lara simmons

"If you can see yourself as an artist  and you can see that your life  is your own creation,  why not create the most beautiful story  for yourself?" -- Don Miguel Ruiz

"Forgiveness is an act of self-love," --Don Miguel Ruiz Yesterday morning I was feeling so stressed out about everything I have to do this week that I was kind of a mess. My instinct was to get busy and start crossing things off my list, but a part of me knew that this was not the answer. So I stopped and listened to this little voice for a few moments. It said that what I really needed was to slow down, to take care of myself, to rest, to eat a little something and to just relax for a while. " I don't have time, " my Egoself protested. " You don't have time not to ," the little voice replied. And so I did. I went back to bed. I pulled the covers up and closed my eyes and started to meditate, to send energy to myself, and to rest. After a while I did the Violet Flame meditation and included some forgiveness work. As I did the meditation, I got the message that self-love (and self-care) is one of the keys to forgiveness. If we all took ca...

"The Four Agreements: 1. Be impeccable with your word; 2. Don’t take anything personally; 3. Don’t make assumptions; 4. Always do your best. ” -- Don Miguel Ruiz   There are certain quotes that come back to me again and again. This one - not so much a quote as a recipe for living - is one of those and it seems particularly appropriate to review it as Christmas week looms. #2 especially has been on my mind today: Don't Take Anything Personally. My guides have reminded me of this agreement at exactly the moment I needed it most over the past couple of weeks. When someone I am around is in a bad mood, my first instinct is to think they are mad at me or that I did something to cause their bad mood. How insane is this? Because of this agreement, instead of reacting to what I presume to be their anger at me, I have asked myself this question: What if their bad mood has nothing to do with me?  Just asking this question wakes me up and makes me realize that while ther...