Impatience, frustration, discontent, sorrow; we’ve all experienced such crushing emotions to some degree or another. As much as we’d like to deny their existence, it serves us not to stuff down our feelings, to pretend they don’t exist. When we acknowledge our discomforts and allow them to move through us, we honour our emotions in ways that can inspire change. The key is to avoid remaining stuck in the feeling of discomfort for too long.
Without life’s contrasts and adversities, we could never come to know what our true desires are, nor would we appreciate them when they arrive. The best way to become aligned with our desired results is through deep appreciation and gratitude. Like attracts like. If you wish to have more things to be grateful for – be grateful for the blessings you already have. Smile, and be ready to receive what is coming to you with an open and grateful heart.
Welcome to my thirtieth 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
Recently, I have been stripped back to the bare minimum; no fixed abode, no car, and fluctuating work opportunities. At times, I have felt uncertain as to how I will survive the coming weeks; but when self doubt creeps in, I remember to keep the faith in a supportive universe. It is this deep faith that has ensured a constant stream of abundance continues to flow to and through me.
Both abundance and lack coexist. Where we place our focus is a matter of choice. We can choose to tend to the garden of insufficiency, or the garden of appreciation. Give thanks for life’s true riches; friends, work, family, health, nature, love, joy and laughter. Watch how the seeds of appreciation blossom into the bountiful fruits of abundance.
Soul Strolls
I recently enjoyed a beautiful stroll through the Botanical Gardens with my sweetheart. I love that, even during Melbourne winter, nature thrives with the colour and vibrancy of life.
Soul Food
I love wholesome meals. You can’t beat the smell of a home cooked stew or soup drifting through your home on a brisk winters day, which is why I have started using my stock pot again. Today I am sharing this delicious Pea & Ham Soup by my favourite health and wellbeing blogger, Alice Nicholls. Enjoy!
Soul Music
I would like to share this track by Slumber Jack. It’s a reminder not to be afraid anymore, plus it has a pretty sweet baseline! So rock your socks off!
Soul Sisters
I would love to share Michelle’s post Sunrise Sermon: Safe in His Arms. It is in keeping with today’s theme of counting our blessings and focusing on what’s right, rather than what’s wrong. Do head over for an inspirational read.
We’ve all experienced that split second when our emotions get the better of us. We think, say or act before pausing to take a moment to process our feelings. In the worst instances, we lash out, causing pain and upset to others including ourselves.
Holocaust survivor, Viktor E. Frankl reminds us of that subtle space in which we get to choose our response. If we take a moment to breathe, to connect and align with our inner being, we find peace from the past, and freedom to create a brighter future.
The way we respond to life is key to growth and expansion. In each moment we have the choice between fear and love; conflict and peace; blame and forgiveness.
Today, choose alignment before action. Free yourself from the automatic reactions that bind you to the past or instill in you a fear of the future. When you respond to life with love, peace, harmony and trust – you take back your power; you pave the way towards emotional freedom and inspire others to do the same.
Welcome to my twenty-seventh 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
So this week I decided to submit an entry to the Hay House Writers Workshop Competition in Sydney. Last year I attended the workshop online and was able to submit a book proposal as part of my participation in the course. Sadly, my book was not selected – however, three very deserving writers were chosen for their beautiful books to be published.
When I saw the opportunity to attend the Sydney Writers Workshop in July by submitting a short video describing my idea for a book, I decided to have another try. If you have enjoyed my inspirational posts, and feel inspired by my daybook, which would be of a similar nature – then please take the time to vote for my video below! And if you have the time, maybe you could even share my link with your audience with a link back to my WordPress site.
So far, I only have 8 votes, and I have just ten days to obtain close to 500! So any way in which you can help would be greatly appreciated (and of course I will send you a signed copy of my book when it’s selected for publication!) 😉 I would very much appreciate your support.
I must say, the moment I submitted my entry, I suddenly thought: “Cringe! I’m not good enough, I rambled too much, I wavered off topic..” I silenced the negative self talk and tried to find the truth – we are all deserving. Each and every one of us. Sometimes we take life far too seriously, so why not present ourselves as we are? In my case, that’s a little bit silly at times, but with a big wish to uplift and inspire the masses.
You can vote for me here! Just click on ‘VOTE’ and then find my entry (Hayley) which should be close to the top! Thank you ❤
Soul Gifts
I wanted to share these beautiful roses bought for me by someone very special. He showed up at my door with these unexpected flowers on the anniversary of my Dad’s passing on the tenth of May.
‘What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?’
– George Eliot
Soul Food
I would like to share an old favourite of mine, my Chocolate Chia Pudding recipe. It tastes delicious and is also nourishing! Which is an added bonus. No nasty refined sugars in this desert – just Mother Nature’s goodness! Enjoy.
Soul Music
Today I am sharing Say Hello To Heaven by Chris Cornell to honour his life. We have lost a beautiful, gifted soul far too soon, yet his words and music will forever remain in our hearts. May your soul rest in peace.
Soul Brothers
I am sharing these beautiful quotes on strength compiled by Charles French at Words, Reading and Writing. A beautiful way to end the week and a timely reminder to remain centred in our inner strength for the week ahead.
Real change begins within. We must be willing to become what it is that we wish to see in our lives.
I have found that whenever my sense of inner peace is off balance, if ever I am met with difficult roadblocks along the way, there is usually a personal growth lesson I am failing to recognise. Did I waver momentarily from my authentic self? Have I communicated clearly my truth? Did I fail to recognise another’s perspective? Have I neglected my self-care practice?
Once we become aware of what’s going on on the inside, we can recognise the teachings that are being reflected to us in our outer world. Only then can we return our focus to the basic principles for a peaceful existence – acceptance; forgiveness; kindness; patience; love; joy; gratitude. The situation then usually resolves itself.
In today’s quote, Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the freedom independence and civil rights movement in India, reminds us that we must ‘be the change.’
If you crave more peace – be peaceful. Do you long for more love? Be more loving. If you wish to receive more abundance in life – give more. More happiness? Share your joy. The best way for us to experience a life of fulfillment is to be the change and lead by example. Our outer world always mirrors back to us the state of our inner world. The good news is, we have the power to change this. We have the power to shift our perceptions so that we can experience more of the love, joy, and abundance that is available to us.
Today, ‘be the change you wish to see in the world.’
Blessed are those with an attitude of gratitude. Grateful hearts have the ability to turn a meal into a feast, ‘not enough’ into plenty, a small fortune into acres of diamonds, a fleeting moment into an eternity… Simply put, when we are grateful our lives become abundant with blessings.
It’s easy for us to be grateful when life is flowing beautifully; money is in the bank, we find the perfect parking spot, the lights are on green and we feel a sense of belonging. But when life is challenging, when we receive unexpected bad news, our dreams have been dashed, there isn’t enough to cover the bills and they don’t love us back – the words ‘thank you’ don’t come so easily. It is during these times we must take stock of our lives and recognise all that is good, even if we must begin first with the basics; food on the table, shelter, clean water, good health… Can you walk, talk and see the beauty that surrounds you? Can you hear the music that stirs your soul? Can you love, dream and create? Give thanks for all of that, for gratitude possesses the transformative power to turn even the darkest moments into light.
Each day we get to choose how we experience life, it is a simple shift in perspective from one of lack to one of abundance. Each day is a gift when we recognise, and give thanks for its many blessings. So today, say thank you! For ‘if the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.’
Welcome to my twentieth 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
We get just one shot at this sweet life of ours. It will never come again – so live! Why waste life with thoughts of the past, regretting the choices and mistakes we have made? Why squander our time fretting about the future? For the future may never come.
So many of us choose to love cautiously when we can choose to love passionately instead. Yes, maybe we will get hurt. But wouldn’t we rather die with a thousand words expressed than a thousand unspoken in our hearts? Not only are we guarded in love, but we live cautiously too… Too often we dismiss our dreams and lay them aside for fears of not being good enough. We fear success and we fear failure. But those burning desires within our hearts exist for a reason. Life is what we make of it. Be bold. Be brave. Your dreams are real, so go after them.
Today, let us live. May we laugh a little louder, dance a little freer, love a little larger, and dare to dream a little longer. May we throw caution to the wind and embrace the life we intended to live. Because ‘that it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.’ Nothing is ever guaranteed. So don’t wait for life to begin, begin living.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
– Mary Oliver
Soul Strolls
On the last day of February here in Melbourne, I caught this beautiful sunset on what was officially the last day of summer. With a high of 34 degrees, she certainly turned up the heat for us!
Soul Food
In keeping with the ‘sweet life’ – I am sharing these Jaffa Bliss Balls by Becomingness. They look a treat. Even better, is that they are guilt free! Mmmmm yummy.
Soul Music
Today, I am sharing this gorgeous track by Sons of Zion, Life. It’s a beautiful reminder for us to love, live and dream for today.
Soul Sisters
I must share with you Miriam’s post Bushwalking and Basking in the Now, which is the perfect reminder for us to live now and immerse ourselves in the moment. To look up and love life. Head on over and have a read!
Never underestimate yourself. For your strength and resilience are far greater than you could ever imagine.
You haven’t survived for as long as you have, nor have you journeyed as far as you’ve come, only to quit now. When you feel like giving up, when your heart is too heavy to carry, your feet to weary to walk, your words too silenced to talk – dig deep and remember who you are.
Remember the lessons you have learnt; the scars that you earned; the joy you outpoured; the grief you’ve endured; the tears that you shed; the love you have bled – remember it all. For this is the fuel that will drive you on with the utmost faith in your heart. Because ‘when you have gone so far that you cannot manage one more step, then you have gone just half the distance you are capable of.’
I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day beautiful people. For some, Valentines Day has become too commercialised. Personally, I believe that any day we are reminded to show more love is a welcome opportunity to express our essential nature. Arguably, we can show love any day of the year. However, I am all for romancing and dedicating a day solely to LOVE.
And let us not forget to show some love to the most important person in our lives, ourself. Because yes! We deserve to show ourselves some love too.
So I hope you manage to ‘spread LOVE everywhere you go [and] let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.’ Today, and always.
With each New Year, opportunities for change and renewal arise; a time when fresh ideas, hopes and wishes are born. It is true that we can ignite change at any moment in our lives – that we needn’t wait until the first of the month, or Monday, or for the elusive ‘perfect moment’ to begin – but there is something wondrous and welcoming about the start of a New Year; a blank canvas for which our dreams and creativity await form and application.
But when faced with a blank canvas, what should we paint? What hues should we select and what if we run out of colour halfway through? Worse still – what if we stare woefully at the blank page before us, a sense of rising dread as we consider our forgotten finesse for creativity?
In answer to these very real and experienced questions, I invite you to cast your mind back to when you were a child. Rarely, as children, did we ever stop to ponder our ability to create when faced with fresh pots of paint and paper. Instead, with little hesitation, we’d dive in, barely stopping to roll up our sleeves as we repeatedly dipped our brushes, in and out. It didn’t matter if the colours became mixed or the paper became saturated and soaked. Nor did we care if our brush strokes were sloppy and without direction. After splashing a myriad of colour in every which way, we’d pause – and then confidently state our masterpiece, even if it looked nothing of the sort: “Look – a house! A sun! A crocodile!”
Children don’t analyse their visions and dreams, they simply create according to their own unique perspective.
So don’t fret if, as you pen down your wish to lose fifteen pounds or more, you are nibbling away at the left over Christmas chocolates, or dousing your front with fallen crumbs of turkey and cranberry sandwiches.
Today is for creative dreaming, the doing will surely follow.
Dear Dad 