What does your joy look like today?

“One of the sanest, surest & most generous joys of life comes
from being happy over the good fortune of others.” {Robert A. Heinlein}

As some of you know, I ask a question of the day on Face Book every morning and one of my favorite questions was, “What does your joy look like today?” I enjoyed the answers that I received and they prompted this blog.

The first person answered; “A beautiful heart warming dramatic movie, exquisite (to me) food, and letting my passion express itself through my creativity!” A movie can surely influence your mood. The reason being that it involves all of your senses, thereby triggering your emotions and they, in turn, trigger your chemistry. A bit sneaky yes but very affective when you are looking for a boost to how you are feeling that day. Food is another good way to “feel joy” both by its preparation and by its consumption. Having good company in the kitchen can be very joy filled.

Some one quoted the Buddha; "We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves."{Buddha} This is sage advice, I teach and live by the adage that “as we think so we are.” {Chessie Roberts} And with the conscious, aware intention to be happy and filled with joy, you stand a much better chance of having it happen.

One of the answers was based on having a project go in the desired direction; “Its contingent on if I get more people to pick up their volunteer packets for this weekend Joy meter on the rise.” I caution you here that if your joy depends on anything outside you, you run the risk of having it let you down. If you are leaning on an outside project, do it with the conscious awareness of being happy no matter which way the outcome falls and you will achieve greater goals than you ever before thought possible.

This next was a conversation between two of the answering parties; “Getting my procrastinating butt out the door and editing at the library/ ‎(to be honest, at the moment i am vacillating between a yoga session first or getting straight to editing....feeling the yoga need, but can it wait til after?)

Reply by person #2 “If you are “yoga-ed” your editing session will probably go better.

Back to person #1 “Very true, thank you, besides, this would be a quiet yoga session now, where i may have other 'participants' later....decision made!” Exercise is always a good way to lift your spirits and get you motivated and energized. Yoga is an amazing way to accomplish this because it oxygenates your blood and the gentle stretches wake your body and make it ready to take on the world. Having a defined plan is also good for your productivity because you know exactly what to do next. You don't frustrate yourself trying to decide what your next step will be.

This next person chose the attitude of gratitude; “My joy looks like waking up this morning :o) Good or bad, I am grateful for another day.” Being grateful for your life and everything in it carries great joy in and of itself. If you are truly grateful for where you are right now, you draw more joy and good things to you.

This person chose a childhood memory that elicited joy from within; “I awoke to see a fog bank surrounding me this morning. Always feels like hiding beneath the covers when I was a child. Always a joy” The recalling of childhood joys and bringing that joy into your present is a lovely to experience joy in your life.

This is one that I use a lot ; “I find something kind to do for someone else. I try to do it anonymously (the joy is greater if I can) It doesn't have to be a big thing but it must be done with no thought of reward. It works every time!” I don't think I need to add anything to this one.

Here you have some wonderful examples of how to find joy in your life, I am sure there are many more. The surest one I know of is to intend that you are joyful while using the tools at your disposal to make it so. That very last one is one I use when I am at my lowest, the rewards for both parties are amazing!

Wishing Bright Blessings, Love, Light and Joy to you all, Chessie

© 2012 Chessie Roberts, all rights reserved

THERE IS ALWAYS TIME FOR COFFEE WITH A FRIEND

I heard this story years ago at a business training time management seminar and I liked it so well I use it every chance I get.

The speaker held up a big, open-mouthed jar. On the table were lots of rocks. He carefully placed them in the jar until no more would fit. He then asked the attendees who thought the jar was full?

Most people raised their hands, I did not at this point.

He then reached under the table and pulled out a box of pebbles ans placed these rocks into the jar giving it a little shake now and then to settle them until no more of them would fit. Again he asked us who thought the jar was full?

Only a few people raised their hands this time. I started to but then the light caught an openspace between the rocks and I thought better of it.

He then reached under the table and pulled out a bag containing sand and poured the sand into the jar and shook it into place in all the little spaces until no more would fit. Again he asked us who thought the jar was full?

I thought maybe it was but decided to wait and No one else raised their hands either. I guess by now they were thinking like me...something else was in store.

Then our instructor reached under the table and pulled out a pot of coffee and filled the jar with it until it could take no more.

He then asked “Does anyone get the lesson here?"

One of the group answered with; "No matter how much you're doing you can always do more?"

The instructor laughed and said “Not quite, the lesson is that you must put the big things in your life first. The smaller things will find a way in on their own. But if you don't put in the big things first, they won't fit in later. And, that there is always room for coffee with a friend"

I teach my clients to put the “big rocks” first and the smaller things in life will fall into place in a natural and spontaneous way...and you will have time for coffee with friends.

Bright Blessings, Chessie

SELF ESTEEM/WORTH AND THE LAW OF ATTRACTIONAND EVOLUTION OF SELF; JOURNEY INTO BODY, MIND, SPIRIT BALANCE

As many of you know, I post a daily question on my pages and the other day the question was, “How much value do you place on yourself?” The answers were rather depressing. They ranged form “Not much.” to “If I do have any value it is in what my family requires of me.” You may feel that you are “being gracious” by not thinking highly of yourself but you are in actually pulling yourself down into a lowered vibration.

Here is one of the reasons that we have such a low opinion of ourselves; “By the time you're seventeen years old, you've heard "No you can't" an average of 150,000 times. You've heard "Yes you can," about 5,000 times. That's thirty no's for every yes. That makes a powerful belief of "I can't." {p.50 of The Answer by John Assaraf & Murray Smith} This makes it pretty clear why we habitually think what we habitually think. But, here is the good news, we can change that, and here is why you should.

It may seem that a high opinion of yourself has no place in a philosophy like the Law of Attraction but in truth, it has everything to do with it. You can do all the “exercises” you want, follow all the rules and still not attract what you want. Why you ask? If you don't feel worthy way down inside, you will not attract what you are attempting to attract.

If you don't believe that you are a worthy, capable person; if you do not value yourself then no one else will either. More to the point those are the vibrations you are putting out to the universe and, consequently, they are the ones you will receive. Like attracts like, remember? All of this is part of what you feel you deserve out of life. If you believe you are worthy of and deserve the best, then that is what you will attract.

Then there is what you believe you are capable of achieving in life. If you feel, in your subconscious that you deserve to be happy and make the changes you need to make it happen, then you will be happy. However,if you don't believe these things you could find yourself stuck where you would rather not be.

If you aren't sure whether or not you are in your own way, ask yourself how you react to negative parts of your life? Do you “lie down and take it?” Or, do you decide to change what you feel needs changing? Do you believe you deserve the best out of life? Do you believe you are able to make your dreams a reality? Do you believe you already have or are able to learn the skills required to get what you want? Have you chosen to look within for the confident attitude to move in your chosen direction? If you are working to change and truly believe you can do it, you are stepping out in courage and exercising your belief in yourself. If not, then you are holding yourself back and maybe it would be good to start working on changing your attitude about you.

Your self-worth depends on the habitual way you treat yourself as well as your innermost beliefs about your personality. So, in order to improve your self-worth you can get started by working on a few things such as;

First, I tell you that the way you speak to yourself is crucial. If, when you think/talk to yourself you are critical and judgmental you will lower your own self esteem to the detriment of your body, mind and spirit. If, on the other hand, you are gentle, understanding and forgiving of your self, you will create healthy reactions, calm mindset and positive attitudes about you and your life. This will lead to attracting these things to you. If you are conscious and aware, you should see results in a few weeks.

The next thing you can do is get in the habit of taking action toward your desires. If you believe in you enough to take your first step toward what you want and away from what you don't want, you are acting “in courage and faith”. Both of these will raise your feeling of self worth. You take away the feeling of being trapped because you are in action. Do this without concerning yourself with the outcome, do what feels right and seldom will you go wrong. Start with small steps, if you feel a little nervous about it, that's OK, feel it and step out anyway. This will motivate you to step further next time. If it turns out you made a mistake, so what, forgive yourself, learn from it and start over. For instance; you feel that you just can not speak in public and, because of this belief in yourself, you can't. Join a class on public speaking, learn how and practice. This action will change your belief and you will find you can do what you thought you could not. See how that works?

If you do not believe in yourself, those around you will notice because your attitude spills out onto them. Both your attitudes about yourself and your attitudes about others and what you believe can be accomplished will shine like a beacon and people respond to it. If you don't believe you are competent to do a thing, you will be too scared to try so you get nowhere and become stuck. If, on the other hand you step out of your comfort zone and find you can do a thing, the next time will be easier, this raises your confidence and you will have less difficulty in trying something else. It all comes down to what you think you deserve. You then attract the people and circumstances to confirm your feelings of self-worth.

Your next step is to take responsibility for your life up to now. Don't beat yourself up for things you don't feel good about or mistakes you've made. Forgive yourself and others, choose to make better choices in the future and move forward.



Your next thing is to have and show respect for your self and what you stand for. If someone uses language that you feel is offensive, either to you or those around you, let them know. You can do this without arguing or being abusive, you can always leave. If some one crosses one of your core values, let them know that you will not engage in that behavior. If you don't respect yourself, no one else will either. As you act in ways that are worthy of you, you begin to attract people of higher frequency that will value you and themselves as well. That is how the Law of Attraction works, right? Right!



These are a few ways to get you started in the right direction to create your wonderful life your way. Step out, let your new light shine and enjoy being your awesome self! Bright Blessings, Chessie
© Chessie Roberts 2012 all rights reserved

STRESS FROM LIFE & SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND WAYS TO HANDLE IT

With the new energy shifts and all that they entail, do you find you are having greater concerns about things such as; the economy, budget cuts, your life in general, cash flow, higher demands on your time and resources, that next load of laundry, anything at all? Well a yes answer to any of those puts you in the “you have stress” category. The other side of this is the huge up swing in changes in our biology brought on by rapid spiritual growth. These changes are being called Ascension Symptoms. Not to worry, help is on the way.

Because we are all feeling more and sharing more these days, patterns are coming to the light. Some of what we are feeling and sharing are Ascension Symptoms and some aren't. There are many Ascension Symptoms that masquerade as illness so I want to share some warning signs of both the symptoms and becoming overwhelmed by stress. I am not doing this to scare you but to inform you so that you can make an informed decision about what you are going through. Some of these events can also be explained by other, possible medical situations. Before we go any further, if you feel that you are experiencing any of these symptoms or warning signs, PLEASE see your doctor or health care provider for an exam to be sure where your personal ‘stuff’ is coming from. If you get a clean bill of health it could be part of the spiritual growth most of us are going through. Understand the these are just guidelines and most, if not all of them can/are directly related to physical changes that can be brought on by spiritual growth.

CHANGES IN YOUR BEHAVIOR:
Nervous habits either starting or coming back
Pulling away, isolating yourself
Eating (too much or not enough)
Use of nicotine, alcohol or any drug (prescription or recreational)
Neglecting your responsibilities
Procrastination
Sleeping (too much or not enough)

CHANGES IN YOUR THOUGHT PROCESSES;
Difficulty or an inability to concentrate
Focusing only on negative aspects of your life
Problems with memory
Constant worrying
Difficulty or an inability to focus for any length of time
Displaying poor judgment
Overly anxious
Racing thoughts

YOUR PHYSICAL BODY;
Loss of sex drive
More frequent occurrence in respiratory problems, such as; Colds, sinus infections, bronchitis etc
Frequent gastro/intestinal problems, such as; Diarrhea, gas, constipation, cramps, nausea etc.
Dizziness
Pain in chest and/or upper arm
Heart rate becomes rapid
General, undefined aches and pains


YOUR EMOTIONS;
Feeling overwhelmed
Moodiness; irritable, agitated, can’t relax, can’t get going, short tempered
Depressed, don’t care
Feeling alone or isolated (even around others)
Generally unhappy with everything/one

You need to remember that your emotions and actions are contagious to both yourself and to others. If you are able to control you in a balanced manner, that too will spread to those around you and, you will be ahead of the game. Once you are in a downward spiral, it will build and possibly become out of control. If you are consciously aware of your spiritual growth patterns and can remind yourself to be grateful for your symptoms of spiritual growth and raised vibrations, you will find that you tolerate the symptoms better and they recede quite a bit.

How does this occur you may ask? It happens because thoughts are fluctuations of energy that are carried by chemicals called neuropeptides. Your body is a shameless eavesdropper and will instantly react to your thoughts even before you are aware of them. When this happens, emotions are kicked into play and they heighten your reactions. Have you ever been startled by what you thought was a spider or a snake only to discover that you were mistaken? Well there you have a perfect example of the phenomenon.

This also occurs when you speak of something you ‘feel’. I learned my lesson the hard way. I was at my chiropractors one day because of terrible lower back spasms. While on the table the Dr. and I were conversing about my day and I answered one of his questions with a cleaver quote from a movie that I was currently using for laughs, “That makes my butt twitch.” I know, I know, not very ladylike but the Dr noticed that as I spoke the quote, I had another spasm! He said, “I think I found your problem.” And he was correct. I stopped saying that particular phrase and my spasms dropped off dramatically.

The lesson here is when you pay attention to your ‘self’ on a conscious level, you become better in tune with you so you know sooner when you are reaching your limit. Limits of stress or dealing with spiritual growth or dealing with others. So what can you do to help yourself? First, breathe. As you breathe, you exchange the atoms of your body. As you replace the tired ones with fresh ones, you feel better. Regular breathing will exchange about 98% of your body’s atoms per year, deep conscious breathing raises that rate. I’m talking about the deep in through the nose, blow it out through the mouth, empty your lungs kind of breathing. (Careful and don’t hyperventilate) you should not have to do this more that 3-4 times to feel the effects. As you breath, reach for that gratitude I mentioned earlier. You may find that there is a lesson in all of this for you. By acknowledging gratitude for growth, you will find help in regaining your balance. You may also realize potential where you thought there was none.
Here are some other ways to control or reduce stress, thereby assisting in your spiritual ascension;

PHYSICAL BODY/LIFESTYLE CHANGES; (start with small steps)
Move; walk, drink water not soda, make better food choices
Cut way down on nicotine and alcohol
Get into a regular sleep schedule (as best you can)
Balance your work, family, rest, play time
Don’t over or under commit (you will learn where your limits are)
Leave some wiggle room in your schedule, leave earlier to account for traffic etc
Take breaks and leave your desk, room or building
Prioritize tasks, delegate when you can and do the least pleasant task first or when you are at your strongest time of day
Hydrate yourself

YOUR MENTAL STATE (MIND);
Learn and practice meditation (pray to ask, meditate to listen for answers)
Learn and practice correct self talk to create better communication with yourself and consequently, others. (add your guidance here, they will lead you in the right direction)
Make time to read positive, up lifting things that are not business or news related
Find/make a calm, quiet place (it really is OK to have one)
Learn to truly like your ‘self’ with no judgments or criticism
Hydrate

YOUR SPIRIT;
Have/attend regular religious/spiritual rituals to reconnect with the Greater Power. Use gratitude here too as there is usually a lesson in there for you if you look for it.
Pray to ask
Meditate to listen/help
Help someone in true need
Laugh with genuine humor
Learn with gratitude, love and joy
Enjoy

“Remember the definition of relaxing is not lying on the couch, sleeping or being lazy; it is a mentally active practice that leaves the body relaxed and refreshed. It is best done in an awake state. It is a trainable exercise that gets better with practice.” University of Michigan Health Center

Bright Blessings, Chessie

© Chessie Roberts 2009-2012 all right reserved.