Posts tagged "post and photo by Ineta Mcparland"

Florida palm tree at sunset

Forgiveness – what an incredibly awesome feeling in the world! It has so much freedom in it.  It has this huge openness of what is possible!  It is freeing.  It is tearing down all the shackles we put on us.  It gets rid of that huge stone in the heart, that heaviness.  It gets rid of all the pain.

By talking to my brother couple of weeks ago, I realized that before I associated love with pain.  I was confused.  Where there was love, the pain followed.  It manifested all through life: painful relationships, losing beloved pets, deaths.  I carried lots of pain in my heart since childhood.  That pain lasted in adulthood.  Love turned into the pain in a different situations.  Love and pain went hand in hand.

After realizing it, I consciously forgave each person that hurt me.  With some, it was not easy, but I let go all the hurt.  In forgiving, I realized that some people hurt me and others because they were hurt themselves.  Some might not be even aware of the hurt they caused.  Some of them just wanted to be in control, and I am not an easy one to tame.  Some of them might not know any better, considering their own life experiences.  Sure, this does not excuse their behavior.  However, there is no point in dealing with this pain no more.  I’m setting myself free.

There is no power in pain.  While being in pain, we unconsciously hurt not only ourselves, but also others.  Only pure love can solve anything.

The moment I forgave, I saw love, a pure beautiful incredible love – love that I want to explore, that is unknown.  Pain is no longer there.  I want to feel it raw and passionate.  I want to feel love with all my body, within my heart.

In that, brand new door opens to New Possibilities… I can’t wait to experience.

Running? Me? Who could ever thought?

Last week, I started something new.  When my friend Sandy and I went to Celery Fields hill, I saw 2 little kids and their mother running down the hill.  They had smiles on their faces, having a great time.  I thought for a moment, when was the last time I run?  I remembered my high school years when we used to run short-distance and long 2 km distance.  I was a pretty good runner in a long distance.  We even used to run in the snow.

So, I handed my camera to Sandy and I took off downhill.  Climbing up hill was not challenging enough, so I upped my game.  I run uphill 2 times.  My heart pounding, the wind in my hair, I felt ALIVE!  I was smiling ear to ear!  I put my arms in the air and at that moment I decided I want to get fit.  I want to be strong.  I want to feel alive!  … And I’m keeping my word.  I came back to the hill again.  I also run in my neighborhood.

In running, I became more aware of my surroundings.  Even my eyes became so much clearer, and this clear vision right now is staying for prolonged time. Before, my vision was a bit blurry, then clear, a little more blurry and then clear, and so on.  It was going from 20/40 to 20/25 most of the time.  Right now, even after finishing running, in this past week I can feel my vision stays clearer longer than usual.  And when I see 20/20, every leaf on the tree, I become ecstatic. WOW!  By running, I see beautiful front yards of neighbors.  Today, I saw a swing on a tree.  I see birds on a roof or flying by.  I hear hawk screaming.  My senses become alive.  My heart pounds, I breathe hard, then I start walking and later running again.  I become so aware of everything.  Even I pick up senses of flowers or blooming trees.  Oh, what a great fragrance!  It is so great to feel ALIVE!

Wow!  I just read some benefits of running.

6 benefits of running

I found this article helpful, too:

For Beginner Runners

Another great form of exercise and self-expression is dancing.  I danced this weekend, too.  My muscles were sore the next day, but it was so much well worth it.  My friends and I had such a great time.  Here is something I wrote awhile ago about dancing: What is your dancing style?

Recently I met my new friend.  We talked for hours, walked in a drizzling rain, went to the beach in the dark.  We had a great time and conversation.

In talking with her, I realized how far I came.  My attitude towards everything has changed.  Like the saying goes, “Do not look for me in the past.  I am not there anymore.”  It rings so true to me.

I realized all the struggles I been through in the past only made me stronger.  The people who treated me unfairly are no longer in my life.  Some things that I would be dead serious about before, just made me laugh.  I know what I want and nothing will stop me.

By talking to my friend, I glanced into my past and right now.  I came a LONG way. Wow!  I am not afraid of little setbacks anymore.  It only makes me stronger.  Setbacks are just a little building blocks that goes to the top of the castle of our dreams come true.

By summing up all our conversations about life and people, an enormous gratitude filled my heart.  I am grateful for:

1. My family and friends.  You are truly amazing, each one of you!

2.  My health.  Where I was and where I am now – HUGE difference!

3.  My pets who give an unconditional bundles of love and joy.

4.  A peace in my heart.  Forgiveness plays a huge part.

5.  My self-confidence.  Gosh, even my back is straight and I see clearer.

6.  My cheerfulness and positivity.  A simple smile makes the whole difference not only for me, but for others.

7.  My creativity and curiosity.  I LOVE making ordinary into extraordinary, to challenge myself to see in creative ways.

8.  Challenges.  They teach me lessons and test me how strong I’ve become.  It builds a character, so bring it on.

9.  New opportunities that unexpectedly present themselves.

10. LIFE.  I cherish every minute that I am alive!

What are you grateful in your life?

Happy New Year!  It is a new beginning.  Like Winfrey Oprah said, “another year to make it right.”  The thing is that we go through changes many times:  it could be at a beginning of the year.  It could be after some drastic event happening, like changing a job, losing someone, divorce, kids go to college, retirement, marriage, moving to a new place, etc., etc.  There is also a saying that major changes usually happen after 7 years.

Lately, I and my friends are going through major life changes, too.  So, how to cope with that? How to make changes fun?  First of all, I found the greatest thing to do is to get rid of crap.  Through many years, we collect so much stuff.  Some things we liked before, we do not like it anymore.  Get rid of it.  Our tastes change.  We have so many e-mails that we did not even read, subscriptions that we ignore.  Delete and throw away.   If we take pictures, some pictures seemed nice before. Right now they’re mediocre – delete them or save them on DVD.  There are clothes that we did not wear for years – donate, give away or sell them.  There might be some unfinished projects or writings that we never get to finish, or lost interest in them – throw it away.

Also, not only we got to get rid of old, worn, unfinished stuff, but also the same goes with mental stuff.  All negativity out – to open a new space for positivity.  There might be some people that hurt us in the past.  Don’t you wish that some of them would have a “delete” button?  We can do it in our mind:  we got to forgive them and let it go.  Because if we are mad or upset, we only hurt ourselves – let go of anger and hurt.

Or, here is a brilliant idea:  Use these feelings to make you go higher.  Sometimes anger or being upset gives us a motivation to succeed.  We can channel those feelings to make ourselves only better and stronger.  If somebody said, “You’ll fail,” just say, “Watch Me” and strongly believe that you can do anything you wish and do it.

Also, while we clean old or bad energy out of our lives, we open doors to new opportunities.  The thing is that in this process of getting rid of the stuff, the new ideas come.  In working on these ideas, we got to communicate with people.  That’s how we start something new and exciting.

Moreover, we shall not take on a new crap.  If people do not treat us right or be negative, we have every right to walk away or change a subject.  We do not need their negativity in our lives.  Let’s surround ourselves with friends that lift us up, inspire us, and encourage us.  No more drama and no bullshit.  Also, no more excuses.

While going to the shop today, I noticed a young man jump from his car across the street by red light.  He went in front, picked up a wood piece (probably with a nail in it), run to the sidewalk and put it down, so nobody would have their tire damaged.  The wood was to the side of his car, not in a way of his way of going.  It was so kind of him to think of others.

Not everyone notices simple acts of kindness of others, but these kind people are among us.

When we open our hearts and minds, we think of others’ well-being, and the world becomes a more beautiful place.

How can we be kind to others today?

I never knew what mind can do until I tested my own mind to see well.  See my previous posts how it all started Seeing Miracle and a follow up a week or so later at Seeing Miracle Continues.

It’s been 7 months now since I took my glasses and never again I put them back on.  For the people who read my previous posts, you are probably wondering if it really works, how my vision is now.

Also, I came across a discussion board on the web where my website and my post “Seeing Miracle” was mentioned.  I could not believe all the skeptics out there who were a majority.  One tried to walk without glasses, but at the end he put the glasses back on.  Next day, he got a headache and vowed to never try this again.  Next, others were wondering why squinting does not work all the time.  They were discussing Bates method, and some were even furious about misleading information.  There is a huge discussion going on, and most people liked the “safety” behind their glasses and were afraid to persist.  I totally understand them.  It is pretty scary to go out when all you see is a blur.

After reading this discussion board, I checked my eyesight according to the chart.  I did not use the chart for awhile.  I read 20/40 with absolutely no problem.  This is by the way a legal vision for driver’s license in Florida.  Then I even read 20/30 line without any problems.  Then 20/25 was next.  I read that, too.  20/20 was a bit blurry, but with a little eye adjustment (by blinking and breathing a bit), I read the whole 20/20 line.  That’s the first time ever I was able to read the whole 20/20 line!  I was so excited.  My right eye is usually weaker.  So, before I read only a half of the line.  Pretty good, isn’t it?

I wish my 20/20 vision would stay without an eye adjustments.  My vision still fluctuates from around 20/30, 20/25 to 20/20.  Lately, probably from 20/25 to 20/20.  My eyesight adjustment now comes naturally.  I do not squint.  Squinting just stresses our eyes and might give us a headache.  I deeply breathe, blink my eyes, stay in the sun whenever I get the chance.  It comes so easy that I do not even think about it.

I train my mind to see through everything.  Sure, on stressful or cloudy days, it becomes a bit blurrier.  Sure, it would be so easy to put the comfort blanket – eyeglasses on, but I refuse to do so.  I am persistent to see no matter what.  So, with more adjustment, I see well again.

On happy days, I have prolonged great vision without adjustments.  Also, I find if I look into computer for a long time, my eyes become more blurry.  Then I take a break, or change my vision field by looking someplace else.

Also, my success depends on my attitude.  I do not concentrate on what I do not see.  I concentrate on what I’m seeing instead.  I am super excited to see things that I only required eyeglasses to see.

I am so in love with the world I am seeing:  larger than I used to see through my glasses.  So, this is what I learned in my journey:

1) Determination and a strong belief are the keys.

2) Persistence to see through everything.

3) Resistance to give up and put the glasses back on.

The mind is so powerful.  We usually underestimate how powerful it is.  Our mind and our bodies are connected.  If one thing is out of balance, another one will be, too.

The book might not be for everyone.  It might not work for everyone, or others might not even try it.  There might be many skeptics out there.  However, these are my own experiences, and miracles do happen if you have a huge belief in them.  Here are other people’s experiences in a book review from Amazon book readers. Decide for yourself, be daring, but please use a common sense and be safe.

I was not sure what I was dreaming about, but I woke up with a compelling question in my mind, “How to write a book that would be captivating?”

I thought of that for a while now.  I wrote several chapters, but it just did not struck a cord with me.  There goes self-criticism again, “Not good enough.” And, there was that question again right after I woke up.

When I went to my computer, I came across an article “53 Mind-blowing, Psychology-Proven Facts You Should Know About Yourself” in Business Insider website.  I skimmed through topics, read some chapters, and my mind kept searching for something more when all of the sudden, there it was, an answer to my question, even psychology proven:  “People Process Information Best in Story Form.”  There was even an example of structure of the story.  My question just got answered.

Curious thing is that when we ask ourselves a question, our mind becomes open and can’t help but search for an answer.  It looks, scans the outside world until it gets it.

It got me thinking.  How about if we ask ourselves empowering questions, instead of waiting what the day brings? Would that be a great jump start of the day?  What questions can we ask ourselves?

Here are some of questions that are coming to my mind:

What do I want to accomplish today that is important to me?

What can I give more to the world?

What is the scariest thing I can overcome today?

Who could I pretend to be (looking in my desired future)?

How can I think outside the box?

How can I make a world a better place?

How can I develop a needed skill?

What can I cause today?

How can I give more love today?

What question can you ask yourself that would make a huge difference in your and someone’s world?

Resource that I found for an answer to my question is:

Business Insider story line

Brain is busy while you sleep

There is a fine line between being alone and feeling lonely.  Yet, some people think it is the same.  When we are single, our friends constantly want to “fix us” up with somebody.  We are not broken.  They think, we are alone; therefore, we must feel lonely.

Being alone is a physical state.  It might be a transitional phase when we choose to have a time to ourselves.  It might be a time when we need to heal, or we do not feel like having a relationship right now.  Either way, we choose to be that way.  We are comfortable in our skin.  We are self-reliant and independent.  We just enjoy to spend time alone and in the process we grow stronger.  We get to know ourselves better, our wants and needs.

On other hand, feeling lonely is a state of mind.  It is a state when we do not know ourselves well enough; therefore, we are not comfortable.  We can have somebody next to us and still feel lonely.  When we feel lonely, we depend on somebody for our own happiness; we rely on somebody to tell us who we are.  We are not comfortable in our skin.  Therefore, we long for somebody to fill that gap, to show our best when the answer lays in our own hearts.

How to heal loneliness?  The thing is when we are not happy with ourselves, nobody will bring happiness to us.  At first, it might appear that way, but it is an illusion, and it will be a short-lived.  To cure loneliness, we got to find our passions, our loves, what makes our heart sing.  We got to re-discover ourselves and pursue our dreams.  When we are comfortable in ourselves and when the time is right, we might meet someone who will compliment us.