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This is a story I came across a few weeks ago and knew I had to share. Ralph "Boonie" Lethbridge is a Christmas tree salesman in Clarenville, Newfoundland in Canada. He's known for his beard that he hasn't shaved in nearly four decades. Boonie wanted to help raise money for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) as some of his friends were dealing with the illness, in particular his friend Larry Boyd (who you'll see in the video below). His goal was to reach $5,000. He's quoted as saying, ""I said I'll stay out of the woods and I'll go for two weeks and pooch every bit of energy I have in my body to make money for them, and damn it, it paid off." Did it ever, he surpassed his goal and raised over $51,000. The amount was announced at the intermission of a hockey game where Boonie had his beard completely shaved off. I was so touched when I watched this one minute video. Yes, it's beautiful how he inspired people to come together and donate. It's wonderful to see the fruit of his effort. What really touched me, though, is his genuine authenticity. There does not seem to be an ounce of pretension to this man. He exudes such a loving heart. He has a real depth of compassion and a sense of humor to boot. The exterior of an outdoorsman with a heart of pure gold. You can read more about his story here. Love, Adrienne :)
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 The following was shared on Facebook by a friend. The author, a Pre-K teacher, wished to remain anonymous. This is an amazing and inspiring story. It's one that gets to the root of the matter and exemplifies what we're all capable of. I wanted to share an experience I had yesterday, because it was really beautiful, and made me think a lot. I recently started working in a Montessori school that gets Head Start funding, and has a lot of low income and immigrant children. A lot of kids come from stressful homes due to poverty, being a cultural transplant, and all the other side effects that come from being raised by adults who are stressed or overwhelmed. Some of our kids are in foster care, and some come to us as a last resort after being kicked out of other schools. Among a multitude of hurting kids are a multitude of complicated, big feelings and the behaviors that come with them. Yesterday, on the playground, probably due to a big incident that happened the day before, tensions were high and there were quite a few hitting/shoving incidents. The first one happened and the voice of a teacher suddenly boomed across the school yard: "Jaden, get over here RIGHT NOW!" It was enough to make my heart skip a beat and I watched, wondering if a tongue lashing was about to ensue. Clearly startled and intimidated, the offending child, probably the child with the biggest attitude in my class, walked slowly across the yard over to her. She crooked a finger under his chin, looked him in the eye and said, "Jaden, I love you. Do you know that? I love you, your teachers love you and your friends love you." She paused to let that sink in. "But today, when Gabriel goes home, he will tell his dad, 'Dad, I love Jaden, but he hits me.' How do you think his dad will feel about that? He's going to feel angry, won't he, because he loves Gabriel and it makes him angry when someone hurts him. It makes me angry too because one of my friends got hurt. And when you look at Gabriel's face, I think you can see it makes him really sad. It hurts his body, but it hurts his heart too because he loves you and you are his friend." At this point half the school yard is in rapt attention and I've never seen Jaden fixated on a conversation for so long. Tears are starting to well up in his eyes. "But you know what Jaden? When I look at your face, I can see that it doesn't just hurt Gabriel. It hurts your heart too. You are hurting because you are a good person and you love your friend. I know that everyone is feeling cloudy today and the world feels ugly, but Jaden, this is a love school, and today is a love day, and I need you to remember that. I'm going to show you what to do with your hands in a love school." She gently took his hands and folded him into a hug. "That's a hug Jaden. That's how we love our friends. I'm going to call Gabriel over, and I want you to show him that you love him." The hurt child came over, and Jaden, who was sobbing, held him tightly and said, with the most sincerity I've ever seen him express, "I love you. I love you. I won't hurt you. I love you." They held each other for a long time as Gabriel seemed to know now that maybe it was his friend who needed comforting. Then, the teacher dismissed him with an, "I love you Jaden. Keep my friends safe." I saw this process repeated with several more children throughout the day, although not with every incident. She had an eye for sorting the overly excited and rough children, or the merely mildly irritated ones, from the children with big feelings welling up that needed addressing at their root. When I said something to her about it, she said, "When a child acts like that, they have forgotten that they are loved. If they never hear it anywhere else, make sure they hear it from us." I learned today that violence is a cry for love. I am grateful to the person who shared this experience. I am grateful to the teacher who is getting to the heart of the matter and is reminding kids what love is and that they are loved. Today may be cloudy, the world may be acting ugly, but we just have to remember that today provides us with more opportunities to express our true nature - to share our love. Please share this beautiful and inspirational story with others. This teacher's lesson is one we can all learn and benefit from. I Love You - Adrienne :)
 Last week's post revolved around the beautiful Love scene from the movie Angel-A. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, we can't help but take into consideration our significant other or lack thereof. If you have that special person in your life, then celebrate them and not just on February 14th. Whether that person is present or not, the relationship you absolutely should be paying attention to is the one with yourself. How is that relationship going? Do you even have one? Do you love every last bit of yourself? Or, do you tend to be critical and hard on yourself - physically, mentally and or emotionally? Can you look into your own eyes in the mirror and say "I love you" with absolute Soul truth and heartfelt sincerity? I can promise you, not many of us can. If we all could, the world would be a much different place. Instead, we have convoluted ideas of what love should be. We search outside of ourselves for someone to fill our holes and insecurities. We base our identity on how others think we should be. We block our hearts and, more often than not, we come from a place of fear rather than love. We can hold massive amounts of fear, self-loathing, rejection, etc. in our body - what's important to remember here is like attracts like. We sometimes try to shut down our heart so we don't keep getting hurt. Almost the entire population puts up some kind of heart-wall. The heart-wall is created from different "negative" energies that are there to "protect" you from getting hurt. It is very real to your subconscious. It's a nice idea, but the problem is, it doesn't protect you from getting hurt. It can actually generate more pain for you and, what's worse, it filters out opportunities to love others as well as yourself. We come from Love. We are Love. How can we really know that when we're holding onto so much pain? Many people will stuff down their pain - it's unpleasant, we don't like to feel it. You can ignore it or stuff it down, but it doesn't go away. I'm constantly helping people release emotions that stem all the way back from childhood that weren't properly dealt with and had become trapped. There are many ways we can block the Love that we are. Our judgments, our beliefs (especially the subconscious and unconscious ones) and our trapped energy can all generate blockages for truly loving ourselves and others. If you resonate with any of what I'm saying and are ready to take an important step in getting out of your own way, I am offering a special on heart-wall and hidden heart-wall release. If you're unfamiliar with this type of work, you can find more information on this website. If you're interested in doing a session - click here for more information. This special is only valid until the end of February 2016. Life is a journey. It is one of Love and of coming back to our heart and the truth of who we really are. It is not a journey that you have to go alone. There are many wonderful people out there who can help you along the way. On that note, I wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day. Much Love - Adrienne :)
Welcome to February! Valentine's Day is just around the corner - I know this because it's plastered everywhere. Barring the commercial aspects of taking one day out of the year to shower your loved ones with candy, flowers, etc., it is a good time to reflect on our relationships with others and with ourselves. Along that spirit, I would like to share my all-time favorite love scene with you. It's from the French film Angel-A, directed by Luc Besson. Perhaps it wasn't what you were expecting, but it is a profound scene that resonates with many people. It definitely struck a cord with me when I first saw the film. Are you able to look at yourself in the mirror, really look at yourself, and say "I love you" - and mean it? Are you someone who looks in the mirror and only sees the "merde"? Are you someone who has so much love to give, but doesn't know how? Are you someone who has never really received love and has no idea how to love? Are you someone who only knows the constraints of conditional love - I will only be loved if I do, act or be a certain way? Are you someone who has tried to love, but it only ended in pain? If you are, you are not alone. A lot can get in the way of loving ourselves and loving others. Next week, I will share more on one such block.The best thing we can do is get out of our own way and back into our heart. We come from LOVE and that is our true nature. Isn't it time to reconnect to that? Love, Adrienne :)
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October 2024
AuthorHello! I'm Adrienne Almamour, an empathic intuitive conduit. I assist people by detecting and clearing their subconscious emotional energy blockages. This blog is a commentary and reflection of life from an intuitive standpoint which also incorporates ways that allow us to be from our heart. |
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