Giving

New Year Resolution… More You

~ jodiheisz ~ 2 Comments

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“I know of nothing more valuable, when it comes to the all-important virtue of authenticity, than simply being who you are.”
– Charles R. Swindoll

New year. New beginnings. New resolutions. New and better me. At least that’s what I have tried year after year after year. And year and after year after year, I failed on my resolutions. The only result was me being way too hard on myself. “Bad Jodi!”

Well… not this year. I am trying something new. A gentler, more loving approach to personal development. Instead of new resolutions to be a new me, I am going to be more of the real me.

How about you join me in this challenge to be more you instead of a new you?

We always want to make more money, lose weight, pay debt, get a new wardrobe, etc. All of those are positive and it’s good to have goals to improve your life. I have new goals set for this year too.

But what if in 2018, your focus is on becoming more you in everything you do? How would your life improve if you were unapologetically you? Always being your authentic, genuine self under all circumstances is a challenging but worthy effort. If you stopped trying to change your true self and stopped being a watered-down version, you would be happier and more at peace. I know I will be.

Being yourself takes the stress off trying to be someone you’re not. It requires less effort because you’re simply just being with no agenda, acting out a fake persona, or trying to keep up with the status quo. Things will flow gracefully when you tap into the true nature of who you are deep down inside.

To be yourself requires three key things I am working on: Courage, Clear the Clutter and Say Yes to the Best. Hopefully, these will help you too.

Courage
It takes a courageous heart to be yourself in a critical and judgmental world. Especially when this world exists in your mind. The more you are yourself, the more confident and independent you will become to stand strong in your beliefs, talents and gifts.

Every day, be brave to take off the masks you wear, stop playing the roles you play and choose to be present instead of going through the motions. When you have the courage to show the scars, the rawness underneath, magic starts to happen. This magic is the real you. Being brave showing all of yourself helps you connect with others in a deep and powerful way. Including connecting with yourself.

Clear the Clutter
To be more you, clear the clutter from your life. Physically and emotionally. When you clear what no longer serves you, you clear the space for you to see the light within. Clutter is distracting keeping you away from true joy and happiness.

In your physical space, donate old clothes from your closet you never wear, get rid of those old pots and pans taking up room in your cupboard and clear your table from papers and unnecessary items to leave room for a mindful meal.

In your emotional life, let go of self-doubt, judgements, fear, anger, worry, resentment or any negative thoughts about yourself. Imagine throwing these thoughts and feelings into a big, yellow dump truck in front of your house. One by one throw these negative thoughts away. When you are done dumping everything, see the dump truck driving away from your house. How do you feel? Do you feel more clear, peaceful and at ease?

The more clutter you remove, the more you can see the real you. Just like when you remove clutter from a room, everything looks clear with light shining into the open space.

Say Yes to the Best
Make a commitment to yes to the best and no to the good. When you say yes to what’s best for you, you give your true self permission to shine and take center stage. You deserve to do what’s in your best interest to live aligned with your vision, goals and beliefs.

Never back down from your gifts to please others. Do what you feel is right in your heart. Remember, you are the one who was to live with you the most. When you do things to fulfill you in the deepest way, your life will be peaceful and full of wonder. This will make your loved ones happy too because they will feel your positive energy emanating from your soul.

Your experiences will be vivid and vibrant by committing to the best things. You will have less stress and resentment and will stop feeling overwhelmed by choosing to say no to the good. You enter a sacred space connecting to your true self, God and the energies surrounding you. Living and being the real you and doing things honoring your true self allows you to live in the moment going with the flow of life. You are free to just be.

Join me in 2018 to be more you. It won’t be easy and it will be scary. But you will be energized, happy and peaceful living true to yourself. God wants us to be who we are, nothing less and nothing different. He created us for a reason with a purpose for being here. Let’s honor His will for us and honor ourselves deep in our hearts and souls.

Commit to this resolution with me to be more you.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

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The Gratitude List

~ jodiheisz ~ 2 Comments

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Be grateful for:

  1. The pain, the struggles, the trauma and all of life’s challenges. You are a brave warrior ready to face anything on your path. Deep compassion and boundless empathy for others is now engrained in your soul.
  2. Everyone who helped you during your darkest times while hitting rock bottom. Without them, you wouldn’t be here today alive and kicking ready to take on the world.
  3. People who inspired you. Dead or alive. Doesn’t matter. Their inspiration motivated you to act on your dreams and goals. They lit a fire under your belly igniting your passion with courage to accomplish what you desire most.
  4. Your parents. Without them you wouldn’t be here. Plain and simple. Even if you don’t have a good relationship with them, be grateful because they gave you life. If you do have a good relationship, honor it, cherish it and listen to their wise advice followed by action. And always tell them “I love you.”
  5. Your kids. They love you no matter what you look like, what you feel like or if you had bad day at work. The bond between parent and child is greatest thing anyone could ever experience. Hands down. Again, always tell them “I love you.”
  6. Your BFF. They listen to you during your breakups, your complaints about feeling fat, how depressed you are and that your world is going to end. You create memories together filled with once in a lifetime experiences and wild and crazy adventures you both will never forget. The laughs until your tummies hurt, and the inside jokes only you two could understand are second to none.
  7. Your breath. Breathing is life, energy and your source. Focusing on your breathing is natural medicine. It calms and centers the mind, body and spirit creating spaciousness and relaxation. Listening and following your breath is the pathway to peace.
  8. Your body. No matter what your body shape is, the state of your health, your hair color, or the size of your nose… love it anyway. Treat your body as a temple by exercising, feeding it with healthy, wholesome foods and giving it unconditional love.
  9. God, the Universe, Divine Source or whatever you call it gives you grace, healing, mercy and peace. God/Universe/Divine always has your back. You can count on Him to take care of you through the good times and the bad.
  10. Mother Earth. She gives us all gifts of life providing everything we need. Thank you, Mother Earth, for the deep waters, green grass, food sources from plants and fruits, herbs to heal, the trees for cool shades, the blooming beautiful flowers, the chirping and crawling insects and all birds and animals roaming the earth. Most of all, thank you for showing humanity how to live in peace and harmony between nature and the world.

The list goes on further to be thankful for many other things. No matter where you are, what place in life you’re at or what challenges you face, there is always something to be grateful for.

Try creating your own gratitude list that’s personal and unique to you. If you are willing, please share your gratitude list in the comments below. I would love to hear!

In token of my gratitude and appreciation for being a part of my blog, feel free to download my e-book, 31 Days to Soul-Fueled Living.

Photo by Simon Maage on Unsplash

A Letter from Mother Earth

~ jodiheisz ~ 4 Comments

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“Only after the last tree has been cut down. Only after the last river has been poisoned. Only after the last fish has been caught, only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.”
 – Cree Indian Prophecy

Dear Human,

I need your help. Now. This seething, gut-wrenching pain is tearing me up inside. The darkness, heaviness, sickness, and the diseased hearts and souls of humanity is hurting me deeply. I’m scared. Scared of what’s happened in the past. Scared of what’s happening now. Scared of what’s going to happen in the future.

You’ve torn me down by your human hands leaving me barren, dry and desperate. You pollute my air, water and soil. You knock down my trees, throw litter on the ground and create landfills. You exploit my natural resources, create toxic chemicals and build weapons for warfare.
It breaks my heart when I see you hurting each other, the animals and the planet. In the human world, you fight, judge, condemn, blame, kill, verbally abuse each other, and even worse… ignore each other. In the animal world, you kill, slaughter, abuse and mistreat animals without a second thought of how much pain it causes. Don’t animals have a right to live like you do?

This toxic, negative energy makes me feel unbalanced and out of harmony. My whole system is way off track. I can’t help but to respond with disastrous hurricanes, forest fires and earthquakes. When your human mother feels overwhelmed, exhausted and unappreciated, what does she do? Doesn’t she respond with a whirlwind of emotions creating a tornado of anguish and frustration?

The problem is you’re missing the real reason for being here with me.

And that’s LOVE.

You’re meant to love each other, not hate each other. You are here to love me, all animals both domestic and wild, the plants and trees,  and the air and water. You are here to love one another through the good and bad. To love God even when things don’t make sense. To love yourself even when you can’t look at your face in the mirror.

I was created to provide you a school to learn life lessons for your soul to grow and expand into a greater consciousness. You were created to honor life in all forms while taking great care of me. To build a strong and thriving planet, let’s work together to support and serve our mission for the benefit of all beings.

To create a positive effect for building a better world, I ask you try these things. Even just for one day.

  • Instead of anger respond with compassion
  • Show mercy for someone who upset you
  • Listen to someone’s perspective instead of judgement
  • Pick up the trash as you walk down the street
  • Smile and say hello to a stranger
  • Give someone you love a hug
  • Go outside and breath the fresh air. Feel my energy around yours.
  • Instead of buying meat and produce at the grocery store, shop at a local farmer’s market
  • Volunteer your time for a cause or charity you find meaningful
  • Sit still and be aware of the connection between heaven and earth and the world around you
  • PRAY. Pray for your loved ones, people suffering from recent and future disasters, animals of all kinds, those on the Other Side, for the hungry and living in poverty and pray for me, Mother Earth.

If you do these things for one day, maybe it will go on to the next. Every moment, every minute and every second counts. That’s all you need to heal and make a difference.

Please help me by planting the seeds of love into my soil. Water these seeds every day to build strong roots of kindness and to grow compassion, joy and forgiveness. We can work together to create beautiful, peaceful and loving planet to honor humanity and all life existing within it. A little bit of love will go a long way to heal our aching hearts and soothe our precious souls.

Even if it’s just for one day.

Love,
Mother Earth

Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash

5 Simple Things to Create Joy & Brighten Your Spirit

~ jodiheisz ~ 6 Comments

 

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“Joy is the fibre of your Soul. “
 – Danielle LaPorte

Life can be challenging, exhausting and heart-wrenching. Let’s face it… sometimes it just plain sucks. But, what if you had a list of simple things to make yourself happy, create joy and brighten your spirit. A go to prescription list to medicate your mind and heal your heart and soul.

Here are some things I’ve tried that helped me and want to share them with you. All I ask is you try one of them, just for one day. If any of these makes you feel happy and joyful, awesome! If none of these make you happy and joyful, that’s ok too. It means this wasn’t the right list for you. But the world is unlimited filled with opportunities to create peace and joy.

  1. Do Not Worry: Just for today, let go of your worries and release your troubled mind. You know those stories of mass destruction filled with pain and suffering playing repeatedly in your mind? Guess what? Never happens. It’s easy to imagine worst-case scenarios. But, in the end, everything usually turns out OK. All worrying does is steal your light sucking the life force energy out from underneath you. The next time you worry, replace it with prayer or a positive affirmation. Worry steals life, but prayer feeds life.
  2. Meditate: Sit in silence for five minutes a day. Yes, just five minutes. To calm the mind and build focus, that’s all you need. Sit on a chair or sit on the floor with your back straight. Focus on your breathing. In and out, in and out. When the mind wanders, and it will, gently bring it back to the breath. Just breathing. When thoughts come, let them go like waves in the sea or clouds in the sky. A simple, daily meditation practice gives you presence of mind to create peace, clarity and stillness in all areas of your life.
  3. Spend Time Outside: Spend 10-20 minutes a day outside in nature. Take your dog for a walk, play ball with your kids in the backyard, look at the stars at night, or read a book sitting next to a tree. When you spend time outside, you ground your energy releasing any negativity from your body and your energy field. Nature is a natural healer balancing and centering yourself making you feel peaceful, whole and connected.
  4. Pray: Talk to God for 5-10 minutes every day. Pray for yourself when you feel lost and can’t see the sun beyond the storm. Pray for your family when they are sick and want to ease their pain. Pray for your friends so they may be happy, successful and prosperous. Pray for your neighbors, the Walmart store clerk, the UPS guy who comes to your office, and even the stranger on the street whom you never met. When you pray for others and yourself, you feel a connectedness to humanity with a deep understanding we are all one.
  5. Read Spiritual Books: Read a book on spirituality. Whether it’s reading a Bible scripture, a chapter from the Course in Miracles or any author whose words touch your heart, it will lighten your spirit making you feel inspired and alive. Words are powerful with ability to penetrate deeply in your soul helping you see things from a different perspective. Reading spiritual books creates positive change within yourself bringing you to a higher vibration.

With the energy of today’s environment and the stress pounding on your soul every day, take a little time to make yourself happy. Even if it’s just for one day, try these simple things to shine rays of light into your spirit and to open your heart. You deserve to feel joy and love in your life no matter where you are. If you start today, then maybe you can feel joy the next day, then the next, and the next… until one day living in joy and being the light is the essence of who you are.

Angel Gifts

~ jodiheisz ~ 2 Comments

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“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”
― Mother Teresa

After a rough night of sparring matches, I walked outside the dojang facing my next opponent… the beastly December weather. Stepping towards my car with light feet as to not slip on the ice, the blistering wind speared into face penetrating into my bones. I didn’t want to go anywhere else but home. Get into my soft jammies and snuggle with my dog as my heavy blanket wrapped around me. Yes, that’s what I wanted.

But wait! There was one more thing I had to do. A very important task. Vital. Crucial. No amount of snow or cold weather blast would stop me from getting this done tonight.

Going shopping for my Christmas angel gift.

At my church, we have a list of needy children given to us from the area schools. These kids come from poor homes and families with hardships so they’re in desperate need of someone buying them a gift. How awful and heartbreaking it would be if a child didn’t receive a Christmas gift. Right?

Anyone at our congregation is welcome to sign up to purchase an angel gift for one of these kids. So, every year I jump at the chance to bring a moment of joy, and hopefully, a smile to a child’s face.

But these angel gifts are much more than material things. They’re gifts of hope. Love. Peace. Excitement. A chance to make these kids feel they are a part of something greater and are not alone. It helps them know they are being watched over and taken care of. It’s proof we are all connected, and God is with them always no matter what their circumstances are.

As I was shopping, this got me thinking (which can be a very dangerous thing!). Why do we have to wait until Christmas to give angel gifts to show we care? What if we gave angel gifts all year round to help spread the message of love and joy? We don’t need to spend lots of money or buy something extravagant. It could be crazy, super simple.

  • Give someone a hug out of the blue just because.
  • Tell the tired and stressed out Walmart cashier with dozens of impatient customers behind you thank you for taking care of your groceries.
  • Calling a friend to say hello or set-up a lunch date to catch up instead of communicating via Facebook.
  • Tell your friend they are beautiful. We all need to hear we are a beautiful. We’re so hard on ourselves on the way we look, aren’t we?
  • Shovel the snow in your neighbor’s driveway.
  • Bake cookies for a family member or cook their favorite dish. Especially if they are experiencing hardships and feel overwhelmed.
  • Send someone a card with a thoughtful and inspiring handwritten message.

The list is endless. Unlimited. A vast ocean of creative opportunities to spread your wings and fly with your angel gifts of love. If you like New Year’s resolutions, add giving angel gifts to your list. Commit to giving these gifts of love, gratitude and service beyond Christmas throughout the entire year.

It will make someone else feel special, loved and connected. Including you.

Merry Christmas to you all!
Jodi

 

Featured image by Ben White