Trust Life Today

My Dad Said I Had Angel Wings

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They say things happen in threes. Twenty years ago, within a three-month time span: I began a new job I loved in corporate America, I became pregnant with our first child, and I lost my dad to cancer.

Happy, happy, sad.

With the new job I began to grow in ways I hadn’t anticipated. I managed a group of highly motivated associates and over the course of the next decade with that company, I grew new wings.

As much as I loved my work-role, my mother-role has been enormously rewarding. Today, between being a mother, a Pilates instructor, and a writer, my wings have grown from those of a sparrow’s to those of an eagle’s. Many days, as I sit back and watch my boys and clients, or ponder a new piece I’m writing, I feel as if I’m soaring with the wings of an eagle.

But my dad always told me I had angel wings.  Continue Reading

Ignite Your Heart

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The work we do in life can sometimes feel heavy. Learning to trust, finding our truth, looking within—each are meant to help us feel more at peace—however, sometimes all of this spiritual work feels more like the piling-on of ten soaking wet wool blankets.  Heavily, slowly, crushing.

There are days I long for the bliss of ignorance. Not days, more like moments throughout the day. But still, they exist. Those moments when I think,  Ah to be young, clueless, and unaware. Riding my bike, skipping, talking non-stop as I walked alone in nature. Talking with whom? Who cares? It didn’t matter. No one. Everyone. God.

And that bounce in my step? Where did it come from? From the feeling of being light. Unencumbered. Unafraid.

I don’t bounce much anymore. And I’m almost* perfectly fine with that. There’s a time and a place for everything. Then was the time for that, and now is the time for this.

*Almost perfectly fine…

Almost because I’d like to settle into a balance; something between the bounce and the soaking wet blankets.

Spirituality doesn’t have to feel heavy or over-serious or wet-wool-blanket-like. For me, it just has to feel real, solid, meaningful. Spirituality is living your life with a purpose that ignites your heart.

ignite your heart

Does your heart feel ignited?

Today, no matter if your heart feels ablaze with intense emotion or more like a buried, forgotten lump of coal never destined to find its flame, follow along and feel this:

  • snap your fingers together gently, only hearing the whoosh, brushing of a noise, not a hard crack. That was the spark of your heart igniting.
  • narrow your eyes, squint a little as you glance within the left side of your chest, see a white dot surrounded by a soft, yellow halo
  • as you focus your eyes, sharpen your awareness as you see the soft, yellow halo begin to pulsate
  • slowly, very slowly, watch it grow
  • feel it grow
  • Feel
  • it
  • grow.
  • see the single flame grow larger
  • and now see the flame multiply
  • shift your seeing entirely over to feeling
  • feel your heart completely ablaze
  • alive, roaring with life, purpose, meaning
  • quickly, shift the fire to your throat!
  • expand the flames and ask yourself NOW:
  • “What have I been wanting to say, but have been holding inside?”
  • LET IT GO
  • let it go
  • Let
  • it
  • go.
  • easy, now
  • let it go.

Now seal in your experience.

Grab your mobile phone (if you’re not already holding it). Yes, you read correctly. You know it’s right beside you. Go to your Clock app. Choose Stopwatch. Tap Start. With closed eyes, take 10 deep breaths in and out as you seal in your inner-heart-throat experience. For 10 breaths, go there, wherever there may be. Close your eyes and begin.

Hello again.

Offer yourself love as a way of thanking yourself. It’s simple, just say out loud, “I love you.”

Now wash and repeat. Each time you begin to feel the heaviness that comes with Life, have this exercise handy. Next time you may not shift from your heart to your throat, you may shift from your heart to your sore knee, or to the ringing in your left ear that’s been bothering you. Go there and release. Let. it. go.

Ignite Your Heart

Love,
Leslie

P.S.  Ten breaths in and out this time took me 2 minutes, 21 seconds. Last time: 1:54.  I must have had more to let go.

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If today’s message spoke to you, won’t you please share it on Facebook or forward to a friend?  You never know, it might be just the thing someone in your circle of friends is meant to experience today.  Thank you!

Who Is Rumi? His Life and Favorite Rumi Quotes

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You Are a Truth Seeker

Rumi is considered the Ultimate Truth Seeker.  You are a Truth Seeker, too.  We all are.  Anyone who has a desire to understand: Who am I Really?, Why am I here?, What’s my purpose?, How does God fit in?, What happens after I die?….we are seekers of Truth.

Over the course of writing this blog, I occasionally receive emails to the contrary, emails explaining how there’s nothing to seek, how all of life simply IS.  Well, when you put it that way….  But here’s the thing, we do seek, and what we seek lives inside us.  It comes from within us.  However, the books we read, the discussions we have with others, all of the things that appear to come from “‘outside” us, they are how we learn and grow—not in a vacuum.

So I believe both are true.  Yes, we are seekers of truth.  And yes, what we seek is inside us.  Here is a story that illustrates both nicely:

But First, Who Is Rumi?

Take a quick scan of Facebook and you’re sure to see Rumi quotes.  Numerous Rumi quotes.  With good reason—Rumi is regarded as one of the most famous poets in history, and still one of the best selling poets in North America, even 700 years after his death!  He is known to many as The Great 13th Century Persian poet, theologian, and Sufi mystic.  But before he gained this notoriety, he spent much of his youth wandering through Iran and Syria with his family.  Eventually, his father settled down in Turkey, accepting a teaching position in a theological college.  After his father died, Rumi took his place, and for fourteen years he lived his life as a religious teacher, adored by his students.

At the age of 37, he met a mystic, a religious scholar, named Shams al-Din.  Immediately they became kindred spirits, completely inseparable.  Rumi’s son later told of how his father and Shams would spend hours and hours together, speaking of philosophy and learning together.  This launched Rumi’s spiritual growth in ways he had not imagined, however bred deep jealousy among his students.

One evening Shams was called away from Rumi in the middle of one of their discussions.  Shams was never seen again, apparently murdered.  Rumi was heartbroken.  He left home and searched the countryside, looking for his friend, Shams.  Finally, in Damascus, his searched ended, not because he had physically found him, but because he had spiritually found him.  Upon realizing that his own true nature and the true nature of his friend were the same, Rumi exclaimed:

“Why should I seek?  I am the same as he.
His essence speaks through me.
I have been looking for myself.”

“What You Seek Is Seeking You”

This story illustrates how what we seek does live inside us, that yes, indeed, there is nothing to seek.  But also true,  it’s through sharing with others, discussing, reading, contemplating, just as Rumi and Shams did, that we learn and grow.  It’s why I believe readers of Trust Life Today are seekers of Truth, your Truth, what speaks to you.

For those who are unfamiliar with Rumi’s work, I will leave you with some of my favorite Rumi quotes.  And for all of you Rumi Lovers out there, please comment below with your favorite Rumi quote (or favorite SEVERAL quotes, it’s hard to pick just one!).

Favorite Rumi Quotes

“The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was.  Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.  They’re in each other all along.”

“Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah…it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you.”

“Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”

“Don’t grieve.  Anything you lose comes round in another form.”

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.” 

Who Is Rumi?

Inspirational art canvas that sits in my office, made by my friend, Nancy

Click here to see more beautiful pieces by Nancy, creative mind and talent behind Write on…

Click here to read Rumi’s famous poem “The Guest House” and listen to the mesmerizing song, “Everyday” which it inspired.

Please share;  Rumi is sure to brighten someone’s day!  Plus, it’s just good karma!

Love,
Leslie

instant attraction

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 will inspire and ignite your heart.

Turn Trauma Into Triumph

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Is it because I grew up in a military town that I tend to gravitate toward stories about soldiers who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?  Have I been seeing more of these stories lately since our biggest patriotic holiday here in the US just occurred?  For whatever reason, I keep running across these stories.  And they got me thinking… is there something beyond post traumatic?  Some sort of benefit that could come from experiencing a trauma?

Could there be such a thing as post traumatic growth?

First off, who am I talking about here?  Who is considered part of a group who has experienced something traumatic?  Since I’m no therapist, and don’t claim to be an authority on PTSD, I’m taking it down a notch and not focusing on the disorder, but rather focusing on trauma in general — anyone who has experienced a sense of acute anxiety fits in this category.

And who is that?

Who reading this has ever witnessed ongoing family violence?  Been raped?  Sexually abused?  Robbed?  Attacked?  Unfortunately, this list can be quite lengthy.  And equally unfortunate, the majority of eyes reading this right now can relate.

 

So, who in their right mind would associate trauma to triumph, as today’s title suggests?

This is who:

The person who goes through something horrific and because of it, comes out stronger.  Someone who figures out how to grow out of the stress and make it to the other side, whole, and intact.

And this person, by the way, is also keenly aware of how to appreciate the wonders and beauty of life, because they’ve experienced the flip side of the coin.

Experiencing the downs makes us appreciate and recognize the ups.

Experiencing the downs gives us the capability to empathize with others.

Experiencing the downs teaches us life skills that lend themselves to traits like tenacity, perseverance, endurance, intestinal fortitude.  Life skills that we can put in our tool belt and later transfer to other facets of our lives.

Surprisingly enough, there is much good that comes from the ‘down times’ (sounds less ominous than trauma, huh?).  In fact, these down times actually prepare us to better handle true trauma when it appears.

Here’s what we have in common, TLT readers:

  • we have all had down times
  • quite a few of us have experienced trauma
  • visiting this site tells me you’re seeking Truth
  • and if you’re a seeker of Truth, then you’re strong as Hell
  • strong people are strong because they’ve experienced Life
  • they’re also the people who can turn lemons into lemonade
  • people who can turn trauma into triumph

And These People Are YOU

You have the ability to turn trauma into triumph in your life.  It may not be the easiest thing you’ve ever done; chances are it’ll take some effort.  In fact, you may even need to seek assistance.  But I believe You Can, and You Will.

Start making some lemonade, folks!  With the summer heat down here in Texas, I would not turn down a glass if you offered me one!  In fact, I’d be honored to sit and sip lemonade with you.  And maybe as we drank, you’d tell me Your Story of Trauma to Triumph.

By sharing our stories, we help others to learn and grow.  And through the act of telling our stories, we may even learn and grow ourselves.

For more information on sharing your story, click here.  And to read a true story on this topic (of a time my heart was broken…), click here.

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are stronger at the broken places.”  ~Ernest Hemingway

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