Choose Love, Not Fear.

The world seems so full of fear.. Our country's leaders are fearful of each other, Religions are fearful of each other, Races are fearful of each other, people are fearful of each other. The media promotes fear..of terrorism, of extremism, of the drunk, the insane, the poor, the rich, the incapacitated, the skinny, the fat, the powerful, the weak. We are driven by fear. We are taught fear... and we are encouraged to act based on fear.

We must fear each other, we must fear ourselves.

Fear has become an epidemic which has spread across the planet and holds it in a vice like grip.

But it doesn't have to be like this. There are only two states in which we can exist: Fear and Love. Fear keeps us small and keeps us hostile to one another. But Love opens our eyes and unites people, forging bonds, giving power to people who feel powerless, offering hope to those who feel hopeless. There IS a reason to keep going, to believe in the beauty of the world. LOVE on a grand scale is what the world needs.

Ignore the media trying to make us hate each other, Ignore the leaders of the world trying to fight each other, ignore the whispers at work or school or on the street telling you to hate someone because they are this colour or this gender or this way or that way.

We can choose to rise above the fear and the anger and the hatred, and we can choose to come from a place of love and acceptance and compassion.

There is nothing more powerful than the unified power of people with passion and purpose coming from a place of love.

Act now. Make Love your revolution. Spread it like wildfire, shout it from rooftops, ignore the fear and focus on love. For yourself, for each other, for the world and for everyone in it, regardless of our 'differences'. We're all human, we're all struggling, we're all capable of love. We need love to have a voice on a grand scale, not fear. Help be that voice. The world needs it, the world needs you.

Write Your Own Path to Happy

You are the sum of your experiences.

So they say.

We are told that we are a part-nurtured, part-natured walking product of everything we’ve been through and everything we believe to be true within and without of ourselves. We are a collection of memories, subconscious influences and belief systems which gradually mold us into the folks we are today.

We are warned that we carry the burden of all the unkind words and unfair judgments that we have ever received, that we harbor all our previous moments of personal anguish, and that we embody all the false hopes and misguided truths which we have learned and which we must un-learn in order to find true happiness.

However…

… are we not, therefore, the product of all of our positive experiences too? Are we not carrying around the satisfaction of every heartfelt compliment and word of encouragement?

Are we not resonating with every kind smile, every yet-to-be-realized dream and every moment of pure joy which linger inside of us, waiting to be recalled and re-lived to remind us of how amazing we really are?

I believe that for every breakdown, there is a breakthrough. For every put-down, there is a great big hoist-up, and for every thunderstorm, there is a rainbow that follows.

In essence, we are strong, we are determined and we are hopeful. At our core, we believe that there is always something to aim for, be that true love, contentment… success… or heaven. We are unified in our common pursuit for more, for better, for what we feel we deserve.

For every insult you endured, I can bet you have received a compliment. For every rejection you survived, you have achieved some form of success, and for every time you forgot how to believe in yourself, you were shocked by the realization that you had more faith than you ever gave yourself credit for. For every time you have been lost… you have also been found.

You always picked yourself up and carried on. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here now.

We dwell on the times we fell, we lost and we were hurt. We hold on to our wounds like battered reminders of our failings — anti-trophies of our battles and defeats. But what of all the many times we smiled, we won and we saved ourselves, over and over again?

Where are our proud medals of personal success and gold-starred acknowledgements of our sweet victories and triumphs?

We are resilient and strong, and it’s about time we remembered this. We should be laying wreaths at the altars of the beautiful days we have lived.

I choose to let myself be the person I am, and the person I am proud of becoming. I choose to remember the sheer number of times my breath has been stolen by sunsets and sunrises, the oceans and mountains.

I choose to be influenced by the kindness of strangers who have continuously shined out to me like a beacon of hope in the chaos of humanity.

I choose not to be broken by the words which went against me, but instead choose to be strengthened by thepower of those which lifted me up and filled my heart with hope and my soul with joy.

I have decided to be carried by the river of love which runs through me, not by the fickle breeze of judgment and contempt which, at some stage, blows amongst us all.

Our whole lives are based on choice, it is what set us apart from other animals. We all have souls that need to survive but the difference is, we have a choice; we don’t have to just survive, we can live, we can thrive and we can be inspired.

We can choose what to leave behind and what no longer serves us. We have a privilege and, therefore, a right to be able to carry with us only that which benefits us — be it memories, friends, lovers or experiences.

“How we feel about ourselves, the joy we get from living, ultimately depends directly on how the mind filters and interprets everyday experiences. Whether we are happy depends on inner harmony, not on the controls we are able to exert over the great forces of the universe.”

~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Why should we carry the responsibility of the burden of our pasts when we can choose to leave it behind?

Let’s try to take only with us the softness, the warmth and the kindness that each of us has and will continue to experience, and be  more selective with the past we choose to carry; therefore, the life we choose to live.

If I am the sum of my experiences, then I choose to be built out of the multitudes of dreams that reside inside my heart and the many sunny days that I have woken up to.

I choose to be a product of all the magical times that my soul has connected with another’s, and the plethora of smiles I have received from strangers. I choose to be a grand medley of the times I have loved others and been loved myself.

I choose to embody the sum of the parts of me constructed from perseverance, determination and hope, rather than an amalgamation of my memories of fear and shame.

My self-confidence is more reliant on how I choose to see myself, than how others choose to see me.

My self-belief is dependent on the importance I place on my own dreams, not the willingness of others to support them.

The love I have for myself is home-grown and self-appointed and is based  on the gradual collection of experiences in which I have taken growth and strength as an outcome, not self-pity.

{Photo via pinterest.com}

We have two options in this short and sweet life of ours: We can blame others for who or where we are today, or we can take responsibility for our own happiness. We are the lead character in the story of our lives… Select the plot you want, drop what you don’t. The rest is fantasy.

It’s true that we are the sum of our experiences… but only those we choose to cherish. Remember the good and forget the rest.

Life’s too short not to.

Listen to your heart: 7 ways to trust your intuition

My mind was tangled. I felt frantic and out of control. I was being pulled and tugged in different directions.

My heart screamed but I couldn’t hear. Fear grabbed me by the hand and tried to lead me away. My soul fought back.

Decisions, Decisions… Like a true Libran, I often find such predicaments an extreme task which lead to flustered bouts of self-doubt and a feeling of being somewhat out of sync from the natural flow of life.

I have always chased my heart’s desires and followed the calling of my soul, first and foremost. I prefer to live my life this way. However, with such a heart-led life must come a deep trust in something greater than what I have control over.

I had to learn to listen to my body and heart when it came to making decisions.

To rely on feelings, however, can be challenging. Most of us are switched off to our primal instincts, and instead, let fear, pack mentality and society’s expectations dictate our paths.

I have been lured by the sweet promise of safety and security, at my soul’s detriment, and have come very close to settling for a life that was far removed from the one I dreamed of and the one I feel I deserve.

Sometimes the wrong decision is disguised as the easiest. It’s a little trick our minds like to play on us to lull us into a false sense of security.

Our minds seek comfort. Our hearts seek truth.

What happens when we need to make big, life-impacting decisions? Fear takes over, the voices in our head get loud and bossy and urge us to avoid taking risks. Our ego tries desperately to con us into taking the easy way out.

We, therefore, don’t often make our choices from the heart, we make them from the mind space which governs much of our lives and tends to try to keep us small.

Our worried minds are not on our sides. Anything that favorsfear over love is not an ally of mine. If 60-80% of our thoughts each day are negative, how do we learn to make decisions based on what is truly best for us rather than what is easiest, or avoid making the wrong choices based on fear?

“I believe in intuitions and inspirations… I sometimes ‘feel’ that I am right. I do not ‘know’ that I am.” ~ Albert Einstein

When a choice is made based on a deep and instinctual knowingfelt in our gut or heart, we tend to find that the outcome is beneficial for ourselves and our life path. Our bodies are our greatest and wisest guides.

We simply need to learn to recognize and listen to their quiet wisdom, rather than the misleading chitter-chatter of our mind. This way, we will be following a deeper calling — an instinctual and soul-driven knowledge that whatever it is we are drawn to is ultimately the best opportunity for us.

You know those pieces of undeniable wisdom which seem to speak out loud at 3 am? That is our higher self communicating, often when you least expect it. It is our inner guru — the youwithin you, the divine within… our celestial soul.

“We have five senses in which we glory and which we recognize and celebrate, senses that constitute the sensible world for us. But there are other senses — secret senses, sixth senses, if you will — equally vital, but unrecognized, and unlauded.” ~ Oliver Sacks

So how do we distinguish between the wise voice inside which speaks the truth and the voice which keeps us small and prevents us from being bold?

1. Breathe. Our breath is the single most effective way of connecting with our bodies — and therefore, our truth. Joining the space between our bodies and souls opens up a communication channel from which we can learn ideas, inspiration and truths behind choice.

When it all seems too much to handle, when you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, sit and breathe… what do you feel? Go deeper within, keep breathing and you may feel a gentle pull towards what’s best.

2. Trust Yourself. Our friends and families want the best for us. They want us to be happy, but Only You know what’s best forYou. Our friends might think they know the answers based on their unique experiences, and our families might advise us based on their need to protect us.

Both are wonderful sources of support, but neither have the answers you need to make that decision. If you go against the advice of everyone around you, that’s fine; it’s your choice, and your heart is leading you on your own special journey.

3. Look for the signs. Often we overlook subtle synchronicities which are there to guide us down the best path. I believe that such signs are actually our subconscious trying to communicate with our conscious self. We should pay attention to coincidences and make note of subtle symbols which might lead us to discover a more authentic life choice which is truly best for us.

4. Smile and let go. Sometimes, when faced with the hardest decisions, we put so much pressure on ourselves to do what’sright that we forget to realize that life is a beautiful ride and is made up of a series of experiences. The choices we make are never wrong — they simply contain the lessons we need to grow as people and be the best we can be.

Know that whatever happens, as a consequence of our actions, will always be the best for us, at that time. Smile, trust, surrender and enjoy the ride.

5. Know that the Universe wants the best for you. Sometimes we have to let go and surrender to the flow of life. We like to be in control of the little fleshy spaceship we call our bodies, but our bodies will operate with or without our instruction. We will keep on breathing, our heart will keep on beating.

The Universe is a complex, intelligent and loving organism, and I’m pretty sure that if it can create planets and stars, then it can guide us on the right course.

6. Move. When water stands still, it becomes stagnant. Similarly, our lives become stale if we become physically stuck. When faced with a big decision, the worst thing we can do is let it paralyze us; we must keep moving. It doesn’t matter where, just move your body.

Those energies shifting inside, when we release our bodies from the shackles of stillness, may just release the answers we are looking for.

7. Create. Sometimes my biggest revelations have come about whilst writing. I let my fingers hit the keyboard, and as I start to type, it quickly becomes a stream of consciousness which can often reveal the answers I was pondering.

Creativity is a direct line of communication between your heart and the world. If you paint, write or build, get lost in creating and your heart might just speak her truth via the medium of your art.

                 “Intuition is seeing with the soul.” ~ Dean Koontz