(no title)

Conversations with God-an uncommon dialogue:Book 1 – Neale Donald Walsh

I’ve always loved books and reading. It’s funny how I find myself, especially lately reading quite a few at the same time. One of the 3 that I’m currently reading is ‘Conversations With God: Book 1’ by Neale Donald Walsh. Seeing that it was published in 1995 and was on the New York Bestsellers list for 137 weeks, I’m feeling like I’m serious late and out of the loop in just discovering it this year. Yet like many books that I read, they seem to come to me at the time and place which they were meant to.

As I began reading, I instantly was drawn into it and have found myself spiritually and mentally re-awakened. Not that I’ve been sleeping, but I find that as I experience things in life and am continually seeking answers, growth & discernment. This book has been providing an insight that is stimulating, refreshing, and challenging to various philosophies and ways of thinking.

So I decided that I wanted to share some with you that it may encourage, incite & perhaps open the doors to something you may be seeking for yourself.

The book begins with these questions that Mr. Walsh poses to God as a result of frustrations in areas of his life, in which I can relate. Written in a dialog form, God challenges him back asking if he really wants to know the answers or is he just venting. From there the book reads like a series of questions and answers as well as a dialogue between Walsh & God. Many of them are questions and thoughts that we ALL have and wonder.

One of the initial points is God communicating to us all through ‘feelings’, ‘thoughts’, and ‘words’.

* “Words may help you understand something. Experience allows you to know. Yet there are some things you cannot experience. So I have given you other tools of knowing. And these are feelings. And so to thoughts…The challenge is one of discernment. The difficulty is knowing the difference between messages from God and data from other sources.”

“Mine is always your Highest Thought, your Clearest Word, your Grandest Feeling. Anything less is from another source…The Highest Thought is always that thought which contains joy. The Clearest words are those words that which contain truth. The Grandest Feeling is that feeling which you call love. Joy, truth, love.”

For someone who has lately been constantly questioning if thoughts, desires, feelings, and dreams are from God, this has given me something to take on in my search of God’s will & what is meant for my life.

Prayer is a stronghold in my life. I’ve learned how not just to speak to God but to listen. I greatly recognize and value the power of prayer. The book makes a declaration about things we ask of God and praying for things that we want in stating “The correct prayer is therefore never a prayer of supplication, but a prayer of gratitude.” In effect, when we ask for things, we come from a statement of lack and in a sense of faithlessness. The book explains how in appreciating and expressing gratitude, we come in a space of affirmation. This is our expression of faith.

One of the statements that the book addresses that moved me was *“All human actions are motivated at their deepest level by one of two emotions-fear or love. In truth there are only two emotions..” I’m always seeking to act in love in everything that I do. This had me thinking a lot about human nature, especially when the book breaks down our nature “to love, then destroy, then to love again”. I also then began to challenge myself by asking what am I really afraid of, what are my fears, and why? (I’ll provide insight to that in upcoming post, but let’s say I had a profound moment in seeking to discover hidden fears.)

The final thing that I will share in this post about the book, which was definitely in-line with where I am in my life and oddly enough with the launch of F7LN.com, is the statement made:

* “The deepest secret is that life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation.”

I’ve always looked at life as being about learning and growing, yet one thing to thing about is looking at life as the chance to recreate Who We Are.

The book explains..

* “Life (as you call it) is an opportunity for you to know experientially what you already know conceptually. You need to learn nothing to do this. You need to merely remember what you already know, and act on it…Yet knowing is not enough. The soul seeks to experience…It is your soul’s only desire to turn its grandest concept about itself into its greatest experience.”

When I thought about how God made me & my ending after this life is over is already determined, so what is the purpose of my life? To understand and establish myself as the person who I was made to be. Self-actualization. And is that something to learn or rather something to create so that I know myself to be who I am in actually experiencing it? I thought this was a profound point, especially seeing that along with myself; a lot of people I know seem to be questioning and trying to figure out what’s next in life.

Well, though this was brief and doesn’t remotely get into the depths that the book truly goes into, I hope this blesses you in some way. Feel free to check back as, I’ll be sharing more as I read. I do recommend reading the book yourself and if you do decide to, let me know via email or Twitter and share your thoughts.

**Peace & blessings**

* excerpts from Conversations with God

For someone who’s pretty active and is a triathlete, I try to have a healthy diet. Though I must admit I like fried chicken and have an insane sweet tooth, however, I’m constantly educating myself and working on nourishing this temple that I’ve been given to ensure I take good care of it. That along with my constant desire to express my creativity always leads me to having fun in the kitchen.

I love being artistic and making “pretty” food. More and more I find myself baking, mixing, preparing cool dishes or drinks and then sharing them and photos of them. So I decided to share a few new healthy items that I’ve made along with how to make them. I will admit my measurements are estimates, since while I made them, I really approximated the amounts based off look and taste but feel free to try them and let me know how they worked for you.

Mango Pineapple Salsa

Mango Pineapple Salsa
I love tropical fruits and just this last week or so made this twice and enjoyed as snack food.

3/4 cup of diced fresh mango
1 cup of diced fresh pineapple
1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

Mix and enjoy with your favor tortilla chips!

Apple Pineapple Mint Refresher

Apple Pineapple Mint Refresher
I literally just tried this yesterday, but it came out so good that I drank 2 cups of it.

1/2 cup Simply Apple 100% pressed apple juice
1/2 cup 100% pure pineapple juice
2 cups mint tea
1 cup ice
Sugar in the Raw

Mix juices, tea and ice in a shaker. Shake well. Add sugar to your preferred taste. Shake again. Pour and enjoy!

It took a while for me to decide on what would my first post be about and then it came to me. It speaks to the meaning behind this site…PURPOSE. The last 2 years has been a collage of experiences in my reawakening..to challenge myself in growing, transforming and continuing to evolve in fulfilling my purpose. I want to share that same challenge with you.

For not just myself but many people around me, we all have experienced challenges, difficulties, hurts, and struggles. Personally, my life in a way came to a halt. I’ve found myself and others seeking direction and not quite clear on life and where it was meant to lead.

I often say that God uses pain and struggle as a megaphone to speak to us. As difficult as it can be to embrace pain, change, and lack of clarity, it’s necessary to step into it and through it so that we can come out of the other side victoriously.

After spending much time being still, silent, reflecting, praying, fasting, seeking, learning, I am reawakening. I feel this time is necessary in all of our lives and that it’s part of our continual journey of self-actualization.

No matter where you are in life, it is perfect. You are exactly where you are meant to be, so embrace it. To truly do that, I say ask yourself and keep digging and seeking to answer the questions:

Why is this happening? What am I meant to learn & get out of this?

What am I truly here for? Is what I’m doing fulfilling that? If not, why am I doing what I’m doing?

I’ve let go of doing things that when I asked these questions I realized that they are not contributing to my purpose. And I’m challenging myself to use all areas of my life spiritual, family, work, hobbies, gifts, and more to fulfill and embrace my, Fredi Nyashia’s purpose. Hence, this site, F7LN.

F7LN has a double meaning:

First it stands for ‘For 7 Loves: Nstruments of Nspiration’: art (visual), music, creativity, spiritual gifts, talents/abilities, daily experiences, and life’s journey…with a focus to uplift, and inspire.

Secondly, F7LN represents me, Fredi NyAshia, the 7 is my favorite number but also symbolic in so many spiritual aspects (you will often see 7 represented in features on the site), and ‘L’ for LOVE.

All of this with the simplest purpose: to embrace, show & share with you LOVE.

So, with that said..Welcome to F7LN.

Conversations with God: Part 1

Fun With Food..Here’s To Your Health

Reawakening of Purpose