Going with the Flow

Feel the lightness of your Divine enter you enveloping you, dissolving your pain as you let things go. ~ACN

There comes a time for each of us, where we wake up one day and know that we have to do a huge clean up. Sometimes this comes from within us, and sometimes we are forced to do it, when the Universe knocks on our door, shakes us up and almost forces us into making life changes.

In the last few weeks, I have had the latter happen in my life. What a journey… What a ride…

Through adversity comes the ability to experience the lessons of letting go, surrender, perseverance, tenacity, strength and so many more. Yet for me, the greatest lesson in cleaning up our lives is in surrendering to what is happening.

The more we feel the urge to fight the experience, to resist the changes that are happening, the more difficult the experience becomes. Life will throw greater curveballs at us, sending one seemingly disastrous experience after the next. It will sometimes feel that you just cannot even gasps a breath of air before the next one arrives.

Simply surrender. These two little words carry such a vast impact on how we emerge from the situation that is directing us to change, to clear the clutter from our lives and to subsequently live. Looking at nature for guidance is a wonderful way to learn how to surrender. Have you ever watched penguins bobbing in the ocean as they rest after playing or diving through the water? They do not persistently peddle their little feet and flapping their little wings, creating a resistance to the water. No, they simply float their little bodies, allowing the water to carry them to where it must. We can certainly learn from this. Visualize being a penguin, floating and bobbing away in the ocean as life takes you where it must. Or we can use the example of white water rafting where those that embark on this exciting adventure learn to allow the water to carry them on its natural path.

Now of course we can roll over and play dead, doing the ostrich thing and burying our heads in the sand or we can take the experience as a lesson on our soul journey and emerge from it a wiser soul. In doing the latter, we will certainly find that the process may be a painful one, yet from it we gain great wisdom and allow the growth of our soul. We can certainly choose to look at the experience as doors slamming closed around us or we can choose to see them opening and in so doing, bring with them great new opportunities that will lead us to places where we must be.

As you clear the clutter from your life, allow your tears to flow for it is a cleansing of the soul which cathartically heals you. As you heal, you will find that new doors open, the energy around you clean and fresh, allowing newness to flow in to you. Open your arms in gratitude and receive that which is being brought to you.

Please be gentle with yourself during times of de-cluttering your life. Remember that you too are a soul on a human experience and deserve to be comforted during this time. Take the time to pamper yourself, making time for meditation, allowing others to nurture you as you journey this time. Remember too that this is happening for a reason; that everything is as it should be at this time. No matter how difficult the experience may be or how alone you may feel, you never really are alone. There will always be someone out there who will offer you support should you have the courage to just ask. You will always be surrounded by the love of your Divine and held within the arms of His angels as you face each day. Trust that the Universe will bring you to the place where you need to be.

In love and light,

Amanda

Image courtesy of: http://www.mbaintheusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/go-with-the-flow.jpg

© Amanda C Nicolin 2011

Permission is granted to share this article freely on the condition that the author is credited.

The Inspiration of Love

The heart rises above the limitations of the body. ~ACN

I have always wondered at the ability of those who are debilitated in the physical body to have such profound love for those around them. And it never ceases to amaze me.

To love others without judgment and criticism is the most profound gift that one can have.

There are those of us, who although in good health and in full possession of all our faculties, spend our days whining about most things around us. If it is not the neighbors who are irritating us, or their dogs, then it is the cost of living or our governments or schools and so on. Our lists of complaints are endless.

Then there are those amongst us that really get the true meaning of love. They are the ones who have realized that there is so much more to life than physical possessions. They have realized and accepted that the world is what it is. They have the gift of acceptance and understanding that, humanity is what it is and should be loved non-the-less. Most of them have physical or neurological challenges that are very debilitative in what they are. Yet, these precious souls teach us so much.

Be in acceptance of what you are and what you look like and to love yourself for that…. Aahh… that is when you can be in acceptance of what others are and have not concern for how they appear to the world.

I was recently privileged to view a You-Tube about motivational speaker Nick Vujicic, who is severely physically challenged yet he does not allow his body to affect his attitude or personality. I am sure that there have been times when he has slipped into the darkness of despair at what life has dealt him, yet I know also that he has surmounted those challenges and is able through his own experiences to rise above it and has learned to love his life as he has learned to really “live” each day of his life. He gives so much of himself as he clearly shows his love for others in inspiring them.

So many of us take our challenges personally; believing that we have been treated unfairly or unjustly, that life has dealt us a hand that we do not want nor deserve. We surround ourselves with negative people who buy into this nonsense and who feed our ego’s daily. Perhaps, just for today, we should stop and take a look around us and see what is really going on out there. We should look to those who are less fortunate than ourselves in so many ways and count our blessings one by one.

Our blessings are not just those of the material world. No, it is the fact that we are fully able bodied, that we have the ability to see, or hear, a voice with which we can sing or that we have feet with which we can walk and so on. Greater of all the blessings that we do have, is that we are created in absolute Divine Love and have the ability, if only we open our hearts to sharing it, to love in the same way.

We have so much to be in gratitude for. Take a stock of yours today. Really look at what you have and from it, take forth into the world, the greatest gift you have; your Love.

In love and light,

Amanda

Let there be Peace of Man

In honor and memory of those who lost and gave their lives as a result of 9-11-2001

I wrote this poem in memory and honor of all of those who have given their lives as a result of this historic act of violence of one man against another. Within each one of ourselves is the ability to rise above such dastardly acts of violence as we come to terms with it, learning from it and finding, within ourselves, forgiveness and peace. May God grant His wisdom to you, may His Angels always surround and comfort you and may you find the blessings in each day as you journey on.

Let there be Peace of Man ~ Amanda C. Nicolin

It came as unawares to most on the ground,

The Angels though, they knew and many were around,

The sounds, as if Armageddon hit the ground,

Then silence for just a moment in time.

The smoke billowed out with flames in-between,

As the Angels flew straight in.

The chaos, the screams, the calls of farewell,

Each had an Angel to hold them and comfort them as well.

The screaming sirens, the panic of man,

Lost humans in this despicable act of man.

The brave firemen and policemen that risked their lives,

Each one had Archangel Michael at their side.

And within the inferno blazing from the ground,

Came the calls for help or the calls to die.

The day had come, when the world would change,

The day when peace first took a stand.

Back in the suburbs, anxiously they wait,

For a phone call, or a glimpse of their face.

Numbness settled all around,

In shock the world stood still for a while.

And as each one crossed to the other side,

The trumpets sounded their welcome home.

Then the leaders declared a time of war,

Go get them, they said, none must be spared.

And so this act of terror upon another,

Took so many more as they fought for freedom from terror.

The Angels know their work is still not done,

For as each year passes some are still angry and bitter.

And steadfastly they continue to guide and comfort,

Those who continue to fight for the free.

And it has been shown that through the years,

This dastardly act of violence will eventually bring peace.

With peace in your hearts remember with honor,

Those who look down from the Heavens with a smile in their heart.

With peace in your hearts and joy in your soul,

Be surrounded with Angels until it is your time to go home.

In love and light,

Amanda

Image courtesy of: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m--nmvS-kj0/Tb924RraXLI/AAAAAAAAAMc/O3HNy-5M7jE/s1600/iwo-9-11-final.jpg

© Amanda C Nicolin 2011

Permission is granted to share this article freely on the condition that the author is credited.

In The Moment

To be in the moment of this lifetime is to celebrate your decision to incarnate. Be in gratitude for what you are. ~ ACN

"May I infuse my life
with mindful attention,
moment by moment,
so that I may live
with the love, happiness, and choices
that I can only know in the now." ~Jean Smith

To be in the moment…. Oh how joyful this is. But what exactly does this mean?

To be in the moment is to experience each thing that happens to you with the depth of your soul, really living each moment and gaining from it both wisdom and strength which will certainly serve you in the future.

When we live ensconced in the moment, we are able to live each moment of our lives, fully accepting of what the circumstance or experience is whether it be a good or bad experience and learn from it before letting it go.

So often we are so enshrouded our past experiences that we are not able to live in the moment. We carry baggage so heavy and burdening and that is so debilitating that we cannot see the moment for what it is. So being, we lose our ability to successfully make decisions with clarity and calmness and in so doing lose the value of that which we may gain when living in the moment.

It is only when we find absolute peace within our beings that we are really fully able to “be” in the moment. In this state of being we are able to be mindful of what is happening to us, giving our full attention to the experience that we are living. We are also able to then make life choices that are suitable to our circumstances that will be both beneficial and wholesome for us, giving us a sense of direction and bringing us to where we are meant to be. This may not always be where we want to be; it will be where we need to be.

When in the moment, we will be able to experience the chattering of little birds, or feel the beauty of the rising sun, hear the laughter of others around us even through the noise of a busy mall and so on. Likewise when in dire straits we too can enjoy the fullness of the experiences we are living. In dark times, being in the moment, allow the tears to flow as they must, smack a pillow and release your anger and frustration, set the record straight when it needs to be straightened etc. Simply surrender to what is happening and BE with it. Please don’t over analyze the experience, or whine “why me”. Simply let go and let it be what it is meant to be.

We can feel and experience each and every little thing that life brings to us, acknowledging its presence, accepting it, celebrating it, being in gratitude for it and then releasing it into the Universe to be dissipated by the Universe.

Take a chance on you today. Release that which binds you to your past, and allow your soul to serve you as you enjoy the profoundly beautiful experience of living in the moment.

In love and light,

Amanda

Image courtesy of: http://www.thebridgemaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/live-in-the-moment.jpg

© Amanda C Nicolin 2011

Permission is granted to share this article freely on the condition that the author is credited.