The Universe is My Safety Net

No job will keep me safe.
No amount of food will keep me safe.
No man will keep me safe.
No drug will keep me safe.

Why not?

Because the Universe and I, we're tight. And I know that my unwavering faith in this supportive energy is what ultimately will bring me back to knowing that I am safe as I am, in this moment, always. The Universe is my Safety Net.

Starting my graphic design business is one of the biggest challenges I have ever undertook. It requires faith and perseverance. It requires getting rid of self-doubt and replacing it with self-worth. It requires learning about taxes, financial planning, marketing, networking, as well as other unexpected technical skills that I learn as I go. I took on a babysitting job a few hours a week in order to feel safe with my finances. It was working for a while, until it wasn't. And when it wasn't, the Universe kept knocking me over the head until I got the message that I was done there.

I was using this babysitting job as my safety net. I thought it was helping me financially, which it was but it allowed me to keep my business growth at a stalemate as I didn't have as much time to focus on it. My internal guide kept speaking louder, telling me to trust that the Universe knows what it is doing, just allow it to help you out! Isn't that awesome?! All we have to do is allow this supportive energy to help us. It's that simple.

As I look at other areas of my life such as my struggle with impulsive eating, I can see that I have used food as my safety net. When I was uncomfortable, when I didn't want to face the truth of what was happening in my life or how I was feeling, I looked to food for comfort, love and safety. And again, I am learning that this false sense of safety does not serve me or those around me. Because I will never feel fulfilled or safe from eating pretzels or chocolate when things get uncomfortable. I am trusting the Universal Safety Net in this area of my life as well, knowing that the feelings and emotions I am attempting to numb with food are my teachers, guiding me to LIVE. Period.

If we are eating, doing, sleeping, drinking, working out or meditating OVER our feelings, we are forgetting that we have a safety net surrounding us at all times.

Trust.

Let yourself fall gracefully into the oh-so-soft, awesomely warm, ever loving Universal Safety Net.

Slow it down, baby. Witness the Magic.

Some things can only be seen when we slow down enough to see them.

When we are running from place to place, when we are going down our to-do list and completing every task that we had planned to get done without stopping to breathe, without being present with what we are doing because we are thinking about the next thing we have to do, we are missing the magic.

Do you want to miss the miracles?

What if I told you that, right now, miracles are occurring all around you. YOU are a miracle. You are warm, you are safe, you are nourished, your heart is beating, your blood is pumping, your eyes are blinking, and you didn't even have to think about that. Cool, huh? Another amazing thing that is occuring is that you are reading this post that YOU created. Yes you. Without your thirst for this information, without your intent to read this, I wouldn't be here writing it. So, thank you.

Anyway, I digress. My inspiration for this post occured a few weeks ago while I was walking past Madison Square Park. Okay, fine, I was practically running because I thought I was going to be late to my class. I was caught up in the NYC craziness. But, out of the corner of my eye I noticed some lights in the middle of the park. I heard my inner guide telling me to stop and I did, since I have found that my inner guide knows best. I looked at the lights and all I saw were lights hanging from a string. I thought, really?! What's so special about this?? And as my breathing slowed down, as I began to relax, I saw that these lightbulbs were set up in a way that was similar to an LED display. And it created a moving image. It was beautiful. It was magnificent. These beautiful sparkling objects hung next to each other and created a movie. The moving image was of people walking, some fast, some slow. Just like what was happening in real time, people passing me left and right. It was absolutely magnificently beautiful. I was having a moment. I was again reminded that there is beauty everywhere, we just need to slow down and witness it.

[if you want to check out this awesome installment, click here]

So, how can you begin to slow down?
1. Breathe. As often as you can remember, take a deep breath.
2. Intend. Whenever you can remember, intend to witness the beauty in your life. You don't need to do anything else. You will soon see that you will witness things in your daily routine that bring you joy. These things are always there, you just have been overlooking them.
3. Practice. Practice slowing down by sitting and sipping on a cup of tea. Turn off the TV, put away your blackberry, sit. Feel your butt on the chair. Feel your hands on the warm mug, feel the warm liquid move down your throat.

As you begin to bring a few moments of slowness into your daily routine, you will begin to notice that your brain will automatically remind you to slow down in other moments.

Good luck, friends! We are doing this together as I wrote this post to remind myself to slow it down once again.

Next blog post: Slowing Down and Eating. Why this is the most powerful thing you can do for your health.

Fire That Lights or Burns

Anger. The fire deep within wants to come out and play. Wants to twist and strangle and burn. It suffocates and emblazes every cell of myself and those around me. Allowance of the raging fire softens the blows. I am able to enjoy the heat it produces and I sink into its warmth. Fire is a fine line, however. In it’s untamed state it is destructive. Anger engulfs the shadow, highlights the demonic. Stares sin in the face. In an instant this fiery passion can light up the room or turn everything on its path into ash. Free will dictates that I choose its fate.