Dana of U Image Consulting

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Living free

Freedom is beautiful. It provides a space within which the most magnificent dreams can be fulfilled. Freedom is also demanding. Because true freedom cannot exist without vigilant responsibility.

Freedom does not release you from being accountable to life. Freedom enables you to give your own special value to the world in which you live.

Living free means accepting and embracing full responsibility for your own life, and for the things that touch your life. It is responsibility that gives freedom its value and keeps freedom alive.

The sweetest fruits of freedom are tasted by those who consistently act with responsibility and integrity. Successfully living free means living with positive purpose, with love, compassion and respect.

Freedom greatly expands life's possibilities and opportunities. It is well worth all the effort and commitment required.

-- Ralph Marston

Banish worry and doubt

When you were very young, you developed an astounding number of new skills in a short period of time. You quickly worked your way from a helpless infant into a capable and knowledgeable young person.

How were you able to make such rapid progress? One big reason why you moved ahead so quickly was because you weren't worried about making mistakes.

Certainly you did make your share of mistakes. You fell down while learning to walk, and used the wrong words while learning to talk.

And yet, you persisted, undeterred by your past errors and unimpeded by the prospect of more mistakes. You had an unshakable faith that you would eventually get it right, and indeed you did.

When your focus is only on avoiding mistakes, you avoid achievement as well. Being constantly worried about getting it wrong prevents you from getting it right.

Choose to learn one more important lesson from the rapid progress you achieved as a child. Banish worry and doubt from your efforts, and see how very much more quickly you move forward.

-- Ralph Marston

An Inner Choice

Peace

Often we look at the outside world and find it in a state of seeming chaos or disorder. We feel compelled to transform the situation from one of turmoil into one of peace, yet we are often disappointed in our best attempts to do so. One reason for this is that we cannot bring to the world what we do not have to offer. Peace starts in our own minds and hearts, not outside of ourselves, and until its roots are firmly entrenched in our own selves, we cannot manifest it externally. Once we have found it within, we can share it with our family, our community, and the whole wide world. Some of us may already be doing just that, but for most of us, the first step is looking within and honestly evaluating the state of our own relationship to peacefulness.

Interestingly, people who manifest peace internally are not different from us; they have chattering thoughts and troubled emotions like we all do. The difference is that they do not lend their energy to them, so those thoughts and feelings can simply rise and fall like the waves of the ocean without disturbing the deeper waters of peacefulness within. We all have this ability to choose how we distribute our energy, and practice enables us to grow increasingly more serene as we choose the vibration of peace over the vibration of conflict. We begin to see our thoughts and feelings as tiny objects on the surface of our being that pose no threat to the deep interior stillness that is the source of peacefulness.

When we find that we are able to locate ourselves more and more in the deeper waters and less on the tumultuous surface of our being, we have discovered a lasting relationship with peace that will enable us to inspire peace beyond ourselves. Until then, we help the world most by practicing the art of choosing peace within.

The daily OM

Little Gurus

Learning To Follow

As grown-ups, we often approach children with ideas about what we can teach them about this life to which they have so recently arrived. It’s true that we have important information to convey, but children are here to teach us just as much as we are here to teach them. They are so new to the world and far less burdened with preconceived notions about the people, situations, and objects they encounter. They do not avoid people on the basis of appearance, nor do they regard shoes as having only one function. They can be fascinated for half an hour with a pot and a lid, and they are utterly unself-conscious in their emotional expressions. They live their lives fully immersed in the present moment, seeing everything with the open-mindedness born of unknowing. This enables them to inhabit a state of spontaneity, curiosity, and pure excitement about the world that we, as adults, have a hard time accessing. Yet almost every spiritual path calls us to rediscover this way of seeing. ! In this sense, children are truly our gurus.

When we approach children with the awareness that they are our teachers, we automatically become more present ourselves. We have to be more present when we follow, looking and listening, responding to their lead. We don’t lapse so easily into the role of the director of activities, surrendering instead to having no agenda at all. As we allow our children to determine the flow of play, they pull us deeper into the mystery of the present moment. In this magical place, we become innocent again, not knowing what will happen next and remembering how to let go and flow.

Since we must also embody the role of loving guide to our children, they teach us how to transition gracefully from following to leading and back again. In doing so, we learn to dance with our children in the present moment, shifting and adjusting as we direct the flow from pretending to be kittens wearing shoes on our heads to making sure everyone is fed and bathed.

THE DAILY OM

NEW SPECIAL ANOUNCEMENT:

Beyond the limits of time

No matter what you do, you cannot change the number of hours in the day. Yet you have an enormous impact over what goes into those hours, and what comes from them.

Fill the hours with purpose, and the passing of time works in your favor. Fill your days with meaning, with creativity, with goodness, joy and love, and each day leaves behind lasting value for your world.

Does it seem that there's never enough time to get it all done? Align your efforts more closely with your true purpose, and you'll find that those efforts quickly become much more effective.

Or does it feel like time is passing too slowly? Choose to put more meaning in each moment, and those moments will move quickly along.

Let go of your concerns about the speed at which time is passing, for time is nothing more than an arbitrary measure. What matters is what you do with each moment now as you live it.

Take your eyes off the clock and look instead toward your highest vision of what life can be. Fill the world with your own unique beauty, and go beyond the limits of time.

-- Ralph Marston

www.thedailymotivator.com

check it out..

I love this guy!

Purposeful power of persistence

Do something once, and you learn how it's done. Do it again and you begin to build some real skill.

Repeat the action a third time, and suddenly you've gained some confidence. The fourth time around, you'll start finding ways to be much more effective.

There are plenty of people who take action and yet never seem to achieve. That's because they give up after only one or two attempts.

Persistence is the reliable path to whatever it is you seek. Because persistence compels you to fully understand why you have chosen to achieve your objective.

When you solidly connect to the reason why, no mere obstacle can stop you. Act, and act, and act again, and you'll feel the purposeful power of persistence start to take hold.

Persistence is how you prove to yourself that there is a sincere purpose in what you seek. Persist, and you do indeed make it real.

-- Ralph Marston

Allow

The solutions to your most difficult problems already exist. Open yourself to their possibility and you will most certainly discover them.

Whatever you desire is already connected to who you are and what you now have. Bring that connection to life with your thoughts, your feelings and your actions.

Your worries, complaints, anger and resentment cast a dark fog on the world that appears in front of you. That prevents you from seeing all the good things already available to you.

Accept that anger, that resentment, those worries, and then quickly let them go. Allow yourself to enter fully into this moment that is now, with a clear mind and a peaceful heart.

Allow the joy, allow the sadness, allow the triumphs, the disappointments, the rich texture and fullness of life. Allow it all to work for you, and to carry you steadily toward the ever-increasing fulfillment of your very own special purpose.

Make loving use of this day to do what you can do, from where you are, with what you have. Trust that it will move you quickly forward, and it surely will.

-- Ralph Marston

Dare to imagine

In your mind you can go anywhere. And where your mind consistently goes, the rest of your life will follow. There is no limit to what you can imagine. And what you imagine, you have already begun to create.

Allow your thoughts to travel often to beautiful and magnificent places. In your mind, construct all the rich details of the life you wish to live.

In order to reach for a dream, you must know what it looks like, how it feels, and where it is. Long before you actually get there, your mind can enable you to experience all these things.

Every success is first a success of the imagination. What wonderful pathways will you dare to imagine?

Set your imagination free, and it will show you who you are. Let imagination guide your efforts, and your dreams will be fulfilled.

-- Ralph Marston

Owning The Roots

Leading By Example

We all know from experience that we can’t change other people, yet most of us have a tendency to try. This is because we naturally feel the need to do something to change situations that we find troubling. It often doesn’t occur to us that the best way to create change is not to try to convince others to change but to change ourselves. When we make adjustments from within, we become role models for others, and leading by example is much more inspiring than a lecture or an argument.

We sometimes look outside ourselves for what’s wrong with the world, but the outside world is really just a mirror reflecting us back to ourselves. When we encounter negativity—anger, depression, fear—we empower ourselves by looking for its roots inside of ourselves. For example, if you have a friend who is unreliable, observe yourself and notice if there are ways in which you are unreliable. You may be surprised to discover that you have your own struggles with this issue in ways you weren’t able to see. Once you own the issue for yourself, you can begin to work for change within yourself. This will also enable you to have more compassion for your friend. At the very least, as you strive to become more reliable, you will become more of the person you want to be. In the best-case scenario, you will be an inspiration to others.

You can apply the same method to larger issues. For example, if there is something you see in the larger world that you would like to change—let’s say, greed—try taking responsibility for changing it in yourself. Instead of being angry with those you see as greedy, seek out the roots of your own greed and come to terms with your power to transform it. This may be the best way to lead the world toward greater moderation and generosity.

Raising Our Consciousness Stepping Out From Where We Were

Albert Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it. We must learn to see the world anew.” A Nobel Prize winner, Albert Einstein’s scientific theories transformed the world’s understanding of the universe and its workings, so we can believe that these words come from his personal experience and helped him to explore both science and life itself. He offered us an example of what can be learned by looking deeply into nature to reach a deeper understanding of all life and by following our ideas to their logical conclusions in our minds before acting upon them in the world.

When we apply this quote to our lives, we can see that we cannot create abundance by staying in a consciousness of poverty, nor can we gain a sense of power in our lives while identifying ourselves as a victim. Situations begun from anger or fear can have little chance of reaching a state of peace and trust unless someone involved can conceive of that possibility and act upon it. We need to find ways to step outside of our limited understanding in order to seek a bigger picture. One way to do this is to shift our perspective to see the situation from another’s point of view and ideally the perspective of all others involved. Even if we can’t truly know another’s motivations, by imagining what they might be, we open ourselves up to numerous possibilities and an expanded vision. This alone can shift our feelings of anger to compassion and the desire for a positive solution for all involved.

Once we have opened our mind to greater possibilities, we can connect to our higher self for inspired solutions. From the peace at our center, we gain distance from our emotions to connect to intuitive wisdom that offers us understanding of the underlying causes and the inspiration needed to guide our steps in a new direction. Albert Einstein showed us the impact that can be made when we raise our consciousness and allow ourselves to imagine the possibilities.

This message was from the DailyOM Website:

WWW.DAILYOM.COM

FEELING IT... From my favorite site www.greatday.com

How do you feel about life? How do you feel about the goals you have set for yourself and the path you are following?

The way you feel has a powerful influence on your direction and effectiveness. The energy of your feelings will spill over into every aspect of your life.

Accomplishment comes easily and naturally when you can maintain a positive and enthusiastic feeling toward whatever you wish to accomplish. The moment you develop a sustained, authentic positive feeling about something is the moment it begins to become real in your life.

If you feel that something will be forever out of reach, it will be. When you truly feel that you can reach it, that feeling can surely take you there.

Those things you feel good about are the things that grow more abundant in your life. And you can learn to feel positive about whatever you choose.

Find a way to feel positive about the life you wish to create. And let those feelings lead you there.

-- Ralph Marston

Okay people, it's time...let's start today by making waves...this dance is our chance...we must open our hearts and our minds to a new world of possibilities...this day, is YOUR day... Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery..and today is a gift...so make it count.

Smile to people you cross on the street...help someone stay positive in the midst of defeat...take hold of your life and make it feel right....only you can be true...only you can take flight...

I promise you won't regret it...xo

COME CHECK IT OUT... THE DAILY MOTIVATOR at thedailymotivator.com

05-14-07

What a lesson I take from a wounded embrace...a moment to ponder with no where to wonder. I sit, I lay..I contemplate that day...a wisper..a tale...of happiness somewhere...I feel you , I see you, I often even dream of you...so thank you my kind sir for all that had occured...wish I may, wish I might, share another graceful flight...from here to there, nothing else could compare...my thoughts are of you and my feelings stay true...my heart beats all its own for this chance I must stone, a gift in its time for a memory left behind...goodbye my sweet treat...until next time we meet...xo