Insightful Inspirations

I often get my messages in metaphors that relate to my life in some way. It is so I can interpret the language of the cosmos into a way that can be (somewhat) understood. Our ability to perceive the vastness of this information is limited by our own systems, perceptions, etc. But I feel what ever is needed will come through, regardless.

That being said, I am going to share my personal message I received this week. I often have long, in depth conversations in my sleep (it is challenging to by my husband and sleep next to me ). This one came in  my sleep by I requested to remember it so I can share it with you.

I was shown a diving board as my spring board into the next place I want to go into my life. It was balanced, springy, and ready to launch me. Then it was explained that this was a metaphor for being weighed down by either past, present or future. I am always striving to be in the present moment, but what that mean is a combination of my past experiences, my current experience and my thoughts on the future. Not just the present.

The back of the diving board represents the past. If it is balanced, it provides support for the board and allows it to extend out over the water. If it out of balance the board may fall over or prevent the board itself to be springy.

The board itself is the future. If we are stretching ourselves too far out into the future with our worries and concerns, the board is very long and we could walk down it forever before we get to the end, and most likely won’t be able to be supported by the past and present.

The end of the board is your present, your launching off spot. If you are in the past, you are still on the steps, if you are walking down the board you are focused on the future.

I hope this is making as much sense to you as it did to me.

Bottom line, the past has made you who you are and adds value to your moment, but isn’t something to focus on. The future is out there and you can make goals, but give yourself places to jump off from rather than keep extending your board to a place impossible to reach. Then…get ready to JUMP!

Insightful Inspiration for the week

Use this metaphor to examine your own life. Is your diving board in balance? Are you able to use your past to support you rather than hinder you? Are you able to give yourself places to jump off rather than constantly push your thoughts into the “what ifs” of the future? How can you bring yourself into balance and prepare yourself for the next leap? Remember, you can always go for a swim, get out and do it again for the next experience.

Have a nice swim! We are all still learning so let yourself have a break from the “perfect”.

I found out today that my son’s best friend just got the same teacher my son had last year. The thing about this teacher is, she drove us out of our public school and into private because of how badly she treated our son and us. Obviously, there are some hard feelings between us and this teacher (probably more on our end… the teacher was glad to be rid of our child and us her class I would guess). I find myself wondering what if this other child has a great experience with her? Does that mean it was all our fault for the bad experience? (of course I want this child to have a wonderful year)

But this got me to reflecting, as everything does,  about our perspective in the world and how it is our own to have. If this other child (or any children for that matter) love this teacher and have a positive experience with her, it doesn’t invalidate the experience our child had. Each experience is its own and it isn’t a requirement that the whole world have the same experiences as us to have our experience be true.

Taking this a step further, I am always thinking of the other side of the story. The “two sides to every story” concept. Wondering what her story could possibly be, at the same time, being able to see it perfectly. I can have compassion for the teacher who has a full class, with several children who have special needs, one of which loves to debate every rule and issue and has passive agressive behavior down to a science (that’s mine . If the parents would just “make” their child more accountable for his “bad” behavior, her life would be easier, but instead they (we) insist on requesting she work with this personality and allow it to be guided in positive directions rather than stopped. Who has time for that, this is not a private school with a ratio of 1 to 10 for goodness sake!

Of course, our side being that our child is very intelligent and has a very unique and useful personality IF guided in the right direction. Of course, improperly guided or used it turns into a nightmare of boundary testing and an unmotivated student. There is of course some of my spirituality in there as well, with says that children are here to teach us as much as we are here to teach them and we must pay attention to those lessons as well.

My point is… there is probably something you are hanging onto as a personal attack of some sort. Something you feel was a violation against you, at no fault of your own. Hanging on to these things (as I obviously am a bit too) isn’t going to help you feel lighter, more connected,  and ready for the next thing. It will leave you feeling gun shy, bitter, even resentful.

Insightful Inspiration of the week

Reflect on a situation you have taken personally or are still holding a grudge over. Something you think someone else has done to you unfairly. Take a look at this from all angles and sides. Allowing yourself to view it as if from a third party stance. What is happening here really? Why do you care what this person has done? What does it matter? Is it over and done with? If so, can you move on and forgive and forget? Why not?  What parts of you feel wounded? Do you feel hurt? Angry? Maybe you feel you have something to prove or convince this person of.

In the scenario above, my mothering was questioned a lot with this teacher. She obviously believed I wasn’t doing a good job. That hit me to the core and I wanted to prove her wrong no matter what. But here is the catch, I don’t have to prove her wrong! I am a wonderful mother to my children. I know this and do my best with them every day.  But I had to heal this part of myself, realizing that some part of me must have wondered if she was right. Otherwise, why would I care?

The other thing that poked me to the core was her belief that my child was “bad” in some way. Again, I wanted to prove her wrong. This was more about me wanting to see the world accept my unique child without question. I so badly want the world to accept ME too and find my clairvoyant abilities and just my presence to light some people up into judgement. I don’t want this for my child. Again, perfect place to work on healing myself.  There was only the validation to my child (who told me he thought this teacher thought he was the devil) that I thought he deserved better and put him in another school. (public school wouldn’t let us have a different teacher) Allowing both he and I to accept ourselves as we are, rather than trying to convince the world to accept us. Teaching him to love himself and trust himself first, then listen to the input of others.

I ask you to take a step back from your head for a second and use these moments in your life as ways to heal yourself rather than injure yourself further. Love yourself for bringing these scenarios into your life to teach you what you want to learn as a spirit. Embrace them, rather than be victimized by them. 

Share your thoughts please!

Sending unconditional love and light your way this week. – Leanne

What do you need? Have you ever really asked yourself that? Not what do you WANT, but what do you NEED?

This can be a very profound exercise. If you sit down and write down what you need to survive, your goals might shift, your fears might change, you might be able to live a life that is free.

Think about this… not just food and water. But could you survive without your house? You car? How about love? Connections with friends and family? How about your accomplishments? What if you never “accomplished” another thing? How would you feel?

You might start to notice that what you fear of loosing (i.e. your house, your spouse, your life…) All is really a deeper fear of loosing something more.

For example, lets drill down on something as an example. Let’s say you are afraid of loosing your job. (normal fear in a day like today) Why are you really afraid of loosing your job. Drill down… Are you afraid of loosing your house? What would happen when you lost your house or your material things? What would happen if you lost those things? Maybe you are afraid your family will loose security. So the real issue is you are afraid to loose your job because you are afraid to loose your security. Take that a step further and ask yourself, does your job really make you safe? Not if you are afraid of loosing it.

So just take a moment and think about what you really need. Ask yourself the question twice. Do I REALLY NEED this or do I just want it? It is okay to just want something, but when you take the NEED part out, it gives it more freedom. More room to grow, rather than having you hold on to it so tight you won’t let it do anything. Freedom comes when we are no longer afraid of loosing those things that we THINK we need and realize that we always have what we need and always will. Then look at all the great stuff we WANT to have, that we do have! This is a place of gratitude, but also a place of letting go.

What do you think? Share some of your needs?

I need love. I know that is the one thing I can not live without. Love from friends, family and life.

I send that love out to all of you and hope you will comment.

I also set up a Fan Page on Facebook. Insightful Inspirations by Leanne. Check it out!

One of the biggest blocks to our happiness is comparing ourselves to others, or worse yet, comparing our children to others. When we compare ourselves to others we are expecting ourselves to have the same experience as someone else… which is impossible! No one has had the same experiences, with the same personality, the same way, ever. So why do we try and do this. 

Comparing ourselves to others generally makes us unhappy. It creates a sense of separateness from other people that is competitive and restrictive. 

For example, lets say you are comparing your level of fitness to someone else down the street. You either wish you were as fit as them or maybe you are judging them for not being as fit as you. Either way, you have now created a gap between you and that other person that doesn’t allow you to connect. Connecting to others is what heals us, makes us grateful for our lives and teaches us about diversity. Why would be want to block that off?

This is just one example, there are so many ways we compare ourselves to others. Sometimes it is to make us feel okay. “Well she drinks like a fish, so I am not even that bad.” This may not create a gap with connection in the same way, but it creates a block. It connects us to a part of ourselves that we are afraid to let go of and we are trying to justify. For example, maybe you want more time with your husband or wife but you see you get more time than other people do with your spouse, so you shouldn’t complain. This is a block to asking for what you need, which in turn, does create a block. 

This nature to compare ourselves to each other also can lead to violence, distrust, and fear of being judged. 

So, take a moment and notice where you might be comparing yourself to someone else. Maybe it is something simple or your whole life, but either way, notice what it is doing to your sense of center and self. See if you can just be okay with where you are and where they are, embracing the difference. 

Wishing you a compassionate week.

As I read for other people… and observe myself from a place of neutrality, I realize that all of us try and run out of uncomfortable situations. The way I see it, it is kind of like quick sand when we do that. The more we struggle to get out, the faster we go down… down… down. If we just rest in the lesson, we learn it faster and move on.

As I continue to explore the world as I understand it and question all of it as I go along, I am questioning routines this week. I suppose it could be a little annoying to live with me, because I am always asking questions and TRYING to never be set in my own ideas so much that I can’t hear another’s.

We all want to be acknowledged as important, special, gifted, etc. in this world. We all want to feel like we stand out from the crowd. But is is possible for us all to stand out?

My answer to this is yes, if you follow your gift. If you are trying to be something you are not, chances are, you will just be average. If you follow your heart and life’s purpose, the universe is designed to make you shine.

This is similar to the law of attraction. But take this a step further. What if, there WAS something you were suppose to be doing in this life? What is you are meant to be the shining star in some respect? It is true… each and every one of us, has a unique gift to offer.

As I read for people, I see that people struggle to be “good enough” because they feel they are competing against someone else for it. Writing a book, being a singer, etc. Then they tailor their gift to compete against this other person. Which in turn, turns them off of their gift and causes them to fail. What if we just offer ourselves and our gifts out there, without looking back at who is following and without chasing someone else?

I think you are going to find when you do this, things are easier, things flow quicker, and you are just happier.

Now I have a Masters degree in Business Marketing and have worked in IT for years, so I understand the need to track your competition, keep an eye on your market share, etc. But sometimes that is all we do and we loose track of what we wanted to do in the first place.

My inspiration for you this week is to see where you are in competition and notice how that could be holding you back. Also notice if it does motivate you… and see what that means for you as well. Then for just this week, try and do things without competition energy behind it. Just do it for the fun of doing it. For the sake of putting yourself out there. Not to beat someone else, but just to prove to yourself you can.

I would love to hear some feedback on how this worked. Let me know!

Now this isn’t one of those blogs where I am going to tell you to be happy with what you have and just get over wanting more. In fact… I realize the desire for something to be different, is what motivates most of us to keep trying so hard. 
However, some of this stuff is meant to be easy. It is our own resistance to having fun and enjoying ourselves that keeps it from being so.
My inspiration for you this week is to do more things you enjoy in life!
When you do more of what you love, your energy flows in a positive direction. You get more of what you want in life, you are happier, easier to be around, and just more open for your lot in life. This is not to say you don’t have to do things you may not want to. But even that, notice what energy you put into. If you resentfully clean your house, you are promptly filling your house with resentment. Chances are… whom ever you cleaned for will even resent you for it. This is true for all you do. 

Here are some of the reasons I see people not doing what they find fun. First of all, some people are so blocked they don’t even know what FUN is for them. I have been there… if you have this problem the first thing to do is start asking. Then just start to notice… and don’t say not to any opprotunity to have fun. Once you ask.. the universe will present you with fun. You just have to accept it. 
Another reason people are blocked is because they think people around them expect them to be busy, responsible, miserable… I have been there too. Trust me, people like you more when you have “me” time. They may not know it at first, but you just have to show them how much more FUN you will be when you get to remember what FUN is. 

Yet another reson people are blocked, that I have noticed, is  beause they are afriad to fail. Many of us were told not to try something, because our parents were afraid we would get hurt if we failed. We love our parents (most of us) but they didn’t always know what programming they were placing into us. We learn best by failing and it is much more fun to go through life with unexpected twists and turns, the to live locked up planning every moment just so you have no chance of failing. Be willing to fail at something… and see what happens. For example, maybe you want to try dancing, but you think you are a horrible dancer. Give it a try a couple times, if you are a horrible dancer AND you have a terrible time… then quit and find something else. If you are a horrible dancer but you loved it… who cares what people think and do it anyway!

There are many other reasons people are blocked from having fun. Good thing to have a reading and healing about, actually. If you want one, my site is www.insightfulinspirations.org you can see the details.
Otherwise, check in for yourself. Make it your goal this week to have more fun and see what happens next!

Have a playful week, full of laughter and fun.

Have you ever noticed how much time you spend trying to convince someone of something you believe in?  For example, your political views or perhaps you describe in detail how you came to a big decision. Maybe you are trying to explain to someone how you are doing “well” or spend time describing how something came about for the “better”. Maybe you are just telling someone how they could lead a better life by allowing themselves to shine from underneath their self consciousness. 
It is as if we are trying to convince someone else of what we think, so they can turn around and confirm it for us. If they can’t confirm it for us, we continue to struggle to explain, convince, describe, etc. in order to get them to see our way. Why can’t we just be confident enough in ourselves not to have to explain our actions or describe our decision making process?

This goes beyond just trying to get someone to believe in what you do. Have you ever gone around telling everyone how “fine” you are despite something major happening to you? For example, if you lost your job and you tell everyone around you it is for the best, it will work out in the end, or you are excited for the new opportunities. Maybe you had a miscarriage and you tell people you can try again, or it wasn’t meant to be. It is as if we are talking to ourselves too. Trying to convince ourselves that what we are saying IS what we believe or better yet, that if we tell the person in front of us, they will mirror back what we need (that they agree we will be better off, etc.) and that will in turn make us feel better. 

My inspiration for you this week is to notice where you are telling others things, you too, need to hear. Then try and tell yourself them more often. If you find yourself telling someone else who lost their job it is for the better, also notice where you might need that same reality (even if you still have a job and are just nervous you will loose it). If you find yourself telling someone to be themselves and not worry about what other people think… tell yourself that too. Our world is a reflection of ourselves and if we take notice, we can create a very healing experience that brings us back to being who we were meant to be.
Have fun seeing your reflection!