Embody Peace

Chapter 1 A New Life “Sorrow prepares you for joy. It shakes the yellow leaves from the boughs of your heart, so that fresh green leaves can grow in their place. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.” ÑRumi Every woman reading this book will have come from her own unique and different background. No two will have walked in the same pair of shoes. For most of us, our lives have not been easy. For some of you, people will look at you and think you have lived a privileged life but no one knows the inner struggle you have dealt with. For others, you have survived hardships many people could not even comprehend. For all of us, we have shared moments of joy, moments of sorrow, moments of achievement and moments of failure. And the one thing we all search for is love. This book emerged as a result of my search for love. My whole life I was seeking meaning in life through love. I searched for love through relationships with men. I searched for love through conceiving and giving birth to five children. Each time my babies were born, in that outpouring of love for the sacredness of new life, I thought I had found meaning and purpose in my life. It never lasted. I searched for meaning and purpose through my work. I loved my work and yet it exhausted me. It wore me out and stressed me into anxiety and depression. My relationships did the same. Life was always hard. There was never enough money to go around. I was always struggling; to meet my deadlines, to pay my bills, to raise my kids, to do my job well, to please my husband, to keep the house clean and tidy. And always there was something missing. I wanted to feel the rapture of being alive. My whole life was a search for the love and meaning and purpose that would make me feel that rapture. It seems I was searching in all the wrong places. In the end, what I was looking for, that which I had tried so hard to find outside of myself, was at the centre of my being, in my own heart, from the very beginning. “I think every woman wants to feel the rapture of being alive.” In fact, I think every person that has ever lived is seeking a deeper inner meaning of what it is to be alive. Every one of us is seeking purpose and fulfilment. Every one of us is seeking the experience that will give deep inner joy, peace and satisfaction. Yet so many of us merely skim the surface. We constantly seek experiences that only give temporary feelings of enjoyment. They never last. The first woman to pilot and later command a US space shuttle, astronaut Eileen Collinson, reflected on looking back at Earth from the space shuttle Discovery: “When you are out there, there is silence the depths of which you have never experienced before. The contrast between the earth, a massive bright blue and white ball suspended and held up in space by a magnetic force; an energy up against the vast black sky of the infinite universe, really comes through. The enormous size, the magnificence, the appearance, the beauty and the significance of it is awe inspiring. It is so unique, so delicate and so precious. It is such a precious little spot in the universe, and you realise that within that precious little spot and the depths of the vast universe there is something far greater than ourselves that exists out there that we are connected to.” Imagine how it must feel to be filled with such awe, inspired by the beauty of the Earth from space. Imagine what it must feel like to experience the silent vastness of the universe. How many of us realise how tiny we are in comparison? How many of us realise that each one of us is equally unique and significantly precious and beautiful? How many of us feel connected to something far greater than ourselves? It is possible. We can all develop this deeper sense of awareness and discover a new way of appreciating the value of our life and our place in the Universe. This awe, is an embodiment of ease, joy, love and a blissful state of being. Growing this reverence and connection, is what it is to Embody Peace. It is available to each one of us and brings with it deep inner peace. With the connection comes a new outlook on life. You will never look at your life in the same way again. Each of us is part of the magnificence of the universe. Not only that, we are of the Universe with a capital “U” that signifies a reverence for the higher spiritual oneness of existence. While you are heading in your own unique direction in life, my intention is to inspire you and support you with the tools you need to step out on a journey to connect with and Embody Peace. My greatest hope is that you will learn to stand in your power, change and improve those aspects of your life that are not serving you or are harmful to you, and bring your focus to the actions that bring you peace, harmony and health. Ultimately, I hope you will change your life for the better. Your life should not be mediocre; it should be sparkling!