Finding Gratitude Under the Super Moon Eclipse

Do you remember what was happening last September? Do you remember the last lunar eclipse? I know I do. The powerful energy of today's Full Moon eclipse settled into my bones this week causing me unease and discomfort. But as I grounded through my root chakra at yin yoga, I remembered how necessary grounding and gratitude is in our life.

The landscape back in September set me on a journey that delivered me to where I am now: on the brink of major change in my life. I couldn't have known then what would unveil over the last six months, but the view I see now is extraordinarily beautiful yet unsettling at the same time. I am changing careers to follow my calling as a healer and spiritual coach.

God has prepared me for this season of my life by instilling deep and unwavering faith and trust in my heart. I am a believer that where there is faith, there has to be trust. We cannot feel safe taking each step toward our dreams without some semblance of peace knowing it will work out; it has to work out, right?

As much faith as I embody, I struggle with fear on a daily basis. I question. I doubt. I waver. This is normal, and I have learned to be gentle with myself and my Ego. I thank it for sending me flares, but firmly announce that I am choosing faith.

I have determined a recipe that works for me; I focus on the single step needed today to keep moving toward my goals. I hold the bigger picture in my heart, but I do not ponder the details. The next step is on our hands; the rest is in God's hands, so why worry over something that is out of our control?

The last two weeks served as a gateway to the future we dream of, and so it wouldn't be surprising to me if any of us are also experiencing tumult in our lives. This is thanks to the Lunar eclipse on March 8 in addition to the last six months. I set several intentions over that Lunar eclipse (New Moons are the time to set goals for the new beginning of the lunar calendar), but I knew this time, I would be setting intentions that would alter the course of my life.

Now that the Super Moon is here and manifestations of our intentions and desires are creeping in, I am more ready than ever to step into the new phase of my life. But what I am learning is that anticipation of the future is blocking me from being present in the now. I am reminded of this more than ever when the Moon is closest to the Earth in all its splendor and I want to run for the hills.

Two of my wisest friends served me a giant platter of reality today: that without being grounded in the present moment through gratitude and stillness, I will not be able to welcome the beautiful blessings and manifestations coming into my life. We cannot attract more blessings into our life when we aren't already grateful for our present moment and the circumstances tied to it.

So, even though this Moon had me crippled in self doubt and unease, it brings with it far better silver linings. While manifestations are rising up with a roar, I am going to focus on the now.

I want to step into my calling fully; there's nothing more I would rather do. But for right now, I am grateful for the life I lead today; I am grateful for how this Eclipse cycle has carried me into the new horizon of my life; and I am grateful for the lessons that fill me with wisdom and grounding.

We cannot control the future. The past is over. All we ever have is this moment. We can choose to waste it over worry or embrace it with love and gratitude. The choice is ours.

The Winds Beneath My Heart

I’ve resisted against the winds of my heart for a long time. Now I’m too tired to push back. I’m ready to run with them. Maybe you won’t understand why I’m fighting so hard. It may seem like I’ve pitted myself against a life most would be content to have. But I don’t want to be content.

I’m fighting for the utmost joy and a heart beaming with light. As painful as some of these day are, I love where I’m going.

—Meaghan Archer

I'm just tickled so many colors to be announcing that I can't push back against my heart any longer. The time has come to step into my calling and say yes to all that lies beyond, the place where all my dreams reside.

After weighing about a gazillion options and avenues for how to fulfill my calling, I surrendered and let God figure out the "how." I simply put out the intention of serving others based on my God-given gifts, and before I knew it, the path found me right where I am.

Getting to this moment was an unbelievable struggle; it took six months of deep soul work after I received the blessed guidance to drop fear and resistance and own gratitude through mindfulness and appreciation of the present.

Perhaps the most important lesson I learned along the way is resistance will block you from manifesting your potential; it will block you from the energetic flow of the Universe where miracles are waiting. The thing about resistance is it cancels out gratitude.

Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.

-Eckhart Tolle

You cannot bring more of the good into your life if you don't appreciate what is already in your life. I finally accepted how the Universe had strategically placed me exactly where I needed to be to get where I was going. But my impatience and frustration with my current situation and career led to resistance and unease. I was so caught up in the life I dreamt of, yet I was blocking myself from ever getting there.

Last November, I sought guidance from Kathleen Hosner, an intuitive and spiritual guide, who advised me to find the blessing in my current situation. I was putting up a physical block to all the new blessings desperate to arrive at my doorstep. Clearly God brought me this far, and I was given all I resisted for a reason. Not only did gratitude keep me firmly placed in the present moment, but it allowed me to be present enough to hear and see the signs that would guide me to my next steps. You cannot hear or even notice messages or signs when living in the future; wishing I were already living my calling took me far, far away from the moment I was graciously given.

As I quietly focused my heart on my job at hand, I stumbled synchronistically upon exactly what I was looking for (but didn't know I needed). These moments when fireworks go off, I am reminded that God's plan is far better than one my limited mind can devise. I found the school, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, that would serve as my apprenticeship as I prepare to do the work I am called to do as a healer and teacher.

I was intuitively guided to the people, teachings, tools and certifications that would allow me to best serve those around me, and I embarked on a spiritual awakening to find complete peace in my heart (where my inner truth was revealed). I opened up the flow of abundance that the Universe intended to deliver for my purpose to take flight. Had I not embraced a mindset of presence and gratitude, I can safely say I would not be where I am today: ready to own my truth and start a new, fulfilling career in intuitive healing and spiritual coaching.

I owe everything to gratitude.

The steps I am taking on my new journey fill my heart with so much fire and passion; I simply cannot wait to share everything I am and all I have learned with the world. I am here to serve and I am ready. Will you join me?

A New Year to Rise

Close this year’s doornot in fear but in love. Love yourself enough to never look back, but face the new year with dreams in sight. Turn your shining self toward the coming year, filled with the possibility of a fearless, open heart. This year, let love in then let love grow. Find a place for gratitude to permeate your being. Manifest your intention with action-filled faith. Look toward the moon when darkness starts to fall. For the sun will always rise with a new chance to shine.

–—Karilyn Owens

A New Kind of Love

  I cannot quite believe that 2015 is nearing an end. If Christmas was not right around the corner, you could say I would be fooled. But, if I go by my feeling, I can say without a shadow of doubt that the year is coming to a beautiful close. What started out as the hardest year of my life, has blossomed in a way that has left me in constant awe of what is possible.

Today is the new Moon, a day that now carries significant meaning in my life. The number 11 is a special gateway into magical happenings and new energy, and it’s no coincidence that it always falls around the new Moon. New Moons represent new beginnings, a fresh start each month, and paired with 11 (which also represents new beginnings) brings an extra special time to not only reflect on how far I’ve come, but where I want to go. I take the time to notice how I feel, if I am centered and prepared to step into the fresh month with loving intentions.

As I ponder how I feel in this moment, I notice my heart is starting to expand in a way it never has before. I feel all kinds of amazing energy and the vastness in this space is truly awe-inspiring. God’s love just knocks me over with such power and I’m so grateful to be in this place. Somehow, along the way, I pushed past the last few barriers I was facing, and I allowed all of this energy to rush in, ready to move me forward into the life I feel is imminent.

I didn’t know it was possible to be this happy, accepting and open to life exactly as it is. I didn’t know it was possible to love this much and to allow gratitude to permeate all aspects of my life. I don’t know what I did to deserve the best life of my life, although I do know I put in the work; I made mistakes and I learned to really love myself (and others by proxy) just as I am. I am far from perfect, but I am perfect in all the ways God has blessed me. If I can spend the rest of my life feeling this expansive and loving while spreading my light and love, then I will have truly come here for the right reasons.

I believe if you put in the work with endless determination, practice undying faith and keep your heart directed toward love, the path leads you to places unforeseen, full of wonder, beauty and light. I am still the same person when I look in the mirror, but the soul looking back at me is shining in all its splendor. The dull, lifeless person that once stood in the mirror, unrecognizable, has vanished.

The light I have gathered in my being will prevent me from ever looking at the person I see in the mirror without responding with an assured I love you. You are whole. You are beautiful. If I could have lunch with the me I was last January, this is what I would say:

It gets better. Yes, it sucks right now and your world may seem as if it has fallen apart; it may feel as though the journey forward is impossible. Do not fear the light inside of you. If you dig deep and sit patiently with every feeling in your weary heart, I promise it gets better. It gets so much better.

There is a place inside you that no one can take, that no person can fully extinguish. They may try to squander your light, but your soul knows who you are and it knows the way. This place still holds a vast expanse of potential to love. Simply, yet boldly, set your fears aside; it’s what got you in this messy predicament and it’s what will keep you from finding the escape route, too.

Choose the path to love. Make the impossible choice, the road less traveled. Tip toe if you must, but take the step. You will find if you enlist your curious heart that you have the capacity to love and live like never before.

Look back only to learn from your mistakes, not to dwell in your misery. You won’t find what you’re looking for if you can’t see the blessing in the present moment. Determine why you took each misstep on the way toward your fear-ridden, downward spiral.

God intends to teach us lessons, and if we look at our past, we will see He simply needed us to choose love. We have to choose love every single time.

Take a chance to live fully, to love wholeheartedly and to travel to the depths of your soul. Your essence is the key to who you are; not who you thought you wanted to be, or who you were trying to be or even who someone else wanted you to be. Who were you before you tried to please others by fitting your heart into a square peg? You aren’t a square; you are an infinite heart. You don’t need to try to fit in when you’re meant to fly.

Stand up. Reach out. Laugh until you cry. Dance it out. Travel to the corners of the Earth if you must. Sit with a friend who reminds you of who you truly are. Sit with yourself in quiet solitude. You will find answers in the silence. Pray, a lot. Get to know yourself, again. Discover how brave you can be if you know falling may happen, because you will learn how to rise. Explore the weightlessness that comes out of your expansive soul. Leap and see how far your heart will take you.

Then, darling, soar with the wings you will grow. Don’t look back, and don’t look forward. Find the peace in this moment. Feel the love radiating from your heart. Send gratitude for the beautiful soul that your body inhabits. And know you can be who you always wanted to be.

You are safe. You are loved.

This is what I would tell my old self. The me today is fearless, not in a way that I am certain of everything in my life, but I am certain my faith will see me through. Maybe that is why we fall in the first place, so we can learn to fly.