The Beauty of Choices

"Happiness, like unhappiness, is a proactive choice." ~ Stephen R. Covey

Choice is empowering. However, the beauty of choice is often clouded in the overwhelm when there are so many options incoming. 

Maintaining balance in daily living is imperative to happiness and our decision making process either liberates or paralyzes us. We should always be journeying toward the expansion of our peace. 

There are "must do" tasks in life, but how we accomplish them determines the level of freedom we create by the execution of our choices. This requires we become less distracted and lean in to the challenge of determining what lessons our options present. 

The beauty of choice is that we can decide between creating increased life or lack and it is just that; our choice. If we are spinning our wheels in the glorification of staying busy we may look productive, but we become less effective over time and our lives are less joy filled.

Each decision broadens the path to expanded options leading to more opportunities for seeking and creating more freedom. To grow in awareness of your process is to become more mindful in your decision making.

True freedom awaits and it is always yours for the making.

Do your decisions liberate or paralyze you?
Are you mindful of how your decision making process is affecting your peace?
What tasks have you used to distract you from taking charge of your choices?

Available Now!
"Recover Yourself"

Join the journey and experience the joy of unfolding!
www.newjoyzbooks.weebly.com
FREE EBOOK DOWNLOAD

It's the Weekend Baby!

"I am always happy to meet my friend, and my friend is my weekend. ~ Debasish Mridha

Weekends used to mean chores, homework, and no matter how late I partied with friends on Saturday night, church on Sunday. These days there is a broader range of responsibility to squeeze into forty-eight hours. 

Most of us welcome the weekend as the chance to get done things we rarely have time to accomplish during the work week. Depending on personality and the current levels of busy, most fall into the pace that is most pressing at the time.

The decision to "do nothing" or "to get everything done" can weigh heavily. 

"I shall use my time." ~ Jack London

With each new day, the Creator's wisdom provides the freedom to choose how we spend our energy; concentrating our breath toward meaningful moments between work and play. The weekend is a good time for 'catch up' but is also ideal for recovery and restoration from the stress of the week. 

I value a couple days of 'catch up', but I also look forward to slowing down for purpose filled self-care with balanced energy toward rest, self-discovery, and pruning.

Make time to just be this weekend. Be with yourself. Be in your breath. Sit alone in the shade of the tree you have planted and have now become. 

Inhale and explore the colors of your changing leaves and exhale to discover the possibilities of new seed yet to be planted.

Trust that it will be time and breath well spent.

Do you welcome the weekend?
What purpose have your weekends been serving?
Have you set your intention for how you will spend this forty-eight hours?

Available Now!
"Recover Yourself"
www.amazon.com/dp/B078LZ8PC5

























Join the journey and experience the joy of unfolding!
FREE EBOOK DOWNLOAD
www.newjoyzbooks.weebly.com

Purpose Filled Losses

"Beloved I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." ~ 3 John 1:2

Suffering and loss has always been part of the human journey, however, twenty four hour media keeps us on overload with continuous bad news incoming.

As a result, the fear of loss is amplified in the present whether or not we are truly in the midst of a personal crisis.

It can take many years of hard work and sacrifice to build a life of accomplishment, but faith in our success must not override our gratitude, our compassion, or our humility. 

"What I feared has come upon me: what I dreaded has happened to me." ~ Job 3:25 

The Book of Job lends insight into the experience of loss, faith, and restoration. When we meet him, Job is confronting fear as a trilogy of terror; failing health, sudden tragedies befalling his children and the loss of all that he owns.

Fear of loss is paralyzing and prevents the experience of joy in present moments. Lessons in loss, even trials we deem to be unfair and fail to understand provide the potential for blessings in mind, body, and spirit.

Ways of thinking and states of being are often shaken and broken away in order for new breakthroughs in our evolvement to be born. 

Our faith in our Creator and our humanity toward others must develop as well and the Universe has ways to keep us mindful of this truth.

"But we all , with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the fear of the Lord." ~ 2 Corinthians 3:18

The one thing Job clung to without falter was his faith that the Creator knew full well what He was doing even when Job could not understand. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him," became his mantra through all that he endured.

He believed there was purpose and rebuilding in things ripped away. 

When we are focused on God's will to bless us and grow us from glory to glory, we can trust that there is evolvement through overcoming.

Seek purpose in your losses.

How are you evolving through crisis?
Are you growing in gratitude, compassion, and humility in equal measure to your successes?
In whom or what have you placed absolute faith and trust?

Join the journey and experience the joy of unfolding!
www.newjoyzbooks.weebly.com

The Thirst Is Real

"We will drink what we thirst for and eat what we hunger for if we allow ourselves to be used for what we were created for!" ~ Israelmore Ayivor

Current pop culture says, 'The thirst is real.' 

This saying has taken hold across social media platforms, film banter, and sitcom dialogues. It is an especial favorite of reality television programs.

"Desires are what can most easily ruin us, lovely." 
~ Simona Panova

Our thoughts are tell tale signs of what we desire most at the deeper levels. Some crave career success, others money, homes, cars, a spouse, and even babies. The list of wants is endless.

Upon that which we place highest priority presents most profoundly in our daily stream of thinking. My main concern is the safety of my children and I find myself offering brief prayers of protection over them at various intervals. 

Of course, I think about my work and ways to mindfully express messages of healing and forward movement that fellow travelers can apply in principle as well. All of which I feel called to do and I sense no resistance to incoming inspiration to pursue.

"I incessantly look for water in wells dug by men, and I have drunk enough sand to prove it." 
~ Craig D. Lounsbrough

Thoughts are powerful and reflecting upon 'thirst' in universal context applies to each of us as co-creators.

Our dominant thoughts are what we lend the most energy toward and if not aligned with universal purpose, our thirsts can make us behave in irrational ways. Allowing 'thirst' to overtake and drive energies toward something never intended is depleting and can have devastating effects on our well being. 

"What God Has For Me It Is For Me" is a favorite song and a useful mantra for guiding my energies. If it's intended for me, it will meet my experience joyfully. 

Chasing a thing will not matter if it is not intended from the Creator. 

Seeking the Creator's will first syncs us to the natural universal flow of His wisdom and manifests peace in our lives.  

Check your thirst.

What is the 'thirst' driving you toward?
Is your 'thirst' born of ego desire or the Creator's will?
Has that which you have been chasing been adding to your peace or depleting it?

"Spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst; but you gotta change it on the inside first, to be satisfied." ~ Van Morrison

Join the journey and experience the joy of unfolding!
http://newjoyzbooks.weebly.com/

The Right Questions

"For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst and to provide for it." ~ Patrick Henry

The Universe always asks the right questions. 

Just as I watch my children leave for school each morning, I believe I attend class each day via curriculum set by the Creator of all things. 

Many experiences are unique in their aspects, though others, not so much. The ups and downs of professional and family life, loss of loved ones, and health crises, though more general in their forms, invites us to lean forward when presented.

"For the wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching has become a regular habit until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong." ~ Bill W.

Whether or not we are paying attention in class determines the quality of our opportunity for growth within a lesson. 

Challenge through change is a necessary exchange to prepare for promotion into new levels. With a successful pruning course of instruction, we can endeavor to become better students. 

Each test evaluates how well we are being transformed into the image of the Divine.

Lean in to the lessons as the Universe presents them. As you become more attentive in class, the questions being asked peel back the layers to reveal your best self.

Your better and better is limitless.

"We have to do one of the most revolting things possible, we have to face ourselves." 
~ Craig D. Lounsbrough 

What questions has the Universe been calling to your attention?
Have you been resisting listening for the answers to important questions?
Are you willing to permit the lesson of each experience?

"EGO means attachment to layers of our unexamined thoughts and illusions. We avoid self-inquiry because it shatters our belief system and false image." Aditya Ajmera 


Join the journey and experience the joy of unfolding!
http://newjoyzbooks.weebly.com/

Winter Is Coming

"You are the sky. Everything else -- it's just the weather." ~ Pema Chodron

The winter months can be a difficult time for those who wrestle with depression. 

As the days shorten the struggle against a deep desire for hibernation is all too real and remaining engaged and emotionally available for work, family and friends can become an uphill crawl.

Life is an ongoing series of highs and lows. Our preference, of course, would be to live in perpetual high-flying moods where all the traffic lights are green, printers never jam or run out of ink, and the house magically stays clean.

Fortunately, tough times never last. Each of us has an individual rhythmic tide and the challenge is learning to live well within the flow of it. 

"You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness." 
~ Jonathan Safran Foer

Some of us need a little more rest than others. 

Viewing the lower tides as a gift from the Universe allows a necessary slow down to focus on self-care. These emotional pit stops are an opportunity to rest weary limbs and continue the journey in a more joy-filled way.

For me, downtime devoted to meditating, journaling, and sunlight sitting elevates my mood and encourages a stronger emergence of increased clarity. Hibernating in this new way makes for quicker recovery from a sinking episode of overwhelming hopelessness spent hiding in darkness beneath a pile of blankets.  

Winter is coming. It's time to choose a method of healing over hiding during the low tides.   

Decide to rest well. It will be spring soon.

"The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keeps out the joy." ~ Jim Rohn

Is there a specific time of year you find more difficult than another?
Do you have healthy mechanisms in place to support you through your personal winters?
How can you repurpose your down times to serve as a pause for healing?

Join the journey and experience the joy of unfolding!

http://newjoyzbooks.weebly.com/

Moving Through Change With Grace

"All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful." 
~ Flannery O'Connor

The intensity of change presents in our lives through various means. 

'Make your peace with it,' my grandmother would often say. 

Just when you believe you have every aspect of your life situated to your liking, it happens. Recall the well known serenity, courage, and wisdom mantra penned by Niebuhr?

Change is to be expected and accepting change as part of the journey is key. Still, while learning to cope with this inevitability is imperative, cultivating the grace necessary to move through is achievable.

"Grace is amazing because God has a right to demand anything of us, but instead God offers something to us." ~ Colin Smith

Changes in life occur with the purpose of shifting us into the healthier state of wholeness in mind, body, and spirit.

The challenges hidden in change are calls to become better; to transform in ways that make us assets to humanity and the greater good in the Creator's divine plan. 

Resistance stagnates the evolving of our lives from glory to glory and limits our ability to expand our existence in ways born of the Creator's abundant love for each of us.

God wants to bless us and is always preparing us for greater levels of ever increasing joy. Invite change through faith with grace and embrace it as it reveals itself in your life. 

Celebrate every opportunity for growth and new beginnings. Start today!

"Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off." ~ Max Lucado

Join the journey and experience the joy of unfolding!
newjoyzbooks.weebly.com