THE BIGGER PICTURE
A blog to explore what it means to live life from a spiritual perspective - the bigger picture. Using personal stories that uplift, inspire, encourage and celebrate our incredible lives.
In my work as a Life Fulfilment Coach and Personal Empowerment Mentor, I help others identify their dream and achieve it. I love helping people reconnect with themselves & their values and seeing how they can purposefully create and live fulfilling lives. Not only do I use all the coaching tools I have to hand, but I also come from the perspective that when we are aware of the bigger picture, aware of who we are, what we think and how we feel, we have influence over what we bring into our life. The next trick is to keep that awareness in everyday life. This blog is to share my experiences in the pursuit of conscious awareness and inspire you to do the same.
If you enjoyed this blog please do feel free to forward it to someone you think would enjoy it to.
Twice this week I have been reminded of following up on that ‘one
inspired thought’. A potential client wrote to me at 1.00am in the
morning after realising that he really wanted to change some things in
his life. Silence was the reply to my email inviting him to a free
session, and when I called him he was already into avoidance
techniques. Another similar reminder was in conversation with a friend.
She told me about being very clear at 3.00am about a tricky
conversation she needed to have with a colleague, but it getting foggy
by 9.00am and she had to work really hard to regain the clarity.
I
am a great believer that we are given these inspired thoughts for a
reason. They often occur when our minds are not in full flow,
especially at night, quiet times and after or during a meditation. Our
job is to act! If we allow ourselves to think too much about them we
will talk ourselves out of the action. What seemed so clear becomes
muddied by the cold light of day. A reality check too far.
It is
our ego, the part of us that is invested in us not changing, that
persuades us that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all. It
doesn’t make sense, it is upsetting the apple cart, and what’s more we
have no guarantee that it will work! And so we stop, tidy the idea up
and put it away in the drawer.
There is a lovely quote in The
Secret DVD that says, “When you have an inspired thought you have to
trust it and act on it.” Sounds simple huh? Well yes, but we need to
make a commitment to ourselves to follow it. If we get an inspired
thought and it feels good, then that emotional response is the green
light. Anything that makes us truly feel good is indicating that we are
on the right track. With that inner guidance of a good feeling we know
we can trust it and it will give us the confidence and courage to act.
So
be vigilant in the next week, look out for your inspired thoughts, even
if they feel illogical, and don’t let it get caught up in the cold
light of day. Don’t let it get buried by life. Instead act on it,
immediately and watch the result unfold.
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This week I had the great privilege to work with a woman who is in her
73rd year. She was an inspiration, so much vitality, so much verve for
life, willing to embrace new ideas and be open the possibility of going
for it. There was not a bone in her body that said retirement = stop.
It was one of the most enjoyable hour and a half’s that I have spent
for a while.
It made me think about how some people can get so
bogged down in their lives that they quit early. They repeat that old
saying ‘can’t teach a dog new tricks’. Well I think that that is our
choice. If we choose to stay stuck in wherever we are in our lives then
no, we won’t learn new tricks. If however, we are open and willing to
say yes to whatever life throws at us, then we can and do learn new
tricks and become a bigger and better version of ourselves.
So
this message this week for all of you out there (and for those who you
may know who fit the bill) is that it is never too late. That if we
allow our age or what we think are our limits to stop us then they
will. We are actually unlimited; it is only our thoughts that create
the line we cannot go over. So often we start towards something we
dream of and, just because it does not arrive as and when we thought it
would, we quit, we give up. How many times has the Universe just been
about to deliver to you something spectacular, but you’ve found some
limit to stop you going on and the Universe has had to sigh, turn round
and put it back in the cupboard again?
So I challenge you,
whatever age you are, to keep going, to be open to whatever comes your
way, to think the biggest ideas you can and then some. Have the
intention that when you are in your 73rd year you too will still be
pushing the boundaries, surpassing your minds limits and most
importantly – having fun!
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Keeping the Positive Focus. |
A lot is being talked about recently about The Law of Attraction. The
movie The Secret has caught people’s attention following in the wake of
What the Bleep Do We Know and Further Down the Rabbit Hole. I even
watched online two Larry King Live interviews
(http://jamesray.com/resources/larry-king-live.ph) in which most of the
people from The Secret were talking about the Law of Attraction and how
to use it in your life. I highly recommend all these movies and
interviews as well as the CD’s The Law of Attraction, the Law of
Deliberate Creation and the Law of Allowing from Esther Hicks and
Infinite Possibilities and Leveraging the Universe from Mike Dooley.
The
key to all these offerings is that you need to stay focused on what you
wish to see in your life and tap into the passion you feel for that
focus. Not too difficult you would think, but we are so programmed to
notice and focus on what is not happening, what is negative in our
lives. I was grappling with this in the last week, I had a slightly yuk
feeling. Nothing I could actually name, but I wasn’t in that happy
space that indicates that I am on the right track. In one of the
interviews, Bob Proctor was asked what we could do to help us keep
focused. He said the greatest thing we can do to help ourselves is to
listen and watch this inspiring and uplifting material as much as
possible.
So I took him at his word. I spent two whole days
using every spare minute immersed in inspiration. And it worked. I
started to feel lighter, happier, more in tune with what I wish to
create in my life. I began to believe it possible and reconnected with
what I could do to start the process. This not only involved my
thoughts and visualisations, but also concrete actions that said to the
Universe, here I am, I am ready to do this in fact I am already doing
it. At this time this involved me organising a series of conversations
of discovery about spirituality in a local centre. I’d always had the
feeling that I’d talk about it ‘one day’, but I realised that I needed
to start from where I am with what I’ve got right now. It felt good and
ever since my inner guidance system, my emotional state, has been
registering happy, contented and excited.
What inspires you?
What makes you feel that anything is possible, that you can and will
fulfil your dreams? As a great meditation master once said, “Do it!”
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How strong and clear are your intentions? |
“Going with the flow can get you pushed around the river…making a strong boat and steering it yourself is much more satisfying.”
I
was sent this quote this week and I found it thought provoking. How can
we build a strong boat? How can we steer it ourselves whilst still
letting the flow take us where we need to go?
The first thing
that came to mind – the strong boat - was to set clear intentions. When
we set an intention it is a statement to the Universe, to the Divine
that we are clear about what we wish to have happen in our lives. We
are invoking a flow that we can dive into. If we keep our clear
intention in mind and work with it, feel it done, allow the emotion of
the intention to draw it towards us, we make sure that we are in a
strong boat. When we lose sight of our intention, get sidetracked by
events or put off when the first rock comes our way, is when we are
pushed around the river and feel out of control. Our nature at that
point is to tighten up and try and control the flow and that’s when
things can feel as though they are going wrong.
So what about
us steering the boat? Well intentions are all very good, just like a
strong boat, but if you forget to keep them in mind, to visit them
regularly, then it is like having no rudder at all. By working with our
intentions we know the heading we need to steer. They act like an
autopilot. Set the heading and keep it firmly set and the autopilot,
sensing the flow and where it is taking us, will make constant
adjustments to ensure our safe arrival.
For me this quote is
not about tightening up and being in control but doing the things that
ensure we not only go with the flow of energy in our lives, but also
use it as the positive force it is. To be in the flow is to be aware of
our connection with the Universe and allow it to guide on the shortest,
most harmonious, and best way for us, forward.
How strong and clear are your intentions?
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It’s funny, a friend of mine said she was celebrating New Year and
doing her resolutions early, like in July. She always felt that at the
New Year in deep winter she was never feeling very vibrant or
imaginative to create resolutions and focus on new goals. At the time I
thought this odd but right now I can totally relate to what she was
saying.
I had a great Christmas with my friends and family but
I do feel a little low on the batteries right now. Lots of celebrating
(!) and lots of time spent talking, catching up and generally having a
good time with everyone can and does take its toll on our inner
strength.
So how can we use this unique time that we are gifted
with each year to create new beginnings from a space of inner
fortitude? I’ve been wondering about this today and asking myself what
is missing from my life right now.
Inner quiet was the answer, which
if you could hear the racket going on outside my window as they open a
new children’s park is ironic! But it is true, we need an inner space
of quiet to get in touch with what our heart desires. Only then can we
be clear enough about how it will feel when it is in our lives. And
that, as we have said before, is the beginning of creation.
So,
for this first week of 2007 I wish for you a space of inner quiet, a
space for you to see in your minds eye what 2007 holds, and what you
wish to create for yourself and for those whose lives you touch. How
you do this is up to you. A few reminders could be go for a long
solitary walk, meditate, listen to inspiring music, take a few days out
in silent retreat, chant a mantra or even simply stop and observe your
world including all the chaos it may hold. Get back in touch with that
expansive space within and feel the limitlessness of you. From that
place miracles can and do happen.
I leave you with one question - what would you envision right now if you knew you could not fail to succeed?
Have
a great 2007 and thanks to all of you who take the time to visit the
bigger picture and also contribute. Here’s to our continuing journey
together.
Much love Jessica
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