“Remember, nothing can hurt you as much as your own thoughts. Nothing can heal you as much as your own thoughts,” via the innerguide2, awakened soul. Another simple and powerful reminder that we are capable of being the disease and the cure, that our minds are truly powerful enough to change reality. We are responsible for the outcome in either case. The ground we tend and the seeds we nurture, what we water, is what will grow. Choose loving thoughts aligned with positive outcomes or choose negative, fear based thoughts and repeat the cycles of fear and failure. What we care for and pay attention to gets that energy. All of that work happens inside of our head and the brain truly can’t discern between something happening and something happening in our mind. In that regard what we think is reality. That means we can change reality at any given moment.
We are our own best friend and worst enemy. There is no one else on this planet that we will spend more time with than ourselves. Our thoughts determine the quality of that time we spend. External opinions, thoughts, ideas, expectations have very little to do with what goes on in our minds beyond the extent we let them. Given the context that people behave and react out of their own perception and experience we have to truly understand that we also act on our own perception and experience. With all of that being said, I understand how difficult it is to even understand that we hold ourselves back. We don’t consider what we think is a choice because it happens so innately, our neurons wired to fire in that pattern repeatedly until we believe that it simply IS. Developing a relationship with ourselves and learning to trust is multi-faceted and complex because there is such a breaking down of so many levels that we aren’t always aware even exist. But there is an awakening when we learn that we have so much more freedom than we think we do. We can simply stop buying into how things are, the expectations. I’m not pretending that it’s easy because there are reasons we all stay where we are beyond simple familiarity. I understand money, obligations, responsibility to others (family/friends) and that transition is hard. At the end of the day the most important part is remembering that we have a say.
We simply start with questioning ourselves. When we do things out of habit and familiarity, we can pause and ask ourselves why. If there is no reason other than that’s what we know then maybe we can fill in different patterns. Maybe we can simply try with one new routine. One new step. One new practice in believing in ourselves. Through that we build confidence and soon we build new pathways in our brains that give us different options than we thought we had before. Slowly our minds shift and we start seeing new possibilities. We try new things and then we repeat. This creates a space of expansion and growth and development. Allow the change toward belief and healing and the whole world shifts. Try something new. Try managing our thoughts in a new way and see what comes of it.
Today I am grateful for consistent application. There have been twists and turns in my life over the last several months that have shifted the trajectory of where things go from here. This isn’t that different from the normal flow of life but it felt different this time. It felt heavier, more closed in, and more uncertain and oppressive. It felt like everyone around me was losing their minds but like it was the accepted way to lose your mind. Me keeping any sort of level ground was looked at as outrageous while the behavior got more and more ridiculous. But all of these things made me continue to retreat inward. I didn’t know which way to go or how to advance the millions of things I have going so it started crushing me. What I finally realized is that even if things (especially new things) feel uncomfortable all we have to do is take the first step—doesn’t matter which way, just take a step. Yes, something I talked about a million times but never knew which step to take myself. Healing is tough and that was the first area I really needed to address. Not just allowing it to happen sporadically with updated reactions to the same situation, but to finally get to the root. I’ve learned that I will not sacrifice my mental health for anyone. I let myself sleep. I let myself breathe. I let myself understand what it feels like in a different state of mind. And I want to stay there, taking one step forward at a time.
Today I am grateful for listening to my body. Truth be told I have a lot of reasons for physical exhaustion. I’ve been trying to keep the same things going, the familiar routine going, for years. It never felt quite right. It felt like something I had to do, something I got roped into. Finally, my mind and body started feeling weak, disoriented, confused, frustrated, scared, and unsure. Every sentence felt like I was saying something wrong—even agreeing with people caused an argument. It felt like I couldn’t get the words out correctly, and when I tried to express my understanding, it was clear I wasn’t understanding what people wanted. Soon I started to feel heavy and tired all the time. Like I had to sleep in that moment. Well. This last week saw me at my breaking point with work, a point where I knew nothing will be the same again because I could not keep doing what I was doing. After work on Friday, I felt a release. I was embraced by friends and family and I simply had fun—we had dinner together, we laughed, we talked. And then I slept. My God, I haven’t slept like that in years. They say when you’re healing you will feel physically exhausted, and I will tell you it was an absolutely cathartic experience. Trying to push through wasn’t working anymore, my body needed me to stop and recalibrate. So for 48 hours, I did exactly what my mind/body needed and felt a healing like I haven’t in years. I felt the weight come off of me and it was amazing.
Today I am grateful for reminders and inspiration. There is a girl with my business who has caught my eye. She is about 20 years younger than me, appeared to be shy and gangly and uncertain for a bit. Her videos and things she shares have always had a good point but her presentation is off at times and comes across as stilted. But she has continued to grow, she has continued to press forward, and I’ve seen her taking chances that, frankly, I wish I had. Now don’t get me wrong, she is in an entirely different place in her life—she has no children or a partner to worry about and she doesn’t own a home, so she was able to uproot her life and move and take chances that aren’t as straightforward for me. I’ve been with the same job as long as she’s been alive and I’ve managed to work my way up in certain arenas, so yes, I can do what she does, but it isn’t as easy as that because I have different investments in my life. 100% that isn’t to say that I can’t change, it’s just not as easy to make that type of change with the way I have things set up—it takes a different skill to get out of this situation. The company had a major conference this past weekend and I saw her take the stage. For the first time ever, I heard her clear and she seemed to have fun and she had a great story to share that truly demonstrated impact. While I’m still not able to do what she said we should (for example up and driving 7 hours one way to see a speaker), there is a reminder: there are still things we can do to shift. There is no reason to not follow this path and to devote myself to it. I’ve seen the results, the transformation in people, and it feels good every time I’m around it—so, in the vein of healing, this is a step to take forward.
Today I am grateful for finding center. This isn’t to say I am centered—no, I am still in the process of that—but I have been firmly reminded to focus on what is important in life and to actually take steps toward what I want. For example, getting healthy. I allow a big percentage of my days to slip away because I’m working all the time and I have a commute. But I know with all of my heart that isn’t how I want to live my day to day. So I’m taking small steps to continue to say yes to the things I want to do instead of focusing on what I have to (or think I have to) do. Being forced to be in a location for 8 hours a day when there is no productive work and then being ostracized because I’m able to be front line, then having 2 hours of commuting a day, all while being told I’m doing it wrong even though I’m the only one keeping it afloat is inaccurate and hurtful and a waste of my time—and a demonstration of not being appreciated. This isn’t how I want to spend my days. So it’s about saying yes to what matters and no to what doesn’t. I don’t need permission or time granted to work on my health—that isn’t something I should have to “find” time for. So I picked up some seeds to grow my own veggies again, I have the tools to make sourdough, I took some time from work in spite of having no staff. I can’t lead if I am not well, and this is now non-negotiable. It is time to take care of myself and to stop waffling about it. THAT is center. Living in a way that works for me, gently, authentic, that is center.
Today I am grateful for protection and timing. There are events in my life that I don’t fully understand what happened or why I did what I did. I see those moments as times when I didn’t have enough trust or faith in the universe. I feel a combination of shame and sadness at that. Shame because I’ve seen things happen that I can’t explain and I’ve always gotten through, sadness that I felt so much of how things turn out was my responsibility. That I couldn’t trust that being me would get me where I want to go. We all have our journey and I don’t want to waste another second of it—I want to live how I am meant to. As I share the reminder with everyone, I don’t need permission to do the things that feel right for me or to do them consistently. There is no right time to be me—now is the time. There is no right time to take care of myself and it isn’t something I should have to squeeze in—now is the time, and that is the priority. While it seems a lot is falling apart, I know this is the universe telling me that it’s the time to let it fall together because what I’m doing isn’t healthy or what I want to be doing anyway. Re-prioritize, be grateful for where I’m at, and take action on where I need to go (what I need to do to get there). It’s all for a reason.
Don’t worry about what others think of you. Your greatest asset is your individuality. Stay true to that and let yourself shine. Keep the focus on the value you can provide/add. More importantly, don’t ever let anyone tell you that you don’t have value. We all have value. There are enough obstacles throughout the day and we have enough going through our heads that we really shouldn’t use precious brain space worrying what others think of us anyway. The more we know ourselves, the more confidence we have and the less we need to rely on outside opinion regardless.
The other layer to this is that we can never truly know what is going on inside someone’s head. Often times we think we know how people feel and what they think when they see us. If we assume the value people assign to us it just makes it that much more difficult to create and become who we are meant to be. Regardless, we need to stop being so fixated on what people think of us and simply be who we are. We truly need to trust that the right people and circumstances will find us when we start putting out our most authentic selves.
At the end of the day if we hold our authenticity and do what we know is right then the opinions of others won’t matter. We will get where we need to go and attract all of the experiences we are meant to have on the virtue of simply being who we are. Additionally, when we know ourselves well enough, we just won’t feel the need to have that type of approval from others—and we won’t need it. We understand thoughts differently and know that we don’t need to base our actions on what other people are thinking—and that we can never truly know what someone is thinking. So take who you are at top value and keep being fabulous. The world needs us as we are, not as someone thinks we are—that’s why we were given the unique gifts we have. So just be ourselves.
My kid wanted help with his legos the other day and I couldn’t do it in that moment. It got me thinking about the times I’m not able to help as I want to. The call of the things I want and need to do for my own sanity versus giving that up and spending time with him. Believe me I know how quickly this time moves and how precious it is to spend the moments I have with my son, but I also know that those are the same moments I have for myself. So it isn’t about ignoring his needs or leaving him alone, it isn’t even about honoring my needs—because my needs are to have fun and be with him and learn to explore my own options while helping him develop his skills. I need to develop my skills in order to help him develop his…but it’s more about letting go. I’d love to be there for every moment he has but it isn’t possible. I started thinking that my role isn’t to help and do it all for him. I need to allow him to struggle a bit so he learns to develop confidence in himself. I need to back off and let him spend more time with my husband so my husband can see his abilities as a parent and that he is able to help around the house and that he has the capacity to do more than he thinks he can. My role at this time, instead of thinking it’s selfish, may be to focus on my goals and dreams and my creative projects so I can bring that to life.
In attending to my goals and working through whatever feelings, challenges, obstacles, straight pathways come up, I learn to navigate and coach and guide my family or whoever needs it. My son may struggle with certain things, but me constantly rescuing him isn’t going to help him learn how to do it. My husband suffers from thinking he will be trapped or that he is incapable of breaking habits and routines, but if I keep coming to his rescue, he will continue the same patterns he always has and we will continue to wind up in the same situations. As a people pleaser and an aggressive problem solver, this goes against my very nature. I’ve trained myself to hop in and make myself useful and give the answers whenever I can, never fully understanding the disservice I was giving people. I just wanted to help and be seen as useful, to be liked. I thought that by doing things for people I would automatically be included. Life doesn’t work that way. In the instance with my son, he truly needed me to step back so he could learn how to do it on his own. With my husband, he really needed to learn how to take care of himself and trust his instincts, to trust that his efforts will pay off.
I’m not meant to control anything except myself so in the grand scheme of things, I have no say in what my son does with his life. But I am responsible for making sure he is able to figure it out, and yes, that means leaving him to his own devices at times. I struggle because I know what it was like to try and figure things out when I had no clue what to do, what was next. But with practice, that got easier and easier. So much of life is about figuring it out, and for me it was figuring out that the right people will like me and that It’s not my responsibility to bear the burden of figuring it out for others. There are certain things that, just because we CAN do them doesn’t mean we should do them. We need to allow growth in all avenues and that sometimes means focusing solely on our own things. We can’t always rely on others to nurture our growth, we need to cultivate and tend to ours as we develop our lives. Sometimes when people don’t help us it isn’t because they are being selfish or cruel, it’s because they love us and we need to learn how to do things for ourselves. We have to allow the same gift for others. So, instead of immediately jumping in to solve a problem for others, ask if it’s really needed or if your support is needed. We learn to trust that others will do their part in that way as well. Through doing nothing, we find the way sometimes.
“There’s always a cost and a payoff. Every decision or action has pros and cons, it’s up to you to decide which direction the balance falls in a choice you are facing. Weigh up what makes logical sense, then check in with how you really feel in your heart and what you sense in your gut as this can be what tips the scales. What are we willing to put in and what will we get out of it?” Wild Lotus Tarot. This is along the same lines as your new life is going to cost you your old one. We can’t manage to live multiple lives at once. The human is infinite things, but we aren’t infinite all at once, it doesn’t work like that. I’ve shared stories about straddling two lives at once, how the tracks were getting farther and farther apart and I needed to make a choice about which side I was on. I never really shared that I never wanted to commit or pay the price for either side. I wanted to know what I would get out of something, all of the caveats and hidden things that would come with it. I spent so much time not committing that I never took a chance on much.
I didn’t understand that life was created through decisions. I always wanted to make the right decision and in doing that, I often faced analysis paralysis. We all know what happens when we get there: nothing. I thought life kind of worked on a reward system. We would get what we want if we behaved a certain way or if we did certain things, like it was transactional. I could put in an order and get what I wanted if I paid the price. In so many scenarios that just didn’t happen and I felt completely disheartened and angry with the world. Especially when I began judging people and felt like I had done more to “deserve” what they had. I know now that it was jealousy and ego and that I would have to learn to be responsible for my choices no matter what they were. What I learned is this: beyond a cost and a payoff, life sometimes tests us and teaches us. It’s a way to learn what we really want. The truth is that when we are aligned with what we are meant to do, who we are, and what we truly feel, nothing about what we choose feels like a cost. It’s energy and work we are happy to expend. It doesn’t seem like work. That isn’t to say that it isn’t work, it’s just that it feels good, like we are in flow, in connection with source.
I think the other point of this is it’s a matter of how we label it. The results are what we make them, what we believe them to be—and quite literally, sometimes life just is. It’s not good OR bad, it just happens. We are so trained to label a circumstance so we can make sense of it in our minds but that isn’t always possible. Some people have an innate gift of seeing the good in everything no matter what while others play the victim. I’m sure we’ve all done both at some point. If what happens teaches us something, we can decide if it’s good or bad. There doesn’t have to be a cost if we understand the value in it. In that regard everything becomes an asset whether it’s a lesson or a loss—so in a very real sense, everything is a gain. The only thing I can say with 100% certainty is that if we don’t make any kind of decision, nothing will ever happen. We will always be stuck. The cost of that is a life unlived, and what a waste that is. So, we do the best we can with what we know and with what we feel. We consider what we want to feel and what we want to do with our lives. And then we take a deep breath and take the leap. We learn more and we move forward.
Attract what you want by being it, we attract what we are, not what we think. A short, simple reminder that words don’t count for much in the grand picture of energy. The brain truly can’t tell the difference between what we are thinking and if something is actually happening, but our external experience is very clear on the matter. We either see it or we don’t because it is either there or it isn’t. The truth is all of those possibilities exist, we don’t see them because we aren’t matching it. We can say anything we want but that doesn’t mean we embody it. Joe Dispenza talks about the disconnect between mind and body and the answer is simple: our words and actions are on two different frequencies. If we are looking to shift the frequency, we need to match it, and beyond that, we need to embody what we are talking about. Become that version.
When we talk about awakening, we talk about what makes us feel alive, what makes us feel whole. We talk about a new understanding for ourselves and others around us. When it comes to awakening, there is a degree of coming alive. The excitement of new experiences and thoughts and ideas and the even greater thrill of planning and starting a project and seeing it through. There is a different side to this as well. A coming alive that can only happen with death. There is a lot to say about the cost of a new life being the old one (I will reference that later this week as well), and it is true. It isn’t physically possible in some cases to manage and maintain what we knew in the context of what we are learning. Simply put, what we knew before doesn’t apply to where we are now, or where we want to go. Those things got us here, but they aren’t going to get us where we are going. I struggled to reconcile the pieces of my past that gave me comfort, joy, and familiarity. I had to understand that I held on to those so tightly because they were the bright moments, moments I loved. Moments that made me feel safe. I had to understand that I wasn’t meant to repeat those moments over and over again, like some little parrot copy of what my parents wanted for themselves.
I had to learn to let their dreams die so I could live my own. I had to let my comfort no longer be a priority. I had to let my fear die so I could trust myself. Even when I thought I was on the right path for me, I had to let my ego die, the knowledge I thought I had. I had to let go of the idea that I knew exactly what I wanted, exactly who I was because those experiences that brought me there were limited. I had to learn to swim in the deep end instead of living in the shallows of talking about a scenario that would be nice to see some day. I had to let go of the identity of myself as a victim. Frankly, I had to let go of any identity I had, and that was a death. It’s disconcerting to let go of what we know or think we know about who we are only to see we haven’t the slightest clue because the version of ourselves that we know isn’t really who we want to be at all. But it’s even more disconcerting to wake up years later, after pretending to be that version of ourselves only to see that nothing around us is what we wanted.
Saying goodbye and letting go is never easy, especially when it comes to identity and self. We feel like we know who we are and we wrap up every decision we make in that definition. But certain events, choices, and changes in our lives require a breaking down of that definition. It requires a discovery of who we really are and a means to bring that out. And that means putting down everything we knew and becoming someone new. While those pieces of us that got us here will always remain, they are no longer the drivers. We lovingly wrap them and lay them to rest. Letting those new buds emerge can be a scary thing. We are vulnerable, but the only way to become is to emerge from the safety of what we knew and step into who we are. Welcome the new, wake up to it. Come alive in the death of what we knew and create who we are.
“Sometimes people self-sabotage when they’re so used to things taking a turn for the worst in their lives. They become anxious in peaceful relationships and environments because they’re anticipating the bad. They’re not used to calmness or healthy energy so they create their own chaos unintentionally or leave,” Soulmuva. Guilty. There are days I still don’t know how to function if something isn’t going wrong. I’m constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. The thing is this: we can understand it but we have to change the energy. It took a lot for me to see all the ways I self-sabotage—no one likes to admit when they are their own worst enemy or the cause of their own problems. I think that’s one thing we can all agree on is that we are used to playing the victim in this world. For as much as we are attracted to strength, we glorify when things happen to us—even if something is blatantly our fault, we like to find ways to say someone made us do it. Here’s the thing: when we take ownership for those events, we take back the power to change it.
We have a tendency to judge ourselves and get caught in the labeling of a situation. So if we admit we make a mistake we take it further to that we are a mistake, we are bad, etc. That isn’t the point of taking ownership of the situation. The point is to take back power and direction over where the situation goes. Instead, we get comfortable playing the victim and it makes it easy to constantly look for the way things AREN’T our fault. It becomes an unintentional (or intentional for some) way to get things, a manipulation tactic. Even if it isn’t something we are consciously using, we become used to it, we get used to the feeling and, as humans, as animals looking for safety in familiarity, we repeat the patterns we know. There is safety in the known even if it’s something that hurts us. When we grow up around chaos, we anticipate chaos. It’s challenging to cultivate a different mindset when we are so used to it being a certain way.
I think the best advice we can give each other is this: we need grace for where we are and for where others are. We need to give change a chance and understand that there are certain circumstances (most circumstances) where people’s behavior is so habitual that they don’t even realize when they’ve repeated a pattern, let alone that they’re creating the same circumstance. It takes a lot of work to settle and redirect the heart and the mind and even more when we are in a circumstance that would trigger us to go down a certain thought pattern. It can be difficult to accept that we are worthy of changing the story and the patterns we’ve become accustomed to. We need to understand that we are all looking for familiarity and comfort to some degree, that just looks different for each of us. Give people time and space to grow, to learn to feel comfortable under new circumstances—and to react differently in familiar circumstances. Do the same for ourselves and soon the barometer of what feels good, what feels normal will begin to shift.
Today I am grateful for doing something different. I took a break from the heavier material I’m reading and I picked up an easy book. I’m about half-way through and the premise of the main character is that she has everything mapped out in her life and then it all falls apart. Cliché or not, the experience is relatable. The way she experiences the demise of all she knew is sudden and drastic and comes from a misunderstanding but in that coming undone, she finds a hobby, a new thing to occupy her. And she finds freedom in doing something different. It’s not the first time I’ve read or seen that type of thing, but something in the context of this story, where she tries so hard to do everything right and it still comes apart, hit me on a different level. See, sometimes we are holding so tight to a vision that we choke the life right out of it. We end up stopping all progress instead of letting it move. We want so badly to make sure all will come together that we freeze it in place and it crumbles. Lesson learned: trying something new could lead us to exactly the feeling, place, thing we wanted. Don’t be afraid because it looks different, ask how it feels.
Today I am grateful for choices. I’ve realized lately that I truly don’t feel good about certain aspects of the way I am living. It isn’t about playing victim, it isn’t about what has happened to me, I simply don’t feel good with where I’m at and I know I need to make some new choices. I have too many things in my life to be grateful for to feel an ounce of anger, fear, regret and I feel those things all the time. I’ve realized that it’s because I’m choosing to still feel that way. I’m staying in environments that won’t change because I’m familiar so all the work I’ve done on changing thoughts goes out the window because the place requires the same actions. I still have numbing and distracting behaviors—and I fall into distraction all the time. So I’m realizing that in order to make some changes, I need to make different choices. Yet again, I see that I’ve merely been dipping my toes in. If I want my life to be a certain way, I need to make it a certain way and that means changing the behavior, which, in short, means new choices and committing to them. A new life costs the old one so to move forward, I must face it and do what it takes.
Today I am grateful for the details. I have been struggling with some decisions at work—what opportunity do I take, what opportunity do I create, what is even going to be available to me. I have limited information and this is going to solely rely on gut. So I made a choice and I shared a request with my boss based on my honest opinion on the state of where one of my departments is. This is a project I’ve loved from the beginning and I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s where I belong. At the same time, someone I haven’t met in the organization prior to now reached out and I assisted him. During the course of the conversation, I realized how attentive to detail he was. We had met less than 10 minutes prior and he recalled details about me that showed me how important it is to pay attention to the details. In the details we learn about people, we make connections, and we learn new ways of doing things. I am grateful to see how important it is to get out of our own heads and start focusing on how we can share what we have/know with others. That kind of bond is priceless.
Today I am grateful for shifting focus. I’ve beat home how I want things to look for so long that I convinced myself that was the only way/answer. I’ve gotten half-assed results for half-assed commitment. Such a narrow focus with little commitment makes it like searching for a diamond in a forest at night with a head lamp and a teaspoon. Yeah, it can get done but the actions aren’t nearly effective enough. Similar to choking the life out of the vision I mentioned above, when we only see one path, we turn off the lights to the other doors/opportunities around us. Sometimes we need to start wake up and work during the day so we can see all the paths in front of us. Sometimes we need different tools. And sometimes we need to acknowledge that we know what we are doing isn’t working, there seems to be no point, and it’s time to shift. I used to think I would miss out on what I really wanted if I focused on other paths because I thought I had to focus on one thing. Now I see our destiny is always there, we can choose any path to get there. Some are longer or bumpier, but they all lead to the same place. The only time we truly stray/go the wrong way is when we walk away from it. Otherwise, make a choice and follow it.
Today I am grateful for not throwing away an opportunity. I overwhelmed myself because I have a lot of irons in the fire. That isn’t to insinuate that other people don’t, I just have a lot that I’m doing on my own and it all seems in the same stages where nothing is quite off the ground yet. Some days it literally drives me insane. I have a lot of feelers out there so I now that part of me is also playing it safe, waiting to see what bites before making a decision on something. As difficult as that makes it to wait for something to come through, I am glad to still have some lines in the water. Some of them are for things I think have something behind them, something that I don’t have a super clear vision for, but a feeling that it’s something I’m supposed to do. Sometimes a vision is all it takes. Sometimes all it takes is standing firm and doing what we know is the right thing. Even if it makes us feel alone, makes us stand out, we can at least stand in the certainty that we followed our values. And I’m excited to see if something does bite on it because there is something in me saying that this isn’t an opportunity I should miss. Sometimes all it takes is a feeling to open the door. I’m grateful to follow it this time.
The real luxuries in life: Waking without an alarm, nourishing meals, time for self and family, abundant gardens, no budget traveling. These are the experiences of life. This is life as it is, the things we can’t buy, the things we can’t replace. Things change as we age and experience what life has to offer. We learn the things that really matter. Our circles get smaller. We simultaneously want less and more. With time, understanding of what life is actually about and what it means takes hold and we learn that we need less things and more substance. Things can be destroyed, taken, lost. Substance permeates the mind, body, and soul. Substance is what life is. Substance is exactly the luxury we are talking about: the ability to live in the moment and be fully present to life, the ability to live life on its own schedule and in its own rhythm. Perhaps it’s just clarity that comes, but something shifts in our definition of what’s important. It isn’t cliché to say that time is the most precious resource. It is truly the only resource we have that once spent is truly gone.
We have immense freedom to choose what we do with our time and so often it feels like we are waiting for things to happen and then all of a sudden we wake up and we are 40 with a home, kids, a job that we sort of kind of (hate) tolerate. I hate to feel like that’s normal, that we can go through a large portion of our lives and then ask ourselves how the hell we got there, like we went through it like a zombie. I know there are people out there who live every second and they have no regrets—or if they have regrets they at least appreciate the memory. But there is this other side to it where people wake up and they feel like they haven’t lived at all and half of their time is gone. For them, we need to unravel and unpeel how we got there, we need to look at where we are, what we are doing, where we want to go, and yes, we need to look at the lies we were told that swindled us into giving up the one thing we can’t get back.
Part of this process is realizing what we have and, not just appreciating it, but understanding it. Understanding the meaning of luxury, of what is important, of what we actually need in this world. The ability to shift into creative expression and abundance, the ability to feel peace, happiness, and security. The ability to shut out what we heard for the last however many years and start to follow what we feel, what we know. To trust our own knowing again. There is an awakening in that moment, a coming alive that can only happen with death. We are so much richer than we know. All we have to do is let go of what we thought we knew, slow down, and wakeup to what we have. Ironically it is in slowing down that time speeds up. The window opens to all the time in the world when we realize we are infinitely here. In one long moment. Awaken from within and appreciate what we have, what we know in the depths of our souls. Trust the instinct, the inner voice and do not be afraid to put down what we’ve previously believed would bring us satisfaction. Indulge in the aliveness of being here and now and see there is an infinite now. We just have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice: who we were has to die, and we have to awaken to who we ARE.
The Intentional Dreamer 