Love, grace and gratitude

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, or worn. It is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace & gratitude.” - Denis Waitley

 

Living in the present

So many carry the burdens of the past with them. They cling into old memories and a turbulent past. Some live in fear of their uncertain future. What is most important is to live now in the present. 

Yes, the past happened. Yes, the future is uncertain. Accept and say to yourself that what matters is now. I know it is hard not to keep reliving what happened to you. Your feelings are validated, but to find peace you have to practice forgiveness. This does not mean that what happened to you was right, but by forgiving you can free yourself. It seems like we remember the bad times more often than the good times. Like a movie the negative thoughts play over and over in your mind, in your dreams and daydreams. You are putting out negative thinking and negative energy. You will get back what you are sending out into the Universe. Look around and you may see yourself in the negative people you are surrounding yourself with. They too are living in the past, the future, but not the present. Live for today.

Make your happiness a priority.

Learn to love yourself first and things will fall into place. The world may seem dull and grey, but once you make happiness a priority you will see that life is truly beautiful. Take time to start on your journey of self discovery. Focus on the present and letting go of the past. 

Surround yourself with positive people. Negative energy will attract negative thinking and only bring you down. Over the years I have had to make a decision to move on from a few friends. They were stuck in an endless cycle of drama and negative thinking. Quality or quantity...my circle of friends includes like minded thinkers who are focused on positive energy and their well being. 

Start your journey by reading spiritual healing books, visiting online forums, learning to meditate and considering a new level of thinking. You will start to see life from a different point of view. 

What is empathy?

What is empathy? Well, in my opinion it is a gift learned over time. Not everyone knows the feeling of having empathy for another. People who have suffered a great deal in their lives know all too well the feeling of hurt, loneliness and despair.  Out of that struggle you find yourself relating to others who have been to hell and back.  For me empathy is a blessing and a curse. It is the overwhelming emotion of sadness and compassion for people time and time again. There are times when i am learning about a person's experience in life and I am filled with emotion and the tears start to flow. The overwhelming feeling of that individuals pain and sadness consumes me and for a moment we share that energy...that moment. 

The ability to have the gift of empathy is quite possibly the only positive thing that came out of my traumatic childhood. 

The next time you see a homeless person begging for money I ask you to contemplate this: that maybe that person was not able to come out of the struggle and live a normal life. Try not to go to that dark place in your mind where you just see the homeless beggar as an alcoholic/drug addict who is doing nothing with their life. It is easy to judge when we do not know a person's personal struggle.