Day 39 - A Year of Spiritual Awakening - Stop Comparing Yourself

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Lesson 39: Stop comparing yourself...

You know what we tend to do a lot without realising? Comparing ourselves to others and that’s when we start to think we don’t have enough and/or others having it good. I’ve been a culprit of this many a time. Questions that may go through your head include “Why isn’t my life good?” “Why are they so lucky?” “Why can’t my life be like theirs?”. These are just a few but I’m sure you’ve had this happen at least once.

We really need to do away with this thinking. We are here to live OUR own life and have OUR own experiences. That shouldn’t be compared to someone else’s experience because they have their own perspective on the situation, appreciate the moment differently to you and hold value in different ways. The way you experienced a situation, is not the same as how someone else has experienced it, and never will be.

Today’s lesson revolves around understanding that everything we experience is for us alone for our own soul growth and healing. I am to take a moment to think about who I am envious of, to understand that it’s a whole person with a unique path and to think about myself in this way too.

Fortunately for me, I am not envious of anyone, as I have done away with thoughts of what I lack, and of what other people have. I am working very hard to achieve all that I want to in life and have done away with caring about what others think of me. I live my life how I want to and that’s the way everyone should live. I learned that I shouldn’t compare myself to anyone else, because they have their circumstances, and I have mine. It’s like learning a hard truth when you didn’t realise that you thought that way. I live my life very differently now. I know I am the only person to make changes in my life for the better. Sure, people will assist you but they are not going to help you achieve your own happiness overall. When people can be accountable for their life, be aware to what needs to change to make it better, they actually start “living”.

Day 38 - A Year to Clear - Passing Clouds

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Lesson 38: Passing Clouds

“If you consider that every thought pattern that doesn’t align with your highest purpose and deepest knowing is like a passing cloud or squall that blocks the sunlight of your being, it becomes easier to let it go.

What are you ready to let go of today?”

— Stephanie Bennett Vogt

Clouds that I would like to pass are the continuous self-doubt and questioning of my skills and ability. I tend to question my actions and I guess it’s that fear we tend to have. Fear of not doing it right and failing. I need to re-route my thinking into a more positive “yes I can do it” type of attitude. I know the only person limiting myself is me. It’s like a battle in my head. Sometimes it’s “I can’t do this” and then I counter it with a “yes Liana you can do this”. If those self-deprecating thoughts can go away and I can be forever pushed in a “you can do it” attitude, that’d be great.

I think because I am a bit of perfectionist when it comes to any skills, I can be a bit hard on myself also. It’s silly because I am learning, and I hold myself in high regard, so I don’t like to fail. As I type this, I’m thinking gosh I’m a wonder. One minute there is fear and disbelief mixed with a hint of not ever wanting to fail. It just seems so unrealistic in hindsight.

I want this all released – failure is good to grow from so I would like to release that idealistic pressure I place on myself. I also would like to release all the thoughts that put me down when I’m developing into my own person. My journey will have bumps but it’s just part of the ride. Replace everything with a slowly but surely progressive attitude for my path. I send this out to the universe!

Day 38 - A Year of Spiritual Awakening - Success is a Myth

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Lesson 38: Success is a myth...

“Lesson 38: Success is a myth. There are only experiences. There is no culmination of experiences into one peak experience. There is only one experience, and this is the one you are in now. Tomorrow, there will be another experience, different or the same as today. There is no scoreboard, no winning, no tally. When you reframe your concept of success as experiences you would like to create, everything changes.”

— Sara Wiseman

Success means and looks different to everyone.

I am to look at success and rethink my idea of success. What does it mean to me, what does it look like to me and what experiences would I like to have?

I personally feel success is based on what you make of your life. Whatever your dreams and goals are, as long as you achieve that in the best way you know how that’s success. I don’t necessarily look at achievements as a success. I look at experiences as a success. For example, if I should push my comfort zone doing some activity like hang gliding, that to me is a success. I’ve used to be accustomed to the dream of having a family, getting a husband, having a good career, being wealthy or owning a house as being successful when I was a child. that does not resonate with me anymore.

Based on Sara’s quote and the lesson, it seems like I’m already there- not really looking at success in a framework that I might have been conditioned with. I’ve said this many times but I live for experience now. It wasn’t a mindset I used to have, but I have adopted it since last year after my own traumatic experience. Every day I log an activity I’ve done for the day in a diary. I find this useful as it means I’m always experiencing something every day. That to me is much more valuable than measuring success that we’re prone to knowing.

What experiences do I desire? Well, I am currently going to more live music and enjoying the atmosphere. I like to read so I am trying to read even if just 50 pages, in a week. I draw when I feel the spark. I am doing this spiritual course and a clearing course – both of which are 365-day lessons. I have started writing the book series that I’ve wanted to since 2016. I’ve started belly dance back up again. And then I study witchcraft and lightwork when I can as well as exercise. I want to continue these activities throughout the year. Things I want to add to this list is researching my ancestry, learn a language, re-learn handwriting skills, resume my piano lessons, start volunteering, go to more art galleries, travel to a new country, learn a new form of dance and focus on my health.

These are actually all my goals for 2018 and I think I will achieve them. The only limiting factor in all of this is me. It’s why I keep a diary of the activities I do daily – to reinforce that I am experiencing every day. You should really try it for yourself – rethink how you view success and think about it as experiencing instead. I can guarantee it changes the way you live. 

Day 37 - A Year to Clear - The Only Thing That Is Real

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Lesson 37: The Only Thing That Is Real

“The only thing that is real — and really juicy — is happening right this second.”

— Stephanie Bennett Vogt

So I am supposed to sit with this statement and breathe into it.

Right this second I am typing out this post for my blog. I took on this daily as a routine, so that writing my book series is just a natural extension of me. I am taking an approach of writing one page a day for my book. That is all it takes and before I know it, I'll reach a year and have a decent sized book. Right this second, I do this course to free up my mind and physical space which reminds me I have some thoughts coming up lately that I need to deal with.

Besides this, I have How I Met Your Mother running on in the background. It was one of my favourite TV series so I am sort of watching it whilst I write. It's still as funny as I remember. 

As I look around, I am slowly getting my house to the point where I will feel truly comfortable. I will get to the point where it reveals my true self and I'll be my highest self. The journey is revealing my truth.

Day 36 - A Year of Spiritual Awakening - Abundance

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Lesson 36: Abundance means having enough...

Today’s lesson revolves around how society has built up a mindset around abundance. Do we have enough? Do we not have enough? If we don’t have enough, that means we aren’t really happy and have that full feeling, but then again abundance will mean different things to each individual. We are told not to be fooled by what society tells us and write down our own needs today.

I feel like the only thing I “need” is a partner in life. I know I’ve mentioned this before but it’d be nice to share my life with someone. Everything else I think I “need” in my life are more wants. Even the partner is kind of a want because I can easily live life on my own and it’s more for companionship.

I don’t shop anymore because I don’t want clutter so I don’t need clothing. I have a house, job at the moment, money for food, so the needs for my livelihood are currently covered. I think those are necessities and are actual needs that most people would have.

Apart from this, I’m not really sure I “need” anything else. Everything else is definitely wants such as: I want to travel more, I want to study more on my spirituality, I want to meet more people that have my belief system, I want to live for experience, I want to be more creative. I could say needing spirituality is good for my mind and soul and finding a sense of community is comforting. Creativity makes me feel good about my life and that I’m being productive. Just living is needed to have an enriched life. So, I guess some of my wants borderline on needs because of how I want to live as much as possible.

It seems like such a tough answer for me trying to determine my needs. I am quite a simple person so I don’t feel I need as much as those who are less fortunate than me. That’s just my mindset now so I rarely think about what I need.