What does initiating an abundant life mean for me? I will show you. I am starting with myself – focusing on areas of my life and seeing where I am six months from now. I will share my values and dreams and the highs and lows, frustrations and ecstatic moments of attaining and maintain them.
I am initiating abundance of love, friendship, freedom, and spirituality in my life, and will take each of you on the journey with me. It is my hope that you will read about my experiences and then see areas in your life that could use a soul stirring transformation.
I will name the areas I am focusing on and will devote at least five minutes to them each day. It is my hope the minutes will increase and over time, that area will have transformed. I will devote a blog post a week to where I am in my areas of focus.
When I first started this blog, I envisioned a website where people could come for information on how to live the life they truly want. Many people have lost touch with the life they truly want to live. I wanted this initiative to be a collective effort and encourage people to take initiative in creating an abundant life for ourselves and others.
What better way to illustrate how to initiate an abundant life, than to document and share my own experience. Thank you for going on this journey with me.
~Your Curator of all Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley
Image courtesy of gubgib, published on 29 December 2012 Stock Photo – image ID: 100129566, from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles, published on 17 August 2012 Stock Photo – image ID: 10097414, from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net.
I recently applied some techniques on how to be and stay happy, even through stressful times. I overheard my boss having a lengthy argument with an auditor on one of my arbitration files. After she got off the line, she came to my cubicle to tell me a newly hired auditor didn’t understand my arbitration arguments and gave me a poor audit.
In the past, this is something that would have instantly sent me into a tailspin. I’d have to first complain to coworkers over how wrong and unfair it was. I would then internalize it and question all my decisions after hearing that kind of news. Then, I’d slip into a funk for a few days. Meanwhile, the negative funk I’d find myself in would color my present and future experiences with negativity and doubt.
Yesterday, I chose not to go down the path of negativity and refrained from telling a woeful story to friends and co-workers. I remembered that one audit doesn’t define me as a person or an employee. I found solace in how my manager really went to bat for me, and I realized she knew the truth of who I am, so of course I needed to remember the truth of who I am. I prayed for God to reveal to me the jewels in the rough of this experience. I began to say affirmations, affirming the truth of who I am and why I’m here. I did allow myself a few moments to feel upset at the news. But, here’s where it got magical – I began to envision me being on the other side of the situation, smiling and at peace. I went home for the day and focused on other things.
Today, I went to my manager’s desk to thank her again for her support. She told me she met up with management and the head of auditing department yesterday. The head of the auditing department reviewed my manager’s concerns and they all agreed that my handling in the case was solid, but there were issues with the overall handling of the claim that didn’t involve me that had to be noted in the audit. As it turns out, it was a holistic review and not specific to just my handling. My manager said she knows how I take pride in my work product and that she had to fight for what’s right. She was able to get the auditors to see I creatively argued the case, considering what little evidence I had to work with. The auditors eventually raised the scoring up on the review. The auditors and management even have a bet on the outcome of the arbitration – loser buys the other lunch!
In those moments, I could instantly see the jewels.
Here are the jewels:
I learned my manager thought highly of me and my work and was ready to defend me – other managers may not do the same.
I learned I could choose how to feel in moments of disappointment. I prevented a tailspin that would take me days to recover from.
I didn’t overreact, which was critical, because in the past, I would blow up over audit results and it felt wonderful to keep my cool.
Had I overreacted, I may not have been in a place to appreciate what unfolded after yesterday’s news.
I could have started down the tract of my company doesn’t appreciate me, or that new auditor is a real pill, but today, it feels better to stay in the positive.
I remembered I AM a divine creature, and my peace is something to protect.
I deliberately created my future by envisioning how I wanted to feel the next day. The Universe obliged.
I remembered the truth. I remembered that audits are to show how we’re doing as a company and this reminded me to not take it personal and it really is for the good of our company.
Gratitude and appreciation goes a long way. I found what I could be grateful for in the moments following the news, and that helped me to remain in a place of allowing, instead of going into a place of resistance.
We have the power to always reclaim our happiness and peace. I have grown. Yesterday showed me that through prayer, affirmations and shaking the lies and negativity out of the situation, I was able to ride this wave, with ease and grace. I look forward to practicing more of the spiritual principles, because they really work!
~Your Curator of all things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley
Image courtesy of Thanamat, published on 08 October 2012 Stock Image – image ID: 100105664
Chances are, you’ve heard Pharrell Williams “Happy” song one, two, or 100 times and either love or hate the song. It seems an equal amount of people who love or loathe the song and I can’t help but wonder if it’s just more than the song being played over and over or if there’s an underlying consciousness that is driving some people to feel a certain way towards the entire subject of the condition called happiness.
Pharrell sat down on Oprah Prime on the OWN Network for an interview on Sunday, April 14, 2014. He was moved to tears over how his song had touched many people, and it gave me goose bumps. He loves what he does, making music that not only moves him, but moves others, too. He is a shining example of happiness.
Constance Arnold had author, Jonathan Robinson on her show, titled, “Finding Happiness” (iTunes air date Friday, April 11, 2014). Jonathan wrote “Find Happiness Now: 50 Shortcuts for Bringing More Love, Balance and Joy Into Your Life,” discussed ways to get happy in your individual life right now. He has researched the top methods for individuals finding happiness modalities. He suggest making a list of things you enjoy doing and then calculate how many hours are they spending each month on things they love and hate to do. By employing just a couple of minutes per day towards what and who we love will begin to shift us towards a higher level happy consciousness.
Happiness raises a person’s vibrational energy, and higher level feelings, such as love, feeling prosperous and abundance hangs out in higher vibrational energies. To be happy, is to be thankful and grateful for what you have now. When you can be happy in any circumstance and condition, you are more aligned and in a place of allowing more happy things to easily come your way.
Hanging out in lower vibrational energies, such as in envy, shame, guilt, defeat, rejection, and depression, makes it more difficult to be in a place of allowing things to unfold. When you’re depressed and busy trying to survive, you are likely not in a place of allowing. In low vibe frequencies, people tend to try and control what’s outside of them and feeling a sense of failure when they find that outside forces are out of their control and people are constantly letting them down. It becomes a vicious cycle of trying to dump more and more into feeling better from the outside in, instead of from the inside out.
When you’re happy, you don’t try to control things outside of you – you simply adjust your internal barometer to what you energetically need.Life is an ebb and flow of energies, and they are not defined as good or bad. Too much high flying energy can have you feeling breathless and unable to catch up with even the best of life and too low vibes can have you out of alignment as well.
Many people can’t stand happy songs or people they feel are too “chipper.” They liken these songs and people to being “fake.” Upbeat people genuinely feel happy and invest in cultivating more happiness into their lives. Cynics don’t wear their happiness outwardly and tend to cultivate more experiences solidifying that outward expressions of happiness are fake, while brooding and complaining is being “real.”
For those who don’t like the “Happy” song or understand why people do like it, I am curious as to why. If it is genuinely for taste reasons, I’d like to know that, too. But, I have a feeling it goes a lot deeper than a Top 40 hit being overplayed – I think it represents the belief many of us hold that no one can really be that happy. Well, Pharrell is showing us that we really can be that happy :-).
~Your Curator of all things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley
Courtesy of Facebook, YourBeautifulLife.org, message by Louise Hay
Jubilant: ju•bi•lant ˈjo͞obələnt/ adjective: jubilant 1. feeling or expressing great happiness and triumph. Expectancy: ex•pect•an•cy ikˈspektənsē/ noun: expectancy; plural noun: expectancies 1. the state of thinking or hoping that something, esp. something pleasant, will happen or be the case.
To transcend a moment of unhappiness or an undesirable situation, we must hold on to jubilant expectancy of things to come. We should know that we can always rise above any situation, to forgive ourselves and others, and to hold steadfast to our purpose, with grace. We should know and expect the things we desire are able to come, maybe not easily all the time, but they are able to manifest. And, for that, we are triumphant. We can have great happiness of what has already manifested, and what is yet to manifest. This is how you keep your energetic vibration a match to what it is you wish to feel and receive in your life.
Abundant~Life~Initiative 