Lamisha Serf-Walls

Gratitude: Transformation & Positivity

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This week I was struck by how much I am changing in various ways.  I am growing, transforming, and moving into a new chapter in my life bit by bit and I must say in all the years I thought change was scary, I am finding it to be such a good thing.  Sure it isn’t always easy, and I have come to face some parts of myself that I don’t particularly like, but I am grateful for those parts too.  I am happy for the purpose they served in my life and I am grateful for the courage to move into a new me.  The truth is I have always been transforming in one form or another.  I think we all are.  But there is something about conscious transformation that feels different.  A good different.  A proud different.  And so I am grateful this week for transformation.

I am also grateful for the power of positivity.  Not just the arbitrary thought that positive is better than negative, but the power it has in my life (and yours too if you practice it).  I have consciously made an effort to let go of my resistance to life and believe that all will be fine.  Things will work out and be happy where I am right here, right now.  I have made lists of things that make me smile and things about my partner I adore just so I can build on top of my good vibes.  All-in-all it has allowed me to see and experience a different aspect of life.  The good that is in life no matter what is going on in ours.  I am finding that even when things feel less than hopeful or down right disastrous, a little bit of positivity goes a long way.

So my dear readers, I wish you well as you head into the weekend.  May you embrace whatever changes are lurking around the corner and find the positive in every single, delicious moment of this life.  It is all so good, even when it’s not.

Setting The Date For Action

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I have written a lot on my blog about flowing with the current of life and being in the moment because these are two things I personally need to practice daily.  And while I believe them to be key components to living a happy and fulfilling life, I also know a good dose of action is important as well.  The key is balance.  So as a piggy back to my post about revisiting resolutions, I am setting a bit of a plan for one of my resolutions.

I decided in 2012 that I really wanted to take my writing to a new level and accomplish my dream of writing a book.  I came up with a non-fiction book idea for adults, but have since decided to get my feet wet first with writing a series of children’s books.  In January I made some progress by inquiring about prices for editing and incidentally made a contact for a possible illustrator for the books that have yet to be written.  In the excitement of finding not only an editor, but also a potential illustrator, I decided I wanted a book deal by the end of 2013.  (Insert face of surprise and butterflies).

The idea that I would be a real life, published children’s author is far beyond my wildest dreams and somewhere in my mind, I wondered if it were possible.  Can I do this?  Can I really write a book that will be successful etc?  Those questions and so many more have led me to put it off and find many excuses for why I haven’t begun.  The ideas are floating around in my head, but nothing has made it to paper…yet.

I have since decided it is time for me to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and let my ideas come to life.  The book isn’t going to write itself and we are already 3 months into the year, so if I want a book deal for not just one book, but for the entire series, I better get moving.  So, here I am setting the date for when I will begin working on my first book of the series (March 20th if not before).  The loose plan is to have the book written and ready for the editor in a month and off to the illustrator shortly after that.

I realize I am diving into uncharted waters now and there is a certain amount of fear that is natural, but the bigger part of me is excited for what I am doing.  I dreamed this dream for a reason and am so excited to get the ball rolling.  December will be here before you know it and I can’t wait to share with you the good news of my book contract, because I know without a shadow of a doubt it will happen.  🙂

So tell me, have you set a date to begin any of your goals/dreams for this year?  What are you waiting for?  Don’t let fear stop you from moving forward even if it is just a teeny, tiny step.

Letter To My Future Self 2013

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I have a confession to make.  I had the best intentions to get this letter completed in the first or second week of the year, but time got away from me.  Life happened both at work and at home and things just got plain busy, however I made a commitment to myself (and to you) that I would write this letter and so I have chosen to share (and write) it here.  There is a part of me that believes it wasn’t pure lack of planning and busyness that caused me to wait, but maybe a deeper knowing in what I wanted to say in the letter had to brew awhile before it was ready.  Well, ready or not, here it is…

Dear Lamisha,

When I look at the woman standing before me I am amazed.  Not only in the confidence you exude, but also the pure peace that emanates from your being.  The woman I knew in 2012 is long gone and a newer, more peaceful and centered woman stands before me, transformed.  I wish I could tell you that this transformation happened overnight, but you know better than that.  This transformation has taken place in much the same way all changes take place.  Step-by-step.  But it all started with your theme of the year.  Do you remember?  To simply be open.  To some it is vague, but for you it was a true lesson and the starting point of this transformation.

You see, by your willingness to be open to what life, the Universe, God, etc. has to offer and letting go of your control where you needed to, you welcomed in a trust you have never known before.  A trust that all is happening in the right time, for the right reasons, and this journey you are on is a wonderful adventure when you are open.  And it can be fun too!

Do you remember what your letter looked like for 2012?  Of course you do, it was cluttered with income amounts, possessions you wanted to have, and specific expectations that the old you wanted too much to control and yet very little on that list came to be and why is that?  Could it be you didn’t let go of the wheel enough to allow things to happen in their own time?  Possibly, or more likely it was all part of your path to get you here.  To the state of peace in allowing life to flow.

Please don’t think that ‘peace’ is your only accomplishment for this year, though it is your greatest, there are many other very exciting opportunities, situations, and adventures that you were open to.  Sure your blog following has grown, your book idea is no longer just an idea, your midnight hustle has developed into a more substantial income, and your life coach dream is taking flight, but even if all of that hadn’t happened and peace is all that was gained this year…it would be enough.  Because within peace lies the space to allow the magic of your dreams to come true.  And though I want to share with you every teeny, tiny, delightful morsel of your best year yet, and to warn you of some potential challenges, I will leave it to you to explore and enjoy.  Just know that as you move, evolve, and grow this year, you are transforming step-by-step into the peacefully grounded woman standing before me.

Enjoy the ride!

Keep Your Dreams Alive

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I can’t tell you how many people I have met in various areas of my life who have told me that in one way or another they had given up on their dream.  Some thought them to be unpractical, while others simply didn’t believe in themselves.  I once was a naysayer about my own abilities and struggle with it still from time to time.  When I set out to do something new my old self would immediately say “I can’t..”  I have learned to ignore that little feeling and move forward through the discomfort of change or growing, and I usually find that I could do it and that my old self was just giving me lip service.  But what about those people who have just gotten caught up in everyday life?

How do you keep your dreams alive?

I can’t tell you for certain how to do it, because I believe we are all very different beings.  Some of us respond to certain things, while others do not, but I can share with you how I do it.  Maybe you will find something that will be useful in your own dream resuscitation.

Visualize

I am one of the best day-dreamers around (ahem don’t tell my boss).  I often think of what it will look like to have my dream become reality.  I think about the type of clients I want to work with, how I want my schedule to be set up, what my business name might be, and even what my business card will look like.  I have fun with it.  I simply paint a mental picture of my dream.  And while I may not always feel the dream when I feel like things are moving slowly, visualizing the end result is usually enough to keep me moving in the right direction and best of all it keeps me believing not only that my dream can become reality, but it will.

Talk About It

Talk about your dreams with the people you care about.  Share what you want to accomplish with friends, family, co-workers even.  Those of you that know me personally have probably heard me talk about life coaching or writing a million times over and are probably tired of hearing about it already (though I hope not) and the best part about that is you all become my cheerleaders.  When you share something like this with people who love and care for you, they become part of your journey.  They are going to talk you off the ledge when you feel like quitting.  They are the ones that will say, “But you want nothing more than to ____”.  They are going to remind you why your dream is your dream to begin with, and they get that info from you!  Share your dreams so you can be reminded of them later.

Multiple Dreams

This one may not be so obvious, but it has been a really great way for me to stay excited about all of my aspirations.  I have a tendency to have laser focus when it comes to something I want to do.  Sounds great right?  Not exactly.  If things don’t go exactly as planned or certain parts of my journey become delayed, I can get pretty down about it.  My mind goes into over drive and the negative chatter takes over.  I seem to only notice what is not going well and it goes downhill from there.  But when I have a few dreams to focus on, I can flow between them and if one seems to be at a standstill for one reason or another, then I can easily change focus to work on something else.  This may not work for everyone as some people prefer to do one thing at a time, but it seems to work for me.

Dream Board

Dream or vision boards are a visual representation of what you want to create.  It can be a collage of words, quotes, pictures, or items that remind you of what you are trying to accomplish.  I created a dream board for 2012 and when I looked back at it, I found that many of the items came to fruition.  I am still planning (read procrastinating) on making a dream board for 2013, however I am still envisioning what I want to accomplish this year.  Keeping to my theme this year, I am trying to be open and flow with life as much as possible, so I want to create my board in a way that allows me to do that.  Once my board is complete, I will hang it in my office where I can see it everyday.  I may not look at all of the items on it everyday, but seeing the board everyday will certainly keep my dreams in the forefront of my mind and keep me excited for what is to come.

So those are the ways I am keeping my dreams alive.  How do you do it?

Dreams, Goals, and Bucket List Items

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This evening I took some time to review my list of dreams located on my blog as I wanted to see what still fit and what didn’t.  I also planned on adding a few items that I have been thinking about for a few weeks, and I realized something.  The items I listed on my “Dreams” page weren’t all dreams.  In face I found they fit into one of three categories; Dreams, Goals, or Bucket List Items.  I had never really thought about the difference myself, but tonight I was struck by the various “dreams” I had listed, and realized that each had a different feel to me.  So what is the difference?

Dreams

For me dreams come from a place of passion and desire.  There is a spark and a constant inspiration to achieve these items. For me personally my dreams invoke a sense of service to others in an attempt to touch lives and to inspire, motivate, and create positive change, both with my clients and in the world as a whole.  These are the things I don’t go a day without thinking about.  They are the things you can find me talking about to anyone that will listen.  And though they may take longer to achieve, the fire is still burning bright.  They are things I need to do and in some cases are the very things I feel called to do.  My life purpose if you will.

Goals

Goals on the other hand are more checkpoints or markers on my journey.  These are things that aren’t a necessity in my soul, but are more of an accomplishment.  You might even say these are ego driven in how specific they may be. At some point I may have a goal that sets a specific number of clients in a month or amount of money I want to bring in from writing each month.  My goals are things I want to accomplish and are things I strive for, but they are not things I think about daily.

Bucket List Items

My bucket list items are simply that.  Things I want to do or experience to enhance the fun and adventure in my life.  Things I want to try that I have never tried, places I want to visit etc.  They are things that would enhance my experience in this life and are likely to teach me lessons along the way, but are purely for the experience.

Each of these categories of things, accomplishments, and intentions are slightly different from the other, but they are all areas that are important to me.  And though I may not complete all of the items on every list this year, I am sure that by simply having the list, I will accomplish more than I would otherwise.

Please visit my updated list here, and feel free to share your own dreams, goals, or bucket list items.  I would love to hear about them!