OUR STORY - PATIENCE

I love praying and setting my intention for what I desire in my life.  Last week's JOY prayer was a powerful request to the Universe to amp up the volume and make me an instrument of shahaharing.    Which makes me a A LOVECat as defined by Tim Sanders, a people-centric business expert.

What is a LOVECat?  A person who shahahares their INtangibles - knowledge, network and compassion.   By shahaharing my joy this week, my energy level increases.  My stress diminishes.  My body relaxs and I feel peaceFULL.  I shahahare what I know  - I contribute what makes me hahahappy - I cheer what brings joy. I am I am a LOVECat.

Today, as I celebrate Loverboy's birthday, I feel blessed to be his wife and part of his life.  I feel blessed for this computer which allows me the freedom to express myself and the electricity that runs this device and the wires that connect me to friends and family all over the world.

This week I pray for PATIENCE with myself.  This week I pray for PATIENCE with my process as I shift from what I do to who I be.  

Last week I prayed for JOY and what I got was a week full of opportunities to be joyFULL.  Monday morning, I visited with my SoulMama and practiced yoga.  I got a Thai Massage (also known as yoga for lazy people) by MamaGoddess Kan. To perfect the trifecta of women, I met SisterGoddess Barbara for a swim and laugh in the ocean.  I got to stretch and laugh and hug some OMazing women.

On Tuesday,  I laughed under the trees with Loverboy and his father and some Wild Succulent Men who held the space sacred for the HAHA.   Blessed to be in the presence of my OMazing trainer DonnaMadonna, I worked out twice.  I kicked, I punched, I crunched, I danced.  I sweat out my toxins and felt my cells jump for joy.  I connected with two OMazing healers via telephone  Brother from Another Mother Ubi and SisterGoddess Mary(my fertility coach) helped me clear my thoughts and focus on my path.  I laughed, I cried and I sweat with some OMazing peeps.

On Wednesday, I spent time in the park under trees with GingerMama.  I hugged my laughing peeps and then whisked myself and SisterCroneGoddess Margo to the FontaineBleau for some pleasure research.  I laughed, I hugged and I relaxed in OMazing company.

On Thursday, GingerMama and I walked 5 miles in the early morning.  We laughed with our peeps by the ocean and came home just in time for a fabulous sunset walk with the GingerMama. In the presence of dog/God energy and laughter - what a day!!!

On Friday, it was time with my Sisters of Light as we prepared and created sacred space and an agenda for our Goddess Circle.  A dip in the ocean and a nap and a sing along at my neighbor's to prep me for date night with LoverBoy.  Singing and dancing with my Sisters and my Elders and in the Sea.

Saturday Gentle Yoga with SisterGoddess Yolanda and a drive to Coconut Grove with LoverBoy for some raw food goodies.  Birthday dinner for LoverBoy with his parents.   What a gentle loving day with OMazing Goddesses and family.

Sunday swim at the ocean with SisterGoddess Camille and SisterGoddess Barbara, produce shopping at the Farmer's Market, Dance Church with SisterCroneGoddess Margo, and then a Goddess Circle with SisterGoddess Zayna and SisterGoddess Carole and 12 other SisterGoddesses - woohoo.

This is my life.  It is simple and delicious.  Exercise, fun, beach, nap, girlfriends and family.  Yum.   I am so grateful for these opportunities to play and heal my body.  I am so grateful for all the hands that touch me or ears that hear me.  I am so grateful for LoverBoy and our families.  I am so grateful for the women in my life who help me love me more.  The deeper I delve into my gratitude, the more I receive. 

I ask.  It arrives.  I set forth an intention.  I create a reality.

All these opportunities to connect and be and play and appreciate what is my reality - this Heaven on Earth right here right now.

Meditating with Oprah and Deepak, I feel this need for PATIENCE.  The Universe is asking me to take a gentle PAUSE.  To GO SLOW.  To BREATHE and LEAN INTO my life.  Feel more.  Be more.  Do less.   Take the time to do the things I do well and master what I do. That is how I have excelled at my marriage, 16 years of love and laughter with LoverBoy.  

PATIENCE is also about seeing the big picture.  It is not all ways apparent - in fact, sometimes we only get what we need to proceed and take a baby step forward.  More is revealed as we put in the time and effort to ease in.

This week, I pray we have the PATIENCE- an expectant gratitude for what is about to be.

I pray we have the PATIENCE to explore our lives with compassion -  blessing our hahahabits and behaviors for getting us where we are right now.

I pray we have the PATIENCE to celebrate who we have BEcome.

I pray we have the PATIENCE to laugh at our lives and takes ourselves lightly and enjoy the process.

Because it's all about the Bass....

Sustainability is Key

On Friday, flying home from Germany, I had the opportunity to watch Happy Feet.  Again.  I forgot what a great little movie this was.  A penguin using his dancing feet to create movement that causes chahahange. Mumbles the penguin remained true to himself and found that people responded to his passion.  Here was a penguin who believed he would find answers and help his tribe thrive by being himself.

Germany was a culmination of seeds planted long ago by who I was then and am still becoming.   After hearing the Dalai Lama live in Fort Lauderdale in 2004, I walked out of there with his words on my mind.  He asked the audience how can we have peace in the world when we do not have peace within our families?

At the time, neither of my parents were talking to their siblings and I had peeps in my family that I knew by title but not by person.  For example, my aunt.  She and my Mom, her sister, were barely talking - thinking they had nothing in common.  I found that what they had in common was me.  I called my aunt - told her I wanted to get to know her better, and flew out to Germany to do just that.

I ended up working in her new restaurant and sharing the couch with my new cousin, Blitz, a black Doberman.  I got to know my aunt as an adult and peer - as a friend and a niece.  I worked hard - listened to stories - shared moments.  The past came to meet us in the present where we could shine the light of love and make a change.   After 11 days, we definitely respected one another and found out that we truly liked each other as well.

First reunion in Germany - Mom, Auntie K and me

One seed planted and sustained with love and phone calls and emails.  Soon, another seed was planted.  I called my Mom on my birthday and thanked her for giving birth to me.  I invited her to Romania so we could visit my grandmother, my mama's mama.  Before leaving Europe, we stopped in Germany so the sisters could meet again.  And talk about the mother that they were estranged from.  Another seed was planted.

My aunt made the trek to Florida.  She came to enjoy the beach and the fabulous biking weather.  She came to know me and LoverBoy a little better.  She was even blessed to be here to witness and experience Hurricane Katrina.  More love, phone calls, time together and faith.  More seeds planted.

Me in Romania with my Grandma and her girlfriends

Two years later, Mom and I rented an apartment in Romania.  My grandmother joins us as does my Aunt.  It is a trip down memory lane - seeing places of their childhood and listening to their mother tongue.  We took a little excursion into the mountains to get a new sense of this place, these women and their experiences.  We spent two days in a old chalet - talking and eating - sharing stories and secrets - listening to details that had been missed and filling in the blanks that our bodies created to protect us.  A huge healing occurs - a shift - a peaceful surrendering to a new way of life.  

Two years later, the women agreed to meet in Vienna, Austria.  The matriarch of our family, my Mamama and her two daughters (my Mom and Aunt) and I rented an apartment for a week of family fun in Vienna. Again, we shared stories, we laughed, we cooked together and we mended part of the past.

The Sisters and Doggess Goddess Debby

Going to Germany this week was the blossoming of all the seeds of love planted in this family and getting to know the newest member of our family, Miss Debby.  Again, pieces of the puzzle were discovered as we weaved the fabric of our family lives and saw how each generation had left its mark on the next.  For me, I deeply desired this feminine healing of the family - this ability to connect and know we lived common history and are creating herstory.

What I've learned to be true is that seeds sprout in their own time. For me, sustainability of these seeds required discipline and focus. I found patience - a knowing or grace that things hahahappen in their own time instead of mine.  I found love - an open heart to however things appear on the surface.  I found faith - all the juicy stuff hangs out just below the surface enticing me to be in it for the long haul.

This week I felt a shift in the feminine in my family.  A beautiful chahahange of vibration as we let go of the past with compassion and accepted the present for what it is and opened ourselves up to the possibilities of the future.  We did this by laughing and crying and sharing and listening and eating, of course.  Yummy eating at my Aunt and Uncle's Restaurant, Wildhof, in the middle of a forest, about 15 minutes from Frankfurt.

Symmetry and ME

I pray for symmetry this week because I am looking for balance.  Life is giving me an opportunity to learn something anew - from a different perspective.

Life is all about symmetry.  It's all around us - balanced proportions - what's on the left is on the right - as above, so below.  What we do to the left side and right side, we do to the front and back.

Almost two years ago, I broke a bone in my right foot. It took quite a while to heal. In the first month or so, I rested and did nothing.  I BE for quite a while as I let my bones strengthen and realign.   

Last month, I danced with the pavement and twisted my ankle.  It got a little swollen and bruised and I gave it some elevation and ice and did my best to rest.  The swelling subsided and the pain became tolerable.  

The next day I flew from Texas to Florida. The swelling flared up again.  I took a few days to rest and relax.  And then, life came a calling and I went a running.  

Instead of adapting to a new lifestyle and asking for help - I tried to resume most of my activities and do everything myself.  I didn't realize the impact of   walking the dog, shopping, cleaning, driving, going to the beach - was having on my foot.   My ankle would swell because of my daily activities and I would ice and elevate every night.

Last week, my body screamed at me.  My Ipad haHAhappened to fall off the edge of my bed and land on the second toe of my left foot.  Direct impact - just one toe.  HaHAhappens to be my big toe since it is longer than my thumb toe.  My toe got bruised and swollen and sends ripples of pain to all the toes around it.

Now, between my ankle and my toe, my left foot feels really chaHAhallenging to walk on.   Still, I did not completely listen.   Yesterday,  I stubbed my toes.  The second and the third toe on my LEFT foot.  The pain was so excruciating, I saw stars.  I stopped and sat down and took a deep breath.   

For me, when my body speaks - injuries or pain - I know I am being told something.   Some message is trying to get across.

I pulled out my trusty Louise Hay, You Can Heal Your Life and referenced my injuries.  

Feet problems have to do with our understanding of ourselves, of life and others.  It has to do with fear of the future and stepping forward into what life has to offer.

More specifically, her assessment of fractures was spot on.  She describes a fracture as rebelling against authority.   Learning to trust myself regardless of what "professionals" tell me is best for me.  At the time this occurred, I was taking all sorts of crazy medical tests that felt wrong for me - trying to prove to my family that I was healthy in my raw food lifestyle.  My right foot, feminine side, was in conflict with what I knew and what the experts were saying.   To listen, my body gave me a powerful message and time to hear.

This time around, the ankle and the toes - Hays' assessment is the ability to receive pleasure and the minor details in life.  I had to really listen to this and put one and one together.  My left foot - my masculine side - the one that runs the show and takes care of myself and everybody else.   It's true.  I was so busy helping and nurturing and caring that I forgot to receive pleasure for my body, for my way of life, for what brings me juiciness and haHAhappiness.   And so my body showed me.  First in my ankle and then in my toes (the minor details) - how I can receive pleasure in even the smallest things in life.

Like Elly Belly rubbing her fur against my toes in her so gentle feline way and me being present in this moment with her.   Like walking in the grass with the Earth under my feet making me strong and enjoying the moment and breathing it in.   Like letting LoverBoy go to the market to do our shopping instead of trying to do it all.  

Receiving pleasure and balancing both sides of ME. Letting go of my fears (False Expectations Appearing Real) of the future and what may be and trusting myself and my wisdom.

The symmetry of the the left and right (masculine and feminine) - balanced proportions - that work well together, if I can get out of my own way.   WhaHAhat an OMazing chaHAhallenge - woohoo!!!

HILARITY BRINGS CLARITY

For me, I find the harder I laugh, the better I feel.

I had one of these MOMents of hilarity - breath knocked out of me, holding my belly, sputtering from the mouth, laughing so hard the tears started to flow.   ExhaHAhaling my HAhas as my laughter came from deep in my belly.  

The OMazing thing is that as I laugh from the center of ME,  I feel it touching and affecting every cell in my body.  What started within expands out until my belly laugh becomes a body laugh and all of ME is shaHAhaking.

These last few weeks, I was dealing with the flu - high fever, body aches, congestion in my nose, chest and head.   Coughing and sneezing and wheezing.  I couldn't sleep.  I couldn't eat.  Laughing helped me pull the phlegm up and out of my body.  It got my muscles and lungs to open up after all the contracting from the fever and aches.   

I didn't think I could laugh and yet once I started I couldn't stop.  All that yummy oxygen coming in - all that shaHahaking and moving my body - releasing the stiffness and stuckness of the flu.  I got centered in the present MOMent and allowed myself to flow again.

As Madison Taylor of Daily Om puts it:  

It is easy to laugh when we feel good, but it is when the world appears dim that we most need laughter in our lives.

For me, hilarity brought clarity.  An A-hahaha MOMent.  An opportunity to chaHAhallenge myself to do different.  It also flooded my body with oxytocin, released my physical stress and released endorphins into my blood stream.

Hilarity is uninhibited laughter - food of the soul, nourishing us from within.   And when we feel full, we can focus and gain clear INsight into our lives.

After three weeks of the flu - I was able to see where in my life I needed some chaHAhange.  Laughing so haHAhard and shaHAhaking it all gives you a new perspective.   It's kind of like leaning over the side of your bed and looking at your room upside down.  You see your room in a whole new way.

If you are ready for some clarity in your life, some HAHA to A-Ha, I can help you.  Send me an email and let us find the WOOHOO in your life.

Process of PEACE

The Dalai Lama once asked me (and a few hundred other peeps) a question:   How can we have peace in the world when we do not have peace within ourselves? within our families?

Peace within myself   -  back then, with my full time work as a paralegal and extra eighty pounds on my body and my plan to be rich and retired - I had no idea what the Dalai Lama was saying.   

I had a vague concept of Peace but no healthy hahabits to get me there. I heard about Laughter Yoga and that resonated with me.  A way to get out of my head and into my body.  An opportunity to grow a muscle that would help shift my attitude.  A space of silence and meditation where joy can grow.  Sign me up!!!

Over the last seven years - as my muscles get toned and strengthened, I can  find the HAHA in everything. I feel the levity in my situations and a smile easily finds my lips.

The eighty pounds have left along with meat, milk, cheese and grain - side effects of finding HAHAhappy and not having to stuff my face with food.

The process of Peace involves looking within and around.  Finding the feelings and laughing and crying about them and through them.  Accessing the Excess and releasing and purging what no longer serves me.   And shaHAhaking it out - releasing what no longer belongs and keeping everything within fluid and flexible.

Slowly, I see progress with the process.   I feel the Peace in my heart expand and express itself in the Universe in a chaHAharming way.

ShaHAhakti shaHAhake and get that Feminine Cosmic Energy dancing and laughing - doing a little AbunDANCE and bringing blessings your way.

Here's a musical message about ShaHAhaking and finding haHAhappy from the ultimate Dancing Goddess, Doris Day.