dailydatewithgod

What sense of being runs through your veins? My blog this year has transitioned from just “being” to “being in” because there is something about acknowledging what it is that we have placed “in” our lives and what our focus becomes.  But yesterday I was inspired by something I saw on television episode and because I believe that God speaks through anything (we just have to listen), I wanted to pass it on.  The season we are in runs the gamut from authentic experiences of the heart touched by God to over consumerism and feeling constricted by some commercial notion of who we are supposed to be.  Somewhere in the midst of all of that we can become infected by the overlying themes of the season.  The themes, if we open ourselves up to them, can carry us past the time of lights, ornaments, and Christmas cards.  The themes of the season reside within our hearts all of the time: kindness, forgiveness, patience, love, charity, blessing, warmth, caring, joy, comfort, harmony, peace, spirit, giving, and so many more.  Sometimes it takes an outside experience to awaken in us what is part of hearts.  That is what this season does–it reminds us that we are and we have within us those elements.  Which theme do you want to be infected by today?  My prayer for us today is that we have the courage to look within ourselves and let loose the Christmas theme in our own hearts that is screaming to be set free and infect the rest of our being today and every day.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Today is a brand new day.  There is something remarkable about new beginnings.  It is like a fresh start, a clean slate, a openess for possibility.  Even more remarkable is the fact that I have the chance to create an openness with every single breath I take.  I bring fresh oxygen into my body which travels to my cells from head to toe.  I can wipe away a thought that is “trapping” me in lack of possibility by taking a pause and a breath and getting present in the moment and in my body.  We have such a gift to new openings when we remember to breathe.  It seems to simple so our minds will begrudge it as not possible.  When we believe our minds we instead decide to hanker down, grit our teeth, hold our breath and power through whatever experience it is.  This creates stress in our bodies and our minds and causes us to be closed off.  When we are closed off we are left to figure things out on our own.  Then anyone with whom we interact needs to fit inside what we have already figured out and they are annoying and irritating if they are not following our script.  And you know where that goes–we blame them or it and we get more frustrated and feel more on our own.  Could it really be possible that pausing and taking a breath would interrupt all of that?  My prayer for us today is that we be willing to breathe at our most frustrating moments and give God a chance to make the moment new again.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

We spend so much time in our heads, more than we often realize, that we forget about actual life going on around us.  We get so caught up in our perception of things that we can become closed off as to what is actually happening.  We so immediately attach a story and create meaning from an experience that we lose being present in the actual experience.  This is not a bad thing, in fact, it is a good thing that ensures our survival.  It has worked the whole time that we have inhabited the planet, so obviously it works.  If survival is all we are interested in, then there is no need to be awakened to anything else.  However, many people are beginning to notice–probably because their spirits are stirring within them–that they want more than just survival.  They want to thrive, they want to create a new experience of living. Are you one of those people? God created us in wholeness of mind, body, and spirit and when we experience dis-ease, it is usually because one or more of those things has lost touch with its wholeness.  The quickest way back to experiencing our wholeness is being present in the moment.  Take a breath, take a beat, pause, open your eyes, feel the wind on your skin, the sounds surrounding you, the light in the person’s eyes that you say hello to, the water in your mouth and so much more.  By being present we not only gift ourselves with re-connecting to God and our wholeness, we also give others the courtesy of our presence and encourage them to do the same.  We are called to be the example of wholeness in a world that feels broken and disconnected.  We are not called because we know how to do it perfectly, we are called because we know what it feels like to feel in pieces and not remember that we are whole.  My prayer for us today is that we have the courage to own the wholeness that we are in touch with and thus give permission to those around us to have the courage to do the same.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

One of the gifts we are given on a daily basis is the opportunity to be present in the moment we are in.  Now, I am not sure if I were to do an audit of my day how I would measure up, but I can look to how I improve my attitude.  I try to recognize the fact that I spend less time thinking I should not be where I am or that I am somehow missing out on something.  So at least, I am beginning to accept life on life’s terms.  It sounds simple, but how often to we begrudge what is happening in our lives either with resignation or complaining?  If I truly trust in a God that cares for me, then I can trust that the situations and experiences that are given to me on a daily basis to walk through are exactly what I need to grow and to be who I am called to be.  I think sometimes I have different ideas about who I am and what I am called to do.  If I look at it as an adventure and discovery of myself and of God, then at least my mind is more open to what is possible.  The beauty of it is that I only face it one moment at a time one day at a time.  My prayer for us today is that we ask God for the courage to be present in one moment of our lives so that we can receive the gifts of who we are.  Make it a great one! Peace~Colleen

The old cliché: “Winners never quit and quitters never win,” reminds us that life is a marathon not a race.  Anyone can show up and do the deal when it is temporary or when it is a short sprint. The real test of who we are is shown to us when we are in it for the long haul.  Many a time it is easy to give up when things don’t go our way.  But what if things not going our way means we are on the path to something greater? I need to be connected to something greater to remind me who I am in the midst of things not going the way that I hoped to keep up the hope.  I choose to believe that love will prevail, but love is more than feeling good or big pink bows and happy endings.  Love is passion and sacrifice and rawness and being there when we want to run.  If God does not abandon me when I mess up, who am I to abandon myself when I mess up?  What makes me think I know better than God?  My prayer for us today is that we be willing to hang on just a little bit past the point when we think we can and build that muscle of tenacity. Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

When we stop and look at our lives, it is easy to recognize where we feel out of alignment with who we are.  We immediately recognize what feels “off” or what is not working in our lives. Most of the time we look to the circumstances in our lives to explain why.  But the reality is that the lack of alignment comes from our thinking about the events of our lives.  What happens outside of ourselves is of little consequence to our reality unless we make it so.  In other words, our perception creates our reality.  Two people can be present at the same event and one will tell the story of how terrible it was and the other will tell the story of how great it was.  So if we were to “blame” the event, it would not make sense as clearly it is not what was happening outside of them that created their experience.  It is what was happening inside of them–where their mindset was, which thoughts they attached to and what feelings resulted from those thoughts.  This the good news.  No matter what “happens” today, we can choose to see it as something for us or against us.  We can look to what to learn from it or begrudge it as life being out to get us.  Getting in touch with our own sense of harmony (God) will allow us the flexibility to be open to how what is happening is for our own growth and heart expansion.  My prayer for us today is that we be open to seeing that the circumstances in our lives are opportunities to recognize whether or not our thinking is in concordance with who we are inside.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Embrace it all!  When faced with a situation, especially a challenging one, one of our first thoughts might be–how do I get out of this?  or how I can get this over with as soon as possible?  But what if walking through this situation is going to cause you to interact with the man or woman of your dreams?  What if dealing with this situation is going to make you visible to someone who wants to hire you or recruit you for what ends up being your dream job?  What if embracing what you are not the least bit interested in embracing will show you your own strength and courage of character?  Situations are rarely what they seem.  We only see the surface–the black and white of it.  There are multiple colors in every experience.  Being willing to look at and sit in the rainbow is what adds color to our lives and we get to keep that.  The tools and skills that we learn to practice is any given situation do not leave us when the situation finally does pass.  Maybe we are facing this today because God wants us to know just how strong and beautiful we really are.  My prayer for us today is that we be open to walking through the rainbow (maybe we will find that pot of gold if we do).  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Of all the lessons that I have been called to learn, self-acceptance has continued to be one of the most challenging ones for me.  I am someone who has spent a larger portion of my life criticizing, belittling, making wrong, judging my behavior, my body, my thinking, my decisions, etc.  It is a slow and continual process to be willing to adapt and see myself as God sees me, to let go of the idea that how I see me is correct.  Oddly enough this came into practice as I was losing weight and my body began to change before my eyes.  There were days when I did not recognize who I saw in the mirror and so I began to pray a simple prayer each day: “God help me to see me as You see me.”  I thought the prayer was simply about how I saw my physical body, but I have come to realize that I want to see myself as God sees me in all ways.  God’s eyes are much more loving, forgiving, tolerant, compassionate, gentle, and freeing.  When I take on God’s views, all of a sudden I have room to be and move.  I can make mistakes and my life is not a complete mess.  There is no need of perfection and always doing the “right” thing because I am connected to a Greater Intelligent Being who sees my life in the context of the whole.  There are plenty of opportunities to learn what works and what doesn’t.  There are opportunities to notice what brings me closer to peace of heart and mind versus what distances me from that and causes dis-ease.  There is no magic formula to get it right.  There is no getting through this messy human experience without some scrapes.  But even with all of that, I have learned I do not need to throw myself under the bus with how I see myself.  When I do that I am criticizing God’s Creation and who am I to say that I know better than God?  I certainly did not keep the earth spinning while I slept last night so that I would be able to see the sun this morning.  So maybe I can be open to trusting that since that same power created me, that power knows better than I.  My prayer for us today is that we be open to seeing the one thing about ourselves that we most readily condemn with the eyes and hearts of the compassionate God that created that part of us.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

When we find ourselves in a situation that we had not planned on, we are given an opportunity to choose how we want to respond.  We may have an immediate reaction, but we do not have to act on those first thoughts that pop into our mind.  Maturity is having a pause between situation and reaction. Because of the firmly worn grooves of survival in our head, our first thoughts are limited by what will ensure our survival in the moment.  This is not a bad thing, but we may not be in need of survival.  We may be in need of creating possibilities, of creating a situation in which we can thrive and grow. If we take time to breakdown what is happening we will notice that we are experiencing familiar thoughts and feelings, even if the “situation” is different. This means, we are being given an opportunity to transform our “reaction” to the situation.  A “do-over” of sorts.  This is why being in the present, not reacting from the past, is so crucial to our growth in life.  How many times have you found yourself reacting in a certain manner after you told yourself that next time it would be different.  Why is it that every time a relationship ends, the thoughts I have about myself are the same, no matter who I was in the relationship with? Why is it that when my boss calls me into his office, I feel like I did the first time I got called into the principal’s office?  These “problem” situations are simply opportunities for growth and transformation.  These “hassles” are moments of creativity in waiting.  In order for me to see them as opportunities I have to remember who I am and who has my back and where I am centered.  If I rely on the situations themselves to tell me who I am and how I am to be, then I will spend my whole life reacting instead of utilizing the opportunities to create the life that I want.  My prayer for us today is that when we find ourselves presented with a similar situation, that we have the courage to stop, pause, reconnect with who we are in God and seize the opportunity to create something new.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

The promise of this season is peace and harmony!  We seek that with others by mending relationships and showing up with gifts to give each other.  We seek that within ourselves by wrapping up the year and looking forward to things becoming new at the stroke of midnight and singing to let the past be the past.  When I think of all the holiday seasons that I have experienced in my life the most memorable ones are the ones where I was not fighting myself or carrying shame and doubt that things were not the way I wanted them to be.  The ones where I was not lost in some fantasy of how the holiday season should be based on a Norman Rockwell painting or a Hallmark Channel movie.  The holidays that stay close to my heart are the ones where I was at peace with myself and with others.  That experience has been more prevalent in the last several years as I have grown closer to God and cleared away the darkness of my heart.  I know that this year’s holiday experience is the best ever because my heart has been changed and softened by my life’s experiences and my openness to the forgiving love of God.  My prayer for us today is that we seek the opportunity to align our heart with the message and the spirit of the season in some small way that surpasses the hurriedness and pressure of how we think things should be.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen