Stop, Look Around, Believe In You

Insight is a new awareness about something.  I think it is easiest to see it play out in your life, when you look backwards in your life.  About 15 years ago, I started long range planning for what I would do in my retirement years.  I knew I wanted to have my own business, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.  I started attending seminars about holistic healthcare businesses, because I had been trained in Herbs, Aromatherapy and Reiki.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a practitioner with it, but I thought that if I leaned how to run a practice, it would be easily transferable to any other type of business.  At one of these seminars, I had a huge transitional life experience.

“Your perception of me is a reflection of you; my reaction to you is an awareness of me”  – Unknown

The facilitator called on me, as I had raised my hand to share something with the rest of the group.  It was a large group of around 100 or so people.  He looked at me, like he wasn’t sure if he knew me, but thought he did.  He asked if I had attended any of their other events and I said yes, three of them.  That was when it happened.  He made a motion like he was removing a literal cloak off my shoulders and said, “You are one of those invisible people.  I am removing your cloak of invisibility.”  It felt like in every single cell, in each strand of DNA a shift  occurred in that moment.  I felt like a spot light was centered on me.  I was blinded by the spotlight.

I knew in that moment, that I could never be invisible again.  It was the beginning of a multitude of shifts and changes in my life, some of which are still continuing today.  Change can happen within a single moment, but if you are not open to awareness, it will pass you by.  If I had just thought, “that’s a stupid thing to say”, it would have passed me by.  Why?  Because I wasn’t open to it happening.  How many things happen around you daily, where you miss the opportunity to shift and change your life because you are closed off?

This is why, even though you say and do whatever you can to help another person, you can’t change them.  They could be drowning in a bathtub and all they have to do is stand up to save themselves.  But if they are not open and aware, anything you say or do hits an invisible shield and has no impact on them.  It breaks your heart to watch them self destruct, to hurt themselves over and over and not be able to reach them.  They have to walk their own path.

“Fight for the fairy tale, it does exist”  – Joy F

Just remember, that for them too, change can happen in a single moment.  For Snow White it was a kiss that dislodged the poison apple.  For Sleeping Beauty the kiss woke her up.  It may be that your loved one just hasn’t hit their bottom yet.  That when they hit their bottom, you hope that like the fairy tale they will wake up.  That they will see that they just have to stand up to save themselves.  What is sad but true, is that most of the time hitting rock bottom doesn’t affect people the way you think it will.  It can be as simple as life catching you by surprise.  Because your mind is not prepared, it’s not on guard.  In that brief moment something as small as a comment can slide into your consciousness unimpeded.  At that moment, your perception of reality changes.

“When you change your thoughts and perception, you change the way you live”  – Rita Zahara

When I look back I can see that it was literally as if my reality changed to a new place.  It felt like all of that was in preparation for LemonadeMakers, as it was just a few months later that my nephew was murdered, which was the catalyst for creating LemonadeMakers.  It was if the timer went off, and Sheryl’s destiny gears began moving everything into place.

“Sometimes in the wind of change, we find our true direction”  – Unknown

Insight is like a faceted crystal, or a kaleidoscope.  Every time you look through it you turn to a new facet, or with one click on the wand, the kaleidoscope changes what you see.  You see a new perspective.  A different angle.  There are so many levels of awareness about what you are trying to see or understand.  It is up to you to be curious.  To ask questions.  To look at the subject through different lenses to see another level of awareness.  So our picture at the top of the post for example, shows a light bulb with an idea that pops into her brain.  Then you see the gears, these are the levels of awareness that she is running her idea through.  The question mark, is her insights, that again start running through more levels of awareness.

“Perception is a wave.  You change as your perception of something changes because you define yourself as a reflection of whatever you happen to perceive”  – Frederick Lenz

There is a game that a friend made up.  You had these slips of paper, and during dinner you would choose one slip and read the question written on it to another person at the dinner table.  I remember once I had the question, tell me a story about your life that you don’t think I know.  I asked my dad and he told me this wonderful story about something that happened when he was a kid.  It totally changed how I thought he was raised.  A little curiosity opened a new awareness, an insight about a man I thought I knew.

“A man of awareness knows that life is constantly changing.  Life is change.  There is only one thing permanent, and that is change.  Except change, everything else changes”  – Osho

You have had something happen in your past that changed your life.  Do you remember when you were a kid in grade school and they had those pictures that were partly formed and you have to connect the dots to complete the picture?  Awareness many times happens, when we look backwards after a change has happened.  All of a sudden we see connecting dots to different small life changes that prepared us for the bigger life change.  We had no idea, insight, or awareness that these seemingly small changes, were in fact a part of the larger picture of where we were going in life.

“I can be changed by what happens to me.  But I REFUSE to be REDUCED by it”  – Maya Angelou

How is it possible to have life change you, yet not be reduced by those changes?

“The spirit of her invincible heart guided her through the shadows”  – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

My cousin had a fitness test at work that triggered a heart attack.   How do you go through “bad things”, and yet not be reduced by it?  Perception.  At first everyone was really upset that this happened.  They were talking about suing his employer.  But when it was discovered at the hospital that he had Graves disease everyone’s perception of what happened shifted.  Without treatment, Graves’ disease can cause some serious and potentially fatal health problems, including: An irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure, and other heart-related problems.  So what happened at work could have saved his life.

Perception is the meaning that you give to the thing that happened.  Have you seen those pictures that have a hidden picture in it?  Where some people see a beautiful woman, and others see a hag with a pointed hat – depending on their perception.  When someone points it out to you, now you can see both women.  Your perception is changed.

So many possibilities of something positive coming from any experience – it will all depend on the meaning that you put to it.

“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything”  – George Bernard Shaw

So open up new doors.  Shut the doors behind you that no longer lead to anything positive.  Trust in the magic of new beginnings.  Don’t make it complicated.  Just begin.  Join us in our next monthly call of April 4th and learn about what you can do to have a more positive and fulfilling life.

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be”  –  Lao Tzu

Listen To Your Soul

 

When you can quiet the fluctuations of your mind and drift into stillness and silence, you can finally hear the whispers of your heart.

  –   davidji

Silence isn’t just empty space.  It is the container that holds all of the answers.  But you can’t access it, until you release what you think life should be.  It is only then that you can begin to see what is, and accept it.  When you can process life as it is, only then you can see what it can be.  That is the beginning of the journey of transformation.  Because it is only in this place that you can begin to hear the sound of your soul.   

True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.

  –   William Penn

It is in the silence you begin to hear your own heart.  It is in the heart that the soul hears the whispers of the divine, Gods answers.  This is where true intelligence is, not in the mind.  By listening to this voice, you see things in a different light, a different space.  This is the space that you hear God’s voice answering those prayers for direction.  That is the space where your soul is at peace with your minds thoughts.

Dare to stand before those you fear and speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.

  –   Maggie Kuhn

This is where what they call “out of the box” thinking occurs.  It is the place where the curiosity starts, where creativity lives, where you can find the right solutions.  It is the place of firm collaboration of the mind, body and soul.  Where the spirit and soul commune to stand in an overwhelming force for doing the right thing, regardless of what anyone else is saying or doing. 

 It’s a shame when the things that are on your mind and in your heart, never reach your lips.

  – Unknown

The worst thing that can happen is for people to be too ashamed, too scared, or feel too unworthy to speak their own truth.  When other people to try crush you because you don’t share the same religion, the same culture, the same language, the same color of skin, or the same sexual orientation the human race is being robbed.  We should welcome all expression.  Risk being seen, not just in all of your glory,  but with all of your imperfections..

The biggest bully most of us will ever face lives within us, located inside our own heads.  The screaming thoughts that we hurl at ourselves about ourselves, we would never allow anyone to say to us.  We worry about what kind of person we would be if we let loose who we really are.  That we are too much, too emotional, too loving, too sensitive.  That we are a bad person; that everyone would judge us as not enough and we will be destroyed.  We don’t give ourselves the love we give to others, the grace and forgiveness that we give to others. 

 Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose.

  –  Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Like most things in life, silence also has it shadow that gets expressed out in the world.  Martin Luther King Jr. wrote about this shadow when he said:

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. 

  – Martin Luther King Jr.

This is what all civil unrest and protests comes from.  Something that matters so much that they are willing to step outside of fear of judgment or retribution.  I know that to me these people are like modern day Joan of Arc’s.  Their bravery lies in standing in protest, being willing to be beaten, hit with water cannons, or tear gas. To be arrested or even the ultimate sacrifice of their lives.  I may not always agree with their beliefs, or their methods.  But I do praise their courage that they are willing to stand up for their ideals.

They say that time heals all wounds.  It isn’t the passage of time itself that heals.  It is the knowledge and application of that knowledge (using it wisely) that heals.  I know that from the murder of my nephew, there are stages of grief.  The more distance there is from the actual murder, the more time the raw emotions have to pass through you.  It is the emotions that create the pain and suffering.  But you can only live in that place of raw emotions for so long.  If you don’t process through them, they will literally drive you insane.  It is self preservation that moves those emotions through you.

The ultimate way of Being lies beyond all contradictory pairs of opposites with which our two dimensional thinking mind operates.  As soon as we are successful in silencing the restless activity of the thinking mind and give a chance to intuition, the pure all embracing spirit in us will manifest effortlessly.

  – Anagarika Govinda

Intuition and creativity takes you on a wild ride of so many options and choices, it is life inspiring, life fulfilling, and more valuable that all of the gold in Fort Knox. This is because life is not just light and dark, and choices are not just this or that.  We live in a multi-dimensional universe, and we were created in God’s image.  Each of us has the power of miracles within us.  When we embrace his spirit and power, we manifest our divine destiny.

 Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.

  –  Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt is one of my heroes.  She is on my bucket list of people that I would love to have a long visit with.  She has such great wisdom, and she was an amazing woman.  When we operate from that space of great minds, the soul speaks. 

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

  –  Ram Dass

It helps when you surround yourself with people who can hear the sound of your soul, as well as their own.  If you listen to the voice of intuition, the voice of the soul, you will find the way of life that you love, that was designed just for you.  Then all that is left is to have the courage to live it.

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Great Dreamers Change The World

Dreamers make wishes when they blow out the birthday candles with complete confidence they will come true. They blow on the dandelions seeds and spread their wishes all over the world. They wish on the first star they see each night. The secret that they know is — we are all just dreamers in an endless universe.  They know that each dandelion seed that lands, plants a new dream for our future.  They are the new realities waiting to be born, to step out on life’s stage and say, “Hey, look at me!”.  Pay attention, this is important.

Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you’ve never been to, perhaps more homesick than familiar ground.

  – Judith Thurman

These dreamers, dream with eyes wide open, and say, “Why not?”  It is about getting creative and caring more about doing it better in some way than doing it perfectly.  Perfection creates limitations and silences the creativity.  It squishes the dream into a tight container and makes it smaller.  More narrow.  More limited in possibilities. 

The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.

  – Sarah Ban Breathnach

Doers take the dreamers up a notch. They believe in the magic, but they also know that it takes a little bit of elbow grease to make the machines run. They know that to take the dream into reality we must put it in writing. We must plant the seeds, water and fertilize them, weed when needed, and watch in amazement as the miracle of growth happens. Doers know that the energy goes when the attention flows, so rather than giving their energy to their fears, they focus their energy on their dreams. They know that action needs to follow the dream.

A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch, but on it’s own wings.  Always believe in yourself.

  – unknown

The reason I love this quote is that the basic foundation of your life, needs to be deep within in.  Not in a spouse, a parent, a friend, a job.  Not in being identified in someone or something else.  This frees you to be the dreamer who is also a doer and thinker.  Because you know it will not be any one thing that brings that dream into reality.  It will be a combination of many small things, some things you will even think didn’t work – but the magic is that all of it is necessary for the birth and education of a dream.

The authentic self is the soul made visible.

  – Sarah Ban Breathnach

When we are totally immersed within the dream, we allow our true self to peak through the barriers.  It is where the courage to be curious comes from, deep within the soul.  The soul or your authentic self knows and believes in your true potential.  Thinkers know that they can put the dream on steroids because they realize the power of thought and attitude. It is like strapping a rocket onto the doers goals, when the doer has the right thinking to get the dream off the doers paper and into reality. The trick is the right amount of thinking in combination with action.

If you want to be successful in this world, you have to follow your passion, not a paycheck.

  – Jen Wleter

Creative thinking outside the box produces inspiring ideas that can change the world.  Creative thinking doesn’t see mistakes.  It sees disconnections.  It knows that if you just keep tinkering with what you are doing, that the connections will come together.  They aren’t afraid of taking risks, of making changes.  To them change is synonymous with opportunity.

Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself.

  – Plato

When we go deep inside ourselves and draw up the dream, enhance it by stripping away all of the negativity about the dream that we have, we become free thinkers who can see without prejudice what the destiny of the dream is. We talk with our souls and see possibilities for the dream everywhere we look. This helps the doer to pick the best door to open to the best opportunities.  We walk away from the fear of never getting what our dreams are reflecting back to us.

That brings us to possibilities.

When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.

  –Thomas Edison

What we come to realize is that every dream takes us up another level.  And each level has new challenges and opportunities for growth.  Each level demands we live outside the comfort zone of the previous level.  Each level is a new passion, which burns away a new fear and exposes a new dream.  The journey never ends.  The possibilities just keep multiplying.  If you are going to leave the world better than you found it, you need to climb each new staircase, ascending new summits.  Be so passionate that you ignite the fire in everyone you meet, to rise up and bring the dream into reality.

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

  –Thomas Edison

I think that this quote is certainly made by someone who knows it to be absolutely true. If he had not continued his work, then his numerous inventions, most famous being the light bulb would not have been invented. He founded General Electric, had a motion picture and record company in addition to others. All because failure to him was just more information to think about. A part of the process, and not something to be avoided. 

In order to save myself I must destroy the me I was told to be.

  – The Dreamer

Inside each of us is the space where we know. We know, that we know, that we know, that anything that comes into our heart and soul for us to do, is for us to do. And most important, that it is completely possible for us to do whatever is in our heart.  I love the quote by Audrey Hepburn “I M Possible” instead of impossible.

So greet your dream with open arms, know that the doer and the thinker will show you the endless possibilities for you to bring that dream into reality – then go do it.

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Passion, Purpose, Fate, Dreams, Genius, All Collide To Create Destiny

I was having a conversation this morning, about the art piece I posted.  The artist made amazing pieces of art out of thrown away metal, gears, assorted bars, and pipes.  When he talked about his art it came from a place deep within his heart.  He was deep within his gift.  His soul just poured out of him.  He lays it down at your feet waiting for your reaction.  And because it was all about the gift.  It had nothing to do with ego.  It wasn’t about his being invested in what you thought about his art.  He does it, because he can’t not do it.  Being that connected to your gift is your purpose, and when you are in that space, destiny collides with you. 

Ego says, Once everything falls into place, I’ll feel peace.  Spirit says, Find your peace, and then everything falls into place.  

 –  Marianne Williamson

There is a moment when you are walking in your purpose, where the fears and dreams collide together. 

Decisions determine destiny.  

  – Thomas S. Monson

You can follow the dream where it leads you, or you can bury it down in shadow, where it will become unbalanced.  This imbalance create patterns in your life that won’t be beneficial to you.  Have you ever felt like you had your foot on the gas and the brake at the same time?  That is shadow patterns in your life at work.  Have you ever experienced self sabotage?  A time when you know that the words coming out of your mouth are like someone else is in control?  You watch as before your eyes, you destroy something you love and you can’t help yourself?  That is shadow patterns in your life.  They come from fear.  From fear wanting to protect you, even as it is destroying you.

Fear cannot isolate you, if you allow love to surround you. 

  – Sarah Jakes 

When you are balanced in your life with your gift, you bring it out of the shadow.  It is about being real as to who you are.  No masks.  No living from the opinions of others.  You share your true self, and by doing so you touch the lives of others.  We are all one creation based in love.  It is only egos and fears that separate us.  Those egos and fears create beliefs to further the separation.  Live from the space of love.  The space of being true and real is where it all starts.  You character helps to shape your destiny into the reality you are reaching for.

It is when you realize that, like the artist above, you don’t have a choice but to live within the gift.  It has a hold on you.  Sleep, food, riches, fame – nothing matters except releasing that gift into the world.  When I am in that space, my writing just flows out.  Hours go by and nothing else matters.  I reveal the elusive words, analogies, stories.  Everything flow down into the characters on the blank page.  My soul pours out and I can’t stop it.  And then comes the moment, when the gift has used me all up.  I come around to being hungry.  I notice I am cramped from sitting in my chair too long.  Once again awareness of the world around me seeps into my consciousness. 

A successful life is one that is lived through understanding and pursuing one’s own path, not chasing after the dreams of others… In spite of your fear, do what you have to do. 

  –  Chin-Ning Chu

This dream that leads you to your destiny is that one that keeps coming back.  No matter how many times you push it away, it returns.  The successes, failures, the ups and downs of life don’t shape your destiny.  Your destiny shapes you by swinging back into your life, situation after situation.  It serves your life, unless you push it down into shadow.  Then it wrecks havoc in your life.  No matter what, like a pendulum, it keeps swinging back into your life. 

Even if your life hasn’t turned out the way you expected and you find yourself in an unexpected place, decide to make the most of where you are, because there is always a spiritual reason that your destiny has led you to this destination.

  – Unknown

It is a constant collision that creates both order and chaos in our life, all depending on how we shape the way it swings.  Order and chaos both have good purposes in our life.  They are like the monster waves we are riding in the ocean.  We can ride it for miles, exhilarated by the fears we are facing.  It dances with us in the sunlight, unfolding past the fears.  If we push it away it can drag us down into the depths of the dark water, spitting us back on the shore, exhausted and battered.

Your mission your purpose and your destiny will all be tied to one thing – your gift.

  – Steve Harvey

My passion is to help everyone who reads my words to realize something wonderful about themselves.  To glimpse their own dreams.  To follow them wherever they lead.  To not let the loose shale cause them to stumble.  To not cut themselves on the sharp edges.  To not fall into the pits of others opinions of what you can or can’t do.  Rather to leap or crawl over the boulders of confusion.  To realize that the only person who can truly stop you is you.  To not let anything put you in the space of giving up.  

Every time you rise up, your dream becomes stronger and your destiny flourishes.  Use everything as part of the creation process, just like that artist.  Realize that everything that comes into your life, can be used to further bring your dreams and destiny into reality.  Just like that artist, every piece of metal, heated by the fire in your forge, can be bent and hammered to serve a purpose.

The universe conspires to reveal the truth and to make your path easy if you have the courage to follow the signs.

   -Lisa Unger

Signs of a Good  Life – adventure forth to learn all that you can.  Remember the joy is in the journey, not the destination.  Unleash your purpose to use everything that you experience in life, to grow into who you need to be to fulfill this destiny.  Learn from nature, everything changes from day to day, season to season.  Change is to be welcomed with all honor and dignity.  The challenge from all this change is to guide it into growing, and shifting you in a way that serves you.  The true essence of a life well lived, is to care for and befriend all you meet on your journey.  Who you travel with could be the only way to reach your destination.  Dare to care.  Open your heart and let others in.  See the beauty of life in giving away everything, knowing that by serving others, we serve our destiny. 

Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.

  – Brene Brown

So if you are scared.  If you are lost.  If you are unprepared.  If you are falling apart.  If you think that you can’t survive, and all hope is truly lost beyond recovery.  Take heart.  Rise Up!  Rejoice!  We have all been there.  We have all done that.  And still, here we are, walking onwards to fulfill the life purpose the Divine anchored in our hearts and souls.  People come into our lives for a reason.  Sometimes they need a hand, sometimes they give us a hand.  When our worlds collide, let us take each others hand.  Walk we me until your courage is restored.  Light your candle with my flame.  Every passion has its destiny, and for this moment in time, our destiny has linked hands.  When you are ready, let go and fly away with your wings of destiny into the light.

Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.

  – Anthony Robbins

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“True North” Is Calling Me Home

 

Knowing my True North gives me courage to focus my energy where I believe it should be, not according to what is popular or pleasing to others – Jennifer Cummings

There are times when you feel drawn by something that you can’t quite name. It’s a whisper in your ears, a tug in your heart. You feel it pulling you towards “true north” or home. You may not understand it, but you know that you have to go there. When you are searching for your place in this life, you are looking for your soul’s home.

Your interior compass may seem to be spinning in all directions. You no longer have an interest in looking backwards. You just don’t know what direction to take.

Coincidence doesn’t exist and goosebumps never lie.  Your body already knows the answer.  All you have to do is turn down your spinning mind and continue to follow all signs.  Because you are always worthy of becoming your best and most actualized self – Victoria Erickson

When you are at one of life’s transitions and trying to re-imagine a new life for yourself – that is when you need others. You can help each other to find the way to your own souls’ home.

You don’t throw limited beliefs into each other’s faces.  You help to end the wobble in each other’s compass, so you can each find your own true north.  These kinds of friends celebrate you living your own truth, your divine destiny.  Sharing a path with such a person is a sacred gift.

The path to home is found in only in the direction of the winds of change.  The storms of life are by design to help you change.  They don’t happen to you; they happen for you.  Recognize change when it comes upon you, learn what it has to teach you, and always keep your compass on your own True North.

We are not retreating – we are advancing in another direction – Douglas MacArthur

How much you go through in these storms is determined by the attitude you have, by the actions you take, and how well you are listening and paying attention to what is happening.  I think that the meaning you give to things has a large part to play in how you advance.

Are you retreating or advancing in a new direction?  One view indicates failure, and one view indicates resilience.

The more clarity you take in, the less damage the storm brings with it, as you go through it.

It is always your choice of having a breakdown or a breakthrough.

You don’t have to get lost drifting in the “good old days” feeling sorry for yourself.  You don’t try to avoid the truths that the storm reveals to you by using drugs or alcohol or sex to escape it.  You cannot become who you wish to be, if you don’t push forward and leave the past behind you.

When you focus too much on your past, you give away your power in the present and the future.

Goals are my north star.  My compass.  The map that guides me along the road I wish to travel.  Goals are motivations with wind in their sails, they carry me forward despite the storms – Richelle Goodrich

LemonadeMakers don’t wait for the world to change into a better place.  They change themselves, guided by their journey to their own True North.

LemonadeMakers are driven by the passion they have in life, to do and be extraordinary.  As each individual, upon each individual changes, the world changes with them.  It may not happen overnight, and it may not happen as fast as you want it to happen.  But it will happen.

LemonadeMakers are all just walking each other home. Home is not where you were born.  It is not your current place of residence.

It is a place that you find deep within yourself.  It is that space in your heart, where your soul resides.  It is the place where you discover your true self.

And if the sun is too hot, or the rain is a down pouring torrent, or the snow becomes a blizzard, then we can be each a shelter for each other, until the path home becomes clear again.

Knowing my true north gives me the courage to focus my energy where I believe it should be, not according to what is popular or pleasing to others – Jennifer Cummings

I Can Because I Am Limitless. I Am Because I Know No Boundaries

Have you ever had a healing crisis? A healing crisis isn’t just a health related crisis. It can be healing any part of our life that just isn’t working out the way we know that it should.

Nothing has transformed my life more than listening to what needed to be heard.

  – Jeffrey Shaw 

Years ago, when I was first working in the financial industry I had just received a huge promotion. I was really working hard, and for some reason, the different aspects of the job were just not working out right. I finally had a long talk with my boss, and following her advice I turned things around. I knew that I was perfectly capable of doing the job, but I just couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working. I think that at different shifting points in our lives we run up against this road block. We need a different set of eyes to see what needs to be seen. To see what needs to be transformed.

If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks.  I’ve had them; everybody has had them.  But obstacles don’t  have to stop you.  If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up.  Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

  – Michael Jordan

Do you know why Michael Jordan was so successful?  This quote gives us a clue.  He didn’t reach a roadblock and say, “oh well, I guess I am not talented enough to do this”; or “oh well, I guess this dream was just too big for me to accomplish”.  No, he practiced until he was able to break it down.   He worked with coaches who were able to help him see what he couldn’t see.

Remember that your greatest talent is so much more powerful than your biggest fear.

  – Unknown

There comes a time when we need to take a calculated risk. If you look at the game of baseball it really speaks to calculated risk. The player who is on first base, will watch the pitcher, the batter, and outfielders to gauge how far off the base he can go without getting caught. If he gauges it correctly, he can steal a base, or even make it to 3rd base with an infield hit from the batter because of getting the head start.

I think sometimes you forget that you were born to be awesome.  (here’s your reminder)

  – Unknown

In our lives, if we risk nothing, we get nothing. In personal transformation, we need to take calculated risks. In our life of personal growth, in order to grow we have to take our foot off the safe “base” we are on. We need to risk opening the chrysalis with the hope that we have finished our transformation, and the wings are ready to fly.

Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible.

   – Ronnie Max Oldham

This really is the only way to live your life. Not putting off things until we think it is safe. Really opening our hearts completely in how we care about others. To understand that the reality is that almost anything is possible. Whatever is currently stumping you, just means that you are not asking the right questions, or the right people for help.

Our thoughts are very powerful. When we focus on what we lack, we create blockages and limitations. We become imprisoned by the vibration of our negative energy.

  – Randi G Fine

In other words if we think that we can’t we will be a self fulfilling prophecy.

If you think you can or you think you can’t you are right.

  – Henry Ford

I find myself doing this sometimes. I stress about not having enough time and sure enough, unforeseen stuff starts filling up my life. Then I catch myself, and unlock the door to that cage, freeing myself and all of a sudden, the stuff just starts going away and I have my time back to do what needs to be done.

Remember, the moment you accept total responsibility for everything in your life is the moment you claim the power to change anything in your life.

  – Hal Elrod

So if you find yourself in any sort of “healing crisis” at the moment, just take some time to meditate as to how you just lost yourself in the woods. Transform the path by backing up or regrouping. Get back on the path that you were traveling.

And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive.  You won’t even be sure whether the storm is really over.  But one thing is certain.  When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in.  That’s what the storm’s all about.

  – Haruki Murakami

This is another critical piece of the transformation puzzle, in really getting to know oneself. 

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Seize The Opportunities, Make Life Happen For You, Not To You

 It is our attitude about the “opportunities” that can enlighten us, or limit us.  When we approach what we see with an open mind, what we often find is that we make exciting new discoveries.  Sometimes we might feel that we are in a good place.  That the risk of something greater means you leave behind something good enough.  If we are not willing to take the risks, we will fall short of what we are capable of.  Taking risks is how we learn something new.  The woman in this picture is obviously taking a huge risk.  I would venture to guess that she is about to experience a huge growth spurt.

Opportunity often comes in disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat.

  –  Napoleon Hill

She appears to be in the middle of the ocean, with sharks swimming around her.  No oars or sails for the boat can be seen.  No engine to move the boat and herself out of danger.  No life jacket, no weapons to fight off the sharks.  Just an evening dress and an umbrella. Whatever she started with, whatever her plans were, everything seems to have failed her.  It would appear that she was willing to risk the “usual” for the unusual.  That she was tired of the “ordinary” and went far outside the box of the comfort zone.

Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker.  Failure is delay, not defeat.  It is a temporary detour, not a dead end.

  –  Denis Waitley

When you look at her though, you don’t see any signs of defeat.  She appears to be looking around her, taking stock of the situation.  She doesn’t appear to have the body language of defeat, but rather someone who is looking for an opportunity to be successful in her journey, to arrive at the destination she left the shore for.  This experience is going to be a great story one day.  This reminds me of a situation for a McGyver T.V. show, the situation appears hopeless, but she doesn’t.

The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word “crisis”.  One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity.  In a crisis, be aware of the danger, but recognize the opportunity.

  –  John F Kennedy

What she is, is ready for whatever opportunity presents itself.  You can see her looking around, not at the sharks, but what is further off in the distance.  Sometimes we need to seize the opportunity, no matter what the risk.  Sometimes in getting lost to make your dreams come true, you find a better dream than you started with.  She is on an amazing journey with no one to rely on but herself and her faith that everything will turn out right.  If it is never needed, it won’t be called.  Sometimes the journey has to be travelled alone in order to bring up the strengths that lie deep within us. 

When one door closes another opens.  But often we look so long, so regretfully upon the closed door that we fail to see the one that has opened for us.

  –  Helen Keller

Looking backwards, blaming others or ourselves does not create the momentum that is needed for change. 

A Wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.

  –  Francis Bacon

It is up to her, just like it is up to us, to keep looking forward, for something that can be used to our advantage.  Even though the odds do not appear to be in her favor, it is important that she keep a positive attitude and keep looking for where opportunity is hiding.  It is her forward looking vision that is going to find what she needs to be successful.

Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor.

  –  H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

It is when we are in the most challenging times, that we discover what we are made off.  We discover the power within us.  Power that we didn’t know, or dare to believe that we have.  This is the part of us that realizes sometimes failure is just not going to work for us, because what we are facing is way beyond that door.  It is finding that brave person hidden deep inside of us, that person that says, screw this.  That person who kicks the lock off the door, rips it open, and says here I am, so what are you going to do about it? 

There is no such thing as failure, there’s just giving up too soon.

  – Jonas Salk

Opportunity is everywhere.  The ocean constantly changes.  The winds of change both blow and calm the seas.  When we lose sight of our dreams, we just need to wait for the clouds to blow away, and let the moonlight reveal what we have been looking for.  We just need to adjust our vision to see it.  What we can’t see, is what she sees off in the distance.  She is looking forward.  She can see that just beyond her current reach, is a new opportunity to reach her destination.

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Choices, Chances, Changes, and The Courage To Make Them

An old Cherokee told his grandson, “My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth.”
The boy thought about it, and asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”
The old man quietly replied, “The one you feed.”

I have always loved this story because it is so on point. You have choices on how you interpret things. You have choices on how you feel. You can go down the positive, optimistic road.  Or you can go down the negative, pessimistic road. I try very hard to go down the positive road. 

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.  –  Nelson Mandela

You can change your life by having the courage to bring into your life something that was never fostered or nurtured in you as a child.  All of the good wolfs qualities, joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth come from having a positive self-worth. Just because you were not raised as a positive person seeking joy, peace, love, hope in your life, doesn’t mean that you can’t live your life from that place.

The pathway here of the good wolf is the same one as Robert Frost’s less traveled road. Many people feed the “evil” wolf’s feelings of drama – anger, jealousy, greed – they blame all of their problems on someone else. Nothing is their fault. They just have bad luck. Can’t get ahead, and so on, and so on. The “evil” wolfs path is paved with bad choices made in the past, and excuses for what is happening in the present. 

You have two choices,

accept conditions as they exist,

or accept the responsibility to change them.

 

If you find that you have strayed into feeding the “evil” wolf, you can stop feeding him. We all have times that we make poor decisions. You have the power to change circumstances immediately by accepting responsibility for where you are.  For all of the choices you have made.  To not make any more excuses for your mistakes.  As the saying goes, “the buck stops here”.  Just start making better choices.

Sometimes you think you are making a good choice, only to discover you didn’t.  How can you tell which road to choose? You can tell the difference in how the energy or vibrations make you feel in your body as you contemplate your decisions.

When you are compromising your spirit, it feels wrong. You might get a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. But every time you make a good choice, a positive choice, even if it has negative consequences, you feel lighter, cleaner in your spirit.

Picking a path with heart – Carlos Castaneda

Choose the path that takes you where you need to go. It is the path of growth.

Do what you are afraid to do.

It is how good character is developed. 

 

Embrace, accept and celebrate each choice you make that keeps you walking your own path in life.  Embrace it and own it when the bad wolf wins. Stop feeding it and start feeding the good wolf again.

It is easy to wander off the path.  To get distracted.  Each minute gives you a new chance to get back on your own path, making better choices.

You have the choice every day to be just like the crowd, asleep at the wheel, and just existing in life.  To get distracted by the bright shiny lights.  To get so busy with life’s distractions that you fall back asleep.  

You can always choose again, to wake up and to be different.  Every choice you make, makes you who you are.  You can choose to be distinct.  To be what only you can be. 

I choose to live by choice not by chance,

To be motivated, not manipulated,

To be useful, not used,

To make change, not excuses,

To excel, not compete,

I choose self-esteem, not self-pity,

I choose to listen to my inner voice,

Not to listed to the random opinions of others . . .

   – InspirationBoost.com

When I think of this, I immediately think of the photos of the little old ladies in New York City.  They dress up in wild colors.  They wear outrageous hats.  They have style.  They are saying “Look at me, that’s right, take a second or third look”.  They crack me up, because they don’t care if you are judging them, because they are having too much fun being an original distinctive wild woman.  Their life viewpoint, have fun and give people something to talk about.

Let Your Inner Child Whisper In Your Ear

At some point in your life, you were told to grow up. Stop acting like a child. Hide your feelings. Be an adult. Be more serious, and so on. You lose a vital part of who you are when you listen to that. You bury it so deep that you forget it is even there. You begin to sleepwalk through your entire life.

“Are you feeling a bit shaken, maybe stirred, maybe fearful and doubtful and completely utterly wildly terrified?  Good.  Keep going”  – Victoria Erickson

You “release the Kraken”, the Inner Queen of your life.  You stop the drama.  You stop being so sad, or angry.  You stop trying to be all things for all people.  You just let all of that stuff go.  You are no longer afraid of who you are.  You realize that you have always been more than enough.  You finally get that caring for yourself is an act of love, and the only way you can survive.

“You can’t give up on something that your heart is still rooting for, no matter how hard the fall is.  Your heart is the ultimate master.  It knows the things the mind doesn’t yet have an answer for.  It leads the way out of your darkest moments.  It’s your one and only Chief of Staff. You have the power to thrive under any circumstances, as long as you use your heart as the compass”– Andrea Balt

This inner child has so much imagination. They have such enthusiasm for life. They don’t see what is, they see what might be. The possibilities of endless wonder. It is having fun today, instead of planning for it on your yearly vacation. Picture in your mind a steep hill.  You are at the top the hill looking down.  You are on your bike, and you are about to start down the hill, to break a world speed record.  You can see everyone you know at the bottom of the hill cheering you on.  Your best friends, your brothers and sisters, even your mom and dad. 

Imagine the story you will be telling ten years from now.  Is it the story about the wild ride down the hill, or how you carefully rode down the hill with the brakes on all the way to play it safe?  Celebrate your inner child and fly down that hill!

“The most potent muse of all is your own inner child” – Stephen Nachmanovitch

That inner child doesn’t wallow in disappointment. If the idea fails to work as planned, they simply dust themselves off and start a new plan. If the child has a fight with their best friend, five minutes later it is forgiven and forgotten. They don’t just run down the street; they leap down it.

Every minute is to be filled with a sense of wonder and joy.  That inner child is waiting to take your hand and dance with you through the fields of flowers, to laugh rolling down the hillside.

If you still have that child locked up and buried deep inside, I encourage you to set it free. Let it explore and come up with fun plans for your life. It’s magical looking at your life through the kaleidoscope and spinning the designs. Imagination will get you everywhere.  Answer the toy phone and see who is calling you. 

Give that spirit of the child over to your personal genius. See what you can discover about your purpose that you didn’t know.  You will be amazed by how wonderful and fun life can be when you aren’t supervised by your inner critic.

“So, like a forgotten fire, a childhood can always flare up again within us” – Gaston Bachelard

When you have big dreams, you become a person of vision.  When you follow that vision, you have the passion, strength and patience to change the world.  You are living in a time right now, where men and women of vision are about to make huge changes in the world.  When a “new normal” is about to be created.

Don’t let your mind or anyone else tell you that you can’t be a big part of bringing those changes into reality.  Your dreams are valid.

“Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.  Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.  And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”  – Steve Jobs

Today realize that you are old enough to start reading fairy tales again.  Holding the hand of your inner child, step through the mirror and see what Wonderland has in store for you. Visit Neverland and see if you can fly. Go looking for treasures on Treasure Island. Explore the deep oceans with Captain Nemo.  

All of these stories have such vital life lessons in them. They can help you understand deep things about yourself. People may think that you are crazy for doing so, but I have it on the best authority that “all of the best people are”.

Celebrate Life – Life Gets Better With Change, Not Chance

Once upon a time, there was a wicked stepmother who tried to poison her stepdaughter with a poisoned apple. She was afraid of what Snow White was becoming.

Life is full of surprises.  Not all these surprises are pleasant, so you need to be ready for what life brings you.

  – Unknown

Deep inside of us is a protector that is afraid of us changing. Like the wicked stepmother, this protector uses fear to try and manipulate us into remaining the same. When Snow White took a bite of the apple, it put her into a deep sleep like state. Everyone thought she was dead. But she wasn’t. She was frozen in time, so that she couldn’t change.

Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid.  Courage means you don’t let fear stop you.

  – Bethany Hamilton

Have you ever felt like that? So afraid of change, that you are frozen in time? Too many choices so you can’t make one? Or maybe you feel that there are no choices? 

What if I told you that 10 years from now, your life would be exactly the same?  I doubt you’d be happy.  So, why are you so afraid of change?

  –  Karen Salmansohn

Are you hiding under the bed because it suddenly occurred to you, that the monster under the bed was you? What if everything you are hiding from is just “all in your head”?  Change will not come about by waiting for some outside, unseen force to step in and make everything perfect.  We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.  We are the change that we seek.  We are the only ones who can create the change we so long for. 

The fears we don’t face become our  limits.

  – Robin Sharma

I am a big Sci-Fi fan and one of my favorite lines from the movie “Dune” is:

Fear is the mind-killer. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

  – Frank Herbert, Dune

Everything we want is on the other side of what fear is making us believe. It is all an illusion, and if we can let it pass through us and out the other side, we see the truth. It isn’t real. Only you are real.  Never be afraid to be someone new.  To try something new.  When we are bored, it is because we are staying within the limits of what we already know.  Break out of those limits. 

Only you know when you are giving maximum effort towards your goals.  Only you know who you really are, and if you truly believe in yourself.

  – Nav-Vii

That doesn’t mean that sometimes the truth behind the illusion won’t be hard to deal with. There are things in our past that we have buried, and when fear digs them up, we need to shine the light of truth on them. What we need to realize however, is that it is all buried treasure. It may be disguised as worthless junk. It might be tarnished, covered in dust and cobwebs, but if we clean it up, we can see it for what it really is.

May we ever choose the harder right, instead of the easier wrong.

  – Thomas S. Monson

Our child’s mind didn’t understand the value it has. It only felt the hurt upon receiving it, and so it was buried deep. But when fear sees us moving to change, it grabs those forgotten things we buried, and brings them up out of the dungeon to scare us back into submission. When we confront what fear brings us, and shine it up, we can see what the treasure really is. The illusion fades and only we remain.

Fear is an opportunity.  It is a fuel for courage to transform us into a finer human being.

  – Unknown

And that is when the real adventure begins. Once upon a time, . . .  I remembered that limits only exist in my mind.  Like Luke Skywalker I gathered my courage and went into the cave to face my biggest fear.  And like Luke, I discovered it was me.  I was afraid of being who I am.  I was afraid of what my full potential would require of me.  All of my life, I have been the responsible one.  The one that everyone turns to when they have a problem.  The one who can handle anything.  This gave me a feeling of worth and value. 

Our true identity is to love without fear and insecurity.  Our higher potential finds us when we set our course in that direction.  The power of love and compassion transforms insecurity.

  – Doc Childre

What the cave showed me is that I was using this as a cover.  It kept me busy.  It made me look good.  But it wasn’t growing me.  I came to the realization that while I was doing “good”, I could do better by living my true purpose in life.  By using the divine gifts I could write about myself, about the things I had experienced, about the things I had seen, and the things I had studied about for years.  To encourage not just my own personal circle of family and friends, but to gather a worldwide community through LemonadeMakers.

The key to change . . .  is to let go of fear.

  – Rosanne Cash

I had allowed the wicked stepmother to put me to sleep, but now I had to wake up.  Now I had to help others to wake up.  To help them discover for themselves what they have hidden in the cave.  To discover their own life purpose and divine gifts.  To help see that what they have been looking for is within them.  I can’t tell you what it is, but I can help you to ask the right questions, to help you get curious and set out on your own personal transformation journey.  I can applaud when you find it and walk on your true life path for your souls journey.  Cheering you on for letting go of fear and setting yourself free to be who you really are.

I alone cannot change society for the better.  But I can radically transform my own Consciousness, overturning the conditioning that limits my potential.  We can all do this, one by one.  Over time we can change ourselves to the degree that society changes from the inside out.  Giving birth to a new way of being.  Manifesting our birthright of living in a peaceful and abundant world.  Have no fear.  Trust yourself.  Live your full potential.

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When You Are On Your Souls Path, There Is No Such Thing As A Real Obstacle

 We have this idea in life that there are people “out there” who have no problems. That if you have enough money, power, fame, the perfect soul mate – whatever label we put to it, then magically everything in our life would be perfect.

Wanting something is not enough.  You must hunger for it.  Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way.

  – Les Brown

The Power Of Pause

 

You are all so busy, that even in the moments when you aren’t crossing something off your list, you fill in the space with something that still doesn’t allow the space to “JUST BE”. When I am resting I am usually still doing something that I call relaxing, like reading a book or solving a word puzzle. And while those things are relaxing for me, I am still in “doing mode” – beat the puzzle or learn something new from the book.

“Learn to pause or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you”  – Doug King

Why is it so hard to “just be”? I love this photo because cats are excellent “just be” creatures. What is the difference between us and the cat in this example? The cats isn’t afraid of:

• I will be irrelevant if I can’t prove you need me every moment
• I won’t measure up to the “super woman” who is the best friend, wife and mother, and corporate executive
• I won’t get everything done
• I am what I do, so I have to be doing every moment

If something isn’t on this list, I am sure that you could add 100 more things that you are afraid of missing, or doing, or being – that stands in your way of “just being”.  They even have an acronym for it “FOMO” – fear of missing out.  You had it even as a child – it’s the reason why you didn’t want to go to bed.  You were sure you were going to miss out on something important.

“Too many people go through life without pausing to enjoy what they have”  – David Gemmell

What is just pausing? Being disconnected from the world for just a few minutes. Check into what you are feeling. Quiet your mind. Look around you at the beauty of your surroundings.  Ignore just for moment, if the windows need cleaning, that you just spotted a spider web, or there is dust on the piano.  It is taking the time to replenish, to give yourself permission to rest and truly relax.

“Something precious is lost if we rush headlong into the details of life without pausing for a moment to pay homage to the mystery of life and the gift of another day”  – Kent Nexbum

Why is this so important?

“Taking time to do nothing often brings everything into perspective”  –   Doe Zantamata

What I find for myself personally, is that when I am avoiding something, I get really busy, usually deep cleaning, which means I take the entire room apart and clean everywhere.  I move all of the furniture, I decide that the bookcase needs to go into another room, which means that all of the books get removed, etc….

“Don’t mistake movement for achievement.  It’s easy to get faked out by being busy.  The question is:  “Busy doing what?”  – Jim Rohn

You get busy to avoid the thing you don’t want to do.  You get busy to avoid the thing you don’t want to face.  You get busy and stay busy and ignore the calling of your soul.  You don’t want to face this thing, and so you get so busy that you forget it for just a little while.

At any moment you can say enough…, You am not going to avoid this any longer.  You can radically change the course of your life, your purpose, your destiny.  You have the power, the faith, and the courage to follow your hearts calling.  You have the ability to pause, to pray, and to stop and practice deep listening to what your soul is calling you to do.  You can pause and just listen.

 “Pause and remember – Change will happen the moment you have the courage to change”  –  Jennifer Young

The courage to change is folded into the realization that every change in your life has been meaningful.  Some were life’s lemons and they tore you asunder.  You may have thought that they were going to be the end of you.  But instead they made you smarter, stronger, and wiser than you were before they blew through your life.

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory”  – Unknown

Other changes were easy and like a light summer breeze came and went without too much commotion.  Even so, they changed you in a very meaningful matter.  It revived you.

Introspection, reflection, relaxation, they all mean that you have to take a moment, a pause to let your mind wrap around the changes and accept them in a way that moves you forward in progress.

“When things get too messed up, life seems too stressed, and  you feel trapped in circumstantial webs.  Take a pause, take a breath, break free from all the thoughts and then march ahead”  – shrawanidas

So, pause and practice being a cat and JUST BE.

“Your inner child gets It all, believes it all, hopes for it all and is the only guardian worthy of your heart. That child knows that life – which runs on love and feasts on creativity – is on your side, and that the universe conspires with you, not against you, to help you spread that wild, crazy, messy love through your own story. Please, don’t grow up…” – Andrea Belt