Posts tagged ‘Having faith’

March 27th, 2012

What If I’m Not There Yet?

{taken with my iPhone during a mindful moment while walking}

Some of you may be just like me. Working hard, living hard, trying to do everything you can to fit meaning and purpose in your every day. If you’re like me, then you know the anxiety that sometimes comes when you feel like no matter how much you do it’s just not enough.

You may be sitting in the void right now. Waiting for hope to come like rain after a long waited drought.

Whether it’s a job, a home, or someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, I understand that pain of not knowing what to do next. I empathize with the fear that comes from worrying that you’ll never get what it is you really want.

There have been many times in my life when I was unemployed or alone and ample times when I was confused and filled with self-doubt. I’ve been on the road of envy, anger, and jealousy.  Looking back, it’s those times that have taught me the most about having faith. It’s also the moment that prepared me for what was next.

I would never be able to go straight into writing, had I not gotten a degree in Counseling first. And had I not spend a few months unemployed, I wouldn’t have the courage and the motivation to finally go to graduate school.

The pauses in our lives feel like failure. They feel like it because we’ve gotten so used to the constant barrage of activity-our iPhones, iPads, texting, etc. We’ve forgotten that life unfolds in its own time.

Sometimes I need to be reminded of this too and only need to spend time in nature, observing how the season changes, the way birds tease the wind and how the clouds move, to know that our time will come too.

CategoryDaily Inspirations, Dealing with Fear, Inspired Life | CommentNo Comments »

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March 13th, 2012

Cultivating a Garden of Patience

Garden of patience

{photo by The Inspiring Bee}

It’s not easy to wait idly while the world goes by. It reminds me of being a kid, stuck in the house, angry and resentful as I watched drops of water fall literally raining on my parade.

It’s that same impatience that plagues me. There is a part of me that wants to stomp on the ground and say, “Now! I want it RIGHT now!!”

Is it just me or do you have a little kid in yourself like that too?

Do you wish that you already knew what you wanted to do with your life? That you could press fast forward on your life to get the good stuff. I hear you. I’m the same way too.

These last few weeks I have been teetering on the unknown. Not sure where my future was going. Plagued by the uncertainty of the presence. It’s not that I haven’t been busy. But behind the appointments, the writing, there has been an underlying feeling dripping with fear.

What’s next?!

Did I make the right decision?

And why can’t my future get here a little bit faster?!

I hear it. And I know it’s my ego. I also know that patience is something I’ve been wanting to work on for awhile. And you know what happens with those pesky wishes right? They come back with a vengeance, testing you to see if you really meant what you said.

I can’t say it’s been easy. But like all the hard stuff in your life, they’re just teachers with lessons they’re hoping you’ll learn. And if you don’t? They’ll just come back again with a new test, same lesson.

Here’s the thing. You want to cultivate more patience in your life? 

You need to know you are not 100% in control of everything.

You need to take this time as a gift.

You need to remember that there is always a greater force out there with a purpose higher than your own.

You need to sow those good intentions, have faith that they’ll grow and forgive yourself when they don’t.

If you can learn to let go of the hold you have on a certain outcome, an expectation, a belief that things have to go your way or else, you will begin to see the gift in front you. You will realize that there is a purpose for the time you have. That all we have is time. That what you really want isn’t like that trench coat you have on backorder or that iPad 3 you’re on a waiting list for. Your purpose isn’t limited. There will be no “sold out” just because he or she got it before you. Your time will come. You just got to believe in it.

Eventually you’ll find that the time you used was part of the path, that you needed to go through it in order to get to where you wanted to go. Maybe you weren’t ready. Maybe you needed time for self-healing and reflection. Then, just when you start to feel like you don’t really need whatever it is (job, relationship, etc.) anymore, you’ll get it.

Don’t believe it?

Well that’s kind of what happened to me.

After a month of waiting, my Beliefnet column is finally up. You can check out my first post on positivity here. Please share it if you like it. Let’s spread positivity. =)

CategoryDealing with Fear, Inspired Life | CommentNo Comments »

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February 13th, 2012

Did I Make the Right Decision?

I used to admire friends who could end a relationship when everything was still hunky dory because they knew it wasn’t the right one for them. It was a strong indication of their ability to follow their instincts and trust their own intuition.

I have always been a doubter trying to practice a little more faith. But recently all that leaning I was doing on the side of stability and security made me feel stuck. It also made me feel like a coward.

How could I possibly keep blogging here about courage, if I was living life with my tail between my legs?

So after 6 months of hemming and hawing and feeling stuck, I decided to do something CrAzY!

I decided to follow my dreams, listen to my intuition and abandon that little voice inside my head that said, “Who do you think you are?!” And I did it anyway.

After two years of loving my job at Psych Central (I was even recently mentioned in this article about my work for the company), I decided it was time to say goodbye. And I did it the careless way, the way people say you should never do it. I quit without a backup (with just a few gigs-a.k.a. my column with The Writer magazine and my biweekly blogs for Psych Central).

I decided I wanted to return to writing and not just editing. I wanted to stop being afraid and take a big risk. And so I did.

Making the Right Decision is Scary

Although I think I made the right decision, the process was still scary. I had no excuses, no upcoming jobs and a lot of self-doubt. I realized then that I DEFINITELY made the right decision. Why?

I was catching up on old Oprah’s Lifeclass reruns when I heard Iyanla Vanzant talk about self-growth. She said humorously and truthfully:

“If you’re not living your life at such a certain level, you have some fear, you’re living too small. If you don’t have some trembling then you’re living too small…If pee is not running down your leg, you are living too small because that means you’re in control and you’re too comfortable and you can handle it. When you are comfortable, you are not growing.”

Then guess what happened?

I saw a job ad for a writer/editor position. But not just any position. It was for a company that I had been dreaming about writing for since I began full-time freelancing, about 5 years ago. I subscribed to all of their email newsletters and tweet their posts. I have been waiting for an opening for a very long time. And there it was. I was afraid and applied anyway.

I received a call two days later. I found out that the position was in-house and since moving to Virginia wasn’t on our agenda, I was pretty disappointed. But decided to ask if maybe there were other opportunities available in which I could write telecommute instead.

Can you guess what happened next?

Yep. They had an opening for a blogger position on their health website. And they had been looking for awhile. I couldn’t believe my luck. Or faith? Or intuition?

So I have my own column there and you’ll be able to read about emotional health and wellness 4 days a week on my new blog Happy Haven! I’ll still be posting here, my writing site and my column for The Writer too. Hope to connect with you on one of the them soon!

CategoryDealing with Fear, Inspired Life | Comment6 Comments »

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September 15th, 2011

What Every Dreamer Needs

I am no superwoman. You can forget about what my last post implied. Puh-leaze! Although I work hard to change my attitude, I get dips in my days too. Negative feedback from others or within myself is enough to set off a domino effect on my mood. It goes something like this:

Could you redo this piece? —> Your writing sucks.

I didn’t get that job. —> I suck.

Okay. Maybe it’s not that black and white. But I’m a HSP (highly sensitive person) so I’d be lying if I said that I’m 100% immune to external and internal feedback.

What I can honestly say is this…

  • If I ride it out the feeling will go away.
  • If I accept how I feel, the feeling will be much easier to deal with.
  • If I realize that what I think is not always the truth, then I’m able to let go of obsessing over non-truths and get on with my life.
  • And most importantly, if I take a look at my situation from an eagle’s view, I am able to laugh. On the 5th day of Christmas what did the universe give to me? 5 query rejections, 4 minutes of self-doubt, 3 projects pending, 2 forgotten dreams, and 1 life as a writer. {That’s the ditty that was playing in my head yesterday.}

The thing is life will never be easy. Sometimes you have to put in the extra work to discover ways to soothe yourself.

For me, it means being a conscious observer, looking deep at everything I see. (My husband says watching me is like watching a child. I really cannot not look at every little thing.) It’s all in the details my friend. And I’ve been keeping my eye out on them recently…

 

Like this shot I took this past weekend. See the couple in the background staring into the garden?

 

And sometimes it’s the hidden “signs” that we didn’t notice before:

Random sign on a hiking trail.

 

Changes taking shape when we’re not paying attention.

Beauty in branches.

 

Or maybe love from an unexpected source just when you needed it most.

*Found this walking around my neighborhood today.

What do you need most right now? How are you fueling yourself and your vision?

*Want to see more photos? Here’s a bunch of them.

CategoryDaily Inspirations, Inspired Life | Comment3 Comments »

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March 3rd, 2011

We’re All Okay

{photo courtesy of: Rickydavid}

Are you sitting their feeling uncertain and filled with self-doubt?

Stop online shopping, updating your Facebook page and RTing that post on Twitter and read this.

You don’t need to have all of the answers right now!

It’s okay if you don’t know what you want to be when you grow up.

It’s all right if you’re not making a 6 figure income.

And your dream job?

It will still be there tomorrow so don’t fret over not finding it today.

I understand the urgency. There are too many websites and blogs these days that are spreading anxiety around the web so that you will invest in their product.

But I think anything real (real change, purpose, success) takes patience and time.

Don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t discovered your dream yet. Don’t worry if you haven’t rose to the top. You will get there.

But all of this anxiety and fear are not helping to make the situation better.

The Major Hump

{photo courtesy of: h.koppdelaney} Right now, I’m reconfiguring my business. I’m working on creating a new website. I’m thinking of new articles ideas and ways to increase my business. But while I’m in the process of change, I need faith. I also need to maintain a positive, hopeful attitude so that I can get through this major hump.

If you have a business and you’re working on building it, don’t just sit there and pray it will grow. Do what you can to invest in yourself.

  • Invest time in marketing.
  • Invest time in understanding the market.
  • Invest time in researching your ideal client/business.
  • Invest time in yourself.

This could mean surrounding yourself with positive people who challenges you and wants you to grow.

I realized that in 2011, the only thing standing in my way is myself. I’m starting to take my business seriously. I’m doing what is necessary to foster my own growth as I work on growing my business.

You may feel far from where you want to be. But you have the “now.” What steps will you take to ensure your future? What things will you begin changing in this moment so that you will see changes in tomorrow?

Start slowly and do it today. Then do it again tomorrow. Eventually you will get there. Eventually your story will inspire others. Eventually, you will be the inspiration.

CategoryFinding Your Purpose | Comment2 Comments »

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February 9th, 2011

GMDL Day 15: The Importance of Faith

{photo by: JKönig}

I bet there are some of you out there who think that this “accomplish more by doing less” thing is a bunch of baloney.

How could someone really get more ______ (money, meaning, quality time, etc.) by doing less?

It almost seems against your purpose doesn’t it? I get it. Really I do. But there is truth to that statement. And if you can figure out that truth sooner than later, you’ll discover the gold at the end of the rainbow. That gold is your life. That rainbow is the distance from where you are now to where you want to be.

Taking a Trip Down Movie Lane

There’s a line from a movie that has been stuck like a broken record taped to my brain. Did you ever see Neverending Story? The movie where a book literally (and I really mean literally) comes to life as the main character is reading it. It’s the type of movie a shy, introverted child who loves to read fantasizes about. A girl kind of like me.

Here’s Where I Get Nerdie

There is a line that I have been tossing around in my head since I first saw the movie eons ago. It’s the moment when the beautiful empress from the book calls out to the main character Bastian. She says, “Call my name. Bastian, please! Save us!” In my mind I hear her saying, “Bastian, why won’t you say my name?”

Anyway, that quote has been haunting me for awhile. Kind of like an annoying mosquito that won’t go away.

The Revelation

I realized that what was so meaningful about that line was it’s symbolism of faith. For those who haven’t seen the movie, I’ll explain. The fantasy land called Fantasia will be destroyed unless the boy who is reading the story about it will admit to it, validate its existence, believe.

I know it’s sappy right. But there is some substance to the movie.

If you don’t believe in the process. If you don’t have faith that doing less will bring more to your life, you will never change. You will be overworked, stressed, unhealthy and busy for the rest of your life.

As I continue on the journey to do less, I have to keep my faith. I must keep it when the dishes are not always done, when there are millions of things I think I “should” do, but don’t do it. I do it because I believe anything is possible-that a better life is waiting if I do the work and take the steps to change them now.

For today’s challenge: Write down in your journal answers to these questions. What keeps you from living the life you want to live? What obstacles stand in my way? What prevents you from having faith in the life of your dreams?

If you’re new here, welcome! Don’t worry about starting on day 15 of the challenge. You can start at anytime. If you want, you can start here on day 1 of the challenge. Feedback’s always welcome. I would love to hear how you’re doing.

CategoryGet More By Doing Less | CommentNo Comments »

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September 28th, 2010

Impatience’s No Friend of Mine

While I was roaming around London taking a bike tour or sitting on the curb in Paris eating ice-cream and listening to a band play American songs, I was blissfully happy.

Sure there were moments that tested me.

But nothing tested me more than Ms. Patience who bothered me when I got back home.

Reality Check: In every day life, it’s harder to find the Eiffel Towers to gaze upon or a reason to just be. I found it decadent and yet, so vital to sit in a cafe and stare outward and let time pass without bullying it to stay awhile.

I wondered why we Americans don’t do it more. read more »

CategoryHow to Make Your Business Better Series | CommentNo Comments »

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