{"id":379932,"date":"2016-09-19T13:12:59","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T13:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/19\/happiness-comes-when-we-see-with-fresh-eyes-and-all-our-senses\/"},"modified":"2016-09-19T13:12:59","modified_gmt":"2016-09-19T13:12:59","slug":"happiness-comes-when-we-see-with-fresh-eyes-and-all-our-senses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/19\/happiness-comes-when-we-see-with-fresh-eyes-and-all-our-senses\/","title":{"rendered":"Happiness Comes When We See with Fresh Eyes (and all our senses)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy Sunday-Monday, Journeyer!!<\/p>\n

This morning I woke up ruminating on all kinds of problems.<\/p>\n

Some people can’t fall asleep at night because they can’t seem to shut their minds off. I used to have the problem and then, out of a sense of desperation, I began doing what I later learned was a form of self-hypnosis.<\/p>\n

More than ten years have passed since I had that problem; now I tend to fall asleep before I’ve finished my prayers of gratitude.<\/p>\n

Seriously, I often fall into a deep slumber mid-thought.<\/p>\n

It seems I traded one problem for another, though, as I often began chewing on all kinds of issues as soon as I woke.<\/p>\n

I made this connection about eighteen months ago when my spiritual awaking began. At the suggestion of one of my mentors, I began asking the spirit realm to protect the space around me as I slept, as our subconscious is vulnerable to all sorts of energy during our slumber.<\/p>\n

That, too, seems to work, when of course I can get through my prayers of gratitude and this final request before I konk<\/em> out.<\/p>\n

I wasn’t successful in either of those two things last night, and so this morning I found myself chewing on all sorts of negative things, problems and dilemmas I certainly wasn’t going to resolve in the shower or even in that week.<\/p>\n

I did the only thing I know how to do: I acknowledged that I needed to shift my focus and I asked my angels and guides to help guide me in that direction.<\/p>\n

Happiness comes when we “see” with fresh eyes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I immediately began paying attention to the hot water warming my skin, the fresh scents of my Mary Kay body wash and my Tea Tree eucalyptus shampoo.<\/p>\n

Stepping out of the shower I remembered to glance at the glorious natural view outside of my window.<\/p>\n

I smiled as my skin felt the softness of the new shirt I recently purchased.<\/p>\n

I took my breakfast out on the deck, where I could admire a bigger view of the landscape around my home and I chewed my food, careful to note the textures and flavors of each bite I put into my mouth.<\/p>\n

And then I took Patches and Me for a walk. I recently recognized that I need to factor myself into that exercise equation and to honor my own body’s need for movement as much as the dog’s, so that’s how I refer to it now: Taking The Dog and Me for a walk.<\/p>\n

I am always acutely aware of my neighbor’s American flag fluttering on breezes that caress my face and exposed arms, the bird and cricket song, and the fresh smells of newly cut grass or rain. This morning I noted two different bird calls I hadn’t heard before and the slight cock of my dog’s left ear, keyed in for any instructions I might have.<\/p>\n

Fed and physically refreshed, I then sat down to honor my morning ritual of connecting with Spirit.<\/p>\n

I didn’t have a pressing question I want answered, and given the fact that I’m trying to create my symbol bases and further develop my intuitive gifts, I asked for a sign that represents success\/accomplishment.<\/p>\n

The Other Side always guides me to a relevant resource. Always.<\/p>\n

So I was a little confused to flip over the chosen card from Doreen Virtue’s angel deck to see Ace of Water.<\/p>\n

Ace of Water mostly has to do with relationships and finding new love or rekindling a current romance.<\/p>\n

I’m learning not to question, but to trust (my life purpose, according to Dan Millman’s Life Purpose calculator) that I will always understand the meanings and answers when the time is relevant, but I figured the card could symbolize “success” for those who found a life partner or those who have resolved conflict with an existing one.<\/p>\n

Next, as I often do, I asked for a healing crystal to accompany my day. The stone I was guided to pull from the bottom of the container? Amethyst, which I mostly associate with the Third Eye Chakra and connecting with Intuition.<\/p>\n

I scratched my head, wondering what the relevance was. And then I heeded that little voice that suggested I read my note card on that stone.<\/p>\n

Journeyer, I couldn’t help but smile and understand<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Amethyst, with regards to the physical world, has always been highly regarded as the stone of faithful love, is the stone of stone for St. Valentine, and the February’s birthstone.<\/p>\n

I immediately recognized the message, a gentle reminder to keep viewing the world around me with fresh eyes, to be open to the many possibilities that exist in every situation.<\/p>\n

[Tweet theme=”basic-white”]Complacency and rigidity are two traits that can block our path to happiness. [\/Tweet]<\/p>\n

\"Annah<\/p>\n

[Tweet theme=”basic-white”]Gratitude and flexibility are two qualities that open gates on the road to happiness.[\/Tweet]<\/p>\n

Open roads to happiness definitely feed my happy!<\/p>\n

Other big and little moments that fed my Happy last week include:<\/p>\n

an uncommon herd of deer sighting in the fields I gazed upon from my enclosed deck…<\/p>\n

purchasing a bright bunch of sunflowers for my kitchen…<\/p>\n

manifestation writings and taking time to read a few pages in Glennon Doyle Melton’s new book Love Warrior…<\/em><\/p>\n

last week’s glorious full moon…<\/p>\n

abundant sunshine…some rain for our parched soils..and beautiful sunrises and sunsets…<\/p>\n

trying out my new pair of Nike sneakers that feel like super soft gloves on my feet!…<\/p>\n

a date night dinner with Warren and another outing with some friends…<\/p>\n

a family dinner and getting to know a new member of our family…<\/p>\n

several walks with my dog…<\/p>\n

a productive counseling session for Hubby and I…<\/p>\n

checking a few things off my To-Do list…<\/p>\n

getting together with Beauty and her beau’s family for a nice weekend lunch…<\/p>\n

chatting with a fellow soccer mom while watching our boys and their teammates in competition…<\/p>\n

connecting with fellow neighbor and healing ally, Sharon Ehlers…<\/p>\n

Journeyer, Sharon and I are collaborating on a few things and I can’t wait to share them with you!<\/p>\n

But for now, it’s time to wrap up!<\/p>\n

What about you, Journeyer? What fresh-eyed moment(s) brightened your day last week? We want to know! Leave us a little happy love in a comment below!<\/p>\n

Until next time, yours in hope, healing, and happiness,<\/p>\n

\"Annah<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy Sunday-Monday, Journeyer!! This morning I woke up ruminating on all kinds of problems. Some people can’t fall asleep at night because they can’t seem to shut their minds off. I used to have the problem and then, out of a sense of desperation, I began doing what I later learned was a form of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":379933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1904,1387,1034,1903,1035,32],"tags":[316,1131,721,317,1342,1544,820,1620,223,28,1337],"class_list":["post-379932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-and-healing","category-grief","category-happy-happens","category-loss","category-mental-health","category-spirituality","tag-happyhappens","tag-date-night","tag-family-get-together","tag-finding-happiness-in-your-day","tag-glennon-doyle-melton","tag-healing-crystals","tag-intuition","tag-love-warrior","tag-relationships","tag-spirituality","tag-tarot"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Annah-Elizabeth-Gratitude-and-Flexiblity-quote.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}