

Solving the problems we create in our lives needn’t be so ominous. When we understand how to resolve challenging issues, it can become a matter of just taking the next right step. 

HOW is an acronym for honest, open, and willing. Being honest means being truthful, sincere, straightforward. Honest in our thinking clears away fabrication and embellishment bringing forth our “true thoughts”.

Being open-minded offers that we are unbiased, objective and flexible.  Deciding to be open to something new or different gives way to the next message of direction or solution just waiting for it’s opportunity.

Then, being willing to change.  Willing means ready, eager, and agreeable.  In our willingness, we are prepared to do something, to take action!  And because of our honesty and open-mindedness, that action generally creates our resolution. 

For further support, tools, and guidance in shifting your thinking, join us for my introductory transformational workshop, Freedom to Change Stems from Within.

Ponder This:

Just for fun or perhaps in choosing forward movement, look at the different aspects of your Life. Where do you perceive a problem? Choose one to focus on and hold this problem in mind.

What solution do you find when you allow yourself to be honest, open-minded, and willing? 

Share your reflection in the comment section below.