Weekly Inspiration: Abundance

“Riches are not from abundance of worldly goods, but from a contented mind.” Mohammed

It’s not easy feeling rich when you have to make ends meet.

It’s tough to be poor worrying about putting enough food on the table for your family and having the money to pay next month’s rent.

As a student back in the 80s, I was badly strapped for cash whilst creating a massive student loan debt, which took me 20 years to pay off.

In those days I never felt particularly well off. Although I wasn’t starving and could afford paying for a roof over my head, there were certain things I could never afford and experience, such as fabulous holidays abroad.

Sometimes I felt disappointed and frustrated; there I was, paying off my debt by working in corporate jobs that made me ill, while others seemed to have a whale of a time buying large houses, driving luxury cars and going on fancy holidays and weekend breaks twice a year.

Thankfully, I never felt envious; I was just wondering, how these people managed to afford those expenses.

Today I know they took out massive debts to feed their desire to have it all and “to keep up with the Jones’s”.

Now that I’ve entered the second half of my life, I am far more relaxed about money (lack of) and possessions.

I have learned that freedom is more important to me, and that means owning less. Get rid of the clutter, and you’re as free as a bird.

Every time I give another charity bag away, I feel lighter and relieved.

I prefer to upcycle, make my own, buy second-hand; no longer interested in that mass produced rubbish from China. Love vintage stuff found in charity shops and thrift stores.

If you feel poor or you think you miss out compared to others, look around you and see what you have that money can’t buy:

love, health, freedom, friendships, wisdom, time, intelligence, dreams and yes, happiness

Feeling happy is your choice despite your circumstances.

You own more treasures than you think you do; look around you and recognise them.

Here are some ways to help you feel rich without money, which I have practiced over the years:

Create abundance in your life by letting go of material desires you cannot afford.

Stop being a slave to materialism.

Live within your means.

Don't be fooled by advertising. You really don't need all that stuff.

Enjoy the simple pleasures.

Have a few good friends in real life and nurture those friendships. The hundreds or thousands of friends you have collected on Facebook are quite literally just virtual (except the handful of them you know in reality).

Be grateful for your health. In fact, be grateful for all the treasures you have that money can’t buy.

Let nature cheer you up - plants, forests, the sea, animals, the weather, the sky, the moon and the stars.

Look forward to every new day and the opportunities it may offer you.

Love yourself and your body.

Spread an abundant amount of love.

Be part of and contribute towards your local community. Hard times can be a great opportunity to get together with people for mutual support and strengthen community spirit.

There is no need for expensive Christmas gifts, not even for your children. They need to learn that life doesn't depend on obtaining the latest gadget or made-to-measure trainers. Help them to escape the consumerism trap, so they can live happier lives.

Enjoy what you have while you pursue what you want.

But having a mindset of abundance doesn't mean belittling poverty.

It doesn't mean you should be content with living below the poverty line and have no aspiration to better yourself.

Yes, I know from my own experience that it is truly tough to be poor, but counting your blessings with a positive mindset despite hardship will make it easier to find a way out of poverty than resignation, blaming others, envy and bitterness.

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

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7 Tips for Living A More Spiritual Life

Our Western society has become more secular in recent years, and whilst many people have replaced religion and spirituality with materialism and greed, others are searching for more meaning in their lives.

Ancient philosophers already knew that human beings consist of three parts: body, mind and spirit, so this isn't a New Age fad. Whereas our body needs sustenance like food and drink, our mind needs education and knowledge, and our spirit needs to explore the mysteries of life, death and the universe with curiosity, imagination and wonder.

When we neglect any of the three parts of our body, we become ill in some way. In order to avoid illness as best as we can, we need to keep our body, mind and spirit equally nurtured.

Although spirituality is nowadays strongly connected with religion, it is completely different from the rigid and dogmatic religious institutions, which currently exist. 

Spirituality is a holistic approach to achieving individual and collective well-being and contentment. You can have a spiritual approach to life without following any form of religion.

Being spiritual does not mean reverting back to follow a strict religious path; spirituality allows you to discover the wisdom found in all religions and choose what works for you as an individual.

You do not have to believe in a God in order to be spiritual. In fact, your beliefs would never be questioned by a spiritual person, as any belief is in itself valid and worthwhile contemplating.

Spirituality is a state of mind, where you become increasingly aware of nature, the universe, the cycle of life and death and mankind’s role within Earth’s complex eco-system. 

Once we develop our spirituality, it will offer us as much strength and support as any religion practised today. It may even offer us much more than any religion, as it is based on experience rather than a religious belief system.

You may be asking yourself how you can develop your spirituality. There is no guidance, no rules, no structure. Here are some practical ideas that will help you make a start:

1. Practice Meditation

Allow yourself undisturbed time at least three times a week, where you can meditate and reflect on your spiritual well-being. 

Meditation is a powerful tool to calm down, clear your mind and relax. It's not difficult to learn, but you need to practice it regularly to notice a positive effect.

You can simply start by lighting some candles, listen to some soothing music and sit in a comfortable chair and start to unwind. 

You could even try a guided meditation CD. Over time, meditation can help you ease tension, stress and anxiety.

2. Spend Time in Nature

This doesn't necessarily mean hiking in the wilderness for days, but enjoying walks in the countryside, the local park or even in your garden. 

Enjoy the scents of flowers, the earth and the trees. Listen to the birds and watch the wildlife. 

If you have your own garden, try growing your own fruit and veg. If you just have a balcony or window sill, grow herbs and flowers in pots. Have fun experimenting with seeds.

3. Observe and celebrate the changing seasons

Spring, summer, autumn, winter - each season is special and offers us unique gifts. 

Try to buy seasonal fruit and vegetables that are locally grown. It's not necessary to eat strawberries in winter, which have been flown in from far away. 

Each season's delights are something to look forward to: whilst enjoying the long summer days, it's comforting to look forward to lighting candles in the autumn evenings and roasting some chestnuts. 

Spend time outdoors during the seasons and watch nature change. Get in tune with the cycle of  life.

4. Fill your home with positive energy

Keep your home tidy and uncluttered. Filling charity bags with unwanted items can feel like releasing old baggage and a refreshing cleansing purge. 

Crystals are beautiful, but they can also have healing properties. Invest in a few crystal objects that you love and can use in your meditative and healing activities.

Rock salt lamps are a great way to reduce air pollution caused by electrical equipment. 

Keep a few plants and have some inspirational books handy, which encourage you to think positively and awaken your creativity.

5. Love yourself

Ditch those glossy magazines that haunt you with a distorted view of beauty. The media's obsession with age and size zero bodies has led to a slump in women's self-esteem and a rise in eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. 

Many women, who had plastic surgery, regretted it later. Now is a good time to stop the media's influence on you and enjoy your life the way you are. 

Remember that nobody is perfect, and you can find a way to let your natural beauty shine whatever your features or body shape.

6. Love people

Make a conscious effort to be nice to people. Smile. Be friendly. Helpful. Caring. Tolerant. 

Don't expect anything back in return, but you will notice a positive difference not just within yourself but also how others treat you in return.

7. Take responsibility for your happiness

You may get hard done by, and you may encounter a few pitfalls in life, but in the end it's your choice how you react and how you want to feel. 

Avoid victim mentality; be pro-active. Have faith in yourself; you have the power to take control and move on to where you want to be.

There are many more ways to live a more spiritual life; which ones would you add to this list? 

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

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Weekly Inspiration: Contentment

After a visit to the countryside over the weekend, it's hard to believe we live in a material world. When you experience the simplicity and beauty of nature, you wonder why you need all the stuff you've accumulated over the years, and why you would want even more.

Materialism and greed are associated with the Devil in Tarot, and they go hand in hand with limitations and dependency.

"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need." - From the movie Fight Club, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk

Isn't it time to let go? The recent economic crises may be a blessing in disguise. Now we have a great excuse to say "I can't afford that" and start spending our money wisely rather than freely.

"You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need." - Vernon Howard

Living a more spiritual life is saying good-bye to excessive consumerism, and instead enjoying the simple pleasures in life, shifting our focus and energy from "acquiring" to "creating" and just "being".

"To the right, books; to the left, a tea-cup. In front of me, the fireplace; behind me, the post. There is no greater happiness than this."  - Teiga 

What are you doing this week to feel more content? How much does your happiness rely on acquiring things that you may want but not necessarily need? How could you utilise your energy and resources in a more sustainable and fulfilling way?

Check out my quick and easy Nine of Cups contentment meditation.

If you love Tarot and would like to learn more, request my fabulous freebies to start your Tarot journey and transform your life.

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

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Celebrate The Sunrise

 Aquatic Tarot © Andreas Schröter 

If you have just arrived from Carla's blog as part of the Tarot Blog Hop series - welcome!

Today's topic is the celebration of today's Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

I usually mark this special day by having a lovely scrumptious goblet of Mead later in the garden, surrounded by plenty of Citronella candles to keep those pesky midges at bay.

Hopefully, it will be warm outside tonight (you never know with the UK weather!), and I can see some bats shooting erratically through the evening sky whilst thinking of A Midsummer Night's Dream. If I'm lucky, Oberon will turn up ;)

Of course, I mustn't forget to do something Tarot related, so following on from my Ostara Tarot spread, the Summer Solstice is a good occasion to take stock of how plans, projects and life are panning out so far this year.

This time of year, it's all about spending time outdoors, in your garden and enjoying nature's beauty and bounties. Just like the child in the Sun image above, it's time to relax, be carefree and have fun.

If you have a mature, overgrown garden like mine, then you will be busy tending to the crops you have planted to enjoy a fruitful harvest later in summer and autumn. You will also have to keep up with the weeds, but I only get rid of them in areas, where they encroach on the more valuable plants.

Just recently I have become rather fond of all the dandelion in my garden; I have discovered that you can make a very healthy cup of tea from its leaves. So, not everything that is declared a weed is useless.

And this is how it is in real life. We can associate everything we dream of, do and want to achieve as seedlings, that need planting, tending to and nurturing. We need to weed out some things in our lives that are no longer useful, and along the way we sometimes make mistakes: regretting having discarded of something that could have proven useful after all, or having overlooked more opportunities for joy and abundance, because we didn't pay attention.

With the Midsummer Tarot spread you can try to make the most of what you want to create and avoid the pitfalls along the way as best as you can. This spread works well in a general reading, but it can also be used to examine a specific area in your life such as relationship, work, lifestyle, creative ambitions, etc.:

1. How does my garden grow? 
This card gives you a general indication on how things are progressing so far.

2. What areas need special care and nurturing?

This card highlights an aspect or issue you may be neglecting, or that needs special attention at this moment in time.

3. In what area do I need to do some weeding? What do you need to discard, let go of, release? This can relate to possessions, beliefs, people, the past, emotional baggage etc., but be careful not to make a rash decision you may later regret, especially when it can affect relationships and people.

4. What else can I do to make my forthcoming harvest successful? What else can you do to achieve your goal.

5. Where are more opportunities for growth? Are you missing something? What seeds can you grow at this time of year that will produce some winter crop? What is on offer today that can lead to growth and achievement in the future?

I hope you enjoy trying out this spread as part of your solstice activities. Please do let me know, how it's worked for you.

And now please jump back onto the blog hop train and visit Aisling's blog for more sunrise celebrations. Be inspired!

Wishing you a de-"lightful" Summer Solstice,

Christiane

PS: A little gift for you to take along your way, an enchanting quote from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. Feel free to share with your friends online.

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Dream, Explore, Discover

“We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.” -   John Hope Franklin 

In my latest post on my website "Are you Investing In Yourself?" I talk about the importance of experiencing learning with people rather than just relying on books and your own company. 

My inspirational message for this weekend is to simply dream, explore and discover by engaging and sharing with others. Expand your mind and widen your horizon. Get unstuck. New possibilities are found beyond your comfort zone. Take that leap of faith.

I'm doing it! What about you?  

Warmest wishes,

Christiane 

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Do You Compare and Despair?

How often do you compare yourself with others? And how often does that make you feel down and insecure?

If you are a budding artist, writer or entrepreneur, or you are working hard building a rewarding career in any other discipline, you will always come across people, who are further ahead than you.

They may already be in a position where you want to be. They seem to be more popular, or perhaps they make more money than you.

Whilst you're working your socks off to make a living, they seem to have accomplished that level of security and success that you are yearning for.

And whilst you keep comparing yourself and start to despair about your imagined inadequacies, the gap between your current position and your goal will become larger as your confidence and self-esteem gradually go down the drain.

So now is a good time to change the way you think, and here are some tips on how to do it: 

• There will always be people more successful than you. Some may even seem more talented. Get over it! That doesn't mean there isn't a place for you in Successville. Nobody is better than you, just DIFFERENT. Find your own niche based on your strengths and skills and create something unique in your own style. 
• Learn from the people you admire. Study their work and how they operate; along the way you will discover some "tricks of the trade" you may not have thought of before. 
• Network, communicate and build relationships with like-minded people including those you admire. Always give kindness, respect and support. You will find that this will be given to you in return. 
• Admire and be INSPIRED. Never imitate other people's work or personalities. You are unique, and you have something special to offer to the world. Develop your own ideas, style and personality. 
• Be true to yourself. Don't let others stop you from following your dream. In the end, you have to live with the decisions you make, not them. Surround yourself with people, who encourage and support you. 
• Be grateful for constructive criticism; you will learn from it, and it will help you progress. 
• There's no such thing as failure as long as you keep going and love what you do. Always be open to new ideas, new directions and new possibilities. 
• Use a mantra or affirmation to switch your negative self-image into a positive one. Stop saying “I’ll never be as good as her” and say instead: “I am good at what I do, and I’m learning and getting better every day.” Keep repeating the positive self-talk and you will begin to recognise your worth.

Remember, you can choose what to think, so focus on thoughts that increase your self-esteem and make you feel empowered.

By simply being aware of your thoughts and knowing you can alter them already empowers you to control their quality.

Here are some ways to help you increase your self-esteem and escape the compare-and-despair-trap:

1. Make a list about your characteristics, strengths, talents, skills, gifts and abilities and how you utilise them. What actions do you take to demonstrate your qualities?

2. Write down what you love and admire about yourself.

3. Create your mantras and affirmations to remind you of your power (pull some Tarot or oracle cards for inspiration).

4. When you feel negative about yourself, what could you do to help you feel better?

5. Think of activities you enjoy, people and pets who makes you happy, places you love… and anything else that brings a smile on your face – make a list of all those positive things around you and you start shifting your focus on the good stuff going on in your life.

Regular positive self-evaluation will help you strengthen and maintain a healthy level of self-esteem. 

Write it all down. Record it in your journal.You can start right now to be the author of your life!

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

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The Power of Faith

I was pondering Faith the other day. Not faith in a particular religion, but faith in yourself, the people you depend on, nature, the universe, the Wheel of Life and whatever higher force you believe in.

Nurturing your faith is letting go of control, which quite often can be a heavy burden lifted off one's shoulders. We cannot control everything around us. When I let go of control and just have faith that all will be well despite uncertainties, I feel a sense of relief and lightness coming over me.

When something doesn't quite work out the way I want it to be, then faith helps me to acknowledge its purpose and value, which I will discover at some point.

Mind you, faith goes hand in hand with doubt, but it's also accompanied by trust. Nurturing your faith and trust will weaken doubts and fears, which many people suffer from today, and I think that's why the above quote spoke to me when I read it.

Perhaps its message will inspire you too to relinquish control and just flow with faith not only to alleviate life's burdens but also have the courage to pursue your path with conviction and optimism.

Christiane 

Transform your life this year: 

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Inspirational Message for the Weekend

If you feel you need to do something new, something different...sometimes we just need to have a little encouragement to bring excitement and adventure back into our lives. Perhaps this message is just for you...follow the bird...;)

Feel free to share this image (unaltered) on the web. Have a great weekend!

Christiane 

Wishing You A Fantabulous Easter!

Here at Cosmic HQ we're already enjoying our Easter treats. Remember, if your chocolate melts in your hand, you're eating it too slowly!

Enjoy your weekend,

Christiane 

Inspirational Message for the Weekend

This image was taken on a trip to the Bavarian Alps in 2006. Please feel free to share it with your friends. Have a great weekend!

Christiane 

Transform your life this year: 

Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it
Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life
Tarot eBooks - Great value, innovative Tarot study material

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