A Jewel in the Clutter

I've been de-cluttering lately just because it feels so good to give away all our "extra stuff".  It used to feel like I was 'breaking up' with my stuff and it was hard to do...

 Click for song about breaking up
Above is a photo copied from the web (not my house), but sometimes it FEELS like I have this much clutter and a strong desire to just let it go.  I give this stuff to friends, family and charities.  It feels quite liberating; like a metaphor for letting go of the old and familiar and making room for the new, unfamiliar and unknown. This has been a fairly non-traumatic way to help myself 'step out of my comfort zone' in other areas of my life.  I don't know how it works, but it does.

Now, about that jewel I found.  It's a journal I was using in late 2008 when I received my second Stage IV diagnosis. This was after 7 years of total remission with the aid of an anti-estrogen drug, Arimidex.  It was quite a shock for me.  I just randomly opened the journal and am going to quote what I wrote at that time...

I've been wondering where the line is between denial and focusing only on what I really do want...NOT focusing on what I don't want.  I need to focus my attention and energy on promoting the health of this body and on promoting my new business (I had just opened my yoga studio). Focus on the good healing work I can do, NOT on things that happened in the past. I forgive myself and others for any hurt, whether intentional or unintentional, I caused to myself or others and any hurt they caused me. I am willing to let go of the patterns in me that created all that pain I have chosen to feel.  I am NOT a victim any longer. I am responsible for myself and everything that happens to me. I am choosing to respond with love and self-forgiveness. I am choosing life, prosperity, abundance, freedom and radiant, perfect health. I choose joy and light in every moment, every thought, word and action. I choose joy, love, compassion, understanding, forgiveness and light. I choose to rise above my circumstances and not allow them to weigh me down. I choose to dis-identify with this body and to understand and KNOW WHO I AM. I am Source energy - I am Spirit - I am Light - I am that - I am all that is.  I open the channel for communication from my soul and spirit to my personality - opening to soul-infusion. I have a soul-infused personality. My personality serves the will of my soul and the Divine. 

I have a mind, but I am not my mind. I have emotions, but I am not my emotions. I have a personality, but I am not my personality. My personality is a perfect reflection of who I really am - and who I really want to be. I AM a teacher and a healer. I provide services that no one else can provide - in a way no one else does - I joyfully manifest the power of God.

Here is an excellent book on the topic of de-cluttering...
Click here for Amazon Link

My Experiment with The DENIAL Law of Healing

I've been busy teaching my Love Heals class and truly enjoyed all the interactions with the students.  I am grateful for how much I have learned and grown as a result of teaching this class.

I wanted to tell you about my use of the DENIAL (NO) Law of Healing from Catherine Ponder's book DYNAMIC LAWS OF HEALING.  Of course, it reminds me of a song, 

so click here to listen to one way of SAYING NO

I have had 3 rounds of chemo with Ixempra and had horrific headaches for 7-10 days after each of the first two treatments - significant enough that I was on a prescription painkiller.  Just before my 3rd treatment, I had just read about this law, which seemed strange, as it is very different from affirmations.  But, I decided to perform an experiment on myself.

This is a conscious, emphatic DENIAL. Whenever I felt a headache coming on, I would say out loud "NO NO NO!  IT IS NOT SO!  I DO NOT ACCEPT THIS APPEARANCE.  IT HAS NO POWER. IT IS NOTHING! IT IS NOT REAL!"  

The pain would then disappear IMMEDIATELY.  I was so convinced after the first attempt was successful that I did it several times over the course of about a week and it kept the headache away without the aid of drugs.  I was amazed and oh so happy!  I'm continuing to use it to talk to my can-can. Imagine the power in that.  I also added some affirmations at the end like.  I AM LOVED.  I AM HEALED.

I started a LOVE HEALS page on Facebook.  If you wish to view it, click here.... Love Heals FB Page

Love and hugs for you,

Magnificent Maggie

Forgiveness-updated 5/31/13

addition on May 31, 2013...
Food for thought. New idea about forgiveness...if love is unconditional, there is NO JUDGMENT; therefore, there is no need for forgiveness.  As an act of loving acceptance, if we can let go of the judgment of the other person (or self), we can break out of the prison on UNforgiveness.

In forgiving, we are choosing to let go of:
* the judgment we have been holding onto
* the pain we have been inflicting on ourselves by feeling angry, hurt and/or victimized

* the indignation, guilt, embarrassment, helplessness, victim-consciousness, shame, or any other feelings  we may have buried under our 'righteous anger'
* holding someone else (or self) responsible for our own pain

IMAGINE:  If we all loved everyone unconditionally (including ourselves), the word forgiveness would not be in our vocabulary. :)

FORGIVENESS has been one of my major life lessons.  I've had this tendency to hold on to my wounds, or hurt feelings.   It seems that each time my can-can "came back", I was working on forgiving someone that was challenging me.  The first, and worst, was my mother.  I had been angry with her for as long as I could remember.

Click to enjoy Linda Ronstadt's HURT SO BAD on youtube

My mother offered me the opportunity to learn how to forgive when forgiveness seemed impossible. What helped me to learn it was actually based on some logical arguments. I was very much into my thinking in those days, 11 years ago. My can-can had metastacized and I was having a serious heart health issue (from chemo 4 years prior - or some other reason.)

* BELIEF: I believed that my lifelong negative feelings for my mother, as well as all the other negative feelings I totally repressed, were the root cause of my can-can

* DO IT FOR MYSELF: I heard someone say that forgiveness is for the benefit of the forgiver. It is a "decision to let go of the pain you are causing yourself" This made total logical sense to me.

* FEAR: (which I thought was a good motivator for me at the time) I feared that NOT forgiving her would surely result in my death - the anger and resentment I held in my heart would fuel the can-can, which was already threatening to kill me.

* KARMA: If she was the perpetrator and I was the victim in this lifetime, then chances were pretty good that our roles were reversed in another lifetime/dimension/reality

* GRATITUDE:  I began to feel grateful for recognizing that this was an opportunity for my spiritual growth

* BELIEF: I had built a brick wall around my heart and this was the key/sledge-hammer to knocking it down. My UNforgiveness had affected every relationship in my life and I had a strong desire to experience/feel unconditional love. Still, the logical approach to a heart issue.

* COMPASSION: I believe that everyone does the best they can possibly do in any given situation.  She made a lot of mistakes and that was still her very best.  She just didn't know any better.  Also, seeing her as a delicate-looking, fragile elderly woman dealing with a difficult life-situation made compassion come more easily.

I went into remission at this point (for 7 years) and thought that I had it all figured out.  On two occasions after that, I got stuck in a place of unforgiveness and more can-can appeared.  Thinking I had already learned this lesson, part of me was mad at the Universe for encountering it (state of UNforgiveness, obsessing over hurt feelings) again.  Forgiveness was still difficult for me, but I've learned to get rid of obsessive thoughts.

I now believe that LOVE is the answer/cure/resolution to everything as it is the very essence of everything.  Self-love is of primary importance and can eliminate the need for forgiveness.  With self-love, we tend to NOT take things personally.  We can look at the other person as a mirror with a message about ourselves.

Click to enjoy LOVE IS THE ANSWER on youtube

A Message To My Body

I know that this body is the vehicle my Self has chosen for her journey through this physical lifetime. Along with my recently realized need to love myself, accepting all of me, including my quirks and imperfections, I had been thinking in terms of my personality-self.  I did not include you, Dear Body, because I have found it very difficult to love you. I was taught as a young person that the body is the "temple of the Holy Spirit", so the Holy Spirit must be my Higher Self - the part of me that is a spark of the Divine. I've already talked to the cells inside of me, now I need to make peace with my body.  That's right, make peace.

While reading, feel free to click here to listen to JOHN LENNON'S GIVE PEACE A CHANCE  on youtube.

Dear Body-of-Mine,

I know that you were under a lot of stress for many years and that you spent lots of your precious energy keeping my emotions in check. You became very skilled as I insisted that you store and repress my emotions and memories, to hide them in your tissues, far away from my awareness so that I could behave well for others, always seeking to make them happy without any concern for myself. 

I did notice that you seemed to have difficulty holding on sometimes when I was experiencing PMS. There must be something about PMS energy that made it very difficult for you to keep holding down those emotions and they sometimes burst out in the form of anger, fury or rage. I have already given you permission to release those emotions and memories and have observed them exiting in many floods of tears over the past year or so. Thank you, dear body, I am feeling much lighter now.

Honestly, I felt betrayed by you, dear body - wounded and bleeding, first a victim of life, then a victim of a dreaded disease - again and again and again and again. I demanded that you endure the pain of countless mutilations, invasions, toxic chemicals, needles, radiation treatments, and medical tests, all mixed together with embarrassment, guilt, sorrow, blame, anger and fear. Part of me felt like I/you somehow deserved to suffer. I believed that:

LIVING MEANS SUFFERING, 

LOVING MEANS SACRIFICING  and

the more you're willing to sacrifice, the more loving you are

I learned as a child that Christian martyrs were the best kind of saints because they were willing to sacrifice their lives for a cause/God they believed in. And, they died the most gruesome deaths - with torture, eaten by lions, stoned, burned, hanged, crucified, tongues and eyes cut out - like a modern day horror movie. I was taught that the willingness to sacrifice one's life was the greatest act of love possible. I sometimes wonder if I am living that belief - die a gruesome death and God will be pleased with me??? yikes!!! I am choosing to let go of any beliefs that are in alignment with that one.

I had forgotten who I really was for many years, but can-can encouraged me to come back to my spirit, come back to God, but I did not come to a place of love for you, my dear body.  I took you for granted.  I expected you to heal, to bounce back, to endure all kinds of torture, to stop causing me so much trouble, to give me a freaking break! I felt like you teased me with two long-term remissions.  I said to you, "So, you DO know how to heal.  You proved it twice already. Why don't you do it NOW? What's WRONG with you, body? Why are you f**king with me?  I hate you - you don't deserve to be loved. Why don't you function perfectly when I don't love and nurture you?" 

I needed someone/someTHING to blame, so I blamed you for my unhappiness, for my can-can. I am a good person, so YOU must be the problem. I wanted you to just go away and leave me alone. What does it mean when you say that to your body? Go away and leave me alone? Is that a death wish? Perhaps it is. Okay, cancel that.  Take it back. I want you to be with me for a very long time, body, so I promise to take better care of you, to treat you with love (gosh, can I really do that?) I don't feel like my body is beautiful or lovable. It is my SLAVE and it will do exactly what I want it to do, because I AM THE BOSS! I AM IN CONTROL! What a ruse I have played on myself! One of the great can-can lessons is that I have NO CONTROL WHATSOEVER.

I know that I asked you, Dear Body, to work overtime and wouldn't let you rest when you were crying out for it. I know you've never felt truly loved, appreciated or cherished; mostly ignored, despised or simply tolerated. I am truly sorry I didn't honor you when you made your simple needs for rest, nutrition, hydration and PEACE known to me. Instead, I filled you with sugar, adrenalin, cortisol, judgment and criticism. I worked you well beyond the state of exhaustion and then insisted that you give even more when you had no more to give.  I wanted to LOOK GOOD in the eyes of others. I just kept pushing and pushing, expecting your top performance. I know you felt like you were alone, as if you weren't part of the larger whole, the oneness of my being - body, mind and spirit. I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I could demonstrate to the world that it's possible to fully recover from this terminal diagnosis by becoming a better person, by letting go of limiting beliefs, by practicing healing techniques, specialized diets, and a whole bunch of complementary therapies.

Dear Body, I never thought to fill you with the energy of Divine Healing Love and I did not appreciate all you have done for me. I have judged you and found you to be weak, ugly and a betrayer.  Because of you, body, I have had to walk around with a mostly-bald head, no eyelashes or eyebrows (but a few chin-whiskers), only one breast, an extremely weak upper-body, no estrogen, poor memory, watery eyes, bad teeth, difficult veins, and difficulty walking in a straight line.

IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE.....BIG TIME...click this for an appropopriate song on youtube.........TIME FOR A COOL CHANGE

Now I  know that LOVE HEALS.  Love is ALL THAT IS.  LOVE is the answer to every question.  LOVE is the solution to every problem.  And, as the Beatles liked to say, "ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE".  That is one of the great truths of the Universe. The primary "stuff" of the Universe is LOVE, sweet LOVE.

 Click here to play that Beatles Song on Youtube.

I now promise to love you, Dear Body, with all of my heart, with all of my being, with appreciation and gratitude, with gentleness and grace.  With great love for you....and me.

Self-Love

I have come to believe that self-love is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to the process of healing. All other love grows from self-love. Without self-love, there is little motivation to heal, there is no impelling Will to Live.

Anita Moorjani (DYING TO BE ME), Louise Hay (YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE), Barbra White (MAGNIFICENT YOU) and others have written about the importance of self-love, especially in healing. It can feel like an impossible task if the idea is foreign to you. I'm speaking from my own experience. I read about it years ago, I included it in presentations and in advising healing clients. I could not stress to them enough the magnitude of the importance of self-love. I facilitated a journaling group for a few years and we would always have the 'homework' of performing at least one act of loving self-care per week (and reporting back to the group). I started talking about (and even journaling about) self-love 16 years ago. I understood from a logical/mental standpoint that self-love was essential to healing; yet, somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought "It's okay. I can skip that part. It's not THAT important."  I could not have been more wrong!!!

I read Anita Moorjani's book the same week I watched Wayne Dyer on Oprah and I remember him saying something like "I am God. We all are. We DESERVE self-love." Those two events made the light bulb finally turn on - I really DO need to love myself if I expect to heal through this cancer experience. 

I started by opening my heart to everyone I knew and everyone I saw. I talked of love to myself in the mirror (I could never do this before). I gave suggestions of self-love in all my guided imagery sessions. Guided imagery, even when I'm the guide, is the best meditation I've ever experienced. I read Barbra White's MAGNIFICENT YOU and that really helped me to understand that it IS possible to love oneself. And, I experienced Self-Acceptance Healing with Barbra White. I had judged myself very harshly and believed that I did not deserve to be loved - by anyone, especially not by myself. I had no idea what love really feels like. LOVE is amazing and magical. LOVE is everyone and everything - and I am part of that. I AM love. We all are love. Wayne Dyer says there is a spark of the Divine in each of us.  We are at once totally Divine and totally human. The Divine part is who we REALLY are.  The human part is pretty much an illusion we have created to exist in the physical dimension.

Click here to experience a wonderful 3-minute experience in feeling loved.  It's a video called "A Love Letter to You From the Universe"  by Gisele Frederich.

Self-love is about allowing myself to be who I really am - the Universe currently expressing itself as a human being (I think Wayne Dyer said that). It's about accepting that I am also human with all my human eccentricities, imperfections and emotions - both negative and positive - with an attitude of compassion and love in place of judgment and criticism. It's about making sure that my needs are fulfilled, that my voice is heard, that I communicate my truth from my heart and that I AM LOVE in thought, word and action.  It's about "giving myself a break" from the stress of always striving for perfection. It's about believing that I am lovable just because I exist (thank you, Anita Moorjani). 

Self-love is about loving myself the way I would love my own child. I remember when my daughter, Erin, was little, and I had said something like, "I will always love you, no matter what."  She asked if I would still love her if she was mean to me.  I said, "yes".  Then, she asked if I would still love her if she was punching me and I again replied in the affirmative. Then she asked if I would still love her if she was stabbing me with a knife, trying to kill me.  After some thought, I realized that the answer was yes. That's what "no matter what" means.  I certainly wouldn't be happy or enjoy it, but I would still love her.  This is the kind of love I am giving to myself and it has totally changed who I am.

Here is a challenge for you: write in your journal (or just make a plan for) what you will do for yourself today or tomorrow that is an act of loving self-care, a demonstration of self-love. It's a great way to start on the path to totally unconditional self-love. With much love from my heart to yours ♥ Mellifluous Mega-Magnificent Maggie McDee ♥

Hey CELLS! I'm Talking to YOU.

I decided in a previous post that I would not use the word cancxx any more (except for search engines).  Instead, I am using the word can-can (like the dance).  As always, if something I say doesn't resonate with you and your beliefs, then please just 'put it on the shelf' and move on.  Take what you find useful and leave the rest.

When we assume a physical body, we forget who we really are -- spirit, but a spark of the Divine continues to live within us.  When we remember that we are all one in spirit and that SPIRIT is who we really are, then we know that what happens to one of us human beings has an effect on all of us because of our  spiritual inter-connectedness.  I wonder if the same is true of the cells inside our physical bodies.  When normal, healthy body cells become can-can cells, perhaps they lose the memory of who they really are. I want to help them to remember that they are part of the oneness of this body and that their normal, perfect, healthy functioning as part of the oneness is essential for the continued health,  well-being, and the very life of the body. 

This body is the vehicle my Self has chosen for her journey through this physical lifetime.  It's time for me to realize/KNOW this in every cell of my being. My spirit Self is already fully aware of this. 

CAN-CAN CELLS, this is for you...WAKE UP!  I said WAKE UP!  You have forgotten who you are, who you REALLY are.  I want you to remember who you really are. You have strayed from the perfect Divine plan for you that was part of the original programming for this body.  You were designed to be part of the oneness of this physical body.  You have become detached from source, where the Divine Plan comes from...making up your own plan without realizing the impact is has on the oneness of all the cells of the whole body.

Speaking of 'waking up', click to play MAGGIE MAY on youtube.  I knew that, eventually, this song would end up in one of my posts.  Rod wrote it for me after that delightful summer we spent together in Paris, back in our carefree days of youth.

Okay, CAN-CAN CELLS, I know that you started out as a very diverse group - some were short-lived, some bigger and stronger, some smaller and more delicate, most highly specialized cells.  I know you felt like you were alone, unsupported, as if you weren't part of the larger whole, the oneness of the cells of these organs of this body, to keep it running smoothly and efficiently.  I never thought to fill you with the energy of Divine Healing Love and I did not appreciate all you have done for me when you were functioning normally, according to the original plan.  I've used multiple methods to try to kill you. Is it any wonder that you have forgotten who you really are? Is it any wonder that you don't feel loved?  

BRAIN CELLS, you must be tired from all the intense thinking I've done over the years - always wanting to know WHY and always trying to figure things out.  Always looking for logical solutions to problems, as I did when I was a computer programmer, systems analyst and project manager.  All the nights I laid awake strategizing and analyzing, always analyzing, trying to understand life from a logical/mental perspective instead of a feeling/emotional perspective.  You brain cells worked together to organize the other cells into organs and systems and provide instructions to individual cells.  You kept all the cells working in total cooperation with all other cells, all connected and communicating.  It takes the combined intelligence of each unique cell to support a healthy physical body.  Some of your communication channels have become clogged or tangled up.  It's time for a thorough cleansing.  Open up those clogged channels and remind those immune system cells to do their job. So, WAKE UP, brain cells.  Feel the Divine Healing Love I am feeding you every day.  Use this extra energy to clean up the mess and put things 'back in order.'
IMMUNE SYSTEM CELLS, you must be VERY tired, even confused, from chemo and radiation and can-can.  Many of you have also forgotten who you really are.  And, many of your friends have died, so perhaps you are fearing the same fate.  Perhaps you are hiding your innate magnificence. You seem to no longer recognize can-can cells as invaders - you are denying their existence.  I'm telling you now to WAKE UP - remember who you are and notice those can-can cells and help them to remember who they are.  So many of you have forgotten that you are LOVE and you are part of a beautifully-designed, sublime oneness that cannot continue without your help.  You are much more important than you have given yourself credit for - more important than I have given you credit for. I am filling you with Divine Healing Love every day to strengthen you and to reinforce your will to live.  Like my ego, you have not taken responsibility for your actions and their impact on others.  You have to wake up and resume your normal responsibilities. Clone yourselves to whatever extent is needed - feed and energize yourselves on Divine Healing Love - the greatest power in the Universe.  Remember how each cell, each thread of the tapestry, is an important part of the whole.  OPEN YOUR EYES - carefully scan each cell of this body, reminding all cells of their innate divinity, perfection, love and oneness.  If they just can't remember who they are, then help them to leave via the nearest exist.  You don't have time to argue at length with each one.  Some of them will need to leave, for the good of the whole.  Try to catch them when they are young - that's when they are most easily convinced, when they are more open to change.  Help them to remember who they really are,  And, to re-acquaint them with the perfect, divinely-designed, proper functioning immune system. I am sorry about the harsh treatments you have endured. I don't want to use chemo to do your job any more, but I MUST have your cooperation.  It's time for you to step up to the plate and do your job better than you ever have before.  I am now supporting you with love which I've never done before. I love and accept you exactly where you are today.  I know that, together, we can do better.  We can achieve total remission!  Imagine how good that will feel!  Imagine the look on that doctor's face! I smile just thinking about that.

CAN-CAN CELLS, I trust you to do what I'm asking you to do.  Talk to the next  immune system cell you see, let her remind you of who you really are and the function you were originally designed to perform.  If you simply cannot go back or remember, then I would ask that you be willing to sacrifice your life for the good of the whole - the oneness of this body - and head toward the nearest exit. Invite a new and younger cell to replace you to carry on that function.  I am grateful for the time you have spent here, for the lessons you have helped me to learn, but I don't need you any more.

Click YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL to enjoy Joe Cocker/me singing that song to my cells.

With love and gratitude and appreciation, I am now filling every cell with Divine Healing Love to deliver this message of my intention to heal. Let every cell know and understand the plan for healing, so each can choose to remember its part in the Divine Plan or leave the body.  Every cell, you are strong and healthy, filled with joy and peace, so that you can receive this energy of the highest vibrational frequency possible, raising the entire body's vibration to be totally worthy of Divine Healing Love, physical strength and vibrant health.  You are loved and totally cherished by the REAL ME - the spark of the Divine that thrives in this body. There is nothing more important than loving and healing through love.
Love and blessings to all the trillions of you in this body - every single one!

Questioning My Spiritual Beliefs

The science of Quantum Physics is now telling us that everything in the Universe is made of energy and that we are part of all that is.  We are at-one with EVERYTHING in the Universe. We are each cells in the larger body of "The One", "I AM That","God", "Divinity", the "Universe", whatever you wish to call it.  When we choose to come into the physical body (incarnate), we take on an ego that allows us to see ourselves and others as separate individuals.  We feel separate from one another as well as separate from God; sometimes, even separate from ourselves.  Buddhists, and others, tell us that the whole physical world is just an illusion and that only the world (dimension) of Spirit is real...that time exists in the physical just so we can think about it in a linear fashion while we are on Earth.  
Please remember what I always say - take with you what feels right to you-IN YOUR HEART-and leave the rest right here. Click the underlined text  to listen to Joan Baez sing  The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down  on Youtube.  Around 1:20, she sings "take what you need and leave the rest".  I just pulled out that song because of that one half-line, but if you remember Joan Baez, you can enjoy her live performance by clicking there.

Shakespeare said something like, "The whole world is a play/stage and everybody plays a part."  My Esoteric Healing instructor said, "You are the director, writer and star of your own play." 

If you'd rather listen to "The Whole World is a Stage and Everybody Plays a Part" by the Fantastic Four (from Detroit - MoTown - the city I was born in).  This was a minor distraction. I hope you took a quick break and enjoyed some oldies music.  I believe that there is a song for EVERYTHING.  It's great to always have a song in my heart (and a humming in my throat) - it just feels good - not like having an annoying song STUCK in my head.  Or, I find a song I love to replace the one that is stuck in my head.

What if there is really no such thing as time and that everything - every minute of every lifetime - is happening all at once in the world of spirit?  What if making a change today has an effect on every part of "the oneness" across all time lines, past and future and possible future?  These are big questions that merit their own posts.

At some point in our lives, we might begin to ask questions like, "Is there more to me than this body, mind, emotions (personality), my family, house, career, and possessions? How am I nourishing my spirit? Is there room to grow spiritually? Why am I here? Is there a purpose to my life?  What am I missing in life?" and more.  I think this happens when our ego begins to long for that "oneness feeling" that it has only "veiled" memories of.  This could be the time of the mid-life crisis, when people start to do things that are "out of character" for them (like buying the Harley).  Really, it can happen at nearly any age, not necessarily middle-age.  

I saw this in myself as a restlessness, always questioning the religious and philosophical "truths" I was taught in Catholic school, especially the teachings about God and Love. If God IS LOVE, then why would God EVER judge anyone?  Let alone, send anyone to eternal punishment/damnation/hell/suffering for making a single HUMAN mistake and not confessing it before physical death?.  Is God not the ultimate? Is God not the perfection of love itself?  Isn't perfect love totally unconditional?  My brain could not comprehend judgment and damnation being a part of unconditional love.  When I read the book CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD BOOK I by Neale Donald Walsch, shortly before my first cancer diagnosis in '97, it felt right to me and presented an idea of God that was more like my impression of what a god-like being should be, rather than the vengeful, fear-invoking God I had learned about as a child, based on the one teaching I DID believe: that God is love.

This CHANGE I'm talking about can have various catalysts, like simply feeling old, a serious illness, death of a beloved one, end of a relationship, marriage, sudden change or end of a career, a significant change in income, a trauma of any kind, or a near death experience - any type of significant life event.  Mine was my first cancer diagnosis in '97. I felt like it had pulled the rug out from under me/my life and knocked me down HARD and I had to pick myself up  and get back into life.  I have often referred to this event as like 'being hit over the head with a 2x4'. 

When people start to question their spiritual beliefs, to modify their philosophy of life, to dramatically change their priorities, they may even reject religion or change religions.  They may develop a new belief that, since we are a part of God - the Divine spark that resides within us, we do not need an outside source to teach us - we can go inside to know who we really are and to be ourselves...to BE who we really, truly are, not who we think others want or expect us to be. We can receive guidance from our "Divine Spark" by first asking for it, then by paying attention to our feelings and listening to the whispers of our spirit working through people, animals, books, signs, movies, etc. We are driven to want more information, a closer union with and a better understanding of the Divinity within. The spirit/soul and the personality long for union. There is a longing to merge into what is known in the Ancient Wisdom as a soul-infused personality.  

I ask and allow my 'Divine self' to think through my mind, speak through my words and act through my body. I wish to be the outward expression of the Love/God/Divine that lives within me, that animates my personality.  I ask my Divine Spark/Self to focus more intently on what's going on in my human/physical life. 

Any time I feel uncomfortable, when I remember to, I ask my Divine Self to help me out (S.O.S.) and, like yesterday, during my guided imagery presentation at the Alpena Friends Together Cancer Conference, I found myself saying things that I had not planned to talk about.  I told them about my imagery work with the energy of Divine Healing Love (click to see an example) and that I think my job or purpose is to demonstrate by my example, that someone can have cancer and still live a (relatively) normal, happy life. 

I added an experimental 'hit counter' to this blog on the right side of the screen.  We'll see if it works.  I'm not even sure what it's counting. :)

This is not the topic I was intending to write about, but I think it may be food for thought.  If you have questions or comments, click on the Comment button below, or send me an email at maggiehealing@gmail.com.

Namaste' & blessings and love....

Anita Moorjani on Self-Love

I already introduced the topic "self-love" in July of this year.  Click here to open it in a new window.  

Excerpt about SELF-LOVE from Anita Moorjani's book ~ DYING TO BE ME ~ Pages 138-139.

"It's all very well for me to talk about healing after I've experienced it, or for me to tell you to just trust and let go, letting the flow of life take over; but when you're going through a really low period, it's difficult to do – or even to know where to begin. However, I think the answer is simpler than it seems, and it's one of the best kept secrets of our time: the importance of SELF-LOVE. You may frown or cringe at the thought, but I can't stress enough how important it is to cultivate a deep love affair with yourself.

I don't recall EVER being encouraged to cherish myself – in fact, it would never even have occurred to me to do so. It is commonly thought of as being selfish. But my NDE allowed me to realize that this was the key to my healing.

In the tapestry of life, we're all connected. Each one of us is a gift to those around us, helping each other be who we are, weaving a perfect picture together. When I was in the NDE state, it all became so clear to me because I understood that to BE ME is to BE LOVE. This is the lesson that saved my life.

Many of us still believe that we have to work at being loving, but that means living in duality, because there's a giver and a receiver. Realizing that we ARE love transcends this. It means understanding that there's no separation between you and me, and if I'm aware that I am love, then I know that you are, too. If I care for myself, then I automatically feel the same, for you!"

Imagery-Dissipating Disturbing Energies With Love

DISSIPATING DISTURBING EMOTIONAL ENERGIES WITH LOVE.....

An E-Motion is Energy in Motion, so we can work with emotions from an energetic perspective, using the incredible power of the imagination.

This is an imagery meditation/prayer to help dissipate disturbing emotional energy (anxiety, fear, confusion, worry, depression, anger, etc.)  It is NOT a way to repress emotions, but to honor and process them, recognize and accept them; and transform them into a higher, spiritual vibration.  Sit down, close your eyes, breathe 3 (or more) long, slow, deep breaths to just slow you down - inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.  Then, allow your breathing to return to normal or 'automatic' and imagine that, with each inhale, you breathe in the energy of Divine Healing Love/God's Grace/Christ's love/Buddha's nirvana, etc. Imagine what color or color(s) it might be and the qualities of its texture - liquid, JEWELS, SEQUINS, sparkles or energy or liquid, etc. Feel it fillinng up your lungs as oxygen would and going directly into your loving heart.  Then, see the love you breathed in filling the cup of your heart until it overflows (your cup runneth over).  Then, as you exhale, see this superbly, Divinely sublime (DEFINITION - of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe) love spread out to the rest of your body, shining its beautiful light until the entire body glows - including an aura that surrounds the body - filling up every cell to its maximum holding capacity for Divine love energy and feel/see the energy's light increase in intensity.  

NUTSHELL VERSION: INHALING DIVINE HEALING LOVE TO HEART, CONTINUING TO EXHALE THE LOVE THAT RUNNETH OVER THE CUP, SENDING LOVE TO THE REST OF THE BODY, SURROUNDING & FILLING EVERY CELL TO FULL CAPACITY.

Continue this form of breathing, allowing your body and mind to "just let go" of all tension, concerns, and discomfort until you're feeling more relaxed. 

Then, remember the disturbing emotion - you could give it a specific shape & name if you wish - and notice where you are feeling it in your body. Focusing your attention on the emotion and the physical sensation, allow yourself to observe and accept the emotion and the sensation.  Ask how this feeling might have been a defensive strategy for you or served some other purpose for you in the past, remembering that you are not the same person you were then. Take as long as you need to acknowledge the feeling and accept it as part of the expression of your human 'self'.

Invite the feeling into your heart. Shine the light of Divine Healing Love unto the feeling and notice it begin to lighten up and dissipate.  Continue until you feel a change occurring, then embrace and love the emotion.  If change does not occur immediately, you will probably notice it by the next day.  This process can be repeated as often as desired.

Nutshell Version:  NOTICE WHERE YOU FEEL THE EMOTION IN THE BODY, ACCEPT IT AS PART OF YOUR HUMAN EXPRESSION. SHINE THE LIGHT OF LOVE ON THE EMOTION, FEEL IT LIGHTEN UP AND DISSIPATE. RINSE & REPEAT, IF DESIRED/NEEDED. Namaste'

De-Frazzle: Thinking New Thoughts

You know, all of life is thinking! No matter what you are doing, or not doing, you are thinking. You thoughts shape your life! This is why it is so important that we all learn to take control of our thinking. Our thoughts create our experiences...Louise Hay

There's my favorite Maxine cartoon.  Don't believe everything you think.  Have you ever found out that something you were thinking just wasn't true/correct?  Like when people thought the world was flat?  Or, perhaps you thought someone was angry with you when they were just having a bad day?  Or, perhaps you thought you were falling in love but it turned out to be just a crush?  Have you ever found yourself acting on an ASSumption that you found out later had no truth in it whatsoever?  



Consequently, we can see that, just because we think something doesn't mean that it's true.  


I have come to believe that TRUTH is a very personal thing.  The best example I can see for this is different religious beliefs - people tend to think "My way is the right way or the only way or mine is the absolute TRUTH".  How can it be possible that only one of these 'ways' is right/true and all the rest are wrong/false?  I know that what is true for me may or may not be true for you, so it's important for me to open my mind to other thoughts and ideas.  There might be some ideas out there that FEEL more true to me than what's already in my head and I'll never know that if I don't purposefully seek out new ideas and entertain new and different thoughts. This is especially true if the thoughts I've been thinking are making me feel bad.  I much prefer thoughts that make me FEEL GOOD.  

This is me FEELING GOOD

Since a repeated thought can become a belief, my goal is to repeat only thoughts that feel good and healing.  Healing is pretty high on my list of priorities and I know that I am responsible for making myself feel good.  


Science tells us that we each have about 50-60,000 thoughts PER DAY.  That's about one thought per second if we're awake for 16 hours in a day.  How could anyone actually count that?  I don't know, but I do know there is  a way to 'monitor' my thinking.  It's by noticing how I'm FEELING.  Science also tells us that our feelings are a direct response to our thoughts.  Following in this logical train, then...

IF I FEEL BAD (sad, angry, worried, fearful, depressed)

AND my feeling is a response to my thoughts...
THEN I can change how I'm feeling by changing what I'm thinking.  Now, that's something to think about!


How do I know when it's time to change what I'm thinking?  It's when I FEEL bad!  So, I need to pay attention to how I feel!  That's not really hard to do.  
Then, HOW DO I CHANGE WHAT I'M THINKING??????

Well, who is in control of what I think?  Only one person - ME.  Here's one way to change my thinking/thoughts - use DISTRACTION.  Direct my thinking toward something different.  There are so many ways to do this.... for example:

• make a phone call
• read a book
• watch a movie
• meditate
• plan a social event
• write in your journal
• play a computer game or solitaire
• work on a word or number puzzle
• go for a walk/exercise
• pray for help to change the thought and feeling
• MOVE AROUND AND DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Here's another way to change my thinking/thoughts - use THOUGHT SUBSTITUTION.  It is just what it sounds like....Substitute one thought for another.  This requires a little planning ahead, but once you've used it, you'll want to expand on it, use it even more often and have fun with it (perhaps - at least that's what's been true for me).  

Knowing that ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE in my imagination, I like to see how imaginative and creative I can be in making up "happy thoughts" and "remembering happy times" and storing them in my imaginary treasure chest, which must be in my mind somewhere. Then, I can open my imaginary treasure chest and retrieve a thought, image or memory that I know ALWAYS makes me feel good.  If it doesn't feel good, I have the power to change or discard it.  It makes me feel really powerful!

Treasure chest of good-feeling thoughts & memories

So, I have filled up my treasure chest with MEMORIES that make me feel good, like...

• my daughter's wedding celebration
• my own wedding
• holding a precious child
• seeing the smile on that child's face
• hearing the giggle while seeing the smile
• feeling that sense of accomplishment when  I decided to quit my job
• feeling the excitement of swimming with a dolphin
• breathing in the beauty of nature (so many of these awesome memories) with the wind - using all my senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell)

Get the idea?  Take some time with a memory and really get into the feelings of that moment, write it down, talk about it with yourself or others, expand it, exaggerate it, look at photos, draw pictures, use all your senses... Do whatever it takes to firmly implant the good feelings of the memory in your treasure chest, leaving it ready to retrieve on a moment's notice.  Then, you can substitute the feel-good memory for the bad-feeling thought and the good feeling will come. If the memory does not FEEL GOOD when you retrieve it because you have associated a bad feeling with it, then either change the memory (embellishment is fine in our own imagination) so it DOES feel good or take it out of your treasure chest so you don't try to use it again. This really does get easier with practice.  You can do the same with your good-feeling thoughts.

Since there's no actual size limits, I have also filled up my treasure chest with GOOD-FEELING THOUGHTS and SCENARIOS (not actual memories, although they do slip in there sometimes) that always make me smile, like...

• a scene where my higher self or guardian angel shines a light on my negative thought and makes it disappear, then replaces it and fills my being with light, warmth, comfort and divine healing love (breathing it in to every cell)
• seeing and feeling my body performing the Sun Salutation (yoga) with perfect strength and breathing
• inspiring songs to sing, like Gloria Gaynor's I WILL SURVIVE and Helen Ready's I AM WOMAN
• the shocked look and big smile on my oncologist's face when he says the word "REMISSION" and it reverberates/echoes in my mind over and over again
• my victory dance - jumping for joy
• taking flight on a dragon's back to "soak up" the beauty of nature
• chemo droplets destroying individual cancer cells
• painting beautiful landscapes and humorous faces
• imagining that my heart is sending love to every other being on the planet and that we are all connected with love.  With this loving connection, we can bring light to areas of darkness, and transform despair to hope, disease to perfect health, conflict to peace, poverty to abundance, hunger to nutritious meals, and so much more.

There are no limits to what we can imagine!  We are so fortunate to have such powerful thoughts.  We must be able to do lots of healing work with them.  Again, this is what is true for me.  I love my treasure chest of GOOD FEELINGS!  How about you?


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