As I journey through this lifetime, an ancient teaching becomes clearer with each passing day; we really only ever have two choices – love, or fear.
All of our choosing, all of our doing, our thinking, our responses, our actions, our REactions and our beliefs are born out of these two choices; love, or fear.
Whenever I’m feeling misaligned from my true self, I can guarantee there’s an underlying fear present; fear of failure, fear of abandonment, fear of loss, fear of not being ’enough’… fear of being ‘too much’, fear of offending, fear of rocking the boat and yes, even fear of succeeding. We can be fearful of our own greatness and our unique gifts and talents too.
Today, notice any fears bubbling beneath the surface. How do they inform your words, thoughts, deeds and actions? See if you can choose again. What happens when you greet your fears with faith and love?
In my experience, the simple choice to choose love over fear has the power to change the entire trajectory of our experience.
Welcome to my twenty-eighth instalment of ‘Soulful Sundays’. A weekly share where I post a roundup of soulful reflections, each including recipes, songs, quotes, blogs I have read and/or any other inspirational discoveries to sooth the soul.
For me, Sunday’s have become a day of quiet contemplation and simple pleasures. A time to reflect on the week gone by and to consider my hopes and dreams for the week ahead.
My hope is to extend some love outward and to share some simple pleasures with anyone who cares to receive them.
Soul Reflections
Heaven knows we need love now more than ever. In a world pervasive in deep depression and anxiety; stress and disease, separation, hostility and confusion – it is time we listened to our hearts, time for us to acknowledge the deeper yearnings and whisperings of our soul. It is time we became whole again.
With the recent terror attack claiming 22 lives in my home city of Manchester, I can’t help but feel our world can, at times, feel so fragmented. So senseless an act which claimed those innocent lives. So much sorrow those family’s affected will surely endure. Yet in spite of this, I refuse to believe we live in a hostile Universe. Manchester has shown much love during hostile times. And this is what I choose to focus on – the love, not the hate.
I believe that, if we all discovered authentic love and connection that the world would not only survive, but thrive.
‘The universities of the future will do one thing we do not do today. They will teach the art of self-discovery. There is nothing more fundamental in life.’
– Ben Okri
As a Teacher of Mindfulness and Yoga for children, I visit multiple schools each term across Victoria, Melbourne. Throughout my teaching career, I have recognized the student’s parents and teachers crave simplicity and stability as much as their young ones, often (apologetically) participating in my sessions to surrender their busy lives to a moment of pure peace.
‘If every eight year old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.’
– Dalai Lama
Only with full hearts, can we bestow our loving gifts upon the world and shine our light upon those we love. I wish to bring more love and light to the world. Please support my journey towards spreading more love and connection; heaven knows we need it during these times of upheaval.
It is my wish to give something positive back to Manchester.
There is an opportunity to learn from the pioneers of spiritual healing by attending the Hay House Writers workshop in Sydney, where I’d have the incredible opportunity to submit a book proposal – a beautiful meditative Daybook of soul connection and hope in times of struggle. It teaches women to live by their own light, and by extension, their young ones and families. However, I cannot do this alone. I need YOUR help.
I have three days to try and push my votes above 565. I am currently sitting at 35 votes… So please VOTE, share, and spread the light. Thank you to those who have already supported me on this journey. My heart is so full of gratitude for each and every one of you. I am completely overwhelmed by the kindness shown from friends old and new and the connections I have made here in our online community of like-minded individuals and writers.
Your support means the world to me.
Let’s do this for Manchester. Let’s do this for my beautiful city. Let’s do this because the world needs more hope, more connection and more LOVE. You can vote here! Just click on ‘vote’, find my video (Hayley) and click on the love heart underneath! Thank you in advance ❤
Soul Strolls
Nature heals. This weekend I felt I needed just that, some time spent in Mother Nature and some energy healing. So we drove two hours out of Melbourne to join up friends who were camping at Cathedral Ranges. We enjoyed a beautiful climb up the mountain and some yummy food around the camp fire.
The view from a rock we stopped to perch on halfway up
Soul Food
It’s a rather cold and wet day here in Melbourne, so I thought I’d share my Chunky Chickpea & Sweet Potato Soup for those who may have missed it. It will warm your tum on a chilly day like today. Enjoy!
Soul Music
I am sharing Don’t Look Back In Anger by Manchester’s legendary rock and rollers, Oasis. Crowds sung this song recently for those lives that were taken too soon, and so I’d like to share the song here today as a reminder for us to avoid looking back in anger; love is stronger than hate.
Soul Sisters
Today, I’d like to share a post titled Releasing The Little Person Within by Di over at Matters For The Heart. A beautiful, poignant reminder for us to make peace with our inner child. I urge you to head over for a read of Di’s blog where she shares beautiful matters of the heart which resonate at a soul level.
Too often we hear, “It’s not my problem… Let them deal with it.” It seems far easier to turn a blind eye than to reach out a helping hand. But we mustn’t underestimate the power of a kind word or gesture, however great or small our offering.
If our hands were not made to reach out and heal, then for what were they created? To destroy? To harm? To dismiss? When we use our hands to prepare food, it is to nourish and heal our bodies; when we make work of our hands, it is to provide for others through service and exchange; when our hands are used to lift and carry, it is to move and lighten the heavy load. The same is true on an emotional level. We possess the power to lift each other up, to provide, to nourish and to heal. So why wouldn’t we?
‘We rise by lifting others.’
– Robert. G. Ingersoll.
Our greatness is not measured by how much we earn, what we can achieve or how far we can get ahead, but by the love and joy we share with others. Today, let us not hurry or dismiss, may we be attuned to the needs of others and reach out. Because ‘if we don’t help each other, who will?’
I have just hit ‘publish’ on my latest post: ‘5 Simple Steps Towards Letting Go.’ If you are struggling with the loss of a loved one, job or relationship, then check out the link here.
I hope the tips I share ease your pain somewhat and provide you with some comfort.
Today I received a parking fine for $150. I hesitated when parking in that area, the sign was new to me and I was unclear of its meaning. I ignored the feeling of hesitancy I felt when exiting my vehicle. I was gone from my car for less than 10 minutes, and returned to find the parking ticket waving at me from my windscreen. My heart sank. It was the most expensive avocado and banana I’d ever bought. Normally in this situation, I would feel the anger rising. Thoughts of ‘Why me?’ surfacing. …but not this time. For I have been here before. The victim. The blamer. I know why I received this ticket.
Just the night before I had found myself in a familiar hole. Money worries, feelings of lack when I discovered that my work hours had been reduced from four days a week to just two. We haven’t had as many schools book our programs next term and I’d felt a worry over the drop in income. Scarcity thoughts crept in and I reacted from a place of low vibration, arguing with my partner and succumbing to the ego in me. My parking ticket was a confirmation of my scarcity thinking, mirroring back to me my false feelings of ‘lack.’
Looking down at my ticket, I sighed and resolved to step out of my familiar hole. Crying over it would only exasperate my situation, bring about more of the same circumstances.
Father, thank you for the sign. For the reminder to walk a different path. I am grateful for the extra time to myself next term, for the extra days you have provided so that I may attend to a project dear to my heart. The freedom from lesson planning is something to be thankful for as I throw myself into other avenues with great passion. And of course, two days of work are always better than none.
Love always,
Hayley xx
***
Dear Child,
Sometimes situations will arrive at your door in unforeseen and distressing ways. You may feel as though the world is against you, that life is unfair and this shouldn’t be happening. In each heartache there lies an opportunity for spiritual growth. Are you prolonging unhealthy habits that are holding you back on your path to freedom? How about stagnant thought patterns that are creating equally stagnant circumstances? Is there an element of your own undoing that you have been refusing to see? Blame, excuses, feeling angry and victimised…we’ve all been there. But those feelings no longer serve us. Nor does the outward search for refuge and answers. The answers lie here within. Be still.
Let us open our eyes and our hearts so that we may hear the answers to our prayers – for the solution to all sorrow lies in communion with the soul, with God. Instead of proclaiming ‘This isn’t fair!’ – may we have the strength to ask, ‘How may I grow from this? How may I serve?’
There are no accidents in this world. The world is ever changing, ever evolving, all knowing and divinely timed. When you accept that this is so, when you trust in life and trust that life is preparing you for your purpose – you can smile in the face of life’s hurdles, for they are your greatest teachers. Be safe in the knowledge, that in time – all will be well.
In love and light,
Your Father.
If you too have found yourself stuck in a hole, may Portia Nelson’s Poem – There’s A Hole In My Sidewalk, bring comfort as she reminds us that it is we who hold the key to end all suffering.
There’s A Hole In My Sidewalk
Chapter One
I walk down the street,
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk,
I fall in.
I am lost … I am helpless,
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find my way out.
Chapter Two
I walk down the street,
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk,
I pretend that I don’t see it.
I can’t believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter Three
I walk down the same street,
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in … it’s a habit …but,
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Chapter Four
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter Five
I walk down another street.
by Portia Nelson.
Let us be kind to ourselves as we navigate life’s sidewalks, may we pick ourselves up out of those deep holes, and choose another path.
Dear Dad 