BIG LOVE

This is the true measure of love, when we believe that we alone can love, that no one could ever have loved so before us, and that no one will ever love in the same way after us. -Goethe

This quote is on a plaque that has been sitting where I can see it on my bookcase for nearly three decades. I love this quote because when it comes to love and our closest relationships, it is important to believe that we have somehow mattered in this life time.

Big love comes in the day to day living as well as through enjoying the wonderful traditions we've created as reminders to celebrate life, transitions and the Love we offer ... to believe that we mattered in some small way in the grand scheme of things.

4 Steps to BIG LOVE in Your Most Important Relationships!

1- MEDITATE UPON LOVE! Any problem in your life would simply disappear if only you would love more. Loving more is not about a clingy, needy or controlling love. Big Love is more about loving for the sake of loving. It's free. It's a "I don't need anything from you" loving. I've created a Free Flash Online Movie to for you to watch as often as you need, to remember who you are and who you came here to be ... and that's Love. Grab a cup of something warm and "take 3" minutes to reconnect with yourself at: www.YouAreLoveMovie.com

2 - YOU ARE LOVE. And as such, you are here to be the Love that you are. To attract love, you must simply "be" love. One way to do this, is to reach out and do something for someone else. If you are too self-absorbed with feeling that you aren't appreciated or loved enough by the people in your life, then it's because your focus is on "lack": I'm not enough, I'm a victim, nobody loves me, etc. Certainly it is most important to love yourself, and please do so, for when you love yourself you are coming from your innate wholeness. There is nothing lacking in you that making a decision to just be an expression of love won't give you a "love rich" life.

3 - YOU CAN'T HAVE AN ATTITUDE & KEEP IT A SECRET! Behavioral Modification's #1 Rule is simple: Before you can change anyone else, you must first change yourself. What's getting in "love's way" in any unharmonious relationship, is: fear, judgment and labeling. To experience the Love that you want to radiate, what you must change is your attitude. What you must change to get a different result are the limitations you've put on others. What you must change is you!

4 - MASTERMINDING regularly with other like-minded people is how you get to have your specific heart desires heard and believed for you when you can't quite believe it and feel it for yourself. Having formulated your MasterMind Requests and received your "see back" from your partner, you can rest, content. Spirit is doing the work in all of your significant relationships to align you when you ask for, in the presence of another who will believe for you, when you can not believe for yourself.

Ask for alignment.

If you are not attracting the good that you desire in your life, learn to express love;
become a radiating center of love; and you will find that love,
the divine magnet within you will change your whole world ...
When your heart is filled with love you will not be critical or irritable, but you will be divinely irresistible.
Dare to Believe!

Appoline's Art of Living Strategies

One Word That Can Change Your Life!

"Life's not about waiting for the storms to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain."~Vivian Greene

This beautiful quote by Vivian Greene was one of my inspirations. The quote was sent to me by a friend about six months ago and I thought...that's it! We all face adversity in our life. However, it's not the adversity but how we react to it that will determine the joy and happiness in our life. During tough times do we spend too much time feeling sorry for ourselves, or can we, with gratitude...learn how to dance in the rain? It almost sounds too simple to feel important, but one word...gratitude, can change your attitude, and thus, your life forever. Sarah Breathnack said it best..."When we choose not to focus on what's missing from our lives, but are grateful for the abundance that's present...we experience heaven on earth."

It "struck a cord" unlike anything I've done in a long time. It is a message that truly connected with the hearts and souls.

"Any day I'm vertical is a good day"...that's what I always say.If you ask me,"How are you?"I'll answer, "GREAT!" because in saying so, I make it so.When Life gives me dark clouds and rain, I appreciate the moisture that brings a soft curl to my hair. When Life gives me sunshine, I gratefully turn my face up to feel its warmth on my cheeks.When Life brings fog, I hug my sweater around me and give thanks for the cool shroud of mystery that makes the familiar seem different and intriguing.When Life brings snow, I dash outside to catch the first flakes on my tongue, relishing the icy miracle that is a snowflake. Life's events and experiences are like the weather - they come and go, no matter what my preference.

So, what the heck?!I might as well decide to enjoy them. For indeed, there IS a time for every purpose under Heaven. And each season brings its own unique blessings.

The Most Powerful Message I've Ever Heard...!

George Bernard Shaw said, "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."

Well, it's pretty apparent, isn't it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.

Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn't know where he's going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety and worry - his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing... he becomes nothing.

How does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I'll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind.

Suppose a farmer has some land, and it's good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn't care. It's up to the farmer to make the decision.

We're comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn't care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn't care what you plant.

Now, let's say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds-one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land...and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted.

As it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."

"Remember the land doesn't care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants - one corn, one poison.

The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we plant...success...or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on. But what we plant it must return to us.

You see, the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant.

Procrastination is Attitude's Natural Assassin...!

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step."~Chinese Proverb

True...but that pesky first step can be a killer, can't it! I love Will Rogers' quote, "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." So many times we have great intentions. We're going to read a good book, write out our five year life plan, start a new business, lose weight. But for some reason, we can't quite get around to taking that first step.

We're all guilty of procrastinating. But here's the thing. Procrastinating when something is important, when it's something you know you should do, can drain your energy and you won't even know it.

"Procrastination is attitude's natural assassin. There's nothing so fatiguing as an uncompleted task."

This quote by William James is worth its weight in gold. There are times when I have difficulty setting aside blocks of time to write. I know I should be doing it. In fact, I even love doing it (once I get started), but...here we go...back to that pesky first step.

When I need a "nudge," I visualize just how good I'm going to feel about myself when I finish.

I know I'll feel energized. I also know I'll feel proud that I did something I didn't want to do.

So make a point to find something that works for you when you need a nudge to get started.

Our Emotions are Powerful Motivators...!

Our emotions are powerful motivators, and more than almost anything else in our lives they will drive our behavior. Sometimes our greatest challenge is to get inside our own heads to understand what makes us tick. Why do we feel and behave the way we do?

I know two family members who were best of friends, but several years ago, one reminded the other of something that had happened thirty years earlier. One thing led to another and, you know what, they haven't spoken since.

William Ward identified the cure when he said, "Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the handcuffs of hate."

Those are powerful words, and I know from personal experience...forgiveness works. A few times in my life I've been greatly wronged and taken advantage of. My first reaction, of course, was anger and resentment. I held it for awhile and felt my stomach tie up in knots, my appetite wane, and the joy slip out of my life.

The quote from Ward provided the wake-up call I needed to forgive the person who had wronged me. It was like I had been playing the first half of a soccer game with three-pound steel shoes, and in the locker room the coach said, "Mac, try these new Nikes in the second half." Multiply that by ten and you'll understand how great it feels to unload your "emotional baggage" through the power of forgiveness.

Life is too short to stay angry...even for a day. Just remember that, "this special Dash may only last a little while."

"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future."-Paul Boese