On Saturday, Global Free Hugs II took place. The day was amazing and I am receiving pictures from all over the world. Here in Chicago, I along with several others were capturing the event through the view finder of a camera. The ability to zoom in and truly focus on your subject gets easier and easier for the novice photographer. The pictures are clearer and more vibrant. Wouldn’t it be nice if our lives were like a camera — Easier to live and clearer and more vibrant every day? Now I am not a photographer, but it seems to me that the importance of an amazing picture over an average one is focus? Well, I believe this holds true in our lives as well.

When you want a picture of a beautiful smiling baby, you don’t focus in and take a picture of a crying baby. When you want a picture of a beautiful sunrise, you don’t focus in and take a picture on a foggy morning where the sun doesn’t appear until 10 am. When you want a picture of a happy couple, you don’t focus in and take a picture when they are having a disagreement. So zoom in and focus on your dreams and desires rather than what you don’t want in your life and your life will be filled with pictures of your wildest dreams.

Quotes of the Week:

“You can’t depend on your judgment when your imagination is out of focus.”

~ Mark Twain

“The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.”

 ~ Brian Tracy

“Our thoughts create our reality – where we put our focus is the direction we tend to go.”

~Peter McWilliams

“Focus on your potential instead of your limitations”

~Alan Loy McGinnis

AFFIRMATION: I focus on everything that is positive in my life.

Soulful Links:

Photograph   

~Def Leppard

Photograph   

~Taylor Swift and Def Leppard

Photograph   

~Nickelback

For the next week I invite you to zoom in and focus on:

Loving your life over fearing the unknown

Enjoying unlimited possibilities over worrying about what is going to happen

Expecting financial freedom over your fears of not having enough

Absolute health over illness

Your perfect body size over stressing about needing to lose weight

Your perfect romantic relationship over the fear of being alone

Your perfect career over the fear of just getting by

Mostly, I invite you to truly focus on your dreams and desires and get crystal clear on them. Sit with them each day for at least five minutes and relish how great they make you feel. Focus on that feeling place while allowing those images to soak into your pores. See each moment of your life as if a photographer was clicking away to capture your essence, so focus on the images you want placed in your memory book (your mind). Focus on love, laughter, silliness, peace, joy, and being connected to the Universe.

Until next week, go capture your life in small and amazing snapshots, just remember to delete the ones that are out of focus!

I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that all of us have been brought up on the importance of forgiveness. We’ve been taught to forgive those who have done us wrong and I certainly agree. However, if you work from a space of taking responsibility for your life, which is how I choose to see my life, who are you forgiving? Are you forgiving the guy who cut you off in traffic that started your day out in anger? Are you forgiving your boss for over working you as he/she just doesn’t understand? How about forgiving your spouse for xyz? I could go on for pages on scenarios that could require forgiveness to the outside world, but truly is that where forgiveness should start? The definition of forgive is ‘to grant pardon to (a person).’ Most of us have seen that person as someone else, but I’m inviting you to re-look at the word forgive and see from within.

Quotes of the Week:

“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.”

~ Paul Boese

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”

 ~ Buddha

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”

~ Mark Twain

“We achieve inner health only through forgiveness – the forgiveness not only of others but also of ourselves.”

~ Joshua Loth Liebman

AFFIRMATION: I forgive myself for holding any limiting beliefs as my life is truly perfect.

Soulful Links:

Please Forgive Me    

~Bryan Adams

Please Forgive Me    

~David Gray

Forgive Me    

~Leona Lewis

Forgive Me    

~Evanescence

I invite you for the next week to forgive yourself:

For allowing the person who you perceive as being rude and cutting you off in traffic into your consciousness to start your day off in a negative space as you choose how to react to others.

For getting upset while watching the news as you can choose to see peace over violence, love over hatred.

For seeing yourself with limits and not seeing how truly powerful you are to live life fulfilled. For anything that doesn’t allow you to realize your truth and to truly shine. Your truth is an amazingly unique person full of love, life, and endless possibilities.

Mostly I invite you to forgive yourself for being hard on yourself as we tend to be our worst enemies. Know that whatever is going on in your life right now is there in perfect timing, even if it is a contrasting experience of what you don’t want in your life. You can choose to embrace contrasting experiences by seeing the possibilities