In this newsletter I’m doing some reminiscing….

I’ve been reflecting with great appreciation on the many mentors I’ve had throughout my life. I’ve been fortunate to have worked with and learned from enlightened teachers that have greatly contributed to my growth. One of these mentors is a dear friend named Liz Garland. She is one of the wisest and most loving human beings I have ever known. I’ve nicknamed her Dr. Love. Liz is a relationship expert. She helps people create positive and peaceful relationships within themselves and others. She also delivers relationship conselling for couples.

I’d like to share with you 10 gems of wisdom I learned from Dr. Love over the years about creating a happy life:

1) Self nurturing means giving yourself permission to honor what your heart is longing to experience that will bring you joy. What brings you joy? When was the last time you felt joyful?

2) It is possible to be a loving person and have healthy boundaries without making others wrong. No one is all good or all bad. We are all doing the best we can given we all have unhealed wounds from our past.

3) Self-criticism or negative judgments toward ourselves and others (non-acceptance) is the root cause of disharmony in the world.

4) It is vital to have an open, forgiving heart. Adopting a forgiving attitude toward others frees your energy to get on with your life in the moment. Having an open heart does not mean that you will accept inappropriate behaviour from others. It means you will change what you can and let go of or forgive the rest.

5) You cannot heal what you are not willing to feel.

6) Your quality of life is informed in large measure by the quality of the relationships you have with the people in your life.

7) Nothing is more important than love to transform the human spirit. 

8) Everyone needs support. We are not meant to ‘do it all’ by ourselves. If we were, we’d have our own planet.

9) The quality of your relationships with others is dependent upon your ability to have a healthy relationship with yourself. No relationship outside of yourself (with another) can work better than the relationship you have with yourself. Learning how to appreciate and accept yourself is a worthwhile process.

10) And last but not least: there is a lot of wisdom in the serenity prayer:

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.

Each one of these points can be reflected on or discussed in more depth, so I’ll leave that with you.