Life’s Little Gems

I was cleaning out some old files and found this little gem tucked away inside. It’s a list of instructions for life that was sent to me by a friend. The paper that it was printed on looks a little worse for wear. However, I can make out the Dalai Lama’s name and assume he originally wrote it.

Instructions for Life

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R’s: Respect for self, Respect for others and Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you will be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the  current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year go some place you have never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

– Dalai lama

Journaling

Journaling helps us to capture our thoughts and feelings on paper, showing us how we think, learn and create. It also allows us to get in touch with our deeper self and to explore the inner workings of our subconscious mind.

By recording our thoughts in a personal journal, we can go back and review those thoughts and feelings from a different perspective which allows us to see our progress over the months/years. Journaling also helps us to stay focused, and enables us to identify and resolve issues. It can also assist us in understanding who we are.

I’ve been journaling for years and have found that the hard cover sketch books work best for me. I usually embellish the outside cover with watercolors, acrylics, colored pencils, colorful rice papers, silk fabrics, ribbons, photos, feathers, sketches and magazine images. The journal book below features one of my favorite paintings “Proserpine” by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

One of my Journals
“Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself.” – Julia Cameron

Random Acts of Kindness

Everyday Random acts of kindness!  Everything we do matters in life especially the gift of kindness. Something as simple as a smile or a few kind words can touch someone more deeply than we ever could have known, and I believe we often underestimate the impact we can make in someone’s life.

Links to Inspire Kindness

• Dreamweavers
• Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
• Operation Nice
• Smile
• Next time you are standing in a long line at the grocery store say “Thank You” to that clerk who will be serving you.
• Smile and say hello to a stranger at least once a day.

The Reiki Box

A Reiki practitioner often receives requests for Distant Reiki sessions, and unless we want to spend every day and every night fulfilling all these requests, we need to create a Reiki envelope, book or a Reiki Box.

In the beginning you may only need an envelope where you can place the names of people who have requested Reiki, but as your practice grows you will need to find something a little more substantial. I personally prefer the Reiki Box, although I have also used Reiki packets, books and envelopes.

My Reiki Box – Collage & Rhinestones on a box.

The Reiki Box can be any container in which you can put names, photos or both, of people who have requested Reiki. Some practitioners use a shoe box while others prefer something more elaborate. It really doesn’t matter because Reiki always goes where it is needed.

When you have selected your box, you  will need to clear it of any unwanted energies, you can do this by smudging it or by drawing the Power Symbol on all sides of the box.

Next, you will need to write down the names of those who need Reiki on slips of paper and place these inside the box. After you have done this, draw the Reiki symbols in the following order and focus on sending Reiki.

• Distance Healing Symbol.
• Power Symbol.
• Harmony Symbol.
• Power Symbol.

You may send Reiki daily or weekly depending on need. I use index cards in my Reiki Box and go through them periodically and remove the cards of those who no longer require Reiki. You may want to write down the name, date and issue on each card and attach a photo if you have one.

One other thing I do is write out this message on a slip of paper and place it in the bottom of the box.

“Reiki for all beings who wish to receive it.”

Everyday Goddessing  is about sharing magical techniques and sacred wisdom with other beautiful Goddess women. I believe that within every woman there is a goddess, a wise woman, beautiful, creative, powerful, with a deep soul, and that everything we need and are looking for is already inside  each of us. – Rose Arizmendi

The Labyrinth

“The Labyrinth is an archetype, a symbol found in ancient cultures in various forms around the world. By walking the labyrinth, we are discovering a long forgotten mystical tradition.

I find that walking a labyrinth relaxes and grounds me in a very deep, profound way. The journey towards the center is all about letting go, so when we arrive there, we can listen with an open heart and bring love back into the world.

As we walk the meandering yet purposeful path through the labyrinth, it becomes a  metaphor for our journey through life with all it’s turns and twists.

“Where do you come from, and where are you going?” – The Red Queen To Alice,  Alice In Wonderland