In this month’s installment, I am planting seeds of encouragement.  As a Coach, I encourage my clients along their journey toward the goal(s) or dream(s) they wish to realize.  Today, I am using my blog to encourage anybody reading.  If you have not yet received a good word, allow me to encourage  you to listen to your heart and follow your dreams.

You are a ray of God’s warm light shining through.  You are beautiful, curious and capable.  Know that you have the strength and smarts to solve problems and surmount unbeatable odds.  You have multiple talents and gifts that are highly sought after to make a unique contribution to our world.  Sometimes bad things happen to good people.  And sometimes, great things happen to good people.  Yes, you may have failed once.  That does not mean you will fail again.  You might fail but I’m quite confident that once you apply what you’ve learned, you’ll make noticeable progress.  Failure provides an opportunity to apply our learning.  Every morning you rise is an opportunity for a ‘do-over’, so no worries.  Practice makes us prepared.  Forget about perfect.  Humans are not perfect.  Use that energy to practice whatever it is that you love and get prepared for that big, awesome opportunity that you’re attracting.  Remember that this is a journey.  Speed is not important.  Movement is.  Keep moving forward.  You are doing great!  Know that God’s Spirit is expressing through you perfectly and that the hand of God is working in your favor.  Be encouraged!

Let’s practice giving and receiving encouragement.  Consider sharing my blog or your own personal words of encouragement with someone you know.

Wishing you love, joy and peace,

Jan

I began to feel more comfortable as a Mommy in the eighth month.   I think that since we realized we were pregnant, I’d been trying to do everything ‘right’- prenatal care, delivery, nursing, etc.  By the seventh month, I was too exhausted to do everything ‘right’.  My husband encouraged me to relax and just do the best I could.  Exhaustion left me no choice.

Exhaustion made space for enlightenment.  Surrender.   In that moment, when all I want to do is fix it or finish it, I see my daughter and I try to remember the sacredness of the moment.   In the height of the struggle, I am asked to surrender.  Love asks me to surrender to the moment and the richness that it holds for me.  I watch her curiosity and play and am captivated by her joy and enthusiasm.  I take a unique lesson from Mommyhood- be present, be playful.

I remember that I won’t live this moment again and ask myself if this obsession to finish my thought, my sentence, my work is as important as this moment that we are sharing.  What is more important than the invitation staring me in the face?  Come play with me.  Come play with me and remember how to play with life, how to relish all of the ill-timed moments and unexpected graces.  Life is a chaotic dance to a purposeful rhythm.  Stop trying to organize it so well.  I can show you.  Just follow my lead.

A child seems to be my panacea for perfectionism.  Surrender all of the angst and simply be present. Surrender to her.  Now, my favorite part of the day is waking up to Sarah Elizabeth’s smile and her sheer enthusiasm at discovering that I’m there to greet her as she wakes.  She looks like she’s just won the Lotto.  The truth of the matter is that I have and her smile reminds me of that every day.  I couldn’t ask for a better, sweeter teacher.  Remember Mommy, be present, be playful.

I am called to be present and playful in all areas of my life.  Some of the steps I’ve taken to be present and playful are:

1.  Slow down.

2.  Simplify. Lighten my ‘To Do’ list.  Leave room to savor the unexpected.

3.  Focus on what is in front of me – the person(s) or the task.

4.  Unplug. Take a break from email and social networking.   Create space for relationship.

5.  Lighten up.

6.  Have fun. Engage in activities that make my heart leap.

Consider the wisdom of your path.   Your journey is crafted to bring you your highest good.

Wishing you love, joy and peace,

Jan

I was not always so attuned to my heart and, as a result, experienced frustration and anger.   As I grew in my awareness, it became abundantly clear that I was the source of my frustration and anger.   I have observed that when I am not honoring my heart, I feel poorly, frustrated and angry.  In contrast, when I am honoring my heart, I feel well, energetic and peaceful.

As I grow in my consciousness, I practice staying attuned to my heart by simply paying attention to my feelings. In order to have a different experience, I had to be willing to be courageous and explore changes and choices that would help me stay aligned to my heart.

I now consciously draw this awareness into my daily decisions.  By accepting myself and honoring my heart, I am able to make Conscious Choices that support my total well-being.

Our hearts are our authentic Selves.  In our hearts, we carry innate wisdom and a fountain of joy.  Honoring our hearts is not about doing but rather about being.  Honoring our hearts calls us to be loving and courageous- loving our Self enough to pay attention and listen and being courageous enough to follow our heart’s sage wisdom.

Your heart will not fail you.  It is rich in its wisdom and points the way to our highest good.

Practical steps that have made a difference in my experience:

(1) Paying attention to my feelings.  Noticing what makes my hearts leap.  Yes, it does leap.

(2) Checking-in with my ‘Self ‘ on a regular basis and assessing my choices.   Are my choices aligned with my heart?   The good news is that we can change our course at any time.    If I’m out of alignment, I acknowledge it and determine the best next steps for me to return to alignment.

Two rituals that I practice to (1) observe my feelings and (2) check-in with my Self are meditation and journaling.

I am a Mommy and encourage parents to do what they can when they can.  I understand the challenge of parenthood, especially Mommyhood.  My daughter celebrates her 9th month this week.  I have very little time to focus on my Self.  With my husband’s support, I am just beginning to be able to create space in my week to honor my heart.   I encourage parents, especially Mommies, to ask for support to create space in their day or week to honor their hearts.  Our children and families learn by our example.

Wishing you love, peace and joy,

Jan

As I find myself walking into a new curve on my personal path, I am even more present to my own challenges of trust often exacerbated by the unknown.    I am on the verge of something new.  There is a newness within my new.    I’ve already embarked on a new part of my path and within it I continue to encounter a new and different reality often accompanied by endless mind chatter and insecurities.  I remind myself not to judge ‘new’ and ‘different’.  These attributes are not ‘good’ nor ‘bad’.  They are simply themselves- new and different.

I am challenged by them because I cannot apply ‘same’ nor ‘old’ responses, habits or behaviors.  New and different requires creativity, intelligence, ingenuity and, above all, trust.

One of my favorite quotes is from Shirley Maclaine – “I could be whatever I wanted to be if I trusted that vibration of God inside of me.”

I am being called to trust – to open and expand even further.   I am aware of the multitude of opportunities presenting themselves to me for the sole purpose of learning to trust.  It is clear to me that we are always on the verge of something new.

What ‘new’ thing is opening in your life and what is it requiring of you?

We all start over in countless ways in all areas of our lives everyday.  Or at least, we have the opportunity to do so.  As I witness my own resistance to change, I’m inspired to create a framework that supports myself and others in not only embracing the new and different, but also the distance to be travelled from the ‘old’ to the ‘new’- the transition.   I look forward to sharing more about this new workshop later this year.

In the meantime, I continue to walk my path.  I am leaning into the curve, embracing the mystery.  I am trusting myself – my creativity, my intelligence and ingenuity- to meet the new and thrive within it.

There is joy in the journey!