Why I Love My Jobs

I think I am one of the fortunate ones. I truly feel blessed with what I refer to as my jobs. But allow me to share with you a little secret…they don’t feel like jobs! I think I know why too. Along the path I call my life’s journey I finally figured out that to do my best in this lifetime, to live authentically and to continue to grow, I needed to be sure that my “jobs” supported and aligned with all of this. Spirit kept tugging me along in a certain direction and I quickly learned that if I went with the flow, stopped questioning everything, and developed my tools along the way, I became more and more passionate and excited about what was unfolding for me. The other lesson I learned was to try to live life without expectations. Expectations lead to judgments, disappointments and often frustration. Without them, anything becomes possible and that shift in perspective for me made all the difference in the world and still does.

I am a spiritual life coach, author and blogger, and an artist representative for a talent promotion agency. Odd mix of titles, but they work for me! And, as I have said, I love my jobs!

While they may seem separate and a bit diverse these different roles all share certain similarities. They allow room for my creative spirit, they allow me to be of service to Spirit and to others, they allow me to use my strengths and I am appreciated for that, and they keep me engaged with others. These particulars are important to my satisfaction and my growth. The challenges that cross my path in these roles often stretch me, at times test me and sometimes puzzle me, but they have not yet bogged me down or took away any of my passion.

So I cannot help but wonder when I hear someone complaining about how much they hate their job, how life would be different for them if they could find a way to be their best, to live and grow authentically and find a job that supports this. We make lists all the time. We make lists for the groceries we need to buy, the qualities we want in a life partner, bucket lists of what we want to do before we die…what would a list look like that had the qualities of the best suited job for someone.

Perhaps that is the key. We accept jobs based on things like money, location, benefits, coworkers and such. These are all important, but they are not all that should be considered. When we look into a job do we consider how it aligns with what we want in life? Considering the amount of time the average person spends at the job, usually at least 40 hours a week, I think it should.

This, of course, is not to say in today’s economy we are grateful to have a job. I understand that fully, having watched my husband's business slowly disappear as companies took their business overseas for cost savings. We had good practice at making lemonade from the lemons left behind. But even through that, this concept became part of the equation of surviving, rising above, seeking elsewhere and moving on. I even think that it helped in that whole “have no expectations” piece…as anything became possible!

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Living Our Fullest Potential

Today on Facebook I posted this quote from Steve Maraboli’s The Power of One, “Today, you have the opportunity to transcend from a dis-empowered mindset of existence to an empowered reality of purpose-driven living. Today is a new day that has been handed to you for shaping. You have the tools, now get out there and create a masterpiece.” I love the hope, the promise, and the celebration of this quote. It is a reminder of the gift we are given each and every day. We have so much potential within. Most of us barely touch it or access it. I can’t help but wonder what stops us. For some of us it is drumming up the courage. It takes some risk, some self-empowered thinking, and some daring-ness to tap into our fullest potential. Our society does not always support it. We are cautioned as children to not be too bold or too proud. We are often called arrogant and full of our selves when we step up and declare our strengths and gifts. We are not always supported and celebrated for living lives that are full and rich. Sometimes we receive others opinions of resentment for our wanting more.

But if we can garner up the courage and step into our rightful power and take the gift of the new day then the magic can happen. We can transcend our place of powerlessness, of living small and of not accepting the brilliance the Universe holds for us. We simply need to make the commitment to self that we are worth the effort. This is the first and most important step in moving forward into the opportunities that await us.

Secondly, we need to be mindful of the tools we carry within. Practice affords us the skill we need to use them to their fullest potential. Practice helps keep us aware of what we have within and how to bring it into our daily lives. Take the risk of making a mistake and learning from it - that is a gift in itself! Not worrying about others opinions or feedback to our every move and decision makes room for our choices to grow, rearrange, and become solid steps forward instead of cautionary what ifs and should haves.

We need to learn to take ownership of our potential and of the gift of each day. By doing so we create opportunities for ourselves to live creatively, to explore so many possibilities, to try them on for size without worry about the perfect fit or the possibility of failure. Without failure, we will not grow and we will not have disappointment and yearning or longing. Those are the seeds to growth. If we are too satisfied with our life, why would we want to change?

Change is all around us. Notice the seasons, the plant life, the creatures we share this earth with and the evolving nature of our bodies. There are aspects of change that we cannot control, so we instead should embrace the flow. We should learn to make the best of it. We should allow the forward movement become a part of out journey and let it lead us into the unfolding of each day and see what it reveals. With this perspective we can grow and evolve and find ways to tap into our potential.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

~ Marianne Williamson

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Living Authentically...A Worthy Investment

Some of us grew up learning that pleasing others and playing by their rules kept the peace. But it also kept us weighted down and unable to touch our truth. Perhaps with time we learned how to be more honest with ourselves and others, to meet our own needs and not to need the approval of others to get through our days. If we were able to grow out of that phase of living through and for others, we then began to dream our own dreams, longed to be our own person and live the life we hoped for that has healthy intentions, inner peace and compassion of self and others. We have learned that we wish to be authentic with ourselves and others and have this show in our lives.

For some living authentically means taking some risks. Sometimes this means moving, job changes, relationship changes, going back to school, lifestyle changes….you get the picture. And when we make these types of changes, it is not uncommon to receive feedback, often unsolicited, from those who are put off or put out by our changes. They may feel judged. They may feel you are making a huge mistake. They may not understand.

But if we have made these changes and decisions based on much consideration and they are in alignment and in harmony with all that is important to us, we are living authentically. It does not matter what others think. It does not matter if they agree. If we have that heart assurance that our decisions are right for us…then we are on the right path.This does not mean that it will be easy. Actually, trying to live authentically is often met with many challenges, and not only from others in our lives. It means breaking out of our comfort zone, changing our patterns and habits, asking ourselves questions that run deep and dredge up truth that must be faced and sometimes dealt with. But every effort we make to life this life of authenticity rewards us in some way with a life filled with delight, honesty, love, and peace.

And honesty is a big piece of the authenticity equation. The more we are honest with ourselves and others, the more our life begins to look like the life we want to live. But for some of us, it is hard to define our truth. It is buried deep beneath layers of people pleasing, layers of not drawing attention to ourselves or layers of self-deception of some kind. We can also come up with great excuses for not facing our truth; we don't have the time or the skills. Life is so busy after all! But that is the point! Part of the busy-ness of our lives is because we are avoiding the fact that we are not living authentically. This distraction buffers our disappointment or our discomfort.

To find our truth and to find what we need to do or not do in order to live an authentic life we must quiet down, create space for the discovery, make time to find our questions and our answers. Tuning in to who we really are, not our self assigned labels or what others think of us is the beginning of the breakthrough. We will begin to define what we stand for, how we feel, what we believe in…all without pretense or misunderstanding. We will begin to feel passion for life, self-respect and dignity, and a sense of inner truth. And as an added bonus, we will begin to attract people into our life who resonate with our authenticity. People who support our growth and hold love for us in their hearts.

What this means is that we do not have to go it alone. We discover the interconnectedness of us all. We share more than we admit we do. We are able to receive and give freely without keeping tabs or feeling needy. It is life affirming when we find ourselves in the company of someone else striving to live their life authentically as well.

To live life authentically, one must be willing to take the time needed to transform, be willing to take big leaps of faith and small steps - one at a time and be willing to live in the moment, embracing the gifts and lessons as they unfold. Living authentically is investing in a rich life, filled with what we desire, believe in and find meaning in…and it is always worth it!

I am off for the weekend, but will be back again on Monday. Meanwhile, feel free to share with us some of the changes you have made to live an authentic life.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Put On Your Personal Power

Angeles Arrien, one of my favorite authors and an incredibly insightful person, offers us this advice when it comes to being a powerful being. The author claims we need to develop three kinds of power. The first is the power of presence, the second is the power of communication, and the third is the power of position. If we want to use our power wisely and be heard, witnessed and honored, we need to learn how to put on our personal power. It is no different from knowing how to use any kind of other tool. We would not just go out and pick up a chain saw and begin using it without first being sure we were doing it properly. The same holds true to our personal power. If not used properly we run the risk of being misunderstood, ineffective and even possibly causing more harm than good. I doubt that is what we intend when we step into our power.

The power of presence is sometimes the hardest to step into. It means being really present in each moment. Not bringing the past into our power, which would hold a story that does not serve us in the moment. It can be laden with expectations, hurt, anger or a previous experience that we have grown to rely on. We also cannot project into the future in the power of presence. Putting on the worries of what ifs and carrying assumptions, fears or control will not allow us to have our fullest power of presence. Instead, we must simple bring our personal power to the moment and really only focus on what is occurring in that moment, what is being said and how to address it. Someone who is wearing the power of presence properly is often hard to ignore. They have a charismatic personality that you are drawn to. And they use this presence to empower others through example and intention.

The power of communication follows next and it makes good sense. If we are being fully present in the moment, then we can speak our truth. Not an old story. Not a grudge. Not an assumption. Just our truth, right in the moment and only our truth, not what someone else thinks or says about the situation. Someone who is strong in this power speaks the truth without judgment or blame. They are authentic and have integrity in their communications.

Finally, the power of position steps forward. It means taking a stand. This is a bit easier to do if we are staying fully present and only speaking our truth. It means we do remain open and unattached to outcomes, though. It means we do not back away from our truth. We hold our intention like a torch for all to see. We bring to the situation our commitment. We focus on what we are saying, what we believe and what we are willing to invest ourselves in. And we do this with objectivity and wisdom so that the best outcome is arrived at.

These powers allow us to be fully present and pay attention to what has heart and meaning. We can give voice to what our vision is and we are still able to stay open and unattached to outcomes, living a life of no expectations. We live fully in the richness of the moment. Once we begin to experience this personal power, we begin to feel comfortable within our selves, we hold great compassion for those in our lives and we are able to communicate with integrity and truth.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade