criticism
Make It Happen Every Day
We have the ultimate ability to forge our own spiritual path in this lifetime, regardless of perceived limitations. As life is lived, important karmic lessons are learned and it is always your free will choice as to how fully you embrace your surroundings and opportunities.
Your experiences will depend on the lessons you choose to learn, the people with whom you interact and the ultimate goals you envision achieving.
To make the most of this incredible journey, spirit invites us to implement the following strategies:
Learn from all your experiences. Rejoice in the ability to create your reality and celebrate your successes, but do not judge your mistakes, nor your supposed failings. Reframe it instead into lessons.
Rejoice in all accomplishments. Even the smallest achievements lead to much greater opportunities. Never criticize your lack of visible success.
Lead by example. Be your best self today and encourage others to do the same for themselves.
Be kind to yourself. Aim for personal balance so that you can give more freely to others.
Be of service. Give so that your heart becomes truly free. Take giant strides in life and make your mark with love and integrity. Don’t let life pass you by.
Evaluate carefully. Think and make wise choices. Step back from the precipice of judgment long enough to gain solid insight before making a definitive move. You are much stronger than you realize. When confusion reigns, ask spirit for support and guidance.
Your Outer Life Reflects Your Inner World
Everything that happens in the Universe requires our participation for the highest good of all, and everything we personally contribute to this process of co-creation always has its consequences, for better or worse. The people and situations we experience in our daily lives reflect our inner world.
Although the final outcomes of what we co-create with others is not always our choice, or solely our doing, but still reflects on us anyway. Why? Because energy is the language of the Universe, and the Universe will simply respond to what we emanate with manifestations that match our energies.
For example, if you don’t like yourself much and constantly put yourself down, you will continually have life experiences that match your own self-loathing energy frequencies. So, you may find yourself frequently being disrespected, judged, or criticized by other people.
Another good example is repetitive dysfunctional patterns in your relationships, such as always being the one who is being cheated on. Believing that your partners will be unfaithful, and always fearing for the worst, can become like a magnet for cheating in every new relationship. The negative expectations and fearful energy we put into a relationship from the very beginning will eventually catch up with us.
To break these toxic energy patterns, we have to enter a new relationship with an open, fearless heart, trusting that if the Universe guided us towards meeting this person, then there must be a good reason for it.
So, why not let go, and let Spirit, God, Source, Universe, the Divine guide you towards your highest good? Have faith, and just trust the process! If your own energies are confident, hopeful, and positive, then life around you will unfold organically as it must. Stop analyzing and trying to control everything, and allow life energy to flow where it will for your highest good.
Honor Your True Self Without The Drama
Many of people spend a good portion of their lives trying to be who they think others expect them to be. Although it is important for our own safety and peace of mind to conform and abide by society’s customs and codes of conduct, it is also imperative that we feel free to authentically express ourselves – as long as it is not detrimental to the well-being of others.
These days it can be treacherous to speak your mind or express your true feelings in just about any context, but the most troublesome of places to do this is on social media platforms, where faceless strangers often attack each other mercilessly, and at times for no apparent reason.
Instead of exposing oneself publicly to the vitriol and ill-conceived opinions of random strangers, it is best to be true to ourselves within our personal circle of influence. Being yourself and living and authentic life does not require us to announce our true thoughts and innermost feelings to the entire world.
Of course, expressing your truth to those closest to us can be equally difficult. One key to successfully communicating is to truly listen with respect and consideration to the views of others. Often, we do not really hear what is being said, because we are frantically thinking of our own response to what we assume they are saying.
Actively listening to someone explaining their position can be a real test of patience sometimes, but it usually pays off in the end by way of mutual understanding, conflict resolution, or compromise.
Disagreeing without hostility and aggression is an art in itself. The world we currently live in can be a tinder box at times, with people overreacting to even the smallest perceived slight. We cannot control the beliefs, words and actions of others, but we can certainly manage our own.
Let Your Authentic Self Shine
Most people at some point change something about ourselves in the hope of being better liked or accepted by others. Whether it’s a group of friends, a potential romantic partner, or the manager at work, there is constant pressure to conform and fit in. But in the long run, does this help? The truth is: it really doesn’t.
The notion of simply being your authentic self is challenging in an era where everyone seems to be seeking approval and attention. Therefore, the authentic self or the true version of our soul is something one hardly sees in the digital era of social media, influencers, likes, and followers.
However, we may think that a person we see online is someone others won’t like. Maybe our internal critic sees that person as ‘too much’ of something or ‘not enough’ of another. But we are often mistaken, as someone being true to themselves and keeping it real is what most people are spontaneously drawn to.
You might feel like you’re the only strange person at work, or the black sheep of your family, but you’re not the only one. There are thousands of ‘odd’ people out there right now with the same doubts as you!
The old saying ‘there’s a lid for every pot’ is always good to keep in mind. Your authentic self is just what someone else has been looking for. If you feel you don’t fit in with the crowd, take a step back and ask yourself whether you truly want to be part of it anyway? Knowing your true value and finding the things most important to you, will help determine who you want to surround yourself with.
It’s also important to set healthy boundaries. If you feel peer pressured into joining a group, or liking something simply to fit in, ask yourself if this is true to your core. Does it resonate with your authentic self?
Telepathy Is Our True Spiritual State
I can read other people’s thoughts. It is known as telepathy, or the direct transference of thoughts from one person to another without using the usual sensory channels of communication. It is a psychic ability, or what parapsychologists refer to as extrasensory perception (ESP).
My first awareness of being telepathic was around age three. As a child I thought everyone could read other people’s thoughts. It wasn’t until my early teens that I realized this was not the case.
Being a telepath is not necessarily fun. I sometimes hear, for example, people judging me in their thoughts. These brief telepathic perceptions can be so sudden and unexpected that they completely stop me in my tracks for a moment.
For instance, I could be teaching a class, and suddenly I ‘hear’ one of the students thinking something hostile, disparaging or disturbing about me. When this happens, it can make it difficult for me to continue speaking or functioning for a few seconds.
I have become much better at dealing with this as an adult, but it was very difficult for me as a child. I would often glare at the person, which I think freaked them out. I have since come to understand that their ‘mean thought’ is very fleeting, and that people have many other thoughts at the same time. They normally do not even notice or remember the thought they had about me, so they would not know why I was glaring at them.
Consider your own thought patterns and self-talk habits for a moment. Most people have a lot going on in their mind all at once. Imagine how overwhelming this can be for someone else – to get into your head and hear some of that chatter. Some of it can actually be quite alarming or upsetting. Being telepathic can be both a blessing and a curse.
Empower Your Life With Ho’oponopono
I was introduced to the Ho’oponopono prayer several years ago by a friend I met at a meditation group. She told me that it is an ancient Hawaiian custom that can be used to resolve karmic issues in life. So, of course, I tried it, but with mixed results.
It is a simple, yet powerful three-line prayer:
I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.
I did not fully comprehend it at the time, but even in my lack of understanding, I still experienced some results. Then I reached a point in life where I was experiencing a lot of personal difficulties, and suddenly this simple prayer took on a whole new meaning for me.
It was at a time when I had lost three loved ones in short space of time, and I was going through an intense grieving process and associated life challenges. I figured trying out this prayer again certainly couldn’t hurt. So, for a few days, I made a conscious effort to repeat this mantra in my mind.
I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.
Then I came across a certification program Ho’oponopono. It is a seminar over multiple days. I had the time and resources to enroll, so it felt like destiny. I then learned a lot more about Ho’oponopono and came to realize it is not nearly as simple as I had originally thought.
The term Ho’oponopono means ‘to make right what is already right.’ The prayer itself is only part of the practice. As a spiritual endeavor Ho’oponopono is about untangling the patterns and blockages that contribute to the challenges we experience in this life. The prayer itself is merely a conduit to experiencing Ho’oponopono, or ‘making right what is already right.’
The Ho’oponopono prayer is intended to move the practitioner into a state of consciousness that is love, free from things like fear, worry, resentment, blame, guilt, criticism, judgment, desire for vengeance, jealousy, and so on.
The Social Challenges Of Being Psychic
I am often asked what it is like is to be psychic. It is a blessing when I can use my gift to be of service to others. However, it can sometimes also be a burden to know things you are not supposed to know, especially if you can do very little about it. Sitting silently on the sidelines and watching patiently is a big part of being psychic.
The other day, for example, a customer came into my store. He was on speaker phone with his wife, telling her how he was buying her and their kids some surprise gifts from my store. But she sounded disinterested, hostile, even angry. She certainly did not seem grateful for what he was doing for the family.
My employees commented afterwards on how sorry they felt for the poor guy, and how awful his wife sounded. But I advised them to not judge so easily – we never know what is truly going on in other people’s lives.
The truth is, I intuitively knew more about the couple than my staff did. I sensed he had cheated on her and that he was not the perfect husband. He believes doing things like surprise shopping for the family would somehow make up for all the pain and disappointment he had caused her.
One time, I had a friend who introduced me to another friend and her fiancé. After the couple left, I told her I was concerned that her friend’s fiancé may be gay. I also told her that he was going to break off the engagement a month before the wedding. I suggested she talk to her friend, to soften the blow and prepare her.
My friend knows I am psychic, but she is always a little skeptical. She became very angry at me and insisted that I had it entirely wrong. The fiancé, she said, was clearly very masculine and did not act gay at all! She went on to say some deeply hurtful things to me, implying, among other things, that I probably only thought he was gay because he did not make a pass at me.