Dr. Nancy Tarr Hart

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” 

Viktor Frankl

In today’s world, adopting a personal practice that actualizes Viktor Frankl’s wise words could be misconstrued as apathy.  They are not.  If, after working toward changing a situation (personal or otherwise) we are unsuccessful, it is always a good idea to take a step back and look to ourselves for answers and/or solutions. 

Asking ourselves, “What is it that worries, angers, offends, or saddens me?” is only the beginning of the process.  We must also ask ourselves:  “If I cannot change what it is that I have identified, can I change how I act or react to it?”  And, the answers we get to this second question are where we usually find ourselves challenged. 

Why?  Because, it is not easy to see or understand that what we do on a personal or micro level—like drops of water falling into an empty bucket—has as the potential to add up over time.  The result?  We find ourselves with the equivalent of a bucket filled with life-saving water:  the ability to change things on a large scale or macro level.  And, our next step is to take the time to honestly look inward and ask ourselves whether we need to change our intentions, the way we think (our perspective), our actions, or all of the above.  It is then that we are ready to actualize change in ourselves and in our world.  We are the change.  With each thought, word, and deed, we are the change we want to see in our world.

~~Dr. Nancy Tarr Hart

First appeared in Empowering YOU, Transforming Lives, compiled by Rebecca Hall Gruyter

So much has been written on the subject of be-ing, but the reality is that we often fail to seize the opportunities offered us to actually experience the joys associated with the practice.  This is due, in part, to the level of our engagement with our lives and the world around us—how focused we are on our family life, or on our work, school, or other outside activities. We lose sight of the fact that we are a part of something much larger than ourselves.  And, while most of us are tuned into the reality that it’s necessary to pay attention to our surroundings as we negotiate life, we often fail to take that to the next step—the larger act or practice of be-ing. 

Just be-ing. 

Be-ing involves full on spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional presence; it embraces and resonates in our heads, our bodies, our energies, and our hearts.  We are filled with an awareness that transcends the mundane aspects of earthly living while anchoring us firmly in the here and now with a heightened sense of who we are, who others are, and how we are connected to all of creation.  We are gifted with a deep knowing that goes beyond the traditional boundaries of understanding, taking us to our most spiritual self . . . our divine selves.  This is the reason for which we are here—our purpose—to fully know, love, create, and, most of all, to be.  In those moments of true be-ing, we are able to realize our own divine selves.

I urge you to take a moment to just be. . . . let Spirit enter your heart and fill your being.  Step into the fullness of who you are intended to be as you walk in the knowledge that all of creation is sacred and a blessing for which to be grateful as you walk with Grace and with Blessings.

~~Dr. Nancy Tarr Hart

First appeared in Empowering YOU, Transforming Lives, compiled by Rebecca Hall Gruyter

“You are immortal; you exist for billions of years in different manifestations because you are Life, and Life cannot die.  You are in the trees, the butterflies, the fish, the moon, the sun.  Wherever you go, you are there, waiting for yourself.”  Don Miguel Ruiz

Take a moment to look around you—to experience yourself in the universe.  Look with your heart and see yourself in the flowers in your garden, in the mountains, lakes and streams, the birds that fly across the morning sunlit sky.  See yourself in the shifting sands at the beach, the small fish that swim by your feet, or in the waves that rush by you as they break onto the shore and then rush back out to join the massive depths of the ocean.  Look to the night sky and know that you are a part of the moon and the stars that glitter and shine down from above, illuminating the path.

In each of these moments, if we are able to still ourselves and listen, we can hear our own selves saying, “Yes, here I am, and there I am.  All is one and all are a part of the whole of the cosmos.”  And, if we listen even more carefully, we will be blessed to hear Spirit asking us to “Be still and know that I AM.”  To hold the thought that Spirit is all around, in, and through each and every particle of the universe is to welcome in an almost overwhelming but all encompassing experience of love beyond measure.  And, it is in that moment, that we are made aware of our limitless nature.

Yes, we are unlimited and each of us is a part of something larger than our own individual selves.  In taking care of ourselves, we are taking care of others and our created world . . . and vice versa.  This mutual caretaking promotes the awareness that we are all an integral, necessary, and constant participant in the whole of the universe.  So, look at tonight’s sky . . . listen to that inner voice asking you to be gentle with yourself, to let love lead the way, and to remember that you are as unlimited as the cosmos itself.

First appeared in Empowering YOU, Transforming Lives, compiled by Rebecca Hall Gruyter