Authentic Action = Friendship & Blessings Beyond Measure

I have been spending more time on myself this past month. About a third of that newly created me time involves processing some journal assignments for a project I have been working on. What I have found is a moving appreciation of all of those times action was taken in my life, and as result of said actions, that I am been blessed with friendships beyond measure. We are talking true, unedited, unconditional, and loving friendships. You know those people who light up your life, keep you centered and create joy when you are around them or thinking of them. Yes, those people.

I know that true friendship is rare. All too often, takers surround the givers of the world and thus false friendships are created. It takes a lot of heartache of being used and abused for most givers to finally be aware of those people in their lives who are not their true friends, who are just using them for whatever the reason is. I have been hurt a few times myself in my three and a half decades on the planet.

Those experiences without a doubt mold you to appreciate the true friends when they do come. A true and everlasting friend, someone in your life who just makes it brighter, and someone who would not think twice about doing for you as you have done for them. That is just how it works. Most true friends are treated better than family. What was that quote Einstein said? That friends are God's way of making up for your family. Chuckle. Okay then.

Listening to my inner voice and acting on the same has allowed me to create some amazing friendships. I would not change any of them and I am forever grateful that I did indeed act when prompted to from within. Looking back at my life lived thus far, had those instances passed, opportunities would have been lost and I would not be who I am today. I have also learned that listening to the voice from within and following my gut to talk to someone or do something for someone really isn’t even for me to question anymore. I am practicing getting out of my own way and going with it. Each time I have done so I have not been disappointed. I am willing to bet you will not be either. Take action.

True and everlasting friendship can pick up right where it left off if lost, warm a cold soul in an instance and make you never forget who you really are. True friendship inspires you to be all that you can be and to not accept the world's excuses, let alone your own. True friendship is priceless and it cannot be bought. True friendship, it is a blessing unlike any other. Be grateful. Most of all, be a true friend.

Copyright ©2011 Nita Clewis
All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Commercial use without permission is not allowed.
Sharing with friends and family is warmly welcomed.

One Year Later - What Fearless Action Leads To

One Year Later - The Anniversary of Knowing (The Blog) - What Fearless Action Leads To

You've heard me say it before but I'll say it again without reservation...YOU MUST ACT ON INSPIRED THOUGHTS.  You owe it to yourself to listen to the voice from within when it nudges you to take claim to your life.  Listen.  Act.  The pay off will come in ways you can't even begin to imagine.  The universe really does have a plan bigger for you than you can dream for yourself but that doesn't mean you shouldn't dream or act on inspired thoughts. Just go with it.  There's nothing to loose.

My life has been beyond enriched by this experience.  Starting this blog was a moment in my life of inspired action.  I've met new and amazing people because of this blog and had perfect strangers write me letters from the heart of sincere appreciation for thoughts that have been posted.  I have experienced affirmation after affirmation of sincere gratitude and love.  There is no doubt that this is where I'm supposed to be and this is what I'm supposed to be doing.  This knowing from within, this clarity, this is the pay off that comes from fearlessly following your path. 

To think I could of gone another year not having been enriched by this experience frankly makes me sick to my stomach.  Really, I could of.  Those of you who know me well know I've not always acted on inspired thought but instead acted on fear.  Knowing the idea had been with me for years but it wasn't until last Spring that I finally stopped putting it off and listened to the calling from within.  There were just too many signs around me that were too clear (and loud) to ignore, prompting me to take action once and for all.  The last one gave me chills and made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.  It came shortly after I'd reached out to my legal team regarding how to bring it to fruition and protect myself in the process.  I was out of town with my kids at a friend's 40th Birthday party just sitting around catching up with people that I don't get to see as often as I used to back then when one of them opened their mouth about how they remembered my impact on their life a decade earlier (events I'd actually forgotten over time).  Just writing about it still gives me those chills and standing hairs.  I knew when those words came out of his mouth from no where that they were in fact from somewhere and they were there for me to take notice of them as 'universal affirmation.'     

To my friends who always insisted I do something, to my friends who would be placed in my life by diving timing to tell me out of the blue that my being positive over a decade ago changed who you were (you stopped being negative), and to all the friends I've made that have reached out to embrace this part of our story, I'm forever grateful to you.  This experience has enriched my life in ways I couldn't of even imagined myself a year ago.

Just over a year of committing to this journey and Knowing has grown to over 1500 members from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, India, Australia, Philippines, Egypt, South Africa, Malavsia, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Tunisia, Ireland, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, New Zealand, and Bulgaria. Beautiful people in beautiful places all over the planet sharing universal knowledge.  I am beyond moved and grateful for your insight, your love, your thoughts, and your opening up to share your journey with us. 

This is something so much bigger than me and the words the universe gives me to share it all with.  This is about humanity resonating on universal knowledge, about how no matter where we come from or how we're raised, when we know and hear truth about the human experience it resonates.  This, from one act of fearlessness and the commitment to carry it forward every day.  It has certainly opened my eyes to what's possible.

Between this last year of Knowing and some recent private journal thoughts I've written, I've come to the conclusion that when we act fearless that life gives us a richness of memories and events we carry forward that create our glow. When we act in fear, we stifle that glow. We create a darkness of misery. We round the same mountains and suffer the same life lessons until they are learned. Knowing this, I choose to be fearless, I choose to act on an indisputable Faith in this life and in myself.  So, as we move forward into our second year of Knowing, I ask that you act with me on whatever it is in your life that's calling you.  Trust me, you'll never be sorry that you did.

 Copyright ©2011 Nita Clewis
All rights reserved. For personal use only. 
Commercial use without permission is not allowed. 
Sharing with friends and family is warmly welcomed.

Buckle Up: The Journey to Transcendence & Grace Has Road Hazards

My Eckhart Tolle quote torn from an O Magazine that's on fridge where I keep a photo of my best friend Ann Marie from High School who passed this month from an automobile accident in 1997.  The photo strip was taken in Ocean City, MD at the boardwalk.  It was our Senior trip just before our graduations and her move out of state.

When I was in high school I was blessed to cross paths with so many diverse people.  I attended a large school that held over 2000 students.  Out of those doors would come a handful of friendships that would last a lifetime and bring to it a worth unmeasurable by tangible things.  One of my closest friends post high school would come from my ever revolving peer group there.  She has been the one who has taught me the most about transcendence and grace.  She also taught me a lot about forgiveness and faith through her own walk as well as the support of my own. 

In school she used to have the most spirited debates about life with our peers while interacting with everyone, even cheering for the school a few times on the squad.  Raised the youngest of three sisters to an active Catholic family who wanted for nothing, she was also one of those rare gems in high school that didn't belong to a click or judge other people.  Even during her wild teen years God was her rock to dry out on between swims of acting on emotions and feelings.  By the time we would graduate high school she would walk away from an abusive relationship and welcome her first born to her journey.  Just this June he graduated from high school.  Talk about time flying fast.  

Despite being only 17 years old in 1992, she had the strength to leave an abusive boyfriend she loved and do it all alone (father signed away rights) with her family and her faith.  By 1996 she would create a new life, one that I was lucky enough to be a part of regularly from that point forward.  Come that time of her journey she'd welcomed her second born and would marry his father.  Anyone on the planet can tell you that being young and married has its challenges but they stuck it out as best they could and for as long as they could given their own lack of life experiences to date.  She taught me a lot back then about when to quit and when not to quit. 

I also remember it like yesterday, holding her third born on my chest in her old townhouse in Woodbridge, VA.  She was so tiny and precious, much smaller then my own Tristan when he was born in August of 1999.  Then came her number four and my own unplanned pregnancy.  Her faith and strength is what allowed me to face that chapter of my life with my head held high.  She was the first person I told besides my friend who was there when I took the test.  My relationship with her and what I learned between 1996 and 1999 is what allowed me to bring forth my son into this world under my own traumatic and difficult circumstances. 

She would later in life divorce, get back together with her husband and then split again.  It was during their second round of togetherness that their world fell apart.  You see, five years ago today she lost her fifth born child at the age of three months and twenty-one days.  Life would never be the same for her or the rest of the family and friends who love them.  His passing would eventually lead to blessings beyond measure for the lives he touched.  His short and precious life was not without its lessons, even though he was only here for a brief time.  Watching and supporting her through the last five years, including the birth of her sixth child, has shown me that the universe will beyond any shadow of self inflicted doubt, give you whatever grace you need to transcend tragedy and the other road hazards along the way (divorce, illness, abuse, low self worth, depression, etc.).

Watching her walk has showed me that God really does have a bigger plan for us than we can realize even for ourselves sometimes if we'll just lean on him and listen to the voice from within.  Her tragic circumstances along the way are but steps to her family's glory and as messed up as this may sound, when I'm faced with my own tough and overwhelming circumstances, I always tell myself these words....."If she can put her baby in a box in the ground, pick her self up, fix things and go on with life, I sure as heck can get through whatever lemons I'm trying to make lemonade out of.  No excuses, no matter what." Love you from the bottom of my heart girl for those lessons. You know who you are.

So yes, the journey to transcendence and grace will have road hazards along the way.  Buckle up (read: be prepared) but be ready to roll down the windows and enjoy the ride when the grace and transcendence appear on the journey.  Don't worry, even if you got a bad map or are lost, it will come.  Remember that.  I love you.

Copyright ©2011 Nita Clewis
All rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercial use without permission is not allowed. Sharing with friends and family is warmly welcomed.