Clarity

Find Your Strongest Life: Singing Me to Her

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I remember a line from a song in the Dances of Universal Peace, “Mother Earth God, she is calling me . . .” and a line from the movie, Australia, “I will sing you to me.”

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What would it take for me to hear Her song more?

Well, the New Mexico land sings me to Her.  Recently, I’ve heard the song for a while and wasn’t finding time in my schedule to answer her call.  So She spontaneously cleared my schedule for a few days!

I just got back from Taos two nights ago.

What I noticed being there: she sings me to Her because I am a stronger version of me when I’m there.  I am in tune with myself, the natural rhythm of my life and of Life itself.  I am aligned with both my spiritual Self and my human self.  Whole.  Needing nothing.  Being.  Present.  Breathing deeper.  And taking in the incredible nurturance of the Earth herself.

Ah . . . . . . . . . .

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Ah, the melodies of the trees, the clouds, the sky . . .

I lived there for two years in 1999 – 2000.  I get the sense that I will be living there again.  Maybe sooner than I imagine.  Certainly, I will listen for and follow her song more . . .

What about you?  What calls you?  What puts you in tune with yourself, the natural rhythm of your life and of Life itself?  What aligns you with both your spiritual Self and your human self?

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The path home . . .

Post your comments, insights and progress below.

Thank you for playing with me today!

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Transformation: A Question Frees Us

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What’s the difference between a question and a statement?  Why do we care?

While writing a new piece for my next book, I began to notice a subtle and perhaps life-changing difference between questions and statements. 

My first book, “Thriving Work,” includes 33 affirmative prayers/poems.  I love them.  They remind me where to focus.  For example, “I see with new eyes.” Yes I do.  Do I?  Well, I would love to see with new eyes.  Yes, seeing with new eyes is better than seeing with old eyes . . .

Hmmm . . . this statement takes me to a lot of internal conversation about seeing with new eyes.  I haven’t been aware of going there.  Now that I am, I notice that my thoughts seem to be heading toward self-judgment and argument.

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What is possible when I see through new eyes?!?

And, “new eyes” seem to be a one-time event.  There, I now see with new eyes.  Good.  Done. Check.  What’s next?

So, what if we instead try a question?  How may I see with new eyes?  Who would I need to become to see with new eyes?  What would it take to see with new eyes? Why might I like to see with new eyes?

Do you feel lighter, more expansive with the questions?  I sure do.  And, I feel hopeful and energized!  What is possible when I see with new eyes?  What else is possible?  How can I continue to see with newer and newer eyes?

What if I continued to ask these questions?  As I feel into that, I am pulled forward.  I am creating an entirely new future, not based on repetitive cycles of the past.  I don’t know this future, yet I love the freedom in the inquiry.  I love feeling the hope of experiencing more of me.

What about you?  What is your sense of being with questions? How does being with this question shift your perspective and experience?

Post your comments, insights and progress below.

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Conscious Choice: Mild Preferences Free Us

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All suffering comes from our need to have things a certain way.

I can hear your protests.  I can hear them because I’ve had them, too.  I still sometimes have them.  “I’m suffering because of this illness or physical pain.”  “I’m suffering because someone I love died.”  “I’m suffering because I don’t have enough money.”  And our lists go on.

When I feel sick or experience pain, even chronic pain, it is my thinking that causes the suffering.  “I shouldn’t be in pain.  I’m tired of this.  When will I feel better? I can’t take another minute of this . . .”  When I accept what is, when I allow things to be as they are, rather than how I think I need them to be, then the suffering stops.

I may still be uncomfortable with the pain and that too will shift.  When I have a mild preference for being pain-free, then I create more space for the pain to ease or for me modify how I do my day even while experiencing the pain.

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Mild preferences move us toward accepting what is. 
As we accept what is, we eliminate suffering.

When we feel out of control, we tend to have strong preferences.  We become very attached to those preferences and when they don’t happen, we feel even more out of control.  Quickly, we spin into a downward spiral.

If instead, we can use the feeling of being out of control as the signal to dial back our preference to mild, we then begin an upward spiral.  “It would be great if I felt better,  And, I don’t feel so good at the moment.  And, this is what I can do even while feeling this way.”

Mild preferences move us toward accepting what is.  Because the preference is mild, I’m fine even if I don’t get what I prefer in a moment.  My own personal experience in working with dialing back my preferences to mild: what I would prefer often naturally comes to pass.  I suspect this happens because I don’t have such heavy, attachment energy involved in the mix.

So, what about you?  In what area of your life might you like to play with dialing your preferences back to mild?

Feel free to post your comments, insights and experiences with your strengths below.

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Clear Intention: A Fresh New Day

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Happy Spring!

What a delightful time to see ourselves anew.  I am choosing to use this fresh, spring energy to release another layer of self-doubt and self-defeating habits and see myself through new eyes.

I am also practicing extending these new eyes to others.  By consciously choosing the renewal that spring offers, I am – once again – letting go of old judgments and beginning anew.  And, being human, I can sometimes “forget.”  When I notice myself judging or focusing on the less empowered aspects of myself or someone else, I simply use that noticing as my opportunity to call myself back to a fresh, new moment and a fresh, new choice!

As we see ourselves and others in brighter, more empowering light, we actively choose to live and love more from a God-consciousness, rather than from our own limited human consciousness.

Lovely . . .

What does spring elicit from you?

Feel free to post your spring rituals in the comments section . . .

Transformation: Melt Resistance with Clarity

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Last week I shared about the concept of resisting nothing to reduce our suffering.  Since resistance is something that comes up regularly for all of us who are growing, I’ve been studying it from several angles recently. 

 

I guess I’ve created my own self-study Masters program for transformation and coaching.  As I have more ways to smooth the way for my own change, then I also have new tested tools to share with my coaching clients! 

 

One of my “required reading” books, “Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard” by Chip and Dan Heath, asserts, “What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity.”  They use a beautiful example about eating a healthier diet.  We may resist “eating healthier” because we have no idea where to begin.  They then cite a research study in which the two researchers decided to start with milk because whole milk is the single biggest source of saturated fat in the typical American diet.

 

They launched an ad campaign in two towns in West Virginia letting people know that one glass of whole milk has the same fat content as five strips of bacon.  Who knew?  They then asked people to switch to low-fat milk.  Crystal clear: eat healthier by switching from whole milk to low-fat milk.  Before the campaign, the market share of low-fat milk: 18%.  After: 41%.  Six months later: still 35%!  Amazing . . .

 

My current resistance/clarity challenge: I’ve been resisting reaching out for help because I don’t want to “bother people.”  In working with my own coach, we brought in some clarity:  I now reach out every single day to at least three people, asking for something specific in which I would like help.

 

Occasionally, I don’t hear back from someone right away.  And the rest of the time (80 or 90%), I am getting so much darn help – and having a great time with it!  Not one person has yet told me that I’m bothering them!

 

So what about you?  What are you currently resisting?  I would love to help you melt that resistance with some crystal-clear clarity! 

 

Feel free to call me on my direct line 303.399.8737, or post your comments here . . .

 

Self Improvement: Getting Beyond Habitual Conditioning

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Consciously choosing is one of my core values.  So is loving kindness.  Yet, in some situations, I’d like to respond to someone with loving kindness and I instead hear myself defending my ego or reacting from programmed conditioning.  In these moments, I realize how automatically and ready are my ego and my conditioning.

To go beyond these ingrained habits, I use one or all of my “Choosing” tools:

  • As often as I remember, I affirm, “not my will, rather Thy will.”  This reminds me to choose from God/good consciousness.
  • In tough situations, before I speak, I take a breath.  This gives me a moment to actually choose a response rather than habitually and automatically reacting.
  • If I do react, I apologize and ask for a re-do.  This allows me to consciously respond even after I’ve reacted.
  • I actively listen for inspiration and guidance.  And, I follow it, even if I don’t fully and logically understand it.  This accesses the inspired path, rather than the habitual one, because I already know where it leads!
  • I remind myself to allow grace and miracles.  This chooses for me far greater outcomes than I ever could have imagined.

If we don’t consciously use choosing tools, we react as we’ve always reacted and get what we’ve always gotten!  Feel free to use my tools liberally and I would love to learn and try your tools, too . . .

Meditation Tips: Recipe for “Instant” Manifestation

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As I have been contemplating new products and programs I’d like to offer, I have found myself second myself, wanting to look good, fearing failure and generally resisisting change.  Not much fun . . .

So, I paused to reflect and be with the fears and doubts so that I could move forward from a more centered place, from a place that is more of the best of me.  During that reflection, I wrote this meditation / affirmative prayer to support my process.

I offer it to you now, too, so that it may offer you hope and direction as well!


Recipe for “Instant” Manifestation

Within every desire
is all that we need
to bring that desire to fruition.

As we are ready to surrender
our ego strong-hold on:
•    What we think we know
•    Needing to look good
•    Old habits and patterns that no longer serve
•    What we believe is “the way”
•    Outdated identities that no longer fit
•    Whatever demands we have . . .

And we open to the magic of:
•    Being reborn in a moment
•    Expressing vulnerability and humanness
•    Loving all that is
•    Accepting our good
•    Flowing with change and transition        
•    Allowing ourselves to be all we are meant to be . . .

We are now ready in this moment
to bring our desire into reality. . .

Attracting clients: An empowering process

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In my Notes from the Universe, this morning, I read, “Very simply, Ann, the more that you accept responsibility for, the more power you have.”

I had to read it twice. So, I have more power when I accept more responsibility? Yes, that feels true in my body and I had never thought of it like that before!

When I would like more clients, I don’t passively wait for the Universe to deliver. Instead, I take responsibility. I set a clear intention and declare it to the Universe. Then, I clear my head of disempowering thoughts around attracting new clients. Then, I listen for inspired actions to reach out for those incoming clients. Then, I take those actions.

With full responsibility, I keep clearing my head of thoughts that don’t serve my intention and I keep listening for and taking inspired actions until I have attracted as many new clients as I had desired. This whole process might take 20 minutes or a few months.

I realize as I’m pondering the connection between responsibility and power, sometimes I have heard me or one of my clients say, “It’s out of my control. I can’t make someone become a client.”

Of course. True power is not arm-twisting or attempting to impose your will upon another.

Instead, it’s about matching energy. One of the most empowering things I help clients with involves:

  • Setting an intention for what they desire (in this case, attracting more clients).
  • Clearing and continuing to clear disempowering thoughts that don’t support that intention.
  • Listening for inspired actions.
  • Taking inspired actions.
  • Repeating as necessary until the intention has come to fruition.

The easiest way for me to attract those new clients who would like help with this process: be actively engaged in the energy of this process, feel good about it, have fun with it, be in my power with it.

Probably the most clear way to see how this works: look at the opposite. If I think clients should just find me and I resent that they don’t, if I expect someone else to send them to me, if I don’t set an intention, allow my disempowering thoughts to flourish and don’t listen for inspired action . . . what happens? Nothing good, right?

Business coaches, career coaches, life coaches: would you like to attract new clients right now? I would love to support you in that!

Check inside yourself to see if this inspired action fits for you: I’m offering a risk-free, no-cost, high-value coaching consultation for you to experience this! Sign up for yours today . . .

Conscious choice: Choosing from the best of you

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Recently, I had a conversation that really stuck with me.  We were exploring the paradox of fully accepting who we are, how we are and a desire to grow, change.  If we constantly would like to grow, then isn’t there something “wrong” with us now?

I didn’t quite know how to answer that question at first. 

As a business and life coach, I support my clients in both growing and changing and accepting what is – exactly as it is, exactly as they are.  The more I contemplated and looked at my own growth path, I realized a wonderful distinction.

Each of us makes many, many choices in a day.  If our overall intention involves choosing from the most compassionate, loving, kind, present, aware, _______ (you fill in the blank) place that we can choose from in that moment, then we continue to grow and to accept what is at the same time!

I see a continuum, where on the one end, we each have the ax murderer version of ourselves and on the other end we each have the Dalai Lama version of ourselves (or any other low energy/high energy pictures we care to conjure). 

Now, someone cuts us off in traffic, ends a relationship with us or treats one of our children poorly.  We respond.  Do we choose to respond from a place on that continuum that is closer to the low energy or high energy end?  Do we handle the situation from a version of ourselves closest to the ax murderer or to the Dalai Lama?

So, it’s perhaps becomes less about us changing into something completely different, but rather making choices from the best of us more of the time? 

This is big!  I’m still pondering.  I would love your input and to hear your experiences.

Positive mental attitude: presence or absence?

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While listening to my daily dose of Michael Beckwith earlier, I realized, once again, that my positive mental attitude is a choice.  Maybe not always an easy choice, yet and still: a choice.

In this moment when I think I have too much to do, do I chose the presence or absence of a positive mental attitude? 

Do I choose to be present with myself, these ideas I’m sharing with you, the sun streaming into my office and my fingers on the keyboard? Or, do I choose to be absent from this glorious moment, lost inside a swirl of habitual thoughts and familiar anxiety? 

Do I choose the positive mental attitude that all is well when I am present or do I choose to be absent and feel lost?

What about you?

Are you willing to give yourself the precious gift of your positive mental attitude in this present moment?

You say you want to, but you can’t right now because you don’t have enough money?  Or enough health?  Or enough time? 

Or, you’ll have a positive mental attitude after you lose some weight?  Or get a new client?  Or a new lover? 

Okay, I hear you. 

And, in the meantime, would you be willing to give yourself one precious minute right now? 

Would you be willing to take a great big, deep breath right into the full presence of your positive mental attitude?  Would you be willing to be with you for this moment?  Would you be willing to notice that, indeed, all is well right now?  Would you be willing to feel the unseen support that holds you in this moment?

Excellent! 

And guess what?!  In that one minute, you achieved at least two of your goals – you lightened up and received the new lover that is you!

I’d love to hear about any other goals you achieved . . .