Monday, February 24, 2014

Gratitude

Gratitude, also known as expressing thankfulness, is of a very high positive vibration. I am so thankful that my parents taught me from a very young age to always say "thank you" to others for things they've given to me or done for me. When someone does something nice or helpful for you, expressing your gratitude to them validates them and their action. It sends out positive vibes to the receiving individual, which reinforces that good behavior. Gratitude and the Law of Attraction are strongly linked. What you send out into the world, you get back. I've heard the saying, "Gratitude has a long memory." It's so true, especially if you take a moment to think back to something that someone did for you in the past that really made a difference in your life and made you feel loved and great. The same goes for things YOU do for others, they will remember.

If you take a moment and just look around you, you can give thanks for so many things. If you're reading this, then you have your eyesight and you're able to read. Many people in this world are blind and can't read. Be grateful you can see and read. If you're reading this, you're likely using some sort of gadget like a cell phone or laptop. Many people in this world don't have these things. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you catch my drift. People have a tendency to always be wanting more more more and never feeling satiated, yet if those people would take some time and shift their focus to expressing gratitude for what they already have, it's the key to more happiness and contentment.
There have been times in my life where I would do a grand gesture for someone or give a friend a nice gift, and I'd actually feel a little let-down that the receiver didn't say thank you. It's good to give without expectation of something in return, but like I mentioned before, when someone expresses their gratitude it feels validating to the giver.

If you find yourself stressing over problems, try shifting your focus to counting your blessings and looking deeper into what the problems may be trying to teach you....could they be lessons or blessings in disguise? For example, I have a friend who is a lawyer. He had a cushy six-figure income and was suddenly laid off. Initially he was panic-stricken, but he was able to see that the job had actually gotten pretty awful, and being laid-off was actually a beneficial thing, because he was able to start up his own company and work for himself. He seems much happier now, can make his own schedule, and his new venture is already being successful!

Whenever life throws a wrench into your plans, try to calm yourself and react from a place of more inner peace. I am an advocate of prayer: It really helps the spirit feel better when times get trying. It's important to pray and ask for angels to help you with things. They ARE around and do listen and want to help! You just have to ask, because they don't want to interfere with your free-will choices. Praying aloud is stronger than just thinking your prayers because speaking is a stronger vibration than thinking, but both count and matter! So be careful what you think and wish for in both thought and speech, because you just might get it! Don't wish harm on others, pray for others instead. God says to love your enemies, which can be hard to do, but in the end it's your life, your emotions, and how you react that matter most. Gratitude, happiness, forgiveness, patience, love, gentleness, compassion....they all come from within you.

Namaste,
Mandelyn Reese
The LA Street Angel
2/24/2014



Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Patience

{The Artists in Music Awards - Hollywood}

Patience has got to be one of the most difficult things to learn in life. Sometimes you just want something sooooo badly, but you can't have it, but maybe you can have it if you're patient enough and keep trying. I read a quote somewhere that said, "The ego is impatient, because it knows its time is limited. The spirit is patient because it knows it is eternal."
If you give up easily then that thing you wanted will stay out of reach or slip through your fingers. Sometimes though, if you are patient and keep trying, magical things can happen. Patience shows you are strong and more resilient. Patience will help get you through more discouragements and obstacles and feel more balanced. Staying positive and calm when things don't go your way or things get tough will make those times smoother to get through, because patience allows you to think on a higher level and act from a place of more solidarity.


Patience is needed more these days. In such a fast-moving society, we're constantly feeling more and more of a push to get things done faster. More people are feeling like there just aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish all that they want or need to do. The way society has become in general has people so strapped for personal time, it's remarkable. The cost of living keeps skyrocketing, and it's getting tougher to make enough money to make ends meet and keep up with bills, so people are finding themselves working more hours weekly on the job. Some people don't even get the choice: their jobs force them to work more than they'd ever willingly want to work. What you allow will continue.... if you let your job take advantage of you, it will only continue and/or get worse. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself.

More patience is needed around society, because if one person becomes impatient and becomes angry or irritated, that vibe gets sent out to everyone else around them. Traffic is a great example of this. Everyone around a pissed-off driver is effected if that driver blares their horn in impatience. It's also evident when a person gets irate from waiting in a line too long or whatever the situation may be and that irritated person takes their frustrations out on anyone around them or unsuspecting innocent recipients of their anger.


When you apply patience while you're navigating through a storm, you will find out that the storm passes so much easier, and the clouds will dissipate and the sun will shine through once again. Even the fiercest storms in life come to an end and renewal follows.

I'd like to share a quote from one of my favorite books "Rays of the Dawn" by Dr. Thurman Fleet:
"Patience enables us to estimate people, conditions, and things in their true light and to guard against the emotional upsets and biased judgment that often cloud the vision."

There is the saying "Patience is a virtue." This is so true. Patience must be learned by the soul in life, because life will constantly be throwing you new situations to test you. You may encounter situations almost daily that require patience. When you start having a higher awareness and consciousness of things, being patient actually becomes easier. You realize that things happen for a reason, and most everyone around you is doing the best they can. Not everyone is on the same wavelength or may have the same level of intelligence or emotional stability as you, so be patient and kind with others. You never know what someone else is going through that may have caused the way they behave and think.




Namaste,
Mandelyn Reese
The LA Street Angel
2/18/14