Everything you need;
to live your best life,
is in here ❤️
not out there…🌍
Your heart
and soul,
they know
the way,
they have
the answers,
they carry
your truth,
Slow down.
Breathe.
Listen.
Toni O’KEEFFE ~🌹❤️
Everything you need❤️
Category: growth
Get Messy~
In the end, nothing will hurt
more than;
~ the paths not taken,
~ words not spoken,
~ wounds that didn’t heal,
~ moments lost,
~ joy never found,
~ a life not lived.
We’re here to take a few chances, have a colourful adventure or two, learn about ourselves, the planet and everything around us. To fully feel the highs and lows of this unique human journey. Don’t waste it. Be brave, bold, and curious as you own this thing called life!!
Yup you’ll make mistakes, you’re supposed to. You’ll get hurt, don’t let that stop you. You’ll get knocked down, eventually you’ll get back up and, you’ll get messy, oh well 🤷🏻♀️.
Be fearless, have fun and laugh till it hurts. Everyone of us is a student of life, and everyone of us will mess up, so, forgive those who hurt you, forgive yourself for the times you’ve been less then perfect. Face your fears with all the courage you can muster.
When you exit this ride, I hope your hair is a mess, your knees are wobbly, you’ve lost your hat, the wind has kissed your face so many times your cheeks are raw and, your final thought is “wow, that was amazing, absolutely frickin’ amazing, let’s do it again.”
Toni O’KEEFFE ~🌹❤️
You can get unstuck~
The day may come when the people, things and habits you’re used to, no longer fit or feel like you. Embrace the calling to let these things go and move on.
We’re not meant to stay stuck in the same place or the same mindset.
When water stops flowing it can become stagnate, foul, murky and toxic. If we stay stuck in the same place or mind set for too long, we can also become stagnant, foul, murky and toxic.
Our minds are meant to be exercised and fed. When we’re not grazing on new knowledge, new vistas, new opportunities or new adventures, we can get stuck.
We’re meant to flow, to move forward, to have new experiences, learn new things, challenge our own thinking, and grow.
Change can feel overwhelming and it might feel easier to stay in the box we know. Human beings do this all the time. We stay in uncomfortable relationships, uncomfortable situations, uncomfortable jobs, uncomfortable communities, uncomfortable shoes and uncomfortable behaviours and habits that add little joy to ours lives, because it’s familiar, it’s what, or sometimes “ALL”, we know.
But, once you rise, step out of your comfort zone, stretch your enthusiasm, move beyond your fear and shake off the old, you’re ready to take on the new.
Don’t waste your one beautiful life and your curious and hungry mind, remaining stuck in one place. The place that feels familiar may not be the place you belong.
Toni O’KEEFFE ~🌹❤️
***If you need help getting unstuck, reach out for support🙏🤗
Not all empty spaces need to be filled~
From time-to-time many of us feel an emptiness, a lacking or void we think we need to fill in order to be happy.
We exhaust ourselves chasing happiness, chasing love, searching for meaning, chasing more of this or more of that, buying stuff to try and fill the emptiness or the sense of “lacking” in our lives.
Trying to fill this emptiness with material possessions, temporary companionship, drugs, alcohol, and busyness, almost never works. These things might mask what’s going on beneath the surface for a short period of time, but, they rarely lead to sustained fulfillment.
Perhaps this sense of emptiness is not something that needs to be filled, but something that needs to be FELT.
Perhaps this space within the ether of our chaotic human mind, is actually a waiting room that’s meant to be left wide-open, allowing old feelings, attitudes and pain to leave, and new feelings, thoughts and peace to arrive. A space we visit to lance our wounds, release our tears and the stifled ache of pent-up grief, pain, loneliness, remorse or sadness until we understand “it” and find the lesson in “it”. A space to purge the ugliness of what’s hurt us in the past and let “it” go – creating space for new things, new purpose, new meaning, to arrive. A space where we push the darkness out, and let the light in.
When the ache of emptiness or lacking creeps in, rather than trying to fill it, try to feel it. Take a walk, exercise, journal, open up and start talking to someone, go into nature, sit quietly and meditate. It doesn’t matter which path you take to get to this space, what matters is that you arrive, and when you do, you ask your pain what it’s trying to teach you. Then listen, feel, and release the things that no longer serve you or bring you peace. The answer(s) may not come right away. You may need to visit this space several times. When the answers begin to arrive, thank your pain for the lessons, then let it go. As it leaves, visualize new energy, new purpose, new feelings of wellness and hopefulness arrive. Then go out and live this one beautiful life you’ve been given.
This concept may sound abstract, however, if you’ve been feeling the ache of emptiness within, and what you’ve been doing to fill the void has not been working, what have you got to lose? other than the ache of the emptiness that haunts you.
Perhaps not all empty spaces are meant to be filled, perhaps they’re meant to be felt.
Toni O’KEEFFE~🌹❤️
Be still and listen ~
Be still ~
Close yours eye ~
Slowly inhale ~
Hold ~
Now, let your shoulders drop and the muscles across your neck and brow loosen and relax as you slowly exhale.
As you release your breath, imagine all pain, stress, anger, jealousy, fear, fatigue, regret or sadness, melting and floating away.
Let it all go.
These uncomfortable emotions and physical discomfort are often sent to wake us up. They remind us to stop wasting time on the wrong people and the wrong things. They are calling us to to live, create, explore and love in ways that lift us up, not break us down.
If each day is a repeat of the day before and you’re not fully living, your mind, body and spirit will send you messages through feelings of discontent, fatigue, tension and illness. Listen to those messages.
My Dad used to say, “learn something, create something, observe something, meet someone or go somewhere new everyday, it’ll keep life interesting.” He was right.
We never know when we’ll take our last breath. Don’t waste this day, this life, this moment on things and people that bring you down.
You deserve happiness and joy. You have this one, big, colourful life. What wild and wonderful things are you going to do with it?
Don’t die with your hopes, dreams, desires, words, art, music, love, passion still in you. Open your heart and unleash your magic into the world.
Now, be still and listen, where does your mind, body and soul want you to go?
Toni O’KEEFFE ~🌹❤️
- photo Paul Zizka
Look for the light
Imagine you’re on a day hike in the forest, it’s getting dark and you wander off the path.
Your lost. You don’t know which way to go. You don’t have provisions to get through the night, you’re feeling stressed, hopeless, anxious and mad at yourself for not being better prepared.
Then, as you’re stumbling in the dark, exhausted and disoriented, you see a light in the darkness. A spark of hope surges within you and you make your way towards the light.
Your anxiousness turns to excitement.
Your hopelessness turns to optimism.
All because you saw a small comforting glow in the distance.
You’re overcome with joy when you come upon another hiker sitting next to a cozy fire. This person is a stranger, yet, in this moment they’re the most important person in your life.
They offer you shelter, warmth, food and water. You graciously accept. You’re relieved and you feel safe.
In the morning this stranger guides you out of the forest to safety. You hug, shed a tear and say goodbye. Your grateful, humbled and alive.~~~~~~~
We all stumble. At times, we feel lost, alone, anxious, stressed or hopeless. Pride or self doubt might stop us from seeking help.
You sweet soul, when you’re lost, do what you’d do in the forest, look for the ones with the light and let them guide you.
Toni O’KEEFFE ~🌹❤️
Hey you
Cut this out and put it on your fridge, bathroom mirror, headboard…wherever.❤️
Toni O’KEEFFE ~🌹❤️
Love yourself “as is“
Think about someone you care for.
Someone you accept “as is” with all their
perfect imperfections.
Someone you love, admire and respect
with your whole heart.
Now,
It’s time to love, admire and respect yourself like this,~ “as is”, with your whole heart, and all your perfect imperfections.
Loving, admiring, respecting and accepting yourself “as it” doesn’t mean you stay where you are and stop growing.
It means;
~ you stop judging and doubting yourself and your potential.
~ you stop comparing yourself and your life with others.
~ you stop putting the needs of everyone else ahead of your own.
~ you stop letting others chart your course and dictate your future, because you know we’re all on different journeys.
When you do these things, you’ll begin to nurture your needs, your hopes and your dreams, because you realize they are as important as the needs, hopes and dreams of anyone else.
AND, you’ll grow to believe that YOU ARE worthy of being loved, respected and accepted, “as is,” with all your beautiful and perfect imperfections.
Toni O’KEEFFE ~🌹❤️
Life is messy and messy ain’t bad
The journey to figure out who we’re meant to be, is messy.
So are;
~ the colourful drippings from an artists brush, until a masterpiece is born.
~ run-on sentences and misspelt words, until a best selling novel emerges.
~ stacks of bricks and mortar, until they’re assembled to build a home.
~ musical notes that don’t make sense until a musician strings them together to create a melody.
~ a seedling stuck in the dirt, until it grows into a rose.
Everything is messy, until it becomes what its meant to be. Including all of us.
We don’t stop painting, writing, building, playing, fixing, or planting because it’s messy, we keep going until we recognize what we’ve created.
Each of us is a messy collection of experiences, emotions, missteps, wrong turns, hopes, dreams, heartbreaks and hooray’s tossed together to create a life.
And, although we don’t always understand why certain things happen, where we’re heading, or why certain people come in and out of our lives, our individual paths are constantly moving us towards who we’re meant to be.
What starts out messy, usually ends up being something beautiful. So hang in there, things are going to get messy, and messy ain’t bad.
Toni O’KEEFFE ~🌹❤️
You can grow in places others thought you never would
Don’t let the options of others stop you from growing into who you’re meant to be.
You my friend are one beautiful little wildflower!! You CAN grow in places others never thought you would.
🌹🌼 🌸🌻 🌺💐
Toni O’KEEFFE 🌹❤️
The Whimsey Angel 