Heaven on Earth

Written by Paula O’Sullivan

I know that readers of this article will all have different beliefs, some will believe in God, some will use different terms, some use the word creator or higher power and some of you don’t believe in anything.

Whatever you believe in, think about this for a moment. We can choose to live in isolation knowing we are different or we can choose to recognise our similarities and celebrate them and focus on them while still being aware of our differences. Whether you agree or disagree with this, we ARE all one under the same moon, and stars, the sun shines brightly on all of us. We breathe the same air. We all have to eat and drink. We all have feelings and emotions and we all can THINK…..

And this is where we can come together… in our THOUGHTS. You may or may not  have heard of a thing called unity consciousness recently, now I’m not about to go into this too deeply as I will let you seek information on the internet if you want to find out more about this from those who know more than I on the subject, and views vary and I may not agree with all ideas related to this, but what I want to share with you is kinda linked to this idea.

Some of us believe that our thoughts create our reality. Some of us believe that it is possible to change our levels of consciousness, that we can become more aware and in so doing can help others to do the same. This awareness creates a feeling that we are all one, connected beings somehow with a purpose to help each other. No more us and them, but all in this together.

I feel that LOVE is the key that will unlock all the doors to this awareness. It will begin with yourself, you will first learn to love yourself unconditionally and then slowly you begin to awaken and it is so beautiful, like a flower unfolding, you will begin to see things very differently through the eyes of love, you will see how you now can love others too. Life is so wonderful, you can’t help sharing this love with everyone you meet and greet. You are full of love and light and you shine it into the darkness and you awaken another, and then that person awakens another and so on.

The situation now is that a few people have a different level of consciousness. They are now also viewing their world as LOVE. When you have this it is almost impossible to be judgemental or to have prejudices. When you have this you don’t have hate do you? Because now we are accepting each other, we don’t need to fight or kill each other. We are no longer right or wrong. ‘So what’ I can hear you say ‘what good will that do?’ Well a few of us are making a difference right now, each act of kindness, each thought that is sent out into the world to help not harm another is making a positive difference somewhere. We all affect each other in some way and when we recognise this fact, this awareness makes us stop and think twice before we do or say something until we reason out the effect it may have not only on the one person but on all concerned. This line of a Christian prayer made me think, ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’. When enough of us awaken and I didn’t say ‘if, WHEN this happens, I believe we will have a kind of heaven on earth, I believe it is possible. What I want to know is, DO YOU BELIEVE it can happen, and do you want to help it happen?

Stir your Soul

Written by Paula O’ Sullivan

Shhhh…. Can you hear it? Listen really carefully… now can you hear it? Take your hands off your ears and try again… oh….maybe you still can’t hear it,  I know I couldn’t, but it was there, it was there all along, it’s always been there, but I guess I wasn’t aware, maybe I wasn’t listening, maybe I had my hands over my ears trying to block it out. Maybe I just allowed the voices of discouragement, my own and others, to be heard instead, you know the one that says ‘you’re not good enough’, ‘don’t bother trying, you’ll only fail’, ‘what’s the point in doing it, trying it… you’ll never be perfect, don’t waste your time, your effort… don’t even try’.

Maybe you know what I’m talking about and maybe you don’t. But I believe that all of us have some kind of a song inside of us that needs to be sung. Perhaps you’re good at something, art, singing, drama, dancing, gardening, writing, helping others etc .etc… maybe it’s just something you loved to do when you were young, the hours flew by when you were doing it, because you were so engrossed in that activity, and then you grew up and hey life just got in the way didn’t it?… it has a nasty habit of doing that…. if we let it… and hey sure wasn’t there always something more important to do than that silly old thing you used to waste hours at in the past?

And on and on it goes, and sometimes we reminisce and think about it now and again, and tell a few people, ‘hey I’d love to do that again…. and maybe  they give you an uninterested response of ‘uh, yeah you must… someday’, or perhaps you’re lucky enough to have a supportive friend or two (hang on to them… they are rare, in my experience anyway) And  maybe regardless, your song gets quieter and quieter and you no longer hear it calling you, and your soul becomes very still. But you’re just so busy with life that you hardly notice. And for some of you… that won’t matter, but for the other few… who on reading this, you suddenly see what’s missing, you suddenly realize that your life may just have some more meaning if you begin to listen to your song again… and for those of you… I’m saying… if you’re not living a meaningful life… then you must be dying… because if your soul is not stirred with a passion for something… you are missing something important here, and this something important can bring limitless joy back into your life….your song… if you choose to listen to it…and act on it…. can bring the meaning back.

I came across this lovely quote. ‘Don’t die with your music still inside you. Listen to your intuitive inner voice and find what passion stirs your soul.’
– Wayne Dyer

So… come on my friends…. Try again ‘Shhhh’, can you hear it?

 

 

Back on the Road to Enlightenment

Written by Paula O’Sullivan

‘The road to enlightenment is long and difficult, which is why I’ve asked all of you to bring sandwiches and a change of clothes’ –B. Kliban (quote)

I love this quote, it really cracks me up (laughing) I’ve read many variations of this over the years, the first one was a Gary Larson Far Side cartoon, which unfortunately I couldn’t find this time around. I read it when I was in my twenties, and I hadn’t a clue about enlightenment then. All I cared about in those days was the weekend when we would party like crazy, and spend the five days in between, daydreaming about what happened and wondering about what would happen the following weekend. There was no such thing as living in the ‘now’, that hadn’t enough excitement in it!

The road to enlightenment wasn’t on my map, and it wasn’t well signposted from where I was looking.

‘Alice came to a fork in the road. ‘Which road do I take?’ She asked. ‘Where do you want to go?’ Responded the Cheshire Cat. ‘I don’t know’, Alice answered. ‘Then’, said the cat, ‘it doesn’t matter’. Lewis Carroll ( Alice in Wonderland quote)

Like Alice in the story I didn’t know where I wanted to go, and to be perfectly honest I spent most of my life like that, drifting from this to that, never really very happy, never finding true fulfilment in anything. Oh yes I settled down , got married, had kids, a house, several jobs, lots of responsibility, but still didn’t really know where I wanted to go in life, until my marriage broke up ! And that woke me up, and I asked myself, ‘Now where do you want to go?’ I looked back down the road I’d come, and I knew if I stayed on it, I was in for more of the same that went before and I couldn’t  handle more of that so, I decided that I’d try a new road this time,  I took stock of my life. I  began to do small courses and at one of them the tutor asked the class one by one at what age did we become adults, most answered at 18 or 21, when she got to me I said 44 ! After the laughter died down, I explained that when I separated from my husband, I really grew up and learned to take full responsibility for my life!

Oh I’m not saying that you have to go through anything as drastic as a marital separation or a big drama in your life, for you to find yourself on the road to enlightenment. Yes it was a kick in the butt that I needed, but I’m asking you, ‘Why wait til something happens?’ You can kick start yourself onto it anytime this moment if you wish!

Well I have to go now… I have my sandwiches… change of clothes…my new attitude; do you want to come too? Yes? Then get a pen and paper out first, and write down ‘My Ideal Life….is…..fill in the blanks. Your road may be different from mine, the best directions I can give you is to start at a signpost marked ‘What I want’, from there follow the signpost ‘Where do I want to go to get what I want’…now you’re on YOUR road to enlightenment, I wish you well , and oh, don’t forget the sandwiches !

 

 

Personal Growth

Written by Paula O’Sullivan

‘And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom’ – Anais Nin

Have you experienced this? I have, and I agree with Anais, it is painful, whether you stay as you are or grow. I remember crying to myself at one stage and almost wishing that I hadn’t been re awakened, because when we start to grow, we have to deal with stuff, and we have to be brutally honest with ourselves, and when we’ve been hiding behind excuses for a long time, well frankly it’s difficult. For me it was kinda like opening the door to a dusty attic that was full of crap that I no longer needed, some stuff I was still emotionally attached to, some stuff definitely had to go and some stuff I was afraid to get rid of in case I needed it someday! Lol.

And it’s not only a painful decision to make whether to stay  as we are or to allow ourselves to grow, but yes it’s risky too. There are other people to consider in this also. It may be your partner, children, parents, friends, boss etc. etc. These people have gotten used to the old you, and hey, not many people welcome change as the great teacher that it is, now do they? Have you noticed this? People who are close to you start bristling and saying things that aren’t very supportive of the new you. It’s at this stage that it gets awkward, this is another painful bit, you think, will I back down, sure aren’t things alright as they are, or should I continue. (Bud or Blossom)

For me and my situation it was sort of like being on the Titanic, If I stayed as I was, I was going down into the abyss, if I changed it was like risking the icy waters of the unknown, and I didn’t know if I had the strength to swim. I didn’t even have much knowledge of what I was doing, but I followed my intuition and instincts, and I have come through it, stronger and wiser. Although my pain was great and sometimes still is, I have found levels of joy and bliss that I never could have believed existed. My growth  has been gradual in parts of my life and rapid in other parts , but I’ve become more accepting of change, I’m not so afraid of it now, I’m up for the challenges life will bring me.

 

Making it Matter

Written by Paula O’Sullivan

‘Don’t miss the donut by looking through the hole’ –Unknown (quote)

 Is your life like a ring donut? Are you looking through the hole, focusing on what’s missing and on what’s wrong?

Far too many of us have a tendency to do this. We fail to see the donut (the life) we have.

We fail to appreciate what we actually do have, the abundance. No matter how much we complain today, most of us cannot deny that our basic needs are met. We have food, water, air, some form of clothing, somewhere to sleep. Simple things, yes, but true appreciation lies in simplicity, if we can recognize and be grateful for these things, then everything else is a bonus. Oh you may want and even think you need much, much more than these few things, but if a Tsunami swept away everything tomorrow, ask yourself , ‘What would I need then?’ Would a big television or car or house still be top of your list? Or would you be content to have any blanket available, any spare tent, any cup of water, any clothing to keep you warm, any lungful of air that was not contaminated?

We focus not only on what is lacking in our lives, but also on what is going wrong. I often here people complain that everything is going wrong, and I used to do this too. Now I realise that it was just my perception, it was just that things didn’t go according to MY PLAN! Things didn’t go MY WAY. In the end, though, on hindsight I realize that things worked out for the highest good of all. The universe always knows best! We just have to trust that in the end, the things that happen in our lives usually work out for the best. I laugh to myself at all the little twists and turns now, I sit back and observe with wonderment now and ask myself where will this all lead, I wonder what will happen now ? I have learned to accept that things may not always go my way. I’ve become more flexible to life, allowing, surrendering, without giving up that is!

So for all of you who are looking into the nothingness, the hole, who are looking at the lack and all that is wrong, perhaps now might be as good a moment as any to take stock, to blink a few times and take another look at your life from another perspective. You see… we only have this one life… it is very; very short… don’t you want to make it matter? I know I do.

 

 

Mission Possible

Written by Paula O’Sullivan

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is a ‘Negativity Fast’, for at least a month, or perhaps a lifetime!

Yes I’m asking you to abstain from negative thoughts. I’m asking you to stop complaining, to stop blaming, and to stop thinking the worst. I’m asking you to think nice thoughts, not negative ones.

Yes I know this is a tough mission, and I wouldn’t set you the task, if I didn’t believe you could do it. I have full faith in your ability to evict the negative thoughts that are living rent free inside your head! I mean they’ve always been trouble haven’t they? Right from the start, I mean that guy ‘Fear’, who asked him to stay? Think of all those sleepless nights, and then he brought in his friend ‘Worry’; sure, you hadn’t a nail left after him! Then ‘Mrs Anger’ arrived with her daughter ‘Resentment’, nothing has been the same since, sure your poor mind is in tatters with that lot.

Why not have some friendly lodgers to stay instead. Invite in ‘Mrs Love and her daughter ‘Caring’. Mr Trust is lovely and his nephew ‘Hope’. Aunty ‘Forgiveness and her sister ‘Patience’ are a wonderful addition to any gathering. Mr ‘Respect’ is welcome everywhere, oh and we mustn’t forget Miss Gratitude and her lovely niece ‘Encouragement’. With these lovely guests you are guaranteed peace of mind, a bright future, better health, better relationships, oh yes, and a happier you !

So are you up for the challenge? This page won’t self destruct is five seconds, so I hope you will share it with others. Start today, one thought at a time, each negative thought that comes into your head, counteract it with something positive instead.

Why? Because amazing things happen, when people begin to think positive. When you unlock the chains of negativity, you are free to become who you really are.

I’m looking forward to meeting ‘Brand New You’ !

The Painful Truth

Written by Paula O’Sullivan

We’ve all experienced some form of emotional pain in our lives at some stage or another, and as I was considering what to write about on this subject I came across this lovely quote. ‘Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it’(Rabindranath Tagore)

Wow, what a brave request! How many of us have this kind of courage? Shit happens and what do we do? We ask to be protected, we cry out to all that will listen, and the accepted response is ‘Oh we didn’t want that to happen’, and we run, and we hide, and we resist, we cannot face it, we deny it, try to forget it’s happened, but the pain is still there, we can hear it knocking on our hearts door,  crying ‘let me in, let me in’,  and we put our hands over our ears to shut out the racket, and it doesn’t work, and the pain is unbearable, and still we resist, some of us turn to alcohol, some to drugs, some of us get depressed, become suicidal, some of us fall into ill health, and so on and on and on, and the pain is still there….. until…. the day….. you answer the door…. until the day… you turn around and face the pain… and say ‘Ok… you got me….yep it’s pretty awful alright…. But hey it happened… and this is where I am with this right now… what do I need to learn from this? What can I do about this? Nothing? Then can I accept firstly that it happened, and know that while perhaps I hadn’t a conscious choice in this happening… I do know that I have a conscious choice in how I am going to continue reacting to this thing’

Now ….you’re going within yourself, and deep inside this deep well, you realize that you have the strength, the courage within you, oh yes it’s at the bottom, you didn’t know it was there did you? But it was hiding down there all along just waiting for you to find it, to reach down and pull it up… and here it is… and it is more than enough to help you cope, it is more than enough to get you through this….now you’re not concerned about stilling out that pain…..you know now that you are not ‘the pain’, you are separate from it, and you can keep it  as a walking companion for the rest of your life, or you can get past this… and grow from the experience, without bitterness or resentment, now you know that you will handle anything that comes along in the future. You see yourself as a kind of observer, no longer a victim, no longer crying out, ‘why me?’ You have now become a warrior….. you’re so very, very brave, you now only ask for your heart to conquer the pain…. You run away no more! You are victorious! Feels good doesn’t it? Oh yes!

Are your beliefs working for you ?

Written by Paula O’Sullivan

I read this quote recently and it really got me thinking about our beliefs. ‘The most powerful thing you can do to change the world is to change your own beliefs about the nature of life, people and reality to something more positive…and begin to act accordingly –Shakti Gawain.

Wow, can we do that? Change our beliefs, is that possible? I mean we’ve held onto them for a long time, some of us still have beliefs from the time we were growing up.

Ok so we have beliefs and some of these we have had for a long time, so permit me to ask you a question if I may. Are your beliefs serving you? Are they working for you, or against you? Do they bring you closer to being the person you really want to be or further away?

I really feel that we need to get our beliefs working for us because from our beliefs comes our expectations and from our expectations comes our reality. What we expect for ourselves we usually get. Most negative beliefs can be exchanged for more positive ones.

My example of this is myself. I grew up feeling very unloved, unattractive and stupid. My mantra to everything was ‘I can’t, and I formed some awful beliefs about myself. I believed that I was unworthy, I mean if my parents couldn’t even love me, there must be something wrong with me, mustn’t there? I believed I would fail at everything (my father helped me to re affirm this to myself regularly) and I lived up to his low expectations of me every time. So my beliefs were that I was not good enough and that I was not loveable. I won’t entertain you with the gory details of what went wrong in my life, but I can tell you I made one big mess of my life, I failed at everything, right up to approximately one year ago.

So what changed? I did. I changed my beliefs about myself, and like a domino effect, I changed my beliefs about my reality, the people around me, the circumstances etc. etc, and what happened? Bingo- my life changed, for the better. I became me. Oh happy day!

I can happily tell you that I do feel loveable and worthy now. I affirm to myself that I love and approve of myself daily, and now I believe it and act accordingly. If we use our imagination when we affirm and really get into what this would feel like, and start believing it’s possible, it works like magic. So if you want to change some part of your world, start with yourself. When we learn to love and approve and feel worthy ourselves, this has a very positive effect on the people around us, we have much happier relationships etc. When you believe in yourself, the world will believe in you.

Now watch the magic happen, you love and approve of yourself (this is not to be confused with being vain or arrogant, I remain modest and somewhat humble, while also being confident) you are worthy, now you know you deserve the best for you, your opportunities are unlimited, now the excuse of not being good enough is removed, who do you want to be? Go be it! The people in your life, who you attracted because you felt unworthy, may be a bit put out, their job was to help you reinforce your low beliefs of yourself, and now you feel real good about yourself, what will they do? Well maybe they’ll find someone else to help, while you’re busy attracting the people into your life whose job it is to help you reinforce those good feelings. You will start attracting the type of people who want to see you up, not down, who are interested in seeing you succeed. Who want the best for you. As time passes you will become more aware and will recognise them when they arrive. Surround yourself now with positive people and things, change your beliefs to positive ones, get your beliefs working hard for you, and the only way for you will be up.

So tell me, are your beliefs serving you?

Licensed to Smile

Written by Paula O’Sullivan

I just found this perfect quote to begin my article with… ‘I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstances but by our disposition’ –Martha Washington (quote)

Disposition means a person’s temperament, and I know many of you will believe that this is a fixed thing, that you are born with, and you are now shrugging your shoulders and saying ‘that’s just the way I am’, and if you’re happy with it that’s fine, and if you’re not adding to the greater misery of the world with your disposition, I’ll say, ‘Well carry on so!’

But… if you’re not, .I’d like to tell you that you can change your disposition if you want to. I know it’s possible, because I’ve done it. Oh don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I was a complete misery guts! It’s just that I complained a lot, and if someone asked how I was, they were bombarded with a list of latest ailments. And the conversations would always end with the other person saying ‘Poor you’ and with me nodding in sympathy of myself,  happily unaware that I had now succeeded in  helping two people to feel miserable instead of just one !

Ok it won’t happen overnight, it takes time, and persistence, and dedication. Set your intention, and see if there are any little ways that you can change your disposition to a happier one. I’m not for a moment suggesting we bottle all our troubles up inside and don’t  talk about what is troubling us, if we can find one or two people to share with that’s great. But if we complain to everyone we meet, if we tell everyone we meet how poorly we are, then these are the thoughts of ourselves that we carry away, and replay in our minds, and we are saying ‘Poor me’, we are now a victim to be pitied, and we will not be adding to the joy of the world, only adding to another’s burdens I feel. And we will be adding to our own sense of unhappiness too.

So just think about this, we have a choice of disposition. We can sit in traffic or stand in a queue, we can look around at all the miserable faces, people showing irritation and impatience, and we can join them, peer pressure is powerful, we feel we have to show how peed off we are too ! And we give each other a harassed grimace ‘we’re all in this together, isn’t it terrible’ is our silent mantra, well let me tell you, misery loves company, and you will never be alone!

I called this article ‘Licensed to Smile’, but you don’t need a license to smile you know, you can just wear one anytime you like, you can choose to see the lighter side of things, and have a sense of humour, you can choose to carry on regardless whatever happens, you can choose to accept where you are now, before you move forward or stay as you are. You can choose… you can choose… nothing is carved in stone…. When we know this…. We are free…. Go on, I dare you to smile the next time you feel like scowling, and watch the expressions on other’s faces it’s priceless ! That alone will give you something to smile about !

The Beauty Within

Written by Paula O’Sullivan

‘Why is everyone here so happy except me?’ –‘Because, they have learned to see goodness and beauty everywhere’, said the Master. ‘Why do I not see goodness and  beauty everywhere?’ ‘Because you cannot see outside of you, what you fail to see inside’ –Anthony De Mello (quote)

Are you aware of this? I know that I wasn’t for a long time. I just knew that I wasn’t happy, the reasons confounded me and as the years passed I got kinda tired of thinking and asking why and how, and I slowly but surely let my mind go asleep.

And some of us may well spend our entire lives like that, asleep. And if you are like that and want to remain there, do not let me intrude on your slumber.

I however, am awake now, and with the passion of a young child with their newest discovery, if you’re thinking you’d like to wake up, I’ll be happy to shout what I know in your ear!

Arise dear friends and listen….

We all have beauty and goodness within us and when we become aware and celebrate this, we will find happiness.

When we learn to recognize it within ourselves, it is so easy to recognise it, not only in others but everywhere.

Oh I know it’s not easy, you’ll have to deal with all the negative inner chatter first, you know, the running dialogue we all have inside, the voice that tells us we are ugly, stupid, no good, too thin, too fat, too this , too that…. But deal with it you must. I still have the odd day when the voice tells me something critical about myself, and I say back to it… ‘I accept myself as I am’, I accept that I am not perfect nor never will be,  I am doing the best with what I have, right now ! And if I need to adjust something about myself or my attitude, I’m doing it because it feels right for me to do so.

And when you get to the stage that you are happy in your own skin, no longer criticizing yourself, but instead content with who you are right now, then my dear friends you will find happiness… you will find beauty, you will find goodness, you will have found the beauty within.