One Woman's Wisdom

Showing Up

Colleen Russell — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 03:17:11 +0000

Eighty percent of success is showing up.Woody Allen

Okay, I have to say I’m a little embarrassed because I haven’t been very good about showing up to my blog. You can bet that showing up and keeping consistency over the next year are top priorities for my New Year. They are fundamental to success. This year I’m plugging my blog into my calendar so it becomes part of my to do list. Sometimes it sucks to be human.

Surrender

Colleen Russell — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:06:12 +0000

Surrender has never been my favorite word. I always thought it had only one meaning, which was to lose and be defeated. There is also a spiritual meaning to the word. To surrender is to accept that there is a waxing and waning rhythm to events and to trust that good things can happen without needing to control them. -Peter Block Stewardship

Sometimes I find it difficult to be human and to accept the ebb and flow of life. I want things to happen now. I think I need to control life or something terrible is going to happen. Why can’t I just let go and surrender? It would be so much easier. Sometimes being human is just plain hard. It’s not all in our control and the sooner we accept that the sooner we get to move on.

Surrender

Colleen Russell — Wed, 05 May 2010 23:50:06 +0000

Surrender has never been by favorite word. I always thought it had only one meaning, which was to lose and be defeated. Thee is also a spiritual meaning to the word. To surrender is to accept that there is a waxing and waning rhythm to events and to trust that good things can happen without our needing to control them.-Peter Block Stewardship

It is becoming clearer and clearer to me that I cannot use my will power to create this time. I must learn to open, to wait, and to trust. I am learning to live from the feminine principle the second half of life. I am open to receive and I will continue to open. Thank you Great Spirit.

Awe

Colleen Russell — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:36:32 +0000

Awe is the sense of encounter with some presence larger than ourselves, mysterious, frightening and wonderful, numinous, sacred. We cannot contain it.-Shierry Weber Nicholsen The Love Of Nature and the End of the World.

Spring has been unfolding for the last two weeks right before my very eyes. Someone said it has been like watching it unfold through a time lapse camera. Today I saw a gladiola tree and a flowering cherry tree just beginning to blossom in front of a white church. This sight was awesome.
Spring fills me with so many gifts. I love the smells and the sights. Today take time to look and sense whatever is around you. It might fill you with a sense of awe too.

Music

Colleen Russell — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 05:16:08 +0000

…through musical sounds we can waken what is dormant, through sweet harmonies calm what is turbulent, and through the blending of various elements quell the discord and temper the different parts of the soul.-Marsilio Ficino & Thomas Moore The Planets Within

Today I’ve been listening to Liberation’s Door by Snatam Kaur. It is music that fills my soul and makes me happy. I love trying to sing along with her and I find myself dancing the feelings that arise.

Love

Colleen Russell — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:32:31 +0000

All negativity is a cry for more love…Love people for who they are, not for who you want them to be.-Sanaya Roman Spiritual Growth

Imagine how the world might change if we lived by this one principle alone.

Affirmations

Colleen Russell — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:30:31 +0000

Celebrate your humanness. Celebrate your craziness. Celebrate your inadequacies. Celebrate you loneliness. But celebrate you.-Leo Buscaglia, Living, Loving, and Learning

Being human means we live in a world of opposites. At times we will be happy and other times sad. It is part of life. Peace comes when we choose to embrace all of life without asking it to be other than it is. Today celebrate your humanness. Celebrate you.

Dance

Colleen Russell — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 17:59:39 +0000

There is only the dance.-T.S. Eliot

This morning I went to Nia. It was fun to dance. I’m not as young as I used to be, but I still like to move to music. Nia lets me feel that I can dance my prayers while still getting my exercise. I let the divine dance through me.

Awaken

Colleen Russell — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:55:19 +0000

Man may be asleep, but he must wake in the right way. One necessity is that when he is awake, he will also have the means to profit by his wakefulness. – Idries Shah

Wakefulness to me means being conscious of what we are doing and the choices we are making. Most of us move through life half asleep, doing what we do because of ingrained habits. To be awake means to be aware. When we are aware, most likely we are also awake spiritually. It will be nice when the world starts to value awareness and creativity in its fullest including monetarily.

Prayer

Colleen Russell — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 03:00:36 +0000

To pray does not mean to listen to oneself speaking. Prayer involves becoming silent and being silent and waiting until God is heard. -Soren Kierkegaard

There are times when I don’t know quite where to turn. I need time to find my feet on the ground. I need time to align myself to my own inner compass. It is during these times that I pray and listen.