Tag Archives: Pollyanna

If …

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Hello Dear Ones!

This week’s blog post was inspired by my Morning Pages writings of March 15th. Here’s what I wrote:

The word if … how often in my life do I plan this or that… if it’s possible, if I can, if it’s allowed, if it’s available? It’s a word dependent upon all things outside of myself. I’ve found myself using it at least once almost every day since.The recognition of this simple word in my daily plans and activities tells me how frequently I actually rely on people and situations outside of my control before making plans for a wide variety of aspects in my life.

If it doesn’t rain, I’ll go for a walk. If I do go for a walk, I can stop at my fave spot and sit awhile with my latest book, if that spot is available. I didn’t sleep well last night, so if it does rain, I’ll have a nap this afternoon. Me, always compromising.

Get the drift? Does any of this sound familiar?

So, what have I gleaned from my query into this behavioural pattern? Well, it seems I’m dealing with what appears to be compromises that suggest a lack of trust and faith in myself and yet also in things outside of myself. It seems that during these pandemic times I have gone from a strong, wise, powerful woman ~ a woman who knew what she wanted in life and was well on her way to the unfolding of a vision ~ to a woman who has become afraid of life.

My vision was to take Mike’s and my Free Hugs activities across Canada. All the puzzle pieces to make this dream a reality were falling beautifully in place! That was as of January 2020. As you might imagine, that dream collapsed as of March of that year. After having hugged close to 40,000 people over an 11-year span of time and with folks from over 89 countries around the world, hugs had now become a taboo activity. For many people, hugs had become taboo even between family members, let alone for folks from around the world. Our last Free Hugs session was on March 1st, 2020 and most of the folks we had been privileged to interact with in this fashion that day were from places outside of Canada! When we caught the news later that evening, we realized we would be wise to self-isolate for 14 days, which we did. Blessings be, nothing came of it. But that was the last hug session we did. And, as of this writing one full year later, there is no time in sight as to when, if ever, that precious activity might possibly start up again.

The loss of a dream, the destruction of a vision… it broke my heart and my spirit. Can any of you relate? What dreams did you have to put on hold?

And it seems that loss affected me in more far reaching ways than I had realized. Yet… now that I have recognized the impact this past year has had on my well-being, where do I go from here?

I did some more indepth writing on the subject. Here’s what unfolded in my writings yesterday:

There has to be an answer, something I can do to shift from where I am to where I was. What if… and that’s where my AHA moment grabbed me! What if??? Absolutely! What if? I had added one word to what has been holding me back: from if? to what if? What if I shift my thoughts from dependency on outside sources to my own inner inspirations and strengths? So what if it rains? What if I grab my umbrella and go for a walk because I want to walk? What if my special spot by the ocean isn’t available for a sit? I’ll have my book with me; what if I choose in that moment to nestle onto that new bench the city installed that’s away from the walking path with a lovely view of its own!

So I’ve started to let go of the negatives and the limitations and flip them to positives and potentials! That sounds like the me I remember from the beginning of last year! That’s the positive note I wish to relay to you, Dear Reader! I’ve let the Pollyanna in me return to her prime place of importance and value in my life. It may take some work. There may be a few failures or setbacks, but I know it’s well worth the pursuit!

Are you playing a role of prime importance in your own life? I hope so! If not, however, hopefully something I’ve shared here today gives you the impetus and/or the courage to step toward valuing yourself more highly. Wishing you happy journeys, even if (or perhaps especially if), those journeys take you within yourself.

In Light and Laughter,

Marcia

Pollyanna Takes Centre Stage

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Hello Dear Ones!

Who of you have seen the 1960 classic movie: ‘Pollyanna‘, starring Hayley Mills? It’s the tale of a young orphan who played the ‘Glad Game‘: engaging positively with her world as a method of coping with the challenges and sorrows of everyday life. Always a bright side to be seen, this youngster could find joy in the simple, the unique, the seemingly unimportant; always finding a positive twist to each and every encounter. The truly charming story-line worked well on the big screen. I am, however, of an age that allowed me the privilege of reading the original 1913 book ~ and the continuing series (by American author Eleanor H. Porter) ~ long before the movie was made. (Yes, I’m aging myself… but when one gets to a certain age, any stigma of age no longer holds significance!)

So, back to my attempt at a topic today. I proudly consider myself a Pollyanna… someone who lives by the Pollyanna Principle of being excessively cheerful. I learned back in my youth to play the ‘Glad Game’. This positive approach to life generates a way of seeing blessings everywhere when we take notice to appreciate the simple, the beautiful, the wondrous, the magical, and often times, the innocence in every situation.

Today, I still see the best possible outcome in most every experience or situation. There is always something for which to be grateful. Gratitude is the 21st century version of the Glad Game. Here’s a “for instance”:

Today, I misplaced my debit card. I retraced my steps to no avail. Checked pockets, hallway shoes, every location I had been. No success. I could have panicked. But no. I called the bank. No one had used the card since my last transaction, so they simply cancelled my card. I do have to go in to the bank in person to be assigned a new one. Do I consider this an annoyance? An inconvenience? Am I angry? No. I’ll get to meet my new bank manager tomorrow. The outing will add an additional few thousand steps to my exercise regimen. And, even masked, I’ll get to smile at other socially-distanced folks who, like me, miss the human connection in these most interesting of times.

Finding something positive in each challenge has its blessings. I have found mine and am looking forward to tomorrow’s outing.

If you play the Glad Game today, what joys and magic might you find in these challenging times?

In Light and Laughter,

Marcia

He Says, She Says… ‘Insights’ from the Celestine Prophecy

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Hello, Dear Reader:

When James Redfield’s book ‘The Celestine Prophecy‘ came out in in the early 1990s, we bought two copies of it and read them avidly.  The ideas contained within the book added nicely to the stores of knowledge we already had.  Time went by like it always does, and over the years the ‘insights’ from that book were overlaid and integrated with that received from other sources.  We heard a few years ago that a movie had been made from the book, but we never saw it.

A week ago we were at the local library getting some children’s books for visiting family and we came across the DVD version of the movie ‘by chance’.  Intrigued, we checked it out and took it home to watch it.  The movie matched the book fairly well (at least in our memories), but coming across those ideas again sparked new thoughts for both of us.  So, without further ado we thought we’d make this week’s ‘He Says, She Says…‘ post, “‘Insights’ from the Celestine Prophecy“.

Hugs,
M&M

Follow these links to read what He Says/She Says: Marcia’s View / Mike’s View

Marcia’s Meanderings – A Crisis of Spirit

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Hello Dear Ones!

Reflecting back to the AHA moments in my life – and there have been so very many of them! – I smile at the ‘Wow and Wonderful’ uplifting qualities of these incredible experiences. Each has revealed some aspect within or about me and opened me up to the potential for expansion toward a deeper spiritual growth.  As each AHA arrived, so too came the joyous recognition that its arrival meant change, adventure, and amazing options …

… until this week …

Me – Marcia, the eternal optimist, the definitive Pollyanna – has gone through a radical, life-altering shift that has blasted a hole in my psyche and shaken my spirituality right down to its roots. A core belief was revealed through a simple statement that I made in general conversation. The listener asked me if I realized what I had just said, and repeated my words back to me. Hearing them from someone else and recognizing the validity of those words as having originated from within me, had me reeling in shock.

I have spent this entire week attempting to grapple with the impact of this far-reaching, gut-wrenching revelation. Even today – five days since that conversation – I am dealing with issues of anger, resentment, confusion, fear,  and doubt – all directed at my own self plus at my Self, and yes, even at the Divine! Maybe especially at the Divine!

As is typical for me, there is also a positive bent to this situation. I am spending quality time focusing on the fabulous aspects of my current life, appreciating what is in my reality and all that makes my life precious. Though the words ‘attempting to focus’ might be more appropriate at times, I find myself reaching out for hope while the spiritual tenet of trust remains … elusive.

So while I have an agonizing ache within my soul, while there is a sense of loss and longing and emptiness sitting heavily on my chest, while I seek out the answers that I know are not out ‘there’ somewhere but are buried deep within me to aid me through this leg of my spiritual journey, I am going through the motions of living life with appreciation and joy. One moment I am feeling so overwhelmingly victimized by the recognition and impact of this ‘old’ belief. The next moment I am laughing as I see an adult running through the sprinkler, arms spread and face uplifted to catch the water droplets on his tongue!

For those of you who hold to the Law of Attraction, my dichotomy of rock-bottom low vibrational frequency of negative expression contrasted with the sporadic and less frequent yet very positive high vibrational frequency must have the Divine in a tailspin! Good! Maybe it’ll shake out a solution more quickly!!!!!

I’ll get through this. I’m strong. I’m a powerful, spiritual, multi-dimensional being who has the wisdom of All That Is within me. I merely need to open myself up to recognizing my answer – the solution – before I trip over it and fall flat on my face. Blessings be to my sense of humour … especially in spite of myself …

That’s it for today, Dear Ones!

In Light and yes … even Laughter,

Marcia

(Note:  It was a tough decision not to express to you what this core belief is. The effect it has had on me is of more significance to me and potentially to you, Dear Reader. After all, my core beliefs will be different from your own. And yet it is my wish that something in my physical, emotional and spiritual response to its revelation may be of assistance to you should you ever experience such a crisis of spirit in your own life.)

Marcia’s Meanderings – Stories: A Refresher Course

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Hello Dear Ones!

The past few days have been a mixed blend of fabulous moments and reminders to myself that every moment can be fabulous if I choose it to be so.

Even the above statement is less a story I would want to tell others than one that would inspire either of us – you or myself! So rather than a new post on a less than relevant topic, I thought to include here a previous post that truly uplifted me when I wrote it, and then did the same today as I reread it … because I needed it! Here it is … my original take on our He Says/She Says topic The Stories I Tell Myself (copied here for your convenience): Continue Reading →

Marcia’s Meanderings – The Immobilizer

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Hello Dear Ones!

Sunday’s She Says – Embracing Perfection post may have given you a hint as to what my discussion might be today.

Two very powerful reasons almost brought that potential to a screeching halt:

1. The weekend’s passionate excitement became yesterday’s fear.
2. Yesterday’s fear brought forward old beliefs of not being good enough.

The plans I had to take my first baby steps forward into a new venture yesterday fizzled out with self-doubt and fear traumatizing my courage and questioning my value. What right had I to approach people promoting my hobby as a tool they should a) need and b) pay for … ? If there was no value to my own self in what I do, how did I expect others to see value in this?

Confidence flew out the window and perched on the nearest tree laughing at me, taunting me. I just wanted to cry. Yet I wanted to sleep – lay down, take a nap and forget the ugliness I was feeling inside. The Immobilizer – FEAR – had found a perfect place to nestle, expanding the terror and frozen world of inaction within me.

Doesn’t sound like the Pollyanna – the woman who sees the glass as being full (1/2 liquid plus 1/2 air) – that you’ve come to know over the past 6 months, does it? In Sunday’s post I spoke about embracing the perfection of who I am in every moment – with the excited anticipation of becoming even more. Yet knowing there could potentially be more for me, I was astonished to awake with immense self-doubt. As the day progressed, I became more and more agitated, convinced that my excitement was totally misguided.

My e-friend (and a very wise woman) Renee Ludwigs’ recent post discusses her dog Rudy and his persistence. Sad as it may seem, I envy Rudy his level of ‘dogged’ persistence. Me, I get truly excited about something and it’s the best thing since chocolate … yet, without continued variety and excitement, my enthusiasm has the potential to dwindle, fizzle, sputter and die.

Thinking back, I realized that only the things that kept me impassioned over time ever made it from the drawing board out into the ‘real’ world. I had to give serious thought as to whether this new adventure had such potential within me – enough to give me the ‘dogged’ determination to not only start but to follow through to its finish.

I decided today that it did have that characteristic.

The first step I was going to take yesterday and did not – I took today! I just hit the ‘SEND’ button on an e-mail that has the potential to jettison me into an exciting future!

Pollyanna is still alive and well and she’s living in Victoria, BC, Canada! And the Immobilizer? The Immobilizer has been vanquished … for this situation at least!

In Light and Laughter,

Marcia

Marcia’s Meanderings

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See this world as a free world, and see everyone in it as trying “through their individual experiences” to find their way back to that calling, back to that Source Energy. And even though there are billions of them going about it in a way that is different than you would choose, there’s no right or wrong way. In other words, bless them all, and get on with the only thing you have any power about, which is opening or closing your vortex to your natural state of Well-Being.

— Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in San Francisco, CA on Saturday, February 28th, 2004 #338

Hello Dear Ones!

An unusual day energy-wise. Have you ever had a day where someone you have to interact with is angry? You know the kind of anger that is so palpable the air is thick with it? I’ve been doing all I can to release, alter, fix, placate, remedy, mollify, modify, help, ignore … I come well armed with a history of rescuer behaviour – a lifetime pattern of it, in fact. Being a rescuer is labour intensive. It’s a lot of work. It’s emotionally and physically exhausting. For me it’s difficult, sometimes, to just let go and let that individual do whatever he or she needs to do to get through their own issue(s) while I get on with living my happy, Pollyanna life.

I’ve begun to recognize the pattern – that when I’m around angry people I get this knot of tension in my solar plexus and I translate it as fear. Not a comfortable feeling. I get antsy, restless, scared: little girl scared. So during those times of being in the same room or environment with an angry individual it is really important for me to find a way to acknowledge the source of the anger as originating outside of me. It is NOT my emotion and I do not need to hold any of it within the framework of my own body or etheric energy field.

There are things I can do… Continue Reading →

He Says, She Says…

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Greetings, dear reader!

We watched ‘Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone‘ again on TV last night, and although we’ve seen it (several times) before, what always intrigues us is Harry’s transformation from the world of the mundane to the world of the magical, and even more that these two worlds co-exist.  Both Marcia and Mike have had many ‘magical’ experiences in their lives, and so this week we thought we’d talk about living a ‘magical life’.

Follow these links to read what He Says/She Says: Marcia’s View / Mike’s View.