I was listening to a recording of Dr. Wayne Dyer the other day and he said something that really hit home with me. He said that the word inspire means “In spirit”. It really made sense to me because when I sit for hours and write I get into sort of a trance. I’ll be typing away and then all of a sudden I’ll ask myself, “What did I just write”? Then I read it back to myself and say, “Wow, I wrote that”? It has to be my spiritual side helping me and guiding me to say the things I do. Yes I’m smart but sometimes I’m just down right profound. And I know it comes from a place right inside me.
Don’t you ever just know something and then later you wonder, “How did I know that”? It’s because we all have an inner being and we have all been here before. Every cell in our bodies has memories and we are all smarter than we give ourselves credit for. There is a way to tap into this hidden knowledge though. It’s much easier than you might think. I call it “Being nice to yourself”. What I mean by this is, when you stop putting yourself down, even in the smallest ways, like saying, “Oh I’m so stupid” or “Why did I do that dumb thing” or I’m not smart” then things can start changing for you. These things might not seem to be damaging on the surface, but deep down your body and cells and mind start to believe these negative things. So the trick is to practice saying things differently. Start by paying attention to when you say something negative, and see how it makes you feel, then reverse that statement by replacing it with a positive statement. So when you say “I’m so stupid” you could immediately change it to, “I’m in a learning phase right now and I will get this eventually”, or “I know I can do whatever I put my mind to”. Also it’s easier to learn something when you have an interest in the subject. You can prepare yourself for learning something you previously thought you couldn’t learn by saying things like, “I remember when I was learning how to drive a car and how much it scared me. But once I got the hang of it I got better and better at it”. Or like math for instance. If you always say “I hate math, I’m, just no good at it”, then you will never get good at it. But if you say, “I can get this. Even little kids get this stuff. I’m sure if I just relax and let it sink in I’ll eventually get it”. It might take a few tries, but if you keep being nice to yourself, and not get all wacked out when you don’t get it, eventually it will make sense to you.
I’ll tell you, I really had to be nice to myself when it came to the computer. Before I started writing, which by the way was in my fifties, you couldn’t even get me to type my name into the computer. I was so scared to touch it at all, like it was a snake that was about to strike. I really have no idea what I was afraid of. Maybe I didn’t feel smart enough or maybe I was afraid I would hit the wrong key and erase something valuable that my kids were working on for school. My friends and family laughed at me which didn’t help me want to try, it was embarrassing. Then one day a little 7 year old girl was playing games on my kid’s computer and I thought maybe it would be easier to learn from her because she didn’t make me feel dumb. So we started playing together and I really started feeling more at ease. But the trick was that I was inspired to play. I wasn’t trying to force myself to learn. When you are trying to motivate yourself to do something it feels hard and like a struggle. But when you are inspired to do something it feels easy and joyful. You will only know the difference when you pay attention to how you feel. Your emotions are your guidance system letting you know when you are on the right path. And when you start being nicer to yourself you will feel good and the inspiration to do things will come to you easier and faster. Life is supposed to be good and it will be, when you let it.
I just watched a video on mirror work. It came from Louise Hay, but Dr. Robert Holden was the demonstrator. The process is to look in the mirror and say to your reflection, “I love you, (State your name) Deb Mertan, I love you”. You can do this several times a day and it is to help you get used to being loved. Dr. Holden says to do this for 1 minute 5 times a day for 1 week and see how much better you feel. And if you don’t feel comfortable at first saying I love you, try saying, “I am willing to love you”. It may take a few tries to feel self-love but once you get it you will feel a shift in your vibration. And life will get better and better.
Sometimes we can get ourselves in a rut and we stop caring about how we look or how we dress. That reflexes to other people. I found myself not caring about how my hair looked or if I put on a little make-up. I went out in my work clothes instead of taking the time to change into nicer clothes. Then one day I said to myself, “Hey you used to care about how you looked when you went out in public”. I was really feeling frumpy. So I started making an effort to look nice when I went out in public, even if it was just to the grocery store. It made a world of difference of how I felt about myself and how others treated me. When you love you, others will too. And it doesn’t matter if you are at your perfect weight or you have the greatest skin or the best hair, it only matters that you take care of yourself and how you feel.
There are so many ways to receive inspiration. One way is through meditation. I know a lot of people have never done this because it just seems weird. But if you give yourself just 15 minutes a day, first thing in the morning, and just concentrate on your breathing, you will start to find all sorts of ideas that interest you. And you will realize that you really can be, do or have anything you want. There are a lot of ways to meditate but the easiest way I found is to release all thought as much as possible and concentrate on my breathing. This gives your mind a chance to clear out the clutter and organize your mental files so that when you go on with your days, thoughts of what you want will come to you. And not only that, but ideas on how to get those things will come too. Set a timer for 15 minutes every morning and see how you feel after a week and then after a month. You will be amazed at the difference. You will be flying high and you will actually start looking for things to feel good about. Make it your intention to look for the beauty in the world, and be more playful, especially when doing mirror work. Make funny faces and be sincere when you tell yourself you love you. If you really want to see mirror work in action just watch a toddler stare at their self in a mirror. They are just having the best time. I remember when my daughter was still in a walker. She would scoot herself over to our refrigerator which had a shiny black front door, so she could see her reflection. She would goo-goo and gaga at herself and then she would lean out and kiss her reflection. It was so cute but now I know that she was just in alignment with who she really is. That is the thing we tend to forget as we get older. We are told so many different things about the way we should act and feel, that we forget that we are meant to be happy. We are meant to feel good and love for the sake of loving. The babies are not afraid to be who they want to be until it is scared out of them by people that are not in alignment themselves. We really could and should learn a lot from the little ones. They haven’t learned to be embarrassed or shameful. They just want to have fun and live life moment by moment. They are free spirits, and if left to be what they are, they will live happy adult lives as well. It not too late though. It is time to take back your own power over your very own personal world, and get inspired to do what makes you happy. Happy, joy, fun should be at the top of the list every day. Everything else will just fall into place. It does take practice though. So if you are ready to throw in the towel to stress, despair, loneliness, hate, suffering, pain, or any other negative feeling you can think of, then please practice being nicer to yourself. Please look in the mirror and like what you see. And pay attention to all the little and big things that change for the better, until one day you remember to remember that you are a worthy being who is always loved and always cared for when you allow it to be so.
So when is a good time to start being nicer to yourself, you ask? I’d say now or now or how about now. Whenever you’re ready. As Spock would say, “Live long and prosper”.
Remember there is always tremendous love here for you!
Sincerely,
Deb Mertan
Don’t forget to check out my cooking videos with recipes you’ll love here in “Love’s Kitchen”
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