Blogging, Being in the Now, Butterflies

(this post was made prior to the "A" post below, but I put it here so my alphabetical order will make sense!)

I'm back, after not Blogging for a few days, even though I had made the decision to blog daily. DARN!!!
Well, I am now telling myself that I can blog regardless of whether I feel I have something interesting to say or not. I was just waiting, for some kind of inspiration, but THAT isn't helping, that is causing me some stress over the blog. Wrong attitude!!

I am realizing, through reading and participating in the 100 Day Challenge, that it is BEING fine with what is happening right now is what creates Happiness. I can honestly say that my Happiness "set point" has been low all of my life, not having parents who modelling JOY to me... I end up expecting things to be negative, and I end up feeling uncomfortable when things are going too well!!! But that just means I need to stretch my "happiness muscles" and let them be uncomfortable for a bit. I am on a mission this year to create abundant happiness/joy/acceptance and to figure out how that happens and share it as i go!

A sort-of-quote by Eckhart Tolle (as told by Oprah in O Magazine): "All the stress and pain in the world is about not being in the now, because it's allowing whatever moment you're in, even if it is a moment of despair, to be that moment; wanting it to be something else is what causes the pain and the suffering." WOW. What I get from that is that when we Resist the present moment (perhaps by wishing we were in the past or somewhere in the future) we are only adding resistance to whatever it is we would rather have and keeping that from coming in. But to get to that something we'd rather have we have to WANT what we already have, or at the very least accept it.

I had to do this a couple of months back, in a big way. I was alone, hating living alone with my son without my husband (I was suddenly a single-parent), hating certain things going on in my body that were scaring me, being angry with the loss of control I felt, and upset that my marriage was in a precarious place. This was a big ol' pile of hell! Well, I had to accept all the anxiety, fear, pain, and aloneness and just let things "be." I guess I had no choice, I felt I could keep resisiting all of that or I could just let go and float down the stream of it.

And things have gotten a lot more peaceful in my life since I have done just that. My marriage is growing, my fears and anxiety attacks have nearly subsided, and my body is showing me that it is stronger than I knew. I now tell myself 10 times a day to just "Be in the Now," and my whole reality is changing!

Butterflies? Well this is because I have been noticing them everywhere lately. I bought a couple of decorative tins at a thrift shop the other day and I've been seeing butterflies here and there and everywhere! I may do a collage of just butterfly clippings if I can find enough of them. Maybe I'll ask my Co-Creators to be on the lookout in magazines for me...

Keep reaching for the thoughts that feel better!
Clarissa xxx