by Paula Flint

It has been scientifically proven that the heart always knows and it knows long before our brains know. “Many people do not understand that life, with its burdens, is a treasure,” says Harold Klemp, author of A Modern Prophet Answers Your Key Questions about Life. “The weight of disappointment makes us close our eyes to the gift of being in the world to learn about the loving heart.” I am learning to move beyond disappointment that makes me close my eyes to the gift of the loving heart. 

It is the smallest of experiences that lead us to a grander version of ourselves. My favorite quote is by Neale Donald Walsch in his series of books called Conversations with God. “Become the grandest version of the greatest vision ever you held about who you are.” 

Many years ago I met a woman with whom I felt an instant connection. We met for the briefest of moments only that one time. Then I ran into her again about a year ago at a local farmers market. I remember I was having a very heavy-in-the-heart day. We instantly reconnected and hugged and talked and hugged some more. She lightened my heart tremendously. Then about a month ago, she called me out of the blue and said, “I offer a yearly weekend retreat at La Paix, Lavender Farm near Weston, West Virginia. Would you come and give a talk on Saturday and Sunday? Your topic would be ‘We Are All One.’” I was thrilled and amazed and immediately told her yes. 

She did not know that I had coauthored the book F.A.I.T.H.  – Finding Answers in the Heart which is set to debut the same weekend as the retreat. We are all indeed connected in the heart. Running into her those two times implanted my image in her heart so she would think to ask me to speak. And what better topic? It goes perfectly with Finding Answers in the Heart. Add to that the fact that I have been researching consciousness, quantum physics, love, philosophy, psychology, religion, and spirituality all my life and you see that there are no such things as coincidences. Everything and everyone is connected in the heart!

The way you respond to people today profoundly affects your future. Are you aware of what you are creating or are you simply sleepwalking through life? An empowered consciousness is expressed through mindfulness, by choosing to be present in any given moment. I was authentically present with this woman and she was authentically present with me. That divine presence allowed my image to come to her mind at just the right time in order to offer me the opportunity to discuss the book F.A.I.T.H. with a large group of like-minded people.

Could cultivating a loving heart create a more fulfilling life? Could an open heart serve to open your eyes to the gifts that are always swirling around you? Yes! Absolutely beyond a shadow of a doubt! 

What will you choose to see today?



Photograph by greyerbaby, morguefile.com
 

Paula Flint is a member of the ECK Clergy and a Life Coach with a Masters in
Counseling Psychology. She draws upon 60 years of research strengthened by
personal experiences to assist clients in healing their mental, emotional and
spiritual bodies. Paula is coauthor of the forthcoming book F.A.I.T.H.  - Finding
Answers in the Heart. She is also working on her second book about how life
itself can be used as our Life Coach. Visit Paula’s website at Lifecoach147.com.

by Nanette Littlestone

I stepped out of the grocery store and watched a sporty black car zip down the parking aisle the wrong way. I could feel my neck tense in anger and irritation. The nerve of that car. What is wrong with the driver?

Then the black car stopped, paused, and backed into the parking space. My irritation rose. 

I continued to my car, stashed my groceries, and headed home, all the while thinking about the situation. Why was I so angry? 

The answer that popped into my head: The driver broke the rules.

When I moved from Portland, Oregon to Atlanta in 2002, I signed up with a critique group. I wanted to be a serious writer, a great writer, and I was nervous. I’d never read my work in front of anyone. When my turn came, I made my way through my allotted five pages and waited in silence for the critique to start. One by one the writers remarked on my writing, some positive comments mixed with some negative. All I heard was the negative and when my turn ended and the next writer started to read, I sat there in shock. Numb. I told myself I’m not coming back. No way. And I tuned out everything from that point.

The editor in the group had the most impact on my mental state. She told me it’s wrong to start a sentence with a pronoun (he or she). It’s wrong to start a sentence with a conjunction (but, and, or). Head hopping (writing in the omniscient voice) was wrong. And there were other errors. 

The critique group met every two weeks and it took me the entire two weeks to process the fact that people had told me there was something wrong with my writing. I’d thought I was a master artist. I’d thought my writing was perfect. Apparently not. What made me go back to the group was the desire to learn, to master the art of writing, to perfect my style. 

Several months later I was browsing titles in a bookstore and thinking about that editor’s criticism. I picked up a book at random and opened to the first page. Every paragraph on the page began with the word "And.” This went on for several pages. I smiled, then I chuckled, then I laughed out loud and thought about the editor. She had an opinion, and she might be right, according to the rules. But the author whose book I held didn’t care. He wrote the way he wanted to. He broke the rules. 

Writing, for me, is like playing a game. How can I arrange the words today, this moment? How can I break the rules? Does the writing flow better when I do that? Or would it be better to play it safe?

I break the rules in writing because I savor my freedom of expression. I don’t want to be confined by someone else’s style. It helps me to say what I need to say in my own voice, my own language. 

Do you need to speak up about something? Or make a stand? Would breaking the rules help you do that or hold you back? Where do you break the rules, and why?