Experiencing Life from the Inside Out

"Whatever you want in your experience, hold it first of all, accept it first of all in your consciousness." Rev. Ike 


I enjoyed a fun and refreshing three-mile walk again today. It’s surprising, although it shouldn’t be, how much my body has transformed over the past four months, and with ease and flow. It’s still a work in progress, but I’m liking, loving, the way it looks and feels.

“I easily and effortlessly maintain a healthy, fit and toned 137-pound body” has been my mantra, affirmation, assertion, belief since May following a disappointing weigh-in at my doctor’s office where after all of my effort to reduce my weight, I learned I had gained four pounds. About two years ago, I picked up 20 extra pounds that my body seemed determined to stubbornly hang onto despite my best efforts to release the extra. At least two doctors and some well-meaning friends had suggested that because I was nearing an age where women typically begin experiencing menopause, weight gain was to be expected as the body's hormonal levels shift.

That's one point of view. I didn't like it, so I made a conscious choice to reject it as I know a number of pre- and post-menopausal women for whom this so-called fact of aging doesn't hold true. Just as it doesn't hold true that all people once they reach a certain age will begin to experience memory loss or joint problems. (I know an 85-year old woman who can still do a full split. I couldn't do one when I was 16.)

When it was also suggested that I consider enrolling in a more stringent, and expensive, diet program, something clicked inside of me. “I am more powerful than that,” I’m sure of it. I realized in that moment, my body wasn't the issue; my mind was.

I declined the program and armed with the knowledge I had already acquired of how the body works as well as how the mind works, I set my aim and focused. I began journaling and affirming daily “I easily and effortlessly maintain a healthy, fit, and toned 137-pound body.” I began imagining myself wearing my favorite clothes again. I began seeing and feeling myself at my ideal body weight. I accepted it as a done deal.

I continued my daily walks, increasing the number of miles. I started a light combination yoga/ballet regime and tweaked my eating habits by learning to listen to my body to better distinguish between true hunger and emotional hunger—I’m bored, I’m sad, I’m upset, etc. Most days, I eat when I’m hungry and when I'm not hungry, I don’t eat. I also made a choice to not stress out over every morsel of food I put in my mouth as to its being good or bad for me. I haven't perfected this as there have been days or moments when I've stressed out a little, nobody’s perfect. More often than not, I feel at peace with whatever I am choosing to eat, and I enjoy it fully.

None of this was hard. In fact, it felt easy. It felt fun. It felt like a game at times. I even started secretly competing with my brother, who also likes to walk, to see if I could keep pace with his total steps/mileage per day.

A few days ago, I wore a pair of my favorite jeans that I hadn’t been able to fit into for months. I’m now logging an average of 3 to 5 miles or more on my daily walks, which I enjoy immensely because I find they also help to clear negative mind chatter. I added breath work into the mix. It helps with my singing and I'm finding it allows me achieve a deeper meditative state during my mini-meditations.

During the past month, I picked up an additional habit that I’ve found helpful: mirror work. It’s something I learned from author Louise Hay, the founder of Hay House publications which along with Oprah helped make Wayne Dyer famous. I’m inspired by her story of how she healed herself of a serious illness and later created Hay House in her 60s.

Anytime I pass by or look at myself in a mirror these days, I make it a point to say something loving to myself. “Hello, beautiful.” “Looking good!” “Hey, sexy!”

Narcissistic? Nah. Loving? Absolutely!

I firmly believe that I can only experience in my external world, what I’m willing to allow myself to experience in my internal world. I’ve spent years allowing myself to experience much crap internally. I’ve judged myself, and quite harshly, for not being smarter, or taller, or shorter, or thinner, or bigger, or for working too hard, or not working hard enough, for being too trusting or not trusting enough, too nice, not nice enough, the list goes on and on and on. I'd become quite skilled at beating myself up for the slightest failure, mistake or perceived shortcoming.

Honestly, if a friend said the things about me that I’ve sometimes said to and about myself, we would not be friends. It's also been my experience that shaming and harsh criticism is the least effective way to inspire long-term change in anyone. So, I've decided to be kinder and gentler to myself. Charity should always begin at home.

And, it’s paying off. I feel healthier. I feel stronger. Most of all, I feel empowered. If I can transform this one aspect of my life by simply changing my mindset—changing how I see myself—what else can I accomplish?

Being Grateful and at Peace Through Life's Storms

Today, I’m thinking of all the people who are suffering because of the hurricane that hit the U.S. Gulf Coast. The hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes, and those who have lost their lives. My thoughts and prayers are for grace, calm and safety for those residing in the region, and for strength to rebuild once the storm has passed. And pass it will.

It’s so easy to feel sorry for yourself when things in your life don’t seem to be going as well as you’d like. It’s even easier, it seems, to overlook all that you do have to be grateful for because you’re so fixated on all the problems or things going wrong.

Today, I am choosing to be grateful and know that I am doing well despite what outer circumstances and my beliefs tell me. I am still here. I am still breathing. I have food to eat, clothes to wear, and a roof over my head. Most of all, my mind and body are still active and functioning. As my grandmother used to remind us—loosely quoted from the Bible—“a living dog is better than a dead lion.”

Even when life isn't all that you desire it to be, consider the alternative and you’ll come to realize that you are still blessed.

Set the Course of Your Day Before You Get out of Bed

Despite having experienced a nearly sleepless night, I am feeling inspired and energized today. Funny how that happens.

Admittedly, it took me a while to get going this morning and I had to give myself a serious pep talk about what an awesome day this was going to be. Once up, I was raring to go and got going. I walked my three miles, enjoyed a nice, healthy salad and even did some cleaning.

In every moment of every day, we are given the opportunity to choose our future. And our first thoughts upon waking can be the difference between experiencing a great day or the day seemingly from hell (We’ve all had those days, right?).

Are you waking up excited about the day, knowing it's going to be amazing?

Or, do you get up in dread and fear of what awaits and feeling overwhelmed by all the things you "need" to do?

I’m sharing (with permission) this video link I received today from CrackYourEgg.com to inspire you to begin each day on a high note.

http://www.flickspire.com/m/CrackYourE848/FirstThing 

Enjoy, and have an awesome day!

Letting Myself Feel and Be

Today is my dad’s birthday. He would have been 93. I’m giving myself some TLC today and allowing myself to simply and fully feel what I feel.

I’m giving myself permission to sink into my feelings completely, without apology. Grief. Anger. Confusion. Disappointment. Fear. Whatever. If tears come, let them come—buckets full, if they must. No holding back. No judgment. Love and acceptance only. Perhaps I should be this way with myself every day.
 
I believe I spotted a blue butterfly as I was leaving my father’s grave site. It passed by so quickly, I wasn't certain. How curious, if it was one.

I am grateful to have been able to visit my father’s grave site. It’s nearly an hour drive and I’ve yet no transportation of my own. I had been wanting to make at least one visit this summer. Today was that day.

The stone looks perfect, as headstone’s go. The inscription was exactly as my family had requested. However, it was a bit disheartening to see his among a vast sea of headstones of other fallen soldiers. Don’t know why, or what difference it would make, but I kind of wanted his to stand out, to be bigger, to be given VIP status. He was certainly a VIP to me and to my family.

Truth? I'd rather he not be there at all, or more precisely, I'd rather he were still in his physical body. I know that being spirit we exist beyond the grave, and my dad's presence continues to be strongly felt, yet I'd rather he had lived out his 100 years in this physical realm as he'd always talked about in joy and health. I would rather be able to hold his hand, see his smiling face, or hear him say "hey, baby," a term of endearment reserved for his daughters and occasionally our mom. As much as I despise the phrase and its overuse, this is a case of "it is what it is."

Today, I’m just letting myself be and feel. Feel and be.

Is it Time to Change Your Story?

“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it.” – Jordan Belfort (the Wolf of Wall Street)

I included the above quote at the bottom of my last post, but felt the need to highlight it today after reading an article on LinkedIn about a woman in India, paralyzed from the neck down, who earns R 2,00,000 monthly (the approx. equivalent of $3,111 U.S. dollars).

According to the article, the woman, Sujata, was injured in a car accident while returning home with her family one evening in 2001. The accident caused severe damage to her spinal cord and after months of treatment, doctors determined she would not be able to walk again. She was only 21.

Concerned about becoming a financial burden to her family, Sujata wanted to find a way to earn money while being at home. Based on advice from friends, she decided to begin investing in the stock market. It was difficult at first, she says, to type on her laptop because of her paralysis. She now easily uses her laptop to do trades.

Sujata has become so successful at trading that she is now financially self-reliant, earning R 2,00,000 to R 2,50,000 every month. She has also started an organization to work with children who have spinal cord injuries.

You can read the full story written by Dr. Vivek Bindra on LinkedIn.

It’s well past time I let go of my BS story. How about you?

Need more inspiration? Check this out.

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"Change your story, change your life." – Tony Robbins

"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Are You Choosing What You Truly Want?

"The world is yourself pushed out. Ask yourself what do you want and then give it to yourself! Do not question how it will come about; just go your way knowing that the evidence of what you have done must appear, and it will." – Neville Goddard 

As I was doing my meditation this afternoon, the following question came up: Do you really go after what you want?

I allowed myself to expand on it further: Do you really go after what you truly want? Not what you think you can have or what you think you can get, or even what you think you should want or should have. And, not what others think you should want or should have or can get.

Do you really go after what YOU want? If not, why not? What is stopping you?

What reasons, rational or irrational, are you using to not have what you want?

What stories are you telling yourself to prevent you from going after what you want?

What excuses are you giving significance?

Who or what are you blaming and, hence, giving away your power to as being the cause of why you are settling for less than what you truly want?

What payoff/benefit are you receiving from not having or going after what you want?

Are you now able to release all of the stories, excuses, rationalizing, blaming, etc., and fully own what it is you really want and go after it?

Can you choose to love yourself enough to give yourself that which you truly want and desire?

Can you really allow yourself to have whatever you choose, without apology?

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"To ask for something in prayer is to simply lay hold of what’s yours. You have the right, and even the responsibility to command your life." – Chris Michaels, Science of Mind minister

"Our blessings happen because we choose them." – Robert T. Stevens, Conscious Language

“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it.” – Jordan Belfort (the Wolf of Wall Street)

Disregarding Appearances

Live your life in a sublime spirit of confidence and determination; disregard appearances, conditions, in fact all evidence of the senses that deny the fulfillment of your desire. Rest in the assumption that you are already what you want to be. – Neville Goddard


This journey I’m on feels scary and even lonely at times, yet I’m determined, fiercely so, to get through all of the current drama and step into my preferred reality of abundance, divine health, eternal youthfulness, fun, love, joy, peace, adventure—my life of sheer and utter bliss!!

To paraphrase the main character from one of my favorite movies, Auntie Mame, life’s a banquet serving up all sorts of amazing experiences, but most people are choosing to starve instead, or consume the same lame meal day after day after day.

Not me. I'm choosing to enjoy life's banquet offerings. I'm choosing to be, to feel myself into amazingly exciting experiences and the life of my choice. I’m choosing to believe that my desires and dreams, no matter how outrageous others think them, are not only possible, but already are.

And how will it all come about? I don’t know, but I’m choosing to trust that it’s all happening now. Even in those moments, especially in those moments, when external circumstances suggest it ain’t so.

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"For we walk by faith, not by sight." – 2 Corinthians 5:7 

“You can’t be Average and Amazing – at the same time.” – Mr Twenty Twenty (Life Coach, FreeNeville.com)