Magnificent Stuff - by Liimu

In Kelly's first blog of the new year, she said the word for 2009 for her was "kindness." For me, I think it's "magnificence."

The basic gist of my morning meditation, which was from Doreen Virtue's Messages From Your Angels, was that we are all magnificent in the eyes of the Universe and so the only reflection of us that is true is one that holds us in that light.

This past Thanksgiving, I was struggling with the weight of all the "shoulds" in my life around how and with whom I should spend the holiday, and my dear friend and spiritual advisor, Barbara, suggested I simply surround myself with people who "enhance my magnificence." That idea has stuck with me and has made it that much more simple for me to decide who I choose to spend time with during the holidays or any time of year.

I ate like a little piggy last week while I was in Florida with my daughters, and my friend who was with me and I spent many conversations mulling over why it is that we were choosing to eat so poorly during our week together. I'm sure many of you have had similar conversations:

Me: Ugh. I feel like a little piggy.
Her: Me, too. I really didn't need to eat that last piece of pizza.
Me: I am so going to have to run an extra 30 minutes on the treadmill tomorrow.
Her: And lift an extra 8000 pounds. Are you gonna eat that cake?

Note: This conversation really never happened and is an entirely fictitious example. Really. No, really.

When I got home, I was just stuffing the last of a huge chicken stromboli in my pie hole when I got a call from Tony, founder of Dreambodies and my personal online trainer. I quickly offered to go get the milk from Wawa and bundled up into my car so I could sneak in a return phone call from the one person I knew could not only get me out of my slump but could do so all while enhancing my magnificence.

We talked for about 20 minutes, and during the conversation he casually reassured me that I would, in fact, one day be at a pace (140 lbs and RIPPED...hahaha) where I could loosen the reins a bit and not get sent into a total tailspin. But neither my body NOR my mind is there right now.

"I'm not worried about you, though, Li," he said gently. "I'm fully aware that this is your year. This is your time to shine. And you will not only achieve your goals, you will inspire thousands of others to do the same." And to hear those words coming from a man who has certainly done that himself, it didn't feel like he was just blowing smoke. It felt like he was stoking a fire.

And that, my friends, is what enhancing someone's magnificence is all about.