Manifesting dreams into reality takes time and patience but it does happen to real people. I started visualizing myself traveling to beautiful beaches and distant places when I began my healing journey years ago. I learned along the way that sometimes we manifest things but if we aren’t living present and in the moment we don’t appreciate the blessing we have. I have been blessed with many trips over the past few years and practiced plenty of mindfulness, self-love, and gratitude to live in the present during each visit. But sometimes it can be difficult with our stressful lives and our emotional triggers. Emotional and physical symptoms can arise even in the most peaceful places.
I was blessed with a trip to Exuma with my son to Casa Mary with close friends. It was a magical place filled with possibilities. Yet on the first day, I had a migraine and felt disconnected from the magic of the moment. I recognized it was time to practice self-love and find the root of my symptoms to unravel the reason behind this migraine in paradise. I realized that I was feeling guilt and shame because my eldest son and husband stayed home to pursue baseball dreams. Though it was not my fault and they were having fun on their own, the judge in my mind was blaming me for enjoying magic without them. After reflecting and resolving the pain, I began to focus on gratitude for each moment and the stress melted away. I shared a few magic moments and insights from this trip in my Self-Love community but was not ready to share them with the world. Usually, on vacation, my creative insights and writing is flowing but those little pesky emotions lingered under the surface.
I had a vision of myself in a big Orange hat on the beach months before Exuma. And I packed the big Orange hat. The day I shared the poem with my group, I laughed thinking of Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat. I realized I had subconsciously fulfilled the vision of a hurt little girl by living my dream with an Orange hat. On the last day in paradise, I finally worked up the courage to take the pictures I had dreamed of in Exuma. And the perfect opportunity came to spend time with my son and model for the camera. I found plenty of beautiful places to show off the Orange hat and begin to unravel that creative mind through those pictures.
Creativity finally came a few days after the trip as I enjoyed looking through the pictures and came upon a picture of the Orange hat sitting upon the rocks. The visual inspiration helped me realize that sometimes life gives us darkness to guide us towards the light.
Life sometimes gets in the way of our dreams, passions, and aspirations. But the more we learn to find the blessings in the difficult moments the easier the journey becomes. We experience challenges to give us the opportunity to grow and evolve.
Life is about making lemonade out of the lemons to find the sweetness in the sour. Enjoy the poem written with love.
Sunshine in Paradise
The breeze calls to me
soothing away the stress in my body
The ocean calls to me
washing away the doubt in my bones.
The waves call to me
Clearing away the judge in my mind.
The sun calls to me
Warming the courage in my soul.
The birds sing to me
Replacing the negative chatter in my mind.
The butterflies fly to me
Bringing hope and joy to my eyes.
The waves come to my feet
Cleansing my feet and inviting hope in
The sand sticks to me
Reminding me to dust away the fear
The sun shines on me
Refilling me with energy and vitality
The breeze comes to me
Reviving my senses with peace and tranquility
The butterflies dance for me
Reminding me there is light at the end of the tunnel
The birds fly to me
Bringing the courage to shine
The sun caresses me
Encouraging the courage to rise.
The waves cuddle me
Releasing the judge of my mind.
The ocean soothes me
Freeing my body from limitations.
The breeze tickles me
Reminding me that mother nature is on my side.
Diane:
Your story resonates with us, as Mariah was forced to retire from the job she loved. An RN for 35 years, she injured her back pushing a pt. bed, and two surgeries later received disability, with no possibility of returning to the bedside. One thing that worked to eliminate her once nagging lower back pain & radiculopathy was adopting a whole foods plant based diet. We’ve enjoyed that meal plan for three years, and her pain is gone. My own experience with WFPB eating is similar. In January of 2018 I had an MI, and received a stent. After a year taking 7 meds, the standard post-MI regimen, and eating WFPB meals, my labs were so good the cardiologist allowed me to stop the meds. I now take one drug, a Nexium once a day for GERD. Thanks for sharing. We’re convinced that food is medicine.