Author Archives: admin

A Collective Prayer for New Mexico

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As I write this, a dangerous fire is raging through a place that is very dear to me.
The Las Conchas Fire in New Mexico has burned close to 61,000 acres in just two days. Many people have lost their homes – many more have been forced to evacuate.
My mom lives just a few miles from the fire and has been told to be ready to evacuate if the winds change.
It’s absolutely heartbreaking, and the damage is truly beyond my comprehension.

This used to be my home.
This is where my mom still lives.
This is where I met my husband.
This is where we got married.

This place gave me so many wonderful memories and experiences.
And now it needs my help.
It needs our help.

Please help me in praying that this fire is put out quickly.
Let’s pray that everyone stays safe – humans and animals included.
Let’s pray that no more homes are lost.
Let’s pray for lots and lots of rain.

Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.
P.S. – The photos were taken by NM residents Debbie and D. Vigil.

Finding (Insert Your Name Here)…

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Have you seen the new show on the Oprah Winfrey Network called Finding Sarah?
 It’s about Sarah Ferguson’s (the Duchess of York) journey toward finding herself. 
She has truly hit rock bottom in both her life and her self worth, and it’s really heartbreaking to watch her struggle to go within and find her soul again. She has been through so much in her life (being a member of the royal family and all of the rules that go along with it, being tormented by the press through the years, and sabotaging any good that came her way due to a lack of self worth).
And while she has had a life that none of us can even begin to imagine, she is still extremely relatable. I think we can all find bits of ourselves in her – struggling to find where we fit in, trying to get to know who we are deep inside after taking away all of the externals, distorted views of our physical appearance, seeking approval from others, wanting to please, afraid to express anger, living with so much regret, hurt and sad over events that occurred in childhood, afraid that you will never be whole again, feeling lost and broken…

She brings all of these insecurities and issues to the surface with a yearning to fill herself up with love – her own love. She longs to love herself fully for the first time in her life.

I can empathize with her so deeply – for the pain she has gone through, the mistakes she has made in her life, and for the loss of self that she is experiencing.

And while the externals are different, we all can relate to her struggles.
We have all been there to some degree at some point in our life.
Maybe we are there right now.

And she is so brave to be vulnerable enough to show her authentic self – before she has it all figured out.
We are all works-in-progress. We are all just trying to figure it all out. My hat truly goes off to Sarah for being brave enough to let us go on this journey with her.

I definitely recommend that you watch it.
I guarantee you will learn something about yourself in the process.

Re-evaluating Our Commitments

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When our Commitment Book came out earlier this year, I was excited to put it into action right away. It offers a 4-step plan for achieving your goals and holds you accountable for keeping your word at the same time. 
This was definitely an area that I wanted extra support in. I am really great at starting new projects and having many ideas and creative bursts, but I didn’t always follow through with these projects. I wanted to know that when I committed to doing something (however large or small that something was), that I would be confident in knowing that I would follow through, keep my word to myself, and keep my commitment.
When you do something continuously for 30 days, it becomes a habit. 
If you start something and keep at it for 10 days and then accidentally forget to do it for a day, simply start again from day one and continue until you get to the 30th day. By then it will be a habit. 
I decided to try this out with this blog. I originally committed to writing a post each day for 30 days. I looked forward to building up my own self-trust and knowing without a doubt that when I said I would do something, I would do it.
And I did! I’ve now written one post per day for over four months!
I love writing and sharing and inspiring and connecting and growing with all of you!
And I really feel much better about myself and know that I will continue keeping my word with new commitments. 
One of the last parts of our book occurs at the end of the 30 days. You get to re-evaluate your commitment and see if you want to continue doing it. You also get to decide if you want to revise it in any way. 
I have given this a lot of thought and have decided to revise my original commitment. 
Instead of posting each day, I have decided to post 6 days a week and take Sunday off.
Dan and I have committed to each other that we are going to designate every Sunday as a day for self care and a day to fill up our tanks however we see fit. For me, this means no work, no checklists, no “have tos,” no email, no cleaning, no chores. And I am so excited about this!
This blog focuses on remembering to put ourselves back on our own priority list, which is absolutely essential for a balanced, happy life. So I am taking my own advice and creating some balance in my own life. 
So this will be my last Sunday post.
I hope you all take a look at each commitment you have made and be open to re-evaluating them to see if they need to be revised in any way. You’re in the driver’s seat – you get to decide. This is your life, and you are the only one who knows what feels right.
So yay for making commitments, yay for keeping them, and yay for tweaking them until they feel just right!

Saturday Selection – Mattie Stepanek

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I was introduced to Mattie Stepanek the same way most of us were – when he appeared on Oprah 10 years ago. I was immediately drawn to his soul. I was amazed at how strong his spirit was in such a weakened body. I was touched by his words of peace and his love for humanity. 
 Mattie was just 11 when he appeared on Oprah. He was born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy, which made him rely on a ventilator and be in a wheelchair. He died in 2004, just shy of his 14th birthday.
Here is Oprah’s tribute to him:
He was a wonderfully talented and prolific poet, and he wrote several bestselling books about love and peace and growing up in his world. 
I recently read many of his books, and I was so moved by his sweetness and depth. I was touched by his pure heart and knowing soul. He was so kind and sensitive and caring and inspiring. 
Most of his books centered around his “Heartsongs.”
Here is how how defined this term:
A heartsong doesn’t have to be a song in your heart. It doesn’t have to be talking about love and peace. It can just be your message. It can be your feeling. Some people might even call it a conscience, even though that’s not really what it is. It’s your message, what you feel like you need to do. Everyone has a heartsong. No matter what it is, it still sings the same beautiful message of peace and love. People are fighting over how our heartsongs are different. But they don’t need to be the same. That’s the beauty. We are a mosaic of gifts. Each of us has our inner beauty no matter how we look.
When Oprah asked him what he knew for sure, this is what he said: 
That our attitude is a choice. I believe we can decide to be miserable, to roll ourselves in the dirt and say, ‘Hit me again.’ But when we do that, we’re missing out on so much! I know for sure that while it’s great to have role models, we should never try to be anyone but ourselves. I know for sure that when we use words, not bombs, we all get peace. I know for sure that there’s something bigger than the here and now—some people call it God, some call it Buddha, some call it Yahweh. I know for sure that we don’t need to be afraid of death, because we’ll be greeted by something better on the other side. And I know for sure that life is a gift to be treasured—and that we must always live it to the fullest.
He had such a wide impact on our planet in the short time he was here. He worked tirelessly at spreading his message of peace, and this message continues today.
 If you would like to read more about Mattie, here is his website that his mom updates regularly. She also just came out with a new book about him that I have just begun to read:
 
I feel blessed to have been alive while he was alive. 
He was a true angel here on Earth.
Thank you, Mattie. 
May we all take his message to heart and bring our own heartsongs into the world.

Letting Go of the Dream

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Sometimes we want something so badly, and we work so hard to get it. We struggle and sweat and pour our entire beings into it until it happens, it’s reality, and it’s part of our world.
And sometimes it’s completely worth it, and it’s exactly what we hoped it would be. 
If it’s a job we fought hard to get – we saw ourselves in this position, and now that we are here we see that it’s even better than we hoped it would be.
If it’s a relationship that we yearned for – we met that special someone and are living in happily ever after every day.
If it’s a pair of shoes that we saw in the store window that we just knew would be perfect for that new outfit we just bought – and sure enough, we tried them on and they fit better than we even imagined they would.
And it’s wonderful when life works out like this. It’s amazing when everything fits together in a perfect package with the most beautiful bow on top. We deserve this life – we are worth having everything fall into place where it can flow easily. 
And we are also worth recognizing if and when things stop flowing and start bringing us down. It’s okay to let go of a dream, relationship, job, or anything else if it no longer fits us.
Not everything is going to feel exactly like we hoped it would when it was just a dream. But if you don’t go for your dream, you will never know.
And sometimes it will feel exactly right at first – or even for awhile. And then one day you wake up and realize that you have grown out of it. It’s no longer your dream.
When this happens (if it happens), take a deep breath and begin to let this dream go. 
Begin the process of moving on. Take the experiences with you – take the lessons with you – and move forward to your next dream knowing how truly grateful you were to have gone for it and lived with it and be on the other side of it now.
If your dream no longer feels like your dream, know that it’s more than okay to let it go. 
There are plenty more out there, and I know that you’ll find another one that fits you and feels just right for where you are right now in this moment.

Pushing Through the Fear

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I just watched The King’s Speech and in addition to the superb acting, which was clearly top notch, I also loved how inspiring the message was. 
 I don’t want to give too much away for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, but I can say that it’s about being brave enough and determined enough to conquer your fears. To face them no matter what obstacles you encounter. To plow right through them to get closer to your dreams. 
I feel so inspired after watching this, and I definitely recommend it to all of you!
I found these quotes about conquering our fears that I also wanted to share:
You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith.
Mary Manin Morrissey
Panic at the thought of doing a thing is a challenge to do it.
Henry S. Haskins
There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them.
Andre Gide

Fear is the cheapest room in the house.  I would like to see you living in better conditions.
Hāfez  
Surrounding myself with inspiring movies and motivational quotes encourages me to push past my own fears and live my ideal life. 
If it isn’t scary, it means that I’m comfortable. And if I’m comfortable, I’m not growing. And if I’m not growing, I’m not learning. And if I’m not learning, then why am I here? 
My belief is that we are each here to learn to come back to our soul – to grow – and to take these lessons with us when we leave.
And it all starts with pushing through the fear.
So let’s all get out there and start pushing!

Grateful for Messages Received

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It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to write a post about gratitude! 

Feel free to click here (or below) to learn more about our Gratitude Project. 
Okay – now for today’s post:
 
I’m still feeling under the weather. 
I will admit that yesterday I was feeling pretty down on myself about it. I pride myself on going years without getting sick, and somehow my ego got involved and was upset that I allowed this to happen. 

And then I started to apply what I teach and looked for the messages and deeper meaning of why this illness showed up right now.

The universe is constantly sending us messages – most of which we are too busy to hear. 
When we returned from our trip last week, we both said we would take at least one day off to settle in and rest. We had five packed days at a wonderful conference without much sleep, and a 16-hour travel day coming home. 
And while we did take it a bit easier than normal, it’s a slippery slope figuring out what actually constitutes work and what doesn’t. So we starting sliding down the slope…

I continued to get messages in the back of my mind telling me to rest, meditate, sit outside, be still. And yet I pushed them aside and kept going forward. 

This continued for two days – I even had dreams telling me to slow down. 

And I continued to push these messages aside. 

And then the message came in a much stronger form – in the form of actually being sick. Now I had to rest – be still – and just be. 

So the challenge that seems to keep popping up for me is to be able to hear and act on the message when it’s a whisper, rather than waiting until it becomes a scream. 

So I’m still on the couch with a fever that is still on the rise, and I thought it would be a healing experience to write what I am grateful for about this experience and what it is teaching me.

I am grateful that because of it, I am actually taking time to slow down and rest. 
I am grateful for this opportunity to look within and be able to grow, so I will react differently the next time a similar situation appears.
I am grateful that I get to catch up on tons of movies – some that I had completely forgotten about.
I am grateful that Biddle (my sweet cat) and I get to hang out and take lots of naps together.
I am grateful that I have the world’s most comfy couch – especially since that’s where I am camped out.
I am grateful for homemade sorbet made with ice and V8 100% juice.
I am grateful that I have been unplugged from email for longer than I ever can remember. 
I am grateful that I have taken time each day to sit outside for a few minutes and let the sun heal me. 
I am grateful for a wonderful husband who takes such great care of me. 
I am grateful for your wonderful words of healing and love.
I am grateful that I finally listened and stopped doing.

Gratitude comes in all sorts of forms in a variety of places – some of which you would least expect.
And if we can be grateful in the hard times, it will make being grateful during the great times that much easier.

Under the Weather

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It’s true – I’m feeling pretty yucky today, so this post will be extra short. 
When I started this blog in February, I committed to writing one post a day.
I wanted to prove to myself that I could keep my word and follow through. 
And I am so happy that I have done that. 
So even though this post isn’t long or particularly inspiring, it’s still a post. 
And I think that’s a great lesson for all of us – when we commit to keeping our word nothing beyond that matters. It’s the act of doing it – not the outcome.
And for that I am grateful, especially on a day when all I need is to just crawl back into bed. 
Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow, and the posts can resume as usual.
Thank you for being a part of my journey.

A Change of Scene

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Sometimes we get stuck in a rut – the routine seems extra monotonous and the known seems stale somehow. We feel restless and know that we want to change, but we just aren’t sure how to go about it. We aren’t sure what steps to take to move toward our ideal life – the one filled with joy and exciting energy.
When this happens, a great way to get unstuck is to mix things up – get out of the house, walk around the block, go for a drive. Change your outward experience and stimuli so that you can create new experiences within. 
I needed this more than ever yesterday. There are so many ideas floating around in my head that it was feeling overwhelming. I felt like the more I tried to figure everything out, the deeper into confusion I went. 
So Dan and I got in the car and went to a movie. And it was the perfect movie to escape to: Midnight in Paris. It’s about longing for the past – another era – anywhere but your present life. And by going back to these times, the character realizes that the present truly is where the joy is and where life is. 
It was great to escape for awhile, and now I’m in a much better place today to be better able to make some sense out of all of my thoughts that are swirling around. 
If you are ever feeling this way, I would definitely recommend a change of scene. It truly does switch things up and helps in huge ways.

The Buffet of Life

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We are each given so many options every single day in our lives. 
And we have the opportunity to travel along the same path or mix things up a bit and go down a different route.
While these choices are wonderful, we may sometimes feel overwhelmed by them. 
We may start to feel scattered and find ourselves retreating into the known instead of embracing the new. 
This is where I am today. 
I have so many wonderful new options in my buffet of life.
And I really want to step out of my comfort zone and try some new options.
But to do this and enjoy them, I feel that I first need to get grounded and get focused.

And I would suggest that if you are ever feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of the choices you get to make – to take a deep breath, take some time to go within, and just sit with it all. 

Which choices feel right for you and where you are right now in your life?
Which choices are a bit of a push, but still feel like something you would like to try?
How would your life be different if you sampled more choices and pushed yourself?
What’s the worst that could happen if you went for it and dared to do something different? 

Make sure to keep coming back to yourself and listening to your inner voice. 
And also make sure to breathe and center yourself before making any decisions. 

Focus and grounding do wonders for feeling scattered and overwhelmed.
Today I invite us all to take the time to center ourselves, so we can fully be present and appreciate all of the amazing choices that we get to make.