Lamisha Serf-Walls

It’s All About Love

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loveI love all things ‘love’.  As a Leo I am a hopeless romantic who enjoys all the traditional valentines gifts.  You know, chocolate, flowers, candles, perfume etc.  I enjoy it all.  I cry at happy endings to amazing love stories and anything that has a heart or the word ‘love’ on it you can bet your bottom dollar I want it.  But Valentines Day (and every other day of the year) isn’t just about romantic love.  We are moving into a world that offers a spirit of universal love in all forms and I LOVE that!

Not only are more people practicing random acts of kindness and sharing their love for humankind with one another, but we are moving into a period where more and more people are doing the work that they love.  More people are accepting their bodies, personalities, and true gifts each and every day.  More people are lending a helping hand when they see someone is in need and standing up for those who can’t speak for themselves.

It’s All About Love…keylove

Today and everyday, love yourself, treat yourself, and stop all that negative-dream-crushing-self-talk that keeps you playing small.  Be kind to others and to yourself!  Do more of what you love.  Find your gifts.  Love them and embrace them and for goodness sakes give them to the world!  Listen to your heart and follow the call to do work that you absolutely adore.  That passion you have burning in your soul, use it!  Support one another in struggles and successes.  Share, care, and collaborate when you can.  Uplift and motivate.  Inspire and ignite the fire that has been dormant for too many of us for far too long.

We are provided 24 amazing hours each day to live the best way we know how and I can’t think of a better way than to practice love in any way we can.  It’s simple to do if we can break away from our monkey minds, computers, smart phones, and get off of autopilot that we tend to be operating from most days.  Be conscious, aware, and open to how love may present itself to you.  You just might be surprised at how often you see, feel, and share it when you become aware.

And should you find yourself wondering where to begin, start with yourself.  Go out and do the things that bring you joy.  Paint, sing, write, crochet, dance, draw, read, take pictures, work out, create, or whatever it is that you haven’t given yourself the permission to do.  Go do that!

I truly believe life is meant to be enjoyed and love is meant to be shared, so get out there and do it!  And should you find yourself stuck, confused, or in a rut and unable to figure out how to move forward with your amazing passion, purpose, and dreams.  Know that I would be honored to be a part of your journey by sharing my gift of coaching with you.  There is nothing I love more than sharing in the excitement and wonder of my clients….except maybe chocolates and roses. 🙂

Now is your time to shine and do more of what you LOVE and I want to help you do that.  Contact me today to sign up for free consultation and find out how I can help you infuse your life with more love, inspiration, and joy.  You deserve it!

Celebrating A Day Of (Self) Love

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I couldn’t let this holiday pass without a post about love.  I am one of the biggest saps you will ever meet.  I cry at the drop of a hat, tear up during touching commercials, and I absolutely love romance and all that it entails.  And even though this day has become about giving gifts and cards etc. I still love it.  (I am a greeting card writer after all so it behooves me to be a bit sentimental.)

With that said I want to touch on something that doesn’t get talked about much, especially around this time of year and that is self-love.

All too often many of the greatest givers (myself included) have a tendency to forget or in some cases avoid all together the idea of loving ourselves.  It has been seen by some to be a narcissistic way of living if we tend to our own needs or recognize the gifts we truly have.  It has been all too common to downplay our strengths and focus on our weaknesses all while giving to and doing for others.  Sometimes we see that our needs aren’t as important as the needs of our child, partner, employer, or family and we disconnect entirely from what we want and need in order to give back to ourselves.  It is the lack of balance in loving another and loving ourselves that can cause frustration, fatigue, and resentment.

Is self-love a selfish act?  In my opinion it is not.  It is a necessity in order to effectively love another.  I know this because it has been a struggle of my own, one of which I have been working on for a while now and is one I believe we could all do a little more of.  Please don’t confuse self-love with boasting, narcissism, and the ego because it is far from that.

To me, self-love is accepting all of your being for who you are flaws and all and loving the person you were, the person you are, and who you have yet to become.  It’s not an easy task to do, but as we peel back the layers of ourselves and let them fall away, we uncover our truest selves…human beings full of love, inspiration, power, strength, and beauty.

How does this apply to accomplishing your dreams and goals?  I believe the more we love ourselves and accept ourselves for who we truly are, we view our dreams and goals in a new light.  Instead of not feeling good enough or worthy enough of our amazing gifts, we accept them graciously as they manifest.  So, today I ask you to take a moment and remind yourself that you are worthy of all of the goodness the Universe can give you, but first you must believe you are.

With that I will leave you with an inspirational quote I found.  May you always know you are worthy of your dreams.

Enjoy your Valentine’s Day!

“You can be the most beautiful person in the world and everybody sees light and rainbows when they look at you, but if you yourself don’t know it, all of that doesn’t even matter. Every second that you spend on doubting your worth, every moment that you use to criticize yourself; is a second of your life wasted, is a moment of your life thrown away. It’s not like you have forever, so don’t waste any of your seconds, don’t throw even one of your moments away.”
― C. JoyBell C.

 

Gratitude: Time With My Son

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I normally post two things on Fridays that I am thankful for, but today I am sticking to just one.  In light of the horrible tragedy that has happened in Connecticut today, my mind is taken to how grateful I am for my son.

Children are such a blessing and like all parents, I think our little guy is extra special.  He is funny, silly, but at times oh so serious.  He reminds me to enjoy life, to live in the moment, and not worry so much, except now I must worry about him.  Our son is such a gift and I can’t imagine not being able to hear his laugh or hear him say “Momma! What are you doing?” 100 times a day like he does now.

My heart breaks for the parents who lost their children today, but also for the world we live in that has so much violence, children aren’t even safe in schools.  I wish for us all to live in a world of peace, supporting, uplifting, and encouraging one another.  Not one of anger, deceit, and violence.  I want my son to be able to grow up in a world that doesn’t experience such hate and sadness, but instead cooperation and love.  And while I can’t change the world all by myself, I can do my part, little by little, day-by-day.  And in the midst of all the pain and suffering, I can remember to be grateful for the light, joy, and peace that still exists in this world of ours.

So today I am thankful for the time I get with my son.  The sweet moments when he just wants to be close and feel secure.  The hugs, kisses, and nights when he just wants to snuggle up and watch a movie with his mommies.  For the silly dance parties and tickle fights.  For story time, bath time, and play time.  For the songs we sing, the games we play, and the meals we share, I am grateful.  But most of all I am grateful for the little boy we were blessed with almost 3 years ago. May we never forget how precious life is, and how blessed we are to spend time with our children and loved ones each day.

Tell your loved ones you love them today.  Hug them tighter than ever before and pray for peace in the hearts of the parents, teachers, children, and the entire community that was touched by this tragedy today.  It is up to us to make a difference in this world.  Now is the time.

For Love or Money

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I have thought a lot about satisfaction in the workplace in recent years and can’t help but wonder how many people are actually doing work that they love?  My guess is not too many.

For many years I have surveyed (for my own interest) different people who I have worked with and asked them how happy they are in their job.  Most of them look at me quizzically, not understanding the question.  It seems a large portion of our population has succumbed to the thought that the work that you do is just that…work.  Work is not meant to be enjoyed, not meant to be fun, and is simply a means to an end.  The end being paying bills, saving for retirement, and taking care of everyday expenses etc.  And even though I just recently (in the last 2 years or so), have come to the realization regarding the work I am meant to do, the idea that work is just work has never been something that sat well with me.  In fact I realize now, all the time I had been asking different people if they enjoyed their work, I was trying to figure out how they got there.  The challenge is that I never found one person that said, “Yes, I love this!”  That is not to say those people aren’t out there, I am sure there are many people who enjoy their work, I just haven’t spoken to them.

 
I understand for the most part why a lot of people aren’t doing work that they love.  It stems partially from the society that we live in that requires us to make a decision in our college years to determine what we want to do for the rest of our lives.  The reality is that what we choose during college doesn’t always translate into work after college(says the writer who has a Bachelors in Exercise Science and a Masters in Psychology, but isn’t doing either of those things and is looking for a new career).  For instance, I had an interest in fitness, but didn’t know where I wanted to go with it after college.  By the time I realized it probably wasn’t something I would enjoy for the long haul, I already had too many credit hours to switch to something else, and I didn’t even know what I wanted to switch to.  I wanted/needed to graduate so I stuck with the fitness degree.  Fast forward a few years and you would find me enrolling in a Masters program for Psychology with an idea of helping people.  Still unsure of the path I would take, I finished the degree and finally (a few years after that) found my calling.  I was meant to be a life coach.

I think another reason many people don’t follow their dream career is because sometimes dreams don’t seem “practical”.  I had a friend in college who was (and still is) a wonderful artist.  She was accepted into a prestigious art program not far from her home and because her mother didn’t think that art could pay the bills, she was forced into a career in business and finance, a far cry from the creative outlet she was looking for.

I have often thought about the conundrum of doing work for love or for money and wondered how many people have ever really thought about the work that they do.  Most people probably do their work for the income it brings in, even if it isn’t as much as they would like to make from it.  In an economy that still seems unsteady, it seems irresponsible, frivolous, and some may say just plain stupid to give up a “sure thing” job to dive head first into a dream that you may never achieve.  I beg to differ.  While I am absolutely a numbers gal and can be very practical when it comes to money and finances, I am also a dreamer, creator, and artist.

I was meant to do work that I love.

Looking back I now realize a part of me has always pushed me into work that I love be it choreography, being a dance teacher and coach, but most of all talking to people and motivating them to do the things they love.  I have always been doing this, only now am I seeing it from the stand point of a career.  A career that would make me excited to get up everyday.  Something that would allow me to help others and to push people to realize their dreams and have the courage to achieve them.  For me it hasn’t ever been about money.  I have taken “jobs” just because I need to pay the bills, but I have a bigger vision in mind.  I want to do the work that makes my heart sing.  For me it’s more about the love of what I do than the money I make doing it.  Sure, I have bills to pay, retirement to save for, and a family to help support, but I know that if I am doing the work that I love, it will all work out.  It won’t happen magically in a year or two and it will take some hard work, financial planning, and dedication to my career, but if I can do work that I love, it is icing on the cake.

So let me ask you this…do you do what you do for love or for money?  And if it isn’t for love, can you do what you love as a career?  It might require a bit of outside the box thinking, but I am sure there is a way.