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Be Content

The door opens onto NOW. What you experience is always right now. Here you stay fully focused on what you are doing in this moment. You choose to feel good by thinking thoughts that support you. Being is at the top of your to-do list. You are fully present and there is always enough time. Your Universe reflects all this right back to you. Isn’t this a place you’d like to BE?

Feeling Overwhelmed?

10/11/2019

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“Overwhelm is an illusion that states: ‘I am not capable. I cannot handle all this. It is too much. I am doing this all alone.”
-Shoshona Ortalia Rogers from Goddess: 7 Rings of the Heart

We’ve just returned from a week in New England visiting with family and friends and a week driving back and forth. Our days were busy, fitting in everyone we wanted to see. It was wonderful and exhausting.

Getting back home, though tired, I swung full tilt into Weight Watchers and creating a new way of eating. Learning how to use my new FitBit, (which is at this moment buzzing my wrist because I haven’t taken enough steps in the past hour!) Preparing to co-teach a Goddess class. Taking an on-line writing and publishing course. Writing and editing fiction and non-fiction. Planning for our upcoming holiday and birthday parties. And last, but certainly not least, grandparenting, parenting and spousing (is that a word?). I swung myself right into overwhelm.

Overwhelm is a state of mind. It really has nothing to do with what and how much you are doing.

There are many who can handle a daily schedule that is packed from morning to night and beyond with equanimity. There are those whose flexibility makes it possible for them to easily go with the flow. And there are those who get overwhelmed by any change in their daily routine. I probably fall somewhere in the middle depending upon the day.

Overwhelm has everything to do with what and how you are thinking and feeling about what you are doing.

I experience overwhelm when I perceive a task as bigger than it actually is. This happens particularly when I have a number of different projects and responsibilities that I am juggling at once. They gather together, increasing exponentially, and loom over me, mountainous and huge.

I feel confused. I don’t know where to start, and so I don’t. I am stuck. I feel like there is not enough time to accomplish what I must.  I feel alone, as if there is no where to turn for support.

The specter of resistance then rears its head. My ego-self digs in her heels and pulls in the opposite direction from where I want to go for fear that what I do or create will not be perfect. Sigh…

Overwhelm is not fun.

So, what do we do when the illusion of overwhelm, does its thing and overwhelms us?

1. Understand that the feeling of overwhelm is an illusion. It is a misperception. You have the power to look at things differently.

2. Know that you are not alone. Your Spiritual Support Team is interested in and involved with every little bit of your life. They’ve got your back. You can hand that fear in your gut, which is at the base of the perception of overwhelm, over to your Team. They will take care of it. Today’s Spiritual Toolbox is a visualization guiding you through doing this.

3. Focus and Organize. Break each task down into, small, incremental steps. Then, take one step at a time. As you do so you reduce that looming mountain of overwhelm into manageable, orderly, small piles of pebbles. These you can deal with, one at a time.

4. Express gratitude for each small step that you take. Gratitude shifts your energy, lifting you into alignment with your Higher Self. That’s a nice place to be.


Are you willing to give it a try? Me too!

Your Spiritual Toolbox

Sit comfortably, feet flat on the floor. Close your eyes and slowly take deep breaths. Feel yourself relaxing and sinking deeper into your chair.

​Allow whatever is on your mind to drift away and focus on breathing deeply.

Mentally invite your Spiritual Support Team to support and guide you through this visualization.  

Now, out loud quietly ask your body to show you where the feeling of overwhelm is strongest. Keep breathing deeply and notice any sensation of discomfort, tightness, blockage, swelling, pain, anything that is unusual.

Ask your Spiritual Support Team to remove this overwhelm from your body and your energy bodies.

Visualize a shower of light cascading over you, washing you in sparkling white, cleansing light. Clearing your body and energy bodies of all feelings of fear and overwhelm.

Visualize this sparkling white light filling and surrounding your body. Know that you are cleared, loved, protected, supported and guided.
Continue with this visualization for as long as it feels good to you.

Express gratitude to your Spiritual Support Team for their assistance. 
Photo by Jimmy Conover on Unsplash
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The Universe Will Support You

1/22/2019

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“Everything is always working out for me.”
- Abraham-Hicks 
   
 
Awhile back my husband left early in the morning to drive to a convention several states away.  I knew he’d be gone for six days. In the past when I’ve said goodbye to him and found myself alone in the early morning dark, I’ve sunk into feelings of loneliness and abandonment. Not because it was true but because old childhood tapes would play in my head.

This time I chose to experience it differently.

I put my thoughts and feelings on hold as I tidied up the kitchen from breakfast focusing my attention on what was immediately in front of me. I put in a load of laundry and made myself a cup of tea. The sun came up and I took my tea outside to sit on the patio and watch the backyard awaken.

Negative thoughts arose and I chose to focus my attention on my immediate environment. I paid attention to my breath moving in and out. I watched the light in the leaves and felt the fresh, cool morning air. I noticed the birds at the feeder and heard their morning songs.  

Even as I did so I could feel the old anxieties and fears just beneath the surface. I knew what was there. I’d experienced it all before and now it lurked, a darkness pressing against the door of my awareness. This time I chose not to give it any attention, nor did I allow it to come to the fore. I didn’t even try to fix it as I’ve done before. Instead I paid attention to what I sensed all around me.

It felt like I was faking it, and any minute the reality of negativity would take over, but it didn’t. In fact, just the opposite happened. In a little while my thoughts turned to what I’d like to do during the day, what would feel good to do.
I made a mental plan and decided to start by making myself a delicious soup to eat throughout the day. It felt nourishing and supportive.

I then took the dog for a long walk and thoroughly enjoyed the cool woods and sunshine. When I felt worry thoughts start I reminded myself of my favorite Abraham-Hicks quote and thought, I don’t have to worry about this because, “Everything is always working out for me.”

As I walked on I heard a repeated bird call from the trees. Over and over it sounded like the bird was saying, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thanks!” It became my mantra as I walked.

Afterward, I got home and ate nurturing soup and took a nap.
​
When I awoke, once again I felt the aloneness pressing at the door of my thoughts and again I chose to focus elsewhere. Instead, I returned to the kitchen and tried out a new recipe, a healthy version of blondies made with white beans. They were surprisingly good. Then I replaced our broken mailbox which had been waiting for repair, and ordered a planter to go around the base of the mailbox post.

Throughout the day several friends called with invitations and connection. My daughter called for support with something that was bothering her, and my husband called just checking in, letting me know he was thinking of me. The calls felt connecting and supportive.

I realized that as I chose to support myself with where I focused my attention, and in the thoughts I chose to think, the Universe responded and supported me. I chose to feel connection. I chose to feel support. I chose to nurture myself.  The Universe reflected that right back to me. 

You will have your own ways of loving and nurturing yourself. You know what feels good to you. Begin with your inner home, your thoughts.
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​Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

Your Spiritual Toolbox

Be Content isn’t just about feeling good, though that is the result. It is about choosing to feel good because by doing so your daily life will reflect that back to you with more and more things to feel good about.

Always remember that just because you think a thought doesn’t make it true. Just because you think a thought doesn’t mean you have to pay attention to it or fix it.

Love and nurture yourself with the thoughts you allow into the sacred home of your mind.

Choose to be on the wavelength of love and nurture within, then you can perceive it around you and receive it from your outer world.

It is as if our daily life is a giant 3-D mirror surrounding us with what we are creating for ourselves from within, with our thoughts and what we pay attention to.

Be content today because it feels good now, from the inside out.  Very soon it will feel good from the outside in.

Choose to be content now because in each moment of contentment you are creating many more to come. 
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Unconventional Meditation

10/15/2018

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“Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

Meditation is about getting to know that quiet place inside you, and allowing it to expand more and more in your life. It is about fully focusing in this present moment of here and now and resting in that stillness within.

Is meditation difficult to do? It can be, at least for me. I’ve done the twenty minute meditations, the hour-long meditations, the three hour meditations. I admire those who are able to do this on a regular basis, and know there is great benefit to be gained. Yet I find it easier to attain and maintain that quiet, present moment place inside myself in active ways.

Almost anything you do can become a form of meditation if your focus is one-pointed. That means your attention is fully focused upon what you are doing. For example, you are washing the dishes. You focus your attention upon the feel of the warm water and the slipperiness of soap on slick surfaces, but your mind drifts and thoughts of yesterday’s events intrude. You take a deep breath, let those thoughts go on the out-breath and refocus your attention upon the feel of the dish in your hand, the warmth of the water and swishy, soap bubbles. You keep yourself focused in this way throughout the clean-up, always bringing your thoughts back into the here and now when they wander.

My experience has been that it is easier to keep my active mind focused when I am physically engaged in an activity. When my hands, body, eyes, ears, and nose are busy interacting with the present moment it gives me a one-pointed focus for my attention, here and now. It gives me a specific place to return my attention to.

Can washing dishes be spiritual practice? You bet. What we are talking about here is a form of the Buddhist concept of Mindfulness.

​There are numerous resources available on-line if you are interested in pursuing this topic. You can easily find them by searching on Buddhism and Mindfulness. A great place to start is with the website, Lion’s Roar, Buddhist Wisdom for Our Time.


Photo by Catt Liu on Unsplash

Your Spiritual Toolbox

Today, choose one activity to do in which you will focus your mind and be fully present with what you are doing.

Choose an activity that you are doing by yourself and in which you won’t have to be interacting with others for a time.

Some of my favorite active (and not so active) meditations are walking in the woods, weeding, cleaning, washing dishes, knitting, crafting, watching the birds at the feeder, and sitting quietly just looking out the window watching the light on the leaves of the trees. You probably already have your own favorites.

​If you find it too difficult to quiet your mind you can add in the repetition of a positive affirmation, short prayer or mantra, spoken out loud or internally. This is calming to a busy mind and soothing to an anxious one. Focus your attention on the words you are repeating to yourself as you continue to engage in whatever meditative activity you have chosen to do. ​
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​All materials provided on www.hollyhildreth.com are provided for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only and are not intended to be, or serve as a substitute for, professional medical/psychological advice, examination, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical or psychological condition.
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© Holly Hildreth
  • Welcome
  • Blog
  • Savor the Sweetness
  • Be of Service
  • Know Thyself
  • Follow Your Bliss
  • Play
  • Be Content
  • Trust God
  • Faster Emotional Freedom Technique-V