Letting Go of Negative Emotions with "Shhhh"

Even if you are not angry, stressed, or frustrated right now,

  you have been in the past.

Those past negative emotions are “stored” in the major organs of your body.

Its time to breathe out these negative emotions.

Do you want to know how?

Breathe in deeply and slowly through your nose

…now…

Breathe out through your mouth making the sound “sshhh” all the way until the end of the breath.

This is an ancient form of detox that works on both the emotional and physical levels. It  will not only release stored negative emotions, but it will calm down your mind and all its chatter.

Try it – It works!

Hold On? (Knowing When or If To Let Go)

“Hold on when the world ain’t treating you good, you gotta hold on.  When everybody’s looking at you funny, you gotta hold on.”

~Alabama Shakes Lead Singer Brittany Howard

 

It’s the fall season.

Look at the trees as the leaves change colors.

It’s an entire process.

Part of that process is that some leaves fall before others.

 All the leaves don’t fall at the same time.

Some hold on until the very end.  They let go when it’s their time to let go.

Sometimes you need to continue to hold on until it is time to let go.  

If you let go too soon you’ll look back, you’ll have regrets, you’ll wonder if you did the right thing.

Sometimes holding on until you’re pretty sure, is the best course to take in certain situations.

(The below is an Alabama Shakes song , she’s singing about holding on until something changes…not necessarily to hold on, then let go…but you get the point, right?)

• In the Letting Go Process you have to first Hold On to see if and when you need to let go….

• You’ll have to Wait and determine if you need to let go or exactly when you need to let go….

• You have to listen to  the Wisdom of the Ages or to family and friends who have “gone on” and are “up above” saying; “WAIT”…even when you don’t WANT to wait…even when you really want to let go…just wait…hold on…

  Letting Go is a Process

  Watch Nature – Watch the Leaves During This Fall Season If You Want To Learn How to Let Go

   Remember Letting Go Is Not Giving Up, It’s Dying to What Is to Let Come What Could Be

Letting Go Of Thinking That You Are The Only One Talking To Your Dead Friends

MY DEAD FRIENDS by Marie Howe

I have begun,
when I’m weary and can’t decide an answer to a bewildering question

to ask my dead friends for their opinion
and the answer is often immediate and clear.

Should I take the job? Move to the city? Should I try to conceive a child
in my middle age?

They stand in unison shaking their heads and smiling-whatever leads
to joy, they always answer, to more life and less worry.

I look into the vase where Billy’s ashes where it’s green in there, a green vase,

and I ask Billy if I should return the difficult phone call, and he says, yes.

Billy’s already gone through the frightening door, whatever he says I’ll do.

-Marie Howe

It’s okay to let go of thinking that you are the only one talking to your dead friends and asking them questions.  After all they have passed through the “frightening door” already…go ahead and ask them what to do!  

Just Quit Thinking You Walk This Journey Alone - Your Ancestors Walk With You

You are not walking this journey alone. Your ancestors walk with you.

The wisdom of the future is contained in the mind, hearts and souls of the past.

In order to go forward, sometimes you must go backwards.  Sometimes you must ask for help from your ancestors.   Their spirits are still alive.  They live in and through you.  Draw from their power. They are waiting for you to use the power that they have been building for decades, for centuries even.

YOU have the Know-How, YOU’VE developed great skills, YOU’VE Prepared Yourself

Now Do Something!

Have the courage to let go of that voice of fear that’s in your head.

Yes, there is a process to letting go.

A Change Is Gonna Come

Yes, you need to be determined in order to change.

Yes, you need to find encouragement somewhere and somehow for your efforts.

Yes, you need to release the past, so that the future that wants to emerge, can come forth.

Yes, it might have been a hard life so far.  There have been ups and downs, but don’t be afraid to die…die to who you are…die to what is holding you back.

Although it’s been a l-o-n-g time coming…A CHANGE IS GONNA COME…be alright with the void…let go…draw from your ancestors and move onward and upward…it’s time.

  Who are the Ancestors that You Need to Draw From?

What are Their Names? How Did They Inspire You?

What Do You Need To Do NOW?

How The Story of Life Ends.

“All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.”

~Havelock Ellis~

We all know how the story of life ends.

It ends in death.

One day your life will be over.

You as you know yourself will be gone. 

It’s something we all will experience,

but none of us have experienced it.

So you’re still alive, right now

Do you need to make a turning point? 

Did you need to Let Go of Something or Someone? 

Can you just keep on going down the road that you know is miserable and not bringing you joy?

Are you Afraid of Letting Go? 

The Choice is yours.

 Life is just Series of Choices.

Remember you already know how the story ends. 

It ends in death,

so LIVE a life that matters.

Live a life that makes a difference while you are still able. 

What is one thing that you need to Just Quit or Let Go Of?

Being Grateful No Matter What

Be Grateful even if things aren’t working out like you hoped.

Be Grateful first thing in the morning…even if you don’t want to face the day and all you think it will bring.

Be Grateful that…this too shall end.

Just live in a space of gratitude.  Why not?  Being Miserable….is a miserable way to live.

Be Grateful.

Leaning Into Letting Go...

Stop seeking joy, pleasure, happiness, peace,  and love — ONLY

That is not how life works.

Embrace pain, hurt, loss, sadness, anger, hate and death —

these TOO are a part of life.

Until you realize that,

you will always be fighting against yourself,

against being human,

against this earthly experience.

Sometimes you are going to get hurt.

It’s going to be painful.  

It’s not going to go the way you want it to.

Your heart is going to get broken.

Loved Ones are going to die.

You are going to feel lonely. 

Grow from it,

Learn from it.

Lean into it like a tree —

Trees don’t resist the weather —

they lean into it

& fully experience the wind, the rain, the storms, even the hurricanes

LEAN into you life.

Dance with it.

You’ll survive the painful times.

After Pain Comes Joy.

Life is a Journey.

Just Lean Right to Left, Front to Back &

STAND Strong Like a Tree

  Let Go to Let Come!  

~ Ridea Richardson

 

Forgiveness and Letting Go

When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That’s the message he is sending.

– Thich Nhat Hanh

Forgiveness Brings Peace

Forgiveness Brings Clarity

Forgiveness Allows You to Move On

Forgive Even if They Don’t Say They’re Sorry (some people aren’t sorry for hurting you, some people don’t even know or care that they hurt you — just let that go –that’s more about them and their character than it is about you)

Forgive Even If You’re Still Hurting

Forgive Even If You’re Still Suffering

It “feels” like you are giving away something & getting nothing in return when you forgive,

BUT

What you discover is that by for -giv(e) – ing – you are giving YOURSELF the power to move on (it’s a paradox…you can’t move on as long as you and your mind are stuck NOT forgiving.  You just keep re-living the hurt and pain over and over and over again)

Go Past the Hurt

Go Past the Pain

Go Past the Past

********************

Step Into Joy

Step Into Love

Step Into Your Future

Allow your future to come forth without the burden of  holding on to the grudges of the past

Walk and Step A Little Lighter Today

Do it for yourself.   Do it for your health. Do it for your future.  

Who Do You Need to Forgive Today?  

Just forgive them (or yourself – if that’s who you need to forgive).

 Even if all you do today is say out loud to yourself; “I forgive so and so for doing this or that or not doing this or that”.  

That’s how you start and all you have to do is start the process and allow life to put everything else into place…and it will…just trust the process.

Listen to the music, look at the below images and words and just focus on forgiving…and the power of forgiving…

 

Change Comes Whether You Initiate It Or Not

Letting go means change,

but change is going to come whether or not you are the one to let go or not.  

Change is going to come if you are going to continue to grow and to progress on your journey.

You have to leave.  

You have to move.  

You have to say goodbye.  

You have to go a different route.

You have to take the leap of faith.

You have to resign.  

You have to not call or text back.  

You have to retire.

You have to get the divorce.  

You have to stop complaining.  

You have to quit smoking.  

You have to pay off your bills (eventually).

You have to save money for retiring.

You have to stop shopping.  

You have to leave relationships that are not healthy.

Do you HAVE to do these things?

 No, you can just keep on doing what you’re doing BUT something will change because that which can not be sustained will end – as they say in medicine the bleeding will stop (one way or the other).

Stop Being Afraid of Change.

If How You Are Living Is NOT Working  (and you know in the long run that it’s not going to work) then Let Go

Initiate & Embrace Change

(no, it’s NOT easy and it takes courage…)

Move On…Learn… & Grow…

Living in the Seat of the Soul

Want to Know the Secret of Life?

First…watch this to help you forget about what you were thinking right before you opened this post…

Here are the lyrics:

I never longed for no where,

No group of a Thousand Thieves

Take away the obvious, or the soil where I plant my seed

But each time, I close my eyes

I find myself,  declined by the judgment of another day

Sitting in the silence, in the melody of the dark

He knows that sound is, the harbor of my heart

It only grows stronger, It only grows stronger

It only grows stronger, It only grows stronger

Wake up, to the soundtrack, of this chapter in our lives

Understand the playlist, skeems, within the scenery of time

Since the day, I was born, trying to make it, to the river while waltzing through the storm

No group of, a thousand thieves, shake the rumor, my heart release

It only grows stronger, It only grows stronger

  Now, back to the Secret of Life

Here it is

PAY ATTENTION

Of what you say….what do I pay attention to?

PAY ATTENTION to EVERYTHING

But…in order to pay attention to everything you MUST first PAY ATTENTION to the Voice in Your Head.

You know the voice I’m talking about. The one that is talking to you ALL THE TIME.  It’s talking to now as you read this.  It was talking to you when you listened to the video of Trixie Whitley. Maybe it said things like:  “Who is that?  Is she new?  I’ve never heard of her?  I like her. She’s different. ”

On and on, that voice NEVER shuts up and it never will UNTIL you PAY ATTENTION TO IT.  It just wants you to pay attention to it .  Think about it like a child.  A child screams until you “really” pay attention to him or her.  That voice in your head is screaming and will continue to until you pay attention to it.

How do you “pay attention” to that voice in your head?

Just sit back and listen to it like you are listening to someone else talk to you.

Be a witness to it.

Be an observer of it.

Watch it like you’re watching a movie.

Trust me… even though many of you don’t personally know me…trust me when I tell you that if you can get this and do it, then it will change your life.

Why will this change your life?

Because right now you are probably just “living  in your head”.

You are EXPERIENCING  life WHILE you are listening to this voice in your head BUT you aren’t PAYING ATTENTION to what you’re EXPERIENCING because you are listening to this voice in your head narrate to you, talk to you, debate with you, confuse you, and tell you what to do.

Once you understand that the voice in your head is NOT you.  You know it is not you because you can watch it  like you just watched the video.   The voice is a thing. Thoughts are things. The voice is an object and you are the observer.

It is only once you have taken on the voice (wait, let me stop here) what do I mean by that?  You have to allow it to do its thing…that MIGHT be scare the hell out of you with its fears, its “scary” predictions of what could go wrong or what is wrong or let it relive the hurts and pains of the past or things you should have said or should have done.  That’s what I mean by “taking it on”.  Face it down like it’s a bully.  Just stand up to it and listen to its chatter.  Until you can do THAT and show it you AREN’T afraid of where it goes, you’ll never win the battle.

NOW once you put the voice in its place (remember it is NOT you, it’s just the voice in your head) then you can now PAY ATTENTION to the EXPERIENCES that YOU are  having in life.  All the experiences.

I don’t care if that EXPERIENCE is washing dishes.  The next time you have dirty dishes, PAY ATTENTION to every step of washing the dishes, rinsing them off, putting them in the dishwasher, putting in the dish washing liquid, starting the dishwasher or actually washing the dishes in the sink one by one.

I think about when Jesus taught that to FIND YourSelf  (that one who seats in the deep space within and can observe the voice, the real Self) you have to LOSE Yourself (the ego, the psyche, the voice in your head, the little self). Also when he taught about how to come to a higher consciousness   — as a little child. Think about a little child washing the dishes for the FIRST time.  THEY are paying attention.  THEY are thrilled to have the opportunity to have the EXPERIENCE. Move through your life like that…like a little child…just happy for the experience…no matter what it is…let the voice in your head and your emotions put a label on it as good or bad or how it makes you feel…but YOU just observe and experience it all.

Now of course while you are washing the dishes the “voice in your head” wants you to listen to it, but if you have practiced being able to separate yourself from the voice you can shut it off (practice meditation – no thoughts) and simply wash the dishes.  You can go back to listening to that hypnotic un-harnessed voice later…that’s if you want to waste another minute, waste another day, waste another year, waste another decade of YOUR life.

Once you learn to PAY ATTENTION to the EXPERIENCES of your  LIFE, you can then EXPRESS Your Uniqueness.

 

Once you get on that track…watch out because then you will find the authentic life that only YOU can live. 

 It will be like there is a Force, there is a Wind, there is a Power, there is a Source, that moves through you…and then you ONLY GROW STRONGER every day…because…you are living your life Sitting in the Seat of the Soul or as Trixie Whitley calls it Sitting in the Silence

Now…Fall in Love with the process of discovering your Self…It’s so Powerful!

Don't Give Up

 

You may be having a bad morning, a bad week, or a bad year for that matter.

Don’t Give Up.

You may be depressed.  You may feel flat.  You may feel weak. You may feel like you can’t go on.

Don’t Give Up.

It might be hard.  You may feel hopeless.  You may not want to get out of the bed.

Don’t Give Up.

You have come this far.

You have endured so much.

You will make it through this time in your life.

Don’t Give Up.

Think back…you’ve been through tough times before.  You made it through.

You know this too shall pass.

 Just Don’t Give Up.

~Ridea Richardson

(Even if you have to find and paint a teeny tiny rock and write the words “Don’t Give Up” on it as a reminder…Just Keep Going, Things Will Work Out, There is a Plan, The Plan is Good, It’s Better Than You Think…Don’t Give Up…)

Fear is a Prison...It Keeps You Small

Fear is not real. Fear is how you “feel” and feelings are not Facts.   Feelings come and go.

Letting go and moving on is hard.  It is difficult.  It is painful. I don’t care if you KNOW you need to let go of your dead-end job, your toxic relationship or your addictions and unhealthy behaviors…IT DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN. It is a process, and it can be a very difficult process.

At some point you have to take full responsibility for your life and your decisions.   Forget about the story that you are telling yourself in your head about how you got to where you are today.  Stop beating yourself up.  You are where you are.  That is a fact. Just start from where you are right now — even if it is a crazy bad place and ask yourself:

1. What do I want?

2. What do I deserve? (Not what you “feel” you deserve – that will just take you down another rabbit hole.)

3. What is the worst thing that could happen if I let go/if I move on?

You can stay stuck or you can move on.

Moving on is not going to be what you have today, but you don’t know what it will actually be.  That is the dilemma of letting go.   I read somewhere to always and only visualize the end result, not the process. Visualizing the process can drive you crazy because there are so many pieces that need to fit into place. You can’t control all of that.  You have to just take for granted that:

even though you don’t know the plan…the plan is good…

Just figure out what you want and visualize the picture of the end result  and let the universe get you there.  You will know as you start this travel to your destination if the sign post along the way are getting you to your end result.  You may have to make course corrections along the way, but you have to know where you want to go.

Now, expect and wait for, the VOICES IN YOUR HEAD to start their job.

You know the voices I’m talking about.  The ones that say:

1.  This will never work out.

2. I’ve tried this 100 times what makes me think this time will be different?

3. This is too hard.  Why is life so hard?

…and on the voices will go…just listen to them, but know that they are just the gatekeepers.  EVERYBODY has those same small voices in their head, but it’s only those people who get beyond the gatekeepers that actually realize their true potential.  KNOCK THOSE GATES DOWN.  It starts with the gatekeeper called FEAR…fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the future…

Fear is a prison of the mind.

“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult-once we truly understand and accept it-then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.”  ~ M. Scott Peck 

 

The Power of Breathing

“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky.

Conscious breathing is my anchor.”

― Thích Nhất Hạnh

Neuroscience Research about the power of breathing rhythmically while focusing on your heart. 

It’s a long video, but it’s worth it. It’s information that “you don’t know, that you don’t know”. He talks about the difference between emotions, feelings and thoughts .  He explains that emotions are energy in motion and where that energy is coming from… the organs of your body…primarily your heart.  He basically answers some of the “why” questions regarding behavior and performance.  

Finding Peace Amidst The Storm

The Storm:

1. Things aren’t working out like YOU want them to.

2. Things aren’t moving fast enough for YOU.

3. You’re wondering if ANYBODY can understand what you’re going through AND more importantly does ANYBODY really care.

4. You’re hating every minute of what you are going through. You’re wondering when will it ever end?

5. You don’t see a way out of your situation.

6. Everything seems to be staying the same – nothing is changing.

Finding Peace:

1. Knowing that the universe is unfolding as it should. Max Ehrmann said that years ago in his poem Desiderata

2. Knowing that everything happens in its own time and at the right time.

3. Knowing that you are not alone, there are others going through something too. 

4. Knowing that one day you will have to REMEMBER how miserable you were today. (You won’t be able to really remember it fully once it’s over, so chill out as you go into next week.  This too shall end.)

5. Knowing that there have been many other situations in life where you couldn’t see a way out and a way appeared.  Think back…

6. Knowing that No-thing stays the same. Everything changes and always will.

Going through the storm today?

Know that you can find peace amidst this storm.

Stay calm, stay strong.

Letting Go of Timing

Everything happens in its own time, on time, and in time.

My Mama Used To Say: “God’s Time is a Good Time.”  Your timing may not be the right time. Your timing may not fit into the grander plan.  The sacred plan for your life.   Let go of thinking it has to happen when and how your mind is telling you is the “right” time.

Whatever happens; “good” or “bad”; happens based on the flow of life.  Life flows, ebbs or wanes, just like the ocean.  Things come and go.  People come and go. People who come, people who go,  all come and go in their own time.  Things that come, things that go, all come and go in its own time.  Beliefs, Dreams, Hopes, Fears, come and go…you know this, because you’ve experienced all of these things coming and going.

Just release the need and suffering of thinking that this experience of life that you have been given has to happen how you think it should.  If you are not aligned with who you really are, with what you should be doing, where you should be, who you should be with, then don’t expect the universe to put things in place the way you THINK that it should. It won’t.  It can’t.  It’s always trying to get you to wake up and live consciously and get aligned with your true nature.  In order to get aligned you have to do the inner work — the hard stuff — to get in alignment with YOUR flow of life.  Not anyone elses, but your own.  Once you are in that flow then everything starts to make sense.  You realize not to stress on the timing of things, you relax and are grateful because you recognize that NOW is a good time.

Enjoy what is happening right now. Enjoy who is in your life right now.  Enjoy the places that you go right now.  Enjoy the house that you are living in right now.  Enjoy the job that you have right now.  Enjoy the hopes of the job you want, right now, not when you actually get it, but right now. Enjoy the car that you are driving right now.  Enjoy the shift that you are working on right now. Enjoy the person you are married to right now.  Enjoy your children at the age they are right now. Enjoy the new product that you found.  Enjoy the new store that you found. Enjoy the new website you stumbled on. Enjoy the new person that you met.  Enjoy your life.

Just enjoy your life…because your life is happening, right NOW…as Mama Use to Say…

Just Quit Needing Others To Validate You and The Stuff You're Doing

Okay, so  you want others to know what we you are doing.

When you get the question:  “Hey, what have you been up to?”

You want them to support you.

You want them to be a part of what you’re doing.

You want their opinions.

You want their suggestions.

You want their ideas.

You want them involved.

They can be involved, they can give you their ideas, suggestions, and opinions, BUT you don’t need them to validate you or validate what you are doing.  Why?  Because sometimes it doesn’t matter if they think it makes any sense; if it’s gonna work; if it’s a good use of your time; if it’s the right degree for you to get; if it’s the next job that you should take; or the next town that you should move to; or even the next person that you should marry — sometimes — you just know!

It might be just every now and again that this happens, but once you are in alignment with life, love, God, The Source, (call it what you want), things start to change at a rapid pace.  You begin to realize that “that” something inside of you, already knows.  It just knows.  It’s always known and finally you’re listening to that source of information.

In the Flow

It’s like a little window opens in you mind, or your heart, or somewhere and you just know.

You can’t explain it.

You don’t understand it.

It makes no sense, even to you.

You do start to wonder exactly where everything is coming from.

Where the decisions are coming from.

Where the creatively is coming from.

Where the courage is coming from.

Where the words are coming from.

All you can do is flow with the process that is unfolding through you.  All you can do is go with it.  You do something one day and the next day look back at what you created or wrote and wonder…who did that?  I didn’t do that.  I really didn’t do that.

It can bring you to tears when you’re in that flow – at peak performance – in the groove.

You can now easily recognize others that are in that same flow.

When you connect with them and talk with them it’s almost as though there is a direct connection or recognition.

It’s like you’re with yourself.

It’s not competition, it’s cooperation.

It’s not judgment, it’s filling in the empty spaces.

It’s a smile, it’s a look, it’s a feeling, it’s an energy.

Those on the same wave-length are aware of each other.

It seems somehow that once you let go and allow this energy to flow that more doors and windows seem to open.

That more things come to you that you’ve been looking for, sometimes for years.

That more people call that can help you.  They help you as though they are helping themselves.  They don’t have to validate you, they just help, they just add value, they are apart of this space that just flows.

It’s a an amazing space to be in…and…when you get to that space — those who AREN’T in that space start to fall away…go away…fade away…and letting them go just seems natural — they aren’t part of the flow —- NOT YET.

Finding Our Way

In order to find your way in your career or in life you need to stop “trying” and “struggling” to figure it all out. I know this is easier said than done when you are miserable.  What you will find is the more you struggle the more of a struggle it will be.

Just know that things will work out…in time…and…on time.  That is the rub, you have to wait. Rushing things doesn’t help.  

Fighting against what IS definitely doesn’t help. It’s a real mystery but when you embrace the suck of life then and only then do things start to fall into place.

You learn how to work through the pain that you are experiencing.

You start to look at it differently because you know that it is not permanent.

If you can learn to just experience the pain of your job or what’s happening in your life, you will find that you can and will survive.

Just experience it. It will end.  Everything ends. Good times end and so will these challenging times.

We will find our way.  We will all find our way. Embrace the current situation.

 

This Or Something Better

When you are in a job where you are miserable, or just at a place you want to leave, you can get caught up in trying to frantically search for a way out.  The job interview you just went on has to work out.  Why? Because you need out of your current job immediately.  If you have had a few jobs at this point in your life it can become a vicious cycle (new job – misery – new job – misery…). 

There is another WAY to approach a chronic job stress situation: ADD three words to your desire to get out.  “Let THIS (whatever it is/job/freelance opportunity/starting your own organization) work out OR SOMETHING BETTER.  

There might be something better for you that needs just a little more time to work out.  I do not say that lightly.  It is HARD not to panic daily when you are depressed and miserable because of your job.  

You just don’t think you can take ANOTHER day, let alone ANOTHER week, ANOTHER month, or ANOTHER year.  It feels impossible…but…guess what…you can.  Just remember that EVERYTHING CHANGES. No-thing is permanent.  Keeping this in mind you know that YOU WILL LEAVE THIS JOB ONE DAY.

Just think back, especially if you’ve been here before, why did you leave the last job you had?  You did survive then and you will this time too. The last thing you want to do is get into a NEW work situation where you end up depressed and miserable again.  

From this day forward:

“This Or Something Better.”  

It is a mature way to make decisions and the key that will set your soul free.

 

 

Step 4 - How to Find Your Purpose

 

Below is a great video about finding and communicating your Life’s Purpose…

(hang in there and get beyond the long introduction and silence in the beginning…it’s worth it)

 

 

Make Everyday Your Masterpiece.

“Nothing is original.

Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination.

Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows.

Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.

Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it.

In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.”

                                            ~ Jim Jarmusch

Synchronize Your Life

World Order Japanese Band

Everything you have done;  everything you have learned; everyplace you have been; everything you have tried;  all of your successes; all of your failures;  everyone you have met, those you have loved and those you have loathed  — it has all brought you to this point in your life. It’s time to…

Pull it all together and create something uniquely you in the New Year.

Below is an example of what Genki Sudo created out of his martial arts background….how can you synchronize your life experiences to-date…make sense out of it all…put it all together… 

Live While You Live.

Keep Going.

Don’t Give Up.

Create & Keep Creating.

Go ahead, struggle through it. Pick up the pen already and put it to the page and stop whining. Write.

Pick up the brush and be mean to yourself for a change. Paint.

Dancers, put on the loose chemise, tie the ribbons in your hair,
at your waist, or on your ankles and tell the body to take it from there. Dance.

Actress, playwright, poet, musician, or any other. Generally, just stop talking, Don’t say one more word unless you’re a singer.

Shut yourself in a room with a ceiling or in a clearing under the sky.

Do your art.

Generally, a thing cannot freeze if it is moving.

So move.

Keep moving.

          ~ Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes

The above picture is of the pencils that were on Frank Lloyd Wrights’ (the famous architect) desk when he died at 91 years old. He kept moving…he kept growing… through the ups and downs of his life (and there were MANY) he KEPT creating what was in him to create.

What are YOU waiting for?

It’s time to create what is in YOU to create (even if that is just to dust yourself off and re-create YOURSELF). GET UP and MOVE….and Keep Moving until you can move no  more…and don’t worry about “failure”…remember this is YOUR life…you have to do what YOU are passionate about…what YOU value…what represents YOUR gifts and highest skills…or else –  WHAT’S THE POINT???

Transform Yourself

 It Takes Courage to Grow Up and Be Who You Really Are

~ e. e. cummings

Have you grown up yet…or are you still trying to play the game of life within “the system”?

“The System” that says: “do-this, do-that, do-it-this-way, do-it-that-way, go-here, go-there, now-do-this-next…”.

What’s “the system” you might ask? The school system, the work system,  the money system, the holiday shopping for Christmas commercialization system, the government retirement system…should I go on or do you get the point?

Haven’t you had ENOUGH of the system? Aren’t you ready to stop playing the game of life by the systems rules now that you recognize it? Are you still afraid to question the system and worse yet, question yourself?  Are you afraid to question your beliefs?  What about questioning the control others have over you because of their beliefs, or going along with what you “should” do or believe.

Sometimes you have to dis-believe and carve your own path

…why…

Because this is YOUR life and YOU need to live it.

Are you afraid to take the risk and live your life and find your path?

Yes, you might have to admit that you’ve made some wrong turns here and there, but you have to be willing to right the ship.  Take the risk to change and be alright with the tunnel of change. It’s time to create a new you, not the you that you are “supposed to be”. It’s time to say yes to life and stop being “afraid” of fear or what “could” happen as you transform yourself.

Sometimes all it takes to say yes to your life is to question the answers.  The answers you’ve been giving yourself for all your life. Once you realize that this is your life, not  anyone else’s, but yours and that you are responsible for yourself and your decisions, you start the transformation process.

And yes, there are things you need to do, duties or responsibilities that you might need to bear…but question those to. Question all the “you aughta, you should, you must, you shall”…that you put on yourself or allow others to put on you.

You know how the story goes as that voice in your head starts telling you…

 “I can’t do this. I could never do that. I can’t quit my job. I can’t leave this relationship.”

EVERY TIME YOUR MIND TALKS TO YOU LIKE THAT ASK YOURSELF –

WHY NOT?

If you just keep asking yourself why not then you will realize that all those “reasons” why you can’t, couldn’t or  shouldn’t may not even be your own beliefs, but your parents, or your spouses, or from your culture – but not your own true beliefs.  These beliefs might be limiting you and holding you back.

What happens when you don’t question yourself?

You look up and you’re  in your 30’s , 40’s or 50’s and you have NO clue how you got where you are, with who you are with, in the profession that you are in and you feel like you either can’t or shouldn’t make a change.

How much time do you really think you have left in this life to be who you are supposed to be?

Honestly, think about that.

If you just stay stuck where you are, and if you aren’t growing, then you aren’t really living  you are existing and basically wasting your time — and your life. Your life is measured in time – seconds, minutes, days, weeks, months, years, and decades.  So where are you?   If it is day-after-day-after-day of the same drudgery, then ask yourself why you feel you have to exist like that. It makes NO sense.

 So, now,  what do you do?

1. Get by Yourself

Try solitude for short periods of time first and then for longer blocks of time.  If you MUST have people around you and stuff happening all the time you should ask yourself why that is.  Is it a distraction so you are not alone with your own “scary” thoughts? Are you scared to really figure things out and then do what you need to do?  Are you afraid to challenge the status quo – the known for the unknown?  Are you afraid of change?

The level of fear that you have to change is positively correlated to the level of fear that you have to living life — because life is about change.  

Being – Becoming – Being – Becoming

Letting Go – Letting Come 

2. Question Yourself

Question the answers to your questions.

You will be surprised just where that rabbit hole will take you.  Just keep asking yourself questions that start with “why” and/or “how”.  Don’t settle for the first or second answer either.  Ask it at least three times until you get to the heart of the matter.

Questioning yourself fully and allowing the answers to emerge will take you past fear, past doubt, and past ALL the lies you’ve been telling yourself (because you’ve been afraid of change or in other words to live your life authentically).  Now, when you do question yourself, you must be willing to allow even the scariest thoughts of “if I do this then this might happen” scenarios to emerge.  Just allow those thoughts.  What you find is once you allow them, then they aren’t so “scary” anymore.

It’s not easy to search and challenge your own assumptions, but if you keep doing what you’ve been doing you are going to keep getting what you’ve been getting… and if you are happy with where you are in life then you would not be reading this far into this post – so start questioning your assumptions!

3. Focus on Solutions

Who gives a hoot about the problem.  After you identify it as a problem it’s time to just singularly focus on solutions. I can’t tell you how many people I know or have known who tell me all about their problems.  I get that, but I always steer them to focus on solutions because whatever you focus on is what happens.

If you focus on finding problems or things “wrong” then that’s what you’ll find.  If you focus on solutions or on things “right”, then that’s what you’ll find.  (There is an entire theory called Appreciative Inquiry that studies this.) 

So, I bet some of  you are saying right about now that the “problems” that you have are your “duty”. You know what you need to do.  You can’t make a change because you are just “bearing what you must bear”.  You are just doing what you “ought to do”, or you don’t feel free to make your own decisions,or what you want to do will hurt other people, or make them sad, or you don’t want to be selfish, or WHATEVER story you are telling yourself —so you can justify why you are miserable (in your job, in your marriage, in your skin…fill in the blank).  

Well, that type of thinking is okay for a period of time, BUT NOT FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. Eventually you are going to have to face facts that you can’t live your life through other people, or for other people, or based on what other people think you should do.  It is time for you to grow up.  Move on. Leave. Make the Change. Just Quit.  Be Who You Are Suppose To Be.

Keep Discovering Your Passions

What are your hobbies?  If you don’t have any then you need to find some.  Hobbies are just another word for passions.  If passion is too strong a word for you then start looking for hobbies.

Create something.  Make something.  Write Something. Paint Something.  Grow Something. Fix Something. Clean Something. Try Something….and don’t expect to be an expert…just keep at it, see if you like it, all you have to do is enjoy doing it…

If you don’t have anything you are doing in your spare time (and television DOES NOT count – because you are watching other people perform THEIR hobbies and passions) it’s time to start doing something – ANYTHING that makes you lose all track of time. This is your first step on the path to finding your passion(s)…and yes, it is passions and not passion, because they too will change and evolve over time.

Remember this is YOUR Life.

One day you will die, but today you are alive.

No matter your situation, just ACT like you are free.

Free to be happy.  Free to sing.  Free to dance.  Free to smile.  Free to give. Free to love.  Free to sit.  Free to walk.  Free to Be.  Free to Just Quit

 

 

Success is Not Overnight

Don’t Give Up Yet!

Actually, I’m an overnight success, but it took twenty years. ~Monty Hall

• When you see people who are successful it only looks like it happened overnight.
• You’re not seeing their failures and their false starts.
• You weren’t with them when no one believed in them or in what they were doing.
• You weren’t with them when they had to look in the eyes of family and friends who didn’t understand  exactly what they were doing.
• You weren’t with them when people asked: ‘Hey, what are you up to these days?”  and they knew that they really couldn’t talk about their stuff to certain people, because they wouldn’t get it or if they got it they would try to kill the idea with questions, doubts, and just how many ways this thing they were doing was “different”.

You Have To Be “Different” To Be a Success

Success only comes when you are true to yourself, in spite of who you are and in what others say.  It only comes when you ARE different.  When you are who you are – and are okay that “you’re different”.  When what you are doing is radical.  When it’s new.  When it hasn’t been done before.  When it hasn’t been done how you’re thinking about doing it.  It’s unique. It’s you.

Success only comes when  you believe strongly in what you are doing.  It only comes when you keep going regardless of what others may or may not think of what you’re doing.  It only comes when you’re okay with allowing things to play out.

Living A Everyday Mundane Life Just Doesn’t Cut It

There are 7.5 billion people in the world and many just live “everyday normal” lives that amount to not much but the daily routine of living.  Growing up, going to school, working, marrying, having children,eating, eating out, going to movies, sleeping,  going on vacation, retiring, playing sports, lounging around, entertaining themselves, enjoying holidays, and then-they-die.  They never really find their own path.  They never look for their own path.   Even those who find or think they might have found their path get caught up in living the mundane everyday life.  They have a flash of inspiration. They figure out what they’re good at.  They lose all sense of time when they engage in this activity or creative expression.  Then they don’t pursue it.  They miss their own deadlines.  They keep delaying the process of discovery and walking their path. They can’t let go of what is…the everyday normal stuff…to do what could be. They don’t give things a try because they are afraid of failure, afraid of looking stupid, afraid of things not working out – just afraid of being “different”, doing something “different” from what is  “normal”….and they look up and they’re still living just a mundane life.

Successful People Had The Same Doubts

Success comes to those who try and fail, maybe a hundred times.  But once you are a success people can never really see those failures, they only see what is in front of them – the successful person that – they watch on television, read their books, watch their movies, watch them play sports, see them at their businesses, see a piece of beauty in their artwork or walk into their corporate headquarters.

One day those successful people were afraid.  One day they were discouraged.  One day they didn’t think whatever they were working on was going to work out either.  One day they were alone developing whatever it was that brought them success, when others were seemingly having a good time (but in all actuality those other people were just living mundane lives…waking up, going to work, going on vacation…ect…).

One day those successful people were telling themselves that  it wasn’t going to work.  It could be better.  It could be branded differently.  Who did they think they were to keep on trying, BUT they overcame those days, and those thoughts, and just kept pushing on. They didn’t spend time living a mundane life.  They didn’t spend time entertaining themselves, or working for someone else, or working to keep up the pretenses that they had a good life – a good marriage, a good family, a good job, ect –  all the while knowing that they were really dead inside.

One day they just let all of those things go and pushed forward doing what they felt they needed to do, even if they failed, AGAIN.

Success only looks like it happened overnight, but it happened over MANY long nights, MANY sleepless nights, MANY lonely nights of knowing that no one really understood or cared about what they were doing or studying.

Finding the Right Track for the Remainder of Your Journey

Just know that we are all on a  journey.

It is an individual journey.

You have to find and take the journey for yourself.

When you get on the right track that’s for you then your journey starts to take off like a train you’ve been waiting for.  You know it because when you get on that track you don’t look back.  You know all those other tracks have led you to this one. You know you are still on a journey.

You know the way forward is unknown,  but it seems almost familiar.  The scenery is something that you’ve envisioned or experienced or thought out at some point in a waking state or a dreaming state or another place and time.  It just seems like: “Oh, this is familiar,  I found it,  I’ve been looking for this track and I finally found it.”

Then things start to just keep moving along and you look up and you’re successful.

Even before it actually manifests in your physical environment, you know you’re going to be successful if you stay on this track.

The Struggle Mind-Set Is Gone

People think it’s overnight and no matter how many times you try to tell your story (or embellish it) they don’t seem to hear it or believe the struggle that you went through because things are now effortlessly coming to you.

It’s’ even hard for you to believe your struggle story (did that really happen to me?, was that my childhood?, did I work there?, did I lose money on that idea?) because your mind has progressed to a place of such peace and alignment that you can’t believe you were so off track.

But you needed to be off track in order to know what being on the right track felt like.

You know that you needed to let go of things, people, ideas, concepts, places, and belief systems – that kept you stuck in the place that you knew you needed to leave.

It was not easy.

It was difficult.

Those decisions were hard.

You had to make them in order to let go of the struggle-type life and mindset. You knew it was not the right track for you, because you were honest with yourself.  You just have kept letting go (once you recognized that you needed to). Now you can see, or are in the future moment that you’ve only dreamed of. It even seems like it happened overnight to you…but you know that your success was not overnight…it just seems that way.

Success is Not Overnight…Keep Going

 

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” 

~Soren Kiekegaard~

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Are you still asking yourself that same question that you were asked when you were in high school?

High School, that sure was a fun time. The joy of going to football games, hanging out with friends, going from class to class, dating, feeling weird most of the time, and trying to fit in.  (Even the so-called popular kids were feeling weird and trying to fit in.)  Think of all of those “decisions” that you had to make EVERYDAY in high school:

• You had to get up, either on your own or with the help of someone yelling five to six times for you to get out of bed.
• You had to find something to wear.  You had to be cool, of course, even if you only had a few cool clothes to mix and match.
• You had to get to school (by riding the bus, walking, or driving).
• You had to go through the day with other students, teachers, and administrators (you knew them just as principals).
• You had to make friends, keep friends, find friends, and try to be a friend.

The whole time you were wondering who was going to get on your nerves today, who was going to give you problems, and how you were going to deal with whatever would happen. On top of everything else going on, you had to do all of this schoolwork that really didn’t relate to anything going on in your real life. You had no idea what life after high school was all about.  You didn’t know what adulthood would mean.  All you knew was that going to school was what you HAD to do.  It was “your job”. You took all these classes, did the best you could, tried to have fun, and wanted to be popular and liked by others.  The whole time you were just trying to figure it all out. By the time you knew it, high school was almost over.  You had only a year or two left to go. People were now starting to ask you more frequently what you were going to do with your life. How on earth should you know? You were only 17 or 18 years old. What kind of question was that? They really were asking you like you were suppose to know!

Who knew what you were going to do with your L-I-F-E? 

YOU were supposed to know. 

Here is the really sad thing:  all of these “smart” people in your world really could not help you.  You were basically on your own in figuring it out.

What Did Others Think?

Of course, there are those parents and “loved ones” who knew EXACTLY what you should do because they wanted the best for you.  (Actually, it was them vicariously wanting to live through you. Now that they had some years behind them, made some wrong turns, they now thought THEY’D FINALLY figured it out. ) 

Well, you’d listened to them seemingly since the beginning of your time on earth, and YOU sure didn’t know what do.  You either did what they told you should do, or you did the very opposite of what they told you should do. No matter what choice you made, you begin to realize that in the end you had to figure this out for yourself.  No one could really make all the decisions for you.  

You started making decisions and pretty soon these decisions were becoming “YOUR LIFE”.

So now, where are you today? Maybe you need to make a turn, maybe you need to just stop.  Is today the day that you need to wake up and Just Quit doing what is not working?  What will your life look like if you keep doing what you’re doing?  Any regrets?  Are you happy?  Did you live YOUR LIFE or did you live somebody else’s?  Today, begin again, you can live the life you were born to live.  

It’s time to figure it out…finally…go on an adventure and search for…Who YOU Are? 

Just Quit Working for Someone Else

 

 

You can not discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. ~ Tibetan Proverb

Working for others goes hand in hand with working at a job that you know you need to Just Quit.

Most of us know that working for someone else is not going to really get us anywhere, but most of us are scared to make it on our own.

Why are we scared?

Usually there are two reasons:

1. We like the idea of a steady paycheck, and
2. We like the idea of going to the doctor.

It you don’t have a job working for someone else, then you may struggle to get paid and have health and life insurance.  (At least that’s how it is in the USA). Isn’t that really the bottom line?

Have you ever stopped to consider that every organization that has employees had to start at the beginning with an idea? Someone just decided that they would start one day. Someone had a good idea and decided to make that idea materialize and become a reality.

Let us dream…

Let us dream of you being the employer who provides the paycheck and the insurance. It might just be for you, but it could be for others as well.

This has to be possible because people are doing it everyday. Why can’t you be one of those people?  You can be that person. You might have to take it in stages.

You might have to figure out a plan and work the plan. It might take you two, five, or ten years.

You just have to start.  You just have to begin.  Just take the first step.

Name the business.  Type the business plan.  Get the business license.  Find the building.  Find the suppliers.  Get the quotes.  Work out the service you are going to provide.  Find the target market.  Design the presentation.  Find the warehouse.  Find out how much money it will take.

                  

What can you commit to doing today towards your business idea?

Do It. 

Just Start.

Then Keep Doing Something  (even if it’s a teeny, tiny something) EVERYDAY.

Solvitur Ambulando

“You can sort it out by walking”

 

There is something magical and meditative about walking,

especially if you do it daily.

 It becomes a necessity.

I ran across the above Latin saying  in the Meditation year book :

It means “you can sort it out by walking”.  

And you CAN sort it out by walking.  

Just walk it off.  

You’ll be amazed that when you allow yourself to truly experience the rhythmic and repetitive act of walking

it will steady your mind, and

you can sort it all out…

so Solvitur Ambulando…

Cartwheels of Joy

Release the Joy Inside

 

It is a really great feeling to WANT to do a cartwheel.

When joy bubbles up inside of you.. (and it will once you start letting go to let come)… you’ll feel like a kid again and want to do a cartwheel.

 Now, depending on how old you are, how much you weigh,  and what type of health insurance you have (or don’t have)  will determine if you will “actually” decide to do a cartwheel.   

But if you don’t or can’t do a cartwheel you can remember how you felt when you did or could do a cartwheel when you were younger.

You can smile and know that you’ve re-discovered that joy inside of yourself…that expressed itself by doing physical cartwheels.  

(To those of you who are still in your youth: DO LOTS OF CARTWHEELS and enjoy them!) 

May your mind whirl joyful cartwheels of creativity.

May your heart sing sweet lullabies of timelessness.

May your essence be the nectar of the open blossom of your joy.

May your spirit soar throughout the vast cathedral of your being.
                                                                                          – Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Just Quit Blowing Money

Are You Blowing Money?

• Is blowing money a problem for you?
• If you have money do you feel you need to spend it?
• Do you continue to shop and shop and shop and shop?
• How many clothes, shoes, knick knacks, electronics, and grown-folks toys do you really need?
• If you shop just for something to do, then you are in the danger zone.  That means that your credit cards are (about) at the limit, that your closets are overflowing, your garage needs cleaning, and you can’t dust all the stuff you own quick enough.
• Do you have more things than you’ll ever need?
• Do you have several sizes of clothes (small, medium, and large)?
• Do you buy the latest “must have” things that you see advertised?
• Do you shop for stress relief?
• Are you spending money that could be better spent, saved, or even invested?
• Before you buy anything else, ask yourself what it will be worth at your next yard sale or if you will need to advertise it online FOR FREE just to get rid of it.

Do You Need To JUST QUIT Blowing Money?

Just Quit Living on "E"

Living on Empty

Running on Empty

When you are accustomed to living on empty in your relationships, in your personal life, in your work life, financially, and in your head —  it’s hard to really come to terms when abundance starts to happen.

What abundance may look like  (it’s different for each of us) – you meet someone who is perfect for you, you get the job offer you’ve always wanted, and money starts to come from unexpected places.

 Then what happens?

You start to question it.

Is this person the right person?  Is this the right job?  Will I blow investing this money?   Will I screw this up?  Will this all turn to dust?  When is the rug going to be pulled from under me?  This can’t be happening to me? On and on goes your mind…the mind that’s use to Running on Empty.

You’ve  HOPED things were going to change.

You’ve  WANTED things to change.

Then things start changing and you wonder if you can trust it.

You’ve been Living on Empty for so long  (some people for all of their lives) this is what you think is normal.

Get Ready for a “New” Normal

When you stop being afraid of letting go of what is, who and what may NOT be for you – things that keep you off-balance –  then the UNIVERSE starts to work FOR YOU.  Things that ARE for you start coming to you — EFFORTLESSLY!

It is hard to accept this, if you’re not use to it.

It’s NEW.

It doesn’t seem Normal.

All this time you’ve been struggling trying to make this happen, or that happen, then you decide to just stop struggling.  Once you realize that life is not a struggle, the struggle is over , then everything starts to fall into place.

First – You Have To Let Go In Order For Abundance To Come

All of this alignment with abundance only happens when you are okay with letting go of control, letting go of people, letting go of things, of hoping, wishing and praying for what YOU think you want and who YOU think you want.

If it’s a struggle… if it ain’t working out…then it ain’t for you.  Let it go.  Just let it go.  Stop trying to make it work out.  Even though, technically,  things that CAN’T be sustained WILL end, you don’t have to wait for it to die a natural death…that could take YEARS! If it is a “real” struggle (that’s a clue for things to let go of), if it feels like putting a square block in a hole meant for a circle, then you need to start the process of letting it go once you realize that.

Second- Expect Your Mind to Freak You Out

When you let go, expect your mind to go into free fall and freak you out with FEAR about letting go of what or who you have in your life.  You’ll start thinking a bunch of negative thoughts about change, lost, holding on, keeping, at least you have this or that, don’t rock the boat, ect.

You have to let go first in order for things to start to change and for things to get in alignment in YOUR life.

You’ll find that somehow you’ve made it through something that seems like a tunnel.  It’s dark, It’s dank, It’s scary, It’s the unknown, It’s the abyss, and It seems like it will never end.  Then all of a sudden you wake up and you’re on the other side.  You’re through the tunnel.  Things have changed.  Things have worked out.  It’s AMAZING.  But in order to get through that tunnel you have to allow your mind to freak you out.  It will try to scare you into NOT letting go, but just allow it and go through that tunnel.

Third- Accept and Allow Abundance in Your Life

Expect things to improve and when they start to improve, ALLOW them to improve.

Don’t question it.  Don’t wonder if you deserve it.  You do. Why not you? Why can’t you be in a fantastic relationship?  (Someone who compliments you in every way – spiritually, emotionally, socially, financially and sexually). Why can’t your career  and job be one that you enjoy doing? (Something that uses your key talents and skills and that pays well.) Why can’t your business idea work out, be profitable and help the world out? (Even if  all the last 100 ideas you have had didn’t work out over the years — why not this one?). Why can’t you have money in the bank, savings, investments, nice rental property and be able to go and do what you want and need to do that requires money?

All of these abundance-minded things are there for you. (Abundance will mean different things to different people –  maybe abundance to you means living in cave reading books all day…whatever abundance means for you and to you then it’s there for you, but you have to expect it, accept it and allow it into your life)

NOW – Be Grateful

When your tank starts going from Empty to 1/3 of a tank to 1/2 of a  tank, to 3/4 of a tank to a FULL TANK — Just Be Grateful.  Know that you deserve it and that you are FINALLY in the flow of “your life”.

You are FINALLY living without Fear.

You are FINALLY living a FULL and FREE Life.