Aug 11, 2011
We all have great intentions.
We look at the future with eyes of wonder and dream of achieving inner fulfillment, manifesting greatness (however we define that), and accomplishing our deepest desires. We see ourselves and our lives moving forward and becoming more positive and filled with joy. We make plans to reach our dreams – we begin to take action to pursue them.
And sometimes everything goes according to plan, and we reach these dreams right away.
And sometimes we don’t. Sometimes More
Aug 10, 2011
It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to write a post about gratitude!
You can read my previous posts by clicking here.
Okay – now for today’s post:
When things are going well and life is easy breezy, we are able to think of tons of things that we are grateful for. Everything we look at seems to have a positive glow to it – we are looking at life through a lens of gratitude all of the time.
But what happens when things don’t go according to plan? What happens when life becomes More
Aug 9, 2011
The only person we can truly change is ourselves.
What a hard lesson this is to learn, right?
And while I truly thought I have worked through my own need to meld someone else into my version of who they should be, I learned the other day that I may still need to work on this. I have a cat, Buncom (aka: Chunky Bunky Big Fat Monkey) that I love more than life itself. He is my sweet boy. He (and his brother, Biddle) have been with us from the time they were 10 weeks old. And while he is the sweetest More
Aug 8, 2011
Have you ever felt called to a higher level of existence, but you resisted because you were afraid to take that leap of faith?
Have you ever had a dream that conveyed a message – a powerful message that you knew needed to be listened to and acted upon?
Did you answer the call and act on it? Or did you push it aside and continue living your comfortable life?
When I am being called to change (even if it is a change that I know will help me live my best life), I have a tendency to run More
Aug 7, 2011
Shared Wisdom Guest Post – Featuring Alice Chan
I am so excited that this week’s Shared Wisdom guest post was written by a dear friend of mine. While I just met Alice in June, I feel like I have known her for years. Our connection and friendship was immediate, and while our paths have been very different externally, we have shared many of the same internal struggles. We are kindred spirits who are on a similar journey to live our best lives and inspire others to do the same.
I feel very More
Aug 6, 2011
I am so excited to introduce you to Kim Shannon from The SHINE Factor!
Kim was one of the first people I met at a conference in June. We are both taking part in a year-long program to help us reach more people with our inspirational messages. I immediately connected with her kind soul and generous spirit, and I know you will love her just as much as I do. I also met her Mom, Mimi, who is equally just as wonderful!
They co-created The SHINE Factor, which More
Aug 5, 2011
Do you feel stuck in a particular area of your life and feel like some guidance would be helpful?
Are you struggling with making an important decision and feel like you could use a fresh perspective to help you weigh your options?
Are you super close to having a breakthrough and just need some new tools to help it progress?
Does your soul thrive when it can open up and share in a supportive community?
If any of these scenarios sound familiar, you’re in the right place. We have all struggled More
Aug 4, 2011
Everyone has an opinion. We all offer them freely to others – whether we are asked for them or not. And because we are each unique, our opinions frequently differ. Our opinions frequently clash.
We could choose to close ourselves off to anyone else’s opinion. We could isolate ourselves and close ourselves up in our comfortable world where we can be alone with our opinion – and only our opinion. However, when we do this we can’t grow – we can’t expand our horizon More
Aug 3, 2011
Sometimes sad and horrible things happen in life. Things that we don’t understand. Things that don’t make any sense at all. Things that make you question the divine order of everything and wonder how these horrific events can occur.
The world can be a violent, scary place filled with hatred and anger.
And I am the first to admit that I have a hard time embracing this part of our world.
I struggle to make peace with events that bring me to my knees from sorrow.
I have fantasies of waking More
Aug 2, 2011
Have you ever wondered how others see you?
Have you ever stepped back from your life and looked at it as though you were an objective bystander?
Have you ever felt stuck and asked a loved one to offer guidance and perspective?
A few months ago, Dan and I were on a call with a wonderful life coach, and she asked us how we defined success. At the time, we were in the mindset of “when this happens – we’ll feel truly successful.” We quickly listed off many things that needed to happen in our lives for us to feel like we were successful. Our list went something like this:
We will feel successful when we…
are the bestselling authors of inspirational books.
have inspired many people through our writing and how we live our lives.
make a certain amount of money.
move into our dream home.
find a way to balance it all and still have time for ourselves and each other.
And the list went on and on.
When we had finished listing things off, she said something that truly opened my eyes. She said she already saw us as successful.
She listed the following examples:
We had started a business that was still supporting us seven years later.
We had fallen in love and built our lives around being together.
We created products that inspired people to go within and live their best lives.
We were featured on Etsy as an example of someone who was able to work for themselves and make a living at it.
Our journals were bestsellers on the top spirituality-based website.
And while we felt that we still had a lot of work and growing and accomplishing and inspiring and creating and living to do – in her eyes we were already there.
We were successful.
This truly changed the way I looked at my life.
Instead of constantly striving for the next level, I began to look at what I had already accomplished and sit with it for awhile. Be still with it. Pat myself on the back. And acknowledge my success.
Sometimes we need another’s perspective to see how far we have come.
Try seeing your life through someone else’s eyes.
Your loved ones and friends don’t have your inner critic. They don’t have your checklist and goals in their minds. All they see is where you have been More
