Patterns and Systems

What is a pattern anyway? I find that a pattern and a system are very similar in their nature. Each offers us a way in which something is taken from inception to completion. Awareness and intention are the key factors which are usually the biggest differences in the two examples.

A system is set out prior to the inception of a series of events and takes us step by step through a process to the completion of something or a series of events, to an end product or goal. It has been created with the foresight of things that could possibly lead us astray of what we want and keeps us on a direct path, so to speak, in the correct direction – to achieve what we set out to accomplish. It is a formula that can be reproduced and followed by anyone with the desire to do so. This has awareness and intention which are extremely clear and forthright.

A pattern can be the same as the system, but many times we are unaware of the patterns we have created in our lives – many patterns we fall into because our focus is so strongly on something else that demands our attention. Once the ‘demand’ is gone a vacuum is created that causes us to see the patterns we ‘fell’ into and we feel our life is willy nilly, random and undoing instead of supporting and purposeful. Know that by remembering the simple things in life you can rebalance this feeling. Remember to care for your body, rest and good food are important – REGULARLY. Doing something that feeds your spirit, daily – whether it is important to your friends, spouse or family, it needs to be just for you! Quiet time is always good in whatever fashion you find your peace, alone. Figure out a way to live your purpose or dharma each day a little bit.

In bringing awareness and invoking intention into the patterns of our lives we effect a positive change. When changing patterns it is extremely important to understand that you are not really changing them as much as replacing the old pattern with something new that works for you more efficiently, more healthfully, and more spiritually. As you practice the new pattern it will become easy and will keep your focus forward on what you want to create instead of backward, focusing on what you don’t want or what you are trying to change.

A Prayer

"I ask for blessings and the highest healing good for all in whatever form that may be needed. May they be supported in what ever is needed this day! May their lives be full of peace and prosperity as each seeks to have a more meaningful and spiritual life. May they know that the whole world supports them as long as they are true to the greatest part of themselves. Amen."

Dream a Little Dream

Have you ever wondered why so many people play the lottery even knowing their chances of winning are minuscule? Because for only one dollar they get to dream. We used to do this sort of thing as kids all the time. I for sure was accused of daydreaming in class all the time. We did it with our friends, dreaming of far away places that we wanted to visit or do things that seemed all but impossible, yet in a dream the were so real you could taste it and feel it!

Fast forward to our daily lives as grownups and something drastically changed...we got 'responsibility' and somehow that replaced, for many, the ability to dream. Trust me when I say you absolutely can have both. As a matter of fact it is vitally important that you have both. The latter being extremely important! Without dreams of what can be and what we want to be, how is tomorrow going to shape?...very much like today was. There has to be forward thinking, dreaming, in order that our tomorrows are progressive, better than today, and more joyously filled with occurrences that we want.

Our dreams of what we want to create for ourselves are the current that pulls us up by the boot straps when the weather or situations get us off track. They have the ability to keep our boats moving on the correct course...'moving on course' being the key words here. At this time of year it is easy to get caught in the 'dark day doldrums', but what a wonderful time to sit by the fire or in a cozy blanket with pen and paper in hand writing some of your dreams down and figure ways that you will affect those dreams a little bit each day!

Have fun with this exercise. You will be amazed at the results if you post those dreams somewhere you will see them and read them each day. Keep them in your focus and they will manifest!

Living Life To Its Fullest

What does this mean? How do we get to the place we feel that we are living our lives to the fullest?
Living life to the fullest comes like all the other things in our life, through making choices and setting intentions. We have at every moment the ability to make choices. To do things differently than we have in the past to gain different results. To choose to be happier in what we do or change what we do to affect this change. To step up to the plate and do the 'things' we say we want to, but seem to find every reason not to.

It is our human challenge to find ways to live our life to the fullest. I have found that in giving of myself whether that is helping a friend, someone I don't know or even teaching, my heart soars. In working on building my passion, sharing with all of you ways to 'stay positive' again this to me is fulfillment. Find your own way to make your spirit soar. It doesn't have to be complicated or take a lot of time. It just takes making an effort to make a difference in this world in your own special way.

A very dear friend of mine spends time as a hospice volunteer and his perspective gave me great insight to living life to the fullest...he said from interacting with these people at the time they are making one of the largest transitions of their lives gave him a way to have their hindsight as foresight. The realization that there are four stages to our lives, growing time, learning about ourselves, sharing of ourselves with others, and the 'golden years'. If each of these stages is lived to the fullest when it is our time to make that ultimate transition our 'bags' will be packed and our hearts full.

"To give beyond reason. To care beyond hope. To love without limit. To reach, stretch, and dream inspite of your fears. These are the hallmarks of divinity - traits of the immortal - your badges of honor, and your ticket onward."

Sentient...able to suspend judgment

Horses, what amazing animals! I experience each day the spirit, knowing and beauty these animals share with us. It also amazes me how many people have horses and are not yet able to see the amazing brilliance they have. I watch handlers 'tow' their horses around unable to get the understanding of what it feels like to move a balloon instead of a 1000 pounds of lead. With that said I also understand that we cannot understand something that has not yet been shared with us and we cannot see what we are not looking for.

There are ways to teach our horses and learn for ourselves, in very small palatable steps, with grace, peacefulness and reassurance that allows our horse to maintain his dignity while keeping him in a 'learning' frame of mind. This actually applies to us also. When anyone, horse or human is unsure of what will happen and afraid or unsure of who is teaching there is no way that positive input will come of that situation without being tainted with some negativity . When being introduced to new ideas or information the most ideal learning situation is in a calm, reassuring setting with the ability to ask all the questions we would like and not be judge for asking but commended. Horse's ask questions naturally, accept we do not understand that they are asking questions. We take their question asking as being 'bad' or 'uncooperative' - judging them, when in actuality they are usually 9 times out of 10 asking us a question...do you want this or this?

Suspending judgment is an amazing exercise and brings us closer to being sentient beings ourselves. I challenge each of you to work on suspending judgment in your time with your horse and carry that out into your day. To observe what happens and use that input to make different decisions without judging yourself or whatever it is you've observed.

As in all my posts I love to hear from you if what I have written helps you in some way. Email me at spirittools@earthlink.net

Walking Your Truth...Simple yet not easy

What is it in our human makeup that causes us to believe that by ignoring important decisions that need to be made in our lives, that somehow we can be truly happy and that those choices will magically disappear?

I know that when we stand at a cross road of life with decisions that must be made, knowing the profound effect on every life that decision will touch, our tendency is to hesitate or even put the decision aside, telling ourselves it really isn’t that important. I know what it is like to stand on one side of a crossroad and know with all your heart that the decision you are about to make will hurt, you will feel sadness, there will be a feeling of a hole in your life and you will mourn the loss. What I also know is once you’ve step into and beyond that decision, and you feel all of those feelings in earnest, and are grateful for the gifts that were bestowed upon you in the time you spent in that part of your life, the feeling that will begin to grow in your heart as you move beyond, is one of relief and eventually peace. These feelings present themselves due to our inner knowing we all have, that finally things are set in their right order once again.

This has been a year I will never forget. It has been a year of crossroads so many I have lost count, nor wish to count. I stand looking at the end of this year with immense gratitude for all that has been given to me and all that I know I have given myself. My heart is touched greatly by the human spirit and I am looking forward to the following year with anticipation of the amazing events yet to unfold.

What Dream?

As an observer of life, stiuations and people's responses I am intrigued by the cause of what sets us up to let go of our dreams. To think we cannot achieve something magical and wonderful. To believe for some strange reason that it's not our destiny to become great in whatever we do. Why is this? How we can allow ourselves to let go of the very meaning or passion in our lives? If we do not know what that may be that we don't actively seek it?! Unfortunately, the answer is much too easy. Somehow we didn't feel we had a choice. We always have a choice.
Are we here in this time to meekly put one foot in front of the other, hang our heads and move forward like drones? I THINK NOT!!! Each of you has a gift in your heart to share with the world. That does not mean you have to yell it to the world, but by BOLDLY stepping out, doing what you do to the best of your ability, you are changing the world every day!
Bring love, light, happiness and joy into our world by making every day be your masterpiece! Make each day something that you are proud of instead of waisting them not being engaged. Share whatever you passion is, on whatever level you are able to with all those you come in contact with. Count the days you are able to share your gifts as a way to count what you want more of. The wonderful thing you will find is that the more you share your gifts the easier it becomes to do it. On the days that you don't feel up to making a masterpiece someone will help you to do it because they want to give back to you the joy you've given them!!!
This is a magical place we live in. If you choose to see it you will be amazed, I guarantee it!!

Thoughts Are Things

You've all heard this before..."Thoughts are things." We live in a time that more people are beginning to truly understand what this means. It doesn't mean that only your positive thoughts become your reality. It means that all thoughts that have a strong emotion attached to them become realities. Many faster than others because we put so much feeling into them. It behoves us to be more aware of what we are thinking, feeling, saying, and doing at any given point in our day. From each of those points we are creating our "tomorrows path." You choose what kind of a path you wish to walk!

I know for many the amount of stimulation that we receive just turning on the TV, reading the newspaper or even grocery shopping is staggering and sends our mind into the 'no zone.' A place where we are just randomly thinking about a million and one useless things. Luckily, many of these over stimulations don't evoke a whole lot of emotion so we are not creating them so readily, more so we are not creating anything useful, accept a general haze.

I challenge you to go through a day being aware of positive statements. The ones you 'think' about count too. For fun keep a tally of how many positive statements you have uttered and thought throughout the day. Do this for a few days if you just want to have an uplifting week. Do this for 21 days if you want it to become a habit!

"When we are able to change the very fabric of our thought, everything in our reality changes." Bo Bishop

The difference between "knowing" and "being"

There are many things each of us can honestly say we "know." We've read it in a book, studied it in a class or even borrowed what someone said that we liked or watched it on TV. To me knowing is understanding 'something.' There are different levels of understanding that are based on how we have use or experienced what we know. Understandings can come and go, change like the seasons, and can hold our interest for a time. We may even pass on the information we know to others, but this is still knowing.

Considerably more challenging is taking a 'knowing' of something and turning it into a 'being.' "Being" means you have gone through the learning and understanding phase of a particular something and have instilled it into every aspect of your life. This I know is simple to say, but not always so easy to accomplish. This means walking your truth in every moment not just those moments that others see or participate in. This means you are activating this 'being' state for yourself first and by that example share it with others.

For a time you will view your learning and understanding, your practice of your 'knowing' as a separate part of your life.
Then you will realize that everything you do can become your practice and that will bring you to your 'being' in everything.
Namaste

Worn Fingers

I have missed writing for a couple of days though my fingers will tell you a different story. I think I won't have finger prints when all is said and done. Starting about 4:45am each morning I've been typing away to create not only workbooks to help students locally, but to impact the lives of others far away. As these workbooks have come to life they have been joined by a myriad of other inspirational products to assist anyone who wants to be uplifted and inspired or just needs a friendly reminder of what a gift our life truly is. It is so exciting to see the connections being made to cause all these things to become possible. I am blessed to be working with talented women I have had the opportunity to work with previously and an amazing core group that has done a whirlwind job in the inception and plan for the expansion of all that I currently teach and where it is all going! Their vision is stellar to say the least.
Blessings to all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and the tips of my pointed ears!

A great poem...
PEACE
it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.
(unknown author)

Gratitude

Gratitude brings us into the moment. It banishes our fear, heals our hurt, gives us clear eyes to see and an open heart to receive. In this season of hustle and bustle it is easy to get swept up in the 'gotta get a gift for...,' packed schedules of events and places to go, people to see - I challenge you, each day before you sleep to take a moment to remember what you are grateful for in your life. This simple exercise will color all those other moments a golden hue and you will hear the gentle beating of angel wings, feel their presence blessing your every event.

Blessings of the season. Remember you are greatly loved.

Paving

Simple as it seems the laying of a walkway, there is so much more to it. We plan the curves and bends or the very directness, taking us from where we stand to a different location all together.

We set forms that will hold the matter that fills it. We pour it, embellish it with color or texture and wait patiently for it to dry, admiring it all the while. Then like magic we take the forms that held it away and walk that pathway. It is solid, it is real and we understand the steps that it took to create that reality - a pathway.

Do not let the parallel of this pathway escape how your life is paved. Our lives are that very pathway with the very same forms, filling and color! The magic is that as you
~ Intentionaly set the forms - engage what your passion in life is, your dharma, your gift, that which you do with an absolute knowing
~ Mix the 'filling' - you vision the vehicle in which that gift travels out to the world
~ Add color and texture - add all the particulars to your vision that evoke a possitive emotion in you
~ Patienly wait (maybe only moments) for it to dry, admiring it all the while - 5 to 10 minutes per day of visiting those images, feelings, sounds and colors of what this pathway looks like when complete
~ Take the forms away - Release the hows, whats, whos and where's to the universe, walk your truth and step out onto that amazing path you have paved!

See you on the other side of the rainbow!
"I arrived today to the place my thoughts of yesterday paved...
I will be tomorrow where the thoughts of today bring me." Bo Bishop

Sound Heals

I know that sounds which resonate with us heals. There is much work that has been done using sound, light, color, minerals, and energy in many forms, for healing. I recently found this wonderful story and wanted to share it. Wouldn't our world be considerably different if...

In Africa, there is a tribe in which expectant mothers create a song-of-the-soul for their unborn children. Villagers sing this song to the baby at birth and at every important moment of his life--from his first step to his wedding day. The song is also sung when that person steps out of the integrity of his true self. Rather than be punished, the individual is brought back into harmony through the music of his soul. You, too, have a soul song that belongs only to you. Listen for it. Re-discover the harmony of your own life.
Mary Manin Morrissey

Living 'In-spirit" the state of inspiration

I honestly didn't realize that this person could stay this long in an inspired state! The more I look for that inspiration to be in everything I think, everything I do, all of my interactions, the more I see and feel it. It is magnificent, wondrous, amazing and believe me it is very CONTAGIOUS! The more I follow my passion for helping others with 'connections' in their lives to be 'in-spirit' the more of that energy whirls around me, lifting me to a place I've only been in the past for snippets and moments. Whew is this fun!

I wish for each of you who reads this blog to find ways to inspire yourselves to share love each day. Maybe just spending a quiet moment alone really enjoying who you are without the little voice who asks why you're not doing something really important on that laundry list you walk around with. Maybe it's reading something that lifts your heart, watching nature - stopping to gaze at a sunrise, sunset, animals playing. Maybe just smiling at someone you don't know. Maybe it's a hand to someone who needs it.

I am uplifted by how many emails and phone calls I receive from all who read this blog and share the ways they are making a difference in the world with their many kindnesses. They say 'birds of a feather flock together' I am honored to know each and every one of you and know you are all making a difference in our world. We can change our world considerably by just extending one simple act of random kindness regularly.

Stay 'In-spirit' or inspired to share your love...it's free and it's contagious!

Horses? Why?

Why do we pick to spend every spare moment in the dirt at the stable? Crazy...some might say 'yes.' We love the smell of everything horsey. We own every piece of garb, tack, dodad known to man, I mean woman, and yet we are still looking for that something new to buy. Why?

I know in my years working with horses and people, especially women, that in the company of horses our spirit is lifted to a place that we connect to something larger than ourselves. We are freed from the limitations of everyday life to a place where anything is possible, even probable. We soar in those amazing possibilities for as long as we are in their presence. When we leave them our thoughts are on returning again to that magnificence we feel while we are with them - our spirit friend, our horse.

The magic I am seeing more with each passing day and each person who graces me with their presence, is that horses create a doorway for people to reach a part of themselves that has been locked away, or for some reason not considered. Through our clear thought, the outward expression of thought being word and action, we are able to manifest right before our eyes - communication with a being that does not speak our verbal language. Even more amazing is the level of cooperation that the horse exhibits for the human who is really working on being clear with all three segments! This clarity turns every action into the most magnificent 'dance' ever viewed with human eyes.

Angels everywhere!

Angels are everywhere and they come in all shapes and sizes. Many of us are lucky enough to know of few of ours!
This is a very sweet story about an angel...

This is one of the kindest things I've ever experienced. I have no way to know who sent it, but there is a kind soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service.

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God,

Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith.

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, "To Meredith" in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, "When a Pet Dies." Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.

Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.

By the way, I am wherever there is love.

Love, God

Lifting the World One Heart at a Time

When people have asked me in the past what I do my response was 'to lift one horse and one heart at a time.' Just so you know this doesn't mean just in my work, but all the time. I love to do what I call 'twinkling' people...making them smile when they aren't.

The longer I do what I do the keener the 'other' senses I have become. I didn't realize quite to what extreme that has evolved until last night. Sitting in my elfin workshop busy fashioning Christmas gifts I decided I needed to make a trip to my local Fred Meyers. (You know that is where the elves go when they need some ditty to make a cool gift with). So off I go with no thought other than what color spray I'd like to have. Well I found every color imaginable and my imagination ran wild for a moment of all the neat things I could use that spray on!!! Off to the check stand I go. There my 'senses' went on overload as I watched a woman with a small boy in her cart carefully put her groceries up on the conveyor. As the checker scanned each item the woman's anticipation and worry mounted. The strange thing that I have never been aware of until that moment was I COULD FEEL WHAT SHE WAS FEELING. Her concern for what each item costed and when the checker made an entry mistake she jumped and corrected her, not in a mean way just counting each cent. I watched as she looked through her purse for only a couple of one dollar bills and in her hand was a gift card and these were the only dollars she obviously had to pay for her purchases. Her son kept saying 'mommy don't forget my pumpkin.' Sadly it was not a pumpkin but a tiny acorn squash. My heart hit the floor and a voice in me said 'Bo DO SOMETHING before the opportunity passes.' I stopped the checker and asked her to please put this woman's groceries on my bill. You could hear the world come to a screeching stop, if only for a moment, as the woman in front of me turned with her mouth a gape and said 'really? really? Are you sure? Oh my god thank you! I can't believe this! You just don't know what this means to me. Is there anything I can do for you?' I asked her to have a wonderful evening and no there was nothing I needed her to do other than that. She asked if she could hug me and I could feel the worry and concern wash away, if only for that moment.

Do we live in a world where worry, unhappiness and the other of the sort should be able to rule so strongly? I say that for those of us who know that the more love we give away each day the more there is to give. If that is doing a random act of kindness for someone we don't know, loving unconditionally those who are close to us, being more kind to ourselves, stopping to help someone who needs just a hand - all those things spread and make love grow in our world.

Give what you seek and magically there will be an abundance of your seeking.

Answering an Important Question

A question was posed yesterday in regards to having a clearer grasp on how to expand the understanding of setting an intention and allowing what was intended to come to you. This is in reference to the story about the horse blanket in a previous post.

What follows is under the premise that we have accepted the fact that we are responsible for all that happens in our lives without exception. This may be a hard pill to swallow but as you read further possibly it will make more sense.

If you can think of your attention as a spotlight that shines brightest on those things that you focus on for the longest with the most emotion. When you set an intention such as I want a new horse with ... qualities. You have set a clear intention. Now the more you focus on what you will feel like having this new friend and how you feel riding, what the world feels like to you knowing he is yours, the more 'magnetism' you have evoked and the faster you are drawing to you that particular horse. But if you focus on the lack of this horse you are repelling him from you. You want to focus only on what you want not what you don't want.

The difficulties that we run into are that our conditioning has been to focus on lack, 'get a grip on reality,' and both these things will only draw to us more of what we have. The saying 'seeing is believing' should have been 'believing is seeing' because that is how the universe really works. Our thoughts are what bring into our life the things and experiences we have.
Thus my saying 'I arrived today to the place my thoughts of yesterday paved...
I will be tomorrow where the thoughts of today take me.'

Evoking the magic of emotion in an intention harnesses the power of the whole universe to help us draw to us faster what we want. Now that happens when you are angry as well as when you are happy. So even more reason to choose to find joy in your life each moment and each thought. Your emotions are a fine tuned guidance system that alerts you to when you are focusing on something that does not resonate with your core intentions or your essence. You will feel negative emotions when this mis-creating is happening and just the opposite, you will feel joy, happiness, love and peace when you are on target!

I have shared with groups of women an exercise that helps us to pay more attention to our intention. It's kind of fun and it works as a start to being more aware of how much positive or negative creating we are actually doing in a set amount of time. I offered each woman a soft hair rubber band of their favorite color to put on their wrists. I asked them to set an intention about how they wanted their horse experience for that day to go. Each time they diverted their thoughts from the intention they set, got in a hurry, got frustrated, even got angry, they were to stop what they were doing and gently snap the band. At the end of class when asked the most times they actually had to use that band was two or three times in a three hour class. Just the act of setting the intention and then giving them a tool which caused them to also be accountable for their thoughts and a way to stop them when they were doing something that was not in harmony with their intention was most empowering. The results of this kind of class
that I have seen are that people make the most strides forward in a direction they wish to go when they are given tools that empower them and hold themselves accountable for their own thoughts and actions.

Do we listen?

I ran across some snippets from past workshops in compiling information for a workbook and thought I share some for the next few posts.

I spent three days sharing with her a gentle kind of horse knowledge. A different approach to how one can ask for what they want. What it feels like to wait for an answer instead of demanding one, and through this patience how one becomes more aware, all seeing, and having a greater understanding of the relationship we are building. Her horse is a rather large fellow with huge brown eyes. He is not trusting of most humans and tends run first and ask questions later. He is not spooky just not trusting.

It was on the end of the third day when she was finished with her riding and had set the reins down to relay to me what new understanding she had acquired that day -I was standing about 10 feet away when her horse decide on his own to walk toward me. I asked her to allow him to come. She left the reins on his neck, he walked right up to me and placed his forehead on mine and stood there for the longest, most moving 30 seconds of my life. Then he gently blew on my cheek and stepped back one step to look at me. My heart was touched by the words that came through that touch, "thank you, thank you, thank you." It was so distinct that I heard it as though it were spoken aloud.

I am blessed and my heart touched many times over with this sort of communication. I urge you to listen, you too will hear.

With Gratitude.

"I promise myself"

Each and every day I am amazed and awed at the amount of inspiration in my life. It is everywhere I turn, everywhere I look and the feeling that it invokes in me is beyond the English language to describe. One of my favorite words to describe this feeling is 'Twitterpatted.' This feeling is something I feel 9 times out of 10, just about every moment in a day. I know this feeling comes from seeing beauty in the people I am blessed to work with, the horses that present themselves to me and array of other experiences, some as simple as going to the store for groceries or Starbucks for a Chai tea. Life is a wonderous game and when I reside in that knowing that feeling stays strong in me, I am clear with my communication and at peace everything and everyone.

One of my life goals is to master the power that thought offers, especially awareness to how I feel when I'm thinking something - how it effects me. By understanding that not only 'we are what we eat' but even more powerful 'we are what we think'and possibly even more than that 'we are what we attach our emotions to in our thought.' I play with this every day. Knowing that we are either expanding our energy and abilities - things that make us feel at peace, happy, inspired,joyful, loving, or contracting them through feelings of fear, worry, sadness, doubt, and hate. I work each day to retrain the habitual patterns of my thought that were engrained in me from my learning at a younger age, traditional teaching and supported through our society - focusing on lack and fear. Patience and perseverance have been constant friends in this journey. Believe me I haven't mastered it yet but I intend to! More and more each day it becomes habit to focus on what expands and inspires me and it feels wonderful.

To help myself in instilling the change I wish to embody by surrounding myself with inspiring art, beautiful photos of far away places, I love the written word - so poems and sayings, a dream board that sits above my desk with color pictures of loved ones, places and goals. I read books that are uplifting and usually have a pile next to my bed. I choose not to watch TV - especially the news, don't read the newpaper unless I looking for something specific, and seldom listen to the radio. I have tons of wonderful music I do listen to. I make a conscious effort to surround myself with only those people who are positive forward thinking. Some of you may say okay that sounds a little overboard but if you want something badly enough you will do whatever it takes to create an environment for yourself that ONLY what you want thrives!

The following is the creed from the movie the Secret. It resides on my refrigerator, along with others to remind me of what is important.
I Promise Myself
To be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person I meet.
To make all my friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true.
To think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature I meet.
To give so much time to improving myself that I have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of myself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words, but in great deeds.
To live in faith that the whole world is on my side, so long as I am true to the best that is in me.
Christian D. Larson
Modified by The Secret 2007

What moments of clear intention give you

For the longest time I have been in search of more information on the focus of my intention and how powerful that really is. I have taught many classes using horses to help others see and experience more clearly what happens when we keep our attention on our intention...what we really want. Moments of magic link together effortlessly to create amazing events.
There have been direct instances that have come to me just in the past couple of days, as with so many days past, that so clearly show our amazing ability to create - in motion. One client shared with me that she wanted a new horse blanket for a young horse she has. She went through the normal actions after setting this intention. She visited the tack shop, searched through all their stock and found nothing to fit. She left there saying to herself 'I guess it wasn't meant to be.' Went to visit a client of hers and as she was working on their horse mentioned about the desire for a blanket and how she hadn't found the right one, a small size. The client immediately offered her one they had kept, but due to it's small size didn't fit any of their horses! Guess what, it fit the horse needing it perfectly. This shows me very deliberately that if we intend what we want, and then allow that particular thing, person, or event to manifest from wherever it may come instead of deciding that after one attempt to 'make it come about' that it wasn't meant to be, we will receive what we intend. This person had the emotion and desire to have that blanket, but a part of her had to go through what seemed like a disappointent in order to LET GO of controling where it came from.
Last night I wanted to venture to Bellingham to view the Whatcom Weavers Guild show. I asked my husband to come with me. I was hoping to get information about weaving and decided we should also visit one of our favorite restaurants for their famous whiskey crab soup. My overall intention was to have fun and enjoy the show, and to have an amazing dinner. Well, the show was small with beautiful things, saw a book about learning to weave...bingo. On to dinner. My husband said as we were on our way to dinner 'it's Friday night and boy is it going to be busy!' I said it will be just fine and we will not only have a super dinner but a parking space right at the front door. MAGIC ENVOKED! Or should I say a VERY clear intention. Well the parking space was just the beginning. Yes in was right at the front door. We went in and the hostess said they were completely full but would come get us when something opened up. I said to Bob 'they are clearing a table as we speak.' So they were. (a five minute wait) We got our big table with a view and sat and chatted. After about 15 minutes Bob said 'strange that nobody has come to our table to take our order.' It was busy but this restaurant is usually a very prompt restaurant with super service. Just as he finished saying that our waitress appeared appologizing for taking so long. We just chuckled and ordered. Our soups came but no salad. We finished the soup and decided it was great that the salad didn't come because now we were too full. We had the salad boxed. The waitress appologized again for the slowness of the service and only charged us for 1/2 of our dinner thanking us profusly for being so cheerful and patient. We touttled home chatting about how serendipitous the evening was. What a wonderful creation!
I always want to be that clear, that expecting, and that joyful in all my creations - how magical each moment of my life will be and what a fun game! It is a life intention for me to be that clear all the time, not just some of the time and while I'm doing this each day for myself I want to share that wonderful magic with as many as possible.
Happy deliberate intention setting!

Perspective

Perspective is a fascinating thing. Everyone has perspective and it is born from our experiences, what we have learned and what we are willing to be open minded about.

I'm inspired to write about this due to a conversation with a client last night. She wrote to her fellow canine competitors about horses having emotions. The jist of what they wrote back to her was 'sorry to tell you, there is no Santa Claus.'
Because my experience and learning, daily, is about the horse human relationship my perspective on this is considerably different. Depending on the skill and tools of communication used I have seen first hand the array of emotions and reasoning power a horse actually does have. Now I say depending on the skill and tools because the more skill the person has and the more desire to connect with this 1000 plus pound animal the more they 'see' happen. The tools are a huge consideration too. Every tool has a degree of accuracy depending on the one weilding it - how well it is understood by the receiver, the depth of understanding of the user, and a myriad of other important factors which cause it and the person to either be understood greatly or only slightly. Unfortunately as humans we do not stay focused on one particular skill long enough for it to develop to the level of 'greatly' before we decide that tool doesn't work and we are on to the next.

When asking an opinion of others we have to consider this..."We can only see what we look for."
For one who lives only in the forest, there are the beautiful trees, a little sky peeking through here and there, wonderous, lush greenery abounds and the smell of the earth is prolific. This is the world through their perspective, not wrong just what they can see.
For one who has walked through the forest in search of something they imagined was beyond and ended up at the top of a mountain, the world is all the above mentioned, and a vast view of the amazing colors and clouds that dance upon the sky, what lies beyond that mountain to another, the tops of all those trees, valleys, rivers, hills, vistas and so much more!
"Change how you see the world and the world you see changes."

Reflections and Inspiration

Returning from 6 days at a mountain retreat where the colors of fall are stunning and infuse my every perspective. Inner peace, teaching, learning, observing others interact, hearing a deeper meaning to their words, being touched by human kindness.
A dear friend returns from 5 1/2 weeks in the Far East, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, and China. Looking for the underlying connection in all life and finding it in herself colored through the reflection of all that she experienced.
I receive a call from my dear Uncle Tom (a mentor and inspiration in my life)Seeking a way to help others gain more 'time' perspective in their lives through his work. Steeped with excitement about an upcoming, ground breaking presentation to fellow associates.

Are these each not the same kinds of seeking though different experiences to gain the same kind of connection? I know so.
I know that we each seek a knowing and through that knowing a 'being,' of greater good for all, sharing, uplifting,joy, deep love of life,and being in the state of inspiration.
Believe in your dreams. Focus ONLY on what you want and watch the amazing happen right before your eyes!

It's only just begun...

I'm twitterpated. Welcome to my blog. I will visit here from time to time when I'm inspired to share something that has touched me. I'm hoping it will touch you in the same way.

Namaste