My career path took a different turn than I imagined, and yet, when I think of those dreams, I smile at them.  Those intentions are still present in my life.  I believe in happiness.  It’s what we’re here for.  I’m fascinated with remembering and uncovering buried truths – it lights my fire like nothing else!  And I still have that desire to enter the ‘hot spots’ of conflict to bring peace.  In fact, that’s a pretty good description of what happens in every coaching conversation I have with my clients.

Even that big yearning desire to know God – well, that’s stuck around too as my definition of God and Truth has expanded and broadened.  It’s inherent in my knowing that I am more than a body and a brain – I’m a spiritual being having a human experience and knowing myself as always connected in the unified field of the All that is—that’s foundational to everything else in my life.

I was a smart kid.  I knew stuff.

I’m pretty sure you did too.

The means of conveying your knowing of what you’re came here for may have been hard to articulate, and yet – when you were a kid, I dare say you remembered something about yourself and your mission on Earth that probably came out in your imagination and your ‘when I grow up’ dreams.

What did you dream of doing?  Being?  Experiencing?

One of the problems in growing up is that we acquire a form of tunnel vision as we get oh-so-practical.  We think in terms of what is ‘possible’ (as if we know!) and we limit ourselves.  And yet, what if you had a dose of the innocence, hopefulness and enthusiasm that you naturally had before you got initiated into ‘reality’?  What boost could that give you in your adult life?

Do you dare?

Try this:  Find a photo of yourself as a kid and gaze into your eyes.  See how adorable you were (still are, you know!).  Now imagine taking that little Self up on your adult lap for a chat.  Give yourself a squeeze and ask yourself, “Who do you want to BE when you’re as old as me?”  Listen, then ask yourself, “What do you want to DO when you grow up?”

Yes, yes, this requires imagination!  You used to be pretty amazing at imagining!  And you haven’t lost the skill!

Suspend your disbelief.   Love yourself big.  And embrace this young and wise Child that’s still with you.   Then listen and remember.

Here’s the thing – we, as the wonderful, always thinking human beings that we are, are continually processing, making meaning and dialoguing.  Even when we aren’t talking aloud, we’ve got an internal dialogue going almost constantly.  (Thus, the continual recommendation to meditate.  Stillness is a soothing balm!)   And in our continual processing, sometimes we’re not even thinking our own thoughts.  Sometimes we’re picking up on the big collective processing of societal anxiety. Sometimes we’re replaying our mother or father’s interpretations of the meaning of life.  Sometimes it’s our teacher’s philosophy, our friend’s opinions, or our worst critic’s voice that is running the show in our head.  These voices run like programs.  They’re interesting.  They can be insightful.  Or instructive. Or downright false.

Distinguishing your OWN voice of truth, however, is mighty important in the creation of a life that has more substance than illusion.  Want to give up a limiting belief, heal a heartache, let go of a resentment, choose a direction, or receive a brilliant creative idea?  Then listen for the truth.

Truth cuts through that which doesn’t serve you.  Truth sets you free.  Truth has an energetic ring to it, like the clear pure chime of a bell.  Untruth doesn’t resonate in the space of the heart.

My clients could use their own heart as a B.S. meter, and yet, we’re so programmed to live from our heads, it’s hard to even remember how to check in with the heart.  Add to that the fact that we live in a world in which B.S. is elevated as more important that the truth, and it’s no wonder we forget how to tell the difference.  Think advertising.  “Reality TV.”  Photoshop.  Falsehood surrounds us, and if you’re not careful, you’ll forget that life is not about the illusion.

Have you ever been told a lie and experienced a knowing in your body that it was a lie?  Our body is sensitive. When our heart receives something that is false, a reaction runs through us – unease, discomfort, contraction.  Hear a truth, and you’ll feel it in your body too.  Truth is solid, it’s clear, it’s unquestionable.  Even if you don’t like the truth you hear, you’ll know its resonance as something you can lean into.

Perfect your own B.S. meter.  Listen to what you’re saying (internally and aloud).  Ask yourself, “Is that true?”  The question creates space.  Space enough to feel the resonance of whatever you are saying.  When you start giving your body permission to guide you, it will speak.

Sometimes there are so many layers of untruths, half-truths, and tricky lies, it can take a while to get to truth.  That’s okay.  Truth is profound, and doesn’t need a lot of words, or a great elaboration. One simple knowing of truth cuts through mountains of falsehood. Let it emerge.  When truth speaks, everything else falls away.

Words embody our consciousness.

In the last five months I’ve been changing my language.  I’ve been taking out words that don’t speak what I know to be true.  I’ve also been taking out phrases that have  habitually reinforced my own disempowerment.

For example, I started to notice just how often I said, “I DON’T KNOW…”  I’ve had a pattern of using that phrase to be gracious.  I might make a suggestion and then qualify it with, “… I don’t know” so that I seem less intrusive or authoritative.

How does that serve me?

I’m willing to know what I know.  I’m willing to speak from my own knowing and admit my truth.  My truth might change – that’s fine.  I can always speak again.  The truth is,  I want to live a life of knowing!  I want to reinforce the truth that I do.  And so I am — by saying it:  ‘I KNOW.’

Here are some more examples:   I’m not saying “SHOULD’ anymore.  The truth is, I can.  You could.  Anything we do is a choice, not an obligation.  That feels better, doesn’t it?  And, it’s more true.  I’m not saying ‘TRY’.  I either do or I don’t.  Try is a pretty easy way to let myself off the hook for not doing.  Out with that!   And, ‘HOPE’.  I ‘HOPE’ this or ‘HOPE’ that?  Nope.  I know this or I know that.  That’s a biggie!  It means I’m allowing myself to actually know stuff in a broader, more powerful way.

The biggest change I’ve made in my language involves the word ‘BUT’.  ‘BUT’ is a negator.  It’s a tool of contradiction.   I’m committed to living in a consciousness of AND.  I don’t need to negate anything.  All things exist.  All feelings, all reasons, all experiences.  All can be acknowledged.  And all can be added to.  I’m someone who adds in, embraces all, and creates with inclusion.  The world I am helping to create is a world of AND, a world of acceptance.  And so, ‘AND’ is my most accurate conjunction.

What I’ve noticed, is that even my sentence structure has to change sometimes to accommodate these changes in my language.  I’m a little slower to speak, and more careful.  I’ve also been aware that there are some kinds of conversations in which these changes are harder to make.  It’s much easier to have a self-deprecating, judgmental or critical conversation with the word BUT.  Try having one without that word – it’s tough!  And, that’s the point!  My language embodies my consciousness. The words and phrases I choose to use create my world, my feelings and my life as much as they reflect and define my experience.

And so, it’s a process of discerning, of choosing my words with awareness, and of being awake to what I am creating in myself and in my world with my language.  I am an alchemist, crafting reality from my articulation.  AND, so are you!

Start to notice:  Are there phrases that you say often that don’t serve you?  Words that are not  true to the experience of life that you desire to create?

What words and phrases DO positively create your experience and define your life most powerfully?

The more you pay attention, the more you’ll feel the vibration of your articulation.  You’ll notice when you’ve said something that wasn’t true or wasn’t in line with your conscious intention.  And then, simply choose again.  Speak again.  Create again.

Speak your world into existence, consciously.

We’re here to love. We’re here to BE love, and when we walk through our world as embodiments of love, the giving and receiving of love is simply what occurs.

We may have a lot to learn about how to do that – worthy lessons show up in every corner and every relationship if you look for them! And that’s okay! Mixed messages about love abound, and yet, I know that love is clean, love is clear, and love is always renewing itself. It doesn’t run out, it doesn’t have an expiration date, and it powers our energy.

Think for a moment of a time you felt that kind of clean, clear, whole-hearted Love. What do you feel?

I think of holding my niece, Abri, a few minutes after I watched her be born. Or being at my father and step-mom’s wedding and watching them joyfully exchange their vows. Or even sitting on the northern California beach with a best friend, watching big baby elephant seals roll around in the sand. Love. Awe. Expansion. Those are the feelings I feel when I enter each memory.

What do you feel as you remember a time that inspired your heart to open? Notice. And breathe into those feelings. Let them expand within your chest. Continue breathing. Let them expand even more. Let your heart breathe deeply — front and back. Let it soften and notice how your body softens. Let it expand, and notice how your whole energy field expands.

Now THAT feeling – that’s magnetism. Right now, you’re attractive! You’ve just powered up your radiance, and you’ve become attractive to even more experiences that will continue to match those feelings.

This place of love, this is a place to visit often. It’s a place to live from. It’s a place from which to vision and to ask questions about direction, purpose and action. It’s a place that nourishes, heals and regenerates.

It’s always present, this place. It’s in you. It is you. Remember.

I also know that it’s important to see clearly and to have discernment.  I’m not interested in sticking my head in the sand and ignoring anything – especially because I know that being willing to see the truth of what is occurring guides me in knowing what to stand for.  It also helps me to see how to contribute in clearing the way for the highest good to reveal and express.

And, so I keep track of what is going on in the world – in politics, in right’s movements, in the food system, in education, and more.  I enjoyed visiting Occupy LA and hearing the call of the Occupy movement for the greater responsibility of corporations and government on behalf of the planet and its citizens.  I pay attention to what’s happening in regards to legislation that limits or expands the rights of all people to marry.  I am interested in the food industry, and I’m watching what’s happening with Monsanto, GMO’s and organic farming.  I watch, not to get angry… I watch to get inspired and to get behind the shifting paradigms that are occurring now within our big systems.

Positive, generous, expansive change is occurring right now as our individual awareness increases enough to make new choices for the highest good.  And, I’m happy to fuel that wave of change with my individual attention, because, overall, I am quite clear on what I stand for, and I’ll stand for it – love, equality, the care of Mother Earth, health care and access to healthy food… the list goes on.

I’m interested and willing to stand FOR something, not against anything.

Standing against something actually energizes it. The most amazing and impactful activists we have seen on the planet stood FOR a principle or a value, and these leaders maintained a high vision for it’s expression that was far beyond what seemed possible at the time.   Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t stand against racism or racists.  He stood FOR love and equality.  And that’s no subtle distinction – it’s powerful!

Notice that.  Notice in your own life where that distinction in being FOR, not AGAINST, can cause powerful shifts in your relationship to what matters to you. Notice how standing for something energizes it.  Notice how your attention on what is already occurring, that is positive, healthy and generous, actually brings those quality-feelings into your body and spirit.

And then take action in the direction of what you are for.  What action to take will come intuitively from your optimism.  When you are BEING what you are for, your action is a natural extension of your true identity.

As simple as it is, this optimism is revolution. This is radical living.  This is being a powerful presence on the planet.

——–

On this note, I highly recommend the movie Thrive.  Foster Gamble and his wife, Kimberly Carter Gamble are for ALL people on the planet Thriving.  Gotta love that!  They’re idealists and optimists for sure, and their big vision led them to a big investigation.  Stream it for $5, browse their extensive website, and “play it forward” to friends.

Taking an inner inventory of gifts and gems from the last year is important to me.  It’s one way I stop to know myself.  It’s important to pause and appreciate who I’ve been and what I have created as my life.  This reflection also allows me the perspective of seeing with the eye behind the eye, glimpsing what is now emerging out of who I have been being.  Then, I can anchor in a Divine Vision for myself in the next year.

Here are some of the questions I like to ask myself.  I share them and encourage you to pause and ask them of YOUR self.  Honor your year with time of reflection and then out of your reflections, receive some insight into a new theme that’s worthy of the next year of your life.

Cheers to you and to your next journey around the sun!  You are here on purpose and as a great gift to the world.  May you know yourself as the gift that you are.  May you love yourself and others.  May you BE who you came here to be.

—

Light a candle.  Curl up with your journal.  Breathe and relax.  Know that your last year was perfect and that every experience you had was good.  Now, ask and listen:

Who were you one year ago? What were your intentions for 2011?

What happened in your relationships in 2011? Did new people enter your life? Did some of your relationships change or transform? On the whole, what qualities characterized your relationships this year?

How did you grow and expand in 2011? What challenges did you experience?  What limiting beliefs did you give up? What new lessons did you learn? Who were your greatest teachers?

What are you most grateful for having experienced in the year? What joyous experiences did you have? What light-hearted moments do you remember fondly? What gifts did you receive?

What legacy did you leave behind? What did you give? What impact did you make in your community? In the world?

What was the bravest thing you did in 2011? What did you do that was directed by your intuition?  When you look at all of your accomplishments, what are you most proud of?

After all this review, what’s the final message/takeway of 2011? And from that, what do you see next year naturally being about for you?  What do you want to release in 2012? What qualities do you want to embrace?

What theme word or phrase comes to you as an anchor for your highest intentions for 2012? Who are you committed to being in the next year? What are you committed to expressing?

How does Love want to express as me?  What actions does Love want to take in my life?

Where can I make a little more space in my awareness for Love?  How can I make Love even more welcome in my life?

How can I be even more Loving in my work? How can I hold an even greater space of Love for my clients? With what words and expressions can I infuse Love into all of my conversations?

Who wants more of my Love?  Who needs my Loving right now?  How can I spread broad messages of Love, beyond my current circles?  What communities can I serve with my Love? How can I be a greater force of Love to a greater number of people in my life today?

Where can I be more open to receive the Love that is given to me?  What messages is Love sending me? In what ways can I be more attentive to Love’s gifts?

What Loving acts can I perform today? What Loving words can I speak today? What Loving message can I convey with my life today?

How can I express Love with everything that I am?  In what ways can I show more Love to myself?  Where can I allow Love to grow?  Where can I allow Love to express?  Where can I allow Love to create?

Where in my life do I need to practice Love? Where in my life can I let Love have free reign?  What would happen if I let Love flow freely?

And as I ask, I feel Love.  I feel it well up.  I feel it emanate.  It takes me over and has it’s way.  It is what I am.  It is what I experience.   It is all that is.

It’s a difference in tone.  To chill out is to relax and wait.  To stall out might look the same outwardly, but it feels frustrating.  It’s the space of sputtering, wheel spinning attempts at momentum without any actual movement.  Stalling out is also that sick-feeling space of putting things off, avoiding, or breaking down.

Sometimes, however,  it’s just not time to move.  Sometimes, especially before times of big change in our lives, the Universe takes a little time to rearrange, dematerialize and reorganize circumstances and conditions in order to prepare the way for what is coming next.

And the best thing to do when THAT is happening, is to chill out.  No point in making big decisions or forcing movement. And no point in beating one’s self up for the lack of movement.  Save your energy.  Relax and rest.  Turn inward and listen.

Work with me long enough and you’ll come to find that I’m an advocate of that juicy, if sometimes uncomfortable place of ‘don’t know yet’.  I highly celebrate that space of ‘gathering information.’  I’ve come to recognize those rich in-between decision places as good places to practice trust and surrender.

That said, I’m also an advocate of being decisive.  And that’s not a contradiction to the above.  I’m an advocate for choosing to be wherever you are.  If you’re in a place of ‘don’t know yet’, choose to be okay with it. Give yourself permission to be there. Don’t fight it, don’t beat yourself up for it, and don’t try so hard.  Choose it and choose it powerfully.

That’s the chill tone.

Chilling is allowing.  It’s not tense.  It’s not anxious.  Thus, when the new direction opens and your internal guidance system starts to give direction for movement, chilling quickly turns to a new state — FLOWING.

Trust it.  You’re not stuck.  You’re not going to be stuck.  Wait, listen, and anticipate it – the tide will turn.  Chill out and enjoy the rest.  When the flow begins, you’ll be ready.

In addition, I really like to connect amazing people to other amazing people, and I LOVE sparking group conversations based in a tone of ‘what’s right’ optimism and empowerment that sparks creativity and innovation.

And, I have discovered that with a little finesse, a dose of structure, and some thought-provoking questions and content, people connect amazingly well in a virtual party setting – by phone! **

So, I’m throwing a party, to do just that, and I’m inviting YOU!

Think “Positive Cocktail Party“. Think “Dream Mixer“. Think “Think Tank”.

Think of it as a High-Vibe VIP party, at which you get to have multiple inspiring conversations with people, like you, who are eager to connect and grow.

That’s what we’ll be creating together this coming Sunday afternoon, on a tele-conference call like no other: a High-Vibe Tribe, not limited by geography or time zone.

Is this for you?

Do you feel like you’re growing? Like something is emerging from you that’s new? Do you feel an evolutionary shift occurring in your life from the inside out? Is it BIG?

Maybe you can’t name or identify it yet, but if you are feeling some inner stirrings of change, I want YOU on this call.

Here’s what you’ll get from it:

1. New friends – multiple new high-vibe additions to your community, and a partner to check in with over the next month.
2. New clarity regarding what’s going on inside you, what it means in your life, and what it’s going to bring.
3. A new vision for what’s next for you – with action steps, affirmations and accountability.

I’m excited! And, friends, it’s time! NOW! What we do individually, what we allow to occur in our inner evolution, THAT’S what’s going to change the outer world of our lives and recreate society as we know it.

When? Sunday — October 9th at 4pm PST

Where? By phone. Geography is NO limit!

What’s the cost? The call is $20. Register below and I’ll send you the call in number and code, along with more details about how to prepare for the call.

NOTE: I’m super excited to be donating a portion of the proceeds to Earth School! And if you haven’t already, swing by and push the “like” button at the Coolest School in the Galaxy!

(** The conference call system that I use is called Maestro and amazingly, it allows for us to mix and mingle in a variety of ways – partners, dyads, triads and more. You can even raise your hand from wherever you are on the planet, and I’ll see it! Fun, fun! I’ll also be encouraging you to be on Facebook the same time as you’re on the call. That way, when I partner you with someone, you can immediately find them, friend them, and ‘see’ who you’re talking to. Get a feel for this? Think global, baby! It’s world wide web connection at its finest!)

Somehow, somewhere, I think most of us got that program.  The one that says “life’s gonna be hard, and then you’ll die.”  And we accepted it, likely because it was modeled for us.  The world is full of people experiencing hardship and pain, struggle and fight.  The thing is, that kind of experience can be found in the poorest places and the richest, in people with love and without, among people educated or uneducated, employed or unemployed.  The list can go on.  People of any circumstance or condition can experience hardship or ease.  And whichever experience they have has to do with their perspective,  which is entirely within their choice.

Here’s the truth if you choose to accept it:  Your life CAN be a life of ease and grace.  Your good WANTS  to flow to you.   Your dreams WANT to come true.  Your life WANTS to be sweet.

So let it.

Let go of the tightness of struggle.  Let go of the need to ‘work hard’.  By all means, work!  By all means accomplish and create!  By all means, build your life!  But, look for the spaces of expansion and walk there.  Look for the open doorways and walk through them.  Look for the sweetness and appreciate it.  Let your work be your play.

You can wear struggle and pain as a badge of honor.  Many people do.  Ever heard anyone complain about how many hours they work as a point of pride?  Or boast about the struggles in their job/relationship/health?  Do you do that?

It’s likely that you’re going to go through things in your life that are going to feel painful.  Such experiences will cause you to grow and will break open your heart and your mind to new vistas and new depths.  But, for goodness sake, don’t think your life needs to be all about pain in order to be worthy.

The biggest dreams I’ve dreamed into existence actually came about through synchronistic events – one good thing leading to another good insight to another good connection to another good opportunity.  That’s flow!  That’s ease!  That’s grace! And that’s me allowing the Universe to do the hard work of figuring out HOW what I want to be can come to be.  My job?  It’s to show up, appreciate the sweetness, keep saying yes, and allow the goodness to flow.

And believe me, it’s your job too.  Take it.