Ever loved a movie musical so much that the thought of it brings you to happy tears? That movie for me is Mary Poppins. I was three years old when it first came out in 1964. And now, a reason to love it all over again with the holiday release of Mary Poppins Returns.
Why do I love this one as much as the wonder filled original? It’s so Zen. Just about every song is about energy… about vibrating at a higher frequency… about finding joy in life.
And can’t we all use a little more of that these days?
A quick rundown of the big musical numbers goes like this: “Trip a Little LightFantastic” tells us to light a lamp in the darkness when life has us down. “Turning Turtle” says that when we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change. “Nowhere to Go But Up” tells us that life’s a balloon that tumbles or rises depending on what’s inside; if it’s “hope and playful surprises”, we’ll float into the sky and fly. “Can You Imagine That?” tells us to turn off our logic and turn on our imagination, where all the joy in life is.
From start to finish, it’s a film that whispers to our soul and inspires it to soar. The message? We all have a choice. We can choose joy. We can choose the light.
Who’d have thought that Mary Poppins was really the Buddha – disguised in a prim and proper nanny dress – with a talking umbrella by her side? Spit Spot, how I love her.
May 2019 be a year of tripping the light fantastic for all of us.
Feeling overwhelmed by everything on your “to do” list? Welcome to the holidays. Hustle-bustle is the name of the game this time of year. Buying, wrapping, baking, eating… It’s just… well… what we do. Finally comes the moment when every bow is tied and every holiday treat is quietly sitting in neat little rows in its Tupperware container ready to be devoured. Time to exhale. Time for whatever’s next. So… what’s next?
That’s easy. What’s next is Now.
It seems like a radical concept, I know. What’s next is bringing our attention to the bright shiny holiday moment we are living in – the one that’s right in front of us – the beautiful present. And there’s something simple we can do to lock and load us into that present moment: Listen.
Yup. Just listen. Close your eyes and listen to the sounds outside your window… the geese honking as they fly in formation above you in the sky, your neighbour’s dog barking, the wind whipping through the bare branches of the trees. Listen for the sounds that connect you with the Earth. Those sounds are the heartbeat of the planet that our feet walk on each day; they speak to our souls. When we take the time to slow down, be still and notice them, we just plain feel good. And isn’t that why we’re here? To feel good?
So try listening. No ribbons. No packages. No boxes. No bags. Just the most beautiful holiday present you could ever give yourself: The present.
Take a look at my living room bookshelf, and you’ll find dozens of spiritual books by dozens of super cool authors. One of them is a guy named Mike Dooley, who got his start with a daily email blast called “Notes from the Universe”. The email blast eventually became a book, which turned into a series of books and then into a bit of an empire. Check it out here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2RSc86q
Mike talks to his readers as if they are opening a message each morning from the Universe itself.
Today’s note got my attention: “When someone behaves poorly, Karen, it’s always because they’ve forgotten how powerful they really are, how beautiful life is, and how much they’re loved.”
Could that be true?
It got me thinking about times in the past when perhaps I had behaved poorly. Was it really because I had forgotten my own power? The beauty of life? How much I’m loved?
The more I thought about it, the more I realised that Mike had a point – a point worth focusing on for a few minutes every day.
Remember your power… remember the beauty of life… remember how much you’re loved here on Earth and by the angels above us.
So let that tightness in your shoulders go. Breathe in. Breathe out. Relax. Trust that everything is working out for your highest good.
Ever lose sleep worrying about the future or the past? Welcome to the human race. We Earthlings seem to spend a lot of time living in yesterday or tomorrow instead of in “now”.
As a strategy, it’s totally messed up.
If you had a choice between living in a place where life feels good, or living in place where life comes wrapped in regret or anxiety, wouldn’t you just naturally choose “good”? It seems like a no brainer.
But millions of people spend their days and nights anywhere but in the here and now.
Nowis that place your parents took you as a kid where they served foot-long hotdogs and onion rings and chocolate milkshakes. It’s hip, it’s cool, it’s where calm lives, where peace resides, where happy hangs out.
Anywhere else is just a ticket on the train to Pointless. Yet millions of people board that rickety old train every day, watching joy pass them by as they gaze out the window.
What would happen if someone showed you how to hop across the tracks and board a different train?
Here’s a hack that will get you to “now” sooner.
Snap your fingers and listen to the sound it makes.
Feel the warmth of the water that sprays on your skin in the shower.
Really taste your cereal as you chew on it at breakfast.
Gaze at the birds flying overhead on your way to work each morning.
Sense a pattern?
All you have to do is use each one of your senses to notice the things around you in every moment.
Where you’ll wind up will be wonderful. Where you’ll wind up will be “now”.
Ever have a less than ideal day at work? No matter how hard you tried to accentuate the positive, you wound up feeling, well… kinda negative? Tell me about it, sister. Yesterday, I was feeling great – riding the wave of life and hanging ten. Until I wasn’t. Suddenly, a conversation with someone who was angry threw me off my surfboard, and I crashed into the waves.
I tried to get back on my board, but I couldn’t seem to pull myself up.
People who work in call centres deal with this kind of thing every day. Some folks are just plain angry. They bulldoze and bulldoze until they get what they want… and they’re not very nice about it in the process.
So what’s a girl to do?
According to Robert Holden, the author of “Shift Happens”and creator of “The HappinessProject”, it’s a no brainer. His work in psychology and healing, he says, has taught him that mental health is the capacity to choose your thoughts.
It’s the difference, he says, between pain and freedom.
You can let your run-in with that angry person ruin your whole day or just a few minutes of it. The choice is always yours: Pain or freedom?
Such a simple question. Such a simple answer.
Who knew it could be that easy?
Suddenly, I feel like I’m back on my board again. 😀
