Press The Play Button On Your Life!

Few things you should know about me:

• I do not care too much what other people think about me.
• My life is lived on my terms, I set my own pace, tastes and agenda.
• No one, no matter how important they think they are for whatever reason, tells me what to do.
• Drama, complications and other people's business do not interest or engage my attention.
• I love hard, deeply, wastefully and easily but can walk away from anyone or anything in like manner.

After 50 years of learning, the "play" button on my life is permanently pressed. My finger is glued to it.

Hardly ever looking back but when I do, it is merely to see how far I have travelled, my eyes are steadfast on the path. My feet are carefully planted in the footprints of Spirit's. When I do falter, which is often enough, little time is spent berating myself. Usually I laughingly say to myself, "Claudette, you @$%& up there!"

If apologies are required, I quickly make them and move on.

Experience has taught me that the best days of life are the ones that are not paused for anything or anyone. What I have also learned is that others will almost always try to do just that - pause, rewind, stop you in an easy for them sequence.

They are not necessarily malicious nor are their intentions outright evil. People are self-focussed, looking out for Number One and that is not you. With their eyes fixed on their personal wants, needs and desires they just cannot see yours.

Some people have ill intentions for your life. The smile on their faces belies the fact that  there is a knife in their hand, poised to stab you in your back. They must pause and rewind but more so stop your moving forward.

What I have found is, if your life experiences were anything like mine (or 'worse'), there are people who will want to keep you there, caught in those memories, never moving forward without constantly reminding you of your past. Misery loves company, sufferers love group wailing. Like a broken record, they repeat your backstory, demanding to know who you think you are wanting to hit play? Who are you to want to leave the pity party?

Thank heavens for the digital age where there are no needles required to "play" the record of your life.

Play is always an option. In fact, it is the only option if your desire is to:

1. Live in the integrity of who you really are
2. Fulfill your dreams no matter how long you have had them on hold
3. Step up and into the next phase of your development
4. Simply be You

Those are my choices and here is what I do daily:

• I seek audience with my heart each step of MY way
• While I share openly, I decide privately
• I change my mind about anything or regarding any relationship with the intention of finding what is in my best interest first and foremost, then what serves the highest good for all.
• No one can pressure me, subtly or forcefully, to be or do what is against my better judgment. No one.
• Love is always my choice - not of things but of myself and what is loving to others without bonding them or me.

The key to my happiness is pressing the play button on my life AND allowing others to do the same in their lives. Should both of us chose the same "song," we will dance together for as long as the track plays. When it is done, it is done.

You get to choose. Allow yourself to be paused, rewound or stopped by the multitude of opinionated people and detractors in your experience and continue living like an hamster spinning its wheels. You get nowhere.

Hit play and live your life, moving at the pace and in the direction of your own heart's calling. You might see me on the dance-floor if you do!

Need further support choosing? Join my mailing list, drop me a line or visit me on my page and let us go over the playlist together.

Namaste

Claudette

Did you read yesterday's essay on Shaming?

Some photos: pinterest.com

The Best Day of the Week? Every Day!

Which is your most favourite day of the week? Why?

Sunday used to be mine. 

I love the lazy feel of Sundays. As a child, it was the only day we got to sleep in, no chores and less contention in the house. Breakfast, no matter how humble, it was plentiful and while we were still having it, dinner was on the fire.

Going to Church on a Sunday was the law in my mother's house - for the children, not her. By one in the afternoon when we returned home, Sunday dinner was ready, only awaiting the table to be set. This was not for everyone but for the man of the house, my step father at the time. The best cutlery was for him. In fact, most of the meal and for sure the 'best' pieces of meat were his.

Things changed a lot when I became a mother and had my own home. Church was optional and if that Sunday it was the option of choice, I was very much in the car. Sunday breakfast continued to be a big deal but it was not always at home. Many Sunday mornings would find us on the beach having fish and festivals. Other times, we would do Sunday brunch at a popular restaurant or at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, where they served one of the best brunches.

Our Sunday dinners were not as early as my mother's and way more equitable! It was the rule though that we dined together, everyone using the best knives and forks in the house and conversation was a must. It was at my Sunday dining table that my daughter was instructed on table manners, proper use of her cutlery - the full set, and the art of polite conversation. We spoke politics, school work, music (which was always in the background), and any other topic important to her in that moment.

Life has changed a lot for me in the ensuing years. 

Many Sundays since 2006 are spent in my own company. What I have found in that time is that any day can be a Sunday. You do not have to wait until Sunday to go to Church, eat a nice meal or sleep in.

"Pray unceasingly," is what Paul of Scriptures wrote. My life, my walking and more and more, my communicating is a prayer. My most ardent prayers are my daily conversations with Source. Sitting on a bus, stuck in traffic, talking with a challenging client and I am quietly asking for guidance.

Come visit me any day of the week, including today, Saturday, and a three course spread will be ready in a few. To top it, you will be dining with the best cutlery in my house!

Live each day as fully as you can! Drink from the crystal, wear your prized dress and dance! This beautiful poem says it best:

Live Each Day to the Fullest by S. H. Payer

Live each day to the fullest. 
Get the most from each hour, each day, and each age of your life. 
Then you can look forward with confidence, and back without regrets. 

Be yourself, but be your best self. 
Dare to be different and follow your own star. 

Don’t be afraid to be happy and enjoy what is beautiful. 
Love with all your heart and soul. 
Believe that those you love, love you. 

When you are faced with decision, make that decision as wisely as possible, then forget it. 
The moment of absolute certainty never arrives. 

Above all, remember that God helps those who help themselves. 
Act as if everything depended on you and pray as if everything depended on God. 

Have a full day! Share how you spent it with me here or on our Facebook page. You may also follow us on Twitter.

Namaste