If I didn’t know before that when one door closes, many more fling wide open, this latest experience of creating a book of prayers has sealed the deal for me.

When my agent told me that the publisher I’m currently working with would not publish the manuscript I’d written, containing 30 prayers, I was discouraged. I thought their reasons weren’t solid. I thought of trying to convince them to reconsider, but somehow that didn’t feel right.

I thought of self-publishing, but the impression I’ve carried about self-published books (and authors) was anything but positive. I’d seen far too few high quality self-published works, and far too many that looked downright home-made.

So the work sat on my altar, waiting for the opportunity to emerge in book form.

One day, as I was ruminating on the publisher’s response, I heard a question:

What does that have to do with you?

It was a question I couldn’t answer. What did the publisher’s response to the book have to do with me? Absolutely nothing. Just because they said no didn’t mean it wasn’t going to happen.

Just then, I noticed the doors that had flung wide open in my face: I could publish the book through my own publishing company.

Step by precious step, I was led to everything I needed to finish the manuscript and have it formatted as a book with a fully designed cover. And I’m quite happy to say that it was easier than I thought it would be, and immensely joyful. Who knew?

I’m tickled pink to announce that the book Pray–30 Prayers for the Universal Soul is available for pre-order! It is being released this month and will be available for sale on Amazon.com.

Pray–30 Prayers for the Universal Soul includes prayers for health & healing, prosperity & abundance, intercessory prayers, and a creative rendition of one of my favorite prayers of all, the 23rd Psalm.

God is good, and I can truly say that when one door closes, many more fling wide open. The most exciting part about bringing this book into manifestation is the opening of my own publishing company:

Butterfly Rising Publications

Thankfully, I can now bring important works to market with full creative capacity, working under the direction and guidance of Spirit. It’s both an incredibly freeing experience and a terrifying faith walk. Either way, I’m willing to walk through open doors, even when I’m terrified.

A closed door is just Spirit’s way of saying: ‘not here, not now.’ The Universe only operates in perfect timing (as I keep reminding myself).

Be sure that when one door closes, many more will fling open, with new and better experiences behind them for you.

You can order advanced copies of this newest creation and have them signed, just use this button to order and specify the name of the recipient:

Sign the book to who? Add recipient’s name here:

The cover image of the book will be up soon, and I’ll post again when the book is available for sale at Amazon.com

If you’ve ever wanted help with expressing heartfelt prayers, I pray this book becomes an invaluable resource for you. Enjoy!

Much love,

Valerie

Saturday, December 20, 2008

4:00 PM to 6:00PM

Border’s Books & Music

931-A Capital Centre Boulevard

Largo, MD 20774

Come on down and let’s connect. I’ll be looking for you.

Blessings,

VAL

Sunrise Devotion Creates A Stairway to Heaven

Last week featured more inspirational uplifts for Boost In Your Bathrobe participants. The theme for December is Prosperity. In case you missed a day or two, here’s what happened:

Monday:

Jovan Walker graced us with her words of wisdom, insight, enthusiasm, and reminder that we are powerful creators who can bring about prosperity in all life arenas, if we choose to focus on the divine plan for our lives.

Thank you Jovan for an inspired sharing and for blessing us.

Tuesday:

I shared a story from my travels in Kenya and how deeply I was moved by the community of Kibera. Kibera is one of the largest slums on the African continent. In spite of its abject poverty, there is a spirit of life, vibrancy, youthfulness and enthusiasm in the place that can reorient the Western mind.

Here’s an article I found about Kibera, with lots of pictures of the community…I think you’ll enjoy the bright eyed kids of Kibera.

Scripture reference for the day: Matthew 6:31-33

Wednesday:

We were serenaded by songstress Christine Warren Davis, who shared her gift for song with us. God’s gifts manifests in varied and unique ways throughout creation, and Christine’s gift is delightful to hear. She sang the song Changed, and when she was done, we were uplifted, inspired and renewed, ready for the day!

Thank you Christine for sharing your gift of song with us and touching my heart.

Thursday:

Katherine Harold (affectionately known as Kitty) visited us as a guest (she’s always on the line praying with us as part of the circle) and reminded us to share everyday random acts of kindness, pick up lunch for a co-worker, prepare extra dinner so that you can share it with someone you know who works hard and would probably appreciate a home-cooked meal.

Kitty walks her talk; she’s hosting 11 folks in her home for Christmas dinner. Though she’s never met any of them, she doesn’t refer to them as strangers. They are families who are in need of support in the community, so she’s sharing her home, her family and her heart with them on Christmas day. She even asked the children what they wanted for Christmas, so she could provide gifts.

Kitty also shared with us her ministry work with Teen Quest and I.M.A.G.I.N.E. (Incorporating My Awesome God in Everything) at the Unity Church she attends. What a boost of inspiration!

Thank you Kitty for your energetic enthusiasm, your inspiring words and most important, the action you take in your own life to reach out and touch so many lives. Much love to you!

Friday:

Friday’s are Fun on Boost In Your Bathrobe, so I shared a tale about my escapades in Africa: my scary experience with the wildlife at Masai Mara in Kenya. I’m not used to wild animals, so I was startled to awaken one night to hooves running outside my door. After working through the fear that gripped me, I came to a place of utter appreciation of the awesomeness of that place. Thank you God, for moving us through fear and into faith!

That’s a wrap up of our week last week–and we’ll be listening for you this week!

Boost In Your Bathrobe is 20 minutes of prayer, praise and inspiration each weekday morning at 6:00 AM, conducted by conference call. Just dial in!

The call in number is: 641-715-3300, Pin: 480031#

Much love,

VAL

It’s a 15-20 second process that consists of 7 simple questions. The intention of The Turn-Around is to re-direct thinking while having an experience you don’t want to have or that isn’t necessarily good for you, so you can make a new choice to do something a little bit better than what you’re currently doing.

First I’ll give you the questions, then I’ll offer two scenarios below where the questions have been applied to turn a negative situation around. Before you begin the process, take a deep breath.

The 7 Simple Questions:

1. What am I doing?

2. Why am I doing that?

3. Does this feel good?

4. Is this good for me?

5. Do I have a choice here?

6. What is the next highest thought/action I could reach for?

7. Am I ready, willing and able to do that?

That’s it. 7 Simple Questions that can turn a negative situation around.

Here’s a couple of scenarios where I’ve applied the questions and provided probable answers:

Scenario Number One

You’re trying to get the kids ready for school in the morning, you’re hurried and harried, and you catch your son playing with his Nintendo (for the second time) rather than getting dressed. You feel the heat rise and your voice raises as you tell him (yet again) to get ready for school.

Take a deep breath and ask yourself:

1. What am I doing?

I’m yelling at my kid.

2. Why am I doing that?

Because this little person is not getting ready fast enough and I already told him twice to stop playing with that *&*#$@ Nintendo and get ready for school!

3. Does this feel good?

NO!

4. Is this good for me?

NO!

5. Do I have a choice here?

Yes…

6. What’s my next highest alternative?

I guess I could stop yelling, even though I’m still hot.

7. Am I ready, willing  and able to do that?

Yes.

Then do it. It’s simple, fast and easy. More importantly, it’s effective because it raises awareness of patterns of thought and behavior, reminds you that you always have choice, and then prompts you to come up with an alternative, then do it.

Scenario Number Two

You’re about to enter the McDonald’s drive thru and order a super-sized double cheeseburger meal (my personal favorite before I turned it around–read about it here…)

Take a deep breath and ask yourself:

1. What am I doing?

I’m about to buy a super-sized cheeseburger meal at McDonald’s.

2. Why am I doing that?

Because that’s what I feel like eating.

3. Does this feel good?

Yeah! My mouth is already watering.

4. Is this good for me?

No.

5. Do I have a choice here?

Yes.

6. What’s my next highest alternative?

I could order a double cheeseburger meal that’s not super-sized.

7. Am I ready, willing  and able to do that?

Yes.

As you can see, there’s no need to shoot for the stars with this process; don’t try to dramatically improve your behavior in this process.

This is a process for making incremental moment-by-moment changes that are cumulative and will result in positive changes in what you do every day, which is where your destiny lies.

Your destiny is the sum total of all the little daily habits you engage in. When you make several tiny changes throughout the day, and consistently, you create a better life, step by precious step.

Try the process and let me know how it works for you–you can post your comment below…

Until next time be very blessed,

Minister Val

Sunrise Devotion Creates a Stairway to Heaven

We experienced an awesome move of God’s Spirit for the kick-off of Boost In Your Bathrobe!

What’s Boost In Your Bathrobe? Discover it here…

Truly an amazing start to a new practice that’s proving to be electrifying!

Women called in from all over, including Washington DC, Baltimore Maryland, Atlanta Georgia, Chicago, New Jersey and more.

The theme for this month is Prosperity. Here’s some of what unfolded in this awesome space of prayer, praise and inspiration:

Monday:

We were blessed to have Minister Danielle Willard of One Mind Life Services as our guest.

Minister Danielle is a dear friend and a faithful early morning prayer partner. She’s a self-described Spiritual Enthusiast and has a growing practice of clients who visit her for Cranial Sacral Visionary therapy. It’s a transformative experience, I’ve enjoyed a session with her myself.

Her words spoke to the deepest parts of us as she expressed the intimate connection between faith and prosperity, quoting from a much loved book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (one of my all-time favorite must-reads).

Thank you Minister Danielle for your words of wisdom, your prayers and your enthusiasm!

Tuesday:

Can a woman forget her own baby? God says "I will never forget you."

We spoke of Isaiah 49:15-16, which reads:

“(15) …Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you… I can never forget you! I have written your name on the palms of my hands.”

The Amplified Bible reads that God has tattooed a picture of us on each hand.

When you walk in the world knowing that God has a tatoo of you on each hand, your entire paradigm shifts, and your entire world responds.

God could never–would never–forget you.

Walk with that truth today.

Wednesday:

We had as our special guest Minister Cheryl Holder, a current ministerial student at Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development, a dear friend, and my faithful morning prayer partner.

Minister Cheryl blessed us with the reminder that our thoughts both rule and create our world. Surrender is key when working with thoughts of worry, fear, doubt and any other energy we don’t desire and that blocks prosperity. Her words: surrender those thoughts by giving them up to God.

She drew a distinction about surrender: it isn’t giving up, it’s giving up our unwanted thoughts to God.

Thank you Minister Cheryl, for your wisdom and for sharing vital truths with us that have the power to shape our lives into what we desire.

Thursday:

We spoke of having a willing womb for God. Each of us is pregnant with divine seed. If nurtured, it grows into something that can be birthed into the world as a gift to our fellow walkers on the path.

What seed are you carrying? Is is a book? A song? A ministry? A business? An organization? Whatever it is, are you nurturing your seed, allowing a space for it to grow, feeding it and cherishing it?

When it’s time to birth your growing seed (God will tell you when the time is right), birth it into the world, giving it all you’ve got. Then care for the baby. Provide it with everything it needs to grow healthy and strong. One day, it will stand on its own and walk about as a living testament to what God can do through a willing womb.

Offer God a willing womb today by choosing to nurture the seeds that are planted in your spirit; the seeds that only you can birth into the world.

Friday:

Friday’s are for fun on Boost In Your Bathrobe and no more fun could have been had than what we experienced with Mother Hunch! Mother Hunch (a comedic personality created and performed by Evangelist Lynnette Lynn Horton of the Peoples Hope Ministries) is that cantankerous old woman in church whom many of us know and are learning to love.

Mother Hunch (who turned 87 years of age at each of her last 14 birthday celebrations) blessed us with the advice that to have prosperity, we need Vodka. She taught us that Vodka solves three problems in one: it keeps you warm (she turned off the heat and uses Vodka to keep warm), it quenches your thirst, and it makes your gums strong so they’ll hold your teeth in place.

She also spoke of prosperity in the form of having lots of friends. When I asked what kind of friends we want to seek, she replied: “Vodka drinking friends. That way, you can sip and pass.”

Thank you Mother Hunch for your invaluable words of wisdom. We love you.

Evangelist Lynnette Lynn Horton of the People’s Hope Ministries blessed us with a word about the lasting effects of meeting God early in the morning for prayer and devotion. She takes pen and paper with her when she enters her sacred space in the morning, where she receives vital instructions for the day, along with insights and divine ideas, which she captures on paper so as to fulfill the instructions as they were received.

Which begs the question: Are you paying close attention to the daily instruction, guidance and direction you receive so as to follow it fully?

Thank you Evangelist Lynn, for blessing us with potent prayer, and for the parting blessing you gave to each woman who stated her name while exiting the call. You are a blessing and a gift.

That’s the recap for this week’s Boost In Your Bathrobe. As you can see, it was a phenomenal experience.

Boost In Your Bathrobe started out as a 15 minute call, and it’s a pleasure to announce that it will expand to 20 minutes of prayer, praise and inspiration each weekday morning at 6:00 AM, starting Monday, December 8th, 2008. Just dial in!

The dial in number is: 641-715-3300.

The pin is: 480031#

We look forward to your presence in our sacred circle each weekday morning.

Until then, many rich blessings,

Minister VAL

I only want what you want and what you want for me.

I consciously give to you ownership of

my life,

my money,

my houses,

my resources,

my mind,

my plans,

my thoughts,

my feelings,

my emotions,

my assets,

my family,

my husband,

my children,

my vehicles,

my purposes,

my intentions,

my work,

my businesses,

my career,

my body,

and all possessions.

Everything I am, everything I do and everything I have is now yours.

Have your perfect, holy, complete and divine will here now.

Thank you God,

Amen

This month’s theme for Boost In Your Bathrobe (read the description here…) is Prosperity; these affirmations are created to powerfully attract a new level of prosperity, and to open to supernatural abundance, which is beyond human thinking or understanding.

Remember that affirmations are useless without the accompanying energy, belief system and frequency required to make them highly effective. You can’t entertain lack/limitation thinking and expect a change just because you spoke an affirmation or two today.

There’s more to it than that. There are three factors that make affirmations powerfully effective:

• The accompanying energy. How are you speaking the affirmation? Do you speak it with conviction? Do you hold an energy of joy and expectancy while you’re speaking the words with power? What’s your intention?
• Your belief system. Your beliefs manifest. Period. There’s no getting around that. Our beliefs are the most attractive, magnetic force in our lives. Whatever you believe, happens. What do you believe about what you are speaking?
• Frequency. How often do you speak your affirmations in relation to how much time you spend worrying about the problem that the affirmation is supposed to solve? You need to tip the scales to 51% (51% or more of your energy/time/attention/focus on what you desire and 49% or less of your energy/time/attention/focus on what you’re trying to get rid of). Once you cross the 51% threshold, you’ll see changes in your outer world.

Keep these ideas in mind as you enjoy and speak your affirmations with the energy that turns them into reality!

Here they are:

50 Affirmations To Create Supernatural Abundance & Prosperity:

1. I am infinitely blessed and I am an infinite blessing!

2. Thousand dollar bills are right now bulging out of my mattress!

3. My wallet is stuffed with hundred dollar bills!

4. I am abundant life!

5. I see abundance everywhere I turn and especially in the mirror!

6. Money rains down on me from new and unexpected sources every day!

7. My mailbox is a check receptacle!

8. Cash comes to me easily and divinely!

9. I am attracting more money than I ever dreamed of!

10. Thank you for abundance; I know just what to do with it!

11. I gift freely and generously, which makes room for more and more prosperity!

12. I am prosperous life in human form!

13. I am planted in a garden of prosperity–where every good thing grows!

14. I am always richly supplied with every perfect present!

15. I am becoming richer and richer every day!

16. I am thankful for all the riches that show up in my life unannounced!

17. I am grateful for the rich life I live!

18. I am grateful for the bountiful blessings I receive each and every day!

19. I am inviting wealth and abundance into my business now!

20. I am experiencing the power of prosperity in all I touch now!

21. I am deeply grateful for a thriving lifestyle and business now!

22. I am richly blessed in every good work and I bring enormous good to the planet!

23. I am pleasantly stunned by the enormity of the blessings of abundance I receive now!

24. My bank accounts now overflow with the abundant blessings of the universe!

25. Checks that are made out to me exponentially expand now!

26. More and more checks come my way every day and they all have commas in them!

27. I am a wise and masterful steward over all my resources!

28. I am a divine tool–here to honor my brother and sister with my valuable resources!

29. Opportunities for growth and expansion come to me now, easily and elegantly!

30. I am relaxed and confident in all my money matters!

31. I am aware of the blessings that flow to me now and I give deep and heartfelt gratitude for them all!

32. I am a money magnet!

33. I am a prosperity magnet!

34. Everything I touch succeeds in its own divine way and in its own divine timing!

35. I trust!

36. I know!

37. I am that I am!

38. I am abundant life, harmony and truth!

39. I am covered with a jeweled blanket of riches!

40. I am sustained by the abundance of Spirit!

41. I am deeply rooted in pure prosperity and I am freely watered by the Holy Spirit!

42. I am a tree planted by streams of life giving water and my fruit is plentiful!

43. I am living my life in the overflow of grace, abundance and magnificence!

44. I am now investing wisely, prudently and profitably!

45. My investment accounts are growing by leaps and bounds!

46. I am a magnet for vibrant health,  wealth and long life!

47. Money comes to me now in copious amounts and I am thankful!

48. I am fruitful always and in all ways!

49. I am in the divine pathway for multiple blessings!

50. I am open to receive an infinite flow of divine good, divine love, divine peace, divine joy and divine abundance!

And so it is!

Use these often and enjoy the fruits of your work!

Rich blessings!

Minister Val

]]> http://liveyourdestinytoday.com/2008/12/02/50-affirmations-for-supernatural-abundance-prosperity/feed/ http://liveyourdestinytoday.com/2008/12/01/how-do-i-discover-my-purpose-fulfill-it-13-questions-to-consider/ http://liveyourdestinytoday.com/2008/12/01/how-do-i-discover-my-purpose-fulfill-it-13-questions-to-consider/#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:19:29 +0000 Val http://liveyourdestinytoday.com/?p=927 Discovering your purpose and living it with passion is your reason for being. It’s the path to your deepest fulfillment and ultimate satisfaction.

♦

With that said, it’s vitally important to: discover why you’re here, offer your unique gifts and talents, formulate a mission and vision for your life, and set an intention to live on purpose.

♦

Here are 13 questions to consider when it comes down to fulfilling your life’s purpose:

◊

1. If I had only 72 hours left to live, would I do what I’m doing right now?

2. If not, what would I do with my remaining hours on earth?

◊

3. How often do I do what I loved doing when I was a kid?

◊

4. Do I find a way to express my gifts and talents on a daily basis? If not, why not?

◊

5. Who will speak at my funeral/home-going service?

6. What will they say?

7. What will be stated about me in my obituary?

◊

8. What am I especially good at?

9. Have I honed this gift so that I can offer it in excellence?

◊

10. If people who know me best were asked to describe me using 4 adjectives, what 4 adjectives would they use?

◊

11. If someone wrote a book about my life, what kind of book would they write?

◊

12. On a scale of 1 to 10, with the number 1 representing no fulfillment and number 10 representing overflowing fulfillment, what number would I rate my life currently?

◊

13. When my grandchildren ask what I stood for and who I was, what will my children tell them?

◊

Answering these questions may not be easy or fun, but the alternative, living a life of low fulfillment, is just a slow and painful way to leave the planet.

You were born for greatness, in whatever way greatness is seeking to express through you; which is for you to determine and live.

Your life is important to the tapestry of life on the planet, we can’t do this without you! There is a place especially carved out for you in the cosmos, and if you do not agree and commit to take your rightful place, who will?

As you continue to discover and live your purpose, remember that you have supernatural help. The entire universe lines up behind–and in front of–the soul that chooses to live passionately and powerfully on purpose!

The question is:

Will you design a destiny that shapes global destiny?

Live richly,

VAL

Valerie Love

A Changed Perspective

A coaching client remarked to me that she no longer felt the same level of enthusiasm about her religion and what it taught as she had previously. She said that her worldview is becoming more universal, and that she no longer buys into the idea that any one religion has an exclusive right to God.

During the conversation she discovered that she had transcended religion; a phenomena that occurs when we get a wider worldview and no longer subscribe to the belief that our particular religion is the only road leading to God.

The religion may still hold meaning and significance for us, and we may still enjoy and engage in its rituals, teachings and practices. But something changes. We have an understanding that the religion now serves a different purpose. No longer is it there to give us the rules of how things work. No longer is it there to teach us how to walk and what to think or believe. No longer is it there to give us the commands and decrees of God. No longer is it there to tell us what God wants of us, and how to do it.

A New Focus

Instead, the religion becomes an enjoyable part of our overall spiritual regimen, not the central focus. Instead, we are sustained, guided, nurtured and transformed by our own individual spiritual practice of prayer, meditation, devotion and communing with The Creator in ways that are personally fulfilling and deeply satisfying. In this state, you know what God wants of you, because you hear The Voice for yourself. You feel the move of the Holy Spirit within your being. Your religion is the icing on the proverbial cake, not the cake itself.

It is then that you realize that if you were on a remote island, where no organized religion existed, you would be no farther removed from God (nor would you necessarily be closer to God) than if you were sitting in a Cathedral worshiping during a service with the choir ringing in the background.

God is not to be found exclusively in religion. The religion is to simply remind you of where God is to be found: in your heart. It is there that The Creator has inscribed the divine will for your life. It is there that The Creator has written the holy law and all its precepts.

You are the 67th book of the Bible.

Every soul longs and thirsts for oneness with The Creator, hence, humans created religion. But don’t get it twisted, religion is a nicety, not a necessity.

The Church of No Rules

I often joke with my kids that I want to start The Church of No Rules. No rules, no dogma, no judgment, no bad, no evil. One goal would exist in this church: to come into closer conscious communion with the Divine, as you personally encounter and experience The Creator, and being and doing what you are inspired to be and do as a result of that conscious communion. After all, what God whispers in my ear is not the same as what’s whispered in yours.

The Purpose of Religion

I understand that religion serves a vital purpose. The root word for religion has the meaning to re-link.

Our only problem is that we think we are separate from God. In the religious tradition I was raised in, God sat on a throne high up in heaven and looked down on all the tiny humans on earth. According to that religion, God was way up there, and I was way down here. That thought didn’t–and still doesn’t–engender a whole lot of closeness between me and God. It actually had the opposite effect.

What I’ve since come to understand and experience is that God is right where I am.

There is no separation between me and God, between you and God, and between me and you.

We are all one, you, me, God.

Religion re-links the human (consciously) with her Creator, where the erroneous thought of separation once existed.

A Soul Encounter With God

You go into a church, hear the music, get inspired by the teacher, read the scripture and feel the spirit. While you’re there, you have a soul encounter with God. You have a direct connect experience. You see the very face of God.

Then you leave, and you may be tempted to think that the religion or the church created that experience for you.

It didn’t.

The church or religion or worship service touched something deep within your being and stirred it up. You already had the spirit in you when you walked into the church. You bought the spirit with you when you walked in the front door. You just needed it stirred up, so that you could feel it, re-member it, and begin to know that it’s with you always.

When you step into a place of worship, a place that has been consecrated for communing with God, a place where the energy has been built up during service after service, a place where the intention is set to have a spiritual experience, that you have one.

The same God encounter could happen while sitting on the beach looking at the sunrise, or playing with a purring kitten, or stroking the hand of your lover, or partaking in a divinely delicious meal with divinely delicious people.

God is in all of it.

God is omnipresent, everywhere present at all times.

Once we’re re-linked, and we re-member the Creator as the Life Force that is expressing through us and as us in each moment, we transcend religion. Not because religion is no longer useful, but because it is no longer necessary.

Even still, the rituals, teachings and practices of religious participation can feed the human spirit, and are to be participated in according to your unique, individualized and very personal faith walk.

As we continue to evolve and mature spiritually, we come to know the universality of God, and the omnipresent nature of the Divine.

We know God as existing everywhere, within everyone, and not exclusively in one religion or the other, but in all religions.

We also come to know that each of us has the ability and capability to commune directly with God.

You were born that way. You don’t need a priest or a pastor or a spiritual guru. Indeed, there is a place for the priest or pastor or guru. They each serve as important guides. Sometimes they are there simply to wake us up and get us started on the path to conscious communion with the Higher Power. But make no mistake, the responsibility for your conscious communion and connection with The Creator is yours, and yours alone. You do what you choose with that relationship.

As you reflect on your religious practice (if you have one) ask yourself if it is fulfilling its role to re-link you with The Great Spirit. If so, great. If not, take time to ruminate and meditate on what would re-link you consciously with the indwelling Spirit of the Living God, and begin making it your spiritual practice. If you already feel consciously in communion with God in a rich personally fulfilling relationship, better still. Your work is not complete. Now it’s up to you to help your brother and sister do the same.

Much love and many rich blessings,

Valerie Love

Sarai...she survived all the double cheeseburgers.

When I was pregnant with my daughter Sarai, who was born in 1990, I’d frequently go to McDonalds (more often than I’d like to admit) and order my favorite: 2 Double Cheesburgers. Back then, McDonald’s used to often run a special: 2 Double Cheeseburgers for $1 (I’m dating myself).

Back then, I loved their double cheeseburgers. After a meal at McDonalds, I was ready to take my pregnant belly somewhere and lie down.

It’s no wonder that McDonalds is Sarai’s favorite eatery.

Anyway, you couldn’t pay me enough money now to eat at McDonalds, least of all the double cheeseburgers.

But back then, if someone had asked me to give up eating double cheeseburgers, it wouldn’t have happened. I didn’t even entertain the thought that I would one day give up cheeseburgers, and do so happily.

There’s a divide between elimination and deprivation, and that divide is defined in one word:

Readiness.

There still may be things (foods, activities, etc.) that you may engage in that you know aren’t good for you, but you’re still not ready to give them up. It’s okay. You don’t have to.

Yet there comes a day when you will ask yourself why you are doing something to yourself that is unloving or unkind.

You’ll start to wonder why you’re treating your body the way you are.

And you’ll decide to make a change.

That’s what happened to me. I loved cheeseburgers until I finally became 150% convinced that a cheeseburger from McDonalds was the worst possible food for my arteries, heart and general health, especially in the quantity that I consumed on a weekly basis. (No wonder I was overweight.)

When I was just 30% convinced, I didn’t give up cheeseburgers, though the thought crossed my mind. I kept right on pulling up to the drive thru with my $1.05 in hand.

When I was 75% convinced, I really played with the idea of giving up cheeseburgers, but it still didn’t keep me from the drive thru. I just didn’t go quite as often.

When I became 100% convinced that the cheeseburgers were having a negative effect on me and my health, I made a choice. I decided I’d give up cheeseburgers.

When I became 150% convinced, cheeseburgers actually became repulsive to me.

As of this writing, I haven’t had a McDonald’s cheeseburger in years and wouldn’t even consider it. It makes me frown to even think of all the cheeseburgers I ate.

What I’m describing here is the difference between elimination, which is healthy and necessary, and deprivation, which is unhealthy and leads to excess.

Though elimination and deprivation have the same end effect: something is removed or given up, the process and lasting results are very different.

Elimination is absolutely necessary in every area of life, from cleaning the house to cleaning out the fridge, to cleaning your office, to cleaning out old papers, to cleaning out your mind.

Deprivation never works, and only leads to you returning to what you gave up with a renewed ravenous appetite for whatever you feel deprived of.

For example, let’s say you love chocolate cake (okay, this example is about me), and you’re not yet convinced of the untoward effects of indulging in the treat as often as you do. So you go on eating as much as you like, whenever you want.

Then, you decide to go on a diet. The diet says you cannot eat chocolate cake for the next 30 days. You agree to give up chocolate cake for the period of the diet. One week goes by, and you haven’t had any chocolate cake. Under normal conditions, you would have had 5 slices in that span of time. You go a second week and you’ve missed 10 slices of chocolate cake. By now, you’re feigning for a taste. You start seeing chocolate cakes dancing by in your dreams. Everything starts looking like chocolate cake. You feel more deprived. Week three barely starts and you break the diet, running to the store to pick up the most delectable chocolate cake you can get your paws on. Then you eat half the cake that day, along with half a gallon of Breyers french vanilla ice cream (okay, I’m talking about myself, but the example is still valid…).

That’s what deprivation looks like. Not pretty.

Then there’s elimination, which is a conscious choice.

When we come to love ourselves to a deeper degree, when we want only what’s best for ourselves and when we know we deserve only the best, our behaviors change.

Our thoughts change.

And our results change. Often dramatically.

Elimination says: “I no longer choose to engage in activities that aren’t good for me. I’m choosing to eliminate this, and I’m happier without it.”

And there is no angst about it. You don’t feel like you’re missing something. In fact, you feel proud of your new conscious choice. You reward and celebrate yourself for a healthier new lifestyle that’s in harmony with your highest good.

Elimination is conscious, healthy and necessary. Elimination serves as the pruning shears of life. A beautiful bonsai is carefully pruned by its caretaker, causing it to be shaped into a tree of exquisite beauty.

Take the pruning shears to your life today and eliminate only what you are ready to let go.

Remember, the difference between elimination and deprivation is summed up in one word: readiness.

When you’re ready, you can permanently eliminate anything that isn’t for your highest good.

Until next time,

VAL