Hi there

This newsletter was supposed to be based on a Buddhist poem I heard on a special day in someone else's life and has somehow turned into a story about that very day that changed me a little more.

My intention for this month's theme was that of understanding the true way to share your life journey of love with another, yet I have had no time to focus on the analysis or lessons within the masterfully woven words of this poem.  I have been far too distracted falling in love with myself.

In my 16 years of teaching and lecturing, I have formed different bonds with the individuals who share my path as students and clients.  Some stayed for the duration of my teachings and moved on, while others have grown to form bonds with me.  

So, when I received the invitation to Kyla's wedding I assumed that, although I had been her teacher nearly 9 years ago, she was asking Belinda (who was her lecturer too) and I because we had formed a friendship.  I assumed my invitation must have been one of many different friends she had gathered with that sparkling personality and abundance of love. Her 'intimate' wedding was sure to have some familiar faces and I imagined a table filled with common people from our past.

"So few people come to the wedding services.  How rude?" Yes, that was the voice of my low self esteem, oblivious to the fact that the chapel with about 50 people, was it.  That's not intimate, that's family. The crowd was so small that we all managed to gather around the bride and groom for a group picture and as I stood there, it hit me.  I had no idea the impact I must have made on this beautiful bride until that very moment.  Not because she hadn't been trying to tell me for nearly 9 years, but because I had never allowed myself the privilege of acknowledging her respect and praise for me. While the elated couple took photographs and the guests gathered in the picturesque gardens I scanned the crowd and found myself among strangers.  Or so I thought ...   

"I know you."  The voice of the first stranger sent images of past potential meetings racing through my head.  "You pop up on my screen once a month", she said as we stood side by side at the reception. I must admit, that if it were not for Belinda nudging me in the rib and mumbling that this very friendly individual was referring to my newsletters, the compliment would have been wasted.  I'd never been recognised from my site before and only after the third stranger said "I know you", did I realise that people in the room had been waiting to meet me.  Me, Jodene!

Table seating must be a nightmare for a function, but everyone got on fabulously.  Belinda sat between us, but she also leaned over and said she knew me.  Of course, from Kyla's endless efforts to share me with the world she had read a couple of my newsletters via the grapevine.  We didn't speak about me or her, Wendy and I spoke about the beauty of being alive.  A conversation I could bathe myself in.  By the time the poem was being read, we'd connected and only needed to glance over and smile at each other to know that someone was getting hold of that verse before the wedding was through.  People danced, we found pieces of paper to write on.  People ate wedding cookie, we found pens to write with.  People refilled their glasses - we sat together and wrote out a Tibetan poem on love.  

Kyla's invitation to a wedding so intimate ... the recognition of my talents and life purpose by strange...the instant connection with someone who clearly admired me...the bride's table was filled with presents, but I went home with the greatest gift. I learnt that day that looking inwards for validation of who I am is sometimes not nearly as valuable as allowing others to look into me.

I have worked for years on my self esteem and self worth and spend hours on my soap box teaching people the value of affirmations and positive thoughts about themselves.  Spirituality teachers say that there is nothing more powerful that loving the self. Religions preach the importance of honouring the self.

It poured with rain as we headed home and left the bride and groom to begin their lives in the light of the poetic words that define my belief in love.  Driving home, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe I had seen my true self for the first time.  Not through my own eyes, but through the eyes of past students, strangers and new friends. 

I search for love; yet I am so loved.  I yearn for recognition; yet I am recognised.  I dream of acceptance; yet I am accepted.  I long for fulfilment ... yet on that day I felt totally fulfilled; thanks to the friends and strangers who define me better than countless affirmations, meditations and visualisations have ever managed to do.

The Poem:

Together you shall be for evermore,

but let there be spaces in your togetherness

and let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love;

let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your Souls.

Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread,

but do not eat of the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous,

but let each of you be alone,

For even the strings of a lute are alone,

though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping,

for only the hand of the life can contain them.

Stand together, yet not too close,

for even the pillars of the temple stand alone,

and the oak and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Personal Development Seminars, Courses and Lectures

Please reserve your space for the seminar by contacting me

One Day Seminar - Thanks to the Universe I'm all "F'ed" up

Fearful or Fulfilled?

You are functioning in one of these mindsets, and it's determining your success, happiness and health

"Thanks to the Universe I'm all 'F'ed' up" is a one day seminar that dispels the  manifestation myths and replaces them with choices and courage so you can identify with your fears and turn them into fulfilment, freedom and fun.

This seminar will be run from 15 Woodside Avenue, Sandhurst on Saturday 28 March from 8:30am to 5:30pm.  The cost of the day is R750 per person and includes lunch and course notes.  Payment secures your place.

Contemplate this...

Spirit has chosen a physical journey and yet you spend your life searching for the spiritual. The spiritual just is; the physical is the journey.

Law of Attraction: Assistance with "Thanks to the Universe I'm all 'F'ed' up"

On going within after looking out

The only thing that ever changes us truly is the shift in perception of our personal selves.  We can spend hours affirming, visualising, meditating, jogging, dieting, budgeting ... the list is endless; but nothing will ever change until we first love and accept our true selves. 

So, if we are aware of this bit of information from the countless gurus that tell us this, why have we still not made the changes or reached the dreams we desire?  Because ... the Universe only hears the voice of your highest esteem and not the mumblings of a person who would see anything less in themselves than purest potential and magnificence.  The Universe (remembering that you are the Universe) is patient and is never concerned that you will not a achieve all you desire, as long as you first know that you are worthy of it.

Remember that affirmations are the statements you need to say because of the doubt or fears that linger about you.  Never stop saying your affirmations!  But start listening to the affirmations people say about you too.  You might say you are brave every day of your life, but that does not mean you are getting any braver.  Somehow, when a friend or loved on tells you that you are so strong and brave, there is more truth in it than anything you utter to yourself.  What do we do when someone speaks of us in the truth of who we are?  We say "No, I'm not" or "I wish" or "Get your eyes tested". 

DON'T ever do anything like that again. 

Sometimes we are so hard on ourselves or have tried to succeed to no avail for so long, that we don't believe even the glimmers of positivity we have.  Sometimes the damage has been so harmful and the wounds so deep that we don't see any value or worth at all.  No amount of therapy or healing has managed to give us the chance to go within and hold ourselves in our highest esteem and greatest love.  Sometimes, the last person we should ever be listening to about our value and self worth is ourselves. 

But we cannot do the work without going within ...  so how do we fix this then?

Try this exercise for a few weeks...

Listen to people, watch their actions towards you, take note of who you are in the eyes of the people who love and respect you (we'll sort out the ones who harm you another time ... don't worry about them for a while ... alright?). When anyone pays you a compliment, wants to spend time with you or just acknowledges you in the smallest way ... say "thank you".  Don't berate yourself in any way.  Hold on really tight to the energy they have just given you and make that your affirmation.  It has been spoken in a voice the Universe CAN hear and all it needs is momentum ... even if you don't believe it to be true ... chances are that it's the truest statement ever made about you.

Trust me ... I believe enough in you to tell you to just try it!  Which is a great affirmation to begin with ...

"Hey you ... I believe in you!"

Now go stand in front of that mirror and say it - "I believe in you!"

Greg's view on the world

Positivity is killing Truth

One day, a long, long time ago, Truth lived happily in this land. He was a satisfied and strong fella who knew exactly what he wanted and who he was. Until one day he met Positivity. Now Positivity was a bolshie, smooth-talking guy who could make even the most diabolical situation pleasant. All the people in the land started to prefer Positivity to Truth because it meant that they could always wear a smile and look on the bright side. However, always being on the bright side started to become an issue for Positivity and his crew because on the bright side everyone was the same; everyone was saying the same thing and everyone didn't fully know the meaning of what Positivity was telling them.

Now Truth, who is a genuine fella, could not cope with the lies, especially because Positivity's followers would not allow him to be sad when he felt sad and angry when something had made him really cross. Positivity did not want him to introduce negativity because that would mean that they would then have to feel and feeling always made them feel down. And so it continued until one day Truth came across Positivity, surprising him. Positivity was not feeling great and was crying quietly to himself but then immediately put on a brave face and told Truth how peachy everything is. So Truth left him. But more and more, Truth would surprise Positivity, finding him shaken and uncomfortable, yearning for something else. Until one day, having had enough, Truth explained to Positivity that all he needs to do is allow him to be around and then the act will not be necessary. All Positivity needed to be real is Truth.

Always around this time of year there is much discussion about the school results of December. The varying views of the results are always fascinating and prove how it is possible to prove anything you want to with statistics. What came out of this year's discussions for me is that politicians are always overly politically correct when commenting on the results. Okay, no surprises there but there has been an exception that was highlighted in this year's commentary. Naledi Pandor, current Minister of Education broke with tradition when she was appointed to the post by changing the way the results were reported. The previous minister had been inflating the results to make himself appear better. When Pandor came along she insisted that the true results be reflected, which made it appear as though the results were dropping under her watch. This did not deter her, being determined to reflect the truth.

Being positive on a personal level retains the illusion, the lie, around you. Tell yourself and society the truth that you are not what society wants you to be. There will be widespread condemnation (as there was when Naledi Pandor started to alter the work of her predecessor and results appeared to drop) but you will be in your truth!

This is an example of something that has also become prevalent since the release of "The Secret". "Never be negative as this will attract negativity" is how people have interpreted the message. As a result, no one tells themselves the truth and when "bad things" continue to happen they either perceive themselves to be doing something wrong or that the whole thing doesn't work. All that is happening is that the truth is trying to be heard. When all the lies are dropped we are only left with the truth.

I'm blogging

After every newsletter, I receive emails, sms's and other notes of profound realisations and messages of thanks.  Although these are very good for my esteem, they are far more important than that.  I can only offer so much and then the idea of healing becomes 'pie in the sky' again.  But then you can encourage each other with little glimmers of hope and bigger stories of happiness and fulfilment.

I'm blogging the topic each month, which also gives you an opportunity to ask me any questions, so that we can turn the hopes into reality.

This month's question is: "Should you allow other to influence your esteem?"  (http://manifest-jodene.blogspot.com/2009/02/should-you-allow-others-people-to.html)

In the light of what I have been missing in my impact on many of you, I decided to ask and have had some wonderful feedback.  Thanks to these messages, my affirmations, visualisations and self images have all changed in the shortest time.  Remember ... I'll always go first so you know it can be done!!

Please feel free to add to my questions: "What mark have I left in your life?" (http://manifest-jodene.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-mark-have-i-left-in-your-life.html)

Please remember that you can blog anonymously and choose to follow the topics at manifest-jodene.blogspot.com

Happy cow

My special friend Pete has chosen the most incredible life path: he spreads happiness!

I have never met a more positive and enthusiastic Soul, with a magical personality and a beautiful outlook on this world of ours.

Pete has been so supportive of me and sprinkled happiness onto even conversation we have ever shared, that I have felt completely compelled to share him with the world.  Him and his cow of course!!

Yes, www.happycow.org.uk is by far the most positive, happy and inspirational site developed to date. In Pete's own words "The aim of this group is to help spread Happy Cow's highly contagious positivity, happiness, love, joy, freedom and peace so that little by little we make our world a better place"

Please do not miss out on watching Pete's YouTube video "happy cow" (www.happycow.org.uk). 

With comments like: "This is possibly the greatest thing I have ever seen." - Burntsage (on YouTube)

Facebook groups

If you are not already a part of our Facebook groups or have not invited your friends, we would love you to help us spread the work that we were put on this earth to do.

Thanks to the Universe by Jodene

(http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=7953462257)

Oh God Knows by Greg

www.facebook.com/s.php

Happy cow by Pete

www.facebook.com/s.php

We're believing in you

Jodene & Greg