Have you ever stopped to really appreciate yourself, your life, and everything around you?
I thought I had been appreciative, that is until I had a recent health scare that made me realise that there was still so much in life that I took for granted – things that I just accepted as a normal part of my day, without stopping to truly appreciate how amazing my life really is.
Lying in bed at night in the silence of the darkness, with the glimmer of the moon lighting up my home with just enough light to make out what surrounded me, I observed the simple things, like hearing the crickets, and the sound of our children rolling over in their bed via the monitor next to my own. Sounds that had become a normal part of my day and night, but sounds that I realised were not always going to be there; ones that I may not always be here to hear.
There was a sadness that overwhelmed me, a feeling that I was not yet ready to leave this world, that I still had so much to do.
It was then that I realised I was living with regret, a feeling that deep down I knew how to live in the fullness of who I am but thinking there was no rush, that I had plenty of time to do so later.
But why wait – why not just get on with it and live the love that I am now, instead of waiting any longer?
So once again a health scare has caused me to stop and appreciate on a deeper level how amazingly blessed I am in life, with an amazing family, children, partner, and friends. Why is it that it takes the possibility of dying to truly bring me to a stop?
Why is it that we wait until we may lose something that is precious to us to stop and really appreciate it? Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?
I knew all of this, the questions were not new, I had asked myself these before. So why is it I still choose to hold back?
After my few days of pondering, I came to realise that it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back and having not lived in and from the absolute glory that I am.
I realised that I can now make the choice to live me in each and every moment, re-connecting to my body and making choices from there, without fear of what others may think or perceive, and no longer shying away from potential jealousy.
When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.
A life that has been blessed by so many and so much, with the ongoing love, support and reflections from Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon, a man with the utmost love, patience and understanding; a man without whom I know I would not have these moments in life that allow me to go deeper in my connection to myself, to then be able to continue appreciating how amazing life truly is.
by Nicole Serafin, Woman, wife, mother, hairdresser, Tintenbar, NSW.
Further Reading:
What Is The Science of Appreciation, and How Does It Evolve All of Our Relationships?
Appreciation – A Pathway To Love.
Appreciation, Appreciation, Appreciation….
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
why not just get on with it and live the love that I am now, instead of waiting any longer? Yes, yes and yes, I have held back my love for so long which felt like living in a straight-jacket with chains…The joy I felt in sharing myself and not holding back (when the straight-jacket slid off my body) felt wonderfully expansive and very playful – we are allowed to have fun, lots of fun as we go about our every day!
Isn’t it fabulous to appreciate the smallest of things in life, in fact it is almost always the small things, for they make up our days, and the more we appreciate what is before us the less room we leave to be consumed by false struggles such as anxiousness and worry.
Some say, love is in the details…
You can never have to many reminders about the importance of appreciation – this blogs serves that purpose well.
This sounds like a great plan, ‘to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are’.
Thank you Nicole. Its beautiful to feel such movement of appreciation and how far we have come.. Without it our foundation will fall apart. It is the glue in our life.
Living with regret can be very overwhelming, we can allow feelings of negativity to take over and run our lives. But what you have shared here Nicole are the hallmarks of how one can really take responsibility and bring joy through appreciation.
How blessed are we to have moment like these where we can start to wake up and live again. It is so hard to see how it takes moments like these to realise we are so often sleepwalking through life.
We are held by the appreciation (that is love..) that surrounds us and that we choose to re-connect to in our bodies, a choice that comes from a free will to break out of the illusion of loveless existence – as we all know that there is a grander source – one that is love, beholding us all no matter the lovelessness in our world.
I wonder if that’s what happens to us when we get to the end of this life or when we have a scare in the same way. Is it possible that this ‘regret’ is actually us feeling all the points in life we have left incomplete? It’s not a bucket list scenario but more about going about every moment and living it in full to the best you can. For me when I have felt a feeling similar to this it’s been a view of what I haven’t lived fully that hits my view. For me this is a confirmation that every moment is important as the next because when it comes down to it they are all recorded energetically within in.
I know what you speak of Nicole, and reading your blog today shines a clear light on what regret is and how in fact indulging the regret without getting truly honest about the fact that we know how to truly live us but we’ve not always done so is another way to delay actually living us. All we can do is continue to deepen our relationship to us and live us in each moment to the best of our abilities, nothing else is asked of us, this is it. And yet we avoid this … could it be that we know the power and the attendant responsibility of who we are, and is it now past time for us to get on with it, not with drive but with an openness and willingness to unpick any areas where we hold back and bring less than who we are?
This is so lovely Nicole. We can be caught in the rush of the day and we do not appreciate that each moment is something that is there to observe. I know for me, my focus can still be so much on what I am doing rather than how I am feeling.
When I think I am hungry and actually I am not, I am endeavouring to stop and fill myself up with deep appreciation instead of food. When I have the loving discipline to do this I get to feel how my body is craving this quality not food and I no longer have the feeling that I am hungry.
Going to try this Mary-Louise to just pause and fill myself with deep appreciation instead of food – now there is food for thought!
Living with regret immediately holds us in the same past that we want to escape from.
I have heard the saying ‘live each day like it was your last.’ You blog is a reminder that life is precious and living each day to the max, not in terms of doing, but in relation to being loving and appreciating everything down to the details you described will help ensure there are no regrets at the end of life.
A beautiful reminder for us to live each day in the fullness of our being right up to our last breath. This morning is glorious here, the birds having a party and yes I am appreciating the divine orchestra and magnificence at play.
You make such a great point – I know I am terrified at the prospect of not living my potential and yet every day I make choices that hold me back. This is very exposing.
Thank you Nicole, it is through our movements of constant appreciation that we realise that there is so much more to life, to reflect a way with a foundation of truth and love for all to be inspired and live from.
‘Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?’ Thank you Nicole, to not live in appreciation is avoiding living me in full and what is waiting for me to embrace.
“Why is it that we wait until we may lose something that is precious to us to stop and really appreciate it? Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?” Such great questions Nicole. Even after I myself had a health scare i realise just how much I have returned to my old way of being and although am appreciating more i can definitely bring even more appreciation to the everyday things in life.
It is not about what we have not done in our life that we regret, it is about the love we held back, not lived and expressed. It’s like every day, at the end of the day, we come to the end of a circle and our body knows what has passed through, what could be lived, yet not expressed. It is that gap that leaves us empty and we try filling that with food, entertainment, getting drunk whatever. I know because I can have a very busy, full day, yet left feeling something is missing. It is how I live the day/life that determines how I sleep/pass over.
Every moment is precious and worth absolute appreciation. Missing a moment of this awareness sets up the feeling of missing out and a gap is open that can then potentially filled with the sadness of not being all of us and the want to fill it with distraction because we don’t want to feel the sadness and the responsibility that goes with that choice.
I always remember the following quote by Serge Benhayon: “Anything that is done not in truth will always require a correction” so it is for us to look at these health challanges as opportunities to make adjustments in our living in order to keep up with evolution and be more of the love that we truly are.
How deeply touching it is to read this blog Nicole. There is true power in the beauty, vulnerability, fragility and grace you write from and this is an inspiration to read. Everything is put into perspective – why live a life filled with regret when it can be embraced in full in every moment and filled with joy.
It seems so silly to make our life about regretting what could have been, when I feel regret I actually make it all about me without taking responsibility for living what I know and feel is true and yes Stephanie, filled with joy.
It’s easy to see how precious our situations and choices can be/are when theres the potential of it being cut short, be it our lives or a self-caring choice I may drop from repeating in my life. Once I pick it back up, like feeling the benifit of exercise, dropping it and returning to it, theres a moment to appreciate and welcome it back. Makes me wonder why I don’t experience this or appreicate what is already here.
The is a death of sorts in not living all that we are. We tend to fear our physical death – but is the real fear that we will never live ‘all of us’ whilst we are alive?
I have just listened to the Science of Appreciation on Unimedliving and I’m realising that appreciation encompasses not just appreciation of yourself but everything, and most importantly involves intimacy with life and people. Perhaps the reason we avoid appreciation and instead live with regrets, is because appreciation is incredibly powerful and also comes hand in hand with intimacy – which can be at first painful to feel. Your blog Nicole beautifully describes the intimacy with people and life that is at the heart of appreciation and what’s in it for us if we go there.
Yeah, why do we grow up to take everything for granted? We complicate our lives simply because we don’t appreciate the simplicity that’s there before us.
It is true that we hold an arrogance about us that says ‘I’ll change when i have to’ in the sense that I might be totally aware that I have ways I am living that are not loving, and yet I keep testing the waters. seeing how much I can get away with before I’m called to a stop. And yes it is only with appreciating and valuing myself that I am able to start to build a foundation of this, rather than a bank of things I’ve been able to get away with.
Living is to be appreciated and the detail when appreciated is exquisite. Thank you for the beautiful, tenderer and loving reminder to not waste a moment or a breath of what is available to us.
Love all your questions and ponderings Nicole and so much wisdom in your sharing. Questions like these are great stop moments to do a review and see where we are at and if we are holding back: Why is it that we wait until we may lose something that is precious to us to stop and really appreciate it? Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?
We are indeed blessed by Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon for showing us the way to live without regrets and in instead appreciation and love.
‘I realised that I can now make the choice to live me in each and every moment, re-connecting to my body and making choices from there, without fear of what others may think or perceive, and no longer shying away from potential jealousy’. And truly appreciate what you bring when you live you now as is the same for me and any other human on this earth, we are worth it.
So beautifully shared Nicole, appreciation offers an opening to joy, harmony, love, understanding, and many other qualities all of which enhance the day – no matter what, supporting us back to live our true potential and share this with everyone. The most supportive question is ‘why wait’?
What I find is that appreciation forever deepens. The more I appreciate the more we discover that there is so much more to appreciate.
Preparing for our passing over starts with the way we are living. We come back to where we got to. It is up to us.
The key is : letting in. Letting the love and true appreciation in, by another or oneself.. and that we can at the same time let everything that we are out, without any reservation. This is what I am truly learning and wanting to master in life, as without letting love in and out – life simply does not make any sense.. Thank you for sharing this Nicole.
As you share you bring a valuable piece of truth to this world by your blog, sharing with us a great commitment we can choose that is captured in this sentence, a beautiful commitment of choice we can make principle in our lives: “When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.” I shall choose the quality of energy I want to leave as an imprint behind.
I love to come back to this blog and all it offers. And a great first question to ponder on:
Have you ever stopped to really appreciate yourself, your life, and everything around you? Not enough!
What a gorgeous reflection Nicole and yes it is a great question, why do we wait until there is a health scare usually, before we stop, ponder and deeply appreciate all that is around us. I know for me this blog as been deeply inspiring to stop and take stock of all the people in my life, where I live, the friends I have and appreciate all of it.
The word fear felt really important when I read this blog again. Fear of regret rather than a fear of dying. Fear of not having lived who I am, not having been me in the truth of my being. Yet, it seems, when we do just that – live the fullness of our being – that fear dissolves and is exposed as a false notion. When we do connect with all that we are, is there anything to fear?
Recently I was having a pinch-me moment of massive appreciation where I just couldn’t believe how I managed to end up where I was despite and because of everything that has happened and what I have chosen in my life, and the deeper I appreciate, the more power/responsibility I become aware of – because what I am appreciating is not really the details of incidents but the quality that I reconnected to as the result, and that is not something I can keep to myself.
There is a reason we do not stop to take stock and truly appreciate the depth of who we are and that is because we all know, at some unconscious level, that to do so expedites our evolution back to our true self, our Soul and thus we are catapulted out of the comfortable nests we have built for our ‘self’, the human spirit and all it can claim as its own and back into the All from whence we came – the ultimate dissolution of self and giving up of the game that keeps us in separation to each other and the love that we are.
Thank you Nicole for highlighting the power of appreciation and how it enriches our lives by way of confirming the great and loving choices we have made in honor the love we are within. It is through appreciation that we build a body of love, through which our Soulfulness can be freely lived without hesitation. A timely reminder that there is always more to appreciate as there is always more of our love to live.
Waiting for permission to live seems to be a trick played on us. We are the ones that choose to be the fullness of who we are, if we wait for others to give us the go ahead we may wait a very long time.
The saying “don’t take life for granted” sums up what your blog is sharing so powerfully with us all. We can all get so caught up in the day today chores and routines and not stop to savour the choices we have made to commit to life in whichever way and make it about appreciation. For many this is never a thought or an after thought. To bring this to print in a blog shows the level of appreciation you are willing to go to in order to support and inspire others. Thank you Nicole Serafin!
The delay we chose in life is because we have been here before, and know we are coming back, it’s almost like an absolute arrogance.
You remind me today that my life really is amazing and that I do appreciate it, and I can allow myself more time to feel and appreciate it more, to actually build appreciation into my life in the same way I have often built criticism, really it’s the choice of what I choose to build with. So thank you Nicole for reminding me to deeply appreciate, me, my life, everyone I meet, all of it.
It is a great question Nicole for why should we wait and not just get on with living and appreciating the love that we are and that is all around us. There are no excuses only choosing to live less than what is possible.
Absolutely beautiful Nicole thank you for sharing the true and very real appreciation for life we can have when we choose to live it in full.To live ones life in the fullness of who we are allows for no regrets and the love and appreciation from this is something we can all choose simply in each moment so why wait as you share so gloriously.
I can relate to this, “Why is it that we wait until we may lose something that is precious to us to stop and really appreciate it? Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?” This is true to many parts of my life and more and more I am stopping to take in as much of any moments as I can handle. Yesterday was one of those days, not to sit back on a day off and look around but work and equally take everything in and not rush to lunch or the end. It was Monday and so I wasn’t hung over from the weekend or already wishing for Friday but holding onto the moment I was in. Some may think where I was was boring and in the past I would have agreed but it was a moment I was in with others and I just wanted to appreciate that in itself and the feeling was great. It wasn’t about what I was doing but became all about how it felt to just be in a moment. It was far greater for me than anything I have ever done.
‘Have you ever stopped to really appreciate yourself, your life, and everything around you?’ I have a stop in my life now as I am going to move and I am re evaluating every part of how I have lived that which I will take with me or leave behind as it no longer supports me. And yes there is regret of missed changes because of not choosing love but waiting on someone else to do so. Yet I feel also an appreciation in my body that I did not experienced before. An appreciation of what we’ve build during the time we’ve lived in this neighbourhood and in this house how we have imprinted it with care and love, the connections we have made with a lot of people at work, in shops, on the market and how we are surrounded and held by nature. And now it is time to move on to a more busy area and to appreciate the surrender to this next step in our life.
I have learned that when I live with all of who I am and in full presence with myself, I do feel everything and in that my biggest rejection to life was in not allowing myself to feel my own love for all people I am with and to let in the love from them equally.
Nicole, I feel I could read this blog of truth every morning. Just sitting at my computer I could feel many things that I hadn’t appreciated. When we are not living in our fullness so much beauty pass’s us by. Thanks Nicole.
That aching emptiness of regret comes from not living the fullness of our love. It is a self-created chasm we fall into the moment we are faced with our human mortality if the way we have lived has not been true to our essence. No matter our circumstances, appreciation of who we truly are and the stupendous love we are held in, even if we are not always in steady connection with this, is all we need to pull us back out of this ‘hole’ that seeks to swallow us so that we do not feel the eternal Whole we are a part of.
Holding ourselves back and not bringing all of our qualities and potential to what we do, say and feel is like dipping our toe in the water instead of immersing ourselves in life in full.
“I came to realise that it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back and having not lived in and from the absolute glory that I am.” Thank you Nicole for sharing your inspiration to live, now, the absolute glory that we are.
‘When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.’ – this is beautiful to read – that you are taking responsibility in the way you pass over and how you know the importance of living life as who you are. Sometimes we can ‘give up’ on life as we get much older, but what if we lived until our last breath.
I am starting to see more and more that we don’t have to wait for a ‘wake-up’ call to smell the roses, that we can learn to appreciate and confirm what is around us – and within us – each day. It does take commitment to do that though as it is quite ingrained in us to focus on what we dont have and not the abundance that is us.
Hello Nicole and this is true for how I feel and think. So often we walk around doing so much and not simply appreciating the simple things that are there. This things whether it be the warmth of the sun, the song of a bird, the smell of summer, the laugh of children playing, a clean car etc are things that are there consistently for us to see and be a part of. We often get caught in life and not standing and appreciating all we see. Like you are saying we get to the end of life or anything and there is regret, but why is that feeling there and what does it bring to us? Again as you are saying and I agree, the living how you naturally are and living full is a big part of this regret. Instead of spending to much time wondering about this we should start living full, living how you would love it to be and then this is what is there for everyone, including you. Why regret and live anything less, thank you Nicole.
There are many things we can appreciate about ourselves, all we need to do is start having a relationship with ourselves and the more we realise what there is to appreciate.
Appreciation is a fundamental tool for our foundation of living. It not only holds the glue of our expression together but it expands our hearts and frees the way for us to evolve. The more appreciation we have for ourselves and others the greater the depth of our connection too.
Thank you, Nicole, for this reminder. True, I take so much for granted. I am being given so much, yet somehow I manage to feel at times there’s something to complain about, something is lacking. And what I am finding is that not appreciating where I am at is actually a big stopper for what is next to come forward.
“When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.” – sounds like a beautiful passing over, one that will truly end this life cycle rather than hold onto it.
“Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?” This is a really good question for me Nicole. I ponder on this and find that I have a fear of losing it all, that it will be taken away from me. So to avoid that feeling of loss I don’t fully commit, just in case it ‘is’ all taken away from me. However, to live this half life feels so unfulfilling. I am reminded of that saying, “better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all”, something like that. I makes sense to fully appreciate and fully embrace and to stop looking for the pitfalls and simply continue to appreciate the peaks.In fact to appreciate it all, as part of growing, revealing, evolving.
Nicole I appreciate you sharing this with us, as yes we usually do wait until something happens to us or those close to us to appreciate what we have but as you have said here ‘why wait?’ – it makes me realise how we take a lot for granted when we could be appreciating – and by appreciating it confirms where we are and then allows us to go deeper. Thats very cool and something we can do at any moment.
A beautiful reminder to appreciate life and all that is reflected to us to support our evolution, claim live and express all of who we truly are and what we bring.
Appreciation flows from inner self worth that is unshakeable. These past few months I’ve noted a change in me: from my former ‘small’ sense of self, to the beautiful woman I now feel and appreciate. In the company of friends and associates I once looked up to, I now stand with them as an equal by simply being myself. There is great joy in being able to appreciate how far I’ve come.
Through appreciation what I already am I have learned that I am so much more than I told myself in the past from the lack of self worth I held.
There is so much we can appreciate in life – there is also so much to appreciate about ourselves. I have been waking recently feeling how lovely it is to wake as me. Then getting up and remaining in this appreciation as I walk, feels quite incredible. I don’t think we can ever appreciate appreciation enough!!
Living life from the connection with our bodies – when we live life from there, instead of from our heads and what we think we should do or how we think we should be, it’s so much simpler. The stronger our connection to our body and what we’re feeling, the easier it is to live life from there and not be swayed by things outside of us, that we might otherwise use as excuses to hold back and not live as all of ourselves – the fear of perceived reactions from others, etc. Connecting to our bodies, and honouring what they’re feeling, builds a trust with that connection – and when we start listening, the body shares more with us.
Thank you for this Nicole – it is precisely what I needed to read this morning. How important it is that we appreciate the livingness of life every day.
I can very much relate to the sadness that can creep in from time to time. I too have been pondering on the sadness and for me it sometimes felt like grief. It would occur at certain times eg.when the children would go back to school after having a holiday or when thoughts of my children getting older and going to high school entered my mind. The sadness and grief was showing me I had been missing me in the choices I was making in not honouring all of me and the grandness of who I am.
I woke up this morning from a dream that showed me that I was living in regret and guilt. It’s not that I think about them all the time, but your sharing makes me question – so am I making a different choices now? And I realise how I keep my past as something I can indulge in every now and sometimes even take it out and use as the ‘obstacles’ as to why I cannot/would not live the love that I am in full.
It is humbling to read your story of the discovery of true appreciation. We fear having lived a life without evolution.
This is very true Benkt, to commit to choosing appreciation for who we are and the qualities we bring changes everything.
Awesome reminder that we don’t have all the time in the world – time to get on with living in the absolute fullness and appreciation of who we are. To wait until we’re feeling amazing 100% of the time, with every aspect of our lives totally sorted, is to delay our own lives and growth – because living with maximum joy, and appreciating and celebrating all that we already are now, is what it’s about, not total perfection.
This is so true Nicole. Why do we hold back on the amazingness we all are? We should be celebrating and appreciating all that we are and have in this life. I know for me growing up and I assume for most people that appreciation of oneself was unheard of and was frowned upon. There was a saying “you will get a big head” if you were to think or say anything great about yourself. No wonder people find appreciation of oneself a difficulty one to tackle. In a way if we aren’t appreciating ourselves first and then others we are being dismissive of those beautiful qualities that are forever present within us waiting to be activated.
To truly appreciate myself is to truly appreciate all that I’ve been given.
This morning I felt how life can be abundant for us all, look at nature, there is no holding back in any tree, or plant, waterfall etc. God’s magic is in all of us. While I am writing sitting outside in the sunshine a butterfly brings its message to tell me how easy being me is.
This is an example of true medicine in action – that is receiving the health treatment but also reviewing and changing the way we live as every illness is highlighting an area of life we have not lived our full selves in.
I have found the more I appreciate myself, the more confident I feel about myself which has allowed me to appreciate others much more and really enjoy what each of us bring to the world, because we all bring something different.
Nicole thank you for the reminder about appreciating ourselves and our life, there are many things to deeply appreciate and when we do it builds our connection with ourselves and our confidence too.
I had to come back to this again today, “it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me”. To go before there is time to rectify that is so hard, so no waiting, just be you…amazing you.
Nicole, I keep finding your blogs and feel the divine gift you give us with each and every one of them. This one meant that in the middle of a busy space I could sink into my seat and hear my breath, I felt my bottom on the soft chair and my feet in my shoes on the floor. Seems normal right? I thought so too, so why did it feel new to me to feel them?! I realise we leave this sensory way of being in the world and get consumed by the noise in our head or around us. Quite a revelation for me.
Appreciation allows me to shine, it makes me feel my beauty and it brings joy into my heart – it brings the magic back into my life.
I agree appreciation is something that can be explored more, it is a great tool to give us a solid foundation to build our life on.
This is a deeply inspiring blog. Why wait until we have stops, scares and regrets to appreciate our Godliness, and the exquisite preciousness of all that is.
It is true that we can live our life, the miracles of many moments in succession, as we cycle around and around and around and fail to truly appreciate all that is before us and within us for we have not deeply cherished or appreciated ourselves in the first instance.
Life is so abundant and there is every moment much to appreciate.
“…with the ongoing love, support and reflections from Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon, a man with the utmost love, patience and understanding…” – thank god for Serge Benhayon. He never stops living by example a loving way that is possible for every single person.
I agree Sandra -yes, thank God for Serge Benhayon and the consistent way of living her reflects 24/7. Serge is very clear on the fact that he is not special and the truth is, we are all able to live this way, from our innermost essence in the world if we choose to do so.
I didn’t know what appreciation really was until it was presented by Serge Benhayon. I didn’t have any appreciation for myself and what I bring to the world, let alone for anyone else, and hence why I was quite critical of myself and others. Feeling the appreciation that I do now for me, means I don’t criticise other people – that is huge and right now I’m appreciating that. I’m appreciating that I no longer criticise myself and other people. That really is huge.
‘I realised that I can now make the choice to live me in each and every moment, re-connecting to my body and making choices from there, without fear of what others may think or perceive, and no longer shying away from potential jealousy.’ – Here here Nicole! Holding our selves back out of fear of jealousy or not wanting to make people feel uncomfortable is actually hurting ourselves more in the long run and people that do not receive the option to be inspired by or feel what it is they may or may not be living. Everyone misses out!
Often I find I’ll hold back and not be all of me because I’ll have an idea in my head – a fear – about how I think another will react and respond. But more often than not, I find that the other person actually appreciates it when I don’t hold back and when I bring all of me. They can feel when I’m not being me – and me being me allows them to be them, and our conversations and relationship become more truthful and real.
I feel like the word appreciation is used when someone is talking about gratitude or thankfulness. Appreciation seems to be a whole other ball game – a science and language that is indeed natural to each of us yet we have moved very far away from the activity and expression of it in life.
Nicole, when I read these words “…Serge Benhayon, a man with the utmost love, patience and understanding…” my own heart burst open with the deepest love for this man. Being held in his magnificent love, that sees all that I am – the glory I am capable of living, and all that may hold me back from this also, without a skerrick of judgement or expectation – is the greatest blessing I have ever known.
Such love calls one to be and live all that they are, or rather, get in touch with the actual call and depth of love that has been awaiting within all along…
It is deeply poignant to visit this blog Nicole. A ‘health scare’ is no small thing in one’s life. The fact that you’ve asked yourself if you are truly living (all of you), or holding back on all that you are, holding back on bringing ‘you’ to life in all its aspects, has clearly offered the deepest realisations. This is to me, the mark of a deeply wise being. Honouring in full here, your choice to go deeper.
We do not have the luxury of time to indulge in holding back with the state of the world as it is, but still this can creep in, we are responsible for humanity, responsible to be ourself in our fullness, ‘I was living with regret, a feeling that deep down I knew how to live in the fullness of who I am but thinking there was no rush, that I had plenty of time to do so later.’
“Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?” This line made me really stop this morning and made me to make time to ponder on how this is for me. Do I live with regret of not living my life in my full potential while I am choosing for a comfortable life instead. I can now feel that this is true and that I know how to change by just following my inner impulses. But at the other hand I can also feel that there is a tendency in me that tries to find ways to avoid going there, to fully live to my inner impulses and to let go my control over life, which is in fact an illusion as that is proven to me many times in my life. While I have this experience of these facts and have that clear inner feeling that I do know my potential, what is then holding me back from just to start living and expressing the magnitude and the potential I have in me? I will sit with this question for some time today and allow the magic of God to guide me back to live the divine being I know I am.
The fear of jealousy is huge and I know I have chosen to use this fear to hold myself back. It is crazy because the pain of holding back is always more worse than the force of jealousy.
Thank you Nicole. It is clear you have chosen to evolve and bring more joy to your life while experiencing something that would cause many people to despair. Your blog reminds me that I am infinitely blessed and have a responsibility to bring all of me to all I do.
Appreciation of ourselves and others for who we truly are feels to be a very important aspect of any true healing.
Nicole you have spoken the absolute truth in this blog. For me reading it again it’s still a big “stop moment” asking me to really feel the truth of your words. You ask a great question “Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?” To do that would mean giving up the blame, misery, and complication etc, and instead live the responsibility of each day knowing we are truly masters of all that we bring to ourselves. It is truly a choice to live the appreciation and joy of ourselves and of life.
This is so true, so many things we take for granted, and it is crazy that it takes a health scare to wake us up to this, but what you share is so beautiful, it is not the fear of dying but regret of what we forgot to live, the one we are in truth, knowing life is a beautiful lesson for us to take full advantage of.
There is a humbleness in being ‘forced to stop’ as it ‘brings you to your knees’ and quite often it is an accident or illness or redundancy etc… that is that stop. And from this position, I have often read of people ‘taking stock of what is really important in life’ and gain a deeper appreciation of what is actually on offer. But how do we do that now – without the forced stop bringing us to our knees. How do we live a life that is not of regret? I think your title is a good start – appreciation of life and of ourselves is an incredible beginning. I was listening to an interview of a woman who deals with families who rarely have enough to offer their children 1 meal a day. I reflected on my day and I ate 3 very nutritious meals and was filled with appreciation that i had that opportunity. I know that is a cliche but it supported me to be appreciative of what I actually had. We focus so much on what is not, than what is. Here’s to much more appreciation in our lives.
Hello Nicole and this is spot on for me as well, “After my few days of pondering, I came to realise that it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back and having not lived in and from the absolute glory that I am.” It’s like the more you hold things back or delay things you feel the more things that stack up, the sadness deepens. It’s not that the list becomes longer but more you can see all the little things you don’t appreciate that walk you down a road of feeling less than you naturally are. The delay is that you will need to walk back up the road in your steps and then start all over again. Thanks Nicole.
feel so fortunate and blessed to have met Serge Benhayon before I had a serious health scare to give me a wake-up call to appreciate how amazing and joyful life is and that I am enough in myself without the need for anything external. The latter is still a work in progress and as that deepens so does my appreciation.
Just because it comes naturally to me, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t need to be appreciated. I try to remember this. Because it is too easy to get fixed on the big things or the things that I’m struggling with. But every single day I’m taking zillions of amazing choices and moves.
Gorgeous Otto and Amber, for me when I feel how my choices positively impact others then the spark of appreciation becomes a bonfire. 🙂
Nicole what you are saying is so true, how a health scare can reflect back to us/me, how we have not being living who we really are. This has also been my realization, that our time here on the planet is precious and we need to get going with who we truly are by living every day, every hour and every moment in out lives.
I was working with some elderly people the other day when I brought up the subject of death and how I would like to prepare myself for it, they were initially a bit shocked as this is something in general as a society we do not discuss. The more we acknowledge it will definitely happen the more we can live our lives in full, denying death leads us down a comfortably numb stagnant existence.
Wow Nicole that is something I have to ponder on as well: “After my few days of pondering, I came to realise that it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back and having not lived in and from the absolute glory that I am.” That is really something more people should be aware of – thank you so much for being such a deep reflection.
Sometimes when I appreciate who I am for who I am, there comes a warmth and a restfulness over my entire body. This I have come to understand as the divinity within me, and that no outer source can give this to me, and as much as I have love for my children, my family and my friends, no worldly attachment can replace that feeling of divine connection inside me.
Hello Nicole and I guess this would be the same for many of us. Not truly appreciating all that is around us until a ‘stop’ comes along to wake us up again, only to fall asleep again somewhere down the track. What is this ‘world’ we live in that doesn’t allow us to see what we then see so clearly in those stop moments? I find this so so interesting. Don’t spend money trying to ‘fix’ me when I am broken, spend money exposing how I walk myself to the ‘broken’ and why after the fix I will walk back in the same steps almost like I have learnt nothing.
The fear of death is not scary for me. but a life without fully loving does. Living a slow death.
Have you ever stopped to really appreciate yourself, your life, and everything around you? I love this first question at the very beginning of this blog….for it asks me to take a stop moment and do just that, and this is the perfect moment for me to do so. I love coming back to this blog.
It’s very true that we don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone, or if not gone, then until it’s at least under threat of removal or change. Making appreciation a regular feature and filter in our lives serves to recognise and confirm just what we do have, in a world which seems to prefer to luxuriate in complacency or wallow in what we don’t have.
Appreciation is our foundation for expansion and growth, without appreciation we have no foundation.
Appreciation brings such joy and desire to live life to the full. Not necessarily more things but more in the full involvement of oneself.
There is so much to appreciate, the obvious and the not so obvious mostly in the simple things in life which I take for granted every day. I know appreciation is crucial and needed to support myself and others and although most of the time I find it difficult to express appreciation especially to my husband I know it is a matter of getting myself out of the way and simply doing it.
I find my level of appreciation is a great reflection of the way I am living.
‘Why wait?’ Is such a great question to ask, appreciation feels so gorgeous when we fully embrace it and look at all that we are and all that we bring. When I stop and truly appreciate all those little things that support me on a daily basis, the practical things along with all that I bring appreciation has no end, it is ever expanding. If I focus on what is not, or what doesn’t work then I am dismissing all that is and all that has grown and I have lost the ability to connect with myself and others.
Why wait is indeed the question I ask myself….. What comes up is I just have to get myself out of the way, and to do that I need to let go of my old friend called protection that I still walk with!
Appreciation helps keep life simple and expanding. Everyone could benefit from bringing more appreciation into their lives.
‘Have you ever stopped to really appreciate yourself, your life, and everything around you?’ That is a show-stopper of a question, and one most of us surely cannot answer yes too. Simply because when I’m appreciating my life I have no problems, and any difficult times are simply a blessing to help me learn a lesson I may be behind in. It’s a completely different way to look and approach life.
I loved reading this blog Nicole, the questions you ask are very powerful and you have certainly given me much to ponder on here, especially this one ‘But why wait – why not just get on with it and live the love that I am now, instead of waiting any longer?’ Such a simple and very true statement and reminds me it is now time to embrace and be all of who we truly are.
If I am feeling not so good appreciating myself is one of the best ways to bring me back to me. It is not easy to appreciate myself if I am e.g. grumpy. It took my whole commitment to do so but if I had written down my self appreciation my feelings had changed.
“But why wait – why not just get on with it and live the love that I am now, instead of waiting any longer?”
This is a great question and one that brings us back to who we are and the ability we have to appreciate this and change how we are living and expressing. The true gift is appreciation and working on this is a growing embodiment of love.
I too have to ask myself the question why am I not living all that I am today instead of all the excuses like I’ll be able to do that when I get over this or that or the other thing.
Have you ever stopped to really appreciate yourself, your life, and everything around you? Great question Nicole and my answer is yes I have; however I am certainly aware that I could deepen that appreciation for myself and others; a project for me to work on.
This is awesome Nicole, and something I am choosing too, ‘I realised that I can now make the choice to live me in each and every moment, re-connecting to my body and making choices from there, without fear of what others may think or perceive, and no longer shying away from potential jealousy.’ A fantastic blog that reminds us to never hold back, and to appreciate ourselves in an ever deepening way.
This stood out for me on reading this great blog, ‘Why is it that we wait until we may lose something that is precious to us to stop and really appreciate it? Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?’ Thank you for this reminder Nicole, I can hold my hand up for having done this, so to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of who we are makes complete sense and brings a greater purpose to appreciation.
I can relate with this, a deep sadness which I choose to feel at certain times for not having lived and continuing to not live in the fullness of who I am ‘ I was living with regret, a feeling that deep down I knew how to live in the fullness of who I am but thinking there was no rush, that I had plenty of time to do so later.’ Humanity and the world needs us to be in our fullness, it is an arrogance to take my time.
“Have you ever stopped to really appreciate yourself, your life, and everything around you?” There is a lot to ponder on with this opening sentence and a possibility to go very deep and the question itself encourages a stop. I know I can more easily appreciate my life and everything and everyone around me than I can myself and know that a deeper appreciation for me is something I need to have as that then creates a further flow on effect. We know how easy it can be to take others for granted but I feel we’re less aware of how we do this to ourselves. Deepening our appreciation is always a possibility.
Thanks Nicole this blog made me stop and appreciate all the love and good things in my life and also the ideals and beliefs and images that steer me away from this appreciation.
Coming back to this blog highlights the questions I recently asked myself – do I appreciate the connection and quality of relationships I now have in my life? Where in life have I already and do follow my heart over my head? When you mentioned the questions of not living in your fullness that you know deep within two things came to me – that because the world around us appears to be living less there is a part of us that rides on the ‘better train’ and has and wants a cut off point. So trained the world is to do then seek a reward and then stop the improvements, but the earth doesn’t get to a certain point around the sun and stop, the seasons don’t get to spring then stop, so why do we have a stop? The second thing comes back to the questions, in the past I would of reached a new marker of my essence then gone into a reaction that everything was wrong in my life, instead I now can say ‘great, this is a new marker, so what is in my life to appreciate that led to this moment?’ Appreciation is one of the greatest forms of healing we have available to us.
With so much talk about ‘bucket-lists’ these days, it has become a socially acceptable counter to the feeling of regret in relation to dying. This is such a trick as it misses the point altogether. It’s not about doing more and filling up our ‘bucket’ with exotic travel, fancy restaurants and adventurous experiences. The truth is far more simple and much easier on the wallet. Filling up our bucket from within is the only way, as in truth, it is already full and always has been. We’re just led to believe that it’s not, which fuels the futility of the quest.
Very true Stevie, it is the connection to the wealth within us that truly fulfils.
Appreciation from thoughts and mental assessment is quite different to appreciating from the body and as you write Nicole appreciation of our quality allows the quality to deepen. Being open and willing to appreciate from my body means noticing and feeling what qualities that are there to be felt, there can be warmth, tenderness, honesty, surrender, dedication, fragility, commitment, playfulness, joy etc. I can also appreciate a new item of clothing for example but not for its material value but for what it means – as a reflection of my expression, self-care, self-love etc.
Thank you for your comment Deanne. ‘Appreciation from thoughts and mental assessment’ is just a version of ‘positive psychology’. Whereas appreciation expressed from the body is what truly allows our innate qualities to deepen and expand.
This is beautifully expressed Deanne and brings it straight back to the body, the only place that appreciation is truly held.
‘Why is it that we wait until we may lose something that is precious to us to stop and really appreciate it?’ This is a great question, if we lived each day in appreciation of ourselves and what we bring, not only would we feel more confident about ourselves, we would feel the love and joy that we bring to the world and equally share it with all.
Yes Brendan I have noticed this in myself. Building appreciation of ourselves allows us the space to not take things so personally, but to see the greater truth of the situation.
This blog reminds me how blessed my life is. I tend to get caught up in what is not right with it, the boxes I haven’t ticked, the choices I am not making. However I can stop and appreciate all of my choices, the great and not so great, what I have constellated through these choices… And the amazing people around me too. I can connect to my body, the learnings and simply make more and more loving choices from there.
Making the choice to live ourselves each and every day is good medicine.
True Kathryn. Appreciating ourselves helps us to be more of ourselves in our everyday.
When someone receives a wake up call, whether it is an illness, accident or something that stops them in their tracks, it is a blessing for us all. If we are honest, regardless of our situation, we can all feel our potential and how much we are or are not living that. It is such a reminder to get on with it.
“I came to realise that it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back and having not lived in and from the absolute glory that I am.” We do know deep within the truth of who we are yet we choose to not live that for various reasons – it is a self driven choice, whereas if we were to consider all of humanity and the fact that our glorious reflection is desperately needed in the world perhaps we would not hold ourselves back.
I like the exactness and matter-of-factness of your words Nicole for their truth, power and the call to action ‘I know exactly how to live all of me now!’
Such a great topic Nicole and one that we all need to practice on a more regular basis. When there is deep self appreciation, you can’t but help see another in that equal loving light.
The freeing step is honesty, when we are holding back. This honesty that you express, Nicole, is so refreshing and has something magical. It lifts the illusionary veil of heaviness that tells us “it’s too hard to be all of you in the world.”
It is blogs like this or the inevitable anguish of suffering that precipitate an appreciation of oneself. Developing appreciation is like learning how to cook, it just takes a little time and practice, but you are right Brendan, it’s usually at the loss of something or someone when appreciation re-surfaces.
This blog reminds me a few years back I heard Serge Benhayon present on calculating and measuring. Since then I have noticed this is a way of life, and there is far more of this going on in my life than I am prepared to see and admit. I can calculate with astonishing precision in many situations how to orchestrate a measured life that ignores what there is to appreciate and delays living the truth I already know. The real sickness is the disease of mañana (tomorrow).
Thank you Nicole, for this intimate and touching blog, I read it twice through, reading your words as if they were my own – not in the detail but feeling this blog is for everyone holding back and caught in the same slumber when we could easily choose differently.
I can really relate to what you have shared ,Nicole. I am going to appreciate each day, each minute of the day in the best way that I can as the present is all that I have at that moment.
Saying it like that Anne, got me to register the details in my body right now like how I am warmly dressed, how my fingers feel on the keyboard and the support I feel in my back…even the discomfort in my body like back pain, as it is my body’s way of communication and if I didn’t have this, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to correct how I am living.
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This is beautiful Nicole and brings a real contentment to our lives with the ” appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.” Who could want for more, a real inspiration for looking at our lives and re -evaluating every moment and the opportunities we all have.
Appreciation is like a giant tree that grows in your very own garden. You can walk around it with your eyes down, not seeing its majesty as it reaches to the sky. Or you can sit under it and look up at all its branches as the sun plays through its leaves. It can be a part of your life, a place that you go to for a re-turn to who you are.
Amazing article Nicole. So then, why do we hold back? The regret is the realisation of the complete futility and illusion of holding ourselves back from our truth and our potential. We can go through life convincing ourselves that one day we will live the potential and truth we know is there for us, but those choices don’t just happen. The reckoning and resolution to make different choices needs to happen sooner or later. If sooner, at the end of our days we can appreciate a life truly lived where we embraced what was there for us to do and be in this life. I have heard over and over again people who have made the decision to step into their potential that a life lived in their truth is so incomparable to the measured life they lived before that they don’t know why they held back for so long.
“When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.” That is the case for me too, Nicole. How awful it would be to get to the end of one’s life and then regret that we had not lived that life in the ‘fullness of who I am’. I must admit that until about 10 years ago, I was certainly not living the fullness of me, I was hiding the real me, scared of people seeing me as the fraud of a person that I perceived myself to be. I had a very low sense of self-worth, felt myself to be much less than the other confident women that I knew. Ten years later, as a result of meeting Serge Benhayon and attending presentations with Universal Medicine, I am a transformed woman, rapidly gaining in confidence, and loving the woman that I have now become, the woman that I always was within, but had not even realised myself under that hidden barrier that I built between the world and me.
Beautifully said Nicole and very timely. I have been allowing work to get a little on top of me this week. Getting into my head and not stopping to truly feel what I am reading and seeing in front of me. So old patterns have come back in with me, not surprisingly so. I haven’t been deeply appreciating myself and what I am bringing to my work environment that is beyond the temporal skills I bring, but what I hold there energetically. So reading your blog this morning was just exactly what was needed, amazingly so, thank you!!
This blog reminds me of the saying “why put off until tomorrow what can be done today”. A great reminder to be committed to living life in full every day and not wait for something big to knock us over the head to remind us.
It is indeed about commitment to life. Appreciate every bit and moment of it with ourselves in it. So for me today, this brand new day, lots to appreciate and just get on with my daily life things with a big smile. Just one thing to add. I have started to notice and choose the quality of all my movements. That in itself is a great way to deepen this commitment in life and expressing myself in full.
“Have you ever stopped to really appreciate yourself, your life, and everything around you?” A great question Nicole. I would answer yes to that on the realisation that I could deepen my self appreciation quite substantially. Your simple yet powerful blog Nicole is an inspiration to keep on deepening and expanding my appreciation of self and others.
I had food poisoning last week and while being ill I could also feel such a deep appreciation for how the body works, wanting to purge all ill from my stomach – I knew exactly what energy I had allowed in and it had to leave, my body took care of it the way it needed to and I am deeply appreciative because this got my attention to know to change.
Great blog Nicole, I am learning more and more about appreciation.
Learning to appreciate the most smallest detail in the most difficult days is an opening to love that we can often over ride or ignore that has been sitting there all along.
This is such a simple yet so very true blog. Appreciation is something I lack, so reading this story this morning and pondering in stillness on just how much I have to appreciate in my life has been very powerful.
this is the key to a joyful life “I observed the simple things”
I agree Gyl, I too experience great joy is the most simple and everyday things. It is incredible to receive so much from seemingly very little.
“But why wait – why not just get on with it and live the love that I am now” I don’t have an answer to that apart from a yes.
“Have you ever stopped to really appreciate yourself, your life, and everything around you?” – Yes, it creates so much joy and space.
And appreciation gives perspective and even puts lie to the issues we allow to envelop us in life.
Learning about appreciation as a way of daily life is very fulfilling. It brings a richness to simple moments and a depth to relationships.
I just love practising and learning appreciation.
“It is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back”. I can feel every word here Nicole and I completely connect with this, the real source of our sadness.
I recognize this too Matthew and Nicole – the age old and deep sadness for not having lived the fullness of who I am. This blog is a great reminder that when we acknowledge the sadness we no longer need to carry it but see it as a reflection of where we have been and an opportunity to move on with all of ourselves.
I can relate also Matthew, and while acknowledging the sadness, instead of going into regret, I am choosing instead to appreciating the enormity and grandness of what I have been holding back, as this is the opening to allow it to shine forth once more.
Love your comment Annie. That precise moment is a moment to choose to feel either great sadness or great joy.
That’s beautiful Annie. I often go into the regret, but appreciating the enormity and grandness as you say is much more allowing and supportive to move forward. Thank you.
‘I realised that I can now make the choice to live me in each and every moment, re-connecting to my body and making choices from there….’ Our minds might like to keep us small, secure and safe, but our bodies know the true way. The ever expanding and deepening way. I am learning to trust my body more and more everyday, and paying attention to what it has to say.
Appreciation is great medicine. It does not require a prescription from a doctor and this is self-determined, administer as needed and you can never over-dose.
Love it Matthew. We can never have too much appreciation. It’s never an indulgence – only good medicine.
When I have had times where I deeply contemplated life and felt into death it has often left me more appreciative of those around me and the life I am living. As a society I feel we would benefit more from contemplating death not in a emotional stimulus kind of way but in a matter of fact way that yes we all die and therefore how can we live each moment with more love, more meaning and more purpose.
Is there a saying ‘in death we know life’? So yes Samantha – why not be sober, real and honest about death to bring truth, love and purpose to our lives.
What you have shared samanthaengland highlights the preciousness that is offered to us in every moment, and the responsibility that goes hand and hand with this.
What a great blog Nicole, brilliant.
I’ve seen a clock for sale online. In the place of the usual numbers is the word ‘now.’ I like it because it reminds me that now is the best time to make a change. What ever has happened before, we can always make a fresh choice ‘now’ to be more appreciative of our blessings.
A beautiful honest blog and a great reflection offering the true power of appreciation for ourselves and everything to be lived now for its never to late to start. Thank you Nicole.
The call for us to appreciate all in our lives often becomes so much more apparent when we perceive that it may all be lost, this is strange considering the absolute beauty and divinity we hold within us constantly.
This is true Michael – most people spend their lives more focused on their burdens and chores, which are self created whether we like to hear it or not, than appreciating the enormity of what we are and what is all around us all the time.
Strange human beings we are Michael, that it takes us to face losing it all, only then can we open up to life and begin to appreciate all the gifts life offers and the absolute beauty that surrounds us.
I love this Michael, so true beauty and divinity is within us constantly, it is crazy therefore how it can sometimes take illness, accidents and disease to remind us of the immutable fact.
What we most crave is within us all along. ‘….the absolute beauty and divinity we hold within us constantly.’ To reconnect with our inner selves is precious in and of itself, but true living also requires us to put these qualities into action in the world.
Well said Stevie, when expression is everything we have a responsibility that what we express is from our inner quality.
“Have you ever stopped to really appreciate yourself, your life, and everything around you?” Awesome opening question Nicole which brings me to a stop every time I read this. It is like your blog is a big stop moment for us all with so much delivered that greatly supports us to see past our illusions and hurts and bring us right back to this precious life we have been given and to what is truly important.
I agree jacqmcfadden04, what a great opening line. But also followed up with the questions around why do we wait to appreciate ourselves when we are not well and illness comes knocking on our door. It is kind of crazy really when you think about it. But we do this. Deeply appreciating ourselves needs to be part of our everyday livingness, in everything we do. This then allows it to permeate out into everything we do.
Beautiful Nicole, thank you for sharing and again testimony to how supportive all these blogs are. I was pondering on this exact thing, why do I wait to live the love I am, why do I hold back. Appreciation is definitely the key, appreciating all I have and all I have to give, and not for me but for the all. Appreciating the responsibility I have to live, I can’t imagine living any other way yet I don’t celebrate it or appreciate it and hence find it easy to give it away.
Laura B- I love how your comment complements the poignancy of this blog.
Working with people who are dying I can confirm that this is true for so many people –” I came to realise that it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back and having not lived in and from the absolute glory that I am.” It does not support ourselves or anyone else if we hold back who we truly are.
It is great to remember this Elizabeth, why wait until we are about to pass over before realising how much we have held back from bringing our all into this life.
Perhaps then it is not death we fear at all but the awareness we have of how we have lived, what all the squandered moments to our life accumulate to and mean.
I’m realising more and more just how much there is to appreciate, and to take nothing for granted, and to see every loving gesture as something worth appreciating.
This blog is gorgeous Nicole. Thank you for sharing yourself with us.
Such a great call Nicole – there is no need to wait at all. Serge Benhayon has been a massive inspiration with supporting me to see what we really have and when I connect to my divine essence there is so much to be appreciative for. Here you don’t go into issues and complication that clouds any sense of joy, appreciation and love. Here with connection to my Soul simplicity, stillness and space resides which gives me the opportunity to see where we all come from and the enormous power that we truly are.
“When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.” Forget any kind of higher education this is the most important thing we can learn with our time here.
Agreed Samantha and Nicole, so beautiful said there can be no regrets if we have lived our lives in the fullness of who we are… and here we have an answer to mental illness. Not live who we are and we are left to live what we are not. There is no greater grief or regret than this.
Very true Samantha, and when we open our hearts once more and let love in, life brings to us all that we need to support us living in the fullness of who we are.
Well said Samantha – I would say that true education is about learning to live in the fullness of who we are.
I couldn’t agree more Samantha. It is the real version of Higher Learning.
Hear hear Samantha, living life in the fullness of who I am is the most important way of being I can bring to my life.
Appreciation is like an instantly soothing salve to the irritations that we feel in life. It cools the heat of an over active, critical mind, and heals the relationships we have with ourselves and each other. Appreciation can literally turn my thoughts around from heading down the road of blame and criticism, to walking down the path of brotherhood.
I love this wake up call Nicole ‘why wait – why not just get on with it and live the love that I am now, instead of waiting any longer?’ Why delay and have regrets?
To appreciate ourselves reminds us of the knowing that what we have will always be enough. We all do know this deep within, it’s felt when we live this love each moment every day with no regrets.
I love this wake up call too gillrandall, and the question pops up, how much time I have already wasted in delay and resistance to the love that I am… no more wasting time, no more holding back, only letting go of the ‘what is not love’.
Exactly Jacqui. It is so easy to go through life with the belief that we have all the time in the world. When death is around the corner it is much harder to deny that we know deep down inside all that we are here to bring.
Thank you Nicole for expressing from the depth of you and so clearly this is you, the true you and no holding back. It feels familiar and very confirming, offering a message from the source that we all come from. A stillness that is full of love to overflowing.
Thank you Nicole appreciation of our selves and every moment in our lives brings another way of living that is true real and beautiful and allows us to live and be who we really are and the reflection of this is our responsibility. Your sharing so beautifully is an amazing offering and a joy to read.
It is a blessing tricianicholson to read this blog as it offers every reader an opportunity to consider if they are appreciating themselves in full.
Yes Sandra Nicole’s blog does offer us a wonderful opportunity, to stop, feel and appreciate all that we are right now, as well as the potential within us to be and give even more of ourselves.
‘I came to realise that it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back and having not lived in and from the absolute glory that I am.’ Nicole these words really resonated with me, when we do not live all that we are, we never know how things might have been, and also acknowledging that as we have only shown a part of ourselves, there is so much we have held back and missed out on too.
It’s true Sally – it is the sad reality that most people go through life not living the fullness of themselves and not showing anyone who they truly are.
I agree Eva, it is an epidemic that affects almost everyone.
It is an enormous sadness that almost everyone carries. We all see it in each other, the way we eat copious amounts of food and sweets, and alcohol and drugs for some people, the endless running around to do jobs and finish projects, all to avoid looking into this part of us we sense has been missing from our lives. But sadly many of us won’t stop to at least consider.
Nicole, since reading your article I have been much more appreciative of my life, the last few days I have not been well and so have not been able to work, I have missed seeing the people that I usually work with and missed being out in the world, I have also been appreciating my family seeing their tenderness and care of me whilst I have been ill and simply watching them interact with each other is really lovely.
The things that truly matter in life; family, people, and the love and connection we have with each other…. and that we have this life, this incarnation to heal what we came here to heal.
In sickness we really do get taken back to what is important, great moments of clarity.
nicolesjardin, I love that, it’s a snowball rolling in the right direction! Absolutely.
When we start living with the sense of appreciation we realise how much more there is to appreciate.
True Nicole the more we appreciate the more we realise there is. Life just gets better and better.
Appreciation is a vital part of our daily lives and brings great changes.
Very true Nicole, it never stops as we allow more appreciation in our bodies we can embody more of the love that we truly are.
It’s a snowball rolling in the right direction!
I had never appreciated before just how immensely powerful appreciation is… and while we think nothing of constantly criticising and abusing ourselves for being imperfect, the power of appreciation opens the gates to a deeper connection to the perfection we come from.
It is an endlessly expanding process Nicole. I feel it sometimes and sometimes I don’t want to go there. But I know for sure it is the way of divine medicine to develop appreciation of all things.
So true Dean, sometimes it is easy to say yes and others not so easy.
Very true nicolesjardin, appreciation is a foundation for expansion and growth.
I agree Nicole, it opens the doors to greater awareness and expansion of what is truly here to appreciate.
Appreciation reminds me to simplify my life. It supports me to connect to the basics in life and I don’t need anything better from the outside to express what is already glorious from within.
I love how through appreciation we simplify. it’s so true the more I feel appreciation in a moment, with something or myself the need to have something better or more is non existent.
It is beautiful that appreciation reminds you to simplify your life – I only can agree. Appreciation is like a gentle eye opener to see what we already have inside of us.
I agree Ester, appreciation does open us up to the grandness that already lies within, just waiting to be allowed to shine forth.
And it is wonderful when we express appreciation to other people and make it normal, about ourselves and what we appreciate about others.
You have raised a good point Jane – if we are not used to appreciating ourselves we find it difficult if someone asked us to do so. Hence appreciation should be the first thing we should learn in life.
I absolutely agree Ester – it should be the first thing taught in schools rather that the opposite, of unreasonable demands, competitiiveness, perfectionism, and huge pressure on children to achieve from very young. Whereas it they were simply taught that appreciation of themselves and each other naturally allows their qualities to unfold. And in this they would learn their true connection with each other and how we are here to work together.
Indeed Felix – all we ever need is already there, we only have to appreciate it.
Appreciation brings me back to simplicity too. Nature reflects this simplicity and harmony. When I stop to connect with the beauty of nature, I remember that beauty is in me too.
With appreciation it cuts short the spiral of going into ‘why have I not lived in my fullness?’ and builds the living in our fullness.
“why wait – why not just get on with it and live the love that I am now, instead of waiting any longer?” This is something l also do.
lt feels too risky to fully commit and give it my all so l deal it out in measures of fullness but not my all.
Yes I can relate to that Irena
I can relate to this Irena – in the past I’ve held back until a specific event or occasion where I wanted to ‘fully commit’, only to fall right back into my previous pattern of contraction and hiding afterwards. What I’ve discovered is that if we pick and choose when to fully commit, we keep ourselves small and don’t reach our potential, as being ALL we can be requires building and consistency.
so true Susie, if we keep it measured, or only commit conditionally, then we are shutting down intentionally from all that we are and thus diminishing the quality in everything that we do.
This is a good article Nicole, as I ( and probably a lot of us) have experienced how the death of someone near can change their lives. You are shocked, start to ponder, you change habits and take life lighter and more aware. But interestingly after a certain period the old habits come back into your rythm and you continue as if nothing has happened. So yes, starting to appreciate each and every moment in your life is the key to not holding back. It is similar to why we only dress up to certain occasions and not each and every day? Are we not worth of it?
You speak of regret of not living your full potential Nicole, which I can relate to. Just yesterday I was appreciating how my life has changed and continues to become richer since I have been dealing with things at work, and in such a very short time. Then it really hit me how I had wasted all of those years procrastinating and telling myself that I wasn’t up to dealing with situations and hiding – ah what a waste.
I would just like to say how much I have enjoyed reading this blog and all of the comments.
“When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.”
Nicole I whole heartedly agree.
To have no regrets is one thing but to live in the fullness of who I am takes commitment and responsibility.
Yes Adam not living our Love is what truly hurts.
I am deeply moved Nicola, thank you for sharing such an amazing blog. Life is so precious it is crazy how we as a society take so much for granted. You blog is about the bigger picture and what life needs to truly be about – deep appreciation.
I agree Samantha “ Life is so precious“ and we often take things for granted and need to start honoring and appreciating ourselves and others to a deeper level. Especially when it comes to relationships I feel that I can appreciate the beautiful people I have in my life to a deeper level. And equally myself and all the commitment I made to transform my own life and the effect it has on other peoples lives.
“Why is it that we wait until we may lose something that is precious to us to stop and really appreciate it? Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?”
We base our life’s on the false and deliberately misleading idea that time is lineal and that we are moving forward in our life’s, getting somewhere, improving our lives.
Once we realize that this is not the case, and that we simply are going round and round in cycles, not going anywhere, and always coming back to the same point, we start to realize the importance bringing quality, love and absolute presence to every area of our life’s, from the way we self care to the way we are with others.
“There was a sadness that overwhelmed me, a feeling that I was not yet ready to leave this world, that I still had so much to do.”
We have as humanity become lost in a momentum of constant action of doing, improving ourselves and our lives. When we don’t take the time to stop and connect to ourselves and appreciate all and everything about lives, and ourselves we are caught in this repetitive cycle, which no matter how much we achieve, we never feel fulfilled.
“After my few days of pondering, I came to realise that it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back and having not lived in and from the absolute glory that I am.”
Most of humanity lives in a way where we hold back our love and expression of that with ourselves and others, our passion and vest for life, we make life about trying to control it, rather than allowing it to simply be. We make life about security and comfort, but is this truly life or a slow death?
“But why wait – why not just get on with it and live the love that I am now, instead of waiting any longer?”
This is a very important point Nicole, why do we live our life’s on hold in postponement, telling ourselves we’ll just get that done then I will really start living my full potential?
The beauty of who we are and how we can live this quality in every moment is a great reflection from your blog Nicole thank you for your truth and reality so simply and with so much love felt.
Steve, what you have shared is gold! there can be no regrets at all if we choose to express in a way that reflects our true divine nature and not get caught up in the traps of comfort and playing small.
Yes kevmchardy, we seem to take many things for granted in life, occasionally getting a fleeting glimpse of it soon to be dismissed. It is only until we start to appreciate these qualities in full that we can accept ourselves for the love of who we are and surrender to what life presents us with.
Agreed Marika, it almost has become our default program to give 100% to that 5% and think that is who we are, when there is so much beauty and grace to appreciated at all times, it is just a choice.
I totally agree Adam, “All life is about healing” and if we allowed ourselves to embrace this truth it would be so much easier to accept and surrender to what is offered to us on a daily basis and not try and control it with images that we have been holding to for eons.
The fact is we do not appreciate ourselves enough is hugely apparent. Yet we bury this under time and stress and thinking and not being in the moment. We don’t even consider appreciating ourselves because we are already onto the next thing to do. But what if this is the thing that the world is craving more of, that is a foundation of health and love and true quality? What if by simply appreciating ourselves it allows us the space to simply be rather than do. What if appreciating ourselves was the very thing that means we can therefore appreciate others? In my experience, a little appreciation goes a long way, and the body truly feels it. It could be as simple as taking the time to put on moisturiser in the mornings simply because I appreciate that I am a delicate woman, and to do this in my day is also a reflection to other women who ask me how I care for my skin. To appreciate that I have a voice has allowed me to have more open conversations with others, and share with them something that perhaps inspires them to be open with others too. We are all connected, we are all responsible for how we treat our bodies. Appreciation has for me, been key.
I love your comment here Hvmorden, Appreciation is key, when I appreciate I feel myself expand and surrender. When I criticise and judge myself I am refusing to see the love that is all-around me. No matter what we think we have done or not done love is always there it is us that say yes or no to that love.
True Samantha – it is always our choice to say yes or no to love – when we bring it back to this everyday simplicity it makes it quite obvious that every moment is a decision that we are responsible for making.
Lack of true appreciation seems to be widespread. Why is this? It seems such a simple thing to do – “appreciate yourself” why is this so difficult for many of us ? Not appreciating our being has enormous consequences on our well-being. With out appreciation we can not build a strong foundation of which to spring board off to the next platform. What I am noticing is that every time I do not appreciate my self then I am degrading myself, as the energy I call in is awefull. I have had to look at why am I invested in not evolving? This has been and still is a great exercise of which the soul has constellated lots of opportunities to challenge my appreciation of myself.
What a difference it would make if we lived each moment as if it is our last.
Alison, I recognise this holding back, I observe that I still do this, and ask myself why because it now feels so yucky in my body. On moving forward, I am just working on deepening the connection to my body and giving myself permission to express, express, and express, and that it is okay to get it wrong, this fear of getting it wrong is why I hold back…… now the pull to express is greater than the holding back I am happy to say!
That rings so true when you write that it is not dying you/we are afraid of but “the fact that I have not truly lived all of me”. Not living who we truly are causes an emptiness in us and regret, possibly even bitterness in some. Why do we do that? And what are we scared of?
Gabriele I echo what you share here, its also not what I thought which was I have to do, do and do some more for in that I also don’t automatically live all of me. But what it comes down to is have I lived all of me, truly or not. If I have then there can be nothing to regret or be afraid of. At this time its certainly something I am working on as even though my life has improved greatly, there are many areas that I’m not living all of me.
Yes indeed – do we pass over full of regrets or ready to move on to the next stage, knowing that we have lived all that we are? This account is a great reminder that the choice is always ours.
This whole blog has resulted in some great questions I can ask myself daily: “Have I lived fully today? Have I lived the fullness of me today and said “Yes” to all I know I can express and bring to the world?”
Super questions Melinda to ask daily, always knowing we have another opportunity tomorrow….and also to remember to be playful in my expression and that there is no perfection asked for.
Thankyou Nicole for bringing up the topic of regrets. I can feel for me regrets are knowing I could have chosen differently, that what I regret was something I had the power to change. Allowing regrets to fester but still not making the changes I know I can is what I have been inspired by this blog to look at today – thankyou.
I tripped over this week, a little wobbly on my left ankle. I used to be careless with my body, so many bruises and bumps. In this case it felt unusal and I appreciated that it hadn’t happened for a long time. I felt I truly do now take so much more care of my body and that I generally walk with presence, grace, steadiness and self worth. Instead of seeing it as a mistake, it was something to learn, this opens up the possibilities of appreciation when life offers us something to learn in every moment.
Gorgeous Samatha, there are no such things as mistakes, only reflections and learnings that life brings us to increase our awareness, thus there is no end to how much there is to appreciate and likewise, there is no end to our learning….
I just this weekend talking to friends about living with no regrets. I was describing the feelings I used to carry around with me, self-fury at not speaking my truth, not expressing all of me, holding back and feeling ashamed, knowing deep inside I was was much more than I expressed. I am still much more than I express, but I am working on it and my expression has deepened and expanded greatly, truly something to appreciate. I do not have regrets in life as I once did, speaking from my heart has enabled a fresher, lighter feeling of ‘being’ to become my norm. Letting go of hurts and habits that did not support, has enabled me to speak my truth without going into drama, emotions and agendas. I also am forever grateful for the support and inspiration of Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon.
Nicole, more and more I am becoming aware that appreciation is a quality that is felt in the body and not a mental activity. It can be connected to at any time, through choice. Regret, guilt, shame and other ways of self-negating are tricks that cap us. Appreciation is confirming and expanding. Thanks for your blog.
Agreed, appreciation is felt in the body, I feel it has an warm, confirming, expansion, I feel my self light up and connect when I appreciate others and I am allowing and practicing to offer myself this love also. I can feel that this enveloping, expanding warmth of appreciation, for me is a knowing of God and my and our connection with divinity.
Love it Mary, thanks for your reflection – what could be more important than living from the fullness of who we are?
Nicole, your sharing exposed to me how much I am still not living in my full potential and how much I am trying to avoid sticking out or bringing up jealousy, how much I am still dependant on the opinion of the others. Thank you.
I love to reread this powerful blog Nicole with its powerful message and just how humbling it is to be reminded that we only have a certain amount of time here, and that the moment will come for each of us when our time is up, we already know this, but it is good to be reminded that how we arrive at that moment of passing over is of course in our own hands: Full of regrets or ready and accepting the next stage.
Beautiful comment Jacqueline, death brings value to life, and it’s something that we can make our friend and supporter or brush under the rug and pretend it doesn’t exist. By contemplating our death – the finite time we have in this life – we can understand how precious each day is and make a better decision about what we want each day to be like. We can take life by the hand and decide to live it fully, or we can hide away until each day takes us to our exit and we wonder what we did with all that time. The key to what we can do now, and indeed want to, is in our heart and our body.
Likewise beautiful comment Melinda….death brings value to life, I agree, Life and death are interchangable as life involves all the small deaths along the way. The death of a relationship, the death of a job, the death of an old way of living. Life teaches us about death and how death always brings new beginnings so that we come to learn that when death does finally call us, we have been prepared for the next stage and the new beginning it brings.
“a feeling that deep down I knew how to live in the fullness of who I am but thinking there was no rush, that I had plenty of time to do so later” – such a beautiful line. Why on Earth do we delay living in our fullness? It really is madness.
It is true that many of us (myself included) do not appreciate something until we either lose it or are faced with losing it. If we were to appreciate in full all that we have, we would feel the richness of our lives and want for nothing more. When we don’t, no wonder there is a drive for more. Yet we already have everything – it is only a matter of realising (and appreciating) this.
We already have everything we will possibly need in this life journey if we consider that all the support has already been prepared in advanced by the hand that created us all. And yes Nikki, it is jus a matter of realising and appreciating this and worth a stop moment to ponder on deeper!
Yes, Nikki, the fact that we already have everything is something to deeply consider and come to terms with, as then the games can end and we will be able to live in appreciation of the simple blessings and divine confirmation all around us.
It is a game we play. By pretending we don’t have what we need we can focus on that instead of focusing on living the divine.
Wow Nicole – you really hit something here. When you wrote of hearing the kids rolling over in bed and appreciating that sound I could feel how much I lack appreciation for my child. I have the attitude that I will “do that later”. Whether it is connecting with him, spending time with him or simply just kicking a ball around, I have the attitude that there is plenty of time for that – yet I don’t often take it at all.
Yes, Serge Benhayon really brings back all that is true to life in a very simple and attainable way.
This is such a great point Nicole. At the end of the day, we all know deeply what is true, and what matters most. And, we would give up everything else that doesn’t belong in a heartbeat. However, the ‘time’ factor, the ‘delay’ we put in place of living our truth now is an illness that almost every human on earth suffers.
It is true Kylie – human’s delay and indifference of what we innately know to be true, is today’s plague. We all know what’s abuse, we all know what’s corruption, we all know what’s wrong, yet most people look the other direction.
What I am feeling from this Nicole is that letting go of the regret helps us to not hold back in love that we are innately inside. So by carrying our past sadness of our wrong decisions, we have been slowing down our future possibilities. Put that way makes it feel really crazy behaviour; and to remedy it immediately, we can deeply appreciate ourselves in the true love and light that we are in absolutely every moment of the day, an instant change.
That is really a big trick I notice in myself too Nicole the ‘I will do it later’, in my experience the later often does not come. It is about making a choice in that moment to deal with what might be there to deal with to go deeper in appreciation, expression and not holding back.
How would a three-legged dog live with regret? They just don’t, they adapt and move forward. We all have the choice to live in our fullness and never have to adapt to something that is a natural way for us to be.
I have been pondering lately what it would feel like to deepen my commitment to love and truth in every moment, regardless of what happens next. There is a fear of the consequences and possibly losing things, attachments, a less comfortable life, conflict and standing out. However I am increasingly realising that compromising and calibrating how much I commit to love and truth is deeply uncomfortable – a prison that is not truly living.
Beautiful Nicole, thank you. To appreciate ourselves and what our quality bestows on the world feels like true medicine, a medicine that comes from within 🙂
Thank you Nicole … we are peculiar things aren’t we… humans that is… surrounded by such infinite love, grace and beauty and we need wake ups simply to see this.
Yes we are cjames2012! And as humans we do seem to need those big stop moments in life to wake us up, open our eyes and see all the beautiful flowers in our garden.
What you present here, Nicole, is the age old belief that there will always be another time to say what we want to say, to live the truth of ourselves. I am very glad you have written this article, as the impact of regret that I personally have lived with (in not honoring what I know deep down to honour) let alone the many millions of other people who are affected by believing there is always another time, is huge. And the held regret has actually influenced the next opportunity offered to be all the love I am. It is time to see this as the holding back of our true loving presence that it is and simply, as you say, get on with being the love we know ourselves to be.
Well said, Leigh. This brings us back to the power of being connected to all that we are in the present, to feel and appreciate everything in each moment.
The appreciation is so key Janet, as I allow myself to ‘feel and appreciate everything in each moment’, if appreciation is the focus, then it is my fullness I connect with. From here, I simply feel guided to adjust my living way, supporting my body to adjust movements and patterns that I have adopted that don’t fit with the beauty and grace of me.
This is a huge wake up call for all of us Nicole, that the sadness you felt was not to do with dying but with not having lived the fullness of what you know is there to be lived. I know that I don’t live this fullness in each moment but rather, have glimpses of it. Thank you for sharing this Nicole, it is truly appreciated.
The glimpses of this fullness are enough to know what it brings and they highlight the sadness we feel when not living in that fullness. No wonder we try to fill that sadness with so many things. But the only thing that can fill us is our own fullness.
“When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.” How beautiful to feel this and it brings an appreciation to every moment lived and our simple responsibility with being the love we are.
Fumiyo such a great point, we do not need to have highlights, each moment can be appreciated and actually that’s what asked of us to consistently appreciate in every little thing, not just look for those ‘show off’ points – that’s a trick and an illusion which can push us into drive and comparison. The truth is in each moment we connect to us and express from that connection no matter what we are doing we can appreciate, and each moment we appreciate we build a deeper well of known love in us, we develop a greater relationship with the love we are.
And why don’t we ask ourselves and others “what happened to our natural curiosity?” As small children we are constantly asking ‘why’ but as we are growing up this begins to wane and by the time we reach adulthood it seems to have got lost along the way.
Tamara I agree, the awe and wonder children natural feel about how truly magical life is seems to dissolve as we become adults. Opening to this is a big part of returning to appreciating life. We seem to reduce life to something quite negative or feel quite flat or jaded about it, yet magic abounds all around us (and inside our body) everyday. Great inspiration for me to appreciate the magic of life again!
“Have you ever stopped to really appreciate yourself, your life, and everything around you?” Now this is a magnificent question that we should ask ourselves and everyone we meet – true communication! Thank you Nicole – there is so much I appreciate and can relate to in your blog.
It is a great question and one that got me pondering. My answer was in truth, glimpses, I have felt it and I do live it often, but there is so much more to appreciate.When we appreciate ‘everything’ we have no excuses for holding back, not wanting to see the divinity within us and around us allows us to fool ourselves and hold back and dip into our issues. I can feel how deeply unifying, confirming and divine it is and I am taking steps to make it more of my life.
This comment brings to light the very clear fact that we have all we ever wanted right now inside of us, the love we are is all we ever really searched for, and all else is trimmings.
Why is it that it takes a health scare to wake us up? You are not alone Nicole as many of us including myself are the same. It is so easy to take life for granted and move on to the next thing and the next thing without truly appreciating where we are. Appreciation is becoming an important part of my days as there is so much to live for and it’s not in striving for a fancy house or huge car but in the simple things like the quality of my interactions with people.
Nicole you are very right, we all know the expressions about living every day as if it was our last but what does this really mean? You offer what our greatest regret would be and it is not about what we have done or where we have traveled. It is how much of ourselves we have shared with this world. A great reminder to not hold back in any moment, as yes we will get the chance to do so again and again, but there is no better time, and in truth no other time, than now.
So beautifully expressed Carolien; ‘It is how much of ourselves we have shared with this world’, a perfect reminder for me today, as the old habit of holding back still creeps in and just feels so yucky now in my body. Am I going to share all of me today or am I going to repeat the habit of holding back…. Ok I now make a new choice!
We stop appreciating when we are in too much doing rather than just being in the moment. This is my experience and what I am working on at present.
Today I appreciate my beautiful family where I just had lunch for Eastern. I love them dearly for who they are and the support and love for each other is deeply felt. Every day there is so much to appreciate.
Could it be that we don’t want to feel the responsibility that comes with appreciation, and that we all innately know the fact that we are so much more than what we have been hiding away and suppressed or simply ignored. When we start to truly appreciate, ourselves and everyting around us, it asks us to step out in the world with all that we are. Are we ready to let go of the comfort of hiding?
How lovely to read this Susan. It’s a confirmation to read and to also keep on deepening my own appreciation for ‘the smallest details’ in life. Appreciation makes me also feel at ease in my own body and with the world. I can observe life much more rather than absorb it. This is for both life outside as well as inside of me. The loveliness and warmth of who I am are so waiting inside to be appreciated and connected to. How ‘easy’ is it from that Love to connect to other people and life in general with an appreciative view.
I can really relate in what you have shared, in that I do not fully appreciate me, my body or health but feel this is starting to slowly change now.
It’s very easy to get lost in the doing and performing at work, when standards and targets are set that become the whole focus. Relationships between colleagues feel strained, relationships with customers suffer and people go home feeling unappreciated and undervalued. When we can appreciate ourselves and all the gifts we truly bring, then time expands and there is always space for developing harmonious relationships.
Nicole I really appreciate your honesty here, and I can relate 100% to your sense of regret and holding back. Lately I have been pondering on what the feeling of hunger truly is, because I feel hungry a lot of the time and yet I know its not because I need to eat but because I need to nourish myself by living the fullness of who I am – it’s a pull that I wake up to every day, and yet I knowingly construct my movements to avoid it.
Great point Lucinda, and i feel the same goes for many things we choose in the day that give us a better life but do not ask us to be or keep us from being full in the expression of who we are. We choose our movements deliberately so and in the mean time fool ourselves in thinking we are doing our best.
and thank you for the reminder of the pull being there every single day. If but we stop our tug of war, let go and surrender the way forward would be simple.
Wow lucinda you expose something important in your amazing comment – hunger could be because we are not nourishing ourselves by not living the fullness of ourselves – puh – that is something to digest!
That’s a powerful awareness lucindag – a willingness to expose the drive behind our needs. My experience is that this can help us heal deeply ingrained patterns and behaviours.
…just as we construct our movements and way of living to avoid truly living.
This is powerful lucindag,”…not because I need to eat but because I need to nourish myself by living the fullness of who I am – it’s a pull that I wake up to every day, and yet I knowingly construct my movements to avoid it.” I also find ways to delay the pull to be more fully me, and yet I am also claiming more of me, more of the time, and so with reflection I feel that continuing to develop appreciation and understanding for myself is key. Your comment is full, present and aware of the games we play and catching the slippery tails in life defeats that which is not us and so enabling us to claim our fullness. I feel you caught a big slippery tail right here, for all to ponder, thank you.
“It was then that I realised I was living with regret, a feeling that deep down I knew how to live in the fullness of who I am but thinking there was no rush, that I had plenty of time to do so later.” is this where we fall for ‘better’ being enough i ask myself?
Thanks for this blog Nicole – ‘I realised that I can now make the choice to live me in each and every moment, re-connecting to my body and making choices from there, without fear of what others may think or perceive, and no longer shying away from potential jealousy.’ Your words are so true – but how crazy is it that we hold back our appreciation out of fear for jealousy and comparison, with the effect that we all miss out.
I found there was much to ponder on in this great blog and the sentence that stood out for me especially was “When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation of a life of true love lived, in the fullness of who I am.” – thank you Nicole, I can feel the power of love in those expressed words.
I can relate to this too Susan. Even the tiniest falling leaf can be so magical, a bird singing or flying past. Being with nature supports me to be in the appreciation of life. It can make my daily struggles seem not as big as I can feel I am part of something much greater than my troubles.
The importance of appreciation in our lives is immense and beautiful and brings the joy to every moment and happening in some way or other. So often with all that is going on this can be left out and missing and the world and we become less and everything seems hard work and difficult. Going to bed and waking up with this appreciation for everything especially ourselves is an amazing reflection and light in our lives we can choose to see.
We tend to fear illness and disease, especially ones that will potentially take our life and understandably so but reading this blog I am reminded that even a ‘health scare’ has its purpose and when I read Nicole’s beautiful commitment to herself and to her expression of herself at the end of the blog I realised that it was the ‘health scare’ that had provided the impetus for her to go deeper and commit even more to life and herself. Such beauty in the face of adversity.
Sometimes I am amazed that I can change how I am feeling by the simple choice to feel the appreciation of what is in front of me and around me. It is like seeing the grander picture rather than the little specks that make up the picture.
“…it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back and having not lived in and from the absolute glory that I am.” This is a powerful statement Nicole and you have really nailed it; we would not be so afraid of death without the regret of holding back our true selves in life. Thank you for sharing your experience – it is supportive to feel.
It is very exposing to observe our relationship with death and the way it exposes everything we have lived until that point. We tend to focus and give life our all when our ‘time is up’, but waste monumental moments prior to this. How crazy we are to go around and around day after day, year after year without choosing what we know is needed the most, and is the answer to this life and every life hereafter – responsibility and living in our power.
I have also been aware recently of how I can deepen my relationship with appreciation. It is all too comfortable and familiar to only focus on the faults of the world or my life or my issues and in that cut myself off from the awareness of all the magic and beauty and majesty that is all around me in nature and in people.
Reading this blog I am pondering if the reason we fear dying is not death itself, but because deep down we know we come back, and we know that we are going to pass over having not lived our potential in our current life.
The words “unifying love” come to my mind when I read your blog, Nicole. I don’t exactly know why, but this is the feeling I get when I read your words. It’s as if they were tuning my body to come together and express in full, not just in parts. For me this means to be aware of all my body parts while I say something and to feel my voice resonating in my whole body. When I speak like this the people I talk to come together, there’s no fight then.
Whilst I read the blog this morning I took on another jumper as I was getting slightly cold – I didn’t wait until I had finished reading. I did it immediately! Thanks for the inspiration.
It’s ourselves in full we’re afraid of unleashing on the world. Yet us in our fullness is the very thing the world needs.
I love it Victoria. Our greatest fear is our biggest responsibility. To be ourselves.
Regret Nicole. So well named here. Death is not our issue…it is the fact that most of us never have truly lived. A very wise man has said (and I paraphrase here) “we are more dead when living than we are alive when we are dead”.
We live in shadows, eyes clouded by misery and pity. Yet the sun shines upon our path, lighting our way and our blessings are manifold. We need to count each precious one and appreciate its utter beauty. Now.
“Have you ever stopped to really appreciate yourself, your life, and everything around you?”. When I’m honest: no. I’m appreciating more and more, but from this question I feel that I’ve appreciated in parts. Not life as a whole and contemplating what life’s brought to me in so many different angles. I’ll take this into easter…
This is a great question Nicole…”Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?” All our old patterns and learned behaviours get in the way, and yet appreciation of ourselves is beautiful to develop…and it naturally becomes appreciation of our lives and of others.
Nicole, thank you for the reminder to appreciate the many small things in our lives and days that are not small at all, but a constant reminder of our divine nature and the love that we are.
If we were to live only this day, would we make different choices? I know the feeling of putting things off for ‘tomorrow’ or leaving some thing unattended too. We have used our misperception of time to offer us an excuse to delay and procrastinate, leaving responsibility for another day, and another and another…
Awesome writing and beautiful insights you are sharing Nicole; we are funny creatures, often only appreciating what we have when we feel we may lose it. There is indeed so much to appreciate, and t’s important to not put off being who we are until it may be too late. Every day counts, every day is a huge opportunity, and delaying is an old game we have played for so long; thank God for Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine indeed – for saying it how it is, not holding back for anybody. They offer true inspiration and are role models of the highest calibre I have ever had the pleasure to meet and know.
“… Serge Benhayon, a man with the utmost love, patience and understanding; a man without whom I know I would not have these moments in life that allow me to go deeper in my connection to myself, to then be able to continue appreciating how amazing life truly is.” By his lived example of love and patience he has opened the door for so many, many people, and so many who have walked through, to have ‘these moments’.
Hear hear Jonathan. There is so much to appreciate of Serge Benhayon and his ‘utmost love, patience and understanding’ as you say. He has given so many a gift, one that sometimes it is hard to fully express in words…the opportunity to remember and know the love that we come from and to unfold and become more of who we are.
We do not need to wait for the darkest night, or most tormented time to stir us out of inaction. This way of living seems to stem just from a habit of ‘just getting by’. When we change the equation and the scale to how much love we can live, everything about the world and us starts to add up. With deep appreciation for you Nicole and the honesty you bring to the world.
True Joseph the act of living by ‘just getting by’ allows us to limp along until we are stopped in our tracks by a traumatising event. By flipping this over to loving life and embracing all that it has to offer makes sense that deep appreciation will follow no matter the event or experiences before us.
Survival, coping, doing OK. Our great comforts and thickest defence against magnificence…
Yes it is interesting how a life can be lived almost completely on the ‘back foot’ – a reactive life that is constantly trying to catch up with what life is bringing us. When we do have a choice to live life on the ‘front foot’ – a proactive life where we are constantly feeling where we can go deeper in our connection with ourselves, others and the universe – this feels like responding to the magnetic pull of evolution (advancement) rather than constantly being in resistance to it.
Nicole, I love reading your blog, it is a wonderful reminder to not take things for granted, since reading it a few days ago I have noticed that I feel much more appreciative of everyday things, people, and myself, I feel like I’m seeing more clearly the lovely things that happen and the loving way that people can be rather than only noticing the stuff that doesn’t feel great, it has made me realise that I can be quite judgemental rather than appreciating the gorgeousness of people.
What a life changer that is when we let go of the judge and inner critic and allow for the beauty in life and the appreciation that brings.
I agree Rebecca, for me when i stop appreciating and taking things for granted this is a red flag to how much i am nurturing and appreciating myself!
Thank you Nicole for offering the powerful message that when we live the absolute love that we are, it changes our whole relationship with life and also with any illness that our bodies present. This is relevant to a recent awareness and understanding I have been offered, about how we are not in control, yet we have a choice of what way our instruments, our bodies, are used.
A great point. Our relationship with illness has often been on of having been beaten by it, at the mercy of it and seen as a failure on our part when our relationship with illness as with Living life is about us, the relationship with first and foremost have with ourselves and the great learning and healing that is available to us all.
Thank you Nicole it is a tremendous reminder that no matter your health, life is short and should be lived in full. Appreciation is essential for a full life.
“No matter your health” – we are mad if we wait until our health fails us to appreciate all that we have and all that we are. Oh, what we miss out on in the mean time…
“it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not lived truly all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back…” I am beginning to really see clearly how much there is worth appreciating in myself, in others and in the everyday glorious reflections that nature offers and how important it is to have appreciation in our lives and not just take things for granted.
Beautiful words deidremedbury! There is indeed so much to appreciate in you and everybody! We are so blessed to have Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine here, showing the way, how to live all of ourselves, in a world that doesn’t really encourage that. And if the world (some people around us) reacts, deep down they are actually inspired as well, because we all come from the same place, and we all know that we are love and we are much more than the little lives we may have carved out for ourselves.
Thank you Nicole for a great blog and a reminder to live life to the full with no holding back. I am in the latter stages of life, and I am wanting to be able to live life down to my last breath, so why not stop holding back now and start living my life in the fullness of the glory of the son of God that I am. ” When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.”
True Adam, when we choose to humble ourselves to the loud and clear message our body informs us of through illness and disease, we initiate the choice always available to us to live in connection to and with our body instead of against it.
Nicole thank you for writing this, each sentence makes me stop and reflect on my life. It makes me ask myself why I don’t live with the absolute love and appreciation for the incredible blessings I have received and live with each day, each moment. That is my choice and one where you ask me here to choose to appreciate, to truly appreciate.
What better way to live life Nicole – “I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.” A life with great purpose and meaning.
The realisation you had is huge Nicole and sharing this has led me to reflect on situations in my own life when, life literally flashed before my eyes and that feeling of knowing deep inside that I had not hardly begun ‘the work’ that I knew was ahead of me that “I had not truly lived all of me” yet and was not ready to pass on. Appreciating the wake up call to stop and make those choices to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything we are. To be honest about past choices that got us there in the first place to learn from them and move on – as those wake up calls can just drop in unannounced.
Nicole thank you for this poignant wake-up call. I often ask myself ‘what am I waiting for?’ too. I certainly do not want to live a life of regret yet again
The crazy thing is how freeing it is to live more of that love, to live more of ourselves. It’s like we set it up to be this big, difficult thing, but actually all that’s needed is a letting go of controlling how we want our lives to be, and accepting ourselves in full, first. The more I make an effort to connect to my body, through really simple techniques like meditation and bringing awareness to what I’m actually doing in a given moment, the more spaciousness I can feel – and from there, a connection to all others, too. Living each moment in absolute appreciation of all that we are is so much more of an amazing and expansive way to live.
Agreed Bryony, we need not indulge in a complicated way of moving through our day to day, for the choice to appreciate is actually simple, and opens us up to so much more to appreciate.
I realised today that I have been deliberately not appreciating myself , that my stubborn spirit had dug its heals in and said yes to creation and not yes to knowing myself as the divine being I am. Through appreciation we connect to our divinity.
Nice one. We have such an identification with creation… when it is in truth the very thing that holds us back. There is nothing so precious as our divine selves. Investing in the belief we are less than this is a nonsense. We create – yes create – issues where there are in truth none.
I realised this today too Mary-Louise! Something in the air that is showing me that I have a responsibility to All to appreciate myself. Playing small by continually putting myself down is the ultimate act of irresponsibility.
Yes, the life not fully lived to it’s true potential is incredibly sad and I suspect is something we’re all doing in one way or another. It’s great to have reminders like this Nicole to stop and appreciate ourselves and others in each and every moment and not to hold back who we are for we all each need the reflection of each other to grow and evolve.
Great point deborahmckay – we do so need the reflection of each other to grow and evolve.
Absolutely Deborahmckay – it is something we are all doing in one way or another. The key is not to get it perfect but to stay aware, and reminders like this blog are great reflections to deepen our own awareness.
Great point, we do not need to be perfect to appreciate, this is a belief that keeps us far from appreciation.
Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are? This question is very relevant to me at the moment Nicole, as I realised I haven’t truly appreciated me and what I have been given in life so something to truly feel into now.
This is true – a deep appreciation of ourselves is first required in order to appreciate the greater sphere of life of which we are part.
The appreciation that is an important part of our day is not one based on what we do, but rather who we are.
Absolutely – appreciation to the core of our core
Heather, I agree, and how easy it is to slip into the appreciation of what I have done instead of who I am and this is a total different perception.
Absolutely Deborah, beautifully put, with beginning to embrace deep self and acceptance and appreciation in myself, I am able to appreciate others and all that life brings.
This has made me stop to consider what it is about life that I am taking for granted. A family member had a life-threatening health scare recently, and that has made me appreciate relationships more, but there is still that bit of feeling of immortality in me. It is a feeling that I do not have to do anything, but the truth is that it is so important to actively appreciate our life and live it as fully as we are able to.
This does not mean go bungee jumping or writing that novel that has been banging around in our head. It means not passing up the opportunities to say “I love you”, and letting people know you fully without reservation. It means appreciating the divinity that we are, and that every single one of us is.
Thank you for this, Nicole.
Thank you, Naren. If we were to truly appreciate each other we would treat each other differently, we would not tolerate abuse of any kind, and we speak up when the truth needed to be said. All in all, appreciation is the key to turning things around.
It really is the key to stopping what is the “usual” life of struggle and resentment, and transforming it into one of joy. The silver lining that we so often look for and hear about is not one that just appears out of thin air. It comes through appreciation of ourselves and others.
Not accepting abuse – this is true love.
Beautifully said Naren, it is not about doing crazy stuff or trying to achieve many things in life, it is about the every day moments of not holding anything back that is there to be expressed.
The crazy stuff is really just there to distract us from the fact that we are actually not being ourselves in full. People are going out of their way to do extreme things in order to avoid the reality of their own lack of truthful expression the tenderness they really are. If we feel deeply that, there is no way they would do the things they do with their body.
That is it really Naren, beautifully said. Appreciating life is not about doing things, all those things we’ve never done, its about expressing all the love within us, never being afraid to say “I love you” and letting people and one’s self know just how awesome we are. Appreciation, honesty and commitment bring a richness to life that can be shared with everyone and they are about the only things that we can actually take with us when we pass over.
I love the point you make about letting ourselves know how awesome we are, Rowena! We can get very hung up on what others think about us, or what we think about them, but we often forget about appreciating ourselves, at least I know I do!
Beautiful comment Naren, sometimes when people are faced with a life threatening disease they feel they have to do more and extreme sports, travel the world Etc.
It’s possible that when this happens people are still caught in the motion of doing and action, trying to improve life, rather than slowing down and appreciating the love they have within and sharing that with others.
That reaction to those experiences of mortality seem to me to be an attempt to bury the feeling that they had of mortality by going fully into physical experience as far as possible. We all will die one day. It is quite simply inevitable, whether you die jumping out of an airplane or quietly in your bed, the same thing happens. Neither is better than the other and we cannot say one person lived life more than another because they did an activity that someone else did not.
Jealousy and the unexpressed reactions we feel from others can often make us shy away or hide from being our natural selves, that is certainly something I have experienced, yet to live in this way is to live with a tension of knowing that I am not being myself and not giving everything I can to every situation that presents itself.
Indeed Stephen, by buckling to the jealousy and reactions we are giving them greater space to pervade, its time we make standing out our normal.
This blog really is a wake up call, as unlike the line at the post office or a doctors waiting room time seems to fly by if we are not living the true love that we are and so many regrets will arise if we don’t grasp the moment so to speak.
kevmchardy I’ve found that as well, when we are not living the truth we know and feel inside years can flash by and nothing changes except a build up of regret. With appreciation of life and everyone time seems to slow down and our life becomes truly full.
I know those years that fly by and nothing seems to change, but now I also know the richness and the abundant feeling of what it is to bring appreciation in my life.
Why wait? Is such a simple but powerful question as there is nothing to wait for, why not be the love that we all are to inspire others with no regrets. I have been holding myself back in life in so many areas but when I ask myself these questions I can’t come up with any sound answers except for don’t wait.
If we were children and someone said to us, “don’t let that love out for anyone to see”, we would not even be able to comprehend what they were saying, but that is what many of us have done. Time to remember that is not a natural way to live.
and that’s the point, it’s so unnatural for us to live in hiding in the way most of us do. It’s incredible how far we have travelled away from our natural way of being – as humanity we have colluded for eons to distance ourselves from the glorious truth of the love that we are. No doubt it’s a hard habit to break, but it is absolutely possible – I have seen with my own eyes the reflections from those who have and have walked ahead to find out the way for the rest of us.
Exactly Heather – hiding our love, that is the sad reality of what many of us have chosen, assuming it would protect us. What a gift it is to know that the best protection of all is to open our hearts and not ever hold our love back.
Very good point Heather, children are more straight forward and see things mostly clearer than we do as adults, because they have bodies that are more fluid, flexible and free from the restraints adults take on, which taint our ability to respond to the simple truths of life.
‘Why wait?’ is such a simple and powerful question and the simple and powerful answer is ‘Don’t wait’. We all know this BUT why don’t we take the next step?
‘Why wait?’ is indeed a powerful question Kev; something we can spend years asking ourselves and justifying, or something we can ask ourselves as a reminder to never stop deepening relationships, taking more care of ourselves, speaking up, expressing and being all we can be.
There is much to appreciate in even being willing to ask the question ‘Why wait?’ It indicates a chosen awareness of there being more to life, an acknowledgement of the truth that we already have it all; that we know we know and know we have free-will to choose to live what we already know now. On the other hand, as you noted too Susie we can use the question itself as a distraction, to wonder “what is wrong with me”, to go into mental energy and thoughts, to try to ‘figure out’, “why I am waiting?” or what my perceived hurt is- believing and justifying something is getting in the way rather than the honesty that I am choosing to put something in the way to delay.
Yes Deanne, and if we indulge in the issues of why we are waiting then it delays our movement forward. Although it is important to work on and evaluate our reactions and ill choices, it is equally necessary to develop the skill to let go of them and be willing to move forward without letting the guilt or attachments hold us back.
Great point Kev, the truth is we can only delay living our life in full opening our hearts to the love and glory within ourselves and all others, in that delay we cause much harm and suffering to ourselves and others.
Love it Kevin, don’t wait. The keys to true joy and vitality are ours if we just say yes.
The possibility of regret can creep into any aspect of life if we are choosing to sail through life half masked. I recently had the experience of leaving a long term job for a new opportunity and knew I needed to give the job my absolute all before I left, otherwise I would have regretted leaving. My all is what it is right now and is deepening the more I go there, so giving my all was not done in perfection but a graciousness. Like letting people in completely and not judging anyone for their choices. I worked hard and felt committed to the day, instead of looking for distractions in food or Facebook! I moved with presence and purpose throughout the office, as I knew I was leaving an imprint there for others to feel. All of this was conscious and made the last few weeks at work very enjoyable, so much so that I wondered why I waited so long to live my days like that!
What you share is awesome because regretting is the worst – why wait when we can live what we know today
love it Rebecca so simply said. why wait when we can live what we know today? Its super easy, just live what you know!
The word regret itself is heavy and laden with guilt, there are virtually shackles attached to the r and to the g. I love that Nicole has presented to us the choice that exists, to choose life and be with us in the full appreciation of all that lives and is or to live stuck in the stank bog of regret that keeps us down.
I agree Alison, regret is a great way to not move forward and to keep ourselves from fully appreciating who we are and all the learning that life offers us.
‘It just shows the responsibility we have where ever we are and what ever we are doing.’
A beautiful point Alison – I am learning that every moment and every step has the potential to be complete and full.
Yes this is such a different and more loving way to approach how we leave things. I am all for having learnings, but to regret is to keep us in the past when this does not serve anyone. What we can do is appreciate how every movement can lead the way for another, and how we can make a difference at any moment. Just yesterday I grabbed a trolley that was left carelessly outside the supermarket, and after I used it I returned it to the correct place. It doesn’t take much, but my actions can support the next person in something as simple as that 🙂
Regret simply keeps us longer in the regrettable moments of life as we keep ourselves busy with something that does not serve anyone. As you so beautifully describe Rachael, living in our fullness is our presence in every moment, which we can always return to whenever we have gone astray.
That is gob-smackingly awesome Rachael! A very inspiring and refreshing approach to how to leave a job in the energy of graciousness. I used to always agonise over having to tell my boss I was leaving and would be consumed with feelings of guilt for ‘letting the side down’. Your way feels so honouring all round – who would have thought that leaving a job could be done in the energy of absolute service!
Beautiful Rachel, as you say ‘giving it our all’ is constantly expanding, and deepening, but is forever what is needed.
Super gorgeous Rachael – you and your comment!
Good points Alison, when we avoid completion we bring in a tension to our bodies as whatever is incomplete pulls us away or distracts us from the next task we are doing, so we cannot be completely present with it. I love the notion that every step we walk and every movement we make can be absolutely complete, leaving our bodies free to respond to what we are impulsed to do next.
This is a great example Rachel of how whatever situation we are in, we can bring our absolute dedication and appreciation to, whether it’s leaving a job or ending a relationship, we can choose to bring these qualities and appreciation to the situation and ourselves, so we leave behind an imprint of absolute love and completion.
Yes Alison, even if we abdicate responsibility we still need to let these experiences complete. It is interesting how much regret we can hold onto as years accumulate and choose to carry with us through life, indulging and making a distraction out of regret. When we truly regret we make a different choice, a true choice, made so real and practical in this paragraph ‘I realised that I can now make the choice to live me in each and every moment, re-connecting to my body and making choices from there, without fear of what others may think or perceive, and no longer shying away from potential jealousy.’
Here here Nicole – why am I waiting for an invitation or disaster to live all of me? I know this is a process and I expect nothing and with no perfect. But, there is still an air of delay in my choices and movements, like I have time – but like you’ve said, why wait?! It is here now, I am here now and God’s gifts are continually inviting us to be more. With every sun rise and sun set we are granted another round, another cycle to do it all again – so how do we choose to do it? Holding back or giving it our all? Great blog to ponder on this morning Nicole.
The air of delay is very well named, it hangs like smoke from a recent fire. The delay not only stops the activity, but also the appreciation and wonder.
I agree, delay saps the lifeblood and vitality from us – and yet it is something we choose. Really makes no sense.
I agree Rachael “there is still an air of delay in my choices and movements, like I have time” and like Beverley, I am beginning to ask myself the question “Why wait?” more often now as my numbers keep rolling over to lovingly remind me that it’s time to stop procrastinating.
Giving it our all, aha, so much comes to us when we choose to do this with every fiber in our body.
Your comment touched me Rachel so I went back to re-read it and sent it to a friend that is contemplating leaving her job. What stood out was “My all is what it is right now and is deepening the more I go there….’ This is incredibly freeing as I often feel like I fall short of bringing my all and that there is more but what you share allows for evolution and also a responsibility to not let a game be made out of bringing (or not bringing) my all. Yesterday I even said to a friend that bringing ¾ of my all, ¾ of the time is better than how I have been living but I will drop that for “My All is what Is right now” – it also helps to break down the pictures I have of what it is to bring my all.
“When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am”. I know that is how I also feel, Nicole, so now I realise it is time that I put this into action, to live a true life in the fullness of who I am, a beautiful Son of God, a woman who is so full of love for humanity, it is time to fully live this, in full appreciation of who I am and all the attributes I bring to the world. I do not know how long I will be living in this world, I am not young, and it is time for me to end all the procrastination that I have been using. Thank you for a great blog, a big wake up call for me.
Beautiful, Beverley. How glorious to love and appreciate ourselves deeply in our latter years of life.
Ah…we live as though we have an eternity. We are filled with riches, precious and rare, yet we do not bring them out on show for all the world to see and know. Instead we wait….but what, I ask Beverley, am I waiting for? Are we waiting for?
All is here, within. It asks for naught but its own expression in this world.
There is an opportunity each and every day to appreciate and express all we are.
Love your lovingly shared pearls of wisdom Rachel.
Go for it Beverley, you’re an amazing role model and will inspire so many others, as you already do.
Gorgeous Beverley I can feel you in every word. And you know what? We are all the same… younger or older… we don’t now how long we have and we have no time to procrastinate when we all have so much life to live and share. Every single breath is a blessing.
I am very much enjoying being here now but am also very aware that my days in this body are numbered. However, I also see life as eternal and one big continuity. Therefore for me it is not only about living every day fully for now, but also how the quality of my life lived now will set me up for the quality of my next life and so on and so on and so on!
“It was then that I realised I was living with regret, a feeling that deep down I knew how to live in the fullness of who I am but thinking there was no rush, that I had plenty of time to do so later.” Oh, Nicole, I can so relate to that. What is it that holds me back from living in the fullness of who I am, it is crazy. Could it be that I fear losing my individuality? But I know that we are all truly one, yet I still hold back from living it all NOW. This feels like an old, old pattern in me, one that needs to be completely let go of, thank you for a very inspiring blog, one that is shaking me, making me really feel into why I have held back for so long. Now is the time for me to let go of this pattern for good, I know that I am such a huge love, it is time to live that fully now. I can sense already just how freeing that will be.
What I felt in your comment Beverley is that we fight surrender…letting go into the depth of our own being in all of its infinite depth and wisdom. Is this what we are afraid of?
Our magnificence?
Our boundless love?
Why does it take potential loss of life to wake us up to the fact that we live shadow lives when we are dogged by fear of our glory?
And we sure do fight and struggle against surrender with all our might – falsely perceiving surrender as a weakness, a ‘giving up’ as opposed to ‘letting go in the depth of our own being in all of its infinite depth and wisdom’. What a shocking waste of energy – it’s time to gently ‘smash’ this illusion and surrender to ‘surrender’.
There is no giving up in surrender. If anything it calls for a deeper level of commitment to life.
Surrender is indeed a deepening of our commitment to Life and to God.
Go for it Beverley! You are a beautiful, inspiring woman! Everything you’ve shared makes perfect sense for me also.
‘I realised that I can now make the choice to live me in each and every moment, re-connecting to my body and making choices from there, without fear of what others may think or perceive, and no longer shying away from potential jealousy.’
This is super-powerful Nicole and this is the reason we all hold back – fear of rage-full retaliations from those around us who are continuing to choose not to shine. If we can shine regardless that is to be deeply appreciated and celebrated.
Indeed, I recall a presentation by Natalie Benhayon in which she encouraged us to see jealousy from others as a sign we’re on the right track. What a different way to view what are for most of us difficult situations.
That is so well said Victoria; we all lose if we hold back out of fear of jealousy. We then mirror to others that it’s ok to hold back and not really live the grandness we are. If somebody gets jealous, they have felt the reflection, and therefore can choose to be inspired, to maybe live more of who they truly are as well. The rest is a game where nobody wins, but everybody loses out. Somebody needs to make the start, and not just shrink because it can be a bit uncomfortable for somebody else.
Absolutely – this changes everything and smashes any pictures we may have of everyone needing to accept us and our light.
What you’ve shared reminds me of a great Winston Churchill quote, Victoria. ‘You’ve got enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life’ – It’s the idea that when we speak the truth or live life to its fullest, there are guaranteed to be those who struggle with receiving that reflection because of their choices to live lesser, lie or indulge in issues.
That’s awesome Susie. Thanks for sharing Churchill’s quote – it makes me ponder on why I have been so concerned with being liked by everyone. Do I really want to forgo truth just for being liked? No. So if that’s true it’s now about stepping up and learning to stand up for truth no matter how many people might not want to hear it.
A brilliant quote Susie ‘You’ve got enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life’. This is very powerful and confirming for me to read as I have spent my life trying to avoid making enemies at all costs.
This is such an inspiring and confirming way to understand and accept the fact of retaliation from others when we stand in our fullness. Knowing that people struggle with receiving reflection of loving choices they have failed to make for themselves and will choose to consciously or subconsciously attack, turns the retaliations to “a sign that we are on the right track.”
Great sharing and expansion, Susie. Thank you. Truth is the most powerful ally.
Winston Churchill was certainly on to something – You’ve got enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life’. How we have shirked our responsibility and deviated from the truth of such wisdom, living a less life to not ruffle feathers when to Live life and speak the Truth in full is inevitably going to ignite a slumbering humanity and bring up much for those not yet living likewise.
The fact is that whatever we do or don’t do there will always be people who like and don’t like, who appreciate and who are jealous. In the end we might just as well choose love regardless because as Nicole said “why wait – why not just get on with it and live the love that I am now”.
Victoria thats a very different way to look at things, all in all bringing appreciation to every aspect of life, no matter how difficult or confronting it may be to handle.
Susie W you bring the fire! What a fabulous Winston Churchill quote to hold near and dear when making one’s life more true ‘You’ve got enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life’
Very deeply appreciated Victoria, for when we do continue to shine, regardless, we are living the grace of God.
Reading blogs like this one is living medicine. It gets us to stop and remember what is important in life.
Yes, it has the potential of saving us all many health scare stops. And we can indeed stop and change our movements at any second. What a freedom! – Our only freedom – very precious.
So true Elizabeth , so often we are so caught up in our day to day activities that we do not stop and appreciate all that we are and all that we have in our incredibly rich lives.
Yes Amita thank god for Universal Medicine who has shown us the way…The Way of the Livingness a true religion that supports us back to where we truly come from…GOD.
Absolutely – very well said. How important it is that we stop and smell the roses.
I agree Deborah, I love stopping to quite literally smell the roses and appreciate where I am, who I am and where I have come from.
Self-appreciation is great medicine.
Beautifully written Elizabeth, this is so true, ‘Reading blogs like this one is living medicine. It gets us to stop and remember what is important in life.’ Reading this blog makes me feel light, joyful and appreciative and makes me wonder why I can be so critical and unappreciative and take things around me for granted, this blog is a joy to read.
Love your sharing Rebecca, especially the point about taking things around you for granted, we do that so easily.
It’s so easy for a day to fly by without ever once appreciating who I am, and the wonderful life I now live. It did not used to be so wonderful, but thanks to the support of Serge Benhayon, without a doubt every day is filled with wonder.
It is true Heather – whilst I appreciate myself and my life it just keeps appreciating (ha ha) ie expanding and getting even more awesome so there is no end to the appreciation 🙂
I agree Elizabeth- its a wake up call that makes you stop and consider things more deeply.
Absolutely and well said Elizabeth – this blog is living medicine – a reality check!
Yes Elizabeth it does, it is these stops that give us all an opportunity to evaluate how we are living and being in our lives. If we respect and understand what we are being offered, much can be offered to us in adjusting how we live to greater support our bodies, and in so doing allow our love the grace to be.
I love the concept of living medicine Elizabeth. Each and every choice we make has an effect on our health, physical, mental or emotional. With the ever increasing rates of “lifestyle” disease this living medicine is paramount.
Beautifully said Lee – “Each and every choice we make has an effect on our health, physical, mental or emotional.” – this truly is what living medicine is about and is key for all our health.
So true Elizabeth. Appreciation is Medicine.
Absolutely – Love and Appreciation are 2 key ingredients to live a full life.
Beautifully expressed and completely agree, blogs like these are true medicine.
“a feeling that deep down I knew how to live in the fullness of who I am but thinking there was no rush, that I had plenty of time to do so later.” A vary much needed wake up call Nicole. I think we all tend to do that a bit.
We sure do. Mañana, mañana… Why does it take a big stop, such as illness or accident, to wake us up – and sometimes, not even then?
This in itself is deeply telling and if we reflect on life with honesty we will see that there were in truth many smaller stops along the way we did not heed.
Yes I agree Emily, we get so caught up in our own lives and the comfort of being less than who we are that we delay as much as possible the inevitable -the fact that we will one day all return to who we truly are. There is a side to us that is totally content with not being all of our awesomeness because if we were to be this awesomeness that we naturally are a lot of things in our life would not align to it.
Yes Emily, I agree. Nicole is giving us all a much needed wake up call. We can be so complacent about our lives and tend to choose our comforts over what is really important, and just getting on with being and sharing our amazing selves in every moment of every day.
Well said Sandra. Something that is so very needed.
I agree Emily, this one makes you stop in your tracks as I think we can all relate too- I’ll get there or once I got over this etc. All as an excuse to hold back.
Well said Kristy, every morning may l awaken to choose, ” a true life lived in the fullness of who I am. “
Agreed, We use so many things as a tool to hold back.
There is often delay, for me this feels like it is too big to live this fullness and that I need to do more work or be somewhere before I can live all that I am. However, it is simply a choice. It is all there for me, and all of us, all of the time – I just need to choose to live this fullness.
So true Lee – it is simply a choice. just like it is to hold it back.
Yes, and the irony is that there is an urgency but no rush – when we try to rush, things don’t work out. Being in urgency with repose and action where and when needed.
Yes, this belief that we have time is causing greater calamity than we possibly realise. For example, we wait to resolve issues between loved ones under the impression we have time. Yet we never know what is around the corner and that the longer unresolved the greater harm that is done, plus we never know when we may run out of time.
“we wait to resolve issues between loved ones under the impression we have time. ” good point Laura. honestly, I always find these moments a waste of time and after am left going- we could have spent all that time together and in love, yet we missed out and chose not to. bit of a pity really.
I often come to the end of the day feeling regret – and it is because I have chosen to live some of the parts of my day not fully connected to me, feeling me, appreciating me, feeling the space that arises when this happens. To simply live with this connection to me in full more consistently is a daily observation and an absolute joy to embark on each day.
We do things in our day that guarantee a feeling of ‘guilt’ when we get into bed at night, and this affects the quality of our sleep, how we wake up and the next day ahead. Not living our days to their fullest is just a way of keeping ourselves contracted and in a cycle of beating ourselves up; even ‘small’ things like overeating can ruin an entire day, week or life if we let guilt run us.
Well said Susie, the little choices, the ‘private moments’, they all do have a big impact; we think ‘nobody knows’, but we know, we feel it and then carry that in our bodies. The more we allow ourselves to feel who we are and the more I treat myself lovingly, the more loving choices I make. Appreciating myself, appreciating everything in my life, helps me do that.
And this is where appreciation every single day is a remedy for reminding us of the glory of who we are and what we can choose to live every single day.
Yes, far better to observe, with love, and keep working with it than beat ourselves up. Then whatever ‘it’ is becomes a work in progress rather than a full-blown issue that consumes and distracts us.
And only that we are able to feel the difference of how it would be to live in full joy and how it feels when we hold back or bash ourselves up is to appreciate because it tells us how deeply sensitive we are and that we know the truth.
Yes this is true Susie, there can be guilt or an emptiness there that we can try to fill. And yes those so called private moments do impact everyone around us. Appreciation as Donna shared does seem to be the remedy to remind us of who we are so that we want to live it each day.
Great insight and wisdom Susie.
Spot on Susie. How many times have we, when troubled about something or if we’ve had a bad day, been told or heard others being told “Just go to bed and sleep on it and everything will be allright when you wake up in the morning”. In other words “Just checkout”. Self Reflection and Responsibility not even a blip on the radar! The crazy thing is we so easily allowed ourselves to get sucked in to believing it because we have all been spoon-fed with a diet ‘innocently’ laced with lies.
So true Susie- guilt or regret is an emotion that can have a field day in our mind and then body if we allow it, and indulge. The fact is we have a simple choice of reconnecting to truth, by breathing our own breath, and starting again with a more loving choice.
Brilliant Susie – and very powerfully expressed and claimed. We absolutely set up the self bash and critique to allow ourselves to not feel our amazingness. Understanding we are not perfect, and tipping the balance to appreciate what did go well and was amazing (just waking up and connecting to knowing we are amazing before we even get up) is therapy, healing, medicine and changes lives.
That is so true – we are so good at finding fault with ourselves and hold up a tiniest thing to ruin and invalidate the whole thing. It really amazes me how we choose to indulge in misery instead of appreciation, when it really is just about choice.
Absolutely Fumiyo, it sounds absurd that we would choose to indulge in misery rather than appreciate ourselves and experience a lot of joy in our lives, however this is the choice we have to make to stay contracted and not live to our full potential. Would it not be an interesting experiment to let go of this guilt and see what life was like without such self criticism and judgement.
This is true – the smallest details can undermine the greatest Love and bring a less and less version of ourselves to our day, our sleep and to the world. It is wise to investigate these cracks and pockets where we negate our light and our True Power.
Absolutely Deborah. The little things add up, and the smallest details can have a huge affect on us and the people around us.
I can’t remember the last time I felt regret at the end of the day and do feel that I live my days to the fullest. It is nice for me to take a moment to appreciate that because it was not always the case!
This is such a great point Susie how we let the choices that we make that are not self-loving dominate the quality in how we feel. This guilt driven existence is not one that is doing us any favours what so ever. Making those changes to be more self-loving has a ripple effect that paves the way of our future. Step by step I have made more and more self-loving choices and can see that there is always a level of refining that my body and Soul are asking for.
We can fall into our own vicious circle of beating our self up till it becomes our normal. We get to a point where we can no longer remember the little thing that started it!
Well said Susie, every choice matters and each choice we make, makes a difference to how we feel about ourselves and others. I wonder how much abuse could be irradiated from our lives if we just made the simple choice to self care. What a great study that would make. Although we have all the proof we need, the Student Body of Universal Medicine is living proof of the benefits of making self loving choices.
I am aware of this guilt Susie W and bringing it up here for discussion offers more awareness that it is actually one of the games we partake in and as Donna mentions below it is greatly balanced by appreciation. Last night when I went to bed I could feel the quality of my movements during the day could have been more tender and held a deeper presence- this is true but it is the tinge of ‘guilt’ that is the game. Last night, inspired by reading this blog yesterday I was also able to reflect and appreciate many loving choices I had made throughout the day and this made way for grace, understanding and being at ease with imperfection.
Absolutely Gina. I love nothing more than sitting in bed and writing in my journal a little appreciation note for the day. It sets a lovely foundation for my sleep and for the next morning too. Appreciation of who we are is the fundamental key to stop the judgement or guilt that creeps in at time to time.
That is a great idea – stopping and appreciating at the end of the day.
Almost every evening I stop and appreciate both you and me Christoph!
That sounds like a great focus to have throughout the day, Kelly, and I agree that ‘appreciation of who we are is the fundamental key to stop the judgement or guilt that creeps in at time to time’.
Sounds like a good routine to be in Kelly, I must try it
Stopping to appreciate is an essential ingredient to our day. It is what can bring us back if we are not ourselves and can deepen and confirm us all at the same time.
Great Kelly. If only we knew the tricks and default the body goes to put ourselves down – it is simply a trick. So to be aware of this in ourselves and how society also plays this game is fundamental – focusing on appreciating ourselves is true medicine to a healthy wellbeing.
Absolutely ginadunlop, and appreciation of the commitment to living this connected life consistently.
l certainly relate to this Gina. l also realise that what Nicole expresses here can also be applied to our relationship with others, ” it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back and having not lived in and from the absolute glory that I am.”
Yes, the regret of holding back our love. It hurts more than we realise.
Beautiful Nicole. To be caught in the rush of the day and not appreciating each moment is something I have come to observe too. My focus can still be so much on what I am doing rather than how I am feeling.
I agree Gina, it is all too easy to lose our essential quality and presence when we fall into driving and nervous energy to get the to-do list done. But then the quality of what we have done is not true as we have lost ourselves in the process
I love deepening daily this understanding Annie. Paying attention to the detail of the quality of who we are in every moment is gorgeous to embark on.
This is so easy to do because generally we have never been shown that there is a connection for us to connect to so our immediate default mode is to go into ‘doing’ life. Since meeting Serge Benhayon and having been shown that theirs a simple way to connect to my Soul on a daily basis (even though I knew deep within I had this quality I just didn’t know how to truly connect with it) – this has been the key change in the quality in how I go about life and be with myself in life.
So true. This is something I still fall into. The effects on the body do not feel good and it takes a while to recover. No matter how much we need to get done it is simply not worth losing our connection.
So true Annie, very confronting to feel the truth of this in my own life. l feel this is a most important question, ” Why is it that we wait until we may lose something that is precious to us to stop and really appreciate it? Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?”
Me too ginadunlop. Sometimes it becomes more about the ticking of boxes and getting all the things done that I need to in the day rather than living the fullness of me in absolute quality.
It’s a hard behaviour to undo isn’t it Lee? But that’s what I love about my deepening relationship with myself – my appreciation to dedicate myself to having and deepening an awareness of such behaviours and my appreciation to Serge Benhayon and many others to share as a true community to support each other in this one true goal to be more vital and healthy in order to truly commit to life and make a difference.
I can relate to the ticking of boxes syndrome – rushing through things rather than doing them in the quality and from the stillness in me that everything deserves equally.
Beautifully said Lee “Sometimes it becomes more about the ticking of boxes and getting all the things done that I need to in the day rather than living the fullness of me in absolute quality.” I can certainly relate to going into ticking boxes and neglecting myself and losing the fullness and depth of my true quality. When I function this way I am aware of how draining it is on my body often leaving me exhausted by the end of the day. On the other hand when I claim myself in full I bring the quality of my essence to all that I do and this quality is reflected to everyone.
Yes, I am far too little in repose. Being able to do nothing is not one of my best skills.
I can relate to this too – or true repose – not checked out doing nothing. A repose that provides space to connect us to our essence, appreciating who we are.
Gosh this is so simple yet so true. Caught in the doing and completely disconnecting to the feeling. And when I am caught… the doing is not nearly as lovely as it would be if I was also feeling every step of the way. 🙂
I agree Kathryn, it is a common feeling for us to be in the doing and receive recognition out of this and this doing mode is fed with a huge amount of ideals and beliefs and images we have. To get aware of this and these belief patterns needs true dedication.
Absolutely Kathryn. I got to really feel this a couple of days ago. During an incredibly busy time at work, with deadlines due, plus a presentation to deliver, and guests staying, both my children got sick and then my husband was rushed to hospital. I was in a lot of activity but I simply kept connecting back to me, and asking what best supported my body in that moment. I focused on the quality of me. Yesterday I drove past the hospital my husband was in, and had such a beautiful sense of a wonderful time that was experienced in that hospital. It was the quality of me in that time there which I was picking up on. It was a stressful time but I it was one of my most joyful moments! Compare this to 20 years ago when I first arrived in Australia and was sitting on a tropical beach, one of the most glorious settings I had ever been in, but feeling the most depressed and unhappy I had ever felt. It just goes to show it is the quality of who we are which brings the joy. Nothing else.
I get that one Gina I often slip back into the drive and nervous energy of how much I am doing rather than the quality of what I am doing. this makes no sense at all on any level really when I consider how exhausted I feel at the end of a day in drive, then often beat myself up for allowing myself to push through just to get things done at the expense of myself and when I feel the quality of what I have “achieved” it often feels like I want to start again because it feel loveless.
I know that feeling so well – ‘when I feel the quality of what I have ‘achieved’ it often feels like I want to start again because it feels loveless.’ I do this so often. What I am learning now is to not allow myself to critique myself and stay in that cycle, beating myself up, but still appreciate me and the quality of me and that I am dedicated to working on this.
l feel that can take me away from myself also Gina. l appreciate this statement, “I was living with regret, a feeling that deep down I knew how to live in the fullness of who I am but thinking there was no rush, that I had plenty of time to do so later.” l never actually clocked that it’s possible l too have been living with regret.
I can relate to this also ginadunlop, getting into the doing is a huge trap. One that can ensure we spiral into other things, like eating foods that are not supportive, speaking in ways to others that are not loving, speaking to oneself that is not loving. The knock on effect can be subtle, but the impacts on the body are huge, it can be abusive. This is where appreciating oneself regardless of where we are at, or whatever is coming up is key. To not allow the behaviours to snowball, but come back to that connection within that knows exactly who we are, deeply divine, wise beyond belief and more love that can fill hundreds of oceans.
This is such a warm embrace of a comment Reagan, thank you so much for expressing it. In getting into too much motion, we are distracted and our connection to ourselves is lost and leads to all you so articulately share.
I can still get caught in this one, getting things done instead of making sure I am in my fullness and the quality that I bring to all I do.
We cannot hear it enough can we Lorraine? It’s about the quality of the doing, not the outcome.
Thank you for this reminder of how important appreciation is Nicole and that there is no need to delay living the fullness of the love that we are.
‘I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back and having not lived in and from the absolute glory that I am.’ Nicole I suspect we must all carry this sadness (I know I do) for how many of us truly allow ourselves to shine?
I do too Victoria. It feels very important to yes certainly acknowledge this sadness but not be submerged in it, so that we are unable to see our way clear from it.
Beautiful comment Adele as this is being who we truly are in this world.
Nicole a beautiful reminder to embrace all of life and see the opportunity to deepen the love … why wait indeed, why avoid our natural connection, letting jealousy dictate how far we will allow ourselves to shine. I say be the leading light Nicole the rest will follow by magnetic pull. True brotherhood.
Always Nicole, I find your blogs deeply inspiring for the heartfelt, open and honest sharings that they offer- thank you.
Yes Brendan I agree. I am learning right at this period in my life that I’m indeed responsible for everything in my life. Which in fact is deeply freeing. There’s more Joy in my life than ever before. And it’s also building more and more confidence. And a growing appreciation goes hand in hand with this unfoldment – which feels absolutely great. Appreciating from my heart is such a lovely thing to do and so very natural. Gosh, I’ve been spending a lot of time in my head…
It is the simple things in life that we so often overlook, including the appreciation of self, making us matter and appreciating ourselves is something i am still developing and deepening, but writing this blog is a great reminder, something i can keep coming back to.
Appreciation is something we can all do all of the time, and what i am still learning is that it is a choice, like everything in life.
Those leaves that blow in our path or the bird that sings in the distance, all there as reminders for us of the true beauty we are and live.
Thank you everyone for your sharings, truly inspiring.
Definelty why wait ,when we can claim the love that we are now and appreciate everything about ourselves and others. We can wait and waste time ,getting caught up with the many distractions of life ,or start to come back to appreciate the amazing beings that we are ,connected to gods breath and particles of the same . Thanks Nicole for sharing .
The preciousness of life is so often not appreciated and noticed yet it is always there in front of us wherever we turn. This is a beautiful blog bringing us back to the appreciation and love of ourselves, everyone and life itself in every moment, from our fullness of who we are, thank you Nicole.
I agree Kehinde that is does seem easy to just coast along. But I have found that this is such a trap. One that I fell for for many years. Yet even though I was coasting along thinking that I was improving my physical life, there was a restlessness that was relentless. I now realise that this was a call from my Soul as deep down I knew there was so much more to live and appreciate who I truly am, but I simply was choosing not to. ‘When we begin to appreciate all that we are, our potential within and the ‘so much more’ we can bring to our own lives and humanity, we can never live with regret.’ – beautifully said and so absolutely true.
It sounds like Nicole you have come to a new level of acceptance and appreciation of yourself and life. A great example of how life is forever deepening and actually never stays stagnant. There is NO END POINT of ‘I’ve arrived’ as there’s always MORE.
Love it Adele, I’d liked to see this written across our skies, oh thats right, it already is 🙂
I have often heard and also witnessed the quality in which we have lived is the quality with which we pass over. We do not give as much attention and celebration to passing over as we do to birth and yet it is a natural part of our cycle of return.
and preparation too Victoria. Although our whole life prepares us whether we are aware of it or not.
Thank you for sharing this intimate moment Nicole. Two things I immediately got from this was don’t hold back and don’t wait. Both I have been doing for long enough!
I can relate to this Vicky, we often come across people who have had a serious heart attack or life threatening cancer and wonder why they aren’t changing their lifestyle, when something big like that happens to them – so within us we know that these illnesses are a wake up call. But at the same time we sit back in our own comfort and tell ourselves if that were me i’d to this and that.
Nicole, it is kind of crazy how we wait for something to act as a trigger for us to finally live life in full. Illness or disease in particular are big triggers as can be certain life events like divorce or death of a loved one etc. The blessing is the fact that we get to feel we are indeed holding back. For if we don’t get to feel this, then how can we then instigate any change? And in the process of feeling all there is to feel, then we do get to appreciate all that there is to appreciate, and this too is the gift, the healing offered. Thank you for sharing this powerful reminder of never forgetting to appreciate all that is around us, and never holding back the all that we are.
Absolutely Brendan, the moment we realise, or more so, each time we choose to remember we actually always have everything we could ever want or need, and always have – that it’s all waiting inside of us to honour, cherish and share with all, then appreciation can not but become part of our daily diet.
‘When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.’ – powerful, wise and transformational words Nicole. It is so true as I can feel that the sadness we can live with is exactly that, from knowing that we are not living a ‘true life’ and our reaction to this leads us to seek comfort in ways that relieves the pain we feel from not living our true potential. This also exposes that the fear of death is actually an anxiety of realising that the opportunity of living a life that we were born to live has at that point in time passed. Yet in truth what remains is every opportunity through every breath, until that time comes, to live all that we truly are.
Gorgeously said Carola, living a life that is true to who we are, in honour of that Grace, then blessed be the steps we take back to where we’re from.
After reading your blog yesterday Nicole, I went for a walk and felt the appreciation of all that was on offer – how my body moved, the park – just an ordinary suburban park, but it seemed very beautiful and the people and pets playing there. As I walked, the joy within me seemed to grow. I had a gorgeous interaction with an elderly couple and their 2 poodle puppies. As I walked away, I realised that the world without my full expression in it, is incomplete, and how can I not be myself in full. It was an ‘Aha’ moment, and in it, I appreciated what I brought to the world and how I have an important part to play, just by being me in my fullness. I was confirmed in this again and again during the day. So thank you for expressing you in full, as it was this that inspired me to reflect and appreciate myself more.
Nicole this is such a deeply beautiful blog that raises the questions that I also know all too well but have not allowed myself to ponder and address in full what it in truth means for me. A powerful reminder of the responsibility we all have to live our amazingness, the All that we already are through our daily living, and appreciate our power as such. There can never be too much appreciation as everything in our lives are our opportunity, if we so choose, to deepen the degree of Soulful-ness that can be lived and celebrated to which there is no end. And it is our appreciation that confirms that which is true in ourselves, in others and our naturally loving way that brings Light to this world.
From the opening line, I could feel the response in me that said, yes to moments of deeply appreciating my life and everything around me, but deeply appreciating me? I can say I have not. This then poses the question how can I truly appreciate life and all that’s around me if that does not include me in it.
All the questions you ask here Nicole I too have asked myself many a time, and find it’s the injustice to myself in not allowing all of who I am out that is my deepest regret. Today I say no to any slightest niggling to appeal doubt, and yes to the fact I am where I am and that is beautiful. In appreciation Nicole Serafin for your prompt by the support of this writing to feel it so.
Thank you Nicole for sharing your ‘wake up call’ with us all. Every moment, every interaction, every opportunity that presents itself can be welcomed, appreciated and celebrated for all that it brings. This is the richness of a life well lived.
This blog is so simple yet it conveys a very powerful message to us all. It is so so normal to take life for granted and think everything is normal! But this is evil because when we start to live life like this we are not truly in the full joy of everything it offers, for how can we be if we are not appreciating all that is there before us?
‘Why is it that we wait until we may lose something that is precious to us to stop and really appreciate it? Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?’ Very important questions to ask and for us to truly ponder on Nicole.
I have a sense too, reading this again in your comment here Jenny, that the actioning of absolute appreciation will lead to a beautifully rich experiencing of life.
An older friend said to me once, ‘you only regret the things you didn’t do’ and there have been many choices I’ve made to not do things over the years that I could regret, but in looking back if I judge myself then it serves me naught because I can’t go back and have my time again. What I need to do is look forward – how was I living then that enabled me to make those choices and could I change the way I am living now? Then when I come back my new choices will be based on a firmer foundation.
Appreciating who we are is really something that we can all do, if we choose. Then there will never be any regrets.
If you do not appreciate yourself you can easily fall for comparison.
So true Rik! Then jealousy easily kicks in.
Yes, and it can happen so quickly, starting with the holding of a ‘less than’ or ‘more than’ perspective. As in ‘that person’s better than me’ or ‘I’m better than him or her’. We can be in comparison constantly and not even know it. A great one to catch.
And you can feel the difference between comparison and it’s evil twin, jealousy, and see how they are related. Serge Benhayon has presented jealousy as the self-fury we feel – projected on to the object of our jealousy – when that other reflects to us that which we have failed to live in ourselves. This is what Nicole has spoken of in this beautiful blog – the force we fear that prevents us from living the fullness of who we are. What mastery it is, to live who we are in full despite what comes back at us.
Timely reminder Rik. Thank you.
‘But why wait – why not just get on with it and live the love that I am now, instead of waiting any longer?’ What a great question, why do we wait? Could i be that it is more of a delay and avoidance that we are choosing until something happens which brings us to this awareness.
You’re right Michael, we do put off ’til tomorrow that which we could do today but I think we wait in part because of what Nicole spoke of and I reiterated below – jealousy. I would love to read a second blog from Nicole sharing how she has been able to live life in full without fear of what others think or say.
Absolutely incredible and truly inspiring conversation and sharing, thank you. You have inspired me Amber, Victoria and everyone to write another blog on jealousy, a huge topic, one that we are all very aware of and experience daily. It is something I am yet to conquer but feel I am no longer hiding as I did in fear of what may come at me, or what I may project on another, as I have learnt, jealousy is a two way street, one that I am now consciously choosing not to drive on, but do occasionally take a wrong turn on. I would love to share how I am now making different choices to no longer hold back who I am in fear of jealousy. Thank you for the ongoing love, support and inspiration.
Yes, to stand in your own light without needing everyone to agree is what is needed in this world. How else will we ever know that we come from a source of pure divinity!
This is such an inspiring blog Nicole…reading this made me look back at those times when I have been my natural, spontaneous joy-full self, and they have always been gorgeous, magical moments for all present …. which begs the question: why wouldnt I choose to live this way all of the time?
Well said Brendan…there are no excuses for not living our full potential: it is simply our choice to not do so.
You have reminded me to also appreciate the little thing such as the moonlight through the window. I find I sometimes need reminding of this. Thank you Nicole.
Thanks Heidi. The simple small things are almost always overlooked. There is so much to appreciate. Awesome reminder.
It’s true. Life is full of such magical moments. I caught the moonlight through the window just the other morning and it was gorgeous. I also love looking at organised and harmonious rooms. Or people’s eyes. There is so much to appreciate if we take the time to notice.
The fact that you have gone deeper here Nicole and delved to what you are truly afraid of is such an opportunity to heal, as you are. So many times we hear or feel afraid of dying but dying is something that we have done so many times, to look further into what we are afraid of is inspirational Nicole.
“I came to realise that it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back and having not lived in and from the absolute glory that I am” these words are a very poignant reminder Nicole, that we should live each moment without putting off until tomorrow what can be done right now, because before too long an entire lifetime has passed by and we find ourselves right back where we started. And it seems that we just love to prevaricate and procrastinate and take things for granted until something bad comes along to bring us back to the reality of our choices. I also had a bit of a health scare a while ago and I had the same feeling as you, it wasn’t the dying I was afraid of it was the coming back to another life in the same place as I left this one and having to start all over again when I knew in my heart that I could be much more.
A gorgeous blog Nicole…beautifully expressed and a very valid point for us all to stop and consider: do we truly appreciate ourselves and our life every day?
What beautiful exposee of how we can let the mind nudge us into delaying the full appreciation of who we truly are: it’s rather a sick attitude when looked at in this way. I love how you have concluded that your choice is to pass over in the fullness of a life well lived in the glory of you, Nicole.
Yes it does Brendan. When we make life about the material and depend on it to make us happy we will never have enough. However we can lead abundant lives with very little – it’s all in the appreciation!
So very few of us stop to contemplate how we will feel before we die. I know when I pass over I will want to know that I have lived my life as fully and as complete as possible with no regrets too. Appreciation is a beautiful quality to connect to every day. When we can appreciate the small things as well as the big things, life feels abundant and there are no regrets at all. Appreciation and the expression of it supports us to make the most of every moment and in this quality each day feels complete – just as a life will feel when it comes to its end if appreciation has been lived.
All my life I was afraid of dyeing. As a young child I did cry by night, afraid of dying in the sleep. In fact I was not afraid of dying but of becoming death. So, not the process frightens me but the status of ‘not being’ anymore. My identification with ‘this life’ was very strong and I thought I will be totally away when this body will die.
Now I know that I am not this body. It is an instrument of expression. When I will die the part of me who choose how to express will stays and find a new body one day to go on. So I am the one who will inherit what I created and left on this planet. No way out of responsibility here. So I found my ‘fear’ of dying was just a trick to hold me busy while choosing irresponsibility. Did work for a while….But. As we all I am longing for love and one day (and in fact every day) there comes the moment where I choose the love to express instead of waiting for the love to ‘find me’. That’s the moment I take responsibility. The moment of love. To make this a constant choice and develop a foundation appreciation is key. It makes us solid in graceful way.
Nicole this is an important blog. I have felt these moments too when you realise you have not been appreciating all that is already there. The beauty is that you felt the reality that you had not brought all of you to each moment, this is amazing, because you have a clear and known choice moving forwards. No regrets.
I’ve found appreciation is greater in it’s nourishment than any meal we can cook ourselves. That connection to and appreciation of my essence sits behind any choice I make, and so the more I appreciate myself for who I truly am, the more easily I say no to the things that don’t support me. Appreciation is an essential part of life.
Realising that with every moments a new moment and with every new lifetime we have the opportunity to have another go to evolve so that “… I can now make the choice to live me in each and every moment, re-connecting to my body and making choices from there, without fear of what others may think or perceive, and no longer shying away from potential jealousy”, is so amazing.
I was on a palliative care course the other day and it was discussed how the conversation of death is not generally in people’s conversations in today’s society. We have medicalised death, taken it out of most people’s homes, made it a taboo subject so that if an accident suddenly tragically happens, people are completely unprepared, have not made wills, do not have their wishes written down anywhere or haven’t even discussed it their loved ones. It comes as such a shock, like we have forgotten we are all going to die, but we can live our lives preparing for our deaths without any regrets as you say so beautifully Nicole, when we take the blinkers off. Living in this way really helps us to appreciate how we live.
And with that 100% focus, the 95% cannot help but grow..
“When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.”-
Well claimed Nicole. It has made me also ponder on why I too hold myself back from being all that I am . Thank you for your inspiring blog and reminding us of the importance and power of appreciation.
“shying away from potential jealousy” is maybe the biggest factor for holding back our expression. I am again and again shocked when I found out how much I hold back because of jealousy. I found that by learning to truly appreciate, honor and celebrate who we all are and our expressions is to weaken the source of jealousy and comparison.
And on the basis that we feel everything, we feel that regret in the gap between how we are living and our potential all the time. Its one of the big reasons that we need all these other things to make us feel better. Why not just live our potential?!
Thank you for sharing so openly and lovingly Nicole. Deep appreciation can be felt in every word you express here. Mortality has a way of reminding us that it is foolish to ‘wait until later’.
That’s huge Janet – for you, for me, and all of us. There is always a reason why things happen and the present us with an opportunity no matter how difficult the learning.
Great wake up call Nicole – what stuck with me is the words that dying might not be what we are truly scared of, it’s living in the full light of who we truly are. That fear is just something planted in our minds, once perhaps real, but the light of who we are is so much stronger than any outside threat.
Well said Matts. I think death isn’t the scary part cause deep down we know reincarnation is real. The not living our light hurts us more then anything.
Almost as if we are stuck – we are afraid of letting our light out, to stick our neck out and say what we deep within feel, to letting ourselves be ourselves, fully blossoming, and at the same time we dread the repercussions when we don’t do that, which is feeling that we are living a life that doesn’t feel full, waking up every morning not feeling abundantly sparkly and at the end of our lives we’re not sure how to let go because we think that this life is the only one we get, when that is so far from the truth as it gets. What if we were taught that we do come back, that we live life after life until we understand what life is truly about. What an ease when we get older to know that when I feel I’m done I can let go to start afresh, I don’t have to hang in there to get as old as I can just because I can. BUT – also knowing that I will return to the quality of life I left in so tending to our innate delicacy is well worthwhile from our first til our last breath.
” BUT – also knowing that I will return to the quality of life I left in so tending to our innate delicacy is well worthwhile from our first til our last breath.” To true Matts, this makes all the difference to how we view life, and death. What we choose and don’t choose completely changes the perspective and how we view the quality of our lives.
True Emily!
Illness is such a blessing to us in so many ways. I know myself when I become quite ill I also become much more humble and gentle with those around me. Pain is a great antidote for arrogance in my case!
katechorley yes I have experienced the blessing of an injury that bought me to a stop and life seems to get magnified back to me so I got the messages the body had been trying to communicate and the appreciation felt for the grace the body showed me was very humbling indeed. Illness is indeed a blessing from our body to offer us a point of return.
Also I understand how death, be it a scare of your own, or someone close to you dying, can bring a great appreciation for the little things. The simple things. Mum won’t see another spring, and just listening to the birds this morning was so beautiful – the world is waking up after its winter slumber, and that is just such a precious sound!
It’s a real blessing when life nudges us into waking up from our slumber and deepening our awareness of all there is to appreciate. Thank you for sharing Simon.
Yes Simon, the simple things in life are so precious and worth appreciating in this very moment.
I’ve just spent 2 days appreciating and celebrating my Mum’s life. And it does bring home exactly what you are sharing here Nicole… how there is so much to appreciate about anyone, and even though I had been spending alot of time with her, and making a point to celebrate all the love she had around her when she was alive, there was still so much more that came to light when talking with all these people from her life. It was incredible, and its right there in front of each and every one of us.
Thank you for your sharing Simon. Reading your comment I realised that with appreciation there is always more to feel. The potential to take appreciation deeper is always there for us.
Yes Nicole, I also love and appreciate these moments of waking and listening to the familiar sounds in the darkness and being still enough during the day to do the same. It is very confirming of the inter-connectedness of everything weaving its way through our life.
“Lying in bed at night in the silence of the darkness, with the glimmer of the moon lighting up my home with just enough light to make out what surrounded me, I observed the simple things, like hearing the crickets, and the sound of our children rolling over in their bed via the monitor next to my own”.
“… I came to realise that it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me…” thank you for your honest sharing Nicole, powerfully expressed you give much to ponder upon and appreciate.
There comes a point when the laws of reincarnation may start to be considered, and if so, then they need to be taken in to account for our worldly existence, because if we have had many families before, and will have again many families thereafter this one, then we might begin to question why do we allow ourselves to become so attached to any one family that it brings panic and fear at the thought of departing from this life and in to the next, when in fact that departing could be a stupendous opportunity to heal, and to begin again with all that you have learnt and experienced – knowing that the karma you have created in this life will be with you in your next, and therefore you will most likely be welcomed back in again with loving arms. This is more than trusting in the great cycles of life, this is re-connecting to your deep knowing of how the universe works.
Nicole, thank you. There is a sense of being deeply touched and inspired by this powerful, reflective blog on the awareness of how you have been living far less than you truly are. A loving wake up call for us all.
‘I realised that I can now make the choice to live me in each and every moment, re-connecting to my body and making choices from there, without fear of what others may think or perceive, and no longer shying away from potential jealousy.’ Thank you Nicole for sharing this, the amount of delay that we allow because of our fear of what others may think or how they may react is huge. Today I am inspired to choose living all of me and appreciating the choices I am making.
Stunning and powerful Nicole thank you, your expression is so humble and open and has left me pondering on exactly the same thing — how much more there is to appreciate within me and share with the world at large. i can also feel how it is this sadness we inevitably feel, the fact that we create all the reasons and set-ups to hold back that keeps us from embodying our love in full. Awesome to read this at this point in time.
This is so true Katerina that we create delays that hold us back from living in the power of our Light. All these beliefs are not real as when we walk in the power of knowing who we are they are rendered non-existent.
That’s the key Carola, thanks for the reminder just before I put myself to sleep 🙂 It’s in the knowing and accepting from our bodies the grandest of who we are — in that acceptance all created issues are rendered naught.
It is very easy to coast, become complacent, content living just under the radar, do just enough to get by, but only for ourselves and our immediate families. But this limits us. When we begin to appreciate all that we are, our potential within, and the ‘so much more’ we can bring to our own lives and humanity, we can never live with regret. Health ‘stops’, for whatever reason, offer space to more deeply reflect on our lives.
Nicole, it is wonderful to re-read your blog, this stood out for me today, ‘Why is it we do not make the choice to live each and every moment in absolute appreciation of everything that we are?’ I can feel that if we lived in appreciation everyday that this would change everything, no focussing on the problems or issues, but an appreciation for ourselves and the people in our lives, I can feel reading this that there is so much in life to appreciate, it is wonderful to have this reminder Nicole, thank you.
There is so much to appreciate, and it is the smallest of things that we do need to appreciate, particularly where we have made signicant changes in how we are with ourselves. For many of us, being gentle with ourselves was a foreign concept before it was presented to us by Serge Benhayon. Now, we are not only gentle with ourselves and others, but tender, delicate and precious. That is massive, and needs to be appreciated in full for how it has impacted our lives, and those around us.
We can wait for a major health scare to change our ways or we can create a stop moment and question, is this way I live enough or do I have far more potential, this then brings the bigger question of what we are here for. If we are here to reflect to others love, care and show deep intimacy then that is something we can all enact now, there is nothing to wait for and it is only a question of how much we are willing to show.
I can easily recall those “if only” and “I’ll be happy when” moments Brendan, blaming what I didn’t have for what was going on in my life, which in turn simply held me in the same miserable spot for many years. Taking responsibility for my life has removed the need to blame, the delaying tactics are slowly disappearing so it’s no surprise that the quality of my life is gradually improving.
Thank you for the wake up call Nicole with the reminder that life is for living to its fullest in every single moment and not putting it off until tomorrow. It’s amazing, but also very sad, that it takes a scare of some form to wake us up, propelling us into changing one behaviour, letting go of another or simply choosing to expand our awareness of all that is going on around us, moment by moment. Life is so precious and not to be taken for granted, but to be celebrated every single day.
It is sad that it at times takes a huge scare to awake us from the slumber we have fallen into. We are Divinely blessed to have walking amongst us Serge Benhayon, a man who by walking the Light we all are inspires so many to awaken themselves so they too can walk the way of Love we all were born to walk together.
I love the word ‘celebration’ Ingrid, each moment is a moment celebrate who we are. I agree, this blog is a definite wake up call and gives much to ponder and digest about how much we may be holding back in life. I am a sucker for the ‘leave it till tomorrow’ syndrome – but feel this can change in a moment if I call this line out for the delay it is. Why delay when it’s all here for us to live now?
Having no regrets is an amazing way to experience every moment of everyday.
Regrets are pointless and leave us feeling like we have failed. We can certainly learn from an experience and make sure we don’t repeat whatever it was, but given we cannot wind back the clock and have that time again, having regrets changes nothing. In fact, it keeps us stuck in the past, and we miss out on what is on offer right here and now.
Same here Sueq2012, we all know how strong negative thoughts can be and have in a way become more familiar and comfortable with those thoughts more than we are with appreciation – maybe it’s time to experience appreciation and make that our normal.
Nicole this is such a powerful and deeply moving blog. I felt tears as I read your words as I could feel how much I have chosen to not fully claim and live the all that I am. More recently I have come to the understanding and true knowing that the only thing that ever holds us back is ourselves, nothing more. What you share here shows how important it is for all of us to not hold back who we are but to absolutely claim who we are and live that love in full.
Ah ha Joseph you throw the truth into our face so to speak – we can even bastardise something so beautiful as appreciation by writing it on our to-do-list or as you so wonderfully describe: ” . . . a momentary add-on to our ‘existing’ life . . . “
There is a wonder in health scare stops. Love steps so close that our body builds something strong enough to finally stop us in our waywardness.
A gorgeous comment Felix – our body is always bringing us to more love.
This is such a beautiful U turn on our view of illness and disease…How many people really appreciate to the depths as you have described here of the wonder of a health scare.
Nicole what a wonderful reminder for us: “When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.” How many people can say they pass over like this??? I guess there are not so many – Thank you for not holding back to show us that appreciation is something we can turn on a great bit more . . .
So agree esteraltmiks and deeply appreciate what Nicole has shared. Time to up the ante on appreciation and see that life isn’t in the waiting, but is happening right now.
I agree, never enough because it also gives us the ability to appreciate others too, and we can never have enough of that.
Very true Marika, it is much more common to mock and belittle each other. I always say, one person can make a difference so if we don’t join in it shows others that they don’t need to join in, there is another way.
Yes, this is really interesting, when we get on with life it becomes less about self and more about service.
Yes why? And why do we go back to an old comfortable way of living when we get over the appreciating?
Those significant moments can be the things that happen when we laugh and cry, when we are well and sick. The ups and downs make it seem as if the fluctuation of good and bad is just how it is but if we see the things that happen to us as opportunities to evolve, accepting and appreciating the big and small just as much as the significant and insignificant then the drama disappears and appreciation gets a new stage.
Divine blog Nicole. I have been there and that was my turning point. I am not ready to go, I haven’t been me yet!!! I still find myself discovering deeper and deeper layers of this appreciation and not holding back, thank you so much for taking a moment to write this blog for all of us who need a reflection of what it is to deeply appreciate the gift we have in every moment of every day. So I say to myself and anyone else who feels they are not quite done yet… Start by getting to know yourself and what it is that only you can bring to this world, get to know yourself in stillness without any distractions and then don’t hold love back…Look out world!
“ .. a feeling that deep down I knew how to live in the fullness of who I am but thinking there was no rush, that I had plenty of time to do so later.” Reading this line I was so very keen to add to it and agree with you. It was so easy to write a line about why I delay me and my amazingness, then, to write with deep appreciation on why it is important to live the fullness of who I am. I love people, and it hurts to see how many people are struggling or not aware of who they are and how to connect to love.
I realised instead of focusing on how much it hurts to see people ‘driving around’ unaware, I need to appreciate this life, and all my next lives I am returning home – I have found the truth again. My life’s quality is improving day by day. The more I live this and choose to evolve by the simple confirmation through appreciation, I will be living proof that there is another way, no more struggle and pain only if I choose it.
I loved that line also Rik, as I too have rested on a similar notion of a; ‘yeah I’ll get there eventually type of attitude’ which got me to pondering, if I truly feel the enormity of who I am AND that it is actually my responsibility to live that in the world, why would I not make it priority to do so? What it reveals for me is in fact it is only through appreciation of all that I am that I support myself to stop the ‘wait’, and simply get on with it, and THAT feels great.
Thank you, Nicole, for this beautiful blog. You ask a very important question and one that deserves our attention. I hear people all the time at the end of their life asking the question about why they waited so long to say this, do that or allow something else. If we were to embrace the knowing that we are going to die/pass-over early on in life it would support us to be more responsible for the way that we choose to live. The denial of death/pass-over feeds our irresponsibility and our inability to deeply appreciate the opportunity to heal and evolve that our life offered.
“When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.” There really is so much to appreciate in our lives everyday and for me it’s in the small things that make up my days, but it’s also a great reminder that every moment counts to be all that we are and deeply cherish the amazingness we bring. Thank you Nicole for another stellar blog.
Regret and self-criticism are just more ways of delaying and not being fully present with the current moment. Appreciating the gift of this moment will allow greater presence and connection – and will do more to dissolve the past hurts than all the mulling over, and regret will ever be able to.
So true Annie
Yes Annie, regret and self-criticism are energy zappers and can be self-indulgent also. Great to see what there is to learn from a situation and then move on. There is always something to appreciate when we are present with ourselves.
Ah so true Annie – if we are not indulging in delay then we are indulging in regret and self-berating – which is just more delay! What a yucky cycle of comfort and excuse. Appreciation is a language that we are not taught or really exposed to in life, yet it is one of our most natural expressions. Whenever I give myself a moment to express appreciation I am usually blown away by the effects it has on my body and wellbeing.
Beautiful Annie greater presence and connection and appreciation of this is the anedote to all our ills.
having moments to appreciate what is really awesome in ourselves and in life is a must. By not having that it is like leaving the pizza base when making a pizza. 😉
What I connected with Nicole is the truth that when I make my life about me, it becomes very small and when I appreciate who and what I am surrounded by, there is a natural expansion that has me included in the larger scheme of things. This supports my wellbeing enormously.
Beautiful Bernadette, I’m just beginning to appreciate the same.
Totally with you Bernadette. A very wise lady recently reminded me that our reflection is for others and not for ourselves. All we have been given and blessed with is there to reflect back to others the glory they also are but may not be choosing. The more we accept this, and embody it in our day to day, the more our lives are filled with absolute grace.
Thank you Katerina, there is no doubt that we are all connected, we are universal and as I become more aware of this my reflection becomes a responsibility and a joy.
Agreed Karoline, this is a stand out sentence from Joseph. I know I have underestimated the power of appreciation. I can appreciate what I see through my eyes, but it really changes very little. But when I live in a way where I appreciate all of my choices as well as everything that I have learnt and am continuing to learn, about the way that I have and am living (both great and not so great), life begins to open up in a whole new way.
Roslyn, your comment stopped me as I considered what you’ve offered us ‘Time slips by and when is later?’ – great question and it has me asking what exactly is that later we’re waiting for? When is a good time? And what are those things we’re waiting to fall into place before we live life in the fullness of who we are? Those questions I feel are so pertinent and as I write I feel how they apply to me and how I’ve been playing the later game, looking for something else to be in place and it’s just a game, and as Nicole’s blog beautifully shows there is no time like now, and later is a trick, there is just now, and the choice is do we choose love and the fullness of us living in that love or not?
Yes Susan, we’re lost when we play with ‘time’. It’s another aspect of that game of later, as ‘time’ becomes a convenient excuse as to why we’re not there. The simple truth we’re choosing delay and ‘time’ is the ally we use to allow this, and it’s such a waste of time!
This blog is gold for me and where I am at at the moment, so a huge thank you Nicole and to others for their valuable comments. Your reflections crystallised for me the knowing that I don’t feel like I am living my life to the fullest expression of what is there inside of me to be lived. So questions such as why wait, what more could I be doing and what is holding me back are ones I am now re-visiting.
Great point Susan. I have lived a full life, doing lots of things, but still felt very empty that I needed to do and achieve more. Now I am so much more content in myself, that my need to achieve has subsided, because I live all of me to the best of my ability in any situation or moment. There is definitely more beauty in life in living this way.
I did that for a short time Fumiyo and recall appreciating the very loving way in which I put my socks on before I went out for a walk on a cold morning. Since then putting my socks on has never been quite the same and it really stands out if I am rushing or on automatic pilot. Imagine if we noted and appreciated everything during our day. It would change everything.
Yes setting new markers for all our everyday activities that it is so easy to go into automatic pilot doing rather than appreciating the loving care and tenderness we can bring to everything.
It’s important to appreciate every opportunity our bodies give us to heal our old ways and issues, be this through bloating, banging our toes or falling seriously ill – all of these things are great ‘stop’ moments for us to learn something if we take the opportunity.
That is a profound observation that the knowing that we have not lived the fullness of who we are is what actually brings the discomfort, not the fear of dying. And although it seems to become highlighted and is in our face when we think we are running out of time, that awareness of us living a fraction of who we are must be there all the time 24/7 whilst we keep trying to ignore it.
Absolutely Monica. I recently attended my grandma’s funeral and was speaking to her closest friend about what she (my grandma) had thought there was after death, and she told us that she was skeptical about what happened to her spirit or ‘being’ but wanted to make sure that she had left with incredible relationships, doing the most she could to support others and leave a legacy of care. She did this very well, and was an amazing woman.
Susie, very beautiful, and tangible if we leave a legacy of care and true relationships as your grandmother did, we share us with the world. And your appreciation of your grandmother is a testament to both of you, and shows that no matter where we are and how we live we can nurture our relationships with ourselves and others.
Nicole your sharing is quite profound. Working with people who are dying and their families I see and feel what you have shared. For the most part we are not afraid of dying, but we are filled with regrets of the choices we did not make. Grieving has it’s foundations here too. But it’s never about the things we did and did not do (like ticking things off a bucket list) but it’s about living all of who we are. Beautiful blog. Thank you.
Beautifully expressed Jennifer, and it blows the lid off the fear of dying. There is so much more to life and death than what we narrowly think there is…..the more we embrace all that life is meant to be and live in full, not holding back the love we are, the more we come to know from the authority of our own bodies that death is another chapter, another stop-point in an enormous cycle that we are continuously in, in order to fully return to a soulful way of living.
I love what you share here Jennifer, that we are not really afraid of dying but filled with regrets of the choices we did not make. This shows that we know deep inside us what our true purpose is and we are regretting another lifetime wasted, wanting to hold on to it as if we could reverse it instead of just letting go and surrendering to the fact that we are coming back and always have a choice. A choice to evolve.
Yes a very profound blog that cuts to the chase of our sadness and regret. Quite simply, when we hold back it hurts as I have learned. Learning to live all of who I am has been a game changer. It’s still a work in progress but it has changed how I feel dramatically. I can echo your words Jennifer – Beautiful blog.
Beautiful sharing Jen. This is definitely a truth, people regret not living all of who they are, and being love with the people around them when they are dying. This is something we could all learn but seem to be too busy to apply it to our daily lives.
Thank you for sharing that Jennifer – so simple and very beautiful – “…it’s never about the things we did and did not do (like ticking things off a bucket list) but it’s about living all of who we are.”
Yes Jennifer, often the regrets are of what has been left unsaid the expressing of the love and appreciation we have for each other and not appreciating the true purpose of our choice to be here. We are just passing through.
Jennifer, this is beautiful thank you. It confirms to me that living all of who we are supports us all the way through our lives. Imagine everyone at the end of their lives having no regrets, that would certainly be something worth celebrating.
True living 😉
The wisdom of your words Jennifer gives us all an opportunity to discard delay, and fully claim the wonder of who we are.
Thank you for reminding me to appreciate life and myself. I often forget to stop and appreciate the small things in life that are equally magical as the bigger things. Appreciation can be applied to everything and to all areas of life.
So many of us may relate to gazing at the stars or admiring a beautiful flower or a delicate bird. But if we do not feel the same level of admiration and care for ourselves, what is this appreciation really about? Everything in science and life is pointing us towards the undeniable fact that we are souls, whose majesty and grace extends way beyond just what we can see. It seems to me like a magnificent diamond, the biggest ever found, gazing at a simple stone and saying “wow – so beautiful, I wish this beauty was me!”. How deeply are we misled to mistake our true quality? Thank you Nicole for this blog and the reminder that life is not too short at all, but actually full of moments just waiting for us to realise and appreciate how powerfully we shine.
Beautiful comment Joseph and yes there are many opportunities throughout our day to truly appreciate not only our own magnificent beauty but the immense beauty in other people too. Why wait for the big wobbles to wake us up to how amazing we all are and how precious our lives are. Learning to appreciate everything we take for granted restores the magic to life, for example, how amazing it is that we can communicate through this forum and build friendships with one another even though we live thousands of miles away. How glorious is that!
Beautifully said Joseph. We easily admire the outer beauty of something that surrounds us instead of knowing that everything is the reflection of our own and that the beauty of the stars or nature’s beauty lies in reflecting us the universal order to which we belong to.
When I gaze in wonder at the stars or admire a beautiful flower I don’t go into comparison with them (if we do that we are not in appreciation), but in appreciation they support me to connect to the grandness and delicacy that `I am from and that I am. That’s why I love appreciating these things, because when I am appreciating these things, in truth I am really appreciating myself and I am expanding more into the essence of myself that these things are reflecting.
Great point Joseph, we can all agree that the stars and forces of nature are amazing, but we do not consider ourselves to be similarly great and wonderful. We are walking, talking miracles, and can have just as much of an effect on the world around us as the moon does to the tides and seasons – we should appreciate both of these things!
‘How deeply are we misled to mistake our true quality?’ Awesome question Joseph. Self bashing often comes much easier to us than self appreciation and Nicole has offered us a much needed reminder that there is so much in our lives and ourselves to appreciate.
It is a key comment Julie, well highlighted and a sign of a truly successful life. What more can we want than to reach the moment of passing over and know that we have lived life in our fullness, loved, cherished and appreciated everyone and everything in it with no regrets. There can be no better way to say goodbye to our life and all those we love with a full heart, ready for the next unknown step of our journey.
Yes jacqmcfadden04, i wrote that down the other day too… appreciating my choice ‘to truly heal’. To truly heal is to surrender, and there’s nothing more beautiful than to have this (surrender) in the body and in one’s approach to whole life.
And.. ” I came to realise that it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me, and the sadness was from the regret of holding back and having not lived in and from the absolute glory that I am.” Is this the absolute defeat of a lie that has continued to be lived by so many? Yes of course there is so much to regret about holding back, yet to me the actual feeling of ‘regret’ is holding us back further. Time to deeply enjoy who we are once again – whilst letting go the excruciating pain of having left our absolute love and glory. Nevertheless – we can change and time never stands still (or at least we do not), so let’s evolve and heal our hurts and accept the glory to be ours – again.
Agree with you Nico, i can also feel the sadness in not living in full the love i deeply know i am within.. and being this with others also. To feel this as you say, is a great start and gives the green light or impetus to really just go for it. Feeling really inspired to make those choices of appreciation.
A great reminder about the futility of delay and the regret it carries right behind it.
Well said Cathy – a waste of that oh so precious resource time.
A great summary Cathy – love the simplicity in your delivery!
Absolutely amazing blog, thank you Nicole Serafin. Your truth is the absolute purity that is inside each one of us.
I also agree with you Alex, to not spare or store things for later, and to develop appreciation as the mainstay constant of whole life itself…. yes, I’ve found appreciating the big and the small to be something/an activity that helps to be able to let go more of irritations that would otherwise stop me from seeing the beauty of life (and appreciation). There’s a freeness with appreciation of oneself, and of others too. Having read this blog today, i see just how much deeper appreciation can be.
Appreciation should be a daily exercise. Appreciation is the moments where we realise we are bigger than us!
Absolutely Harry. I have had a few of these lately and it is literally like a lightbulb turning on.
Absolutely harryjwhite. I’ve always appreciated looking up at the stars at night and seeing the vastness around me. We are universally bigger than our bodies. That’s an amazing appreciation to hold in itself.
Ah so true Harry, appreciation is like a prayer of thanks when we realise we come from something so much bigger than just us.
Great blog Nicole. People don’t realise how valuable appreciation is! It’s not common for people to appreciate and live each day in joy! Why is it called for only when there is something life threatening?
It is as though we wait for a crisis to put a stop to our unloving choices that can, for some, border on self destruction. And I have also asked myself the very same question: why do we wait until things get so bad that we do have to sit up and listen? Why not sooner, how come we can be so complacent?
Beautifully said Joseph and I agree Karoline & Hannah – that’s a powerful line, a paradigm shift from appreciating as an add-on, now and then, to it being an integral part of living.
And … no one can appreciate yourself like you do.I can bathe in a bath of love and confirmation, just like I experience at Universal Medicine when Serge Benhayon presents, or be in the zone at work and performing at a high level, but If I am not in constant appreciation and actually clocking it in my body, I can walk out more aligned but soon can drop in to comfortable ways again. As said above it is a way of living and something that was deeply missing from my life.
A beautiful analogy Joseph that like Nicole’s words, supports in truly surrendering to live in deep appreciation of the beauty all around and within ourselves and to embrace that fully in the way we live from here in.
The prospect of death can be such an enlivening experience. Sounds odd but I have witnessed this and as so beautifully expressed by my partner some years back “I am having more ‘fun’ dying than most people are having living”. But why do we feel we have to wait to give ourselves permission to express ourselves and our appreciation in full?
Love what you share here, the beauty of death as a point of starting a new cycle, one of deepening our evolution back to our divine origins.
“When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am” – ‘appreciation over regret’ what an inspiration Nicole, so focused and solid.
Its a powerful line Zofia, no doubt. If we were to truly consider that in our everyday then there would be many different choices.. for me, for those I know, for humanity. So why don’t we?
Absolutely… it is just an excuse we indulge in to avoid taking responsibility for living the love we are, preferring instead to remain in the shadows of the comfort of playing small rather than the true magnificience we can be and live in full.
Thank you for your honesty Nicole. I know I have often bargained with time which is a delay tactic so as to not simply be and live all that I am / we are able to right here and now. The illusion of time, our own creation exposes us.
I can relate Victoria to this bargaining game we play, it is so silly as if we can fool the whole natural order of the universe and walk to a different tune.
Yes Jenny, and this explains so much of the disharmony we then meet in our own bodies and we create in the world around us when we are going against the natural rhythm and order of the universe.
Which then in turn shows us, how illness can be a great blessing.
‘When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.’ Yes Nicole, this is so great because it is about how you have lived, not what deeds you have achieved or ticked off the bucket list.
So true Michelle. It seems to be that bucket lists are hugely in fashion at the moment and I can feel this just gets in the way of us seeing and appreciating what we have in our lives now, in this moment.
Thank you Michelle. I can also feel that bucket lists are just another way we choose to look outside of ourselves for ‘fillers’ at the risk of devaluing everything that is precious within and around us.
Absolutely Sue… every moment of our life matters and to delay truly living it in full is to abdicate the responsibility of living the enormity of who we are and all of what that brings… an utter disservice to ourselves and others.
Adam and Janet, what you are both sharing here (as is Nicole) is incredibly profound. This is a whole new way of looking at life – as an opportunity to heal and evolve. I hope you are both appreciating what you are offering ;-). Life is often looked at- as you say Adam – as something to be conquered or survived until retirement (or death). To look at life about healing – so every situation/moment there is an opportunity to look at what is truly being presented and see why you are in reaction, or hurt etc…. and that it is a gift to heal a hurt you have been carrying that stops you from living you in your fullness. Now that’s a new (or ancient) way of looking at life. And one that takes courage and honesty but one that is incredibly rewarding.
Deeply felt Nicole, thank you for sharing. We will never truly be ready to leave this earth if we have not truly lived as you say from the absolute glory that we are. We have so much to appreciate and share with each other. An inspiring reminder to live each and every moment expressing the love we are to the best of our ability.
Yes, well said Victoria and we will never be ready to leave this earth when we don’t embrace our divine origins and the fact that we are on earth and not from earth. Our glory is our divinity expressed in human form with the purpose of getting out of here and not making it about the human life.
So true Victoria and thank you for such a beautiful blog Nicole which is such a great reminder to fully appreciate each and every loving moment, even the tiniest ones, in our lives
Yes, I’m with you Jane and Victoria, beautiful what you’re reminding us of along with Nicole — how much there is to be appreciate and be joyful about and how important it is to share this joy with everyone around us.
There is and what I realise is it is always a choice to see it or not.
Your words are beautiful Alex and I can relate to Nicole’s words initiating an openness and expansion in myself too, to live more than I choose… for they serve as a magnifying glass shining a light on my life to expose what I have not been living and to support me to appreciate more deeply than I was before.
I started to read your blog this morning Nicole as I could feel a heaviness in my body and the onset of illness. Immediately I stopped the rhythm of drive I had been caught up in and started to deeply care for myself. As I read your blog I could feel how much I also feel regret at not living my full potential and wonder what I am waiting for.
We waste so much time concerning ourselves about what others may think and perceive or how they may react. It is interesting that these concerns dissolve and become insignificant once we consider that death is imminent.
Yes, everything changes when a loved one has a terminal illness and death is imminent.
I found this with my own parents. It was an opportunity to get my personal issues out of the way and really connect to what was important- being the love that I am and letting them in.
Yes, it certainly puts things into perspective! Imagine if we lived this way all of the time?
Yes it would be a different life we would live. What’s wonderful is, yes it feels very painful not living all we are but we can choose to live who we are in a moment.
So if we hold death as this big bad uh oh, is it that we are simply disconnecting from the truth we deep down know that death is passing over, not the end, but to begin again? Perhaps it is time for hopping off the merry-go-round!
All the issues seem to disappear Carmin, showing us they were never issues in the first place.
Why does it take the possibility of dying to bring us to a STOP? Good Question – It seems to be a common human trait! But you’ve hit the nail on the head I feel Nicole: It’s because we know that up until that point we’ve been cruising and not living and being ALL that we know that we are. The beauty is that in any moment we can choose to change.
Yes Shevon when we have a moment that presents that it will all be taken away from us in those flash backs we feel are all that we have lived. We feel that we have short changed ourselves because we weren’t All of who we are and we freak out because we don’t want to go out on such a note. The answer to this is why wait as you say, each moment we have choice so making those changes to be All of who we are is what we deep down truly want. Serge Benhayon has been a massive inspiration in living this and has shared how to be who we naturally are and it has been a blessing to be able to experience and understand this for myself.
A powerful reminder of our mortality… and our potential to waste time and live small until we get a confronted by a timely wake up call… reminding us we are so much more and we just need to choose it. Thank you for your deeply honest sharing that I have no doubt will wake up many to look at the true beauty and enormity they are not choosing to live.
Agree. We all know what is true for us and what is not. The question is, when are we going to start living this wisdom?
“The true beauty and enormity they are not choosing to live” is an enormous phrase Samantha. We all have this and yet constantly reject it – a real eye opener to know that we are choosing our misery and that it is not necessary to do this – it is just a matter of choice!
I agree Samantha – in the moment we realise our physical life may come to an end everything that is ‘not true’ drops away, there is only ‘Love’. This truth exists regardless of our state of health and never changes. It also makes me aware of how we allow ourselves to live a ‘distracted’ life. Instantly there are questions – what is it we allow to get in the way? what are we afraid of? Some questions for me to ponder.
This is a deeply powerful reminder to all that there is no time to waste, no reason to delay in living the fullness of all that we are. When we are not living this we are robbing ourselves and all around us of the amazing beings we are.
which is heart-wrenching for us to really feel — perhaps why we go around and around not really appreciating what we truly are and have, taking life for granted until it looks such a wake up call. Our mortality is a blessing — it knocks out the arrogance and irresponsibility we choose to live with.
Truly awesome, yes Joseph.
And in the regret, thinking about what we could have, should have done we get stuck thinking about the past instead of embracing and living in the moment.
Rosie great you bring this up, I’ve often had regrets and indulged in them, but as you say that goes no-where, it just keeps you on a loop in the past and we miss on the moment in that – so great reminder.
Very good point Fumiyo. It’s not just the highlights that can be appreciated, but the simple things around us all the time that we have gotten so used to that we are not even aware of them. I grew up sailing around the world and we never had a washing machine, hot running water or a fridge. I still get kicks out of using all of these things at home and so appreciate them, but to someone else it’s just normal.
And then I ask, why do we put off living our lives in its fullness because I just know that when I do live with no regrets, with appreciation, with no holding back and just being all of me, life is so grand that I question why don’t I chose this all the time. I guess the concept of that we have lots of time, or we will get to that later is part of the delay but we really do miss out on a whole lot of joy and glory that way.
I like this, because even the illness or disease can be appreciated as it is often a stop moment, a change in the course of ones life and you can look at it with dread or you can see it for the opportunity that it is.
Why wait? I know that when I had my health scare, 2 years ago now, I had similar feelings and you start to realise what really is important and what do we waste our time on and get distracted with. Why wait, I ask, because we can live each day to its fullest regardless if we have a health scare or not and if we don’t, then it is not only us that is missing out but everyone we come into contact with because we are either living in our fullness with all of us or we are just living a part of us, a contracted part of us that is just busting to come out and shine.
We wait because we arrogantly believe it will not happen to us, and when it does we are flabbergasted by its occurrence as if it was some kind of bad luck. I agree it is time to really question the way we live, as when we live with a true quality to our lives then the quantity is of less importance.
But why are we waiting? It is the biggest procrastination of them all. Holding off living our potential until ….later??? Why are we not doing it now – what is stopping us living our potential now? I am going to think about that one for me. I know comfort is a big one for sure but will keep ticking that one over.
If we would be aware each day of our loving nature and that everything we do or say which is unloving is not our nature, if this awareness of our love would be totally present every day we would live this love in full. So it is a choice to appreciate our love every day in order to live it.
Absolutely Rosie – why wait? Too often too many of us are waiting for the epiphany, the scare, some event to give us the impetus to make the required changes in our life. The thing is, we know what is required and we can make the changes without the turmoil or fear, why wait indeed.
More and more, I am beginning to realise the power of appreciation. What is also becoming more clear is that it is such a natural part of our expression. I feel immediately connected to my body, to people and to life. I feel completely at home when I am in appreciation, so it is hugely important to ask ourselves: Why do we shy away from this?
I agree, the power of true appreciation is huge, not the shallow appreciation which is said easily to please oneself or another, but an appreciation felt deeply in the body. My feeling is to live this way of appreciation needs a movemnt which is part of the appreciation and backs it up.
Yes Kerstin, I agree – the power of appreciation is huge when felt from within the body. Imagine living in a way that the quality is lived within first and foremost and then this initiates the movement and this can slowly but surely defeat the constant mind chatter.
Well said kerstinsalzer15, I can relate as have been feeling the same thing. It’s not about a mental appreciation but a claimed physical expression of how we move and approach life. For me it’s also catching any negative thought, which I can feel prompts me to move my body differently tis aligning to the negativity and harshness of that thought instead of the joy and tenderness I can feel so easily in my body. The choice and responsibility we have to claim a deep appreciation from the body is enormous.
I know there is appreciation already in my body, I just have to connect to this natural knowing of how to appreciate myself and others. It feels I have been holding back appreciating myself and thus others. Allowing to feel me and the appreciation is there instantly when I do not put it aside as too much, not needed etc.
Isn’t it incredible how appreciating the things around us makes us feel so much more connected and engaged in life – instead of just watching the world go by we can get involved in it and learn from it.
Great point Susie, appreciation is an action and is the opposite to withdrawing and giving up on life.
Since meeting Serge Benhayon the days in my life have become more and more rewarding, with such an engaging life now normal. There is much to be appreciated, and this as you say Susie, brings even more connection to the wonder I wake up to every day.
Holding back appreciation to me now feels like I am putting a lid on an energy that just wants to expand. Holding back appreciation towards others hurts.
Absolutely Simone, appreciation just does seem such a natural part of us, perhaps the shying away comes in when we separate from seeing, knowing and feeling the true us. Reconnecting to this quality within seems to support and allow our natural appreciation of self and others to flow.
Yes, Mary, I love that “When we appreciate ourselves we can naturally appreciate others and when we do this the other person loves it”. I find it easy generally to appreciate others, but not so easy to appreciate myself. I tend to beat myself up for what I am not. But what you have written here makes it very clear to me now, that when I truly appreciate myself, going deeper and deeper in this, then I will be able to go much deeper in my appreciation of others, and all that they bring to our world. How beautiful that feels just to express that, time to really deeply appreciate myself.
I can feel Simone how I shy away from appreciation because of my choices to separate from that divine source we are all from. So I can see how regret only keeps me from living that fullness of who I am that Nicole so beautifully described.
Yes appreciation is our natural expression. I used to think it was an extra thing to do and was like it’s a bit of a chore! But the more I started appreciating the more I feel what a beautiful flow it is in my body.
I can relate to that Karin, as if I did not know how to appreciate and in a way I did but on the other hand I just was stubbornly holding on to an idea, a judgement that I was not good enough to appreciate myself, that I at first had to sort out some things before I could even think about appreciation. Now I see it was just a game I have played for a long time and sometimes can slip back into but not for long as I feel my natural appreciation for myself and others is always there to connect to.
I am in deep appreciation of my body. I realize how amazing my body really is in constantly patiently giving me signals to live the true woman.
How delicate and precise and precious all the systems in my body work and cooperate. How it is aligned with the universe, how God can express through my body, I am really in awe and I no longer choose to not see what it is telling me but truly listen and appreciate the love it shows me.
Beautifully expressed, Annelies. I can really feel the depth of relationship you are developing with your body, and how you honour its Godly wisdom.
Janet, I love this, ‘honour it’s Godly wisdom.’ Brings me a greater appreciation of my body which is greatly appreciated.
That is so beautiful Annelies. I can feel the calling to deeply accept and surrender to the knowing that the particles of our physical body belong to the entire universe, and that this earthy vehicle, our body, has a purpose so magnificent — that we can only be in awe and cherish if we let ourselves accept this truth. It breaks down an enormous illusion, an imprisonment of believing we are mere flesh and bone in a physical reality. We realise we are part of an entire whole, returning back to our divine origins — our bodies supporting us enormously to remember and go back there.
Wow Katerina – this is mind blowing. We are so much more than our physical bodies and our particles do not belong to us but to the universe. Feeling the enormity of this and the responsibility we have in caring for these particles is huge.
A beautiful confirmation Annelies of who you are. Appreciation is the doorway to heaven.
I too am in deep appreciation of my body, how it constantly communicates with me, is truly awesome. And it helped me be in appreciation of where I am at, yesterday, when I was picking up a few tiny fruit off the ground. They were extremely soft, becoming almost rotten, and I found myself marvelling and really appreciating just how delicately I now move my fingers, as I really delicately picked them up to put in a bag, it felt so different to ever before, and it was a beautiful message from my body. I tend to beat myself up for all that I am not, but this was a wake up call to really appreciate how I am, and realise that this is the way I mostly move now, unless I really lose myself for a while. It is a lovely feeling, why would I disconnect from this. Isn’t it crazy that we find it so hard to really appreciate ourselves?
Beautiful Beverly how you allowed yourself to feel your delicateness by feeling and truly seeing your dedication towards yourself, discovering how tender and delicate your movements have become. What a great stopmoment for you to appreciate who you are and how your body is the instrument for expressing You.
I also feel this Annelies. And to add I am constantly in awe of just how quickly our physical body readjusts and comes into line with our truer more supportive choices.
Beautyfully claimed Annelies. There is so much to appreciate in life, especially the divine wisdom within us all asking us to shine brightly for all to see, through our livingness.
My deep appreciation to Serge Benhayon, and his family who have shown and inspired me and so many student of the Livingness that there is another way.
A beautiful sharing Annelies. Our body is truly amazing and to appreciate it and all that it shows us is a sign of self worth and self love.
True Sandra, I have been neglecting my body for a long time and when my body gave me signals of not feeling well I always had the feeling that my body left me alone and I failed. This was the perfect set up for a lack of self worth and self love.
The body is wise as your words so eloquently portray Annelies, and the opportunity for appreciation is there in every moment.
‘It was then that I realised I was living with regret, a feeling that deep down I knew how to live in the fullness of who I am but thinking there was no rush, that I had plenty of time to do so later.’ A familiar feeling Nicole and lately I wondered when is ‘later’? I am aware how I can focus on what is not there and get frustrated about that instead of appreciating what is there and have this as a foundation to build on and live in my fullness. We are indeed blessed to know ourselves and true love and to be inspired ongoingly by Serge Benhayon, his family and Universal Medicine and all the Students of the Livingness.
I too have much to thank Serge Benhayon for, Annelies, he is such a support, presenting the truth always, but never judging, forever patient while I keep procrastinating and not living the whole of who I am. I feel so blessed to know this great man of true love, a very true friend, together with his family and Universal Medicine. It is time that I put away that procrastination, time to give myself the space to be wholly who I am, a living Son of God, with a huge love for humanity.
Lovely question Annelies, when is later? And if we are going to do it later, why not now? I have come to realise that in each and every moment we have the choice to live the truth and fullness of who we are.
Yes Gyl, we live in a world where we are always becoming something. We choose to believe that we have to work hard, develop, be on our way to getting somewhere – be it a better job, better grades at school, always moving up the ladder in some shape or form, always moving towards something in the future. Often I have thought, ‘I can’t just connect to my divinity…I need to work towards that, and eventually get there.’ This is indeed a very clever belief to buy into which means we shirk the responsibility for living our truth and fullness.
There is much that we can choose to bring our awareness to here. Does this question our energetic responsibility as we live our life here on earth? Is it bringing awareness to our energetic irresponsibility being lived? Deeply profound – thank you Nicole.
I’ve had a moment this morning where I am appreciating all the amazing people around me at work and how blessed I am to work with them. And then, a moment of appreciation of me and all that I bring, for it is only when I can feel and see this, that I can appreciate them in full.
I remember when my father was close to passing over. I saw him in his study, with all his books all around him (he had an amazing intellect and was a voracious reader) and it struck me stop strongly, as he was reading his zillionth book, how useless this stuff was, how it was of zero use to him in his last few weeks and months and that, as you say Steve, the only thing that we get to take with us is the love that we are. Beautiful. And makes you totally reconsider what you are going to do with your day.
We need to go for it, really, just bring it all, together… inspiring each other rather than feeling less than another who has broken through to bringing more of themselves.
I have made a practice with myself of beginning and ending each day with appreciation; of my body and the light that shines in my eyes; of the choices I made in the day (or day prior) to support my natural expression; of my beautiful family and the home we live in, of the incredible people in my life always inspiring me to be more of who I am. The more awareness I give to it, the more appreciation becomes my natural outlook rather than criticism, lack or complacency.
I can really relate to what you are sharing here Nicole. Lately I have been feeling the immense depth of I have to bring and seeing that I am only so far bringing a fraction of this. I feel deeply inspired to live in a way that allows me to be light and impulsed by the divine light, to bring this in expression to Earthly life.
This is brilliantly simple kevmchardy. And if we think how hard life is without the use of both of our arms, then is it worth also considering how hard life is without the use of all of our love. It is no different. As you learnt to appreciate your arms, how amazing they are and how great it is to be able to use both, so to could many of us benefit from appreciating the amazing love that we have inside of us, but are not using.
Yes we disable ourselves by choosing not to live all the love that we are.
A simple difference between saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to what life can offer us. Slowly I am beginning to strip away the complications and fight…
What a incredible point Steve, we worry about all the material things and yet it will all be left behind. Why not focus on the one thing that will be carried with us through the many lives we live. I love this Steve, it points our what we should truly value.
What a joyful one liner Gyl, I was just taking a moment to feel how much I love appreciation, and then read your line and realised how joyful I was while doing so.
As has it done in mine Sue, continual bits of fertiliser to help nourish our growing love.
It’s absolutely crazy Alison when one feels into this. It takes commitment to oneself in order to live our glory everyday, but why would we want it any other way?
Just in your first paragraph, I could feel how appreciation is something that forever deepens and expands. It can never stop expanding just as love can never stop expanding. I see appreciation as the most delicious food our love needs in order to grow.
Nicole, your blog exposes the waiting room most of us sit in, we may get reminders and wakeup calls and yet the movies that play while we wait, seem to always capture our attention for long periods of time. Your blog was a beautiful wakeup call to remind one that there is a movie that we play a role in, not just watch, if we so chose, and in this movie we are all the bright stars that forever shines.
Great point Steve. When we pass over, all material things go to the grave with us. It is the love that we have developed witihin our body that remains with us and passes to the next life.
Yes sueq2012 – appreciating the little things develops a firm foundation from which love grows.
Thank you for the very honest question Nicole – ‘why wait’? There is so much to appreciate in every moment to support us living our lives in full.
“But why wait – why not just get on with it and live the love that I am now, instead of waiting any longer?” Wise words Nicole. Each moment is an opportunity to live the fullness of who we really are.
Such a powerful blog Nicole and one that has given me a stop moment this morning with your words “Why is it that it takes the possibility of dying to truly bring me to a stop?”. Something for me to ponder on – thank you.
This blog is a real gift, an offering to all those that want to receive it for the wake up call it is. If its not a wake up call for you, then maybe you already live in absolute appreciation of everyone and thing around you but in my experience there is always another level to go to and that is what is highlighted in Nicole’s notary of the sounds of her children and prescience of her husband in the light of the moon. Thank you Nicole for offering this to the world so generously.
Hearing everyones stories about how their bodies have brought them stops and appreciations over the years has inspired me to have a different attitude today. I have my own story of course too but I don’t want to wait for another scare just to get myself back into gear. Today I will pretend that I have had a big health scare and that I have just recovered and I am just very very grateful for every moment I have, what an amazing way to live!
Yes Adam, life is about healing, how ever that may look from the outside. We are prone to judge what this ‘healing’ might look like but it comes in so many shapes and sizes that any judgment can jade blessings that are on offer.
Reflecting on what you have shared Adam – is it the attachment that holds us back and stops our living in, allowing and appreciating the fullness of ourselves and the moment we are in. This shifts everything from being ‘personal’ to being connecting and unifying. We are all one unified body and thus for one of us to leave the physical existence holds no regret as we know deeply our brothers continue on living, allowing and deeply appreciating in the absolute fullness of love we all are. Thank you Nicole for bringing attention to and opportunity for this deep unfolding.
Beautiful to read your words Nicole, our presence in every moment, noticing the tiny things, moments, that make up the gloriousness of our day, made even more poignant by a wake up call. But as you say, why wait for the wake up call, the poignancy and beauty to be appreciated is all right there before us, always, as a perpetual offering.
Thank you, Nicole for such a personal and soulful sharing. I love how you have accepted and appreciated with grace what has been presented to you.
How come we choose God and divinity in a split second when facing a crisis or future loss and hold on to illusion and creation the rest of our lives? We can choose it in an instance and right now, without the fear of dying.
Totally agree Monika, appreciation can be a way of life and it’s not hard.
I like that: appreciation as a way of life. It certainly it a solid foundation for more love.
Exactly Monika, why do we wait for the crisis to make those choices? This is something I am pondering on right now. In those moments we do know who we are and our intimate connection to God. But why wouldn’t we know this at other times?
I experience life to be much more fulfilling and joy when I feel my intimate connection to God.
This is straight to the point Nicole and as you say it is crazy that it takes us an illness, scare or a possible death threat before we actually really stop and appreciate what we have and what is in our life. This just simply shows the make up of this world and how things in our life become the importance and what we get from them. As you say when we start to truly appreciate every little thing to the finest detail in our life and not just once but to keep this in the fore all of the time then life becomes a whole different ball game. Serge Benhayon has been the game changer and with out his constant dedication to sharing all the he lives and knows for all equally I too would be far away from where I am now living my life of joy today.
“When I pass over, no matter when that may be, I want it to be with no regrets, but with the appreciation and love of a true life lived in the fullness of who I am.” That goes for me too. I want every day and every relationship about evolution, about being more love and returning back to the divinity I originally come from.
I agree with you Greg, there is no such thing as too much appreciation.
ThIs is a beautiful example and it shows how much we take things for granted. And how often do we, in situation like this, not appreciate the opportunity we are presented with but instead curse the unfortunate state of being it brought us into.
So True Joseph and so tenderly expresssed. Reading your comment made me think about the sentence of ‘hearing the children’. I’ve never stood still and allow myself to feel how it feels to listen to somebody rolling over, or somebody breathing. At the moment I am re-connecting much more to nature / birds in my garden. It’s so special to see them enjoying eating, singing, making nests, whistling, etc. There are so many sounds around us that are actually lovely to hear and connect to. Even the sound of my computer I can actually appreciate. Thank you Joseph and Nicole for your Tenderness and Appreciation.
Is it just the sounds on the computer or the way your fingers navigate the keyboard? Floris, that would be very worth appreciating.
Ha ha, so True Jennifer. Which is making me aware how much I’m (still) focussed on the outside… I’ve actually never listened to the sound that my fingers make while typing. Today – right now – is the first time. There’s a real joy in listening to the sounds. The fingers go blindly where they are to go. It feels as a Joyful movement and a tenderly working together in expressing what wants to be expressed. Revealing also how the fingers in this instance are the ‘end’ part of the body where the energy comes together to express. How Beautiful and worth appreciating is this.
It seems like we can never enough appreciate.
The more I appreciate the more joy I feel. Appreciation is incredible, confirming, evolving and deeply healing.
It is not having lived in the fullness of ourselves that we know we are that we regret the most. This rings deep truth. We know deep down where we are from and the truth we can bring and how much we hold it back.
It’s crazy that we can be so busy living life that we forget to LIVE life. A well lived life is a life of connection; to who I am and connection with God. Thank you for the reminder of what life is all about Nicole.
“I am realising just how important it is to deeply appreciate life itself, and the amazing opportunity I have been given to heal my old ways/old stuff and fully commitment to life, to service, and to the all.” It really is something to appreciate jacqmcfadden04, to know that being here is an amazing opportunity in every direction.
“Why is it that we wait until we may lose something that is precious to us to stop and really appreciate it?” – such a key question for all of humanity to ask…why wait for wars, famine, disease to know that the way we are living sits at the root of it all.
Maybe because we have gotten so used to being deeply entrenched in a zone and haze of comfort that we may have forgotten the joy and simplicity of appreciation.
I think it is about the fact that we have lost sight of what normal might be. Each moment we accept how things currently are, gives us permission to drop further (only a little bit), and drop and drop, until its normal not to have vitality in our life.
We use time (and other things…) as an excuse to not live our full potential in this very moment. Every time we don’t live and appreciate all of us and what life is, that choice is ours. Only ours. And what a missed moment that is..
Yes Mariette, if we’re not living our potential, we’re living in stagnation. Symbolically rather like knowing you are the ceo of a company with all the capability, and choosing to work as the intern… which undoubtedly would lead to levels of tension of unrealised and un-activated potential.
Yes Karoline, that line really struck me too – appreciation not being another thing that we “do”, but rather a way that we live. Very cool!
I am sure many of us relate to what you have expressed Nicole and have experienced those same feelings when we have lost somebody we love, or something of value to us like our health. That is the ironic thing, that if we did take time to truly appreciate every one and everything around us, then we do live life to the full, and have no regrets. This begins with that true appreciation of ourselves which comes from deeply caring for ourselves. For it is about all of us, so developing deeper relationships with others comes through reconnecting with our own precious essence.
Why is it that we can truly appreciate each and everyday having the Benhayons in our lives but not go in equal appreciation with other beloved ones?
Such a gift of reflection you offer Nicole – thank you for sharing your wisdom. There are aspects here I’ve not truly considered, and one being that the fear of dying can come from the regret of not truly living.
We choose all the time. In truth, there is no regret. It is a pure creation of the spirit.
If we look at this from the point of view of movement, only stop moments provide us with the space to reinitiate the movement in total appreciation. Stop moments, though, are not only those that are out of our hands (so to speak). We can make them happen here and now.
We love to live by the image of the half empty, half full glass of water and we go in cycles about it. At times, we find no reason to appreciate our life; at others we go there (usually out of difficult circumstances). We are caught by images of life, so we know from them how things have to be and we react when reality does not really match the image. In difficult moments, the grip the image has on us simply vanishes and we are ready to see life for what it is. No wonder why then, the swing goes to appreciation mood.
Nicole, the questions you have raised are profound and ask us all to stop, to love unreservedly and to celebrate every moment. To live this way feels Beauty-full and simple. Thank you for the reminder – I know my next moment, my next day and every one after that will be far richer and deeply appreciated for what I have read here in this blog.
‘The great thing about accidents, illness & disease is that it stops us in our tracks allowing a focus towards what is truly important in life’…. so true Marika, what appears as a curse is truly a blessing.
Such a beautiful sharing Nicole and a poignant reminder that every moment is precious…. every moment.
Yes, absolutely Michelle. I totally agree yet I don’t always appreciate this. So, your comment and this blog is a beautiful reminder. When I choose to live every moment, appreciating preciousness in my everyday feels very possible and amazing.
Good question: why hold back? – Best answer I found: Well, lets stop it!
You make a super important point here in your blog Nicole – we shouldn’t wait for a serious illness or incident to stop us in our tracks and cause us to look and appreciate our lives, we should be consistently appreciating everything that we have. This means that we are more likely to enjoy each moment, look after ourselves and put effort into building loving relationships with people around us. Our whole lives can change through appreciation, and self criticism and judgement can be dramatically reduced.
Yes Susie, I agree. It is our responsibility to do so, not to wait until we are stopped by illness.
A great question you are raising here Nicole: Am I living life in full? Or am I holding back a part of me, which then causes regret and the feeling that I missed out on something, later down the track?
The latter is something I am observing in myself and others which leads me to the question: What is it that seems to hold us back to live life in full?
To find the answers to this question is of utmost importance if I want to commit to living life with all of me in it, as I need to find out what is preventing me from doing so.
Serge Benhayon for me is an outstanding example of someone who has not left a stone unturned in his endeavour to answer this question for himself and humanity of what is in the way of living life from our glory and as the divine beings that we are.
In answer to your first question Nicole on this blog – I would say no up until recently. This morning I just stopped when I got out of bed and placed my hand on my chest and paused. It was for me a moment of deep Appreciation for my life and I mean the detail. Big stuff is easy to appreciate but what about the small stuff. I have come to realise that I cannot evolve or move on if I do not stop, take stock and truly APPRECIATE every thing and that included me and how far I have come from my self abusive days.
There is not a day that goes by now that I do not communicate my Appreciation of Serge Benhayon and the teachings which have changed my life.
Very true Bina. Appreciating everything is so important, the so called small stuff is equally important and the big stuff. I had some pain last night and I had to stop and to put myself to bed with some warm eye pillows. Years ago I would have cursed my body and pushed through what I was feeling. But I now appreciate that my body was actually communicating to me and I listened and rested.
I agree Bina, it is beautiful when we live in a constant appreciation of who we are at every moment until it is normal to live with love being the basis of all that we do. Deep appreciation to Serge Benhayon for showing us the way.
And the question underneath this Adam is ‘why do we need life to deliver?’ And what is it about the way we are living that we do not feel enough without life having to compensate…
That is truly magnificent jacqmcfadden and to feel the joy in your lines and in your photo feels amazing.
Great point Marika, I certainly had been programmed this way and it is hard to shake once this program is running your life. It takes a consistent and deliberate choice each moment again and again to offset this default program and offer oneself a new way.
I relate Judith, it takes a lot of purpose to constantly live and appreciate yourself.
I love your comment Joseph, it gives me a profound marker of what this “truly different way of living” based on appreciation feels like in my body. A truly different approach indeed!
So true Adam, I have walked around thinking life owes me something and consequently if things did not work out the way I anticipated I got upset. Only through the teachings of Universal Medicine have I step by step realized that life can only give me back what I put out. If I give it my all, it gives back in full. If I hold back on life, I only get a mediocre version of what it could be – the choice is up to me.
Good call Judith, many of us have lived this way, feeling as though we are victims of life but the truth is every choice we make leads us to where we find ourselves today.
Unfortunately for many it takes something quite big whether that be an illness or accident for us to stop and truly appreciate the grandness of our lives. We put off until tomorrow what could be done today. Your blog is an inspiration Nicole for each one of us to take stock of the amazingness that we are living each and every day.
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Thank you, this is beautiful to read, and see that what we got is precious. And it is indeed a waste of time to be waiting for ourself to be all of who we are. I see how appreciation is so important, but through this blog I feel that what I appreciate is not even the tip of the iceberg of all that is to appreciate in this life and of me.
‘Why is it that we wait until we may lose something that is precious to us to stop and really appreciate it?’ So many people get this feeling on hearing a diagnosis that they have a life shortening illness, or after a loved one has passed away.
These moment are so beautiful to notice Nicole NOW, to pull us up out of complacency that although it’s something we may know, we can still slip back into an easy life again. It’s a great intention now not to delay a single moment of not appreciating all that we are.
I love your blog, and can so relate – if i were to be diagnosed with cancer tomorrow, would i change how i live? would i be more committed to loving myself? Would i eat differently or live more with more love? And if so, why wait for a major illness to pull me up and make me change, why wait as you say?
Thank you Nicole for highlighting the realisation which often comes when there is a potential life threatening illness – I have experienced this myself, and you are right there is this sense that there is still more life to be lived and a sadness for not living in our Fullness.
What a beautiful blog Nicole and one that truly gave me a stop moment. ‘I came to realise that it is not just dying I am afraid of: it is the fact that I have not truly lived all of me.’ There is everything to take from your words and to apply to my own life. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Nicole, I can relate so well with the sadness of not living my fullness. Like you I have been blessed with the love and support of the Benhayon family and Universal Medicine. In particular Simone Benhayon, who has helped me so much to appreciate that in every moment there is the opportunity to start gain, to have another go, and so there is no necessity to have any regrets.