The Mixed Bag of Car Repairs

    As I draft this, I'm sitting at the car repair shop, getting an oil change in preparation for a big road trip. Focus as I did on "just an oil change," alas, such is not to be.
     Already I've been taken twice to my car to see things that must be fixed, both relatively minor. However, it was pointed out, fixing those things could point out further problems. And, of course, the threat of a breakdown "in the middle of nowhere" compels me to say, "OK, fix it." All the while, "$$$$$$$" are throbbing around my brain.
     I'm so grateful for my car ("my baby") and how wonderful and reliable it has been. This coming Thursday marks 10 years owning it. And I want to keep it for several more years.
     Why do I have such a rough time with a car repair bill? The only thing I can think of, really, is that we won't have enough money to pay for it, and that's silly.
     So here I go, making a "re-frame it" list:

• My car is my dream car, and I want to keep it healthy and happy, thus keeping me safe and secure.
• My car gives me priceless freedom and independence, but only if it is running well.
• I spend plenty of money maintaining ME. Why wouldn't I do that for my car, on which I am very dependent?
• Regular maintenance buys peace of mind.
• A repair bill is another opportunity for Spirit to provide us with the bounty to continue living well.

     I know I'll have achieved a major spiritual breakthrough when a car repair bill no longer causes me an internal gasp of distress. The final report, $676, and one of the problems I took it in for reappeared on the way home. Insert "gasp of distress" here.
     Knowing it will all work out just fine,
                  Leta

Freedom and Opportunity

     Words from Kathy Juline: "Despite an innate aversion to feeling hemmed in or constrained in any way, many of us place limits and boundaries on our life experience. We would not think of erecting an impenetrable barrier around our residence or setting a limit on how many miles away from home we allow ourselves to go, and we would likely make every effort to remove such restrictions if anyone tried to impose them on us. Yet instead of choosing to embrace the freedom that is our Divine nature, we often let ourselves stay within the confines of habits, routines, old hurts and conditioned behaviors. We remain trapped in ancient wounds."
     Here's an exciting opportunity to break free and fully embrace your Divine nature: my BE in Love with Your Life Program, running August thru October, 2014. Details are on my website, click here. Please check it out... it is guaranteed to raise your life to a whole new level of joy and inspiration!
      Blessings,
            Leta

More thoughts on fear

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." Marie Curie

     I'm a yoga teacher. I'm dismayed, repeatedly, when someone says they were afraid to come to their first yoga class. So I'm contemplating that fear...
     Fear of the unknown. There are folks here, just like you, practicing and learning. We don't bite, criticize, or twist up like pretzels.
     Fear of not knowing how. We're all learning, in ALL areas of life. No one, especially me, your instructor, expects you to be great the first time. We do ourselves a huge disservice by letting fear of being a beginner stop us. Also, I have small classes and I'm trained to assist, even those who have practiced a long time.
     Fear of embarrassment. A great thing about yoga is that there's no competition and no comparison, and that's a great practice to take off the mat into the world as well.
     Fear you won't like it. OK, no problem. One class does not a life-long commitment make. At least you tried. Though I would suggest you try more than one teacher and more than one style of class!
     All the regular students in my classes will tell you how glad they are that they've stuck with it, and how a yoga practice has enhanced their well-being. Overcoming the fear was SO worth it!
     You may note that the few fears I've listed here can hold us back from a lot more joy in life than just a yoga practice. What's holding you back?
     BE bold!
         Leta

Trying New Things

     I just returned from a long weekend on Table Rock Lake with great friends. I LOVE being near and IN the water. I love to swim. It doesn't even matter if the water temperature is on the chilly side.
     I had the chance for the first time to go out in a kayak. I'm not fond of canoeing, and I've heard scary tales of folks getting stuck in an overturned kayak and drowning. But I did it anyway. It was heaven! Peaceful, easy, an awesome way to hang out in nature and in the water.
     At the opposite end of the spectrum, I had the chance to drive a jetski. Everything about me is built for endurance, not speed, so the experience was, at the same time, terrifying and exhilarating. My friend on the other jetski was pointing out sites to me, but all I could see was her wake and trying to stay in it so my jetski wouldn't bounce on waves. Despite hanging on for dear life, I loved this adventure, too. I'm proud to say that I got the thing up to 30 mph.
     My fears in both instances were totally goofy. Really, the worst that could have happened is that I had fallen in the water.
     Maybe those fears that are holding you back are goofy, too. Start (or keep on) trying new things, and more and more fears simply fall away. It feels great!
     Boldly going where I've not gone before,
                     Leta

Good Question!

     From the pen of Cynthia James, some powerful and interesting questions to ponder:
Are you treating yourself the way you want to be treated?
Are you honoring and respecting yourself and asking others to do the same?
Are you caring for your body temple and presenting your best self every time that you leave your house?
Are you being the love that you desire?
What would your life be like if you loved yourself so deeply that the world had no choice but to love you back?
     Hmmmmm....
     Have a great week!
            Leta

"We have rain!"

     Our area has been blessed with rain over the past couple of days.
     I was reminded of the words of Gregg Braden and an unnamed Tibetan monk that "the feeling is the prayer," and when we pray asking for something, it means we don't have it, and we are reinforcing that belief. Jesus said to pray, BELIEVING, that what you seek already exists. So all the past week, I've been chanting to myself, "We have rain." I've also been adding the imaginative aspects of how things smell when it rains, the squishy feeling of the soaked ground, the glorious beauty of rain droplets on our bald cypress tree. This morning when I stepped outside, all those imagined things were a reality. We have rain!
    Just a reminder (to myself as well as my readers) that this practice applies to more than rain!
        Happy Holiday Weekend!
             Leta

Domestic Goddess

     Today is Monday, which usually includes for me a couple loads of laundry and a trip to the grocery store. Everyone does those two activities at some point during the week. How do you see them? Drudgery? "Have to"? "I hate doing laundry"?
     There was a time in my life wherein I had so much back pain that I couldn't do the laundry. I was on bed rest, so that I couldn't leave the house. I was ecstatic when I had healed enough to do laundry and shop for groceries again.
     One of my special talents is being able to see alternatives. So in this instance, I have applied the term "domestic goddess" to those rather mundane chores of the household. It makes me smile and feel better, and to me, it adds additional value to me completing those tasks.
     Can you come up with a nickname for yourself doing your less-enjoyable tasks? Please share it!
Love from a DG,
     Leta