Tag: Personal Development

There Is Only Love

Love. 

I was having a heartfelt conversation yesterday and we were saying how the pain and joy in life all stems from one thing – people and our capacity to love.

Some of the hardest parts of our lives stems from our interactions with one another, strangers even! And yet, some of the greatest joys in our lives come from the very same source. Ironic isn’t it?

When we feel pain, oftentimes at the root of our suffering is the perception of non-acceptance, feeling unloved or even judged.

I say perception because the deep truth of it is that we all stem from the same Source, the Universe, whatever you like to call it. We are ONE,  and yet we see each other as separate.

You see, all we want is to be loved at our core.

And here’s the bottom line – no matter what seems to be happening on the outside, recognize you are already love. Instead of looking out and the effects, look inside and recognize the truth of who you already are.

No one can take that away from you.

No one can say or do anything to make you less than what you already are.

All that needs to happen is to lift the veil so that you may recognize your own truth. Your own self.

When things do get tough I like to share a thought process Matt Khan speaks of called, “Thank you for teaching me”. 

You see, when we turn the focus around from analyzing a false thought pattern of “what’s wrong with me” to “thank you for teaching me”, it allows us to realize there is nothing wrong with you, but it is an error in our way of perception of the person or situation. Thus, “thank you for teaching me” allows us to truly give gratitude to the person or situation and allow us to learn and build our very own capacity to give love.

Beautiful isn’t it?

So here’s to truly understanding our very own essence and capacity to love.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

The Power Of Choice – Choosing Your Outcome

Neural pathways. It makes me sigh with how powerful, wonderful, and amazing our brains truly are.

Did you know that most of our actions, emotions, and even reactions are all due to our neural pathways?

It’s why we feel a certain way most of the time. Whether it’s the moment you wake up, the route you take to work every day, how you converse with strangers, how you react in a fight, your natural food choices, etc.

It’s our brain’s way of making things easy for us.

You see, after we’ve settled on a core belief, our neural pathways do the rest of the work! Things become automatic because it’s efficient. It works.

However, what if you wanted a higher outcome? What if suddenly what has worked for you in the past doesn’t serve your higher good anymore?

This is where the power of choice comes in.

Oftentimes we think a certain situation presented itself in such a way the action was inevitable. But no, we have a CHOICE to go the other way; we have a CHOICE to stop and think about what it is we really want. How liberating is that?

It’s the understanding that most of our habitual thoughts and actions comes from a finely grooved neural pathway. It’s in knowing that now there is a choice to begin forming a NEW neural pathway.

The practice now is in the noticing. It’s in the moment right before reacting, the thought, the urge. It’s providing space for that moment to truly feel into what it is you want.

With mindful re-patterning there is a way toward higher choices. Over time you will find it easier to be habituated toward what was once “new” to you.

May we honor this time, the power of our thoughts, and be mindful of our own power to choose the very outcome we wish for.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Matheus Ferrero on Unsplash

Follow The Fire

Have you ever felt a calling within? A deep spark of inspirtation that left you feeling as if you were meant for that? A deep feeling of wonder as you contemplate whether or not you should follow that?

Whatever that is for you – follow it! Do your version of it. Maybe it’s wanting to take a few years off to explore teaching English in another country, or maybe it’s completely changing careers to a different industry, or maybe it’s experimenting with building your own business. Whatever it may be for you… follow the fire.

You see, oftentimes we’re afriad of the unknown. And we use this fear to keep us in our comfort.

But what if following the fire allowed you to recognize your own truth more deeply? What if following the fire actually showed you the “real” side of that and dropped the illusion of what you thought it might be? OR, what if following the fire allowed you to recognize a new skill and passion within your heart that leads you to a better, fuller life?

You see, we won’t know any of this until we follow the fire. We won’t know whether or not it was truly meant for us until we try.

Does it mean dropping everything to figure it out? No, it doesn’t have to be.

What it could mean is testing your idea out. It could mean interviewing people already in the industry; it could mean a work trade or unpaid internship to get a taste of that reality; it could mean taking a 3 month sabbatical to actually TEST and see if it’s really what you thought it would be.

Don’t get caught up in the fear and what if’s. Test. Play. Discover. Because until you do, you’ll never know what’s on the other side.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash

Our Finest Moments

“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by a discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our butts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.”

~M. Scott Peck

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash

Friday Focus – 1/26/18 {The I Should Have Syndrome}

It’s easy to look back with 20/20 vision and see what could have transpired; what you think would have been a better outcome.

But one thing is for certain – we can only look back as a function of learning and trust we are now using this knowledge and experience to make the best decisions in the present to build a brighter future.

Unfortunately, what happens more often than not, is people find ways to look back guilting, blaming, or shaming themselves for what they couldn’t have possibly knew.

Just remember this – you did the best you could in that moment.

The key here is to learn from yourself and the results as the necessary and appropriate steps to move forward and take action for a future you look forward to building; because when you get stuck in the past guilting, blaming or shaming you are only putting yourself in a painful memory lock. It’s function of learning no longer exists.

So remember, trust you did what you could and trust yourself to have learned the lesson.

Most importantly, love the part of you that feels the need to hurt. Love is the answer.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Corinne Kutz on Unsplash

Following The Emotional Breadcrumb

Oftentimes it’s easy to run away from our emotions. In this day and age, it’s almost too easy to numb out.

Whether that’s picking up the phone and checking Instagram or Facebook, reaching for the bag of chips, or turning on Netflix and binge watch a whole season of GOT. The options are a many.

And while it may seem scary to actually face the demons, sometimes that’s exactly what we have to do in order to see what’s really under the covers.

Remember when you were a little kid and you ran into your parent’s bedroom saying you couldn’t sleep because there was a monster under the bed, or maybe in the closet? Then your parents (or heck, maybe you even did it yourself!) would walk you back into the room and lift the covers or open the closet? There was nothing there and you faced your demons, the so called monster.

Facing our emotions takes work, but it’s the work we must do in order to integrate ourselves fully.

When we turn toward our emotions and follow the breadcrumbs of this feeling and that feeling, we begin peeling the layers of the onion and truly understanding ourselves on a deeper level. We may discover the true reason for our emotion was actually something completely different than the situation itself! We may even discover a limiting belief causing such pain on an conscious level.

Can we trust and love ourselves during this time? Can we maybe turn side ways the first time and gently feel into it so that next time we can turn the whole way into the depths of our emotions?

And no matter the answer – may we trust and love, just a little more, where we are in this moment.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

When You’re Lost In The Knowing

Whether you’ve been dabbling in the field of personal development for a while or whether you’re new, it becomes incredibly empowering to learn new techniques and frameworks to help make sense of ourselves and our lives. And when we practice these techniques and frameworks, our lives literally can make a 180 degree turn. How amazing is that?

However, there will come a time, possibly many, where given the knowledge and resources we have we may feel we already know the answer, yet, we don’t see a shift in the situation or our emotions.

This is when we, as I like to call it, get lost in the knowing.

Suddenly we’ve become involved in our own story. We’re so deep into wearing the detective hat, that we’ve lost our way in the vortex of our very own knowing.

Ironic isn’t it?

When this happens, I always invite myself and others to ask, “What can I learn here? What is this situation teaching me?”. Or as Matt Khan so passionately says about any situation, “Thank you for teaching me.”

When we step out of the control and into surrender, there is grace; there is self compassion. And suddenly we ease into the situation as opposed to trying to conquer the situation. Quite different isn’t it? 😉

No matter what you’re going through, just remember… this grace is precious, and it’s in each and every one of us.

 

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash

The Placebo Effect & The Power Of The Mind

Placebos. Do you believe them?

Regardless of the validity of placebos, this post on the New York Times shed some incredible light on the power of the mind. And it made me think and affirm, truly how powerful is our mind?

This is how powerful: we can see a different reality just by changing our emotional state. Have you ever felt depressed or downright angry, then you hear good news and suddenly it’s as if you couldn’t remember why or how such a thing could have caused you to be so depressed or angry?

Our minds are powerful. Beliefs are powerful.

Placebos aside, the general idea around what you choose to believe in (therefore allowing yourself to feel good or bad depending on choice) is certainly something to inquire.

I’ve written on this before and have seen it come down to this time and time again – if our actions and reactions are like branches of a tree, then our core beliefs running the direction of these branches are the roots of the tree. What underlying, fundamental beliefs about you and your life are running the show on an unconscious level?

The beauty in all this is choice. After awareness, reconciliation, and practice, we have the choice to build a better life. And guess what? We’re beautiful humans, so this means we have the rest of our lives to constantly grow and shine brighter each and every day.

After all, it’s the journey right?

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by MI PHAM on Unsplash

What Can Put A Smile On Your Face Today?

Today’s post is short and sweet, and the message is simple:

Do one thing today that makes you happy!

For me lately, it’s taking advantage of this brewy Seattle weather, creating space and personal time to read books on vibrational frequency and quantum physics. It’s quite fascinating and with a side of hot coffee, you just can’t beat it.

So, I’m curious… what’s one thing you can do today that makes you smile?

Maybe it’s helping someone smile themselves, or paying for someone’s parking meter when it’s about to expire, maybe it’s a hot bath, lighting a candle for some much needed quiet time, or writing a love letter to yourself.

Whatever it may be I invite you to reflect and see what comes up for you today. Ask yourself, what would put a smile on my face? What small thing can I do for me today?

And even better… when we can uplift ourselves, we naturally uplift others.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash