lara simmons

"What if focusing on the good in our lives could lead to an increase in good?" - -Karen Lindvig I came across this quote recently and thought... Yeah, what if? And then I thought... maybe it's time for another 30-day challenge .... a Thanks-giving challenge! So, if you are wondering this too, or if you are just game to give it a try, join me on Twitter , starting November 1st for 30 Days of Thanks-giving. Gobble, Gobble. #30DAYSOFTHANKSGIVING #whatRUthankful4?

The theme this week follows  last week's almost magically. Listening is an important part of any good relationship and it is not an easy skill. It is hard to listen without judgement, to listen without interrupting, to listen without jumping in to share or solve. To just listen. I encourage you to try it this week and hope the quotations I have chosen will inspire you to listen well: "To listen well, we must attend both to the words and the silence between the words."  --William Issacs in "A Matter of Spirit," the  Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center  quarterly newsletter "The first duty of love is to listen." -- Paul Tillich "Listen to those who open a path to you; listen and don't say a word." -- RUMI "O Great Spirit help me always to speak the truth quietly, to listen with an open mind when others speak and to remember the peace that may be found in silence." -- Cherokee prayer "...[Y]our l...

"We have the opportunity every moment to focus on the good." -- Karen Lindvig Last night, in the middle of fixing dinner I got the call. "MOM! I NEED HELP!" When I went upstairs to see what my older son needed, I found him standing in the center of his room with the huge Fathead of Russell Wilson he had gotten for Christmas all tangled up in a sticky, messy ball. Normally this would be a yelling situation for me. Number one, I was in the middle of fixing dinner. Number two, Fatheads are not cheap. And number three, he had not used common sense in trying to do something so big without asking for help. But thankfully - and this is the first thing on my list of what I am grateful for today - one of my guides or The Universe or my Higher Self tapped me on the shoulder and invited me to do it differently this time. To focus on the good. My husband volunteered to finish making dinner and I set my sights on making this a positive learning experience for ...

"What if focusing on the good in our lives could lead to an increase in good?"   --Karen Lindvig, Senior Minister at Seattle Unity As 28 Days of Love began to wind down, I once again found myself asking the question, "What's next?" The word that kept rattling around in my brain was Gratitude . It made sense to me that Gratitude would come after Love, but I wasn't sure until I went to church last Sunday. Reverend Karen spoke about mirrors - how the world mirrors back to us our own internal state - and about how to shift things if what is being mirrored for you is not what you would like to see. She asked this question: "What if focusing on the good in our lives could lead to an increase in good?" And I knew that was my green light from The Universe for 30 Days of Gratitude. The practice is relatively easy, notice three things each day that you are grateful for.  That's it. Just notice three things. You can write them in a journal...

"When we are present to our loved ones, LOVE shows up." -- Karen Lindvig , Senior Minister at Seattle Unity Church Yesterday was one of those days that I was fully aware of how very difficult it is to be fully present. All day, no matter what I was doing it seemed, I was thinking of something else. While making breakfast, I was thinking about writing my blog post. While writing my blog post, I was thinking about watching a movie. While shopping, I was thinking about taking a bath before dinner. While meditating before bed, I was thinking about what I wanted to get done the next day. It was a seemingly never-ending cycle of not being present. Except for after dinner; after dinner I got it right for a little while.  The kids had been fighting since about five o'clock. Dinner is usually at six, but I could tell they were getting hungry so I tried to push things up a bit and after dinner things got better almost immediately, but there were still remnants of hard...

"A Spiritual Catalyst is someone who precipitates change for the betterment of all." -- Reverend Karen Lindvig at Seattle Unity Church on December 8, 2013 This quote struck me not in and of itself, but because of the two questions that Reverend Karen posed afterwards: Who has been a Spiritual Catalyst for you?  AND For whom have you been a Spiritual Catalyst?  The first one was easy. Whenever I think of someone who has pushed me to expand, who has opened up the world of Spirit to me, I always think about my sister-in-law. When I first met her I thought she was bat-shit crazy. She did my numerology at Thanksgiving, sent me on a shamanic journey the first time we went to visit her and gave me a psychic reading for my birthday. I was pissed. I DID NOT want to have the reading. When she brought her friend "the Psychic" over to our house my attitude was, "Let's just get this over with."   Within minutes of starting my reading, I was cryin...

"When we are present to our loved ones, LOVE shows up." -- Karen Lindvig Trying to be present in every moment with my sons this summer. It isn't always easy. There are many distractions, but I do so want LOVE to show up. So I keep on trying.