Appreciation Archives

I Have Loved

wvlju2021-09-16T20:06:01+00:00

All Love We Feel Comes from Within Us. If We have Ever Loved – Anybody or Anything, We Can Recreate those Loving Feelings. Whatever love we have ever felt – whether for a child, lover, family member, or a pet – or anything that evoked a sense of love within us like our home, a walk, our garden, art, music, the sunset, or the exhilaration of a sport – the feeling came from within us, even though it was activated by something outside of us. If we have ever felt a deep sense of contentment – this feeling also came from within us, even though it may have been activated by outside circumstances that caused us to feel satisfied. If We Have Ever Felt Love Activated by Externals, We Can Feel Love from Within Our Self Some people actually live life feeling love all the time. However, for most of us, it is triggered by someone, something, or from a fond memory. Still, knowing/remembering that we have loved – that we have the capacity to feel love is a great comfort. Lately, it has been for me. To keep emotionally above board throughout the pandemic I upped my meditations practices. And since I use mostly guided meditations (I’m simply too hyper to meditate quietly on my own; I need assistance to get me in a quiet state ?), I have discovered some new ones. One of these has been Louise Hay’s morning meditation, which focuses mainly on appreciation. About halfway through the 25 minutes, we are asked to spend a few minutes appreciating the people, things, and experiences we now have, or have had, in our life. Here is the link to Louise's meditation. (These blog posts are all based on my books. About My Books and purchase info is found here (a list of my books is at the end) I am also a copywriter and offer writing services. About my Writing Services see here) Over time, my appreciation turned into remembering fondly; then it turned into really feeling the love for what I have, or have had – for people, things, and experiences in my life that brings or has brought me joy. At some point, I realized that I Have Really Loved – and have gotten pleasure from so much in my life. I LOVED having children – the fun of it all; I no longer remember any of the hard parts. I have loved my homes. I loved my dance classes, and I still love to dance. I love to paint. I have loved hopping on my bicycle at the end of the day and driving along the Lakeshore. Cooking for my family and hosting family/friend gatherings has always brought me great pleasure. I have loved all my gardens – creating them and enjoying them, and I now love my balcony and window boxes. I love waking up in the morning and looking out the window – whether rainy, cloudy, or sunny. Sitting in my solarium in [...]

I Have Lovedwvlju2021-09-16T20:06:01+00:00

? Saying “I Love You” – December 2022 Newsletter Message

wvlju2023-02-03T22:20:29+00:00

This is from my December Monthly Newsletter Message. ????? February's Message will be " "What Would Love Do." Sign-up to Receive it. You Can Read Past Ones there too. The words I love you are very powerful. They touch the heart of the recipient. However, not everyone can say the words. They may feel love for the other, but cannot bring themselves to express it verbally. Its as if the words are stuck in their throat. Saying I love you is often learned from our birth family as it may have been normal to regularly say the words. And even for those who grew up in a family where saying I love you wasn’t the norm, we may still be able to verbally express love later in life – if we have a strong enough heart connection. The stronger our heart connection, the more we can feel love in our hearts and come from a place of love, and the easier it is to express love – in all its ways, including verbally. The More Love We Feel in Our Hearts, the Easier it Is For Us to Express Love – Including Words The purest form of saying I love you comes from our heart-space and being unafraid to be vulnerable. Saying I love you makes us vulnerable because we are opening our hearts – and the other may not reciprocate the love we are expressing. But the purest form of expressing love to another requires no reciprocation. However, most of us get hurt feelings or confused if another does not reciprocate our expressions of love. Sometimes they may not feel it, but most likely, the other has not returned the feelings because they cannot. Still, even if it feels awkward to say the words or it makes you feel uncomfortable or vulnerable, uttering them will benefit you greatly. Our Words Are Powerful. They Are Like Mantras Mantras are valuable because they anchor the meaning of the words into our being – into our heart-space. The more often we make an effort to connect to or express love, the more we connect to our heart-space. And the more we connect to our heart-space, the easier it is to express love – in all its forms. (See my blog post The Qualities of Love) Words are most powerful when felt deeply in our hearts. But even words whispered to ourselves or forced words voiced have benefits – because we are making an effort. The “fake it till you make it” concept has value. So, if you are uncomfortable saying I love you to others, there are many ways to get the energy of it in you – so that you can override any blocks to verbally expressing your love. This - and my February message are excerpts from my upcoming book, Relationship Intelligence ... – due out later this Winter. See my Published and Upcoming Books Practice saying the words when alone – and repeat them many times, ?Out loud to [...]

? Saying “I Love You” – December 2022 Newsletter Messagewvlju2023-02-03T22:20:29+00:00

Moving From “Its Not Ok” to “I’m at Peace With This” – Newsletter September 2021

wvlju2021-11-02T18:36:27+00:00

Our ultimate purpose is to return to love.* And as we start to see others and life through the eyes of love, we can … ?Overcome – and effectively deal with our issues and challenging situations ?No longer focus the differences we hold with others, ?Make peace with situations around us we disagree with. *A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson, was one of the first books that opened my eyes to the depths that we can perceive others – and situations through the eyes of love. We emerged from love. We were created out of love. We ARE love. And our purpose is to return to love. Our world is a classroom in that journey back to fully embracing love – in all its forms – with everyone, everything, and all situations. ??? My passion is writing in the personal development and spirituality genres. I am also a copywriter and offer various writing services to businesses and personal development and spiritual communities. My Writing Services Page Whether the Garden of Eden was real or metaphoric, it is clear that we once had a connection to unconditional love, but at some point, we lost it. Over time, Humanity's ways of dealing with others and life shifted to fear-based. We inherited fear-based concepts, ideas, perceptions, reactions, and habits from our past. These became ingrained in our DNA and developed into our current default ways of navigating the world. Many qualities encompass us feeling and showing love, and there are many qualities we express when we come from a place of fear. See my post: the Qualities of Love / the Qualities of Fear (The links to all my related blog posts are also at the end). Fear-based ways of approaching life limit our connection to – and outward expressions of unconditional love. Coming from this constricted place, we may be reactive or emotionally distant, hurting those around us. When hurt, our default may be that we become defensive and over-reactive, or we become protective of our hearts and shut down. Coming from a place of love we exude light. Coming from a place of fear we exude darkness. The Masters came to lead us out of the "darkness" or "our sleeping state, but we were too stuck in our ways to understand or embrace their messages – at least enough for them to become the norm. It is now time for Humanity to come out of the darkness into the light: To awaken to embracing the love we are at our core and extend that love to others. Moving Beyond How Humanity Has Navigated the World Influenced by what we have been taught and shown, people are only ever doing what they think they need to do to feel good or safe, or do what they think is best, right, good, or necessary. We are all on different legs of our Journey to Peace (my 1st book?) to coming out of the darkness and awakening to seeing [...]

Moving From “Its Not Ok” to “I’m at Peace With This” – Newsletter September 2021wvlju2021-11-02T18:36:27+00:00

Loving – Instead of Missing What Was

wvlju2020-12-24T23:25:25+00:00

As the Seasonal Holidays will be so different this year, and we will surely not have all the celebrations we are so used to and hold so dear, I felt is appropriate to repost part of a previous message from my April Newsletter. Human contact and regular get-togethers with family and friends are so important to our sense of well-being. However, Even when missing our loved ones or longing to spend time with good friends, there are ways to help waylay the sadness, keep our spirits up, and our connection to them alive in us. Life is ever-changing. With its the ebbs and flows, things and people come into our life, and go out of our life. Circumstances change. It is human nature to miss what was – especially what we loved and were comfortable with. However, it is more helpful to us that we love what was, rather than miss what was. Remembering what was with love creates loving feelings within us. Loving feelings dispel sadness, longing, and loneliness. They create expansion in our being. When we live from an expanded place, we are connected to Universal love. Connected to Universal love, we more easily find contentment and happiness with whatever we are doing. Appreciation for what is. Our sense of belonging comes mainly from this connection; not so much from others or circumstances. Missing what was creates negative feelings within us. Our consciousness reads missing as lack. As despair – void of love, hope, and appreciation. This creates contraction in our being. When we live from a contracted place, we rely mainly on our human emotions for our contentment and happiness, where sadness, longing, and loneliness can easily thrive. Move to Loving What Was – from Missing What Was. To move to LOVING – from missing what was, we simply remember what we miss lovingly. We do this by: Bring into your heart the feeling of what you miss created within Revel in the feeling. Hugging yourself – or a pillow help to create the feeling. Smile about it. Write about it. Bring to mind the details. The sights. The sounds. The smells. Dig out old pictures and lovingly gaze at them, embrace them, and hold them to your heart. Do, or bring to mind, whatever creates that positive and loving feeling you remember about what you miss. The more we connect to the feeling what we miss created in us, the more the nice, loving feelings associated with it become alive in us, and the less we actually miss them. Although loving what was will not bring us physical hugs, we can still summon up some of that warm and fuzzy feeling getting a big hug from a loved one brings us. I wish you health, safety, ease in getting all you need, and some connection with loved ones throughout this challenging time. However you spend this holiday season, I wish you a blessed time – hopefully with some nice treats, good food, and at least a call [...]

Loving – Instead of Missing What Waswvlju2020-12-24T23:25:25+00:00

Newsletter #36, Dec. 2020, Feeling Blessed: I Have Loved Ones Who Usually Grace My Table

wvlju2021-02-06T02:31:29+00:00

My wish for you is that however you celebrate this Holiday season, that you can feel the love and spirit of it – even though our usual ways of preparing for and celebrating it is, and will be, greatly altered from what we are used to. (This was sent out Dec 20th, but I was only able to post here today, so my apologies if some of it seems outdated now; the sentiments still remain :) Sign up to my newsletter here Link is also below). Myself, I’m focusing on feeling blessed because I do have loved ones nearby who I would be celebrating Christmas with, and will feel comforted that my son and his family who live far away are safe, doing ok, and have each other. I also have a few creative ideas to help me feel close to my family, and that will also help keep the spirit of the season alive in me. Sadly, not everyone does have loved ones to see during the Holiday season. Others do, but they live very far away and cannot ever get together, while some people are estranged from family members and never see them. Those of us who do have loved ones we usually celebrate with are truly blessed. Focusing on this, and getting creative in ways that help us feel close to them, will help get us override any sadness or loneliness that may arise in us this Holiday season. This year we are all being called to dig deeper to feel the full spirit of the season. Our usual traditions will be altered, as well as our usual gatherings. Year after year, these bring a magical and mystical feeling to the season, and they reconnect us to loved ones in a special and spirited way no other time can. However, traditions and gatherings only create a framework for the magical feelings of the season to arise in us. The feelings actually belong to us. We all have the capacity to create wonderful feelings within us, and the warm feelings the Holidays bring with it are no exception. (My recent posts, I Have Loved, and Loving - Instead of Missing What Was, follow and expand on these themes. See HERE for I Have Loved, and for Loving - Instead of Missing What Was see HERE Links also at end of message). To create the special and magical feelings our usual traditions and gatherings give us, we can: Bring to mind past celebrations/gatherings where we felt the love, connection, and spirit of the season, and focus on the feelings these created in us. Those feelings come from within us, and we can recreate them. So does dreaming of wonderful future gatherings. Both of these uplift us. Missing our loved ones, or focusing on what was or should be, depresses us. It is also helpful to let go of “the ideas of how things were – and should be,” Becoming more flexible in our ideas around how the Holidays should play out, helps us to [...]

Newsletter #36, Dec. 2020, Feeling Blessed: I Have Loved Ones Who Usually Grace My Tablewvlju2021-02-06T02:31:29+00:00