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What is the cost to you not living your highest and best?

5/27/2020

Have you ever done something that you know probably isn't the best thing for you to do?

The reasons you do it are one, because you like it and the enjoyment outweighs the cost, or two, because you can't really imagine yourself doing anything other than doing this.

I bring this up because I see this often in some of the prospective coaching clients that I meet with.

Some tell me about how much they hate their work, or they really don't like their boss or the people that they're working with.

And yet, many continue to stay at their job because they have trouble imagining doing something else, or because the pay is good enough, so much so that they don't want to let that go.

In those particular conversations, I like to share what I call “The Hamburger Story.”

Years ago, a spiritual teacher and leader named Terry Cole-Whittaker shared how much she loved eating hamburgers.

And yet, she knew that hamburgers weren't the best thing for her body, meaning she knew the burgers didn’t agree with her digestive system and she didn't feel so good after eating them.

So she came up with this practice where, as she ate the hamburgers, she would use the power of her mind to transmute the properties of the hamburgers so that they would be more nutritious for her.

With each bite, she would speak her affirmations and declarations, proclaiming the hamburger was being transmuted and received nutritionally and healthily by her body.

Perfect digestion. Perfect assimilation. Perfect elimination.

Every time she ate a hamburger, she would engage in this ritual that required a lot of her energy and focused attention.

She loved her hamburgers and she wanted to do whatever she could to eat them without causing major disruptions in her body.

Until one day, she had an epiphany.

She had a light bulb moment where she realized she was exerting so much energy every time she ate a hamburger when, instead, she could eat other foods that were already more agreeable and nutritious for her body.

Right then and there, she made a decision to eat hamburgers no more.

(Please note that I'm bringing up the hamburger story to illustrate a point and not to diss hamburgers, which I absolutely love eating!)

I bring up the Hamburger Story because I see situations where clients are doing things that they know might not be for their highest and best.

As I mentioned earlier, the example I hear often is people continuing to do work that they absolutely hate.

A common response is to try to transmute those situations, to make lemonade out of lemons.

One of the common things people do is engage in stress management, like taking walks, meditating more, or getting out their frustrations at the gym during the evenings and weekends.

These activities help alleviate their stress so they can be more resilient in the workplace, to build up their "spiritual armor" when they enter the "minefield" they call work.

Another thing people do is focus on cultivating practices of patience and non-attachment, so they don’t get riled up easily at work by their bosses and co-workers.

Let me be clear. Stress management and cultivating patience are great practices.

But if people are doing these practices to avoid the underlying cause of their stress and worry, then they just might be mimicking the actions of Terry Cole-Whittaker.

They’re eating metaphorical hamburgers (for example, working in jobs they hate), knowing they’re not the best for them, but doing whatever they can to transmute the situation to make it more manageable and palatable.

However, Terry Cole-Whittaker eventually learned another path.

That pathway is to choose those things that are in greater alignment and ease with who you are.
With this story in mind, the questions that I have for you today are these:

Where in your life are you eating metaphorical hamburgers, meaning you’re engaging in things that may not be for your highest and best?

And where can you invite a more easeful way of living, and in a way that's in right alignment with who you are?

Simply ask yourself these questions and take stock.

The truth is, you really can experience more ease and grace in your life.

Life doesn’t always require an extraordinary amount of energy for simply living every day.

Ultimately, though, if you really, really, really want to eat that hamburger, by all means go ahead and do it.

You always have the power of choice available to you.

You get to choose.

And yet, my intention for you, as always, is that as you choose, choose with an expanded and loving awareness for what's possible for you, including your highest and best.

With that greater awareness, you get to see and discern whether the cost of what you're doing is actually worth it, or if a more easeful path is calling you forward.

Which path will you choose?

Abundant Blessings and Namaste.

**

I'd love to hear your thoughts about today's article. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

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This, or something better

5/19/2020

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A few years ago, I created a vision board, and I decided to put it on my bathroom wall.

One day, when I was stepping out of the shower, my eyes homed in on that vision board. In particular, I zoomed in on this one image of a cruise ship that I had pasted onto that board.

I remember thinking to myself, “Oh yeah, I put this cruise ship on there because I wanted to experience a cruise this year as part of my vision. Maybe I'll call Princess Cruises later on and see if they have any good deals.”

That thought came and went, and I just went about my day.

I was reminded of this experience because I had a session with one of my coaching clients recently, where we talked about the unlimited possibilities in life.

One of the insights that I learned from one of my spiritual teachers is that whenever you come up with a vision statement, a list of intentions or a declaration of goals, I always add this particular statement at the end:

“This, or something better.”

When you say “This, or something better,” “this” refers to your vision, your intentions and your goals.

You have a picture in your mind of what you'd like to experience.

“Or something better” refers to that good that you didn't imagine was possible, that joy that you didn't even know could happen.

Here’s the truth: You don't know what you don't know.

If you’re like most people, you operate largely from the realm of what's known and what's familiar to you.

The known includes things like the places you live and enjoy visiting, the people that you love and connect with regularly in your life, and the grocery stores that you shop at or coffee shops and restaurants you like to frequent.

The known encompasses your habits and ways of being that are very comfortable and familiar.

The known gives you a sense of comfort and your place in the world.

And yet, it's in the realm of the unknown where most growth happens.

In the realm of the unknown, things happen that you might not have expected.

Sometimes, when you encounter these new experiences, you become surprised.

But you become surprised not only because of the new experiences, but also because of how you show up in response to this new challenge or opportunity.

In the realm of the unknown, you have the opportunity to rise to the occasion.

When you rise and show up, that's how you’re actually transformed.

You become more of who you are. You enlarge your sense of who you are and what's possible for you.

And so, when you say, “This or something better,” what you're doing is making a signal to the universe that you’re both open and willing to experience more good than you might have ever imagined.

You come to believe that you are equal and worthy to the idea of "something better."

So back to my story about the cruise.

When I first made that vision board, I made a declaration to myself with “This, or something better.”

After seeing that vision board in the bathroom that one day and immediately forgetting about it, I received a letter in the mail a few days later.

I opened the letter and it said, “Congratulations, you have been offered a free seven-day cruise to Alaska!”

I thought, “What is this? Some kind of scam?”

I was ready to toss the letter aside but then, I paused. I thought, “Well, what if this letter has some validity? Let me call the number.”

I called the number and spoke to the representative, who exclaimed, “Congratulations!”

I responded, “Oh well…yeah…thank you. I'm curious and have a few questions about this. Is this some kind of timeshare presentation thing, where I have to sit and listen to someone for three hours?”

“Oh no, it's nothing like that,” she replied. “You get to go on this cruise and it’s on us.”

“Well, I probably will get an inside stateroom, right? Like, right next to the boiler room at the bottom of the ship?” I asked skeptically.

Again, she responded, “Oh no! We're actually going to put you in a balcony stateroom on one of the higher levels of the ship!”

“Hmm, okay,” I said, still not quite believing her. “I'm probably going to be rooming with a stranger, right? You're going to put two of us who don’t know each other together!”

“Oh no,” she laughed. “You get to bring anybody that you want. For that one other person, we're covering all of their expenses for this cruise too!”

This seemed too good to be true!

In my last ditch attempt to burst my own bubble, I said to her, “Oh I see now. This cruise is leaving out of Seattle. I live in San Francisco. I'm going to have to fly up and find my way there to be able to get on this cruise ship.”

This was her last response to my barrage of questions.

“Oh no," she replied. "We’ll actually pay for your and your guest’s flights to Seattle. We’ll also cover your stay the night before the cruise, as well as any meals and other expenses you might have before this trip.”

After realizing that this was real and truly something better than I had ever thought possible, I finally replied, “Okay! Go ahead and sign me up!”

By this point of the story, you're probably wondering how I got offered this free cruise (and how you can get offered one too!).

You see, I had bought some artwork on a previous cruise. The cruise line targeted passengers who previously bought artwork.

As part of a promotion to get people to buy more artwork, the cruise line offered this free cruise!

And despite my doubts that this "something better" cruise was the real deal, I finally came to embrace this unbelievable good that showed up.

I ended up going on this cruise and asked my friend Myra to come along with me.

We had a fantastic time, truly one of the best memories I've had for a cruise.

My question to you today is this:

Where in your life do you have a sense of what you want to experience?

And are you open and willing to entertain the possibility of something better showing up?

If so, simply add the statement, "This, or something better."

Ultimately, my intention for you is that for whatever it is you want to experience, we create this field of possibility that this, or something better, is available for you.

All you need to do is be open to receive it.

Abundant Blessings and Namaste.

**

I'd love to hear your thoughts about today's article. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

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The Power of Your Word

5/12/2020

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I used to teach a class at my spiritual center called “The Power of Your Word.”

In the class, the students and I would have very provocative discussions about a particular kind of prayer called affirmative prayer. The students wondered why they would feel conviction and belief with some prayers, and others not.

Here's what I would often tell them:

The power of your word isn't so much about what you are praying for, or even who you are praying to, but where you are praying from.

“Where you are praying from” refers to your own inner state of being and what you truly believe.

Imagine that you were wanting to make a declaration today, to set an intention for something that you'd want to experience in your life.

Your intention could be for things like experiencing abundant opportunities, a loving relationship, or maybe a particular health outcome.

Your prayer could also include your intentions for greater clarity and guidance about a decision you need to make, or even more confidence and poise in your life.

Where you are praying from refers to the states of being that you bring to these different intentions.

Imagine if your state of being was shaky, ungrounded, maybe even pessimistic, where you wonder, “Will this even happen? Isn’t this impossible? I've tried this before and it won’t work.”

Then, the state of being that you’re bringing is similar to driving a car, where you have one foot pressed on the gas pedal while the other foot is pressed on the brake.

The gas pedal represents your intentions and what you want to experience, and the brake puts a hold on those intentions, that part of you where you’re saying, “Whoa, not so fast there!”

In this example, it wouldn’t be a surprise if you weren’t moving anywhere or making any progress.

Now, imagine if your state of being was more open and more expansive. You look forward to the possibilities and potentiality of all that exists.

Then, when you set your intention, your prayer becomes like a potent seed being planted in fertile soil. Here, the seed must grow and blossom into the fullness of its expression.

This is what it means to pray from a state of possibility and fullness, where you live your life from the place of the Infinite and the Eternal.

What can you do to get to that place of feeling the Infinite and the Eternal in your own life?

What I do is engage in affirmative prayer, which is one of many different forms of prayer that exist.

I'll give you an example of affirmative prayer.

==

I ground myself in the knowingness that all of Life is Infinite.

This Life is boundless. It is the Divine, Creative Energy that it is Whole and Perfect.

This Life is Love. It is Joy. It is Possibility. It is Abundance.

Because All of Life is Infinite, that means that there is nothing outside of it. Who I Am, then, is a Divine Expression of this One Life.

I am One in It as It is One in me.

In this Consciousness of this Divine Union, I speak my Word of Love, Joy, Wholeness and Abundance, expressing fully as my Life this day. I plant my Word as a seed in this fertile soil. I know that my Word must be made manifest!

For all this, I give Thanks. I release my Word, knowing it is done and done well. I simply let it be. And so it is. Amen.

==

That's what I do to speak and proclaim the Power of my Word.

I invite you today to cultivate your awareness of your own state of being as you set your intention.

See if you can sense the Infinite nature of all things, and recognize your union with It.

When you recognize the Infinite Potentiality that is already within you, then speak your Word and plant the seed of your intention into that potentiality.

Then watch as magic unfolds.

Abundant Blessings and Namaste.

**

I'd love to hear your thoughts about today's article. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

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What is the cost to you not living your highest and best?

This, or something better

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