Archive for abundant gifts
Explore the Deeper Meaning of Living Your Best Life
Posted by: | CommentsRecently I got together with three other women who are all as passionate as I am about living an Aligned Life. We explored the deeper meaning of health, home, money & marketing.
We had a blast.
Our lively discussion focused on what Alignment with our deepest soul values looks like in various areas of our lives: health, home, marketing, and money. How can we break negative cycles and redefine each of these areas according to who we are, not how anyone else says we should be?
I talked about “Healing the Unexamined Life,” by which I mean a life ruled by unhealed heart issues rather than Alignment with our True Selves. If you’ve ever struggled with how to present energy healing to someone to help them understand what you do with The Healing Codes, this will give you ideas!
Vanessa Redford took the idea of Alignment into our homes to define “the alchemy of sacred spaces,” showing how we can set up our environments to reflect and support who we really are. It doesn’t require an outside designer or a lot of money, either!
Angela Matthews shed light on how we can heal financial trauma for a “ridiculous flow” of abundance. If you’ve ever thought, “I’m not an investor, I can’t do that”–Angela may well change your mind!
April Gregory talked about how “branding” is really a reflection of who you are. We are all our own “brand,” whether we work in our own business or for a company. Here’s how to shine in all your true brilliance to attract just whom you’re meant to serve.
Honestly, this discussion was a huge blessing for me. Not only did I discover a new way to share about The Healing Codes, but one of my goals (before I met Vanessa) was to transform my home. Another goal (before I met Angela) was to learn how to invest wisely my recent inheritance. And as I am being led in new directions in my work, new expression is required—i.e., branding (hello April!).
Not to mention I got to dip my toe further into video, and connect with some fabulous women. (It gets lonely being a soloprenueur, you know?) For me anyway, this Roundtable, which just sort of “happened” unexpectedly, was one of those “abundant gifts” I see coming from the gracious hand of God.
That’s what living Aligned is all about. When you’re Aligned with Your Divine DesignTM, you always get what you need, when you need it—often in surprising ways. How wonderful is that?
If after watching our discussion you have questions, here’s how to find each of us:
Diane Eble:
https://HealingHeartIssues.com, https://healingcodescoaching.com
Vanessa Redford:
https://www.vanessaredford.com
April Gregory:
april@wonderwomanmarketing.com
Angela Matthews:
Angela@happyinvestormethod.com
I’m Listening . . .
Posted by: | CommentsI think I’ve cried at least once every single day for the past several weeks, if not months.
As someone who can’t help but feel and think deeply about everything, I have taken my time to respond to what is happening in the world, but especially in our country, about racism in particular.
I am and have always been about “healing heart issues.” I have worked with clients in 39 countries, and of all races and religions. Because I usually only use phone or Skype voice, I do not see my clients, and this gives me and them the freedom to relate at the heart level.
I have found that no matter the color of one’s skin, the same heart beats in all of us.
Having said that, I know that we are all affected by our culture and the surrounding culture. We have the same heart issues, but we don’t have the same experience. In our culture, there is wide disparity between socioeconomic and racial cultures. We can easily find many areas of injustice that need correcting.
I recently wrote a blog about distorted thinking, with the challenge to filter everything you hear or read—even what comes out of your own mouth—through this lens. Our culture’s polarization, for instance, is a perfect example of most of the thinking styles mentioned. And racism is built on ALL of them.
We need to first confront the distorted thinking, the heart wounds, that exist in our own hearts before we can clearly engage in any conversation about healing on a larger scale. As Jesus said, we need to remove the log in our own eye before we can see to take out the speck in our brother’s eye.
With that said, I am prayerfully asking God to show me any way in which my own heart and my own thinking need to be changed.
And I am listening. Deeply. With humility. Listening to my black brothers and sisters, to my friends and colleagues, to people who demonstrate that they are thinking clearly.
And I want to listen to YOU. If there is anything you have seen in what I have said that shows any kind of distorted thinking like that on my blog, or just plain ignorance, call me out, please. I promise to listen.
I believe that love is what is needed now more than ever. And love listens. Love allows space for another to be heard, without judgment. That is what I have always sought to do with my clients, friends and family.
After talking with thousands of clients the world over, I believe one of the greatest aches of the human heart is to be validated. To be heard.
I want you who read this to know that I believe you should be heard. That your experience matters. That YOU matter. Growing up in a home in which I felt like I didn’t matter because I was different (with the trait of high sensitivity), I get that deep need. “Black lives matter” is a very moving statement to me.
I am also listening to God, searching his word for his perspective. What I find is that to God, ALL lives matter, simply because he created every person. God himself loves diversity. You see this in the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, when he made an incredible variety of things, and you see it in the very last book (Revelation), where the vision is of “peoples from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Revelation 7:9). From beginning to end in the Bible, God loves and values diversity.
And so should we, for that very reason.
God loves diversity!
Years ago in 2006, I wrote on my Abundant Gifts blog a post called “Room for All Kinds.” It moved me greatly to write it, and I offer it to you now: https://abundantgiftsblog.com/room-for-all-kinds/
This is the vision I hold to, and pray for. Before God we all stand equal . . . and beloved. When you know yourself—and every other person–as the Beloved of God, it changes everything.
My work is to help you see that you are the Beloved, and then I trust that God and your own aligned self will make clear the unique contribution you are to make to a world in which God’s celebration of diversity is meant to be made manifest.
“When Your Heart is Full of Gratitude, There’s No Room for . . .”
Posted by: | CommentsA friend of mine said something to me I’ve been mulling over ever since.
This friend, Clare Masters, has had incredible health challenges (read her gofundme posts here). Botched surgeries, constant pain, and the pressure of trying to live on $4000/year could easily have stolen her life.
While every day is a challenge for Clare, you would never know it if you talked to her. She is always positive, always looking for ways to give back. She’s the kind of person you want to help out as much as you can. She never complains (though if you ask and really want to know, she’ll be honest), and she’s always looking for ways to give to you.
At a recent hospital stay, a nurse asked her how she is able to stay so positive. Why wasn’t she bitter about the cards life handed her? Read More→
How “Gratitude Plus” Healed My Depression
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After my daughter was born, in 1995, I fell into a pretty severe post-partem depression.
It was probably caused by a combination of taking my thyroid medication at the wrong time, hormone imbalances, and lack of sleep.
This was way before The Healing Codes came into my life. I didn’t know what to do. I did seek medical help, but oddly, I didn’t get any. All I remember is the doctor saying, “Your color is good” (did he ever hear of makeup?), and basically doing nothing. I was too exhausted and depressed to keep seeking help.
So what I did was pray. And God gave me His prescription, which was pretty simple.
God’s Prescription for My Depression
Just three steps.
1. Write “morning pages” first thing when I wake up. Three pages of longhand in a 9×11 lined notebook. Brain dumping, whatever comes into my head.
I’ve been doing that every single day, just about, since 1995.
The effect is wonderful. I get all the junk out, first thing every day. Sometimes I write down dreams. Only occasionally do I get a few good ideas that I can use in my work. Mostly it’s stream-of-consciousness dribble I doubt anyone would find remotely interesting.
I realized later, though, how clever and efficient God is. Not only did this practice stand in for a more expensive counselor; it also made me a better, more fluent writer. I have not experienced writer’s block for decades.
2. Walk every day in the morning. This is the second thing God told me to do for my depression. Later I read that many studies say this is at least as effective as medication. God knew that already!
3. The third thing was to notice the gifts of each day, and write them down. Many people keep “gratitude journals,” but this felt a little different. I was to deliberately connect God to it: What felt like a gift from God that day?
The more I looked, the more I saw. I challenged myself to find at least 3 gifts every day.
Many people keep “gratitude journals,” and that is a very good practice. But for me, thinking of it as a “gifts journal” makes it “gratitude plus.” Noticing and writing down things that feel like gifts from God–somehow it takes gratitude to a whole new level.
For me, it takes gratitude out of the realm of “principle” (gratitude is good for you because it focuses you on the positive, which of course is true), to the personal. When you keep a gifts journal, it’s all about noticing and fully receiving what the supreme Giver has given to you. These are connection points, in time and space, when you received something from a Person that you can’t see. The gifts are footprints of God’s presence in your life.
I started keeping that “gifts journal” in 1995, and in a couple of years I had enough to fill a book. The book of my heart, Abundant Gifts, was published first by Tyndale House in 1999 and then republished in 2004 by New Hope Publishers, after famous author Jan Karon said, “God speaks to me from Diane’s pen.”
Keeping track of the things that feel like gifts has been totally life-changing for me.
Just yesterday, I got another “abundant gift.” My office chair needed replacing; it was starting to affect my back. My husband also needed one.
Well, my son came home with two free chairs from his office! But here’s the real gift: someone in our neighborhood was giving away an office chair–the same day. That was the one that suited me best. God picked out my new office chair! In one day, God supplied, for free, office chairs for me, my husband and son.
Some people call these “gifts from the Universe.” If that’s your belief, fine. But to me, it’s much more personal than that. I’d rather receive from “the Father of lights”: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). Isn’t that beautiful?
Keeping a gifts journal pulled me out of depression, and led to a book that blessed thousands. Whenever I’m down, I get back to keeping my gifts journal.
I hope you will consider doing the same. Look for at least 3 things every day that felt like gifts. The more you look, the more you’ll find!
And oh–don’t forget to thank the Giver. That completes the blessing. The Giver loves to be acknowledged and thanked, just as we do.
If you would like to download the same “Abundant Gifts Journal” I use, for free, go here.
And if you would like some coaching to make a better connection with the Giver and become more Aligned with your divine design, check out my coaching.
From Fear to Peace
Posted by: | CommentsThere’s a lot of fear out there these days.
I have noticed with clients that their own fears have been triggered by what’s going on in the world. The Highly Sensitive among us are especially susceptible to picking up on fear from others, adding to their own fears.
Back in 1933, the U.S. was facing another fearful time: the Great Depression. In President Frnaklin Delano Roosevelt’s Inaugural speech, he uttered the famous words, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” While one may quibble with that sentiment, there is truth, I think, to the idea that fear is a force that itself can bring on no good thing.
As mentioned in The Healing Code, the fear or stress response dumbs us down; makes us sick; drains our energy; suppresses our immune system; increases our pain; raises our blood pressure; destroys relationships; causes anger, depression, shame, and worth and identity issues; and causes us to do everything from a negative perspective.
So how do you resist fear without sticking your head in the sand? Here are my suggestions. Read More→
Open to Receiving in the New Year
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We have just come through the holidays, a time of giving . . . and receiving.
Which did you enjoy more? (Be honest, now!)
If you said, “Receiving,” don’t be too ashamed.
We often hear the quote, “It’s more blessed to give than receive.”
In our materialistic world, that’s a good thing to be reminded of.
But consider this: Might it be just as blessed to receive?
Think about the recent holidays. Imagine that you had a gift wrapped beautifully for someone, but you didn’t see her right away. You told her you had a gift for her but . . . she never came to claim it. (This actually happened to me.)
How do you feel?
Now, imagine offering a gift to someone who receives it with delight and gratitude.
Don’t you feel blessed in the second case?
If we refuse a gift someone offers us, we rob them of the joy of giving. We break the cycle: gift offered, gift received, receiver blessed, giver blessed from receiver’s gratitude.
As we look into a new year, there are gifts waiting for you from a gracious God. Some of those gifts will look like gifts–all wrapped in nice packaging. Good health. Improved finances. Reconciled relationships. These are what we strive for, and receive gratefully.
But this year may also bring what I call “disguised gifts.” Things that don’t seem like gifts at all.
Health challenges. Loss of work. Business or financial setbacks. Relationships that go sour.
Last year for me delivered a number of such “gifts.”
But you know what? Because of what I learned long ago about gifts from God (I wrote a book called Abundant Gifts about it), I had developed a habit of thanking God for everything, of believing that everything could work together for my good.
And when you do that, even the most painful of “gifts” yield some kind of sweet fruit.
My husband and I took some time to look back at the past year and focus on the positives. We discussed some questions that you might want to use, too, as you look back on the past year.
- What do I feel good about from this past year in regards to my career/vocation? My family? My friends? My health? My prosperity? My spiritual life? My personal life?
- What changes did I make this year in any area of my life that made me feel more expansive and authentic?
- What were the best gifts from the past year? (Take time to really steep in gratitude for them.)
- What did I love about my life this past year that was different from any other year in my past?
- In what areas did I experience the most healing?
- Were there any milestones achieved last year? (Maybe other people wouldn’t call them that, but for you they were. Celebrate them!)
Looking back at the positives sets you up for receiving the good that can come to you in the coming year. If you need help letting go of any of the painful things from the past year, feel free to do Healing Codes for those things. And if you need extra help with letting go of the painful issues, feel free to get some coaching and custom Healing Codes from me. I’m here for you!
