A New Beginning

     My greatest wish today is for everyone to KNOW that in life second chances are sooooo minuscule. We get 365 chances each year to begin again, make new choices, drop old baggage, forgive old hurts and step into a new level of personal power. Every morning when I awaken, I have the following sentiment on the opposite wall:

Everyday is a gift from God

     It reminds me that I have the choice of choosing new goals, new friends, new paths and new ways to show my appreciation for being given another day to live. I LOVE mornings because they are new beginnings. Shift your thoughts and see your morning shower as rinsing off more than dirt and the last remnants of sleep. Choose to see it as rinsing off all of the things for the day before that did not serve your purpose of living your best life. Step out of the shower as a new and invigorated You. One who is ready to take on new challenges and who is determined to make today better than yesterday in every way.

     WOW with that kind of daily momentum, look out world!

Having a Bad Day...NOT

During a workshop recently, I mentioned that I could not remember the last time I had a bad day. The quizzical looks on the faces around me caused me to question myself. In questioning myself, I realized that it is true. I cannot remember when I last had a bad day and examined why.

My days are made up of moments that I choose to string together or not. Like everyone else, I have bad moments when I am angry, shocked, hurt or just downright bewildered by the insensitivity of others. But I choose to replace the feelings of anger, hurt, shock or disbelief with other feelings like love and empathy.

I move from moment to moment and choose not to carry those bad emotions into my next moment. You can do that too. The next time that you feel angry, hurt, shocked or bewildered - move on. Feel the bad, identify it, choose a feel-good emotion, send love and move into your next life experience. Considering what we now know about the effect of emotions on our bodies, feeling good is the highest form of self-love. There is no value for your life experience or your day in taking bad feelings with you. Live, laugh, love - good advice.

Abundantly yours
Sherry

New Life Changes

     As we slide into month two of the New Year, a lot of you are already regretting making resolutions to lose weight, exercise more, save more money etc. The regrets come on the heels of the realization that you might not be able to effectively keep your promises. And nothing stings more than breaking promises to one's self.

     I have a solution in hand. I do not make New Year's Resolution, instead I make New Life Resolutions. Each year, I survey my life and make choices that will affect the quality of my life based on changes that I undertake in a wholistic way. What is the difference?

     New Year’s Resolutions typically focus on the aspects of our unacceptable behavior and are rarely a part of a bigger vision for who we are and who we are here to serve. I find them to be limited; fear based; habit replacing; past focused and unforgiving of failure. How does that feel in the spirit as you are reading this?

     New Life Resolutions are unlimited; self-affirming; open-ended; loving; present focused and forgiving. They change our lives in productive and nurturing ways and are based on life assessments that encompass a bigger picture. What do New Life Resolutions look like?

“What do I need to do to support achieving my best life?”

“What do I really want to do with my life?”

“Who can I serve with my talents and love?”

“What thoughts, feelings and actions should I take to align with my visions and dreams?”

     Answering these life affirming questions and others like them will still lead you to stop smoking, lose weight or exercise more. The difference being that failure is an option and if one falters, self-love and vision replace self-loathing as we try again. How does that feel in your spirit?

     Join me in abandoning New Year’s Resolutions and their limitations. I choose to reaffirm life by living in the now and adjusting my behavior and life choices to fit my vision of living my best life and serving more people along the way. My spirit soars at the thoughts of the marvelous journey that lies ahead.

Abundantly yours,

Life is Good!

"Most victories show up first as temporary defeats." Napoleon Hill

This quote is a perfect fit for my life in the past six months. I have dealt with the unreality of loss and separation on all fronts. It 'appeared' that I was losing a job that I loved. It 'appeared' that the community was losing a needed outreach program. It 'appeared' that money was no longer a magical asset in my life. It 'appeared' that my job was my money source and not God. This list could go on for much longer but lets stop here.

It was all an 'appearance' as none of it was real. In the face of temporary defeat, my imagination spun a web of 'lies.' Times of temporary defeat are times of growth and learning. Defeat like life is always temporary if you look for the lessons and take heed. At that point, the miracles and coincidences begin to show up and you find yourself smiling and knowing that LIFE IS GOOD.

Having It All

 I was reminded today that 'having it all' is truly about perspective. It is dependant on your worldview, your personal view, your perspective on the opinions of others, and your level of gratitude for what you have now. As I coach others on the unlimited abundance of the universe, I do it from a pedestal of what we in America label as middle class. I am very happy and grateful with my material status. I love my home, my car, my backyard, my clothing etc. I am happy and grateful for these things because they speak to where I am now in life. Knowing that abundance is unlimited, I also know that when and if I change my perspective on what I want in my life that it is just a wish away.

Today, my daughter spoke to me about her gratefulness for all that she has. She is happier than she has been in years. Her statements go against the grain of the capitalist belief that happiness is irrevocably tied to wanting and having more. When she lived in Austin, she had a spacious home with beautiful furniture, a relaxing and inviting backyard, a luxury model car and more clothing than closet space in a three bedroom home and she was unhappy to her core. In her move to Chicago, she now has a 550 square foot apartment, one very small closet and walks to work, shopping, dinners and fun. Her living space is so limited that she can only allow the things that really mater to her. She no longer owns anything because it matches the world's expectations. I am seeing her for the first time in a month and she is radiantly beautiful with self-acceptance and joy.

Having it all is not about going home with the most marbles, it is about finding your center of joy and living there happily for awhile. Life is totally about change and trust me your life circumstances will change. If you feel the need to move forward or upward and want to claim more marbles - it is your choice. Just take a quick self assessment  to ensure that what you want is not based on how you want others to perceive your level of success. What you have in your life should reflect what YOU want in your life as you look forward knowing that abundance is unlimited and you don't need to have the world's perception of 'all' at this moment. When you are looking at your life through the world's eyeglasses, you will always come up short.

Look around you and decide what  works toward your happiness and what doesn't. Make a plan to replace what doesn't and give God thanks for the pieces of your life you plan to keep. Make a plan, live your plan and be happy. You really are in control of your own destiny.

Abundantly yours,
Sherry

Simply Allowing

Recent life struggles always point out a flaw in our thinking. I just learned (1) that I need to focus on the blessings that I can see NOW and pull in the reins on the things that I would like to see. (2) I cannot force intentions, no matter how well meaning, on another person. That sounds contradictory for a person who teaches intentional living, but peering too intently into the future causes you to not see what simply is.

My only daughter is moving to Chicago soon and in the planning of the move, I became so focused on what I wanted to see for her (a large apartment overlooking the lake; free parking; perfect commute to work etc) that I ended up taking away her joy in finding a small apartment in a great neighborhood that she liked with a 1/2 mile walk to work. These were all things that she wanted. I acted as if I were moving and chose the things that I would like to have and failed to see that I was ruining her vision for herself.

I have now recovered and stopped to take a deep breath (all realizations start with a deep breath) cleared my future focus and thanked God for the blessings she has (a wonderful new job; a new life; a great neighborhood; friends; and hope). Thank you, God for another life lesson.

Love and light!

Choosing Your Possibilities

We have all become adept at multi-tasking. A term that did not even exist 20 years ago. However, life is designed to move forward one moment at a time. Consider this:

You can only take one breath at a time.
You can only take one step at a time.
You can only have one thought at a time.
and most importantly, you can only make one choice at a time.

Your life is always one choice away from creating your life possibilities. One choice will lead you toward the life you want and another will lead you away from the life you want.

A succesion of choices have led you to where you are right now (whether you like it or not). Look carefully at the next set of choices that you make one at a time. Will they take you closer to your best life or ..........

Love and light,
Sherry