Live What You Know

Waking up is more than it seems. You KNOW more than you've ever been "taught"! You chose to be here now. Make yourTRUEself proud!

Tag: Religion and Spirituality

August 13, 2013

Your Super Power Is Joy!

Last night as we were doing the nighttime routine getting the kids ready for bed, one child said something to the other and then came the annoyed frustrated reaction…we know how it goes with little humans (and many big ones too).  I bent down to get closer to my sweet six-year-old boy who was pretty agitated.  I wanted to ease his suffering.  I thought of superheroes.  We were in his room, so they were nearby.  I said to him “hey buddy, YOU have a super power.  Do you know what yours is?”  He looked at me with the sweetest surprised expression (still mad, but curious).  I told him, “Your super power is joy.  You have always had it.  From the moment we met you, you have always had the power of joy.”  I went on to explain, “Don’t give your power away or let it be taken, it’s your special super power.”  I whispered in his ear, “You always choose.”  We looked at each other for a moment, then I whispered it in his ear again.  He looked at me with understanding and knew what I meant.  He took his power back and returned to joy.  He has always been good at this.

Later I found myself thinking about that little interaction with my dear boy.  It had all happened so spontaneously.  I was grateful for that moment.  Then I realized that I have been getting that message from God through so many of the wonderful teachers and books and so many of Life’s lessons.  God has been whispering in my ear, “Your super power is joy.”  Love and joy are everywhere and they are accessible to us whenever we can be there.  Whenever we lose our joy, we have chosen to give it away.  We always choose!

As I continue my journey towards really living what I have learned and opening my heart to this amazing universe, I have found myself saying this in my prayers more often lately, “God, thank you so much for how it is all designed, for how amazing it truly is to be here.”  I can’t really articulate it in words very well, I just sit in awe and appreciation of the love and joy that is waiting for us in every single moment.

YOUR Super Power Is Joy!  Use it and spread it today!  Sprinkle it Everywhere!

Leave a comment
August 9, 2013

Make Your Weekend Last Longer and Have More Joy – With Timeless Presence

“The ego’s greatest enemy is the present moment, which is to say,
life itself.”  –Eckhart Tolle

We can all agree that it would be wonderful to have the weekends last longer.  Lets try it this weekend.  It is a good idea (or the most important thing in life…depending on how you look at it) to practice living in the moment whenever you can.  We all hear the buzz on it and try to do it at whatever stage in our journey we are at, maybe we can kick it up a notch this weekend.  Practicing presence can take the time out of the weekend and make it last so much longer.   It can bring more joy and peace to us and bless everyone and everything around us.

Ego work is required for true growth.  You can’t battle your ego, it will just grow with the extra attention and even if you do seem to win for a bit, it sneaks in the backdoor and grows itself by assuming the new identity of the one with the smallest ego and the most presence.  I want to use Live What You Know to share and try little ways of chipping away at the ego.  I believe that you can shrink your ego simply by turning the other way – towards love.  This weekend, lets turn completely towards the greatest enemy of the ego – the present moment.  In doing so, we will access Love and Life.  Everything will feel better and time will cease to exist, hence a longer weekend.  I know that true presence doesn’t know it’s the weekend…but, since our thinking mind does love a weekend, lets just give it a try!  Yay!

Wherever you are in your path of discovery, you can always improve your ability to access stillness in the present moment.  You may be simply noticing the silence between the words in a conversation or adding a breath before you speak or you may be meditating for two hours every morning.  We are all at the perfect place in our journey!  I am not an expert on these things but I have been profoundly interested in adding more present moment awareness since I heard about it seven years ago.  I have read and heard many of the experts and masters on the subject and I want to share their wisdom in little doses here whenever I can, both for bringing more peace and joy to others and also to keep myself in the spirit of growth and presence.

Knowing this stuff because I read it and heard it from the masters and living it are, of course, two different things, hence the whole Live What You Know focus.  To practice truly living what I know about presence this weekend, here are some helpful little tips I would give myself (and you if you’re open to the idea):

  • Meditate first thing in the morning – whatever skill level you are at, even one minute to touch stillness to feel what it is like to return to it throughout the day.
  • Pray – set your intention for presence and awareness, ask for help to stay in that vibration and truly experience each moment in awareness rather than mind activity.
  • Listen – use listening for a presence practice. Truly listen whenever anyone is speaking.  You can keep a present energy in the background and feel that while you listen, let any thoughts that try to creep in just float by.  Don’t think about what you are going to say next, just listen without thinking and still feel some presence.  Don’t give all your presence away while listening, just enough to listen well and stay present.  Great practice – changes how you experience yourself and others…and everything.
  • Breath – add more breath all the time.  It’s not really adding breath, because you’re already breathing, its noticing your breath.  Noticing one breath before you speak can take you from reactionary living to present living.  It is a great practice to remain present and be.  Reactions are not present, they do not have the power of presence behind them.  Reactions to what others say and do give your power of presence away.  One breath to bring you to presence before reacting or speaking can change everything.  It’s a great way to take the ego out of your interactions.
  • Joyful Living – get all the way into the moment and find the joy there.  It is there!  I promise.  Even if it’s tying your kids shoe or doing the dishes, there is something to enjoy.  You can look your kid right in the eye and get a giggle and a connection as you tie their shoes or you can appreciate the way the water feels on your hands and the sunlight comes in the window as you do the dishes.  Whatever you do, the joy is there somewhere.  Isn’t it awesome that it was designed this way.  Do the joy experiment all weekend, you’ll find it.
  • Doing Meditations – You can turn anything into a meditation.  You just pick what it is and practice staying completely present the whole time.  It may be sorting the laundry, vacuuming the living room or brewing a cup of tea.  It may be a walk or writing a poem.  You truly can turn anything you do into a meditation.  Let any thoughts float by, you are the sky and the thoughts are the clouds – they pass.  Don’t jump on any of the clouds (thoughts), don’t resist them either, just watch them float by and your peace of mind increase.  This is also a great way to start watching your thoughts without being attached to them – they’re just thoughts…only the power you give them or don’t give them makes them what they are.
  • No waiting – waiting is awful.  If you find yourself in the situation where it seems like you’re waiting for something – a long line or the time for your next event, etc., just don’t do it.  BE instead of waiting.  Enjoy the present moment and realize the perfection in it as it is.  Realize that you do not need to add anything to it and life will not start once you are done waiting.  Life is already happening, waiting takes you out of it.  Not waiting is a great practice, you can focus on the breath or smile or just be and observe without adding a bunch of thoughts to it.  Waiting gives time so much power and takes you right out of the present.
  • Try something new – get into the unfamiliar.  It brings a heightened focus to what you’re doing and takes you out of the thinking mind.  Even if you just cook a new recipe that challenges you or take a walk on a new path, anything that is new and unfamiliar will bring more presence.  Simple excitements in the little things are the best!
  • Create – write, draw, color a picture, anything creative.  Releasing your creative energy and making something in presence is like offering a prayer.  The still place inside you is incredibly creative, touch it and be with it and see what happens.  Even just looking up how to draw something on the computer and following along can be a great experience if you’re not super confident in your artistic abilities.  Just make something, even a fabulous meal is a creative endeavor.  Touch the joy of creating!
  • Look without labeling – practice looking at the world around you without the lens of judgement.  Try to let go of labeling good or bad or even naming everything.  Even on a drive in the car, just be with all the things you see going by, you can experience the world in a whole new way without labeling what you see.  You can gain a lot of energy too because all the labeling we do is exhausting, just being and seeing without labeling can be a really comforting feeling and can bring us to a heightened sense of awareness and presence.
  • Embrace the uncomfortable – don’t turn away from feeling uncomfortable.  Often we feel a little uncomfortable and we cover it up quickly with one distraction after another.  Don’t resist the uncomfortable feeling, sit with it a minute in silence and watch it transform into joy!  It will!  The joy is in the stillness!
  • Smile – I love the simple practice of smiling.  When you truly feel your genuine smile, it does something to your heart.  You feel it deep in your heart and it changes how  you see everything.  Smile a lot and smile at everyone and everything!

Okay, that is my incomplete list of some tips that may help us have more joy and presence this weekend.  We may be able to have an ego-free weekend if we are doing all of this stuff.  Wouldn’t that be lovely!  Remember, presence isn’t something we can get better at later or when we’re more evolved.  The only time to get better at presence is NOW.  Flexing this skill and embracing these ideas can only have positive implications for the effects on our weekdays!  But, we will deal with that in that moment.

I just have to take a moment to thank you for reading this!  I am so very grateful for this platform and opportunity to share myself and encourage myself and others in this way.  I am just getting started and I can already feel the difference in my life!  I am so very grateful to you for taking the time to read my words from the heart…it is my true to desire to help us all live with more peace and joy!  I am also profoundly grateful for connecting with others who find these topics meaningful!  Thank you!

I send this with so much love!  I think I will read it several times this weekend to help me stay in the moment too!  I hope it helps you find more peace, joy and love!

Leave a comment
August 7, 2013

Growing Together…Not Growing Apart

Recently I was watching my husband as we were going about a lovely weekend day and this funny feeling came over me where I thought – it’s so cool that it’s you.  I was feeling how he is that same constant person I adore, but we have changed so much together over the years.  He is like a fresh and unfamiliar excitement, and at the same time, my most comfortable and familiar spot in the world.  What a great combination of feelings to feel for your spouse!  I began pondering how we got to this place and taking the time to feel the gratitude for such a gift.

As I looked back over the years, a few things jumped out that I think are worth sharing.  During the first years of our marriage, we were so busy with babies and providing for their needs, we never really had the opportunity to celebrate our anniversary.  This was fine, we were in survival mode and just embracing parenthood, it was a choice and we allowed that to be our priority.  Even though we weren’t pausing to celebrate our marriage, we were building a strong foundation for trusting each other and always being there for each other.  Becoming a parent is such a huge change; we had already begun our changing together and doing it well without even knowing it.  Our fifth anniversary was the first time we really celebrated.  We began a new tradition that year.  We made five promises for five years.  We spontaneously came up with five things we would try to do together or get better at, etc.  We put the list away and looked at it the next year to see how we did.  We didn’t obsess over it, just a guide for our discussion the next year when we made another list…six promises for six years.

One of the promises that has been on the list each year is how many books we commit to read together that year.  It turns out this was our magical promise!  This promise came naturally to us because we had already realized that when you read something that changes you or means a lot to you, you naturally want your spouse to read it to.  We had made this choice before and seen how important it is to honor what is meaningful enough to share with each other.  When we decided to take it up a notch and commit to a certain number of books each year, we were opening the doors to much more change and growth together.

One thing that was magical about the decision to read together each year was the magical way the universe sent us the perfect book selections for us.  We never chose ahead of time, we were just open to what came to us in a meaningful way.  It became exciting to see how the dots connect and messages are delivered when you’re open and ready and willing to see and hear.  It has been a delight to do this together.  As we go about our life, we are always on alert for what the universe is sending our way.  We are ready to embrace things together.

Another magical outcome of our little promise to each other to read meaningful things together was how much excitement it brought to our lives with being willing to try new things.  Our partnership on some of these meaningful discoveries allowed us to really implement changes for our family and changes in our way of seeing the world together.  We have embraced all kinds of new things and we have been up for them with excitement, here are just a few examples:

  • Switched to a Whole Foods, Plant-Based Diet – this was the first major change we did together as a result of reading.  We read enough to know this was what we wanted and we went for it.  This would have been impossible to do without the support of each other.  I love hearing my husband say how exciting it actually was to try something so completely different.  I think taking on this huge change together opened us up for many more new things.
  • Became Pyramid of Success Enthusiasts – this one was lovely for our family, it helped us teach the children about character what real success looks like – knowing you did your best.  It has shaped many areas of our personal success and family life.
  • Poetry – We have family poetry time each night.  It is a lovely part of the day we share with our kids.  We get to tap into a beautiful frequency in the world, it’s a gift…our reading led to this delightful practice (I will detail our poetry practice another time – we love it so much).
  • Quit/Limited Watching TV – somewhere along the line, we decided to quit watching television.  I am sure the reading and special family time with books had a lot to do with this.  After a few years, some specific mindful entertainment has come back in and of course tennis, but other than that, we remain a family who doesn’t watch television and it has enriched our lives in so many ways.  Just getting out of the habit of having the TV on helps.  Then when you do decide to watch it, it is more meaningful and exciting.  (confession – I do allow junky television to creep in sometimes during workouts…I figure one good choice cancels the other junky one…I feel better if I make it a meaningful choice, but I still choose the junk once in a while).
  • Great Discussions – as we grew our reading together and learning new things, our discussions have opened up so much and we have really become better versions of ourselves with much more interesting things to talk about.  It feels like purpose and really living and encouraging each other rather than just going through the days.
  • Meditation – we started this together.  One of us is better at it than the other…good job honey!  We both know how important it is for supporting growth and stillness and clarity.  We encourage each other to make time for it  and we teach it to the kids.
  • Prayer – we feel meditation is listening to God and prayer is speaking to God.  We are able to tap into the power of Life by learning and implementing these practices and our reading and openness got us to practice more regularly and know what we want to talk to God about.
  • Open Heart – I think this is what I noticed recently… the spirit of our hearts have changed together.  It feels like we were meant to be together and to bring out these changes in each other.  We are so very different (which is a good thing) and still have found such joy in making meaningful changes together.  Within our love we can feel how much more open we have become and it is stellar!
  • Unfamiliar – in our reading we came across this and it is amazing.  It is possible to become too familiar to feel what is going on around you.  We have been able to foster the comfort of our familiarity and still find new and exciting things together that allow us to see each other in new and unfamiliar ways all the time…keeping it thrilling!
  • Courage – we found courage to be more of ourselves.  We learned what fear really is and we support each other as we turn away from it and towards Life. We feel up for anything and more connected to life and everything  and everyone around us.  We have found a more soulful connection.

This is an incomplete list of just a few of the things that came out of one little promise we spontaneously made a few years back!  I am so very grateful.

Reading together and changing together doesn’t mean you see things exactly the same way, it means you make it more exciting by sharing your own point of view and listening to another.  It leaves enough room to grow and change together rather than apart and still be true to your own soul and honor your own journey.  Now that we have been doing this for a while we aren’t so strict about how many books we will read together each year…we just go with the flow and know that we will do it!

If you don’t have a spouse or partner, you can still do this practice with a dear friend or family member…just pick someone who loves you enough to support you becoming the best version of yourself.

Lets grow together and be courageous about change and trying new things!  Sending you so much love!

2 Comments
August 5, 2013

Freedom From Being Right…or Wrong

“The ego is the false self – born out of fear and defensiveness.”
– John O’Donohue, Anam Cara

There is no right and wrong, only different ways of looking at things.  I am very interested in perception, I am sure it is a topic I will visit often here.  I love to try to open my heart by seeing things from various perspectives.  Anytime someone seems wrong, you can usually just try to see things from their perspective and then their actions make sense immediately.  You can save yourself from a bunch of mind torture over judgmental thoughts and you can love the other instead of seeing them as wrong.  Then you are reminded…there is no right or wrong, just different ways of looking at things.  After doing this for a while, you really don’t have to shift your perception anymore, you find a way to just BE and quit judging whether things are right or wrong or good or bad all the time.  A new freedom takes hold and it is magnificent!  Its living with an open heart rather than a fixed way of looking at the world!

We are so very connected to each other.  I know this is true and I believe that we all know it at the deepest part of our hearts.  There are some universal laws in play with this truth that are just happening whether we are aware of it or not.  How we treat others is exactly how we treat ourselves.  Hopefully we can all sort of agree on that; when we’re ready, we can take the idea a bit farther.  I am going to go ahead and mention one of the hardest things to truly learn that I have been working with over the past few years (and many more to come I am sure).  Here goes – you can only see in others what you have in yourself.  At first I thought this was a bit crazy and hard to accept…its hard to admit what we may have in us.  I have been working with it for some time now and I can see the profound truth in it and just how much it can help us grow in unexpected and delightful ways.  We truly can change the way we see the world as we change what we have in our minds and our hearts.  It’s a nice bonus that as we make meaningful changes inside and align our personality with our soul a bit more, simultaneously we will see the world in a new way as well.

As we go about changing what we focus on inside and how we see the world outside us, one thing that can help a lot is practicing freedom from being right.  This practice alone can help to change how you relate to your ego.  True growth and change requires ego work on many levels.  Finding little ways to live from love rather than our ego can lead from being imprisoned by a life lived from the ego’s perspective to a life lived with an open heart.  The joy of life doesn’t come from the ego, it comes from being One with Life.  There are many ways to learn about your ego and to turn away from it to make choices from stillness instead.  One thing you don’t want to do is attempt eradicating the ego, focusing on it will only allow it to grow.  We want to find little ways to turn towards stillness thus chipping away at the ego bit by bit.  Lets begin with simply giving up being right and see what we may gain from this practice.

What we may gain by giving up being right:

  • Better listening skills – if you are always concerned with being right, you cannot hear what others are saying.  If you think you’re right and they’re wrong, as soon as they speak, you will be thinking of what you will say next…not listening.  It is impossible to really be with someone if you cannot listen to them.  We would gain a lot more connectedness and enjoy people more with better listening.
  • Openness to other points of view – we may be surprised to see how good it feels to be open to ideas and unfamiliar things…it is really where the pulse of life is happening…the exciting stuff…Oneness with Life.
  • Freedom from defensiveness – if we don’t have to be right then we will be okay with others thinking we’re wrong.  What a relief that can be.  If we don’t have to worry so much what others think…then we begin to tap into true freedom.
  • Energy – it is exhausting to be right.  There is so much convincing to do and proof to gather.  You have to waste so many words and so much energy trying to change someone else’s point of view.  Imagine if you spent that energy just being open and listening…you would have boundless energy to spend on something more productive and creative.
  • Freedom from gossip and other toxic activities – gossip is all about what others are doing wrong and how we know what is better or right.  The whole “can you believe he/she did that?” – if we weren’t busy figuring out who was right and wrong and judging everything we wouldn’t ever find ourselves in those types of conversations.  If we didn’t need to convince others that we had been wronged, we wouldn’t have to talk about other people to hear how right we are.  We would come from a place of knowing better than talking about others choices.  We would have more room in our hearts to send love to people without judging them.
  • A clearer mind – if you can free your mind from all the thoughts it has about being right and making others wrong, you would open the doors to a lot of stillness and beauty in life.  You would see things more clearly and experience life in a new way – from stillness.
  • Meet more open and loving people – how we treat others is how we treat ourselves.  If we are someone who likes to be right, then we will find ourself making others wrong.  Because we are all so connected, it is just like making yourself wrong.  It will come back around to us…for sure.  People don’t enjoy being around people making others wrong, it hurts us all.  If we can clean this up and see the best in people, people will see the best in is us and we will encounter miraculous relationships with open and loving people.
  • Courage – anything would be possible without the fear of being wrong, we could re-direct all that energy to doing what we are meant to be doing.
  • Peace – seeing the good in others and treating others and ourselves with kindness can bring nothing but more peace into our life…what is better than that?!

What we may lose by giving up being right:

  • A bigger stronger ego – the ego loves loves loves to be right and make others wrong.  Every time it does so, it grows a bit and gets a stronger hold on its own identity.  It gets more of the mind activity attention and gets us to turn from love and towards a stronger ego.

Wishing us all a loving and open heart as we go about our days without being right.  Wishing you no “should-ing” on anyone and in return no one “should-ing” on you.  May you be comfortable with the not-knowing in life.  Be kind to yourself as you practice – as thoughts pop into your head ready to make right or wrong, remember, it’s just a thought and you don’t have to identify with it, just let it pass and turn towards love instead.  Lets make the world a little kinder!  Sending you love!

Leave a comment
August 1, 2013

A Well Lived Day – Your Masterpiece…The Morning.

“Make Every Day Your Masterpiece.”  –John Wooden

One day is the perfect metaphor for a lifetime.  We wake up, we live the day, we return to the source to regenerate.  For our lifetime, we are born, we live our life, we return to the source.  If we can live our day well, we can live our life well.  Coach Wooden said it so simply – “Make Every Day Your Masterpiece.”  It is simple and at the same time, it is profound and life changing.  How would you spend the day if it was to be your masterpiece?  I believe it is worth figuring out and going for… we never know how many days we will have and the days we are given truly are a gift.  Our days are precious; we create and design our lives with them.  If we can figure out what our Masterpiece day would look like, then we can take the steps to live it each day.  A well lived day will be an on-going topic at Live What You Know, lets begin with the morning.  My Masterpiece Morning for a regular day would look something like this:

  • First thing – a nice cuddle with my husband – just a few special moments before we begin the day (he leaves incredibly early, so those few moments are precious)
  • Up before dawn, see the sun come up, see the birds and the rays of light (or just take in nature depending on the weather), feel connected to it, rested and ready to start my day
  • Workout –  something to get the energy flowing and body moving – build strength and health, help the soul return to a body that is ready
  • Shower and put on comfortable morning clothes
  • Meditate and pray – touch the stillness and set the intention for the day
  • Coffee and writing – create from the stillness where all true creativity comes from
  • Post a meaningful blog that touches many people and inspires a great day for others as well as myself (not every day – but when the post is there)
  • Be ready to greet the kids as they wake with joy and present energy – take in their beings as they start their day…fun cuddle time.
  • Healthy breakfast with great conversation and very present energy where the kids and I set the foundation for making it a wonderful day
  • INSERT REST OF MASTERPIECE HERE – with a morning like the above – anything is possible!

So, that would be my masterpiece morning.

The morning is the most important part of ensuring a well lived day.  First of all, we want to live our life…we don’t want life to live us.  As a recovered “night person” and someone who loves to sleep, I don’t say this easily.  It takes a lot for me to stay in the vibration that allows me to make the most important decision of the day – get up real real early and get out ahead of the day and start it your way.  As you can see, my idea of a perfect day includes a lot of things before the kids get up (or before others are requiring something from me – for you it may be work, etc.), the point is to start your day with plenty of time for yourself as you begin to design the day.  I know for sure that this is essential to a well lived day.  I have been on and off this wagon so many times, certainly enough to see that doing it is the best choice and it really does set the tone for the day!  Otherwise life can take you for a ride and you are out of the driver seat and off and running in the direction of what everyone else wants from you.

Figure out what makes the morning a masterpiece for you.  Include time to at least set your intention for the day.  Some quiet time that allows you to feel the stillness that is behind everything will change your life.  Even just meditating for a few minutes and praying to whomever you pray to (God, Universe, whatever you call it).  The stillness you touch will stay in your background, it will be there when you need it later on.  You can access it to add space around your choices and live in the vibration of your soul…with purpose and presence rather than reaction.  It will make you better at everything you do.  The prayer will remind you of your intention for the day and allow you a chance to ask to be used in the service of life…you can feel more connection to everything around you throughout the day just by taking a few minutes in the morning to ask for it.  If you’re not used to morning prayers, just a few statements to yourself will do…its the same thing (another topic for another day).

Creating these habits and a great morning practice that works perfectly for you takes time and patience and lots of tweaks.   There was a period where I really had it down and it changed my life…it created my best year ever…ah, 2010.  As the kids got older and new commitments came in for them I let new obligations get in the way of my mornings and lost the ability to make it a priority…I just couldn’t quite figure out how to get it all in.  Since that time I have been sporadic about keeping it up.  I can see the effects of that on my life.  I am ready to give myself the gift of living what I know in the mornings consistently.  Wish me success!  I wish you success too!

The first step is admitting that getting up earlier to do it is necessary and will enhance your life in countless ways.  As they say…the first step is admitting it.  Lets admit it and then have a go at doing it and making it stick.  Admit it, try it, keep doing it if you already are, try even earlier if there is more you want to do…wherever you are on the subject… Happy Early Mornings!  Be kind to yourself with setbacks!!!

PS – it should be noted that masterpiece mornings require changes at nighttime too…stay tuned for more about creating your masterpiece evening.

Leave a comment