Leadership Lessons From A Border Collie

Not only are dogs man’s best friend, some dogs have special skills.  A Border Collie is a born leader.  And yet with all of its skills, it does not try to take over the world.  He simply tries to do his best at each job each day, and to keep all those around him happy.   Don’t we wish all leaders would do the same?   The Border Collie, Magic, gives us these simple lessons.

1. Begin each day with a good stretch – the yoga pose downward facing dog and upward facing dog work well.
2. Eat a good breakfast of protein – it gives you energy through out the morning.
3. Do not force your leadership.  Sometimes you must take the long way around to get the herd facing the correct direction.
4. Fun is serious work.  Allow a good hour or two of fun in your day.
5. Stick to a routine of sleeping, eating, working, and playing.  This will keep you sharp and your charges will gain confidence in your choices.
6. Anger does not lead.  It puts fear into those you must care for.  Fear awakens doubt.

Blessings,

Judy

Keep Smiling

The poster says:  Sometimes all it takes is a SMILE to make everything better!

Reason to Smile

-by  Lendl Ian Servillon

How can one smile such sweet smiles, 
When one is so saddened by sorrows for miles, 
How can I smile the same smiles, 
When life brings me nothing but tears, 
I wondered for so long, 
What reason you had to smile that long, 
To keep smiling though troubles come, 
And still remain sweet and silently overcome, 
It's such a mystery to me, 
Your smiles from heaven with glee, 
I adore and yet envy thee, 
But I'd rather you smile those at me, 
I feel happy when I see you smile, 
Even if I'm sad and lonely, 
Your smiles bring me somewhere, 
I don't even know where, 
But it was you, 
You gave me the reason to smile, 
To smile with no reason, 
To smile for a smile, 
I guess life is just like that, 
We need not a reason to smile, 
For a smile is the reason itself, 
To rejoice and open-heartedly give thanks, 
I learned to smile because of you, 
Because your smiles bring me joy when blue, 
It proves how well and powerful, 
A simple sweet smile can become so beautiful, 
Smile for the sake of a smile, 
Smile for the sake of happiness, 
Smile for the sake of life, 
Smile because of hope left in life, 
Smile my friends, 
Smile for me my Love, 
Smile those same sweet smiles, 
Smile so the world can be a peaceful dove... 

**** 

Dear friends, 

Smiling is the best medicine. 

Blessings, 

Judy 

Living With Your Heart

The poster reads:  

Surround yourself with people who make you laugh, forget the bad, and focus on the good.  Love the people who treat you right.  Pray for the ones that don’t.  Life is too short to be anything but happy.  Falling down is part of life, getting back up is living.

***************************** 

Sometimes life just seems like chapters. Some good, some bad, but all come together to create the story of our lives. – Unknown

Today, find something to laugh at.  

Today, find time to share a laugh.

Then, find someone to enjoy a laugh with.

Find a way to flow with life.

It is good for your heart.

 

Blessings,

Judy

Tiger Explains How To Blend

 

                                               picture of Siberian Tiger from PBS.org

I have this vivid memory of sitting with a Tiger, on some rocks, overlooking a small lake.  I am sure that I was in dream time, sometime in the last several nights.  I know that I was not frightened, and the feeling was like I was with an old friend.  We sat and talked.

Tiger was explaining to me that I needed to go out more and practice blending in to the rest of the people or into the environment around me.  He said that I should look less happy, and more sad.  He suggested that I walk with my head down, and that I not meet people’s eyes.  He said that I should slouch along, and not walk upright.

Tiger says that the best way to camouflage is to imitate what is around you.  And, even if you are strong and fearless, drawing attention to yourself is often fool hardy.  Tiger’s advice, “always keep something in reserve”.

I am not sure why this advice was important for me to have.  It does, however, seem glued to the front of my mind.  I think that over the next several days, the reason for this teaching will be explained.  At least Tiger made the information stick in my mind.

Many blessings,

Judy

Happy Father’s Day - June 16, 2024

 

Picture from Country Living Magazine

The words in the poster say….

Happy Father’s Day to all Dads, the not yet Dads, the stepdads, the Moms who are Dad, the adoptive Dads, the granddads, and the dads who are no longer with us.

       -Unknown

I think the poster covers all the blessings for Dads.

Judy

About Dying Slowly

I was listening to a friend of a friend talk about how awful and sad their life was.  She did not have one good thing to say about her life or life in general.  It seemed to me that she was dying very slowly.  Then, this poem popped up for me.  I think the poem says it all.

********************

YOU START DYING SLOWLY!

You start dying slowly ;
if you do not travel,
if you do not read,
If you do not listen to the sounds of life,
If you do not appreciate yourself.
You start dying slowly :
When you kill your self-esteem,
When you do not let others help you.

You start dying slowly ;
If you become a slave of your habits,
Walking everyday on the same paths…
If you do not change your routine,
If you do not wear different colours
Or you do not speak to those you don’t know.

You start dying slowly :
If you avoid to feel passion
And their turbulent emotions;
Those which make your eyes glisten
And your heart beat fast.

You start dying slowly :
If you do not risk what is safe for the uncertain
If you do not go after a dream
If you do not allow yourself
At least once in your lifetime
To run away from sensible advice
Don't let yourself die slowly
Do not forget to be happy!
~ Pablo Neruda♡
Chilean poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971

Many blessings,

Judy

Happy Easter Sunday- March 31 2024 - And Rabbit

Easter always makes me think of bunnies.. and spring…and it makes me happy.  In our area in Calgary, we only see Rabbit from time to time because we also have Bobcat.

Thinking about bunnies and rabbits makes me think about the “magic” of Rabbit.  No, I don’t think of Easter eggs.  I do think of how powerful Rabbit is in the spiritual world.

When Rabbit hops in and out of your daily life, and leaps about in your dreams, then you know that something “big” is happening!

Rabbit has often been a symbol of fertility, abundance, and beginnings.  Now, Rabbit is showing up all over the place in urban areas, and being seen by people that would not normally notice her.  They talk about Rabbit nibbling on their grass in the back alleys, about Rabbit and her friends jumping around and not seemingly that afraid of cats and dogs.  Mostly, they talk about how excited they feel to see Rabbit.  

Rabbit, like her mythological counterpart, The Easter Bunny, is bringing that sense of joy and wonderment.  She makes people feel excited and helps them back off the “fear” factor that many feel right now.  She is helping us grow at a soul level by “leaps and bounds”.

Happy Easter!

Judy

New Year’s Eve - Dec 31 2023

 GOOD BYE, 2023!

I hope that you get to party with family or with friends.  I hope that you celebrate all the good things that happened this year.  I hope that you bless the things that did not go according to plan and set them behind you.

I think that we celebrate the ending of each year because we believe the next year will be so much better!  We all hope to find new ways of doing things, lots of abundance, lots of love from new relationships and from existing friends and family.

I wish you a happy New Year’s Eve!

Blessings,

Judy

Winter Solstice Dec 21 2023

Winter solstice is a time to reflect on what you love to do, and find a way to make it happen.  When we are happy, our light – that spark of irrepressible energy that makes us all unique – shines brightly.  Solstice is about being inward focused and concentrating on expanding the self.

We all want success and well being.  Winter is the time to reflect on making it happen, and then offering up these energies at Solstice, to Creator, to make everything happen.

Here is a wonderful prayer/song for you to use today and all days when you need strength.

 

Yule Prayer Song

Mother Earth
I offer to you this song
For I am earth
and to the Earth, I belong
Mother Earth
help me grow as you need me to
Mother Earth
show me what I am here to do

Cause I am growing, I am changing
on this darkest day
I am growing, I am changing
in my darkest place
I am growing, I am changing
on this darkest day
I am growing, I am changing
in my darkest place
Blessed Be!

From - http://www.wicca-spirituality.com/yule-prayer.html
A Yule Prayer Song
-- by special Wicca Spirituality correspondent, Colombe

Many blessings,

Judy

Listening To Your Body

 Ballerina from Microsoft Clipart

Each of us is unique - in our height, weight, colouring, and in what we enjoy doing.  We do the things that speak to us, as the ballerina in the picture does.  Not many of us can be dancers because we do not have the body or the desire to to dance in the fashion of ballet.  However, sometimes our bodies cry out just to dance for joy, or to sing because we are happy and love life!  How often do you suppress these joys?  How often do you dishonour your body?  It is a living organism that will survive without our working mind, as science has proven.

As I move further into the journey of spirituality and the path of the Shaman,  I find it easier and easier to listen and really hear my body.  I was looking for a way to explain this to my clients when I came across this quote from OSHO.  I believe this is more eloquent than any phrasing I may use.

"Your body has its own wisdom — it carries the wisdom of the centuries in its cells.

Your body is feeling hungry and you are on a fast, because your religion says that this day you have to fast — and your body is feeling hungry. You don’t trust your organism, you trust a dead scripture, because in some book somebody has written that this day you have to go on a fast, so you go on a fast.

Listen to your body. Yes, there are days when the body says, “Go on a fast!” — then go. But there is no need to listen to the scriptures. The man who wrote that scripture has not written it with you in his mind, not at all. He could not have conceived of you. You were not present to him, he was not writing about you. It is as if you fall ill and you go to a dead doctor’s house and look into his prescriptions, and find a prescription and start following the prescription. That prescription was made for somebody else, for some other disease, in some other situation.

Remember to trust your own organism. When you feel that the body is saying don’t eat, stop immediately. When the body is saying eat, then don’t bother whether the scriptures say to fast or not. If your body says eat three times a day, perfectly good. If it says eat one time a day, perfectly good."  ~~Osho~~

What Osho says is that our body, with all the past knowledge it carries, is both our Ancestor and our self in one.  We need to listen to the wisdom or our Ancestors.

In loving kindness,

Judy

Otter on Fear - A Spirit Animal

Otter has a happy view of life.  Wikipedia says, “Otters are playful animals and appear to engage in various behaviors for sheer enjoyment. Different species vary in their social structure, with some being largely solitary, while others live in groups – in a few species these groups may be fairly large.” 

Otter tells us that she knows what it is like to have fear.  She and her family are hunted by humans, big cats, eagles, and sometimes wolves, and coyotes.  Being hunted has conditioned Otter to keeping a close eye on the landscape and to looking over her shoulder to see what might be watching or sneaking up on her.  Each den has an escape route, and often, that escape route takes her right into the river where she can out swim most predators.

However, Otter does not hide away.  Instead, she explores her territory and knows where she can hide if need be.  She is wily and quick.  Even in the coldest of times, she plays because playing helps her forget to be fearful.

If Otter is your guide, then some of the questions that you might answer are:

1. What is your biggest fear?
2. What happens to you if this fear does manifest?
3. Is this the worst that can happen?
4. Have you tried to create the situation so that you can deal with the fear for once and forever?
5. What do you do to protect against it?
6. Otters do not worry.  Do you worry about your fear most of the time?

If you want to know more about otter, check out this other post about her/him. https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2023/08/the-story-of-otter-saving-animals.html

Many Blessings,

Judy

Affirmation to Turn Thinking Around

 

Elbow River Boat Launch Turn Out in Elbow Falls Recreation Area July 2023 - J Hirst

All is well. Everything is working out for my highest good. Out of this situation only good will come. I am safe. - Louise Hay 

We all have days where we feel that everything is going wrong.  It is on these days that we can create more problems for ourselves simply by reinforcing our very bad mood.  The challenge always is - how do we change this feeling of doom and gloom around?

There are several different ways to change your mood.  Method one is to think of happy things and to think about funny situations that have occurred in your life.  You can think about a place that it happened or you can think about the person or people that it happened with.  I usually think about a person that I have had an adventure with that resulted in some funny stories.

Method two is to take a few minutes to meditate and go to your happy place and meditate yourself calm knowing that nothing is permanent, and all will change.

Method three is to use Louise Hay’s affirmation or mantra, and repeat it to yourself until you feel your body shift.  The first part - All is well - tells you that nothing is forever and that whatever is happening to you is a blip on life.  Every thing is working out for my highest good - tells you that although you cannot see it, the outcome from this situation will surprise you and the results will be very helpful to you.  The last part - I am safe - has the most significance because when we move into an unhappy thinking place, we tend to feel not safe.  So we become defensive to anyone who approaches us, and that often makes a bad situation worse.  We need to remember that we are safe.  

Many blessings,

Judy

Get With The Program

We have all heard all the sayings - “march to the sound of your own drummer”, and “every one marches to a different beat”.  Or, “everyone’s marching one way, and you need to get with the program”.  

Well, the Angels are saying that it is time for you to remember why you asked to come to Earth to walk “your talk”.  YOU did not come here to beat someone else’s drum, you came here to pound out your own tune.  Your music, what ever that might be, is what helps keep the world in balance.  

Remember the chorus from the song, “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing”?  It goes like this….

Chorus:  
I'd like to teach the world to sing  
In perfect harmony  
I'd like to hold it in my arms  
And keep it company  
(That's the song I hear)  
I'd like to see the world for once  
(Let the world sing today)  
All standing hand in hand  
And hear them echo through the hills  
For peace throughout the land  
That's the song I hear  
(That's the song I hear)  
Let the world sing today  
(Let the whole wide world keep singing)  
A song of peace that echoes on  
And never goes away  

~~(R. Cook/R. Greenway/B. Backer/B. Davis)

The Angels remind you that coming to Earth to get rich or to be poor or to be sick, or to be in a dead end job, was never part of the plan.  They tell you that each person was to break free from the constraints of the world created by their parents, and that each person was to live in a way that made that person absolutely happy.  Living a life based on “you should”, and “you’d better”, and someone else’s agenda is making people sick – sick to death.  

So, sit down on a couch or a log or where ever you are comfortable, and find out what makes you happy, and find out where you want to be.  Then, get with your program.

Blessings,

Judy

Happy vs Unhappy People Who Volunteer

My friend and I were walking with our dogs and talking about life.  She chairs a fund raising event that has run annually for thirteen years and raises over $50,000 each year.  She has been very successful at running this two day event.

We were talking about what makes people join groups and volunteer.  Her experience over the years is that people are happy to volunteer and help with an event when the end goal helps a lot of people and when the event is fun to participate in.  She says that she has been very lucky to have strong volunteers that are generous with their time and that have great ideas and throw their whole effort into being part of the event.

Recently, however, some of her staunch volunteers have had to pull back because of ill health or simply ageing and not able to do the level of energy that is required.  She has taken on new volunteers.  Some of these volunteers, she says, are simply unhappy all the time.  They find fault with the event.  They find fault with new ideas.  They say that they are happy to help and yet they do not want to put a lot of effort into their volunteer-ship. They complain about the timing of the event, the length of time it runs, about the customers that come (and spend a LOT of money), and about the venue.  She says that these folk are simply unhappy with life and want to take their unhappiness out on her and the others that love the event.  She finally suggested that they may not want to volunteer at the event since it did not meet their standards.  Then these folk were incensed that she suggest that they were not good enough to help out!  

Our discussion was around how she could meet the requirements of these six volunteers.  My thought was that you cannot make unhappy people happy because happiness is not a validation that comes from outside of people - it comes from the inside - from the enjoyment and self satisfaction of life in general and doing things that makes the person feel happy inside.  It is a losing battle to try to please an unhappy person.  My suggestion was to give each of them a very limited role that did not touch on too many other people because an unhappy person will work to make everyone unhappy.

My friend reworked a schedule around that idea and parsed them out so that none of the six worked at the same time or in the same group.  She met with them individually and walked though what was expected for their short volunteer time.  She said it worked to minimize the problems.  She expects to have another successful event.

Many blessings,

Judy 
 

Orbs in Our Yard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture of orbs in Judy and Roger's back yard taken by our friend Caro, and used with permission.

Orbs are happy things!  It seems that they appear in our house and our yard when ever there is something very happy, joyful, or very spiritual going on.  I have seen pictures where the Orbs seem to be sitting and waiting for someone to come and discover what ever the Orb is sitting.  A good example was the Orbs waiting in an old barn in South America for someone to come and find the 1940's cars, mostly in new condition.  Making that discovery would indeed be a happy time!

The Orbs above appeared after a day of workshop that I was teaching.  I could hear them and feel them in the house and I knew that they would be stronger in the yard.  I said that if anyone wanted Orb pictures, now would be a good time.  I hear the orbs as a very high pitched hum or frequency disturbance.  

Our Ancestors, in Norse, Celtic, and Greek traditions, claimed that Orbs were Faery lights, or were souls who had not crossed over, or were impish spirits sent to spy on the humans.  

When Orbs appear to us, it seems that they are drawn by the light and the energy, and that they want to be part of the celebration.  They feel organic and intelligent, with a sense of goodness about them.  It seems, the ones we see, are similar to us in energy and are from a different time and space.

We were simply delighted to have all this little visitors hanging out around the deck in the trees.

May you have new light in your life.

Blessings,

Judy

Be Happy!

I was wondering how I was going to be able to find a way to tell a friend that I did not want to see her any more because she was so unhappy that she was making it difficult to be around her.  Most if not all of her friends had abandoned her.  I had not given up – yet.  I was close.  

I finally said that I would not be calling her any more.  She asked why, and I said it was because she was not happy – not once in a year and a bit had she been happy.  She told me that she did not know how to be happy and that it was my job, as her friend, to teach her.  

My response was, “You cannot teach happiness.  It is something that you choose.  When I choose to be happy, my day is glorious.  If I choose not to be happy, then everything that happens has a down side, and whatever happens pulls me down too.”

She looked at me, and walked away.

Blessings,

Judy

You Be You!

 

A common issue that comes up with clients when I do coaching on spiritual blocks is the problem of the individual doing what others want instead of what the individual wants.  In some cases, the controlling force is parents or a parent that will with hold love, money, support, if the individual does not do “this”.  In other cases, the controlling force is a spouse or partner.  Sometimes, it is the family or community culture and expectations.  Sometimes, the issue is a controlling religion.

Regardless of the influence, all of us have to be ourselves to be in balance and to be healthy and happy.  Our nature is that we want to pursue what we like and what we are interested in.  For some folks, they never find what they like or are interested in because they do not have the opportunity to do so.  Young animals and birds simply follow their instincts.  For some, they stay with the pack or with the herd.  For others, they go out alone and explore the world.  People should have the same opportunity.

You be you!

Blessings,

Judy

Don’t Lose Hope

 

I have friends that go through some major events and seem to give up hope.  How do I know?  When they would talk about life going forward, they would talk about how hope-less everything was.  They saw their world as bleak and unfriendly.

Being without hope puts a person out of balance, physically and mentally.  It is our nature to have hope, to be happy and even joyful.  It is our soul’s purpose to keep us on the path of hope for everything that we set out to do.

Blessings,

Judy

Releasing Expectations

 

Somewhere along the evolution of humans, we changed from “allowing ourselves to be in the flow of life” to “trying to control our life and the lives of those around us”.  Wow!  

We are so busy trying to be what we think everyone is telling us that we shall be that we lose sight of the wonderful process of self discovery and the joy of finding little miracles and synchronicities each day.

Yes, we need to do some planning.  We need to have shelter and food and some kind of routine.  It seems, however, that we get so caught up in goal setting, achieving success, and being at the top, that we become egocentric or self-absorbed and sometimes ruthless.  

The proof of this is that many people that appear to have achieved the greatest successes in their field often just drop out of the profession or career, and go and do something that makes them happy.  They drop out to move more simply in life, to enjoy balance, nature, joy, and self actualization.  These folks create a new life that is very different than their old life and more like our ancestors who moved in the flow.  

Yes, we can have expectations.  The thing is that we need to have realistic expectations and not get caught up in the drama of achievement and the struggles that we create by not looking at different ways to get to the place that we want to go.  

Strokes, ulcers, heart attacks, and debilitating illnesses seem to be the road blocks that pop up to show folks that the person is on the wrong track of life.  

What do you think?

Blessings,

Judy