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: Wisdom, Life Journey,
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🙏🤗
You’re not broken ~ you’re beautiful ~
Stop believing anyone who tells you you’re broken. You’re not, you’re absolutely beautiful.
You might hurt and have scars, but the pain you feel is growth, not brokenness.
Our life experiences aren’t supposed to feel, look or be the same as everyone else. So lets stop judging ourselves against the lives we see others live.
Your life journey might be painful because it’s about falling down and learning to get back up.
My journey might be filled with grief and heartache so I can understand loss and then comfort and have compassion for others when they experience it.
My neighbours journey might be about tolerance, acceptance and compassion, so they can become advocates for diversity and understanding.
We’re all going to fall and get hurt along the way, it’s part of the journey. Our hearts might get heavy and our spirits might crumble but, these are the experiences and emotions we’re meant to “grow” through.
Each stabbing ache, each crushing disappointment, every loss or painful fall from grace, provides us and those who bear witness to our lives, the opportunities to learn and transform. This pain shouldn’t break us, it should makes us stronger and wiser.
If you perceive your life as broken because you’ve been knocked down a few times, then you’ll feel broken. However, if you perceive your life as an amazing classroom, where you’re constantly learning and growing, then, you’ll greet each day with curiosity and excitement. You’ll become stronger and better equipped to deal with the tough stuff when it comes along. Let your scars be a reminder of how far you’ve come.
So relax, inhale the lessons, exhale and live the learning. No matter what people tell you or what you see in the mirror, you’re not broken. You’re both a beautiful student and teacher in this insanely wild and wonderful classroom called life. And, you’re right where you’re supposed to be, bumps, bruises, dents, scrapes, scars and all.
Toni O’KEEFFE ~ 🌹❤️
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~🌹❤️
Stick your toes where they belong
~ Toni O’KEEFFE
Why are we drawn to the peaceful, unencumbered wilds of nature?
~ the awe of forest paths that magically transform when rays of light stream in between the branches of towering old growth trees or,
~ feel inspired when we set our eyes on majestic mountain peaks draped with snow, or,
~ melt into a state of relaxation gazing at an expansive indigo sky dressed in twinkling stars, or
~ fall into a state of peaceful reverence when we sink our toes into the sand and watch the rising and setting of the sun?
Why do these and the other sights, sounds and smells of nature call to us, arouse our senses, bring us comfort and cause us to pause and exhale?
I think this call into the wild is our deepest self calling us home.
Our DNA evolved in nature. Our ancestors spent most of their time in the natural world. We’re hard wired to live amongst the trees, near the water and under the sky.
It’s only been in the last couple of centuries that we’ve strayed away from where we belong and moved into loud overcrowded, concrete jungles and on to busy asphalt highways.
Numerous studies have shown spending time in nature is a natural remedy for stress, can lower blood pressure, boast immune system functioning, reduce anxiety, and improve mood. That’s a pretty good “pill”.
Yet, humanity spends trillion of dollars annually purchasing and consuming self help products and services to make us feel well, less anxious and less stressed; things we’d feel if we spent more time in the great outdoors.
Spending time in nature is like pushing the reset button and going back to our original factory😊settings.
Going into nature is peaceful, comfortable and reminds us of home because, it is home, it is where we’re meant to be.
When you feel the stress of our modern world impacting your well being, go home, stick your toes, your heart and your soul where they belong and BE well.
Toni O’KEEFFE ~🌹❤️
This storm will pass
Not all of life’s storms are destructive.
Some come to shake us up, so we can put things back together, not the way they were, but, the way they’re meant to be.
Good things grow from the messiest parts of our lives. Every challenge, loss and disappointment brings new opportunities.
There really is calm and light after every storm. Yup, after, every, single, one.
🌈 ☀️❤️☀️🌈
Toni O’KEEFFE ~🌹❤️
Life sends us helpers
Here’s a little secret. Life sends us helpers. These helpers arrive when we need them the most.
When you’re struggling, be aware of who comes into your life unexpectedly. You don’t have to know why they show up or what they’re here to do, something inside you “will know” you need them. Trust that voice.
Put your ego, pride, judgment and stubbornness aside and believe they are here to help and guide you through the storms in your life.
If you’re in pain, lost, drowning in your own grief or chaos, you might not recognize them when they show up, you might even push them away.
They may look, sound, act or be different than those you generally welcome into your tribe, all the more reason to welcome them in.
No matter how strong, brave, smart or tough we think we are, none of us can do this alone. We’re not supposed to.
There are people you haven’t met yet, who will bring magic, peace, comfort, laughter, light, joy and healing into your life. Let them.
Toni O’KEEFFE ~🌹❤️
Hey you
Cut this out and put it on your fridge, bathroom mirror, headboard…wherever.❤️
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 ~🌹❤️
The Whimsey Angel 