A Light In The Heart

“Beauty is not in the face – beauty is a light in the heart.” Kahlil Gibran

When the light in your heart is lit, you are beautiful. When you realise just how magnificent you are, you are beautiful. When you accept your genius, your talents, your gifts (yes, you who doesn’t think you have any!), you are beautiful. When you laugh, you are beautiful. When you understand the wonder of you, you are beautiful.

Never mind the creams, the potions, the surgical procedures that produce a pale imitation of beauty. When there is a light shining behind your eyes, you are beautiful. How do you illuminate that light in your heart? Fall in love with yourself, fall in love with your life, fall in love with the world. Just as you are, flaws and all. Just as your life is, flaws and all. Just as the world is, flaws and all!

With love and light to you beautiful one.

Donna.x

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Don’t Curse the Dark, Light a Lamp

Today while working on my daily October practice of Laughter, I came across a video from Dr Madan Kataria, the founder of Laughter Yoga, in which he talked about the ancient Indian wisdom which says ‘don’t curse the dark, light a lamp’. Most of us have a tendency to curse the dark, to complain about our lives, to see only what is missing in our life, to see only what is bad in the world. Our media compound this on a daily basis by behaving like Chicken Little and insisting the sky is going to fall in. (it never does)

We curse and rail against the dark…but for most of us, what we yearn for is light. We ache to be joyful, to fall deeply in love with our lives, to dance through life with a carefree heart and a smile on our face. But guess what? Cursing the dark is not the way to get that. Complaining about life does not help our life improve (identifying where improvements can be made is good, constantly going on about the problems is not). Finding people to blame for why the world is going to hell in a handbasket doesn’t help us to feel good, to be joyous, to be full of gratitude and appreciation for the wonder and beauty of life.

Looking for the light, the beautiful, the wonderful, the good, the joyous, the fabulous, the happiness in life DOES help us to enjoy life. How do you light a lamp in your life? Laughter, exercise, fresh air, doing things you love to do, taking care of yourself, focusing on the positive, gratitude, fun, inspiration, dancing, singing, getting in touch with our inner wisdom, working towards our most exciting ambitions and goals, hanging out with ‘light’ people, being silly, recapturing our childlike enthusiasm for life…and there are so much more.

When you next find yourself cursing the dark, remember to just light a lamp. Just a small spark of light can take away the dark…

Love

Donna.x

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What Do You Wish to Immerse Yourself In?

It’s Wishcasting Wednesday. There is power in wishing – putting your wishes out there sets mighty forces into action…

What Do You Wish to Immerse Yourself In?

Ooh, this is a delicious wish prompt isn’t it? The picture Jamie has used on her website is gorgeous too, which prompted me to go and find a gorgeous picture to represent this idea too. So what do I wish to immerse myself in? Beauty, joy, life, nature, creativity, wonder. I wish to immerse myself in the wonder, the beauty, the joy of this life. I wish to immerse myself in life – to live fully, completely, joyously. I wish to immerse myself in the magnificence, beauty and wonder and joy of the natural world that surrounds us, the universe even. Yum, utterly delicious!

Get involved on Jamie’s blog, or leave a comment here. As you wish for yourself, I wish for you also.

Love

Donna.x

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Guest Post: Waking Up Full of Awesome!

A friend on Facebook directed me to this post over the weekend and I loved it so much I e-mailed Melissa of pigtail girls.com to ask if I could feature it on this blog. I know you guys will love it too!

“There was a time when you were five years old,
and you woke up full of awesome.

You knew you were awesome.

You loved yourself.

You thought you were beautiful,
even with missing teeth and messy hair and mismatched socks inside your grubby sneakers.

You loved your body, and the things it could do.

You thought you were strong.

You knew you were smart.

Do you still have it?
The awesome.

Did someone take it from you?
Did you let them?
Did you hand it over, because someone told you weren’t beautiful enough, thin enough, smart enough, good enough?
Why the hell would you listen to them?
Did you consider they might be full of shit?

Wouldn’t that be nuts, to tell my little girl below that in another five or ten years she might hate herself because she doesn’t look like a starving and Photoshopped fashion model?
Or even more bizarre, that she should be sexy over smart, beautiful over bold?
Are you freaking kidding me?

Look at her. She is full of awesome.

You were, once. Maybe you still are. Maybe you are in the process of getting it back.

All I know is that if you aren’t waking up feeling like this about yourself, you are really missing out.

Amelia says Good Morning.”

Isn’t that…well, AWESOME?! Hope you woke up full of awesome this morning, and please go check out pigtail pals “- Redefine Girly wants to change the way people think about girls. A product line and advocacy group created by a mom who wants better for our daughters. Girls are smart, daring, & adventurous!” Hear hear!

Love

Donna.x

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Apache Blessing

May the sun bring you new energy by day
May the moon softly restore you by night
May the rain wash away your worries
May the breeze blow new strength into your being
May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life

May you be blessed this week.

Love

Donna.x

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What Do I Wish for My Home?

Wishcasting Wednesday is here again.

What do I wish for my home?

My immediate, and slightly flippant (although still heartfelt) answer to this was: I wish my home to be in a beautiful climate with a west facing sea view. That is my ultimate wish! But then I read a few other wishcaster’s wishes and I got a bit more ‘present’. I wish for my home to be full of love, beauty, joy and inspiration. I wish my home to support me in enjoying my life to the full. I wish my home to be a place of flowing, positive energy. I wish my home to be beautifully simplistic (a challenge for a hoarder!). I feel a spring clean coming on!

Get involved on Jamie’s blog, or leave a comment here. As you wish for yourself, I wish for you also.

Love

Donna.x

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Who Owns the Room?

How are you on this fine November day? I am sitting in front of my new super light – it’s an early birthday present to help me to stop getting the hump just because it’s winter, it’s dark, it’s cold…ugh, roll on spring! Anyway, I decided we needed an article to remind us all of our utter magnificence, so I dug this article out of the archives – enjoy!

- Who Owns the Room? -

A few years ago, I did a belly dancing workshop and I learnt that a vital aspect of belly dancing is attitude – the dancer must believe that she is the most beautiful, sensual, magnificent creature her audience has ever seen. Our wonderful workshop leader, Claire, demonstrates this attitude perfectly, and the exercises in the workshop convince even the shyest of dancers that they are, indeed, the most fantastic woman on earth. Now, I am not suggesting that you don the jangly belt and start dancing round the office (unless you really want to…and if you do, please send me a photo!).

It’s the attitude that’s important. That attitude of celebrating your own magnificence. Of being the absolute centre of power and influence. Of having poise, grace, charm, presence, confidence. As you start to cultivate this attitude, your head comes up, your chest comes out, your stomach comes in, you are captivating. Your light shines brightly in a room. You are dazzling, charming, mesmerizing.

It is a very special feeling. And it isn’t one we walk round with often, is it? When was the last time you walked into a room as if you owned it and everyone in it? I’m not talking about arrogance, about some two-bit starlet announcing their presence (and no one caring). I’m talking about real power, true brilliance, which doesn’t care who notices, because it is certain of its own allure. Pure self-confidence that is not a performance put on for others, but only for ourselves.

When you get a chance this week, look up magnificence in your thesaurus, then look up all the associated words that appeal to you. How often do you use these words in relation to yourself? If it’s less that every minute, you need to reclaim these words for YOU. Because you are magnificent, brilliant, gorgeous, powerful, majestic and superb.

Say the words aloud – don’t they just fill your mouth? Just the sound of these words brings you up…and up…and up. By thinking about yourself in this language, even walking into the bathroom becomes an exercise in realising just how amazing you are (it’d be even better with a coin belt though – hint, hint!). So, who owns the room? You do, of course. Silly question.

- Something to Play With -

Everytime you walk into a room this week, walk in like you OWN it, like you are the person they have all been waiting for – all their lives. As if you are the best thing that ever happened to that room. Notice what happens to your body, your mind and your heart. (even just walking into an empty room with this attitude works…) Want to share your thoughts on this article? Leave a comment below.

Love

Donna.x

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Your Imperfections are So Beautiful

There is a song by British indie band The Tears – here’s a snippet of the lyric:
“Your imperfections are so beautiful
I can’t control my animal soul
Your imperfection has got me on a chain
Can’t concentrate
I’m a sucker for your beautiful mistakes
…
Your imperfections make you what you are
My defective star
My inelegant love”

I love the whole thing. I always resonate so much more with people who allow themselves to be vulnerable, to be real, to be perfectly imperfect…to be HUMAN! My old coach used to say to me, whenever I admitted an imperfection “OHMIGOD YOU’RE HUMAN?!?!?!?” Lol. Yes we are. Human. Allowed to be rubbish! Allowed to have a bad day. And our imperfections make us who we are…

Part of our unique essence comes from our imperfections, just as part comes from our gifts. One without the other is wierd. I personally don’t know any perfect people. I know some people who try to be perfect, and deny or suppress or hide their imperfections. I’ve done it myself at times. And it is painful. Because when you start denying parts of you, it is like cutting off a limb. And why? To appear perfect?

You ask me, flaws are more perfect. Because they are real. Don’t worry about being ‘perfect’. Instead focus on being YOU. All of you. Imperfections and all. Authentic, real…and therefore attractive, magnetic, beautiful, a shining star. And while you’re at it, why not look for the wonderful in the flawed. For example, I am lazy…which means I get to read lots of good books and sit in the garden in the sunshine a lot. This is a good thing! I am also quite a grump at times…which means that I rarely get taken for a mug because I’m just too arsey!!

I could tell you for HOURS what imperfections I have and why they’re great (I’m stubborn as a mule, which make me persistent; I’m really flaky at times, which makes me multi-passionate and creative; I eat too much junk food, which gives me lots of padding for winter!) but I won’t go on about how perfectly imperfect I am! I want to hear about you. What beautiful imperfections do you have…and what is GOOD about them?

Share your thoughts, leave me a comment or contact me through the website and let me know, and if you’re not sure what is good about YOUR imperfection, share it anyway!

Love

Donna.x
PS Did you take my survey yet? If not, and you have 5 minutes, please Click here to take survey. Thanks a million my lovely. xxx

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A Beautiful Heart

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it.

Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart. Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, “Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.” The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly … but it was full of scars …it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in …but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges.

In fact … in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing. The people stared … how can he say his heart is more beautiful … they thought? The young man looked at the old man’s heart … and saw its state and laughed. “You must be joking,” he said. “Compare your heart with mine …mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears.” “Yes” … said the old man … “yours is perfect looking but …I would never trade with you.

You see … every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love … I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them … and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart … but because the pieces aren’t exact …I have some rough edges … which I cherish … because they remind me of the love we shared.

Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away …and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges … giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful …they stay open … reminding me of the love I have for these people too …and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting.

So now do you see what true beauty is?”

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man … reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart …and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering … placed it in his heart …and then took a piece from his old scarred heart …and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart.

It fit … but not perfectly … as there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart …not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever …since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side.

-Author Unknown-

May you always have the courage to keep giving a piece of your heart.

Much love

Donna.x

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Don’t Rush The Rose

A rose will blossom in its own sweet time. And so will you. Be patient with the process of growing and changing and becoming who you are. It takes time and a lot of under the surface work to achieve such beauty, such wonder as you are. Trust that you are doing really well on your journey, whether you can see the rose petals or just the thorns.

Love

Donna.x

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