We attended the Bradley Beach Farmers' Market recently. The shapes, colors, and scents from one booth had us stop and chat. Melissa, the owner of Sotions Earthborn Essentials, gave me a sample of her handmade soap. Oh. My. Goodness. Her soap not only changed my skin (for the better), but sparked a great interest in natural, or rather do-it-yourself (DIY) skincare. Since that soap, I have researched up until the wee hours the incredible benefits of homemade cleaning and beauty products. My kitchen and bathroom have turned into labs for all my experiments. Needless to say, I am (a tad) obsessed. After three years of grad schooling, my face has been through the wringer. Papers and group projects left me...
"Change your relationship [with the posture], not the result," the yoga teacher said before a class of all-level yoga practitioners in forward head-to-knee pose. Some were advanced while others struggled to stay balanced on one leg. We can easily become distracted by results. "It MUST look like this" or "It MUST turn out this way!" Perfection takes over progress, and the journey loses it luster. The posture [or life] will not be fully appreciated until it is mastered and achieved. Rewind. "Is this why I came to yoga?" Is this what life is about? This lose-before-winning mindset is absurd and lays no foundation for personal growth. Instead, it completely depletes us. Whether we are 'advanced' or 'beginners', walk hand-in-hand with life....
This life, your life. Taking 100% ownership?
It may be more convenient for us to look outside and point fingers, but turning the spotlight away from ourselves will have us in the dark.
Our very essence is light. Energy is light. We are energy, and therefore we are light. Why give our light (our essence, our energy, our ownership) away?
When we take full ownership of who we are and where we are, and respond accordingly, a shift takes place. We feel more purposeful. We smile more. Our relationships improve. We not only plan, but we also act.
We grow.
If you only have this one life, make it YOUR life, 100%.
Our past does not define us. Our present does not dictate our future. Our current thinking does shape our future, however. Friends, let's just think big. We have nothing to lose: Zero payments. Our imagination is stretched. We invite magic into our lives. We remain open to the possibility of our vision becoming a reality. A current and less-than-satisfactory experience is not the end-all. It's similar to a rest stop. Heck, life is filled with rest stops. And the conditions can be displeasing with--work with my following analogy--long restroom lines and foods that boost your energy (for a hot minute) before they drag it down. Thankfully these 'stops' are temporary and serve as opportunities for us to stop and think...
Or maybe she has to constantly work at it. Self-confidence. We don't lean on the idea of being self-confident; we act on it, routinely. Our mind is like a bank. Building self-confidence muscles involve depositing things into our mental bank that form an empowering belief system. We continue to accept others' admiration and expressions of "you're so confident," but we do the work--we always do the work--to make sure that our habits and behavior reflect our inner confidence. What is this work? Maybe it's a good workout or reading a self-empowerment book. Perhaps it's ten push-ups a day, a ten minute meditation, or visiting with a friend. The work is doing what makes us feel good and depositing that good...
