Freedom Consciousness: Part Six – Freedom to Choose a New Thought

In looking at the above picture, we could choose to see a lonely, desolate place for a church. Some would choose not to drive on that tiny, dirt road. Others may see a beautiful place to get away, finding this lone church a sanctuary. It all comes down to choice. How are you going to choose to feel in the moment before the drive up?

Let’s look at some potentially stressful life experiences and see what your first reaction would be and then what could we choose to feel about that situation.

1. I got passed over for yet another promotion! Why are my talents and abilities always overlooked?
2. I ran up my credit cards again, and this time, I don’t see a way out of paying them off.
3. I almost wished I hadn’t gone to college. I’ve racked up this student loan debt and can’t find nothing but menial jobs that barely covers my living expenses.
4. I wished I went to college, maybe I would have had a better job than the one I have now.
5. I think my husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend is cheating on me. Now what?
6. My kids are growing up and don’t need me as much. Where does that leave me?
7. I can never seem to make enough to make ends meet. I have a “good” job, but I’m not making enough to cover all my expenses.
8. My parents/friends/lovers are considering a move to a faraway place. Where does that leave me?
9. There’s so much violence, conflict and suffering in the world. What am I supposed to do about it? How can I pursue happiness when others are suffering?
10. I was just diagnosed with _________, now what?

What’s your first reaction to each of the above scenarios? Look at them again with a new perspective. What is an alternative, uplifting alternative feeling/expression you could choose to feel in each situation?

How you traverse the mountains of change reveals how you cope with situations that move you out of your comfort zone. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• When you reflect on your past choices and paths traveled, what is your self talk saying about you after you’ve made those choices? Do you feel like you had choices in the matters that concerned you? If not, who held the power of choice in your life? Did that perceived power shift take anything away from your ability to choose?

There is no right or wrong answer – it’s just important to take a look at your choice styles. Let’s pick a few of the above situations and see if we can choose to see the blessing in each of them.

Situation #1: The persistent promotion passover on face value appears like it’s the worst career situation to find yourself in. One could resign themselves to feeling unwanted and unsupported, which in turn generates behaviors in yourself and those around you that may result in undesirable changes, such as being fired. The other choice you have is choose to say, “The Universe recognizes the last position I tried to promote to may not be exactly what I want or need. God knows my true desire. And, whoever receives this promotion will have to work long hours to get the work done versus my comfortable forty hour work week. My life right as it is now cannot support a sixty hour work week – I have a new baby who requires more of me than I am able to give to a demanding career right now. I love my baby and the balance I have right now is what works for me. I wanted my family more than I ever wanted this job. God will show me the best position when it’s time and I’m ready to receive it.” See how a perception change can transform a situation right before your eyes? And, that same paradigm shift is what it will take to bring forth that dream job you want – not the ego driven dream job that really fits someone else’s life. The ego driven job search rarely produces jobs aligned to who we are and what we like to do.

Situation #2: The I am in over my head with debt scenario. You could choose to feel defeated, ashamed you can’t better manage your debt or spending, and you begin to stress over how you can barely pay the minimum payments. Another choice is to first forgive and have compassion for yourself for being in debt. Recognize you made choices to incur the debt, so now it’s time to reclaim your power to bring balance in your life. Perhaps you’ve decided to take on each credit card and negotiate what’s owed to them. Or, you could consider bankruptcy to start anew. Or, you could elect to get a second job for the sole purpose of paying bills. You could create a budget. There are so many divinely led steps you could take, instead of choosing to remain in fear or denial.

Situation #3: My partner, the cheater. One can lose a bit of their self-worth with scenarios such as this one. Instead of blaming yourself or the other person, accept that it happened and thankful God revealed to you what’s going on. Sometimes, we just can’t see the subtle, low vibrational changes occurring in our relationships. Cheating is the symptom of a bigger issue in the relationship. Instead of spending too much time in grief, anger and sadness, find the blessing in that pain. “Now I know – and I had a feeling all along. I have to exercise more trust in my own intuition, but it’s okay that I did not find out until today. I can now make a choice on whether this relationship is worth saving or if it’s not. I got to this point of looking at my relationship, so I need to know why it took me this long to see the signs. At least it’s not five years later and now I can make some real life decisions with this new information.”

Any of the above ten situations could have bounds of blessings in them, if only we choose to see them. Some things that happen, at face value, look dismal – but a new perspective is what will transcend you to the next level of manifesting. You have the freedom to choose! Choose a higher vibrational rung to grasp each time, and you will be on your way to a truly abundant life.

~Your Curator of All Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Freedom Consciousness: Part Five – Freedom to Be Your Authentic Self

Your light wants to shine through, but your filter system is cluttered with debris. Debris of people pleasing, of being okay with being dissatisfied, of compromising. The debris gets caught up in your Authentic Self filter and is making it difficult for your Light to shine through.

When we are belittling, minimizing, downplaying, or oppressing our (or others’) life’s desires for practicality and familiarity, we are cluttering our filter. You want your Authentic Self filters (belief systems and actions) to be un-gunked as possible with debris that is not serving you. Your Light will always try to shine through, but help it out by releasing the beliefs that limit or bound you.

Are you free to be who you want to be? Are you allowing others to be who they want to be? What or who is dimming your inner Light?

We have to be gutsy in our journey to bliss. To be gutsy is to sometimes be the unpopular voice in the room. We have to be our own advocate and the voice of the voiceless. We have to stay focused on that which we truly want, versus focusing on the worldly noises and distractions.

We are blessed to be on life’s journey to fall in love with ourselves, others, and life itself. When we find ourselves not at peace and unhappy, we need to see why we are choosing a less vibrational match than what we truly want to be aligned to. Too many times we are surrendering our power to the external, which leads to our unfulfilled potential and untapped power. If we are relying on others to shape who we are or how to feel, we are simply going through life on someone else’s direction and not our own. We came to this planet to direct, guide, and steer our life – there is joy and everlasting peace in that freedom!

This is YOUR life! Stay grateful for what is making you happy and aligned. Stay present and remember to set your intentions (write, say, and believe) to what you’d like more of in your life.

If you are not investing a few minutes each day in joyously imagining, visioning, writing about how your Authentic Self, you’re missing out, my dear ones. Aren’t you worth it? Your Authentic Self craves your attention and direction.

Imagine a life where you wake up, and you say what’s on your mind, feel how you want to feel, do what you want to do, and be what you want to be. Now, think about things that keep you from shining your inner Light brightly. Are there people who cause you to shrink or retract your Authentic Self? If so, imagine who you would become without those things or people who are not in alignment with your freedom flow. This is how you can assess whether or not people or situations need to manifest into something that IS in alignment with who you really are and what you’re about.

So many times, we are reacting to external circumstances, not ever taking time to set intentions for what is to unfold. That constant reaction inhibits us from being free to be our Authentic Selves.

We try to change external situations to align with internal desires – and we’re hurt when nothing we want manifests or lasts. Your power is in the Internal First, the External will follow.

There’s no room in this human life experience for incessant people pleasing or niceties, especially if it’s compromising your Authentic Self. You want don’t feel like doing something? Don’t. You want to cut all your hair off or grow it long? Do it. You want to be creative and wouldn’t mind being paid to be, be it. You want to be more spiritual or you’re not feeling too enlightened, let it all hang out. Do you. Be Authentic, and the rest will surely follow.

~Your Curator of All Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Freedom Consciousness: Part Four – Freedom to Dream Big

The definition of a dream: A strongly desired goal or purpose.

It takes courage to trust, and trust evolves into faith and knowing. So, for those who are in the shaky first steps of their spiritual journey, it may seem farfetched and ridiculous to dream big. If we remember to first sense what it is we want, believe it will come, then the natural step is to trust and allow the Universe to bring what you’ve dreamed of into fruition.

Where many of us get tripped up is in the trusting and allowing. Some of us may get tripped up in missing the divine signals from the Universe to take action or to be still. While others get tripped up in not dreaming at all.

When was the last time you took inventory of your dreams? Dreams do not have to be lofty, out of reach and only for the select few who can achieve them. Dreams are a strongly desired goal or purpose that you can have. You can first have it in your mind as you daydream about it, then you can later have it in your reality. Finally, you can have it in the memory of experiencing the dream in reality.

What does your dreams say about you? Are they in alignment with the essence of who you are? Or, are they symbols of someone else’s reality? Your dreams should reveal a lot about who you are and where you’d like to be. Are your dreams authentic or generic – soul or ego driven?

You will know when you have an authentic or ego driven dream by how it makes you feel when you think of it. Whenever I think of an ego driven dream, like when I used to desire buying large homes, I felt a slight pang of anxiety from wondering how it was ever going to happen, then worried how I’d take care of and fill those homes. When my dreams shifted to wanting a cozy, warm space, that was perfect for my family and a sanctuary for myself and others, I felt peace and a knowing of already having it in me – my authentic dream.

Dreams that are in alignment with your soul will come to be. Dreams that are ego driven may or may not come, but in time, they may not be sustainable if they are not in alignment with your life flow and the essence of who you are.

Here are some ways to stay in touch with your dreams and to make them a reality for yourself and others:

• Create a dream journal and scribe every single dream you have. Periodically read your journal’s pages – when you feel good and when you feel less than good. As you grow, so will your dreams, both in manifesting and your faith they will come true. In time, you will see pages of dreams fulfilled and your dreams will also become more tailored to who you are and where you want to go.
• If you are in the shaky first steps of having faith your dreams will come true, look to your smaller dreams to blossom so you can start to have faith in the bigger dreams. Baby steps in your dream making will help you build the trust and faith in Divine Spirit to hasten your dreams to come true.
• It is okay to start with small dreams, but don’t remain in a place of limiting your dreams to small ones. Dare to dream big, so the Universe has more ways of getting Its good to you.
• Action – deliberate, good old fashioned baby steps towards your goal. Leaps are wonderful, but baby steps will get you there, too.
• Thank God for placing those dreams into your heart and be thankful whether they have manifested in physical form or not.
• There’s varied advice on whether or not you reveal your dreams to others. I see the benefit in holding your dreams close to you, just as I see the benefit in sharing them with others. It is all in how you feel about sharing your dream. Some are meant to be known immediately by others, while other dreams need to remain close until close to fruition. For me, I do both. Many of my dreams, I share with others so a) my dreams can escape the confines of my mind and b) to encourage others to dream as well.
• Honor your dreams by acknowledging them, celebrating when they move in the direction of manifesting, and dwell in a state of mind that creates more and more dreams.
• Do not be a dream crusher to others – instead, uplift others by encouraging them to pursue their dreams and celebrate with your friends on their accomplishments. It is people’s dreams and pursuits of their dreams that makes the world better. And, what makes the world richer are those who support others in making dreams come true.

We are blessed to have the ability to dream. So, I dare you to dream wild, dream often, dream big!

~Your Curator of All Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

References:

“Dream.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2014. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dream&gt;.

Freedom Consciousness: Part Three – Financial Freedom

To be abundant is to know and remember who you are, why you’re here, and where you’re going.

An abundant life can be expressed in having lots of money, but that is a limited way of looking at abundance. Abundance can be expressed in the love you have, or the home you’ve created (physically, mentally, spiritually), or your job with all its good benefits and perks, or when others share free meals, gifts, and windfalls of money with you. When you focus on money alone, you are limiting the Universe in being able to provide and support you with all the streams of abundance It has the ability to send your way.

How would you feel if all your needs were met and your desires were unfolding? If you trusted all your needs are truly being met in divine timing? Getting to the space of knowing you are truly well requires exercising moments in faith.

Who are you?

You are a child of God, and your Source is God. You bless the world by being uniquely you and allowing God to express through you, as you. When you know who you are, it is easier to discern what you do and don’t want in your life.

You can quickly assess whether a certain situation or experience is in alignment with your divine purpose. Knowing yourself helps to recognize, alleviate or neutralize contrast and resistance. In life, resistance and contrast are your friends. Contrast and resistance quickly reminds you of what you don’t want, causing you to begin creating and molding what you do want.

From how much to pay on a bill, to picking out a new home, to exploring debt resolution options, to knowing what salary to ask for when applying for a job – all the answers are already in you – if you just listen to your intuition and discern it from negative self talk and others’ feelings.

Why are you here?

You are God revealed. God’s light shines through your talents and abilities. The more you reveal your authentic self and ooze gratitude, the more God is revealed through you. We all came to this life to experience being human – with life’s highs and lows deepening our love and compassion for others.

What are your talents? What are your divine purposes? I believe we have many divine, little and a few big divine purposes. We only have enough room in this human experience to do what we are spiritually guided to do. You must be able to discern what it is you want, and not adopt what others feel is best for your life. Your spirit talks to you everyday – listen to what it is saying and trust it, too.

What do you wish could reveal more of in your life? For me, my divine purposes are loving, laughing, sharing good times with others, expressing myself creatively in writing, decorating and styling, and being a mother (not just to my own biological children, but a guardian to ALL children).

Where are you going?

There’s so much emphasis in the world on where we’ve been, but we need to take a look at where we are going and where we want to go, in order to tap into our well of abundance. What’s going on right now in your life? Are you headed in the general direction of your dreams, or do you feel like you are hitting wall, after wall, after wall? The good news is, your Good is already with you, you just have to get into alignment with it. The best news is our power is in the now. So, spending time focusing on where you see your life going by visioning and meditating will help you get “aha!” moments more quickly and the next thing you know, where you were going is now where you are!

Is it by accident, luck, divine intervention that some people have a lot of financial freedom, while others struggle?

The Universal Laws is in effect for everyone. There are some more aligned to their abundance than others, and the good news is, everyone has the ability to have financial freedom should they choose to have it.

Nothing is more liberating than living within your means. After going through major shifts in my own life, I realized I never really adopted living on a realistic budget. I was always in a feast or famine paradigm, the pendulum swinging wide and fast. One moment, I could afford a vacation, the next, I was trying to figure out how to pay all my bills. Recently, I dissected all of my finances and realized I was living way beyond my means. By finding ways to save money, including downsizing to a smaller place and selling an extra vehicle, I realized I could live a good life with what I have right now, albeit with a budget.

In my quest to better understand my finances, I realized I had a lot of abundance in my life. From the great employee benefits I have, to a good salary, to resources that have helped me to transition and manifest the life I truly want. I became more aware of the abundance around me and intuition spoke to me on what action items I needed to do next. Finally, I acted quickly on those intuitive action steps.

I misunderstood what and how abundance showed up in my life. I used to equate abundance with having designer clothes and accessories, being able to afford the things I want. As I grew awareness, the more abundance revealed itself – and it had nothing to do with a designer handbag or even a vacation. It had everything to do with how each life experience I went through shaped my consciousness and brought me one step closer to a life I truly desired. Abundance was just one of many ways for revealing who I am, why I’m here, and helping me get to where I’m going.

The Dance.

Examples of inner dialogue and dance with Divine Spirit.

I need to become more healthy. I wish I had a gym membership. Oh, wait, I do have an elliptical machine in the living room, and various weights, and great workout videos. I have what I need to work out at home. Wow! I’ve implemented 30 minutes of activity in the morning before I start my day. I am healthy. I have all I need to be what I want to be. I am so happy I AM healthy and abundant. I do not need to spend anymore money to get healthy, because I am healthy.

I am in over my head with mortgage, credit card bills, and car and student loans. There’s financial counseling through my workplace, who connected me to an attorney. The attorney is walking me through the steps of short selling my underwater home and filing bankruptcy – and the attorneys fees are paid by my employer. A few months later, I am debt free, albeit with a bankruptcy and short sell on my credit report, but I now can live comfortably. I have taken courses at my local library on how to live within my means and I have even started investing small amounts in a portfolio I started recently! I AM abundant.

Being abundant means I have faith that all my needs are met and that I am co-creating with God a life that illuminates love and light to others. God sustains me as I reveal more and more of myself.

True abundance is allowing God to support and guide to you to all the Good that awaits you. Listen, watch and be in the abundance that is already yours.

~Your Curator of All Things Inspirational and Abundant, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Freedom Consciousness: Part Two – Freedom In Your Affairs

To be able to speak your mind to whomever needs to hear your voice. To be free of relying on others for defining your self worth. To have peace in your relations with yourself and others. To have an uncluttered mind, body, home and spirit. This is what having freedom in your affairs is all about.

A coworker was recently discouraged by being written up for her work performance. She felt like she was not a value to her team or the company. I told her to remember her power is in the Now. She could choose to give her power away to the thought that she wasn’t a valuable employee, or she could choose to know her own value and worth. She could take it a step further and know that she could learn from this write up on how to best improve her work. Or, she could choose to ignore it and set herself up on a path to losing her job. Her freedom to choose how to feel and respond is where her power lie. The power would not be found in her present circumstance.

Are you a sum of your boss’s assessments? Or something bigger and more expansive? Do not shortchange yourself and lump yourself into yesterday’s performance appraisals? Let your tomorrow be shaped with your good intentions today.

You let go of what others think. You let go of limiting negative beliefs. You stop resisting. And, that’s when the real growth and expansion takes shape in your life.

Janice Campbell of Receive Your Life Podcast http://www.unity.fm/program/ReceiveYourLife/ discussed how to reclaim the freedom in your life in a few of her recent radio shows. Her July 10, 2014 show, titled “Today Is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life” discussed how you have the freedom to redo each day and the freedom to choose the reality you desire. The July 17, 2014 show titled “Cleansing Your Consciousness While You Clear Your Clutter,” discussed how there is freedom in honoring your possessions by releasing when it’s time to let them go, and to use the items that still have purpose and presence in your life. Her most recent show on July 24, 2014, “The Ease and Effectiveness of Nonresistance,” is a must listen to. In her show’s write up, Janice offers, “Similar to river rafting, learning to work with the natural flow of the current allows us to leverage our power and effectiveness.”

Summer McStravick’s Podcast, Flowdreaming’s July 15, 2014 show, titled, “Your Emotional Endpoints” at the 5:40 mark, is a gift https://flowdreaming.com/video-radio.php. Summer provides a beautiful explanation on how to get to your desired emotional endpoint for anything you desire through your feelings. She effectively demonstrates how to get into an imaginative, super, manifesting state. One of Summer’s best Podcasts to date on how to experience freedom in creating the life you want – from receiving good news on a daily basis, to having your dream job.

Before long, freedom in your affairs becomes a way of life. Like my coworker, I was once in a vicious cycle of write ups. I began to envision and imagine what it would feel like to begin and end a job, on my own terms. I began to affirm my own worth, and cultivated my talents and abilities. Over time, I went from barely holding on to my job, to becoming an MVP.

Meditate on how you can experience more freedom in your life. What areas in your life are you already experiencing freedom? What are some areas in your life that needs to be set free?

Life is easier when we recognize who we are and why we are here – we are Divinity on Purpose. Your divine purpose is what you remember when circumstances cloud your view of life.

~Your Curator of All Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Freedom Consciousness: Part One – Spiritual Freedom

“I am where I am, when I am…” ~Kimberly Jo Cooley

While driving to work, I harbored anxious feelings for the start of my workday. I kept encountering every red light and slow moving vehicle en route, further increasing my anxiety. Then I thought, I am where I am, when I am. This affirmation calmed me and my ride to work became smooth and enjoyable.

“I am where I am, when I am” could pertain to being stuck in traffic, not getting to where I want to go, but later realizing I’ll arrive when I’m ready to arrive. I may not be there yet, but I am where I am, when I am, and that’s alright with me. There’s no race or finish line, other than the ones I choose to experience.

Spiritual freedom is when there are no limitations, leaks or misunderstandings about who we are and why we’re here. We’re living on purpose and we operate from an inside/out paradigm, instead of an outside/in. Everything we encounter and create, is either in alignment or out of alignment with our Greater Self’s Life Flow. Even when we have bumps in our journey, we stay spiritually free by turning within for the answers and for peace.

Religion is an outside/in paradigm and so is family, friends, work, money and anything else outside of our selves. We need to be able to tune into our Inner Knowing we all possess, instead of resting on outside entities to shape our spiritual experience.

We are not the sum of religious parts, yet we continue to relinquish our power to this “superior” outside force. In fact, our spirit is much bigger and more expansive than what any religion could ever hold or be.

Can I still feel a connection to God without ever stepping into a church? Could I love a person if they are not from my same religious background? Man’s law and the rules of all religions are smaller and more constricting than God’s Spiritual laws.

I will always choose to follow God’s Universal laws before man’s laws. Man’s law is stale the moment it is inked in the law books. Man’s law is not concerned with the spiritual and Divine. It is only concerned with keeping order amongst a society. Inherently, there is nothing wrong with man’s law. Man’s law holds only society’s interests and not the interests of each soul that fills every body. Man’s law can change over time as society changes. But, God’s Universal Laws never change. And, religion is born out of man’s law, not God’s law – no matter what anyone says.

I am not suggesting people become lawless and stop going to church. I am asking people to take a look at their spiritual beliefs and to see if they are aligned with their true values. Often times, we do religious practices because it was what our parents did, without any regard to whether or not it resonates with our own spirits. Spiritual freedom is when we can have an untethered connection to the God inside of us, and call on that connection at any moment, in any situation. It is a constant conversation between you and God. And, no amount of religion or sanctimonious practices will foster and nurture that continuous conversation.

* * * *

When I find myself feeling rushed, out of sorts, or not aligned, it’s time for a spiritual tune up.

I know when it’s time for my spiritual tune ups. There’s clutter everywhere, I feel a little scattered and divided, I haven’t looked at my spiritual books in awhile, or listened to my favorite Podcasts, or meditated. Instead of going with my intuitive flow, I am railing against life, not bothering to ask and listen to what God has to say on the matter. No amount of church attendance will get me back on track.

My impatience is just a symptom of not being in alignment with the Truth of who I am and why I’m here.

A Spiritual Tune Up

Some questions to jumpstart a spiritual tune up are:

What does it feel like to be spiritually free for me? Am I at peace? Am I going through the motions of religious ceremonies, or, am I fully present and inspired by my place of worship’s services or my own spiritual practices? Does my present day belief systems diminish, eliminate or exclude, based on old societal or religious belief systems? Or, are my spiritual beliefs expansive, inclusive and loving of myself and others? Even others who do not believe in God?

When I am in spiritual tune up mode, I listen to my favorite, spirit lifting songs. My favorite songs may or may not be gospel, but it is inspirit. I let my thoughts wonder, sometimes landing on images of what I’m grateful for, other times my life’s questions swarm and then receive Divine answers. Peace soon befalls me. I am spiritually free to receive and share the God in me.

~Your Curator of All Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Blog Series: Freedom Consciousness

Abundant Life Initiative’s next blog series explores freedom consciousness. We will explore the following:

1. Freedom in your spirit
2. Freedom in your affairs
3. Financial freedom
4. Freedom to dream big
5. Freedom to be who you want to be
6. Freedom to choose

So many of us know and experience the physical form of freedom, but are we toting that same freedom consciousness in other areas of our lives?

1. The first installment is Freedom in your spirit. What does it mean to be spiritually free? We will explore how many of our old belief systems adopted from our teachers and parents’ own spiritual interpretations shaped what we believed. Do these old beliefs still serve you, or are they limiting and minimizing who you are as an evolved person? Some beliefs may still work, while others may need to be let go. In this post, we will explore how religion and limiting beliefs shape and many times hinder a person’s spiritual growth instead of evolving or enhancing it.
2. The second post discusses freedom in your affairs. Your affairs include your personal and professional experiences. Are you enjoying your job and where you work? If not, why? What about your personal relationships and experiences in your everyday life? Let’s explore what makes you feel more restricted and less free in your business and personal matters. What will it take for you to feel a little more free each day?
3. The third blog installment discusses financial freedom. Some people seem to have it all and never have to worry about money. There are those who do not have a lot of money and express how rich they are anyway. Then there are those with or without money that bemoan what little they have. Abundance is more than just money in the bank, it is maximizing on what you do have, while making spiritual and physical room to receive more from the Universe. The best part of the abundance cycle? Sharing what you have with others! We will explore different ways to look at your situation so you can become more grateful for the financial freedom and abundance you do have.
4. The fourth blog post explores freedom to dream big. Dream big, but take measured, action steps to get to what you want. Dreaming big, then bigger, then biggest prepares you to receive more. Often people are too afraid to dream big, for fear of getting let down. Are you constantly dreaming too small or becoming too narrow in your search for what you want to manifest, limiting the Universe to give you bigger and better? Lets find ways for you to begin to dream big and dream often.
5. The fifth installment discusses freedom to be you in any and everything you do or encounter. Do you find yourself changing your tone and personality from person to person, and then losing your own voice in the process? What is it about you that makes you run away from becoming the person you truly want to be? Knowing your worth allows you to stay true to yourself and your values. We’ll explore how to always be your authentic self and why it’s good for manifesting.
6. Finally, the sixth installment deals with the freedom to choose. Choice and free will is God’s gift to mankind. My people, we can choose! Now, it is time to learn how to practice this freedom and to rely on your intuition to always guide you to where you want to go and where you need to be.

I will include blogs and Podcast recommendations to further deepen our understanding of ways to incorporate more freedom in every area of our lives. I love hearing from my readers, so please share your thoughts on the upcoming freedom blog posts or suggest other topics we can discuss in the future.

~Your Curator of All Things Uplifting, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Default Creating, Part Four

Default creating is when we do not set an intention on what we’d like to create, and instead, our random, unchecked thoughts guides and shapes our experiences. It is not to say that all random thoughts are bad or that intentional thoughts are good. But, you will have a much smoother ride in life if you are setting your focus and intention on what you do wish to create, rather than going on the whims of outside forces and random thoughts.

There is never a wasted moment, thought, or situation. Whether we perceive a thought as negative or positive, there is wisdom, insight and guidance in that thought, shaping and molding our experience. The contrast that we feel when we have an undesirable experience is just guiding us towards what we do want to create.

We are dynamic expressions living in a dynamic Universe. There are moments when what we deliberately created represented what we wanted at that time. There are instances where we have created by not doing anything, or operating in default mode.

We gain new information and new insight, which may result in adjusting and realigning to new ways of being and thinking. God knows your true desires and you should know that nothing you’ve created is not a blessing to you. Even when you’ve deliberately created good health, and now you have a disease. The disease is a gift, whether you deliberately created or whether old thought patterns and beliefs brought it to you.

Here are some signs that you’re operating in default mode:

• There is no time in your day, even five minutes, where you are quieting the mind and focusing in on what you want.
• Many, unexpected and disturbing events, from minor to major pop up in your life and you can’t pinpoint how or why they appeared.
• Your emotions are high and low, and especially is swayed by outside influences.

What is very helpful is we can always turn off the default mode and start setting intentions on what we’d like to create right now, so that the next second, minute, day, week, and so on is what we’d like to see unfold, instead of random manifestations.

There will always be some contrast in our lives because not all of thoughts and emotions cannot be checked, and that’s okay. It’s how you manage the contrast in your life that shapes how your deliberate creation will unfold for you.

Homework: Check out the book, “The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent: Living the Art of Allowing by Esther and Jerry Hicks. This a great foundational piece to understanding the relationship or yin/yang of Deliberate Creation and Allowing.

~Your Curator of all Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Weaving Gratitude Into Deliberate Creation, Part Three

A dose of gratitude goes a long way in life, especially when we are affirming what we already have and what we want more of. The emotion of gratitude is how we communicate to the Universe our appreciation for what has been given.

Gratitude signals we are in a place of receiving and acceptance. To be in a place of receiving is a blessed thing – always. Even when we receive what we perceive as negative situations – like traffic, disease, debt, or divorce.

The trick to appreciating the undesirables that pop up is having compassion for yourself, recognizing when you created what is now a present day annoyance, you were using old spiritual modalities or not creating with intention, instead creating by default. Also, what may seem “negative” could very well be holding your biggest blessing yet.

Examples:

• A person who has to file for bankruptcy – on the surface seems like a devastating thing to have to go through. It would be easy for that person to get into a cycle of self-pity. But, after a fresh start, the person was able to rebound and find their true selves in the midst of what looked like turmoil and failure. I’ve known people who’ve faced bankruptcy and now live very abundant lives. The once bankrupt person is grateful for going through the valley of debt to reaching the mountain high of true abundance and prosperity. Just google success stories following bankruptcy – you’ll see countless examples of renewal.
• Or the cancer patient who prior to being diagnosed, was working sixty hour work weeks and chasing someone else’s dreams of what their life was supposed to be instead of following their own divine path. The patient survives and is now living their authentic life, healthier than ever. The disease signaled their physical body was no longer able to sustain a life void of real peace and purpose; a body and mind only motivated by trying to please others and keeping up with the Jones. The patient is able to be in a constant state of gratitude for what was and now is. The old them died and a new state of being emerged through the illness.

It is when we wholeheartedly open our hearts in gratitude, that our perception of what is widens. We can see the gift in every single thing and experience we have. We can see beyond bad days and heartbreak, because when we are open to receiving and grateful for what comes, the blessings buried in an undesirable situation is revealed and we are able to move in a direction towards what we want, versus staying in a place of constant reaction and despair. Be grateful for the journey as well as the destination.

As ever-expanding Beings of Light, we should understand the power of gratitude and its role in any and everything we do and experience.

Take Aways:

• Gratitude is paramount in manifesting.
• When saying affirmations, always infuse it with gratitude, whether you are affirming what you’ve already received or what is on its way to you.
• All experiences, whether we intentionally create them or was default creating, are shaping the clay of our lives into what we want to create.
• Just like molding clay, sometimes you have to smooth over and start pressing on in a new spot. The clay is bumpy in some areas, smooth in others – doesn’t mean it can’t still be shaped into what you want it to be (or don’t want it to be). Be grateful for having this experience to mold your life, even if you can only mold a small area.
• Remember to express gratitude for the big and small things that happen – be an example for others who may have a harder time experiencing gratitude. In time, you will find you cannot go through the day without feeling and expressing gratitude and neither will the people around you.
• Gratitude is a nice way to center your thought and intention. When you’re grateful, there is little room for doubt, anxiety, disappointment and frustration.
• Gratitude opens you to receiving more of good vibing feelings and peace.
• Gratitude helps with having compassion for yourself, so you don’t stay in a place of constantly trying to “right” something that seems “wrong.” No need to dwell in what was, be grateful for where you are now, so you can move on to bigger and better manifestations.
• If you have to start with something as basic as “I am grateful for each breath I take,” start there. In time, you will be able to show gratitude for what’s to come, because you practiced gratitude with what you know to be true.

~Your Curator of all Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Practicing Deliberate Creation, Part Two

Deliberately creating experiences we want is fun and fulfilling. Practicing deliberate creation on small things is how you feel more comfortable creating bigger things.

May 7th I woke up and affirmed I was going to have a great day and eat a delicious lunch. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted when I first woke. I also knew I didn’t want to travel far, nor did I want to pay a lot of money for my meal.

Around eleven AM that morning, I stopped by a friend in another department to say hi. She had a bag full of containers and she explained she and some co-workers were having a late Cinco de Mayo celebration and they were having a nacho bar. I realized at that moment, I wanted nachos. She said she’d save me some fixings. At lunch time, my friend brought the nacho fixings to my desk. I went to our office’s break room to heat up the meat and cheese and realized I could really use some olives and green onions. Just as I said that, some other friends from the claims department came in the break room and heard me say that. They invited me to their “Siete de Mayo” celebration and had all the olives and green onions I could want. There was even more offerings at their table. I fixed myself the most delicious nacho plate – ever! 🙂

Let’s break it down:

• I set the intention and affirmed I was going to have a delicious lunch that I did not need to travel far or pay a lot for.
• I trusted I was going to receive a delicious lunch.
• I did not fret over how it was going to happen or worry over how I was going to pay for it. I relaxed into the knowing that it was already manifested and waiting for me.
• I received the offerings from friends. They felt good sharing their food and I felt good receiving it.
• What I received was far better than if I could have taken it all into my own hands, spent $10 on some nachos from a restaurant.
• I was grateful before, during and after receiving my delicious lunch.
• I enjoyed every bite of it.

There are areas in your life that deliberate creating comes naturally for you and others where you need practice.

Take baby steps and you will be richly rewarded. Although you can take leaps, sometimes our faith and trust has to catch up to the desires that wants to be birthed through us. It can be painful when what we want seems too far out of reach and then we try to believe that it will come. Instead, take baby, deliberate steps to creating an experience.

Remember, it is not your job to worry about the “how” something you want will manifest. All you have to do is set the intention and allow God to fill in the details.

Your homework:

Manifest something by deliberately creating it. It can be a deliberately creating the perfect parking space, or all green lights on your way to work, or an unexpected surprise. Whatever it is, try it and make a note of the experience so you have a resource to remind yourself how powerful and creative you are.

~Your Curator of all Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Deliberately Creating, Affirming and Allowing, Part One

I was asked about deliberate creation, from http://justmeandyoukid.com/: I still don’t understand deliberate creation. How do you deliberately create a great day? Is it a self-mantra that you repeat, an attitude? How does this happen for you?

I am thankful for the questions above because we will answer each of them this week as we delve into what deliberately creating our life is all about.

The answer is when we make a conscious decision to deliberately create our thoughts and our lives, everything changes from that moment forward. The Universe conspires to bring forth your desire. Things will begin to shift to bring you closer to what you desire.

To deliberately create is to decide and to say to yourself what it is you wish to create (and to believe, have faith that it will be done). You can affirm aloud or to yourself. You can write in a journal or paint it in a picture. You can create a dream board or daydream. All of these are modalities in deliberately creating what you want.

The key is to be honest with yourself about your life’s desires and values and stay focused on them. This way, you are not wasting time creating a mish mash of what you do and don’t want.

We can haphazardly create our lives, with no focus. We all know what our lives look like without deliberately thinking about what we want to create.

Think of a business plan, as compared to deliberately creating. You can write a business plan, but do you do not know all the specific results that will come of it, nor can you anticipate all that may come up. You know generally that your business plan will garner certain results, as opposed to not having a business plan at all. The same with an outline for a novel or an actual outline of drawing. You know generally what is being created because you’ve created the outline. Now, picture your drawn outline image, and God coming in to fill in the colors and depths of that image. That is how deliberate creation works.

You are creating the outline, which is the what and why, and God is filling it up with the who, when, where and how. Always remember your role and part in deliberate creating. Your job is to deliberately create what you want, remain in a place of allowing and gratitude, remain faithful and then to be thankful when you’ve manifested what you want.

Your unique desires are direct expressions of God Spirit, so of course God says “Yes” when you ask and affirm what you wish to create.

Deliberate creation and allowing work hand in hand. When you deliberately create (your business plan or novel outline), information is sent out to the Universe to bring forth what you desire back to you. When you allow the fruits of that creative thought to come back, the easier it is to manifest what you want. Sometimes the fruits do not look like what you wanted to bear from your deliberate thoughts. But, always remember there are different vantage points to things and situations, and the blessing is always there, just not yet revealed to you in a way you can comprehend or see yet.

It is important to think about your values and desires for your life, and listen to your intuition. Your intuition will guide and tell you when you are hitting resistance or when you are flowing with Divine Spirit.

I will leave you with a list of my own affirmations that I said this week and last, so you can see the modality of affirmations in play in deliberate creation. Borrow or create your own and say them regularly.

• I am an extension of God.
• For in Him, I live, and move, and have my being.
• I am abundant.
• I am well, whole, perfect and complete.
• I am love.
• I am peace.
• I am free.
• I am creative.
• I am a friend.
• I am triumphant in everything I do, no matter the outcome.

~Your Curator of all Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Weathering the Storms – Bonus Blog Post on Being in the Flow

You have to be like the tall and mighty palm tree in a storm – rooted in the earth and flexible enough to sway with the wind and weather the storm.

I listened to a Podcast where an author said we should not over analyze what we’re feeling and to just go through the emotions. She said not to over study spiritual books and to let the information land where it may. For the most part I agree, as being in this human existence one will experience all levels of emotions. But, if you find that your reaction is always filled with dread, anger, or depression then you must take some time to evaluate where the source of angst is coming from before you can move easily, joyfully and peacefully through this life. Life happens, but again, if your first reaction is always a negative emotion, that needs to be self-examined.

Here’s an example: A woman cursed out a driver that cuts her off. She is ticked at her boss, pissed at her husband, angry with her children, and every time the phone rings at work, she answers it with a sense of dread. She is always reacting in a negative way. Now, to tell this woman she should just feel the emotions is not serving her. She needs to look at the source of her anger. Is it at her husband because he is not pulling his weight? Or, is it because she is feeling unfulfilled? Or, is she chronically depressed? As you can see, it can be a myriad of “whys” as to the true source of her pain, but unless she does a little detective work and discover what the underlying issue is, she will not be able to flow through life with ease and grace. Ultimately, whatever the reason she’s angry, it begins and ends with her.

If you are angry, allow that emotion to run its course, but don’t wallow in that feeling for hours and days on end. If you are grieving, by all means, allow yourself to feel it through to the other side. If you’re sad, let it run its course. But, overall, you should still have a pervading sense of joy, peace and the knowing that you are taken care of by the Universe. You should still be able to be present in the moment and not always be living in your head and analyzing past hurts and pains or over protecting yourself from potential future hurts.

It is your perspective or how you look at life’s circumstances and situations that help you quickly shift from lower frequency, negative thoughts to helpful, healing thoughts. Every thought and situation you find yourself in has the power to clarify and expose how to get closer to what you really want in your life experience. Be grateful for the awareness of the message you’ve received. Now you know something you did not know before and that alone is worth going through something that is less desirable to get to the most desirable life imaginable.

Your life will be colored with all sorts of shades of emotion: happiness, sadness, and every emotion in between – that’s what makes a beautiful life portrait. By no means am I telling you to slap a happy band-aid on your life or to go to the other extreme of over analyzing your emotions. There is a balance and it is up to you, the steward of your life’s journey, to find that balance.

Going with the flow is two-fold – you are the captain of your ship and steering it in the direction you wish to go, but allowing the storms to come and go, with an inner peace and knowing that all is truly well. Even if you get off course, it is not the end of the world to get back to the flow, in fact, I encourage you to try to enjoy the journey of getting off and on course again.

~Your Curator of All Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

In the Flow of Life Part 5 of the Alignment Series

I am studying Eric Butterworth’s In the Flow of Life and thought I’d share wisdom found in this book.

Whether you’re feeling good or bad, ask yourself whether or not you’re in the flow of life. Taking a quick moment to gauge where your heart and mental space is will help guide you back to the flow of life. You will begin to recognize your Inner Knowing and be able to discern the difference between outside voices and the still, small voice of your intuition speaking to you.

The Inner Knowing is the same innate knowing birds have when it’s time to fly north or south – they just know. The same innate knowing is in you. You know your authentic self and that you’re in an ever abundant Universe, but sometimes that Divine Wisdom is covered by lies and limiting beliefs that dull that light inside you.

Keep a small journal you can carry with you to notate the blessings you encounter each day, which can be scribed evidence of your alignment with Source.

Use a recorder to capture thoughts, feelings, blog ideas, and passages for the novel I’m writing. Cell phones have app recorders, so the next time you have a moment you want to remember, record it.

We have to deconstruct old limiting belief structures and rebuild with new beliefs that serve us. Whenever there is a diminishing thought, there is an old belief structure that needs to be torn down. When you find yourself out of alignment with the flow of life, remember all you have to do is take a moment, step back enough to see the situation for what it is – a blessing that is guiding you back to the direction you want to go in. Become the observer of you and your situation.

Here is what Eric Butterworth had to say:

“…If we do not build on the consciousness of our source in the universal flow of life, we try to make the law work for us in the form of the good we desire. Actually, there is no way we can make divine law work for us or for any one. Can we influence gravity to work for us or the sun to shine on us? All we can do or need to do is get into a right relationship with them.

“What is called the “law of healing” is simply the eternal flow of life that is present as an allness even within an illness. The “law of success” is simply the flow of ideas and creativity that can turn failure into productivity and lack into abundance. We do not make the law work through prayer or treatment. Divine law is always working, even if we may be frustrating its flow through our attitudes and actions.”

Divine Law is indiscriminate and it is you or I that has to align to the flow of life – not the Universal Laws bending and changing for an individual person. Just as we’re aligned with the Law of Gravity, we can get our internal navigational system aligned with Law of Attracting, the Law of Allowing, or the Law of Healing.

Prayer transforms our mind, heart and spirit so we can easily align with the Flow of Life. The Flow of Life will continue to move regardless of whether we believe or not and whether we pray or not.

Focus on what it is you that you do want. If it’s world peace, you can’t serve two Gods – peace and war, by wishing (lacking) for peace, while all you are focusing on is the strife in the world. You have to align to peace, to become the peace you desire. On a less grander scale than world peace, you can get into the flow of what you want in your own life and to steer your focus on what you don’t want to what you do want – it is really that simple.

God wants us to recognize our power, because it is then we are able to truly shine His light through our gifts and talents to share with others, so we all can benefit, grow and be utterly happy.

~Your Curator of All Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Being in Alignment Hasten Your Blessings Part 4

Life is easier when you’re in alignment than when you’re not. Not only is it easier for you, it becomes easier for the Universe to be in alignment in providing for you and answering your prayers. When your conduit to God is flowing, then it is easy for you to be an inlet and outlet to all that you are manifesting.

There is a Universal flow and it is moving, no matter what you’re focusing on. Picture yourself standing next to a fast flowing river and all the things you want and don’t want swirl about. When you focus on what you want to glean from that river’s flow, you will become a magnet to it and have aligned with the Universal Mind. What you don’t want is also floating in your flow, and if you’ve aligned to it, it will come to pass in your life.

Be careful not to wish for something, for wishing is only focusing on the lack of not having it already. Instead, know what you’ve prayed and desired is created, waiting for you, just as you are waiting for it. Allow things to come to you in its own time, and trust that it will. It is that trust, faith and knowing that will HASTEN your blessing. That is a powerful distinction between wishing and manifesting.

What you’re manifesting is being created moment, by moment, all trying to get to you as soon as possible.

Imagine a cluttered, clogged conduit – probably difficult for things to move in and out of. Now, imagine a conduit open, pure and clear and how much easier it is for things to move to and through you.

You’ve built momentum going down stream. Now, picture yourself trying to go upstream, against the river’s flow, momentum is slowed to a crawl. Which is easier? You could choose to go upstream (the flow of least desire), or choose to go downstream (the flow of high desire).

Build momentum in the direction you want your life to go. Momentum is like an avalanche – it starts out a small pebble and rolls into a gigantic ball, rolling and collecting everything in its path. Take baby steps toward your desires. Eventually, your baby steps avalanche into something big.

Ever wonder why celebrities or the wealthy seem to get more and more of what they want? It’s not because they are lucky, it’s because they’ve built momentum in the direction they wanted their life to go. They’ve exercised their faith muscles to the tenth power. That is also why it can be catastrophic for a celebrity on a downward spiral because their momentum is used to moving at a fast rate of speed.

A personal example: I’ve been very distracted at work lately. I kept focusing on the distractions and how I wasn’t getting anything done. I decided to change my focus onto being successful in increasing my productivity. I spent a few moments just feeling what it would feel like to be successful in increasing my work output. The next day, I increased my productivity, even with an occasional distraction. I took the focus away from what I don’t want and shifted it to what I do want.

In matters of the heart, alignment helps you to attract and retain loved ones in your life. All you have to do is be the love you wish to have and align to feelings of love. When you’re out of alignment, all you can think about are the obstacles in attracting, being compatible and retaining a mate. When you’re in alignment with the flow of life, love (in all forms!) comes easily to you. The solutions to making a relationship work come effortlessly – it becomes easier to go with the flow in relationships.

Your mind is a receptor and effector, receiving information and sending it back out to the Universe. When you’re out of alignment, your thoughts begin to send mixed messages to the Universe, resulting in mixed or undesirable results manifested on the physical plane.

Take a few moments each day to focus in on whether or not you’re in the flow of your life, living out your highest good. If you’re not, then ask yourself “what have I been focusing on?” Shift your focus to the desire and away from the distraction. Have faith your blessings are on their way to you. From there, you are well on your way to experiencing alignment in your flow of life and be ready to see instant results.

~Your Curator of all things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

What Does It Feel Like to Be In and Out of Alignment? Part 3

To be in alignment with Divine Spirit is a delicious, everlasting and fulfilling endeavor. All things are in sync and there are coincidences abound. Every step you take feels like the natural next one to take and you feel pulled and divinely guided to the next rung in life. Even when your present experience is not desirable, you have peace and a knowing that all things are moving to and for your Greater Good. You have little to no anxiety.

You know how to exercise your forgiveness muscles. You have a strong sense of health and wellbeing, even when others around you are ill in the mind and body. You find when your mind drifts to something less desirable or unpleasant, it is easy to move it back to creative, positive and loving thoughts. The things and experiences you love seem to come to you easily.

You somehow have all the time and resources to complete the things that make you most happy. Even when the bills aren’t paid or you lose your job, somehow you are sustained and taken care of – your peace is still present, despite your present circumstances. You know that the creative thoughts you have now are aligning you moment to moment, creating a beautiful more aligned future. It is easy for you to recognize we live in an unlimited, abundant universe that is just waiting for you to awaken to ALL of your potential. You are always have an attitude of gratitude and you find yourself deeply appreciative and touched by all the gifts you’ve received. You feel balanced in your giving and receiving of your gifts and talents.

To be out of alignment is a source of great anxiety and uncertainty. You feel at the whims of outside forces and other people’s energies. You have an overriding sense of being out of control. You feel tired or exhausted all the time, as if you’ve worked or thought overly hard on something.

You are constantly chasing something or someone, or it feels like something or someone is chasing you (ie. unpaid bills, lack of money). You’re always catching colds and other illnesses and you find there are always sick people around you. There are some people and situations that you could never forgive or have compassion for. There’s a sense of not having enough, or always feeling a sense of lack in an area of life, such as money, love, or fulfillment. You don’t want to give what you have because you fear it will leave you with nothing. You have a hard time receiving gifts, help and adulation from others.

You feel as if every unlucky thing that could happen always happens to you. Many times you feel like a victim of your circumstances or other’s people’s actions. There is a lack of confidence and faith in yourself and God – He’s let you down too many times or there’s a lot of self doubt about what you can offer this world in exchange for an abundant existence.

Can you think of and share other examples of being in and out of alignment, both mentally and physically?

Part 4 we’ll discuss why being in alignment with Divine Spirit hasten your blessings.

~Your Curator of all things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Why Alignment? Part 2

To be in alignment, is to be in trust with the Universal Life Force that is God. The knowing you experience when you’re in alignment is as natural as taking a breath. But, just as you can hold and block your breath, you can hold and block your alignment. In time, when you’re cut off from breath or from alignment, you suffer.

All we have is the present – the so called past is the past, and the future is being created in this moment. All that is unfolding in your life, from your thoughts to your experiences, begins and ends in your mind, and it is steadily creating your future.

Why bother with being in alignment? You could choose to go against the grain, to go upstream in life. Many of your desires that you created at one time in your life, or that you focus on can be so strong, that despite how much you move upstream, they will manifest. But, over time, your connection to Universal Source gets clogged and you begin to ask if there’s anything more to life. There’s plenty more to life.

You could choose to release into the knowing that all is truly well and that you were sent here with all you need to be in this human experience and beyond.

Have you ever had a situation where you had to throw your hands up in the air, and decided to just “let go and let God?” And, once you let go of the struggle, the answers come to you and you find peace? Well, imagine all aspects of your life feeling like that. You can have a dialogue between you and God all day long, His voice guiding you step by step, after you’ve released to life flow.

God wanted us to be in perfect love and peace while we’re rolling in this human experience. He created us to be able to create our experiences first in our mind. It is imperative to understand the power of the Universal mind and to begin to harness it in your favor.

Part 3 we’ll discuss what it feels like to be in and out of alignment.

~Your Curator of all things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

What is Alignment?

We all have a connection to God or Source Energy. That connection can be fraught with knots, bumps and muddiness. Or, that connection can be pure, untangled, and free-flowing. Alignment is your mental, spiritual, physical self being congruent to the connection to your Source.

When your connection is muddied with limiting beliefs, a need to always be the fixer or saver, doubt, worry, jealousy, and lack of direction, the flowing Grace of God takes longer to get to you what it is you want. Alignment is the easier path. You can always have a treacherous journey, but why, when you can have ease and flow in your life?

In order to be in alignment, you have to know why you’re here or your purpose, who you are, and your true, basic desires. This means you have to do some inner work, know your purpose and your true desires, for once you know them, you will then know when you are not in alignment. You also have to be confident in the inner voice inside you or your intuition. That inner voice is your Inner Guide speaking to you, guiding you step by step. Listen when you’ve asked for something and have faith the answers are already within you from your Source. When you believe, you realize there is no lack in your life, and alignment will occur from that belief.

Creating a vision board and allowing your Inner Guide to lead you to the photos and images to your board is one step to gaining clarity on who you are and what you want. You can also journal what makes your soul sing, your dreams and aspirations for yourself and the world around you. This can be a very fun process.

The pain comes when you are being and doing things that are out of “alignment” with who you are and what you want. Be a creator in your life, not always a reactor.

Here are some everyday examples of being in and out of alignment:

• As an adjuster, I volunteered each month as an arbitrator to hear liability cases, when other adjusters claimed they were too busy to do it. It was a part of my job that I enjoyed the most and wanted more of it. I put on my vision board images that represented doing arbitration full-time. When my claims adjuster bosses told me I needed to give up volunteering because we were getting too many claims to spare me once a month to volunteer, I politely, but firmly said, “no.” They backed off and allowed me to continue to volunteer. An arbitration specialist position opened up in a different department. I applied for it and was denied the position. A few weeks later, another arbitration position opened up. My intuition told me to apply for that position, despite my bruised ego from the first rejection. I ignored the ego and listened to my inner voice. I was hired and now work as an arbitration specialist, doing the very thing I enjoyed most from my previous job.
• The department I work in has a lot of people who work early shifts, like starting at six or seven A.M. Despite my own inclination to being a late morning person, I listened to my ego’s “should” voice. “You should start earlier so you can leave with the rest of the group.” I was coming to work on time for a while, but over time, my true, inner desire poked through when I was ten minutes late for work everyday. Today, I made the decision to email my boss to ask her to start at 9 AM. She agreed to it, and now I feel in alignment again. I could feel myself being out of alignment when I was rushing to work every morning, cursing out any unfortunate soul who dared changed lanes in front of me.

Get to know your desires and BECOME them, because they hold your power to staying in alignment. When you are in alignment, your true desires manifest. When you stop always listening to your ego voice, and instead listen to your intuition, you will find it easier to stay in your alignment with peace and happiness.

For more, please watch a sermon from Reverend Georgia Prescott of West Sacramento’s Spiritual Awareness Center, on being in the flow of life:

~Your Curator of all things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

6 Reasons why Affirmations don’t Work

Affirmations are a great spiritual and mental modality that help center your intentions and speak to Higher Source on what you have and what you are bringing into your physical reality. It is a bridge from the sub-conscious to the conscious. When your affirmations are in alignment with what you want – which is to feel great in all areas of your life – they help to shape your thoughts and shift the “now you” into the “new you.” Here’s a list of ways to sabotage the effectiveness of affirmations and three quick tips to overcome these roadblocks.

6 Reasons why affirmations don’t work:

1. Setting unrealistic or highly ambitious affirmations.
2. Limiting beliefs that need to be rooted out so new belief systems can planted. An example of a limiting belief is “you have to work hard in order to deserve more money.”
3. Listening to others on why affirmations don’t work. Many people will say they do not work, but it could be the naysayers were too ambitious, or perhaps they rarely said or believed them, resulting in failed results.
4. Failure to say them on a regular basis.
5. Failure to adjust your affirmations as your life changes (for the better!).
6. Failing to believe what it is you are affirming.

2 Tips to Ensure Success with your Affirmations:

1. Have your affirmations represent being in that which you are affirming. Use words, such as “I AM” “I HAVE” and if necessary, “I WILL.” This is not a hard and fast rule, as there are some that do not start with those beginnings, such as my favorite affirmation, “I BEGIN and END my jobs on my own terms.”
2. Give yourself room to grow in your affirmations.” For example, saying “I am a millionaire” will likely not resonate with you as much as “I am EVOLVING into a millionaire” or “I am evolving into a CEO of a successful company”. The subtle difference is the word “evolving.” It denotes you are moving toward millionaire status, but acknowledges you’re not there yet. The other example is “I work out everyday.” That sets a person who is just starting a workout regimen up for failure. Instead, say “I am healthy, fit and find ways to incorporate health and wellbeing in my day.” No matter what, believe your affirmation as fact, even if you may not be experiencing it yet.
3. Be patient. It is important to be patient with yourself as you play with the affirmations modality. If you don’t see results right away, that’s okay. Oftentimes, we are unable to see what has already started manifesting in our life, hidden amongst all the things we do and don’t desire. Allow the blessings to come in their own time and trust they will.

~Your Curator of All things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

5 Reasons Why Positive Affirmations WORK!

We know negative affirmations work, because we can look around at all the pain and suffering amongst us and see them at work. What about positive affirmations? Here are five reasons positive affirmations work:

1. When affirmations are created by the person saying them, they have more power and resonate more within that person. Come up with personal “I AM” affirmations you can use everyday.
2. When believed and said on a regular basis, positive affirmations can change your whole outlook on a situation, therefore raising your vibration to a place of receiving that which you are positively affirming.
3. Positive affirmations over time will curb and replace negative limiting beliefs.
4. Positive affirmations are a quick way to center your thoughts during non-stressful times, such as during guided meditation, and stressful times, like when your boss sends you an email with a subject line, “we need to talk, meet me in my office.”
5. Positive affirmations said in the morning will help steer your day towards what you’re affirming.

The Universe is ready and waiting to answer your affirmations with a resounding YES. What positive affirmation do you use to get you in a high vibrational frequency?

~Your Curator of all things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley