Ego Battles

Hi

Happy New Year.  Afraid I didn't make it yesterday after all.  A very good New Year's Eve followed by a bit of a lost day yesterday.  Didn't get up until the evening but did spend a bit of time reading Be Happy by Robert Holden so wasn't a completely lost day.

Anyway, also did a bit of battle with my Ego, which tries very hard to distract me and persuade me that I really do need to be DOING SOMETHING WORTHWHILE to become happy.  As I have spent most of my life obeying its commands which haven't necessarily made me that much happier, I'm willing to give the ideas in Be Happy a chance.

What about this as a happy verse to counteract the attacks of ego?


PERFECTLY MYSELF

If ego starts to muscle in and keep us from our joy
Let's remember we don't need to listen to this bully boy,
We can quiet its strident callings, we can drive it from our mind
And it's worth it if we catch a glimpse of happiness behind.
What a tyrant we've created, so self centred and so proud
As it meanly allocates the happiness we are allowed,
Not too much or we are heading without question for a fall
Or maybe we're deemed unfit for any happiness at all.
It's a deal we have been striking day by day throughout our lives
As our ego calls the shots and spirit struggles and survives
Only by its sweet tenacity which will not leave us long,
As its whispers keep reminding us of where we most belong.
And it's not where ego leads us, place of struggle, place of pain,
It is not a valley shadowed filled with stress and full of strain,
It's a peaceful place of Being where we gratefully can say,
"I am perfectly myself and that's sufficient for the day."

Hope you enjoyed this.  If you did don't forget "A String of Pearls" where there is an inspirational verse to soothe the soul and rekindle the spirit for every day of the year.

See you soon.

Thought you might like this picture.  Just learning how to import them.  Will it work?  Who knows?

Well that seemed to work ok.

Corinne

Gratitude

Hi

Well let's start the day with a bit of gratitude.  Always effective in chasing away the blues.  Even when it's raining outside, which it is, or the Christmas splurge is catching up, which it is, or the dreaded credit card bills are due, which they are, etc etc we can counteract all this with a bit of gratitude.

I've been trying it out myself for a while and it certainly beats beating yourself up.  It's particularly good first thing in the morning if, like me, you tend to be a bit down on waking.

How about this for a happy verse?



THANK YOU MORNINGS



To wake up saying thank you's the best way to start the day,
For when it comes to prayer there are no better words to pray,
A shortcut to contentment, guaranteed to resonate,
A counting of our blessings and we wake up feeling great.
Perhaps we're waking free from pain, how lucky then we are,
Or looking through the window see snow glisten from afar,
Or feel a breeze upon our skin or hear a skylark sing,
Already we are feeling blessed at what a dawn can bring.
And that's just the beginning for our mind set has been geared
To perceive the good around us not the little things we feared,
And the day keeps getting better, it seems too good to be true,
And it all began this morning with that very first thank you.



Hope you liked this.  If you did don't forget there's plenty more at "A String of Pearls"

Also like to recommend a book that I just added to my Profile.  Yesterday, in the excitement of getting started with this blogging, I forgot my very favourite book is called "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron.
That's all about the spiritual journey too using creativity as a vehicle.  Excellent in every way. 

Actually, going to have a go at adding another picture, one where I'm suitably grateful.  What is it they say? Practice makes perfect and I seem to be getting the hang of this.  Are there any other blogging novices out there?

Have a good day.

See you tomorrow.

Corinne

Progress not perfectionism

Hi

Well back again just to make sure I can still do what I've just done.  Doing anything for the first time is daunting and a bit of reinforcement won't come amiss. 

Actually I just thought that I had lost the lot but somehow managed to retrieve it.  Is anyone else out there having these problems or is it just me?  Blogging is supposed to be about being easy but nothing is easy if you're new to it.  And I have to remind myself often that it is Progress not Perfection that counts.  Perfectionism is the scourge of happiness and I should know.  How many more of you out there have spoiled any number of moments of potential happiness through insidious Perfectionism that creeps in unwanted all over the place.  Someone once told me that unremitting high standards are not something to be proud of but something to dump at the earliest possible opportunity.  What do you think?

I feel a Happy Verse coming on.



MOUNTAINEERING



If things seem insurmountable, a mountain still to climb,
Remember that we only can take one step at a time,
And the journey, though still daunting, undertaken in this way
May unlikely prove successful as we move through every day.
For it's only when we view something in its entirety
And surrender overwhelmed exclaiming, "That's too much for me,"
That we fail to see that pieces can be broken down to size,
And we could be making progress as we go to our surprise.
So next time that we see a mountain looming into view
Let's not shake our head in horror, say we don't know what to do,
When the mountain can be mounted step by step, until at last
We can look down from the summit at the pieces that we passed.

'Mountaineering' is the entry for July 13 "A String of Pearls".  The Book has an alphabetical index of over a hundred themes covering the gamut of human emotion, and Progress, not Perfection, accounts for 20  references alone.  Clear what I have problems with!  Anyone else have the same problem?

See you soon.

Corinne

Not really mountains I know but still pretty to look at.

Be Happy

Hi

Well here goes.  First posting, so in at the deep end and see what happens.

Am currently reading "Be Happy" by Robert Holden and thoroughly enjoying it.  Lots of information and practical advice about how to "Be Happy" and according to the blurb the book gives you a front-row seat to his eight-week happiness course.  I haven't learned how to do the links yet or I would do one to his website which is certainly worth a look.  Perhaps tomorrow!  Why wait?  I've just seen the link button so I'll have a go.  Has anyone else read the book or been on the course?  There's an online course just available which looks interesting too.  Has anyone else tried it?

Anyway the main purpose of my blog is a Happy Verse Day, so this one was inspired by what Robert had to say about finding Happiness.



ALREADY HERE

To start the day with gratitude means that we can't go wrong,

A tally of our blessings keeps us counting , keeps us strong,

For it forces us to focus on the good that we receive
And eclipses little misfits we would otherwise perceive.

And so we see beyond the clouds to shafts of sunlight which

Fill with warmth our empty coffers until suddenly we're rich,

And we have no need of coin to purchase pleasure bit by bit

There is happiness on tap if we know where to look for it.

And it starts with an acceptance of the who we really are

Not the ego we've constructed but the shining little star

Who knows everything of happiness and has done since their birth

Then proceeded to forget it every day upon the earth.

But now we can remember for it never went away

It was only our awareness getting dimmer day by day

'Til the moment we were silent long enough to hear a sigh

As our happiness reminded us it always was close by

Wanting only our attention, so that it could reappear

Saying, "You don't need to search for me, for I'm already here."

I hope you enjoyed this.  If you did you might like to look at my book "A String of Pearls", A Yearbook of Daily Inspiration to Soothe the Soul and Rekindle the Spirit".  Let's see if I can do that link.

Anyway just to finish off I'm going to try another Blogger feature and include a picture of me when I was feeling happy.  Just to remind myself of the feeling.  Look forward to hearing from you.

Corinne