I had an awful dream last night, well, rather early this morning. It felt so real that it stuck with me all morning and caused me to weep uncontrollably. I dreamed that I'd been executed for some reason - beheaded, to be precise. I remember feeling very calm and feeling very little pain during the actual experience, but I remained as a ghost for the rest of the dream. I walked around as my 26 year old self, talking to a few close friends who could still see me, and wallowing in painful memories of things I'd dreamed of and never done: like experience pregnancy and motherhood, travel to certain places, change the world... I was told by someone in the dream that I obviously had unfinished business since I was still here as a ghost.
I thought about unfinished business. I thought about loose ends in my life. I try very hard to live a life of purpose, with few or no regrets, and yet I still have things that drag on. We all have unfinished business.
Closing doors is really hard for me. Letting go and moving forward is not something that comes naturally to me. I am reminded during this holiday season that when I focus on gratitude and hope, letting go is a bit easier. When I am thankful for memories and past experiences, and I turn to the future with an energy of hope, then unfinished business becomes just business as usual.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
Swagger and Spunk
The past couple weeks have brought the theme of CONFIDENCE to the forefront of my mind. I've been told throughout my entire life what a confident woman I am. Contrary to popular belief, confidence didn't come naturally to me! Most of me truly believed I was faking it, because on the inside I was terribly insecure for a long time. Throughout college, a three year spiritual development program, and a year of life coach training, I examined as many nooks and crannies of my personality as I could find at the time, faced some fears, acknowledged my shortcomings, and embraced the parts of myself I despised. Then, after all that work focusing on my weaknesses, I realized that I was totally missing a huge part of self-discovery.
Focusing on my weaknesses brought me some growth, yes, but it did nothing to boost my self esteem or confidence.
I started to explore where confidence came from. Internally searching myself hadn't done it thus far so I asked for feedback from clients and friends and I started to try and see myself how they saw me. I championed myself the way they championed me. It seems so easy to write about and to talk about, but in reality, it is really hard for people to do without proper support. Our culture condones being a victim and wallowing in a dark pit of sadness. It's familiar, comfortable, and acceptable. I decided I was sick of that. I wanted to truly walk in an energy of confidence and mean it.
How did I learn to embrace confidence? First, I had to figure out what the word confidence even meant. Confidence is defined by good ole Webster as "The state of feeling certain about the truth of something." It became clear to me that I had to be certain of something within myself to obtain genuine confidence.
So, what was within me? Passion. A lot of passion. I was certain of that beyond all reason.
However, I needed help in focusing my passions. I invested in my own life coach, a business building program, and a lot of networking. When I invested my energy in what made me tick, what made me light up, and what made me want to get up in the morning, I discovered my core values came bubbling to the surface in no time. Once I had my focus on my core values, it was easier to align my actions and my vision. My life's purpose of empowering others, with particular attention on helping a woman "unleash her swagger," was crystal clear at that point. Pretty soon, I was walking my talk. And pretty soon, people were commenting on my confident swagger and spunk.
Everyone's swagger is unique. Your swagger is an expression of your inner workings and it is your's to own. Have you unleashed your swagger? If you're not sure or want to dive deeper, I'm developing a signature program that you're bound to love.
Focusing on my weaknesses brought me some growth, yes, but it did nothing to boost my self esteem or confidence.
I started to explore where confidence came from. Internally searching myself hadn't done it thus far so I asked for feedback from clients and friends and I started to try and see myself how they saw me. I championed myself the way they championed me. It seems so easy to write about and to talk about, but in reality, it is really hard for people to do without proper support. Our culture condones being a victim and wallowing in a dark pit of sadness. It's familiar, comfortable, and acceptable. I decided I was sick of that. I wanted to truly walk in an energy of confidence and mean it.
How did I learn to embrace confidence? First, I had to figure out what the word confidence even meant. Confidence is defined by good ole Webster as "The state of feeling certain about the truth of something." It became clear to me that I had to be certain of something within myself to obtain genuine confidence.
So, what was within me? Passion. A lot of passion. I was certain of that beyond all reason.
However, I needed help in focusing my passions. I invested in my own life coach, a business building program, and a lot of networking. When I invested my energy in what made me tick, what made me light up, and what made me want to get up in the morning, I discovered my core values came bubbling to the surface in no time. Once I had my focus on my core values, it was easier to align my actions and my vision. My life's purpose of empowering others, with particular attention on helping a woman "unleash her swagger," was crystal clear at that point. Pretty soon, I was walking my talk. And pretty soon, people were commenting on my confident swagger and spunk.
Everyone's swagger is unique. Your swagger is an expression of your inner workings and it is your's to own. Have you unleashed your swagger? If you're not sure or want to dive deeper, I'm developing a signature program that you're bound to love.
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