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Posts Tagged ‘Courage’

#guidancefortheweek

Guidance for the week

“Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird,
That cannot fly.”
― Langston Hughes

This week I had a card which I pulled from the deck and also one which fell out as I was putting it down. So there are two parts to this week’s message. I feel they are both joined in their message and also can be read individually, since we can receive the information we need at any time and in various ways. Take from each or either as you feel it resonates within you.

 

The card which came up first was STRENGTH.

#guidancecfortheweek

“Strength”, Doreen Virtue, Life Purpose Oracle Cards

The first thing which caught my attention was the eagle soaring in the sky. To me, the eagle has always represented strength and determination. They are in many ways, the kings of the sky, and woe betide anything which crosses their path if they are in need of food.

The central figure is the beautiful horse with the angelic rider on his back. In some ways it was surprising to notice that it was a woman on the horse, but realistically, every card for STRENGTH I’ve seen always has a woman as the central human figure. She has her spear and shield and I feel armour we can’t see, since her helmet has both the ‘usual crested front’ and also a pair of wings. Her cloak billows out behind her as she sits her horse in front of this massive tree.

The card depict both grace and strength. I shows an alertness and awareness of what is happening around her and that she is prepared for anything. She has trained well and experienced whatever life has thrown her way and she is now in dominion of her surroundings and wherever her surroundings happen to be.

The card indicates that you have put in the hard work and whether you realise it or not, you are able to do whatever lies before you. You need to make the decision about which way you wish to go and have the courage of your own wise self to make it succeed.

There are no limitations to what you can tackle, it may be study, work or recreation based, all that is required is that you have to make the decision to go ahead and see it to the end. Not all things work out as we first envision- that doesn’t mean they are wrong for us, just different from our original idea.

The main message to take from this card is that you have the courage to succeed, take the first step and each will follow the next. It is always the first which seems the hardest.

“If you’re reading this…
Congratulations, you’re alive.
If that’s not something to smile about,
then I don’t know what is.”
― Chad Sugg, Monsters Under Your Head

The card which fell out and wanted to bring a second message to us this week was ENVIRONMENTALIST.

#guidancefortheweek

“Environmentalist”, Doreen Virtue, Life Purpose Oracle Cards

When I look at this card I cannot help but feel the happiness which is there. She is beautiful, happy, filled with enjoyment. The wind blows through her hair, her clothes and fluffs out those gorgeous pink wings. Surrounded by a beautiful field of bluebells with wonderful trees behind her. She is at peace with her surroundings as well as one with them. Her world is filled with beauty.

Above her wing on the right side I see a nature spirit amongst the trees. At first glance it looks as though are two owls are hiding above her wing. All nature are her friends and allies.

Most of all when I look at this image, I get the feeling of being one with the earth and all her inhabitants. She is here to remind us to nurture the earth, the plants and animals and that we are the custodians of that task. Moreover it should be a joyous task for us to do this, since we are protecting all that is pleasing on the earth. Without a healthy earth, the plants and animals cannot survive and moreover, neither can we.

When I looked at both images together, what I felt from them made me feel even surer that they were linked in many ways. Today we are faced with shrinking land areas, which are essential for the survival of so many animals and plants. We are looking towards a future where many of the wonders of our age, of our parents and especially our grandparent’s age, are vanishing. From two hundred years ago until now, we can see the massive changes which have occurred, all in the name of progress or materialism.

I am not advocating cessation of progress, simply that our progress needs to take into serious consideration the need to protect the world we live in and all its inhabitants. To do this we need the strength we have built to survive to this point, harness it and proceed knowingly into the future. We can no longer sit idly by and claim it is someone else’s problem. We cannot allow the decisions to eradicate our world, the habitat of plants and animals primarily for the sake of the almighty dollar!

It takes great courage and strength to make that stand and the courage of our convictions to stand our ground and say” NO MORE!” If we truly wish to have wonders left on earth for future generations, and I can see no reason why we wouldn’t desire that, then we all must have the courage and strength to say “No More”.

So, if we are looking at showing strength and courage to forge a new change in life, or wish to further our commitment to our environment, both cards hold strong messages for the coming week.

#guidancefortheweek

Beautiful Orchids

Please know that wherever you are, you are always loved.

 

Blessings, Susan. ♥

 

©Susan Alexander 2015

©Susan Jamieson 2015

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#ifnotnowwhen

If not me, who? And if not now, when?  Mikhail Gorbachev

 

 Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.   Winston Churchill  

#Ifnotnowwhen

Image courtesy of swbusiness.com.au

I’ve sat and looked at this screen, day after day and hour by hour, so unsure of what to say. It’s a frightening thing, being so unsure of what to say. I know that in what seems a lifetime ago, the words tripped over themselves trying to get onto the page. Perhaps even more frightening is being afraid that what I say is just taking up someone’s time without purpose.

OMG I thought, what if, after all this dithering around, what I write is just a waste of time. Now I realise that it isn’t. I’m writing for myself at the moment. I have to, at least until my “mojo” decides to get itself together and understands that this is what writing is all about. The courage to keep talking about what I think about – whether it’s a story or a “simple blog” – is the key to the magic.

So, for today it’s a simple blurb to say “hello”, “I’m here, not quite sure if you will hear me or not, but that’s okay. I’ve made the first step, a giant leap for me today”

#Ifnotnowwhen

Image courtesy cover_not_living_in_fear..anon

“Laugh, even when you feel too sick or too worn out or tired.
Smile, even when you’re trying not to cry and the tears are blurring your vision.
Sing, even when people stare at you and tell you your voice is crappy.
Trust, even when your heart begs you not to.
Twirl, even when your mind makes no sense of what you see.
Frolick, even when you are made fun of. Kiss, even when others are watching. Sleep, even when you’re afraid of what the dreams might bring.
Run, even when it feels like you can’t run any more.
And, always, remember, even when the memories pinch your heart. Because the pain of all your experience is what makes you the person you are now. And without your experience—you are an empty page, a blank notebook, a missing lyric. What makes you brave is your willingness to live through your terrible life and hold your head up high the next day. So don’t live life in fear. Because you are stronger now, after all the crap has happened, than you ever were back before it started.”
Alysha Speer

I’ve read some amazing blogs during my “sabbatical” which have made me hope to visit strange and wonderful places, see the wide vistas, empty ranges and places filled with flora and fauna I have never seen before. There are too many writers out there to thank for this inspiration, yet to one and all I say a heartfelt “Thank You, I will visit these places, not just in my mind from your words and photos, but in person, to feel and experience these people and places”.

I’ve read about your battles with your demons, whatever they are. I’ve felt the strength you’ve shown in writing about it. I’ve felt my struggles are pitiful when aligned next to yours – and in the end I know that I have to put that aside too. We all have a right to our struggles, our physical demons. We can allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by them. We can use the pathos of our situation to keep calling people back, or we can simply say, “Hey, this happened and it can happen to you, so keep going and after you’ve told me about it, leave it and keep going.” Our stories are important – to us, and sometimes to others, so if we are unsure, write for yourselves. Write your hearts blood on the page, your fear, shout out and tell the world, because it’s the silence which is deadly. It’s that simple thing, the silence we strive for at other times which is often holding us back.

The silence of emptiness.

#Ifnotnowwhwen

Image courtesy of maxresdefault

 

“All that is left to bring you pain, are the memories. If you face those, you’ll be free. You can’t spend the rest of your life hiding from yourself; always afraid that your memories will incapacitate you, and they will if you continue to bury them.”
J.D. Stroube, Caged in Darkness

This caught my attention and I thought, Wow, that’s exactly what I was thinking. So I know that I’m not alone.

I’m simply human – I fell off the bandwagon in truth… not once but several times. I have the bruises and scars to show for it! Today was just one more day in the struggle to “be”. It’s boring in its simplicity, my damned back is being a pain in ways I never believed possible. Simplicity itself – I leaned on something which moved when I thought it would stay where it was. I fell… right on top of new bruises from the day before and pain flared majestically through the synapses of my brain once more. I should be used to it, but the odd thing is, you never become blasé about pain. Ask any of the people out there with Fibromyalgia…. I have it and it doesn’t take a holiday, it just decides to let you think it might be going away… til it returns once more.

I realised I said it “majestically flared through new synapses of the brain” and I realise it is that and so much more. Colours you never imagined fire through your vision and logical speech and thought are devoured in an instant.

#Ifnotnowwhen

Courtesy of wildlyfreewoman.net

“I have always been afraid… Always been pretending to follow you closely, always been pretending to sharpen my teeth, when the truth is, I am … scared to death just treading on your shadow.”
Tite Kubo

 

Blessings, Susan ♥

© Susan Jamieson 2015

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image from tidetheland.blogspot.com

“There are essentially two questions in life – a spiritual question and a material question. The spiritual question is ‘Who am I?’ The material question is ‘What am I to do with my life?’ One leads to the other.”
Rasheed Ogunlaru

.

I found myself in a familiar place today. Not that it meant it was a good place, simply that I have been there before and recognised it. In truth, if I had a choice I probably would decide not to visit it, yet each time I do I learn something I didn’t know or had forgotten. So, in essence they are times to remember important things, and often things I haven’t wanted to learn.

The difficulty is that life is not one-dimensional. It has as many layers as an onion and people are exactly the same. I must be a tightly wound onion since I seem to be forever peeling away layers!

One doctor tells me I’m making progress, I feel like something a cat vomited under a bush and that is supposed to be good news. (Thank you Lyme disease). I can cut down on the “vomitous” drugs for a while and that’s good, yet it has also brought a gargantuan upsurge of inflammation and arthritic pain which is not so good. I know the mantra, two steps forward and one step back, and always a little more progress is made until you reach your end goal.

My end goal – wellness! Perfect health and well-being, positive physical energy, (and spiritual energy) and a return to normal activities. Simply being able to walk in the country or on the beach for more than five minutes before I have to stop will feel like I’m a captive bird which has been freed. I long to do ‘normal’ things like window shopping, going for a drive in the country without being ill for two days. Without needing a carer to watch over me. That sounds ungrateful, yet it isn’t, it is simply a desire to be free to do those things alone –  if I wished to.

Some of my most intense and beautiful memories are of lying amongst the bluebells in  my favourite meadow, my border collie by my side, watching the fluffy clouds creating pictures for me to make stories around. The gentle breeze would stir the leaves casting a mosaic of shadows around us, the squirrels would be chattering away and the birds warbling overhead making a musical backdrop. Occasionally a pair of rabbits would pop out and, being quiet, would go about their business unaffected by our presence. It was a heavenly interlude and I could feel the beat of Mother earth, my Angels and Guides around me and I was part of our great Universe. It was, and still is peace on earth.

I have different memories now. The shared joy and love of watching the glorious moonrise. Seeing the orchids and hippeastrums beginning to bud in my garden. Watching the Rosellas mating and building their nest in our nesting box. The storm clouds boiling up only to drift away and the birds drinking nectar from the flowers. New flowers I’m learning about.

Storm clouds rolling in

Storm clouds rolling in

Chasing the best nectar

Chasing the best nectar

Lady Slipper vine

Lady Slipper vine

Love is in the air

Love is in the air

I mustn’t forget all the new friends I’ve found here, through my blog. Generous people who have accepted my first steps at writing and poetry, my amateur photography and the kindness and encouragement by their visits. Its makes the difficult days easier to bear because I have something to look forward to.

Not to forget the many things I learn…that spirituality is within and it is in evidence when I look out. When the words of someone far away can touch me deeply, can bring light to a dark place and give me answers to long-held puzzles. Then there are the special people who have brought something more, with their stories, sharing their experiences and those special friendships which are found in the most unexpected ways.

I have been blessed by friendship which I thought a figment of imagination, someone with whom I can discuss the many strange things which I have seen and experienced because we have a similar ‘history’. A dear and special friend who has become, in a short time, a cherished friend. Wonderfully for me, a friend my husband and I can share in different ways.

image from damonsmithnow.blogspot.com

I had a goal when I started writing today. I wanted to paint the picture of how, from a seemingly bleak start it was possible to find that calm centre and the clarity which can come from there. The connectedness with everything around us, which grounds us and allows us the strength to find the positive amongst the dross and succeed despite the struggle.

You see, I have difficulty finding my way at times so I’m sure I’m not alone. There are days I feel so isolated I want to curl up, pull the ground over my head and hide. People I looked to for support are so busy garnering their own they are unable to spare a small measure for anyone else, not even to share a morsel of friendship or support.

I fall down and eventually have to pick myself up. I have a heart overflowing with gratitude for the unconditional love and support my husband gives me every second of every day. I know how very fortunate I am and I thank Spirit for finally bringing us together. I pray, if that is what you pray for, that you find the same. I pray you find the support and friendship I have, and I wish you the strength to get back up and keep going when the days are miserable and hard because I know that there will be an end. I know my happy place, my dreams and plans will all come to be – soon.

I believe and it will be so, because what I think, what I believe, will be. That is how the Universe provides. It creates what we think and believe. So build your dreams and hold fast to them and surely as day follows night, they will be….. soon.

image from urbanspiritual.org

I’d like to share two of my favourite quotes which help me and perhaps may help you also.

All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did.”             T E Lawrence

.

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”     Helen Keller

.

So dream on and believe because even one dreamer, one believer can make a difference.  Join me!

Blessings and love.  Susan x

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