Monday, December 30, 2013

Old Plans Fulfilled

I am typing up notes from old spiral notebooks, which I carry with me to this day to write down ideas.

I am typing up ideas from December, 2010.

It is great to see that I have been carrying myself forward in the same train of thoughts and products.

Since that time I have learned how to move my product line to electronic form and make it possible to download them (www.MusicandBooksforChildren.com).

I am still working on many of the ideas, so there are many website pages waiting for me to convert the content into electronic form.  (www.MyMusicalMind.com).

The exciting thing for me is the fact that the ideas have remained consistent.

My work all those many years how to read music on several different musical instruments is fulfilling and valid.

My easier way which gives students independence and puts them in control of the many steps in learning to read music still feels as fun as it did while I was witnessing so many of them going through the process.

It is amazing to realize that I taught several thousand children over a period of forty years and got to see them take hold of the process, constantly refining it so that materials for many different learning styles were included.

These ideas continue to expand, and as I learn more about the computer, I am able to share more of them widely.

It is very reenforcing and fulfilling to go through this process.

© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

Sunday, December 22, 2013

A Series of Impressions

A series of negative impressions can only influence a life until they are dealt with.

What a fight they put up, as they realize they will become homeless.

No more room in this mind.

Too many good things have been attracted and the negative impressions are being put out of a job.

Too bad they happened.

But too bad in my mind, no more.

I will keep hanging on to the good ones.

They are the ones I care about. 


 © 2013 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Friday, December 20, 2013

Pure Grace Exposes the Lie and Sets Me Free

Now that I have witnessed the last stand of the lie and become free, I can see why it had to hide in order to do its work.

Everything we say clearly about our right to divinity and freedom is powerful and works to expose and defeat the lie.

Even if we don’t believe it at first, it is still worth saying until we do believe it.

The lie wants to remain hidden.

Otherwise, it would have no place to live.

In a mind convinced of its freedom and value, it cannot do its hidden work.

The lie wants to hide because what it says is so blatantly untrue that anyone would see it for what it is and refuse to listen to it.

By becoming so uncomfortable with what the lie says and with living with the results of its hidden influences, we are led to rebel and resist and to take a different stand for ourselves.

At this point, the lie knows its days are numbered.

I found myself becoming so convinced by the strong affirmations I made and by the way they defined me, that it became fun to discover new ways of doing this.

Also, even when I didn’t feel like doing the required work, I did it anyway.

It didn’t matter to me that I didn’t feel I was seeing any results.

I did not want to continue with the way I was living and thinking about myself and my life.

It seemed no matter what I did, I could not shake myself loose from my limiting beliefs.

Creating affirmations based on divine law and being resolutely consistent about declaring them with conviction is what finally caused the lie to come out of hiding.

The contrast was so great.

Even so, I was shocked and amazed at its cruelty.

As I reached out to help myself, all I could do was distract myself with projects.

I was so divided in my attention between the lie and what I was trying to do, that I decided to call a counseling service for help.

When it was exposed, the hatred was so great, I couldn’t even think, couldn’t remember my phone number.

Finally, I was able to cut through enough of the shock and leave a message.

I was partially outside myself and partially observing this phenomenon with great interest.

Finally the shock wave left and I was left with the bare naked lie.

No wonder it had been so hard to defeat it.

I had lived with the results and would never have accepted what I was told about myself unless it had been able to hide itself so well.

But, through Grace, the contrast became so great between how I have come to think of myself, that there was finally no hiding place for it.

That battle was its last stand.

It is exposed, and I am free.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Fall Back Affirmations

Inspiration you can pull up right away.

Phrases that are hard won and now part of you.

I am using a lot of these lately.

It helps put me back on the track when distractions hit too hard.

I am grateful for the work to understand and feel these, because they are there when I need them.

The weight of the entire advertising media plus normal family desires for celebration (and I am not even watching or listening to any media) is horrendous.

I am grateful for the daily attention to compassion, comfort, generosity, unselfishness and clear thinking.

It is possible to pull these up into the forefront of my thought each moment that I have to.

Onward to my daily work and practice.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Light is the Norm

I just had a breakthrough.

While contemplating a continuing disturbing situation, and appreciating the immense progress I have made in feeling good within no matter what happens on the outside, I realized:

Light is the Norm.

The Universe was created in light, in inspiration, with goodness and prosperity for all.

That we are all meant to discover our fulness and to live it.

That our fulness certainly does not depend on what is going on outside.

Everything comes from within.

I have gained so much appreciation for what I am and what I have from within, that it is beginning to be expressed on the outside, that is, manifested.

I am so grateful for this conclusion.

I am so grateful for my progress.

I look forward to it.

I renew my efforts to see my own fulness from within.

And to feel the joy of each step of manifestation.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Guard and Guide

What is going on in your mind right now?

Are you getting caught up in a seasonal or other agenda?

If so, take a moment.

Look at yourself.

What is it that you are involved in for yourself, your life’s purpose?

Haven’t defined that for yourself yet?

Well, it awaits you.

At every moment and in every place, your life’s purpose is waiting for you to discover and recognize it and put it into action.

When you do, it will negotiate all of life’s daily moments as well as the bigger overall ones.

It will let you walk through the busy times with poise, and let you enjoy the more peaceful ones more fully.

Having tried it both ways, I heartily recommend the purposeful one.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Chosen Work

Filling your mind with ideas for your chosen work gives a very different feeling to your life.

It is a life full of adventure and happiness staring right where you are now.

It is a life of flowing and expanding ideas which fulfill you and enable you to contribute to the uplifting of society and civilization.

The first step is to give yourself permission to dream.

When you give yourself that permission, you are showing that you value who you are.

When you begin to value who you are, you pay attention to what you are thinking.

You direct it toward your own personal goals, not just what society is telling you your goals should be.

You find your own direction.

You are uniquely guided and directed by your own thoughts and ideals.

This is why you are here.

To carry them out.

So when you choose to look and think and move in that direction, you will be amazed at the new feelings you carry about yourself.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

Monday, November 11, 2013

Looking at Power


I am looking at where power or “the power” seems to lie.

It seems to lie in money.

Grass roots organizers have been able to reach a wider audience than ever before.

They are doing it right.

This is the right direction to go.

They are spreading increased awareness and knowledge.

Even though, for now, the media ads appear to be more powerful, this is not the same as spreading the truth about the issues.

The more people deal face-to-face with each other and learn about the issues, the more they will be able to tell the difference between what is true about them and what is merely an ad campaign.

The truth feels different.

The truth has a beneficial effect on everyone in the community.

The truth lives on long after the glow of an ad campaign when the community has to deal with the results.

Then the real cost will be seen and the real power will take effect.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage
www.InspiredPractices.com

Friday, November 8, 2013

What We Hear


We are receiving all kinds of messages all day and even when we wake up during the night.

What, exactly, are they all about?

The most obvious and blatant of them are advertising messages, powerful colorful images with noisy, memorable catch phrases.

There are also embedded messages in our consciousness, put there from our first moment of arrival at birth.

There are all the messages we have picked up from our environments, home, school, work.

And there are the messages from deep within.

In order to hear the messages from deep within, we have to listen.

We have to consciously shut out all those other messages.

We have to provide a moment and a place for reflection.

When we begin to devote ourselves to quiet reflection and listening, we receive a different kind of guidance.

It is guidance by feelings.

We feel impelled to do something.

Not driven from the outside.

Not required by habit.

Not part of a business plan.

Instead, a quiet impulsion.

This is our deep individual nature being heard.

These are the only important messages we will ever receive.

These messages take care of our every need.

Once we start cultivating them, we will express our unlimited deep nature more and more of the time.

We will find that it meets our need for expression in the fullest, most satisfying way.

And it meets the needs of those around us who may most benefit from it.

It supports us and our family.

It makes a contribution to society and helps uplift civilization.

Let’s shut out the barrage and clutter of all the other messages and choose what we hear.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

While Your Vision Is Full...


...Of Where You Are, You Can’t See Where To Go


While you are listening for guidance, you are making room for your new vision.

As you see your new vision take shape, you have to be willing (and able) to let go of your present circumstances.

If you have asked in good faith and truly believe your next step is a good one, you have to be as trustful as you are willing to enjoy the vision.

Being trustful requires you to let go of where you are.

Your vision was given to you by going within to your Source.

How you get there is also up to your Source.

Since you have no idea where the original vision came from, you do not have to know how to get there.

Even if you have a plan to get there, it may not be the route that your Source is providing for you.

You have to let go of all your planning, and just consider it a good exercise in the reasoning factor.

You are being taken to fulfill your vision in the way that is best from the point of view of your Source.

Much more is being provided for you along the way.

Learning to trust, to take steps on faith, and through loving your new vision, a different kind of plan emerges.

It is not of your making, as your vision is not.

The vision and the way to get there and see it manifest is all up to your Source.

As you listened and received your vision, listen and receive the rest of the plan.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

Monday, November 4, 2013

What I Am In Charge Of


I am in charge of listening.

That is what I am in charge of.

Whatever is happening to me is on the outside.

My response, if I am doing it right, is to listen.

Then I do not react.

I am lead to respond in the most appropriate way.

Although my life is full of my own opinions plus all the ones I have accepted about myself from other people, these are not  reliable guides.

They are merely based on what has gone before.

They are based on the past.

They are based on collective experiences.

These are not necessarily solution-based.

Reacting to present circumstances based on the past only guarantees more of the same.

What I am listening for is solutions and guidance.

I want to move forward.

So many times that means I have to give up the past.

Usually it does.

The past is not a reliable guide to the future.

It is not a reliable guide to what I want since my past included a lot of problems.

Even if my past was pleasant, it still would not necessarily be a reliable guide, since there are so many new factors to take into consideration.

So, when I listen deeply, I receive the most up-to-date and appropriate guidance from the Universe.

Far more than I can be aware of in taken into account when I listen from guidance from deep within.

I am not listening for my best guess.

I am not even listening for the assessment and evaluation of someone with more experience and reputation.

I am just listening within.

Quietly.

To hear the message and to find myself in movement carrying it out.

It just is.

That is what is.

That is how it happens when I do my job and listen.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

Springing Forward


Do not give up.

All too often, we hear of people putting in lots of effort for a very long time and finally giving up.

Do not.

The lessons you have learned are ripening and just coming to fruition.

The idea is almost ready to leaf out and bud.

The time of most resistance is when the work has been done and just a little more trust, patience, belief in oneself, absolute conviction of the rightness of the idea are necessary.

Remember how much you love your idea.

Remember this precious and wonderful idea came to you, only you.

You are the one who can bring it forth.

You are the bearer of the idea.

You are the vessel.

You have received it and listened to it and developed it.

Now, just now, it is ready to birth, spring forth, take its first steps, become, be manifested.

Trust the Universe and let it spring forth.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

Friday, November 1, 2013

Emotional Chemistry


My emotions are sometimes triggered by present day circumstances even though the original cause of the reaction is long gone.

Learning to rewrite my life so that I have so many positive, enjoyable, pleasurable activities which comfort me and make me happy has been a most rewarding challenge.

I have longer and longer periods of happiness and productivity.

Now, on the more and more rare occasions when an emotional reaction shuts me down, I know it will be for a fairly short time.

Overcoming my reactions to situations which used to keep me incapacitated for weeks at a time has been tough, only because I had no idea how to do it.

I knew how to survive.

I knew how to “bloom where I was planted”.

I knew how to distract myself from abuse.

But I didn’t know how to rewrite myself from the inside in order to stop attracting negative circumstances.

Learning that I could rewrite my life has helped.

Learning tools and techniques with which to do so has been powerful.

Learning to listen from within to find those tools and techniques has been most rewarding.

Since I knew how to listen within for creative ideas, it was a case of gaining a new vocabulary for my emotions.

I learned to seek out and enjoy activities which I like.

I learned I did not have to endure situations which took away from my happiness and self-respect.

I began trying out doing things that I like.

I found organizations composed of other people who do those activities.

I began to feed my soul.

Now, I have taken so many steps in the direction that matches my best sense of myself.

They have been simple steps, but are so effective.

I love me.

I love what I like to do.

I love me doing it.

I have built a new life for myself.

I still have to add reinforcements.

The old stuff is that persistent and deeply ingrained.

But I have made great progress and I will continue to do so.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

A Quickening Spirit


Rather than having to prod myself forward, I feel happy about all the steps that are happening.

Aligning myself with my divine purpose is easing the way.

The strength, purpose, and dedication that has made it possible to keep studying is reshaping me and my life.

I now enjoy my new direction.

I am very aware of the steps that have brought me here.

But I am now more than an accumulation of steps.

I am launched into flight.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage

Monday, October 21, 2013

Keeping your Mind at Peace


When your mind is at peace, you have access to everything you need.

You can listen within and learn to hear it or feel it or be led into action in some way.

Reading inspirational authors is a great way to develop a vocabulary of peace for yourself.

As you follow each writer’s process, you will gain a practice for yourself.

You will find someone who speaks to you in one way at one time, and perhaps someone else whose has something to offer you at another time.

Being quiet and thinking about a phrase you have just read is a good way to settle your mind.

Sometimes it is just a word or two which catches my attention.

As I ponder this or just listen to the thoughts around me settle down, I feel a deep peace settle within me.

This is as type of meditation.

Putting yourself into a time of mediation several times a day for short periods will help you answer any questions you have about what you are doing or the direction you want to go.

You will find that you react much less to what is going on around you and that you see solutions as you maintain your peace of mind.

Although this is a quiet practice, it is a very active one.

Turning yourself into your quiet mental place of meditation during the day yields a constant flow of useful and calming ideas.

You will love how it flows into both your personal life and your work life.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage
www.InspiredPractices.com

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Feel A Little Better


I remember being a little girl and wanting to make sure the new kid felt OK.

I remember wanting everything to be fair.

After I became a teacher, I remember teaching children from all over the city and wondering how I could make sure they all learned well, despite their differing backgrounds.

I wanted everyone I saw to feel better.

I wanted everyone to get along.

But how do you help that along?

As a student, I learned my skills very well, both academic and musical.

As I grew up, I saw a range of problems which needed solutions, for both children and adults.

And so I came to my conclusions.

I have now gained new communication skills.

I have defined what it is I want to communicate to uplift people.

I now use my skills, both academic and musical, to write inspiring blog posts. (www.InspiredPractices.com and www.MusicandBooksforChildren.com

I use my experiences growing into adulthood, and parenting and teaching, for reference points in sharing the inspiration I gain through my spiritual and self-improvement studies.

I am glad to inspire and help those who are willing to feel a little better through my writings, my songs, and my daily practice in how I think about my life, the lives of other people and our surroundings.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage
www.InspiredPractices.com

Thursday, October 10, 2013

What Is Most Important To Me


What is most important to me actually supports me in every way.

when what is important gets done first, it sets the tone for the day.

It creates a flow in which the other important things get done.

Because I am focusing and acting on what is most important first, the creative and organizing flow for the rest of the day is done well.

When I focus on something which is not the most important, but still needs to get done, I find myself hopping from one thing to the next.

When I used to pray to get everything done, my day was like that.

Yes, it all got done, but there wasn’t a flow to it.

With the most important thing getting done first, the vibration or energy that is created includes everything else in an orderly and exciting way.

The things that are not that important don’t get done.

They will have another day.

And that is just fine.


© 2013 Kathryn Hardage