One of the most impactful sessions for me was one on Grief, Healing, and Resilience. The discussion included Elizabeth Edwards who lost 16 year old son, Will, 14 years ago and is now fighting her own battle for life, Susan St. James who lost 10 year old son, Teddy, 5 years ago, Maria Shriver, who lost her beloved mother and best friend, then 2 weeks later her uncle Teddy Kennedy, and finally Lisa Niemi, who lost her husband of 34 years, Patrick Swayze, just 2 weeks ago.

Those of us listening, locked hearts with each one of them as they bravely shared their stories of deep loss, grief, and pain. They eloquently conveyed how the pain of losing someone who means so much to you can bring you to your knees, and cause you to wonder how life could possibly go on. Yet each one of them is moving on, finding ways to celebrate their beloveds and keep their memories alive while trying to find comfort and serenity in their loss.

Their journey’s, thus far, have taught them these important lessons: That though it seems like our departed are gone, they’re really not that far away…just in a realm beyond our knowing. That our parting from one another is set only in earth space and time, and there will be a point when we can come back together with those we love. And, thirdly that we think we can imagine what it would be like to know how it feels to have someone we love leave us here as they move on…but those thoughts are a weak spash of water compared to the real tidal wave of grief that consumes you when you first lose someone you love.

The resilience of these women inspired me as their stories humbled me. The most important thing I came away with was a sobering reminder of how important the people in my life are to me and how their presence in my life each day is a precious gift.

I left the conference, and as I walked out into the sunshine, I made a promise to myself to recognize the gift  of those I love, each day.  To be present, to look into their eyes, to laugh with them and share their joy, and to listen to their words but hear their hearts.

Our greatest gifts are living, breathing, and being all around us now…we just need to remember to notice…

Love and Blessings,

Crystal

There were a number of times at the beginning of my trip, during those moments of down-time, that I felt a tug of guilt in my gut that perhaps I should be spending my time being productive, especially with so much on my plate and so much I still want to do.

One morning after scaling some gorgeous green hills, and viewing the fabulous vistas below, I returned from my hike and that nagging voice in my head said “maybe you should have spent some time on your computer this morning, flushing out some work.” Since I teach thought mastery I finally said enough is enough.

I strode down to the empty beach by myself. As I stood there staring into the water I asked the question out loud to the entire Universe… “God, let me see what I’m supposed to see so that I can enjoy this time away and get the most out of it.”

As I stood there for the next few moments, the waves suddenly answered back to me. I was observing them pulling back and away, then suddenly, as if re-gathering all of their energy, they surged forward with tremendous power, crashing onto the beach even further this time than the last.

And God said…”There’s your answer. There is nothing in nature that can keep pushing and surging forward, without sometimes pulling back to gather energy and power.”

Yet we all do this to ourselves, don’t we? No matter how strong we’ve been moving forward, often we get caught up in our own momentum and fool ourselves into thinking “this must not ever stop, I must keep going.” We ignore our natural need to to pull back, pull in, re-group, and re-charge, and suddenly…we’re out of steam. We’ve lost our power and our energy and we can’t figure out how it happened.

I encourage each one of us to pay attention to the rhythms of nature, especially the ones in our own bodies. When we push constantly without pulling back to recharge, we exhaust ourselves and often become ineffective and powerless.

Try being keenly aware of this, even for a week and notice what a difference it makes in your energy, outlook, and attitude. See what happens when you get in your flow. You’ll come back more powerful than ever.

Love and blessings,

Crystal

To survive and to thrive it is essential to have specific things that we can practice that allow us to feel the greatest measure of control, safety, and security possible during trying times.

Here is a list of three simple things to focus on each day which will help shift your thinking and perspective:

First- The Purpose of Life
No one ever said that life was meant to be a cake-walk. Our journey here requires that we learn, grow, and evolve. A quick acknowlegment a time or two each day saying ” I understand life’s journey has ups and downs and all of these experiences can help me grow in some way”. Repeating just this statement will remind you that life isn’t about perfection. When you embrace the good and the bad to see what you can get from both, it relieves a lot of the pressure that gets created from the flawed belief that everything is supposed to be smooth 100% of the time.

Second-Dont Get Stuck in Old Solutions
So many of us have been living our lives a certain way for so long, that the ways we deal with challenges have become predictable and automated. Many of us are so used to looking at a problem one way, we fail to see any solutions. Now is the time to think out of the box. In many cases, the old job, the old company, the old way of doing business is just not going to work anymore. Times have changed and never has the call for fresh, creative thinking been louder. If you’ve given up because you’ve gone ’round and ’round seeing the same old limited scenario to solve your problem, I’m asking you to stop. Sit down with your problem, write it out, and then write down 10 new ways to deal with it that you have never, ever thought of before. No matter how crazy or outrageous they seem, write them down. If you were a highly paid exec. and just lost your job, write down something as seemingly outrageous as baking muffins and delivering them to all of the officebuildings in your city. This kind of brainstorming will get your creative juices pumping, whether you become a muffin-baker or not. 10 solutions…try it now.

Third - Sing, Laugh, Tell More Jokes
People are walking around feeling very serious at the moment. We’re looking down more, smiling less, and not feeling very jovial. Feeling it or not, I’m asking you to deliberately smile at every single person you meet, and ask them how their day is going. I’m asking you to look for things to laugh about even if they don’t seem terribly funny, and I’m asking you to tell at least two jokes a day. When our brain is steeped in fear and concern our creativity is shut down as well. Not only will smiling and laughing stimulate your creative mind, it will just flat-out make you feel better. It might seem a little forced at first, but stick with it enough and pretty soon you won’t want to stop.

Remember… your life is only experienced through you. You are the one who gets to manage what goes in and out which helps create this thing known as your life. Keep your head up and keep smiling…no matter what!

Love and Blessings,

Crystal

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all.
- Dale Carnegie

 One topic that was brought up to me was the question of ,”do you turn your life over to a Higher Power or take responsibility for your life, yourself?” Most 12 step programs reiterate the idea of turing your life over a higher power…that it was your best laid plans that may have gotten you into trouble in the first place. I believe the philosophy of allowing HP to guide you and taking responsibility of your life yourself can work seamlessly together. I believe that Higher Power works through us when we are aligned with our higher selves. That things begin to go awry when we live from our facade-self or our ego-self, rather than our authentic, soul-self which is the true part of us, stripped clean of the stories and manipulations we use as our ego-mask.

In the responsibility chapter I discuss that the only way to reclaim your personal power is to take responsibility for everything that happens in your life, no longer saying “this person or this event is the reason for my lack”. When you claim the life endowed to you by HP or God, take responsibility for everything that happens good, bad, or indifferent….AND you surrender to the constant direction of HP or God, no event, person, or situation outside of you can control you any longer. Regardless of what obstacle or hurdle you must clear, your choices and actions surrounding that event will lead to better results when you are in alignment with HP or God.

Pure Thoughts for Pure Results is meant to be a handbook for living life. I encourage you to read it, make notes, do the exercises and re-read it. Keep it nearby so that you can refer to specific parts when issues come up in your life. Your thought and emotional programming has been established over your lifetime. Gift yourself with the time to carefully examine what’s not working and to understand the steps that will help you create the life you really want to be living. You deserve it.

Love and Blessings,

Crystal

Let’s support each other through these particularly challenging times and keep returning to the idea that there is always something better…a better solution, a new idea, even a new position that might serve us better in making positive changes in our own lives and in the world we live in. Each and every one of us has a contribution to make no matter how big or small.

Let’s join our hearts and voices to start to create a difference now.

Love and Blessings to All,

Crystal