I Finally Got It!

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Mar
8

I finally got it and I am so grateful! It will be seven weeks since I have been in paradise and it has been quite a ride! I have been sharing with you the struggles as well as the joys of being in Maui. I am happy to report, not only am I living in Paradise but I have found Paradise inside of me.

I had a major shift in my consciousness while in prayer this week. Deep within my soul, I knew the reason I was here was to receive God’s love. It seemed so simple and yet profound. I said, “God, do you mean I don’t have to do anything?” “Yes, I want you to experience my unconditional love without having to do anything. How will you be able to receive the love from your soul mate that I have planned for you if you are unable to experience my love completely and unconditionally?” Wow, I knew God was speaking to my heart. It’s been over two weeks since I received this message and I feel an incredible freedom to enjoy the present moment, to be in the flow of the Spirit and to trust each moment and experience to unfold perfectly. I am invited to play in God’s playground and enjoy every moment. This is a gift from God with no strings attached. I don’t have to do anything to earn it.

My daily intention is to stay peaceful, to love and to serve. Last Sunday my phone died suddenly. I went to the Verizon store and they were able to restore it to it’s original state, even though it meant losing all of my phone numbers, pictures and music. I felt grateful that it was restored and I went about my merry way of putting in the telephone numbers again (the ones that I had.) I was determined to stay peaceful, accept “what is” and not complain. Three days later the same thing happened – my phone died! I brought the phone back to the Verizon store, but unfortunately they weren’t able to restore it this time. I needed a new phone and it had to be shipped to me from the company. They promised they would FedEx it overnight. I still haven’t received it, but I’m still peaceful, which is a miracle and God’s Grace! I can’t wait to get my phone back and catch up with family and friends.

My friend Pat said, “Hmm…Pat Hastings is not connected to the world” when my phone died. I immediately thought to myself, “Yes, I am disconnected from the world but I am not disconnected from God” – which is the most important thing to me.

I took my daily walk to the Ritz this morning and felt totally connected to the God within. I remembered I am ONE with the Power and Source of my being and my life. As I felt the wind blowing through my hair, I raised my hands to the heavens and said, “Take me as high as you want me to go, God.” I felt peaceful, grateful, joyful, happy and loved. I realized that I was totally fine with being alone and in fact truly enjoying my own company. There was a time when I would never go to a restaurant alone because I worried people would think I didn’t have any friends. Boy, have I come a long way!!!!!

I am leaving for the Big Island on March 17th for two weeks to visit my friend Eileen from Rhone Island. While there, I will be leading a two hour workshop called “Vision is having Faith in Your Dreams” at the Aloha Center For Spiritual Living. I am very excited about this opportunity to share my faith story of transformation and how I manifested this trip to Maui for six months. As I reflected on my journey since November, 2010 (when I was first came to Maui for two weeks, in September 2011 for a month and now for six months) I realized how much “inner work” I had to do to change my thinking and then to step out in faith and actually move here. I had to be willing to let go of fear, scarcity thinking and not feeling deserving. To think, I am living in Maui when all I had was a social security check, a small pension and a whole lot of faith is truly amazing, even to me.

When you follow your heart, your dream, your vision and you say YES, the Universe takes over and makes a path for you. Never give up hope because it often takes time and perseverance for manifestation and lessons need to be learned. Remember, you are loved and don’t have to do anything to earn that love. There is always more life to live if you have the courage to step out and receive all that God has planned for you. You are worth it and you deserve it. You only have one life to live so live it to the fullest. I am living my dream and so can you. Faith is the answer: Faith in God and faith in yourself.

I have heard from many of you that my newsletters inspire and encourage you. I would love to hear about your journey and how you are living your faith and moving forward.

Aloha

Some affirmations you may enjoy:

I am a magnet for love that draws more of itself to me. I am a mirror that reflects God’s love into the world.

“Happiness comes from quiet contentment, an inner sense of certainty which cannot be shaken. The mind must reach a place where it no longer remembers past anxieties or looks into the future with uncertainty.” Ernest Holmes

THE POWER OF DAILY GRATITUDE

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Dec
10

Daily gratitude is like taking your daily vitamins. When you forget to take your vitamins, you may not feel it immediately, but after awhile you may notice you are not feeling yourself. You then remember your commitment to take your daily vitamins because you want to feel good and be healthy. It’s the same thing with gratitude.

When you forget to be grateful or choose not to be grateful, you don’t feel good. Simple, but not always easy because we often focus on what’s missing in our lives and then feel depressed, self pity, sad and a sense of lack and scarcity invades our soul. Gratitude can totally turn around moments of fear or distress by allowing us to shift our attention from what isn’t working to what is.

When you are grateful and accept everything that is happening in your life, you will experience inner peace and freedom. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is essential for anyone on the spiritual path. The spiritual practice of gratitude has been called a state of mind and a way of life. In every situation, try to find something to be grateful for, and when you find it, your gaze shifts and you are lifted up. Looking for the good allows you to see and appreciate the gifts tucked away in the challenges you face in life school.

I consider myself to be positive and a grateful person. I can usually find the good in what’s happening around me. Maybe not at the moment, but after some reflection and prayer, I am able to accept “what is.” I may not like it, but I accept and trust that it is for my good and part of the bigger plan for my life. I take responsibility for myself and free myself from the self-imposed prison I put myself in by focusing on what’s missing and what I perceive as not good in my life.

But every once in awhile, I relapse, forget what I know to be true and allow the circumstances of my life to get me off track. I feel lost, overwhelmed and confused. It is precisely at these times that I need to put on the armor of gratitude to change the energy around and within me. It is the one tool that guarantees my freedom and peace. I literally force myself to be grateful, especially when that’s the last thing I want to do. I just may want to wallow in my self pity a little longer, but I know that doesn’t work. So, I write in my journal everything I’m grateful for until I cannot think of another thing to write down. It is amazing how the energy shifts. I keep repeating it until I feel the gratitude in my heart return.

If you are really struggling with something in your life and find it hard to be grateful, it’s time to trust. Gratitude and trust go hand and hand. What does it mean to trust? For me, it means trusting that regardless of how things may look like on the outside, that I am safe and in God’s care. It means trusting in a power greater than myself and believing that there is higher plan for my life which is good. I may not know what’s ahead, and that can make it difficult to let go and surrender control of how I think my life should look.

Are you doing the best you can? Are you showing up for life ready to share your gifts and talents? Maybe things are still not going the way you want them to go. It may be a marriage that isn’t working, lack of finances, a job that you hate, grieving the loss of a loved one or being unemployed. It is only in these difficult times of darkness and not knowing what’s going on that we learn to trust and our faith muscles grow stronger. We do not grow on the mountaintop. Mountain top experiences come from being in the darkness and not giving up.

We often give up right before the miracle because of fear. We say we trust but when the s…. hits the fan we often go into fear mode, and it can happen almost automatically without consciously realizing it. Fear can cripple you and make you want to give up and run away. It is in precisely these times that you are given the opportunity to trust in a loving God for your strength and sustenance. You learn that God is all there is and God can be trusted.

Gratitude is a gift you give yourself and it’s free for the taking. Take a daily dose of gratitude, trust in a Power greater than yourself and your life will change.