Grateful for Lessons Learned: Looking Back 2013

On January 1st 2013, if someone had given me a glimpse of the future, I might have pulled the covers over my head and stayed in bed. There were many lessons I learned this year, many challenging albeit worthwhile for me to grow and change. In fact, lessons, as they are designed to do, propelled me onto a stronger spiritual course. For this, I am grateful. Now, as 2014 is almost here, it is a time for review.

Lessons learned:
1- I learned I have absolutely unequivocally no control over anyone’s behavior.
2- Everyone is responsible for creating their own destiny. I am not in charge.
3- I learned that God is in charge of everything and that the only thing that makes sense in terms of co-creatorship (a spiritual principle I believe in) is that I have control over my attitude.
4- The direction of my life? I must wait, in faith, for direction from my Higher Power. As of this writing, the direction arrived and was confirmed in a dream. I am grateful for that.
5- Since I have control over my attitude, what I believe and the way that I think, I am grateful to let go of psychological things that no longer serve me.
6- I am giving up all resentments past and present. I remind myself to live and let live. Thinking this way is an act of forgiveness.
7- Self-care is at the top of the list. Yes, I like to help others, but I need more than an hour each day to take care of my meditation, prayer, walking, and preparing organic vegetables for juicing.
8- To this end I completely changed my diet and eat 95% organic. 80% raw. Lots of greens and juicing with my special juicing machines.
9 -I never miss my 30 minute 1.3 mile walk daily.
10- I really cherish the time taking care of myself.
11- I learned that service to another is by far the greatest gift we can give to ourselves and to another person. To this end I have added on to the Red Cross volunteering to feed the homeless at the Sunday Mission. When I am there I am reminded over and over of the many blessings in my life. I am grateful.
12- I am putting together a new service project for 2014. More on that….
13- I am so grateful for all of my blessings that I now speak aloud to God as I walk down the street. I thank, and I thank, and I thank again. I have so many blessings that I can’t stop thanking Higher Power for all of them.
14- There is a path of compassion and I am on it. This means that I want to continue to develop compassion and live in that consciousness the best that I can.
15- Besides the meditation that I do daily and that I have been doing for forty years, I pray every day for healing for myself, my family, loved ones, friends, and the world.
16- Prayer brings miracles and the greatest miracle is that I have control over my consciousness to make it what I want it to be every minute, every second of every day. It takes a conscious effort of integrating body, mind, and spirit.
17- Did I say I was grateful for all of the new things in my life?
18- Every day, in meditation, I invite Higher Power into my life. I say aloud. “I invite you in. I know you are there facing me, and now I am turning and facing you. Help me to speak kind words and to remember that everyone has their own Higher Power and I am not it.”
19- And every day I remind myself that in “reality” I am Soul on an earth walk. This lifetime is one of thousands of incarnations that I have lived as Soul on this planet and in other places in the solar system; a powerful incarnation designed for spiritual growth. Meditation and prayer brings me closer to the awareness, the knowledge, that I am a spiritual being of light on an earth walk. I am Soul.
20-Love is everything. Striving to be the most loving person (not ignoring emotional challenges) is the most important thing to do.
I love you!
I wish you all many many blessings for an abundant 2014!

Love, Light, Healing and Many Blessings,
Ruth Starseed Hoskins
https://www.facebook.com/RuthStarseed
http://www.RelaxationInternational.com

Starseed Gratitude Initiative

When I was a child, much to the chagrin of my step-father who was a newcomer to our home, I wrote the names of people I loved and wanted blessings for on the wall next to my bed. There was a method to this madness; the many names of the people I loved would be remembered in my prayers before I went to sleep. “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my Soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my Soul to take. If I should live for other days, I pray the Lord to guide my ways.” Then I would say, God bless so and so. I would name the people on the list penciled on my wall next to my bed; adding other names, anyone I could think of. Standing over the bed with nothing to say, my step-father glared at the innocent seven year old staring lovingly at the names written on the wall.

When I was an adolescent, my step-father had plenty to say. He became a formidable presence; a gruff man too often unloving. However no one, not even he was ever able to squash my love for life, for God, and for all of the beauty and magic around me; for all of the blessings I have in my life. One of the greatest blessings I have is a need to remember to count my blessings and to be grateful for all that I have, every day.

Later in life, when I began teaching at the local college I shared the research of Dr. Emoto who wrote “The Hidden Messages of Water.” One of the bottom lines of his research is that the Universe responds positively to words and feelings of gratitude. Gratitude for ourselves and for others-even for the challenges that have the potential to bring us to new heights and wisdom. (This is difficult to see and believe when we are going through challenges). It is also very difficult to control the negative slide that our mind seems to want to go in during the day. Fatigue or hunger can bring our thoughts into a slide so much faster. For this reason, it is important to eat life-giving foods that enhance the cells in our mind and our body, and to get a good night’s rest. Think of bedtime as an actual activity. A time to prepare-wind down an hour ahead with a warm shower and lavender scents. No computers in bed! Then off to the dream world where we continue to learn. When we awaken refreshed it is so much easier to be grateful for all that we have.

On Monday, July 8th, 2103, is the Starseed Gratitude Initiative. Stop for a few moments every hour and count your blessings. Smile to others and be grateful. Compliment and tell people you love them. I always remind myself that no day is promised. Grab hold of today and be grateful for all of the things and people in your life, all that you have.

Love, Light, Healing, and Many blessings,

Ruth Starseed
Starseed Gratitude Initiative
http://www.RelaxationInternational.com
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Miracles Abound

Walking down the street, the sun sends streams of light through the trees casting shadows on the asphalt that forms dozens of interesting shapes dancing across the ground. Everything is in bloom. Spring is here. The grass is green, the flowers are blossoming purples, oranges, pinks and whites. In the morning, a light dewy mist lightly covers the grass making everything brighter, clearer, cleaner, greener and sweeter to look at. The sky is a deep bright blue and cloudless. In the morning, 5 AM to be exact, the birds wake up the neighborhood with their joyful song. At 8 PM they sing another song; a softer mellower tune that says nighttime is on the way. In the night sky, the moon slowly rises and reflects the light from the sun reminding that even in the darkest times there is still light on earth and that miracles abound.

There are miracles all around; miracles in families when unexpected healing takes place. Prayers that are answered-unanswered prayers are for the best. An unseen more positive path is about to unfold. What gets in the way of seeing miracles are fears that take hold in the mind and heart. Sometimes fear roots itself deeply in a person’s psyche-not a healthy way to live. Fear holds a person hostage as the worst is imagined and the “what if” scenario is played out in one's mind. Often, however, the “what ifs” never happen. However, sometimes bad things do occur. But we cannot sit and worry and wait. It is best to go through the day looking for the good, counting blessings, and seeing the miracles of life.
Here’s how I set up my day so that my mind can accept the beauty in life.

1- Getting a good night's sleep is essential so the next day is balanced.

2- After the morning shower and a glass of water with lemon, I sit down and meditate, the effortless meditation, allowing thoughts to come and go. Passively observing them is easy to do. Fifteen to thirty minutes is all that is needed.

3- Invite in the Presence of God, the Holy Spirit, The ECK.

4- A morning walk comes next, 15 to 30 minutes.

5- On the walk, breathe deeply and consciously. Observe surroundings and acknowledge the miracles of nature.

6- Smile. Smiling increases endorphins the feel good chemicals in the body.

7- Count blessings.

8- Look for the good.

9- Send love and gratitude to the Divine.

10- During the day, acknowledge your own divinity and the divine in everyone.

The mind can be retrained to focus on the positive but it does take work. It is the nature of the mind to drift, to complain, to worry etc. With the thousands of thoughts that go through one’s mind every day, it is neither advisable nor possible to control them. Control is not the answer. Passively observing thoughts letting them come and go just like in meditation is the easiest thing to do. Then re-direct thoughts towards words like thankfulness, gratitude, love, happiness, and goodwill. Set up your day with behavior modification techniques that positively direct thoughts. Then you will see that miracles all around.

Love, Light, Healing and Many blessings,

Ruth Starseed
http://www.RelaxationInternational.com
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