Posted on

The Greatest Gift

Recently I wrote about giving and receiving:

The Circle of Giving … and Receiving!

Both are so very important.  Today I share a perspective on giving and would love to hear your thoughts:

The greatest gift I can give another human being is a pointer to their own self-love, self-acceptance, self-trust, self-honoring, self-respect. There is no gift, no object, no anything short of you expanding your love of you that has as much impact, value and longevity.

When I trust and respect myself enough to be responsible for my well-being and my impact, I am free to love, to let you be you, to expand into my full expression. When I instead look to others for assurance that I am okay, when I expect you to take care of me, when I refuse to be responsible for the only person in the world that I am 100% responsible for, then we all lose.

The greatest gift I can offer you is a gentle mirror that shows you the beauty that you are.

Who needs you to be a mirror today?

Mirror

Posted on

Hummingbirds return …

hbird

You have likely read about my hummingbird obsession before:

One With All Creation

This week they have returned for the season. Again they touch me deeply. I take my first cup of coffee outside around 5:30 am and invite them, “I’m here. You can come now.” Today, it took perhaps 15 seconds before the first visitor arrived on the feeder.

The gift came when I was about to journal some thoughts on how “not enough” I am, how disappointed I was in my own behavior of the morning. I looked up and saw my bird friend sitting atop the feeder, wings at his side, still. [I just looked again now and, no kidding, he is again sitting, still, in that same location. I have never before seen a hummingbird in that spot!] The message?

“Jeanne, pause. Be still. You are so enough just as you are.”

Do you know what? So are you! Pause. Be still. Take in a deep breath. Let yourself cherish you for a few moments.

Posted on

Leading from Heart

I’ve been pondering and practicing “leading from heart” lately, letting my heart speak before my head. The hardest thing is remembering to do it! My head can kick into the gears of fear and judgment and hurry and worry faster than lightning strikes! Yet, when I breathe into my heart space and let it expand into the leadership position in my life, miracles happen.

This morning, I discovered this very powerful image at PhotoBucket.com.

http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z412/MARIAMAGNOLIA1/MARIA%20MAGNOLIA%20ALBUM%203/tumblr_m92dluLAqo1qfd5fwo1_400.gif

I encourage you to let yourself be with it until it is lovingly burned into your awareness and you can’t help but see stoplights in a new way!

What does “leading from heart” mean to you?

Posted on

A word from your body …

Today is day #5 of feeling “under the weather”. My physical body is experiencing cold symptoms and exhaustion and unable to participate fully in life as I have come to desire. Singing has turned to silence; activity has turned to added (attempts to) sleep. What’s more, my thoughts and emotions express judgment and disdain, frustration and impatience for the physical body.

How sad is that?

In today’s pause, I notice that I depend on my body to be well and to deliver — like I would a machine! I take for granted that when I put the key in the ignition each morning it will start and keep going until I choose to shut it down.

Yikes! Does this sound familiar? What is another way?

If we were talking about my best friend or a child’s body, that other way would include:

  • a large dose of compassion and gentleness
  • an invitation to rest, restore, let go of obligation, ask for help with to-do’s that truly must be done
  • a reminder that the spirit is whole and well and today is a day to be embraced by and receive pure Love

Today, I will be with myself as I would be with that friend or child. I will find gratitude for this amazing body that I move around in. I will listen to her needs and fill them.

How about you? Even if you are not noticeably ill today, I invite you to press pause and take a moment to listen to your body.

What warning signs do you see?
What are you taking for granted?
What would compassion and gentleness look like today?

Posted on

The Circle of Giving … and Receiving!

I was visited this weekend – again – by the challenge of receiving acknowledgments. Oh, I am aware that when someone pays me a compliment, I am to say “Thank you”. There is no need to minimize what I did, return the compliment, and certainly no value in refusing the message, the compliment, the gift that I am being given.

That said, I found myself once again in that place of refusal, a bit embarrassed that “you” had seen my talents and were paying me a compliment. After a long, deep and teary exploration with a dear friend, I have discovered a deeper meaning for myself about the “circle of giving”. Twelve years ago, I wrote these lyrics:

Circle of Giving (video)

Today, I share my expanding understanding of the giving cycle. Beyond the fact that the act of giving gifts the receiver and the giver, the act of receiving also gifts the giver and the receiver. Consider these steps in the cycle:

  1. I give
  2. You receive
  3. You incorporate the gift
  4. You acknowledge how the gift impacted  you
  5. I receive your acknowledgment and am nourished – this giving/receiving cycle is complete
  6. I give again, aware of how my giving impacts others
  7. You give from an expanded, changed you

Another way of putting it is this:

I You
Give
Receive and Incorporate
Give Acknowledgment
Receive and am Nourished
Give From Restored and Whole Give From Expanded and Changed

The big piece for me is this: Your gift of acknowledgment nourishes my giving heart, lets me know that I am valued and valuable. Your gift to me is no less than, is just as vital, as my gift to you. 

My intention moving forward is to pause before responding – pause long enough to open my heart to receive your powerful gift of gratitude and let me be changed by you.

What acknowledgment is yours to receive today?