ask. and you shall receive.

When I was living in Norwood, I had a nice studio/one bedroom apartment in a 4 family house. It was close to work, the gym, church, and the neighbors didn't mind me blasting music, at midnight, on a Tuesday.

It was a great place.

I loved the little deck that overlooked the corner of Willams and Smith. I had a view of a parking garage... that happened to have a fountain going down the side. And, I used to think... half joking... "my next place will have a real view. A view of actual water. Something real to look at". While this thought was vague, I thought it often. BUT, I didn't really give much thought to it. It was always like this... "I love this place, where I am now, but in the future, I'll have a place with a view." The key was that I was completely happy and satisfied with my place in Norwood--but I vaguely planned for the future. It was all positive.

I didn't even consider moving out of Norwood, until my ex and I decided to move closer to his work. So, we moved into a place, with a view, of the city of Cincinnati, the Ohio River and Covington, KY. It's a fun place... that has lizards on the deck in the summer, a view for the fireworks, a yard for the dog, a laid back vibe. It's exactly where I pictured myself living next when I was in Norwood. I love it here.

What you put out to the universe, shows up. Put out what you want, good vibes, positive thoughts and you'll get what you want most in life. Or, at least, what you currently think you want ;)

The universe is listening, it's flexible and it moves quickly... take full advantage. Ask and receive.

Luke 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Note from the Universe

What if, Sarah, from now on and forevermore, people stopped using the word "evil" and replaced it with "ignorance"?

Yeah, less fear, more better; global transformation.

Let's, 

The Universe

Dear Universe,

That sounds like an excellent idea. Otherwise, I've lost all faith in humanity.

Peace,

Sarah

Serve God, Save the Planet by J. Matthew Sleeth

It's not often that one finds Environmentalists and Christians in the same settings. I know this because I've spent a lot of time in both groups. Stereotypically, with environmentalists, you'll find plenty of atheists, Buddhists, Pantheists, and even Unitarians. Christians are scarce.

Since I was a child, I have always had a natural inclination to be worried about chemicals and care for the environment. One of my earliest memories comes from doing childhood chores. I'd dust the house, clean the bathrooms or clean my room with a fear of getting chemicals on me while cleaning. I'll have to ask my mom, but I think at one point in time, I insisted on wearing a mask while cleaning...

The older I get and the more I learn, I realize that maybe these fears weren't completely irrational.

The times…they are a changin’….

-->

Change. So many of us resist it with everything we’ve got.

While I’ve never understood why people are so afraid of change, I’m guilty of the fear myself. Since this has happened on more than one occasion, I decided to dig deeper.

I’ve learned that the kind of change I’m most uncomfortable with is the kind that I’m not confident about making. I’m also uncomfortable when I AM confident in my change and I can’t understand why people aren’t more supportive or anxious to get on board.

If my blog reflects anything, it’s that I’m not the same person I was a year ago and I hope I’m not the same person a year from now. I used to think that people who constantly change their beliefs, ideals, lifestyle and interests must be insecure, unreliable, fickle and not really know themselves.  Lately I’ve learned that those people are really open-minded, learners, idealists and more secure than a Swiss bank account!

Being able to change yourself with confidence is one of the most amazing qualities a person can have. It’s also good to remain open-minded and tweak your changes throughout life.

As I make a lifestyle change to be healthier, I find myself frustrated with those around me who aren’t immediately inspired by my recent motivation. I find myself feeling threatened by those who want me to fail. I feel dragged down by those who find comfort in their ways and don’t want to listen to me. I am saddened when people aren’t as interested in this change as I am.

I realize that while I’ve begun to lose my fear of failing at change I’ve taken on a lack of patience. I want to change myself now and I want everyone to change with me. Let’s be realistic, the world never has and never will work that way.  So, I’m determined to change my attitude about change. I’m working on not trying to change anyone, but to rather share my

--> experience and hope that someday, somewhere, I inspire someone.

Until then, I’ll follow the age-old advice: the best way to change this world is to change yourself. I believe this to be a true statement that applies to everything in life from eating and drinking habits to love and relationships. 

So, I’m on the changing journey. I’m changing myself. And I’m confident in my change.

And I’ll remember, that it’s never too late to be the person you’ve always wanted to be.

(can't get this song out of my head!)

Enjoying the Ride

I’ve shared some of my Notes from the Universe with you before. (You can see them here and here.) Since I am such a huge fan of these daily inspirations, I of course follow their author, Mike Dooley on Facebook. So when the notes aren’t enough, I find more wisdom on his Facebook wall. He posted something a few days ago that still has me thinking.

At times, life moves slowly. Yet if it happened any faster you'd already have everything you ever wanted without learning to enjoy the ride. -Mike Dooley

I do an excellent job living in the present. I don’t get hung up on my past and I don’t stress about the future too much. However, one weakness I’ve had lately is letting my current and present stress get out of control. I’ve had a string of bad luck recently that is putting a dent in my wallet. Car trouble, landlord/apartment issues, medical expenses, etc. I tend to let these things spiral out of control and really bum me out. When there are big stresses hanging over my head, the normal daily stress of work, lack of sleep, needing to clean, etc... all get 10 times worse!

After a month or so of being a Debbie Downer, I finally decided to take small steps to tackle each problem. I got a second opinion about my car, which worked in my favor. I talked to my landlord and told him to take care of the problems in our apartment (or else!)…he’s getting work done. I’ve started to pay the small bills and I’m working out payment plans for the larger ones. It’s hard for me to handle stress when so much comes in at once. But I know if everything was perfect now, I’d have nothing to work towards. Life really is all about enjoying the ride…the ups and downs. Afterall, who wants to ride a rollercoaster that doesn’t have any hills?

How do you handle stress? If you have any coping tips, I’d love to hear them! (you can leave a comment below).


Sign up for your own Notes from the Universe

Follow Mike Dooley on Facebook!

extraordinary minds

Reading this story about “imagining away cancer” really has me thinking today….our minds are extraordinary.

The connection between the mind and body absolutely fascinates me. I believe that everyone deals with same basic human emotions: love, happiness, sadness, grief, etc. I also believe that the mind can heal in ways we do not fully understand. All of the new-age thinking and the faith based [longer standing] thinking really have a lot in common.

Many people find peace in prayer and rely completely on God to help them. I like to take this thinking one step further and really experience my life as a reflection of God’s. After all, according to standard Christian faith, we are created in God’s image. What I don’t understand about this are the limits that many people place on themselves. If we are in fact created in God’s image, aren’t our capabilities endless? Yes, we are human. Yes, we are bound to Earth for some time. Yes, we will all die. Those things we cannot control. However, everything else in between is filled with endless options. Tuning into your body and into your needs can be the greatest thing the mind can do; and it can also be the hardest. Society places limits on us. Science places limits on us. Life places limits on us. Escaping those limitations is the first step in realizing the ability of the mind.

I think the easiest way to understand the power of visualization and the mind is to reflect on times in life when this occurred naturally. One of my favorite personal examples was when I studied abroad in college. I grew up knowing I wanted to study in Europe. I wanted to learn the Spanish language and live where it was spoken. Now, I didn’t end up in Spain (rather Luxembourg). However, I never once thought that studying abroad might NOT happen. Instead of getting caught up in the what-ifs and the associated costs, I made up my mind and knew I was going. My mom remembers that during a tour at Miami I said I needed to go to the Study Abroad slide-show presentation because I would be studying abroad in college. I don’t remember my 17 year old self being so determined to do this…but I also don’t remember not going, being an option. So, I did it. I spent the second semester of my Junior year in Europe and I still relish over those memories daily. This seemed like a natural thing to do for me, and my mind knew it was going to happen.

Some days I wish I could go back and capture that determined 17 year old. Some days I feel I haven't changed a bit. It’s easy for me to get caught up in the routine. The 9-5 crunch, the after work chaos that my life usually entails. The wasted weekends that slip by. It’s easy to feel out of control. It’s easy to feel lost. It’s easy to feel broken. It’s easy to feel sick. Negative feelings come easily and linger when you don’t want them. Bad things happen to good people.

My question remains: if it’s so easy to bring in the negative, why is the opposite so hard? My answer remains: that it’s not.

tags: manifest destiny, positive thinking, the secret, philosophy

living the dream

I’ve been getting Notes from the Universe sent to my email inbox daily for quite some time now. I love the short and inspiring quotes that motivate me and gently remind me how much control we have over our destiny. I truly believe that you can make things happen for yourself with a little commitment and some perseverance. The only trouble I have with this is figuring out what exactly I want….lol. That being said, I also follow the Notes author, Mike Dooley on Facebook and he posted this quote today that I absolutely love.

The secret to living the life of your dreams is to start living the life of your dreams, at once, to any degree that you already can.  - Mike Dooley

This quote reminds to live in the present to the best of my ability. While planning for the future is important….honestly, what’s more important than today? Nothing. Make today your dream come true.

I really am living the dream....well, my dream.

Sign up for your own Notes from the Universe here.

Good Story Telling

I don’t mean telling a story well, but telling a story that is good.

I regularly read Donald Miller’s blog and today he wrote about story telling. He started off with an almost absurd example:

Lets say you were married and had two kids, and lets say you had me over for dinner, a young writer whose books you enjoy. And lets say after dinner you put the kids down, and I end up reading them a story. You go back into the kitchen and start doing the dishes, and I sit there by your kids and tell them a really dark, creepy, perhaps inappropriate story. Lets say I tell them a story that no kid should really hear. Of course, I’d never do that. I’m no creep.

He continues to make the point that stories will be told no matter what and people better be out there telling good stories. Stories influence our lives whether we like it or not, or are consciously aware of it or not. (read the rest of his blog, here).

That got me to thinking about church earlier this week. A former pastor returned and shared with us his latest career move, movie production. He produced a movie that will air on NBC* tomorrow. It’s a positive story designed for a “family movie night” something that used to be part of regular TV lineup.

It amazes me how much attention negative behavior gets and how little attention positive behavior gets. It is almost too cliche for modern thinking. You do something bad as a child, you get punished and that equals attention. You do something good, and nothing, that’s expected. After years and years of the good being the expected and the bad being the exception, it’s no wonder that society gravitates so quickly to the bad…it’s what gets attention.

I guess you have to first define what you think is good and what you consider bad behavior. My definition in the simplest terms would be bad=something that hurts yourself or others and good=something that benefits yourself or others. The bad fills the media, the news, the internet and the good is considered not worthy of time or a “fluff” piece [when it comes to the news]. A FLUFF piece? Seriously. That’s hard to believe that something that is helping others is considered fluff to 22 minutes of crime and violence.

Now, I have no profound conclusions or answers, however, I can only image what the world would be like if the positive was the norm and the attention to the negative dissolved.

I prefer the glass half full instead of half empty.

I’d like to see a “reality” show about people helping others (other than Extreme Home Makeover). Make good shows the norm and not shows about parents exploiting their children, or celebrities dancing around like idiots. I love trashy reality TV just as much as the next person, but it's taking over. I find myself watching reruns of old shows to get my wholesome dramas and sitcoms.

I can't change the world, but I can tell a better story.

*Read about the NBC movie here, and watch the trailer below:

I love finding random quotes that I love.

I stumbled upon this quote today...and it's something I'd like to believe. Enjoy :)

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

~Marianne Williamson~

Man in Black

I'm not sure I've ever met someone who doesn't like Johnny Cash. Not liking Johnny Cash would be like, not liking The Beatles...or not liking laughing. It just doesn't make sense. Anyway, I love Johnny Cash and I love this article my brother shared with me today. I don't think it can't be any more obvious that Johnny Cash was a man who knew Jesus.

As of right now...these two parts of the article stood out the most to me:

As songwriting friend Kris Kristofferson recently said, "He's as comfortable with the poor and prisoners as he is with presidents. He's crossed over all age boundaries. I like to think of him as Abraham Lincoln with a wild side."

"Being a Christian isn't for sissies," Cash said once. "It takes a real man to live for God-a lot more man than to live for the devil, you know? If you really want to live right these days, you gotta be tough." What's more, he's intimately aware of the hard truths about living God's way: "If you're going to be a Christian, you're going to change. You're going to lose some old friends, not because you want to, but because you need to."

Read about it here...if you are interested: Johnny Cash's Complicated Faith.

love this.

Sometimes, Sarah, having more fun and being happier comes from looking for each in crazy, new places; instead of waiting for them to come from where you've found them before or where others are now finding them.

And I do mean crazy. Not just from the old standbys of travel, adventure, and romance, but from stretching, reaching, and growing. Accepting new responsibilities for your happiness, totally accepting others, and grasping even higher ideals. Philosophically taking yourself to places few have ever dared before.
Red hot smokin' love,
The Universe

All You Need Is LOVE

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've always felt rather neutral about the whole Valentine's Day thing. I don't love it, I don't hate it. I have never been a big fan because there are too many gimmicks. Once I get passed the gross displays of affection with cheesy stuffed animals, roses, and heart shaped boxes of this Hallmark induced coma, it has a good message. I can get on board with that.

Love.

The world needs some more love. If everyone was this filled with love all year round, I wonder what would happen?

Love it or hate it, it's here. I think I'll the love the holiday all about love. (Just don't buy me a stuffed animal, I'd rip it's head off, feel guilty, and then have to sew it back on so I could donate it, that would all just be a big mess. I will take some candy hearts though.)