By: Marc Chernoff / Source: Body Mind Soul Spirit

When I was a teenager I was the primary target of an extremely persistent bully at my high school. One day I came home in tears and wrote this on the whiteboard hanging on my bedroom wall: “I hate bullies. They make me feel like a loser.”

The next day, while I was at school, my grandmother erased what I wrote on the whiteboard and replaced it with this: “An entire body of water the size of the Pacific Ocean can’t sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship.

Similarly, all the negativity in the world can’t bring you down unless you allow it to get inside your head.”

And from that day forward I felt better. I made a conscious decision to stop letting the bully get inside my head. I changed my beliefs about his level of importance in my life.

It isn’t easy to remain positive when negativity surrounds you, but remember that you have full control over what you choose to believe.

You can effectively defend yourself against all kinds of negativity by adopting simple, yet powerful, beliefs that support a positive outlook in the face of seemingly negative circumstances.

Below you will find 15 such beliefs that have helped free me from the grips of negativity. I have these beliefs written down in my journal, and I review them on a regular basis, as needed, just to keep them fresh in my mind.

I hope you will join me by adopting them into your own belief system as well…

1. What other people say about me is their problem, not mine. – Don’t take other people’s negativity personally. Most negative people behave negatively not just to you, but to everyone they interact with.

What they say and do is a projection of their own reality. Even when a situation seems personal – even if someone insults you directly – it oftentimes has nothing to do with you.

What others say and do, and the opinions they have, are based entirely on their own self-reflection.

2. I am free to be ME. – Can you remember who you were before the world told you who you should be? Happiness is found when you stop comparing yourself to everyone else and what they want.

Stop living for other people and their opinions. Be true to yourself. You are the only person in charge of your life. The only question is: What do you want to do with the rest of it?

3. Life isn’t perfect, but it sure is great. – Our goal shouldn’t be to create a perfect life, but to live an imperfect life in radical amazement. To get up every morning and take and good look around in a way that takes nothing for granted.

Everything is extraordinary. Every day is a gift. Never treat life casually. To be spiritual in any way is to be amazed in every way.

4. It’s okay to have down days. – Expecting life to be wonderful all the time is wanting to swim in an ocean in which waves only rise up and never come crashing down.

However, when you recognize that the rising and crashing waves are part of the exact same ocean, you are able to let go and be at peace with the reality of these ups and downs. It becomes clear that life’s ups require life’s downs.

5. Even when I’m struggling, I have so much to be grateful for. – What if you awoke today with only the things you were thankful for yesterday?

We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but of appreciating everything we do have. Stress thrives when your worry list is longer than your gratitude list.

Happiness thrives when your gratitude list is longer than your worry list. So find something to be thankful for right now.

6. Every experience is just another important lesson. – Disappointments and failure are two of the surest stepping-stones to success. So don’t let a hard lesson harden your heart.

When things go wrong, learn what you can and then push the tragedies and mistakes aside. Remember, life’s best lessons are often learned at the worst times and from the worst mistakes.

We must fail in order to know, and hurt in order to grow. Good things often fall apart so better things can fall together in their place.

7. Not everything is meant to stay. – Change can be terrifying, yet all positive growth and healing requires change. Sometimes you have to find the good in goodbye.

Because the past is a place of reference, not a place of residence. Be strong when everything seems to be going wrong, keep taking small steps, and eventually you will find what you’re looking for.

Learn to trust the journey, even when you do not understand it.

8. Being wrong is the first step to being right. – Sometimes the wrong choices bring us to the right places. To be creative and productive in life, you must first lose your fear of being wrong.

And remember, a fear like this can only survive inside you if you let it live there.

9. I do not need to hold on to what’s holding me back. – You are not what has happened to you; you are what you choose to become. It’s time to break the beliefs and routines that have been holding you back.

Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer grows you. Listen to your intuition, not your ego. When you stop chasing the wrong beliefs, you give the right ideas a chance to catch you.

10. My happiness today is simply the result of my thinking. – Happiness starts with you – not with your relationships, not with your job, not with your money, but WITH YOU.

It is not always easy to find happiness in ourselves, but it is always impossible to find it elsewhere. Regardless of the situation you face, your attitude is your choice.

Remember, you can’t have a positive life with a negative attitude. When negativity controls your thoughts, it limits your behavior, actions, and opportunities.

If you realized how powerful your thoughts were, you would try your best to never think another negative thought again.

11. Who I spend quality time with matters. – Surround yourself with people who lift you higher – those who see the great potential in you, even when you don’t see it in yourself.

12. Drama and judgments are a waste of perfect happiness. – Make a promise to yourself. Promise to stop the drama before it begins, to breathe deeply and peacefully, and to love others and yourself without conditions.

Promise to laugh at your own mistakes, and to realize that no one is perfect; we are all human.

Feelings of self-worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible.

13. Most people are judging me far less than it seems. – The truth is, while you’re busy worrying about what others think of you, they’re busy worrying about what you think of them. Crazy?

Yes, but true. The good news is this knowledge instantly frees you to let loose and do more of what YOU want. And while doing so, you’ll also liberate others to do the same.

14. I can make the world a happier place. – Do your best to help one person every day in some small way. By becoming the answer to someone’s prayer, we often find the answers to our own. When the people around us are happier, it’s a lot easier to smile.

15. The work is worth it. – Lose the expectation that everything in life should be easy. It rarely is. In fact, there are no shortcuts to any place worth going.

Enjoy the challenge of your achievements. See the value in your efforts and be patient with yourself. And realize that patience is not about waiting; it’s the ability to keep a good attitude while working hard on your dreams.

It’s knowing deep down that the work is well worth it in the end.

Your turn…

What is the biggest source of negativity in your life? What helps you stay motivated in the face of this negativity? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

By: Victoria Erickson / Source: Rebelle Society

Like most sensitive souls, you already know you’re sensitive.

You soak up others’ moods and desires like a sponge. You absorb sensation the way a paintbrush grasps each color it touches on a palette.

The ethereal beauty of a dandelion, the shift of a season, the climax of a song, or the scent of a certain fragrance can sometimes move you to tears.

Super sensitive souls like you and I have always been a part of the human landscape, and according to the “Highly Sensitive Person” pioneer Elaine Aron’s research, we make up around 20 percent of the population.

It’s important to note that all human beings are actually quite fragile, and Super Sensitive Souls are no more fragile than everyone else—we are just more easily stimulated due to our wiring.

Basically this means if you are sensitive, you have the ability to see colors and feel energy the way others hear jet planes.

The world takes on a rich tapestry of immense gorgeousness at almost every turn, which then fuels your imagination and makes you spin with aliveness. And aliveness is a grand thing.

“Aliveness is energy. It’s the juice, the vitality, and the passion that wakes up our cells every morning. It’s what makes us want to dance. It’s the energy that moves a relationship from the status quo to something grander and much more expansive, something that makes our hearts beat faster, our minds and our eyes open wider, than ever before. Everything is of interest to a person who is truly alive, whether it’s a challenge, a loving moment, a bucket of grief, or a glimpse of beauty.” ~ Daphne Rose Kingma

Yet, it also means that much like the spirited and hot blooded Arabians in the horse world, your alertness and reactivity may easily cause you to shy away with fright at things that shouldn’t be so scary.

Since your nervous system responds so easily to stimuli, that it can often times be overwhelming and exhausting to be so flooded with sensation—which makes you prone to bolting from uncomfortable situations, relationships, and jobs.

And sometimes your sensitivity makes life extraordinarily painful, and you want to shut down and hide your raw self from the loud chaos that accompanies this earth’s continual rotation.

Continually swimming in an endless sea of sensation can at times be exhausting, regardless if it’s beautifully terrible or terribly beautiful, and this is why your deep-rooted need for peace and self care is essential to support your superb sensitivity.

Here are a few things you can practice daily in order to both preserve your energy and keep your sanity:

1. Create.

Sensitive types and creativity go hand and hand, because their rawness and innate ability to pick up on information and energy that others don’t feel can easily be translated into art and passionate expression.

So rescue that fleeting gorgeous moment, then recycle it through your chosen medium.

Perhaps you can make your guitar cry, or weave beautiful cloth into wearable clothing or drip powerful words like blood on a page, or capture that perfect light with your camera before you.

Just create, create, then create some more so other people can see through your eyes, sensitive person.

2. Enjoy the company of animals.

Sensitive souls tend to have a deep connection with animals due to their innate intuition, understanding of energy and compassionate nature.

Animals know and appreciate this, so give yourself permission to spend as much time as possible bonding with your particular animal, because the time spent with animals is never wasted.

3. Seek out water.

Water is magical, and one of its many uses is as tool to achieve peace, calm, and balance. Take a roadtrip to the sea, a lake, a stream or even your bathtub. Let the water invigorate and cleanse you in order to feel clear again.

4. Be aware of what is yours and what is not.

When you take in other people’s energy, you must learn to instantly let go of what I like to call “the yuck”, because if that energy that wasn’t yours to begin with is negative or imbalanced, it can actually make you physically sick.

Learn to recognize what is only your energy and emotion and place a protective invisible shield around yourself to block out anything that is not.

5. Surround yourself with people that understand your nature and nurture that connection.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin once said,

“There is almost a sensual longing for communion with others that have a larger vision. The immense fulfillment of the friendships between those engaged in furthering the evolution of consciousness has a quality almost impossible to describe.”

Find us because one, we understand, and two, we can sit beside you and revel at the outstanding beauty and synchronicities all around.

Perhaps we’ll share poetry or take hikes, or contemplate life, or geek out sharing our favorite photo editing applications.

6. Retreat, replenish and rejeuvenate.

Take some time for yourself when your body and mind need it. When you’re sensitive, you need to fiercely guard your serenity to protect your open heart and regroup.

Once you have these things in place, go and experience this mind-bendingly incredible world, you super sensitive soul, you.

If the world is patiently waiting for everyone else’s senses to grow sharper to reveal magical things, all you need to do is step outside and ride the energy of the earth, for there’s always a brilliant sunrise, rolling fog, shifting seasons, and rising waters to experience, as well as new, inviting lands to step foot on.

And the view is glorious.

By: Steven Bancarz  / Source: Spirit Science and Metaphysics

What happens to us when we die? Where does our soul go? Chances are, if you were brought up in a religious backgroundyou believe that there are only 2 places you can go: Heaven and Hell.

If you are a good person and believe the right things, you spend eternity in Heaven. If you are a sinful person, you spend an eternity in hell. Thankfully, this is a false dichotomy.

On top of the fact that it doesn’t even make sense to think about only 2 options (both of which are eternal), there has been a lot of scientific investigation into what happens when people leave their bodies when it dies and then return after experiencing time in the spirit world.

Thousands of near-death experiences have given us the information we need to form a more accurate picture of what awaits us on the other side.

Some do report hellish realms, and almost all report heavenly realms, but there is another side of the coin here that needs to be addressed.

Mr. Michael Newton is a psychologist who specialized in hypnotherapy, where he would put people into hypnosis to bring out any past traumas they experienced in their lives and walk them through the memories into healing.

He soon discovered that he was able to bring people back so far into their memories that they were remembering things that weren’t even taking place in this life anymore. They were taking place in between lives!

In his books Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls (which together have sold over half a million copies) he shares case studies that he has gathered over the course of four decades of bringing people back into the memories of their souls journey.

Surprisingly, they all said the exact same things, and coincided very nicely with a lot of the NDE accounts that have occurred. Here are 7 things which these two fields of study have strongly suggested happen to us when we die:

1) Life Flash

An extremely common phenomenon within people who are dying is that they see their entire life flash before their eyes. The brain snaps into hyper-speed mode and starts revisiting your memory databank before your soul separates from your body.

2) You Can See Your Body

Many people will see their physical body right as they exit it at the moment that consciousness disconnects from the physical body. You will be able to see your surroundings and the things that are happening around your dead body.

This will not scare you however, because it will feel as natural as anything.

Some people report feeling frustrated or angry over the way they died and wishing that they could go back into their body to seek revenge, but this feeling passes with time as you begin to fall into the Light.

3) The Light

People always report seeing a light when they die. The light appears off in the distance, and you will slowly be pulled towards it, almost as if you are being pulled by a magnet.

The light is always accompanied by a sense of love and peace. This is your transition phase back to your home in the spirit world.

4) Seeing Dead Relatives

Right when you enter into the spirit world after being pulled through the light, you are greeted by loved ones who are there to embrace you and comfort you. It’s sort of like a reunion.

These are not necessarily your relatives from your current earth life. They may be family members of yours from previous lives who have been with you throughout your whole souls evolution.

Essentially, you have family members you don’t currently know about from a totally different bloodline who will greet you as you enter the spirit world.

You will, of course, remember their names and recognize their faces upon return.

It’s important to note here that the souls will take on the image they had in physical form to create a sense of home and familiarity for you. Souls don’t look like they did on earth necessary.

The body is just a body. The soul is formless, but can take various shapes to serve different purposes.

It is said that advanced souls who have lived many lives don’t necessarily have relatives that greet them, because they understand what the spirit world is about and have been through many times before.

It is said in the books that advanced souls sometimes skip this step because it is not needed for them.

5) Guardian Angels/Spirit Guides

You have your own assigned guardian angel, or ‘spirit guide’ depending on which term you like to use better. Whatever you wish to call them, you will encounter your guide in the spirit world and they will comfort you and make you feel at home.

But, this is also the time where the fun and games are over. After you experience some of the heavenly realms, duty begins to call.

Your guide has been with you and watching you throughout your life, and wants to go over some things with you. It’s time to take out your report card from the life you just lived:

6) Life Review

You meet with your angels/guides and go over everything that happened in your life. People report seeing their entire life as a sort of movie film in front of their eyes or on the pages of a book.

You may have to see some things that make you feel ashamed and like you failed, but this is not a time of judgment. This is a time of review, and discussion about what needs to be improved upon as a soul.

After you see your whole life, you may come to an agreement with your guides to come back to Earth to work on things after a certain period of time in the spirit world.

7) You Don’t Want To Return

You feel such an overwhelming amount of peace and love that you don’t want to return. You don’t have to worry about illness or earthly tasks. You are boundless, safe, and free. No stress, no pain, and no suffering.

But remember, reincarnation may await you. You may either volunteer to come back to help other souls on earth, you may NEED to come back to alleviate Karma, or you may choose to come back to evolve more as a soul and experience the richness of life.

Keep in mind, these are what thousands of people have been saying about their memories/experiences of the afterlife, and these conclusions are being drawn from forty years of professional work.

I personally confidently believe in the reality of such a process, as I think it makes the most sense and is well supported by evidence.

That being said, there are people who report going to realms which resemble Hell where they see demons and other nasty things. We can’t turn a blind eye to the reality of dark realms just because they may scare us.

Although Dr. Newton did not report any such findings, many people who have had NDEs have had very frightening experiences which had deterred them away from bad behaviour and inspired them to live better lives.

The main thing to take away from this, is that you are taken care of. You are infinitely loved and will be looked after. There is no death, only transition.

You WILL get to reunite with the souls of loved ones, and you will experience magical realms. Peace, love, and serenity awaits. But so does accountability.

The destiny of your soul is related to your behaviour as a human being in this life. That will be good news to some, and for others may inspire the desire to improve themselves. Either way, we should be asking ourselves the following questions:

How am I treating other souls in this world? What am I doing to help myself and the people around evolve?