Are we hard-wired for negativity?

Dr. Joe Dispenza writes in Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, “Most of us live in the past and resist living in a new future. Why? The body is so habituated to memorizing the chemical records of our past experiences that it grows attached to these emotions. In a very real sense, we become addicted to those familiar feelings. So when we want to look to the future and dream of new vistas and bold landscapes in our not-too-distant reality, the body, whose cur…

When my daughter was in the first grade, there was an outbreak of lice.

Sure enough, she brought them home with her (and we didn’t need any more pets!).

When my husband and I researched options and local treatment centers, there were two schools of thought: one said we needed to follow extensive home cleaning instructions and the other said we didn't need to do any of that once our daughter had been treated.

One center told us we had to wash her sheets, hats, clothes, and coats; the other c…

Are you kidding me? Don’t take anything personally?

'Don't take anything personally' is the second agreement in Don Miguel Ruiz’s classic, “The Four Agreements.” It means that whatever happens around you has nothing to do with you. All people are reacting to their own ideas, beliefs, and perceptions and their actions and reactions say more about them then about you. So, hey, no need to get your feelings hurt or get offended or have any sort of emotion - - don’t take it personally. It’s not ab…

There was a time when I thought I had to be perfect!

And for me, part of being perfect was pretending that I wasn’t ever angry, envious, judgmental. I was afraid to look at my negative thoughts and beliefs because I didn’t want to manifest negative or dark things in my life. After all, how could I be perfect if my outside life was negative or dark? Not only that, but how could I teach, mentor, or guide congregants or clients when I was right where they were?

So, I avoided my negative thought…

We all want things.

But our wants can be categorized in two different ways: needs and desires. With some things, it’s super-easy to determine if our want is a desire or a need. However, with other things, it’s harder to figure out. Or, are needs and desires the same thing? Let’s find out.

Desires

Desires are items that you lust after or that you ‘think’ you need. They are the things that you don’t need to survive, but instead just really enjoy having. Desires can be physical things like the i…

It's not wise to minimize the power of small steps

Last week I wrote about a common challenge it seems that most of us have when we want to move forward in the direction of our dreams. I’m paraphrasing by saying we tend to ‘bite off more than we can chew’ and then we end up having to spit out what we bit off!

In other words, we may try to do everything at once. We see the big picture and we get excited and we go-go-go, but eventually our motivation wanes and we go back to our old habits.

My…

Isn’t it time you listened to your own wisdom?

Sometimes I actually read what I write . Well, I read it again! And after re-reading my blogs from last two weeks, I said to myself, “Self, I can’t believe you wrote that! What sort of mixed messages are you sending?”

Let me tell you why I was shocked and stupefied. My last blog said this: We get afraid when all we focus on is the outcome and the subtext is don’t focus on the outcome; instead focus on smaller steps.

And in my blog before that,…

What if this doesn’t work?

Have you ever had an idea that got you excited? Have you wanted to combine your passion with your talent and take it to the world in some way? Maybe you plan and research; maybe you talk to your friends; maybe you even come up with a really cool name. And then it happens. The question: What if it doesn’t work? Somehow we forget to ask, “What if it DOES work?”

And let’s be honest for a minute. What if it doesn’t work? So what? It’s not the end of the world. But our …

In your world, which one is likely to come in first place, procrastination or productivity?

For so many of us, procrastination wins nearly every time. Sure, there are times we can push through with effort and determination – and we even get that warm-fuzzy feeling of satisfaction. But we’re exhausted. We’ve used up our energy reserves. We want things to be easy.

Actually, we want things to be “easy and effortless.”

And yet, if things come too easily or too effortlessly, we don’t appreciate…

I’ve usually made the most progress in my life when I was riled up.

You see, it’s easy to make excuses and not take any action when things are okay. I’ll sign up for classes and don’t implement. After all, things are okay. I’ll read the books but not do the exercises. After all, things are okay. I’ve stayed in jobs and relationships because I told myself that things weren’t that bad.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

I don’t want a life that’s just okay. I don’t want a job or a relationship that’s good en…

I love it when people share their stories. I love it when I can relate to people.

A couple of years ago, my coach at the time shared a very impactful story for me. It was impactful because I was reminded that often we (I?) tend to judge others by what they show on the ‘outside’ (financial success, self-confidence, a huge coaching business, expensive travel, Instagram followers, etc.) and we forget that we all have internal struggles.

So, even though this coach makes multi-millions of dollar…

Do you buy into the idea that doing less is being lazy?

It’s so easy to do. And recently I’ve been wondering if that’s one of the reasons I’m always busy. I don’t want to feel lazy and I don’t want to be judged as being lazy either (by myself or anyone else).

But here’s what happens when I’m busy ‘just to be busy.’ I often find that I’m out of balance. Or my self-care suffers. Or I don’t end up getting enough sleep. Or I’m not exactly enjoying life. Or I make excuses for why my priority proje…

Autumn is here!

For many people this is their favorite time of year. The warm days of summer begin to cool and the landscape turns gorgeous shades of orange and red. I didn't get much autumn color change in the 10 years I lived in Sedona, but here in the inland northwest, I'm treated to a symphony of color daily. And as I drive the familiar streets regularly, I take notice how the orange and red hues get deeper and darker each day. 

For me, autumn brings other things to mind as well. As the se…

I enjoy road trips.

There’s something magical about seeing the landscape close up as I whiz by on the highways. Some landscapes are desolate, dry, and lonely and others are lush, vibrant, and teeming with life. I’m intrigued by the small towns and often wonder what brought people to these remote and out-of-the-way places.

This is a great segue for me to compare these external landscapes to our internal landscapes, right? And how sometimes we feel desolate and lonely and other times we are vibr…