Guidance and Light

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross wrote, "People are like stained-glass windows.  They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within"

Be guided by divine light, in good times and in difficult times.  This light will shine upon your personal path, lifting you in confidence and building on your inner strength.  Allow this to move you forward without fear, anxiety, sadness or concern.

As you become more in tune with this divine light, allow yourself to be more conscious of God's direction for you, leading you to wise decisions and choices.  Be confident that all will be revealed at the right time and in the right way.  

(Paraphrased from the Daily Word 8/20/16)

Wishing you sunshine and strength throughout your days!

Colleen :-)

Sharing Hope and Joy with you today.....

"The Blue sky opens up

further and further,

The daily sense of failure

goes away,

The damage I have done to

myself fades,

A million Suns burst forward 

with light,

when I am seated firmly in that world." 

Kabir poem

I AM joy! I AM life! I AM love!

The Power of I am.....

"I am" holds such power in our lives!!!

But we often use it to tell ourselves (and others unfortunately) all the negative things we feel about who we are.  When we look in the mirror, stand in front of others, compete, work hard at our jobs and in school, etc we often continue to point out the "flaws" about ourselves.

Yet today, is a new day to make a different choice in our lives.  Today is a day for us to start to use "I am" to recognize the wisdom, compassion, beauty, love, hope and peace of who we are and never let that go!!

With each step in our journeys, we are told how we should feel, what we should do, what steps to take next, and where "everyone else" is at the point we stand at during this time in our lives.

Now it is time to remind ourselves of how absolutely wonderful we are no matter what challenges may be happening in our lives.  And each time you state a positive note about yourself, your unconscious will work with you and your body to take that in to work in your favor.

So, grab a pencil, some notecards and write 5 "I am" statements on several cards.  Put them on your mirror, the inside of your front door, the dashboard of your car, etc and read them out loud every day.

These are hugs to yourself and you surely deserve them!!

My "I am" statements are:

I am loved.

I am courageous.

I am grateful.

I am radiant.

I am blessed by God.

Believe in the power of words, believe in you!  

Wishing you continued joy in all your days...

Intentions

For the past few months I haven't written, but for good reasons. I have been working on my intentions and my biggest one has involved natural healing.  To the surprise of my doctor and those around me, I have maintained good health and pray that my continued daily work puts me on the road back to perfect health.

Just recently I had the pleasure of leading a group of women for a discussion on Intentions.
Taking information from one of my favorite authors, Wayne Dyer, I wanted to share some of this with you as well.

**Intentions can be defined as (n) an aim or plan; the healing process of a wound.

And according to Wayne Dyer, Intention is not something you do, but is an energy you are a part of-an energy that you can access to begin or continue, in co-creating your life.

Here are exciting ways to connect with your Intentions today:

1. Be Creative
 
     ~Trust your own purpose and have an attitude of unbending intent in your daily thoughts and activities.  Allow your Intentions to be a part of your daily life.

2.  Be Kind

     ~Make an effort to live in cheerful kindness. It is a much higher energy than anger and judgement and it makes the manifestation of your desires possible.

   ~It's through giving that we receive, and it's through acts of kindness directed towards others that also attracts into our lives what we desire.

     Be Kind to yourself in everything you do.

     Be Kind towards others

     Be Kind towards all animals in the kingdom of Life here on Earth....in the forests, the deserts, the beaches and all that has the essence of life pulsating through it.

3.  Be Love

     ~Love is the force behind the will of God

4.  Be Beauty

     ~Appreciate beauty in everything you see, touch and experience

5.  Be Ever Expansive

     ~By being in an ever-expanding state, you are continually growing intellectually, emotionally and spiritually

6.  Be Abundant

     ~Intention is endlessly abundant and holds limitless awareness.  There doesn't need to be a set list for just this time and then waiting to do the rest of your list next month, next year, when you retire, etc.

7.  Be Receptive

     ~Be open to the power of your intentions and allow God to handle your life for you.

"I accept the guidance and assistance of the same force that created me, I let go of my ego, and I trust in this wisdom to move at its own peaceful pace. I make no demands on it"~ Dr Wayne Dyer

So now take some time to write down your own Intentions.  And find a place to hang them up
so that you are reminded of what is deep in your heart and some of the ways that are included above
to get there.

May your life be filled with Love, Peace and Hope!

Living Every Day with Joy

In coping with everyday changes that sometimes include continuous medical issues, this may seem like a huge challenge in keeping joy in your heart and life.  But it is essential to healing and keeping yourself on a healing track.  It is not something that comes naturally to all of us.  And some may have had the knack for laughing and being upbeat, but you may feel as if you have lost much of that right now. But there are ways to work on it and keep your heart, mind, body and spirit on a positive path:

1.  Look in the mirror each morning and tell yourself out loud how much you love YOU.  It may seem awkward, silly, and totally out of your realm.  But let yourself know how important, strong, courageous you are and how much you love yourself for all those things and more. Truly look at yourself and how beautiful you are.

2.  Journal on anything that comes up for you.  Do it free style with no structure to your writing. Find a comforting place to write for 15 minutes and then put it away.  Let out everything you need to and share the things that keep coming up with a family member, close friend, counselor, etc.  Remember, your support team is one that you build along the way.  Choose those who will lift you up by what you share.

3.  Visualization- If you are not a writer, then sit in a peaceful place with no distractions and close your eyes.  Now imagine having a pad of paper and a pen and write down one of your fears.  Finish it and in your mind crumble it up.  With that paper, toss it into my flowing river and let it drift away.  Continue to do this with another fear, anger, etc and toss that as well. Make this your intention that eventually that feeling will truly be released from you and float away.

4.  Be Grateful- Not an easy task again when trying to cope with so much.  But find 3 things that are happening in your life right now that you are blessed with and deeply cherish those. Gratefulness carries over to others and can empower those in your life that are supporting you as well.

5.  Feel God within - Whatever your religion or spiritual choice may be, embrace it.  Know that this higher power has plans for you and will guide you in all the right ways that are to be. Connect in whatever ways feel positive for your heart, mind, body and spirit. Let this be your endearing and cherished highest power to see you through your blessings and your healing.

6.  Be kind to yourself- You have survived and are meant to be here!  Let kindness seep into every cell and flow in your heart always.

As if a vacuum had not only sucked the breath out of my body, but also the life out of my heart, a diagnosis  of cancer left me feeling as if I was the only person standing on the earth that day.  This was my diagnosis.  This was my illness. This was my life.  What was I going to do with all of this that was truly just mine?

And although it felt this way, I came to learn that it really is something that so many of us unfortunately share in one way or another.  So please know that you are not alone.

We are not meant to deal with these issues on our own, and as I continue to deal with this for the past 2 1/2 years, I know how important it is to bring in others to help us.  These issues are too big and too much for our souls to make so many decisions and try to take care of our daily life in addition to our medical focus.

Building your own personal support "team" is going to bring you not only love and further hope, but will truly benefit your healing. And the sooner you can establish support, the easier it will be for you to focus on the main issue: getting well again.

So think about what is it that you need for healing:  support; physical help that might include mobility, transportation aid; emotional health; dietary needs (someone to cook for you, friends taking turns to bring dinner every night, etc), someone to stay the night(s) with you (anxiety and fears can take over at the quietest times...I will address this soon) and anything else you may want right now.
Don't limit yourself.  People want to help.  It just takes asking on your part.

1. Of course first and most important is to establish your team of support with family members, friends, church/temple members and/or anyone else who you personally feel will help you with what you might need at this time.  These needs will also change over time and you may want to include others on your "team" later on that were not involved initially in helping you.

2. Check into classes and support groups at your local hospital. There are wonderful programs in many of the cancer centers of hospitals and I have had the opportunity to be in meditation, yoga and health classes in several areas I have lived in.

3. Ask in the Oncology Department of your center/hospital what counseling options there are for you. Meeting with a counselor who deals with only cancer patients was a tremendous help for me knowing that she had a much greater understanding of this than the general population of counselors.

4.  Contact your local Cancer Support Community (CSC) center (they are nationwide and formerly called The Gilda Radner Club).  These are non-profit organizations that hold extensive classes, support groups, presentations, etc for you, your families, and your friends (including support groups for children with parents dealing with cancer in many of the centers). My daughter was compassionately carried through some of our hardest days with CSC's family support group.  And I attended a fun loving weekly journaling class that has become a part of who I am today.

5.  Let those in your church/clubs/other activities know what you are experiencing at this time.  This dis-ease affects so many every day and there may be connections with others that you never knew about before this.

And if any one reading would like to add to this list, that would be wonderful!

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With gratitude and hope,
Colleen

"It is no coincidence that four of the six letters in health are "heal"~ Ed Northstrum

Healing is a Choice is meant to be a place for support, resources, and personal sharing.  That is why I am so excited to be starting this blog.  Over the last few years, I have had people asking me about various methods I have learned in healing the body, mind, and spirit, and I am happy to be able to share these with you.  I am not a medical doctor, or in the field of medicine.  These are simply meant to be healing additions to the care you or a loved on may be receiving.  My message is that this is a place to develop positive thinking, positive attitude, peace of mind, options that you use that make you feel empowered, and with God by your side, a little more hope than you had before.

"Ride the fire breathing dragon of your dreams fearlessly."