Spirituality

"You don't have to be religious to be spiritual. Spirit is everywhere - in people and in animals. Spirituality is hard to explain; you can't touch it, but it surrounds you every day. You feel your spirit when something touches you so deeply it moves you to tears, when you are so excited you get goose bumps, or when you are just happy to be alive."

Beautiful words by Amanda Ford in her book "Be True to Yourself - A Daily Guide for Teenage Girls." Check: http://books.google.com/books/be true to yourself.htm

You can feel and hear your spirit, you can feel and hear someone else's spirit... It is essential to find some quiet time during our busy days to be silent and listen; to pray and reflect; to rest and listen to our body. We will certainly feel more relaxed, replenished, restored and at peace. Little by little we will discover our true nature and we will become more compassionate, kind and loving human beings. We will also feel amazingly HAPPY. Try it!

May You Be Happy...

Today I found a great little book called "Be True to Yourself" by Amanda Ford. One of the titles is "A Prayer for All Things" where the author mentions a well-known Buddhist mantra (prayer) that we should all say or think often to feel better:

May I be happy
May I be peaceful
May I be free...

We can also repeat "May (fill in the blank) be happy; may (fill in the blank) be peaceful; may (fill in the blank) be free." Add the name of the person you want to send loving thoughts to. We can actually change this beautiful mantra in many different ways. We could add "May I be healthy, or May I be strong, or May I be patient, or May I be confident, etc. We could also add "May I be free of suffering, or free of anger, or free of pain, or free of worry, etc.

The important thing is to repeat this mantra throughout the day. A sense of peace and happiness will fill our hearts. Let's remember that what we tell ourselves throughout our day affects how we feel, and affects others, in a positive or negative way. Our thoughts are powerful! Our beliefs create our reality. We are what we think... and much much more, of course! We are the awareness behind those thoughts. We are...

Also check www.HowToBeHappy.org for more great ideas on how to be happy... (you can download the e-book too).

“To become a happy person - have a clean soul, eyes that see romance in the commonplace, a child’s heart, and spiritual simplicity.” ~ Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking

“The way to happiness: keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Fill your life with love. Scatter sunshine. Forget self, think of others. Do as you would be done by. Try this for a week and you will be surprised.” 
~ Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking