Lamisha Serf-Walls

Gratitude: Positive Intentions & Meditation Challenge

by

This week I have seen a lot of wonderful posts on various blogs and on Facebook about new goals and intentions for the year ahead.  I must admit, these posts inspire me and though I know resolutions don’t likely last past the first month of the year, I love seeing many of my friends and family members so positive about the year ahead.  As for myself, I am still mulling over my letter to my future self and processing in my mind and my heart what I truly want for the year ahead.  In the meantime, I have taken on another challenge to assist me in my theme for the year.

I didn’t write about this challenge when I decided to take it on simply because I wasn’t quite sure I would be able to do it and to be honest, there is a part of me that still wonders if I will be able to complete it, however I am taking it one day at a time.  The challenge is to meditate daily for 100 days in a row.  This challenge is unlike anything I have ever done before considering I have found it difficult to commit to meditating just 2 days in a row, but I thought it would help me remain grounded as I move throughout the year.  For the last 4 days that I have been meditating, it has worked.

Today I am grateful for positive intentions and my mediation practice.  The positive intentions I am witnessing help me to maintain a positive outlook for my year ahead.  My meditation practice helps me to stay within the current moment and to simply be here.  Together they help me reach a balance that I haven’t had before.

A balance between my present and future that allow me to stand equally with one foot on each side.  I am inspired by what the future may hold, but open to the moment I have right now.  Balance, a type of balance I haven’t felt until now.

What are you grateful for this week?

End of Year Tradition: Theme of the Year

by

20121228-231432.jpg
Vision of being open.

I have heard of many people using different methods to reflect on the past year as well as make plans for the new year and as I continue to flow with life and make plans for future, I have decided to set a theme for 2013.  I thought it would be a good way to set a specific focus for the year ahead and as I move through each day of 2013 if need be, I can look back at this post and remind myself of my intention and focus for 2013.

With that being said my theme for 2013 is: Be Open.  I want to be open to whatever opportunities, challenges, and changes that may present themselves in 2013 and to take those things in stride.  Instead of fighting the current and resisting ‘what is’, I want to be open to the lessons I may learn and the growing that may come from the changes and challenges in the coming year.

That is not to say that I am going to just let life happen to me in 2013.  In fact my plan is quite the opposite.  I am setting goals and intentions for the coming year, but instead of asserting my “control” over what I think should happen, I am going to flow with what actually happens and be open to it all.  This is a huge change for me as I often find myself disappointed that things don’t go exactly as planned.  So, while I am not flying completely blind with no plan in 2013, I will simply be open to whatever changes may come.  My hope is that in my effort to let go a bit more and flow with all that life entails, I will continue to find peace in every situation no matter what it is.

I would love to hear from you. What would you say your theme is for 2013?

Gratitude: Stillness and Peace

by

This week was a pretty relaxing week to say the least. After a wonderful holiday with family and only a 2 day work week I am beginning to get used to this overall peaceful state of being and have set the intention to continue with peaceful living into the new year.

With that said this week I am grateful for moments of stillness and peace. I am currently reading a book called The Power of Peace In You by Marlise Karlin and have been inspired to not only incorporate more meditation in my (hopefully daily) life, but more moments of stillness too. I am realizing that these moments don’t have to be long moments and I don’t necessarily have to meditate for an hour a day, but I can benefit from a few deep breaths and stepping back from the hustle and bustle of life. But beyond that I am much happier and live a more peaceful and intentional life when I step back even just a little bit each day.

While I would love to get onto the habit of meditating before I begin each day, I know that may not always be feasible and as I flow with life, sometimes the current may take me away if only momentarily from my practice, and that is ok. But for right now I am grateful for the peace of mind and stillness I am carrying into the new year with hopes of continuing my practice even through challenging times.

What will you carry with you into the new year?

In The Moment Living-And It’s Benefits

by

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and enjoyed time with family and friends.  I had a very nice time with my little family, just the three of us and as we spent our time together my heart was filled with an immense sense of gratitude.  Gratitude for being in the moment and embracing the love that we share on a daily basis.

Today I have a sense of peace in my life, right now.  I realized this morning that many days I have some worry that is taking up space in my mind and causing me to miss this moment, but today I have nothing but peace.  I must admit it is really nice.  Maybe it is because I don’t return to work until tomorrow and there is nothing really pressing that I have to do today.  Maybe I am floating on the sugar high of the goodies I ate yesterday or maybe I am once again learning to live in the moment more and more.  One thing I know for sure is there are many benefits to being in the moment, some of which I am experiencing right this moment.

Besides the peace and lack of worry, I am finding that I am more open to this very moment.  I can see the beauty that surrounds me and can actively practice gratitude in the moment as opposed to practicing gratitude after the fact.  I am more aware of the blessings in my life and can see the positive in each situation I am presented with when I am not preoccupied with the future.

When I am in the moment, life seems to flow.

I noticed this in the last week when I received notification that another one of my poems was selected to be published in an anthology.  Not only was I not expecting to hear anything from the publishers until sometime early in 2013, I was so fulfilled in the moment with how life was going, that I wasn’t stressed about the results of my writing at all.  I was simply allowing life to flow.  I had let go of my desire to control and stress over the outcome of my writing and was pleasantly surprised with publication and payment for one of my poems.  In addition to that, I have landed 2 freelance writing gigs in the last month or so.

I know that just letting go of the outcome of a situation doesn’t create opportunities by itself, but taking action and then being open to the outcome (no matter what it is) has definitely helped me to not only live in the moment, but has resulted in some really great surprises.  I hope that my “in the moment living” becomes a regular practice as I move into 2013 and that I continue to reap the benefits of allowing life to flow, because truth be told, I am much happier when I am flowing with the current as opposed to fighting it.

 

 

My No Plan-Plan

by

It has been almost a week since my last post and I am so glad to be back.  The last few days I have been traveling with my family and while I typically hold a certain level of expectation for what we plan on doing each day and have a general plan in mind, this time was different.  This time we couldn’t exactly operate on our own accord since the reason for our travels was work-related for my partner and my son and I were just tagging along.  This week I have quickly learned to let go and I must admit, it has been pretty nice.

Generally I like to know what to expect regarding schedules and routines and quite frankly I really enjoy being able to control it.  (Did I just admit that???) I know I can’t always control what is going on and one of the things that makes life an adventure is the joy of the unexpected.  Learning and growing when things get a little hairy and ultimately learning to go with the flow.  This trip has helped me with that lesson.

While we had a loose understanding of what was going to happen during our trip and had an idea of the schedule (as much as you can when you are dealing with the military), we soon realized that “schedule” was sort of a joke.  Within a matter of 24 hours the plan had changed 4 times and it became very clear that we weren’t going to have as much free time as we previously thought.  If this had happened earlier in the year, the control freak in me would have been agitated, annoyed, and just plain angry that we were now unable to do all the fun things we had planned.  The new “go with the flow” side of me just accepted it and made the plan to have no plan.  Ironic isn’t it?

This whole no plan plan is not something I plan on utilizing in every avenue of my life because I really do have to have a plan for my dreams, goals, and many work related tasks, but learning to flow with the energy of life is a HUGE lesson for me.  If you know me personally you will understand that at times I can be a bit of a drama queen and can get very riled up when things don’t go as planned.  I have lived that way for as long as I can remember and yet now I feel like a new me is emerging.  Maybe it is because the year is coming to an end and I am beginning to think of the possibilities of the new year and what I can do to make it the best year yet.  Though I believe that is partially true, I don’t think I set this no plan plan intentionally.  I think it has simply grown out of my experience on this trip.

Intentional or not, this is a great lesson for me to learn.  It is one lesson I am happy to take with me into 2013 and beyond.  I believe a new me is emerging and I can’t wait to see what the new year brings and as we get closer and closer to 2013 there are some other things I would love to share and discuss with you, so check back often to read about my reflections on this past year and my loose intentions for 2013.  I can’t wait to hear about your intentions.