Thursday 31 May 2012

Open Your Eyes and Your Heart To Your Divine Life!

Good morning 


We are up bright and early this morning, perhaps not through active choice but sometimes being woken early by an excited baby works out for the best! 


I lay in bed last night thinking about how much happier I am than I was before I started out on my mission to deliberately be happy! One of the things which I enjoy the most is my renewed enthusiasm for each day. I can remember not so long ago waking up with a feeling of despondency or exhaustion, I had no enthusiasm for my life and each day it felt as if I had no time to rest from life, the sleep I did have did very little to restore me each night and my days were often spent just feeling upset about feeling upset! 


Last night it occurred to me just how far I have come, it is six and a half months since the day I had my revelation that happiness is a choice, a state of mind, an attitude available to everyone, no matter their circumstances, and I have now been writing my blog for five months! 


I have moved from a struggle with seasonal depression to choosing an abundance of great feelings about my life, a broad focus on that which I love, and making sure I do my two most favourite things every day; walking and playing music. 


I would love to say that I never have a moments doubt, sadness or anger, that would indeed be a bold statement. In truth I still have my struggles, the chief thing that has changed for me is my attitude to my life and my commitment to finding a way to move as swiftly as possible through the awkward moments in life. 


When I wake in the morning now it is with a real enthusiasm for my day! I know that everyday holds moments of joy and fun, even when I have had very little sleep, last night I was woken five or six times, I feel renewed and glad to have woken up! Sometimes the tiredness of parenthood creeps up on me in late afternoon and then I start to look forward to bedtime. 


I am amazed to find that energy and exhaustion are a spiritual thing. I am sure plenty of people could have told me that, but I needed to experience it for myself!
 I am a great believer that what comes to us in life matches that which we are, and although my circumstances have not changed a great deal since I had my revelation the way I view my life is entirely different. 


By quieting my mind and focusing on that which brings me pleasure (instead of constantly noticing all the annoying and sad things in life) I have been able to really open my eyes to the plethora of blessings all around me! 
I cannot emphasise enough how this change of focus has altered the way I view the world !


Where I saw only misery before I now see Joy, where I saw lack before I now see plenty, where I saw anger I now feel Love....


We are divine spiritual beings and we possess the greatest gifts imaginable, we are powerful beyond belief and one of our main powers lies in our ability to Focus on that which we find BEAUTIFUL and inspiring.......


Today I have Loving Gratitude for my inspiring friend Jen who catalysed my mission
I have Loving Gratitude for my breakfast 
I have Loving Gratitude for all the loving and kind acts of my partner
I have Loving Gratitude for the world of infinite possibilities
I have Loving Gratitude for every morning 
I have Loving Gratitude for every night
I have Loving Gratitude for all the abundance in my life
I have Loving Gratitude for everything I am learning
I have Loving Gratitude for my cosy house
I have Loving Gratitude for moving on 


love Klara.

Wednesday 30 May 2012

My Rewards Are On Earth!

Hello


It is roughly thirty days since I set myself the new challenge of doing that which I love daily! At first I simply challenged myself to either talk about, meditate on or actually do the things I love daily, and then I realised that wasn't enough! So I challenged myself to go for a walk somewhere beautiful every day and to sing a song and play my guitar every day. 


So how has it been for me? So far it has been incredibly rewarding! Since I began I have had only two days off from my challenge as I had to go into hospital to have an operation on my neck (which was a challenge in itself!). The rest of the time I have managed everyday to rise to my challenge. 


Musically I have really enjoyed the enforced song a day, I have some gigs coming up and playing everyday, even if it is only one song, is really helping me to get back into practice after a long break when I had my baby. Playing my guitar everyday is helping to re-form the callouses on my fingers which stops the steel strings from hurting me, and the extra practice is helping my musical confidence and my self confidence alike! 


I am re-discovering my own music which is turning out to be a far greater Joy than I anticipated! An unexpected Joy! I think I had begun to take for granted my own achievements, I had stopped noticing how beautiful my own songs are, my enjoyment had gradually been replaced by a mixture of disappointment and boredom mostly due to my musical ambitions not coming to fruition so far. 
It no longer seems to matter to me why I am playing, I simply play music because I love it, for the pure joy of the feeling of singing and playing! I am relieved by this development in my story, I would like to believe that the Universe will support me in doing that which I love, that following my passion will bring everything I need into my life, and the fact that I no longer hope for anything other than Joy to come from my music means that I really do now play simply for pure enjoyment.  


Walking everyday has been quite a challenge, so far the weather has been very good, I have had quite a few evening walks which has turned out to be an unexpected pleasure. The main thing which hampers me in my challenge to walk somewhere beautiful everyday is actually remembering to do it! When I do remember I experience and mixture of pleasure at the thought of going out to nature and occasionally a pinch of anxiety at the thought of not managing to meet my own challenge! The irony of this usually makes me laugh as I set the challenge myself to enhance my enjoyment of life! 


I would highly recommend this practice I have adopted of setting challenges for oneself to complete, I have found in the past it so easy for days and even weeks to go by without a walk or so much as a single musical note being played, if we allow it the mundane realities of life can get in the way of beauty and Joy! If today is my last day in this incarnation, then it is a fine time to pass; I can say with a happy heart that today and every day I have done something that I Love! 


What a gift I have given myself, what a wonderful thing to be able to say about my own life! By making a small commitment to myself I have made my life beautiful and joyful everyday! And every morning I wake up with an enthusiasm which was missing from my life for a very long time........


Today I am Thankful for the challenges I set for my self
I am Thankful for my perseverance
I am Thankful for my magical songs
I am Thankful for my musical ears
I am Thankful for my vibrating vocal chords
I am Thankful for my remarkable feet
I am Thankful for the woods near my house
I am Thankful for the stream I love to cross
I am Thankful for the ancient giant trees I love to visit
I am Thankful for Living a Life of Joy


love Klara. 

Instinctive decisions!

Hello


Yesterday I was reminded of the necessity of inspirational reading, and so I went into town and went to the bookshop! I love bookshops, I grew up in a house with thousands of books so bookshops are somewhere that I feel very at home. I didn't really have time to browse and even if I had wanted to browsing is hard with a small baby, and when I arrived I met a friend and got into a very inspiring conversation. After a while a book caught my eye, I asked to look at it and found that it was by and author I know and love, the book is called "The Alchemist's Journey" by Glennie Kindred.


Of course I know the old adage "never judge a book by its cover" however there are some occasions when I believe too much thought can hamper instinctive decisions! I bought the book immediately and began reading it later that day. It is the perfect book for where I am in my life right now! I am not at all surprised! 


There have been so many occasions when I have gone to look for a book and apparently impetuously bought the first book that I have picked up and I can honestly say that I have always been pleased with the outcome. 


I believe instinctive acts are too often either overlooked or underestimated in our society. Following the heart instead of the head has been discouraged to the extreme in Western society. People seem to believe that the using intellect to make decisions is more sensible and reliable than using our feelings. 
I would be inclined to agree with this idea if it were true that the mind does not mislead us at times. Thought is not infallible! I have talked here many times now about bogus thoughts; thoughts which convince us that life is a certain way, but they are not accurate. The easiest bogus thoughts to spot are the overtly negative ones, the self deprecating, self destructive, or just plain falsehoods, but there are plenty of other inacurate or misleading thought forms.


To me this is an indication that thought is not a reliable way to make decisions. There is another way to make choices! The power of instinct! Despite what many people believe we are instinctive beings, we are highly capable of making good sensible (if you will pardon the irony of the word) practical decisions simply by using our instincts.


I am moving into a phase of my life where I am learning to put greater trust in my instincts and to use them as a practical tool for making choices.


How are instinctive choices made and what is the difference between an instinctive choice and one which is thought out? Generally as a rule of thumb I can explain an instinctive decision simply with timing, with the example of the book, the book caught my eye I liked the title and on seeing who had written it the decision was made; this was therefore an instinctive decision and my proof is in that I now know it was the right one! I could have spent time looking at the book reading excerpts and thinking about the writing style or the content, perhaps I could have looked at a few other books too, and that would have been a carefully considered choice! 


I am sure that with careful consideration I can choose good books too, but I have experienced many occasions, particularly when I am in a hurry or distracted (usually by impatient children), when I have chosen poorly using this the thought out method. 


Instinctive decisions are satisfying and enjoyable by their very nature! I am following a path where thinking less is desirable, the less time spent on unnecessary thoughts the better. I am learning to CHOOSE GOOD FEELING THOUGHTS, and to engage with the only thing which really exists: Now! 


Instinct is a powerful tool, it is easy and convenient to use, and I find it empowering to use. My confidence is at making useful choices is growing with the use of my instinct, it is a subtle power which resides in all of us. Thought is a very useful tool but in my opinion it is over used by western society. I believe we will all grow Spiritually through the development of the use of instinct. The more connected we are to the instinctive self the happier we will become......


Today I am thankful for my powers of thought 
I am thankful for my instinct
I am thankful for all my senses
I am thankful for my sensitivity
I am thankful for gentle rain
I am thankful for powerful rainbows
I am thankful for shooting stars
I am thankful for all the stars in the sky
I am thankful for the sun
I am thankful for the return of the moon each night


love Klara.

Tuesday 29 May 2012

Making Peace.....

Hello


Today my awareness is with the absolute necessity of making peace with where I am in my life right now!
I believe the single most important thing that anyone can do for themselves, in the interests of their own happiness, is to Make Peace with where they are. 


It is so easy to get into a habit of getting stuck in the frustrations and inconveniences of life, large or small, it is so easy when something appears to go wrong to dwell on it, turning it over endlessly in your mind to no avail until something else happens which is more consuming than the last incident. 


Today my baby fell asleep for her afternoon sleep which is usually about an hour and a half, I took out a book I was excited to read and settled down for a long awaited moment of delicious reading. Five minutes in my baby woke with a start and began to cry very insistently. My heart sank, frustration rose in my chest, I felt the onset of disappointment. 
No, NO, NO I thought, I was beginning to get cross! Not with my baby for waking up, but with myself for not knowing quite how to stem the negative thoughts which were arising! 


Then all of a sudden the gentle reassuring words came to me: "make peace with where you are"......


"Aha" I thought! I began to deliberately generate thoughts which matched this idea; I thought about how I have all the time in the world to read my book, how the sun was shining, how my babys hair smells so beautiful. I began to calm down, the panic started to subside, I came back to my centre! 


                                       Phew! 


I have always prided myself in my ability to adapt to my circumstances, I am somebody who copes with what ever I create for myself in my life! Perhaps my baby waking was an opportunity for me to practice MAKING PEACE in my own life........


Actually I love that phrase, Making Peace! Today I made Peace! I am a Peace Maker, a Maker of Peace! 


It is possible to make peace! When we make peace in our own lives it must spread outwards from us into the world, all the world is energy, peace is energy in a beautiful form.


What an important role we can all take in our lives and the life of the world, by taking the steps necessary to come to terms quietly and gently with the ups and downs of our own lives we make Peace, the echos of which ripple out across the World. Peace benefits everyman, beast and bird on the whole planet. 


Making peace with where we are is an act of Unconditional love. I am so glad that I made the effort today to be a peace maker. I feel good about myself knowing that I am a peace maker..............


Today I have Loving Gratitude for my aptitude for making Peace
I have Loving Gratitude for the opportunities I have to Make Peace with where I am
I have Loving Gratitude for my glasses
I have Loving Gratitude for my new book
I have Loving Gratitude for joyful stories
I have Loving Gratitude for the sound of people playing and having fun
I have Loving Gratitude for the fun I have in my own life
I have Loving Gratitude for cheese
I have Loving Gratitude for chocolate
I have Loving Gratitude for Peace


love Klara. 







Monday 28 May 2012

What are you Willing to Become?

Hello


Today getting happy feels like a herculean task! I have found myself in a life position which frustrates me! I do not know how long it will last but ringing in my ears are the only words which I know can help me!: "What qualities do I need to develop and nourish, if this situation does not change, in order that I can be happy within it for as long as it lasts?" That was more of a mouthful than I was expecting it to be! 


When we find ourselves entrenched in situations or circumstances which aggrieve us we have a responsibility to ourselves and our children (if we have them) to grow new skills in order to cope, with a happy heart.


At the moment I don't mind admitting that I am at the seedling stage of the growing process of my coping strategy! In fact I am still at the resisting stage! I want to pick things up and shake them, I want to blame other people, I want to stamp and shout, I want to say "life's not fair", I want things to change right now! But they are not about to change!


There is nothing for it, I have to find the willingness in myself to adapt and change for the better!
So, where is that willingness? Where does it reside? It probably lives in the part of me that I might call my higher self, my higher self knows everything I need to know!


My higher self understands that things are perfect just the way they are, that there is plenty of time to do everything I yearn to do, that the grass is probably the same shade of green no matter which part of the lawn I stand on, that everything moves and changes all the time it is the nature of the physical world, that happiness is a matter of focus.....


Focus on the parts of my life which bring me Joy, focus and re-focus when my gaze drifts back to the downside as it is wont to do, Focus really is the be-all and end-all!


At the moment parenting feels like a kind of enforced extended meditation! Vast swathes of time pass where it seems that I have done nothing in particular, and my biggest task is to maintain a positive focus! Would that I were someone to whom this was no task; just an automatic response to this type of stimuli! An easy ride!!


So there is the quality I need to develop! The ability to maintain a positive focus! I may be writing a blog on CHOOSING HAPPY THOUGHTS but I am still learning! There is the challenge, the task, the herculean feat: start focusing on the greatness in your life right now Klara, look only at yourself, open your eyes to the bounty of blessings where you stand.....


and all will be well, a happy life is all a matter of focus and gratitude (in my experience) it is fine to want things to change and develop but of course 


"It is impossible for you to have something you are not willing to become in consciousness"  ~Michael Bernard Beckwith


I am willing to become peace
I am willing to become love
I am willing to become joy
I am willing to become patience
I am willing to become gratitude
I am willing to become quiet of mind
I am willing to become the sky
I am willing to become the sun
I am willing to become the stars
I am willing to become the world....


love Klara. 



Sunday 27 May 2012

A Rampage of Appreciation for Babies....

Hello


It is another beautiful sunny day here in jolly old England, and Today I am Glad to have Woken Up! I am Alive, I have a Precious Human Life and I am not going to waste it! 


It dawned on me yesterday that it has been a while since I wrote a Rampage of Appreciation! The rampage of appreciation is a wonderful tool, I find that it helps me to really focus my whole self on something wonderful, it brings about great feelings of joy and can really help to lift my soul particularly when I have been in a phase of stuckness of focusing on thoughts which do not serve me......


So today I am going on a Rampage of Appreciation for Babies......


I give great thanks for the beginning of human life, for the tiny bright new souls as they come in to human being, I am so grateful for those souls who bravely come to the Earth plane to spread their own special wisdom amongst the other people on the Earth. 


I give great thanks for the trusting hearts of babies, I love their open smiles and their full body laughs. I give thanks for the love which is in the hearts of babies, I love the joy which they spread just with their presence, I love their pioneering spirits. 


Thank you for the privilege that I have had to be the mother to three brand new babies, thank you for their incredibly soft skin, and their shining eyes. I give thanks for their chubby little legs and their beautifully fat little bodies. 


I give thanks for the determination of my babies, for their perseverance with astonishing tasks like crawling or walking. I give thanks for the curiosity of babies, I love the way that if there is a tiny hole in something a baby will always find it and put their finger in it! 


I am so thankful for the innocence of babies; they are so fresh and without judgement, I love their warm heartedness, I love their willingness to love and to give, I love the love they inspire in other humans.


I give great thanks for the loving protective instinct which babies inspire in other people too, I have enormous gratitude for all that my babies have taught me about being human, I give great thanks for all the lessons babies have taught me about surrender to the way things are, and about perseverance when something is hard work. 


Babies have brought such great Joy to my life and to so many other peoples lives, thank you for babies, thank you for my babies......


Hooray for babies......












love Klara. 



Saturday 26 May 2012

The Power of Laughter....

Hello


I have been listening to my neighbours playing in their paddling pool in their back garden this morning while I got my baby off to sleep. My relationship with my next door neighbours has not always been ideal! The walls of our houses are joined and seem to amplify sound rather than dampen it and my neighbour does not enjoy our musical natures, we have done all we can to minimise the disturbance but short of moving out there is nothing left to try. There has been some animosity! 


So hearing them playing has been a beautiful experience, I have never heard them all laughing and giggling together as a family before, it has endeared them to me and really made me think about the power of fun and laughter amongst groups of people. 


I think that laughing is underrated. Have you ever noticed how much babies smile and laugh? I know that experts would probably label early smiling as simple communication, but I believe that it is none other than an expression of joy. Babies are so simple, before we have learnt language and communication and complicated life with opinions and beliefs, things simply are as they are. Experiences inspire responses, perhaps things feel pleasant or unpleasant or somewhere in between, it is adults who teach babies that things are wrong or yukky or dirty, babies simply look and feel things. 


Here I am again, back on judgement, judgement really interests me, it is what keeps me alive and what hampers me the most as I move about in my life. Good and bad, clean and dirty, kind and unkind, everything becomes divided into categories which measure and determine our feelings. 


I find myself much happier when I walk around the world just looking and keeping my mind quiet. The mind seeks to judge when judgement is not necessary, the mind likes to work away, diagnosing problems and regurgitating stuff it has heard before as if to somehow make us better people.


There is a childlike joy in stilling the mind and removing judgement, judgement can be used as a tool; it is a useful tool which should be treated with care and discernment (yes the irony of this statement has not escaped me!) and the rest of the time should be kept locked in an appropriate container lest it wreak havoc on our lives. 


Babies are deliciously free of judgement and I believe that is why they laugh and smile so much. Of course I adore my baby, she is not just a ray of sunshine, she is the sun! She fills my life with such radiant joy, I am so fortunate that smiling and laughter is a big part of my day! 


Smiling and laughter cannot be underestimated, they are something we should do all the time! I am going to do what ever it takes to get happy, and I try to begin each day with a smile; try it it feels great......




Today I Give Thanks for my neighbours laughter
 I Give Thanks for water to play in 
 I Give Thanks for this breezy sunny day
 I Give Thanks for seasonal change
 I Give Thanks for the restorative power of sleep
 I Give Thanks for butterflies
 I Give Thanks for honey bees
 I Give Thanks for Giving Thanks
 I Give Thanks for cold drinks
 I Give Thanks for all my babies


love Klara. 



Friday 25 May 2012

Divine Silliness.....

Hello


Today I have a very small amount of time to write! My baby has gone out with her daddy so I would have had an hour but I have had to spend quite a lot of it helping my ten year old daughter to move through a disappointment.; she did not get the part in the play that she wanted and now her thoughts are running riot telling her not to join in at all if she can't have the part she wants. Actually I know just how she feels! Disappointment can be really hard to deal with at times.


I have a habitual response to disappointment (as does my daughter) and it can take quite a concerted effort to get off the thought train of disappointment once it has left the station. With my daughter I noticed her thoughts becoming increasingly miserable and self deprecating as they went along, until she lay sobbing on the bed. She has not yet learnt to stem the flow of unhappy thoughts by herself and needs help to move into a better feeling place. 


I do believe that at times it is good to let all the thoughts which accompany disappointment come and wash over me, however if that has already been indulged I think it is crucial for my well being to find a way to stop the deluge of negative thoughts and focus on something for which I feel grateful. 


THOUGHTS REPRODUCE IN THEIR OWN LIKENESS! and not only that but we have well worn grooves (a highly technical term!) in our brains which thoughts move along, the more we think a thought the more naturally and easily it comes to our minds, therefore if one is used to thinking negative, positive or particular thoughts then they are the ones which will come with the least effort. We are in fact subject to habitual thinking, and therefore need to make an effort to think positive thoughts. 


Today I used my "Winning Stance" method of changing my daughters focus; the method is simple, repeatedly adopt winning stances until you are laughing out loud. It might feel silly and crazy but it works! Silly and crazy are good if they bring about good feeling thoughts. We pretended to be olympic winners and before long my daughter was laughing heartily and went off to do something else. 
Believe it or not research has proven (!) that people who adopt winning postures are more successful and happier than people who have poor posture! 


So that's all I have time to say today, except of course for all the things for which I feel thankful......


Today I have Loving Gratitude for cold water
I have Loving Gratitude for the glorious colours of the sky
I have Loving Gratitude for ice lollies
I have Loving Gratitude for silk 
I have Loving Gratitude for magical plants 
I have Loving Gratitude for aloe vera
I have Loving Gratitude for my vegetable garden
I have Loving Gratitude for my daughters smiles
I have Loving Gratitude for the power of winning stances
I have Loving Gratitude for Divine silliness


love Klara. 







Thursday 24 May 2012

More Bogus Thoughts

Hello


It's late, I have had a really busy day and until now I have not had time to sit down and write. This evening I have a question in mind, it feels poignant; how do I tell the difference between authentic thoughts which need attention and bogus thoughts which lead me astray?


Sometimes when I sit down to write this I look at the statistics to see how many people are reading my posts, when it is what I consider to be a lot I feel good and when it is only a few I feel a bit low. Why on Earth I look at the statistics is a puzzle to me because I shall continue to write whether people read it or not, and yet when I see that a post has only had a couple of reads I wonder whether to continue writing or not! 


It seems to me that the above is a rather typical example of a bogus thought (the one leading me to look at the stats) in action, and why do I follow it? I have been writing this for nearly one hundred and fifty days, and I think I had worked out the enormous benefits for me of the writing of it about fifty days ago! So why on Earth I would continue to look at the stats can only be on following a bogus thought. 


It almost seems as if I am looking for something to feel bad about. I would also think that I was looking in order to feel happy at seeing a large number of page views, is that a bogus thought too?
Who knows where it would lead! Perhaps I am just too tired today, however in my own words happiness is not dependent on external circumstances; HAPPINESS COMES FROM WITHIN!  So looking for external stimuli for happiness can only be BOGUS! HA! 


Bogus thoughts are sooooo sneaky, they are wolves in sheeps clothing! My happiness is not dependent on how many people read my blog, it is a ridiculous notion, laughable in fact that I am writing a blog about my mission to CHOOSE GOOD FEELING THOUGHTS and resting my main philosophy on the fact that HAPPINESS COMES FROM INSIDE OUR HEARTS AND IMAGINATIONS AND OUR GRATITUDE and still bogus thoughts are sneaking in to test me.........


This has made me smile! I guess it is totally forgivable to feel as if it matters what other people think about my writing, to measure my own success on who reads this and who doesn't! 
The Truth of my success is plain and clear as a bright new morning, I AM SUCCESSFUL WHEN I FEEL SUCCESSFUL! and that is all! 


LIfe is all about how we feel, and how we feel is entirely dependent on what we are thinking, so it makes sense to think good feeling thoughts.......




Today I am Grateful for ancient monuments
I am Grateful for the song of the skylark
I am Grateful for the feel of cold mud on the soles of my bare feet
I am Grateful for the cool darkness inside the long barrow
I am Grateful for my courage to go into the dark alone
I am Grateful for the sight of the sunlit world outside the long barrow
I am Grateful for my feet for carrying me today
I am Grateful for my healing body
I am Grateful for the constant challenges of life
I am Grateful for avocados


love Klara.

Wednesday 23 May 2012

The Joy of Challenging Times

Hello


One of the concepts which has caused me the most upset and depression in life is the idea that the way the world currently is not the way I would like it to be! I have found myself living in a reality which does not suit my sensibilities! 
For many years I simply mourned the way the world was, as I perceived it, I called it my world sorrow, and it took up much of my time, indeed for a great deal of my life I felt paralysed by what I viewed as the unsuitability of the world for my sensibilities. 
There are parts of the world where I imagine I could be happy, and I used to believe that if only I had the money to move there I would be happy and I felt angry that there were all these seemingly arbitrary unfair barriers to my happiness! 


That was of course before my mission began to choose good feeling thoughts! Since then I have not suffered from my world sorrow, phew, but it has at times been in the background. 
Then the other day I began to think about my world sorrow again, Thankfully I was not swept into despair! I thought about it from a different perspective, an entirely new perspective; What can I learn from finding myself living in a reality which is not as I desire it?
What are the spiritual purposes of finding oneself in a reality which does not appear to suit ones desires?


These questions intrigued me! Perhaps there are some people alive who find themselves on Earth living the kind of life they would have chosen for themselves on a very basic level, time passes for them, they have the right relationships, each day comes and goes they enjoy sunrise and sunset, dinner is served, they swim in the sea each day........
There is no challenge to their equilibrium, they are utterly content, nothing to learn, nothing to loose.........


Strangely enough this actually sounds quite boring to me! Until I thought about the idea of living a life without challenge it never occurred to me that that might actually be quite a boring option!  Maybe these people do exist and perhaps their souls purpose is to live an uneventful life. 


Every challenge I have faced in my life has taught me a valuable lesson, sometimes it can take years for the lesson to become clear, but I am certain that without them there would be no growth. Without challenge I do believe we stay the same, our opinions do not change, the truth is not revealed, our understanding of new concepts cannot develop. 


Finding myself living in a place and time which is not on a cursory level as I would have chosen it to be actually provides for me the maximum amount of possibilities for learning and growth that could be! 
Life in modern England is a Gift! It is a Gift of Challenge and Maximum Possibility for Spiritual and Ordinary Development!


Here I am utterly surrounded by opportunities to grow and learn, they may not always be comfortable, but within the challenges of life are the hidden gems of learning. Learning and truth are beautiful. When I finally see why something happened to me, when I finally understand what story the story held within it just for me I feel good, I feel pleased, I have Grown. 

I do not pretend to understand life the Universe and everything, (although when the answer is 42 and the question is six times nine who would understand?) and I shall be pleasantly surprised if I do before I die, life is certainly better when it is spent looking at life's challenges with an eye of curiosity, questioning all the time "what can I learn from this situation about life and about myself?"
I have finished mourning the way I would have liked life to present itself to me, it was just a red herring, a trick of the mind, a product of poor thinking. 


             Life is beautiful, exciting and rewarding. 


Today I have Loving Gratitude for all the lessons I have had so far which have helped me to grow
I have Loving Gratitude for the song of the seasons
I have Loving Gratitude for the contrasts which help me to hone my preferences
I have Loving Gratitude for where I was born
I have Loving Gratitude for my loving family
I have Loving Gratitude for my friends
I have Loving Gratitude for games
I have Loving Gratitude for stories
I have Loving Gratitude for proverbs
I have Loving Gratitude for helpful strangers


love Klara. 


Tuesday 22 May 2012

Happiness is a gift given to all of mankind

Hello


It is a glorious day; every day is a glorious day! The job I have is to remove the smokescreen from the day and see it in its fullest technicolour glory. Some days that is easily done, indeed the smoke screen is hidden by the World-Smile of the Sun; the whole of life looks beautiful, bountiful and inviting. 


The modern measures of success are at times like sticks for me to beat myself with! I should be more successful, more wealthy, taller, my hair should be shinier, my house should be tidier! 


I feel sad when I THINK about the way modern western humans measure success and expect each other to behave and live; there is no room for creativity, imagination, individuality, or God. Achieve, Achieve, Achieve the THOUGHTS say! 


There is some fleeting happiness to be had in modern achievements, shiny cars can make us feel good for a time, big rooms feel airy and spacious, and holidays in the sun provide happy memories. 
What interests me is the idea that happiness is an internal thing, independent of external circumstances. Happiness is a state of mind, I believe it comes from Focus; cultivating the ability to continuously focus upon that which feels pleasant. 


Happiness is a choice, I could always improve my circumstances ad infinitum. Somebody will always have more than me, be richer, more successful, taller, their house could be more attractive, but they cannot possibly be happier than me! 


                Happiness is a gift given to all of mankind!


We all have the power to be happy! I truly believe that our happiness lies with our THOUGHTS. For me it is that simple. 


"I think therefore I am" famously said Descartes in the sixteenth century, well I would like to add to that famous adage! 


                                "I think of all that I am Grateful for Therefore I am Happy! "


I could spend my life thinking of all that I would like to achieve, and indeed dreaming of that which I would like to experience is very valuable and vital to actually experiencing some excitement whilst in the physical body, however I believe that as much time as possible should be spent actively noticing and giving thanks for everything we have that we LOVE!


                                      To Dwell On That Which Feels Wonderful! 


It is a dwelling space, where I dwell in my mind, and in my thoughts, dictates how I feel. If I dwell on lack, I feel lack, if I dwell on unkind words I feel sad, If I dwell on love I feel LOVE, IF I DWELL ON ALL THE GOOD FORTUNE I HAVE THEN I DWELL IN GOOD FORTUNE AND I AM HAPPY! 


Life is complicated, but it need not be, happiness is a choice, a state of mind, sometimes it swims towards me and sometimes I need to step into the flow, sometimes it is easy and sometimes it takes effort of Will. 


Today I am Thankful for my mission to keep choosing Happiness
I am Thankful for the World-smile of the Sun
I am Thankful for the smell of newly mown grass
I am Thankful for the smell of a meadow left to flower and set seed
I am Thankful for creative doodles
I am Thankful for happy thoughts which surprise me
I am Thankful for mangos
I am Thankful for summer breezes
I am Thankful for my hands
I am Thankful for my baby's siestas


love Klara. 







Monday 21 May 2012

Do You Recognise The Great Fortune You Have In Your Life?

Hello

I have had a busy day today and I have absolutely loved it, I have spent time with a great friend, played music, walked in beautiful countryside, and taught a song to one of my daughters and thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine. 


Over the last few days I have been frequently reminded of the naughty old tricks which the mind can get up to when left unchecked! Yet again I am talking about Rogue Thoughts! 


What do I mean? I would imagine most people are familiar with the phenomenon of Rogue or Bogus thoughts; these are thoughts which present themselves as "The Truth, The Way Things Are, or, Facts" but really they are just thoughts which have no basis in reality. In reality I am not sure what they are or where they come from; they could be products of our fears, past experiences, old beliefs, fairy stories, or in extreme cases simply malicious lies. 


What I am certain of is that once followed these thoughts can lead me into troubled water, places in my mind where I begin to feel that life is unfair, unjust, perhaps that I am hard done by, or that people are mistreating me. Whatever the effect, I am sure for each person it is a very personal thing, because Bogus thoughts are personal things which feed on our own particular stories which I believe is what makes them so crafty and hard to detect, I am clear that the story these thoughts are telling me about me, or whatever they are about, is simply not true or is very distorted. 


I don't know why it happens, I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist and I do not claim to understand the human mind. I don't know why my mind would want to paint the picture for me that life is awful, that other people are unkind, or perhaps that I am unsuccessful or what ever other nonsense my mind comes up with at the time. I talk from experience, and my experience is from the havoc these thoughts have caused throughout my life. I have been led on so many occasions into depression, misery, confrontation and conflict by negative thought trains, that now when they begin I recognise them very early on, and as soon as I spot them I jump on them and escort them quickly to a place in myself where I dissolve them by thinking of all the things for which I feel Grateful. 


Who knows why I have been experiencing so many of them recently? It may simply be that I am feeling low and tired and am therefore a bit vulnerable to poor thought forms. 


Again I return to the place in myself where I am certain that happiness is all about Focus! Focus on the things which feel wonderful, Focus on the things for which I am Grateful, Focus on the things which feel sublime. I don't care if I have to look for them and think them up, there is no excuse for ignoring the incredible fortunateness of living a life with such incredible choices, it's so easy to be miserable and there are no prizes for being ungrateful......


THE PRIZE, the only prize worth having is the prize of the feeling of gratitude and joy at all the wonderful things which surround us on the physical plane. Yes there is suffering here too, focus on it if you will, do something about it if you can, but above all recognise what great fortune you have in your life, however small you think it is and GIVE THANKS FOR IT because giving thanks is a certain route to JOY. 


At first I did not know where to start to look for the things for which I could feel Gratitude, so I started small and I made a list, before long I found it easy to think of everything for which I Give Thanks, and now I do it every day. I think of each thing and imagine it has been given to me as a gift by a kind friend or loved on and I say Thank you out loud.....


Today I Say Thank You for my children's smiles
I Say Thank You for my comfy shoes
I Say Thank You for my dinner
I Say Thank You for my comfortable warm dry bed
I Say Thank You for my loving mother 
I Say Thank You for all my brothers and sisters
I Say Thank You for encouraging words
I Say Thank You for my glases which mean I can see ants in detail
I Say Thank You for the clean water I have to drink
I Say Thank You for my safe home
I Say Thank You for my voice


love Klara. 





Sunday 20 May 2012

Ceremony: I am restored in Beauty!

Hello


Today I looked in my inbox for inspiration, and was so happily greeted by this prayer fresh from the Poetry Chaikhana




Navaho Prayer - May It Be Beautiful. 


Dark young pine, at the center of the earth originating,
I have made your sacrifice.
Whiteshell, turquoise, abalone beautiful,
Jet beautiful, fool's gold beautiful, blue pollen beautiful,
Reed pollen, pollen beautiful, your sacrifice I have made.
This day your child I have become, I say.

Watch over me.
Hold your hand before me in protection.
Stand guard for me, speak in defense of me.
As I speak for you, speak for me.
          May it be beautiful before me.
          May it be beautiful behind me.
          May it be beautiful below me.
          May it be beautiful above me.
          May it be beautiful all around me.

          I am restored in beauty.
          I am restored in beauty.
          I am restored in beauty.
          I am restored in beauty.

This poem inspires me in so many ways; it speaks to me of respect and ceremony. Once a year I used to go off to a wild, beautiful remote place and absorb myself in song and ceremony with a bunch of amazing people for five or six days. I would come home feeling a mixture of absolute joy and utter devastation! Joy for the wild acceptance, beauty, unselfconscious love and peace that I found there each year and devastation at having to return to my 'normal' life. Fortunately the Joy I experience when I go Singing in the wild far outweighs the devastation of returning 'home', which eventually wears off after some time spent in wild places near my home. 

I think ceremony is fundamental to my happiness, ceremony inspires in me a reverence for the magical mystical nature of the world which I find easy to overlook in my everyday life, it is a quiet time to notice, to see, to hear and to feel the Divinity of Life, and to give back my best to the world, to reveal my innermost creative surges and efforts for Spirit to see, in the deepest ceremony I Give All That I Can as an act of Gratitude. 


I haven't been able to go to my singing retreat as I have been extending my family and I don't suppose I shall be going again for a few years. It has been dawning on me that I need to introduce some sort of ceremony to my life at home. What kind of ceremony do I mean? I mean Giving Thanks of course! 

I really feel the magical nature of the world, and I believe that the earth and the land needs to feel our Love and Thanks just as much as we need to feel it and give it. Giving Thanks to mother nature is a mutually beneficial act. 
One of the ways that I give Thanks to Mother Nature is to stand out in wild places and sing full power the songs which feel amazing to sing. I blast them out with all my might and all my heart and my whole voice, unselfconsciously I sing to the whole world. 


I think perhaps it is time I went off to do some of that today, I am feeling a bit stronger today and looking forward to my daily walk, yesterday it was just a short walk and today it won't be much longer, but I will sing a song of Love and Thanks. 


I feel very happy and glad to be alive for another day. The Navaho prayer fills my heart with the words;


          May it be beautiful before me.
          May it be beautiful behind me.
          May it be beautiful below me.
          May it be beautiful above me.
          May it be beautiful all around me.


I am struck by the thought that when I look properly with my eyes and my heart, and not my thought crammed head, all is utterly Beautiful before me, behind me, below me, above me and all around me.


I am restored in Beauty. 




Today I give Thanks for the beautiful prayers of others
I give Thanks for the ceremonial spaces I have been a part of 
I give Thanks for the people who care for the Earth with their ceremonies
I give Thanks for the stillness of human silence
I give Thanks for the reverence inspired in me by ceremonial smoke
I give Thanks for the ceremonial fire
I give Thanks for the sweat lodge
I give Thanks for the quiet mountain
I give Thanks for the deep pools 
I give Thanks for the togetherness I feel when I reveal myself at Singing In The Wild


love Klara. 




Saturday 19 May 2012

I'm Feeling Quiet.

Hello


This morning I was woken up by a honey bee which was on my pillow right next to my head! I enjoyed waking up that way, it reminded me how much I used to love honey bees when I was a little girl, I lived next door to an old couple called Bob and Mary and they kept bees in their garden, every summer the bees used to swarm, usually in my garden, I remember them very vividly once hanging heavily from the apple tree like a strange giant moving fruit! 
At some point each summer I would get stung and I would swell up and feel pretty rough! But I loved the bees anyway, and I particularly loved being fed really delicious honey by my neighbours who were like grandparents to me, they had a big leather chair in their sitting room which was on a swivel and I was allowed to sit on it and spin round and round as much as I liked......


I enjoyed waking up this morning in my own bed, having an operation has heightened my sense of appreciation and gratitude in so many ways. I know that the risks of general anaesthesia are minimal these days, apparently more people die in the UK each year from falling from a ladder than in any other way, but somehow it felt like I was putting my life in someone else's hands, which of course I was.


The world looks so beautiful through eyes which think they might never look upon it again! We live on the most remarkable planet, there is so much to see that one can never see it all in one life time! I get overwhelmed with the choices of where to go and what to see first. This year I am planning a last minute holiday (which sounds funny to me, planning to be spontaneous!) I really love the idea of not knowing where we are going until the very last minute. I want to go somewhere hot where I can explore the cultural heritage, I really enjoy a good old pile of ancient stones, and where I can lie on a beach listening to my children having fun. 


I feel so wonderfully fortunate to have a healthy body and healthy children and to live in a country where I have enough food and a warm dry house to live in. I really feel that the secret to having a happy life is to count our blessings. It could be so easy to focus on what I don't like about my life, and indeed it used to be my orientation, but since starting my blog it has become easier and easier each day to see the beauty of the world and my life. 


Today I feel tired and low on energy which I suppose is the result of my operation, I am going to be quiet and sit around eating melon and watching videos........




Today I am Thankful for all the sleep I got last night
I am Thankful for the wonderful view from my bedroom window
I am Thankful for the weeping willow tree in my front garden
I am Thankful for all the wild flowers growing in my garden
I am Thankful for the funny things which little people say
I am Thankful for the breeze on my face
I am Thankful for my baby sleeping so I can write this
I am Thankful for my challenge to sing everyday
I am Thankful for paracetamol
I am Thankful for the stunning sunsets visible from my house


love Klara.