self trust

Winter’s rest

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As the light slowly returns to the sky, as the northern hemisphere of our Earth turns once again toward the light, the energy of all living things slowly shifts into a time of pause and rest as the light grows little by little each day.

Deep midwinter, a time to rest and draw inward, a time to tune into your body and your breath, time to relax and let go of your striving pushing and must do, must have mentality.

Grandmother Cottonwood in winter

Your entire being is exquisitely tuned to the light, the seasons. Trust the wisdom and honor the needs of your body mind and spirit. Yes, you may be able to override your instincts and rhythms for awhile, but at what cost?

When your body requires rest, when your mind requires contemplation and when your heart needs to turn inward, you will have to let go of your expectations for “getting things done” that is so near and dear to the human heart.

Winter is a time to dream, a time to plan, a time to rest. When you empty your mind of whirling thoughts and big ideas and the need to push forward for a time, you make room for fresh new creative energy to enter your life.

Frozen creek

Getting things done, enjoying increased energy, getting started on your pet projects will come in time, my dears. Have patience during the darker colder months. As the light grows, you will gain energy and stamina and your sense of purpose will return.

For now, allow yourself to close your eyes, cover yourself in comfort, breathe, sleep and dream. You rest knowing this time your body needs for renewal will not last forever.

Trust the rhythm of your days, the seasons of your life, the wisdom of your body. Trust the needs and longings of your spirit.

When you love and nurture yourself in this way, you truly know what it is to love yourself unconditionally.

Trust yourself

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Did your parents, teachers, aunts & uncles, grandparents ever encourage you to trust yourself? To trust the knowings of your heart, the inner hopes and dreams for your life, your intuitions, and instincts about other people, your certainty about what activities you wanted to pursue, what your inborn interests and talents were?

Grandmother Cottonwood

Or, were you told to be nice, to smile when you didn’t want to, to fit in and not rock the boat, to worry about what the neighbors might think, to suck it up and get along?

Dear ones, if so, you were betrayed! Now it is time for you to reclaim and regain your own power, your trust in yourself and your intuitions, preferences, your inner knowings, your autonomy, your mastery of your life.

Begin little by little to tune into your inner voice, your wise and loving spirit, your indestructible soul and the wisdom and power of your heart.

You will find your truth within your heart, not outside yourself with any teacher, guru, mentor, parental figure.

Yes, parents teachers and mentors are needed at certain times in life, to help mirror the best in you, to help you learn skills and boundaries, to learn love, to keep you safe. The best of them assist you in learning to trust the innate wisdom of your heart and soul and tap into your inner power and riches.

Look within and know that you can trust the knowings of your heart mind and soul.

Trusting yourself is loving yourself.

Expectations

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What expectations do you have for your life? Do they correspond to reality?

Are you living with expectations that will never be, that leave you constantly disappointed, that taint your life with grudges, unhappiness and continual anxiety?

Autumn maple leaf

It is time for a reality check, a truth telling session with yourself so you can stop expending energy on fixing and rescuing others who cannot or don’t want to be rescued.

Perhaps you will find in your truth telling session that you have been striving to keep up false appearances, that life is not turning out the way you had planned or expected.

Perhaps you realize you have been on the trail of expected rewards for many years only to find they are not so rewarding once you achieve them.

Ask your heart for the truth in all areas of your life. Do not lie to yourself or let the ego or the icy grip of fear take over.

This truth telling session with yourself will take courage, stamina and integrity and most of all, self compassion and understanding.

Jack in the Pulpit berries

Begin your truth telling session in your heart. Then you can reinvent your life on a foundation of wise and realistic expectations and the true desires of your spirit.

Like a tree

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Like a tree you can send down your roots and draw energy and nourishment from the earth, trusting in your ability to feed your body, live in the light, and anchor your spirit.

Like a tree, you can grow toward the light, straight and true, with no deviation to the left or right, trusting in the life-giving light of your true purpose to guide you and inform your growth.

Like a tree, you can reach out toward the heavens, connecting with all that is, trusting that you are one with all things, trusting that your roots will hold you.

Like a tree, you can send out new growth, trusting in the process of life to bring you energy, creativity, and soaking in the sustenance of light that is your birthright.

Like a tree, you can develop your seeds for the future and scatter them when they’re ready. Trust that these seeds of love, kindness, connection, hope, seeds of possibility and creativity and ongoing life will take root and grow where they are most needed.

Maple seeds

Like a tree, you can experience seasons of rest, seasons of regeneration and growth, seasons of letting go, trusting in the great rhythms of nature, trusting you are where you need to be.

You are more like a tree than you can imagine!

This is only a test

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This is only a test!  Will you trust yourself, your inner voice, your true guidance when others around you choose differently? If not, more chances to follow your guidance will be provided.

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Red wing black bird

This is only a test: Will you love, honor, cherish and accept yourself body & soul when others ask you to violate your ideals? If not, more chances and opportunities to be a person of integrity will be given to you.

This is only a test: Will you stay aligned with your light when circumstances seem to be pulling you into the shadows with magnetic force? If not this time, all-that-is will provide another chance, and another and another to live up to your light.

There is much to learn, fellow earth dwellers. Allow yourselves the gifts of patience, commitment, courage and willingness to take yet another chance on yourself. Learn new ways of being thinking and doing that will light up your life in breathtaking ways.

This is only a test! You are dearly loved and you can never be separated from that love which some call all-that-is. All-that-is is love. All-that-is is patience. All-that-is believes in you. All-that-is will never give up on you.

Your wild nature

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Cottonwoods at sunset

GCW speaks of your wild nature

Reclaim the wild heart of you. Not wild like “crazy”, not wild like “out of control”. Wild as in expansive, trusting yourself and your gut feelings. Wild as in feeling your bodily sensations, trusting your body, knowing what you feel, and expressing that with power. Wild as in free, unrestrained by shame in your self expression. Wild as in living by the beat of your heart – not the worry and doubt of your brain. Wild as in the ancestors who painted on cave walls, delving and digging deep into the soul of the earth, drawing up their sustenance from the heart of bedrock, soil, mud, rooted things, fast moving streams, and the flesh and blood of the animals that share our planet.

As you make your way in this earth of windswept beaches, unexplored ocean depths, icy mountain peaks, ancient forests, trackless deserts, know that this is your home, a mirror of you.