I was bound and determined today to get something posted, even if is short and not very interesting. I do hesitate to post sometimes because I am not sure what I want to write about. Then off and on I will think of something but….those are the times that I am right in the middle of something else and forget about what it was I wanted to post. I swear!! I wonder how I even get along some days! LOL!!
I have a few INSPIRING quotes I want to post. They come in my mailbox from the GRATEFULNESS.ORG website. Some days they are just what I need to find that place of happiness. Here is the first one.
“Any human who feels that he or she is not “good enough” to cultivate peace and generosity is overlooking the wondrous gift of life. You live, therefore you are good enough.”
~Dhyani Ywahoo
~Dhyani Ywahoo
Voices of Our Ancestors
As I search for inner peace and serenity, especially during this pregnancy and birth, I am quick to forget that I may not be worthy or good enough for those tranquil feelings I so long for. I LOVE when I remember to go back to that place of truth and enlightenment and remember that I am special, we all are. We are deserve ALL that our dear little hearts desire that is uplifting and beneficial to our well being.
“Any kind of expectation creates a problem. We should accept, but not expect. Whatever comes, accept it. Whatever goes, accept it. The immediate benefit is that your mind is always peaceful.”
~Sri Swami Satchidananda
Oh, this has been a GREAT one for me right now in life. I live in a house that is VERY SLOWLY coming together but is still a MAJOR construction zone, with a husband who works 10-12 hour days, with children I drive around to tutors and I home school and feed, etc., along with my in laws living in my home and all while being pregnant. This is how I was choosing to see the world but EXPECTING a grateful, peaceful feeling that I just wasn’t getting. (I know, I am SLOW!!)
Shocker, it ends up I have WAY TOO many expectations of what should be done in regards to my whole life and what myself and others can and can’t do! Over the past few months, I have let myself become VERY discouraged because of this or that which I believe should be different or done quicker or blah, blah, blah!! My poor husband has become SO sick of my complaining. While meditating about a month ago, I finally had the insight of my expectations and how they were creating NO PEACE within me. In fact, they were doing the opposite. I felt I was in constant inner turmoil merely for the fact that wouldn’t just sit back and really focus on what I wanted and then be ok with however the chips fall. This has felt really HUGE and I am SO GRATEFUL to have finally relearned it and now apply it a bit better than I might of in the past.
“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Another quote that I needed at JUST the right time!! I LOVE IT!! What is stated here is something I am very good at preaching to others about but….can I apply, oh, somedays. I have so enjoyed waking in the morning and meditating and remember who I really am and finding that place of bliss. Today was EASY because it has been SUCH a AMAZINGLY, BEAUTIFUL day! I spent most of it outside and just relished in it!!
A few years back though I realized that you can take this concept one step further. Instead of waiting until the day is over to feel ok about yourself and life, you can make the inner change IMMEDIATELY as you recognize it. Every MOMENT is a NEW MOMENT! Every SECOND a new SECOND!! I learned I could apply this same teaching the second I see I am not in serenity and bliss and move back to that space as quickly as the opposite came. SO MUCH FUN!! I recommend EVERYONE try this. It is AWESOME and really works!!
“An act of love that fails is just as much a part of the divine life as an act of love that succeeds, for love is measured by its own fullness, not by its reception.”
~Harold Loukes
~Harold Loukes
So BEAUTIFUL and so TRUE!! We often forget that when we give love, if it is not sent back to us in the form we want then it was all for not. This can also go back to the expectations quote. Until we realize that when we freely love others, we then become receptacles of more love, we will constantly be searching for something we will NEVER receive. I am learning to end what I think I should be receiving by my putting forth a giving act, and just letting myself feel the love that I sent and being in a complete place of gratitude for it!! Of course, I am still learning this idea but it has been FUN to strive to apply it and watch the miracle unfold.
I have been feeling SO GOOD!! This pregnancy has been WONDERFUL in helping me be completely honest with myself and others. I am learning tons and tons!! It seems to be coming in more quickly than at any other time, at least that I can remember. Some days I feel OVERWHELMED with it all. Others it is so DELICIOUS and I sit back and just watch the magic take place. It seems my whole family are all making these changes together (as it should be), getting prepared for this new little life to enter our family.
I am still exercising regularly, at least 5 days a week. The past few days have been LOVELY so I have been walking outside up around the temple. I walk for about 45 mins. to an hour and then do some good Yoga stretches. I have found on days when I can’t squeeze exercise in, I don’t feel NEAR as good as on the days I do.
I am still eating mostly raw. About 2 weeks ago, I started having some VERY UNCOMFORTABLE bowel cramping. It was off and on for about 3 days until the 4th where it was a consistent pain. I was getting a bit worried and I had some good emotional fears to work on. I soon realized that I had incorporated the frozen Manna bread. I figured out that because of the squishing of my bowels, they just couldn’t handle ANY foods that I might have some kind of allergy to or even foods that cause too much gas. So….I completely went off all grains. I do periodically eat brown rice tortillas with my salads. I am still careful with those too. So…..my diet now consists of fruits and veggies. Mostly raw, sometimes lightly steamed. I have eaten a handful of eggs throughout this pregnancy. Only when I crave them. They do taste SCRUMPTIOUS when I do eat them, I must admit.
So….for those interested, I am still around 100 to 95% raw. As I have said in the past, this has been my BEST pregnancy so for. Oh, and now I weight around 135-137 lbs. depending on the time of day. That means I have gained somewhere around 10 to 15 lbs. depending on what I started out as. I know I was somewhere between 120 and 125. Right now, I am 23 weeks along, I think. I will SOON, I promise, post some pictures of my belly. I am now showing quite a bit. I no longer fit into my prepregnancy pants. I can still fit into some tops but that depends.
Ok, I think I am all done for today. Thanks for being patient with my lack of posting. I don’t think I should go that long again. But I make no promises. Life has been one BIG whirlwind for the past 2 months and just taking time for a bath is consider an AWESOME day!!
Abundant peace,
Rachel
That’s what you have to say when you have nothing to say? When I have nothing to say, I don’t post. Then I have a friend who gets on me about it, then I try to come up with something quick! 😉 I hope the next time I have nothing to say, I say it even half as well as you just did! 😀
You so NICE! Thanks for the compliment. Yeah, most of the time it ends up being more than I expected. Who knew?