It's a new day, and even though the moon is waning, and some might say it's time for reflections rather than actions, it still feels right to take a deep breath and invest in myself.
What does this mean - 'to invest in myself'? 
When we think of investments, it usually means spending money on something we hope will give us a good return.  Buying shares perhaps, antiques, or property if the wallet stretches.  All these are investments we can make in order to create more money for ourselves, more wealth and more abundance financially. If we make more money we can do more, help others and those we love, and there is nothing wrong with any of that! 
However, what happens if we don't have the cash to make monetary investments?  What if we feel we are stuck right where we are, with no hope of change? It's all very well speaking of investing when its a struggle to find the money to pay the bills every week!
To me however, investment in the self means creating something different in order to become more. 
This may well involve spending some money, to pay for a course perhaps, but it doesn't have to start there. 
It could be in the first instance that we need to invest some time in opening our minds to our existing attitudes.  Consider some of those negative beliefs we hold, and shine the light of consciousness on them.  Where did they come from? Are they even true?  Some people believe money is the 'root of all evil'. They believe only nasty, greedy people have it - they think those people must have done something criminal in order to have acquired it. They believe this so deeply, they can never allow themselves to have any money themselves.  They carry on scrimping and saving because deep down inside they think they will be bad people if they accumulate wealth.  Is this really true? If evil exists (and remember evil is 'live' backwards!), it surely exists in the actions of those enslaved by their own sets of negative beliefs.  It could be the desire for more money that makes them act accordingly, but it is not the money itself.  
Our thoughts can limit us drastically throughout life, and it is well worth investing some time in self appraisal. A good honest look at how we think can reveal some very interesting insights! 
The next step might be to introduce some positives and value ourselves more.  Consider how useful we are to others, and how just being there can offer comfort, support and encouragement.  Look for the good things within ourselves.  Perhaps we if think we can't find any, it might serve to highlight how many limiting, negative beliefs we are actually holding about this - because everyone has something good to offer.
Investment means taking the trouble to look into something, and change it if it isn't working.  Put some time, effort and enthusiasm into solutions and outcomes.
So this is where I'm at today.  Investing in myself.  Looking inwards and outwards, considering where I am and where I would like to be, and then taking action.  It's a big world out there... let's go and live in it!        
 

Perhaps I spent too long in meditation yesterday... Perhaps I spent too long with eyes closed, lying down with thoughts in soft focus, not fully conscious but not sleeping either...  while all around me the world moved on.
This morning I feel strangly unsettled.  Did I miss something?  Did something happen that I should have been aware of?  
It doesn't feel good - this feeling of unease in my heart. And that's not right is it?  Shouldn't I be feeling blissed out today?  Shouldn't I be rested, settled, tidy in my mind, peaceful and moving through my morning with contentment? 
I feel none of these things. 
Perhaps something has changed in me.  Perhaps the meditations were so deep and healing they have moved something deep within my core.  Could it be that something unknown, something that has remained hidden in the depths and darkness of my past, is finally moving away?  Am I simply feeling the toxic release of long held fears?  Like stagnant waste, festering deep within the murky fathoms of the lake of my life, am I simply feeling the result of the monsters of false beliefs and harsh judgments finally being evicted from their lodgings?
It doesn't have to be hard - or so 'they' say.   You do not have to suffer to heal.
It can happen in an instant - time is nothing, it doesn't even exist. With a fleeting thought you can change yourself, your life, your world!  And a part of me knows the truth of this.
But nonetheless here I am... restless, moody, edgy.  I would not like me right now.

 

This is surely the time of greatest Contrasts.  Everyday throws up yet more examples of the polarities that are prevalent in our Lives at this time.  Now, it seems, we are in a perpetual state of needing to make choices, preferences and decisions that may at first seem to go against our once normal patterns of behaviour.  Now we have stark choices set before us.  How do we want to be?  How do we want to live?  How do we want our world to be?  What do we need to put in place in order to create the life we say we prefer?  
Sometimes, at first, the decisions we make seem to bring us more pain.  Perhaps it is we need to move away from old relationships, or old habits that were once so important to us.  Perhaps it is we need to move ourselves physically to a new location that resonates closer with the beings we are becoming.  Often this is very difficult to do.  Those we are leaving behind might resist the changes we are making.  They may pressurise us, or try to bring us down again. There are money issues, jobs, mortgages and loans. It is hard to let it all go.
But it is even harder not to.
It seems once we set our foot upon the path of Change, change will happen.  Like boarding a train to an unknown destination, we are on our way no matter what.  We may not have a clear view of where we are going - we just have inside of us the knowlege that it is time to go, and go we must. The things that used to support us, now feel tired and old. They seem dull and lifeless to us now.  It is no longer an option to linger amongst these memories and habits of the past.  We are transforming, and in order to remain well and continuing on in this Life, we have to release ourselves, be free and go with the Flow.
It seems all areas of our lives are being put under the microscope.  Our health, our financies, our relationships and ways of being.  Our food seems more important than ever.  What we put in our mouths has never seemed so relevant to our journey.  We can see how limiting and damaging a modern diet can be.  How it slows the brain, stupifies it and enslaves the thinker.  Sugar, aspartame, wheat, alcohol, additives of all kinds, processed food in general - all these are responsible for the slowing of the human mind and her ability to think for herself. To watch the next generation falling into yet another coca-cola fuelled nightmare of bad food, violent entertainment and limiting beliefs is more than distressing.
However, we still have the ability to make choices for ourselves. It is as if we are being offered the greatest opportunity of all time.  Now is our golden chance to truly alter the path of human existence.  The most exciting thing about it is, EACH of us has the power to do this.  Each of us, one at a time, can change the course of Life on this beautiful planet. The lie that is the 'little me' no longer stands up to those who are coming to understand the true nature of existence.  We CAN make a difference.  We DO make a difference!  With each word we utter and each thought we think, we change the fabric of time and space. This is no longer simply coming from the scriptures and traditions of ancient masters - this has now moved into the field of scientific proof.
One of the greatest quotes of all time is this from Gandhi...
"BE the change you want to see in the World"
It says is All... 
         
    

I heard yesterday of a woman whose son had a road traffic accident 5 years ago.  The lad has been in what is referred to as a 'vegetative' state ever since.  He has no speech, no movement, and cannot so much as take a breath without the help of the machines that keep him alive.   The woman goes to see him every day without fail.  She holds the hand of her brain damaged son, and sits with him awhile.  Most days are the same with no response or movement, and the woman doesn't even know if he is aware of her presence at all. 
But sometimes, just sometimes... he will squeeze her hand - a little. 
Sometimes a subtle message comes from beyond this unbreachable wall of silent disability, and offers a glimmer of hope.
Despite the care, the lad is always catching infections.  It is the way of it.  One day, some day, an infection will take him, and it will all be over. 
Until then, this remarkable woman goes and sits with him, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, as the wonders of modern medicine prolong the existence of her beloved son...