It’s been a bit of a busy, focused, sometimes frazzled week for me and I am so happy it’s Friday.
I am going to spend some time this weekend unplugging from technology and plugging into family, nature, and good ‘ole fashioned fun. I hope you all do the same!
I will be back at it Monday full of ideas, inspiration, and coaching goodness to share with you. Until then have a lovely weekend and thanks for reading!
Each time I write one of these posts, I am more amazed at the evolution that is taking place in my personally and in my life. I am an avid reader and student of life, so I have always wanted to analyze situations and dig a little deeper to find the lessons in most situations, but somehow articulating them here on my blog helps me to focus on them even more. I hope you find value in them as well.
With that said let’s get to the lessons shall we?
Lesson: Like building anything, building a business happens in layers and sometimes piece-by-piece.
When I envisioned my coaching business, I saw a booming business with an abundance of one-on-one clients, workshops, seminars, workbooks, books, retreats, etc. What I did not see was all the behind the coaching stuff. I didn’t know what I didn’t know and am quickly learning that building a business takes time and it comes in layers. Much like bricklayers lay each brick on top of the last, I am building my business. I learned this week that not only is it ok for it to be this way, it’s normal. Just as I am evolving and changing, my business will do the same and as long as I add to it layer-by-layer, I can enjoy the process as it unfolds. Enjoying the journey is the most important part!
Lesson: Worry is worthless. 
Wow, if I had a nickel for every time I have reminded myself of this fact, I would be rich. This week in the middle of being blessed with an abundance of writing projects in addition to my day job and my business building, I had a little bit of worry about how I could get it all done. My mind ran wild as I calculated the number of hours it would take to get everything done. I was even trying to ration the time so each project got a portion of my time to get it all done. I quickly learned that the time I spent worrying could be better spent doing something else. Once I let go of the “how”, I got busy and did what I could with the time I had. While I didn’t get everything done that I wanted to, I made progress and I wasn’t nearly as stressed. I count that as a win. If you are worrying about anything right now, just let it go because it really is worthless.
Lesson: Meditation is my medicine.
Since I have begun a more regular meditation practice (at least 5 days a week) the results have been amazing. I have been far more calm, less stressed, more focused, and generally more balanced in my thinking/being. In the last two weeks (especially this week) I have allowed my many responsibilities take precedent over my meditation practice. While I could feel the stress and frustrations beginning to return, I kept trying to convince myself that I just didn’t have the time. The Universe decided to prove to me I did have the time.
Yesterday after dropping my son off at daycare, I decided to treat myself to a cup of coffee and pay for the person behind me as a nice start to the day. Upon returning home, I was on my way out the door to take the dogs for a little walk and all I could think of was how little time I had in the morning to tackle my to-do list. Walking out the door and locking it behind me, I realized what I thought were keys in my pocket were not. Luckily it was my phone and I was able to call my partner so she could come let me back in. So what do you do when it’s 7am and you are locked out of the house? I guess you could do many things, but I decided to watch the sunrise and spend some time meditating outdoors. I then took myself and the dogs for a stroll around the neighborhood.
When I was able to get back inside, I felt calmer, more peaceful, and ready to tackle the day. Now I know that meditation is my medicine or more like a vitamin nourishing my soul and protecting me from becoming unbalanced.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend and find some time to get outdoors and enjoy the beautiful colors and weather where you are. And if you have never meditated, try it out and see if you feel some of the same centering effects I do.
Thanks for reading!
I am coming out of my cranky fog and realizing I learned some pretty hefty lessons this week. While it wasn’t the most progress-oriented week I have ever had, it is certainly one heavy in life lessons.
Lesson: Opportunities come with many faces, the key is accepting them even when they are in disguise. 
After learning that my current full-time gig would be coming to an end at the end of this year, I recently heard that many other employees were given their pink slip with only 2 weeks to spare. This shocking news puts a lot of people in some seemingly tough situations as they plan for what is to come. Some are worrying about how they will pay the bills and take care of their families (understandably so), but I can’t help but see this as an opportunity to move into something better. In fact, one of my coworkers is thinking of following a passion she has had for many years, to which I responded “YES, Do that!!” As the saying goes, when one door closes another one opens and I believe that 100%. It seems we are moving into a time when doing what we are “supposed” to do is not only uninspiring and boring, but it isn’t what we are meant to do.
Opportunities are popping up in some fun, exciting, sometimes shocking ways to get your attention, so listen up! See the opportunity and be grateful that you have an opportunity to do something different. And should you find yourself in a similar lay-off position, by golly take it as a blessing and a sign to move onward and upward. The unknown can be scary, but it is also exciting to know that something better is coming only you get to decide what that is! So watch as the faces of opportunities appear around you and respond accordingly by following your inspiration. And don’t forget what I wrote yesterday…don’t borrow trouble!
Lesson: Be open to negative emotions and feelings and they will easily float on by. Fight them and they hang on for dear life.
This lesson came full force yesterday in the midst of my gray cloud of confusion. I had this icky feeling I couldn’t pinpoint and I wanted nothing more than to move on from the down feeling it was leaving me with. Only when I stopped fighting it and stopped trying to rationalize it was I able to be open to it fully. I didn’t try to change it or soothe it, I simply allowed it to be and an amazing thing happened. It quickly began to loosen its grip on my mood and as the sun set, I was feeling better.
The next time you feel an icky, less than ideal feeling and you can’t quite figure it out, try being open to it instead of fighting it. The more you fight, the more power you give to the mood/negativity that you are trying to avoid and by allowing it to flow through you, you create a path for it to float peacefully away.
What lessons have you learned this week?
I hope you have a lovely weekend and as always thank you for reading!
The last two days have been interesting. I have found myself in the weirdest of moods and somehow my inspiration has fallen by the wayside. I can’t quite put my finger on what has changed in the last two days, but I do know that it will pass.
We all have these moments don’t we? Times when things aren’t “bad” or “good” and instead they hang somewhere in the space between two extremes and just feel “meh”. It is part of the ebb and flow of life and while I tried many ways get out of this mood none of them worked. So, after trying everything in my be-happy-arsenal, I just let it be.
I stopped trying to fight the inevitable feeling of blah and accepted it for what it is…a pause in action, momentum, and a chance to just be. Does that sound too hippp-dippy for you? Think of it as a break. A break from whatever it is I needed a break from…sometimes even we don’t know what that is.
While I would like to say I am so good at simply being, I’m not. I tend to fight the feeling especially when I am in moods like these. A feeling that is hard to name and almost impossible to find the source of. Yet, being the overachiever, I can do anything, go-getter that I tend to be…I had to know.
So, I began thinking about all the many reasons I could feel like this. Is it the weather? Job frustrations? Personal issues? Worry about the future? Stress? No matter what reason I gave it, none of them felt right and then I had to ask myself…
Why am I borrowing trouble?
I first heard this term from a co-worker a few years ago and if you don’t know what borrowing trouble is, it is worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet and creating undue stress, frustration, and anything else that is not needed in the moment. That is exactly what I was doing.
Somehow I thought that if I could name it or find the source, then it would cease to exist. That if only I could figure it out and wrestle it to the ground, I could somehow solve the mystery and get back to my bubbly, inspired self, and move forward with all the good stuff on my path.
I was wrong.
So, I settled with the feeling and decided to let it hang around for a bit, hoping that it would slowly dissipate. Lucky for me it is working. I am beginning to feel a bit better and hope that with some additional rest, listening to my body, and just being, I will be back to my regular self again soon. In the meantime, I am remembering a very important lesson about not borrowing trouble and I want to pass it along to you.
When you find yourself worrying about something that is not in this very moment, you are borrowing trouble. When you are wondering how something is going to happen and trying to think of all the ways it can go wrong, you are borrowing trouble. When you are trying desperately to figure something out instead of allowing it to be what it is and letting go a little bit, you have the potential to be borrowing trouble. And when you are feeling a feeling that you can’t quite figure out instead of listening to what it is telling you, you may be borrowing trouble.
There is enough “trouble” in the world without us looking for it, so why not take some time to just be in the moment and learn whatever lesson it is here to teach us, knowing that it will soon pass.
The good news about these moments and moods is that it helps us remember who we want to be, how we want to feel, and creates a sense of gratitude for the good stuff. So, if you find yourself in a similar situation remember, don’t go borrowing trouble and in the words of Abraham Hicks, “hang on it will be over soon.”
I may not know all of you lovely readers personally, but there is one thing I do know about you.
You have a gift.
You may not be aware of it entirely, but I assure you it is there and it is meant to be shared with the world!
You might be thinking…”Who me?”, “I have nothing to give that is of value.”, “What do I know?”
And if I were coaching you, I would say, “Yes YOU.”, “You have so much to offer the world that only YOU can.”, “You know more than you think you do.”
And I promise all of those statements are true.
The problem we come across as we ponder our gift, is that there is this belief that only really special people have a gift. The truth is, yes really special people have gifts to give, and we all fall into that category.
Each one of us brings with us our own unique experiences, thoughts, ideas, feelings, outlooks, and perspectives to life. Each of us have our own interests, beliefs, dreams, and gifts to give to the world.
Not all of us know it.
I want you to take some time this weekend and ponder what your gift might be if you aren’t entirely sure. I’ll tell you a little secret, it is probably something you do easily, frequently, and without thinking. It is probably even something you really enjoy doing. Just take some time to think about what it might be. If you are still unsure, ask around to the people that know you and see what they say.
If you already know what your gift is, take some time to celebrate it. If it’s knitting, knit a new scarf or sweater. If it’s cooking, try a new recipe. If it’s writing, by golly get to your computer or notepad and get to work. Are you an artist? Dust off your paint brushes and get busy!
Embrace the gift you have been given and use it. Love it. Enjoy it. Express it.
Share it!!
I strongly believe our gifts are meant to be loved, embraced, and shared with others. That is what life is all about. So get out there and do what you love!!!
Don’t let the naysayers, doubts, Dream Crushers, lack of confidence, or any other thing stop you from using your gift this weekend. Just do it and watch what happens next.
I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Until next week friends, have a lovely weekend and as always thanks for reading!
