Tag Archives: Appreciation

Cutting the Cable Cord…

Posted in Inspiration, Prosperity by
Image courtesy of Discarded Television by artur84, from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

Image courtesy of Discarded Television by artur84, from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

I’m a 1980s baby, grew up in the MTV, in the cable television era. My parents always had cable television. So, I, too had cable TV in my own home. There were brief moments in my early twenties when I couldn’t scrounge up enough cable bill money to pay on a regular basis. But, I always factored the high cost of cable in my monthly budget and rarely went without it.

Well, all that ends now. After receiving yet another $175 bill from Uverse for my cable and internet, I had enough. The high cost of cable was a drain on my monthly budget and on my life. I decided it was time to consider letting cable go.

I went to Facebook to ask for insight from folks who cut the cord long ago. Many wondered why I hadn’t done this a long time ago. Others sympathized and admitted they missed their cable from time to time. Overall, I got a sense many felt more liberated and certainly their pocketbooks were fatter from not spending so much on this expense.

As a writer, television is a killjoy and I already know this. But, there’s something so satisfying about going home from a stressful job and escaping into television world. Instead of reading books and writing, I was watching TV, and lots of it. The only way I could change was not making it so easy to watch my television shows.

I called Uverse to remove cable and was told if I did, I would be charged a $165 early termination fee, regardless if I kept my internet with them. I was pissed off at Uverse, but mostly myself. I could have cut cable off last month, but I had to lock myself into yet another contract. I had finally talked myself into disconnecting cable, only to be faced with another decision. Do I just keep basic cable until next June or pay the outrageous early termination fee?

I decided to drop to basic cable and when I’m ready to stomach paying the early termination fee, I would. Fortunately, the fee goes down $15 every month. My plans to go cold turkey on my cable addiction didn’t go quite as planned. The plus side to having basic cable is I still get to watch a beloved local morning show, Good Day Sacramento for a little while longer.

I feel foolish paying all that money for so many years. Now I know better. I fantasize about how my life would be richer without cable and I instantly feel lighter and happier.

I was shopping in Walmart and a Direct TV sales rep asked me who was my cable provider. I said, “It was Uverse.” He asked me what I was paying then asked who I was going to go with now. I told him I am eliminating cable and using only the internet to watch TV, when I had time. He shrank back to his table and raised his hands in surrender. I almost asked him who he had for cable, but kept pushing my cart to the checkout lines. I already knew the answer. He wasn’t a sucker for cable anymore, either!

As I write this, none of my favorite shows are on and I’ve been writing away at my computer. I’ve only been away from cable for almost a week, but I’m not missing it.

What I learned through this experience is I saw what looked like a problem – high cable bills – and turned it into a way to connect with others, to enhance my life by finding creative ways to get entertained, while also finding balance. I found there is more time for meditation and reflection. And, I got a lower cable bill after all.

I am more abundant now than when I was paying the highest cost of cheap entertainment. Sometimes it takes a ridiculously high cable bill to demonstrate what needs to be adjusted in one’s life, and for that I am grateful.

~Your Curator of All Things Abundant, Kimberly Jo Cooley

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Stop Worrying About the “How” and Just Be in the “Now”

Posted in Goals, Inspiration, Inspirational Quotes, Law of Attraction, Manifestation, New Thought, Spirituality by
Image courtesy of amenic181, from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Image courtesy of amenic181, from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Your job is to generate and to allow your creative thoughts to come, shaping matter into manifestation. To nurture creative thoughts by being fertile ground for them to sow and grow. To be an allowing vessel for blessings to flow to and through you. To be ever present in the now is to slow down enough to savor what is and to be confident in what is to yet to be.

God/The Universe’s job is to handle the “how” in bringing forth the manifestation or your creative thoughts and ideas.

Your “now” lays the foundation for your tomorrow. If your “now” is filled with worry for the “how” of things you want to create, all you are creating is more worry about not having what you want. We live in affirmative universe, that gives us what we focus on and believe. To effect change in one’s life, one must look at what they believe and are focusing on.

Let your “now” be filled with gratitude and appreciation. Let your “now” be filled with peace and creative moments. Let your “now” have times of respite and reflection. Let your “now” be void of dissatisfaction and boredom. Your “now” should have no room for boredom, dissatisfaction, anger or resentment.

Don’t prematurely pull up your creative seedlings, by allowing doubt, worry, and fear to uproot them. Be like the farmer who tends to his plants, but doesn’t hover over and crowd them. The farmer is patient, all the while knowing that what he has planted will grow in its own time.

The lover lives in the “now,” the worrier lives in the future, and the naysayer lives in the past. The naysayer relies on information about their life from what they’ve seen and only what they’ve seen. The worrier relies on information on fears of what they cannot see. The lover relies on the love they are experiencing right now and will continue to experience. Be the lover. Lover of creativity, lover of life, lover of all there is.

Know that all is truly well and working in Divine Favor for the best life has to offer you. Resolve to enjoy life, right now, and to refrain from needlessly stressing over things, for stressing will never bring what you want closer to you.

~Your Curator of All Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

 

Perfectly Aligned

Posted in Inspiration, Inspirational Quotes, New Thought, Spirituality by

To be present in this moment is golden, and what makes life so sweet. Thank you Sheri, for such a beautiful letter to humanity.

Be present. Be aware of the emotions you’re emitting and experiencing. Is that emotion in alignment with your desires for yourself and your life? Or, something else? If you are feeling good, take note, and savor that moment. Blessed Be.

10 Life Enriching Things To Do When It’s Cold Outside

Posted in Fitness, Goals, Inspiration, Spirituality by

 Merry Christmas Folks! I hope you are having a lovely time with friends and family, but be sure to take time out for yourself, even if it’s just for a few minutes each day through the holiday season. When you’re refreshed, you bring your whole self to the party! This blog post is a revisit from last December and I thought it was timely as many of us are taking time off for the holidays. Enjoy and Happy Holidays to you and yours!

ID-10011223

Courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net

Cold weather or tending to sick, sleeping children definitely keeps many of us in doors. When we find ourselves bound to the house, whether to stay warm or to care for ourselves or others, we can use the time productively. Here’s a list of ten life enriching things to do while stuck in doors.

1. Create an acknowledgement/gratitude journal. This type of journal is different than one to capture all your thoughts and emotions from day to day (although I think that’s a good reason to journal too). This journal is simply to acknowledge the specific things you did in a day and what you are grateful for. In time, you will have a collection of acknowledgements about your life and will have physical evidence of all that you do and receive.
2. Create a Manifestation journal. This is different from an acknowledgement/gratitude journal because it is a chronicle of the things you wish to bring into your life in the near and far future. It will feel amazing to see the things you scribed in your manifestation journal come to fruition in your acknowledgement/gratitude journal. Some things I have manifested was my daughter, my degree, my vehicle, and a better job, just to name a few.
3. Create a Vision Statement for your life. A paragraph detailing your vision for yourself is an awesome way to culminate all that you want represented in your life. It is a great reference to look at each day in your cubicle wall or on your bathroom mirror. Companies have vision statements, why not the little peoples too?
4. Create/work on your vision board. I have a well loved, ratty vision board that essentially has everything I wanted to manifest come about and now need to make time to create a new one. A vision board is great for the visual folks who need to see images to conjure up good feelings of what they want to have or continue to have in their lives. I grabbed images from the internet, magazines and even fortune cookie notes. It is a fun project to do with the kids, too.
5. Surf the web with purpose. Surfing the web sometimes gets a bad wrap as a time zap. I personally feel we are gaining information to store for later when we are perusing the net. Now that I am blogging, every opportunity to surf is a possibility for a new subject to write about. When you’re surfing the net, think about something from your manifestation journal you want to do a little more research about. Perhaps it’s a trip to Brazil. Or, an article on the history of tithing. Whatever it is, surf with a purpose to make the computer time count.
6. Guided meditation. I am a huge fan of guided meditation because it helps to guide the mind and body into a quiet state. Guided meditation reduces stress and for those of us who are spiritual, it brings us closer to our Higher Self or God. Here is a link to UCLA Health’s website with free quick, guided mediation MP3s http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22. If you’ve never meditated, having a guide to help you quiet your thoughts is super helpful. Don’t feel like you have to start out doing 30 minute sessions – start with five minutes and work your way up.
7. Listen to Podcasts. Just as I’m a journal junkie, I am also a little strung out on Podcasts. I listen to spiritual leaders and life coaches for daily inspiration. Some podcasts to check out: Everyday Attraction with Rae Zander; Think, Believe and Manifest Show with Constance Arnold; Receive Your Life with Janice Campbell; The Matt and Phil Show; Flowdreaming with Summer McStravick. For the creative writers, check out Writers on Writing.
8. Exercise. Get some second hand yoga or fitness videos, dance, or if you have room in your family room, get a small bike or elliptical machine and work up a sweat while you watch television. Whatever you do, get moving. Obviously, if you have a sick child or you’re sick yourself, this is not really a feasible option, so that’s why it’s towards the bottom of the list.
9. Daydream. Now, this is something you can do while your child sleeps or if you’re bedridden. Allow your mind to wonder. It feels so delicious to dip into a daydream, and almost a letdown when it’s interrupted. Here is how Wikipedia defines daydreaming: Daydreaming is a short-term detachment from one’s immediate surroundings, during which a person’s contact with reality is blurred and partially substituted by a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions, imagined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake. Your mind needs a break, why not daydream?
10. Sleep. This will be a given if you’re sick. Even if there’s no sickness in your house, a nap or a night’s rest is what your mind and body needs to recharge. For many of us, sleep is a depleted commodity and naps are great for storing a little day’s energy. On days when I’ve had a hard time or had to leave work early, I go straight to my couch and take a nap. I usually wake up feeling a lot better about a situation or I may even dream up a solution to a problem. Sleep is medicine.

What are some ways you pass the time on cold or rainy days? And, what are some ways you enrich your life for free?

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

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

Posted in Dating, Inspiration, Loss, Love, Manifestation, New Thought, Prosperity, Relationships, Spirituality, Work Life by

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 Three – Financial Freedom

Posted in Inspiration, Inspirational Quotes, Law of Attraction, Love, Manifestation, New Thought, Prosperity, Spirituality by
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles, published on 25 July 2014 Stock Image - image ID: 100277020

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles, published on 25 July 2014 Stock Image – image ID: 100277020

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 One – Spiritual Freedom

Posted in Affirmations, Inspiration, Law of Attraction, New Thought by

Image courtesy of digitalart, from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

“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

Reader Appreciation Award

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ReaderAppreciationAward

My fellow blogger friend Eric from http://hunt4truth.wordpress.com nominated my blog for the Reader Appreciation Award and I thank you Eric, for sharing this with me. For my readers, please check out Eric’s blog for some wonderful, spiritual insight and revelation.

This award came with no strings attached, just a note of appreciation. I know some bloggers have a “no awards policy” because of all that can be entailed with receiving them, but to me, it’s a nice gesture for someone to think of your blog when they see an award.I will post this award proudly on my about page.

I appreciate all of you for reading my blog, taking the time to drop me a line from time to time, and for keeping me inspired to keep writing. Many thanks to all of you.

~Your Curator of All Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Weaving Gratitude Into Deliberate Creation, Part Three

Posted in Affirmations, Inspiration, Inspirational Quotes, Law of Attraction, Manifestation, New Thought, Spirituality by
Image courtesy of Supertrooper, published on 10 September 2013 Stock Photo - image ID: 100200370, from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Image courtesy of Supertrooper, published on 10 September 2013 Stock Photo – image ID: 100200370, from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

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