There is a Spiritual Lesson Behind  Marital Stress During The Holiday’s

-Every marriage must first be grounded, steeped and honored within a sacred timeless intimate spiritual union and understanding of each soul’s purpose before the two can try to do or be anything else for anyone else outside of that union. –

Christmas is about accepting the death of the old you and joyously rebirthing into the new and it’s exactly because of this suddle yet radical inner change,  many married couples feel more stress during this time of the year more than any other. However, if you aware of your life’s higher purposes, your essential and core reason for being, the holiday season can be a beautiful and graceful rebirth into the new you.

     What’s Your Inner Foundation Made of ?

Most marriages/relationships are based on the premise of conditional Love. conditional Love is a fictional Love that constantly fluctuates and often tally’s up what you do or don’t do for later upheavel or reward.

And it’s precisely because of conditional Love’s fickle egotistical shallow nature that so much confusion from illusions surface during this time of the year.

Conditional Love always meets frustration because the bulk of it’s main foundation is based on constantly needing, desiring or wanting the other person to ‘do’ something in order to be happy.

This type of ‘Love’ is short sighted, it has never had enough room for unlimited expansion because it is based on insecurities, fear of loss, force, threats and so forth. It isn’t unlimited like true Love which is unconditional and unassuming.

True Love or unconditional Love is the only Love that transcends space and time and expectations.

Most of us are looking for that Love that transcends space and time, we yearn for a meaningful and profoundly deeper connection with someone who is really connected to their higher loving purposes in life.

True Love also unconditional Love never feels the need to place false conditions or even force, in fact it’s king at allowing and accepting who you are at any given moment in time.

It may not agree with your decisions but because of it’s previous commitment to live life to the fullest, it has the resiliency to accept who you are and what you feel is best for your personal inner growth at any given moment in time.

I recently came across an incredibly beautiful story written by Lauren Sher in Good Morning America. The story was about a couple who had been married for 80 years! Now this story in particular moved me to curiosity, I mean after all, how many couples do you know that stay together for half of that time?

I felt inspired to discover more about how they had got on so well for so long and what their secret was!

For starters, I found out unlike most couples who take the traditional route of a big white wedding, this now elderly couple spontaneously whisked away and eloped! In their interview, the woman stated that her parents would have never agreed to their union because of his lack of financial means.

So basically if it had been up to her parents they would have never been together!

Another aspect that made this story so intriguing and interesting to me was that they talked openly about how they had come to peace with accepting each others imperfections. Another sign of true unconditional Love.-

As I took mental notes, I began to understand how they had chose to allow Love be king and the leader in their relationship verses fear and expectations. How many of us miss that point? Does Love have to be complicated when it’s really a gift?

Isn’t that the whole point of real Love? Acceptance of what is?  Accepting that you are both not perfect and allowing the illusion of perfection to die so that you can meet the soul you really fell in Love with?

Sure, it’s easier to be in Love with someone who you feel is perfect but unconditional Love chooses to stay and seek new undiscovered depths and boundaries of Love especially after the illusion of infatuation has fled.

Treat Each Other The Same Way You Did When You Were Dating

So many married couples revert back to this statement more than any other statement ever said: ‘ I don’t know who you are anymore! I thought you were somebody different, now I know!’  Please excuse me for a moment while I go take a hardy break and have a good laugh!

We can perceive whatever we want to perceive from another person but did you know that it takes a lifetime just for someone to find out everything about themselves?

I mean getting ourself to follow our mind and soul’s intentions is challenging enough, so why would you place such weight and unhealthy expectation on someone you Love?

Most of us just don’t have that kind of time in these physical bodies, so learning how-to accept your significant other as soon as possible will bring back a great sense of inner peace and Love into your relationship this season.

TRUE FREEDOM AND LOVE COMES FROM ACCEPTING YOUR MATE JUST AS THEY ARE

I don’t know why so many married couples feel the need to ‘fix’ their mate. *sigh*.

Did you carry that restrictive attitude when you met each other?  No, you didn’t. Most married couples wait until they get married before they work arduously on ‘changing’ the other.

Remember what you said when you first met ? ‘I Love so and so because he/she UNDERSTANDS ME AND ACCEPTS ME FOR WHO I AM.

What happened to that mantra? If your significant other knew how really controlling, manipulative and forceful your ego really was, they never would have married you in the first place! 

The most successful relationships by far are those who value and understand the freedom that comes from acceptance. Would you prefer to be right or do you want to be happy? Because what’s ‘right’ to you may not feel right to someone else!

We are all varying perspectives of God who for the greater and often unconscious reason of expanding the well and depth of Love, choose to share our paths. Your relationship with your significant other should always be viewed as it really is; A beautiful gift who chose to share his or her paths with you.

Honor that, respect it and be thankful for the gift of Love but never abuse that knowledge! To do so, is to willing make your Love a burden, responsibility and a compromise.

Choosing to allow and accept your significant other as they are is true freedom and real Love. Marriage has always been an excellent way of practicing acceptance and allowance and that’s why so much conflict arises when two decide to share one path. It’s an art form, and like any art it's gets better with practice. Let’s face it, you weren’t born married, so you are both bound to see aspects of each other that are less than desirable but in the real world no one is perfect .

Lifelong Love is not for those looking to dwell in the realm of egoic delusion. It is for soul explorers who are consciously aware of how each time they choose to spend time judging their mate, they have just bumped into a level of inner resistance that they need to work on within themselves.

Related Article Links:

Married Couple together for 80 years:

 http://news.yahoo.com/couple-celebrates-80th-wedding-anniversary-shares-secrets-lasting-174309809--abc.news-sex.html

Remedy for Spiritual Vampires & Bullys

Remedy for Spiritual Vampires & Bullys

By Sharice D. Harris

Nov. 7th, 2012

No one can ever take away your divine inner essence but you can give it away by allowing energetic vampires freedom to lurk around in your life- Sharice Harris

They can be physically, emotionally or verbally abusive or they can taunt, smirk, sneer and laugh at you for opening up and speaking your mind lovingly. They are called: ‘Spiritual Bully’s’ because they see Love and optimism as signs of weakness and they often attach themselves to people who do Love in order to get more energy.

These energies/persons usually in some form of authoritative position are petrified of being judged themselves, so instead of being judge they often choose to play the judge themselves and when they do, they will usually drain any source of inner beauty and optimism they can.

They are often your boss, your parents, your spouse, your mother-in-law, your siblings. They are often those that are the closest to you or people that you come into frequent contact with.

Believe it or not ‘Spiritual Bully’s’ even lurk in self-help/personal growth groups. They call themselves realist and you can spot them quite easily because they never come around to say anything good but they are always on time when they feel like you made a mistake or whenever they find an opening to ridicule or spread their cynicism.

Here are some signs that a Spiritual Bully is draining your energy:

1.) You feel tired, drained and unmotivated to wake-up and live your passions.

2.) You have an odd mental chatter, which I refer to as thinking from more than one mind.

3.) You feel scared, uncertain , indecisive or insecure about sharing what you’ve learned from your own life because you’ve been thinking and listening to more that one mind, usually the Spiritual Bully’s mind which taughts, nags and drains.

4.) You've been exposed to indirect comments that are rude and draining in nature and even though they would like you to think that that person who sends out the draining energy was talking about someone else, your intuitive self keeps telling you that they are talking about you and you can sense that in some way that their putting you down seems to motivate and empower them.

If you feel any of the above, then you are most likely being drained by a Spiritual Bully. Here are a couple of steps you can do to take your power back!

1.) Cut Them Off A.S.A.P.

This is often a very hard task for people who are really loving because we really like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt but the truth is that you can see whose giving and whose taking by the way they interact with you and others. I’ve seen so many positively loving good people get the life sucked out of them because simply they don’t want to be rude or hurtful! If you find yourself faced with this scenario or a similar one, ask yourself the following:

“What's more important to me? What I think and feel or what someone else thinks and feels about me? Would I rather risk loosing that person who's draining my essential life force or would I rather loose my natural zeal and excitement for life?”

If you cut-off a spiritual bully they will be forced to look at themselves and that’s something they’ve been avoiding for a long time now! They will most likely move onto the next weakest ‘nice person’ they feel they can find.

2.) Inspire Yourself!

Every thing we experience even crossing paths with energy vampires/bullys is all a learning lesson toward wisdom! Before we can inspire anyone else, we must first call our power back and learn how-to rise above lower level energies that drain and take, take, take. It’s easy to be a giver instead of taker but in order to do so, we must foremost learn how-to feed our soul’s purpose! Fill your divine cup or body up everyday with genuine feel good inspiration! The kind tof positive Love and light that helps you transcends lower level thinking such as doubt and fear. In order for this to work you should commit to least a minumum of 15-30 minutes day. You owe it to yourself!

3.) Transform that Vampish Energy!

You heard me! This is the fun and transformational part of taking your power back! Take that very same vampish/bully energy that caused you so much confusion and loss of energy and turn it into spiritual fuel you can use! That’s what light workers like Jesus and Buddha did and that’s one of the lessons they came to teach us! That’s also why they always were shrouded in light. Light workers attract these troubled souls, mainly because troubled souls really do get sick of being around themselves. To start the transformational process, follow the steps above but more importantly start expressing your authenticity in whatever unique form it is! If it’s writing about your favorite subject: Write! If it’s dancing: Dance an ensemble that expresses what you went through! If it’s singing: Sing about how you overcame that drainage. If it’s giving Love and inner peace, revel in being around soul’s that emanate and RECIPROCATE that inner peace and Love! These spiritual vampires/bullys would like for you to believe that everything you are doing is a hopeless waste of time and that your really off course but the truth is that your transforming that draining energy into inspiration will inspire someone else you meet down the road in life! So at the end even coming across them was never REALLY a waste of time. Just another lesson learnt!

Lastly, if you stick the 3 steps above, You’ll notice that the people who are left around you are also inspiring givers! You will be steeped in inspiration naturally and spread Love and compassion easily.

Remember spiritual vampires stick to habitual safe zones with other lower level energies that also take, take, take, that's where they can safely rant, taunt, rave, ridicule and degrade openly and freely. They can’t touch the what’s in the light and expressing yourself in the light of Love is your birthright!

It’s actually your very reason for being and anyone who makes you feel less than doesn’t contribute to your true loving divine purpose!

Why not start early and make this ‘2013’ New Year a restorative year? Why not surround yourself with beings who also Love easily and live in the light of Love? Resolve to Allow Yourself to Live, Love and Be As Happy As You Want! Choose to live a Life that You See Fit! If you don’t, who else will live your life for you?

THE NINE BILLION NAMES OF GOD

THE NINE BILLION NAMES OF GOD

I sense you in each star and in every sunrise. I feel you in the grass and the cool breeze that flows through the trees. I feel your strength and power in your mountains and your ease which flows through each river and down every stream. I see you looking back at me in every living animal and every living being. I see you playing with us and hiding behind the infinity of the ten thousand things!

- Sharice Harris

While doing some research the other day, I came across a fictional story by an Author named Arthur C. Clarke. The story entitled: “The Nine Billion Names of God”, (published in 1953) was about a Tibetan monastery whose monks sought to list every imaginable name of God. They believed that the universe was solely created in order for us to name all of God’s names and they believed that once they had completed discovering all of God’s names that the stars would flicker out like lights being turned off and that universe as we know it would come to an end.

The monks set out to work using what was considered back then modern technology. They created a machine that could precisely calculate and encode every possible name of God imaginable. It was an arduous task which took some time but after they had finished naming every possible name of God, the stars did indeed began to flicker off and the world as they knew it, nostalgically began to come to an end.

As I heard about that story, I couldn’t help but feel that there was some truth in that fictional tale. I mean through the infinite throws in life, each and every one of us experiences day in and day out, at the end of it all, it’s all a cry or yearning to know even deeper depths of God or Love.

Whether we want to admit it or not, we don’t have it all figured out by a certain age because we don’t how God or Love is going to use us to complete our story in this lifetime.

Sure, we can use our five senses with the help of our heart, gut and soul to tell when something doesn’t feel right or if something is missing in our lives but very few of us can actually tell where our personal life story will lead us because we are all being used in a story that is for the greater good of all of us. Some of us live our whole lives playing a game of cat and mouse with our relationships and even with our lives, while some of us choose to project our image of God’s Love onto others even in the midst of our own searching.

We are all students in life, sharing what we know and sizing up what we think someone else does or does not know because we know on a deeper level that God comes in countless forms! God is often so undetectable to our five senses that we barely notice that we are immersed in God right now. 

Do you realize that most people don’t realize that God is not on the outside but that we are actually inside of God right now?

We are living in God right now. What we consider as discovering God, is only God’s unfolding and disseminating of information to us. Have you ever wondered why information that you really needed at a particular point in your life wasn’t revealed to you when you felt like you really needed it the most?

It’s because we are being created right now through every experience we have.

A while back while rummaging through some of Marc Allen’s videos on Youtube, I came across a newly published author and Buddhist monk named Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche. Shyalpa, had just published his new book entitled: ‘Living Fully, Finding Joy in Every Breath’, with New World Library and he wanted to share some of his ancient Eastern wisdom with Marc and us in that interview.

Out of everything Shyalpa said, and he said a lot of very truthful and factual information which many of us overlook when looking for guidance and wisdom. One thing in particular stood out to me.

Shyalpa said that Buddha was able to reach Nirvana because he was a born to a king and unlike many of us didn’t need to strive for money, since he was born into a wealthy family.

At that moment I was reminded of how even something as seemingly superficial as running in the rat race after money, is also a cry for God’s mercy and Grace. Tears came to my eyes as I reflected on how many of us spend countless numbers of hours each week sacrificing precious time we will never get back. 

Not because we Love money and are uber materialistic beings but because money if obtained in conjunction with our highest life expression, allows us to live a life which glorifies the Isness of life.

When I saw life through these lens, I realized instantly how incredibly and lovingly committed most people really are to this journey called life. We will do everything we can to reach a means to spend more time freely glorifying God.

                -We are all Love at the core of our creation-

We know that in the attainment of our goals lyes our ability to finally help ourselves and others!

At the end it’s all Love or God! No one person can ever claim that they and only they hold the truth or the way exclusively to God. In doing so, we limit God’s infinite intelligence and wreak havoc on our planet and it’s people by becoming closed off in rigid belief systems.

Muslims have always believed that God has 99 names and many of them, out of devotion and Love to a greater power that is, spend much time reciting and  affirming those 99 names of God.

Hindus’ believe in many God’s but at the only one at the end. Why? Because at the central point of it all, God is present in billions of forms and billions of ways! Is our search to label God and tie him/her down a true search for God?

                        Doesn’t God come to us in countless forms? 

And isn’t everything we see in nature and within humanity living proof of that? Wouldn’t it be easier to just wake-up and realize that we are living in a dream called creation?

What if we are not searching for God’s name but instead searching for God’s Love within each other?

                    What if we are the nine billion names of God?

So far we’ve got 7 billion answers inhabiting our planet, looks like we’ve only got another 2 billion to go!

Thanks for stopping by! What personal life experiences has God used you to teach a lesson or lessons through? How have you discovered that infinite inner peace and knowingness that simply is? I would Love to hear God's voice speak through your life!

 

More Great Sources to Reaffirm and Recharge Your Soul's Purpose!

To view Marc Allen's interview with Buddhist monk Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche please visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M57AHQ1CCAw

Or to Learn More About Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche and/or 'Living Fully, Finding Joy in Every Breath' visit him at:

http://www.buddhafield.info/

Getting To the Heart of Religion

                                                   Getting To the Heart of Religion

  -One should never take anyone at face value.It is what lies deep within a persons heart that makes up the fabric of their soul-

I recently got into one of those gut wrenching dreaded conversations with a close relative of mine who mentioned that they would appreciate it if I mentioned Jesus more in my work.

Now religion and politics are usually two topics I generally steer way from. Why? Because left to their own vices, those two have proven to start more wars, kill, conquer and divide more people than anything else I’ve ever witnessed before. Plus with overly religious people constantly telling me that I’m serving the devil for simply speaking my mind and my own truth, going into one of these theological conversations more often that not leaves everyone frustrated if we go in blaming and name calling like a bunch of five year olds.

We’ve all seen how entire people and their nations have been wiped out in the name of religion and even when we go back to the birth of Christianity, we find that millions of people were forced to convert or be killed; Let’s be honest, Christianity didn’t start off on loving grounds or even with basic compassionate humanitarian rights in mind.

So how can something that started off so with so many sinister intentions, pain, tears and bloodshed lead to enlightenment?

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved Christianity and it has especially helped me slow down as a young teen who was acting out from abuse I had experienced during my early childhood; But one thing I could never understand and I’ve asked many Christians preachers about is: “Why is the Christian God such an angry God?”. If he is all powerful why does he need to damn someone to hell to prove his point? Why is he a jealous God? And how could being a jealous God be a good thing? Wouldn’t sending a soul to Hell for eternity be counteractive? I mean how could spending an eternity in Hell actually help change the energetic vibration of a soul? Wouldn’t that soul be even more damaged and enraged? And how could Christianity be God’s only way of communicating with us?

Does that mean that everyone else is wrong and does that mean that if you were born in some small town in India where no one has even heard about Jesus, that we would all be doomed to go to Hell too? It is my knowing and belief that we are all connected directly to God and I believe that having a relationship with God, is a spiritual and sacred experience which is too often commercialized. When we close ourselves off from being able to simply hear others out and really open our minds to try to understand their point of view, we really miss out on juicy invaluable information that could have lead us to even deeper levels of Love or God.

I  mean how can anyone person judge a book by it’s cover until you know the contents of it’s soul?

Reflecting back on my upbringing, excursions with my mother to the Synagogue and the Mosque were frequent occurrences, we would even study Buddhism and read the Tao daily. We sincerely loved learning about these ancient wisdoms through their text and were Thankful that someone had actually taken the time to personally write them down! Coming up with the freedom to practice and study what harmonized within my soul rather than focusing and following what people on the outside told me I should or shouldn’t follow encouraged me to use my mind subjectively.

However there was one particular person who really helped me open up my heart at a young age and not jump on the damnation train was my late grandfather. Soon before he passed away we had a meaningful heart-to-heart moment which I will never forget. After giving me one of his signature sloppy granddad kisses on the cheek which everyone in my family frequently had a conversation about, this man, who was a devote Muslim, looked into my eyes and said :

"Grandbaby, I don’t care about what religion you follow, you could follow any religion, change religions as much as you want, I really don’t care because I know your heart”.

Those words coming from him meant so much to me. He was a man who put his community first, gave selflessly of his time to teens who came from dysfunctional homes, helped other families children go to university and sat studiously for hours mentoring kids who never had a father figure. Yet according to many religious Christians the fact that he didn’t follow the bible, meant he went to Hell. Maybe it was the fact that he was so different as a younger man, this same man had been outraged when he found out my mother was pregnant by someone from another race and I saw it in his eyes that he had lived to regret how limited beliefs had separated so many well meaning hearts.

Nevertheless, despite making mistakes, that day he turned to me and for the first time ever put Love before religion.

My grandfather made his peace before passing and if there is anything that I’ve learned from living in the line of being different is that nothing should separate us so much that we stop seeing each other from our hearts perspective.

What would the world be like if we didn’t have religion dividing us? I would really enjoy hearing from you!

If you get really energetically stimulated from expanding your mind and all of it’s horizons on theological talks, then please stop by and visit the wonderful Crystals S. Lewis’s blog at: http://crystalstmarielewis.com/ . She is expert who has majored in theological debates and I can’t tell you enough how much I enjoy her blog on matters of religion!

Another blog I found really interesting on spirituality is by a man named Scott Bruno, He is an international American who has traveled and lived abroad for years. I had so much fun visiting his blog and learning about his point of views. You can find out more about Scott Bruno for yourself: http://www.scottbruno.com/spirituality.htm

Does Clothes Really Make The Man?

Does Clothes Really Make The Man? 
By Sharice Harris

              Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.

- Benjamin Franklin 

Years ago on a trip to Burma, something simply extraordinary happened in my life. In the midst of abject poverty, the kind that exists whether there is an economic crisis or not, I experienced a rare phenomenon that many of us in western society deem impossible without money.

Absolute Contentment. 

As I walked through the dirt roads filled with shoddy shacks I couldn’t help but noticing how happy the towns people were who lived there. 

Clothe in plain woven fabrics the men beamed from ear to ear while local women cheerfully shared humorous familiar stories. Although I had grown up in conditions that weren’t far from these back in the U.S., it hit me that I’d never come across poverty stricken people who genuinely seemed contently happy with the cards life had given them. 

Why were these Burmese people so content? According to the news they had absolutely no reason to be this happy. Had they accepted and made peace with their lot in life? Had they given up on the fight for a better life or did they find out something about life that most of us are still searching for? Had they realized the meaning of life? 



Uncovering the Gift of Gratitude in the Midst of Distraction 

In western society we face so many momentarily distractions, many of which block us from realizing that we already have everything we need. According to a study held by PBS the majority of Americans who claim to be ‘very happy’ reached it’s peak in 1957. That same study went on to reveal that our happiness has been on fairly steady decline since 1957. 

However, why would we be so unfulfilled and so unhappy, when according to ‘The Huffington Post’ we are one of the richest countries in the world? Is having more than most people worldwide simply a distraction which keeps us from appreciating all that life, all that this planet has actually gifted us? 

I mean wouldn’t having more naturally constitute as being better? 

Now I know that some of you are going to disagree with me and that’s fine you are entitled to your opinion just as I’m mine. Hey, from my perspective we are all pieces in this puzzle and each one has his or hers perspective for a very specific reason. I talk more about this subject in my book: ‘A Permanent Summer’. 

What I saw, felt and experienced in Burma, was evidence that the more society seems to have the more it’s people to complain. As I watched children curled up and sleeping alongside hard dirt roads with no pillows, sheets or comfy mattresses, I couldn’t help but think about how children back home in the U.S. and Europe would have made an all out fuss over not receiving the latest PS3 or Nintendo Wii for X-mas. 

Why and how could such a tremendous gap of extreme basic human rights and inequality exist on such a small planet? How can we share the same air, share the same basic needs yet overlook the fact that every day we have EXACTLY what it is we need. 

While we complain about the economic crisis, people in Burma and most countries in the world have never ever experienced any type of financial growth. I once heard a Spanish man say to a man from Guyana that Spain was experiencing a ‘crisis’, only to hear the Guyanese man say. Oh really? Then my country has been in a crisis forever. 

According to Global Issues, more than 80% of people worldwide still live in complete abject poverty. They have always been living with less, yet they are happier. 

Perhaps if we could focus on everything that we do have, if we could just make a list of everything, no matter how tiny or miniscule they may seem, then perhaps we could come to the awareness that we really have been incredibly blessed with more than we need. 

In most of western society, no matter which social class we come from, no matter how lowly and hard our past may have been, we can leave those stories in the past and be thankful that we have the opportunity to grow and that we have the opportunity to share that growth with the rest of humanity. 

The economic crisis may have required that we downsize our supersized lifestyles but in the process of it’s occurrence, I’ve personally come to realize that everything that truly matters could never be bought anyway.

5 Ways to Feel More Love & Compassion For Yourself & Others

By Erin Lanahan

“The amount of happiness that you have depends on the amount of freedom you have in your heart.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Lately I’ve been feeling a sense of vulnerability that I always wished I could feel without being afraid.

I have always wished I was one of those people who could show my authentic self to the world, and still be able to look you in the eye, after I let you see me, without quivering in shame or regret.

Not too long ago, I shared my feelings with someone who I deeply loved. This was one of the hardest, scariest things I’ve ever done, but it gave me the freedom to be vulnerable and to finally have a heart that’s ready to let love in.

Loving this person has taught me so much about love, forgiveness, and acceptance. Although he did not want the same things I want, just having him in my life has taught me more about how to feel unconditional love and genuine compassion for myself.

As a result, I am experiencing a deep level of unconditional love and compassion for others.

I use to walk around taking things very personally.

If I walked by a stranger who gave me a dirty look, or if a bank teller was rude, or if the man I loved didn’t want to love me back in the way I wanted him to, I thought it meant there was something wrong with me. However, what I’m realizing is that none of it has anything to do with me.

I have a brand new sense of awareness now.

When I begin to experience negative self-talk inside of me, I seem to be shifting almost immediately to a place of self-love, forgiveness, acceptance, and compassion for myself. This inner awakening has begun to translate into a new perception of my outside world.

Instead of my usual thoughts and reactions that occur when confronted with less than ideal responses from the external world, I am able to see me in you and you in me.

Right away I begin to feel compassion, because I know you hurt, just like me, and you feel joy, just like me. You worry and feel scared sometimes, just like me. You have bad days, just like me, and you have amazing days, just like me. You are seeking, just like me. You want to believe in love, just like me.

I look at people passing me by in the store, on the streets, or in traffic, and have a deep sense of knowing that they too feel separate sometimes, and they too have times when they fear they will never be enough—just like me.

We all feel the same things.

This realization has allowed me to continue loving even when it isn’t returned to me in the exact way I initially wanted it. True love, after all, is to love someone and expect nothing in return.

I practice this daily by being honest about what’s in my heart, without holding on too tightly to the outcome.

For me, practicing love is the same as practicing the art of letting go, and giving others the freedom to just be—accepting them exactly the way they are. It’s something we can do with friends, family, love interests, and strangers alike.

I can now look this special man in the eyes and smile because I know he is just like me. I know that he can see me now, because I finally revealed myself to him, and I feel good about myself for doing that.

I can accept him and just experience him for who he is and where he is on his path because I know now that we are the same. I know that what will happen, will happen, and what will not, will not.

In the meantime, I continue to make more room inside of my heart to give and receive love.

The simple act of making a shift within has completely transformed the type of relationships I’m attracting. When you live from a place of self love, the world mirrors love and compassion back to you.

When you give yourself unconditional love, compassion, forgiveness, and acceptance, you’re then able to give that to others.

Here are 5 tips to feel more love and compassion for yourself and therefore reflect that back to the world:

1. If you don’t feel real love for yourself yet, act as if.

Act lovingly towards yourself and do things that nurture you, make you stronger, and make you proud of who you are and how you live your life. Exercise, meditation, helping others freely, and eating a healthy diet work really well for me. Practice progress, not perfection.

2. When you feel hurt by someone else, remind yourself that they are just like you.

They hurt, feel fear, have insecurities, and feel the need to defend and protect themselves. They are no different than you and me.

At times, we all react to the programming in our minds. As you commit to feeling unconditional love and compassion for self and others, you will begin to transform the programming in your brain. All you need is awareness. Just be aware.

3. Remember, others are on their path just like you are on yours.

You are both just doing the best you can.

4. Be of service in the world.

Nothing will help you find compassion within yourself and for others like coming face to face with people who have much less materially and way bigger problems than you.

5. Turn within and ask your higher knowing to show you where you lack integrity, love, trust, compassion, forgiveness, and acceptance.

Then ask yourself to heal.

Be patient with the process. Sometimes small shifts happen over time. Allowing your own process to unfold is an act of love in and of itself.

Give Meaning to Life

By Sharice Harris

-There is only one way to live life and that is to live life completely and absolutely in Love-

One autumn day while everyone was busy being busy, I decided to hide in a corner and read a short story I will never forget: ‘The Girl Who Loved Too Much’.

The fictional tale was about a young girl who fell head over heels in Love with life and everything it had to offer. She fell in Love with the blue sky, she fell in love with the birds, she fell in Love with the clouds and the bright warm sun, she fell in Love with the brooks, streams and rolling meadows. She loved so much that everyone and everything was beckoned and drawn to her infectious Love for life.

However the girl began to notice that each time she loved more, everyone and everything began to inch closer and closer. As she loved the trees, they came closer, as she loved the brook, it came closer, the clouds, the sun and the sky all came closer as she gave her Love away, even nearby animals and people who saw the girl’s Love came closer. Before long everything and everyone had come so close that the young girl no longer had room to breathe.

I never forgot that story throughout my years and on a few occasions, I found myself reflecting heavily back on that story, Why did I Love that story so much? And why did Loving so hard seem to be a reoccurring theme for my life?

Sure, I was successful at giving my Love to others but sometimes it seemed like the people I knew seemed to have a special secret reserve on theirs. I saw them wanting to give Love and wondered what were they waiting for?

At times it seemed as though many of the people I met or let into my home, wanted so badly to give Love but yet seemed so frightened to do so, it seemed that they feared that if they gave Love away, they might lose it or get lost in it somehow.

But how can one be lost in Love? And when did we start fearing Love?

5 Life Long Lessons I’ve Learned About Love

1.) Opening Your Heart and showing Love to others is not a sign of weakness. It takes a really strong and stable-minded soul to courageously give Love.

2.)The best way to Love others is to Love yourself fully and the best way to Love yourself fully is to accept and respect your journey, irrespective to what anybody may think, say or feels about it. At the end it’s yours and you can spread as much Love as you want to. Have you ever met a person who complained about being Loved too much?


3.)If you feel hurt or drained from giving your Love to another then that person is not reciprocating Love back to you. The hidden reservoir of immeasurable Love that each of us have within us has the capability to give Love unconditionally without ‘running out’ or ‘trying to hard’.

4.)Love and yes expressing Love is your birthright and it is up to all of us to remember that we are temporary tenants in this life, given a fairly short amount time, Love is the least we can give back to life for all that it has given us.

5.)Love’s the Highest Honor and Dignity any soul can obtain and it’s the most valuable thing you can actually take with you when you leave your physical body. The greatest form of self-mastery is living a life in Love!

Giving Love for no reason in my personal experience is, has and always will be the very secret to that keeps our world turning.