Spirit Rising Ministries

Last week I made a decision to embark on a course of study that, I believe, will greatly impact both my personal and my professional life. On the day that I was on the cusp of making this big decision, I attended a concert with a friend. All the music was fantastic but it was the very first song that I know I was meant to hear. I’m sure my dad was there with me in spirit, as he so often is, because the message was from a father and the lyrics went like this:

In life as in love, you know I need to remember                                                      
There’s such a thing as trying too hard
You got to sing like you don’t need the money
Love like you’ll never get hurt
You got to dance like nobody’s watchin’
It’s gotta come from the heart if you want it to work

COME FROM THE HEART
Sung by Kathy Mattea, Lyrics by Susanna Clark and Richard Leigh

I was very grateful for this reminder. Although there are many things to take into consideration with any major business/life decision; the cost, time, effort, and so on, the most important factor is, “does it make your heart sing?” I know that all the planning and striving in the world won’t be as much of a barometer of my success as my level of passion will.

If I come from my heart, I know it will work.

Let your spirit soar!
Paula    
(Artwork: Passion, 18×24, acrylic on canvas, $125 )

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For many months I have been minding my friend’s nine year old daughter a few afternoons each week. Their family is going through a rough time and, although my friend also has an older son, she wanted the added stability of another adult while she was away at work because her daughter has been having anxiety attacks.

Although I love her children very much and I’m happy to help out and earn some extra cash at the same time, I admit, I’ve had moments when I’ve questioned whether my time would be better spent in continued pursuit of my art, writing and public speaking career. Like the other day when her daughter and I were playing with her new doctor’s kit. She really didn’t have my full attention, at least not until she asked me what kinds of things would cause her throat to close up! To avoid that potentially scary conversation, I said, “Why do you ask that?” In her “wise beyond her years” voice she replied, “Well Paula, I ask you these questions because you know so much!!!” She knows I’m a nurse so I chuckled and waited to hear what she thought I knew about medicine. But, in response to my laughter, she persisted, “No really, Paula, I mean it! You know how to take care of me; you know what to do to calm me down when I’m anxious and you now how to hug me just right. Really! I mean that. You hug me just right!!!”

Well, they weren’t words of an art critic praising my latest painting or an editorial comment extolling something I just wrote, nor were they words inscribed on a diploma hanging on my wall. But they are words written indelibly on the walls of my heart; words that let me know I am doing something even more important right now and, according to the sweet young girl to whom it matters most, I’m doing it “just right!!!”

Let your spirit soar!
Paula

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