Last week I spoke about honesty, and to be honest with you, it took me a while to finally sit down and write about this week’s topic: Compassion. I even considered not writing about it at all. But at the same time I was aware that I had to do it. There was something there, a message, that had to be explored and shared with others.

I have been thinking a lot about it all week long. I have asked myself, “What does compassion really mean?” and, “Have I felt compassion in my life for something or someone?” I searched for the meaning of compassion, reading numerous articles on the topic, and I found them very interesting and insightful. I have also heard a lot about it throughout my life. But I honestly never understood its meaning fully – until now. And I want to share with you my personal experience around Compassion.

I consider myself to be a very sensitive being. I have noticed that when I see a child in need, a person with physical disabilities, an elderly person requiring some assistance, a woman that has been physically abused, or a poor man working hard to feed his family, a subtle feeling arises in my heart – a feeling of kindness. So while I was wondering if I have felt compassion in my life, a clear “yes” came to my mind.

But there was something within me that did not feel completely satisfied. I questioned myself over and over…. “Was that feeling real? Was that feeling really what we call Compassion? Why did that feeling come only with people who were ‘in need’?”

This last question led me to think about the feeling of compassion in terms of all the people around me: people that I live with, people I interact with on a daily basis (for example my co-workers, my friends, my siblings, etc.), and even people that I come across randomly (at the super market, the dry cleaners, etc.).  Do I feel compassion for them as well as for people “in need”?

And by “Compassion” I don’t mean feeling sorry for someone. What I mean is a feeling of kindness, of respect, of being non-judgmental, and of understanding that each one of us is different; we all come from different backgrounds, with different baggage, and we all have a different time and pace to become aware and enlightened. We are not the same, and that doesn’t mean that we are wrong or that we are not on the right path!

This is exactly what was not letting me feel satisfied with my answer. And it has been particularly difficult for me to understand – to really get it. But while I meditated on the topic of Compassion this past week, something shifted within me. I noticed that I started to be a bit more open to other people’s timing and pace. I noticed that I have been more respectful about their opinions. I even caught myself, while I was waiting in line, sending love to the people around me and seeing the beauty in them instead of judging them, for whatever reason….

I personally believe this is the Real Compassion that we all need to practice more often. We are all connected; we all need each other to grow and expand and find meaning in Life.

So let’s practice this week being more compassionate with the people around us. Practice being more open and respectful with their opinions. Try to really listen to them. Try to see their beauty within. And try to find at least one lesson that you could learn from those who challenge you the most… I promise that by doing this you will understand them better and will feel more compassion for them.

With Love and Compassion,

Gaby

When I think about honesty I think about these principles: truth, integrity, authenticity, congruency, and alignment. Honesty is when our thoughts, our feelings, our words, and our actions are in alignment with what is true for each one of us.

I have had two types of experiences around honesty, one that brings me into alignment and the other that takes me out of alignment. I have noticed that when I think about something that I want to do, when I feel it is the right thing for me and I go for it, even when other people might disagree with me, I get a feeling of complete satisfaction, of happiness; I really feel proud of myself, even when sometimes I don’t get the result that I was looking for. On the other hand, I also have experienced that even though when I think about doing something and I really feel that is the right thing for me, I end up doing the opposite. In this example my action was not in alignment with my thoughts and feelings. And by doing this, the feeling that I get is one of complete dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and disappointment.

I have asked myself several times, “how does this happen?” What I have noticed and learned is that, for me, this happens for two reasons: The first reason is that I rushed to make the decision. I didn’t take the time to really get centered, to make the connection within myself to be able to make the right choice, the right decision for me. So what happened was that I was out of balance and, therefore, ended up doing something I honestly didn’t want to do. The second reason is that sometimes I have unconsciously sought other people’s approval. The need to be liked, to be loved, or to fit in a certain circle was stronger than what I wanted to do and/or say.

A few months ago, I had an important decision to make in my life and I was having a difficult time with it. Through the process of introspection, I realized that I was not being honest with myself. Internally, there was an unconscious battle between what I felt was right and best for me and the fear of what other people might think or say about me. When I became aware of this, I was completely shocked by how strong the need of approval was leaning me toward a decision that I didn’t want to make! I became very aware of the feeling of fear I was experiencing, and recognized that it was going to require a huge amount of courage to stand up for myself and to speak my truth. I realized that I had a choice that I didn’t have before: the choice to change that harmful pattern. This new awareness allowed me to make a new decision, a conscious decision – one which, in turn, led me to take a new action. And that’s exactly what I did!  And what was the result? The end result was the creation of a wonderful feeling and a constructive (and beautiful) new habit!

By being honest with myself I could feel a deep sense of joy, of peace, confidence, and power that I never ever experienced before. I felt truly authentic. A subtle and internal feeling shifted within and it will remain with me forever.

As Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith stated on his book Spiritual Liberation, “Each of us is in reality training. The length of time it takes for us to wake up to the Real is our own responsibility.”

Our personal development is a life-long process, but you can take responsibility and start it right now. Today, I invite you to meditate on the core value of Honesty. I invite you to get Real and ask yourself these questions: What does Honesty mean to me? How honest am I being with myself? Am I looking for other people’s approval on my day-to-day decisions? Do I have the courage to stand up for my self and speak my truth?

I hope these questions help you start your process, your awakening process, as much as they have helped me on mine!

“Our lives improve only when we take chances – and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves” ~ Walter Anderson

With Love and Light,

Gaby

What does freedom mean? What does it mean to be free? I don’t think I am the first person to think about these questions. Each one of us has a different opinion, idea, or definition about freedom. But this time I’m going to share with you what freedom means for me.

Freedom is a birth-right that we, as human beings, have. It is inherent in our nature and nothing and no one can take it away from us. We think we are free just because we can move freely; we can go anywhere we want; we can do what we want; we can wear, say, and think anything we want; or because we don’t live in the middle of a crisis, a war, etc.  But what about the war that goes on inside of us, in our minds, with our own thoughts, with our feelings and emotions? Do we feel really free when the negative thoughts, the self-sabotage thoughts, the negative feelings like anger, fear, sadness, and worry take over and won’t allow us to move forward because we think they are so much stronger than us? Do we feel really free when the self-created stories that go around in our heads don’t let us trust in ourselves, go for what we want, think BIG, or have dreams simply because we don’t believe in ourselves enough?

Real freedom lies within us. As Thucydides, an Ancient Greek historian quoted, “The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.” And what is courage but the quality of spirit that enables a person to face difficulty without fear and to use the heart as its source.

When we are courageous, when we make that connection with what our heart wants and make the decision to do it, and go for it, we are sending a message to the Universe that we trust, believe, and love ourselves more than anything else and it is in that precise moment when real freedom is born. And when we feel free to do, say, think, and feel anything we want from that inner space, true happiness is ready to blossom.

You may be wondering, “yes I want to be courageous, I want to be free and experience true happiness, but how or where do I start?” Here is my suggestion: start on the small every-day decisions. All of us are faced with both small and big decisions throughout our days, and throughout our lives. But I believe that starting with the smaller ones truly prepares us for the big ones. Practice by making quick decisions. Focus your decision on what makes you FEEL good. Most of the time whatever pops into our minds first is really what we want, what we like. But so often we get distracted with our thoughts question if that first idea is really, really what we want.

So start there. When you go shopping, when you have to decide what to eat, be aware of the first thing that pops into your mind – and stick with it. Eventually, you won’t hesitate anymore, it will become natural. By doing this you are laying the foundation of courage. And when the time comes for you to make a big decision, you will be prepared and ready to trust in yourself and to stand in your power, confident that your decision is the right one for you and that it will set you free. We have the power to be free, we have the power to be happy.

Trust me when I say it. I have done it and I have experienced it. And if I can do it, you CAN DO IT!

The beginning of the New Year is the best reason we could find to celebrate. A new year, a new beginning, a new opportunity to grow and expand, a new door to open, a new possibility to bring what we really want to our life, a new project, a new goal, a new idea to start and get to completion.

We all can find many many reasons to celebrate every single day, it all depends on us. We all have the capacity to see the circumstances in our life as opportunities. We just have to be open to see them.

Every morning is a new opportunity to celebrate. The celebration of Life! What a blessing to be alive. What a blessing to be healthy, to be able to breathe, to see, to hear, to feel, to move freely. How many times we take all these capacities for granted? This year is a new opportunity for you to start to be grateful. Make that resolution now, start from there, just by being grateful… that’s the smallest but most important step toward real Happiness.

Each one of us, every day is confronted with situations, some of them positive, some of them negative. The positive ones are always easy to accept and welcome. The challenge is when we are faced with negative or hard situations on areas of our lives and we still try and do our best to get the most out of them. It is through them when we can challenge ourselves, our own minds, our own thought patterns to try something different. We can start by trying to change the negative thought for a positive one, to change a complaint for an positive affirmation and a smile, to release our negative energy through conscious breathing. All these are little but extraordinary ways than can help us see, even in the challenging situations, an opportunity to celebrate. They are not easy, but they are worth the try!

Perhaps you have a new project to accomplish, a new idea to develop, a new goal to reach. All these are great opportunities to celebrate, celebrate our inner capacities that were given to us from birth. I believe that we all are spiritual beings living a human experience. We all have the abilities, the capacities within ourselves to do, accomplish, reach anything we want. All we have to do first is to have the courage to believe it, believe in ourselves, in our own strengths. Once we believe it, anything is possible. You can expect miracles!

Do you have a family, a partner or significant other, or maybe just friends that show you their love and appreciation in you life? What a great reason to celebrate! The celebration of Love! What a blessing to have love and support, to know even with your eyes closed that they are there for you anytime you need, when you feel happy, or maybe sad, when you go thru the ups and downs of life, when you just want to be listened, or maybe when you just want to be…. Take some time this year to write some thank you notes to them, and let them know how important they are for you, the role they play in you life, the qualities you admire in them. This simple but powerful act could be a life changing for some of them… you never know!

Take the risk today and make this year a year of change, a year opportunities, a year of Celebration!