Love Notes

Right on the heals of my "Guerilla Joyfare" comes a message from a friend and fellow blogger about a project she has started.  It's a perfect complement to the "Big Give".  I want to pass it on for those of you who would want to participate or maybe just be inspired by her story.  It is full of heart and that gets to me, right where it counts.  I think you might like it too. 


She posted about how she came to create this Challenge.  It is a good read.  
Terri's story of the power of a love note.

And now for the challenge.....
Power of Love Notes Challenge


Terri writes, "Throughout May and June – it is the wedding month, after all – I invite you to join me in a social experiment of loving proportions: The Power of Love Notes Challenge.   For the next couple of months (and beyond, if you have fun with it!) share Love Notes– written or spoken expressions of appreciation and encouragement, preferably in place of complaint or criticism.    Your Love Notes can be on paper, verbal, musical, or visually artistic. Share them with family, friends, co-workers, congress folks (there’s some good ones out there – let them hear from you!) and people you encounter in your everyday life."



Keep the giving going and spread the LOVE!


Sue
Heart of Prosperity

Big Tips, Sweet Messages and "Guerrilla Joyfare"

I am a big procrastinator when it comes to running errands but I think I just came up with a new way to make it lots of fun.  I must give credit to the “Big Giveathon”.  I am on the lookout for ways to make it real and bigger. 

This morning I woke up knowing that I could not put my errands off any longer.  At least the ones that my daughter Ivy has been asking for and that meant that I could do some of my own and yet keep it local, meaning within a 5 mile radius of my home.  So I compiled my list and the things that I needed to make it efficient and off we went.  First stop was summer volleyball league sing-up for Ivy at the park; the bank to make a deposit and get cash; post office to mail a few packages and doh dee doh…I am missing opportunities here but I do not realize it yet.  Then Ivy needs things from the cosmetic supply and the drugstore for and upcoming costume event.  She also wants to get a long awaited haircut, from shoulder length to very short.  We both have a bit of mostly unspoken apprehension about this but while I sit and watch her, I see smiles and more smiles and I know that she is loving the experience.  She and her stylist were very happy with the results. I was too.  It was very like a makeover as her hair has never been close to this short.  It is boy short.  She looks cute and is radiant with smiles.  We are feeling good and this is when I begin to come out of my coma about the give-a-thon.  I give the stylist a good tip and a very sincere thank you and complement regarding her skills.  There is a great feeling for all three of us as we leave on to the next place.  Now I am catching on and remembering the big give.  My brain seriously needs training to become accustomed to being more open and generous. 

Then I am thinking in my head that I could take Ivy to lunch at her favorite place as a little celebration of her transformational haircut.  So I offer and she is elated.  It is not like we don’t go out now and then, but we are very close to home, almost done with errands and it is still within the lunch time window that we would be able to get home so we would usually not stop, but now I am feeling generous.  We go to a little seafood place.  As we are finishing up, I decide that my big give-a-thon should include a bigger tip.  I start out with a nice one, ya know 25%.   (I must edit here after it's been up a bit:  I did not make it clear initially, that I did not leave 25%, that was just the beginning. I challenged myself and left quite a bit more. )  So I leave her a tip that is very very nice, and more than I would ever leave.  Ivy is  like “wow” Mom, “she’s gonna be really happy when she sees that.”  “Do you want to wait around and see her reaction”  I say, “No, I used to wait tables, I know what her reaction will be”  Well, that was fun, but the tip was not really all that amazing.  When I did wait tables, I got an extra big one every now and then, rarely, but every now and then. I my virtual tip world, I would multiply it by at least 10, and then it would be really cool.  

After the salon and the restaurant, my mind began going virtually crazy with ideas and I could see myself leaving sweet notes, making more heart to heart contact with the people on my errand run and leaving big tips.  Oh there could be more too.  So I have come up with the idea of guerilla joyfare.  I can picture myself inserting little acts of joyfare throughout my errand day on the unsuspecting citizen.  This is the same as “random acts of kindness” but the name of guerilla joyfare inspires me to come up with a more strategic plan for my errand days.  I am planning one for the month of May with a specific day on the calendar.  This will give me time to plot.  I am open to all of your ideas.  Mwahhhh haa haa. This is going to be fun! 

As part of my “Big- Give- A –Thon”, my virtual generosity for this day also includes  checks that total $10,000 to various people and charities that have come into my awareness in the last few days. 

Send me some guerilla joyfare ideas if you have any.  I would love to be inspired by your creative minds. 

Sue

Heart of Prosperity

You can’t have a Give-A-Thon without a Receive-A-Thon

If feels very good to give things.  Really good!  Being on the receiving end can be tricky. Why is that?  

In the last couple of weeks something has surfaced in my life that is having an impact.  One of my close friends called to tell me that she had found a lump in her breast.  At that point she was very worried but had no information.  Within the last couple of weeks she has been through tests and procedures. She has breast cancer.  She is scheduled for surgery in early May. 
 

I spent hours on the phone with her through these last couple of weeks and I did it with a completely open heart.  I love being there for her.  I don’t always know what to do or if I say the best thing or if the best thing is to say nothing and just listen.  I am sure that both are needed.  It is a dance we are in.  I may not always be graceful but my love is there and I am fully present.  In so many ways it is a huge gift to me that she has invited me to be part of this challenge in her life.  I am honored.  
    

I will give her whatever I can.  I will do this unconditionally. 
   

We are lucky to have a close circle of women that have been through every kind of thing together:  birthing babies, raising  kids, divorces, weddings, kids leaving the nest, sickness, health, good times and bad.  Through all this, there are still issues with receiving.  They are mostly present as an internal process.  It is silent and subtle within the group.  These issues involve unconditional giving and receiving; being able to ask for help when one needs it.  Feeling worthy.  Being able to say when something offered is not what is needed.  It takes courage, honesty and acceptance.  Receiving what is given without any sense that one owes anything in return, ever.  EVER.  
   

In this moment, what my friend needs is unconditional love.  To be cared for and assisted with a completely open heart. 
  

Thus, I want to say to her…to declare to her these things:

I will give to you whatever I can as long as it feels right to me in my own heart.

I do not know what or how much that is, but whatever I am able to give, I will not hold back what my heart tells me to offer.

You may turn me away.  You may tell me you do not need what I offer and I will love you still completely.

You may ask me for anything.  I will respond with love. 

You don’t have to ask me for anything and I will respond with love. I have no expectations of what is going to happen, of what you will need or not need.  

You may ask someone else.  You may replace me.  I have no attachment to being involved.  I love you in any case. 

You may call me any time, day or night. 

NO matter how much I give….how much time…how much energy…how much anything, you will never owe me anything in return.  Never.  Ever.  This is completely unconditional.  

Why?

because I love you.

because you are worthy.

because you know what you need

because you know how to get where you want to go

because you are wise

because you are capable

because you  are free.

because I see all the parts of you in a dance of being and becoming.

Because you are ME!  

Sue

Heart of Prosperity

http://facebook.com/HeartofProsperity

My Big Give-A-Thon is underway.

Today I am giving away $10,000 and a bunch of other stuff.   

My first opportunity to give came to me this morning  

The second one came along just  a few hours later….

That was monetary stuff and requested.

I gave  a little more than I might usually, thinking prosperously.  There is no lack and more is coming. 

Then I thought of stuff or rather followed through on something I have been wanting to do for quite a while but hadn’t made the time for….write a recommendation for a friend on LinkedIn.

I gave little things throughout the day too….hugs, cool beverages, foot rub….

I mailed a pile of cd’s; oldies but goodies to my mother-in-law.  They were a result of my  decluttering from last month.  CD’s originally used at a party for my Mom’s 70th birthday, after which she took some but not all of the stack, leaving me with leftovers.  

Earlier this week I brought a huge stack of more eclectic and contemporary CD’s to our homeschool group gathering at the park and let people take whatever the wanted. 

That was all actual so now for the virtual stuff. 

I will use language as if I did give this because that is how to fool my subconscious into thinking I have this much excess!!  I also took an old checkbook and wrote out the checks for real.  I’ve heard this makes it more effective to play the virtual giving game. 

I gave $10,000 to The Birth Place to fulfill Jennie’s birthday wish:

http://wishes.causes.com/wishes/274076

Here is a video about Jennie’s work:

http://vimeo.com/15048267

I gave another $200 to Ann for her upcoming MS bike ride fundraiser:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=3279370&pg=personal&fr_id=15271&et=E_vfpphANjebhWBuqtBcDw..&s_tafId=169027

One other thing that I would do is give a year’s worth of counseling and health care to an individual that I know could really use it.   He is young but of legal age, unemployed and really struggling.  It would feel amazing to be able to take him under my wing and help him out. 

Oh my, old habits die hard.  I didn’t write that as if I was doing it so here it is again…

I gave a year’s worth of counseling and health care to an individual that I know could really use it.   He is young but of legal age, unemployed and really struggling.  I feel amazing to be able to take him under my wing and help him out. 

That is my first update.

Happy Weekend to all and if you get a visit from a bunny, don’t eat him.  He’s got treats. 

Sue

Heart of Prosperity

Seeds…It’s time to plant seeds

If thou wouldst keep money, save money; If thou wouldst reap money, sow money.

THOMAS FULLER 

Sow Money?  It’s not just about money.  It’s about everything that you want.  You have probably heard about this before.  If you give, you get back ten-fold.  It might be a challenge to your belief systems but this is precisely why it is important.  By giving away some of what you have, you create an experience for yourself that you are OK with what you have and that you have excess.  Giving from what you have makes room for more receiving.  Create open spaces and new things flow in. 

It is one of the oldest rules of attracting what you want.  Give away.  Give a way for the flow to begin.  Giveaway what you have to share and more and more will start coming your way.  If you want more love, give love.  If you want more knowledge, teach what you know.  If you want more work, ask someone to work for you.   Ask for help.  If you want more material things and money, give these things.  Etcetera. 

Sowing seeds is fun too.  It brings great joy and has it’s own rewards. Even if nothing comes of it, and how is that possible, because as soon as you give you get that feeling.  Provided you are giving from your heart and not out of obligation or simply as strategy to get.  Give just to give.  Give because you have something of value for another.  What a feeling!  That feeling, that joy raises you up, oh and the other person too, so things begin to move up into the better vibes instantly.  Better vibes means more good stuff.  It is a little seed that grows and grows.  So give in that way, unconditionally, and you will see things get better…and better…and better. 

So whaddaya say, we start a BIG Give-A-thon and gets things flowing in a massive way. 

I have an idea.  I get these sometimes.   Because we know that the subconscious mind does not really know truth from fantasy, we could virtually give away tons of stuff, some real and some imaginery and our minds would not know the difference.  Like in the prosperity game, when we raised our consciousness about what we could attract, we can also raise our consciousness about what we can and want to give.  If we become very generous in our minds, our reality will begin to supply us with what we need to be truly generous in this actual 3-D world.  That would be fun!  Giving is a joy! 

I have this idea of imagining big giving and matching it with giving in  a real way with as much as I can.  So I am going to start my big virtual and actual give-a-thon today.  If I pay attention as the days go by to the opportunities to give that come my way, I will give actually sometimes and virtually give a lot more. 

Oh this is going to be fun and I am getting started right now. 

Tips for Life Transitions

I am noticing a trend in the people that I have spent time with this past week and I want to share because I suspect that many people are experiencing similar challenges.  Here are a few stories, fictional but based on real lives. 

Jane and Zach are a married couple running a business together for the last 15 years.  They have been successful building a multimillion dollar company, while taking good care of their employees, providing benefits, great pay and flexibility.   The recent economic downturn has hit them hard and they are faced with difficult choices and possibly the loss of business and home.   In the last couple of years, both of them have begun to consider moving in a new direction but have hesitated because of the magnitude of the change.  Now they may be forced to move.  While they feel strongly guided in their faith that new directions are calling, they are challenged to trust.  The actual work of conversion can be brutal.  There are tedious tasks to take care of in dismantling the old and building the new.  There are uncomfortable steps along the way, like moving into a home with 1/3 the space while they reformat their lives.  This move requires letting go of many material items that hold memories and emotional cords, including the house itself, where many family memories where made.  If this life revision is inevitable and it seems to be, the easiest way to navigate it is to take it one day at a time, staying centered in love and gratitude and allowing the new to take form. 

Sybil is single and living with 3 roommates.  She has had a great job as a freelancer for the last 4 years.  She has bragged about how much better she has done than her other roomies, making much more per hour of work than they have made over the years.  She has even been very generous in helping them out, but recently, her work has dried up and she has had no income for 3 months.  She is living off her savings but that will soon run out.  All the while, she has been doing some non-academic tutoring of young kids for free and loves the work.  It has never paid and she can’t see how it will ever pay enough for her to live the way she wants to, but it is clear that this is where her passion lies.  She talks of opening a center but has many excuses why this will not work.  She can’t seem to get out of her own way. She is challenged with trusting that her passion to do this work is not ill placed and that if she sets her intention to figure out a way to make it work and perseveres, it will be a positive and successful new direction for her. 

Doug lived in a grand house and also faced some reduction in income in his business.  He was not in crisis financially but he read the writing on the walls and reasoned that it was time for him to move.  The kids have moved on and he and his wife don’t need all that space anymore.  They would be just as happy in a smaller place so he put the house on the market.  Within a few months they had a buyer and the closing was set, but a week before the closing date, everything fell through.  This came as a little bit of a surprise but as he and his wife began to talk about it, they both realized that the house could be a spiritual retreat center, something that both had thought but had not shared.  Collectively they had the perfect skills to make this a very special place.  Now that the deal fell through, they could see that this was meant to be.  They have opened their center and are beginning to fill the calendar.  Here we see another big transition and this one going smoothly because they flowed with the changes.  

If your life is not flowing well and you can’t seem to attract all the good things that you desire, like health, wealth, love, freedom and peace, then maybe it is time to let go of the things that are not in resonance with who you really are.  Maybe it is time to get out of your own way and trust.  Trust in your dreams.  Trust in your passion.  Trust in your essence.  Allow that to take priority and begin to see the new emerge. 

It is possible for things to flow smoothly.  I have found that some things help me to stay in the flow and here are just a few tips:

Stay connected to your spiritual heart and ask to be guided. 

Clear out anything that stands between you and your desire to serve by doing good. 

Set a clear intention and then allow things to happen. 

Let go of control but do take steps to move towards your desires.

Allow the things that support you to show up and be grateful for them when they do. 

Use that support, whether it is a mentor, a teacher, a group, an event, money or whatever. 

Trust.

If things do not seem to be progressing, check back in with your spiritual heart to see that you are still on course. 

Be patient.  These things can take time. 

I wish you smooth transitions!

Sue

Heart of Prosperity

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