Appreciation

Appreciation by Steve Tallamy

Maybe it’s the spring air but just lately I have noticed that wonderful feeling of appreciation bursting within me; whether it is family, friends or total strangers, I have noticed that I appreciate them for simply being who they are and not for who I think they ought to be.  It’s as if a veil has been lifted and I am seeing with my heart as well as with my eyes.

I liken it to walking into a beautiful garden for the first time and sensing the smells, colours and beauty all around, seeing the light playing through the leaves and branches of the trees, seeing and feeling it as it simply is.  No thought goes into labeling things so there is no association with other worldly images or preconceptions about why it is as it is, just an acceptance that … it is!  Without these labels to confuse my mind I am able to concentrate my thoughts inwards and glimpse the true meaning of oneness with the world and everyone and everything in it.

I know that this may sound a bit flowery (sorry about the pun) but I find it hard to describe the feeling in any other way and to do so wouldn’t do it justice.  When we unburden ourselves of the layers of preconceived why’s and wherefore’s handed down to us throughout our lives we are left with what is the absolute truth about ourselves and others and it brings peace and harmony into our hearts and minds; allowing appreciation to flow through our veins.

Germinating the seeds of appreciation inside of yourself now will allow them to grow and bloom before eventually self-seeding amongst everyone around you.  There is no precise time of the year to sow these seeds and there are no special conditions required apart from allowing, accepting, and appreciating them into your life; but as its spring, why not start your own nurseries of appreciation now, while I take another stroll around that garden.

Steve Tallamy

http://stevetallamy.com/

http://writeforyoursite.co.uk/

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Making Friends With Nature

The theme of Debra’s Newsletter this month is Friendship and whilst reading it I was reminded of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s line from his poem ‘Youth and Age’ that, “Friendship is a sheltering tree.” That makes me feel a warm glow growing inside of me, the same glow I feel when I am amongst my true friends.

The other friendship that gives me that feeling of warmth is my connection with Nature, a simple connection that helps to keep my feet on the ground and my head out of the clouds. It helps to remind me that I am a cog in the machinery life and of the whole grand scheme of things, so I need to be in sync with Nature to enable me to do my share of the work in taking care of the World I live in not just for myself but for everyone else and of course for future generations to love and enjoy too.

Whilst out walking the other day I watched a young family enjoying the countryside; taking for free what Mother Nature had provided for them, foraging for blackberries, elder berries, wild garlic and hazel nuts. The kids were having so much enjoyment and were amazed and thrilled at what their parents were showing them. I wished them all to “have a lovely day,” to which the young girl replied “Oh we will, isn’t Nature wonderful!” A tear came to my eye as I walked away thinking to myself that if more parents did things like that with their kids I could rest assured that our World was in safe hands.

That little girl had found a friendship, a friendship that will live in her heart forever. I can’t think of a better way of introducing kids to Nature than by taking them out into it, whether it be the back garden, a local park, the woods or even the seashore and letting them see it, feel it, hear it and taste it (under supervision of course) for themselves. Give them the freedom and opportunity to make a lifelong friendship with Nature; you could just be saving the World!

Steve Tallamy @ Living in Courage Online

http://stevetallamy.com/

http://writeforyoursite.co.uk/

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The Neglected Garden

My friend Steve Tallamy is a guest writer here at Living in Courage. Steve has written “The Neglected Garden” from the heart.  Steve is a nature lover who is very connected to Mother Earth, and her beautiful kingdoms. I look forward to sharing his articles once a month, which are sure to be filled with wisdom, humor and guidance.  Visit Steve at http://stevetallamy.com/

http://writeforyoursite.co.uk/

The Neglected Garden

We have all seen that piece of wasteland in our neighbourhood that the developers get their hands on to turn into luxury flats that no one in that area could possibly afford to buy.  Or we have taken over a new home where the once beautiful garden has long been neglected.  The first thing we or the developers do is to bring in the troops to dig, burn and spray to indiscriminately clear the land of everything that once grew there. Come the spring the land is barren, no colour, no scent, no shape or form.  Except if you look close enough the shoots of those deep rooted tough old thorny brambles and thistles.  These hardy plants (they are plants, not weeds) survive and will flourish again, multiplying year upon year.  Even if we build our new homes or construct new gardens on top them they will eventually push their way through in their desire to live.

These words came to me not when building a new home or giving my garden a makeover.  They came with a brand new awakening from inside of me.  For years I have been on the path of finding the real me, to make a better life for myself, a life of happiness and love with a good chunk of financial stability thrown in.  After beginning my new program of healing, things are become clearer day by day, slowly but surely, bit by bit, I am learning more and more about myself. Now,  I see my former self as that neglected garden, the troops as the many so called Guru’s I have listened to and believed; the digging, burning and spraying are all of the self-development books and videos I have read and watched.  I turned myself into the barren landscape of no colour, scent, shape or form, having stripped myself not only of the unwanted plants but the ones I needed to keep but didn’t recognize. Of course the brambles and thistles of my deep rooted fears now had plenty of room to flourish; choking me with even more self-doubt than ever before and without any shape or form to build upon, my soul became a neglected wasteland again.

The lesson we can all take from this is to look at our gardens before stripping them bare, seek out the beauty, the shapes and forms of our lives that we love and enjoy.  Do this before we clear away the brambles and thistles, nurture the roses and fruit bearing trees and come springtime there will be a balance in our garden and more harmony in our lives.  But never forget to prune and feed it from time to time or the wasteland will return stronger and more powerful than ever before.  Having a love and respect for Nature is having a love and respect for yourself, for you and Nature are one.

Steve Tallamy

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Be The Courageous Gardener Of Your Mental Body

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”  Marcel Proust

Who would want to visit a garden that is full of waist high weeds, colorless and uncultivated?  I would not, simply because it is lifeless, neglected and kind of sad.  Even if you planted a beautiful seed,  it has no water, or care. There is nothing to nourish this beautiful plant to take root.

Now imagine a colorful garden full of beautiful flowers, or food growing in abundance.  The area has been prepared, seeded and the little plants raise their courageous heads to the sun, in anticipation of growth and change.  You can compare these two scenarios to the mental bodies of the human race.  Each person is different, according to what has been planted in the garden of their consciousness.  The mental body is a magnetic field, and through the power of your attention, draws into itself whatever it is being fed.  What are you feeding yours?  Garbage such as anger, judgment, blame, jealousy or even hate?  Or, are you feeding it peace, joy, abundance, love, and a sense of knowing that you get to choose?  The healthy plant that is loved and cared for carries a pattern of perfection within itself, just as you do.  Are you willing to hold that pattern in your mind in a receiving way until it can be externalized?  Have the courage to cultivate, feed and water this pattern of perfection that wants to expand and express itself in, through and around you.

When you get an idea, it is the responsibility of the mental body to hold this idea clearly – long enough for your feelings to breathe it into life.  How does this happen?  By breathing  love, enthusiasm and expectation into the idea.  It is like a rhythm that accompanies this pattern of perfection you wish to manifest into form.   How do we fail or fall short of this?  As I mentioned earlier, our mental bodies are meant to be a clear, magnetic field.  It is cultivated and ready for planting.  When we put accumulated concepts, mass consciousness of fear, doubt, failure, doom and gloom into this beautiful garden of our mental body, there is no space for the good stuff to grow.

The mental body receives through the power of your attention, as well as through the activities of the senses. So imagine your attention connects with something, good, bad or otherwise.  Now your mental body forms a picture of it in your mind, and through the senses, whatever you have placed your attention on, enters the mental body and adds to what is already there.  In many cases, there is an accumulation of discordant garbage.  If we keep storing the same old garbage, there will be no room for the beautiful life we all want to live.  Start by pulling some weeds out of the garden of your consciousness.  Maybe your garden is beautiful and yields great and wonderful life experiences.  Now and then, you may find a few new weeds, or a couple of really big ones that need removing.  Go on in, and pull them out.  Then move on, without resistance, just knowing that all gardens need weeding, and constant tending to stay beautiful.  Just like you.

Here are some very wise rules to live by that will help your garden grow.

Watch your thoughts; they lead to attitudes.
Watch your attitudes; they lead to words.
Watch your words; they lead to actions.
Watch your actions; they lead to habits.
Watch your habits; they form your character.
Watch your character; it determines your destiny.

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