The Work In Making A Decision

I was once told there are no bad decisions, just poor actions. Staying in a place of contemplation for too long keeps me in a place of stuck. I know enough to take a peek around the corner and see what fears are lurking that I am not facing. I know enough that my story can get wrapped up in this process if I do not stay true and open, authentic and alert to what my soul is telling me and how it is guiding me.

Life is filled with decisions for us all. Sometimes we feel we have no choice, but we always do. Sometimes we feel stuck, but we are keeping us in that place, not the situation. Sometimes we need to walk away, get a fresh perspective, spend some of our pent up energies and allow the flow to find its way out and around.

Bottom line is I know the pattern at hand when I am feeling like this. Most decisions I face are made without struggle and with confidence. But this one area that I am facing is the one that causes this pattern to resurface. So the work continues. I look inward. I do my soul-work and give myself the space and time needed to lean into that, be fully present in it and listen closely to the truth that surfaces.  What still needs to be faced? What needs to be released? How can I gain a fresh perspective? What can I accept healing grace in?

That is really the decision to be made. That is really the dilemma. And so I continue in my growth and evolution. It is part of life. It is what makes it so beautiful and alive. It is not always easy. It is not always clear and obvious. But once you know...you cannot unknow. I want to be full. I want to be aware. I want to be present. The only way I know to do this, is to keep moving on, to keep self-loving, and to be honest and accepting.

The decisions I am facing will get made. And they will be the right decisions. Why? Because I know I am not willing to sit in a place of making poor actions. I am willing to challenge the old beliefs. I am willing to take chances. I am willing to change the way I do things and think about things. This is how I have been able to rise above so many other obstacles in the past. Onward!

Blessings, Lisa

The Sneakiness of Self-Deception

It is a very sneaky creature. Self-deception used to have its way with me. But once I caught on to its ploys, it methods and its slyness I learned to confront it and chase it out of my path. I stopped cheating myself, stopped fooling myself and stopped playing the game of self-deception.

Self-deception can hide you away. It can keep you from shining your inner light. It creates excuses for you to not take risks, to not change, to not dig deep. It also keeps you from living in your integrity as well. Oh, so sneaky it is! It wears a mask! It covers its ugliness behind big excuses and justifications.  It gives you all the reasons, the rationalizations and the validations to not BE, DO, TRY, or EXPLORE!

Self-deception, if fed and nurtured, coddled and sought, will train you to become a master at rationalization. It will stroke you for all your justifying and curl up in your lap for every challenge you excuse away instead of taking on or at the least facing. The face of self-deception smiles at your arguments that you know, deep down inside, are just excuses.

With time you begin to realize that the longer the story is around your excuse, the more layers and details you have used to support it. This means then the further self-deception is taking you from your truth. Cheating yourself from your authenticity, from being your truest self is a non-fulfilling act.  Living a life where you do NOT hide away from being, even if it is less than perfect, a little scary or at a slower pace, leads you to a life of empowerment and beauty. You are filled with a presence that escalates your expansion and growth.

What is self-deception keeping you from in your life? What wonders are you making rationalizations for so that you are not stretching to reach for them? What excuses are you feeding that are holding you back and keeping you small? What one justification can you let go of today so you can shine just a bit brighter and live a bit truer?

Blessings, Lisa

Living With Heart and Soul

I have come to believe that the heart and soul are the wisest parts of my being. In my youth and then later into my adulthood my learning skills, my academic achievements and my knowledge base were aspects that gained me applause and I shined brightly. But over time I have learned that what I rely on more fully than any book knowledge, what I turn to consistently for guidance and resource, and the place that I find the richest source of my wisdom is my heart and soul. Never do they fail me.

They are alive. They are filled with light. Just as the Universe is. The Universe is not about intellect, it is about energy and experience and flow. While knowledge is a valuable thing, it can and will fail us. But the energies of our heart and soul don't. We just have to gain practice in turning to them, being present with them, practicing life with their energies and bringing them into our presence.

When I am living with heart I am living within the love aspect of my soul. It is a very different and essential level of my being. My intuition awakens, my focus is direct. Living with soul love is not based on an emotional love. This soul level is a much higher vibration. It is a finely tuned energy that allows me to grasp the essence of someone. And it is done without my projecting any of my feelings or beliefs onto the situation. It is clean, pure, vibrant and alive. And it is impersonal. Don't confuse that with cold or uncaring. But instead it is so deep and present that my "story" remains outside of the equation and the focus is only on the other person or the situation at hand.

How have I learned to live with heart and soul? Mainly through appreciation. This act is a big turn on for the heart and soul. Why? Because it is based on a choice, a conscious choice to live with your soul present as opposed to living with emotional responses to life. We call it forth. We put intention into it. We choose to be appreciative of life, wonders, relationships, miracles, beauty, lessons, pain, and more. Our appreciation muscle needs a daily workout to get stronger and stronger. Eventually, living a life full of appreciation becomes easier and grace filled. When we live this way our heart and soul flow with love and wisdom. We learn to listen differently, to check in more often and to see with expansion. Living with heart and soul opens us up to the energies of the Universe, to the vibrations of love and beauty and everything shifts from there.

Blessings, Lisa

The Voice of Self-Love

If we spoke to our friends the way we thought-speak to ourselves, we would have very few friends. The things that we say to ourselves in our minds are often the harshest words. There is criticism, judgement, frustration, taunts, shame and more. And these thoughts NEVER make us feel better or improve the situation that we are in. Yet, we find it so challenging to shut down these thoughts. We find we expect them. We find we even agree with them. And for some of us, we are so bold, that we even say them out loud about ourselves, seeking affirmation from the world around us!

Many of us have very vocal inner critics. They comment and critique all our efforts. They keep us small. They keep us surrounded by our mediocrity. They prevent us from living the amazing life that calls to us, keeping us in longing, doubt, fear and insecurity.

Unfortunately, self-love is challenging for many. Old wounds, old stories, old labels seem to cling to them. To shake off these negative energies takes a good amount of conscious thinking and commitment to stop the negative thinking. For some, they are not sure how, or they try and find it difficult and then give in to the old patterns and behaviors.

Over time I have discovered one way to help support this change in negative self-talk. It rarely fails. It requires some effort, but it is a feel good effort. It requires some commitment, but those who try it find that the commitment comes naturally. This one change can be the catalyst to transformation in your life. It can be the first step in lowering the volume on the inner critic and eventually shutting it out all together.

What is the secret? Most of us enjoy doing or giving to others. We find great pleasure in helping someone in need, sharing with someone, supporting those who need some assistance and giving of our heart. When we are doing this, our positive energies flow. We feel better about ourselves and the world around us. We are engaged with the essence of love and beauty of the world.

Giving of ourselves keeps us in the moment. It reminds us of all that we have to be grateful for. It opens our heart to the care and needs of others. To do this we naturally open the door that allows love to flow. Love does not discriminate. It is more than willing to flow through and surround us and anyone else we share it with. With time we begin to view life differently. With time our perspective begins to shift. Love has a way of doing this. We begin to see our faults and shortcomings through a lens of compassion and understanding. The same compassion and understanding that we are sharing with others.

Step one of shutting down the inner critic is to share acts of love and care with others. Follow your passion. Stay connected with the world and people around you. Share your gifts, your understanding and heart. Find ways to give. Choose a cause to support. As you open the door to love wider and wider you will find that there is also love flowing to you. Embrace it. Be with it and be aware that there is more than enough love to go around. Without much more effort than this, you will find that those nagging negative thoughts of shame and blame will become less and less. You will begin to hear a gentler and kinder voice calling to you, cheering you on and celebrating you. The voice of self-love.

Blessings, Lisa