May I?

Ah, Spring!  It's May (well, tomorrow) and I don't know about you but I feel like I've been given permission to do, do, do!  As in...

May I put the snow shovels away?  Yes I May!
May I rake the leaves now? Yes I May!
May I put my winter coats and heavy sweaters away?  Yes I May!
May I Spring clean now? Yes I May!
May I start stocking the store for the warm weather visitors?  Yes I May!

This reminds me of times I did not receive permission...from myself.

May I buy a new coat?  No, you must spend your money only on necessities.  Besides, it still keeps you warm and, hey, you really haven't earned a new coat, have you?  So, no.

Sometimes I put up a fight.

Look!  I've lost a lot of weight and this coat is too big and it is, after all, 16 years old!!!  No, I'm sorry, there are lots of starving children in China who do not have a coat.  You must learn to appreciate what you do have and be grateful.

I did not get a new coat.

Do you wait around for permission to fulfill your heart's desire?  Are you working on your worthiness to deserve what you say it is you want?  How often do you tell yourself "no", "never", "can't", "not yet."  Of course, there will be times when the practical, rational decision is "not yet."

Practice noticing when you deny yourself.  Dig a little under the surface objections.  Then go a little deeper still.  If you find some old baggage that doesn't serve you any more, find a way to get rid of it.  Set yourself free so you can say "Yes!" way more often than "no."

It may feel like the Universe has opened up and given me permission to move forward to do what I want to do, even go after my dreams.  I know what really happened - I kicked the baggage to the curb and gave myself a great big "YES!"

You can, too!  Spring clean that "stuff" you've been holding on to, that baggage inside of you.  We'll do it together.  Happy Spring!  And the season of  - yes I MAY!

What Brings You Joy?

What brings you joy?  This is a trick question, of course, because joy does not come to you.  Joy is not brought to you.  It's not laid out on a buffet in different flavors, shapes and sizes.

Yes, you can find yourself, or put yourself, in situations where it is easy to create the emotion of joy.  You can seek out or re-create the setting where you easily experienced joy in the past.  But still, the truth is, you chose joy - joy didn't choose you.

Thinking about joy this morning - and I don't know why I was thinking about joy this morning - I asked myself why, if I am at choice, did I not choose joy more often?  Of course, I would definitely benefit from being more joyful.  And wouldn't those around me also benefit if I was "being" more joy-filled?

Yesterday I was depressed.  I didn't consciously choose to be depressed.  Somewhere along the way I had trained my subconscious to create the feelings of depression when certain situations occurred.  Awakening to this awareness, I can now take conscious steps in re-training my subconscious.  How will I do that?  Awareness is key, so I will be vigilant in noticing when this happens and shift my thoughts and choose to feel something different.  I'll do some prep work through meditation and self-hypnosis.

Being depressed is not my emotion of preference.  I am leery of trying to cover up an unwanted emotion with a pseudo "happy" feeling.  There's a lesson in the depression and I want answers, so I usually stick with it awhile to see what comes up.  I want my reward!

We have been programmed from early on to respond with actions and feelings to our environment.  We can re-program ourselves to respond and feel differently, in a way we prefer, with a little work.  There are many tools and trainings, books and teachers - including your inner teacher - to help us with this shift in ourselves.

Well, I've got work to do - and so do you!  Don't be afraid to ask for help.  We at the Higher Self Bookstore have many resources - one that's perfect for you!