Ever felt as if you were just going through the motions? Found yourself frowning more than smiling in life? Wondering if this is all life has to offer? Counting the days, hours, and/or minutes to the next moment you might feel some pleasure, regardless of the source or of how little it might last? Find yourself doing things which are out of integrity for who you’d like to be in life in order to just feel good about something? Hesitant to look too closely at your past choices and actions for fear of being overwhelmed by too much emotion, possibly regret?
If so, you’re not alone. I had felt that way for a good majority of my life, and wasn’t even aware of it. I was born in 1960 and raised Catholic… including 18 years of Catholic school. In that era, there seemed to be an overriding life philosophy of sacrifice and suffering and just not having “too much” fun. Or, if you did, you were “bucking the system.” This still seems to be a perception in society, at least in the United States. Otherwise, if you’re having “too much fun,” which usually means enjoying all aspects of life … then you must be “up to something” or “getting away with something”. I mean, surely we’re not supposed to be enjoying life when others might judge we need to be “upset” or “concerned.”
Yep, I am “up to” enjoying life … I am “getting away” with enjoying all aspects of my life! Nowadays, I look at most aspects of life as fascinating.
Life can be so much more than just plodding through. Not only is it possible … it’s possible for YOU, AND it doesn’t have to take years or lots of money. For me, it’s merely taken the willingness to change how I viewed life.
So, if you’re ready to experience the inner shifting of how you view life … If you’re ready to fully experience life including one regularly filled with fun, joy, bliss, happiness, laughter … and most of all, PEACE … then keep on reading.
Regardless of the day-to-day things that can pull at us and our peace, this is within your reach. It’s okay if your health, boss, job, relationship, finances, living situation, anything that has issues – and some seem insurmountable – is not how you want to live in this moment. I found that once I came to look at life fully – when I came to ACCEPT what had happened, what choices I had made and especially what actions I took – the peace started to come.
So what happened? What changed my inner perspective?
Around 2009, it’s as if a light switch went on. I realized I just didn’t want to continue to live my life feeling unfulfilled, feeling as if I was subject to the whims of life. It wasn’t necessarily one thing that turned on the light; it was the accumulation of a series of things. I think I finally got to the point of being “sick and tired” of being miserable and hoping for more. I became willing to shift and live more. In retrospect, the things which at the time I labeled “not fair”, “negative”, “bad things” are the ones for which I am now most grateful,
Initially, the peace came in small spurts … then in waves … ebbing and receding …. until one day I realized that it wasn’t the waves which reflected the peace …. it was experiencing the whole of the ocean, whether calm or storms … which reflected the entirety of the tapestry of my life and was key to my inner peace. When I fully looked into some of the seemingly more painful aspects of my life, I realized I wouldn’t be where I am now without each of those incidents occurring. I thought of the many people whose lives I touched in the simplest of ways, a “hello,” a smile … I wouldn’t be there in that moment unless everything had unfolded in my life how it had! Was I willing to risk changing my history, not knowing the effect on others? Instead of longing to have experienced a different history, a different series of pasts … I realized what I could do is change how I viewed it all.
In one of my favorite and enlightening resources of all time – which I was introduced to in 2012 – an article in Sun Magazine titled “The Prayer for the Body,” Stephen Schwartz says:
This work is an exercise in nonviolence toward oneself — approaching everything we’ve called an enemy with absolute, undeviating love. It is an exercise in personal nonviolence, in treating oneself with the most unbelievable compassion. ….
There are people who would try to bring nonviolence into the world, even though they can’t approach their own loneliness with complete nonviolence. How could they deal with somebody else in a nonviolent way? To know nonviolence means that you have no enemies inside yourself; that your loneliness, your grief, your anger are not your enemies.
A couple of years later (during which time was the beginning of deep self-work) I was introduced to Trinity Energy Progression, and my life began to change in exponential ways. All the pieces snapped into place. I took responsibility for creating the life I want to live NOW, and moving forward.
Across all of the experiences I had, all that I studied, I began to be grateful for everything, every pain, every heartache, and every sadness. I started to love myself, and my entire life. I began to embrace those aspects which were scary. Most importantly to me, I became willing to release my attachment to all of these situations, to looking at life only through a grey lens. I took out my kaleidoscope, literally, and made a decision to view life through that lens; through multiple reflections.
It was when my relationship with life changed and I have been on an active path to learn to be “grateful” for everything and I mean EVERYTHING ….. to learn to look at every single thing as a mirror for me to have an opportunity to shift how I view life ….. to accept myself, all of my choices and all of my actions … and to have peace about it all. My attitude, NONE of my attitude has anything to do with anyone else.
Some might think I had an “easier” life then they did and this shift isn’t possible for you with how your life has been … I guarantee you …. IT IS POSSIBLE. It’s the divine right of each of us to live a life of peace.
The specifics of my path aren’t necessarily relevant as each path is different AND you do NOT have to go through a long, complex process … The interesting paradox is in coming to a place of loving everything about yourself and your life, especially my “past” freed me up to live life in the present.
So, here’s what I suggest you consider doing:
- Love yourself; embrace all aspects of yourself;
- Cultivate an “attitude of gratitude” …. If there are some things you can’t yet be grateful for, then start at becoming willing to be grateful for those situations and people;
- Stop judging anything and everything, including yourself and your life;
- Put the focus of YOUR life on YOU ….. no matter what, look at every situation as a reflection of something you are choosing to experience … you CAN do this, it may take practice;
- Look at any resistance, any reaction to anyone or any situation as the road map for your inner work …
When you start living your life realizing that YOU can change how you react to anything, you will begin to experience inner peace and a new freedom you could only dream of. Continue on that path, and it will become your reality.
As Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl of “Man’s Search for Meaning” says,
Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
Come on, get out your kaleidoscope and let’s play! Want to know more? Feel free to contact me. I’m always happy to connect, and to play!
With gratitude for my life,

Laurel Ley
Trinity Energy Progression Facilitator/Practitioner