Karen’s Blog

GRATEFUL= FULL OF WHAT IS GREAT! 

In order to become grateful, we need fill ourselves up with that which is GREAT!!  And if we fill ourselves up with what is great, our life becomes even greater! 

Look around and notice all that is great in your life and then celebrate it with more passion and enthusiasm than you thought possible!  Make a conscious effort to “fill up” on the things that are GREAT in your life at the present moment, rather than focussing on what is not so great and wasting time trying to figure out how it got there.  Instead of obsessing about your “bigger than last year” bootie, celebrate something that you love about your body.  If you have GREAT arms, hug yourself with them!  If you have a GREAT smile, share it with yourself in the mirror every chance that you get!  The more you focus on what is great, the more grateful you become.  

Get yourself excited this new year about all of the wonderful and bountiful blessing in your life and become filled to the brim with it all.  Forget about making goals and lists of all of the things that you don’t have yet, and instead make a list of everything that you do have and celebrate it.  Spend 2 minutes before your feet hit the floor each morning thinking about all that is great around you rather than stressing over all that is not quite as good as it should be.  Focus on your GREAT kids and GREAT husband instead of the all of their laundry that you have to do when you get up.  Or think about the GREAT opportunities that you have in this country to make some money instead of worrying about all of the debt that you accumulated this holiday.  Think about your GREAT life and celebrate it and you will be surprised at how quickly you become grateful!!  

I found this list of all of the quotes  from “THE SECRET” and find having it close by helps me to stay excited and passionate about being grateful.  I hope it helps you too!!   Happy New You! 

Styx: The grand illusion

Welcome to the grand illusion
Come on in and see whats happening
Pay the price, get your tickets for the show
The stage is set, the band starts playing
Suddenly your heart is pounding
Wishing secretly you were a star.

But dont be fooled by the radio
The tv or the magazines
They show you photographs of how your life should be
But theyre just someone elses fantasy
So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because you never win the game
Just remember that its a grand illusion
And deep inside were all the same.
Were all the same…

So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because your neighbors got it made
Just remember that its a grand illusion
And deep inside were all the same.
Were all the same…

America spells competition, join us in our blind ambition
Get yourself a brand new motor car
Someday soon well stop to ponder what on earths this spell were under
We made the grade and still we wonder who the hell we are

Dennis Deyoung 1977

When it comes to feeling empowered I find that I am most successful if I am willing to first allow myself to feel powerless.  This is no easy feat for a control freak like myself!  Powerlessness initially feels like such a negative word.  I mean… if I do not have power over my own life, then who does??

Well, I guess you only need a tiny bit of spirituality to know the answer to that question~~

What I am learning to do is to turn my “negative feeling” of powerlessness into a “positive action” of empowerment!  I  am working toward using my powerlessness as a tool to remind myself to let go and let God as often as possible!  When I start trying to control everything around me and fit it all into my neat little orderly world, my energy gets zapped, my nerves get shot, my attitude stinks and I feel powerless.  So when that happens, I am going to take a step back and use those feelings to remind myself to just let go!!!  Just stop and release and let go! 

When I manage to do so~~ when I release my control, stop trying so hard, and just settle into my feelings of powerlessness, the result has been a renewed sense of peace and acceptance, which in turn has led to an unbelievable sense of empowerment and positive energy.   This empowerment and positive energy yields a great deal of accomplishment for me!!  It seems as if I can get more done with less effort.  Everything (and everyone) that I have been “working on” falls into place and life feels more control-able after all.  It is amazing how it all works!! 

What I have learned and continue to learn through this exercise is that empowerment cannot be achieved through struggle and conflict, it can only be gifted as a reward for choosing acceptance and peace.   When we “choose” acceptance of ourself and acceptance our circumstance, and when we choose to react peacefully to both, we are gifted with a sense of empowerment over each.  

Yoga is a great example of this for me.  When I finish a yoga class, I feel as if I could move a mountain!  I am empowered and strong and filled with a  sense of great accomplishment.  Why??  Not because I have struggled and manipulated my body into positions that are painful and contorted~~ but rather because I have taken the time to release myself and my control.  When doing yoga, you have to move gently through the motions and allow yourself to be guided into the positions.  You must release your breath, your body, your mind and your spirit~~ and in doing so, you are renewed and empowered.  Well the same goes for life.  If you can find a way to move gently and be guided in all areas, you can find empowerment around every bend!

LET GO OF SOMETHING YOU ARE CONTROLLING TODAY!  GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO RELEASE YOUR STRUGGLE AND BE SET FREE TO FEEL THE TRUE POWER THAT COMES FROM LETTING GO AND LETTING GOD!    

When I was growing up the word deserving always seemed to be attached to something negative.  For instance, when I came home with a “C” on my report card I was told that I got the grade that I deserved because I didn’t study hard enough.  When I got in trouble or grounded, my mom would say that my punishment was because I did something to deserve it.   I didn’t hear the word deserve when we got an “A” on my report card or behaved well simply because good grades and good behavior were just expected.  This is not to say that I didn’t get praised or acknowledged for the good things, it is just that the word deserve was not part of that conversation. 

That is probably why it was hard for me to understand and truly believe that I “deserved” the good things in my life too.  I always thought that good things only happened because I did something to make them happen (like work really hard or behave up to expectations).  But I now see things so differently.  And I am so grateful!!

I realize now that I deserve good things not because of what I do, but because of who I am.  I now know that I am a child of God and I deserve of His love and blessing simply because “I am.”  I don’t have to work hard to deserve it, I don’t have to perform well to deserve it, I simply have to “believe” that I deserve it.  

Even when I don’t live up to expectations (my own or the world’s) I can still feel deserving and worthy of not only good things, but GREAT things!! 

What have I done today that makes me feel deserving??  Not much.  I simply believed!!

Before I let it go of the creativity topic and move onto my next weekly topic~ I need to pass along this blog link to any photographers reading along!  Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua  of Burns Auto Parts is a creative consultant who works with photographers (me) who are in need of a metaphorical lube job for their business.  She works with creative professionals (me) to find personal solutions for their business and helps nurture their vision so they can develop a marketing strategy for success.  I hired Leslie a year and half ago and changed the direction of my business completely.  She is brilliant and funny and HER BLOG  is a must read for any photographer who is serious about the commercial side of the photography industry.  She understands the creative mind and sells these T-shirts  that prove it!!