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open your heart

Changing the World

by Brooke Leigh Sheldon on January 31, 2010

You want to get involved in helping to make the world a better place. You see so many places that need your help.  But there are 6.8 billion people on the planet.  You see so many things that need to be done.  There are so many demands on your time, your attention, your energy, your resources.  What can you, as one individual do that will make any impact on this enormous world?

Here’s how you change the world, one moment at a time, one person at a time.

Music credit: admiralbob77 Baby Bird www.ccmixter.com



Population counter is updated hourly

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Where do you find your inspiration? Who are your heroes? Can you count yourself a hero in your own life?

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Have you ever found yourself in love with someone who does not love you?

This is a painful place to ponder, for no matter how many people surround you in your life, on this wounded wayfare you are forced to wander alone.

Rejection.
Loss.
Hurt.
Pain.

And these rips and tears in the private papers holding the ruminative stanzas that define our inner self can leave us scattered and crumpled.

Love is a mystery.
Love is perhaps, the greatest mystery.
When love pours into us, we brim until we overflow with its airy elating lightness.
When love infuses our vision, the colors of our world reflect a surreal bright trueness.
Love is the story woven into our lives and the definer of our world.

Moreover, all we can do with this glorious mystery is rejoice when it enters our lives, even if it disappoints us.
It is a gift given to us, in whatever form it comes to be ours.
Whether offered by us to another or offered to us from another.
Whether given to us or felt from within us.

For we can never, never forget, love is a gift and gifts are to be given.
So give. Give. Give. Give. Love.
And….receive, receive, receive…..LOVE.

Give it to the person who brought it to you, if only as an offer of ever kindness in your heart.
Now, give it to all the others who can benefit from your gift.
Your love is a gift for the world; please do not keep it to yourself.

Love does not have one purpose in you, or one person.
So reflect, be thankful and celebrate yourself. For you possess the warm heart and openness of spirit to embrace the love that moves within you.
You feel. You feel deeply. This is magnificent. You are magnificent.
Embrace the feelings of high that come with understanding that love came to live in you.
Hold this close in your heart and remember…..you do not choose love. It chooses you.

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It seems popular right now to write songs asking you to consider, if today were your last day, what would you do with it?
This moment is ALWAYS the first moment that begins the rest of the your life. If this moment is both the first moment of the rest of your life and the beginning of the last day of your life, how is your perspective on your life changed?
What will you do differently?
How will you love differently?
How will you treat the people in your life differently?

Starting today…

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My friend’s birthday was Sunday. I saw a note about it on Facebook.

I kept thinking about sending her a birthday message. I probably reminded myself 7 or 8 times in the week. But, truth be told, I still hadn’t by the time the day came.

When the day was upon me, I came up with an alternate plan. I’d stop by the coffee house she owns and wish her the happiest of returns on, what was now to be, the anniversary of her birth.

Candies Coffee & Company, 254 Town Center West, Santa Maria, CA

Candie's Coffee & Company, 245 Town Center West, Santa Maria, CA

……oops! The day went by and I hadn’t gotten there. Next plan: I, the avid texting fiend, would dash off to her a happy-go-lucky little text ditty of “Happy Birthday”. But, best laid plans….and all that….suddenly my eyes flew open as I was laying in bed that night when I realized it was not only too late to text or call but that it was already, technically, the early morning hours signaling the day after her birthday.

Still, as the days went by, I knew I wanted to find a time and way to let her know she’d been in my thoughts.

Yesterday, Thursday was the first time I’d seen her since her birthday.
I stopped at the coffeehouse, with my partner, so could grab a quick beverage of pleasure.

As expected, there was my sweet friend, sparkling and bright-eyed, greeting her customers with her sunny charm and genuine warmth.

Her smile always lights both her shop and her soul, and when suddenly her laughter kicks the air, well, you can’t help but find yourself captured and chuckling right along.

On this day, my partner and I grabbed our coffees, chatted for a few minutes with my friend and her fiancé and then we said our jovial goodbyes and left.

Climb into the car. Buckle the seatbelt. Start the car. Raring to go. Suddenly it hits me!!! Remember, I’d missed the birthday….and now I’d almost missed this opportunity!!!

Candace and Joe, Purveyors of Fine Coffee

Candice and Joe, Purveyors of Fine Coffee

I asked my partner if she’d run back in with me and sing “Happy Birthday” to our friend. She was ALL for it.

So,….in we ran.
Quickly we posed.
Harmonizingly we sang.

And, as my sweet friend’s gentle eyes filled with tears I thought to myself, maybe it was okay my loving wishes for the happiness of her birth came a little bit later than I had planned.

For in her beautiful brown eyes I saw the reminder of a lesson I want to never take for granted:

Sometimes the offerings we least expect offer us our deepest joy.

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A Child’s Innocence

October 26, 2009

A child is born a soft, beautiful innocent.
Leaving forever their sleep of silence in the sensuous rhythms of the Sea of Nine, they will propel themselves ever forward. They look to us for safety.
A child is born a moving, energetic force.
Touching the air for the first time, their tender bodies shudder with bursting newness. They [...]

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Reach out

October 22, 2009

Reaching out when life is hurting can be the most frightening thought we can consider.
We fear rejection.
We fear disappointment.
We fear silence.
But, when pain engulfs our life, the smoke and flames can blind us to the exit labeled SOLUTION.
Times such as these we need the eyes, heart, mind, and strong arms of those who can see [...]

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57 Cents

September 21, 2009

57 Cents
September 21, 2009
What do you have to give? Are you holding back because you think you can’t do enough?

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Are you LISTENING ????

August 18, 2009

Are you LISTENING ????
August 18, 2009

Most moments are about a point of view. The person sharing the moment is as important as we are. We cannot control another’s point of view, but we can choose to be open, to listen, to hear, to learn.

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Fear: Beat it at its own game …

August 14, 2009

Brave.
Courageous.
Great words.
I like ‘em.
Don’t’ you?
But, let’s be honest with each other. We only understand what they are if we acknowledge that we have stared into the flash-flame scarlet-hot eyes of – Fear.
I know Fear. I’d introduce you, but I’m sure you two have met before.
Now Fear and I, we have spent way too many hours [...]

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