Great Lakes Region Youth of Unity

Weekly Inspiration 8

By: Clay Kinson

Date: 8-26-2010

Regular Fact: James K. Polk graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1818.

Fun Fact: The King of Hearts is the only king without a mustache.  (Poor guy!)

Quote: “Love is a state of being.  Your love is not outside; it is deep within you.  You can never lose it, and it cannot leave you.”  -Eckhart Tolle

Bible Quote: "And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight."

Affirmation: With my heart open, I am inspired to right action and I am guided to my good!

Goal for the week: Call a grandparent, uncle, cousin, or other relative you haven't talked to in a while and just chat for a bit to catch up.  They are likely really appreciate your thoughts and the connection you took the time to make.

Goal for the week #2: Click on all of these as often as you can.  It's free, and the money donated comes from the fact that you see all those ads on the side.  http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1

Food for thought: Alrighty, this week your food for thought is about joy.  Hazaah!  <--See, good example right there.  But what I really mean when I say "joy" isn't just the knowledge that it's free pie day at Baker's Square, I mean true, purifying, deep, bursting joy.  Sometimes I feel so incredibly happy to be alive doing what I love that I feel like I resonate with a joyful light at all times that day.  It's the kind of "Nothin gonna bring me down" feeling that just transforms all of your experiences.  So why don't we feel like this all the time?  Well don't worry because I have a theory.  We suppress it.  We bundle it up inside and don't let it out.  Sometimes it can seem like things are so down in the world around you.  Sometimes there seems to be a heavy weight to your day and a gloom to your night.  It's not that you can't find happiness in the world, it's because you're not finding ways to let that light, that happiness, out.  Like Eckhart Tolle said in the quote above, your love isn't outside somewhere where you have to go looking for it, it's inside you all the time.  The same can be said of joy and happiness.  Here's the trick though, you have to find your own way to let it out.  We express our joy by playing music, creating incredible works, getting outside and running, and most certainly, spending time with someone we love.  Sometimes it's definitely not so easy though.  A woman who loves the violin and is filled up with joy at every vibration of the strings will need to find that music, play it in her house, maybe go out and find orchestra concerts, and perhaps that joy will lead her to start learning to play the violin in time.  The point there is that if she stayed in her house without any means of playing that music and didn't go out and find it, her love for the art would not make any difference, and her pent up joy wouldn't do any good.  So here's the deal, there are literally infinite ways to express your joy.  Sometimes it just comes down to having to run instead of walk to get it out.  But we all need to find our own ways to release it.  We just have to release it; there's no other option.  I mean, why do you think we laugh?  :)

Note from Jo: When you hear the word "angel" what do you picture?   A figure in white?   Somewhat angelic?   Well,

I found out it is important to be open to angels that walk the earth that might not quite appear to be that way.  I have seen many angels in the hospital taking great care of my son.  And yesterday, I had to handle all this paperwork, which can be quite overwhelming, regarding Medicaid.  I left early yesterday for this office, hoping to be the first in line as I didn't know how long it would take to file these 13 pages of information.  As I stood at the registration window, looking across at the female worker who looked quite stern, she rattled off information which I don't need to go into detail about.   I walked away feeling a little confused and as I looked up, there stood a woman, dressed a little ruffled, pack of cigaretts hanging out of her pocket, hair tossed about, smelling of alcohol.  She took me aside and gave me more information and clarified many items for me and directed me as to what and where I needed to go next.  She gave me a hug and said,  "hang in there, you will get through this just fine".  Well, I have to tell you I couldn't hold back the tears.  This woman had such compassion and caring and definitely one of those angels that just simply helps people.  So pay attention, because angels are there that you just might not notice !! I certainly was touched by one...........