Can a Leopard Change its spots? Can we change our ways?

Leopard half finished

How many of us put ourselves down, and tell ourselves we are not good enough, as we measure ourselves against others achievements.  Especially if we have been brought up lacking in self-worth.

I know many times I have measured myself, against others whom I feel are gifted and blessed with their specific talents.

But at the same time, I  grew up also with the words of my father ringing in my ears, as he would tell me when I said I couldn’t do something, that there was no such word as can’t. And he was right, for if we do not try, we will never know what we can accomplish.

I grew achieving many things I never thought I would. And as I walked my walk, I also understood something else. That no one is better or beneath  us, for we are all of us Human Beings, who are here to learn and grow via our merits or our mistakes.  Some of my greatest achievements, have been through the errors I have made, because they have taught me so much more about the skills of life. 

I have learnt to knit, sew, dress make, grow vegetables, I have, papered, painted and decorated our home. I have laid lino- linoleum in our bathroom and learnt to crochet.  I learnt how to use a computer, often through trial and error.    And I learnt as I grew as an adult that we are all of us equal.   For we each of us have our own unique gifts.

Drawing was my first love, and yet I still measure my capabilities against others whom in my eyes are far more gifted than I. As I never had any kind of art training. I just paint what  I feel. 

 Many of us Self sabotage ourselves at the first hurdle. As we give up, feeling we are not good enough.  We either lack confidence, or are simply insecure and afraid of striding out in a new direction.  We  are all special and need to accept the gifts we have, be it a listening ear, or a musical voice, or a bright smile and a bubbly personality. Each of us are special and unique.  

 Leopard came to remind me and teach me. She came to show me confidence and perseverance, as I had always put off drawing a Leopard because of its spots.. Fearing I would not do it justice, and fearing it would be a failure. And was why when I  started to paint it, I put off painting the spots on its head straight away. This was the Image I was working from, as I looked through one of my wildlife photography books from my book shelf. As you can see it’s not that clear, and the spots are hard to define. As this Sunset photo from Untamed  by Steve Bloom shows . 

Image from the book UNTAMED,By Steve Bloom~ Wild Life Photographer.

Leopard came to remind me that I need to trust in the skills I have, and to accept my spots, my imperfections. She came to show me through your own appreciation of my art, that I need to appreciate my own talents more, and to stop putting myself down.  And she comes to remind me, and perhaps you also, as you find yourself reading this, that it is never to late to apply yourself as you follow your dreams.

Leopard also came to remind me that I have also been putting off another project that I set the intention this year to start. And that was to put some of my poetry together in the hopes of publishing it. I made that start, then I guess I self-sabotaged it, and deleted much of what I had written to accompany my poetry.

Nearly finished. I had more detail on the branch to do. As I concentrated on adding details to the branch. The pathway of Life.

I guess its time I stepped out along that branch of life, and put my faith in the steps I need now to follow to bring that particular gift into the Light.

Thank you All, for being part of my journey as I rediscover and apply myself in unfamiliar territory.

 And as the Buzzard whom I saw the other week, In the post ‘Look up and Soar’ spoke to me, saying ““( …… It is time to soar above your perceived limitations. Are you currently undergoing an internal death and rebirth cycle? Are you ready to assert your actions from your ideas?……)

Leopard came to make me sure I heard and tell me to lay down my fears. And yes I am ready. 

I hope as you walk through your life, you can also lay down your fears and boldly put one foot in front of the other, as you focus your Intent on your Dreams!

Are YOU Ready? 

The Finished Leopard
More details were added to the branch, adding moss, and new life out of dead wood.

Love and Blessings

~Sue~

Patience And Gratitude

Many thanks to all who follow Dreamwalker’s Sanctuary

Yesterday this wonderful little sign popped up in my notifications .. It appears there are now One Thousand other WP users who are following Dreamwalker’s Sanctuary.. How amazing is that. I have to thank all of you who regularly comment here and those who press like often..

I appreciate all of you immensely .

And lets not forget the other 79 of you who follow by email subscription also. 

MANY THANKS TO ALL~ YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!

We, in the Dreamwalker household are  busy gathering in the seeds of our harvest. 

I am a great advocate of Time Management, but it appears to slip ever faster through my fingers, so I ask again for Patience  as I try my best to catch up with those of you whom have left comments here I am I assure you working my way down the list.

I am also itching to get some artwork done, yet as yet other commitments have left me little time to paint.

I want to leave you with this wonderful artist and if you have not already been introduced to this wonderfully gifted woman who started painting miraculous paintings as a child I will leave you with this link  of Akiane in 9 minutes so you can see for yourself the Gift she has had since a young child.

I hope go and go view her art and listen to her words..

May you all Plant Seeds of LOVE as you have Patience to watch them grow within the World.

 Blessings And have a Wonderful Weekend.

~Sue~

In Love and Gratitude

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

[Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, 1963]”
― John F. Kennedy

Many of my blogging friends in the USA are celebrating Thanksgiving at this time of year. 

While only a few weeks ago other friends of Mine across the world were celebrating  Diwali,  the festival of Light, “Diwali is one of the largest and brightest festivals in India. The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair”

We all of us Have much to be grateful for in our lives, and Mary over at Walking My Path really captured the meaning of Gratitude and  all the things to be grateful for in our lives in her Post  Giving Thanks  I hope you go and read.. 

 

May we all of us remember the many things we should be grateful for in our lives, as we also remember those who are not so fortunate as ourselves.  

May we start to open our Hearts to the gifts we already have.

And May we join our Hearts as ONE

As we send LOVE and PEACE out into the world.. 

In love and Gratitude  

And Happy Thanksgiving to all.. 

Sue

 

 

A Gift to share around the World.

After reading my post and seeing her original created  Angel Award upon my Award Page Angie from Kentucky Angel has something to share with you all also..

I will leave her comment to explain ..  “There are no nominations, no rules.  This year the award is for the Angel of Peace..”

“Congratulations Sue, on so many deserved awards. Now, if you could do me a favor, the Angel Award is one that I created with help from Don, and it can be found on my 12/31/14 post, Reviving An Award, or something to that effect. All of your followers are free to stop by and claim that one as well as the other, white rose Angel Award, for themselves, my effort to spread Peace, Harmony and Love, along with some baby steps to revive Mother Earth during 2015.

I’m glad the award was presented to you, but the spirit of the award was broken by being presented in that way, since it was given freely to everyone at its birth with the stipulation that they should offer it freely to everyone of their followers, in that way passing it around the world as many times as possible.

I guess when I got cut off from my blog, the story behind this award was also lost. I would really appreciate your help in getting the Angel Award spread around the world again, with people all taking those baby steps to save a piece of our Mother Earth, so maybe we can all together accomplish a few giant steps.
Love,
Angie”

So Please hop on over to her site HERE and spread some more Angelic Love around the world.. 2015 can need all the help it can, so lets start the year off to sharing more Gifts of Love and Peace.

Gifts we already Hold~ In Gratitude

‘Season’s Gifts’

Our Season’s greetings now begun,

And gifts we give and songs we’ve sung

Of Peace on Earth Goodwill to men

Well I had to write and hold my pen

And tell you of the Gifts we hold

They come not of the Christmas Story told

But each and every day we see

The True gifts heaven sent to you and me

The ones of shelter from a storm

A roof and food and Healthy baby born

To walk to see and smile happily

And share the love of family

Let’s remember those who have no one

The orphan’s beggars and lonely ones

Those who are lost and those afraid

And those who are abused and dazed

Let’s count the Gifts of being warm

And pray for those who come to harm

Lets also remember the war torn spots

Where our soldiers lives are not just maps and dots

So when we unwrap our gifts this year

Let us remember with a tear

The Gifts we hold each and every day

To Give our thanks and Blessings say

Peace on Earth Goodwill to all men

And hold them in our hearts ..

Amen..

amwalker~

As we approach Christmas Let us remember this Season reminds us about the

Gifts of Giving

Let us also remember All those Gifts we have carried with us throughout the year while others around the world may have not been so fortunate

I want to add a quote here from a blogging friend Narf!  over at The Road to Serendipity  who commented upon my Previous post Time is Flying

“Life is amazing and we are here to document that awesomeness. Lets all stop paying homage to small things and go hunting for the beauty, the precious essence and the special moments in the everyday”

“Life is amazing and we are here to document that awesomeness. Lets all stop paying homage to small things and go hunting for the beauty, the precious essence and the special moments in the everyday “

Blog Challenge ~ Present your Gifts

 

Linda over at Litebeing Chronicles presented her followers with a  Blog challenge, Present Your Gifts Asking these questions about what we have learnt over this past year in 2014. 

1. Which lessons did you learn?
2. How did you serve others?
3. What blessings did you receive?
4. Was there something you lost that turned out to be a blessing in disguise?

Did you receive any “gifts” in terms of powers or skills?

One thing Linda states on her post is how fast 2014 has speeded along.. None more so for me since the Beginning of September.. Since I decided to take early retirement finishing work at the end of August these past months have seemed just like weeks.. So as I look back over 2014..

• Which Lessons did I learn? Well I learnt all over again how to slow down, and trust in the Universe. Sometimes our heads get in the way of our hearts and for a long while leading up to my decision to finish work my gut had told me ‘Its Time’.. Sometimes all we need do is Listen to our inner voice and follow our intuition.
• How did I serve others? Maybe this question is best asked of others!.. I always try to treat others as I wish to be treated. Maybe if we each of us did this the world would be a much better place..
• What Blessings did I receive? Each day I receive blessings.. Sometimes we forget the blessings we already have.  I am blessed to just be able to ‘see’. In Sept I had an eye test for new glasses, it took 3 attempts and three pair of glasses were returned because the lenses were not correct. This one little thing brought home to me more than ever How precious our eyesight is.. And what wonders we see every day, a blessing we take for granted.. Our senses and our ability to walk, talk, hear and touch are blessings to cherish.
• Did I loose something that turned out to be a blessing? Now I had to think on this one.. If I had answered this question a week ago maybe my answer would have been different.. But Last Thursday I went visiting relatives some miles away and we called to have a meal in one of the local pubs.

Now is the time when the Christmas Meals are on the menu ,when work colleagues get together etc.. We chose a quiet table  and next to ours was a laid out table for 12.. We had nearly finished our meal when a group of adults with learning difficulties came in with their 4 carers..  My eyes filled up with tears as I saw how excited they all were, and it brought back so many fond memories of the times I had taken out those whom I supported with learning difficulties for meals and especially at Christmas time..

One carer said “ that is your peace shattered now” I said no it was lovely to see them all enjoying themselves.. As I was leaving I spoke to one of the young men who had Downs Syndrome , they were still awaiting their meal to arrive.. I said “ I bet you have been looking forward to this meal” He smiled and clapped his hands in glee and said “ Yes”, he was  “Very excited”…  Yes I lost something when I gave up supporting these wonderful people.. But I gained so so Soooooooooo much more from knowing their beautiful souls….. And I count my Blessings Every day!.

• Did I receive any gifts in terms of Power and skills? Again the thinking cap was on.. What do we term as Power and what do we term as skill.?.

Each and everyone of us has a ‘Power’ so strong we use it every day and yet we fail to see how Powerful it is.. We have this incredible tool call ‘Mind’. Yet many fail to see how Powerful a tool it is.. IF only we used this tool more wisely, and realised what we Think we create.. May we all of us use our God given Power wisely as we take responsibility for our thoughts, which lead to our Actions.

Skills..  We each possess. Some of you here on WP have praised my skills as a poet, and praised my crafting and artistic skills, I thank  you..  Yet I say we all of us hold skills. We each of us have talents, whether they be to Listen, to laugh and create humour. It maybe we have baking skills, or photographic skills, writing skills .. It matters not, what skills we have.. What matters is that we should all of us be prepared to share our skills. And the best way we share is through Communicating with one another… Which brings us back to Community!.. We need to once again become a  Community in which we learn again how to share and CARE! that which is needed.

We need now more than ever to communicate to each other the need to share… Share our Love for one another, Share Kindness.. Share in Compassion.. Share our Hearts. Only when we  learn to let go of our differences, our prejudices and our Judgements, Anger and hatred, when we do that, we then create Harmony and Love. What goes around comes around.. As we cast our pebbles of thoughts into the Pond.. We are the ones who create the ripples we see around us..

“Life teachers is the greatest lessons

And gives us the best gifts.

We may not have control over  all the tests,

But you can either let the lesson devour or empower you”

May each Lesson you Learn Empower your Spirit

Anyone wishing to take Part please let Linda know Here where you can find more vacant dates.

Love and Blessings

Sue

12 Days of Christmas ~Gratitude~

A few days ago I took up the Prompt from Sindy over at  BlueButterfliesandme the 12 Days of Christmas prompt. I chose to write about

~Gratitude~.

There are so many things I am grateful for. So many things as I wake each day I give thanks for.. Being relatively pain-free of FMS, walking, seeing, a roof over my head, Family,  Self Healing~So many things we take for granted each and every day of the year..

This year I have had an abundance of Gifts, which are too numerous to mention I am eternally grateful for. I look around the world and see so many people’s lives in disarray, disharmony, as their worlds are seemingly coming apart.  So  I make a special effort as I put my feet on the floor as I get out of bed in a morning to thank the Universe for the day and what it will bring.. We often take each day for granted  as well as the people within our lives..

So on my 12 Days of Christmas I am thankful, Thankful too for being able to share here on WordPress my thoughts and Feelings and express them and share with so many more like minded wonderful people I have met in Cyber Space. And Thankful if someone should stumble upon my pages I hope my thoughts may at least leave them thinking or that they too become inspired to spread some love and Light… 

So Thank you all for your Love and Support over 2013 

I often leave everyone I visit with the greetings of ‘Blessings’!..

So Many Blessings we take for granted each day..

So as this Season of Goodwill to ALL Men is on its countdown to Christmas Day…   I will leave you with a Poem I wrote a few years ago now..

Called

‘Season’s Gifts’

Our Season’s greetings now begun,

And gifts we give and songs we’ve sung

Of Peace on Earth Goodwill to men

Well I had to write and hold my pen

And tell you of the Gifts we hold

They come not of the Christmas Story told

But each and every day we see

The True gifts heaven sent to you and me

The ones of shelter from a storm

A roof and food and Healthy baby born

To walk to see and smile happily

And share the love of family

Let’s remember those who have no one

The orphan’s beggars and lonely ones

Those who are lost and those afraid

And those who are abused and dazed

Let’s count the Gifts of being warm

And pray for those who come to harm

Lets also remember the war torn spots

Where our soldiers lives are not just maps and dots

So when we unwrap our gifts this year

Let us remember with a tear

The Gifts we hold each and every day

To Give our thanks and Blessings say

Peace on Earth Goodwill to all men

And hold them in our hearts ..

Amen..

Love and Blessings Everyone

 In Gratitude,

Sue ~Dreamwalker~

The Next Post of the 12 Days of Christmas is to be found here at

Bluegrassnotes~ Leigh 

December~20~Leigh

December~21~Barbara

December~22~Shree

December~23~Jen

December~24~Julianne Victoria

December~25~Sindy

And The Greatest Gifts Are These

 

Christmas time is always a busy time of year, and as our awareness opens us up to more  giving as we buy presents and visit loved ones whom we perhaps haven’t seen all year, as that closeness that bond of love  which builds up in what we term the ‘Christmas Spirit.’ We smile and wish everyone a Happy Christmas, we  also leave tips and good wishes for their New Year to come to those who have served us through out the year, as we wish them well. 

At Christmas time our senses are heightened, for once we have to stop and think about others instead of ourselves as we madly rush around thinking of that perfect gift to give them.

And yet what is that perfect gift? It can never be found within the  material gifts we toil all year long to attain.

My elderly Aunty who is 86 summed it up perfectly when I went to visit on Friday. As she thanked me for the gift I had taken, she said the gift she misses most is the gift of her eyesight.. For she is too ill to have more operations on her cataract eye problems. I took some photo’s and she enjoyed viewing them through a huge lens which had a light inside to help enlarge the images she could see.

Often we take so many of our Natural Gifts for granted, the gift of seeing, hearing, and our health.

The perfect gift for me comes absolutely free. Its the gift of ‘Giving back’ giving of yourself to serve your fellow man, and it may come as simple as a smile to a stranger or a helping hand to a young mum getting on the bus loaded with shopping, pushchair and toddler in tow. Just showing courtesy and respect.  Small things I know, but they mean a lot to those receiving.

These are the gifts we should share all year round. Yet we have become so caught up in the wheel of toil and debt in this so called ‘Modern Age’ of keeping up with the Jone’s, we rush around in our own little worlds blinked to others needs.

I often think back to what maybe termed the ‘Good Old Days’ when things were much simpler then. Friends have often said to me there was nothing ‘Good’ about those days without the time saving gadgetry we rely upon today.

But I say this; to me they were the ‘Good Old Days’ for we knew who our neighbours were, in fact whole communities came together. We didn’t lock our doors behind us as we entered our homes or view every stranger with suspicion. We pulled together helping each other out, We used to have time for one another.

The Gifts we have forgotten in these so called Modern times is that we have forgotten how to give of our time to each other.

And time is a gift we should all give ourselves. For time is running faster for every one of us. Just where did  this year go? And what, as you look back did we actually achieve?

Isn’t it time we ALL gave ourselves that perfect gift?

As we move into yet another year. Let us spend time with ourselves if only for Five Minutes in our busy days. Go into that sacred space of silent thought. Spend time with yourselves, and listen to those inner most promptings that ‘Inner Voice’ .

Stop and think of all those material possessions we all have, and think for 5 minutes of your day which one you prize the most… Not one of them do we take with us when we pass from this life..

We only take that which we have gathered within our Hearts

And then give thanks for the Gifts you’ve had with you all your life which have cost you absolutely nothing to buy, but without them all the toil and sweat of your labours would mean nothing.

That is the Greatest gift of all..

The Gift of Life.

The Gift of Health.

The Gift of Happiness.

And the Gift of life our Earth Mother gives us Free Every Single Day of the year.. She gives us our very breath every day!

Love and Blessings And Enjoy each of your cherished Gifts!

And Thank you for reading

~Sue~