My dear friends, we love you so very much,

Celebrate! It is the season where humanity temporarily sets aside their differences and shares their beautiful diversity, generosity, kindness, and compassion. In the fabric of the One Love that weaves us all together, we feel your hearts. We feel your joys. 

We also feel the tears of sadness some of you cry as you stop distracting yourselves with busyness for a few short days, and feel the pangs of longing for love, connection, and joy. Even this, dear ones, is love rising to the surface. We are gently holding you all, nurturing that light within you. This light is present within, even in the darkest times.It longs to rise up within you, fill you, and become a beacon to guide you.

In the midst of hustle and bustle around you, or even in times of quiet loneliness, take a few minutes to connect with this Light.

Breath deeply and take the time to look around you. Even in the middle of a crowded store, you can shut your eyes for a second, breathe deeply, feel your heart. From that still perspective, look around you. Look at the room. Look at the people around you. 

Imagine you radiate this light from within. Imagine you are the guiding star, showing others the way to love. Imagine you are the light in the manger in a darkened night. Imagine you are the candle that doesn't extinguish. Imagine, dear ones, you are the miracle of the season.

For indeed, you are the miracle dear ones. You are the light. You are an embodiment of pure love! Whether your feel it or not – regardless of circumstance, or situation – you are nothing less! The Christ child, lying among animals in a manger did not look like the purest embodiment of love to walk the earth. The lamp didn't look like the miracle it turned out to be. Whether you feel joy or loneliness, peace or chaos, generosity or lack... that light lives within you. 

In silence you claim it. In allowing it to fill you, you birth it into your life and into the world. 

Breathe deeply now, as you read this. Focus on the light in your heart. We are aware of each and every one of you as you read this. Breathe. Believe. Receive. Allow us to help fan the flames of that light within you until you feel it in each and every cell and pore of your body. Allow us to help it soothe your emotions, and illuminate your thoughts. Allow us to work with you until you feel the loving presence of angels and the beauty of your own brilliant light!

Our holiday wish for your dear friends is that you feel that love within you, that you know the miracle that you are regardless of appearances or circumstances, and that you – like the candles or the child in the manger – become a beacon of hope, light, and inspiration for others.

God Bless You! We love you so very much. 
-- The Angels

Hi Everyone,

I love this season. I love it no matter what is going on around me. I love it in spite of my broken toe, in spite of the fact that a crazy energy messed up my eyes for a week. I love it in spite of family and many friends being far away. In my heart we are all family and as I wait my turn in crowded stores to buy the Christmas groceries I feel nothing but the warmth of my "human family" around me. Granted, some are rushed, cranky, and crazy, but I make it a game to see if I can get even the most stoic to soften up – not with the sugary, sappy, cheer they can't stand, but often with humor or the compassionate empathy they need. We can all use a little more love.

I stuff my purse with candy canes and hand them out to clerks and random strangers. I send out cards and fill each one with love before it goes in the mail. I figure out how to make gluten free, vegan chocolate peanut butter cups for friends that otherwise can't have those kind of treats, and I make a huge dinner for my friends. I have to practice self control not to give more than I can afford. 

It is a season where I am "allowed" by the world to come uncorked and let the light flow freely through me. As I give I receive. As I smile at a stranger I know the blessing of God's love within me. As I do quiet and kind acts, I feel the presence of angels, who are unseen, but always with us. As I share love, I feel its presence glow and grow within.

Too often it is easy to focus on what we don't have. My family is far away, so I create a space that feels like family for those I love. In years past when I had just quit my engineering career and had only one friend left, I went out and did kind things for strangers – buying gifts for kids in need, handing out cookies to the dry cleaning lady, the mailman, the postal store guys, and other service folks who helped me all year. I baked cookies for the young couple sitting at the Christmas tree lot in the cold one Christmas eve and nearly wept because they showered me with an outpouring gratitude. Giving to others is an act of giving to myself. Love longs to flow through us. We long to feel its flow.

I think one of the most memorable angel-gifts was years ago. I bought a massage pad for myself. As I was checking out at the store, the young clerk told me she was wishing she could afford one for her mother who had back problems. I was at my car in the parking lot when the angels told me to go back into the store and buy another one for her and her mother. It wasn't cheap, but I know God supports me, and I trust my guidance, so I did. She burst into tears. Her boss let her leave early. We hugged. In that moment, she was my family.I received far more than I gave out of that interaction. A few days later someone gifted me with the exact amount I'd spent.

In spite of all this external fun, I still do as the angels suggest. I take time to sit in the backyard each day if only for a few minutes wrapped up in a big blanket, to "be" in the stillness and feel the Presence of God within. 

Love truly wants to fill us and bless us and pour through us... and it makes Christmas a beautiful loving experience birthed from within!

Here are a few ways to feel the light during the busy holiday:

1. Enjoy the Journey

If you've got to shop in a crowded store or be in traffic, don't fight it. Slow down. Smile at people. Chat with strangers. Perhaps slowing down IS the gift. Enjoy your baking, your escaping, whatever you do... The light is there but we rush around so fast we don't always feel it. 

For those of you who have lost loved ones, slowing down will also allow you to feel, sense, or know their presence around you. Often in readings someone asks their loved one in spirit, "Where are you?" Often the reply is, "I'm here but you never sit still to feel me!" When we rush around we can't even feel our own hearts.

So, whether it is God, your angels, your loved ones, of just the peace, love, and joy of the season you wish to feel, slow down. Sit in silent presence a few moments here and there, and focus on your heart. Breathe. Believe. Receive.

2. Give Love Freely... and you shall receive

We know this but far too often we get caught up in wishing others would give us – the love, the holiday, the atmosphere, the kiss under the mistletoe, etc. Our culture sometimes promotes incredible stinginess with love. "Don't love someone unless they earn it," we are told subconsciously in a million different ways. That is like telling a river not to flow until those downstream earn its water. 

To withhold love blocks our very nature, joy, and blissful experience of life. Send a card or an email to someone who might be lonely, even if you know they could create better. Pray for the rude folks in the parking lot! Smile at the grumpy people. 

Whether love flows from others to you, or out through you, you feel Love! I choose not to wait for the outside world to generate this experience for me. Feeling loved can be a glorious "inside job!"

3. Be loving to yourself too...

Don't forget to give yourself some nurturing over the holidays. Whether you are joyous or lonely, self care is the gift that allows you to keep giving to others. When you give yourself the love you wish others would, you feel fuller, happier, and filled with light!

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. Happy Belated Hanukkah. Joyous Kwanzaa. Whatever you celebrate or don't, may your heart be filled with light and may you feel the ever Present Love that connects us all. Let it flow!

I love you,
Ann

© 2017 crystalwind.ca. All rights reserved.