Truth

Inner Self

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It is when you lose sight of yourself, that you lose your way. To keep your truth in sight you must keep yourself in sight and the world to you should be a mirror to reflect to you your image; the world should be a mirror that you reflect upon ~ C. JoyBell C.

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Photo by Grady

Until our Inner Self and Outer Self merges into one and becomes calm and centered, we will continue to pursue our seemingly elusive purpose in life. If there is to be any purpose to our life, we need to be able to make a connection with our Inner Self, our true Authentic Self. To know our Inner Self is to know our purpose, our values and beliefs and to be mindful of our thoughts and actions. We take our breathing for granted when in fact it is the means with which to reach our Inner Self. Through meditation and by practicing slow, deep, rhythmic breathing we are able to reconnect and be graced with an encounter with our Inner Self. That moment during meditation when our mind’s eye takes us to a place where we come face to face with our Inner Self is a most powerful and loving experience. To recognize and be recognized as one and the same and feel the embrace of our Inner Self, is pure Bliss.

As the Great Egret keeps sight of itself in the mirror-like swamp waters, it feels no fear or threat. The harmony between the bird and its reflection is where we need to be in mind, body and spirit. The Great Egret draws energy from its calm and in its stillness is embraced in a surround of golden Bliss.

Inner-Compass

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In these dark and uncertain times, there can be great value in imagining a bit of star in each human soul. Not just that it gives some hope for humanity at a time when man’s inhumanity to man seems ever on the increase; but also because it points to an inner brightness that can light the way in dark times  ~ Michael Meade
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In order to achieve Inner Brightness we need to Self-Love and with that comes Self-Respect. Self Respect fills every facet of our lives. It is the foundation for all of life’s Virtues. We should never compromise our Self-Respect for anything or anyone. Virtues are the essence of our being, our very Spirit. The more we realize the impact that living our lives with virtuous intention has on ourselves and those around us, the more we will open our hearts to love and compassion.

Like this Gondolier guiding his Gondola through the canals, towards the Sunset, so do we journey throughout our lives towards our Inner Brightness guided by our Inner Compass. Trust, Love and Respect your Self.

Lost on the Spiritual Path

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You may tell the greatest lies and wear a brilliant disguise, but you can’t escape the eyes of the one who sees right through you ~ Tom Robbins

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Lying is as easy for some people as breathing. However, we will all lie at some point in our lives.  Just be aware of the enormous spiritual damage that occurs to us when we do.  Big, Tall, White or Small… they are all lies. The issue is not just the lying itself. We have to uncover the reason that forces us to lie to others and especially to ourselves.  This reason could be driven by angst or ego.  Another reason could be being someone else’s disappointment. That in itself is reason enough to try and recreate oneself! All this does is create dark and negative energy. If you want to progress spiritually, then you will need to work on your ego, fear, anger or perhaps even regret. Basically anything that is crippling your Spirit.

We should all be able to look into a mirror and be comfortable with the eyes of the one who sees right through us.  Like the seemingly perfect reflection of a Sunset on a Lake. The undercurrent has created a distortion in what would have been a perfect V formation of migratory birds.  Follow Your Truth. It is a hard journey, but your Energy will be stronger for it.

 

The Journey Inward

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Many of us step foot on the path to spiritual enlightenment expecting it to lead us onward and upward, hoping to become something better than we are, and ready to gather all of the important things we need along the way.  What a surprise it is when we eventually realize that this path isn’t taking us onward but inward, that we’re not gathering things so much as letting them go, and that there was never anything more to aspire to than the truth of what we already are ~ Cristen Rodgers

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In order to move inward we need to apply self-discipline as this will put us on our path of purpose and show us why and what we came to accomplish here on Earth.    We need to awaken our conscious being which in turn will enhance our spiritual potential.  A part of life is having attachments, but we need self-discipline to be able to detach ourselves. When we let go, we are releasing our need to control and releasing the conditional love that comes with an attachment so that we are able to love unconditionally. In order to bring Spiritual Balance to our lives, we must seek out our individual path and journey inward to find our True and Authentic Self.  We need to enhance our power of detachment, for there lies the answer and to release and let go, for there lies the path to Inner Grace.

Even a single bloom, seemingly detached from its surroundings, still manages to celebrate its existence in Beauty, Color and Energy.

Marking Time

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Time doesn’t stop or give warning. It simply ticks along, marking time, ignoring humanity ~ Amy Harmon

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Some people mark time with Tattoos while others mark time with an Anniversary or by collecting Photographs and recording them in albums or picture frames. Life Cycles are another way to mark time. In life, we set out personal guidelines with a mind to succeed, but often we are just setting ourselves up to fail. With Life Cycles it is almost as if we give our power to emotional burdens and past failures, whereas if we choose to live by a set of Virtues, we can take back our power and manage our lives with mindful intention. We can choose to just exist, or we can take responsibility for our lives by consciously creating our life conditions and by growing through our life experiences. We can choose to override past emotionally driven Life Events or Cycles and replace them with consciously driven Life Virtues.

Choose your Virtues and then live them…

I chose Feathers to mark my time. They symbolize honor, strength, and freedom. By adding Virtues; Love (Orange), Balance (Green), Courage (Red), Passion (Purple), Loyalty (Blue), Wisdom (Yellow) with the final, almost ethereal, Feather (Black and White) symbolizing Endings and New Beginnings.  These Feathers, gracing my wall, are there as a reminder of past Life Events and lessons learned. They are also there to inspire me to greater heights as I continue my Life Journey ~ Grady

Take a look at some of the beautiful Medicine Feather Bundles and Beaded Hat Bands here:  Johnny Blackbird

Unlock your Life Purpose

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The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Sometimes we feel more comfortable securing ourselves within our innermost thoughts. All our emotions, mostly negative, are locked away in the darkest recesses of our minds. We have a padlock for each hurt, grudge, failure; each personal inadequacy. Sadly, with each padlock we take away our sense of purpose, our strength of spirit, our personal power. Therefore, it is imperative that we find a way to free ourselves of these inhibitions. We need to focus on Spirit, on Passion. We need to focus on Purpose. The unlocking of Purpose is essential to our health, to our happiness, to our physical and spiritual growth.

We need to smash the locks that hold us hostage. We need to break out of our self-made prisons and walk free, with Purpose and Meaning.

 

 

 

Spirit of the Wind

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While still in the cage of your being behold the spirit bird before it flies away ~ Rumi

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Behold your Spirit and embrace it with unconditional love so that it may fly high on the wind. Even a cage sans bars has the power to hold us hostage.  We should not be a caged Spirit caught up in a Universe of limiting thoughts.  We are meant to be free.  To feel, to experience, to live, to love, to learn and, yes, to teach. We may feel as if we have no purpose at times but even the smallest of gestures, perhaps just once in a lifetime, will make a difference to some one or some thing. If we learn to love and be loved we will embrace our Spirit.

If we learn to love and be loved we will behold our Spirit.
Love is like a bird; it needs to soar!

Migratory Spirits

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Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving ~ Kahlil Gibran

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And so, how do we know when the time is right to follow our Spiritual Path? As with the migrant birds there is a voice within.  If only we would listen to it.  It whispers to us with such certainty as to when to take flight and even the direction with which to proceed. As migratory birds form a V to make their flight easier so then should we form our own V to ease our Spiritual Journey. If we live mindfully and strive for moral excellence, our V will take beautiful form.  Naturally encompassing the 12 Virtues.

Love, Humility, Perseverance, Respect, Honor, Sacrifice, Truth, Compassion, Bravery, Fortitude, Generosity and Wisdom.

If we lead with Love and fly with a Winged Heart, the rest will follow.

Flight of the Daydreams

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Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world ~ Harriet Tubman 

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Whenever we daydream we are able to lose ourselves in a flow of conscious thought.  During these seemingly timeless moments, we are able to slow ourselves down enough so as to reach that place of absolute calm.   That place where we are able to do anything and go anywhere simply through power of thought.  Daydreams take us to a place where we are able to escape the outer world and at the same time we are free to explore our inner sanctuary. For when we daydream, we strengthen our creativity and our well-being. We allow ourselves to be transported to places where ideas take form and fire our passion.

And when we give flight to our daydreams we give spirit a chance to soar.

Journey Within

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We all have our paths in life we are supposed to follow to find who we are supposed to be, but it’s not always a straight path. There is something inside of us that guides us, and if you are quiet and listen to it, you’ll be all right  ~   Kyan Douglas

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It takes courage to live, to express oneself, and lead a meaningful life. Be fierce. Be tenacious and above all, have the courage of your convictions to walk your road with dignity and respect.  Live your life with purpose and be kind and generous of heart. Be willing to help your fellow travelers on life’s seemingly bumpy road. There will be challenges, forks in the road and distractions along the way but at some point, hopefully, we will stop, be quiet and listen.

When we turn to our compass of life and find our truth, we will realize that the only journey is the one within. Bon Voyage!