Exactly Where You Need To Be

They say timing is everything. When it is time for a person to fulfill their life's purpose, a life task or to be a part of someone's life during a particular challenge or event it happens in its own time, without our forcing it or delaying it. Our personal timetable has little to nothing to do with it. We live in a time that thrives on day planners, calendars and agendas. We look to our clocks to determine when to eat, sleep, work or play. We have stopped listening to our internal messages and have lost touch with our own inner knowing of when the time is right for any of these.

This does not always serve us well. Our best of made plans will fail us, or we will find ourselves challenged by a life event we do not think we are well prepared for. But if we can find a place within us to look inward to, to stop relying on outside influences to tell us that it is time, we may recognize that all happens in its right time. We discover we are exactly where we need to be in the moment for a many reasons, and some may include the ones we hoped for.

Our plans do not always align with those of the Universe. Our sense of control can often get in our way. Our definition of success may not be deep enough. Our sense of direction may be in conflict with where we need to go next. Essentially, we need to step out of our own way, be open to our authentic truth and allow our path to unfold before us so that we can move forward with ease and grace. Now, of course, this does not mean life will be without its struggles. But, if we can adopt these practices into our sense of being, we will then be receptive to the lessons and the gifts of awareness found within those struggles.

It is not always easy to live this way. Our inner critic wants to judge our success, it wants to compare our progress to those of others, it wants to find fault in our struggles and be recognized for our achievements.

Finding the joy in our accomplishments and celebrating our lifetime milestones is a beautiful part of living a full and vibrant life. Trusting that we will move along in our days doing what needs to be done, learning what needs to be embraced, noticing the beauty, opening to the experiences...we find that all is timely and good and right. Yes, one less thing to worry about is a great thing for many who find themselves faced with the challenge of schedule and due dates.

Blessings, Lisa

Let's End This Game

Over the past year I have been hard at work helping to create a tremendous social change project that I am extremely passionate about, #Stopthebeautymadness. Sharing my story, bringing amazing voices to the conversation and creating support for the millions it impacts is all part of this campaign and my calling. Here is a blog I recently wrote about it.

Many 10 year olds are on a diet. And studies show that by the age of 8 most children are dissatisfied with their bodies and that body image shaming actually can begin in pre-school. How does this happen? How do our beautiful and brilliant babies so quickly embrace these beliefs and messages? How do we stop it? What can we do?

When I gave birth to my children each of them was a beautiful miraculous being. I saw them as the embodiment of love, vibrant joy, and a pure awakened beauty. Upon taking their first breaths of immense possibilities, I held them in awe and wonder. I wanted for each of them all that they could hold and be, all that they could dream and create. I think most parents keep this in their hearts for their children.

I remember as a child having a love/hate relationship with my body. I remember the teasing, the bullying, the name-calling done by others to me, and even worse, done to me by myself. I remember embarrassment. I remember the intense longing to fit in. I then remember slowly drifting away and finding solace and rest from the pain in nature, books, poetry and song, but also in isolation. I was born in a culture where no matter how smart I was, how funny, how creative or how kind, if I did not fit a certain body image, I was not good enough. And so the bitter battle continued.

I fought the battle. I spent years climbing out from under the rock of shame. I challenged the rules. I spat in the face of the labels. Not everyone does, though. For some the battle is too large, to pain filled, to overwhelming and far too impossible. And so they give up. In the giving up they lose their spark, their essence, or worse. Knowing this and witnessing it time and time again as my friends, daughters, clients and peers faced the battle; I could no longer stand by without bringing voice, my voice, to the conversation.

It is time to bring a change, a BIG change to this beauty game that we are all pawns in. We have the numbers behind us. There are many of us who have had enough. But the powers that be, the mindset behind the standards, the rules of the game have us thinking we have to face it alone. We believe no one understands our feelings. We face shame and want to withdraw.

The exact opposite needs to happen. We need to be able to talk about this, even though it is scary and uncomfortable. The more we do, the more power we will gain and the less daunting it will become. We need to bring awareness to the absurdity of so much of the beauty industry’s standards, to the medias tactics and to the messages we are sending our youth.

The Stop The Beauty Madness Campaign is one way to begin this change. My passion is to carry this message out and have this conversation with all of you. My dream is to see, in my lifetime, women embracing their power, living life fully, loving and honoring their bodies and celebrating each other with tremendous positivity and acceptance. It is time to stop this beauty madness.

We need to begin today, right now, in this moment … not sometime soon nor should we leave it to the next generation to tackle. Imagine how much of a difference we can make if we all stand up and say ENOUGH! Imagine if we began to learn new ways to speak about our selves and others, if we learned our true definition of beauty, if we stopped trying to seek perfection and instead found the wondrous splendor that is within us all. Imagine the freedom. Imagine the power. Imagine the joy. Are you ready for the change? Will you join me in this important conversation? Let’s join forces and finally end this game of beauty madness.

Lisa Meade is the Senior Blogger and Community Relations Director of the Stop The Beauty Madness campaign, www.stopthebeautymadess.com. Both in her work and on her life-path, she brings beauty awareness and body positive support to those she meets.

Release and Wonder Found In the Sky

A dear friend of mine always finds wonder in the sky. Her soul finds the most majestic energies, beautiful pictures and wondrous release there. Allowing your mind and soul rise to the clouds and release any tension is a beautiful meditative practice.

Cliches often result from truthful occurrences. "Having your head in the clouds" can mean that you are not fully present or have flighty ideas. But, that does not need to be viewed from a negative perspective. Perhaps you are intentionally not being fully present in the chaos or tasks of the day, but instead are fully aware of your other needs. And so laying back, eyes following a beautiful puffy cloud formation, feeling the gentle breeze and watching a bird dip and dive is the perfect fit. Perhaps those flighty ideas are ideal for your pause from problem solving and instead allows your imagination to come out to play and your stress to be carried away.

I find myself practicing this meditative release and delighting in the wonder I see in the sky more often these days. A mere five minutes of this activity rejuvenates my body, mind and soul. Tension leaves, creativity is inspired, thoughts become clearer and joy steps in.

There is much hustle and bustle in my life, but to rise above it, just like the clouds, is a very helpful practice. Creating this intentional contrast between all my day's have to's to a few moments of want to's is a very important act of self-care and a delightful gift.

So, the next time you feel a little overwhelmed, a bit tired or drained or even need some inspiration, look to the skies. Take a few moments to be present there and the rest will follow.

Blessings, Lisa

Choose Your Words Wisely

Being awake and aware changes many things in your life. One subtle change that has a tremendous impact on your relationship with others and with yourself is the change in your choice of words. There is great power and energy in the words we choose to speak and think. Our language is one of our most potent tools.

Think to a time when someone said something to you that stung? Labels are words and they often cling to us from childhood well into adulthood and create personal viewpoints and definitions of who we are.

Bringing consciousness to the words we speak and think is part of being aware. When we recognize the power of words, we choose more carefully and we speak with intention. Words can be energetically charged. Knowing this and handling them with care means we speak with integrity.

A great practice around words is to take a few days to be very conscious of what you say. Do you have key phrases that you use? When you are feeling certain emotions what words creep into your conversations? What beliefs do you hold about the words you speak, the names and labels you own? Make note of how you feel when you speak with different people in your life. Are there those who you walk away from feeling powerful, alive, happy and positive versus someone who seems to bring you down or drain you of your energies? What is the difference in the words they use?

Perhaps you have noticed that you may have a "slip of the lip" when you speak too quickly or without giving much thought to what you are saying. It happens to us all, but it is a great reminder of the power of our words.

The intention we bring to our conversations also impacts the power of our words. Rambling on, speaking quickly or barely commenting send very different messages than when we speak with confident intent and thoughtful phrasing. The power of our words can offer inspiration, healing and joy. Being mindful of the potency of our conversations can bring about tremendous change in our relationships and how the world responds to us.

Blessings, Lisa