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2004 Stories by Donna Lopez
Dec '04: Back to the beach, Oct '04: Happiness...Sunsets
at the beach! "Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy." ~Rabbi Abraham Heschel Yes, I do go other places other than the beach when I get a day off from FYJ. I actually went to Las Vegas recently, but as they say, "Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!", so I don't really have any inspiration to share from that trip, sorry. My real peace and clarity comes when I go to the beach anyway. So again, last week I went to Half Moon Bay (a favorite beach of mine). The weather is usually pretty overcast and cold, which never bothers me, but on this day I was pleasantly surprised at the beautiful day it was. I began thinking about how much I love living in California, and even more so about living in the Bay Area. Many of us often focus on the negative, such as the traffic and the number of people living here, but for me it is just a great place to live and I cannot think of anywhere else I'd rather be. That thought alone is just a wonderful thing for me to realize. Aren't we all actually blessed much more than we even think about on a daily basis? We have so much to be grateful for, whether it be for our health, family, friends, or simply just to be able to go to such wonderful places for peace. For me, the Bay Area, is only one of my many blessings. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are looking forward to very Happy and Blessed Holidays! ~ Donna "Happiness
is not in our circumstances but in ourselves. My friend Julie gave me this book to read, "A Wish Can Change Your Life". The title didn't originally entice me because it reminded me of making a wish before blowing out birthday candles--fun, but does it work? However, I knew it couldn't hurt to read the book as anything I would get out of it would be good. The book requires that you identify a wish you want, while reading a chapter a week where it gives you signs, such as specific colors and numbers to notice to help lead you in fulfilling what you want. Personally, I strongly believe in setting clear intentions as a way to manifest what I want. So although the format of the book was different that what I was used to, overall I think it is a simple tool to help one on the path of manifesting. I began with the basic wishes that many people have, love and money. The book asks you to identify what you want by continuing to clarify it in detail week after week. As I was getting towards the end of the book, I began noticing what I was really wishing for was happiness. I already knew that love and money are possible, but if I am not happy what quality of life would it really bring to me? I've been down those roads before so I have learned that quality of life is much more important than something like money. But of course, I want money too! So as I began detailing what it was that I was really wishing for, I noticed something surprising in how I view my life. I knew that I had lots of happy moments, many of which have just been created over the last year here at FYJ. But did I think my life was happy overall? I didn't think I thought so. I think I was still waiting to have "everything" before I would say or even consider myself to have a "happy life". Well, then this matter became a like a project for me. Through all I have been through in my life, I now believe it is best to ask for my lessons. I take them head on because I want to continually take my life to the next best level. And I know greatness is always on the other side of the lesson. It no longer serves me to ignore or hold onto negative beliefs. So here I went, finding the way to have a happy life... The first thing I noticed from my new "project" was that answers to my questions were coming very quickly. Movies, books, workshops, things people would say, dreams, quiet time, journaling, and a mini-break to the beach... It's impossible to go into all the specifics in this article because it could take several chapters in a book, and I think answers are actually individual to each one. However, the synchronicities and the continual themes that led one movie to a book to a workshop to the guidance (etc.) were really amazing! It only took a month or two, and I was able to finally realize how to release past stuff that was weighing me down as well as how to view my life as already whole, complete and most importantly, happy! This new realization for myself has left me so excited about who I am and what I am able to do in my life. Although I cannot explain here in detail how I got to this point, I really want to emphasize how important it is to take the time to watch for the answers to your own questions. Guidance is already there for you to take anytime you need it. It takes discipline, willingness, and even courage to identify what it's trying to tell you though. I want to encourage you to begin asking such questions for yourself. Happiness is abundant and here for all of us!
In Happiness, Donna p.s. In my newsletter, I usually use other people's pictures. However this month I noticed that I already had the best pictures to share with you, because last month I was blessed to be in a place to take them myself. Aren't they nice? Watching a sunset at the beach is one of my most favorite experiences of all time, thus adding to my happiness! Hope you enjoy them too. This is my first attempt at writing something again after several months. I was going through a series of lessons that took me a bit off track, and I was really blocked as to what to even write about. I found myself at the place of feeling confused as to how I even got myself there because it seemed as though everything was just fine, then all of a sudden... Actually, things were going fairly smoothly until I asked for something. I had made more time in my life and so I thought that I could request and it would simply appear. You mean it doesn't work that way? I have to pass a test before I get what I want? Well, I don't know if it always works this way, but what I was asking for meant that I needed to clear out some unfinished blocks within myself--blocks I didn't even think I had anymore. Although the circumstances were different, I realized that the feelings I were experiencing from this seemed quite familiar. Why was I making the choices I was making? Why were the circumstances becoming so uncomfortable? What again, is my purpose? It's a cycle that I find myself in time after time. Oh, it’s definitely getting easier to go through those cycles, and they are actually much shorter in time, thank goodness! However, they are not unfamiliar. Life brings things into our path to teach us something. Nothing in our life is a mistake or an accident. It’s an opportunity to learn a valuable lesson. If we thought we handled it in the past and now we’re ready to move on, it might come back in another form to see if we’ve really cleared it out. It’s quite frustrating when we thought we dealt with something or rid ourselves of some pain we had just to find it resurfacing in a completely new situation. It feels unfair and we begin to start questioning all over again. Then one morning I woke up realizing that I had to accept the fact that I am always going through lessons. So instead of just being miserable until this one ends, I should just surrender to the fact that it is a lesson and move through it as gracefully as I can. This realization took me through one of the biggest strides in this particular situation. It became clearer to me that the circumstance had a familiar pattern, and that my response was familiar as well, then ultimately realized that I was being given an opportunity to handle the situation differently that I had in the past. Why did I think that repeating my own behavior would result in a different response? Who said that the definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior over and over, expecting a different result? Well, this is where I found myself. So I made a conscious decision to behave differently. It wasn’t easy, as I think it is always easier to respond in our usual way, but wow, how grateful I was when things calmed down so quickly after that. My clarity returned and I was able to get back on track. I even found myself with a renewed energy that brought much more happiness into my life. So now, for the time being, things are really great. We all go through different experiences, but something is familiar about them for each one of us. If your situation is unpleasant, try to find it within yourself to understand that it is there for your own good. Remember that it is an opportunity for you to learn and grow in a positive way. Personally I pray for clarity, strength and guidance everyday. I no longer ask for the lesson to leave me, rather to get through it in the best possible way for myself. And for you, my wish is the same! Enjoy your summer and have a happy August! "Make the best of this test and don't ask why... it's not a question but a lesson learned in time. It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right... I hope you have the time of your life." ~Green Day "Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson "May we never let the things we can't have, or don't have, or shouldn't have, spoil our enjoyment of the things we do have and can have. As we value our happiness let us not forget it, for one of the greatest lessons in life is learning to be happy without the things we cannot or should not have." ~Richard L. Evans It seems quite appropriate to write about blossoms this month. It is finally springtime and lately the blossoms from the tree outside have been blowing into the FYJ doorway. Aside from having to constantly vacuum, I've actually noticed how beautiful it is to have them find their way inside our place. Like the tree outside, so many of my new friends who've come through the door since I've opened are blossoming this spring as well. It is such a rewarding experience to witness the transformation of these wonderful people. What is a blossom? It is the new growth or biggest stage of development. For plants, it is not a long process. However, for us, it may take a very long time to go through this stage. Personally, I don't believe I am done blossoming. It takes lots of hard work to continually learn from the lessons placed before each of us on a daily basis. In leaving my job a year ago to open FYJ, I placed a huge undertaking upon myself along with all the challenges that come with it. My endurance as well as my faith is often tested. What I've noticed
though, is that one of the most positive contributions to the transformation
of my friends and of myself is the community we are building! This
seems to be an essential component in going through the "springtime"
stage of our lives. Peace this Spring, Donna "There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin "Happiness
can only come from inside of you and is the result of your love.
When you are aware that no one else can make you happy, and that
happiness is the result of your love, this becomes the greatest
mastery of the Toltecs: the Mastery of Love." In November 2001 I traveled to Seattle to see don Miguel Ruiz. His books "The Four Agreements" and "The Mastery of Love" made such an impact in my life so I was very excited to see him. Although I knew to expect that he would have really positive things to say, I was actually most surprised at his utmost sincerity as a person. He is such a wonderful man! When he spoke, I could tell how happy he was, and the best part was that he explained why he appeared so happy. He said that we are all artists of our own lives (or what he calls the “dream”), and like an artist, we have the ability to create how we want to live in our dream. For him, it was his choice to live "in love always" and it was apparent that was exactly how he was living. He wore a huge smile on his face both of the days that I saw him, and when he hugged people, it seemed to be with such love. Even when I had a brief chance to speak to him as he signed my book, he looked in my eyes with that huge smile and shook my hand with his two hands. I knew then he was definitely “in love”. Some of us have partners in our lives, some of us don’t, and some of us are somewhere in-between. Although this month of February is often associated with love, it usually refers to Valentine’s Day or couples love. However, isn’t it wonderful to know that we really have the choice to be “in love always” within ourselves, regardless of our personal relationship situation? Love does come from within. I know…we usually hope for the happy personal relationship where someone loves us, but I also know it to be true that in order to have healthy relationships with others, we need to love ourselves and from within first. There was a time when I didn’t really understand the meaning when I heard that I needed to love myself before I could love anyone else. I thought it sounded nice, but couldn’t actually imagine what that was like. Through my own experiences though, I learned. We allow people to treat us as well or as bad as we treat or love ourselves, and when I realized that (probably around the time I saw don Miguel), was it then I finally made the choice to live in real love…my own. May you find that love within yourself, as I believe that to be the truest love. Love, Donna "Let us always greet each other with a smile for the smile is the beginning of love." ~ Mother Teresa RESOLUTIONS OR INTENTIONS? People often ask me how I decided to create 'For Your Journey'. "It's a long story", I first reply. However, the short answer is that I started by simply setting an "intention" for the place I wanted to have. My life was not peaceful so I wanted to create a peaceful place. My job was not fulfilling so I wanted to do something more fulfilling. Don't get me wrong, I had to do my part (create the business plan, look for a building, etc.) and it wasn't so easy, but it was God/my Angels/the Universe who actually responded with all the solutions. As an example, the money became available to me, whereas I previously didn't know where I would get it. Then the most perfect people came from all over to help me complete my plans! I couldn't know exactly how it was all going to happen, but setting the intention was at the beginning of all that was to become. I don't know about you, but I am not very good at following through on my new year resolutions. It takes a willpower that sometimes makes it too difficult to achieve those things. Maybe I won’t lose all the weight I would like to anytime soon or maybe I just cannot save enough money this year. However, I know that I can set an intention to live a happier life or create more friendships or simply be a better person. Aren’t those things more important anyway? You may sense guidance or have an idea to do something different in your life. Do you want to start a new career, change a relationship situation or accomplish a goal? You can do it! Just get READY (become still), SET the INTENTION (what you want to create in your life), then GO (be ready to get moving once the Universe responds!). Don’t forget to do your part and don’t be afraid. If you have been given guidance to do something or the gift of an idea, why wouldn’t the Universe then back you up? Have a Happy New Year and may you and the Universe create great things! ~ With a Mindful Intention for Peace this New Year, Donna "What you intend in your thoughts with passion, you will act upon and ultimately create. The secret lies in the continuous reminder to yourself to first stop the outward verbal expression of what you don't want; second, catch yourself and examine the thought behind that expression; and finally, shift to an intention of what you will be creating for yourself, even if you don't know how you will create it, because ultimately you will act upon it, or you will access higher, and faster, universal powers to provide you with the solutions." ~ Dr. Wayne Dyer, from his book "There's a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem"
Personal Growth, Mind Body Spirit, Community, Creativity - San Jose, Santa Clara, Campbell, Cupertino - For Your Journey |
December
2004 - Back to the beach
October
2004 - Happiness...Sunsets at the beach
Oh,
and my original wishes...they will come true because I believe they
will. But even if they aren't exactly in the way I imagine them
to be right now, my life is already happy because I say it is.