living in courage
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Climb Your Stairway to Happiness

Thursday, July 1st, 2010 by Debra Oakland

Climb Your Stairway to Happiness by reading David Leonhardt’s book – Climb Your Stairway to Heaven.  Everyone searches for inner happiness, but it is not something you can purchase or build.  David has written a book that is funny, insightful, full of great quotes and antidotes.   You will receive instructions on climbing the stairway to greater happiness.  Imagine becoming happier every day.  It really is possible to make your dreams come true. You will be taught nine habits that are achievable.  You will enjoy the pop quizzes, quotable quotes, and stories to learn by.  Most people like to learn while they are having fun, and this book delivers from cover to cover.

I quote David Leonhardt – “Many happiness books on the bookstore shelves are just some author’s personal viewpoint. That’s fine, if you happen to be extremely similar to the author. But what about facts? True, I include many of my own experiences in this book — in fact, that’s what inspired me to write. But I also spent three months with my nose in the psychological journals. This self-help book is based on both my personal experiences and the best psychological research available. I did the work so you don’t have to.

On the other hand, several happiness books are written by very knowledgeable authorities, but most tend to the boring side. Many even sound like a session on a therapist’s couch. What gives? Shouldn’t a book on happiness energize you? Motivate you? Inspire you? Pump you up? Shouldn’t a book on happiness be fun to read? So I decided to write a fun, energetic, and engaging book. Go figure!”

Book like this are inspirational, encouraging, fun, courageous, motivating, and give value to the reader.  I hope you enjoy this excellent manual on Happiness!

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online



 

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Tips for Love

Monday, May 31st, 2010 by Debra Oakland

Tips for Love – A Recipe for Happiness

Look in the mirror, deep into your eyes and say ” I love you ………..”  Do it with feeling and intention.

Tell your body you love it. There is intelligence in every cell of your body. Talk to, direct and love it.

Go easy on yourself – stay away from the negatives, until the positives take over.

Feed your body nutritious food, clean water and exercise in some way. The body is made to move. Walk, run, dance, work out, whatever resonates with you. It has to be something you enjoy, not dread doing. Your body will thank you. When your body feels good, you feel good. Co-Create in Love.

Never stop searching for wisdom in regards to your physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

Let go of fear and doubt. They cannot coincide where love lives.

Be kind and loving to others and they will be kind and loving to you.

Make gratitude your attitude and pay it forward.

LOVE is LIGHT, so keep it FUN!! We are supposed to have fun as God in action.

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online



 

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The Neglected Garden

Thursday, May 20th, 2010 by Debra Oakland

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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Lessons from the Source – Jack Armstrong

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 by Debra Oakland

This video was sent to me by Jack Armstrong, a man I greatly admire. His incredible book “Lessons from the Source” is a spiritual guidebook for navigating life’s journey. I have done more than one blog post about this book, because I believe it holds the keys to life in “lesson” form.  I find this of value, don’t you?

Visit http://budurl.com/bhbw to vote for the book “Lessons from the Source” and http://budurl.com/agrl to buy a copy of this remarkable book. This brief video offers powerful and inspirational quotes about goodness from “Lessons from the Source.”  Thank you!



 

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Become The Master Of Your Destiny – Be Happy

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 by Debra Oakland

What sings to your soul?  What is your passion?  I talk to people every day, who are reaching into their hearts, to find the joy, the passion that they know lives inside of them. Giving up is easy. Anyone and everyone can do that, and most do. Check in with yourself for some honest answers. Listen to your heart. Be brave, live courageously by living the life you came here to live.

“The potential hidden within each of us is staggering. Shed the old layers. Devote yourself to something of value that sings to the passion in your soul. Now you become the master of your destiny.”
-Debra Oakland

People want to be happy.  It’s that simple.  It all starts with you, not “out there” in the world.  There is nothing that will make you happy for long, or satisfy you, if you are not happy inside. Take some time to connect with what brings you joy. Happiness is infectious, joy expands only when you are ready to embrace it. Be a willing participant. Become the master of your destiny.

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online



 

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Do Not Let Anyone DisCourage You!

Thursday, August 13th, 2009 by Debra Oakland

Have the courage not to let anyone tell you – you can’t achieve your deepest dreams and desires.  There are naysayers everywhere in the world.  The worst crime to me is discouraging anyone from their soul’s desire.  Don’t shut that part of you off, it is there because it is the core of who you are.  Your Inner Guidance System knows exactly what you need.  Sometimes when we listen to our Inner Guidance and take action, people around us come up with all kinds of reasons why things won’t work out.  As a child didn’t you use your imagination and intuition all day long?  Trust that.  Go back to opening yourself to letting go of all the old “stuff” that holds no value for you any longer.  Say Yes To Life and No to Fear and Doubt.

Free yourself from old, boring, useless time wasting habits.  Free yourself from people who drag you down. Free yourself from anything that keeps you from your goals. Focus like a laser beam. You are powerful and do not let anyone tell you otherwise.  Find people who support you in your excellence. What do you want?  Do you imprint it in your mind, body and soul?  Do you give thanks that it is already here for you – NOW?  Stop believing – move into knowingness.  Know that what you want is here for you in this present moment.  Stay with that in a powerful way.  Let no one dissuade you.  Do not be impatient, for that brings in doubt and fear.  You are done with that nonsense, aren’t you?  Demand your freedom from all doubt and fear.  When you live in the moment you are in right now and nowhere else, shifts will occur rather quickly.  Don’t look back – there is nothing there.  Stay present in great peace and grace, standing in your KnowingNess.  Life is not supposed to be as hard as we have made it.  Do we have challenges, do we need to Live in Courage? Of course.  There will be bumps, challenges and many things to deal with.  That’s life.  How you handle these challenges is what makes you courageous, loving, joyful, fulfilled, peaceful and abundant.

Never be discouraged.  Disappointment is a feeling deep within everyone because of an accumulation of life’s experiences.  Release all disappointment, throw it away, along with grudges, judgment, criticism and blame.  You are the only one responsible for how your life turns out, so quit blaming yourself or anyone else for anything.  It is time to get on with your life. A life that can be filled with everything you can dream of and then some.  Invest in yourself, you are worth it.

Make it a great day in each NOW moment, for in each moment you have a choice as to how you choose to feel and think.

In Encouragement to you from Living in Courage,

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online



 

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Living In Courage NOW Can & Will Change Your Life

Sunday, August 9th, 2009 by Debra Oakland

Let’s talk about this NOW moment and how living in it can and will change your life. This is a great way to Live In Courage.

Allow yourself to sink into the moment of NOW.  Sit still in a place you will not be disturbed, yet soak in what is going on around you.  Perhaps there is a breeze or the sun touching your skin.  Can you hear birds chirping? Maybe an aroma of fresh coffee or food cooking drifts your way. Children playing or a city alive and teeming with life.  Wherever you are feel it, take it all in while you are in the stillness of NOW.

Yes, thoughts will come into your mind.   Let them pass by.  Notice how you feel in the NOWness and AWAREness of this peaceful moment.  Notice also, when a negative, worrisome thought or feeling tries to steal your peace. You will notice the energy of the moment you were in change. You can feel it. No judging.  Just notice the difference. This practice will teach you to catch yourself when you shift out of NOW.  The more you can stay in the present moment in calm awareness, you will regain the power you have lost in your life.

The past is OVER in each moment that passes.  Your future is created by the NOW moments your are in.  What are you choosing as the architect of your life?  Make powerful choices and decisions for yourself.  Stand in your KNOWINGNESS, which carries much more weight and influence than BELIEVING.  Say the words.  Feel the difference.  Believing feels heavy – Knowing feels LIGHT.  The more you can exist in NOW, the more aware, peaceful, loving and joyful you will be. Living in Courage is living NOW.

Behind the scenes of chaos, confusion and conflict lays LIFE.  Life Is Everything and available to everyone.  Life loves to fulfill itself through you as anything you create as the architect of your life.  The best way to shut down your good is to engage in negativity and giving your attention to all it’s nasty family and relatives.  Have CLEAR CONCISE thoughts and feelings because your mind cannot act upon a mixed thought.  The most dominant though and feeling will manifest right before your eyes.  Love and fear cannot co-exist in the same space.  YOU always get to choose.

Never forget the power of gratitude.  Be grateful for what you have NOW.  Everything is here for you, for me, for everyone.  The human drama can take it’s toll in many areas of life.  Use KNOWINGNESS to guide you through the waters of life.  Not fear or doubt.  The answers are not OUT there – that is living from the OUTSIDE IN.  The answers are right where you are right NOW.  That is living from the INSIDE OUT.  You decide, you choose, you create, you, you, you.  Only you.

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online



 

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Personal Power – A Case of Mistaken Identity

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 by Debra Oakland

Reclaim your personal power with authority and courage.  When you want to know about something or how to achieve a goal, it needs to be approached with nothing less than victory.

What is personal power? It is a feeling of something you are waiting to express or bring about.  A feeling of authority that you have the ability to overcome, to change, to open up to the power that lives in you. You are life.  Your will and intelligence governs this expression and expansion.  It is natural to step into your personal power when you reclaim your authority over your life.

Who are you?  What are you?  Only you can answer these questions.  We are designed magnificently to be unlimited, to create.  We can sculpt, maneuver and design our existence in any way we wish, once we escape the imprisoning fears, philosophies, educational systems and religions determined to keep us in a state of mediocrity. The old power systems are failing to control us.  People are realizing we each have the ability to reclaim our power, our ability to think, to create, to be conscious, to be aware, to live in courage, to see truth, to feel, to know.

How will you demonstrate your freedom, your courage, your power and authority? It seems we are beginning to wipe the sleep from our eyes.  You can liberate your identity or continue to expand on mistaken identity. We are not who we have been told we are.

We have believed all the I Am’s…sick, limited, sad, victim, struggling, abused, confused, ugly, fat, etc…the constant building of mistaken identity. Change the I AM’s to reclaim your power and authority.  Who do you want to be?  Only you can decide.  Self talk is powerful.  What are the quiet conversations you have with yourself?  The story you feed yourself.  Is it destructive or full of personal power and authority?

Each of us hold our power inside.  It was never out there in the world.  For centuries of time, there have been many who brought us that message.  Now we are seeing old systems built on lies, fear, manipulation and control being revealed and crumbling everywhere you look.

New systems of government, business, banking, technology, communication, learning and living will move into place.  The next few years will bring about change throughout the world. We are a global community, sharing and coming together for the greater good for all people. There is a bright new world emerging from the rubble.  Will you be ready to step into it?

Take your power back in full authority.  In reclaiming power, you must be willing to stop feeding a mistaken identity. There may be a temporary appearance because of former self talk, but you can say NO.  I AM not sick, poor, overweight, limited, ugly, confused, etc.  I AM healthy, happy, productive, unlimited, beautiful, magnificent, creative or whatever powerful statements work for you.  Feel this reality.

Just the energy of saying powerful creative words feels good, brings up our spirit, confidence, courage and feelings of happiness.  Compare to how it feels when you think about the negative alternative.  I AM limited is the choice of not to be.  To be or not to be?

Are you willing to be restored to the truth that you have the power and authority over your life?  Reclaim your true identity. It is not complicated.  The simplicity is…choose life, creativity, abundance, courage, this present moment, love and happiness.  If you continue to tell yourself you are broke, confused, unable or any old stories, you are feeding a false identity.

The I AM that you are is the artist and the director.  Who this I AM becomes, you get to decide – you get to choose.  Live in your freedom and authority. Stand free to live the beautiful courageous life you came here to live.

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage

The true perfection of man lies, not in what man has, but in what man is.  Nothing should be able to harm a man but himself.  What is outside of him should be a matter of no importance,
~~~ Oscar Wilde



 

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Happy vs Unhappy – A Wonderful Quote

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 by Debra Oakland

“I am more and more convinced that our happiness or our unhappiness depends far more on the way we meet the events of life than on the nature of those events themselves.”

Karl Wilhelm Von Humboldt



 

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Courage & Grace

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 by Debra Oakland

You wake up in the morning feeling great, ready to take on the world.  Your feel that your day will be wonderful and then ka-boom, you get pulled out of the happy place and into feelings that make you not so happy. It is wise to stop getting pulled out of your core by going into human reactor mode. To be in “human reactor mode” is constantly reacting to a world of effects that seem to make us smaller, taking us out of our power.  We are here to create, to generate, to build. Not to react, but to respond.  Responding gives you time to think, to re-evaluate.  In this way we can change the direction of our life.

What supports us?  Grace & Courage. If you live from the outside in, you are constantly reacting to the stimuli outside that makes you less.  Living from the inside out will make you more, a power to reckon with, gifting you with tools to build, to create the life you dream of.  Positive self talk helps you build your inner center into a powerful place that you can live your life from.

Let’s talk about grace. Grace gives us the courage to take one mighty step after another.  Welcome grace into your life and all your experiences.  Wear it, be it, smell it, taste it, see it, live it. Grace will reveal love to you, and lift you above the turmoil of the world.  Have you ever really thought about this word.  Now might be a good time.  Grace opens the door to wisdom,  illuminating your mind to guide you in your choices and decisions. We all have free will (a force, a power) that drives every quality, giving us passion, which unfolds into our creative expression.  Grace can take everything that opposes the joy of life, and transform it.

What is your relationship with your home, environment, creativity, work and employment, friends, and family? How does grace act when you don’t limit it?  I suggest you try living in courage and grace.  This experiment and experience my surprise you.  Where do you live the center of your life from?  This is a big question.   When we take ourselves off of automatic pilot and start answering the bigger questions with honesty, then we become expanded, conscious, and powerful.

You wake up in the morning feeling great, ready to take on the world.  Your feel that your day will be wonderful and then ka-boom, you get pulled out of the happy place and into feelings that make you not so happy. It is wise to stop getting pulled out of your core by going into human reactor mode. To be in “human reactor mode” is constantly reacting to a world of effects that seem to make us smaller, taking us out of our power.  We are here to create, to generate, to build. Not to react, but to respond.  Responding gives you time to think, to re-evaluate.  In this way we can change the direction of our life.

What supports us?  Grace & Courage. If you live from the outside in, you are constantly reacting to the stimuli outside that makes you less.  Living from the inside out will make you more, a power to reckon with, gifting you with tools to build, to create the life you dream of.  Positive self talk helps you build your inner center into a powerful place that you can live your life from.

Let’s talk about grace. Grace gives us the courage to take one mighty step after another.  Welcome grace into your life and all your experiences.  Wear it, be it, smell it, taste it, see it, live it. Grace will reveal love to you, and lift you above the turmoil of the world.  Have you ever really thought about this word.  Now might be a good time.  Grace opens the door to wisdom,  illuminating your mind to guide you in your choices and decisions. We all have free will (a force, a power) that drives every quality, giving us passion, which unfolds into our creative expression.  Grace can take everything that opposes the joy of life, and transform it.

What is your relationship with your home, environment, creativity, work and employment, friends, and family? How does grace act when you don’t limit it?  I suggest you try living in courage and grace.  This experiment and experience my surprise you.  Where do you live the center of your life from?  This is a big question.   When we take ourselves off of automatic pilot and start answering the bigger questions with honesty, then we become expanded, conscious, and powerful.

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online



 

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