With courage we can dare to take risks.....

Thought for the day:

My courage is believing - believing in the eternal resilience of me - that joy will come back, as will hope, and spontaneity.

The price of love is pain.....

Thought for the day:

Every single thing around us changes. To live with change such as the loss of a loved one and/or a loss of love, we must focus our hearts on that which remains forever, seeking only what will bring calm and purpose into our life.

The paths of my life journey have led me to the place where I am now able to not conform to my own or to other people's models. Al I need is to be myself - believe in myself - and allow all my natural 'channels' to open.....

Belief In Self 

For the past 10 years the lack of belief in myself was a major factor in my life. I never pushed past my comfort zone because I didn't really believe that I could.

While I'm not free of all self-doubt these days, I can honestly say that, as a result of recent life experiences , I now believe in myself like never before. This doesn't mean that I'll never fail again - I probably will. Probably often. But that's OK.

Along the bumpy paths that I have travelled I have learned that it is completely fine to try and to fail, to put myself out there and not be perfect. Failure, not being perfect, making mistakes, not having people agree with me, not having people love me, not being completely accepted are not negative things - they are actually positives - they are little pieces of feedback that were necessary to grow and to learn. 

I have now grown beyond the absolutely socially acceptable realm. I have accepted the things that I was afraid of - I have learned from them, embraced them and in so doing have let go of the fear.

It wasn't easy - and it took a lot of practice - but I have now removed the things that held me back. I continue to push past my discomfort, thereby growing my discomfort method. I put myself out there and am OK with not knowing if people will accept me. I make a decision now, not listening to the negative self-talk that normally held me back. I have learned to trust myself and can now go into situations, not knowing the outcome, and I am OK with that. I have learned through repeated attempts, in the relationship areas of my life, that it is OK to fail - I will survive!. I have learned that I am stronger than I thought, and that I am more capable and more tolerant of discomfort than I thought.

And through this practice, I have found myself again - and realize that being myself and leading with my heart is perfectly fine. No one person's judgement or lack of love will ever again take away anything from my strength, purpose or soul. I am complete and I am whole. I am me..... 

We live in two worlds: one that is measured with rules and one that we can feel with our heart's imagination.....

Thought for the day:
Emotions, and being connected to them, can be a tremendous source of strength

Sometimes it is necessary to change our life story to be able to change our life.....

Little Changes

Although she knew that it was time to undertake a new change in her life she was having difficulties drawing a blueprint to her future. Her memories kept returning her to a place of sadness and in that sadness came hopelessness, and in that hopelessness she found herself believing that she would not make the right changes. She so badly wanted to give up and give in to the emotional tunnel that kept pulling her backwards into doubt, anxiety, fear and dread. Facing her grief and emotions was extremely uncomfortable and so she kept telling herself that it would be okay to quit, her life or happiness didn't matter any more, she would deal with it all another time, she was not disciplined enough to handle it now, it was too hard, she couldn't do it, she was going to fail again anyway. All she really wanted was to stop thinking and feeling.

But that, of course, was not possible. She started hearing the story she had been telling herself, over and over again, and began to realize that she would continue failing because of that story. It stood in her way, more than the actual past she was now having to face, and so, to move on, she was going to have to change the story or drop it altogether.

When she did drop it, she quickly found that without the story telling her that she couldn't or shouldn't do something, there was just the reality of the world around her - just her and the moment - and without the distraction of that story she was able to have a basic understanding goodness and love in her heart. All she had needed was to take the love in her heart and be happy and able to do the things that were compassionate to herself. The struggles that she had been up against gradually all went away, as she relaxed them and turned to the goodness of the moment. And she was now able to take a step into her future.   

If we keep our mind open to change along the paths of our life journey, we will learn that our greatest success will be not in never failing, but in being able to rise again every time we do fall..... 

Thought for the day:
Life is about trusting our feelings and taking chances, losing and finding happiness, appreciating the memories, and learning from the past.

Emotional wounds are an inevitable part of life.....

Thought for the day:
At every moment of our life we all have one foot in a fairy tale and the other in an abyss