Lamisha Serf-Walls

Gratitude: Family Time and Sunrises

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With the holidays upon us and Thanksgiving just around the corner, I have decided to increase my gratitude practice to list one thing I am grateful for during the month of November (and hopefully December as well), on my Facebook page.  I am doing this because in the time I have begun regularly practicing gratitude, I have found such a tremendous change in my overall attitude about life, abundance, and what it means to be happy.  I am finding that I am blessed beyond measure in so many ways, even if my dreams were never to manifest (though I know they will).  I invite you to also join in the 30 days of gratitude for the month of November and see how it makes you feel, and what changes you notice in your own life.

 

This week the first thing I am grateful for is family time.  Being a mother is one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given and spending special time with my son and partner are absolutely priceless.  This week we did a little pumpkin carving, attended an Elmo and Friends event, and went trick or treating as a family.  I absolutely love the time we get to spend together, particularly the moments when I get to see my son smiling, or I can look at my partner and see the joy in her eyes.  It is during those times that I am fully awake and aware of the moment and nothing is more important than our little family.  I also find myself thanking the Divine for being blessed with so much love to give the two most important people in my life and as we venture towards adding to our family (hopefully in the near future), I look forward to more family time and more love to share.

This week I am also grateful for the beautiful sunrises I am blessed with each and every morning.  Living in South Carolina, I have been drawn to the vast beautiful skies both during the day and at night.  Each morning as I take my son to daycare it is quite dark and we have begun a practice of admiring the stars and the moon as we leave.  On my way home, this morning I was amazed at the gorgeous sunrise that greeted me just over the horizon.  I would have taken a picture to include here, but I was driving and was too mesmerized to even attempt to capture it on my cell phone.  The beauty took my breath away and reminded me yet again of the beauty that surrounds us everyday if we are open to it.

I hope you all have a marvelous weekend and remember the wonderful blessings you have, especially as so many are still struggling without power, heat, and basic necessities in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  My prayers are with the victims that are working to get their lives back to normal in the wake of this natural disaster.

The other side of Rejection

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As a writer much of the writing process revolves around getting your writing published and in order to get accepted, you usually have to go through a lot of rejection.  And while some people can take the rejection in stride as they move onto their next project, I am still learning to look on the bright side.

Today I received an email stating several of my pieces that were under review for possible greeting cards had been rejected.  This isn’t the first time I have received a rejection, and while I am generally a little disappointed, I am usually able to move onward and upward.  Today was a little different.

Over the last few weeks I have been feeling like good news was just around the corner.  I just knew the next time I heard from the greeting card company, that I would be getting several pieces published.  I even had a number in my head of how many I felt were going to be published and a vivid picture of the check I would receive.  Imagine my disappointment when instead of getting a check in the mail, I got a rejection via email.

I was slightly stunned.  I really felt with all of my being that I was going to end this year on a really high note with my writing.  I could just feel it.  I knew that something big was going to happen and since I didn’t have anything else currently in the works (writing wise), this had to be it. Right?  Surprised, disappointed, and feeling a little rejected, I retreated to my office to update my list of pending poems.  It was there I realized I had a choice to make.

I could either wallow in my disappointment, trying to figure out what was “wrong” with my poems, or I could choose to look at the bright side.

I decided to find something positive to focus on, so instead of focusing on the 5 poems that were just rejected, I decided to look at the ones I have still in the process.  I counted almost 75 poems still being considered and of those 75, about 10 are in the final review process and are one step closer to being published.  That is truly something to celebrate.  I also realized while I could choose to take these “rejections” personally, the truth is it’s really not personal and if I have any hope of publishing an article, or book one day, I have to develop a thicker skin.  The business side of writing is not for the weak at heart, and the easier it is for me to take the rejections now, the better I will be down the line.

So where does that leave my gut feeling that something good is waiting just around the corner?  It’s a little bit shaken, but still there.  I still have high hopes of ending this year on a good note with my writing and I have 2 months for that to happen, but if it doesn’t, I will choose to see the good in the situation, just as I did today.

The moral of this story is this: Dreams are magical and perfect creations in our imagination and as they begin to manifest in our reality, it may not always go as planned, but there will always be a choice to see the good in the situation.  And if you make the choice to give up on your dream because of the challenges you face, it probably wasn’t your true passion to begin with.

 

One of Those Moments

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I had one of those moments today,where my entire attention was drawn to a beautiful part of nature that many often miss or overlook.  I was in the kitchen and caught a glimpse of the sky outside the back door.  It was the most beautiful sky I had ever seen and while I wanted to capture it to look back at later, I knew no picture could encompass the beauty that I was looking at in that moment.

 

Instead of running for my camera, I walked outside to absorb as much of the beauty as I could.  I stared at the sky in awe and in deep gratitude for such an amazing show of colors.  Bright pinks, oranges, and lilacs graced the sky and I felt time stop.  In that moment I was in a trance, experiencing the moment for all that it was.  Not moving, not thinking, not worrying…simply being.

As the sun continued to descend and the colors began to fade, I realized I am becoming much more aware of these moments with each passing day.  Moments that stop me in my tracks and allow me to take a reprieve from my thoughts and just be.  In these moments I am fully awakened to what is before me, allowing all thought and worry to disappear if just for that moment.  And when that moment comes to an end, I am filled with a deep sense gratitude for the experience.

I am noticing these moments much more than I did before, and it gives me hope that I will soon be able to just be in every moment no matter what the moment brings and that brings joy to my soul.

Gratitude: Technology and Sharing

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As I began thinking of the many things I am grateful for this week, it became quite difficult to decide what I wanted to include in this post.  I am beginning to take note of more things I am grateful for each week and make a mental note in preparation for this post each week.  Not only has it turned my attention to the many blessings in my life, but also to the things that sometimes we tend to overlook and take for granted.  I am delighted to see how my weekly gratitude post is overflowing into the rest of my week and allows me to become more aware of the richness of my life and I certainly don’t mean monetary richness.

This week I am extremely grateful for technology and while I am far less “techy” than I am creative etc., I realize technology allows for us to connect in so many ways across vast distances.  A little over a year ago my family and I picked up and moved to SC where we didn’t know anyone but our realtor (who we found via the internet).  There was a part of me that panicked a bit at the thought of starting over again, and having to find a way to meet friends, acquaintances etc.  My sense of community has always centered around my workplace and the people I meet there in addition to my lifelong friends from back home.  This time my community building would be different since I work for a company remotely (a blessing in and of itself) and I don’t have the luxury of meeting people in an office setting.  At first I found this to be a frustration and somewhat of a concern, until I realized how many people I connect with on a daily basis via the internet.  In fact there are quite a few people I have “met” through other friends either by phone or via the web that I have yet to meet in person.  In the business world they call it networking, I call it human connection.  Many of my friends are people I would never have known had it not been for the wonderful technology that allows me to connect with some really incredible people many miles away.  I was reminded of that this week as I emailed, text messaged, and blogged with people all over the world.  For that I am so very grateful.

This week I am also grateful for sharing.  I was reminded of this thought at various times this week, but the one that stands out the most was motivated by nature.  I posted about my monarch messenger last week and since then I have had many other butterfly friends visit our mums on the front porch (sometimes 3 and 4 at a time).  Earlier this week as I was going to check the mail, I walked by the mums and saw a flurry of activity from various butterflies, bees, bubble bees and flies.  The butterflies stole the show with their beautiful orange, black, and yellow wings, but I was struck by the ability of all these little beings sharing the same space and how they managed to do it with ease.  I stood there for a moment just watching them fly from one flower to the next and was mesmerized.  When I initially bought the plant, I simply wanted to spruce up our front porch for the fall as I loved the cheerful feel of the yellow mums.  Little did I know, I was creating a meeting place of sorts for many insects to come together to share in the beauty for their own individual needs.  It reminds me of the importance of sharing and exchanging with one another.  I began thinking of ways to apply this concept of sharing in my own life and even managed to share a few ideas and websites that I thought might be helpful to others.  I realized that the butterflies, bees, and flies became my teachers this week and what an amazing lesson in sharing it was.

What are you grateful for this week?

Ease Into It

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The other day I set an intention to get my fitness and meditation practices back on track, and yesterday was my first day back.  I was happy to find nice weather outside as I began my extended walk/jog on my lunch break and that optimistic feeling might have caused me to over-estimate my current fitness level.

As I began I warmed up a bit by walking and with the sun shining down on me boy was I feeling good. I felt so good that I broke out into a jog, thinking I could at least jog half of the total distance.  I was wrong.  I found very quickly that I am much more out of shape than I thought and realized I should probably walk before I run.  And as you may already know  patience is not my forte, and sometimes I have a difficult time easing into things.  As I huffed and puffed, I decided to listen to my body and walk the remainder of the distance, but instead of berating myself and judging my lack of progress, I used it as an opportunity to really enjoy my surroundings.  It turned out to be a very lovely walk, leaving me feeling energetic and focused for the rest of my day, a sure sign that exercise and fresh air does wonders for the mind and body.  I also realized that had I not listened to my body, I would have felt very differently about my new fitness regime and over the course of the day I kept thinking…you have to ease into it.

That thought stuck with me because while it applies to my health and fitness plans, it also relates to my dreams as well.  I often find myself passionate and excited about a new project or idea and I want to dive in head first and I have found that if I do the unfortunate result is burn out.  (My two previous attempts at blogging is a great example.)  And while my passion and drive may never cease (at least I hope it doesn’t), I am reminded that in order for my dreams and goals to last, I have to ease into them.

What does that mean?

In regards to my life coaching career it means allowing myself the space to learn along the way, to plan for unforeseen challenges, and enjoy the ride.  There’s a concept I often forget…enjoying the ride.  I have often been so focused (and frustrated) on getting there, that I have found myself dismissing my little victories along the way and forgetting that the journey is really the best part.  And though I will be extremely proud, excited, and feeling over the moon once my business really takes off, I will feel that way because of all the things I did to get there.  The planning, writing, saving, creating, and all the other wonderful things that go into building a business are all things I want to truly experience and if I were to jump in head first, I might miss everything it takes to get there.

I don’t want to miss that.

I want to take it one step at a time (did I just say that?) in order to not only do it the right way, but the right way for me.  It may not be the way everyone else would do it, but then again I am not everyone else.  I am me.  I am passionate about helping people.  I am creative and I am absolutely in love with the idea of helping people achieve their own dreams and as I learn what it takes to achieve mine, I will be that much better at helping someone else.  Those are the things that excite me and allow me to take a step back and say “I will do this”.

So I have decided that while my passion is what fuels my ideas, creations, and my life, it’s something I want to last and so I will be patient.  I will enjoy the journey as it unfolds, be present in each experience, and keep my vision alive, both for my dream of being a life coach, and my intention of getting my health back on track.  But above all else, I am learning more and more, that life is a wonderful journey, and if you can’t enjoy the journey, the destination won’t mean all that much anyways.