“Happy” Holidays

Homemade cookies and feety pajamas. Snow angels, sledding, and hot cocoa. Flames dancing in the fireplace and presents piled high. Curled up with a cup of tea, I let the images drift through my mind, smiling inside as I warmed myself against the growing chill outside. I felt unhurried as the days of December ebbed quietly without notice. The peaceful feeling was a stolen moment as I knew the weeks ahead would be chaotic, yet even as that thought popped into my mind, I immediately knew that it was false. The moment would last … if I let it.

December is a month of contradiction. It’s the time when we may experience a rich desire to feel connected, joyous, and peaceful. We aim to be generous and kind, and long to have the warmth of content feelings engulf us. But the season also brings contrast. Many find their emotions swirling among feelings of stress, loss, scarcity, and separation. A happy memory can trigger an unhappy ache of nostalgia, and the pressures of creating the perfect moments for others can leave one feeling unappreciated.

I was happy that I quickly realized my moment of peaceful reflection could last if I let it. I didn’t surrender to common human demands or expectations. Living the way that I live my life now, I know that I always choose my perspective and my perspective about this season is my choice.

I choose to value the thing that I value all year, the thing that matters to me more than anything. I love love. It’s simple. I love love and at any moment that I separate from the way love makes me feel, I whisper to myself that all there is is love.

For this season, I love myself. I love my family. I love the people around me, young, old, rich, poor, happy, and unhappy alike. I love them all and as long as that stays in my mind, I am happy.

May this season be the season of love for you … where you connect with the energy that transcends all earth hindrances and allows the freedom of peace and optimism to be your guide.


If you would like some guidance to help you reconnect to happy feelings, contact Karen for coaching and let your guides reveal your truth to you. An investment in your happiness today pays for itself through prosperity, harmony, and peace.

“The other night you said things I needed to hear. It really helped. I feel better than I felt in years." - Georgia Dunam, Pickerington, OH

Free Teleseminar - Dec. 3, 2009 7:30pm-8:30pm EST

Simply Irresistible
3 Steps to attract in
clients, partnerships, friendships, and romance.

An Interactive Teleseminar by Karen L. Garvey
Register at http://theanswersunlimited.homestead.com/TeleseminarRegistration.html

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Improving your abundance and relationships is possible. Learn to attract the business prospects and relationship possibilities that are satisfying to you. Three easy to apply techniques will bring you closer to having your desires met and allow you to excel at creating a fulfilling, passionate life. Let this teleseminar walk you through the steps to reconnect with your prosperous soul.

We have all heard about the merits of "the power of positive thinking" but these actions take you beyond that model for more enjoyment more quickly.
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Enjoy an ANSWERS Seminar from the privacy of your own home.

Register here to receive instructions for joining the call and chatroom discussions.


FREE TELESEMINAR
December 3, 2009
7:30pm - 8:30pm EST
Register: http://theanswersunlimited.homestead.com/TeleseminarRegistration.html

I’m Bored (aka C’mon Get Happy)

I have to admit I thought it was funny when my young son came to me and tried without success to tell me something. Finally, I prodded him, “Just tell me!” And he responded, “I can’t … I’m not allowed to use the “b” word.”

Well, you know what word came to my mind, but it struck me as odd that he would need to use such a word just to tell me what he wanted. So I smiled and asked, “Do you mean the word that rhymes with “witch”? He laughed. “No! I mean I’m bored and you said I’m not allowed to use that word.”

It got me to thinking about boredom. Even if your calendar is packed, you can still experience the feeling – boredom with your job, your prospects, your marriage, your single status, your home, your social life. Boredom doesn’t come from having an empty calendar; it comes from not having something to feel passionate about. A lack of passion, interests, pursuits, or dreams can drive us to fill our schedules so tightly to avoid the feeling of boredom. Why? Because boredom makes us realize that something is missing.

A happy person experiences a sense of contentment day-in and day-out. It’s as reliable as the turning of day into night. Most happy adults pursued a path to achieve a state of joy. One initial impetus that drove them toward discovering ways to be happy was boredom. Boredom shines a light on a lack of passionate pursuit, and one who seeks fulfillment will respond to that trigger.

We can respond to boredom in two ways. One way is productive and the other not-so. A common response is to focus on all that is wrong. The economy is beating me up. My wife is so controlling. My kids are lazy. I don’t feel happy. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I try to be happy, but because of _________________ (insert excuse here), I just can’t be. To get temporary relief from these uncomfortable feelings, one may turn to excess, self-sabotage, or perilous risky behavior. Something as simple as over-indulging during the holidays can be triggered by boredom.

The other path is one that turns the fuel of boredom into a positive opportunity. What’s not working the way I want it to? What can I do to turn it around? Brainstorm, talk to others, find a passionate person to act as your support, your cheering squad, your sounding board, or your fount of great ideas. Then take inspired action! Inspired action, as opposed to action for action’s sake, is something that feels “good” or feels “right.” It gives you a sense of optimism or purpose. It is inspired because it comes from your intuitive self instead of your thinking self and, given a happy home, the idea can flourish. Don’t talk yourself out of an inspired idea. Do it. It’s easy to think of reasons why you can’t or why you don’t want to and if you succumb, then be prepared to remain bored. Having something to feel excited about is all you need to erase a feeling of boredom. It gives you incentive and motivation. It stimulates your creative self that lies within you eager to fulfill yours soul’s promise.

This month focus on what area you want to improve and resist the desire to escape from frustration. Instead, choose to replace boredom with an enthusiastic pursuit and get connected to the pulse of life.

New ANSWERS Writing by Karen L. Garvey

Once established, an old idea dies hard.

Before reading on, think about your response to the following statement:

The H1N1 virus is predicted to spread rampantly.
A. I’d better get the flu shot.
B. I think it will fizzle out and not meet the hype.
C. What difference does it make? I’m bound to get something anyway because
there are germs everywhere! I have my antiseptic wipes by my side and I
will not shake anyone’s hand.
D. It won’t affect me because I live with harmonious health
E. I feel safe because I started telecommuting to avoid all these diseases.

If you answered “B” or “D,” skip this next question:

The H1N1 virus causes concern for me because:
A. My mother is old and I hear it’s dangerous for those vulnerable
B. I get every stupid flu or bug that passes by
C. I work with the public, so we get everything!
D. These new strains of germs are more powerful than what we’re used to
E. I can’t afford to take any more time off work

Each of these responses is based on old tired ideas. The prevalent way of thinking is that good health is always at risk, just waiting to be toppled by some disease, injury, bacteria, or virus. When these old ideas permeate your beliefs, you are more likely to attract in confirmation of their truth. What you focus on expands.

Read on

NEW FEATURE - Soul to Soul

The ANSWERS newest feature SOUL-TO- SOUL
Challenge Questions for Your Fun and Spiritual Development

Welcome to our new challenge feature, Soul to Soul. In Soul to Soul, we will post a statement or phrase which contains multiple meanings. The more you ponder the phrase, the more you may discover within the words. Each statement contains three levels of meaning: the most apparent, the subtle, and the ingenious.

I remember as a teenager reading the book, Illusions, by Richard Bach. The book fascinated me, and I intensely tried to figure out which elements of the book were based upon fiction and which were based upon truth. Later, in my thirties, I reread the book. To my surprise, my perspective had significantly changed, and I understood, deeply understood, the meaning in the book more. I realized that my ability to comprehend this apparently simple story changed based on my level of awareness ... not my age, but my level of awareness. Approach these challenge thoughts the same way. Can you imagine a meaning beyond the surface ideas? There are no right or wrong answers and some of you will even realize more insightful discoveries than we have indicated! {You can even SUBMIT YOURS} Have fun!!

Try it now Soul-to-Soul

ELECTION DAY 2008 - Your Power as an American!

Today the candidate of your choice will be elected as the next President of the United States of America …

or he will not.

What happens tomorrow?

Tomorrow begins a new era. The effect that the new president-elect will have on your reality depends not only on him, his energy, his thoughts, his beliefs, and his actions, but yours as well. And yours. And yours. And yours.

If you are a member of Congress, if you are a teacher, if you are a stay-at-home-mom, if you are an optometrist, if you are a missionary, if you are an investment banker, a police officer, a reiki practitioner, an ice cream store owner, an accountant, a millionaire, a man, a Christian, a senior citizen, a cancer survivor, an atheist, an adventurer, a musician, an astronaut, an artist, an EMT, a postal worker, a machinist, a Latino, a neighbor, an organizer, a dreamer, an inventor, an Irishman, a rescuer, a builder, a Jew, a chemist … if you are any one or any thing, if you breathe, then you affect the next four years of life in America.

Suppose you are happy with the election results. Will you celebrate? A passing moment of joy? Will you feel relief? Will you feel optimistic? Will you celebrate wildly? Will you focus on all the wonderful expectations you have for the future?

What if your preferred candidate loses? How will you react? Will you cry? Will you commiserate with friends? Will you feel angry? Disappointed? Will you be fearful for the future?

Take a moment to contemplate how you will feel after the election results are tallied. After you realize where your thoughts are likely to go, think about this truth:

You have the power to create the reality in America that you want.

Your power began with your vote, but it does not end there. Read on...

Is this book a good one for me to read? Is this my path to enlightenment?

"It seems to me,you live your life like a candle in the wind. Never knowing who to cling to when the rain comes in..." - Candle in the Wind, 1973

Sources for universal truth proliferate on earth today. It seems that each month, or week, or day, a new book or theorist or philosophy takes off in the mass market, providing a wonderful opportunity for people to increase their level of awareness.

With the volume of information out there, how do you decide what has value? How do you determine which pieces of information are, in fact, based upon universal truth rather than falsehoods? How do you know for sure if this one book or seminar is beneficial for you personally?

Once again, and I know you've heard this from Karen's guides before, use your intuition as your guide. Exactly how does one use intuition in this case? Don't hesitate to engage in a book, teleseminar, workshop, or audio program if you feel drawn to it; you needn't count on your intuition as being so reliable that you can predetermine the value of the content of everything that interests you. Instead, participate with an open mind and sense how the information is making you feel. If you feel repelled [pushed away] or closed, it's likely that the information is not beneficial for you at the moment, and perhaps never will be. If, on the other hand, the message gets you excited and very interested, you feel drawn in, then you have likely hit upon something truthful and beneficial.

Use your other powers of sensing value. Do the prescribed exercises or tasks seem tedious or onerous? Do the exercises seem boring? Answering these two questions can also guide you to the potential that working any recommended program has for your personal benefit. There's tremendous variation from one person to another regarding their willingness to commit to levels of exercise, but if you can sense you will not commit, then you are either not ready for the information or it holds no value for you.

Perhaps you're thinking about a perpetually lazy person who never tries his hand at anything, so how could he decide the usefulness of this information? If he rejects it perhaps he is being lazy. True! But laziness is a form of maintaining a level of awareness in which one finds comfort. It is for each individual to determine for her or himself when to expand. This fact indicates to you how intuition works. When ready, the person wanting to expand will draw in beneficial circumstances, information, and people.

Lastly, remember that not all information from one source may benefit you even if some does. For example, when you read a book, you may find that several chapters resonate within you, yet another chapter does not. Your sense of reason should be recognized as knowing that different information from the same source does not equate to all the information having the same value or level of truthfulness. And even the most enlightened source may fail to access truth for reasons of personal bias or individual masks filtering information.

It is good to know that the truth lies within you. Truth is not necessarily what the crowd thinks. Truth is not necessarily a product that is popular or trendy. Truth is not "dictated." Truth is known when it is discovered. It feels good. It feels loving. It feels right.