Trust Life Today

What Is the Most Valuable Piece of Your Self Puzzle?

by 2 Comments

Welcome 2014!

what do you believeFor our Trust Life Today New Year’s post I decided to skip words that reek of resolutions, words that beg to be broken and forgotten by day 5, which would be today, January 5th.  Nor will this post contain words encouraging you to set goals, climb ladders, or create a bucket list.  While all fine endeavors, it’s just not where we are going today.

Today, and for each today going forward, I’d like you to ask yourself this deceptively not-so-simple question:  What do I believe?

 

Geneen Roth, the author of Women Food and God said, “Once you know what you believe, you can begin to question if it is true.”  This well known author of books whose main topic centers around emotional eating asks us to look at our beliefs about food, then begin to question if what we believe is true.  Nice; I like it.

Let’s take that premise and apply a much broader paint brush to your life canvas.  Beyond your beliefs about food, how about asking yourself what you believe about money — saving, spending, giving, loaning, hoarding…or what about parenting, or about managing your workload?  How about asking yourself what you believe the ideal relationship looks like with your spouse, your mother, your father, your best friend, your child’s teacher?

What do you believe?  Free of judgement.  Free of justifications, caveats, if-then statements.  Simply, what do you believe?

Your beliefs are unique to you.  They are there to serve you, and no one else.  On any given day what you believe will contribute to your mood, to your actions, to your outlook on life, and ultimately to your mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health.

Choosing to Love yourself and to Trust yourself both begin with what you believe.

And what you believe is all yours.  You own it.

I was reminded of this tonight as I reflected on my absolute favorite quote from Harry Potter.

Toward the end of the final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry is standing in a dream-like state with Professor Dumbledore.  Right before the scene ends and the dream fades away, Harry calls out:

Tell me one last thing. Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”

Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry’s ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

Ending Self Doubt

Look inside your head.  What do you believe?  Pick one, any one belief.  Do you see it?  Now look it straight in the eye and decide if it is true for you or not.  Own it or discard it.  Do this, and any self doubt you may have been carrying around will vanish instantly.

Man, look at you!  Look at how powerful you are!  You don’t have to be a wizard like Harry to feel your inner magic.  We all have our unique Pixie Dust inside.

Something tells me this is going to be One. Fabulous. New. Year!

~~~~

I hope you enjoyed today’s post.  If you haven’t signed up for your weekly dose of Love and Trust, please do!  I’ll only send you original posts I hope inspire and ignite your heart.

Love,
Leslie

Connect with me on:

Facebook

Pinterest

Amazon, recently released book:  Love, Trust & Pixie Dust

Book Cover-3D small

It Is Our Choices That Define Us

by Leave a Comment

It Is Our Choices That Define Us Harry

After a year and a half of reading to my boys six night per week (give or take), we recently finished all seven books in the Harry Potter series.  What an incredible story!  The longer I read, the more I became aware of how many details J.K. Rowling wove throughout the fabric of the story.  Something she mentioned in Book 1 would show up again in say, Book 4, then again, at the end of Book 7.  She is a true master of storytelling and deserves every bit of credit she has received over the years!

As I sat down to write today’s article, I was eager to share with you my experience in reading this book series.  Then, I remembered an article I had written last year regarding these books and how my beliefs about them had changed over time.  As I re-read the article, I felt compelled to share it with you here.  It not only offers an excellent example of growing from within, but it also sings the praises of the two main themes of the books, as I see them: Love and Loyalty.

The article began with a quote by Horace Mann which reads:

“Do not think of knocking out another person’s brains because he differs in opinion from you.  It would be as rational to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself ten years ago.”

Well, on this subject I clearly differ from the Leslie of ten years ago….  Let me explain.

~~~~

Tonight, as I finished reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) to my boys, I was reminded of a belief I had ten years ago, that was indeed, different from a belief I hold today.  My belief was that the Harry Potter series wasn’t suitable literature to read to kids.  I held an ignorant notion that it was all about children performing spells on adults.  That it was about witches, wizards, dark stuff, foolish stuff.  I say ignorant, because I never took the time to ask others, to read reviews, to research.  I never took the time to seek.  I simply had a belief.

How delighted I am that I opened myself up to What IS.  What IS, are books that are very well written about two topics I find extremely important in the development of one’s character.  These two topics are Love and Loyalty.  The love and loyalty that the main characters display for one another is unmistakable.  And a more subtle loyalty, the loyalty to Self, is demonstrated time and time again when Harry, landing at various crossroads, chooses to do the right thing, even when it’s the more arduous choice.

These books are so well written and involve such depth of character, I easily find myself reading out loud for an hour at a time, my boys closely following the plot, eager for more.  And these are not tiny books that hold their attention so easily.  The one we finished tonight was 870 pages;  I believe the last two are even longer.  Yet my boys stick with them, pointing out the love and loyalty each time they notice it.

Had I not opened myself up to What IS (what I believe to be ‘What is’), about this series, I would have missed out on numerous opportunities to share and discuss explicit examples of Love and Loyalty with my boys.  I would have missed out on great vocabulary building opportunities with them; J.K. Rowling doesn’t dummy-down these books.  Sure, I could have found other literature with wonderful examples of love, loyalty, and challenging vocabulary, but for me, I would have missed out on an opportunity to learn from my own closed belief.

Can you think of any examples where your beliefs differ from yourself ten years ago?  Would you be willing to post and share, hopefully giving others an opportunity to learn and grow with you?

In closing, I leave you with some of my favorite quotes from the Harry Potter series:

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.”  ~ Albus Dumbledore  (used in blog post: “Dreaming. Living. Reality.”)

“No good sittin’ worryin’ abou’ it,” said Hagrid.  “What’s comin’ will come, an’ we’ll meet it when it does.”

“Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.”  ~ Albus Dumbledore

“Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.”  ~ Albus Dumbledore

“Do not pity the dead, Harry.  Pity the living, and above all, those who live without love.”   ~ Albus Dumbledore

To Dumbledore:  “Tell me one last thing,” said Harry.  “Is this real?  Or has this been happening inside my head?”
Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry’s ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

~~~~

How happy I am that I chose to differ from the me of ten years ago.  How happy I am that I chose to be open to something that I formerly thought to be fatuous — something that enriched the lives of my children and enhanced our relationship beyond measure.  Memories that will be with us throughout our lifetimes were made over the countless hours of sharing Harry Potter together.

Which brings me to one last favorite Harry Potter quote, and the incitement for today’s title:

“It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”  ~ Albus Dumbledore

If you enjoyed this post, please share.  You never know, this might be just the thing someone is seeking today.  Thank you!

Love, Leslie

 

Dreaming. Living. Reality.

by Leave a Comment

Along with receiving a daily quote via email, I also receive an email from “TUT…A Note from the Universe.”  It may sound kind of hokey, but they’re typically dead on.  For example, one day last week I received, “It’s all for learning.  It’s all for learning.  Leslie, it’s all for learning.”  Which completely fit the circumstances for that day.

Also last week, I received, “Dream big. Start small.”  Cool.  Right on!  That’s exactly where I am in my life.  I have BIG dreams for Trust Life Today, and with my personality type, I wanted them done yesterday! But how can they be done when I’m still learning how to do?  And then the reminder came:  “Dream big.  Start small.”  Okay, I’ll start small (hence, the blog you’re reading).

Later in the day I ran across a quote I had jotted down years ago:  “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.”   Albus Dumbledore, speaking to Harry.

Dream big.  Start small.  Don’t dwell on dreams, lest you forget to live.  Hmm…  On the surface, they sounded pretty different to me.  Yet, they both spoke to me as soon as I read them.  These are the types of disparate messages that grab my brain and wrestle with it throughout the day (or in this case, days).

I’ll start with dreaming.  Yes, I am a dreamer.  I dream up ideas, even situations, all the time.  Dreaming is part of my creative process.  And through this creative process of dreaming, it leads to many, sometimes an exhaustive number, of conversations in my head.  Yet, I still dream.  I find comfort in it.  The key, for me, is not to get stuck there.  Dreaming has to materialize at some point, or else, well, it’s just a bunch of Fantasy Island.

That brings me to ‘living.’  I remember a time, probably 17 or 18 years ago when I asked my husband when it was time to start living.  I was eager to get started, and I wanted to know if he knew when that right time might be.  Was it during that point in my life, when I was starting my first “big girl” job?  Was it in a year or so, when we got married?  Do I have to wait until children come along, is that really living?  Or was it once I found my purpose?  Then, and only then, would I truly start to live?  He looked at me with no gesture of judgment or confusion on his face, and simply said, “Living is what you’re doing now.”  And with that, he turned and walked away.

Oh.  I see.  And with that, I was clear.  (By the way, it must run in the family, because as I was saying good-night to our younger son last night, he asked me the same question, “Mom, when do I start living?”  My response to him:  “Living is what you’re doing now.”  I would hate to think that he was going to wonder for years and years like I had.)

At this point, I’m clear on a few things.  I’m a dreamer.  I‘m fully living each day.  But I’m also a realist.  There’s nothing in me that wants to live a fantasy, so I dream in order to create.  And with that, I have tied the two sentiments together, which means the wrestling in my brain may now cease.  “Dream big.  Start small.”  “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.”

So there I have it.  An email I recently received, coupled with a quote I had jotted down years ago, presented themselves to me in the same day and I latched onto them because I felt there was a message in them, something I needed to work out.  I believe lessons present themselves to us each and every day.  Granted, this lesson didn’t shake me to my core, that’s not why I shared it.  I don’t believe we need to have deep, profound lessons left and right.  But we do need to be grateful for being present enough in our lives to realize when we’ve received one and give thanks for the gifts that they are.

My gift from this lesson:  I dream in order to create, and I do it in a very real way.

I find a lot of beauty, and peace, in that realization.

 

Learning to love yourself and trust yourself is just a matter of time. Let's begin!

Get The Book

Love, Trust & Pixie Dust

FOLLOW ME