Tuesday 22 November 2011

Gratitude - Just a word until something is taken away from you?


Guilty as charged m’lord!

How about you? Are you guilty too?

For sure I am, despite my best efforts to try and appreciate everything. That said, yesterday from my sick bed I watched a hilarious episode of “Friends” where Phoebe had a boyfriend who was so upbeat about everything in sight. It was nauseating! Different from him, I can see the bad in some things but choose not to let it into my space to make me feel blue.


So, what exactly is gratitude? Let’s talk about health for a minute; we walk around in our happy bubble appreciating nature or something else beautiful that we can write about in our gratitude journal, not always realising the comfort our bodies are in. Have you ever suffered at the hands of a basic need like going to the loo? Or being able to chew? Let’s think of a water infection – ouchie – now doesn’t that make you realise how comfortable you were prior to the water infection?
Have you ever sat there suffering and thinking this exact same thing? Uh hummm sister me too, I feel your pain!
Being well and healthy is something that we all very much take for granted which is a good thing. Were we to spend time worrying all the time about which illness we might get next, well, frankly that’s another whole illness in itself isn’t it!

When that health is taken away, however temporarily, it sure does make us realise that we were so lucky previously to this. Can you see my point? Where am I heading? Well maybe you already keep a gratitude journal. They can be so powerful. Every single day you realise that even if it might be one of those days  you put down to being a ‘bad day’ there will be at least 3 things you can list in your gratitude journal. As you do this, you will in simple terms, realise there is a reason to be cheerful – (wasn’t that a song?) – in complex terms you will raise your vibrational frequency which will in turn take you higher and higher up the emotional scale. This is excellent news!

What is the emotional scale? Now that’s a long answer and a whole other blog……let me tell you a secret (one we want everyone to know about) you want to be as close to the top as possible. What emotion is at the top?

Joy

And that, my friends, is the meaning of life…………


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Thursday 17 November 2011

Perceptions of Paradise

Knowing we are all different is commonplace.
Accepting that can be a little tough. 
Realising what makes us -and others- tick is a fascinating subject and one that has brought me to a place of new found freedom.
Having spent the last few days completely connected to the source within me (some of you may know what I mean when I say I’m in the vortex) I have been taken to a place which has again opened my eyes to a new world.
Since turning 40 I seem to be learning so much! You would think you know everything by then....
So, what is Paradise?
Sharing with you my thoughts and feeling of paradise may be what one other person sees as an idea of hell on earth. Sounds pretty obvious right? Well, it is! I’m not telling you anything new when I say we all have objective opinions. Here in Egypt this week I have met some amazing people as always and as I have felt so open in my vortex, it’s easy to freely communicate with new folks.
To me, where I am right now, is pure heaven on earth.
Paradise:
I’ll enlighten to you how I see it......
Red sea full of fish, like a scene from “Finding Nemo” yet better than that is being in the hands of experienced divers who give you the total feeling of safety. 
How can it be that the very same waters which houses some dangers can set you so at peace. When you look under water and see the natural tranquility that glides effortlessly throughout the waters everyday, the rest of the world seems so far away.
At the end of every resort (built for the holiday makers) there is a pier. Don’t imagine Eastbourne or Brighton. Much much more simple. Less complex making way for the natural beauty. 
Which is, a backdrop of mountains, the red sea, the shimmering clear waters.
Just this morning a heron came to greet me at 6am on my windy walk. Like a well rehearsed actor he glided in settling in front of me, watching for fish.
Excited, I grabbed my camera and took dozen of photos of him catching his breakfast. Despite the brightness of the suns rays blinding the pictures, I was sure there were some fab photos on there. Literally with fists punching the air with excitement, I could have screamed out,
“YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!”

Nature is a wonder of beauty. She is all around. Being here gives me the freedom to experience really seeing her. Not looking at, but looking through, feeling her, experiencing her, letting her in and soaking her all up.
Loving nature as I do, I always connect and ground myself no matter where I am. Last year in November was Scotland. 
That was emotional! Quite a work of natural art. This October its Egypt. Sharm el Sheikh. So what sets it apart for me?
Have you ever read trip advisor? Leaving the holiday behind seems easy for many. They write on trip advisor in such a manner that you cannot fail to feel their pain of such a clearly awful trip. 
The porcelain in their sink was cracked. 
Lunchtime was self service in a certain restaurant.
Beer was served in half pint not pint measures.
The sun is too hot.
The sand isn’t small enough grains.
Ok.
The list is endless.
For every individual it is relative. For some, a self service restaurant may make or break the holiday. Requesting to move hotels would demonstrate how this is keeping them from connecting, getting in the vortex. What should a holiday be about? What is PARADISE?
I am thinking right now that our entire lives should be paradise. We should be connected all of the time, in the vortex. However, not only listening to Abraham Hicks but also observing while in paradise has shown me that if we spend all of our time without contrast, then the whole life experience becomes on one level. For me, the contrast will come tomorrow, when I leave paradise to come home. Leaving here the last time gave me a pain in my heart which took some getting over. This time I will try to be safe in the knowledge that I can return, making this a part of my life which I can experience at free will. Using the law of attraction I will manifest more trips which fill me up with so much happiness and connectivity. 
Staying here all the time, would I lose the desire to punch the air and shout “YESSS” when I see the heron come for breakfast? Would I take it all for granted?
Most likely.
So what has made me feel that this is paradise? 
The surroundings?
The weather?
The bouganvillia?
The food?
Well in reality they all helped. Although if I were to pick one thing to place at the top of the heat.......
It’s a feeling. 
It’s the feeling the people give you here. The locals, the holiday makers, the staff. If I could have one wish for the world, it would be that we all treat each other lovingly, with respect. Wishing for the world to be at peace.
In a bubble of happiness, my husband and I arrived here feeling like celebrities. Somebody. We were somebody.
Somebody who was appreciated. They all smiled with big hugs and kisses and lots of “Welcome back”. If I could bottle that feeling of appreciation and being ‘somebody’..............sigh........what a wonderful world this would be. 
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