Tag: #life #enlightenment

OMG…The Universe is responding!!

This evening I was listening to the back end of Oprah’s Soul Sunday interview with Shauna Niequist. (I know, I had no idea who she was until this evening. Had to google her too) The interview was about her journey as shared in her book “Present over Perfect”. And yes of course it is now officially on my reading list. Anyway, there were lots of similarities to my journey so I listened to the end. While waiting for recording to load so that I could listen to the beginning, I cam across Oprah’s interview with Adyashanti. He spoke about living an authentic life and suddenly it dawned on me that I have been in a great space emotionally of late and then I realised why…

The universe is responding!!

Certain things have changed in my life over the last month or so. In the past, I have always enjoyed buying clothes. When I put on weight though , I felt really crappy about myself and the way I look. Whenever I went shopping I really struggled to find clothes that I liked and it just left me feeling more depressed about my weight and myself. Let me just say as well that those mirrors in the change rooms of clothing shops…who’s idea was that??? I swear they add at least another 10kg’s and 10cm to you. Are they trying to sell you clothes or are they secretly in cahoots with weight loss groups or maybe even psychologists because they can drive you to depression. Phew, I’ve been dying to let that all out for the longest time!😜. Sorry about the rant.

Moving on swiftly…anyway, about 3 months ago I had made a decision to make more of an effort with my appearance (I am single again after all). I started following a few older fashion bloggers on IG and could feel the stirrings of excitement about this decision sneaking in to my consciousness. I still didn’t see anything I really liked in stores but I was still hopeful. I also made a conscious effort to accept myself as I am and appreciate myself now rather wait until I lost the weight. Since December or so, the positive attitude has started to pay off! I actually have to stay away from malls now because every clothing shop I walk into has stuff that I love and screams “BUY ME!”. I feel like my old self again. I love clothes shopping again!!!!

But wait, there’s more!

Virtually every purchase has been discounted!!!! What a pleasure! It is so amazing how the Universe finds ways to give you money. In this case, I have been receiving discounts on stuff that is not even on the sale rack. Talk about living an abundant life! I feel so spoilt. Thank you! I have been saying these money affirmations to get myself back in line with the energy of money. I have also realised that I have been living with a “lack” mindset and of course, I found “lack” everywhere I looked. I made a conscious decision to live with an abundant mindset in all aspects of my life and I am starting to harvest the fruits of the seeds that I have sown financially and in other areas of my life as well. I am so excited!

“When you teach a child that a bird is named bird, the child will never see the bird again”Krishnamurti

Red parrot with Quote by Krishnamurti
Quote by Krishnamurti. Image by Canva

This quote really made me stop and think. It is a reminder that we don’t know what we think we know. That we need to remain curious and maintain a sense of wonder about the everyday things around us. The same would hold true for people as well. We should not assume that we know those we come into contact with. We should be more curious and open to learning about them.

If you would like to listen to the interview, you can find a link to it here. A direct link is also available on my Facebook page.

Bedtime calls. I go to sleep with a smile in my heart feeling grateful for the blessings that have been bestowed on me already and for those yet to come. 🙏

Have a wonderful week ahead! Thank you for reading. Please like and share if you enjoyed reading my post. Also let me know how you have see the law of attraction manifest in your life. I find it so fascinating 😁

The search for enlightenment

Hey there,

It’s been a while since I last wrote.   Apologies. I have been doing more reading than writing of late.  I think my curiosity just needed some feeding 🙂  It was feeling a bit starved and out of sorts.  Anyway, the other day I came across the following line in “A year of miracles” by Marianne Williamson…

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I was fascinated.  So much so that this statement has been rolling around in my head for days now.    I have also been engaged in an argument with a friend about what education really is.  It’s like the universe really wants me to give this some thought.  Who am I to say no.  So here goes…

According to the Oxford dictionary, “enlighten” means to “Give (someone) greater knowledge and understanding about a subject or situation”  and to “educate” means to  “Give intellectual, moral, and social instruction to (someone), typically at a school or university.”   Enlightenment is clearly a deeper state of learning than education.  Okay…

I guess for many, education is costly and feels unattainable.  It largely teaches you skills and to think critically.  Einstein said that “Education is not the learning of facts, but training the mind to think.”  Society places a high value on those qualifications that you attain through education so they are very aspirational for many.  The reality is though that you can walk out of university with tons of knowledge but very little wisdom.  I should know.  That definitely describes me on the day I walked out of tech with my food tech diploma in hand.  Once I got to start using some of my skills (I say some because I have never worked a day in my life as a Food Technologist) , and after many conversations with a few older and wiser people, I came to understand that there was more to life and I didn’t really have a clue.  I also realised that the successful and wise people knew things that I could only learn from talking to them or, reading books that they have written or,  watching interviews with them on YouTube or TV.  They don’t know it all but they definitely know more than me and they never stop learning.  Thankfully, they are also more than happy to share their knowledge and pearls of wisdom.

So wisdom clearly has that extra layer.  Wisdom is having the knowledge and knowing where, when and how to use your knowledge effectively to create a win-win situation for all involved.   You don’t need a university education to have wisdom.  In fact, you don’t need a university education to be successful. I’m not saying don’t get one, but there are many examples of true entrepreneurs who never bothered and are worth billions today.  The late Steve Jobs and Richard Branson come to mind.  It’s still not enlightenment though.  Enlightenment is on another level.

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Yesterday I happened upon a video of Oprah Winfrey being interviewed by Stanford students.  You can watch it here.  Light bulbs started flashing in my head…I felt like I had a better grasp of  what enlightenment is.  The video is long (aprox. an hour) but worth the watch.  Oprah, the late Maya Angelou and the Deepack Chopra are examples of people, who I believe, seek enlightenment.  They all have several traits in common:

  • They are authentic.
  • They practice gratitude.
  • They have used their life experiences to gain wisdom.  (They have definitely not walked through life with their blinkers on)
  • They believe in a Higher Power.  They listen to – and surrender to It.  They are fearless because of their faith.
  • They have learnt to let go of that which is not working for them and have learned to embrace what does,  even if it flies in the face of convention.
  • They are not attached to their filters of the world.
  • They often self-reflect in order to keep growing and learning.
  • Most importantly (to me at least), they have found their purpose and are constantly finding new ways to help others achieve the same.

I could go on and on but I am sure you get the point.  I suspect that ultimately, we are all working towards achieving a level of enlightenment in our own way.   The path does appear to be relatively linear i.e knowledge to wisdom to enlightenment, well at least for adults.  Children appear to be pretty enlightened already and then we cloak them with knowledge and filters that dims their little lights for a few years. 😦

All best of on your search for enlightenment.  I will leave you with one last quote that really resonated with me while researching this topic.

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If you are reading this is, it probably means you have made it to the end. 🙂  If you enjoyed it, please like and share. Oh and don’t forget to follow me if you would like to see more in the future. 

Thanks!