About the Author:  Sean Morris is a Guest Contributor.  Sean is a social worker turned stay-at-home dad. He has experience in managing a career with parenting, transitioning to a family-focused lifestyle, and a marriage that has lasted 20 beautiful years (and counting!).  

​Image Source: Unsplash

​The reason many people often resist change is that there's comfort in what they know. ​Although the unknown is appealing to some, it is only natural to resist placing ourselves in new situations. Still, you get to that point when it is no longer necessary and possible to play it safe, and that's where resources like Soul Fire Wisdom Coaching become operative.

Whenever We Think We Are Good, We Can Be Even Better 
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Many of us neglect to do what will make us the best version of ourselves, even if we can envision what that version looks like. It can be challenging to break out of our comfort zone, even in the name of self-improvement. Moreover, it can be hard to decide what to improve when there's an unlimited number of ways we can become better in 2021. So, even if you take one point from the list below and run with it, you're doing something - and that's worth it.
 
Set Goals for Yourself
 
Make it a habit to set goals for yourself — yearly, monthly, and even daily. Write those goals down, check them, and record your progress. Success is not in how quickly you reach your targets — it's in the journey to make them happen. Once you have some goals lined up, you know what to focus on. This makes everything easier as you know where you are heading rather than chasing squirrels all over the place.
 
Improve Your Career
 
Whether you are pleased with your 9-to-5 job or dream about starting and running your own business, your skills are valuable and could propel you further in the career you chose. Even though you're usually provided with training when starting a new job, when venturing into the unknown of starting a business, this is not always the case. However, there are many benefits to owning a business, including freedom, self-improvement support, ability, money, and time to help your family and others, boosted self-esteem, and so much more.
 
While you don't need an MBA or any particular business certification to run your start-up, looking for some online resources that will help you acquire new skills or improve the ones you have is the best thing you can do to improve your career. This is also a simple way to succeed in both business life and personal life, making you more confident and bolder in your pursuits. There are many resources out there, such as communication curriculums, project management classes, and online business formation courses, with the latter helping you figure out the best business structure for your start-up and how to get started.
 
Dress for the Life You Want
 
Life is way too short to be spent in clothes that make you feel uncomfortable or lower yourself-esteem. Whenever possible, make a change in your wardrobe and dress for the life you want — in a way that makes you happy.
 
 Move!
 
Physical activity and self-improvement go hand in hand, doing amazing things for both your body and mind. Find activities that you love, whether it's dancing around the house, lifting weights at the gym, or hiking mountains. Exercise and movement are some of the most basic forms of self-improvement you can focus on for your overall well-being.
 
Meditation
 
Mediation doesn't have to be challenging, sitting in a room, in silence, for prolonged periods. It can be as simple as taking a few breaths right now. Inhale, exhale, and repeat.
 
Treat Yourself
 
Plan and do at least a thing that is going to make you feel happier per week. It could be booking a spa treatment, watching a play, journaling, shopping for clothes you've always wanted, or just sitting alone with yourself. It doesn't have to be expensive — it's the little things that matter, and they are exceptionally good for your well-being.
 
What Self-Improvement Brings
 
We only get one shot at life, and no matter what cards you were dealt, you can improve your life by taking care of yourself first. By self-improving, you're able to get more success, more happiness, meaningful relationships, better health, etc. There's always something about ourselves we can work on; the human potential is limitless, so it is impossible to reach a point of no growth.

​        This is something we have all been confronted with and still it is one of the hardest and most commonly traumatizing experiences we go through. Most of us learn to deal with it and get past it, but some never do and the results can be quite devastating. I am called to write this blog for two reasons. I have recently been confronted with the remnants of this and a client also recently told me about a family members’ inability to deal with the emotional trauma and subsequent suicide after feeling rejected and excluded by those she wanted to feel accepted by. This is, of course, an extreme and heart-breaking outcome, but I am guessing there are very few people who cannot relate to the emotional pain that rejection and exclusion can cause. The feelings can be quite crushing and there is almost no one who has not felt it. Why are some people more affected than others and how do people learn to cope with and get past these feelings?
         Acceptance and validation are quite basic to our needs and very few of us get enough of these to build our self-worth, self-love and resilience to a level of confidence where we are truly secure and rejection-proof. At least, we seldom get it in childhood and without a lot of introspection, awareness and self-esteem-building work. Why is this? First, most of us are raised by adults who have not yet attained this level of self-worth themselves and don’t know how to give it to us. Second, we face a world which bombards us with self-esteem diminishing challenges on a regular basis. It seems to be the nature of humans to try to build their own self-worth at the expense of others when they don’t know more healthy ways of doing so. We see it all around us and it is modeled for us in some cases.
         From childhood into adulthood, we see it. Two friends make themselves feel superior by talking about what they see as the shortcoming of someone else. Or, in today’s world one group of people criticizes and villainizes another group of people over beliefs and ideologies. Many times, we don’t think this is a big deal until we are on the receiving side of it. The people that are bonding and feeling superior in that bonding, often lack any empathy for the feelings of the person they are diminishing. That is sometimes because they do not really know the person and sometimes because they do and want to purposefully exclude or diminish them for their own benefit. 

       ​ I am going to share a story from my own childhood that had a huge impact on me in so many ways. While today I consider it a blessing as the feelings I experienced give me a special empathy and advocacy for helping people to feel confident and resilient.  At the time it was difficult.  I was always a fairly kind and inclusive child with a strong sense of fairness, so excluding others or making them feel bad was never something I did. Pretty much the opposite was true.  In first grade, I met a girl who became a long-time close friend shortly after the school year began. I got guardianship that day of the much-coveted playground equipment, the ball for playing square ball. A couple of other girls and I were getting ready to play when a girl I had not yet met came up and asked to play. The other two girls said "no" and told her to go away. I reacted immediately and asked them why. They said they didn’t like her.  I said it was my ball and I say she can play. They said they wouldn’t play if that girl played.  She and I took the ball and found two other girls to play. It turned out that girl and I became good friends and well, the other girls, I don’t remember what became of them. This was pretty much my philosophy.
         In fourth grade, a classmate had a bird that she brought to school and that bird became the class pet. She was very attached to her bird, as most of us are to our pets. She shared the bird with the class though and allowed others to care for it. Over one weekend, something happened and the bird died. The whole class felt bad and mourned the loss, but it was really hard on the owner of the bird. I had empathy and felt very sad for her. I had an idea of getting her another bird and instead of doing it myself, I organized a group of her other friends and we all planned together to raise the money, get the bird and give it to her. I thought everything was going quite well. I was excited that we were going to able to do this as a group and hopefully help our friend feel better. 
        I had no idea that there were any problems brewing in the group. Most of the girls, I had known for several years and felt they were friends. One day, just a few days before we were going to give the bird to our mutual friend, one of girls asked me to meet her down on the baseball field after school. I didn’t really think much about it and went to meet her and saw that the rest of our group was also there. Still, I thought nothing of it. I have never been bullied or had enemies for the most part, so nothing occurred to me. Suddenly, the group formed a circle around me and skipped in a circular motion while chanting “we vote you out!” I was taken completely off guard and it took a few minutes to even figure out what they were doing and what it meant. And then, one of them explained that they were excluding me from the group and I would not be allowed to participate in the plans for giving the bird to our friend. I was just out!  My stomach felt like it dropped to my feet and I simply couldn’t speak. I was hurt more than I could have expressed and no words would come out of my mouth. I looked at them trying not to let myself cry and then I walked away as fast as I could.  When I got out of their sight, I ran all the way home before I cried. The feeling was horrific and I had no idea why they had done this. I also did not know how to deal with it or my feelings. I had a hard time going to school the next day and really couldn’t look at any of the girls. It hurt that my friend did not know that her new bird had been from me, as well as, the other girls and that it had been my idea, but I didn’t say anything. It seemed like months, but it was really only days, when some of the girls in the group started coming and apologizing to me and telling me that one of the girls had instigated what had happened telling the rest them that I was too bossy and didn’t deserve to be in the group. She was jealous and wanted to be in charge of things. Sadly, she didn’t know that I wasn’t really set on being the boss and would have let her have more say, if she had spoken up rather than tossing me aside as she did. Eventually, all the girls except the instigator apologized to me and even the girl who got the bird told me she had been told it had been my idea. That helped, but the feelings and mistrust hung on much longer. I avoided the girl who instigated things for the rest of the time we were in school together, though we had been friends before that. I am not sure if she knew that I knew about what she had done. She still talked to me and acted friendly from time to time. I had not realized before how insecure and insincere she apparently was, but of course, I knew I couldn’t trust her and didn’t want to deal with that. I did forgive her. I never wanted to experience anything like that again, however, strangely made me stronger and gave me confidence in getting through it. It would be decades, many more experiences and much self-reflection and self-acceptance before I would feel confident enough and put that trauma behind me. It was the start of a very important lesson on dealing with rejection and exclusion. A lesson I am very thankful for, despite the pain involved. I also gained a sort of “Spidey-Sense” for picking up the energy of those people who, due to their own needs, would be inclined to throw me under the bus, so to speak. I learned to opt out or avoid them before they have the chance to do so. Usually without any malice. I have come to realize that they are doing the best they can with what they know.

         I did encounter the instigator of that grade-school trauma again on a break after my first year of college. I went into a local store on a visit home and was looking around when I heard a voice excitedly call my name and when I turned around the girl who had caused me that pain, way back when, had a big smile on her face. She grabbed me and hugged me, saying how happy she was to see me. I was in momentary shock as I recognized her and took everything in.  She had surprisingly gained a good 40 pounds and looked a bit different. We talked for a while and caught up on what we had been doing since high school. I was surprised to find out that she was on a break from college and working full-time at the store. She had dropped out of school during her freshman year after having an emotional break-down. I listened to her story and empathized as she told me of her feelings of not fitting in, being excluded and having trouble keeping up academically. She seemed to feel better as I empathized. I asked her about her future plans and encouraged her, reminding her of the skills and abilities I knew she had. There was that moment where I felt a twinge of revenge brewing, but opted for compassion. She hugged me again before I left and said she was glad we bumped into each other and that I had always been a loyal and kind friend. I was happy in the end to know she thought of me that way. She went back to school the following fall to a college in the Mid-West where she still lives. She graduated, married and had a beautiful family. When I last heard of her, she was enjoying a happy life. I did wonder if she ever thought about her actions and how they had affected me, however, I realized it really didn’t matter as I wouldn’t have changed a thing.
         There are many types of rejection and exclusion and they bombard us throughout life. Breakup, divorce, job loss, not getting the job, award, raise, praise or accolades that we wanted, hoped for or deserved. We do need to feel and process those emotions, no matter how painful. I thought I might die when I fell in love way too soon after my divorce, with “Mr. Wrong for Me”.  It seemed so unfair.  Eventually I realized I wasn’t ready and “us” trying to be a couple would have been a train wreck. He didn’t want children and I had one, he was gorgeous and romantic, but also selfish and a perfectionist and always made me feel “not good enough”, -- who needs that?  In the end, I took the lesson and moved forward, a little bruised, but so much stronger and wiser.
        In conclusion, pay attention to your intuition as much as you can and avoid people and situations that end up draining you or feel toxic. Rejection isn’t always avoidable, but try not to take it personally. It likely isn’t about you. Lastly, it is usually not fatal, although it can feel that way at the time and, if nothing else, it will give you strength and character, even when that doesn’t seem possible. I am sure you have some lessons under your belt already. Use them to buoy you up, rather than make you bitter. Rise above the negative thoughts and know that only you can define who you are and what you deserve in this life. 

“Refuse to let the fear of rejection hold you back. Remember, rejection is never personal.” – Brian Tracey

        ​With the passing of another year that has been extraordinarily impactful, I realize that my perception of life and my place in the scheme of things has shifted. This strange year, 2020, has been one of deep and frequent reflection and much soul searching. I know that has been the case for me and suspect that many have gone through similar processes. It has been a year filled with obstacles, challenges and changes that I would never have imagined. And, in that there has been a lot of taking stock, reassessing and yes, growth! I had planned some change into my life for this year and I expected to do some re-adjusting, but I will confess that 2020 has been more of a roller coaster ride than I could have ever anticipated. The biggest surprise has been some long searched for answers to life quandaries and dilemmas that have just dropped into my consciousness and given me unexpected clarity around some of my most important wonderings.
        I think we all seek more direction in our lives and to have a certainty about our wants and needs and where we should put our energy and efforts to feel the greatest sense of joy and satisfaction as we travel through life. So many choices and paths we could pursue, but what is the right path and the one that will be worth it? Are we motivated to go in a certain direction and will we get what we want, if we do? Is what we want, what will really make us feel the way we want to feel? So many thoughts can get so complicated and, yes, confusing! Sometimes there are even other people or practical considerations that play into our decision making and make it even more difficult and complex! Are there really answers and is even thinking about it a waste of time? Too be honest, I think it is. I have come to realize that too much thinking and trying to logically plot everything out with our limited conscious abilities is probably one the biggest inhibitors to resolving our life quandaries. 

         I do believe in questions, curiosity, openness and possibility, but I think we have to let go of our expectation that there is a blueprint that we can follow and achieve a pre-determined outcome and that will lead us to the satisfaction we seek. I think it is a constantly evolving process; everything can change and become something new at any given point.  What does that mean for our comfort level with change and uncertainty? Are we destined then to be fearful and apprehensive about what might happen next and whether we will be able to adapt? 
       While I have come to learn that we will, I know that this is not an easily answered question and the doubts and consequent feelings come very naturally. However, what if we let those doubts go, throw caution to the wind and just follow our first instincts without having an answer to all the questions and only a vision of ourselves feeling joyful and satisfied?  A vision that only fulfills our desires without answering the how’s or why’s of getting there may be the better option. I believe we need to ask the question, put it out there and then let the Universe or our subconscious mind do the work and lead us where we want and need to go.
        What have I discovered in this turbulent year with regard to my own journey and path forward? I have discovered not to overwork my intellect and to ask the questions and then let the answers flow naturally and follow that intuition, because it just feels right, even if I don’t know why! And, here I am living in AZ and loving my new home without knowing the answer to that question, “Why did you move to Arizona?  Let the adventure begin! I am excited to see the future unfold.

         Intention is the starting point and your super power when it comes to achieving your dreams and goals. While many things can and do happen randomly in our chaotic and unpredictable world, there is an energy; a force that has a measurable effect on events and occurrences. That is, while much is outside of our control, where are some things that we can and do control.  These things for the most part are what is directly related to our personal being and the energy we send out into the world. We have control over most aspects of our ourselves and our actions reacting with the world around us. We do not always have control of outcomes, but we do have control of what we individually put out into the world and to some extent that affects a larger sphere of interactions and occurrences, which become our sphere of energy or influence.
        So where does this all lead us with regard to our power in the world and how that relates to intention. If we are to get the ball rolling, so to speak, to accomplish any action, including our most coveted dreams and aspiration, it must begin with our thoughts and the energy they emit, followed by the actions we subsequently pursue. On the cognitive level, preconception is what becomes intention, and that leads us to plans and actions, which become accomplishments and led us down the path to success in achieving what we wish to achieve. 

​         What if we don’t have a clear intention? Then the core of what ignites us to move forward is not there. Not having an intention is like starting out on a journey without a destination in mind. While it can be done, it is hard to plot a course or even to know when or if, you have reached your end point or destination. You may get somewhere, but it may not be where you wanted to go. This is why setting an intention is so important to reaching your dreams and goals. It doesn’t matter how large or small your dreams are, you have a better chance of achieving them, if you set an intention.
Whatever it is, your intention is powerful. It fuels and gives purpose and direction to everything that follows from it. It creates the direction for your journey and becomes a compass to determine if you are on course.
         If you want to jump-start your progress toward attaining your goals, set a small intention related to your end goals every day. You will find that you are making small and constant steps toward that larger goal faster and more easily than you ever thought you could. It seems like a simple thing, but you would be surprised at how often we attempt to achieve our goals without any forethought.  Think of how far your car would get if you failed to put gas in it. Our intention is the fuel for our goals and aspirations. It is futile to try to move forward and achieve those goals without clear and relevant intentions 

​        I know that a little trauma, drama and chaos occasionally visits all of our lives. And, when it does, we must learn to deal with it and then let it go. We certainly don’t want it hanging around for very long and sucking all the joy and peace out of our lives or getting in the way of our plans and stifling our success. Have you ever met people though, who tend to live in that state consistently and bring it with them wherever they go, naturally sharing it with everyone they come into contact with? One sure sign, if you don’t recognize it right away, that you are dealing with one of these people, is that they simply exhaust you and you feel like a tornado has ripped through your life. These are usually not bad or evil people and for the most part they don’t mean to or have the intention of sowing disruption in your life and a lot of times they feel like a victim of life themselves. They usually think that others should be understanding of all they must endure and have empathy and compassion for their circumstances. If you yourself are going through difficult times, they will surely one up you and try to maintain their ultimate victim status. They rarely realize or feel responsible for the chaos they are bringing to life. Simply as a result of your interaction with or attempt to collaborate or cooperate with them, you too get to experience the trauma, drama and chaos that they bring. Doing so, if you accept that daunting challenge, usually entails a lot of adjustment, tolerance, alteration and flexibility on your part. It is clear that you, your time, your plans or what you are trying to accomplish are secondary and you eventually realize that you are allowing yourself to be disrespected and bombarded by their whirlwind of chaos. Although you can ask for some respect and consideration from these people by establishing boundaries and drawing that line in the sand, it does not usually work.   

​       How do you deal with people like this and the way they affect you and your life? While there are many things you can try, depending on the relationship, the only real way to get way from the constant trauma, drama and chaos is to walk way and not allow these people space in your life. This is sometimes hard, especially if they are close friends or even family members. And, if you are like me and you seek to see the good in others or you’re an empath and you feel their feelings, it is especially difficult. On one hand you want to understand and you do feel their pain. You know there is good there, you see it and you even feel it, but keeping them in your life means also keeping the trauma, drama and chaos they have adopted as part of their lifestyle. You really have to ask yourself how important your peace of mind, your self-respect, your self-worth and your life itself is to you? Maybe it’s okay if this person occasionally transits through your life and wreaks havoc? You can take it, right? The answer is - No! If you allow this in your life, it diminishes your energy and your self-esteem and chips away at your confidence, trust and self-worth. I guarantee you that if you allow these people to do this occasionally, it will build into more and you will also attract more of these people and the energy they carry with them into your life. It is just the nature of the Universe that we attract more of what we allow, more of what we focus on and more of that energy that surrounds us.
        How do you make the break then and set the boundaries to protect your own energy and life to keep yourself on a more positive and purposeful trajectory? It is a matter of respecting yourself, first and foremost and loving yourself enough to say, “this is not what I want my life to be!” and then having the courage and conviction to walk away from them. You need to make it clear that you will only allow people in your life if they respect you and don’t drag trauma, drama or chaos with them into your life. It is their choice and it is not your obligation to accept and deal with their messy and chaotic choices. They do not have the right to impose it on you simply because they have chosen to deal badly with their life and not learn from past circumstances. If you do choose to allow it though, it’s on you – you have chosen to join the trauma, drama and chaos club and well, you pretty much deserve what you get. Make a different choice, get a different outcome! If you truly see value in this person, tell them how you feel and be ready to walk away. The best that can come of it is they may choose to change at least in their relationship with you and who knows where that may lead. Perhaps you both have won a better outcome and possibly a better relationship. If not, you get to keep your self-respect and peace of mind and leave the trauma, drama & chaos to them.  

​        Is it possible to remain joyful and experience happiness, even in the worst of times?  When things are really bad, when you are in the throes of true disaster and adversity, experiencing illness, loss, grief and/or seriously concerned about very real survival needs, is it still possible to be joyful and feel generally happy, most of the time? If it is possible, is this a desirable state or are we just ignoring the stark reality confronting us? It is not only possible, but it is how you get through bad times in the most resilient, healthy way and avoid damaging side effects to your physical and emotional long-term health. It is also how you stay sane, maintain the best mindset and stay resourceful for solving issues or finding answers for any problems that may arise.  This has been demonstrated to us by many who have experienced extreme adversity and yet maintained a joyful attitude through their circumstances. They would have described themselves as generally happy, even when also experiencing and feeling great suffering.  Such examples are many holocaust survivors and people like Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi and many, many more. These are people who have gone through things most of us cannot imagine surviving and have done so maintaining a resilient joyfulness and great hopefulness.
       We are told it is not good to avoid our feelings and that we must experience them.  When something really devastating is happening or has happened, how can we be anything but sad, unhappy and dwell in those feelings? That is really it, we can experience more than one feeling in a very short sequence of time.  In a given moment we are experiencing a particular feeling and acknowledging it and we need to do that, but from moment to moment our feelings and what we are allowing ourselves to experience can change. And, it is okay to experience the full and changing range of our emotions and that is the healthiest way to deal with them. You can be deeply sad and truly feel a loss and still a short time later experience a moment of joy when your pet or your partner snuggles up to you. You can be feeling very lonely in one moment and then feel joy when a funny movie or something in real life makes you laugh.  It is when you try to dwell in a single emotion and not experience the full range of your emotions that you become stuck in unhappiness and rob yourself of the joy that is still there for you in the natural process of living.  

nethe      The times we are living in now are truly serious and devastating. They are very uncertain, with the only certainty being that Covid-19 is impacting us in ways that will forever change our lives. Many people are dying, there is real danger to our health and there are many challenges that effect our emotional and financial well-being. There are definitely concerns bombarding us from every direction. Many people were already seriously worried about our political division and the circumstances our country has recently experienced. At the same time there are the usual adversities of life happening.  A friend is dying of brain cancer and we can’t even go see him because of this virus. There are people who are homeless and hungry and I saw a terrible accident yesterday and could only wonder what dealing with that would be like for those involved.  Still, I really enjoyed the beautiful weather we are having here in the Northwest and a social-distancing walk I took along Lake Washington.  I felt a sense of peace and joy, as I always do, being outdoors and watching a beautiful sunset over the water.  I try to do a couple things every day that bring me joy. I start my day listening to music always and that lifts my spirits and starts my day on a positive note. I treated myself to a very decadent chocolate desert and a glass of wine yesterday and watched a romantic comedy.  It was totally silly and I laughed and loved it.  I savored those feelings and it is okay, even though it still breaks my heart that a good person I care about is dying and I can’t say good bye in person and give him one last hug. Yes, I feel that sadness deeply, but I can also feel gratitude, appreciation and joy.  I catch myself worrying about something from time to time and I try to switch it up quickly after asking myself if there is anything that I can do about it right now. I try to stay in the moment, care for myself as well as I would take care of anyone else that I love. I try to be intentional in what I do.  I stay connected to my family, friends and those who add positivity and light to my life.
         You know what, I smile often, I see a lot of good in the world still and a lot to be grateful for, even now. I have to say I feel joyful and happy most of the time through these difficult days and for that I am truly and abundantly grateful! Life is good and the best is still yet to come! I  am hopeful for the good I’d like to see come out of this pause in everyday life.  I saw a meme posted and I may not have it exactly right, but the just of it was--
 
 “It’s like Mother Nature sent us all to our rooms to think about what we have done!” -- Unknown
 
      It is my greatest hope that great awareness, awakening, learning and action will come of this. I am imagining that and holding a space for it in my heart and soul! 

​        I always knew I was as capable and could do anything I wanted to do, just as well or better than anyone else, even a boy!  Yes, I know there are differences that make doing some things easier for one gender or the other, but I always thought and believed that there are many ways to do just about anything and you use your own strengths. I was born at a time when roles for women were pretty well-defined and my parents were pretty conventional in their beliefs, although not really in a practical sense. Both parents worked most of my childhood. They worked opposite shifts at times and both parents were very capable of cleaning, cooking and childcare. My Mom definitely had strong opinions and expressed them and my Dad was not dominating and did listen to her. However, I think they both had residual ideas about roles from their own upbringing. My Mom was definitely happier when I got married than when I graduated from college and Dad seemed to think it was my husband’s job to take care of me, rather than a partnership.  Mostly though, they supported my belief that I could do anything any boy could do.
         My first friends were boys and I constantly challenged this belief and found it to be true. In small ways, of course, but I never found anything that a girl was not capable of doing, none that mattered anyway. I remember actually liking “boy activities” better than conventional “girl activities” of the time, because they were more fun and adventurous.  I was a “tom boy” and was told a few times, not by my parents, to act more like a girl.  I remember racing a boy in my class home from school in sixth grade because I was a pretty fast runner and knew I could beat him.  Also, he said I couldn’t and well, it was on!  I won, of course, every time!  I was surprised and a bit offended when his older sister drew me aside and said, “You know, Steve (name changed to protect the guilty) might like you, if you acted more like a girl!  Boys don’t like girls to beat them!” Well, my objective had not been to have the boy like or not like me, but simply to win a race and prove that I could run faster.  Girls don’t like boys to beat them either!  That idea that in order to have boys like us, we are suppose to let them feel superior to us, in any and every way, is at the core of the gender bias we are still dealing with. That was a memorable instance.  It surprises me after having encountered bias so many times, so many ways, over a lot of years, that it still holds space in my mind.  I think the fact that another girl was calling me out and saying something like that was especially offensive. 

​        We have been denied, harassed, bullied and discriminated against and we have been patient, understanding and way too accepting of this atrocity for way too long. Do you think that is too strong a word? Or, maybe that we have made progress and I’m making too big a deal of it?  If so, check your bias! There is no other marginalized group that would stand for so much, for so long. Yes, some other groups have been and still are confronted by unreasonable bias. None for as long as it has gone on for women! That is a plain and simple fact and we are the only group that has so much bias represented within its own ranks.  Let that sink in!
         I usually post blogs related to mind, body, spirit wellness and I was told recently when making a political post that it was in conflict with the good stuff I post. I was calling out the actions of a certain male leader and “somehow” I should be nice and not do that because a lot of people disagree and that diminishes my other “good posts”.  While I know this is true, I also know it is part of the whole sit back and be quiet or don’t be confrontational role that gender bias has conferred on women.  I really object!  Men (I am speaking in a general sense) not only don’t like it when women beat them, but they don’t like it when women prove them wrong or confront their assertions and thinking. Of course, no one likes to lose, be wrong or have their thinking shown to be faulty. That is our nature and our ego rearing its self-protective head!  However, why is it more objectional when it is a woman? This is at the core of gender inequity and what has to be dealt with in our thinking and feelings, both men and women, before we can achieve and function in a world with equality for all.  The time is now!

       I could write pages on the things that have happened to me personally that call out discrimination, inequity, harassment and bias --- ranging from just silly to things that were downright criminal. At a job interview, not as a housekeeper, I was once asked if I liked house cleaning and I was stalked by someone who felt they had the right to intrude on my life in that way. A boss threatened to throw me down the stairs for being too polite, as that shows weakness! I won’t go through the whole list, but you get the picture. Though the circumstances will vary, I am guessing most women have a long list of instances they could talk about.  Most men are aware of it too, even if they are not offenders themselves.  I have seen things change in some ways, way too slowly, but there has been change and then we see it again and it sometimes seems as if nothing a has changed at all.
        The past few years have seemed to signal change with an “Almost Woman President”, the “Me Too” Movement, women elected to more public offices than ever before and then the multiple women running for the Presidency in 2020.  It has been a roller coaster ride of hope and disappointment with the old ideas and old ways hanging on, in spite of the bright moments of awareness focused on this issue.  So many women had the hope of a woman President and breaking that glass ceiling and pattern of patriarchal domination. Not only were we hopeful for the progress it would make on gender issues, but because we had women who were so qualified, capable, deserving and would truly upgrade the quality of leadership for our country and make real changes so dearly needed. It was disappointing to see those gender biases spoken and demonstrated once again on our national stage and even some coming from women. 

     Don’t get me wrong I don’t think any woman should support or vote for a woman, just because she is a woman. I think we should vote for the most capable, qualified person with the best ideas, plans, integrity and qualifications that will do what is needed for our country and its people. If that is a woman, there is no reason to wonder if they are electable, likeable, strong enough to lead or should be taken seriously. It truly did break my heart to hear these arguments voiced by pundits on national TV and see them posted on social media. How can we still be there? My patience is running out and so is and patience of millions of American girls and women. Our nation is falling behind because of these “old and useless” ideas that are being perpetuated by fear and ignorance, as well as, an overabundance of ego and a lack of respect.  Gender equality would be beneficial to both men and women.  We have many examples around the world and yet, we cling stubbornly to the “old ways”.  Historically this has never worked and it won’t now!
      Yes, as Elizabeth Warren said, “It will happen! We just have to wait a little longer!” I am guessing we have probably missed out on that first President being Elizabeth, and that is a shame because I believe she would be an extraordinary and inspirational President. However, perhaps it will be a woman she has motivated by running for President because, “that’s what girls do!” In today’s world we need contributions from smart, capable people who are willing to get involved and give their all, and we need the best to lead. Gender should not be an obstacle or qualification. What is there to fear in smart, capable women? Equality does not take anything away from smart, capable men, we need them just as much. It only makes us stronger. One of my heroes is a young Muslim woman who said:
 
“Extremists have shown what frightens them the most …, A Girl with A Book!” – Malala Yousafzai
 
      When will we stop fearing girls with books or a woman with a plan? When will little girls stop being told to act more like a girl, be lady-like, let the boys win, don’t make waves, be sweet and little boys stop being told not to cry, tough it out, man up or boys will be boys? Is that why we let the President get away with corruption and other atrocities and the Senate Majority Leaderl fail to do his job according to his oath of office –because “boys will be boys”?
        I do have hope and know that things will change! I am just weary and can’t wait to see a world where things are different and everyone has the opportunity to fulfill their full potential and make this a better, kinder world for us all. To all the great men who support that vision I want to say “Thank you”!

       What we say is important, but how we say it can sometimes be even more impactful. Putting that little twist of attitude into the conversation can make all the difference in how and what we are communicating. Humor and cleverness work their way into our communications and make a strong impression. Sarcasm and wit are two of the ways that we inject attitude into our communications and it has occurred to me that it is useful and possibly important, to be aware of how their usage is affecting the conversation.
 
         First, what exactly are sarcasm and wit and how are they different?
 
           Sarcasm – a) a sharp and often satirical or ironic utterance designed to cut or give pain b) a mode if satirical wit    depending for its effect on bitter, caustic and often ironic language that is usually directed against an individual.(Merriam Webster)
 
        Wit– a) /clever or apt humor b) astuteness of perception or judgement c) a talent for banner or persiflage. (Merriam Webster)
 
       There is a range of both sarcasm and wit that can run from fairly light and fun to very dark and negative or even biting. They are both usually associated with humor, but are very different in their impact. Using them in our communication sets a tone in both how others perceive us and our own mental attitude and how we see others and the world around us. Both can make us laugh, but the feelings behind that laughter and the emotions both engender within us and those we are speaking to are quite different.
We don’t always realize either that difference or how impactful they can be. Becoming more aware is helpful both in communicating more genuinely and keeping our own attitude and energy on a more positive level.
       Generally speaking, sarcasm tends to be negative with the intention to wound and can be directed or undirected. Wit is conveyed more in an observational way and is usually not directed toward a target or meant to wound. When we use sarcasm on a regular basis, it has a tendency to make our own attitude toward others and ourselves more negative or critical. So, while we are striking out and wounding others, we are also chipping away at our own self-esteem. There is usually anger behind sarcasm.
       Wit is a higher-level expression that does not hold the caustic association that sarcasm does. When I started my life coaching business, I became more aware of the difference between these two different uses of language, tone and humor. I noticed how they were used in social media posts and in general conversation and how they seemed to affect not only the conversation, but people’s mood, demeanor and responses. Doing so led to an intentional effort to use less sarcasm and try to lean more toward wit. One thing that I noticed in doing this was less misunderstanding. I paid attention to how I felt about sarcasm and wit when they were directed toward me and when they were directed at someone else and I just heard them differently. There was definitely a difference and it was decidedly funnier when not directed at me. I noticed that a lot of bullying used statements that were sarcastic in nature. Most of us don’t see it that way, but it can feel that way to the person it is targeted toward.
        Why is this important? The more aware we are of how our language affects us and those we communicate with, the more authentically we will be able to communicate and the more genuinely we can express ourselves. I am not saying we should or shouldn’t be sarcastic or witty in our communication. I am saying we should be intentional and know what and how we are communicating and expressing when we use them. Try paying attention and see what you think?  Sometimes funny is not as funny as we think it is! 

      What is forgiveness? Forgiveness is commonly defined as the release of feelings of hurt, resentment or revenge in an intentional and deliberate way. It does not have anything to do with whether the person being forgiven deserves forgiveness. It does not mean forgetting, excusing or condoning the offender and it does not mean that you have to reconcile or allow them in your life. It is an act of releasing debilitating feelings and regaining your power and your peace.
       Anger, resentment, malice, blame and grudges are all legitimate emotions we experience in a world that is often unfair, cruel and intolerant.  Things happen in our lives that make an enduring impact. People treat us in ways that are hurtful, unkind and undeserved. Feeling responsive emotions is natural and needed, however dwelling in those feelings and carrying them forward with us is a heavy burden to bear. It is unnecessary and will drag us down. It can be hard to let go of these emotions though, especially when there has been no vindication or validation of our feelings and no act of repentance or remorse from the offenders. It is a heavy burden that can affect us long-term in many different ways. it blocks us from feelings of joy, can impact our health and actually changes our brain.  Additionally, we sometimes hold some of these feeling with regard to our own actions and past mistakes.  This does as much good as banging your head against a wall, except that in the case of banging our head against a wall, we usually would stop when it hurts enough.  That is more often than not, not the case with holding on to toxic and self-sabotaging emotions. 

​        How can we let go and free ourselves from this burden of toxic and negative emotions and why should we when something really terrible has been done to us?  The "why" is quite simple - because we deserve it! We deserve to let go and put down the burden of past injury and move freely forward. We can do this with forgiveness.  When I talk of forgiveness, I am referring to the letting go of the feelings that are weighing us down and that has little or nothing to do with the offenders who have caused us injury. Feeling compassion, though and just being able to let feeling go is amazingly freeing.  It does not absolve the wrong or the wrong-doer. but allows us to move on to the present time and release the past.  Forgiving yourself is sometimes the most difficult form of letting go.  We can walk away from other people and situations and not be reminded of the past more easily. That is hard to do when the forgiveness and letting go is with ourselves.  If you remember that you are constantly evolving and the person you are today, is not the person you were in the past, it can be easier.  You are letting go of the person you were yesterday to embrace the new and better person you have become. We are different in every moment.  If we have learned from a mistake, it has served us and we can let it go.  Holding on to it serves no purpose.  A man who has a lot of pain due to nephropathy, told me when I asked him why he did not take an aspirin or use other types of pain relief to help him be more comfortable, answered saying -- he felt like he might deserve it.  I know many people have feelings like this that are very hard to let go of. They have become part of their comfort zone and are as much a habit, as anything else.  Still if they can let go of those old feelings, wherever it may have come from, and just be in the present moment, they will free themselves from what does not serve them and move into a better and more resourceful state. 

​        How do you go about forgiving, whether forgiving others or yourself? Where do you start and how do you go about it?  These 8 steps can give you a helpful guide to the process:

1. Awareness and Understanding of your feelings. Why you felt hurt or offended
2. Acknowledging responsibility for any part you may have played in the situation
3. Stepping into the present and leaving remnants of the past behind.
4. Learn from the experience and carry that learning forward.
5. Be objective and non-judgement about the situation
6. Letting go of the feelings with deliberate intention.
7. Choosing to focus on positive thoughts and feelings
8. Being compassionate and wishing the others well in their future.

 
Feeling free of the heavy burden of anger, resentment and grudges is truly worth the effort and release it takes to forgive. It may seem difficult, but peace feels heavenly. I wish you peace!

    Kate Olson, CHt, CPC, founder of Soul Fire Wisdom Life Coaching, Embrace Change Hypnosis & NLP, Total Wellness Products. www.soulfirewisdom.com , www.embracechangehypnosis.com , 206-566-1615

​About the Author:
      Consumers Advocate. org is an editorial review company that dedicates their work to vetting hundreds of products and services, and often times the categories they cover are purchases that are important, complex or difficult to research. Their mission is to hope the brands and experiences you choose will improve your life today, tomorrow, and for the future." 

      ​Essential oils seem to be all the rage recently with DIY projects, gift giving and meditation sessions. However, do we have all the information on these adorable potion bottles? For those who are wondering what essential oils are, they are plant and flower extracts that are very concentrated. These are often used for aromatherapy and meditation, as well as, yoga and other practices. However essential oils can be used for DIY safe cleaning products and projects like candle making or even used for beauty, skin care and hair hydration products.
        For essential oils, there are many things you can do in the DYI area, when it comes to beauty and self-care. If you want to mix them into a new beauty or hair product or routine, you must first use a carrier oil with it. Carrier oils are base or vegetable oils that are used to dilute the essential oil of your choosing. It may be olive oil, coconut oil, argon oil (all of which are perfect on their own for your hair or skin). You should mix the essential oil with a larger quantity of the neutral carrier oil in a few droplets. Therefore, by putting the pure essential oil directly on your skin, you avoid any irritation or damage you might, otherwise, experience.
       One of the things you can do with essential oils are recipes to improve your hair health. Our hair is so delicate that it is weakened by chemicals and heat and becomes brittle. It can take a long time for it to recover its capacity and become strong again. Sometimes having a DIY hair mask once in a while, when you take a relaxing bath will do the trick safely and speed up the process. Each oil type has its own characteristics and properties that can add different benefits. Geranium oil is one type of oil that can really help for breakage. And it's not just good for your hair, it smells amazing!
        One essential oil scent in particular is great to make hair shiny and healthy. It helps people with dandruff keep their scalp clean! This oil is the amazing, calming scent of lavender oil. It also has a relaxing effect and properties that are most commonly found in nighttime sleep products. Jojoba oil is perfect to moisturize and repair hair that has been damaged. Once you have mixed the carrier and essential oils, as part of your bedtime routine, you can apply it to your hair as a moisturizing mask.
       If you want to DIY a nice hair mask a combination of olive oil, honey and jojoba oil would be great to make hair look lighter and smoother. The bonus is that it is completely safe!  If you feel like you don’t have all the information to dive into the world of essential oils, including which brands are best, the best advice is educating yourself on the matter! There are resources for that. If you want to know more about the various properties of essential oils, check out this guide that might be very helpful in learning more about the subject and finding the best essential oils.  ​www.https://www.consumersadvocate.org/essential-oils  

      About the Author:  Anne Logue now resides in Pennsylvania. Anne has studied the healing arts extensively. She is a Reiki Master, trained in Quantum Touch, certified Hypnotherapist, certified in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Healing Touch, a form of energy healing that was founded by a Colorado native, Janet Mentegen.  Anne’s ties to Colorado through Healing Touch keep her connected to the community, experimenting and developing new ways of creating change and new approaches to some of life’s curve balls.  Her practice is in her home in Pennsylvania and she has done workshops and healing fairs there.
     Anne’s father died when she was a freshman in college. One of the ways she dealt with this was through poetry, writing and art. She wrote a story about the sun, which was her way of figuring out who she was and what she was meant to do. The Story of the Sun was illustrated by Anne and is her view of life as a 20-year-old. That view still holds meaning for her and has become a way of connecting with children and helping them learn who they are and what they were meant to do.  It integrates her interest and love of the healing arts with her artistic side, bringing a refreshing look at life to the readers. The Story of the Sun was published in 2017 and is Anne’s first book.
       In addition to her advanced certification in Healing Touch, Anne has done extensive reading and reflection, including research on quantum physics and the holographic universe. She has done workshops and research in the Akashic Records, which are the virtual records that contain all of the information about us in our various incarnations and is a resource for incredible insight and healing. Bringing all of this information into resonance and integrating it with her personal experience has created a new way of experiencing reality. Her focus now is bringing that awareness and understanding to children. She has just finished a publicity campaign to reach audiences that may benefit. Her book has been translated into French and will soon be translated into Spanish. She has written another children’s book, which will be published in the near future.

​        I follow an on-line program called “The DailyOM” with Madisyn Taylor.  She recently featured Edward Vilga, a financial specialist.  The dialogue he started with Madisyn talked about detox.  He said “Detoxing is a bold decision, but once you make it, you stand at a place where you can determine and create the future you desire.” This opened up a whole dialogue in my head about “detoxing”.  Detoxing is not just giving up “junk food”.  Detoxing means to me, facing the bad habits, negative patterns and beliefs that no longer work for me, around relationships, money, habits, everything.
       Sometimes we lose clarity about our lives and when our lives are in high gear, they can become cluttered and not intentional in the actions and habits we pursue.  We keep doing the same thing because to re-design our lives takes some thought and work. The pay-out is a re-structured lifestyle that helps us live the life we want, instead of creating blocks and challenges. When we want to “detox” from patterns or habits that have not been good for us, we have to look them squarely in the eye and realize all the components that they encompass.
        One of my most significant lessons came from reading the book by Anita Moorjani, called “Dying to be Me”.  Anita had cancer which resulted in large tumors throughout her body and she was brought to the hospital at a critical time. She had a “near death” experience and from that experience she learned that as we cross-over, we no longer have our identity or the limits or filters of our identity.  We are no longer male or female, no longer a race, no longer from a certain country, don’t have a particular religion, so all of the blocks associated with these descriptions of ourselves are gone and we see ourselves in an undiluted manner filled with unconditional love.
       So, if you have cancer and you are treated for cancer, is it the drugs that cure you, or the belief that they will heal you that does the work?  Love is really the only effective treatment for any of our human woes and it is delivered to us through the belief system that we can most readily accept. Anita was taken to the hospital on February 2, 2006, by February 3, 2006, she knew she was free of cancer. Her doctors told her husband, “We have a problem, we can’t find the cancer.” Her husband said, “Why is that a problem?”  and the doctors said, “Well, we don’t know how to treat it.”  It took until February 27, 2006 before the hospital staff acknowledged that she had no cancer in her body and she was permitted to go home.

​      Whether we know it or not, we are all creatures of habit and emotional beings and our learning systems are hard wired to connect with our emotions. This system is on such an integral level that we are barely aware of it, and we seldom acknowledge it.  When we are trying to make a change in our lives, to adopt a new “system” or eliminate a faulty or destructive pattern, we need to approach it from an emotional standpoint.  Love is the greatest motivator. If we love ice cream and associate it with happy and positive memories, when we choose to eliminate ice cream from our diets, we need to find a positive substitute. I remember when my daughter was trying to quit smoking and she called me so desperate because she had so many associations with smoking.  I said “Well, why don’t you just go for a walk?”  And she said, “You don’t understand, everything I do, I used to have a cigarette.” We have to unlearn and relearn our habits in order to change. Yes, it was a habit, but it was connected with positive emotional experiences.
       Try listening to what you are saying to yourself each day and then determine if this conversation is someone who loves you and wishes you only good. If these are not your thoughts about yourself, you can correct them. After all, if you don’t believe in yourself, who will?
       As Marie Forleo says in her book “Everything is Figureoutable”, people are not failures.  A failure is a short-sighed version of a longer story. If you deem an event or a circumstance, a person, really anything as a failure, it’s because you haven’t seen what happens after that event that redeems the whole situation. Look for those outcomes, figure out how this, event, person, situation can benefit you if you look at it from a new perspective.  Maybe the “failure” was meant to do just that. Change the paradigm.
For many years, a lot of human behavior was deemed “unacceptable” by society and so the term “in the closet” was coined.  We also all know the term “skeletons in the closet”.  What does “being in the closet” actually mean except pushing down all the feelings of shame, anger, worthlessness, depression, prejudice, fear and similar emotions until they are so well buried that they have altered our lives.  Once they are acknowledged and someone comes “out of the closet” what happens but a turbulent cascade of feelings, releasing all of the self-doubt about who they were.  Once they have the courage to be recognized for who they are, they can claim so much more and live a life being true to themselves. During the time they denied their feelings, were they worthless?  No, they still could live in a manner to help others, but they were not able to enjoy the freedom and joy of knowing who they truly are. 
        If everything is “Figureoutable” and we can re-program our thinking, lets look for the way to “detox” our thinking and eliminate the stuck habits and beliefs that create stagnant and blocked emotions. Be your own best friend and listen to the positive things you say and think about yourself!! 

​About the Author: Kate Olson, CPC, CHt, is a Life Coach, Master Hypnotherapist, EFT & NLP Master Practitioner & Trainer and Reiki Master located in Seattle, at Soul Fire Wisdom Life Coaching  & Embrace Change Hypnosis & NLP .  Kate offers workshops & classes, as well as, individual and group coaching. Her emphasis is on assisting clients in finding Path, Purpose and Peace.  Kate focuses on integration of mind, body, spirit wellness. It is her mission to help clients find joy through connection, creative expression and embracing change.  She is passionate about creativity, travel, personal growth and enjoying life. She has two other wellness-related businesses, Total Wellness Products, offering  healing resources and products and Circle of Love Retreats.  All four businesses operate as Dba's under Total Well Resources, LLC.  Kate is a speaker, author and radio host.  Her new radio show/ podcast starting in September is "Soul Fire Wisdom".  Formerly she hosted "Embrace Change with Kate".

        Most people would agree that our feelings have a powerful impact in our lives. Feelings make us aware that we are alive and without them we don’t really function well. What are feelings and how do they function in our mind and body? How do we deal with them and why is it important? The answers to these questions give us perspective on how feelings relate to our health and wellness.
       As an empath, I have been sensitive to and aware of feelings (in an energy sense), my own and others. It has always been apparent to me that feelings impact our health. As a child, I could tell that my Mother’s anger was not good for her and I could see the effects on my Dad when his blood pressure went up. I knew it made me feel sick when I worried too much. That did not necessarily make me stop worrying, but I was aware of the physical effects and knew they were not good for me.
       In my studies as a Hypnotherapist, NLP & Reiki practitioner, as well as, my study into Neuroscience and Energy Psychology, I have found support for my intuitive suspicions. I have gotten some answers as to how things work and I am convinced that the way we deal with our emotions is a key predictor of our well-being.
 
The dictionary gives three definitions for feelings:
 
          (1) feelings are basic physical sensations, such as touch, temperature, etc.
         (2) feelings are emotional states or reactions
         (3) a belief, such as suspicion, apprehension. (Merriam-Webster)
 
       Are feelings the same as emotions? Though related, emotions and feelings, are two sides of the same coin. Emotions are lower-level responses coming from the sub-cortical regions of the brain, dealing with conscious thought, reasoning and decision-making. They create biochemical and electrical reactions in the body and alter its physical state. Feelings on the other hand, originate in the neo-cortical regions of the brain. Feelings are initiated by emotions, but filtered by personal experience, beliefs, memories, and thoughts linked to our emotions. Feelings are the result of our brain’s perception initiating from emotions.
      Interestingly, the relationship between emotions and feelings works in reverse, as well. Initially, an emotion leads to a feeling. A feeling can also initiate an emotion. If you encounter a snake and experience fear, in the future, just thinking about a snake can result in activating that basic emotional response with all the same chemical reactions in the body. Nature intended that we experience emotions and they are instinctual. They can affect health if we are constantly exposed to circumstances that evoke negative or stressful emotions. The release of cortisol into our system and the impact on our adrenals, heart and blood pressure creates tremendous impact. Our nervous system and body were not meant to be in a constant state of fear and stress. Early humans, who were in constant fear, with few resources for protection and survival, did not live very long lives.
      There are fewer real dangers in our lives today, but unfortunately, many more imagined dangers or worries created over possible negative circumstances that will likely never occur. Anxiety and stress are prevalent in our world and they take a big toll.
“Chronic Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide. And more than 75 percent of all physician office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints.”
(The American Psychological Association, March 21, 2014)

​      Stress and anxiety result from feelings, the thoughts or meanings we attribute to our emotions around something in the past or future. Most of those feelings and harmful chemical reactions in our bodies are not related to what is actually happening now. We are making a choice to imagine something that may or may not ever happen. We are choosing to actually experience the negative trauma from an imagined occurrence. This causes needless illness, disease and dysfunction in our bodies and can lead to early death.
       Our feelings are intricately related to our health. The medical community is beginning to realize this and place more importance on treating patients in a holistic way, taking into consideration, not only physical symptoms, but emotions and feelings in their treatment plans and assignment of expected outcomes. Research bears this out in a government study from the CDC, Healthy People 2020 Approach to Health-Related Quality of Life & Well-Being.
       This is definitely encouraging, but more is needed. Individuals need to take responsibility, become more aware of their feelings and learn ways to manage stress, anxiety and depression. By making better choices this can be done. We can’t depend on curing disease. It is necessary to prevent some of the dysfunction and choose to be healthier!  We do have the tools to make these changes and with more awareness, we can do this! It is up to us! 

    ​       It might seem strange for someone who encourages you to “Embrace Change” to be talking about the power and importance of rituals, but there is a place for ritual in our lives and a balance or synergy between ritual and change is actually what is needed!
What is ritual? If you look in the dictionary you will see references to religious ceremony or a prescribed and ceremonious order, that is not what I am talking about. If you look further you will see that ritual can be:

1. A series of actions or type of behavior regularly and invariably followed by someone, or
2. Action arising from convention or habit.

 
        This defines the type of ritual that I am going to talk about.  I have a morning ritual that I start my day with and since I have been practicing this “ritual”, I have realized how powerful it is and wondered why this is so. I did some research I’d like to share with you. I think you might want to develop your own rituals after you hear how powerful and important, they can be.
         First let me tell you about my morning ritual. Every morning without exception, when I wake up, I do what almost everyone else does and go to the bathroom and then I drink a large glass of water and run a warm washcloth over my face. I then go back to bed for a 10 to 20 minutes and do something similar to mediation that involves intentional positive thought focused on the moment and this day. I note what I am thankful for today, do some deep intentional breathing and I make it a point to smile. I think smiling is really important!  During this time, I can feel the aches and pains lightening and leaving my body and then when I get up, I stretch out my muscles and notice how my body is feeling. I make my bed, (that really does make me feel both more organized and more motivated) and I open up the curtains and blinds in my room. My room gets a lot of light and I love looking out at the trees and greenery.  I then brush my teeth and go down stairs. I open the blinds downstairs and turn on my music (always). I have to have my morning music. It is an important part of setting my mood. Sometimes, I then go back upstairs and get ready, if I have an appointment. If I don’t have appointments, I’ll make some coffee or tea and relax while I look over my schedule and check my social media and email. This is not complicated or out of the ordinary in any way, but having this simple and positive structure to start my day does some important things that help the rest of day go well.  I was happy to find that there are some science-backed reasons why following this morning ritual makes everything go better.  

        What does this ritual do for me? To start with it gets me moving in a kind, gentle and positive way. Shouldn’t we be treating ourselves with as much kindness as possible? I remember when I use to set the alarm for the last minute possible with a couple of snooze alarms and then push myself to get up with no time to orient or think, and get ready. I was usually running a little late and stressed, rushed out the door wishing I were still in bed asleep and tried to force my day into a positive direction. That never seemed to feel right and the feeling I was starting my day with was generally not positive. Can you guess how my days often went? Second, this intentional order helps me to focus, concentrate and direct my attention.
       How do these seemingly simple and meaningless actions I have chosen to take do so much?  There is mounting research and evidence that these rituals, though they may seem irrational and arbitrary on the surface, have a strong impact on regulating our behaviors and level of performance, as well as, setting the tone and direction of our mood and mind flow or the sequence of our thoughts. Studies in the sports field have found that simple, seemly meaningless rituals can, in fact, help us to run faster, jump higher or solve problems more quickly. So, let’s say you are a tennis player and you have a ritual that you do before every match. Which many famous tennis stars do! Let’s say, you always drink a sport drink, practice your backhand and recite a certain mantra. The act of performing this ritual in your chosen order will reduce performance anxiety, set your mind flow in a positive direction and create a success mindset, as well as, diminish doubts or thoughts around failure. We know this because there have been studies in neuroscience where control groups practiced rituals and other groups did not practice rituals and were scientifically tested measuring brain activity. They were measured for performance anxiety using brain wave neural signaling. Goal achievement and performance level were also tracked and the groups who practiced rituals performed significantly better in all cases.
        Personally, I think that the quality and intention of the ritual would probably have the effect of even greater performance improvement, but so far, the research shows that almost any ritual practiced routinely has the effect of lessening performance anxiety and worry and therefore, improves performance. This is great news, because it means that we can all improve performance in any area of our lives, while reducing stress and its negative health consequences by practicing simple rituals.
       Creating rituals is easy and we all probably already have some that we don’t even think about or realize we are doing. Getting enough sleep is one problem area for me. I am going to start there. I plan on creating a bedtime ritual that I am hoping will help me get more and better sleep. It looks like they have already proven this to be true, so I am looking forward to getting better zzzz’s already!  Is there an area where a ritual might help you perform better and be more successful?  

Tera Lea Day, CLSC, CHT is a certified Master Practitioner NLP Life Coach with training, education and a degree in Medical Management and Administration.  She has been teaching Anger Management Awareness since 2009. Initially teaching tools and techniques to develop new communication skills, Tera found her personal journey with anger issues to be the catalyst to her teaching style of personal process in the small group environment. Tera shares that she has lived, learned and continues to apply the very techniques she teaches, learning as much from her groups as she gives to them.
“My goal is to provide a safe place, without judgement for self-discovery, helping each person learn how the tools work." -
  www.tleaconsulting.com/  

​        Ever feel like things are out of your control? Have you experienced a sleepless night with endless thoughts rehashing an encounter or situation that didn’t turn out as you planned? Did you experience the “Would have, Could have, Should have” syndrome or did your unconscious take you to the deep dark rabbit hole of irrational thinking?
There may be times in your life that everything seemed to be working against you. Anger and frustration set in, allowing you to excuse or blame the outcome on others. “How’s that working for you?” as Dr. Phil might said. Being stuck in the sleepless nights or days of frustration, rationalizing or playing the blame game, will not allow us to see through the muck and mire to make changes.
 
When was the last time you took a side glance as you passed a mirror, just to make sure everything looks good from the outside? Better yet, when have you ever stopped to look in the mirror, taking time to do eye to eye inventory of you starting from the inside? Change will only occur when we are willing to be accountable to ourselves for what is ours. You cannot change the people around you or the experiences of the past. (as much as we would like to believe that we can)
 
As with the lyrics from Michael Jackson’s song “Man in the Mirror”:
“I’m starting with the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways. And no message could have been any clearer. If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and make a change.”
 
Now Look in the mirror of life to learn about you. Do you like what you see? Is it time to make a change from within? Take this moment to “Accept You” for who you are, here and now. Believe that change is possible. Remember you are human with choices and decisions to make.
 
Keep it simple and learn your warning signs when things are not working for you. What are your triggers? People, places and things can all become triggers. What are your expectations? Perhaps they are unrealistic. Are you projecting an outcome before it happens? Perception can be a projection.
 
I realize these are questions that we do not like to ask ourselves, however, in doing so they allow us to know who we are and see the avenues to change. I found the first moment I truly “Looked in the Mirror” I had to become very real with myself.
 
My daughter shared the following with me, and it helped me to understand I had the pen within me to write the changes into my story.
 
YOU are the creator of your Reality & You need to take Responsibility for it…
Your current situation is the result of your past thoughts & actions…
You are the creator, writer, producer, director & actor in your own story…
So, make your reality how you want it….   (unknown author)
 
Now ask yourself is it time to “Look in the Mirror” and make the changes?  Start the re-write on your personal story today!
Remember you can always seek professional help with a therapist or life coach if you need assistance in this process.
Sending Healing to all, as you “Look in the Mirror” with the Power of Change, Tera Lea Day, CLSC, Cht, 

About the Author: Kate Olson, CPC, CHt, is a Life Coach, Integrative Master Hypnotherapist, EFT & NLP Master Practitioner & Trainer and Reiki Master located in Seattle, at Northern Lights Life Coaching www.northernlightscoaching.net & Embrace Change Hypnosis & NLP www.embracechangehypnosis.com.  Kate offers workshops & classes, as well as, individual and group coaching. Her emphasis is on assisting clients in finding Path, Purpose and Peace. Kate focuses on integration of mind, body, spirit wellness. It is her mission to help clients find joy through connection, creative expression and embracing change.  She is passionate about creativity, travel, personal growth and enjoying life. She has two other wellness-related businesses Salt Works Pods, offering Salt Therapy and Total Wellness Products. offering natural healing products. All four businesses operate as Dba's under Total Well Resources, LLC.  Kate is a speaker, author and retreat facilitator.  She is also a radio show host on Contact Talk Radio,   www.ctrnetwork.com/embracechange  "Embrace Change with Kate ".  ​

​        This is a term that is frequently used in the sports world! It refers to everything flowing exactly as you would want it to or have imagined it in your dreams and sometimes even better than you might have imagined. In the world of spirituality being in the zone or flowing with the Universe is also a concept that people aspire to. We call it something different though, it is synchronicity, or maybe sometimes serendipity and on occasion called “magic”.  It is when all is flowing effortlessly our way in abundance for our best and highest good. 
        As with being in the zone in the sports world, being in the zone or in synchronicity spiritually seems to come without effort, but in truth, it is the consequence of awareness and preparation meeting opportunity in the moment. It is a mindset and mind flow that has been cultivated to the point that it flows naturally and automatically. It is practice that has become habit and it is habit that have become pattern and a set of beliefs that align with our deepest and truest self.
        How does an athlete get to that point where “being in the zone” happens? According to an article by Mike Edger, In Sports Psychology Today, titled The Zone:
 
 “The ‘zone’ is a state of extreme focus that helps athletes in all sports perform at their peak potential. It is when your mind fully connects with achieving a goal, such as, getting a hit, or stealing a base. Attention is absorbed into the present (the here and now only). When you’re in the zone your mind only processes the thoughts and images so that help you execute your task successfully.”
 
The National Academy of Sports describes ‘the zone’ this way-
 
 “Being in the zone, also referred to as a state of flow, comes from activities that are intrinsically motivating. There are several common elements of flow in sports: a balance of challenge and skills, complete absorption in the activity, clear goals, merge of action and awareness, total concentration, loss of self-consciousness, a sense of control, no extra rewards, transformation of time, and effortless movement.” 

       It is apparent that much of this comes from and is a spiritual state in itself, but it also gives an image and demonstration of how we achieve or get into “the zone” or that state of synchronicity in any area of our lives. It has a component of what we are currently calling mindfulness. For instance, from the definitions above it is easy to see how a performer giving an electrifying performance has achieved that state and a speaker who is mesmerizing their audience has achieved that state, as well.  Even the artist or the writer who draws their readers or viewers into their world is operating in “the zone”.
       It is possible to see then, how the elements that bring us into “the zone” and that magical state of synchronicity, whatever we may be doing in our lives, are very similar to the state described in sports as “being in the zone”.  Just as sports goals have been achieved by adopting some of the practices of spirituality, we can achieve that state of “being in the zone” spiritually and feeling synchronicity with the Universe with similar practices. Some of those practices of spirituality that are the tools of connection are mediation, mindfulness, developing a mindset or mind flow that is consistent and becomes habit, cultivating a vision, concentration or focus, clarity, awareness, gratitude, trust and intuition and finally, belief.  Like the movement of sports, movement in the spiritual sense is energy and must be effortless, timely and timeless. The athlete making that shot they have imagined and envisioned a thousand times mentally, in real time, is the same as when those things we have imagined come to us easily in other areas of life. When things, such as, ideas, creativity, money, love, security, health, or happiness just seem like they are simply meant to be, we are in the ‘zone’, in synchronicity with the Universe. It is bringing us what we have imagined and sometimes even surprising us with serendipity or “happy accidents” that align with our best and highest good. Like the athlete who sometimes achieves something never imagined when their well-practiced skills meet opportunity to create that unimagined moment, we too, can have those moments in our spiritual lives and in all areas of our life experience.   
        The key to “being in the zone” seems to be training and honing your skills in those areas you are passionate about to the highest level, no matter what you are doing. That is the magic of it!  Ask an athlete or anyone accomplished in any discipline how they achieved that moment of peak performance and they will likely tell you they don’t know – “they just feel it”, but the truth is they have cultivated and created the right mix of skills, along with mental and emotional attributes to achieve that ultimate moment.
 
            “Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you do repeatedly.”

• Shaquille O’Neal

        Christine Schader (AKA: Smiley) is a neuroscience nerd, an inspirational speaker, author of "The Happiness Connection", and a heart centered life, happiness, and money coach (holding some of the highest credentialing in the financial industry and owning her own financial planning firm).  She is passionate about sharing the science behind Health, Wealth and Happiness, and how to apply that science to achieve your goals, dreams, and desires while simultaneously tapping into expanding joy, happiness, and bliss daily. Christine lives with purpose and passion and loves inspiring and empowering women to achieve their greatest versions of themselves and teaching them to not be afraid to Shine and brightly at that.  
       She views herself as a lifelong student of God, love, and happiness. She has a beautiful retreat center on the Lake in Sandpoint, Idaho, has been married for over thirty-five years, and has two amazing adult children. In her spare time, you can find her hiking in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest, enjoying life with her friends and family, or clicking away at the keyboard on her next book. To reach Christine please email her at SoulTuned@outlook.com, her book is available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B075C5L7VD 

        Could you stand to be just a little bit healthier?  How about a little bit Wealthier? Maybe even Happier?  Well this article is for you! As a life, happiness and financial coach and author on these subjects, I’ve been sharing the science behind happiness and success for decades and it all really boils down to this…
 WTF?
        Oh, now, come on—that stands for “where’s the focus?” not what you were thinking!
What you focus on, is what will grow. Think about it this way: you move toward what you think about. If you’ve ever taken a defensive-driving course, the instructor probably told you that if you hit a patch of ice or have an emergency circumstance, you should look in the direction you want to go, not where you don’t want to go. You end up moving the vehicle in the direction you look.
       The same holds true with your thoughts. You move your life in the direction of your thoughts. Therefore, you want to prime yourself to have thoughts that create the happy successful life you want.
       Happiness and success are skills. You actually have to train your brain by strengthening the neuropathways to fire for what you want.
Scientific research has given clarity about how we can rewire the brain for happiness and success; and with a basic understanding of this science we learn how our thoughts and words literally become reality.
 
 The Science
         
     Neuroplasticity shows that many aspects of the brain can be altered throughout life. Our brain is not rigid and set but rather malleable like plastic.  Scientific research teaches us that this neuroplastic change can happen when we change our behavior, environmental stimuli, thoughts, and emotions.
In other words, you can actually physically change and rewire your own brain simply by changing your thoughts.
        Hence, we want to help select our thoughts. —and one of the easiest ways to select our thoughts or “prime our life” is to influence our thinking using affirmations, affirmative prayer, visual reminders and intentions. We want to “set” ourselves up for success by wiring our brains.  The brain is incredibly influenced by priming. For example, if I were to say “wash” and then show you “so_p,” you would likely fill in the missing letter with an a, creating the word “soap.” On the other hand, if I said the word “eat,” you would likely fill in the missing letter with a u to form the word “soup.”
That’s because our brains are fast, jumping to conclusions based on previous experiences and programming. This is due in part to the reticular activating system (RAS).
        The RAS is a small part of the brain—a set of neurons and neuro-fibers located in the brain stem—yet it plays a vital role. It allows us the ability to focus and filter information that is let into our conscious mind.
Our brains take in incredible amounts of information every second and the RAS helps screen what parts of that information we actually need to pay attention to. We are created to filter down to what is really important and focus on it. The brain is designed to pay attention to things that keep us alive. We are also crafted to seek pleasure instead of pain. The RAS is helpful in filtering what gets through, deciding what’s important.
The thing is, our thoughts help set up the parameters of what we decide is important. Here’s an example of your RAS in action: Have you ever noticed that when you decide to get a new (to you at least) vehicle that you start noticing that same make and model all over the place? There are not more vehicles of that make and model, you just told your brain to start noticing them.
         Our brains are amazingly powerful, so use your brain for yourself instead of against yourself. Now you know that what you focus on grows, and that you should prime your life. BUT…
How do you tell your brain what to think about while you are in the midst of a tragic situation, a crisis, or a stressful moment? Here is where a great deal of the magic of designing a happy life exists.

     Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies    our growth and our freedom.
  —Viktor E. Frankl
 
       I could not agree more. I’d also add that mastering the space is where a considerable amount of your happiness lies. So how do you do that?
You want to exercise and train your brain to pause before you immediately respond. To have an opportunity to choose what thoughts you want to run with.
       Why do you have to learn to pause? Because if you don’t, your brain will hijack you.
Remember that it’s our thoughts that create our emotions, which create our perceptions, which create our beliefs, which create our responses and behaviors, which affect things like our relationships and ultimately shapes our entire life.
 
Therefore, the secret to sustained happiness is to learn to expand the space (create a pause) between stimulus and response so that you can decide how you want to respond instead of having your fast brain decide for you.
​

       You have over 60,000 thoughts per day, and most of those are the same thoughts you had yesterday. If you want to change your life, you need to change your thoughts. In order to do that, you need to learn how to create a pause, in order to allow yourself time to decide what you want to think.
       Remember, the brain has this amazing ability to do some awesome editing. It then presents an immediate response due to all your years of programming and your RAS. As a result, you view that response as reality, the only truth. In fact, though, that was only one option or way of seeing the world out of literally tens of thousands of choices.
We can actually retrain our brain to respond differently. We can program it to pause between the immediate situation (the stimulus) and our response. Then we can decide which response we want instead of going with the first edited choice presented by our fast brain.
        How do we do that? We slow down our fast brains so we can create the space to choose. We exercise and strengthen the ability to pause between stimulus and response, and we allow ourselves to see several ways of looking at the situation and deciding carefully which choice we want to feel and which way we want to lean.
The magic lies in the pause and realizing you can change how you are feeling at any moment, even while in the midst of a situation.
 
MFI
 
        And how do you create the pause? You need to craft and master “interrupter skills.”
What do I mean by that? You need to be able to purposely construct an interruption to stop the current thought flow and ultimate reaction so that you have the ability to have another thought—any other thought.
       If you do not pause, you will continue to feed your current thoughts, emotions, and feelings. And more and more chemicals to match those thoughts will be dumped into your body, which will create even more feelings and thoughts and more chemicals.
       So next time, when your mind is doing a number on you (a mind freak-out or more bluntly a mindfu@k), how do you interrupt your brain so you can even entertain a new thought? I have developed several MFI (“mind freak-out interruption”) skills.
       For example, when in a situation with another person, one of my favorite MFI skills is to remind myself that I am the author, star, and director of the Christine show and to ask myself how I want my star actress to respond in that moment. How do I want this happy ending to happen? How would my highest self, respond? And then I can shift. Sometimes, I actually say “plot twist” out loud and choose a new scene.
When my mind is simply playing over and over a situation and continually feeding a response that results in a feeling I don’t want, I seek to interrupt that cycle.  I may just need a distraction from the situation, so I get up and go for a walk, see a movie, pick up a book, or call a friend. Other times, I imagine I have a large “pause” button in my brain that I can push at any time.
     Do anything to stop the negative, unwanted self-talk or thoughts so that you can allow another possibility to be entertained.
 
Shopping for Happiness
 
        So now, you’ve mastered the pause. You’ve created and are practicing your own interrupter skills. Now what? How do you choose another thought?
This is the easy part: you get to go shopping! Shop for how you want to feel. Shop! Woohoo! Shop to your heart’s content! Shop, shop, and shop some more!! It’s the best shopping ever, because you are shopping for happiness.
Creating the interruption allows you space for another thought or way of looking at things. You now have the ability to ask yourself, “Is there any other way to look at this? How could this be useful? Are the things I am telling myself true? Is there another way to interpret this? How can this be useful? What else could this mean? What can I learn from this?” When you can change your perceptions, you can change your life.
      Perception is active not passive.  YOU control your thoughts. You get to choose how you want to look at any situation. Remember, situations do not have inherent meaning. You assign a situation meaning based on your fast brain. Past experiences, values, and beliefs about yourself and others determine how you interpret the event.  When you shop for happiness you allow yourself the ability to choose another way to look at the situation, to see things differently and to lean into how you want to feel about it. You get to choose how you view it and pick what serves you, what feels good. In coaching we call this ability to shop for happiness- reframing. When you can shift how you look at things you can shift your experience of it.
        Give yourself at least four or five other ways of looking at it before choosing. Often, I suggest throwing out the first and second thought and continuing to come up with alternative options until you find one that moves you in the direction you want.
I’m not talking window shopping here. I want you to actually try the thought on, see how comfortable it is. You know, when you go shopping for a new pair of jeans, you most likely don’t buy the first pair you see. If you are like me, you take a dozen pairs into the dressing room. You put them on, and you see if they stretch and move with you, if they’re comfortable, if they’re a good match for your body type. You try on pair after pair until you find the one that fits just right.
        Well, I want you to do the same for your thoughts. Try them on. Do they feel good? Do they make you feel expansive, light, better? Or are they tight, constrictive, and limiting? You’ll most often find that you want to lean into the good.
Keep in mind that all of life is energy, and that energy is expansive. If you want more joy and happiness in your life, you need to lean into that energy. I will most often choose to lean into the good—not always, mind you, but most often.
So, give yourself a chance to shop for how you truly want to feel.
 
Remember, it is never the thing, it is always what you think about the thing!
 
Once you understand that every thought you think, every word you speak, and every belief you hold is a brushstroke in the painting of your life, you begin to see the magic you bestow upon the creation of your life’s masterpiece.
​

Kate Olson, CPC, CHt, is a Life Coach, Integrative Master Hypnotherapist, EFT & NLP Master Practitioner & Trainer and Reiki Master located in Seattle, at Northern Lights Life Coaching www.northernlightscoaching.net & Embrace Change Hypnosis & NLP www.embracechangehypnosis.com.  Kate offers workshops & classes, as well as, individual and group coaching. Her emphasis is on assisting clients in finding Path, Purpose and Peace. Kate focuses on integration of mind, body, spirit wellness. It is her mission to help clients find joy through connection, creative expression and embracing change.  She is passionate about creativity, travel, personal growth and enjoying life. She has two other wellness-related businesses Salt Works Pods, offering Salt Therapy and Total Wellness Products. offering natural healing products. All four businesses operate as Dba's under Total Well Resources, LLC.  Kate is a speaker, author and retreat facilitator.  She is also a radio show host on Contact Talk Radio,   www.ctrnetwork.com/embracechange  "Embrace Change with Kate ".  

        As I write this, I am myself grappling with self-motivation & self-discipline. For myself, I much prefer to be motivated rather than having to use discipline.  I guess I am a bit of a rebel, as I always seem to want to balk a little at being pushed, even by myself for my own good!  Perhaps that’s one of those limiting beliefs I should work on?  However, finding the motivation isn’t always easy and keeping it up over a long period of time can be extremely challenging.  Self-discipline is needed to keep up the level of performance we need to reach and maintain our desired goals. This is a push, pull scenario and it turns out we need both the push and the pull to keep us moving productively toward our dreams.
       How can we find that balance between the push and pull where we don’t feel we are either bullying ourselves or get stuck because we can’t find that motivation at times?  First, we have to realize that it is a synergy and not an either/or situation. We need to use both motivation and discipline on a continuous basis and use them as our fuel and tools to accomplish what we want and need. And, maybe if, like me, you have beliefs or ideas that are making things more difficult, work on letting those go!
       As I sit here pushing myself to write this blog, I am reaching for that motivation that will make it a little easier. I haven’t found it yet, so the pushing is needed, but I am hoping before the end some positive and inspiring motivation will pull me up the hill. You can always feel it when it kicks in. It’s like stepping on the gas or something clicking into place or that “aha!” moment when we finally get it!
        I think discipline is harder for me now partly because I have created a life that is pretty motivating and inspiring to me most of the time and that is generally a good thing.  In the past, I had to discipline myself more often because a lot of what I needed to do were things I did not like or want to do.  I could not have functioned without a lot of self-discipline.  I did it, but I wasn’t happy most of the time and I didn’t like my life.  I was pushing myself up hill all the time and it was exhausting!  Now the things I love doing are constantly pulling and sometimes propelling me forward.  Still there are things I need to do that require that push.  Right now, due to some temporary circumstances, there are more of those than I’d like.  I feel a little exhausted looking at the hill I need to push myself up and possibly like there is a mean taskmaster with a whip following behind me beating me up a bit.  How can I change this picture, scenario and circumstance?  

        I am really framing this as I go, and see that some reframing is needed! Can I look at this differently in a way that will change the picture in my head and the reality of my feelings and actions? Luckily, I know that I can and so can you --- with whatever pictures and limiting beliefs you have hanging around in your head making life more difficult and not serving you well!  This is something I learned in a useful context as part of my NLP (Neurolinguistics Programming) training and in studying neuroscience.  So, here I am getting a little excited about seeing how I can change my reality and using these amazing modalities to make my reality a little easier, better or more of an energy flow that feels “good” or “right” to me and removes that resistance or blocks I am currently feeling.  Whoa! That feels good!  I think something is beginning to click and lead me in the right direction to make a big change in my picture of discipline.
        With what I have going on in my life right now, I really need that!  A big dose of self-discipline could propel me forward and make all the difference between a big win and a big crash!  Let me look at the big picture and concentrate more on how that looks, how that feels!  Hmmm? I’m liking that picture! I’m feeling good about how it seems real!  It seems like I could actual get there and maybe it wouldn’t be hard!  Maybe it would be easy with just a little push from me and some self-discipline.  It feels like a reward and not something I want to rebel against.
       I am going with this now and I think it may work! Changing my thinking on the push and pull and the feelings behind it, does change things! We can all do this with whatever is holding us back and keeping us stuck!  We are not limited by our thoughts. They are literally something we have created, and therefore, have control over! It is up to us and that is so empowering!  We just have to start recognizing and using this amazing power when we feel resistance and our energy is not moving and flowing forward for our highest good.
        To break it down, when you find yourself blocked and resisting what you know you need to do, recognize that you are dealing with those push/pull dilemmas where changing the pictures in your mind and your feelings about them is needed to make things work and find that balance between self-motivation and self-discipline. You need to get them working in synergy.  There may be more than one picture or limiting belief involved and you might have to work on all of them to get things in line, as with me, in my current situation I needed to change my picture and feelings around more than just self-discipline in order to resolve the issues blocking my best energy and keeping me struggling.  The process of doing that though is the same. You have to first recognize the picture, thought, or limiting belief that you have created and that it is holding you back. Then go about reframing and changing that picture to one that is going to make it easier to flow forward toward your desired outcomes. Different picture, different thought, different feeling and different actions equal different outcome.  It isn’t easy, but it does work and is so worth it!  Now watch me ramp up my self-discipline and get motivated to change my story in a big and positive way!
 
    “True excellence is a product of synergy!” – Mack Wilberg
 
       Creating a synergy between self-motivation and self-discipline will keep us moving toward our goals and using tools to remove any blocks or limiting beliefs we have created and will allow us to take action and keep our energy flowing positively forward!    

 About the Author: Shelley Abrams spent close to 25 years as a corporate technical writer before branching out on her own in 2010. She loves writing, research and the diversity being a freelancer offers. She’s contributed to blogs on spirituality, personal development, mindfulness, and health and wellness. She has written and maintained philosophical and spiritually based content for a paid membership site. She has an MBA, as well as a certificate in non-fiction writing. When she’s not writing, she likes being out in nature or just reflecting in the quiet. She finds history, geography, philosophy and meta-physics fascinating. She also loves traveling, meeting new people and experiencing different cultures. To learn more about Ms. Abrams’ writing experiences, visit her website at www.write2spec.com. 

​Struggle. When you hear this word what image does it conjure up? For me, I think of conflict, obstacles, defeat, stress, overwhelm and being beaten down. Struggling often paralyzes us, makes us fearful and unwilling to keep pushing forward, and for many it becomes a vicious cycle that one cannot escape from. Struggle is suffering and suffering is struggle.
 
It is our nemesis, yet while we resist struggling, we also accept this reality in our subconscious because we’ve been told through millennia that struggle is a natural, inherent part of life. In many schools of thought, struggle is even desirable, as it “builds character”.  We’re constantly told that struggle is necessary for success, that it makes us stronger, that it makes us who we are! And who are we to argue? After all, it’s influencers like spiritual teachers, religious leaders, philosophers and personal development gurus who have engrained this into our psyche over the years.
 
“Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.” Orison Swett Marden
 
STRUGGLE VS SUFFERING – IS THERE A DIFFERENCE?
 So, let’s take a step back. What exactly is struggle? How is it defined, and how did the concept that struggle is necessary come about?
 
The dictionary defines struggling as “striving to achieve or attain something in the face of difficulty or resistance.” It is similar to the definition of suffering, which is “the state of undergoing pain, distress or hardship”. Suffering and struggle have become synonymous over the centuries when talking about becoming better (as in a better person, better society, better world, etc.).
 
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” Khalil Gibran
 
The concept of struggle goes back eons, with Heraclitus of Ephesus being credited with saying that struggle is the father of everything. As time passed, struggle was tantamount to natural selection - “survival of the fittest”. Scholars like Thomas Hobbes and Matthew Hale wrote about the struggle for resources amongst humans. Immanuel Kant felt that the “inner and outer struggle” was the catalyst for one becoming a “viable citizen of the world”. These theories were brought into mainstream thinking by Robert Thomas Malthus and Charles Darwin in the 18th and 19th century.
 
Suffering as a concept is as ancient as that of struggle. First, suffering was equated with knowledge, as noted in ancient Greek mythology and early Christian theology as told through origin stories such as the Garden of Eden. Next, suffering and punishment became one and the same. This theory was supported by all the major religions of the world, from ancient times through the Middle Ages. In essence, this belief says that if your God was displeased at how you lived your life, God punished you and you suffered accordingly. If you changed your behavior – persevered – you were granted relief and you became a “better person”. Even today, many people consider adversity and struggle as punishment for not believing or acting a certain way and more importantly, they feel they deserve it.
 
From there, the belief that struggle was suffering and suffering was punishment evolved into the undesirable need for wanting, or craving. This was particularly true in Hindu and Buddhist teachings. Basically, this viewpoint says that if you crave something, you are seeking pleasure and pleasure leads to more craving. In turn, you must suffer because you are no longer on the path to enlightenment. To avoid this form of suffering, you must let go of the need for want and experience the quiet mind. This belief still exists today – that in order to be happy, one must understand that the source of suffering is wanting.
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 Eventually suffering morphed into being a necessity to finding happiness and success, which is the belief held and taught by many spiritual teachers, philosophers and religious leaders of the modern era.

​LIMITING BELIEFS
 So now that we know how struggling and suffering came about, let’s explore limiting beliefs. A simple definition is that a limiting belief is something which constrains us in some way. Generally, limiting beliefs are something we acquire throughout our lives as a result of our experiences, especially those that overwhelm us as a child. It is a coping mechanism our minds created to help us accept, adapt and endure - in other words – to survive!
 
A couple classic examples of a limiting belief are “I’m not worthy”, or “I will never be successful.” You might have failed at something as a child even when you tried your best. You begin to doubt yourself and tell yourself that you can never be successful. Voila, you have created a limiting belief! Perhaps your family berated you when you asked for something or didn’t live up to their expectations, by telling you that you didn’t deserve it. Over time, you adopt the mindset that you are never worthy of the things you want or the good things that come to you. Wow, you’ve created another limiting belief. It happens that easily and quickly.
 
Whatever the trigger was initially, these experiences and thoughts become beliefs that you live by. They are buried deep in your subconscious yet they drive everything you do. And they affect all areas of your life. They manifest as oft repeated cycles of overwhelm, worry, fear, beating yourself up and self-sabotage. You feel stuck and don’t believe there is anything you can do to change it no matter your actions or how many times you’ve tried. This happens even when you get a fleeting taste of victory (as in overcoming the challenge). You don’t believe you deserve it. The cycle of struggle starts anew.
 
If we’ve been told all our lives that nothing comes easy, that struggling and suffering is necessary to be who we are - to be strong, to succeed, to find happiness - we come to accept suffering and struggling as the only way to get what we are seeking. We don’t like it, we resist it, but we also resign ourselves to it - que sera sera.
 
     “If you come to accept a limiting belief, then it will become a truth for you.” Louise Hay
 
Don’t get me wrong. Everyone faces challenges in life. It is part of being human. But believing that challenges can only be overcome through adversity, struggle and suffering is limiting and holds you back from your true potential.
 
OK, NOW WHAT?
 So how do we get past this? We have to let go of the limiting belief that struggle is a necessary evil to become our best selves and to live the life we are meant to live. This doesn’t mean giving up or thinking that the challenge you face isn’t real. It just means you “stop being afraid of what could go wrong, and start being excited about what could go right.” We also need to believe that any challenge we encounter offers us a lesson to learn and the need to take action – not retreat from action.
 
“I believe my life has no limits. I want you to feel the same way about your life, no matter what your challenges may be.” Nick Vujicic, Limitless
 
To do this you must first acknowledge that struggle (or suffering) is a limiting belief you have.
 
Next, spend some time in a quiet reflective state with a pen and paper and ask yourself what thoughts (limiting beliefs), good or bad, contribute to the challenges you currently face. For example, you feel like you “struggle” financially because you never seem to have money left over at the end of the month to do something fun. Given that, a related limiting belief you always tell yourself might be “I can never afford that”, or “I’ll always be in debt”.
 
Once you have identified your limiting belief, replace it with something affirmative. For example, I constantly hear myself saying (to myself and others) “I can’t afford this”. I do this unconsciously whether it’s true or not. Every time I say or think it, I’m reinforcing a limiting belief that I struggle financially. To overcome this, I make a concerted effort to rephrase “I can’t afford this” to “I choose not to buy this right now as I have other priorities”. In doing so, I tell the universe and my mind that I am making a choice, rather than giving into a feeling of hopelessness and a pattern of believing I lack abundance.
 
Then, start acting like you believe your new narrative. Using my example above, I allow myself an occasional splurge or I visualize that lifelong trip I’ve always wanted to take with excitement. Don’t be reckless of course, but do believe it can happen for you!
 
And finally, let go of the limiting belief – surrender the struggle. Be flexible, try to see things with new eyes and plot out a new course of action that embraces the challenge and overcome it, rather than succumbing to it.
 
Do this and you’ll find that struggle is no longer your reality.
 
“Begin today. Declare out loud to the universe that you are willing to let go of struggle and eager to learn through joy.”  Sarah ban Breathnach

​        Sometimes it is necessary to move forward, change course or let go when you have been pursuing a particular course or goal for a while. This is always difficult, and especially when we may feel we are giving up on something that is or was important to us. How do we decide if and when it is the right thing to do? 
         The idea that we need to keep going, “never give up - you will eventually succeed” is drilled into us and when something is important, we definitely don’t want to give up too soon and fail to achieve a goal we have worked for and really want to achieve.  However, things do change. Priorities can change, new opportunities may present themselves or information may come to light that changes your goals, desires, priorities or perspective on something. How do we know when it is not only time, but necessary to make the shift and let go of an old vision, in order to pursue a new direction and new or different vision? This is not quitting, but something else. It is not that we feel it is too hard, out of reach or we have self-doubts about our ability to achieve the goal. It is realizing that something has changed and as a result, it is our desire and in the best interests of our highest good, according to our values and intuition to move in a new direction.
         Giving up one valued vision and replacing it with something new that now feels right for us, is not easy, but sometimes we need to make this tough decision. It becomes easier if we are in touch with and trust our intuition, but fighting with our logical reasoning may still be a battle. Is there a process that we can go through to make this decision feel better and make it easier for us to “turn the page”, so to speak?
         There are definitely some questions we should ask ourselves and possibly some assumptions and beliefs we need to evaluate and question in order to make this process move forward and feel we have come to a valid and necessary decision.  I am at such a point in my own life now and I have recently watched a couple of other people go through this difficult, but necessary process, so it has been on my mind as to how we can proceed with the least amount of difficulty, knowing we are doing what is right for us and not quitting or giving up on a prior goal. There are a number of circumstances in life that tend to lead to these types of changes and then there are the ones where we are propelled forward by something previously unacknowledged or some amazing opportunity.  Some of the circumstances that may lead to the necessity to make a change in direction are things like health, the death of a spouse or loved one, divorce or dissolution of a marriage or partnership or a change in economic status for any number of reasons. These are circumstances that we do not generally choose, but they are thrust upon us by life and we have to adapt.  They can leave us in complex circumstances that require us to change direction and reevaluate previously set goals and aspirations. The whole framework on which those goals and aspirations were based has changed and we must see things in a new context and move forward with a new outlook.  Many people have made these kinds of transitions and changed their goals, plans and the course of their lives in adapting to them. It was what they had to do to move forward and not quit on life. 

​       It can be very much the same when we make a change and decide to go in a different direction for reasons that are not so obvious or are more a matter of choice than those thrust upon us by life circumstances.  We are still seeing a significant shift in the parameters that we previously used to set our goals and aspirations, and therefore a need to reevaluate and consider a different direction.  It can be due to a perspective that we did not previously see, a change in some contributing factor or an opportunity that did not previously exist or was not part of our awareness.  It can also simply be the passing of time.  Many people as they get older and realize they have less time to live will change their priorities. This is a matter of coming to terms with an inevitability that always existed, but we had not considered it in the same light and deciding that perhaps one thing is more important to us than another.  We can not always have everything we want or aspire to and it sometimes becomes necessary to decide what is more important.  Do you want to travel or invest in an expensive hobby?  Is it more important to have money in the bank or experiences and stories to remember? Is owning our dream car or a home with a view a priority or would we rather spend time doing things we love with family and friends. Sometimes we can do both, sometimes we need to make a choice, even when it comes to our dreams and goals.
      Asking ourselves the tough questions to become fully aware of what our values are and what is most important to us is the key to making these decisions and feeling comfortable with “turning the page” and moving forward.  You have to really know that you are following your bliss and not giving up something for something lesser.  When you know you are choosing what you value most, you will be able to move forward without regret and know you are doing the right thing. Even when the decisions are hard and something is left behind with perhaps, bittersweet laments, you will know it is the right thing for you right now!  So, turn that page and get started on creating your new journey and masterpiece story! 

About the Author:  Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW is a colorfully creative journalist, inspiring transformational speaker, licensed social worker, interfaith minister, editor, radio host, BLISS coach, event producer, Cosmic Concierge, the author of The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming The Ordinary Into The Extraordinary and co-author of Embraced By the Divine: The Emerging Woman’s Gateway to Power, Passion and Purpose. She has also contributed to several anthologies and personal growth books. Edie has interviewed such notables as Ram Dass, Wayne Dyer, Debbie Ford, don Miguel Ruiz,  J Marianne Williamson, Grover Washington, Jr., Noah Levine, Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Weaver, Ben and Jerry and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.  She calls herself an Opti-mystic who sees the world through the eyes of possibility. Edie writes for The Huffington Post, Psych Central, Beliefnet, Elephant Journal, The Good Men Project, Expanded Family, Meaningful Mom, Bucks Happening, Montco Happening, Hunterdon Happening, as well as a growing number of other venues. Edie is the founder of Hug Mobsters Armed With Love, which offers FREE HUGS events on a planned and spontaneous basis. She also facilitates a workshop called Cuddle Party which is a 3 1/2 hour opportunity to engage in safe, nurturing, non-sexual touch by consent. Communication and boundary setting skills are taught as well.  www.opti-mystical.com 

        Like many who are reading this, I am a Renaissance person, a serial entrepreneur, what I refer to as ‘professionally polyamorous,’ with many overlapping career paths offering financial support and emotional gratification. It has been this way for as long as I can remember. Throughout my adult life, I have been a lifeguard, swim team coach, massage practitioner, teacher for adults and children, practice patient for a medical school, social worker, addictions counselor, bereavement specialist, therapist, ice cream parlor scooper, waitress, artists’ model, clown, life coach, journalist, editor, book author, magazine publisher, interfaith minister, radio host, event producer, PR Goddess, greeting card writer, organ donor educator, support group facilitator, as well as active volunteer. I refer to myself as a ‘Cosmic Concierge,’ which means that I am well connected and know how to help people find resources.  My path continues to unfold before me.
        Periodically, I find myself (or lose myself) in feeling as if I am not doing enough fast enough for my nagging, nudging inner critic. That’s when I do something that I recommend for overachieving Type A’s…I Google myself! When in doubt, you can check it out too. You may be surprised at what you have accomplished.
      When I do that, I got a goofy grin on my face as I shook my head and think, “Wowie, that woman is busy!” When I can view myself from an outsider’s perspective, I can allow myself to relax, at least for the moment. Then, in typical fashion, I am off to the races again.  I chalk it up to being the daughter of a mom who, in my early childhood, worked from home as an Avon Rep., gate guard at our community pool in the summer, columnist for our local newspaper and designer of doll clothes. I would laugh at the cosmic coincidence that her boss for that last job was Mrs. Handy. In addition, she too was a volunteer, at the hospital, with Girl Scouts, and at the elementary school my sister and I attended. When Jan and I were old enough to be latchkey kids, she went to work as a switchboard operator at Sears until she retired at 65.  My father focused on one job for decades as a milkman for two different dairies and then shifted gears (no pun intended) and became a bus driver for SEPTA (the regional transportation company). Both instilled in me a sense of responsibility and told me that I could do whatever I wanted professionally as long as I enjoyed it and could support myself. They never said it would be single focused, thank goodness. Not sure how someone can remain in the same job for a lifetime. My curious mind is always reaching for new ideas. 

​       As the Grammy and Academy Awards have just occurred, I found myself fascinated with the success stories that played out on the screen. There was a time when each of these folks were not household names. I was delighted to hear that Brandi Carlile won Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song for “The Joke”, and the album the track comes from, By the Way, I Forgive You, was named Best Americana Album. I initially heard this kick ass singer songwriter on member supported Philly based radio station WXPN around 10 years ago. The stirring song honors people who are marginalized and endangered, being seen as out of the mainstream. 
Rami Malek who rocked the screen and world as he embodied Freddie Mercury in the epic Bohemian Rhapsody was handpicked after being seen in the television show Mr. Robot. It was the role of a lifetime and likely will catapult his career even further.
          These are just two examples of those who likely had big dreams that they fed, watered and nurtured. I wonder who was on their team of yaysayers and if they faced naysayers who told them they wouldn’t reach that pinnacle. When I hear acceptance speeches, I am touched as award winners thank their families, friends and colleagues who lifted them aloft.
         In my own life, are many who fall into the first category and blessedly no one in the second group. Despite that, I still waver and doubt that my own vision for my life will play out the way I desire, all evidence to the contrary. It’s then that I turn to tried and true tools.
        One is what my friend Ruth Anne Wood calls Scripting For Success which is a vast toolkit of ideas to bring to here and now reality what we may only have mused about casually.
 
How to cultivate your glorious garden:

• Decide the crop you want to harvest. If you want watermelon, don’t plant tomatoes. You can’t get what you want, until you know what you want.
• Prepare the soil. Don’t plant on rocky, litter strewn surfaces. It is unlikely that any healthy crop will take root.
• Design the pattern and layout. Sure, scattering seeds randomly may yield something, but is it what you envisioned?
• Dig deep. If you place the seeds on top, they will blow away in the wind, or wash away in the rain.
• Weed out discontent and doubt or they will choke out the new growth.
• Nurture what is there, showering it with love and praise.
• See the finished product even while it is in process; keep your eye on the prize.
• Sometimes ‘shiny new object syndrome’ will kick in and distract you, in part as a way of protecting you from fear of failure.
• Have accountability partners who will keep you on track. These are folks who will remind you of your commitments.
• Create mini-goals for yourself if tackling intentions all at once seems too daunting and enjoy checking them off.
• Offer yourself small rewards for these micro milestones.
• Spend time with those you admire who have reached their goals and keep climbing higher. Remember that birds of a feather flock together.
• Remember that one hand washes the other, so it is important to be of mutual support to others. Don’t make it all about you even as you are being ‘shamelessly self-promoting’.
• Find a mentor. For the past 30 some years, Dr. Yvonne Kaye has been mine. From the get-go, she inspired me with these simple words, “Discipline is freedom,” which provided the structure from which my creativity could flow, and my free-spirited nature could emerge.
• Know that you are worthy to have your dreams and desires come to fruition.

Count me in as an ardent admirer and cheerleader!