We each sit in our own little bubble, oblivious that each of us has a unique gift that will help someone else in the world.

This week I listened to an incredibly multi-talented man speak confidentially about his lack of confidence in his abilities. This is a man who people literally drool over his work. His talents are larger than life, yet he is blind to the impact he makes in the lives of others.

What is your gift? What is the one thing that you do that could be such a blessing to someone else? Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “I’m not good at anything” or “I’m not good enough”?

Guess what, yes, you are.  Each and every one of you has a gift to share. Sometimes you simply have to have someone else point it out to you.

A dear friend did that very thing for me last week. After she listened to me ramble on and on about what I thought I should be doing with my life, with a laser focus, she pointed out the one thing that I need to concentrate on: helping others with hormone balancing.

Just this morning I received what I think is a divine nudge to do more with spreading the word about hormone balancing. A lady in my Jazzercise class asked me if she could talk to me after class. She told me she had been suffering from various symptoms, including hot flashes.

She said she and her husband no longer exchange presents at Christmas because at their age, they have everything they need. However, she said he came home and apologized for buying her something, but he thought it would help her. It was my book that he purchased at a local health food store, Stop the Needless Suffering, The Complete Woman’s Guide to Balancing Your Hormones Naturally.

She read the book and contacted a practitioner whom I recommended in the index. The practitioner found some severe abnormalities in her lab work, which quite possibly could have led to her demise. A $15 book has changed her life. Incredible. Shame on me if I don’t reach out to help someone else.

What do you know that can help someone else? There is someone just waiting for you to reach out and share your gift. No gift is too large or too small. If you can’t see it yourself, find a trusted friend who will point it out to you. Someone out there needs just exactly what you have to give.

What if we modeled our New Year’s Resolutions from these statements?

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element.

It is my personal approach that creates the climate.

It is my daily mood that makes the weather.

I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous.

I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.

I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.

In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized.

If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.” – Goethe

How many times does that nasty little voice in your head tear you down, clearly pointing out to you all the little (or big) things about you that you don’t like?

Peace Pilgrim cautions us: “If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.”

From  Higher Awareness, see inner_journey@higherawareness.com:

Each of us has characteristics we define as ‘good’ and those we define as ‘bad.’ The parts of ourselves that we continually reject want to be acknowledged and loved. Until we honor these aspects, they will continue to assert themselves. They will do whatever they can to get our attention.

What aspects of yourself do you reject?

Take a few moments to open to the parts of yourself that you do not love. See each one honestly for what it is. Explore the wounds and the motives that gave rise to its condition. Love a wounded part of yourself, and it will heal.

What aspects of yourself do you reject? Are you unhappy with your appearance. . .is your nose too big, your tummy too large? Are you beating yourself up for mistakes you made in a relationship? At work? Parenting?

Perhaps some of these words will help set you free. . .

“Never let yesterday use up too much of today.” — Will Rogers

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”

—  Maria Robinson

“When guilt rears its ugly head, confront it, discuss it, and let it go. The past is over. It is time to ask what can we do right, not what did we do wrong. Forgive yourself and move on.” ­ — Bernie S. Siegel

“I have made it a rule of my life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy . . . you can’t build on it; it’s only good for wallowing in.” — Katherine Mansfield

“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” — Anne Frank, 1929-1945

“We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.” — Swami Vivekananda

Please know that you are beautiful, just as you are. There is not another like you. You are special. You did the best you could at the given moment in time. Honor you for who you are, for all you are learning, for how you are growing from your learning experiences. Shine a light on that shadow. . .and watch it disappear.

Have you ever felt strong emotional feelings over situations or relationships that seem out of your control? Do you run over those scenarios and conversations over and over and over in your head?

Esther Hicks provided just what I needed to hear this morning on this very topic. Perhaps her words will be helpful to you as well. . .

“You know you’ve achieved the art of allowing when you allow another person who is not allowing you. Then you’ve got it. But, if you try to cater to another’s weakness….the greatest gift you can give to anyone is find a way you can be happy yourself, and stubbornly hold the position that if they are going to be happy, it is going to be their inside job that accomplishes it because if you make the effort to make another happy, you’ve signed on for a really long contract of never-minding anything that you want and jumping through hoops for the other one.”

“Most of you don’t give up control until you have no choice. And when you do, you feel better.”

“Nothing is important enough, no matter how big or how small, to use as an excuse to give up this moment of life of who you are.”

“Am I allowing who I am to be, or am I disallowing who I am meant to be? Am I allowing alignment with who I am, or am I resisting alignment with who I am?”

And those strong emotions? You can use your feelings as a temperature gauge to see if you are in or out of alignment.

Esther teaches to use your feelings to know if you are connecting with or resisting the essence of your inner being.

Feeling good? You are in alignment with your inner being. Not feeling good? There is resistance. You are resisting your inner being.

A conversation with a loved one ensued following the two recently posted articles:  Let Whatever Happens Be OK (see http://rosiebrownrn.com/let-whatever-happens-be-ok/), and The Path to Wholeness. . .a bumpy ride (see http://rosiebrownrn.com/the-path-to-wholeness-a-bumpy-ride/).

“I applied for this job. I did everything right. I held the vision. I saw me getting this job. I kept my attitude positive and strong. . .and then the call came. . .I didn’t get the job. All this resistance stuff is all well and good, but I can’t hang on any more.”

It is easy to follow the practices outline in these two articles when everything is going great. Not so easy to keep the faith when situations in life seem hopeless. That is when faith is needed the most.

Perhaps the following passage from The Five Things We Cannot Change. . .and the Happiness We Find by Embracing Them by David Richo will help:

The fact that things do not always go according to plan means that powers beyond ego are at work in our lives –powers that lead us to our destiny by a path we might have neglected. Once we understand that we are supported by powers beyond our ego, we see that having to be in control may not be in our best interest; we might upset mighty plans that are afoot on our behalf.

What if that job is not the best job for him? What if plans, not known to him, are afoot for something much better? What if his life’s mission would be derailed by that job? What if there is a greater intelligence looking out for him?

Richo shares the following story to make his point;

In the early 1940s, on the night of her graduation party, a high school girl named Doris Van Kappelhoff was involved in a serious car accident. She had planned to go to Hollywood to become a dancer in films, but her injuries made that future no longer possible. Doris, during the long homebound recuperation, began to sing along with the female vocalists on the radio. Her voice became so well trained that she was hired to sing in a band, and soon thereafter, she found parts in movies, changing her name to Doris Day. Her original plans were dashed by the tragic event, but thereby she found her true calling.

Things don’t always go according to our plans, but a change of plans may be an example of synchronicity, the mysterious set of circumstances that lead us to a life fulfillment unguessed and unsought-other words for grace.

Perhaps a better plan would call for a celebration, celebrating the fact that  he did not get that job. . . for who knows what better plan may be afoot?

Have you ever experienced a painful life circumstance that made absolutely no sense at all? Have you ever turned it over and over and over in your mind, trying to understand “Why?” Why did it happen? Why me? Why now?

In a conversation with a friend last night, I again found myself in the vicious cycle of ruminating and lamenting over such an experience.

This morning on my way to Jazzercise, I again listened to more in the series on the Holosync program (see “Let Whatever Happens be OK,” http://rosiebrownrn.com/let-whatever-happens-be-ok/).

Bill Harris teaches it isn’t the thing that causes emotional pain inside of us, it is our response to the thing. Resistance to the thing creates the pain and suffering we feel. OK, another reminder. I needed that.

Then when I opened my email this morning, was it an accident that the following message appeared in my inbox from www.inner_journey@higherawareness.com?

The Path to Wholeness

We think that God has blessed us if we don’t have too many troubles. In fact, religions have erroneously taught us that pain is punishment for our sins. We often ask, “What have I done wrong?” when things do not go the way we want.

Yet, to become ourselves in the truest and deepest sense, we must face our own duality, which of course includes facing our darkness. As souls we strive for wholeness, not for perfection.

At first, we really don’t know what is going on. We just find life difficult, challenging and often painful. Eventually, after much experience and reflection, we start to find meaning in it all. Eventually, we gladly accept the means whereby we can do the Soul work we have come for.

As we become conscious as Souls, we walk our journey purposefully, embracing the reality of our earthly nature along with the truth of our divine nature.

Next, I received a quick phone call from my son on his way to work. He forgot to tell me that yesterday on the way to work a woman was reading a book on the train. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from it. The title? The Five Things We Cannot Change And the Happiness We Find By Embracing Them by David Richo. Oh no, this was not an accident – he was meant to deliver this message to me this very morning.

“ It sounded like a book you would have,” he said.

No,. . .it sounds like a book I need to read!

OK, I then dropped everything and immediately went to amazon.com and read both the Table of Contents and the Introduction. I couldn’t stand it. I had to know right then what those five things are:

1) Everything changes and ends.

2) Things do not always go according to the plan.

3) Life is not always fair.

4) Pain is a part of life.

5) People are not loving and loyal all the time.

Three statements in the Introduction jumped off the page at me:

The five simple facts of life defy and terrorize the mighty ego that insists on full control.

Once we understand that we are supported by powers beyond our ego, we see that having to be in control may not be in our best interest; we might upset mighty plans that are afoot on our behalf.

If we have the courage to face life’s unavoidable truths, we will find the grace to love no matter what happens to us. Love is always unconditional in the sense that it is not stymied or stifled by any of the conditions of existence. Neither changes, endings, altered plans, unfairness, suffering, disloyalty, or lack of love can stop us from loving.

Borders is holding that book for me. I can’t wait to read it this afternoon!

What kind of reaction do you have when you hear bad news that you feel in your heart could be avoided? How do you respond when you are confronted with a feeling of complete and utter powerlessness?

Perhaps you react better than I. When confronted with a situation yesterday, I first reacted in anger. Why is it you can’t get anyone to listen? HOW did we ever get the license to kill in this country? Why does the lay public worship at the altar of those who are steeped in drugs and greed?

When I got that out of my system, then the tears started to flow. When I called a friend, I could hardly speak. It is a good thing. It was time for me to listen. His earthly wisdom was this: You have done all you can. Now you just have to stand back, keep your head positive, and pray for those making the decisions.

I suppose it was no accident that Bill Harris and his Holosync CD (www.centerpointe.com) accompanied me on my early morning drive. Bill said there are nine principles to make our lives peaceful. “The first one is very difficult for most people to do.” Guess what it is?

Let whatever happens be OK.

It will be helpful for me to type my notes that I wrote on a scrap of cardboard as I was driving. Perhaps it will be helpful for you to hear.

When things are the way they are, resistance results in discomfort, pain, or suffering.

When confronted with a situation, you have two choices:

1) Let it be OK.

2) Resist that it is happening.

If you let whatever happens be OK, you have peace of mind. If you resist, you create suffering.

If you are at peace, you will radiate power and peacefulness.

We create a re-structure of reality to be safe. We do this when very young. The more unsafe our environment, the more we re-structure reality.

Our agenda to feel safe has to do with resistance.

It may seem like whatever is creating the resistance is the cause, but it is really not the cause. The cause is the resistance itself.

Water is the cause of wetness. If I poured a cup of water over two people’s heads, they may have different reactions. Different emotional reactions are triggered by the water.

When faced with different situations in life, It may look like what the people are doing is causing you to have discomfort, but really, the situation is triggering you into creating discomfort for yourself.

You have a choice in what you create in your life. When something is created outside of you, you do have a choice. It may seem like what’s happening is the cause –but what is happening comes from something going on inside of you.

So, in the end, it doesn’t matter how angry you get or how many tears you shed. The situation is still going to be the situation. What is variable, however, is how you react to the situation, and that reaction is a choice.

Peace or suffering? For a more peaceful life, Bill advises: “Let whatever happens be OK.”

Have you ever witnessed someone else in action, and you melt into a puddle coming to the erroneous conclusion that you could never measure up to THAT?

Sometimes you need someone else close to you to kick you in the pants to make you realize just how special you are.

That’s exactly what happened to me last week. It took my son to jar me out of my runaway-train egoic mind.

I had witnessed how wildly successful another person was in attracting people to her party. My jaw fell to the ground. I whined to my son, “I don’t even know 40 people. “ (Pathetic, I know).

I asked for it. He fired this message back at me:

“You said that you wouldn’t know 40 people to invite. So, immediately you just blocked yourself. They will just come to you. You don’t have to compare yourself to others. Stop comparing yourself. You are your own person. Yes, her method works. Yes, she knows people. You know people. You just have a block saying you don’t. You’re f-in Rosie! Do you know how many people I got stopped by when I was little who said, “Oh, you’re Rosie’s kid aren’t you? I can just tell.” (Or some variation of that). It was well over 40. So stop telling me you don’t know them.”

Oh yeah, gotcha, right there.

Thoughts are things. What messages are you giving yourself?

In The Future is Yours, Do Something About It, Raymon Grace writes, “The bottom line is this: If you can relax your body and mind enough to focus your thoughts, and use vivid visualizatio

Here is what he says about thoughts: “Do not speak or think anything unless you want it to happen!”

Today is a new day. Do you know how very special you are? Are you doing what Louise Hay teaches? Do you look yourself squarely in the eye and say, “I love you. I really, really love you.”

As actress Viola Davis says, “You can’t be hesitant about who you are.”

The future is yours. Do something about it.

Funny what you can learn about yourself and your life patterns just by cutting the grass. . .

Early this hot July morning, I prepared to push-mow my grass. In getting dressed, I picked a pair of low cut, terribly uncomfortable socks out of my drawer (leaving the comfy ones behind), thinking I didn’t care if I got them all dirty.

Not too long into my venture, I noticed a burning pain in my heels. The darn socks had slipped down into my shoes, and I was quickly creating a blister. Did I stop? No! I kept pushing forward. “I am NOT stopping till I get this finished!” became my battle cry.

The pain kept increasing, and I kept pushing forward. The inner voice kept nagging, “What would it hurt you to stop just a moment to pull up those socks? You have an electric start mower. It is no big deal to restart the mower.” “Fine!” I finally relented as I stopped the mower.

It wasn’t 10 seconds later, and those darn socks slipped back down again. The pain intensified. The inner voice persevered, “You know, why don’t you just go change your socks? It wouldn’t hurt you to get a drink of water either while you are at it. It is hot out here.”

Does any of this sound familiar? Do any of you push and push and push yourself, even though you are dog tired?

Do you ever put up with lesser quality things, when you know you deserve better? Why not just throw away those stupid socks?

Why not bring out the fine china? What purpose does the china serve sitting all dainty in the cabinet? Don’t you deserve the fine china? What good will that china have served when you are 95 years old and you never got to use it?

Women in particular push and push and push – pushing beyond fatigue. They try to do it all – be a wife, mother, children’s taxi service, full blown career woman, and on and on. Women make sure that everyone else is comfortable, and they tend to take what’s left for themselves.

What can you do today to pamper yourself? It doesn’t have to be grandiose – just a comfortable pair of socks will do.

Making an excuse about why, once again, I did not sleep well the night before, prompted the “gotcha!” . . .

“No, you have the same problem I do. You have a hard time letting go of the past and not realizing your future possibilities. You can blame it on whatever it was, but that’s the issue you’re facing.”

Have you ever needed to make a decision, once and for all, and you just cannot put closure to it?

The more serious the circumstances, the more difficult the decision making process. How does your body act out while you are in the throughs of ruminating over all the details in your mind, over and over and over again?

One thing is for sure – your body does act out. Obvious symptoms may present themselves as insomnia, weight loss, weight gain, etc. However, perhaps the more serious consequences are taking place and you don’t even know it. . .such as the damaging effects to your body organs from chronically elevated cortisol levels.

What keeps you stuck? What paralyzes you, preventing you from making that final decision? Here’s a simple tool that may help.  Take a look at these words from  www.higherawareness.com:

Where are you not being true to yourself?

All blocks arise when we’re not being authentic, when we’re not being true to ourselves. We know we’re not being authentic when we feel discomfort of any kind.

When our thoughts, feelings and actions align with our essence, we express the qualities of soul. Always trust that your soul knows what’s best for you.

Believe in yourself and act on your ideas. Give yourself permission to do what you want with your life. Take the initiative to set meaningful goals for yourself and achieve them. Begin to tell yourself why you CAN have what you want!

Here’s the bottom line. What are you feeling? Does it feel good? Does it feel bad? How would your soul answer those questions?

Do you ever tell yourself, “Well, if I just worked at it a little harder it would be different, or it would work out,” or “If only I did (fill in the blank).”

Now think about it, why would you have to “work at” something to make it feel right? If it is the right decision, why wouldn’t it just naturally feel good?

And then there’s the thing about making a difference. It seems innate to have an inner drive to make a difference in the world or in someone’s life. However, here is an interesting twist. What is the driving force behind your desire? Is it lack of worthiness?

Again, from Higher Awareness:

Making a difference

Does the drive to make a difference arise from ego’s need to feel worthy? If my ego is not convinced that I matter, I may want visible proof that I do by making some kind of impact on life.

Soul doesn’t need proof that it’s worthy. Soul thrives in being awake and connected. Perhaps if we let go of the pressure we feel from our ego’s need to be recognized, we will be more open and able to simply live soulfully. And by doing that, we WILL make a difference!

You are worthy. You do matter. You deserve to be happy.

At any given moment, ask yourself, “How do I feel?” If you feel good, press on. If you don’t, it’s time for a course correction.

“Always trust that your soul knows what’s best for you.”

Above all else, be true to you.