Magnificent Monday to you all! I trust that you have taken this beautiful Monday morning to set the tone for the rest of your week. I trust that you have decided that no matter what today or the rest of this week brings to you, you will face it with the courage of a spiritual warrior and trust that it has come because it is what you need in that moment. 

I am reposting a previous piece that I wrote because as I meditated on what to share with you today it kept coming up. The message is precisely what I wanted to share with you and I saw no need to write something else when this piece is perfect. Enjoy it…again!! 

Leisa Monique

I’m a firm believer that there is nothing or no one that comes into our lives that shouldn’t be there at the moment which they appear. Whether in the form of homelessness, unemployment, health issues, relationship issues, family issues or people, I believe that what shows up in our lives is exactly what we need in that moment to evolve and grow and to move to our next level.

Upa Guru is a Sanskrit word that is translated ” The teacher that is close by.” Anyone or anything can serve as your Upa Guru and they come to offer us exactly what it is that we are to learn from their being there. It is up to us to accept the lesson they have come bearing.

There are certain situations or “challenges” that life brings us that not only would we rather not go through, but some of us consider them attacks concocted by the “devil” himself to try and take us out. Now whether you believe in the “devil” is another story and not the point of this post.The point is that once we change our perspective on what is happening in our lives and see it as our Upa Guru, we will be able to find peace in what we are going through.

What you are facing at this moment in your life has been Divinely crafted just for you. It’s your journey. And what you encounter on each step of your journey is bringing you closer to the destiny that you were created to fulfill. You have been equipped for this journey and there is nothing that you face that you are not already able to handle. Inherent in every problem that you encounter is the solution waiting to emerge. But it’s up to you to use the gifts, the talents and the skills that you posses to discover it.

The people and situations that you encounter on this journey are there simply to help these gifts, talents and skills that are within you to emerge. They are there to support your evolution. No matter what you think of these people or situations, they have come to assist you on your way to greatness. They may irritate you, hurt you or anger you but understand that they are ultimately there to help you. They are your Upa Guru, your teacher and when the lesson is learned they return to being what they were before.

No matter what it is that you are currently experiencing understand that it is exactly what you need in this moment to evolve. It is here for your highest good. I encourage you to embrace your Upa Guru, to go within and find out what they have come to teach you. I understand that this process is not easy as most of us are conditioned to resist the challenges that present themselves. We are not taught that challenges are opportunities in disguise. But the moment you change your thinking about your current circumstances is the moment that you will begin to find peace, joy and happiness in what you are experiencing.

When challenges show up ask yourself “what is this here to teach me? What am I to learn from this and how do I evolve from this.” As difficult as it may be for you to do, drop your resistance and accept the moment as it is and not what you want it to be. Instead of looking at it as a problem look at is as your Upa Guru that has come to move you forward. don’t try to force an outcome or change the situation as that can cause more frustration, sadness and even depression because you are not getting the desired results of your efforts. Instead,  just accept is as it is and trust that all is in Divine order and that you have everything you need in this moment. You will be thankful that you did.

In luv and dessert,

Leisa Monique

“Some of the most wonderful people are the ones who don`t fit into boxes.” 
― Tori Amos

“Don’t you know how sweet and wonderful life can be?” 
― Marvin Gaye

“Life is about taking what’s given to us and creating something wonderful.” 
― Belinda Jeffrey, One Long Thread

Be ever, be ever wonderful, stay as you are, alrightTime is right in your life tonightFind your place in the broad day light, yeahOoh, stay as you are~ Earth, Wind & Fire

The word “Wonderful or “Wonder-Full” (full of wonder) as I like to say is what filled my mind and Spirit last night and this morning during meditation. I think about the wonder of creation and of us all and I simply wanted to tell you all to BE your wonder-full selves. Earth, Wind and Fire says it best so please enjoy the video above. 

In our society we are conditioned to think that we have to be DO-ing something in order to be valuable but don’t you know that you are valuable just because you are here?! You are already magnificent and wonder-full. You don’t have to DO anything to earn this it simply already IS.  The Wonder of creation and the Divine fills you. It is the essence of you and can fuel the life that you desire to live if you will let it. Let go of any notion that you have to DO something to be as you already are-full of wonder! Any success or accomplishments adds to what you already are it doesn’t create it. 

We all want to be successful and to be significant. We want to know that we matter. But success on the worlds terms isn’t what creates your value-you were born valuable. What you create with it is totally up to you! 

In Dessert, 

Leisa Monique

Magnificent Monday to you. Today I’m reposting a piece that I wrote back in 2010. As I meditated on what I wanted to share with you the message in this piece kept coming up and I knew that I was to share it again. I know that for some of you this is exactly what you need. I know I certainly needed to be reminded of it! 
Leisa 

As I sit here and watch the sun rising I realize that at this moment, there is no place that I’d rather be! There is nothing that I’d rather be doing but sitting here in the stillness of the early morning marveling at the purplish, blue sky that is reminding me of the intelligence of the universe and that everything is as it should be because the Divine is as it should be. There is no place I’d rather be!

I haven’t always felt this way! There have been some days when I got off center and looked around me and saw my life and started to think that I should be much “farther along”‘ than where I am. A few days ago I was talking with the luv of my life and listening to him as he shared some of the disappointments that he has with himself. He expressed disappointment with some of the choices that he has made in his life and how he feels that these choices are responsible for his not being farther along in his life.

As I quietly listened to him express his thoughts my heart began to ache for him and for the countless numbers of people in the world who for whatever reason feel like they should be somewhere else in their lives; who feel like they should be doing something different than what they are doing.

I remembered feeling that way. I remembered the guilt and the sadness and even the embarrassment that came along with it. But what I remember the most about that place is coming to the realization that the choices and the decisions that I had made in my life up to that point were precisely the reason that I was who I was at that moment! I remember talking with God and expressing my own disappointment with some of the choices I had made and Him gently showing me that through all of those experiences that came along with those choices, I had become a better person! I had experienced growth from the pain of those decisions! I had evolved because of those decisions! I had learned from those experiences! Those “bad” decisions and choices had played a major part in shaping my character!!

Through the pain and suffering that came with some of the choices that I have made in my life, I have become more compassionate, more loving, more understanding and more tolerant of people and where they are in their lives. I have become a person of great character and I attribute it to the experiences of my life that those choices and decisions brought with them.

Perhaps you are looking at your life and thinking that you should be in a different job, have more money in your bank account, own your own home by now or are regretting a relationship that you had and if only you had not made THAT decision you would be much farther along in your life right now. But I’m here to tell you that YOU ARE RIGHT WHERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE!!

God doesn’t make mistakes! And if we begin to look at our life and at the “mistakes” that we have made along the way we will see that we have actually learned from them. How many times have you done something that has not turned out to be that great and you realized that it is something that you will never do again?! You learned from that “mistake” and therefore can’t call it a “mistake” at all! Its a life lesson! Even if you have found yourself doing the “same thing” over again there is still growth to be made from it.

Let me use the analogy of lifting weights to drive my point home. Whether you are beginning a weight lifting routine or are experienced in the area, stay with me now, and are moving up to “heavier weight” there will be pain that comes with that heavy weight. Lifting weight actually tears your muscle fiber and anyone who has ever had any experience with working out for the first time or moving up to heavier weight than they are used to can tell you that major soreness sets in a couple of days later. The pain sometimes causes you to rethink and even regret the decision to exercise at all or to “go heavier.”

But it is in THIS pain that your muscles actually “grow”. It is the tearing of the muscle fibers that the weight causes that also causes the growth! How you ask? When your muscle fibers are torn your body begins the process of healing itself. Your body draws on the protein stores that is has to rebuild the muscle that has been torn from lifting the heavy weight. The result of the “healing” is that your muscles grow bigger because protein is being added to repair the torn muscle. That is why body builders are willing to go through the temporary pain they will experience from the heavier weight for they know that the growth they are going to have far outweighs the pain they feel in the ensuing moments.They know that the potential to be bigger and in their eyes, better, is there and they are willing to go through it to be bigger and better.

What does that have to do with you and where you are in your life? The “bad” decisions that you have made in your life, and will continue to make if you are human, are your weight! It will be these decisions that often bring pain and suffering with them that will also cause you to grow and to evolve. Does that mean you should just go around making bad decisions in order to grow? Of course not, but what it does mean is that on those occasions that you do make a decision or a choice that turns out to not be so good, understand that it will be from those decisions that you will also experience growth.

So instead of looking back on your life with regret, look back and marvel at how far you have come! look at the amazing person that you have grown to be! look at the character that has developed from those decisions! Look at the compassion that you now feel for others! Look at the wisdom that you now have! Look at the lessons that you have learned and the better choices that you will now make because of those lessons!

Hold your head up high, forgive yourself and flex the spiritual muscles that you have developed from the pain of the weight that you have lifted in your life. Know that at this moment everything in your life is as it should be and had it not been for those decisions you would not have grown into the person that stares back at you in the mirror of life. You are magnificent! You are marvelous! YOU ARE RIGHT WHERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE!