A Personal Note

A Personal Note

Jeff and I celebrated our fourteenth anniversary by painting the walls surrounding our flat roof after a pricey repair. What a fun weekend. We baked in the heat reflecting from the roof and were sore for days afterwards from all the bending. We postponed our anniversary dinner until the next weekend, when we did have a wonderful time.

This past month, I gave a presentation to the Tempe Charter Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association. I really enjoyed the meeting and the members. They’ve got great spirit and creativity.

I also began facilitating another Tobacco-Cessation class. This one is huge, filled to overflowing. I think it’s great that so many people are dedicated to improving their health.

“Release Limiting Beliefs To Attract What You Want In Life”

“Release Limiting Beliefs To Attract What You Want In Life”

by Linda-Ann Stewart

If you’re not living your optimal life, then you’ve restricted your flow of abundance. The Universe pours good into your life, but your thoughts of lack, limitation, or loss have squeezed this stream to a trickle. And you may not even be aware of the beliefs that have created this restriction. They may be so much a part of what you tell yourself, that they’ve become background noise and you don’t pay any attention to them.

To get started on identifying your limiting ideas, here are some of the beliefs that people have that can limit their attracting what they want.

You think there’s not enough to go around. You may feel like there’s not enough money,  jobs, people who would want to be your friend, people of the opposite sex in your age range who would be interested in you, or customers in your region who need what you offer. This is coming from a belief in lack, but remember that the Universe is abundance. When you decide what you want, and get your conflicts resolved about it, then the Universe will make sure the right amount of money, job, person or people will find you.

You’re feel you’re too old/young/fat/skinny/tall/short/disabled/etc. You feel a lack within yourself, so you find perceived flaws in your outer self. Imperfections that you think will make people reject or not appreciate you. You may feel that some characteristic of yours will be wrong for a partner, job, or whatever. But when you accept your uniqueness, and recognize your own worth, then you’ll draw just the right situation into your life. You’re the one who judges yourself lacking. Others don’t. God made you the way you are for a reason, and you’re wonderful in Its eyes.

You believe your environment is limiting you. By environment, I mean outer conditions. For instance, you feel that you can’t advance in your job (either moving up or getting a raise), the economy is bad, you’re a single parent and are afraid you won’t find a partner who will accept your children, etc. If you think you’ve reached an income or advancement ceiling, that block is in your own mind. You may not get a raise or promotion from your current employer, but you may get a better job elsewhere. If you’re a single parent, once you open up to believe that maybe there is someone right for you who also loves kids, you may be amazed at what happens. The Universe doesn’t recognize a recession or limitation on good. Consider that your beliefs may be based on incorrect information, and think about what that could mean.

You can’t see how it can happen. You have no clue as to how your heart’s desire could possibly manifest. But it’s not up to you to figure out how. That’s the job for the Universe and your creative mind. For instance, if you want to visit Greece, but don’t have the money now, start pulling together information and put your pennies in a piggy bank. You take what action you can, and let the Universe take care of the rest.

You say “I can’t.” Notice where you’ve thought “I can’t do that” or “That couldn’t happen.” Who said you can’t or it couldn’t, and why not? Constantly saying this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you want to learn how to belly dance, it doesn’t matter if you’re overweight. Do it. Ask for guidance from the Universe to bring what you need to achieve your goal.

The limitations are all in your mind. Think of what it is you want, and begin to notice all the negative concepts you have around it so that you can overcome them. Whenever you restrict the Universe’s full expression, it has to do with fear. And fear is an illusion that keeps you from accepting something greater than what you are currently experiencing.

Without realizing it, you’ve put up barriers to Spirit expanding in your life. Stretch your consciousness of good. Think of the best thing that you could possibly imagine happening, and then let it go. When you open your mind to the possibilities, the Universe has much more room to flow into and miracles can occur.

Affirmation

The Universe doesn’t know recession, lack, limitation or loss. The Universe is abundance of all good things. I now release any false or restrictive ideas about my desire. I am the right person for my goal. Whatever I want is available in Infinite Mind, and is now finding its way to me. I attract the right person, income, job, conditions, information, or whatever I need to fulfill my goal. I let go of concern about how it can manifest, and let the Universe take care of the details.

Copyright 2009 Linda-Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

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The Toxic Model Of Business Fading Away

The Toxic Model Of Business Fading Away

The Science Of Successful Living“Your value to your company is in direct ratio to your being sold on the idea of the company and having faith in that idea.”  From “The Science of Successful Living” by Raymond Charles Barker

As I read this quote, I realized how far our country’s businesses have traveled from this idea. Employees must trust their company, know that it has integrity and stand behind their promises to be fully effective. Business is about people, serving customers and cultivating productive employees, not the bottom line.

In recent years, business, companies, and most employers have treated their employees as cogs in a machine, interchangeable and dispensable. It’s an attitude that’s destroying people’s regard for business. I know of too many people who have been lied to by employers just to temporarily fill a spot, or who have wanted their employees to lie to get more business.

One situation was an organization that offered older employees a retirement package if they would take early retirement. It included paying for their health insurance. Many took the bait, and a couple of years later, the organization decided not to pay for the insurance. Talk about bait and switch.

Employees now consider they’re there just for what they can get, because they don’t believe they have any worth to managers or employers. When this kind of distrust, dislike and wariness prevails in a work environment, it signals a sickness and toxicity in our business culture. This model of business is doomed to fail because it only respects the bottom line, and the end justifies the means.

The one bright spot I see is that of an up and coming model of a Purpose-Driven Life or being a Conscious or Collaborative Entrepreneur. This is a business owner who chooses to have integrity, wants to change the world and uses their business as a path of spiritual growth. This model will be self-sustaining because it recognizes the value of everyone.

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“Tips To Achieve Your Goal In Divine Time”

“Tips To Achieve Your Goal In Divine Time”

by Linda-Ann Stewart

I tend to be chronically early to any kind of appointment, because I feel it’s inconsiderate to be late. However, my mother usually ran late when we were going anywhere. I’d be impatient, and she’d affirm, “We’re always in Divine Time,” which would annoy me. What especially irritated me was that she was invariably right. No matter where we were going, even if we arrived fifteen or twenty minutes late, they were running late, too. After seeing how well it worked for her, I began using that statement for other areas of my life. A wise woman, my mother.

Divine Time means that things will work out in the Universe’s Timing, which may not necessarily be the time that you want it to be. For instance, if a goal that you’ve been working on hasn’t appeared, the time might not be right for it yet. Something else may need to happen before it can manifest so that everything can come together in a better way than you can imagine.

The worst thing you can do is to try to force it to happen. Another of my mother’s favorite sayings was, “You can’t push the river.” The flow of the Universe can’t be compelled to move quicker. In fact, when you try to, you’ll actually cause your desire to be delayed. The more you try to force it, the less you’re trusting that it will manifest quickly, which just sets up a resistance.

When you get impatient at the delay, it’s like digging up seeds that you’ve planted to see if they’re growing. Every time you dig them up, you interrupt their natural cycle of growth. You have to replant them and let them be to do what they need to.

Here are some reasons why your goal may not be manifesting and ways to set your life clock to Divine Time.

1. The goal may not be for your highest good.
Have you decided on a specific “how” or “who” to fulfill your desire? If that’s the case, then you’ve interfered with the Universe’s process. When you try to impose your idea of a particular person who you think will be best for you, or the way things should work out, then you’re trying to control the outcome. Take a step back into neutrality and let the Infinite take care of the details.

2. Something may have to happen behind the scenes.
There are other elements that may have to be put in place or align for you. Simply keep your eye on your goal and know that everything is in Divine Order. Remember that the seeds that you’ve planted need to sprout and grow roots before you can see the sprigs above ground.

3. The environment isn’t ready.
You may need to create more of a foundation either internally or externally for your goal. Have you done everything in the material world and set everything in place for your manifestation? Opportunity favors the prepared. Or is there some belief or attitude that’s blocking it? Are you mentally and emotionally ready for it?

4. You may have some internal work to do.
Is there something that you need to release or accept for the next step to unfold? You may need to let go of some outdated idea of struggle, worthlessness, or deprivation. Do you believe that you can have your desire? It’s also possible that you simply need to visualize the goal in greater detail and immediacy. If you don’t keep the image of your goal fresh in your mind as an accomplished fact, then it could always stay in the future.

Recently, I was ordering some brochures to take with me to a speaking engagement. When I checked the printer’s shipping schedule, it looked like they may not arrive in time. I began affirming that “Everything is taking place in Divine Time.” As I completed the ordering process, I discovered that I’d receive them a couple of weeks earlier than they’d originally predicted. Mentally, I thanked my mom for the lesson of that affirmation.

Affirmation

I can have anything I desire through the power of the Universe. Since I can believe it, I can experience it. My goal is in Mind, and everything is taking place in Divine Order to make it manifest in my life. I create a firm foundation in my mind to accept it, and in the physical world to welcome it. I let the Universe take care of the details. It takes place in Divine Time, which is perfect timing for me.

Copyright 2009 Linda-Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

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In Tribute

In Tribute

My oldest and dearest friend’s mother passed away today. When I was growing up, they lived down the street and were a fixture in my life. She and my folks spent Friday nights playing Mah Jongg while my friend and I tiptoed to watch them around corners.

Since neither family had relatives nearby, we spent Thanksgiving and Christmas together. She would cook the turkey, mashed potatoes and some of the other fixings, while my folks would bring green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, fruit salad and pumpkin pie. The evening would always end with a Mah Jongg game.

She loved making crafts, and I still have some of the things she made. Our families would go to the drive-in movie together. She also included me in events that I wouldn’t have experienced otherwise. Crab fishing, going to a Lipizzaner Stallion show, taking me to a movie that became iconic for me, among other things.

I don’t mean to place her on a pedestal, because she was far from perfect. Her moods were legendary and unpredictable. But it’s sad, not only for her family, but to know that another door has closed on a part of my history, too.

Renaissance Faire – 2009

Renaissance Faire – 2009

Jeff and I made our annual pilgrimage to the Renaissance Festival in Apache Junction, Arizona. I think this is our fourteenth year to do so. It’s a flight from the everyday to a fantasy land of humor, fun and frolicking. Here are some of the photos Jeff took with his new digital camera. He was in hog heaven with it.

Don Juan and Miguel

This is a comedy duo, Don Juan and Miguel, who entertain with sword  fighting and whips. We make sure we always see one of their shows. Miguel is holding pasta in his mouth in this bit. Notice the pieces of flying pasta that Don Juan has cut with his whip.

Adam Crack

This gentleman is Adam Crack, who holds the Guinness World Record for the most whip cracks in one minute. Here he’s preforming with flaming whips.

Jousting

And no Renaissance Faire would be complete without jousting.

Linda-Ann Stewart

This is a picture of me in my old dress, the one my mother made for me in 1996.

Jeff Colburn

And here is my own Renaissance man, Jeff.  HUZZAH! You can find more photos of the Faire on his blog, The Creative’s Corner.

My New Renaissance Costume

My New Renaissance Costume

Linda-Ann in her new costumeI’ve been working on projects, some professional, some personal. One of the personal projects has been to sew a new costume for the Renaissance Festival that Jeff and I attend annually. My mother, a dress designer and seamstress extraordinaire (among her many talents), designed and made my original dress in 1996. It’s beginning to show its age.

I’d bought a pattern several years ago, and this year decided to take my courage in both hands and embark on this adventure, the first big sewing project I’ve attempted without my mother’s expert guidance. And I have to say, I succeeded. I know she would be proud of me and the result. Now I have two costumes to wear, one for each day that we attend the Faire.

P.S. The colorful fabric belts I’m wearing are inkle belts that I made years ago. The white thing hanging from my right hip is a purse/bag that Jeff and I designed on the fly. I like the design, but it’s too big.

Contemplate These Quotes

Contemplate These Quotes

I received these quotes by email, and loved them. They highlight spiritual and universal principles. The first one is the corollary of “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.”

“To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.”

The second one addresses our feelings when you normally feel you’re not receiving what you desire. It feels like you’re being deprived, that you don’t deserve it, that you’ve done something wrong because it’s not manifesting or has been taken away. Instead, the Universe is keeping your Highest Good in mind and wants to give you something better.

“When God takes something from your grasp, He’s not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.”

This last quote reminds you that the will of the Universe is for your Highest and Best Good. And that when you seem to be traveling along a difficult path, you are being Divinely Protected.

“The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.”

I hope you’ll take these ideas to heart, and use them to lift up your awareness of who you truly are.

Book Review – “Prosperity Plus” Audio Download

Book Review – “Prosperity Plus” Audio Download

Prosperity PlusProsperity Plus by Edwene Gaines

Edwene Gaines is a well-known teacher of prosperity, and this is a wonderful live recording of this seminar. She’s a hoot, meaning that she’s a fun and humorous. She explains the principles of prosperity well and uses examples from her own life to show how it has worked for her. Describing her bumpy, first exploration into metaphysics, she lets you know that she had to learn these principles the hard way.

She touches on such topics as how to manifest your desires (including money), creating abundance, what you need to avoid to manifest more good, the touchy subject of tithing, raising your prosperity consciousness, and much more. Holding nothing back from her history, she shows how she’s had knocks along the way, and what she’s learned from them. She uses her own stories to teach the mystical basis of true abundance and prosperity.

I listen to this audio regularly, to keep me on track with manifesting prosperity. You can download it as an MP3 and transfer it to your IPod or MP3 player.