Insights – Melannie Thomas

Archive for the ‘Intuitive Guidance’ Category

The word that inspired this week’s post is cope.  How are very intuitive and sensitive people able to cope with the increasing trauma of daily living?

Sensitive and intuitive people feel energy at very intense levels. Finding and employing successful ways of coping with upsets, deeply disturbing events, cataclysms and traumas becomes essential to healthy survival.

The juxtaposition of a declaration of national emergency for a wall and the suburban Chicago shooting, coming a day after the first year anniversary of the Parkland School massacre, is so vexing to my highly sensitive person.  If I entertain this plaguing energy, dwelling on the ethos and pathos, it will make me ill.   It is incumbent on me, therefore, to practice the art of mastery.

“Whether trauma will be a cruel and punishing Gorgon or a vehicle for soaring to the heights of transformation and mastery depends upon how we approach it.”  ~Peter Levine

Staying healthy and well requires action; the action of regulation and control.  If I submit my highly sensitive being to the constant battering of my reality, dis-ease is inevitable.

“You cannot control what happens to you but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you.  In that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.” ~Brian Tracy

The two essential keys to achieving mastery of psychic and emotional sensitivity are: a strong, active belief system, and control of the inner dialogue; especially the thought-words that foment hopelessness, helplessness, and anger turned inward manifesting as depression.

“Self-discipline begins with the mastery of your thoughts.  If you don’t control what you think, you cannot control what you do.”  ~Napoleon Hill

“If fear is cultivated it will become stronger, if faith is cultivated it will achieve mastery.”  ~John Paul Jones

This is some of, if not the hardest work we ever do.  Michelangelo said…”If people knew how hard I worked to get mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.”  And Don Miguel Ruiz  wrote, “Practice creates the master.”

Super sensitive people possess the other side of the gold coin.  They routinely see their environment sparkle.  Keenly aware of the world around them, delighting in cloud formations.  Dew sparkling in the morning sun.  The feel and smell of fresh air.  The smiling, knowing, eye contact of a passing stranger.  The uninhibited laughter of children. The shape and color of a fallen leaf.  The feel of water, sun and wind on their bodies.  The mating calls of red hawks.

They feel the beauty and subtle smells, sights and  energies that most people overlook.

Mastery is a process, not an event.  “When you can see mastery as a path you go down instead of a destination you arrive at, it starts to feel accessible and attainable.  Most assume mastery is an end result, but at its core, mastery is a way of thinking, a way of acting and a journey you experience.”  ~Gary Keller.

We cannot master the world, but we can master ourselves.  “One can have no smaller or greater mastery then the mastery of oneself.”   ~Leonardo Da Vinci

Blessings!

There is wisdom in seeking good counsel…helpful advice.  However, to secure wise counsel is to ask it of those who will be objective, compassionate and kind; and to risk hearing what we may not want to hear.

Seeking advice from those we love and respect is to trust that they will be equally respectful, loving and honest with their response.

“Many receive advice, only the wise profit from it.”  ~Harper Lee

As the receiver of advice, it is important that we listen with an open mind and an open heart.

“Every man, however wise, needs the advice of some sagacious friend in the affairs of life.”  ~Plautus

Ultimately, we make the final decisions.  Good decisions come from our third chakra.  Manipura, meaning ‘lustrous gem’, the center of personal power, confidence and self-esteem.

No other being is responsible for our choices, and the way we choose to live our life.

Giving advice can be tricky.  If you are asked for your opinion, listen with an open heart and an open mind.  Responding thoughtfully and appropriately with loving care and concern.

If you have not been asked for your insight, examine your motivation carefully before offering advice, and be prepared to be rejected, perhaps even vilified for your efforts.

“Advice is like snow – the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.”  ~Samuel Taylor Coloridge

I was attracted to this quote by Jack Adams, as much for it’s humor as for it’s truth…”If it’s free, it’s advice; if you pay for it, it’s counseling; if you can use either one, it’s a miracle.”

I invite you to consider whom you choose to seek advice from, and how you choose to give advice to others.

Blessings!

“…dignified grace in appearance, movement or behavior.” as defined by the Collins English Dictionary.  Ingenious is a synonym for elegance that I particularly like.  It is a special aptitude for inventing and/or discovering, which is defined by resourcefulness, originality and cleverness in conception or execution.

Elegance is not limited to human description.  Mathematicians, for example, often refer to ‘mathematical elegance’ and ‘elegant proof’, when a theorem is simple yet effective and a proof is succinct.

David Suzuki, scientist and geneticist, best known for his TV series The Nature of Things, said, “I fell in love with the elegance and precision of genetic analysis and experimentation to answer profound biological questions.”

A person described as elegant has a grace and style that brings a certain calm and dignity into all aspects of their daily behavior.

“Elegance is usually confused with superficiality, fashion, lack of depth.  This is a serious mistake: human beings need to have elegance in their actions and in their posture because this word is synonymous with good taste, amiability, equilibrium and harmony.”  ~Paulo Coelho

Elegance is simple, understated and unflappable; it needs no adornment or pretense.

Isabella Rosellini wrote, “Women who stay true to themselves are always more interesting and beautiful to me: women like Frieda Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe and Anna Magnani – women who have style, chic, allure and elegance.  They didn’t submit to any standard of beauty – they defined it.”  An activist, an artist and an actress,  powerful and compelling examples of elegance.

Societies today have a crassness often justified by ‘being real’, which more often than not presents a self-indulgent, crude inelegance.

I invite you this week to the awareness of elegance around you; elegance in form, thought and action and to the elegance within you.

Blessings!

…having or showing good spirits, pleasant, bright, conducive to creating good spirits.

Cheerfulness, like laughter, is good for your health.  Approaching everyday stressors with a cheerful attitude has benefits like reducing inflammation and blood pressure and contributing to an overall sense of well-being.

“Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health and is as friendly to the mind as to the body.”  ~Joseph Addison

The more often we succeed in managing  daily stressors, the more empowered and confident we become in dealing with them.  One of my favorite ways to put stress in perspective and get out of the spin cycle, is to remind myself that in a hundred years it will not matter.  The inference is obvious; I will have moved on to a new dimension, and life is too short to sweat the small stuff.

There is an additional aspect of cheerfulness and calm.  Seeing stress and worry as robbers and thieves, I choose not to entertain them. Hence not allowing them to steal my peace of mind, contentment, joy and gratitude.

“Cheerfulness, it would appear, is a matter which depends fully as much on the state of things within, as on the state of things without and around us.”  ~Charlotte Bronte

“Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, and its power of endurance – the cheerful man will do more in the same time, will do it better, will preserve it longer, than the sad or sullen.”  ~Thomas Carlyle

Cheerfulness has another splendid gift to offer.  A cheerful countenance can lift the spirits of others, bringing relief from their stress.  We all have experienced the shift when a cheerful person walks into the room uplifting the energy.  And, conversely, when a person of sad and sullen countenance enters, the energy shifts downward.  Which would you prefer to be?

Being a cheerful person does not mean avoiding coping with and moving through life’s difficult challenges.  There is a phrase in the Herbal Tarot that seems ideal for this moment.  Yellow dock is the herb on the two of pentacles and it’s spiritual properties are building…”a stronger inner self who is not afraid of dancing with life, just as the famous Zorba did even during the most harrowing experiences of his existence.”

It is important to express cheerfulness appropriately.  This quote by William Feather says it well, “Early morning cheerfulness can be extremely obnoxious.”  No one enjoys being around a Pollyanna.

I invite you to continue cultivating your spirit of cheerfulness.

Blessings!

Life has it’s ups and downs, peaks and valleys, joys and sorrows, victories and losses, pains and pleasures…a veritable roller coaster ride of emotion.

Disappointment is activated by failure and disillusion; in ourselves, and in others. The antidote for disappointment is hope, trust, and faith.  Striking a balance is necessary to successfully navigate  through storms of disappointment.  Learning not to over invest in expectations, of ourselves and others is an essential aspect of coping with disappointment.

“Don’t let today’s disappointments cast a shadow on tomorrow’s dreams.”   ~Unknown

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” So the saying goes.  My take is, why stop with lemonade?  Open a store that sells things that are all about lemons.  Lemon themed coffee mugs, glassware, dish towels, aprons, Limoncello, lemon drops, lemon bars, etc.  Metaphorically, profiting from what life gives you.

“There’s always failure.  And there’s always disappointment.  And there’s always loss.  But the secret is learning from the loss, and realizing that none of those holes are vacuums.”   ~Michael J. Fox

When deeply mired in the muck of disappointment and loss, processing through to the other side brings renewal and greater wisdom.

“Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it.”  ~Eliza Tabor

I invite you this week to seek the gifts of  strength, faith and wisdom that come with disappointment.

Blessings!

Part of the definition of foundation is a basis upon which  something stands, a supporting structure.

To build a strong character that has an abundance of integrity, compassion and sentient awareness, begins with the creation of a solid foundation, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

“A house must be built on solid foundations if it is to last.  The same principle applies to man, otherwise he too will sink back into the soft ground and become swallowed up by the world of illusion.”  ~Sai Baba

Many of us don’t begin our journey through life with a strong, healthy foundation.  However, one can be constructed at any time.  It is hard work which is often avoided, or put off, until some crisis demands a new solid foundation.  The commitment to follow the process through to completion is exceedingly rewarding.

“And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”  ~J. K. Rowling

The work may seem formidable.  In my neighborhood, I see dozens of homes arising from the ashes of last year’s Tubbs fire, in spite of the many hurdles, obstacles and difficult decisions owners have had to make.  And this rebuilding starts with a foundation that cannot be seen via casual observation, yet it supports the promise of new beginnings.

“Process transforms any journey into a series of small steps, taken one by one, to reach any goal.  Process transcends time, teaches patience, rests on a solid foundation of careful preparation, and embodies trust in our unfolding potential.”  ~Dan Millman

Preparing for this week’s blog, brought to mind the fable of The Three Little Pigs.  Anxious to get on with having fun, two of them built homes of straw and sticks respectively.  The third little piggy built his home of brick.  He was chided by the other two for his efforts and the time it was taking to build his sturdy home.

Then along came the Big Bad Wolf.  He came to a house of straw, demanding the little pig come out; he refused. So the wolf huffed and puffed and blew the house down.  The little pig who built the house of sticks met the same fate.

Then the wolf went on to the house built of brick, and hard as he might, all his huffing and puffing could not blow the house down.

Blessings!

…having all it’s proper parts or elements; entire; being healthy or sound.

As sentient beings we can spend a lifetime journeying into the realm of wholeness; to find, invite, nurture and become our authentic selves.

The Knights of the Tarot all represent the search for the Holy Grail; the symbol of God within.

“…our knightly task is to figure out where our place is, to evaluate our experiences and decide what new attitudes and approaches best suit us.  That journey and the adventures, victories, and obstacles we encounter along the way, prepare us to assume our roles as Queens and Kings.”  ~Spiritual Tarot: Echols, Mueller, Thomson (Quill, NY, 1996).

“We need to see, and agree that what we seek already lives within us, and we within it.  Now we know our one great task:  Watch for whatever promises us freedom, and then quietly, consciously refuse to see ourselves through the eyes of what we know is incomplete.  Then we live wholeness itself, instead of spending our lives looking for it.”  ~Guy Finley

The quest, the journey to wholeness is seldom undertaken and sustained through to it’s reward.  The path is fraught with peril. Self-doubt; a tenacious clinging to unhealthy patterns because they exude comfort and safety, even though they are the very Demons of fear that keep us prisoners, make us unable to accept the grace and forgiveness of divine pardon. Thus preventing our escape to the nurturing love of the authentic self.  Additionally, the time, dedication and courage required to seek after and capture the Holy Grail discourages most of us.

“The journey to wholeness requires that you look honestly, openly, and with courage into yourself, into the dynamics that lie behind what you feel, what you perceive, what you value, and how you act.  It is a journey through your defenses and beyond, so that you can experience consciously the nature of your personality, face what it has produced in your life, and choose to change that.  Words lead to deeds.  They prepare the soul, make it ready, and move it to tenderness.”  ~Gary Zukav

Although the journey to wholeness is perhaps the greatest challenge we face in the quest for the Holy Grail, success and reward defy description.  However, there are many palpable rewards: inner peace, especially amidst social, political and personal upheaval; no need to fear/react/behave based on what others think of us; authentic self-confidence based upon intimate knowledge of  our personal strengths and weaknesses; the ability to successfully deal with cognitive dissonance; and a deep, abiding, intimate connection with others and with the sacred energy of all life.

“You see, the condition of wholeness demands an inner quiet, a state of serenity and contentment.  Nurturing intimacy with oneself can be done only in a tranquil setting, a space where noise and chatter diminish and one’s own personhood comes to the surface.”  ~Susan Dietz (Press Democrat, Single File, December 22, 2018)

I invite you to find, nurture and protect your sacred space.  The haven and refuge of wholeness.

Blessings!

The New Year is time for honoring the past year, taking the lessons learned and the works in progress into the New Year; leaving behind that which is no longer profitable for healthy growth.

It’s time to usher in the New Year with hopes, plans and promises for the unfolding of a richer, fuller, peaceful bounty.

“For last years words belong to last years language.  And next years words await another voice.”  ~T.S.Elliot

Going beyond resolutions, creating an outline of desired personal accomplishments for the coming year, then filling it in with realistic plans and strategies for achievement, can enable us to chart a course of action for success.

“What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year.”  ~Vern McLellan

Spring is a time for renewal; winter is a time for thoughtful planning.  My wish for you in the coming year is the expansion of your inner peace, robust laughter, enduring love and bright light of Spirit leading the way.

Blessings!

Wishing you all a fantastic Holy Season filled with love, peace and joy!

Merry Christmas!

What does it mean to be kind?  To practice kindness?

Kindness is living a life of personal integrity built on a foundation of ‘ethical characteristics’…knowing right from wrong.

We most often think of kindness as an outward expression of care and empathy for others.  However, the most vital aspect of kindness is treating yourself as well as you treat others.  How you treat yourself with kindness, how you talk to yourself with kindness, will resonate through all of your relationships.

“Kindness in words creates confidence.  Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.  Kindness in giving creates love.”  ~Lao Tzu

True kindness is not co-dependent.  It is not about trying to make everyone happy, or, appeasing others in-authentically to reduce your cognitive dissonance.  Sometimes saying ‘no’ is an act of kindness to yourself and others, even though it may spark anger and disappointment.

“Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.”  ~Theodore Issac Rubin

True kindness is rooted in acceptance and compassion.  Accepting who we are and having compassion for ourselves bears the fruit of true kindness…kindness without expectation, a kindness freely, gently and respectfully given.

“I’ve been searching for ways to heal myself, and I’ve found that kindness is the best way.”  ~Lady Gaga

When kindness becomes part of our daily practice it has the potential to contribute to the creation of happier and healthier families, and ultimately of a happier and healthier world.

“You don’t teach morals and ethics and empathy and kindness in the schools.  You teach that at home, and children learn by example.”  ~Judy Sheindlin

“Kindness and politeness are not overrated at all.  They’re underused.”  ~Tommy Lee Jones

Surely, this is a season of kindness…perhaps treating ourselves day in and day out with the loving kindness we shower upon others, we can create peace, within and without.

Blessings!