To Thine Own Self be True

Recently, while perusing the website Quora, I stumbled upon a contemplative question posed under the category "Spirituality and Personal Religion." I am reposting the question here, along with my personal answer, for my readers to contemplate and/or offer their personal feedback.

Question:  What can we do when our desire and values conflict?

Answer:

If our values are in conflict with our desires, as often seems to be the case, it is a warning sign that we may not be living authentically.  Our values are deep-rooted in us, yet many of us follow our desires instead.  To live authentically, we must re-evaluate our desires, as well as our values, and make a conscious choice whether to act in accordance with our values or to act against what we BELIEVE to be our values. 

Ask yourself: "Are my desires merely short-term desires or "whims" that will bring me temporary pleasure but long-lasting conflict, regret or misery?  If my values are in conflict with my desires, what is the basis of my values?  Are they values instilled in me by others, or through my upbringing, that I have not internalized?"  If they are truly your values, your conviction will be so strong you will be able to justify them without hesitation.  Your desires, on the other hand, may seem strong at the immediate moment, but choose to reflect on them rather than opting for "immediate gratification."  You may find the desire waning in intensity, much like a craving, or you may experience anxiety, but ultimately you must make a choice, so take the time to make the "right one", the one that, in the end, will strengthen your character rather than weaken, bring you peace of mind rather than conflict, and make you smile on the inside rather than frown. 

~ Lisa Pearlman 7/14/13 (Words and Photo Credit) 

My Unconditional Valentine

My "Happy Valentine's Day" Message to my Family, Friends and Followers:

The Enduring and Unconditional Love that defines a true friendship is a precious and rare gift, a blessing beyond compare. Romantic feelings come and go, along with their associated attachments; they are an all-inclusive packaged deal accessorized with costly baggage and personal drama that accumulates exponentially with experience and time. LOVE - REAL LOVE - is pure, unconditonal, transformative, expansive, self-sustaining. A vibration of the highest frequency, LOVE connects us to one another, as well as to the Universal Source; LOVE raises our vibrational frequency to a level of pure consciousness, revealing our core essence and potential as divine beings, creating miracles, transforming possibilities into manifest realities, dissolving negativity and transcending limitation.
So on this day dedicated to the Art of Love, know that you are loved! I LOVE YOU!!!
Thank you for being in my life. <3

© Lisa Pearlman

Legacy of Love

Live each day like it's your last...it just might be! Your lifetime of choices become your legacy, regardless of the amount of material or length of time you amass during your temporary human experience.

Be authentic in all your actions and interactions...Follow your heart but do so mindfully...Choose Compassion over Apathy...Be Kind to yourself and others...Love Unconditionally...Be Fully Present for all of Life's experiences, accepting all without attaching meaning or preference to any one in particular - Life is a series of sequential moments, each one unique and fleeting; as one passes, another silently follows...Practice Equanimity and Humility in all situations, with the knowledge that This Too Shall Pass...
Above all else, Always DO YOU! Make Choices that enable your experience of Manifest Happiness and lessen your experience of Suffering. YOU are the only one who can choose and control your Thoughts, Attitudes, Feelings and Actions. YOU are the Reality Architect - YOU create your personal Reality!

If you choose wisely and live your life authentically...mindfully...humbly, then there will never be a reason for regret. Do not postpone matters of the heart -they are of the utmost importance...do not leave positive sentiment or loving words unsaid, as you may not get another chance to convey them...do not express negative, hurtful sentiment or criticism as you may never get a chance to apologize...Words wield power...they can never be retracted once uttered...they linger in the mind and heart like a moldy scent...their effects echo for eternity, a repetitive loop of cutting edge sound replayed in one's memory like a broken record.

It's ultimately your choice...why not start creating a Legacy of Love today?

© Lisa Pearlman 1/21/13

My "Happy New Year" Message

HAPPY NEW YEAR my dear friends and global family:

As we reflect on the passing year and anticipate a fresh beginning in 2013, let us allow our own true essence to shine, as well as embrace one another's inherent Divinity and Innocence. There is a simple solution to a complex multitude of problems. Be kind to one another...Treat others how you want to be treated...Give Unconditional Love freely and be receptive to Unconditional Love...Forgive yourself and others...Let Go of past mistakes. May 2013 usher in a new era based on our Commonality rather than our Differences, our Strengths rather than our Weaknesses, and our Unity rather than our Division. May this (R)Evolutionary Quickening, or Planetary Awakening as One, inspire more people to embrace their divine nature and reflect the qualities they espouse and expect in others. Only through balance of word and deed, will we transcend the hypocrisy inherent in a judgmental society. May the recent planetary shift in Awareness raise the vibrational level and collective consciousness of the masses accordingly to meet the mounting challenges of a rapidly growing population in a self-destructive world of depleting resources. May the prospects of a New Beginning inspire more people to "Be The Change," to help their fellow Earthlings, human or animal, whenever possible, to feel gratitude for what is often taken for granted, and "Pay it Forward" in kind with Love and Compassion for All Sentient Beings... For we are all ONE.
In fact, We are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For.
One World ~ ♥ One Love Eternal ♥
~ Namasté
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Wishing you moments of Peace, Love, Light & Laughter every day of your life! I LOVE YOU! ~ Lisa

Got Gratitude? Pay it Forward!

Make a #GRATITUDE list..count your blessings, be they few or many. Write them down. It is a humbling but rewarding experience. Repeat often. Your beating heart is a miracle, a precious gift. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Honor your heart by sharing the love that lies within it. #PAYITFORWARD Pay It Forward by performing #RAOK... #RandomActsOfKindness serve as humanity's weapons of mass creation, our means to a kinder, gentler world. ~ Lisa Pearlman 2012

Awakening

Where is the Love?

If we don't slow down or stop for a minute, love will seem to pass us by, but in reality it is we who are passing up love in our mad pursuit to do, have and accumulate "things." Love is not a "thing" you can ever possess or stock up on for later. Love is to be felt and appreciated in the Now, in between moments, in the silent gaps between words, the quiet spaces between spontaneous thoughts. The LOVE is always there, you just need to slow down and open your heart to receive it.

© Lisa Pearlman 2012

Stop Lyin', Stop Frontin', Keep it Real

It is stressful, overwhelming and time-consuming to maintain a falsehood. As the deceiver creates an ever-growing elaborate web of lies to support his prior dishonesty or betrayal, he must keep track of all details, dates, places and names so that he is consistent in his story. He often must backtrack to recount events, taking care to sync all his fabrications so that they corroborate and coincide together like jigsaw pieces to an intricate puzzle. If one odd piece of information does not quite fit, the integrity of the entire charade is at stake. To ensure a steady stream of data that flows smoothly in one direction, he must constantly check his words and actions, remember seemingly trivial matter-of-fact statements he has made in the past, and fill in gaps as his web of lies grows larger. He buries himself deeper and deeper with every word he utters. Eventually he will slip up, perhaps fail to cover his tracks, or maybe spout a verifiable “fact” that can be disproved through research, thereby exposing a weakness or inconsistency in his story. As his carefully crafted web of lies unravels, he frantically makes excuses, changes details, throws accusations, places blame…anything to avoid telling the truth. He desperately back-pedals in hopes of plugging up holes, a futile attempt at damage control. Finally confronted with his lies which have been exposed, he can breathe a sigh of relief, let it go, relax and start over fresh. Any sane man would. Or he can deny the truth and evidence before him, and stubbornly stay on his sinking boat and go down with the ship, claiming a victory that he alone believes in. Such is par for the course for the pathetic case of a Pathological Liar. ~ © Lisa Pearlman 1/3/12

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Be Inspired

BE INSPIRED & YOU will INSPIRE others!
Dream Big -- Live Loud -- Love With Abandon

Let's Start a Revolution

The world needs Change. There is no question about that. The "Whys" are obvious and numerous. We can argue back and forth about the "What" since people's values and priorities may differ based on their quality of life. But the million dollar question that keeps politicians, activists and anyone who truly cares about the state of our planet up at night is "How?" HOW do we affect change? HOW do we implement change of any real substance or staying power (longevity.) To quote The Beatles: "You say you want a Revolution? Well you know, we all want to change the world."
A Revolution does not have to be marked by chaos, violence and power. Silence can be Revolutionary. Love can be Revolutionary. Spirituality can be Revolutionary. We must find peaceful, non-violent means to revolutionize and change things in this world, to change the status quo so as to improve life conditions for anyone living a sub-standard life (i.e. homeless, poverty, no medical care, unemployment, no clean water, hunger etc.) as well as ensure the humane treatment of all God's creatures, man or animal. Remember, the Change Begins With Me and You. An internal revolution of thought and spirit must take place within each one of us before we can make any significant changes affecting the outside world. Each of us operates at a state of consciousness, awakened by our stage of spiritual evolution at the time. Although many of humanity live their life unconsciously most of the time, we, as members of the human race, as human beings, are surely evolving as both enlightened individuals and as a collective consciousness on Earth. Our inner transformation is reflected in the world we live in, through our thoughts, ideas, words, and actions that represent our unity of purpose on a spiritual as well as a global level. The Revolution has begun...get with the program and be a part of One Love - One World. WE are surely the Ones We Have Been Waiting For...
c. Lisa Pearlman 5/29/12

Love is Pure Consciousness

Love is all that is real ... Pure consciousness ... When you tune into the vibrational energy of the Universe you are tuning into the highest vibratory frequency there is ... the same wavelength that Love vibrations travel along ... a continuum of Consciousness ... At this level there is only Harmony - there is only the divine and holy trinity of Love/Universe/Consciousness that exists at this highest vibrational frequency. © Lisa Pearlman 3/28/12 (Photo credit - unknown source on WWW)

Life is a Rainbow

Life without Passion is like a Rainbow without Colors. Add some color to your life…try something new…stand up and shout out for what you believe in…show your True Colors loudly and proudly…just as a variety of colors make the rainbow beautiful, so does diversity make life beautiful! Accept all and Embrace all as One! ONE WORLD…ONE LOVE!

Love in Vain

Time heals all wounds, albeit slowly, and never quite completely. But all we can do is pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, & keep it moving. Whatever pain we feel is proportionate to the lesson learned. And if the lesson was not learned, you can be sure the experience, & it's accompanying pain will be yours again. Forgive so you may learn, and learn so that you may forgive. Your Resentments & Grudges will destroy YOU from the inside out...while the one you can't forgive or forget, has moved on, like teflon, all the pain & anger you directed at him (or her) slid right off & ricocheted back to you. Let it go...so you can break the cycle and embrace a new day. Remember, tis better to have loved & lost than never to have loved at all. Love may bring pain, but never is Love in Vain. - © Lisa Pearlman

Recipe for World PEACE ☺☻♡♥☮☯

Recipe for World PEACE ☺☻♡♥☮☯

Start with Gratitude, Add a healthy dose of Humility, Top off with a layer of Compassion. Sprinkle with Honesty, Respect and a whole lotta LOVE :-)

Can you imagine the possibilities if each one of us followed this recipe!?

The change starts with me and you.
Be the Change!

One World - One Love

Dare to Dream...Realize the Dream...Live the Dream

Dreams are realities waiting to manifest...focus all your attention and intention on your dreams, and they will manifest in your life! The very nature of the Universal Law of Attraction guarantees it! And the grace of God wills it! If it is meant to be, and you allow it to manifest, then it will be. In fact, it already IS. And you already ARE. You just need to open your heart and your arms and embrace the miracle that is YOU!
Peace ... OneLove ... Namasté ... Lisa

I Create, Therefore I Am...

Happiness is a by-product of Creativity, or Creative Process. All Creation is Beauty (whether creator or created, the source or the muse). Happiness can not exist without the creative process, any more than life can exist without the creative process of Breathing. Many creative people such as artists, writers, painters, poets, dancers seem to live in misery. However, in reality, the human condition by default is one of misery and suffering. Through creativity one may transcend humanness, the human aspects of self, mainly the ego, and become self-less. Only through Creativity and Meditation can one who is alive return to the source, merging with the universe and all creation on a vibrational level. At that level there is no misery, no judgments, no attachments...at that level there is only Harmony, or Oneness. I am You, I am God, I am Universe, I am the vibration of highest frequency, I am LOVE.

What Do We Desire? (as asked on Quora)

I just answered this question on Quora: What do we desire? (My answer, I believe, is universal to all human beings)
We desire to feel happiness through connection to another human being, to feel we belong, we are loved, we matter to someone. We desire to be free from pain & suffering, or lessen the perception/feeling of suffering. Lastly, I believe we inherently desire some sort of spiritual (not necessarily religious) connection, whether this desire be conscious or unconscious.

Any comments? I'd love to hear from ya!

Marilyn Monroe Quote

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Take a Leap of Faith...

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