A Public Service Announcement aka. Simple Abundance

It was a cold and snowy Saturday this past weekend and I was happily wrapped in a blanket in front of the fireplace, next to my favorite person in the world. I love slow, relaxing mornings on the weekend. This is when I allow myself to scroll Instagram. Most everything showing up in my feed is very positive and uplifting and it makes me feel as if I'm traveling somewhere beautiful. My other weekend habit is catching up on a week's worth of reading Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. As I was reading her meditation for February 5, I couldn't help but feel as if this is a public service announcement that everyone must hear. So, I'm typing it out in hopes it will touch you too and if it does, maybe you can share it with someone you know.

​Discovering Your Authentic Self

To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.
--Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Anglo-Irish poet, playwright, and legendary raconteur

One of the surprises that comes when you catch glimpses of your Authentic Self is the discovery that she's such a positive, upbeat woman. She's always smiling. She's always calm. She's always reassuring. She exudes confidence. Who is this woman, you might ask, and does she bear any resemblance to you?

Yes and no. This is who you are on the inside. The real you. If you don't act this way all the time, and certainly I don't, it's probably because we're continually censoring ourselves unconsciously, anticipating another's disapproving opinion of us before we even make our choices. However, it's really our own censoring that frightens the heck out of us, but we'll handle our shadows another day.

The American spiritual teacher, author, and political activist Marianne Williamson believes this will come when we move past our understudy role to become the leading lady in our own lives. "When a woman falls in love with the magnificent possibilities within herself, the forces that would limit those possibilities hold less and less sway over her," she tells us in A Woman's Worth.

But occasionally we get glimmers of what it's like on this higher plane: on a good-hair day; when we've had eight hours of sleep; when we soar through a business meeting because we're thoroughly prepared; when we fit into last year's clothes; when we throw a great party everyone - including us - enjoys themselves immensely. When moments like these occur, we tend to think that all's right with the world. Everything just fell into place. What we don't realize is that all's right with ourselves. We're in the flow of life and loving it. We're in place: that special alignment when authenticity and reality merge into Wholeness.

But how do we tap into this spiritual energy source more often? How do we access the flow of life more frequently?

Meditation helps. So does separating every activity with a five-minute pause before we jump to the next item on our to-do list. Making a mini ritual for every coffee or tea break, so it really becomes a pause that refreshes. Trying to find new places to take a walk. Long soaks in scented baths using essential oils, washing our hair a day before it needs it, smiling at everyone we meet, being gentler with ourselves, especially in our self-talk monologues. Catching a stunning sunrise or a sublime sunset and allowing ourselves the length it takes to really see it. Petting an animal, playing with a child, discovering a new favorite cologne. Four pieces of chocolate and a new book, a hot water bottle at the bottom of the bed on a wintry night, having some small pleasure to look forward to everyday, and being grateful for all of them. You see? There are more ways to tap into this feeling of joy and elevation than you thought.

But above all, be open to change. Welcome it. "Watch. Wait. Time will unfold and fulfill its purpose," Marianne Williamson advises. "While we wait, we must not go unconscious. We must think and grow. Rejoice and dream but kneel and pray.There is holiness in the air today; we are giving birth to goddesses. They are who we are, for they are us: friends, therapists, artists, businesswomen, teachers, healers, mothers. Start laughing, girls. We have a new calling."