Tuesday, May 21, 2013

YOU'RE SO BEAUTIFUL, YOU'RE SO KIND AND FREE


                                YOU'RE SO BEAUTIFUL, YOUR'E SO KIND AND FREE


God wants nothing”, 
...writes N.D. Walsch in his extraordinary book What God Wants. Inherent in this unusual statement is a profound sense of freedom and acceptance. I spent so much time and energy trying to please God, and feeling like I had failed miserably. For instance, as a child I used to get on my knees and recite the Lord’s Prayer when I wanted to get on God’s good side. This never produced the desired results, or so it felt to me. Today I get on my knees when I have something important to ask, simply because it helps to focus my mind and improve my spiritual balance. Allow yourself to think that God is pure love that does not need or demand anything, because he is one with all things and has everything already. That is the God I believe in today, and that I wish I had believed in sooner. I am a part of him, we are friends and equals – along with everything else.
God gave us free will and the opportunity to create whatever we want (including our concept of him/her/it). For her to send us to “hell” if we do not choose what she wants would be a complete betrayal. God is neutral – she never judges. She is a gentle, loving spirit… in all things. I believe that my will (and its imperfect wisdomJ) is always accepted by God – because she loves me unconditionally. That being said, she might, like a good mother, decide to point out the things that would serve me best and help me to enjoy life to the fullest. Then it is my job to listen – using my own insight!
God is a “divine master” and his creation is a great masterpiece. That means that you and I are perfect. This is a big truth for many people, and one that is easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of daily life. But when we do manage to remember it – to see the divine in ourselves and other people – there can be few obstacles to our happiness.
(From the forthcoming book Be a smiler...)    
                                    
  „Guð vill ekkert“,
...skrifar N.D. Walsch í stórmerkilegri bók sinni What God Wants. Í þessari óvenjulegu yfirlýsingu felst dásamlegt samþykki og frelsi. Ég sem hafði svo oft reynt að þóknast Guði og upplifa mér mistakast það herfilega. Ég fór t.a.m. með Faðirvorið upphátt á hnjánum sem krakki, þegar ég vildi koma mér í mjúkinn, en uppskar nákvæmlega ekkert... að mér fannst. Í dag krýp ég að vísu þegar mikið liggur við, það virkar einfaldlega betur til að ná hugarró og einbeitingu. Gefðu því möguleika, að Guð sé hreinn kærleikur sem hvorki þarfnist né krefjist neins, vegna þess augljósa að hann er eitt með öllu og hefur því allt nú þegar. Þannig Guð trúi ég á í dag og hefði betur gert fyrr um ævina. Ég er hluti af honum, við erum vinir og jafningjar – með öllu öðru.
     Guð gaf okkur frjálsan vilja, frelsi til að skapa hvað eina sem við viljum (þ.á m. hugmynd okkar um hann/hana/það). Það væru því hrein og klár svik að senda okkur til „helvítis“ ef við veldum ekki það sem hann vildi að við veldum!  Guð er hlutlaus – dæmir aldrei og er ljúfur og kær andi... í öllum málum. Ég trúi því að minn vilji (þó misvitur geti verið) sé ætíð samþykktur af Guði – hann elski mig skilyrðislaust – án allra kvaða. Hún gæti samt sem áður, líkt og góð móðir, viljað benda mér á hvað gagnist mér best til að njóta lífsins... og þá er það mitt að hlusta – með innsæinu!  
      Guð er eðli sínu samkvæmt „heilagur meistari“ og öll hans sköpun því mikið meistaraverk... sem gerir mig og þig fullkomin... við erum jú „komin til fulls“ á hverjum tíma. Þetta er stór sannleikur fyrir marga að meðtaka og auðvelt að gleyma í amstri hversdagsins. En þegar við náum að trúa þessu... sjá guðdómleikann í okkur sjálfum og öllum hinum, er fátt sem getur stoppað gleðina sem brýst út.
(úr væntanlegri bók um smiler)



                 


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

STOP ACID ATTACK




                                                              STOP ACID ATTACK


I am so thrilled that 10% of my income is going to STOP ACID ATTACK foundation in India. 
    My creator Gegga will be participating at Radhusmarkad in Reykjavik. Open on next Thursday from 16-18, and Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 10-18. 
    If you buy me - you will put smiles on many faces in India  :)

Ég er svo hreykinn af því að 10% af innkomu minni fer til styrktar STOP ACID ATTACK foundation in India. 
    Gegga, skapari minn tekur þátt í Ráðhúsmarkaðnum í Reykjavík. Hann opnar á fimmtudag kl 16. Opið er föstudag, laugardag, sunnudag og mánudag frá kl 10-18. 
    Ef þú kaupir mig þá setur þú bros á mörg andlit í Indlandi.


Tuesday, May 7, 2013

IT IS ALL ABOUT ATTITUDE


"smiler story" from Harpa




                                                                IT IS ALL ABOUT ATTITUDE

How does your attitude affect your life?    

I work in the travel industry and for that reason I travel quite a lot – on average once a month.  I have a boyfriend who does not really like to travel abroad as he becomes a bit insecure not being in a familiar environment.  I have told him he does not need to worry at all – just trust me since I have been doing this for years and will certainly make sure all goes smooth.  

Last week we were on a vacation together in Switzerland.  We flew back home to Iceland from Geneva via London.  Usually I do not like staying for too long at airports before flights, but since we had a rental car we needed to deliver and for my boyfriend not to become all stressed up we were at the airport about two hours before the flight.  We quickly found the place where we deliver the car so this was easy.  We went to departures for the check-in for Easy Jet.  Once we were at the counter I took my boyfriends passport and reach in my bag for mine – which is always kept at the same place in my bag.  But !!!  Oh my God – there was no passport – I just couldn't believe this.  My boyfriend wanted to start looking through all my luggage but I knew that was pointless – since the passport was not at its place in my bag it was obvious I did not have it at all.  Instead of panicking I started to think back – where did I last have my passport.  I remembered handing it over to the receptionist at the hotel the night before.  But I could not remember getting it back.  So I called the hotel and yes for sure my passport was there lying on the table in the reception at the hotel.  I talked to the receptionist and asked him to call a taxi for me and send my passport in the taxi to the airport.  Luckily I had booked us at a hotel very close to the airport the last night. 

The check-in at Easy jet closed at 9.55 and the taxi was there at 9.40 – so we made it :)  My boyfriend said to me – see now, I can never trust you again failing on such basic things as making sure you have your passport.  I looked at him and said – you know what, it has taken me some years to realize that just as everyone else I am allowed to make mistakes – we all do.  This is not a question of a flawless travel – with no mistakes or problems to occur.  The question is how you handle it – you can panic, look for who or whom to blame – or you can simply focus on the solution and solve the problem ;)  

Stay positive and always focus on the solution – not the problem – and life will be a lot easier.

Harpa Einarsdottir, Owner and Manager Surprizetravel

                                                             ÞETTA SNÝST ALLT UM VIÐHORF

Hvernig hafa viðhorf þín áhrif á líf þitt?

Ég vinn við ferðaþjónustu og þarf að ferðast ansi mikið á vegum vinnunar – að meðaltali líklega um einu sinni í mánuði.  Ég á unnusta sem hefur ekki sérlega gaman af því að ferðast erlendis þar sem hann er í umhverfi sem hann þekkir ekki.  Ég hef sagt honum að hann þurfi nú ekki að hafa neinar áhyggjur þegar hann ferðast með mér enda alvön kona í ferðamálum, hann þurfi bara að treysta mér.

Í síðustu viku vorum við í fríi í Sviss.  Við áttum pantað flug heim til Íslands frá Genf, í gegnum London.  Mér þykir nú ekki sérlega gaman að eyða tíma mínum á flugvöllum og fer því gjarnan út á flugvöll eins seint og mögulegt er – helst ekki meira en klukkustund fyrir brottför.  Þar sem við vorum með bílaleigubíl sem við þurftum að skila – og líka til að valda ekki einhverju óþarfa stressi hjá unnusta mínum ákvaðum við að fara tímanlega út á flugvöll og vorum mætt tveim tímum fyrir brottför.  Það gekk mjög vel að skila af okkur bílnum þannig að við vorum fljótt mætt í innritun hjá EasyJet, sem skyldi fljúga með okkur til London.  Þegar við komum að afgreiðsluborðinu fékk ég vegabréf unnusta míns og seildist í töskuna eftir mínu.  EN!!!  Þar var bara  ekkert vegabréf – ég ætlaði ekki að trúa þessu.  Unnusti minn vildi fara að leita í öllum farangrinum en ég vissi að þar sem vegabréfið var ekki á sínum vísa stað í töskunni minni þá væri ég ekki með það.  Í stað þess að fara í panik yfir þessu fór ég rólega í huganum til baka til að muna hvar ég hafði síðast verið að nota vegabréfið.  Ég mundi að kvöldið áður þegar ég var að innrita okkur á hótelið sem við gistum á hafði ég rétt starfsmanninum í gestamóttökunni vegabréfið til að sjá nafnið mitt.  Ég mundi hins vegar ekki eftir að hafa tekið á móti vegabréfinu aftur.  Ég hringdi því strax á hótelið og viti menn – vegabréfið mitt lá á borðinu í gestamóttöku hótelsins.  Ég bað starfsmann gestamóttökunnar um að hringja fyrir mig á leigubíl og senda vegabréfið með bílnum út á flugvöll á ákveðinn stað sem ég myndi bíða á.  Sem betur fer hafði ég bókað okkur á hótel nálægt flugvellinum síðustu nóttina.  

Innritun hjá Easy Jet lokaði kl 9.55 fyrir flugið til London.  Leigubíllinn mætti með vegabréfið mitt kl 9.40, þannig að allt fór vel og við náðum fluginu :)  Unnusti minn sagði - sjáðu bara, nú get ég aldrei treyst þér framar á ferðalögum þar sem þú"klikkar" á mikilvægum  grundvallaratriðum, eins og að passa upp á vegabréfið þitt.  Ég horfði á hann og sagði – veistu góði, að það hefur tekið mig nokkur ár að skilja að ég , eins og allir aðrir, gera mistök – enda gerum við öll mistök.  Þetta er ekki spurning  um að ekkert komi upp á í lífinu.  Spurningin er hvernig við tökum á því sem kemur upp á – við getum misst stjórn á okkur í panik, eytt tímanum í að reyna að finna hverju eða hverjum er um að kenna – eða við getum einfaldlega beint athyglinni að því að finna lausn vandans  ;)

Verum jákvæð og beinum athygli okkar ávallt að lausn vandans – ekki að vandamálinu sjálfu – og lífið verður mun auðveldara.


Harpa Einarsdottir, Owner and Manager Surprizetravel




Tuesday, April 30, 2013

"smiler story" from Runa



                                                          



MY NIGHT AT NEW YORK PENN STATION WITH THE HOMELESS

Where is the gift in this? 
It was midnight US Eastern time, however my mind and body told me the time was 5 a.m. as I had just landed in New York from Iceland. I was on my way to Washington DC where I was booked to speak at the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) National Conference the following morning.   My trip had not exactly started as planned.  It started with a delayed arrival from Iceland, causing me to lose my connecting flight.  My only option to make it to Washington DC in time for my speaking engagements was to take the train. The second flip…mistake… event, whatever we want to call it, to delay my trip, was when I missed the train station I was supposed to go to catch my train to Washington D.C.
Tired and extremely frustrated at myself for making that mistake, finally I arrived at Penn Station, only to find out that I had missed the midnight train to Washington D.C. and that the next train was not expected to depart till 4 a.m. that morning.   With my train ticket in one hand, my luggage in the other, I sat down in the main entrance hall of Penn Station, still could not believe I had screwed things up so badly.  As I thought about my situation, my 4 hour wait ahead, my concern to be able to deliver my speech the following day, arriving in DC only few hours before I should be on stage, a question popped up in my mind, several times.  The question was: ”Runa, where is the gift in this moment?” Yeah, well, it sounded more like “Where is the so called gift in this moment?” 
As I tried to come to terms with my situation and figure out “the gift in that moment” a group of police officers entered the main hall at Penn Station and asked everybody to evacuate the building. They were ready to close the building for the night. As I looked around, I realized I was sitting with the homeless people of New York, and the police were escorting everybody out of the station.   People slowly moved out of the station.   I was terrified… “WHAT!?  It’s cold and dark and I don’t have any place to go to in New York!  How am I going to catch the 4 a.m. train if I’m not even allowed to be inside Penn Station?”  I turned to one of the police officer with my question, and he guided me to wait in a special waiting room by the platform.  “Uff… “That was a relief I thought.  Then I looked around me, I noticed that many of my “new friends” of New York (the homeless people) knew about the waiting rooms and accompanied me into the warm waiting-room.
As they entered the waiting room, they quietly lay on the wooden benches (which all had a sign saying only for people with valid train tickets) and fell asleep.  I however was determined that despite the time difference and long travel, I was going to stay wide awake till my train would arrive.  Still frustrated…and amazed by this situation I was in, I kept asking myself the question: “Where is the gift in this? Where is the gift in this situation? Why am I here?”
The night came, and soon I noticed there was a certain pattern of activities that took place inside that waiting room.  My new homeless friends who had found a place to sleep around me, only got about 1 hour of sleep, as the police officers came regularly and quietly touched their shoulder… the sleepy homeless person looked up… quietly stood up and moved out… as this happened, a new homeless person came into my waiting room… fell asleep, and in about 1 hour a pair of two police officers entered… quietly touched their shoulders… and the same routine started. 
As I watched this routine of quiet work from the police officers, and quiet acceptance from the homeless the biggest, most amazing, overwhelming “gift in the moment” appeared to me.   I felt the feeling of respect.  Deep meaningful respect.  I felt the respect that was in the air.  I felt the respect the police officers (who were just doing their jobs) showed the homeless, despite their situation, a respect that was clearly reciprocated by the homeless.  This experience gave me a new feeling of how we are all connected and told me how all human beings, in all aspects of life have deep desire to give respect and be respected.   
My night at New York Penn Station was a true gift.  It made me vulnerable, and at the same time deeply grateful for being able to witness and feel the mutual respect between human beings, a mutual respect which is so fundamentally important in human relations.

Runa Magnusdottir
International Leadership & Personal Branding Lecturer & Seminar Leader


Tuesday, April 23, 2013

CUT YOURSELF FREE


         
                                                      CUT YOURSELF FREE

 Are you happy with where your life is heading? ... or not??

Most of the time you are your own obstacle. You do not let your dreams soar because you fear something imaginary – something awful that might conceivably happen.
For a very long time I made security a priority in my life. This was certainly true when it came to my finances. That is why it suited me well to work in the health care sector. I did it for years, collecting my wages at the end of each month. Yet I am also trained as a visual artist, and since graduating from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2001 I have dreamed about working exclusively on my art.

After Iceland’s financial meltdown in 2008, I summoned my courage and quit my job. Many people were astonished at my timing… but I followed my heart, without further hesitation. I made a decision to devote myself to my art and to trust what is written in the Scriptures: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” My life has been wonderful almost every day since then, and my level of material comfort has not changed.
I choose not to sacrifice my dreams for a “security” that is unreliable in any case. I would rather try my dreams on for size and find out how they feel. If they fit badly, I can always take them off – I hope.

Verily I say unto thee: Believe in the dream that fills you with passion, and follow it. Life is a lot more vibrant when you let go of your safety line and dare to climb new mountains.
     (from the forthcoming book: Be a smiler…)







Tuesday, April 16, 2013

WHY HELPING OTHERS TO FLY?


                                              WHY HELPING OTHERS TO FLY?


“It is better to give than to receive.” This old adage speaks volumes. The smiles you send out always come back to you eventually.


We all have hopes and desires, and the quickest way to get what you want is to give it to someone else… with sincerity and joy. This is true for all things, both spiritual and material.

“I am one with all there is,” that is, a part of The Creator, and therefore I consider it impossible for me to do something to my neighbour, good or bad, without getting the same thing back. If I break my little toe, all of me suffers, because even though the toe is small, it is connected to the rest of my body. Even your enemy’s happiness boosts your happiness, upon closer inspection. A happy person is less likely to do harmful things than the one who is unhappy.

Jesus was a wise man, and one of his best pieces of advice was to do unto others as you would have others do unto you. This is precisely the point. If you want the love and respect of others, give them the same… generously, with praise and approval. Instantly you will feel as though you are worthy and that you matter. Furthermore, others will think more highly of you, and will not want to be without you. 
( From the forthcoming book: Be a smiler... )


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

THE CUTEST GUY IN THE CLASS





                                               THE CUTEST GUY IN THE CLASS 
            
Few days ago I was having a walk in a beautiful garden in my neighbourhood with my creator Gegga. This time Gegga was stucked in a little bit selfpitty because she felt her dreams were not coming true – yet! So she asked God to send her some nice guy to cheer her up.

     Suddenly we saw a man sitting on a bench. He was nice looking and somehow he seemed to shine. When we came closer, Gegga recognised it was a man who almost 40 years ago, not though fully, sounds better to say 38... was in school with her. He had been the most handsome boy in her class. All the girls agreed to that. He was always smiling which of course made him even more attractive.  Once upon a time Gegga had even kissed him! – in the good old days when she was only 14 :)

     Now, sitting there on the bench, they had a chat and he told her he’d been sick with a cancer for a few years now, and still wasn’t cured. But what a smile on his face! He was so positive and joyful that Gegga felt a little ashamed of her own selfpitty. She asked if he was able to work, knowing he had been working as a plummer. And he told her he worked now and then for “nice people” – doing just what pleased him.  And when the job was not fun enough HE JUST MADE IT JOYFUL AND FUN!!  He trained his mind in every way to be positive and creative.

     He told Gegga, his job was to take care of his mind – the doctors job was to take care of his body!

     ONCE A SMILER - ALWAYS A SMILER!