Grateful for that One Special Someone

Posted on July 20, 2011 by admin

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:

We have all had days that we wish we didn’t have to go through. We have all had experiences that we wish we could fast forward and not have to feel the sadness or pain or anger or any other strong emotion that came along with it. We have all had hard times in our lives where we just weren’t sure how we were going to make it through.

And just when we were at the brink of complete despair, that special someone stepped up and offered support and love and encouragement and understanding. That’s when we knew that we would be okay. We knew that we could lean just a little bit on this person – we could let them take some of the weight for just a little while.

Each of us has this special someone in our lives. It could be a spouse, family member, or best friend. Someone that we know we can go to when life gets overwhelming and too much to take on alone.

And what’s great about these relationships is that they are always reciprocated. Today maybe you are the one who needs to lean, and tomorrow they will be able to lean on you. That’s how these beautiful relationships work, and for that I am grateful.

Thank you to Dan for being that special someone for me.

Take a moment today and think about your special someone. Let them know how grateful you are for their love and support. Let them know how much you value and appreciate their presence in your life.

And then lean into them.

It’s okay.

They won’t let you fall.

Do You Like Me?

Posted on July 12, 2011 by admin

We all want to be loved.
We all want to be liked.
We all want to fit in.
We all want to be understood.

We just do.

We are social beings.
We thrive in groups.
We live in tribes.
We have leaders and followers and pecking orders
and those at the top and those at the bottom.

And because of this innate dynamic, we tend to look to each other for support. We frequently look to each other for approval. This is completely normal and completely okay.

We’re not supposed to go it alone on our journey. It’s good to have your tribe surrounding you and supporting you.

It gets tricky though when you stop being yourself because you’re afraid you won’t be liked.

We have to be careful of changing our actions solely because we are seeking approval.

So instead of living your life by asking:
Do you like me?

How about asking:

Do I like me?

If you can approve of yourself first before seeking approval from others, their love will just be icing on the cake.

If you are constantly looking for others to build you up and like you, you’ll be forever looking outside of yourself for love. You will never be content. It will become an addiction, and you will always be looking for your next “approval fix.”

Frequently we don’t even realize that we are seeking approval – especially if we are living our lives on auto pilot – just going through the motions without really thinking about them at all.

When you get dressed in the morning – do you look in the mirror and strut your stuff knowing that you look great? Or do you wait for your loved ones to tell you how great you look before accepting it as truth?

When you write a post, create a product, lose some weight, dance in your recital, show your paintings at an exhibit, etc… do you approve of yourself before the external approval starts coming in?

External love and approval is wonderful. It feels great, and it boosts us up.
Internal approval and love is even more powerful.
It gives you grounding and a foundation.
It gives you life.

If you are wondering if you are an approval junkie, staying conscious of what your motivation is for doing things is a great place to start. Are you doing something because you truly want to and it makes you happy, or are you doing it because you want to be accepted and liked and approved of?

If we love and approve of ourselves, it will truly matter a whole lot less what others think.
And while I’m not saying that it won’t matter at all or shouldn’t matter at all, knowing that you are living your own life will feel so great that you will start to care less and less whether you are approved of.

And we all know that our true friends will accept us no matter what anyway.

So get out there and live your life!
If you want to write, write!
If you want to paint, paint!

If you want to wear spandex, go for it!

If you want to dye your hair, have at it!

Your love and approval is all that truly matters.

Sponteneous Dates

Posted on July 6, 2011 by admin

I was going to write all about a wonderful call that I was on this morning where the presenter reminded us to pay attention to our sacred gifts. And I promise that I will elaborate on that in tomorrow’s post.

Today’s post, however, is going to be a short one.

I was just asked on a spontaneous date by the most wonderful man in the world: my beautiful husband. And while there are always posts to write, orders to fill, emails to respond to, books to write, chores that must be done, dinner to cook, etc…there is only the present moment for appreciating our time together and living in the now together.

So I will go get ready for this mystery date. I’ll put something cute on, freshen up, and be ready for him to whisk me away toward a date where we can connect as friends and husband and wife instead of coworkers and co-parents (to our fuzzy babies).

If you are in a relationship – I will tell you that spontaneous dates truly are miracle workers. Life can pile up on top of you so quickly, and before you know it you find yourself swimming in to dos and must dos instead of get to dos with the person you want to do them with. Spontaneous dates help you remember what’s important – spending quality time with those you love.

If you aren’t in a relationship – take yourself on a spontaneous date! This truly works wonders, too! You are a pretty cool person to hang out with, so why wouldn’t you treat yourself to some “you” time? 🙂

Have fun on your dates!

Let Your Voice Be Heard

Posted on July 1, 2011 by admin

How often have you compared yourself to someone that you admired and thought that you would never be able to accomplish what they have?
How often have you stopped taking action before you even started because you convinced yourself that you couldn’t possibly get your message out as effectively as they have?
How often have you shied away from sharing your message because you assumed that they have already said pretty much what you were planning on saying anyway – so what was the point?

You are you.
There is only one you.
And your voice needs to be heard.
It deserves to be heard.

Your style of getting your message out there is unique to only you. Your approach is yours and yours alone. Your heart only belongs to you, and therefore, you are the only one who can voice what is in it. You are the only one who can express your inner wisdom.

And your message is so important.

It’s worth pressing through your perceived limitations to step into the spotlight.
It’s worth pushing aside your own insecurities about not being sure if you are good enough to have a voice.
It’s worth rising above the barriers that you have put in place in order to protect yourself.
It’s worth all of this because what you have to say matters.

So the next time you start comparing yourself to someone else – the next time you start to feel inferior or intimidated by all that they have accomplished – the next time you decide to pause and not take action because you aren’t sure if what you have to say truly matters… STOP.

You are the only one who can shout your message from the mountains.

You are the only one who can inspire others with the message inside your heart.
And your voice is important and absolutely necessary in our world.
Let us all hear it!

P.S. – Thank you to everyone who has been praying for New Mexico. The fires are absolutely devastating there, and the one near my mom’s house is now over 100,000 acres and only 4% contained. Please continue to send your love their way…

Messengers of Love

Posted on July 1, 2011 by admin

We’re all messengers.

We all have so much hope and joy to put into the world.

We all have big and small miracles to give.
We all have kindness and love to spread.

And while at the core I truly feel that each of our messages is the same, we each have our own way of relaying this message. We each have our own way of packaging it. We are unique in how we spread our message.

And some will relate to one package over another. Some will prefer to hear your message and others will choose to hear it from someone else. And this is okay.

The messages are all the same.
At their core they are all about love.
Love truly is what makes the world go ’round.
And we are all born with such a deep ability to both give and receive love.
We each have love in our soul, and we are all messengers of love.

And when we see this not only in ourselves but in others,
we realize that nothing can exist except for love.
Just love.

Love Is In The Air!

Posted on June 12, 2011 by admin

It’s another sappy day here in our house: it’s our wedding anniversary!

Seven years ago today we shared the most magical moment:

we committed to being together and loving each other for the rest of our lives. And that love has continued to grow, and I feel beyond blessed that our lives are entwined forever.

As a wedding present, our friends made our wedding rings to symbolize our love – two complete souls coming together to share and grow:

I wrote this card for Dan, and it quickly became our bestselling card – I’m so glad that there are lots of other happy couples, too!

So let’s all celebrate love today – whatever form that takes for you.

There is always enough love to go around. It seems like the more we open our hearts – the more we are able to let in.

Big hugs to all of you!

A Day of Celebration

Posted on June 7, 2011 by admin

I was born 36 years ago today. What a journey it’s been so far, and I’m just getting started!

I have learned so much and had some really great times and some really horrible times – all of which have made me into the person I am today. All of which have gotten me closer to living my true life on my true path. All of which have led me closer to my life purpose.

I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many supportive friends and family – people who truly are on my team and who are rooting for me.

Thank you so much to everyone who has shared birthday wishes for me today! My inbox and facebook page were all filled up with love, which fills me with warm fuzzies.

I woke up to a sweet serenade from my dear hubby – he learned two songs for me: You Gotta Have Faith and Faithfully (this is my year of taking a leap of faith). And then he took me on a scavenger hunt filled with clues about what my year would look like (amazing!), which ended with the biggest, sweetest present of all. He wrote a screenplay for me about the journey that I am on right now that is leading me to my true calling. It’s a screenplay and a vision board in one, and it’s simply wonderful.

Even after almost 10 years together, I still pinch myself that he’s real.

It’s so nice to be celebrated and to feel loved.

That’s really all anyone could ask for, and today I feel it coming from everyone so fully and so completely.

Thank you so much!

Be Your Own Biggest Cheerleader

Posted on May 25, 2011 by admin

It is wonderful to surround yourself with loving friends and family who cheer you on and support you in everything you do.

I feel blessed that I have a great support system. I have a wonderful husband who loves me and boosts me up no matter what I do. I have a loving mom who has always been there for me and allowed me to always be myself. And I also have supportive friends who love me and honor me. Their love means the world to me. And it’s easy to sometimes rely on their support rather than look within and be my own cheerleader.

And I started thinking about what would happen if we were each our own biggest cheerleaders? Rather than looking for love and support outside of ourselves, what if we turned inward and began to cheer ourselves on instead?

What if we loved ourselves unconditionally?

What if we were easier on ourselves?

What if we were our biggest supporter?

What if we traded in our inner critics for our inner cheerleaders?

What if we were the first ones to give ourselves a high five when we did something great?

If we are standing strong and cheering ourselves on, then our support system is an added bonus. We are no longer relying on our loved ones to hold us up any longer.

We are holding ourselves up!

So let’s start cheering ourselves on!

What is one thing you can congratulate yourself about right now?

What have you done lately that you are proud of?

What can you celebrate today?

What is one gift you can give yourself as a reward for being so awesome?

Feel free to share what you have to cheer about in the comments section below!

Remember that you rock, and you deserve a big cheer for that!

P.S. – I’ll start the cheering section! This is my 101st post! I committed to writing one post a day 101 days ago, and I have done it! I love writing this blog, and I am so touched by the wonderful support I have received from so many of you. 🙂