Category: Gratitude

Are You Uncomfortable Yet?

We live at a point in time where our daily life can be super uncomfortable.  Our security, our safety, and our level of comfort have been rocked.  We are being forced to live outside of our comfort zone and most of us don’t like it!  It’s one thing to make a choice to step outside of your comfort zone and make changes to your life, but it’s another to have those changes forced upon you.

None of us want to have decisions made for us.  We want to oversee our lives.  Living in a COVID-19 world, people are in pain.  People are dying.  People are drowning in debt.  People can’t pay their bills.  People don’t have food.  It can be challenging to see the positives and opportunities when we are just trying to survive.

For so many of us, right now is about surviving.  We’re trying to make it one day or pay one bill.  I know this can be hard to hear, but we might be missing what we need to learn.  COVID-19 is an opportunity for us to learn.  To make the hard decisions.

For years I lived in the dark.  I didn’t want to know what my problems were, I just wanted them to miraculously go away.  I didn’t care whether it was someone else coming to save me or my life just suddenly got better.  Either way was good.  I didn’t care how it happened.

Growing up I thought that certain things would happen at a certain point in my life.  For some they did, but for me, they didn’t seem to work out that way.  When I turned 30, I didn’t want to acknowledge that my life wasn’t what I had dreamed it would be.  The hardest question I ever asked myself was why.  Asking that question meant that I could no longer live my life in denial.  I had to take the leap out of my comfort zone.  That leap was one of the most terrifying things I had done.  Starting my own business last year was officially the most terrifying thing I have ever done.  Stepping out of your comfort zone is uncomfortable.

What you’re experiencing right now is a push out of your comfort zone and I’m right there with you.  I’ve been given another shove put of my comfort zone this past month.  My routine has been totally disrupted.  My income has been shaken up.  One of the hardest things that I had to do was overcome my pride and file for unemployment.  I had done everything right!  I had gotten a part-time job to help pay my bills while my business was getting established.  I stepped past my pride and had to have courage and trust that all would be ok.  The interesting thing is that by taking that leap I’m doing better than I was a month ago.

That doesn’t mean that everyone is.  I’m grateful that I’m doing better, but I also know that I’ve done a lot of work to get there.  There was no miracle cure.  No one came to save me.  It was me.  I had to do the work and take the leap.  My discomfort had to grow to the point that I just couldn’t take it anymore.  I had reached my breaking point.  Congratulations!  You may have just reached yours.  Here comes the opportunity for you to say that I’m never going to be like this again and start to make different decisions.

How are you going to step out of your comfort zone?  Let me know.  Do you want to know more about what I do?  Click here to book a discovery session or an appointment.

It’s Time for a Little Faith

One of my favorite quotes has always been “faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.”  A Miracle on 34th Street.  Sometimes we just have a feeling that everything is going to be ok.

We are living at a time when people around us are afraid.  You might even be one of them.  You may have lost your job or are about to lose it.  You might not be able to pay your bills.  You may know someone who is sick, or you may be.  You might just be frustrated that you can’t get everything done in a day.  First off, take a deep breath.  Everything happens for a reason.

For a long time, I had trouble with that statement, and I know I’m not alone.  Why does a young child get sick and die?  Why did this happen to me?  I wish I could answer all the why’s, but it isn’t always possible.  What I can tell you is that there is a lesson hidden in there and until you can find it, you must have a little faith.  Some of my biggest life lessons took me years to discover.  Some only took a few hours.

There is no right answer.  Every person lives life differently and you’re allowed to, but are you growing as a result or are you staying stuck?  If you’re stuck, it’s time to change that feeling and have a little faith that when we come out of quarantine that your life can be better.   Let’s be honest, life can’t be what it was before.  That may be hard to hear, but it’s true.  We can never be the people we were yesterday.  We have learned something or uncovered something which has moved us forward.  At the very least we are a day older.

On Tuesday I broke quarantine to go grocery shopping.  I started my day with a plan.  As soon as I put my key in the ignition my plan was gone.  I’ve spoken about my car battery before, well it decided it was done.  Why had it chosen that moment?  I looked to see who was open.  The least expensive option that I could see at the time was temporarily closed.  The only other place I could think of was the car dealership.  I called and they said they could replace the battery and it might still be covered under warranty.  I asked if he could look up when I purchased the battery.  I thought I had purchased it in 2016, but I had purchased it in October 2017.  It was still covered by the 30-month warranty.  I got a new battery for free!  I haven’t always had faith, but I had enough to get me there.  I had 1 month left on my warranty and if my battery hadn’t died, I will admit I would have tried to keep it going because I don’t have extra cash lying around.  But I also could have missed out on a free battery.  I was fortunate, but I was also going to another place and interacting with more people than I had planned.  As the day progressed, I started to think about how different things are from just a few weeks ago.  But I had to have faith that all would be ok.  I took all the precautions that I could and the rest I had to believe would work out.

We aren’t in quarantine just to keep us safe, but those around us safe.  To know that what we can contribute is enough and have faith that it is working.  Faith can help us in many things from getting a new car battery to walking through the grocery store to just working through our fear.  We just need to believe that everything will work out how it’s supposed to.  It’s time for a little faith.

What do you need faith to help you do?  Let me know.  Do you want to know more about what I do?  Click here to book a discovery session or an appointment.

Fear of Change

Transitions are hard.  You know it and I know it.  We know life shouldn’t be this way, but it has been like this for so long we don’t know any other way.  Having the courage to make a change, can be a challenging first step to make, even when we know it is the right one.

I have spent most of my life living in fear.  Fear was an emotion that had a certain amount of comfort to it.  I had my first seizure before the age of 1.  We learned as I was growing up that they acted as a circuit breaker.  When I had a rapid temperature change, I would have a seizure.  Many people that I have spent time around have never seen a seizure.  My grandmother once handed me back to my mom when I started to have one.  For a small child, it seemed that people were fearful of me.

As I grew up, I felt a responsibility to show people that a person can live with seizures.  Wherever I worked, people knew about my disorder, but I also wanted to keep that part of my life separate.  I never wanted them to see me have a seizure and I didn’t want them to be afraid of that part of me.  Members of my immediate family had seen me have them and still loved me for me, but could other people?

One Friday morning I forgot to take my pills.  I remember making it into the office and most of the rest of the day is gone.  I have only a few memories and those that I do have are spotty.

I went back to work that Monday.  Whether my co-workers felt this or not, I’m not entirely sure, but it felt like they were afraid of me.  I tried to be the person that I was before, but they had seen a part of me they couldn’t unsee.  At that moment my work life started to unravel.

The fear of that moment led to other decisions.  Fear had taken hold a part of my life, the part that I felt I had under control.  I knew that things were different for so many reasons.  But I couldn’t figure a way out.  It took another 18 months for things to end and for a new opportunity to begin.

Deep down I knew that I didn’t belong there anymore.  So many signs presented themselves to me, but I couldn’t pull the trigger and take the necessary steps.  I reverted to my coping mechanism of choice.  I withdrew.  I kept to myself and put one foot in front of the other, but my heart wasn’t there, and those around me knew it.

For many of us we need help making this change.  In my case, I needed to be let go from my job.  Then another fear of what am I going to do now sets in?  I was fortunate.  I was able to put the pieces together relatively quickly.  I learned from my coaching calls that there is only way to get over fear and that is to move through it.   I have taken more chances in the last 11 months, then I did in the preceding 37 years.

This doesn’t mean that fear isn’t present in my life, but I have learned there is more to life than fear.  It can be used to guide us on to new and better things.  Sometimes we need to see our own lives from a different perspective.  My life now is all about helping people to see their lives with fresh eyes.  We can’t change our past, but we change the story we tell ourselves.  Every day is a new opportunity.  You may need to make a conscious choice to take that first step, but it gets easier over time.

What story in your life do you want to shift?  Let me know.  Do you want to know more, click here to book a discovery session or an appointment.

Why Hasn’t It Happened Yet?

Patience.  One of those lessons that can be challenging to learn.  We live in a society today where instantaneous results are expected.  It should have been done five minutes ago, but life doesn’t work that way.  There is more involved than our wants.

It is October here in Maine. The leaves are starting to fall, and the temperatures have dropped, but we don’t typically expect Nor’easters to happen yet.  They normally involve snow and large amounts of wind.  Last week we had one that involved rain and large amounts of wind.  More than 170,000 people lost power in southern Maine.  Living on a main route that has elderly housing on one side and a university on the other typically means we are near the top of the list when power outages occur.  Other than the Ice Storm of 1998 when we lost power for around 72 hours, we normally lose it for only about six hours, tops.  During this storm we lost power at 4:30 in the morning.  Just in time to wreck havoc on a morning routine.  My morning routine typically involves an exercise routine, a smoothie made with fruits and vegetables, and a shower.  Without power, I couldn’t do my cooler weather exercise routine which requires a television, to make my smoothie I needed a blender, and I guess I could have had a cold shower, but who wants one of those?  I started out by throwing myself a small pity party and hoping that the power would instantly come back on.  It didn’t.  I was going to have to be patient, but what did I do in the meantime?  My place of part-time employment had power, so I could spend my day at a place with electricity, something many others didn’t have.  I could go to the grocery store and buy a smoothie (something I would probably only do in a pinch in the future, they aren’t really filling).  I could walk a lot at work and I didn’t have to take a shower.  I got dressed and off I went. 

When I came home that night.  What to do?  I got ready for bed while we still had daylight.  Played cards and went to bed at 8:45. I hoped and set the intention the power would be on the next morning.  It wasn’t.  I went through my new routine again, but I went somewhere else to get my smoothie.  Just before leaving work that night the power came back on. 

Many storylines in my life right now require patience.  This is one of the simplest.  There are so many things at play.  In this case it seemed the places that lost power are the ones that typically don’t and many were the high priority areas.  So like many things in life another’s needs and actions were involved.  We can’t override another’s freewill with our manifestations.  Two.  Divine timing is at play.  A lesson was involved that needed to be learned.  Flexibility may have been a part of it for me.  The need to not be so entirely dependent on routines.  A reminder to be grateful for something as simple as electricity.  All these items needed to be acknowledged before power could be restored.  And three.  I wasn’t alone.  So many other people were in the same position at that moment.

These three lessons can be applied to so many situations.  I can think of multiple others going on in my life at this very moment.  I’m sure you can think of many as well.  They say patience is a virtue for a reason.  It’s something that we all need even at the happiest of times, but most of us don’t have an abundance of it on an everyday basis.

We want what we want, and we want it now.  Instant gratification.  We want to see the results of the actions we take.  We don’t want to wait for days or years to see our intentions made manifest.  There have been so many times where something looks right and feels right, but hasn’t happened yet.  Why?  Maybe the timing is off.  Maybe there is something else to be learned.  Maybe there is another reason.  Those don’t always matter to us in that moment, but they should.

As I have developed my intuitive skills, the lessons come through quicker.  It no longer takes years to discover the lesson.  My patience and dedication have paid off in that area of my life.  Remember to apply patience to all areas of life.  It is an important and valuable skill on life’s journey.

What areas of life do you need more patience?  Let me know.  Do you want to know more, click here to book a discovery session or an appointment.

Why Don’t Things Go the Way I Want?

Expectations are hard.  You desperately want things to go your way.  You want them to happen in a certain manner.  Expectations are challenging because the magic lies in the unexpected.

Our lives rarely unfold how we expected.  Spirit wants things to be better than we dreamed, but we need to allow that new vision to happen.

It is difficult to get out of our head and allow something to unfold.  One method that I’ve used in getting a different perspective is from talking to psychics, mediums, astrologers, energy healers and other intuitives.  Each one that I have spoken with has assisted me in looking at an event that is happening or has happened from a new perspective. 

With the new direction my life has taken this year, I have spoken to several readers to confirm the messages that I was receiving from the universe.  While you can read for yourself, expectations can be a problem.  It is easier to read for someone else than to read for yourself.

Since I began my spiritual journey, I’ve met many readers, many of whom I’m now friends with.  Every reader is unique, but most will provide you with clarity.  The best way to find a reader is to know someone who has had readings in the past.  This will provide you with information about the services the reader provides and whether they were good.  Who would I recommend?  These people aren’t listed in any order. 

I’ve done work with bigger names, but mainly as a student.  These have been my go-to people over the years when I have need one on one sessions. 

Who helps you with getting your expectations in perspective?  Let me know.  Do you want to know more, click here to book a discovery session or an appointment. 

Let Go of the Past and Step into a New Life

When you first start out on the spiritual path, you are taught that if you are grateful and positive you will start a new life.  While part of that is true, there is one problem.  You are a human being.  That human being has memories and emotions stored within the body.  In order to be truly grateful and to manifest a life that is for highest and best good, you must go backwards.

You have a story.  It is a story that is repeated.  It can be a story that you tell yourself, or one that you see appear in front of you.  But that story is what is holding you back.  To get where we want in life, we must first confront our story.

For years I did the positivity thing and would state affirmations.  While they changed my outlook on life, they didn’t change the outcome of my life.  I still wore a mask.  I wasn’t myself.  I had the story on repeat in my head.  I would look at other people and compare how my life was and the perception that I had of them.  I didn’t measure up and there was a why even try type of attitude.

In January I signed up for a coaching certification program and started working on the course work.  As I listened to coaching call after coaching call, I had an epiphany.  Each woman that I listened to sounded like me.  There were slight variations in their story, but they were each relatable.  I could always find something in common with them.  Like me, some of them tried to hide the problems with their life, but their problems would follow them.  They would leave one job and the problem would follow them to a new job.  They would leave one relationship to have some of the same issues present themselves in the next relationship.  Their problems didn’t just disappear, they presented in a new form.   In order to truly move forward and live an empowered life you must examine your past.  Whether it is the past in this lifetime or another lifetime.  It will follow you until you release what is stored in your body.  The body doesn’t lie. 

Take a moment and think about the reasons that you have left jobs or relationships.  Do they have a common theme?  These themes are trying to provide us clues.  Once we start to examine the clues, we truly start to create the change that we are searching for.  Let’s release that story that no longer serves you and who you are meant to be.  Do you want to know more, click here to book a discovery session or an appointment.

What Do I Have to Be Grateful For?

Gratitude is tricky.  Society teaches that we should want.  We should want a bigger house, a better car, more money.  But the secret to manifesting what you want is gratitude.  Being grateful for what you already have. 

How can I be grateful for what I already have?  I am not where I thought I would be in my life.  I am starting over again.  Growing up I thought I would be married and have children by now, but that hasn’t happened yet.  I thought that I would have a successful career but didn’t know what I would be.  As a child, I would pretend I was a teacher.  Was that because it was something that I was meant to do, or something that I thought I should be since many of my family members were teachers.  But I do not currently have a successful career, I am starting a new career path.  I know it is a path that I’m meant to follow.  Not sure quite yet how all the pieces are coming together, I feel like I’m headed in the right direction, but what do I do while all the pieces come together? 

My life is not what I expected, but it is what it is.  I can’t change my past, but I can work through it.  I can change what I have done in the past that has led me to where I am today.  Patience is required, for Spirit doesn’t move as quickly as we would like.  There may be other people in play, it is hard to see these changes play out in real time.  We want an instantaneous response.  But you know what?  Life doesn’t work that way.  We must fight for what we want, right?  Society teaches us to fight for what we want.  But what if the reverse is true? What if we are supposed to be grateful for what we have, and trust that what will come to us if it is in our highest and best good.

There was a time when I wouldn’t have been able to think that way, let alone be willing to try it.  But there comes a point in life where you’re willing to try anything even the unconventional.  So, back to gratitude.  Gratitude may seem an unconventional philosophy at first, but it has its virtues.  I am grateful that I have a family that is willing to support me as I undergo this new venture in my life.  I am grateful that I have friends and family that I can bounce ideas off.  I am grateful that I have had so many opportunities in my life, so I have been able to try new things.  I am grateful that people have been willing to give me a chance.  I am grateful that I can change.  I can change my life; I can change my perspective.  I can change my life. 

Only I can change my life.  No one else can do it for me.  No matter how much I wish I could blame other people for where I am in my life, it is all me.  The choices that I made.  The paths that I’ve taken have led me to this moment.  I am grateful that I can see my life for what it is.  It is a work in progress, and I have a choice to make.   What do I want my life to look like five years in the future?   I want to be happy in both my personal life and my career path.  So, today I am grateful that I can make a change and take a different path. 

It can be hard to find a silver lining for it is not always on the surface for us to easily find, but it is there.  You may need someone else to help you find it. What are you grateful for?  Let me know.  Do you want to know more, click here to book a discovery session or an appointment.
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