From Without, and Within

These last few years I have felt this internal push to change my eating habits for the healthier and to become more environmentally-friendly in my life. I believe that these changes come from my spiritual side, and also strengthen my spiritual life. I didn't decide to do these things for convenience or social status, but more from an innate necessity. At the same time, our world is one of global consciousness... we are all not only connected physically, but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Thus all great ideas and changes arise both outside of, and within, ourselves from our global consciousness.

I find the more I clean up my diet, the lighter I become. Health issues which used to plague me have decreased greatly (migraines, acne, allergies). But truthfully, even though better health is enough, in itself, to want to continue this, I find this need to 'make myself lighter' is as much for the greater good as it is for myself.

Similarly, the more I approach living eco-friendly and sustainably, the lighter my environment becomes. I am taking in less resources and trying to reduce, reuse, and recycle the resources I do consume. Thus I get closer to living in harmony with mother nature, rather than separate from it. What I do to or for mother nature, I also do to and for myself.

Today's world is such a mixture of lightness and darkness. In order to not let the darkness take over, I find it so important to 'hold onto the light'. If there is any purpose to my life that my higher self has dictated, it is to hold onto the light. How do I do that?

Important things are to keep a positive state of mind, express gratitude, and be kind. Being positive is not possible 100% of the time because I am human like everyone else. My lower self has to deal with this world and the problems that sometimes crop up. But being positive more often than not is key. And not beating myself up about the times when I am not, but to take it as a learning experience and move on.

Gratitude... I find it easy to be thankful for the things I have in this life. However, remembering to express that gratitude is the hard part, when we get distracted by day-to-day living. So I'm starting to use simple reminders. Whenever I eat, I try to express gratitude for my meal. Sometimes I don't remember until I'm taking the very last bite, but that is okay. Late is better than never. Another way I remember is that I have all these cloth wipes for our family cloth system. One particular cloth wipe is totally different from the others. Whenever I happen to get that one, I must say 3 things I am thankful for. May seem kind of odd, but it works well.

Being kind... just something I strive for in my daily interactions with any living being that I come across, whether human, animal, or plant. So thus, I work at holding onto the light. And in turn, more light comes into my life. In eating healthier, I allow my body to grow toward its full potential. In being sustainable, I am giving my love to the earth, which in turn, gives back to me.

When we trash the earth, we trash ourselves. Similarly, when we trash our bodies with junk food, we ... well, we trash ourselves, too. My mom and I recently had a little tiff about the way I eat. I basically told her that based on what I know, I can't go back to eating in a mainstream way. She replied that the social aspect of eating was far more important to her than the health aspect. That floored me. Maybe it is a generational thing -- people my age are much more likely to have a variety of eating habits and be more flexible about that kind of thing. Could it also be that humans, as a whole are evolving? Each generation is closer to the light than the last. I am so excited when I think of the possibilities for Il Tonino and other children, present and future.

There are 4 pillars of our lives, just like a table has 4 legs. We have our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects. If any one of them is lacking, we are unbalanced. How we walk, talk, eat, and love in this world affects all of those aspects. Thus the lighter we walk on this earth, the more positive the thoughts and words that come from us, the healthier we eat, and the greater we love, contributes to a more profound life that benefits not only us but all that is around us.

What you do for yourself, you do for others. What you do for others, you do for yourself.

In love and light. Gaia Hippie :)