Got Commitment?

“Ninety-nine percent commitment is not possible.

We are either 100 percent or not committed at all.

I was amazed to discover this, because I had made a lifestyle
out of tepid commitments that turned out to be non-commitments. 

I was just conning myself that I was partly committed.

I had adapted to the pain of early rejection with the decision ‘Don’t play.’

If I didn’t play, I wouldn’t have to face losing.

And if I were forced to play, I could always play halfheartedly.

If I lost, I could say it didn’t matter, because I wasn’t trying.

It took me many years to realize that I wasn’t even in the game if I was not committed.

My body might have been out on the field, but my soul was on the bench.

Soulless play is worse than no play at all.”

 ~ Gay Hendricks from Conscious Living

Dear Peeps;

Just to let you know that I am guest blogging today at The Daily Love, so check it out and leave a comment; I'd really appreciate it. The blog is about when my daughter, Chloe, and I were caught smack dab in the rain one day--and we celebrated it!

What are you 100% committed to? Can you name some things that hold your complete dedication? I personally have dabbled in a lot of things throughout my life; I really didn't realize it until one of my mentors, Mastin Kipp, encouraged me to ask myself this question: 

Are you a dabbler or a master?

The difference between the two for me is a matter of commitment, which brings me the idea of perfection. One of the things that has prevented me from mastery is my tendency to make the expectations for myself so high so that I set myself up for failure. And then I have told myself, "Screw it!" and quit whatever it is I attempted to commit myself to. This is a very convenient, albeit unconscious, excuse to perpetuate bad habits, self-defeating behaviors, unhealthy relationships, and poor self-esteem. It's also a self-destructive, self-perpetuating cycle.

In the segment from Hendricks' book, she describes the manner by which we con ourselves BEFORE we even get on the playing field. The good news is, that once we are aware of this pattern in ourselves, we can take a step back and observe ow this pattern has served to protect us from our fears--ond only then can we move through it to the other side . . . with commitment to what we have to change that will serve our highest Go(o)d.

In the past few years, I've made some large commitments, mostly to myself:

• to speak my truth to the best of my ability
• to care for myself in spirit, mind, and body
• to evolve and grow, and surround myself with others who are on this path
• to be honest with myself
• to live a life full of love, gratitude, service, and generosity
• to love myself and set boundaries in relationships, work, and expectations 

What have you committed yourself to? Leave a comment and share your story!

Lots of Love,

Dana

Happiness . . .

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle,

and the life of the candle will not be shortened.

Happiness never decreases by being shared.” 

-Gautama Buddha

GoodDay funandfreePeePs;

You might remember that last summer I wrote my Personal Codes of Truth; they are about me taking back my power and listening my Universal guidance everyday. I never knew that guidance is inside my heart and my gut--when I can get quiet enough to listen to it! That's actually helped me become more independent and responsible because I've learned I can't blame others for my reality, my relationships, my stories, or my choices. My happiness depends on ME!

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Here's a cool piece about hApPiNeSs:

Tell everyone you know:

"My happiness depends on me,

so you're off the hook."

And then demonstrate it.

Be happy, no matter what they're doing.

Practice feeling good, no matter what.

And before you know it,

you will not give anyone else responsibility for the way you feel-and then, you'll love them all.

Because the only reason you don't love them,

is because you're using them as your excuse to not feel good. 

~Esther Hicks, speaker and author

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Like the quote says above, I get to choose where my energy and attention goes! Personally, I prefer the good stuff to the crap, and that means appreciating what's right in front of me. For example, 

• right now I am eating one of my favorite treats--a delicious, icy coconut popsicle!--how lucky am I? 
• and, I get to go to my son's play Godspell tonight--life is good!--
• and, I'm doing one of my favorite activities--writing to all of you! what could be better? 
• and, I got a fabulous text from my daughter, Chloe, that said: "Sup yo this is Chloe I love you so much you are the best mom in the whole world I love you. It's cool"--that's the awesomest message a mom could ever get!
• I am teaching in my classroom, and I triple-diple LOVE my job and my students!
• it's Mother's Day on Sunday, so I get to write love letters to my own Mom AND to my kids, telling them what an awesome honor it is to be Chloe and Max's mom! 

Good thing I'm paying attention to all the yummy  juicy great stuff in front of me! I'm learning so much right now--in life, business school, relationships, and well, in everything!

I personally believe we all have a birthright to be amazingly happy---life doesn't have to be dramatic and hard all the time (although we all have our ups and downs...). Just remember that when it gets tough, we can come out the other side if we choose to learn from the crappy stuff.

How do you stay in your happy place? Leave an amazing comment or story and let me know!

BuCkeTs o' LoVe!

;0)  dana

yOuR LifE rOcKs!

It's not that your life totally rocks, Dana Lynne,

except for a few tricky spots, slippery patches, and challenges.

But that your life totally rocks, in large part,

because of the tricky spots, slippery patches, and challenges.

Stranger than fiction,
 The Universe

Dear Peeps;

Did you know that your life rocks even though it can get tricky sometimes? AND that the tricky spots actually make you life better because they teach us stuff? I mean, think about it--can you remember something that seemed really hard, risky, and downright scary at the time, only to realize now that it's exactly what you needed to get where you are now?

As many of my mentors have said: It's not about what happens TO us . . . it's about what happens FOR us, and the meaning we assign to those events, relationships, and circumstances.

And this notion brings me back to the fifth barrier to peace--We don't trust . . . yet--as written by Eckhart Tolle (see last week's PEACE series for more about these ideas). When we trust in the UNiverse, we know deep down that what is happening is fro our highest good, even though it may not be fun, or peaceful, or exactly what we think we need. But, as Tolle further suggests:

“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful

for the evolution of your consciousness.

How do you know this is the experience you need?

Because this is the experience you are having 
at the moment.”

~Eckhart Tolle

The interesting thing about this idea, is that if I believe everything is happening for the evolution of MY consciousness, it also follows that everything is happening for the evolution of EVERYONE ELSE'S consciousness, as well--

Hmnnn . . . I guess I'm not in charge of other people, or passing judgement on what they choose to do or say, or how they choose to operate in this lifetime. Just as I am right where I need to be, so are they. We are all on our own trajectory of learning, on our own evolutionary timelines.

Does this mean we need to allow people to "just be themselves," even if they are abusive or they don't have our bests interests in mind? Nope; that's not the point--but we don't have to hate on them. We can learn to set boundaries with these individuals, detach from them with compassion (or not, sometimes!), and simply turn our energy in the direction of those people who have what we want, and focus on those relationships which serve us and give us energy. 

This practice of setting boundaries with people who don't treat me with respect has certainly been one of MY greatest lessons . . . and guess what? They keep repeating the same disrespectful behavior as long as I have allowed it. Hmnnn . . . now THAT'S about ME.

What have you learned on your journey lately? Leave us a comment and share your experience!

Lots of Love!

Dana

Be in Your Present!

It's an interesting journey!

hEy tHere!

Isn't this a coOL picture! I lOvE it! . . . so, we have to finally reach a point where we break free from our past and step into love for ourselves. 

After all, we have to LOVE oUrSelves b4 we can love and give to others, right? When I look at this amazing picture, I can see that it's pretty dang dark! and cloudy, too (SPOOKY!) almost like a storm has just passed . . . 

YIKEYS!@$!@@!@%$!#!

TAKE COVER!

SURRENDER DOROTHY!

oh, and here's the Go(o)d news:

in this picture, the sun is right ahead of me, reaching down with her amazing sun-ray-beams (made up word) of light . . .

and,

 . . . I can see the light ahead!

and (extra bonus!)

. . . I can actually SEE the road (metaphor: my path). yAy!

p.s. I'm not always sure where the road leads, but at least I can see a few feet in front of me . . . thanks Universe!

Love the Journey!

dana

TOP SECRET INFORMATION: I have actually been losing a lot of sleep lately cuz' I keep worrying about stuff I can't control. I lie awake at night and practice deep belly breathing to try to get back to sleep. I need to dream & LET GO!

You Will Love and Be(Loved)!

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The evolution of all spiritual life,
Dana Lynne,

includes 3 absolutes:

1. You will love. 
2. You will be loved. 
3. The former will eventually be 

far more important to you than the latter. 

Grasshopper, 
The Universe
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GuEsS wHaT? The LoVe is in you! I used to think that the love I needed was going to come from someone outside myself (and it very often does, and that's a huge bOnUs!), but when I want to feel love, I have to remember that I have to love me first!

If something's missing in my life, it's missing 'cuz I am NOT GIVING IT TO MYSELF (. . . and, at first, that totally stinks to realize because it means that we have to STOP complaining about everybody else not giving us what we need, and figure out how to give it to ourselves . . . which is actually un-sucky, and powerful in a cool way...)

FYI: just want you to know that at first, this idea really bugged me, cuz it meant that I was in charge (and I had to stop blaming others for me!), but, at the same time, the good news is that I AM IN CHARGE . . . of ME! And, why would we want to give our sUpErPoWerS away, anyway? (so we can stay "victimized" and not take responsibility? hmmnnnn . . . sounds miserable!) 

. . . which leads me back to the fact that we are in charge of our own stories and our own hApPiNeSs. Here's a cool grownup blogger who has some ideaS:

30 tHinGs to Start dOinG fOr YoU!

Seems kind of weird that in order to receive love, we have to love, but it has to start with us loving ourselves before we can love others. What's important is that we love ourselves, and then we love others with no expectations.We just love because it feels good . . . and right . . . and true. For me, I know that I am loving, and to keep myself from being loving or restrict myself from being loving feels very difficult, really tough . . . and well, NOT ME.

Love is always bestowed as a gift –

freely, willingly and without expectation.

We don’t love to be loved;

we love to love.

~Leo Buscaglia

ALL is WELL! ALL is LoVe . . .

;) dana