The Highest Motives

The highest and best power in the world is the  power we have to hold one another in high esteem.

This causes us to act in the ways that most uplift ourselves and those around us.

This feeling moves outward and embraces everyone one we know and every one we don’t even know all over the planet.

It is time to begin to consider the great gift of compassion we all have to share.

Despite the narrow view we are presented through our leadership, we can maintain the best view, that of valuing and caring for one another.

It is powerful to consider or deep convictions.

When someone or some organization doesn’t live up to what we can conceive as a higher and better way to live, we can remind ourselves of the value of our viewpoint.

Put all your thought-weight into the right side of the equation.

Acknowledge its’ goodness, its’ perfection.

Acknowledge your ability to see how good and how uplifting your viewpoint is in this matter.

Don’t even argue with the present realities or how they came to be.

Feel the presence of solutions that are wonderful for everyone who lives on the planet.

These are our neighbors.

What business do any of us have to be fighting over the old resources when we have so many more to offer through our uplifted cooperation?

We are not separate.  We are all One.  And our welfare is in our own hands.

© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Getting Good

I am really getting a lot of good ideas and feelings built up in my personal library of resources.

Now, when I notice that I am disturbed by some thought, I can turn away from it and immediately feel the effects of so many good thoughts and feelings.

I can choose one or more to focus on and it takes me away from the bad feelings caused by the disturbing thoughts.

Few and fewer negative scenarios are played out in my thoughts.

This is a real triumph.

The years of rewriting and rewiring my life and mind are coming to fruition.

The balance has shifted.

I was aware that many of the deep residual feelings were not of my making.  

They had just been imprinted when I was so very young.

But I was still responsible for taking the initiative to clear them out and replace them with good images and to use them to attract good experiences.

I am so grateful to see this clear shift and to feel the positive and uplifting effects of this long process.

© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

                                                                                                                 Printable Meditation

Keeping My Spirits Up

I used to think there was a point at which everything would be all right forever.

Now, I know that what is constant is the attaining of peace and accomplishment at every step, through every challenge.

And what an interesting life it is!

I have come to associate any heaviness which I feel with world conditions or something that I am reacting to from the past.

The way I lift up my spirits is to consider how I can give.

That was the directive I received several years ago during a time of great challenge and great depression.

As I journaled, I found myself writing in all caps, two lines high, “GIVE MORE!”

So, that has become my first step in lifting myself up, to consider how I can give more.

This has led to developing a new career which I adore, writing Music Books for very young children and beginning musicians of any age (www.MusicandBooksforChildren.com).

It is something which encourages me to learn more interesting skills.  Since I love to teach, I can give more that way.  I can also create more practical things.

With more food skills, (I have learned canning and I am learning how to make fermented foods) and with beginning shop skills (I am learning how to use power tools) and with beginning artist skills (I am learning how to observe Nature), I can communicate with more people.

I can share my love for what I am learning and create ways for others to learn it, too.

When I start writing my inspirational blogs, that starts uplifting me.  I know to continue through as many blogs as it takes until I feel completely happy.

Then I am directed to particular projects to work on.

That creates a completely different kind of flow than a checklist.

2013 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

The Peace of Getting Things Done

Things do not always get done in a particular order, but they get done in a certain order.

When I let my list make its own priorities, it makes me happier.

I have the habit of setting my priorities the way I always used to.

But it is better this way.

I started a list, to make sure I didn’t leave anything out.

I checked ingredients for cooking.

I collected books on my list to read.

I knitted a little.

And then, taking a break, I just let the thoughts of love and self-appreciation fill me.

I let go of my plans.

Other things have come first.

And it is all getting done.

In the best way, with true first things first.

© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Friends and Appreciation

It was an unexpected pleasure to run into a friend I had not seen for several months when my husband and I were in a different part of town.

Earlier in the week, when we were out of town, someone had come up to me and recognized that I had stayed with them several months ago.

The first call we received when we got home from out of town was from someone we worked with in the other town.

That was an extension of friendship, too.

Recognizing someone in a different context gives a sense of appreciation for them.

It expands the friendship.

It lets us related to them in a new place, a new way.

It feels good to be seen and known.

It is so easy to connect with people once we know them.

It is also easy to get to know new people when we appreciate where they are coming from.

It gives me a new dimension of peace to recognize in folks, whether I know them or not, the sameness of all of us.

It brings us all together in appreciation of what we each have to offer and share with each other, just in daily life.

This is what shapes my life, my ability to appreciate and be appreciated, in little ways, in ways that let me connect, both with people I already know, and with the new friends I am making.

© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Reflection

In Fujikawa’s One Straw Revolution, an account of reforming agriculture in Japan to return better yields through simpler methods, the author talks about the opportunity for reflection during the slower winter months.

One of the things I am able to do as I slow down is to reflect.

It is a peaceful occupation, and allows me to digest and sort out the day’s events.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is the making of lists and crossing off items as they get done.

Both are useful, but I usually reap only the benefits of list-making.

Reflection is a gentle way of preparing for or recounting the day.

It lets me include a meditation which sets me up for listening.

That prepares me for how the day is to go, as well as what it will include.

Some items which were on my list get taken off.  Others come to mind.

Reflection lets all proceed in an orderly and calm way.

Things quite often get done much faster and then there is more time for reflection along the way or at the end of the day.

A different quality of life is able to permeate my being.

I feel more relaxed and as though the day is under better control with reflection.

© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

For a printable version of this meditation, please go to:
http://www.inspiredpractices.com/POP/POP/Pebbles_of_Peace/Entries/2013/8/6_Reflection.html

Feeling the Urge

One of my new tools in practicing more peace in my life is compassion.  This is leading to a more patient approach both with myself and with others.

------------------

I have been prompted more and more to follow the urge to be peaceful.

I am really glad to discover this new tendency in me, since I had tended to be more depressed and despairing and angry in the past.

By following the urge to be peaceful, I give people more room.

I allow for the fact that they may be having a bad day, received bad news, are frustrated in their lives in some way.

They may not yet have the tools to deal with these negative situations in more productive ways.

It has taken quite a long period of commitment for me to learn the new tools which are making my life more productive.

The new tools which I am learning include giving myself time to think about the situation.

I also include the fact that it takes me longer to figure things out with my new tools, simply because I have not had as much practice with them.

I move more quickly to solutions because of my new approach.

I spend much less time in negativity and confusion.

I have discovered my purpose in life, acquired new skills with which to fulfill it, and I love doing it.

So it is well worth finding a way to peace.

I am grateful every time I can be true to that urge.

© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

On the Right Track

I feel as though I am on the right track for myself.

I am fulfilling a childhood dream to follow my own interests.

I feel so calm, like I am no longer being torn.

It was always so hard to follow the career which had been chosen for me.

I worked hard and was successful, but I never felt relaxed about it or though it was my given direction.

The peace I am feeling is deep.

It is so simple.

I am grateful to have overcome the deep obstacles about being myself.

It is so much simpler to be doing this.

I love me.

© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com