Life-Inspiration Archives - Lightwords - Life Coaching, Healing, Wellness

11 Oct

Words Of Inspiration

louis-hay-quote-1-words

Sometimes all it takes is a few words, an inspiring statement that has the power to change our perspective and improve our mood.

One of my favourite authors, Louise Hay, celebrated her 90^th birthday this month. She is ‘the queen’ of affirmations—positive statements—and for decades her words have inspired people to improve their thoughts in more loving ways.

This month, I’ve decided to share some of Louise’s words, affirmations and one-liners that promote positive change. I believe in word-power and the magic they perform in helping us to lift our moods and mind!

Here are some of my favourite words from Louise, ones that have guided me over the years…

Thoughts

The thoughts we choose to think are the tools we use to paint the canvas of our lives.

Just because you believe something doesn’t mean it’s true.

You are not a helpless victim of your own thoughts, but rather a master of your own mind.

Stop scaring yourself with your thoughts.

Set yourself free from other people’s opinions.

When you’re having a tough day, reach for a good thought.

You are the only person who thinks in your mind! You are the power and authority in your world.

I do not fix problems. I fix my thinking. Then problems fix themselves.

The past

Learn from the past and let it go. Live in today.

The past is over and done and cannot be changed. This is the only moment we can experience.

Love

Love is the great miracle cure. Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives.

Allow the world to love and accept you.

Gratitude

The more grateful you are, the more you get to be grateful about. It’s that simple.

Self-worth / self–love

You will be with you longer than anyone else on the planet so make it a good relationship. (I really enjoy this one!).

Healing

To support the body in healing, we must believe we are worthy of being healed.

Your mind is a tool you can choose to use any way you wish.

Inner-spirit

We are far more than our bodies and personalities. The inner spirit is always beautiful and lovable, no matter how our outer appearances may change.

Aging

Know that you are the perfect age. Each year is special and precious, for you shall only live it once. Be comfortable with growing older.

Power-words / Affirmations

I am in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.

Each day is a new opportunity. I chose to make this day a great one.

All is well. Everything is working out for my highest good. Out of this situation only good will come. I am safe.

I am willing to release the need to be unworthy. I am worthy of the very best in life and I now lovingly allow myself to accept it.

Call to Action

Print this list and keep it handy. Then, the next time you are feeling out of sorts, you will have a list of positive statements that have the potential to help you.

And, if you have a favourite saying of Louise Hay, contact me and I’ll post it on my website so others can benefit from her words too!

This Month’s Video

In this 10 minute video Louise Hay talks about how words and thoughts create our future. It’s a great to listen to so grab a cuppa, sit back (with your headphones on if you wish) and enjoy!

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09 Aug

Life, Death And Grief

Grief has been a big part of my life lately. Within 6 months, I’ve had to arrange and organise three funerals, namely for my Late brother-in-law, Richard, my Late cousin, Rosa—whom I was next of kin for—and, last month, my precious, beautiful Mother.

It’s been a difficult time and you can never anticipate how you will respond to grief when it happens.

I must admit that lately, I’ve done a lot of crying but also lots of reminiscing and laughing at some of the wonderful memories. But undoubtedly, what’s helped me through my grief the most—and continues to do so—is the words and wisdom of Spirit.

The following message which I received from Spirit on 4^th September, 2008, has been of enormous comfort to me and I’m sharing it in the hope that it may be helpful to you and others, too.

Spirit’s Message on Death and Grief

“Blessings and love. Death is not the end. The completion of one’s physical incarnation is not the end of life. It is the closure of a cycle but it is not the end of existence of that being.

The spirit of one lives on; their energy is part of the cosmic energy. Their flesh may not be seen but their loving energy is ever-present. There is no death only life continuum.

We tell you these words because many grieve for the loss of their loved ones. To grieve is part of the natural emotions of physical existence. We support and help you as much as we can during times of physical sorrow.

But, Dear Ones, do not spend your life held in the energy of grief. Living in grief for extended periods of time is neither good for the soul who has been released, nor is it good for you on the earth plane.

We ask that you send your love to the soul who has completed his/her time in a physical body; that they move forward. Life is always about moving forward—closer to divinity, progressing higher and higher in spiritual growth.

Each spirit walks their own journey, but the goal of each is the same; move forward in the knowledge and love of Divine Love.

Dear Ones, all of life is a cycle. All things cease and return to the Great Cosmic Energy. Life, as you understand it, does not end; it simply moves forward.

Our love is with you always,

Spirit”

Moving forward

Spirit’s words remind us that life and death is a cycle and whether we are in-flesh or in-spirit, our journey is about progress; it’s about moving closer to the goal of self-realisation.

Perfect love

Why don’t we take a moment now and pray for our loved ones in-spirit? Send them thoughts of steady progress on their journey towards merging with Divine Love.

It only takes a minute of our time to link our heart to theirs creating a bridge of endless, timeless, perfect love.

This month’s video

I have chosen this video in honour of our mum. In her younger years, Mum loved playing the piano; she enjoyed music in general and she has a great sense of humour. I think this clip of Victor Borge (it’s an oldie but a goodie) covers all three of Mum’s loves. Enjoy.

14 Jun

Time Is A Treasure

Time is a precious gift that is all too often taken for granted.

Last week I was given the sad news that a family friend passed away. Aged 54, his death was sudden and unexpected. A devoted family man, he gave his time freely to his wife, children, relatives, friends and those in need.

As I was reflecting on the beautiful qualities of our friend, The Universe directed me to an email that I’d received some months ago. It was entitled: The Last Wishes of Alexander the Great and I’d like to share it with you as it aptly reminds us of the purpose of time. It goes like this:

On his death bed, Alexander summoned his generals and told them his three ultimate wishes:

The best doctors should carry his coffin
The wealth he has accumulated (money, gold, precious stones) should be scattered along the procession to the cemetery and…
His hands should be let loose, hanging outside the coffin for all to see.

One of his generals who was surprised by these unusual requests, asked Alexander to explain.

Here is what Alexander the Great had to say:

I want the best doctors to carry my coffin to demonstrate that, in the face of death, even the best doctors in the world have no power to heal.
I want the road to be covered with my treasure so that everybody sees that material wealth acquired on earth, stays on earth.
I want my hands to swing in the wind, so that people understand that we come to this world empty handed and we leave this world empty handed after the most precious treasure of all is exhausted, and that is TIME.

Time is our most precious treasure because it is limited. We can produce more wealth, but we cannot produce more time. When we give someone our time, we actually give a portion of our life that we will never take back. Our time is our life.

The Gift of Time

The best present that any one of us can give to another is time. Time shared with another says many things but, ultimately, it speaks of love.

Call to Action

This month think about those in your life who are close at heart and make the time to assist them in some way. If you are not able to visit them you could Facetime, Skype or email; let them know that you care.

Also, make time for someone in need—perhaps a complete stranger. Share a moment that will leave them feeling uplifted by your presence.

A wise person uses the gift of time to touch hearts. May you have the wisdom to get the best out of life by giving your time to helping others. Assisting another is the ultimate act of love; it’s the purpose of time.

This month’s video is actually a commercial but it beautifully demonstrates the message of how to make the best use of our time and how to create happiness in life. Enjoy!

09 May

Good Food For A Healthy Mind!

Have you ever thought about the food that you feed your mind daily; food in the form of thoughts? Peaceful, happy and kind thoughts are excellent food sources for a healthy mind and research shows ingesting these thoughts daily has a positive effect on our health.

Unfortunately, many of our daily thoughts are unhealthy—with stress and worry forming the main source of our diet. Whilst it’s difficult to eradicate troublesome thoughts altogether, it is possible minimise them.

Here’s how: Firstly, consider that every thought you think feeds your mind—so, in order to feed it well, a balanced diet is needed.

Each day:

Increase positive expressions as you converse with people. For example, thank people more often for the help and the services they provide. Gratitude is a healthy food source.

Reduce the habit of complaining and blaming. Both are energy-depleting. Also, reduce negative influences that keep your thoughts focused on ‘life’s dramas’ – media news is an example. If your senses are constantly bombarded by negative information, it is more difficult to generate positive thoughts.

Introduce positive statements into your diet such as, “Today I will worry less.” “Today I enjoy being happy.” “I feel good about myself today.”

Add supplements such as joy and laughter to your day. These essential tonics generate happier thoughts.

Assess all of the kindhearted actions that you engaged in throughout the day. Recalling them to mind generates both good thoughts and feelings.

If you catch yourself in ‘worry mode’, here’s a little trick: Liken ‘stressful thoughts’ to ‘fat’ in a diet. As with too much fat, too many worries will clog your system and weigh you down!

To stay in great shape, pay attention to the food you feed both your body and mind. Ensure kind-hearted thoughts are part of your daily diet!

Here is a fun video clip that that provides positive food for the mind! Enjoy.

12 Apr

The Purpose Of Service

Recently I have had the joy of reconnecting with a group of spiritually-minded friends who I have not seen for some time. Our relationship goes back a long way, 1993 in fact, and spending time together was as joyous as slipping into a favourite pair of comfortable slippers—warm, familiar and deliciously comforting.

As we gathered together in devotional prayer, the spiritual gathering concluded with a reading on the topic of service. It was a great reminder to me that every day, each one of us serves. No matter who we are, our lives involve serving others.

In fact, when we take stock of our day, the majority of our time involves service in some shape or form. For instance, preparing food or driving children to and from school. Whether we are washing, sweeping or working—we are serving.

Service is not restricted to community service. Service is part of everyday life!

Making the most of service

More often than not, most of us begrudge the daily service activities that we need to undertake, believing that we could be doing better things with our time. Sometimes we feel angry, resentful that we have to serve or we feel that our partner gets off lightly when it comes to helping with the kids and chores in the home.

Each day we are presented with an opportunity to turn every day acts of service into acts of love and devotion.

How?

This can be achieved by focusing on the end goal. To do this, ask yourself, “Through this act, who am I serving?”

Whilst it may appear that we are helping others, we are, in fact, serving The Divine. As the energy of Divine Love is in each one of us, then each act of service is ultimately serving Divine Love. That is who we really are serving!

This being the case, if we think of the end goal as we go about our activities, we become more conscious of Divine Love in our daily lives. With this shift in awareness, our attitude towards what we are doing, changes. Focusing on the bigger picture helps us to serve seeing the oneness and connectedness that we have with all. Mentally and emotionally, we feel we have a sense of purpose to our lives for we see that even the mundane chores have a higher purpose to them; spiritually we move closer towards our goal of self-realisation.

Service is the highest spiritual exercise. When we serve with love and in consciousness of The Divine we sanctify our lives.

How best can we serve?

With:

A pure heart
A selfless attitude
Gratitude
Good feelings

Even though many of the acts of service that we do daily may seem mundane, holding the right attitude toward them is the key. Focus on: through this act I am serving The Divine.

Another point to be aware of is, if the feeling of love is missing, our acts of service hold little value. We are simply carrying out actions without heart.

Whether the service activity we undertake is big or small—the love we impart as we serve—is what matters most.

Love All Serve All

Keep life simple, love those whom you come into contact with daily and serve them with love.

If we take to heart and follow this one principle we enjoy life more and, most importantly, live life with purpose!

Service pays well

No matter how much money we may have in our bank account—it’s not transferrable when we pass from this earthly plane. However, our bank account of love comes with us.

Service—whether it’s through everyday chores or community service—is the highest act of love. It pays big dividends and high interest.

Therefore, love to serve and serve to love!

This month, as you engage in your everyday acts of service, focus on the end goal. Say to yourself: “Through this act I am serving The Divine.” Turn everyday actions into acts of love and devotion.

Here is a lovely video of animals that are very willing to love and serve!

08 Mar

Self-Love Time!

I held a retreat last month and part of the focus was on love—including self-love. Self-love is an area with which most women struggle. We spend a lot of our time giving to our partners, children, family, friends and work colleagues but when it comes to giving to ourselves—being kind to ourselves—that is more difficult.

A way to develop self-love is to engage in self-care. Self-care is an act of self-love. When we self-care well we attend to the many responsibilities in our lives with more enthusiasm; we feel better emotionally—feeling less resentful, frustrated and angry when managing life’s demands.

Care about your whole self

Most of us do not engage in good self-care with respect to our body, emotions and our spirit; we may care for one area of our being and forget about the others. However, all aspects of our being need to be nourished with love in order to feel whole and complete.

Therefore, we need to take good care of our body, as our body is the vehicle that carries us through life. Looking after our emotional wellbeing is very important too, for our emotions play a big part in our enjoyment of life. And giving attention and love to our spirit is essential if we want to live a balanced life. Self-care strategies that feed our soul are the ultimate acts of self-love.

Here are some examples of self-care acts that will help you to be more kind and loving towards yourself.

Physical self-care

Joining an exercise or movement class to keep your body in good shape

Eating healthily

Regularly treating your body to a massage, a Reiki session—or whatever therapy you enjoy—that will help to maintain or improve the condition of your body

Emotional self-care

Being honest to yourself about your emotional wellbeing and undertaking strategies that help you to feel less anxious and frustrated—more peaceful and content

Setting boundaries, knowing when to say ‘no’ to things—instead of taking on more commitments

Seeking professional help when your emotions get the better of you

Spiritual self-care

Making time for yoga, meditation, prayer or contemplation—quiet time that brings feelings of peace and balance to your life

Subscribe to an online course or attend a spiritual group where you can learn and have the support of like-minded people

Feed your soul with words of wisdom from inspirational reading material

Self-love is our responsibility

We have a personal responsibility to take care of ourselves. If we don’t ensure that we are in a good place physically, emotionally and spiritually, it makes attending to life—to all of its demands and responsibilities—much more difficult.

So it’s time to be aware of how to care… for yourself!

Action Challenge

This month make self-love your focus. What little things can you do that will help you to be kind and gentle to yourself?

We feel much better and we are able to give more easily when we have had a little top-up of love ourselves. So start loving your-self today!

To learn about my number one self-love tip, watch my 3 minute video.