Cleansing The Home & The Soul

The Cleansing by HMP ©

Cleansing The Home & The Soul

If you've ever 'purged' a closet or even your entire house, I don't have to tell you how good that feels in the end!  At first, it is uncomfortable because you've hung onto that 'thing' for a reason so getting it out of your life feels like a loss.  It just feels wrong.  It doesn't necessarily feel wrong because you shouldn't get rid of it, but it is feeling wrong because it is out of your comfort zone for some reason.  It's that reason, the reason you can't get rid of items that you no longer need or use, that is vitally important to understand.

There are many different reasons why people fill their lives, homes and offices with clutter, but usually it's because we just can't let go.  We can't let go of the junk.  We can't let go of emotions, we can't let go of the importance (usually false) that we placed on these 'things', we can't let go of anger . . . and the list goes on. 

I once knew a gal named Alice who lived in a large farm house filled with 'stuff.' Alice didn't have much money during and after her marriage ended.  Her ex husband was controlling and used any and all available money for his gambling addiction.  Alice grew up in an atmosphere in which her mother had no organizational skills and hoarded.  Her childhood home was also filled with 'stuff'.  As such, Alice began collecting old discarded chairs, bookcases, coffee tables, lamps during her marriage - in fact, she collected and acquired junk she found at garage sales or even left for the garbage man.  This was not an eclectic attractive decorating display by any stretch of the imagination!  Her house was a garbage dump!  When faced with moving, Alice was confused and overwhelmed.  It was so hard for her to get rid of any of her acquired 'junk.'  It was difficult and she said, "I lived with nothing and so when I got something, it didn't matter what it was, it became 'something' to me - and I felt like I had 'something' at least."  Even though she acknowledge it was junk, it took her six years and several attempts to purge.  Every six months or so, she revisits the stuff she hung on to, and says, "When I open a box of stuff now, that I felt was too precious to throw out or even give away six months ago, I am shocked!  I now can't believe I kept that!"

After Alice's purging, she admits to feeling lighter and freer.  She can make decisions about her life better and particularly about her spending.  She says, "I am super careful about what I decide to spend money on now - I don't want to deal with it later!"  Now that Alice is single, educated and doing what she loves, her money saved is helping to build her dream life!

It is important to go through our possessions and decide what we really need.  Our "stuff" can be a burdon and clog up our thinking.   Figure out what is important to keep and exactly why.  Your answer might surprise you.  As we purge our physical environment, something happens inside that lightens our load and we often have  'enlightenment' about our lives too.  

Purge one closet or cupboard a week - be ruthless and kind at the same time.  Remember that you can give away things that may be useful to the less fortunate, and this act helps the task at hand.

Simple Strategies For Life

Notice Me  by HMP ©

Simple Strategies For Life

Life can be incredible, beautiful and filled with passion, but life can also throw you a curve ball.  I found there are some strategies that one must live by in order to remain authentic to oneself.  Authenticity is important because without it, we are just 'faking' our way through life.

For clarity, here are some important strategies to incorporate into your authentic self - every day - and in every situation:

• Tell the Truth - Always & as QUICKLY as possible

• Notice Everything: physically around you and the emotions within and acknowledge

• Stop Talking & Start Listening - really listening - and not just 'hearing'

• If in Doubt - Wait it out - sometimes the best thing to do is nothing at all - for a little while until you have greater clarity

• Eat, Rest and Call a Friend if you're lonely meaning take care of yourself -  don't expect someone else to look after your needs

• *Learn to Enjoy Your Own Company*  This is super important in 'finding' your authentic self, what you love and what you need.  Do this and you will also never be bored with life

• Give Something to Someone every day!  It can be small, like a few important minutes of your time, or it can be just giving some spare change to someone in need.  Even sending a 'Thank You' card to someone in appreciation of something they've done or meant to you and why is a form of giving to others.  Complements are great - as long as they are sincere and without ulterior motives. The greatest gifts I have given are those that I have given that are most in need and in complete anonymity! 

Spend some time today just looking around you, wherever you are, as boring as the surroundings might be, and see how many different sights, smells and sounds you notice when you are 'tuned in'.   Touch the things around you and feel those things that look tantalizing - like the smoothness of a round stone or the coolness of a piece of metal.  How do you feel inside when you experience these sensations?

Enjoy the sensationalness of your day! 

Difficult People and Difficult Times

Like a Bird - One Day at a Time
By HMP ©

Difficult People & Difficult Times


Many times in life we are faced with challenges, and sometimes these challenges feel insurmountable.  We want to live out our dreams, but there are these interferences that keep popping up.  We seem to keep hitting that wall, and become frustrated enough to want to give up.


I'm here to tell you that it is more important than ever to not give up.  The difficult situation or difficult people that seem to come between you and your dream life are tests.  The tests are designed for you to develop something, be it a thicker skin, better problem solving skills and even sometimes to change the direction or the way that you're approaching things.  


If things become so difficult you want to give up on your dream life than try these simple techniques:


1) Take one day at a time; or even one hour.  Sometimes a day can make all the difference in the world in a given situation.


2) "This Too Shall Pass"  I love this quote because it is something we all too often forget.  Everything passes.  This day, this hour and this moment.  If you have a difficult appointment, time or phone call to make, remember that but in a blink of an eye in your lifetime, this uncomfortable moment will be nothing but a memory.


3) Keep it Simple:  Try not to resinate or create scenarios over "what ifs".  This is not productive as most of what you are imagining or projecting will never come to pass.  Just wait it out.


4) Do Nothing.  Don't act.  Don't think.  Don't move.  This can be the most powerful advise you get.  Sometimes the best thing to do depending on the situation is to do nothing at least until you have more information.  Let things play out - and most of the time the exact right things will happen on their own.


As we are tested in life, we can choose to either grow into more or shrink into less.  Don't give up on your dream - keep growing into more! 

Okay for Passion, but What About Love?

"A Picture Worth A Thousand Words"
By HMP ©

Okay For Passion, but What About Love?


This blog talks a lot about passion as it relates to having a passion for one's life, one's interest's and what really turns that person 'on'.  It is written in the broad terms of directing one's life towards their God given talents and interests so that a person can love all that they are and all that they do.  But, many have asked "What about 'Love?'"

Passion can be defined as, ':  intense, driving, or overpowering feeling or emotion.   It applies to love.  It is important to have a love of ourselves and our own life first before we seek out to try and find a love interest.  This is important because we attract what and where we are in life.  It is scientifically proven that the number one predictor of who we will fall in love with is 'location' and the second is 'familiarity'.  Astounding isn't it?  So love 'found' is as simple as where we geographically live and how familiar the person is to us.  

Familiarity falls into categories of appearance, personality, addictions, success and wisdom to name a few.  This is scary in many ways.  However, if we are living our 'dream life' when we meet people socially, guess what?  Chances are, many of those people are also living their best lives as well!  

Pam's Story

Pam is an attractive woman in her forties.  Unfortunately she had a history of getting into relationships with men who drank too much.  She didn't want men who were alcoholics, but that is what she always ended up with.  She said, "I would meet a guy at an event, and he would make me feel so good, he was the life of the party."  Tom (her last boyfriend) was so confident and outgoing, she says, "I was instantly attracted to him, and he told me he hardly ever drank alcohol.  How was I supposed to know he had a 'problem' with booze?"  

Pam was used to this personality type - her father, her first husband . . . all alcoholics, all outgoing.  And Pam was used to the role of 'enabling' (accepting and protecting).  She wasn't healthy or happy and she wasn't taking care of herself in many ways.  

Everyone has a story, and everyone has a history.  It doesn't matter so much what the details are, as much as how you manage to move forward, out and past the history and make it all just a 'story'.   I once read that we spend our entire lives rewriting our pasts in order to change the outcome.  How crazy is that?


Thankfully, Pam, like others who could move past the history, changed her life fulfilling her passion for photography.  Here's the rest:

Interestingly, while taking photos at a wedding show one day, Pam met Sam.  Sam was a handsome, single successful businessman who was at the show with his daughter.  Sam was not 'in your face' outgoing, but confident in a classy and wisdom-filled style.  Pam was now, too, confident in a classy and wisdom-filled style and happy with her life just as it was.  They are now together and Pam lives out her dreams by first, being madly in love with her life, her passion filled career and now even more complete in sharing it with her true soul-mate.  And no, Sam is not an alcoholic!

This was the life Pam was always meant to have.

First become the one whom you wish to meet & love. © 

  

Following Your Dream: To Do or Not To Do

Life's paths by HMP ©

Following Your Dream - 
To Do or Not To Do
You may be asking yourself at this point if you should follow that 'dream' that has always been haunting you at the back of your mind, or leave good enough alone.  You probably have a good (enough) job, a mortgage, family, debts and winter vacation every so often.  Why then, are you nagged by the feeling that life just isn't what you expected - not fulfilling -  like there's always something deeper missing?  Then reason kicks in and tells you, "hey, you can't just give up your stable income, your pension - are you crazy?"

The great news is that you don't have to give up either!  There are ways, many ways, to have both - it's about recognizing and fully acknowledging your dream - and then taking baby steps to work towards it.  The biggest step is knowing!


- Knowing what your passion(s) are
- Knowing what your goals are
- Knowing - really knowing - that you WANT to live your Dream Life


Now, today, you take those baby steps.  Review some of my previous blogs in achieving the inner wisdom and inner knowledge to begin discovering your true dreams and passions.  Start keeping a journal and open your mind to opportunities.  Remember, it is not necessary to throw out the baby with the bath water.  Chances are there are things you are already doing in your life and life experiences will augment and align with your dream passion filled life when the time is right.

Keep your current life commitments while you make the baby steps as opportunities arise.  Pretty soon your inner wisdom will provide the clarity in what you need to do next to achieve the life you were always meant to live.

I hope to meet YOU in your dream life one day soon! ©

Allowing Your Inner Voice To Lead You

"A New Beginning"
By HMP ©

The Inner Voice Leads 

We all have inner wisdom that we need to locate, access and trust; however we also have something called an 'inner guide'.  Our inner-guide is like a compass that longs to lead us to where we should be in our lives.

It talks to us in whispers, brings us to opportunities and uses our inner wisdom to try and guide us.  

If we are stressed out or anxious however, our inner voice is lost behind the noise of our anxieties and busyness of everyday life.  It is important to find that quiet time(s) during each day to ask, hear and listen!

Have you ever had to do an appointment, or felt that you 'should' do a certain task, but something was holding you back?  You had an urge to spend your time doing something else, or finding another answer to the problem?  Perhaps you ignored this 'gut' feeling and ploughed ahead at whatever it was you were going to do.   Then, things didn't work out!  Perhaps your car had a flat tire, or the boss hated your idea or the appointment that you made all efforts to attend was cancelled anyways.  That would be the result of a quiet inner voice trying to nudge you to "think" and look outside the exterior of all things.  Dig deep.  Then deeper.  Think it over.  Realize what and how you're feeling about something and explore that.  

This story reminds me of Jenny.  Jenny was going through a tough divorce and had to commute over an hour to attend legal meetings.  She hated those meetings, and never felt quite ready - but she did as she was told by her lawyer and showed up every time anyways.  One such weekend, Jenny was actively dreading her Monday morning appointment with her lawyer.  She wasn't feeling great, couldn't sleep and was kind of upset but not sure exactly why except that she didn't feel ready.  She decided that she would call and cancel first thing Monday.  She felt better immediately upon making that decision, and did just that.  Later that day she discovered a piece of documentation for her case in  an obscure place and that she never knew existed.  It would save her thousands in legal fees!  

Today, go for a drive in the country.  Without "thinking" consciously - just drive.  Turn down roads that your inner voice guides you.  Have no destination other than where you are lead.  Let your inner voice tell you when and where to stop.  Stop.  Breathe in your surroundings and take note.  Exactly what you need today will be here in this place . . . at this time!

P.S.  Bring your camera!©

Finding Your Inner-Wisdom

'Self-Knowledge is Everything' by HMP ©

Finding Your Inner-Wisdom

Inner-Wisdom is that wisdom of self, wisdom of knowing, wisdom of consciousness and wisdom of conscience.  Every human being has inner-wisdom, only some access it or parts of it, and fewer are able to tune into it well enough to use it.

Inner-wisdom is essentially how well we know ourselves and trust our inner truths.  We are each born with an individual personality and set of talents.  From there we develop interests and gain life experiences that create certain pathways in our brain that can remain forever. Unfortunately sometimes these old pathways are created from unhealthy scripts from our past as well.  They sometimes tell us we "shouldn't" or we "can't" do something, and even that we are "not good enough" at something. However, new pathways can be forged and old pathways re-written once we know how.

My friend, Anne, is working in a stuffy, airless cubical with no sunlight doing mundane paperwork for a mostly unappreciative boss. She feels like it's worth it, it pays the mortgage and explains that she gets to go on a cheap Mexican vacation once every two or three years as well. Yet, she finds it hard to get out of bed most mornings and stopped having a bounce in her step many years ago.  She admits to finding herself count down the days to the weekend or her next time off.  Although she says she's basically pretty healthy, she gets several colds and flus every winter and can't remember the last time she felt overwhelming happiness or insurmountable joy.  Someplace in the far recesses of her brain, she really always wanted to be an artist.  But she shoved that thought back behind those "how would I ever make a living painting" and "it is ridiculous thought" places.  Old pathways are blocking Anne's inner-wisdom.  Anne needs to forge a new pathway in her brain and in doing so she will create a new and happier life.  A life she was meant to have!

Take some time today to realize the 'old scripts' that are playing such a huge part of your life.  Write them down, acknowledge them and then replace them with new scripts.  Silence the old - bring in the new!©

Self Coaching Guide: Finding Your Passion

Self Coaching Guide: Finding Your Passion

Self Coaching Guide: Finding Your Passion

Self Coaching Guide: Finding Your Passion

Self Coaching Guide: Coaching and Why it Works

Self Coaching Guide: Coaching and Why it Works

Self Coaching Guide: Everything You Need To Know

Self Coaching Guide: Everything You Need To Know

Self Coaching Guide: Dream Your Biggest Dream - Then Dream Bigger!

Self Coaching Guide: Dream Your Biggest Dream - Then Dream Bigger!

Finding Your Passion

'The Hidden Treasure' by HMP ©

Finding Your Passion
"The Hidden Treasure"

What is your passion?  Some people have many passions, others can't identify even one.  But everyone has at least one true passion.

There are a couple of tricks to find your passion.  Remember, that you don't need to consciously create a passion, you just need to find it.  It's a part of that inner wisdom discussed in previous blogs.  Once you find your passion, it can be developed, grown and lived out for a truly fulfilled life.

Here are some techniques for finding your passion(s):
1)  Journaling Daily - If you don't already have a journal, get one going now.  Pick a quiet time each day, either first thing in the morning before life gets hectic or last thing at night before going to bed - as long as you're not too tired.  I find it helpful to begin by listing 5 things you are thankful for - even if it's simple like a day filled with sunshine.  Things will progress as you continue on a daily bases.  Don't miss a day.  After thankfulness, then write about your day; your dreams, what you loved about your day, your childhood - the 'what' doesn't matter - just write.  Eventually your passions will begin to emerge.

2)  Meditate - Find a quiet peace of solitude and clear everything from your mind.  There should be no thoughts or external interruptions.  I find out in nature works best.  Eventually things that you love, things that make life exciting to you, and your passions will be released from your sub-conscious into your conscious.

3)  Ask - ask your closest friends to write a paragraph of what they love about you and send it to you.  Not only is this a fantastic moral booster, but it gives some clues of what you are truly gifted at while just in a relaxed state with your friends.

4)  Think - Remember the movie, "The Bucket List?"  Think about your last breaths on this Earth, and about all the things that you wish you would have done but didn't - because you didn't have the time, the money, the energy, or the motivation.  This could be a good clue about what you should be doing with your life - perhaps there are a few passions too.

5)  Finish - this sentence:  "If money were no object, I would love to just do this ---------------- for the rest of my life."

These are a few strategies to flush out your true life passions.   Remember, first find the passion - then live your passion for your best life possible!©

Coaching and Why it Works

"Finding Your Way" by HMP ©

Coaching And Why It Works
Finding Your Way

Coaching is simply a word used for someone who has a lot knowledge about something, perhaps even an expert in a field.  Think about a Baseball or Soccer coach, the one that oversees, educates and directs a person and/or team.  Their ability to do this is based on their higher knowledge and skills. Most people are somewhat familiar with Life Coaching, a popular trend these days with multitudes of people searching for answers to the meaning of their lives, to gain success and finally find ultimate happiness.

This blog is different.  Instead, it encourages individuals to look within themselves for the answers they seek.  Everything that a person needs to know to achieve deep inner peace and happiness lies within their own individual inner wisdom.

You may be asking yourself, "How can that be possible? I'm 'stuck in a rut', I can't move forward, I don't know where to find my joy button!"  Sound familiar?  Remember that each and everyone one of us are far more similar than we are different.  Although most of us have felt this way at one time or another in our lives, there are some who have managed to experience happiness, success, joy, peace and are living out their fantastic dreams.  You know who they are, you see them around you, you perhaps work with them or maybe you read about them.  Have you ever wondered how they managed to live their 'dream' life, and why you are stuck in the same place  ten, perhaps twenty or thirty years ago?  Have you ever thought back on the dreams you've had for you life and wondered what happened?  It's not too late!  You can live your dream life too and self coaching tools are all you need!