Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Active Replacement

When something becomes emotionally overwhelming, it is necessary to find a replacement.

Even though I cannot change the events, I can change my response.

Since many events are changing all the time, I find replacing them works when I find something that is unchanging.

The only relationship that I am aware of that is unchanging is my relationship to the Universe.

So when things are so disturbing, I go within order to listen for a message there.

The message is usually one of peace.

It comes as a peaceful feeling.

As I breathe deeply and simply experience this feeling, it expands.

I am able to calm myself.

Within this peaceful feeling, if I have anything on my mind, I can listen for ideas.

I will get a sense that I should do something, or more often, just wait.

When I come back to ask again, I will get whichever response is appropriate.

That is how I replace my upset feelings and even panic attacks.

I can replace them with powerful inward listening.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

Monday, January 30, 2017

My True Priority

Now that I am turning to my true priority of listening within, I am finding my peace of mind.

In this inward mind, there are answers to every possible question.

Immediate questions and far-reaching questions.

All the answers are there when we listen.

Not when we are so full of noice and disruption.

We simply can’t hear those answers, and we don’t even know which questions to ask.

But when we move inward to find our listening center, then, in the peace we find there, we know which questions to ask.

And we can hear the answers.

My true priority is to find the peace within.

Over and over again.

Step by step.

In every situation.

If I am not finding the peace, I am off course.

No matter what the disturbance is, there is always an answer within of peace.

Acting on my true priority always puts me there.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.lovedcherishedadored.blogspot.com

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

When I Needed Protection

Recently, I found myself worried about going to a meeting.

At the previous meeting, I had received some “unwanted” attention.

I was worried about how to prevent any further interest.

As I pondered how to handle the situation, my mind jumped back to some very troublesome scenarios.

After reliving those for a few minutes, I realized I needed to think in another direction.

Since the past had come up, I realized it was part of the residual memories, not something to worry about for the future.

I thought that it was very reasonable for those old memories to have occurred, because I really didn’t have any other experiences to draw on.

As I calmed down, I listened for a different course of action, one appropriate to my current situation.

I was given an idea and the resources right away.

It occurred to me, that since I had not been wearing a wedding ring for some time, (I had been a professional musician, and then started gardening after that, so I just habitually did not wear a ring), someone in a new situation might have thought I was available, even though my husband and I had just celebrated our thirtieth anniversary.

I found my grandmother’s ring, and put it on, grateful that another generation was there to help me identify myself correctly.

 2017 Kathryn Hardage

Monday, January 23, 2017

At My Own Pace

I can go at my own pace and in my own way.

When I listen within, I receive the little ideas.

I take the little steps, over and over again.

At some point, past the slow climbs, I am past the big hurdles.

I don’t know how, but it just happens that way.

When there is enough concentrated effort for the little steps, somehow it gets done.

Don’t get me wrong; it must be an all-out effort over and over again.

But that is how the shell is broken, the strength built up to emerge.

The emergence, indeed, is gentle, but only because of the immense strength that governs the momentum and keeps it manageable.

Freedom is an amazingly gentle experience.

One which proceeds at its own pace, in order to guard and care for the recipient.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

Saturday, January 21, 2017

A Route Forward

Whether it is a personal issue or a national one, there is always a route forward.

As we sort out the problems, indispositions, and their resulting circumstances, we can come to useful conclusions.

We can take action to make corrections as we gain more insight.

Nothing is set in stone.

We sculpt our lives with our thoughts.

Thought is, indeed, the most powerful force there is.

And the wonderful thing is, we all have a wealth of thoughts.

As we turn them towards productive action, we begin to turn the tide, both in our personal life and in our national life.

We are all-inclusive.

We all come from some kind of family, with good or bad experiences.

Even with just a tiny spark inside us that wants good, we can build on that.

Let us find the best route forward as we include everyone and expand the good that is available for all of us.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

Friday, January 20, 2017

Moving Thoughts

Moving my thoughts from “Please help us!” to “Thank you!” produces a distinct change in my breathing patterns and eliminates the tension I am feeling.

I am astounded.

What I am gaining from this experience is a  positive result from a simple reframing of the experience.

I can feel helpless or I can feel grateful.

I can look at all the problems or I can acknowledge that there are solutions.

I can define my life in either direction.

Throughout the many threads which connect us to all of our life experiences, there are solution threads.

The solution threads team up as we look for them. 

Acknowledging whatever happens in our lives with gratitude attracts the solution threads.

We follow up on one, and the next one appears and then the next and the next.

Instead of remaining in an uncomfortable or negative situation, we can immediately move ourselves to higher ground.

I am extremely grateful for this solution.

It will be interesting to see how this affects my life as I practice it more and more.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Appreciation Instead of Criticism

I realized that I was raised with constant criticism, and that became my habit.

Now that I am aware of this, I am consciously changing it to appreciation.

Criticism induces a feeling of tightness and fear.

Appreciation gives us room to expand and relax in a safe atmosphere.

By changing my awareness to operate in this different way, I am interpreting things that happen to me differently.

Where once I would feel threatened by a remark and feel pushed to the outside, now I see the remark as an expression of the way the other person is feeling.

Since I didn’t create the feeling, I do not have to run from it or react to it in any other way.

I can simply make the observation to myself and let it go at that.

I am appreciating myself and the things that I do.

I am reminding myself that it is perfectly OK for me to do things the way that I choose to do them.

I am letting myself do things on my own timetable.

I do not have to answer to someone else’s deadline or even to their sense of how long it is proper for something to take.

I am becoming comfortable with who I am, because I no longer have to meet someone else’s version of my life.

I am able to give others room to be who they are because they do not have to meet my version of their lives.

This appreciation thing is pretty cool.

It gives all of us room to live the way we interpret life, the way we see it from our own individual viewpoints.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Kindness Among Friends

On the way to my sewing group, I stopped in at the local quilt shop.

I brought some healthy brownies to share.

I had been out of town for a few weeks, and it was so comforting to talk to the folks there.

Apparently, seeing my car parked outside triggered a visit from another quilter/sewer who came in especially to give me a hug.

I was very moved by her warm welcome.

At my sewing group, I helped the woman hosting us with her blog.

We all shared various stories about what was going on locally, at work, and with various life events.

It is these very simple conversations that are so kind and comforting and life-giving.

I am the new person in all my groups.

Everyone else has lived here for a while or all their lives.

Is it the slower pace?

Is is the fact that people know what to expect from one another?

Whatever it is, they all have room to embrace me as part of the community.

I am so glad I moved here.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.lovedcherisehdadored.blogspot.com

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Sharing Joy

It is totally worth it to find activities which give you joy.

Joy in; joy out.

Joy enlivens your highest feelings and expression.

When you feel joyous, other people feel a distinct difference in the atmosphere.

People love to feel joy around them.

It has a noticeable effect.

The predominant feeling around most places and most people is one of pressure and irritation.

Even a pervasive low level of pressure and irritation gives a negative feel to our lives.

A steady diet of this emotion predominates.

It permeates everything we do.

So, an infusion of joy provides a distinct uplifting contrast.

It is always the more powerful of the emotions.

People want a happier way to spend their time.

They gravitate toward joy.

They want to have an experience of joy.

When you are living a joyous experience, you are noticeable.

People are attracted to a sense of joy.

So, honor your own feelings and let yourself be drawn to things you love, make time for things which give you happiness.

It is a wonderful way for you to live, and besides, you can share it.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

Monday, January 9, 2017

Creating Room for the Other Things

Sometimes it seems that there has been an event or a series of events that are so horrendous and terrifying that they continue to occupy a lot of time and attention and thought.

But there are ways to create room for other things.

By learning to honor yourself, and to find the tiny spark that is still within you, you can begin to find your way out.

Because, despite everything, you are still loved, cherished, adored.

Even if you do not feel it yet, it will come.

You may have to sort through a lot of lies which were imposed on you, but you can do it.

There is light all around you, and by honoring the tiny spark with you, it will grow stronger.

Bit by bit, or perhaps in one giant influx, you will be filled with light throughout your whole entire  being.

You can trust this light.

You can feel its comfort.

Though you may still have memories of the long darkness that preceded it, the light is who you really are.

The light is your identity.

Darkness never defined you.

It was always a lie.

You can learn to put it aside and find and be and live the light of who you really are.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

Saturday, January 7, 2017

It's OK to be Where You Are Right Now

It is OK to be where you are right now.

Life is designed that way.

We all have experiences, influences, ups and downs.

Then we start to sort it all out.

1st Step:  
No blame.

Looking at where we are, we can identify some of the more obvious influences.

Some are more subtle.

2nd Step: 
We are in charge beginning now.

We can start moving in our desired direction.

This may involve moving  a lot of old baggage and practices out of the way.

3rd Step:
Enjoy and appreciate the fact that you are on a journey.

You can keep refining it to be a more and more productive one for yourself.

It will be OK for you to be at each step of your way as you get there.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

Friday, January 6, 2017

Beyond Obedience and Discipline

I was raised to be very obedient and disciplined.

Since that was the way I was taught to interact with my parents, I did it to the best of my ability.

Later on, as an adult, I discovered that I was “allowed” to choose things on the basis on my own desires.

It is still a revelation to me.

Now that I am pursuing things that I like to do, I am able to apply aspects of what I learned, but in a very different way.

I can celebrate my imagination and follow through on creating beautiful things.

I can acquire materials which delight me and play with them.

I can create relationships with people based on who I am, not a projected image of who I was disciplined to be.

Life is so enjoyable this way!

It goes beyond being very competent at a skill, to being loved as a distinct individual.

I am so glad to discover this and to be able to live my life freely in a new way.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.lovedcherishedadored.blogspot.com

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Other's Opinions

Apparently, opinions of derision trigger powerful downward emotions in me.

They are too familiar.

I have the tools to bring myself back up into my new life of happiness, though, so I am doing it.

I love the new choices I have made to learn to the things I have always want to do.

To go beyond “bloom where you are planted” to find the best ground to grow in.

I am grateful to recognize the feeling of “coming home” and finding comfort I never had before.

I have discovered “place” as its own comfort.

Apparently, as we listen to our inward guidance and begin taking the steps we need to find fulfilling work and purpose, it includes the best place to do it as well.

I was used to cultivating excellence wherever I was, and although this is not a bad habit, it does not go far enough.

It never felt comforting, even though I was doing an excellent job.

So, it has been important as I learned to listen for the first thing, I was led to listen for the next thing.

As this process repeats over and over again, as we listen to our inward guidance, it fills in all the gaps.

It even erases the old effects of other’s opinions.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage