What if Life Really Did Love You?

It's true that some days are hard.

Maybe you want to bury your head under the pillow and not face life.

Maybe it all just feels like too much.

On days like that it can be way too challenging to remember that you really are the author of your life story.

I have those days too.

So, when we’re in one of those spaces, what helps?

Lately, I’ve been finding immense comfort in Louise Hays’ affirmations. This one in particular: “Life loves me.”

Here’s how I’ve been using it.

When I feel besieged by fear, overwhelmed by anxiety, gripped by scary what-ifs and doomsday scenarios, I say to myself: “yes, and life loves me.”

I don’t try to push away the frightening thoughts that are crowding into my mind, rather I let them stay. I keep them company by acknowledging them, and then saying, “yes, I know the world feels pretty scary right now, AND life loves me.”

Eventually, the scary bits begin to fall away and I’m left with, repeating over and over again to myself, “Life loves me.”

Life loves me.

Life loves me.

Life loves me.

Even if you don’t believe it, you can try it anyway because some part of your mind really does know it’s true.

And honestly, why not? It isn’t going to hurt anything, right?

If you want to check out more of these affirmations, here’s a photo of the backs of some of the affirmation cards she and Robert Holden created.

Take a deep breath, look out the window, and know that love is everywhere all the time, and always accessible to you, and that life really does want to support you in every way.

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Time to Stop Struggling

Ever have one of those days when you just hit the wall? When your efforts create no results and nothing seems to work?

Days like that are frustrating, tiring and, frankly, discouraging.

The good news is that tomorrow you get to start again, fresh.

And what if tomorrow you embraced a new idea, a new way of looking at life? One that felt more invigorating and enlivening. A perspective that was less about doing and more about receiving.

I recently had an a-ha about this when I saw a post on Facebook. It was an image of a woman floating effortlessly in the water and said:

When I stop struggling, I float. It is the law.

I’ve loved water for as long as I can remember and am an avid swimmer. Maybe that’s why the image spoke so clearly to me.

Surely, we all know that when a person struggles and fights in the water, s/he is likely to drown. Maybe it’s one of life’s ironies that there really isn’t anything at all to do in the water, because most of us are naturally buoyant. 

I leaned back and found myself contemplating this idea. When I stop struggling, I float.

Could I do this not just in the water but in life?

And if so, how would that be? What would it look like?

I realized that here was a universal law of life. That despite what we think, there really isn’t anything to do (except maybe get out of our own way.)

What does struggling look like in life? For me it’s:

• When the current moment is not in alignment with what I want so I impose my will on it.
• The need to feel in control.
• To make it happen anyway, on my timeline.
• Struggling, in essence, is like fighting life. Ouch.

As I delved in deeper, I realized there was a root to this behavior. It was a response to being caught in lack, feeling like I’m not enough or I that have something to prove - my success, talent, self worth. I was trying to push the river of life to support my insecurities.

What if, instead of pushing, we floated? What would floating through life be like?

Think about being in the water. Floating is relaxing and effortless. We relinquish control and allow ourselves to be guided. We truly let go.

Could I do that?

I spent the rest of the week in this peaceful place, knowing that all was well, that I was completely supported.

That’s the other thing about water, right?

We can relax because we know the water is supporting us. It effortlessly holds up huge aircraft carriers and tankers. Of course it can bear a single human.

If I extend this analogy to life, than I allow myself to know life is supporting me, buoying me, sustaining me in exciting and new ways. When I trust it, life can be just like water, a constant source of unconditional support.

And in that place of trust, I open up to receive all the good from life.

So what do you say? Is it time to give up the struggle and allow life to support you? Doesn’t that sound so much better? Are you willing to give it a try? I know I am!

Let me know what you think!

Leave a comment below.

Embracing Your Process: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Can you relate?

Things are going exactly according to plan and you are clearly in charge of your life. But then- all of a sudden- life takes charge and is controlling the wheel of your destiny.

When that happens, tasks take forever to complete. No one calls you back. Or maybe you think things will go a specific way just to get entirely rerouted.

When life seems to be in charge - it can trigger uncertainty or the internal skeptic- and make us feel unsure or cloudy.

We wonder things like:

• Is this really the right direction?
•  Am I doing what’s in my best good?
• Is this moving my career/life forward?

Here’s the good news, if it’s happening then it’s exactly what you need.

Maybe you think I’m crazy to say this but in my experience both from my own life and from my clients, this is what I see over and over again.

Because here’s the dirty little secret that no one openly talks about: If a behavior, a job, a relationship or mindset is persisting, it’s because we aren’t ready for a new one.

When we are ready, it will magically shift!

Here’s an example.

The economic downturn and housing collapse started earlier in Florida and by 2007, the school my husband and I had founded was floundering. We’d lost a lot of students who simply couldn’t afford to pay private school tuition.

We hunkered down, tightened our budgetary belt and successfully weathered the storm.

Coming out of that, I realized that I was ready to do another kind of work. It wasn’t the recession per se, it was that I’d worked in education the majority of my adult life and I was ready for something else.

But what?

In 2008 I figured it out. I wanted to continue working with people but in a more intimate setting, as a life coach, and therapist. So, I went back to school, earned a degree in social work and then set about getting licensed. During that entire time I still worked at the school. It wasn’t until 2013 that I finally quit.

Why? Because I wasn’t ready yet.

•  I might have thought I was prepared.
• Felt I’d outgrown my job.
• Was time for a new challenge.

But I wasn’t actually ready until I was ready. And then I leapt and (apart from a second of fear) haven’t looked back. I love what I do, move more fully into it everyday and have no regrets.

Here’s why.

If we trust our process then when we do implement the change (behavior, career, relationship) it will stick because inside and out, we’re prepared for it.

Perhaps you feel like your process is dragging, been sidetracked or is not happening on your timeline. Think again. Know that life is unfolding for you in exciting new ways and that you are getting exactly what you need in this moment.

Decide where you want to go. Hold on to that vision and trust that everything happening right now is helping you get there.

These 5 Steps Will Help:

1.     Relax and Release Internal Stress

When things aren’t unfolding at the pace we expect or our current reality isn’t what we planned, we can feel stressed, anxious, uncomfortable or just plain annoyed.

What if, instead of trying to control the timeline, you let God or the Universe do it?

Could you then relax and let go of that tension?

How would that feel?

Ask yourself this: If you knew your outcome was assured, would you be concerned about the timeline?

2.     Be Clear About Exactly What You Want

Hold on to your goal, your vision regardless of what is or is not happening. Focus on the outcome that you want. See it clearly. Imagine yourself already there.

Be firm in your conviction of this outcome and do not give up. It will happen.

Say it, write it down or make a visual representation of what you want to solidify the direction you want to move toward.

3.     Use the Affirmation – Life Loves Me

When we see the Universe as a safe, supportive place, life automatically begins to flow much more easily.

And it feels way better than having to fight, feel afraid or be defensive.

Repeat this affirmation, Life loves me, to yourself over and over again.

The more you remind yourself that you are loved and supported, the more open and willing you will be to allow the new in and watch your life unfold. It’s an exciting adventure!

4.     Enjoy the Ride

What if everything that was happening right now was to support you, to teach you and to help you get exactly what you want? Would knowing that enable you to enjoy it more?

Believe it, because it’s true!

Everything in your life – every person, situation and “challenge” is being presented for your learning. 

As the famous Indian avatar, Swami Nityananda said: "God is conducting tests all the time; every occurrence in life is a test. Every thought that crops up in the mind is in itself a test to see what one's reaction will be. Hence one must be always alert and aloof, conducting oneself with a spirit of detachment, viewing everything as an opportunity afforded to gain experience, to improve oneself and go on to a higher stage."

Instead of seeing an annoying person or situation through a negative lens, ask yourself: What is this situation (person) trying to teach me?

Watch how it miraculously shifts.

5.     Practice Patience

If you are one of those people who has the unique ability to see into your future, consider yourself lucky! The downside, however, is that once we know it, we all want to be there right NOW!

What I’ve experienced over and over again when I find myself facing the dissonance between where I am and where I want to be, is that I have to be patient, put one foot in front of the other and walk to my destination.

Things don’t magically transform unless we act.

All those steps executed one after the other is what manifests the change. And then before you know it, you’ll have arrived, all the wiser for the time spent getting there.

Life is meant to be a fun adventure.

It isn’t a race to the grave. Embrace and enjoy all that comes to you be it the good, the bad and the ugly. Use it to grow and become exactly who you want to be.

Can you embrace YOUR process?

Leave me a comment below! I'd love to know what will work for you.