It’s a new year!
One of my resolutions is to gather a list of concepts that, have not only gotten me through my rough spots, but allowed me to simultaneously forgive, heal and increase my capacity to give and receive love. Sharing them with you over the course of this year will also reinforce them in me. Win-win! When I can understand how life is on my side I can lay down my boxing gloves, receive the value, be grateful and feel peace in my heart.
If we want this year to be different, we’ve got to be different. Many of us start the year off with resolutions, which can be great, but at the end of the day what most people want is to feel peace in their hearts. When we tell ourselves that X, Y, or Z need to happen for us to have peace in our hearts we get in a power struggle with X, Y or Z. We put too much weight on losing the weight, getting the relationship, making more money, getting healthy. Your weight, relationship status, bank balance, etc. weren’t meant to carry the weight of peace.
Rather than solely focusing on getting rid of what you don’t want: the weight, the debt, the health issue, or getting past this, that or the other thing, what if we also focused on what we do want that's on the other side of it? How we want to feel that is different than what we're feeling now.
The ego will send you on a wild goose chase. What if, when you found peace in your heart, you didn’t need the extra weight, debt or health issue anymore and it just went away? I can’t promise that what you don’t want will go away. But I can say that I’ve experienced it and know others who have too. Also, when you don’t need something anymore it’s a lot more likely.
If you are a client some of the concepts I’ll be sharing this year will be great reminders. If you’re on a love-based path or have read my book or blog you are likely familiar and my words may add dimension to what you’ve been learning. If you are new to heart-based thinking you may find some of what I have to say jarring or find yourself defensive. If so sit with the words. Be open. We all have a Voice for Fear and a Voice for Love in our heads. Your Voice for Fear may want to twist my words. It is sly and talks a good talk. I wrestle with it sometimes too. I don’t want you to accept what I say just because I said it either. As a friend of mine says, some concepts I share may leave you feeling like you have stretch marks on your brain. Stretching is good.
I chose a beaver for my header photo because in Native American tradition Beaver teaches us to be 
persistent and to use available resources. (In case you didn't know, the photos I choose for my blogs are photos I have taken and pictures that I feel add dimension to my words.) My Voice for Love, which I refer to as my higher self, is a readily available resource. We’ve all got one; most of us have just forgotten that it’s an option.
You can tell when it’s your Voice for Love that you are listening to because it always wants what’s best for you, loves you unconditionally, and guides you in ways that are for the highest and best for all concerned with harm to none. It thinks win-win.
Your Voice for Fear, which is often referred to as the ego, thinks win-lose. It will suggest that someone suffer so someone else’s needs can be met. It wants you to think you are a victim rather than see how life can actually be happening for your benefit. It never wants you to be happy and it never wants you to experience love.
Your ego’s superpower is control where your higher self’s superpower is Love. Your ego has clever ideas, as in manipulative. Your higher self has brilliant ideas, as in filled with light. In any given moment you seek guidance or interpretation from either one way of thinking or the other so even if you read no further, this awareness is a huge takeaway.
Everybody wrestles. Everybody has a higher self at the ready. My hope is that you will be persistent, like Beaver, in seeking yours this year.
So if we all have a Voice for Fear and a Voice for Love then in any given moment we are consulting either one or the other. Your Voice for Love will not interfere in your life unless you ask because you have free will, which your higher self honors and respects.
Then how do we consult with our Voice for Love/higher self, you might be wondering?
- Throw any issue up to the 'heavens' in search of understanding. You might think you know what the situation is about, but maybe you don't. Be open to your higher self's interpretation.
- Asking for a win-win solution opens you to ideas you may not otherwise have access to. Ideas from your higher self.
- “Let me sleep on it,” is another phrase that opens you to divine, love-based ideas as does a desire for everyone’s needs to be met with harm to none. Being open lets the light in.
- When you have a desire put it out there but follow it up with some version of “this or better with harm to none.” This keeps you open to the ideas of Universal Intelligence.
- Controlling, preventing and muscling through summon your Voice for Fear. It’s everyone’s default. Your higher self is always there, but you have to ask, you have to breathe and you have to be open to receive.
When something makes sense it leaves you feeling peaceful. When it feels like it has control over you, not so much. Knowing that everyone's best interests are at heart, including yours, leaves you feeling peaceful too. When you change something on the inside the outside has to somehow shift to reflect the change.
I'm going to leave you with an example:
Say cleaning out your clutter is one of your resolutions. Your ego might think that shaming you into getting rid of stuff is the solution, or hiring an organizer. These are ways to control the clutter. Rather than think you know, try asking your higher self, "What is this clutter trying to show me?" You may be shown that clutter on the outside is a reflection of clutter on the inside. Have you been accumulating your feelings rather than using them to heal? Learning to use your feelings to flush out old wounds rather than adding them to the pile will leave you feeling peace in your heart and grateful for the outward clutter as a messenger for peace. After extracting the value it's easier to let the clutter go because you don't need it anymore. You got the message and you're changing. And you can still hire an organizer. It just won't be out of despair. Using your feelings to heal rather than accumulating them is an example of "being different." It will increase your capacity to love others and make room for more love. Remember, if you want this year to be different you've got to be different.
Stay tuned for more concepts to chew on in the weeks to come. Connecting with your higher self does take practice. If you want some help you know where to find me. I 
can't help but wonder how different 2024 could be if more folks chose Love over control.
Happy New Year!
Have fun practicing connecting and/or taking it up a notch!
Friends in this Love,
Dr. Trish
Here's a link to more information about our higher selves and a meditation (written during the pandemic). Reach Higher
Dear Trish,
Universal Intelligence is a concept I picked up recently, I think from the movie “Miracles from Heaven”. My understanding is that it is one of the ways to express the universal divine power. The divine power, no matter whether it manifests through God or Buddha, is incredible and probably not for us human brains to grasp. Those who can really embrace it will experience, not theoretically but for real, the infinite, unconditional love, Voice of Love. Whether you are religious or not, you can’t miss the evidence of divine power. Without it, how could we have taken a leap from monkeys to humans? Isn’t a human body a miraculous piece of art? Can you name anything on the earth that can keep burning like the sun? Can you imagine a time when the sun burns out? Not to worry. Whatever we need has already been provided.
The problem with most of us, at least with me, is that we are often stuck in Voice of Fear. We run around, we wring our hands, we plan to do this and that. The underlying idea is that we forget the Divine Power and we think we are powerful to change the course of actions. We may be able to sometimes, to a certain extent. The question to ask is “How do you feel BEFORE the desired course of actions actualize?” I think most people are not enjoying life to the fullest before the big moment. Like now, my mind is constantly wrestling with my health issues and praying for them to go away. This, indeed, is a burden. It leaves me between depression, anger, and wavering faith. The good thing is that I have developed enough faith to steady myself when needed. The visualization of the day when doctors tell me “Your CT scan is clear!” makes me smile. The image of lotus flowers and Compassion Lady Guanyin Bodhisattva and Buddhas around me are a warm, loving, reassuring beacon of light, shining on me and all those who believe and seek. No matter you believe it or feel it, it is always around you. All you need to do is be open and receive.
Dear Trish, I can’t agree more that we need to practice daily, practicing turning off Voice of Fear and tuning to Voice of Love. Many thanks to you for the wonderful food for thought. You exemplify Voice of Love.
Dear Grace,
Thank you for sharing. I'm sure many others can relate. Even when we know, it's so easy to forget that we've got this divine guidance available to us 24/7.
A fun exercise is to set your alarm for every hour on the hour for 8 hours. Each time it rings, drop what you are doing and do a 5 minute meditation with your Voice for Love. You will be amazed at how far from it you can travel in 55 minutes. You will also notice the excuses your Voice for Fear will come up with for why you shouldn't drop something for 5 minutes of Love-time. This exercise is great for stepping up your connection with Love. It's okay to admit when you are scared. It is showing you where your faith and trust are weak so you can strengthen them.
Enjoy the practice!
Happy New Year!
Trish
Choosing Love over control and making intentions to be different not resolutions that control! ??
Christine,
Making intentions to be different rather than resolutions that control is an awesome takeaway! So well put!
Thank you for sharing!
Trish
Hi Trish!
Something I have learned from you is, "I have a process when I get upset". I have come to learn that someone in me feels hurt and angry and inevitably only knows how to respond with the silent treatment. However, in the long run (which is like 3 days to a week), this never works out for me. I eventually get over the thing I was irritated about, am tired of being in silent treatment mode, forgot what the thing was that I was soooo mad about, and now I have to figure out how to get out of the silent treatment mode with the person I was giving silent treatment to....arrggghhh!
So as I continue to hone my "getting upset process", I try to remember all the tid-bits (maybe these are the concepts you are referring to in this blog) that I have tried so desperately to learn from you over the years. Sidenote, I wasn't completely clear on what the concept was for this January blog...could you expound...is it persistence? or what is your superpower?, or finding your Love voice?
I did want to share that this blog helped me, with my continued commitment to hone my process, this morning. I will spare you all the details (although I journaled through it with the help of your January blog post)...basically my mother did something that conjures up a lot of emotion in me. I reminded myself to look if it's a habit or victimhood. I decided it was a little of both. I want to drop the habit, so I took myself through a series of reminders to break the bad thinking habit. Then I asked myself when have I done something similar, and immediately I had a thought. This part of the process helped me move towards compassion for my mom....but I am still flirting with silent treatment this morning....that tells me my process continues to need work...another arrrgghhh!
Thank you for letting me share! I look forward to your next blog post highlighting February's concept!!
Audra
Hi Audra!
The concept is to be persistent with choosing Love. Your higher self is your direct connect to Love. It takes commitment, discipline and lots of practice. Love is our super power. It is a readily available resource. We just have to remember to choose it. If we want this year to be different we have to be different. Listening to the guidance and interpretation of events from our Voice for Love or doing it more consistently is different if we haven't been doing it or have only done it intermittently.
If you find yourself on the receiving end of something you have done, focus on apologizing to those you have hurt, meditatively. In person if the opportunity presents itself. That is one way to break the habit. Sometimes somebody inside us needs a hug and then tell the voice who thinks it's a good idea to punish with the silent treatment, the truth. Be the change you want to see in your world.
Hope this helps.
Happy New Year!
Friends in this Love,
Trish