Birthdays, Reflections, Letting Go and the Birth of New

This year I did something very special for my April 21^st birthday. In the predawn hours, I drove up to Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park and watched the sunrise over the Shenandoah Valley…and over the next phase of my life. I wanted to meditate there, on my birthday, by myself. Just me, God and the beauty that surrounded me.

It was glorious.

As I was driving the 45 minutes up to my perch, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my life…all of it. Memories of the good, the bad and the ugly chapters flooded back to me as I marveled at the thousands of experiences that make up my lifetime so far.

My birthday fell on Easter this year, like the day I was born, and I took this as a sign. I started asking questions up there on the overlook, watching the sun rays illuminate the valley below.

What am I ready to let go of in my life? What beliefs are no longer serving me? Which stories am I finally ready to release?

I know my thoughts create my reality and wondered what thoughts could still be holding me back at this stage? Time to let them go. For good. Thoughts of lack, limitation, “not enough,” “too old” and “too late” were quickly banished on that mountaintop.

So what now was ready to be born? How could I consciously embrace the truest part of me and live from there? The divine part that knows no limits? The part of me that is only love?

As I sat, overlooking the brightening landscape I said a simple prayer:

“Show me.”

My heart heard the message God whispered in response.

Love in Laughter and Tears

Our hearts don't really break, but sometimes it feels like it. And if often happens at the most peculiar times. For me, it happened just this past weekend.

Saturday was my darling grandson's second birthday and a time for great joy as our family gathered to celebrate. Several of his toddler friends attended the party and added to the fun. For hours we heard giggles, belly laughs and the occasional joyful shriek as the children played and the smiling adults mingled, ate good food and watched the fun.

It was as glorious as a two-year-old party could be.

While I was there, I was totally caught up in the excitement, but in the day's quiet times, my heart was heavy. Earlier in the week, a "kid" from our old neighborhood had died. And I heard the bubbly blonde cheerleader who graduated from high school with me had died as well. The morning of the party, I learned a beautiful young mother I knew through our Course in Miracles on line group had succumbed to cancer. 

Laying in my bed that night I my heart was full of joy thinking of the life ahead for my beloved grandson and at the same time, I felt such sadness for the lives that had ended. It was a weird feeling. And I wasn't sure how to deal with it.

As I allowed myself to feel the sadness, I decided not to judge the recent deaths as "right" or "wrong." As best I could, I abandoned the idea that these departures were "too soon" or "unfair." I decided to relax into the only thing that was true, eternal and real. I relaxed into love.

I imagined those souls who had passed and all who knew them surrounded by love, which to me looks like an effervescent pink and white glistening mist. I blessed them all and silently honored their life journey. I prayed that the families found the comfort they needed in this time of grief and I thanked each soul for being part of our shared experience.

I also remembered to relax into the love that was filling my heart thanks to my grandson. Grateful tears filled my eyes as I thought of the joy and new energy he had brought to our entire family and the happy years I expected to come.

Right before sleep, I remembered that love is ever present in the laughter of toddlers and the tears of the grieving. It’s the current that runs through life and helps each of us no matter what step we are on our journey.

The Be Love Principles

Happy Valentines Day!

Above you see a message that came to me in a vision last year. Yeah, an honest to God VISION that continues to reshape my life and business. I've spoken about it in previous TV episodes of "Heart-Centered Success," but haven't put them in graphic form until now.

Why share them today? Because although I love a mushy Valentines Day card as much as anyone, the real love we celebrate today, and hopefully every day, is the divine love that lives within each of us.

This is the love that anyone can access. Guidance, support, comfort, joy...it's all there for anyone who asks. I ask for guidance everyday and while my messages are always meaningful to me, this one was different. This message is for everyone. You can see the complete story of how I was given the Be Love Principles in this video and get a glimpse into how you can enjoy divine guidance any time you ask.

I'm working on a free website to house resources, testimonials and material pertaining to the principles so you can incorporate them into your own life. They're magical. These simple principles have changed my life and the lives of a few others I've shared them with and now I offer them to you.

Hope you find time this Valentines Day to explore these principles and the love that surrounds you each day. And wouldn't that be a great way to spend February 14th? Exploring the many facets of love...

Sounds good to me!

Until next time...

Be well, be happy and most importantly, Be Love,

Diane

"Spiritual Crap"

                                                                             Alevtina Karro/Bigstock.com

I’ve spent years deepening my spiritual practice through prayer, meditation, classes, retreats and self-exploration. I feel blessed to be on this path and I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my life’s purpose is to help others discover the joy of spiritual connection.

Did that resonate with you? Or did you just think, “blah, blah, blah…it’s that spiritual crap again!”

I know, I know. Sometimes this “spiritual crap” doesn’t seem realistic. Someone told me once, “I want to be more spiritual, I want to know the Divine within, but how does that pay the bills? I hate my job and my spouse is a jerk. Tell God to take care of that stuff and I’ll have time to be more spiritual.”

Yep, I get that a lot.

The point of developing a life that’s connected to Divine spirit isn’t so much about what you get, but what you give. It’s in the giving that we receive.

Don’t shoot the messenger. I didn’t come up with this plan.

I’ve just seen it quietly at work in my own life and in the lives of my family and coaching clients. And it’s more awesome than you can imagine. It’s where the magic of life happens.

Here’s an example:

A woman gave a $200 donation to a tsunami relief fund to help a devastated community thousands of miles away. It was a huge amount to her and wasn’t in her budget, but she gave from an open and loving heart. Over the next few days, she prayed for those affected and imagined her money bringing clean water and fresh food to hungry children.

A week later, she was gifted a lottery ticket and won $2,000.

Whaaat????

Yeah, it can happen like that. And sometimes it doesn’t.

Sometimes you do something from a place of love and it feels like you got shoved into the dirt. Get up. Brush yourself off and stay connected to love. Real love, not the manipulative “I’m doing this because it helps me” kind of love.

Keep living from love, doing your best to be connected to spirit so it flows through all you do and say. Not because of what you’ll get, but because you want to be an instrument for Divine love in this world. That’s the goal of a spiritual life.

When you stay on that loving path, miracles start to find you. Your life becomes magical.

Just ask my sister.

After many years of struggle, her life is now filled with joy. She’s happier than I’ve ever seen her. She’s the one in the family who’s “always there” for any of us in a crisis…or any other time, for that matter.

In our family, she’s always the first:

- to meet you at the hospital emergency room and stay to drive you home
- help with the computer problem
- answer that weird tax question that everyone understands but you
- to answer the phone when you’re having a bad day and need to vent
- take a drive with you to clear your head
- come to every birthday, anniversary, holiday or “just because” family function, no matter where it is, or how much it costs to participate
- cheer on your every success, no matter how big or small
- encourage you in every way…especially when situations look impossible
- say “love you” at the end of text or phone conversations

She’s THAT one. The one everyone leans on, whether you need a shoulder to cry on or want someone to laugh at your stupid joke. Every generation in our family counts on her.

Her love and support is genuine and without expectations.

Is she spiritual? Yes, in every aspect of the word. She lives by allowing Divine love to flow through her actions and into the world. Has it always been easy? No. Like all of us, she’s had traumas, dramas and pain in her life. She makes mistakes. She chooses to live from love anyway.

What a joy to see what’s happened for her in this last year. She’s met the man of her dreams. Her prince. And she’s his princess. Spend time with them and hear their giggles, see the wide smiles and watch their eyes sparkle as they plan their future together which, of course, includes both families.

It’s like she hit the lottery. But not the one that pays money. It’s much more than that.

By connecting to her Divine spirit and living a life of loving service to others in the best way she knows how, she’s experiencing an abundant life. It’s filled with love, romance, security, fun, adventure....and magic.

I just love how this “spiritual crap” works.