the gift of gratitude

The beautiful gifts of gratitude begin at home
so today, invite a healing to happen
in your own body,
in your own consciousness,
in your own loving heart
that feels blessed to be alive.

Notice all the riches you've been given:
the feet that allow you to stand,
the legs that allow you to walk,
the stomach that allows you to eat,
the lungs that allow you to breathe,
the throat that allows you to speak,
the mouth that allow you to taste,
the nose that allows you to smell,
the eyes that allow you to see,
and your beating heart
that allows you to love.

Honor them all.

Become present to the treasures of your life:
the opportunities that you have been given,
the ones that have effortlessly opened up for you this year.
Reflect on your family, your kids, your partner, your friends.
Look through appreciative eyes,
the eyes of what's right,
the eyes of the divine.

Give thanks in a way that you never have before.

Allow fear, doubt, struggle and pain
to melt away in the presence of this all-loving appreciation.
Thank God that you have a consciousness
that is able to shift and transform in just a moment.

Thank God that you are courageous enough
to take a moment to bless yourself,
to bless the universe,
to bless all those who love and guide you,
and then to bless all of the world,

Send your tears of love and gratitude
to those who are in pain,
to those who are alone,
to those who are confused.

Allow the heavenly vibration of gratitude
to puncture their fearful illusions
and open up their hearts to what is truly divine.

Today, take this vow of deep self-love and gratitude,
knowing that when you are in the presence of this kind of love,
you - as well as all of those around you - will flourish.

Take five slow deep breaths, breathing in
love, appreciation, gratitude and joy.
Know that you are never alone and you will never be alone.

We are all here surrounding you with love.

(Debbie Ford) 

the fear voice

Over the years, I’ve watched many creative women not share their voices, not embrace their passions, not ask for what they deserve, not take the risks involved in creating their “hit the home run ball out of the park” life because of the fear voice.

We’ve all heard it at one time or another – the voice that whispers in our ear and tells us we aren’t smart enough, or creative enough – or that we’ll fail, or worst of all, that we don’t deserve the something we know we want.

Having been intimate with the “fear voice” myself, I came up with some ways to help myself (and hopefully you) fight back……

1.)   Create a character that illustrates how the voice of fear feels in you. And when you hear the voice of fear, greet it: “Oh, hello Cruella, it’s you again. What’s up?”  Creating a character helps you separate the creative part of yourself from the part of you that’s afraid. Fears come from an instinctual part of the brain that seeks to avoid risk at any cost. That’s why it’s important to separate it from the place of creativity, dreams and inner wisdom.)

2.)   After hearing the voice of fear say something like: “you’re going to fall flat on your face” or “no one will like your ideas”, ask your rational self: “Can I be absolutely sure that this thought is true?” (Because in most cases, what the voice of fear is saying isn’t true. The voice of fear is irrational and overprotective.

3.)   Stay focused and continue to think it through to the end. Fear holds us hostage, making threats that if you do “X”, a disastrous outcome will occur. So take it one step ahead of the fear. Using your creativity, imagine how you’d handle fear’s projected outcome, and evaluate just how bad it would really be.

Keep shrugging your shoulders and ask “so what?” again and again. For example, the voice of fear tells you that your request for a raise will be turned down. This is when you ask yourself, “So if I was turned down, so what? Then what?”

You’ll probably hear yourself thinking something like, “Well, I’d be disappointed, and I’d think about whether that means I need to change jobs.” You’ve just taken a great deal of power away from your fear.

Or, if that outcome still feels super scary, and your next answer to “so what?” is “I’d feel horribly embarrassed around my boss every time I saw her!” Then ask the question again: “So I’d feel embarrassed and awkward, then what?” Keep following the fear through to the end. You’ll find your resiliency and sense of perspective as you keep asking, “So what?”

Having done the preliminary footwork, it’s time to take affirmative action!

(4.) Compliment the fear. That’s right – stroke it’s ego before you prepare to kick its butt to the curb. “Wow, Cruella – THAT was good! In fact one of your best – you put a lot of work into that one! You almost had me believing you there with that one.”

(5.) Prove your competency and capability to be the bigger voice and take charge person. “Thanks for bringing that to my attention Cruella, but you don’t need to worry. I’ve thought about it and think I’ve got it handled. What you’re so concerned about probably won’t happen, but if it does, I’m strong enough to deal with it. Trust me.”

(6.) Trust yourself. Trust your heart, your inner wisdom, your intuition. You cannot be in a state of fear and trust at the same time. They can’t co-exist – one will always blot out the other. So decide which you will feed and nurture. Your trusting self or your fearful self?

And if all else fails, just accept that fear is nothing more than a cautionary voice in your life right now. Let it be there, but don’t let it be in control. Let it be there, listen to it even, but don’t take direction from it or stop moving forward because of it.

As I read somewhere, “Courage is nothing more than fear that has said its prayers.”