Warming and lightening our winter season thoughts.
Warming and lightening our winter season thoughts.
“If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person.
“If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the home.
“If there is harmony in the home, there will be peace in the world.” – Confucius
Too often we have a tendency to allow the cold weather to “wear on us”. Some times we may become complacent and or lethargic. Especially, after the Holiday ambiance has died down. The family has gone home, and all that seems left is to shovel our walkways, and put out the ice melt.
This is a time where it seems everyone goes into a “long winters nap”.
You see, though this is a great time to allow our selves to experience loving our own selves, so we may be better prepared to love others. Love and light starts with you.
If you don’t love your self, how will love someone else? Nurturing the spirit within is perfect for the long, cold winter weather.
Our mind may tell us that filling ourselves first is an act of selfishness- it seems to go against society’s dictum, that it is more blessed to give than to receive. It takes wisdom and courage to realize that filling ourselves is essential. This is not selfishness, but self-full-ness ,as I like to call it.
We can start with a long candle-lit bubble bath. It can turn into a spiritual retreat, with the proper spiritual books and/ or CD’s. It is a great time for meditation. Loving yourself can also be joining with God/ Creator.
I read somewhere that struggling couples that actually made a “gratitude list” about the other partners, they actually felt better about their partner, after making the list, as apposed to those couples that had not made a “gratitude list”.
This “gratitude list “, is also used in 12 step programs, as a valuable tool in recovery. We can, as I like to call it, "glean” or put to use the idea by adding it to our self-full/ self loving time, by making a gratitude list about ourselves.
Love and Gratitude are hand in hand, you can not have one without the other.
It is important that we do not allow lethargy and complacency to interfere with our daily spiritual practices. If you don’t already have a quiet meditation time, winter weather is a great opportunity to begin a routine meditation/ prayer. Allow the light and love to warm your thoughts and mind instead of the “long winters nap”. You may thank yourself for it in the spring.
Affirmations:
I give myself permission to overflow with the Creator’s love.
I freely love others from a sense of overflow.
It is loving for me when I over fill my own vase with Creator’s love.
Meditation:
Allow yourself a few moments to become quiet. Then, I want you to visualize something you perceive as innocent. This may be a kitten, or a puppy or a new born baby. You may visualize your own animal or some one else’s animal, you may love. Allow your heart to warm and feel the love in your heart center radiate from your being toward this animal or baby. Now, as you feel that love in your heart and body. Now you may allow the image of love, in which your chose, to slip away. You no longer need to focus on “form”. You can feel this love growing stronger and radiating outward. You feel it absolutely filling the room with joy and peace. As you experience this innocent, non unconditional love, you realize this is the same as Creator’s love of you, his perfect child. I am talking of the innocent child within, of light and joy. The true spirit of Christ, in the vehicle you walk the earth in. Your body is not that spirit. As you sit in silence for a while just feeling the all encompassing warmth and light of this love, you commune with the Christ spirit within.
Eventually you come back to awareness. But as you do you realize that the love and light is still with you. You bring this with you throughout your day, all thru the busy events, you carry this calm and peace of God.