Are You Ready to Bloom or Set Your Wings To Flight?

"If people did not love one another, I really don't see what use there would be of having any spring." ~ Victor Hugo, Les Miserables 

It's all birds and blooms to me right now, it's all I see, so it might be all you read from me. Here's why;

My favorite season is SPRING, and it's really all the living that draws me in. That which has been lying under a stagnant undergrowth of dingy darkness answers the siren call of sunlight, swiftly responding to it's beckoning. Lush chlorophyll soaked greenery snakes upward through stringy mulch to seek new life. Then blooms.

If you look at nature, including human beings, everything grows. I can't keep up with my hair growing, or the weeds in the backyard. Tiny, hairless chicks accept worm after worm from their mothers and grow in the time it takes me to realize they've been living up in the eaves all along. Then they're gone. They soar through the air testing the aerodynamic capabilities of their wings along with the laws of the sky.

So what of your soul? Is it growing? Are you bound by your own inertia? 

The thing about life is that some aspects of it fool us with their safety. For instance, the aforementioned bird having just popped out of toasty egg and fed worms enough to support it's strength for take-off might decide that the air was a danger to him. Or that little bird may prefer the cozy threads lovingly provided by mama bird to lay upon. 

So it stays the same, that neonate – in it's nest – snugged up cozy, but paralyzed in a way. Stunted. 

What might that little guy have felt upon swooping down through the rippling air, just as ribbon dances upon it? That darling bird was capable of easily doing what humans dream of doing. Only the humans wake up with a smile on their face until they realize they have arms that may flap, but keep them solidly on the ground, a slave to gravity. They lack the loftiness of birds. 

So dear friends, are you allowing yourself to grow? 

There is a sort of invigoration that sets in after engaging in something new, as spring tends to enliven the soul. I'm not talking about the thrill of buying something new, as that always results in a very short spike of adrenaline and excitement. Then it wanes, rapidly, as does the limited glow of artificial sunlight. 

Dare to transform and you will grow. Sometimes you need to cut back in order to mature.

What can you cut back from your life to allow for new growth? 

A few years ago, I decided to eliminate GOSSIP from my life. I participated when in certain circles to feel part of a group. Such a horrid pastime. Never kind this cutting people down for sport, and usually sprouts out of jealousy. 

Another thing I have focused on eliminating are DAMAGING THOUGHTS. They are often comprised of aspects of yourself that you feel bad about. Negativity that originated from the outside world that has a detrimental effect on your thinking voice, encapsulating you in total darkness when the light is essential for you to grow. Imagine that a new gardener has come along, knocking down the wall and allowing you to bask completely in the sun–where you were meant to be all along. Now you rest only at night so you can dream about the heights accessible to you. 

Are you CUTTING SOMEONE DOWN when they are newly growing? That person isn't meant to be

pruned, as they are just finding their pace of growth. Realize that you have insecurities that you need to deal with. Don't be responsible for killing some one's dream of noble heights.

Are you TALKING YOURSELF UP amongst your friends and family, your co-workers? Do you only see your own ability to grow and discount their contributions? You need a huge gut-check. The landscape is more lush and beautiful with many colors, textures, and methods of growing. And

CONDESCENSION is like placing weed killer on the most gorgeous blooms, they choke them out.

Your dreams will be tended to when you see and appreciate others around you that have supported you and also contributed to your growth, those who have watered you to your current height. See them for who they are and what they bring to your life. They, as you, may be newer to growing, but have the same ability to reach the sky.

Now you are ready, little one, sweet child of the wind. And off you go! Bloom and allow others to bloom, as well.

Imagery and metaphor are great tools of psychologists and life coaches. They allow you to manifest all manner of dreams. If you can imagine yourself as a new plant in Spring, ready to sprout up toward the sky, you will find that you can do anything. It really works. Try it. 

To Judge is to Put a Lock on One's Soul

Recent events have forced me to review my life and how I live it. How I treat people and specifically if I judge people. 

We all have expectations of how we should live our own lives. Sometimes we think that others should align themselves to the way we think and feel. 

This is not real life. We are all multi-dimensional. We think and feel so complexly and we all have our own specific dreams and realities. To think that we know others realities and to judge them fairly even if you feel you are close to the person through friendship or family is naive, at best.

It took being judged this way to open my eyes and make me realize that I need to evaluate how I feel about others. That this feeling about them is their face value. They are so much more.

Think about it.

And while you are thinking about it, note the flow of your inner dialogue. How many times do you hear other people as they are thinking something through.  People choose to share information about how they feel with you based on their relationship with you, their comfort level around you and also sometimes out of necessity. 

People's outer appearance and demeanor sometimes may mislead you. You may not know that they suffer from lonliness, 
unhappiness, anxiety or worse. On the contrary you would be surprised when a person's slightly even facial expressions defy the well-adjusted happy person who resides inside. This is the hallmark of the introverted person. 

Sure there are loads of books out there concerning body language and often times you can get a vague reading on someone's mood, their aggressiveness or passivity. Experts have learned that if you take on a certain stance of a person you are conversing with, that you are comfortable with that person. In other words, you are aligning yourselves with them in a sort of copycat comradery.

Despite all of this knowledge you feel you have of a person, and who or what you feel they should be, they are on their own paths. When you judge other people you are diverting insecurities you have about yourself into distaste for another person when it is often more about you and what you are not dealing with.  We need to accept that we have made a mistake and move on. Life is a lesson that we have at our disposal to expand and grow. To learn how to love, then to learn how to love bigger and better. 

Don't think another bad thought about a person again, instead turn that thought into a wish or prayer for happiness to them. You will reap the rewards of good will and you will fill yourself up with lightness and happiness drawing positive and like-minded people to you. True happiness is a like a beacon. Learning to live happy is a lifestyle choice.