The Haves and the Have Mores

This summer, my husband and I decided to celebrate our fifth anniversary by visiting Hearst Castle, in San Simeon, California and it truly was a wonder to bear witness to. What appears to be an endless estate perched high up on a hill that overlooked the sea, was built during the Great Depression, during abject poverty.

I was struck by how Hearst was able to imagine such a kingdom, in a time when all around him was going bankrupt. There were times Hearst himself faced financial hardships, but what differentiated him from the rest of the world, was his belief that he remained affluent and abundant, even through the depression. He had an attitude of abundance and his legacy was assured, simply because he believed and imagined.

That’s the lesson for me in visiting Hearst Castle – one must keep an attitude of being wealthy, abundant, and healthy, if they are to have those attributes begin to show up (and stay) in their lives. The dips of financial wealth do not bind our future  to poverty – but a lack mentality will most certainly lock you to a fate of struggle. Do not allow negative feelings towards your today’s lack experience to color your tomorrow’s financial experiences.

Tying your worth or even your ability to generate money energy by your current bank account balance will surely keep you in a low funds lifestyle. Tying your overall health and wellbeing to today’s pain and suffering, will surely foster more future agony. I say this from a place of knowing real, true physical and emotional pain and with the authority that even with all the pain there is in this world, you can still carve out a few seconds to allow yourself to feel your way into manifesting how you truly want to feel.

Even for just a few seconds a day, hold your highest goals and thoughts in your heart and mind – to begin the paradigm shift needed to change course to your right direction.

You must look past the current circumstances and how you do this is by setting goals, creating and saying affirmations daily, and taking action steps in the general direction you’re trying to go. As with any change in life, initially there will be evidence of struggle and at times chaos, but in time, as your thoughts begin to purify from lack-filled ruminations to ones of abundance, your life will start showing signs of change for the better.

Right or wrong, for better or for worst, Hearst held the belief he was to have and hold abundance for generations to come and guess what, that’s what he got. All you and I want in this life is to experience a colorful, abundant life. Let’s be like Hearst and know abundance is already ours for the taking.

~Your Curator of All Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley 

 New Year…Now What? Effecting Total Transformation in 2016

Once again a new year is upon us. There’s the proverbial new year’s resolutions. The sincere promises to be better and stronger in the new year.

All the good intentions in the world will not bring one any closer to their new year’s desires, without some inner re-tooling and awareness.

New habits have to replace old ones. New thoughts have to be paved over old, non-serving ones. Patterns have to be reviewed and considered whether they need to come with on the 2016 journey, or be left behind in 2015.

In the creative process, there’s the affirmative thoughts/processes and there’s the action component.

May McCarthy of the awesome book The Path to Wealth (which I highly recommend) says “If people want to effect change, be healed of a disease, or attract something different they must ‘deny’ the condition or disease and follow it with a statement of what they want, called an ‘affirmation.'” She further points out “affirmations and denials are tools to support the change process. Using affirmations alone can bring you a long way on your journey toward your good. But adding denials, or a strong claim that anything that is not for your good is removed, is a powerful way to help eliminate negative beliefs, fears, or any other thoughts that arise and appear to be blocking your path.”

When you affirm what conditions you do want with affirmations, you are stamping the Universal energy. From that stamped desire, inspiration in the form of intuition will guide your next actions steps to take.

Your job is twofold – to affirm the “whats” in your life and to take inspired, action steps when you receive intuition to act. God works out the “hows” of getting your good to you. There’s no need to expend precious energy on how something will come about. If you are following your job tasks, the “how” will reveal itself.

I wish you blessings upon blessings in the new year and beyond. You do not have to believe in new year’s resolutions to effect real change in your life, but there’s no time like a new year to jumpstart your transformation. Remember – focus on the “what” and the “why” you want the “what” and God will tend to the “how.”

~Your Curator of All Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley 

While I Was Away…Abundance Abounds

This blog post is dedicated to my generous sister, Jennifer, who lovingly blessed me with sharing her laptop computer. My computer crashed this past summer and it’s thanks to her generosity that I’m able to crank out a blog post today from the comforts of my desk at home. I love you Baby Sis and I thank you for all your love and support. 

Hello! I’ve been away from my blogging community for a spell and I’m sorry I left without so much as a “goodbye” or a “see you soon.” I was on hiatus from writing and even checking my personal emails. I only had enough energy and time to care for my two teenagers and preschooler, work my insurance gig, and manage my home. This fall, I squeezed in time to work for the American River Review, a community college literary magazine, which has given me great experience in creating an award winning publication. I attended a much needed women’s spiritual retreat in the great Mendocino County in mid-September. Shortly after the retreat, an ultrasound revealed several uterine fibroid tumors and I had a revelation about the cause of my pulmonary embolism condition (more on that in another blog).

I was not compelled to push through my so-called writer’s block. Instead, I was in a space and season of self-reflection and internalization.

I’ve been attending my beloved church, Center for Spiritual Awareness (CSA) of West Sacramento (http://www.csasacramento.org/church-services.html). Reverend Georgia’s three part “Path to Wealth” series inspired me to get back on my morning inspirational routine:

Here are some podcasts I checked out while I was away:

• Summer McStravick’s Flowdreaming September 8, 2015: How You REALLY Use Law of Attraction (https://flowdreaming.com/)
• Summer McStravick’s Flowdreaming October 13, 2015: Creating Strong Healthy Boundaries
• Summer McStravick’s Flowdreaming October 20, 2015 Create Easy, Smooth Energy Toward Your Goals…and Ditch that Hard Stuff!
• Lynn Crocker’s Create Your Reality October 26, 2015 Mastering Your Habits  is the Key to Living a Healthier, Happier, and Fulfilling Life (https://createyourrealityradio.wordpress.com/author/lynncrocker/)
• Janice Campbell’s Receive Your Life October 1, 2015 Faith in Life, Faith in Yourself (http://www.receiveyourlife.com/)

Janice Campbell’s own summertime hiatus from her podcast Receive Your Life gave me permission to take my own break. Just like her, I needed a break to focus inward and to readjust to new opportunities that were coming my way. Now, I can give renewed and invigorated energy to my blog.

The books I’m reading right now tie in nicely to the above mentioned church services and Podcasts:

A Path to Wealth by May McCarthy. CSA’s Reverend Georgia used this book as a basis for her three part series on building wealth (please see above videos). May provides a fun and easy way to strengthen your bond with God and honoring what it is you already have and what’s to come. A definite must (and easy) read. She reminds us we are stewards of God’s gifts and when we turn to our God Source, we receive all that we need to live a truly abundant life.

Giving Thanks: The Art of Tithing by Paula Langguth Ryan. True tithing comes in many forms, not just the paper money we typically think of when we are giving back. Tithe your time, heart, talent, and gifts and you will see an abundance of time, heart, talent and gifts bestowed unto you. Tithing is the spiritual currency we use to give and to receive. This is a gem of a book that takes the mystery out of true tithing.

Thank you readers and fellow bloggers for reading my blog and always being such great sources of support and inspiration for me. I’d love to hear about what you’ve been creating and manifesting in the comment box below and discuss ways we can further support each other in our quest for an abundant life.

~Your Curator of All Things Abundant, 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

Everything’s Coming Up Roses!

This week, we will be exploring deliberate creation, in conjunction with allowing, to manifest what we want. We will kick off this deliberate creation series with an area of my life that I have little resistance in creating – my work life.

The photos of the roses above demonstrate the ease and balance of deliberate creation and allowing. A seed was once planted – deliberate creation – and the seed was allowed to grow. Below is my diary entry where I made the decision to deliberately create and allow a glorious work day. As we move into the series, I will discuss what deliberate creation is and how to manifest using it.

Thursday, May 1, 2014:

I woke up grateful and ready for the start of the day. I declared it was going to be a great day, full of surprises and it was! I arrive at work and my manager sent an email to our team, informing that I won two arbitrations that I wasn’t sure I was going to win. Then, I got the big news of my arbitration career. I filed arbitration to recover $175,000 on a claim against a certain huge insurance company (the one with the cute, little gecko). In the world of insurance claims, this was huge and I broke a record on the most recovered in one claim through arbitration.

It felt like a long shot to prevail in the $175,000 case and to win was huge! I jumped and laughed out loud. We high fived and I celebrated. It was the grace of God and me setting the intention on having an awesome day. But, it didn’t end there. As we were leaving for the day, my manager said she received an email from the same auditor that reamed me in another audit (I discussed the first audit in another blog and it is a compliment to receive an email from an auditor), saying I did a great job on an arbitration filing and that I won that case, too!

All the pieces worked together. I deliberately created an awesome day and allowed the new day to unfold in its own way. Each time I touch a new arbitration filing, I set the intention that only the best outcomes for me will manifest. And, time and time again, it does. I will now practice deliberate creation in other areas of my life where resistance is more dense and prevalent.

~Your Curator of all Things Beautiful, Kimberly Jo Cooley

I Begin and End a Job On My Own Terms

The Affirmation: I always begin and end my jobs on my own terms.

You may read the above affirmation, and think that it doesn’t apply to you. Perhaps you were fired or downsized, or you’re stuck in a dead-end job. This affirmation is exactly for you. It will transform your experience, the essence of who you are as an employee and it will bring about a change so deep, every employer will want to hire you.

Many of us will be working the majority of our lives, so it’s no wonder it consumes a good portion of our mental and physical space each day. Some of us have jobs that leave us feeling drained, unappreciated, unfulfilled, and under compensated. The easy answer is to leave a job, but many times, that’s not an easy option to do.

I was in a dark place four years ago in my own work life. I was working long hours as a claims adjuster, and feeling like I never could get caught up at work, and even if I did, I always felt like someone was dissatisfied with my job performance. The job market was shaky, and I felt stuck and depressed that I could not find a better job. During this time, I was on a “performance counseling” write-up and there were times I wished the boss would put me out of my misery and fire me. Yet, I was conflicted. I was a single mother at the time and had kids to feed, a mortgage to pay and health insurance to keep.

I began a spiritual journey and realized I had a choice in the matter. I could wallow in my misery, turn my destiny over to the managers to fire me, or I could take charge of my work life and turn it around. I recalled how I always used to say, “I always begin and end my jobs on my own terms – no matter what.” I said it once again, believed and  things drastically changed for me.

I began to feel a positive shift in how people approached me. My workload became manageable and organized, even when the volume increased. I was the experienced go-to person both managers and fellow employees reached out to. I got off performance write-up and instead, was given great annual reviews. I began to share ideas, instead of feeling reluctant to share my opinions with others. I searched other job postings within the company and found a job much more suitable for me. I applied for the new job twice, but the second time was offered a position. In a matter of a couple of years,  I turned my work life around, all because I realized that I really could begin and end a job on my own terms.

I was not settling. Instead, I was embracing where I was in my experience and realizing that I do have a say. I wrote short and long-term goals, both professional and personal. I realized I loved writing and wanted more of that in my life. I found what I was looking for, a job that allowed me to write a lot more and it still utilized my fourteen years of claims experience, which was more than I thought I could ever have. The new job was a lateral move, but in time, I got a much better raise and a quick promotion.  I would not be in the place I am now, had it not been for the affirmation above.

I’ve seen friends and co-workers fired or laid off from jobs. At first, it may seem like they did not leave a job on their own terms. But in closer review, and as time revealed, the termination was the best thing that could have happened to them and they ultimately found better jobs that were more suited for them.

The beauty of affirmations is if you believe in what you are affirming, the Universe will make it happen. Always believe there is a greater, higher plan unfolding for you. Chances are, if you said that affirmation above, it would be you choosing to leave the company rather than the company choosing to let you go.

~Your Curator of all things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Be Bold and Steadfast in Your Dreams 2014 and Beyond

All is revealed when you’re ready to receive