dailydatewithgod

As we stop to look around at our lives what we see depends upon our state of mind.  We think it depends on what we are actually seeing.  We think if we had a different view then we would be happier.  If we changed something in our exterior environment then we will be satisfied and grateful.  However, it is the dissatisfied and ungrateful mindset that we bring with us to that new house, new job, new relationship, etc.  This is why when we get whatever we think we need to make us happy and realize it doesn’t, we latch on to the next thing that clearly is the answer.  It becomes an endless race.  God gives us life and each day we have the opportunity if we choose to see it from God’s unlimited perspective or our limited perspective.  It is within our reach to develop a grateful and satisfied mindset, but it takes practice.  The survival mechanisms in our brains were set up to be braced for danger or scarcity at any moment, so our default left unchecked will always look for what is wrong or could be wrong.  But we are surviving, we are here in this life, it is up to us to choose to live it.  I have found in my short lifetime that when I spend my time focusing on the idea that when I get that thing, or am with that guy, or achieve the markings of an important person in our society, I am always dissatisfied because it is not the longings of my heart.  Some pieces of it are and that is what we are invited to discern on a daily basis.  Does me working towards the job promotion line up with my soul’s purpose, cause me to learn more and give me an opportunity to love and expand my heart?  Does being in a relationship and having a family allow me to spread more love, share my gifts, and learn that I am here for a purpose?  In my date time with God, I bring these questions to him.  This is what I feel my heart desires Lord, does that line up with what you see as part of my purpose?  Am I trying to measure up to society’s ideals or the great work of my soul? And the best part about all of this is that the answers come one day at a time.  For today, me pursuing a new career path is what is causing me to step into the best version of myself.  Tomorrow if may be focusing more purposefully on the job I have right now.  My prayer for us today is that we be open to the dance of life unfolding one day at a time and invite God into discerning what will bring us closer to love, open to learning, and make our hearts sing and share.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Are you willing to ask God how you can line up with the best version of yourself today even if it’s not what you had in mind?  Share in the comments

The funny thing about life is that we believe what we see and perceive to be true.  And it is true, for us.  The potential problem comes when we think that everyone around us sees and perceives the same way we do.  That is simply not possible, nor is it a requirement. There are all kinds of ways to communicate understanding and acceptance of one’s own perspective to another but even when someone else agrees or says they understand it is still from their perspective.  They cannot fully see it from our perspective and we cannot fully see it from their perspective.  One of the gifts of this life is that we all have our own perspective, our own level of sight, and our own understanding of the world about us.  It is part of what makes this human experience such a mystery.  We are not machines that can crank out perspectives like an assembly line–we are not the housing development where each house has the same specs even if we did grow up in the same family or the same neighborhood or have the same genes.  When we recognize this we being to see the futility of knowing what is best for someone else.  This is the lunacy of being the one to point out the wrongs of someone else.  How can we know it is wrong for them?  How can we know what is best for them?  We have a blind side within ourselves of our own stuff.  Actually what we see as needing change in someone else is a reflection of what needs to be changed in us or in our perspective.  We can ask God to help us remove the block in us so that we can see that other person with love. When we do that we begin to see as God sees.  My prayer for us today is that we be open to asking God’s help to remove our blind spots to love so that we see others for who they really are–children of light and love.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Are you willing to ask God to remove your blocks to love today?  Share in the comments.

I was watching the wind blow the trees along my street the other day and I was fascinated by how easily they let themselves be swayed by the wind.  The tree didn’t put up an argument with the wind.  The tree didn’t resist its leaves moving from the air.  The tree just acted as though it is exactly what was supposed to be happening.  At the same time, the tree’s trunk didn’t move (as far as I could tell).  The tree’s roots which have probably been there for years did get up and move the tree to a different location so that its leaves wouldn’t be moved by the wind.  It simply bent and swayed where it was.  (Okay, so obviously a tree wouldn’t get up and move–but thanks for playing along).  The tree did not change it core direction or identity because it was being touched by something else. In fact, it responded to the touch of the wind just enough that it didn’t have to fight it.  Then I think of the number of times I have shifted where I was standing because the wind blew my hair in front of my face.  LOL!  How often do I change where I am grounded based on what someone else is doing or being?  I have come across this in many conversations with people at work lately.  I find myself having said more than once (which of course, means I need to be hearing it more than once) “don’t change who you are to play along with their game.”  Growing up I learned very quickly how to be the girl that you liked, who complied, who did what was expected, etc.  It was all about not making waves and keeping certain people happy.  As I have matured and woken up I realized that I cannot make anyone happy, that is an inside job.  In fact, even when it seems like I have made someone happy by the things that I have done, it is only because of what meaning that person placed on what was done and decided it made them happy.  If I come across someone who is dissatisfied, I realized that while I might do something that makes them satisfied, it will be short-lived.  If who they are being is dissatisfied, then they will find dissatisfaction somewhere else.  I know this because I have experienced it in my own head.  If my mindset is such that nothing is going right, even when something does go right, there is something else that doesn’t because that is the eyes through which I am seeing things.  This is why life is wonderful for us when we are in love because that is our mindset–everyone is the beloved.  No wonder we get such joy out of being around happy people! My prayer for us today is that we be aware of the times when we are tempted to uproot ourselves because a little wind comes our way and ask God for the courage to stay rooted to our true selves.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Are you willing to stay rooted in God today and just sway with the wind instead of being knocked over by it?  Share in the comments.

Often times we find ourselves living our lives and when we stop and look around, we think, “Hmm. This isn’t what I thought it would be.” Whether our life has taken us on a drastically different course than we thought or there are just certain things that we thought for sure would have happened by now, there can be a sense of dissatisfaction.  Heck, this can happen during the course of our regular day when a conversation goes in a different direction, or someone makes a random turn in the car in front of us.  Life has these moments that often seem disturbing.  They are only disturbing because they wake us out of our sleep.  It is the automatic pilot experience that our brain and our ego were counting on having us stay in so that we can hold on to what we identify ourselves to be.  If we wake up then we will notice that we are in survival mode and the mind is quite happy to survive, nothing else needed.  Our souls have a greater calling and those are the whispers we hear in the moments of quiet that tug at some place inside of us.  It is the notion that maybe there is more to this than meets the eye.  But quickly life shows up for us to handle something and so we stop listening to that inner knowing because we don’t’ have time for it.  God invites us to slow down and tune in to that quiet knowing.  It is in that space of quiet that God speaks to our heart.  It is in that space of quiet that God shares the delight of who we are.  But in order to connect with that we have to sit long enough to get past the chatter that our brains are doing and that is uncomfortable.  It is uncomfortable to admit that maybe there is more to life and we are too scared to step into the unknown. It is uncomfortable to admit that maybe we aren’t really getting the joy and satisfaction out of the present that we try and convince ourselves we are because we have the job, the car, the relationship, etc.  Or conversely we think that we aren’t experiencing joy because we don’t have the job, the car, the relationship and if we did then we will be happy.  Most people who have undergone transformation in their lives speak of a time when all those “things” they thought brought them such joy came crashing down.  I certainly have had my share of crashes over the years.  But we don’t’ have to wait for that to happen.  We can awaken the wondering, the fascination, the curiosity, the uncomfortable a little at a time.  If I trust that God is always love and always there then I am willing to be a little uncomfortable because it is not what my ego is telling me it is.  It is not a destruction of me, it is a breaking down of the story of my ego and an opportunity to get to know me as God knows me.  My prayer for us today is that we welcome the little annoyances, wake-up calls, dissatisfactions, and discomforts and just before we want to crawl back under the covers we ask God to be right there with us and share in the awakening.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Are you willing to ask God to join you in the discomfort so that you can ride it out into the beauty of see the real you? Share in the comments.