Category Archives for "Spiritual Awareness"
Spiritual awareness and spirituality articles.
5 Consequences of Having a Love-Hate Relationship with Money
Do you have a love-hate relationship with money?
For a start, the idea of having a relationship with money may seem new to you. It sure sounded foreign to me at first. Until one day, after being exposed to the idea from various channels for years, I finally understood it!
One great way to think of the relationship you have money is to draw analogies from the relationship you have with a lover, spouse or partner. It is also easy to imagine such a relationship if you have watched romantic movies and TV shows.
Some of you may declare that you are “in love” with money. Or some of you may confess you are having such a difficult relationship that you resent the struggles you are in. It’s also possible that you describe your relationship with money as one of love-hate.
How to Love Life Fully
Do you know how to love life fully?
Well, for a period in time, I was asking myself this very question.
I put myself on a search.
The journey felt incidentally harder perhaps because of the internal struggle that I was going through during that period.
Yet, no matter how and where I search, I could not get complete answers.
Which led me to the realisation that I the answers I sought are not out there.
They pretty much lie from within.
The answers came from a wise part of the self….
How to Love: 7 Quotes by Thich Nhat Hanh
How to love is a small but beautiful book by Zen Buddhist Master, Thich Nhat Hanh. It is the third title in the Mindfulness Essentials Series of how-to books. As always, he writes in simple language to explain profound insights from the practice of Buddhism, mindfulness and meditation.
I like that we are taught not just on the importance of self-love, but also how we can love another more fully. The teachings are poignant and persuasive: “to love without knowing how to love, wounds the ones we love.” We are invited to open our hearts in a meditative way.
How to Love is in 4 essentials: you can only love another when you feel true love for yourself; love is understanding; understanding brings compassion; and deep listening and loving speech are key ways of showing your love.
I had felt drawn to reading How to Love as learning to love is the fundamental of all relationships. Whether it is the relationship we have with ourselves, with our partners, success or even money, it rests on love. If we want to find greater meaning or improve on the quality of our living, learning How to Love is essential.
Here are 7 quotes in How to Love by Thich Nhat Hanh….
“Every one of us is trying to find our true home. Some of us are still searching. Our true home is inside, but it’s also in our loved ones around us. When you’re in a loving relationship, you and the other person can be a true home for each other.”
“Understanding someone’s suffering is the best gift you can give another person. Understanding is love’s other name. If you don’t understand, you can’t love.”
“The essence of loving kindness is being able to offer happiness. You can be the sunshine for another person. You can’t offer happiness until you have it for yourself. So build a home inside by accepting yourself and learning to love and heal yourself.”
“In a deep relationship, there’s no longer a boundary between you and the other person. You are her and she is you. Your suffering is her suffering. Your understanding of your own suffering helps your loved one to suffer less.”
“You are part of the universe; you are made of stars. When you look at your loved one, you see that he is also made of stars and carries eternity inside. Looking in this way, we naturally feel reverence. True love cannot be without trust and respect for oneself and for the other person.”
“To love without knowing how to love wounds the person we love. To know how to love someone, we have to understand them. To understand, we need to listen.”
“Love is a living, breathing thing. There is no need to force it to grow in a particular direction. If we start by being easy and gentle with ourselves, we will find it is just there inside of us, solid and healing.”
How to Love: Go on a Journey
How to love has turned out to be quite a journey for me.
I learned it with self-love, from writing a book on Self-Love, creating a self-love healing meditation program, improving my relationship with my husband and children, making the choice to do what I love and loving what I do and also, transforming the relationship I have with money.
My lessons have been in many forms and ways and I am still learning How to Love more every single day. The moment I woke up to true love was the moment I began to know who I am.
This post is sent with love from my heart to yours.
Love always,
Evelyn Lim
P.S. Recommended Resources:
1. How to Love by Thich Nhat Hanh
2. Self-Love Secrets
P.S.S. Share Your Thoughts and Comments on How to Love below.
Recipe for Success: Help Me to Cook
I am updating the recipe for success after receiving great feedback from many friends. The original recipe was great but after experimenting, I found out that we can also take fewer steps. The end result is just as delicious if not more!
According to a rumor that appears to originate from one of the Le Cordon Bleu schools, the recipe for success has already been cooked to perfection by various renowned chefs. It seems that there can be different ingredients and ways of cooking for the same dish. Consequently, the results can be as varied and flavorful; producing unique palate experiences.
Don’t laugh but here is the secret that I found out from inside sources of award-winning culinary chefs: the ones that win rave reviews are those that strangely create in their consumers……the miraculous effect of balancing their chakras and sending them on an instantaneous flight to heaven, with just a single bite.
Why Love Yourself Unconditionally: In A Note
“One Big Reason Why many women have challenges leading a balanced, fulfilled and radiant existence is a lack of self-love.” #evelynlimcoach
While rummaging through my journal notebooks, I came upon what I had written two years ago. And so, I decided to post it…..
Can’t help but feel empty, wounded and discontented?
At some level, you have the awareness that there is something inherently missing; although you may not consciously know what your core issue is or where your real problem lies.
Even as you occupy your life with an endlessstream of activities, the hole inside remains.
The hole could be affecting every aspect of your life; from family, work, relationships, play etc.
And so it is that you have never been fully present.
You are there for everyone else…..EXCEPT YOURSELF.
Over time, the gaping hole manifests into deepresentment…and ultimately, a pervasive sense of unrealized potential and disempowerment.
Lessons from the Zika Virus Mosquito
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” Dalai Lama
There is a lot that we can learn from the mosquito these days.
The mosquito may be small but it is striking fear.
In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a public health emergency for Zika virus, which is spread by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes. As of 25 August 2016, 70 countries and territories have reported evidence of mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission since 2007. Brazil has reported the largest number of cases, estimated at over 1 million infections in 2015.
How to Address The Emotional Causes to Skin Problems
Emotional causes to skin problems can be something that you want to look into, if your issues are persistent. While using steroids may alleviate your itch-scratch-itch symptoms, they are not cures. Also, long time reliance on drug medications can result in a “thinning” of your skin layer.
I know enough about dealing with skin healing issues myself. After all, I have had bad eczema outbreaks for many years until a few years ago. Recently, from working with clients, I noticed that there is a distinct relationship between those who are particularly energetically sensitive at the soul-level with also having a skin problem.
Skin disorders are like no other. Just as stress can result in skin problems, skin disorders can also cause tremendous stress. In cases of severe skin issues, those afflicted can become depressed. While it seems shallow, let’s admit that appearances do have an impact on first impressions. It can also affect our ability to find a mate, land that all-important interview or secure our next promotion.
How to Resolve Emotional Reasons for Cancer Prevention
Resolving accumulated negative emotions can prevent cancer or may even reduce its effects. Cancer invokes a lot of fear. It happens when the cells in your body divide in a way that is out of control. Many cancers form tumors, some of which can become life-threatening. Hence, it helps to understand early on what the emotional reasons behind it are. By knowing and understanding these factors, we can take preventative measures for cancer.
I’d like to reiterate that I am not a medical doctor nor profess to be an expert. However, I am happy to share the little that I know, so that those of you who are new to the information can have a starting point to finding out more.
10 Rules for Being Human: Review
The 10 Rules for Being Human may have been written years ago by Cherie Carter-Scott but they are universal guidelines that apply so long as you are in a physical life. You can find the 10 Rules in Carter-Scott’s book – If Life is a Game, These are the Rules: 10 Rules for Being Human.
“If life is a game, these are the Rules….” – Cherie Carter-Scott
{Review of the 10 Rules for Being Human are in this post below}
As someone who helps others discover what their life lessons are in their journey, I find myself appreciating these 10 Rules very much.
Helen Keller once said, “Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” Indeed, once you become aware of the lesson that you have failed to recognise previously, a shift happens. Knowing the 10 rules keeps you alert to the lessons.
I would like to review the 10 Rules for Being Human and add some of my thoughts as follows….
Enneagram Type 9: Positive Affirmations for Path of Growth
Overview of the Enneagram Type 9: The Peacemaker, Mediator, Spiritual Seeker
If you are an Enneagram Type 9, you are about harmony. You are peace-loving, trusting, easy-going and even-tempered. Your mantra is to go with the flow. Sitting on the crown of the Enneagram, you hold spiritual instincts. What is ironical is that despite your orientation to spirituality, you are potentially the most grounded in the physical world.
You exude a positive energy. What appeals is the pleasant side of life. You enjoy being stress-free and desire life to be effortless. Being optimistic, you carry the faith that things will somehow work out on its own. Your belief is that everything will be okay should everyone stay cool and collected and no one rocks the boat.
“If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry.” — 14th Dalai Lama
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