Zen Chick

Zen Chick

Slow down. Simplify. Love your life.

“There is more to life than increasing its speed. Slow down, breathe and enjoy. “

The Art Of Not Being Busy.

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“Busy is a drug that a lot of people are addicted to” ~ Rob Bell

See if you can relate to any of these sayings;

  •  “I’m so very busy”
  • “I’m crazy busy”
  • “Today is a busy day”
  • “My life is just busy.” 

Sound familiar? 

Busy is a word that gets thrown around a lot and it is used for various reasons. Sometimes we are trying to deflect a project we just don’t want to do. Or a request for something that really doesn’t fit into our lives. Or it’s just a way of saying “Hey I’m important because I’m so freakin busy!”

The word busy can become a crutch, a catch all phrase that allows us to throw up a road block when we either don’t want to deal with something or our ego needs a little extra fuel.

I’m here to confess that I’m as guilty as anyone for using this word and it has served its purpose well. Recently though I got called out on the use of the busy word in a blog post from one of the bloggers I follow, Courtney Carver, and it made me rethink how and why I use this busy word.

I started to notice that sometimes it was an automatic response and before I knew it the word busy was out of my mouth. Then when I did catch it I had to think about the “truth” behind that busy word and face the real reason I was throwing it out there for someone else to catch.

Busy also showed me that I was using it for things that I should do instead of things I wanted or could do. For instance, I should be busy cleaning the house when what I really want to do is read a book or ride my horse.

After looking at the reasons I use the word busy, this quote about “Busy is a drug” really made me understand how it can be used as an escape or can keep you away from the things that you truly want to do in your life.

So let’s find some ways to help you be less busy and give space to the things that you truly want to do:

  • There is a great saying about how you will be remembered in your lifetime and it’s not for how busy you were or how clean your house was but how well you lived your life and the way you treated others. Keep this little tidbit in mind when busy comes knocking.
  • Become very aware of how you are using the word busy, are you trying to deflect something you really don’t want to do? If so, try another way of saying it like, “Right now that just doesn’t fit into my life but I appreciate the offer.“
  • See if your busy is all about what you should do as in “I should be doing this but I really want to do that.” Ask yourself how important that should really is.
  • Start organizing your time better. Take only one thing each day off your busy list and do it, spending all of your energy on that one item. Or don’t even have a list at all and when you start your day just say to yourself that this is the one thing I want to accomplish today. (the bonus here is when you dedicate yourself to one thing you will be surprised at what you really get done)
  • Know your limitations! You don’t have to save the world in a day or a week and the word “No” is a positive word for you to start using more often.
  • Make sure you always have time for YOU because when we do, do, do for everyone else and we leave ourselves out of the equation, the word busy becomes a very big part of our vocabulary. Give into some “me time” and what you give out to others will be an equal energy exchange.

Try a few of these suggestions and see if the word busy starts to leave your life a little more often. I would love to hear your comments over on the Zen Chick FB page, so come on over and tell us your thoughts on the use of the word busy.

 

photo credit: Fran Simó via photopin cc

 

What Is The Real Cost Of Your Stuff?

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“Where does stuff go when it dies, does it go to stuff heaven?”~George Carlin

The cost I’m referring to is not the monetary value of the stuff you surround yourself with but how all of that stuff can cost you precious time and energy.

Intrigued? Let me show you what I have learned recently.

This little cost fact became very evident to me as I was packing up my office for my move into my new space. Although I had gotten rid of a great deal of my stuff in my last move I still found lots of stuff that I was holding onto for no good reason.

This stuff cost me time because I had to go through it as I was packing. Then it cost me energy when the moving crunch set in because I packed it up to deal with it later.

I did deal with it once I was in my new office but again it slowed down the process because it took both time and energy to sort and decide what to do with each item.

Spending a little extra time weeding through your stuff on a regular basis=less time being overwhelmed by a larger weeding project when you let things collect.

Along with my move into my new office, my hubby and I are in the midst of a remodeling project in our laundry room at home. What do you think we discovered there? Lots of stuff that needed to be moved to its proper location or needed to find a new home elsewhere.

And the really bright side to all of this was less stuff=less money for the project because it cut the cost of storage space we thought we had to have.

Which lead me to this realization:

As I’ve gotten older (that’s older and wiser, thank you!) is how much stuff  I would be leaving behind for my children to deal with and how I truly don’t want that for my kids. Having dealt with such situations in my lifetime I know what a heavy burden it is to leave for anyone you love.

For that reason and the fact that I’m truly enjoying less things in my life, I am trying to decrease as much stuff as possible. I’m giving things to my children ahead of time so I can share in their joy while I’m with them.

I’ve also found ways to combine some of my most precious things into something that has wonderful memories for me.

I did this recently with some jewelry combining my engagement ring with my grandmother’s diamond from her engagement ring to make a very unique ring that holds even more memories for me.

The best part of this combining memories was paying for the whole thing by cashing in the jewelry that I never wore.

Less stuff=making your own unique memories.

Letting go of stuff doesn’t mean you will lose the memory of something or someone because memories live on in your mind not in the physical thing. But letting go of some of your stuff means you have time to make more memories instead of being a slave to taking care of the stuff.

Less stuff=more time to do what you want to do with your life.

Do you want to be remembered for the stuff you had or the time you shared with the people you love while having a life you truly wanted to live?

Look around you and see what stuff you have that might give someone else joy or the ability to feel good about themselves. Start the process slowly and over time you will find ways to combine some of your most precious memories into something uniquely yours.

I would love to hear from you about how having a few less things has made your life a little better and how you combined some of your most precious things to make them extra special for you.

 

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“Who” Are You Still Dragging Around Every Day?

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“People have to forgive. We don’t have to like them, we don’t have to be friends with them, we don’t have to send them hearts in text messages, but we have to forgive them, to overlook, to forget. Because if we don’t we are tying rocks to our feet, too much for our wings to carry!” 
~C. JoyBell C.

Okay quick question, who comes to your mind first thing in the morning? Is it your spouse, partner or child?

Or could it be that person(s) that you are still angry with or the one that is upset with you? Or is it someone or something from your childhood that you just can’t let go of?

All of these are important questions when it comes to your health, simplifying your life and your emotional well-being.

We all have “those people” in our heads that we keep having conversations with or replaying the event that we felt was unfair. But when you keep replaying the drama and conversations it’s like watching the fuel gauge on your car moving steadily toward empty.

In the morning you start out on a full tank of energy and when the mind drama starts you feel your fuel gauge drop more and more until by lunchtime you feel like you have no energy left to give.

Recognize any of this? Someone or something is draining all of the energy right out of you every day and you don’t know how to stop it. Or do you?

I have fallen victim to this little tragedy time and time again. But this week I decided to flip the switch on a thought pattern that was dragging me down and take that big leap. That’s right, it’s the “F” word, that word that gets thrown around a lot and treated like a “red headed step child.” (remember I’m from the South, we say these things.) Ready?

FORGIVENESS.

I know you have heard this so much it makes you want to puke and I don’t blame you. I felt the same way but this week when I said it out loud (in my head) to the person in question and knew that I forgave them not for what they did (that still bites) but released them from my mind, heart and soul, it felt freeing.

Not only did I feel more free from this one little (okay really big) thing but my energy level shot up, my mood lifted and my mind was much clearer.

“Hey this “F” word is a pretty good drug!”

Did I mention that forgiveness also lowers your cortisol levels ? Less stress = less cortisol. And keeping your adrenals and cortisol levels balanced is one of the keys to your overall good health.

Great now you feel better from the inside out which is very awesome but the work does have to continue especially if you have been dragging this person/situation around for a long time.

So try this:

  • When the situation/person comes to mind, just repeat your forgiveness statement and move on.
  • Remember, you are not forgiving the wrong that you felt was done to you but you are allowing this person/situation to move on from your life.
  • It is not necessary to say it to them nor do you ever have to allow this person in your life again.

This is all for you and only you and it is a sweet release!

So are you ready to use the “F” word a little more to reduce your stress, simplify your thoughts and improve your health?

I hope you will and would love to hear from you in the comment section if you think you can add a little more forgiveness in your life.

Share the love of this post with someone else in your life who might need to open up and add a little forgiveness to their lives too.

 

 

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What The “Pain In Your Back” Is Really Trying To Telling You.

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Emotion always has its roots in the unconscious and manifests itself in the body
~ Irene Claremont de Castillejo

As a massage therapist for 20+ years, I use my eyes more than my ears when I ask a client how they are feeling. Their body tells me the whole story while my client may only give me the “cliff notes.” My ears then listen for the real story as they talk about what is happening in their lives.

Every pain, ache and discomfort has a story to tell which is usually more than the “I did too much yard work or lifted something the wrong way.” Yes these things can cause the issues but when they keep recurring the story line goes a little deeper blending in a mix of emotions to make the story even more interesting.

Making changes in your life can set off those pesky pain triggers, whether it is from a financial worry (lower back/sciatic pain) to feeling like you are carrying the weight of the world (neck and shoulder discomfort) or just good ole resistance (knees/hip pain) telling you that change is a bad idea.

And you thought you just had to worry about the naysayers in your life when you started making changes, right? 

Muscles (my specialty) have memory and a lot to say if we stop long enough to listen especially when you are trying out a new exercise routine and one particular move just doesn’t feel right.

Too much information at one time (different forms of bodywork along with a new exercise routine) can create a situation in your body which resembles the antics of 2 year old toddler, whose favorite word is “No” followed by an unwillingness to do the things you want them to do.

Muscles can only digest little bits of information at a time and when they are full and don’t want to “hear” one more thing, they stomp their little muscle feet and say……”NO.” (which usually results in tighter muscles)

Your body and that “inner critic” voice in your head are in cahoots together too. Yep, if they both think something is not a good idea, they will pull up the emergency brake and put your butt on the couch.

Sound familiar? 

But your body is also the master voice of “gut instinct” (intuition) and that is a voice worth listening to. 

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Your body is an amazing thing and there isn’t any technology available that can duplicate all of the wonderful things it can do every second of every day. Most of the time your body knows when there is a problem before you even have a clue and has auto corrected it without you doing anything.

Awwww Apple, the human body can still one up you!

So where do you go from here? Throw up your hands, call it quits giving in to that persistent ache or just bulldoze forward?

Here’s some suggestions:

  • Become a detective and a friend to all of the nuances of your body.
  • Start a conversation, asking your body what it wants and how you can make its job easier.
  • Respect it’s signals and honor its voice.
  • When a pain or ache becomes persistent spend time looking at the whole picture of what’s going on in your life.
  • Stretch and move more (dance even). This keeps things loose and can also help to open up that one little area that won’t quite let go of its tightness.

I hope this has opened your eyes a little more to all the things that affect you and the beautiful body you live in. Now I would love to hear from you in the comment section about how that persistent ache may have awakened you to the real issue in your life.

Share the love of this post with someone in your life that needs to see that a “pain in their back” may have a whole lot more to say.

 

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What Will They Think?

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You have decided to:

  • carve out time for yourself
  • eat healthier and exercise more
  • quit your job
  • write a book
  • start your own business and the list goes on….

Your friends and family think your new changes are a great idea so you are met with a resounding “Good for you!” cheer.

Until you actually start to make those changes………

Then the sabotage and questions start with a relentless force.“Why do you want to do this?” “Have you lost your mind, this is not a good idea?” or “Isn’t that a little selfish of you?”

“What the hell?” you think, “what happened to all of the cheerleaders that thought this was a wonderful idea?” “Why can’t they just be happy for me?”

This can be the point in your pursuit where your journey toward success can come to a screeching halt all because of what other people think.

But wait, it doesn’t have to be this way!

It’s hard when you feel like all of the people around you are not as happy about your changes and you begin to feel that maybe you have decided to do the wrong thing or that it was a bad idea.

Change regardless of how positive it is in our minds is viewed as a death of sorts.

Stay the same = good for them.

Make a change = viewed as a death of the familiar and comfortable. 

When you look at your changes from other peoples’ perspective, you see why they are trying to get you to stop doing something different. It may scare you but it really scares the hell out of them.

Here’s why; you will move forward in your life and they fear that you will leave them behind. Or you will be doing exactly what they wish they could do but their fear of failure is greater than yours.

Either way to your friends and family, staying the same is safe and it keeps you in their “tribe.” But ask yourself truthfully, do you want to stay the same?

Whether your change is a small one like taking more time for yourself or something really big like starting your own business, you will always be faced with the naysayers and those naysayers are going to be some of the people closest to you.

When I announced to my family that I was going to quit my comfortable corporate job and start my own massage business with two kids still at home and a husband who had started his own business 2 months earlier, I got the “Have you lost your mind?” reply.

Did that stop me? No way, it made me more determined to pursue my dream and not look back. I had to believe in myself, my abilities and I found a different support system, the “tribe” that would cheer me on.

That doesn’t mean that you turn your back on your family or your friends but what it does mean is you will start to attract different people into your life, people who can see what you are trying to do because they are making similar changes in their lives.

These people are your new “tribe”, both of you recognize that common drive and share a similar spirit. These are the people that you draw strength from and who keep you going when you feel that you have nothing left to give.

So really does it matter what the others think? Yes it will matter a little but in the bliss of your success what they think will truly become “none of your business.“

Whether they come back to being your cheerleader or not (most will), you my friend were brave enough and strong enough to make some wonderful changes in your life! Good for you!!

I would love to hear from you about a situation in your life where you were faced with the naysayers and how you handled it.

And as always, share the love of this post with someone in your life who may feel no one will support them when they make some changes. Let them know you’ve got their back.

 

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Embracing The Small Victories In Your Everyday Life.

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We live in a world where instant gratification is the name of the game. Set a goal, make a big change, start a business and *POOF* it should happen! We follow the steps, put in the time and wait for the completion, getting frustrated when things go slowly or don’t appear to be happening at all.

You know what I mean, you get on the scales after a week or two of serious workouts and “WHAT?”, not one stinkin pound has found its way out the door. Or you decide to start a new business, doing your research on your market and putting in the extra work but things are moving at a snail’s pace.

Yep, I’ve been there and know the disappointment of not getting to your goal fast enough. But what if we started embracing the small victories in our everyday life along the way to our final goals? This was the question I was pondering and the answer came to me on my morning walk.

I had started adding a little jogging (read: little) to my daily fast paced walk when I realized as I slowly jogged up the hill that I wasn’t as winded as I had been before. Then that night in my yoga class as I sat in half lotus pose I noticed that my right hip wasn’t as tight as it had been. Huh? (picture here a V-8 moment, hand hits forehead)

This is when I understood that so often we get caught up in reaching the end, the goal, the big thing we were hoping to achieve, that we lose sight of our small victories that appear in our everyday lives.

When I take the time to truly acknowledge these small victories that happen each and every day it reinforces my desire to see the project through and stay on course. But more than that it makes my inner critic shut up a lot quicker and move along a lot faster, leaving me to bask in my progress toward my goal!

These small everyday victories are the stuff that life itself is made of and what keeps us reaching for the moon and stars.

Starting today, let’s all start looking for and celebrating the small everyday victories in our lives.

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Every day start noticing:

  • The step(s) that you achieved during the day that moved you closer to your goal, even if it’s just a thought process.
  • Pat yourself on the back more for these small victories instead of waiting for the final product to celebrate.
  • Re-evaluate your final goal every day to make sure that it is the truth for you. You may find that each day you start tweaking what your final goal really is and adjusting it accordingly.
  • Enjoy the journey!

Be gentle with yourself, trusting your process instead of trying to fit yours into someone else’s.

I hope that you will start embracing the small victories in your life and we would all love to cheer you on. Share those small victories in the comment section below and share this post with someone in your life that may need a reminder to start celebrating their small everyday victories.

 

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Life Lessons From A Little Donkey Name Willow

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“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude,

then animals are better off than a lot of humans“~ James Herriot

The trailer pulled out to the barn and the precious cargo was unloaded, a 7 month old donkey that I had named Willow. When I had put the word out to my friend Jane that I wanted a donkey, it became her mission to make it happen. I’m also lucky enough have another friend, Lois, who has the ability to make horses appear on my farm like magic 🙂

Willow is the first donkey I have ever owned so I set out to read everything I could to make sure that she and I started out on the right foot/hoof. Little did I know that Willow would soon become the teacher and I the student as she settled in on our farm.

Willow’s first introduction was to Henry, our dog, to make sure she understood that he was a part of our family. One of the reasons of owning  a donkey is to keep away coyotes so donkeys dislike dogs that are not part of their family. Little did I know that this first encounter would begin Henry’s love affair with Willow.

I had no idea that Henry would display such love and affection to Willow by licking her on the nose and laying on his back in front of her to show his submissiveness. Then it was play time, Henry started running around Willow and she joined in the play chase. Every day since their first meeting, Henry goes out into the pasture to greet Willow and have playtime with his new friend.

Life Lesson #1: You never know who could end up being an important person in your life so keep an open mind. 

When you are adding a new member to any herd/pack/flock, there are always lots of adjustments until everyone decides who fits where and who will teach the newcomer the rules. My two horses, Gabby and Joleen, would become Willow’s new herd mates so the introductions started slowly, first over the fence so everyone could touch noses and smell each other. After a day of that it was time to put the “herd” together and this is when Willow really became the teacher, reminding me of some very important things that are easily overlooked in our lives.

Gabby, the leader of the group was the hardest nut to crack but Joleen’s mothering instincts had kicked in so she was much more receptive and tolerant of Willow. Willow knew that time was on her side where Gabby was concerned so she was never pushy and gave Gabby his space.

Life Lesson #2: Patience really is a virtue.

Every time Gabby would pin his ears and try to keep Willow away from food or water, Willow would wait and slowly move in as Gabby was leaving or sneak around to the other side.

Life Lesson #3: Sometimes you have to find other ways to get to your goal so don’t give up.

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Despite the ups and downs of settling in, Willow is always happy to see me at the gate, wants to be close to me and the other horses (and of course Henry), runs, plays and doesn’t worry about laying down around Gabby and Joleen. She takes everything in stride.

Life Lesson #4: Sometimes you just have to trust that everything is going to be okay.

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Donkeys have a reputation of being stubborn and sometimes they really do earn it. But most of the time when they appear to be unwilling to do something they are simply analyzing the situation deciding if it is in their best interest.

Life Lesson #5: When you feel passionate about something in your life dig in your heels and stay strong. 

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Willow in her short time with us on Big Sky Farm has been an inspiration and wise teacher at her young age. Her patience and go with the flow attitude helps me remember what is truly important in my day to day life.

We all need that little reminder to awaken the inner wisdom we all possess and we never know who will spark that awakening. For me, Willow has been my spark and I know that she will continue to remind me of the important lessons in my life.

Look around you and see who may be teaching you some life lessons today. I would love to hear about any animal teachers in your life and what you have learned from them. Share your stories in the comment section below.

Share the love of this post with someone in your life who might need their inner wisdom awakened and let a little donkey name Willow ignite that spark for them.

 

 

“The Joy In Your Heart Will Set You Free.”

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“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”
~Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

“The joy in your heart will set you free,” is what was whispered into my ear on my morning walk the other day.

The word free is one of my core desire feelings for 2014 so I’ve been thinking a lot about how to achieve it in my daily life. One of the things I have really been working on is not holding onto conflicts with other people. You know the type of things that are resolved but you keep going over the details in your head to the point of insanity!

So when that little whisper of a mantra dropped into my head, it clicked….the aha moment! I was on the right track of letting go and clearing out some useless clutter in my head so the joy in my heart was the key. Easy enough I thought but little did I know that this was just the beginning.

Here’s what started happening after my aha moment. During those morning walks I was now faced with a continuous stream of negative conversations. Conversations with the people that I felt I had unfinished business with, allowing me to say what I felt needed to be said.

Puzzling, right?

Trust me I was completely baffled because if joy was to live in my heart so I could feel that wonderful freedom then why was I having all of this negativity in my head now?

Just as before, my wise guardian spirit whispered in my ear and gifted me with this gem; for me to make room in my heart for joy I had to move out the negativity. So these conversations were my heart’s way of clearing space, telling me to say what I felt needed to be said so it could then fill that space with joy.

“Joy blooms where minds and hearts are open.”
~Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The side benefit to all of this was the more conversations I had the freer I felt too. So I stopped beating myself up for what I thought was bad and accepted it as a very good thing.

When you stop and think about it, how many things like this do we squash or deny because it seems illogical or bad karma? Sometimes you just have to open your heart and listen closely letting it tell you what it wants and needs.

I know that most of us have conversations in our heads about different things but did you ever stop and think that the reason behind it was to free up some space in your heart and soul for good stuff? Personally I had never allowed myself that thought or possibility until it was delivered to me by divine guidance.

Then I decided to take things one step further, wondering about the rants of my inner critic, if these too could be space clearing events? So I’m taking this on as an experiment, seeing if letting these rants flow without the accompanying guilt will also lead to an opening up of more space for joy.

Who knew that negativity could lead to the path of joy and freedom? This was truly an eye opener for me.

We are all experiments in this journey we call living and I hope that you too can take away something from one of my gems and try it out in your life.

I love your insights so I hope you will share them in the comment section below. Share this post with someone you know who might be looking for a little more joy in their life!

 

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Want To Suck The Life Out Of Your Life? Keep Saying This…..

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“When you make a choice, you change the future.” ~ Deepak Chopra

The words that will suck the life out of your life are some of the few words that will both anger and sadden me when I hear someone or even myself saying them. (which I try not to do!)

“I guess I have no choice.”

I was having an email conversation the other day when the other person felt like they were not getting what they wanted so the response was “Well I guess I have no choice.” Picture Eeyore here, head and ears drooped, telling Pooh that life is so depressing and there’s nothing he can do about it. Now in true Pooh wisdom, which is what I channeled, I said “You do have a choice” and I went about listing options, adding honey to my email voice.

Two different views, Eeyore (btw, I love Eeyore) playing the victim, handing over his power to Pooh and Pooh giving Eeyore his power back and adding honey. That’s making a choice.

Choosing not to make a choice is still a choice, it’s a choice that says, “I don’t care how my life goes so you decide” or it says, “I’m trying to get my way or make you bend to my rules so I’m pretending to hand you my power.” (read:choice)

“I discovered I always have choices and sometimes it’s only a choice of attitude.”~Judith M. Knowlton

Good, bad or indifferent, choices define our lives and when you don’t make them you miss out on living your life fully. Even bad choices are lessons we need to learn and when we turn away from them we never lean into the whole of that lesson.

But what about the big choices? The change your job, start a business, move to a new place, sell everything and travel kind of choices, what stops us from making those?

There’s lots of excuses, bills to pay, family to take care of, too close to retirement or any other reasons that society will pat you on the back and tell you “it’s okay.” Now you are off the hook, choice made for you and lots of people will agree with that choice because they have made it too.  (read:safety in numbers)

I believe that most of the time we see the big choices as an all or nothing option so we try to quickly hand them off. But at some point in your life will you look back and say “what if I had made a different choice?”

Here’s a different approach, what if you took those big choices, the ones that really tug at your heart and speak to you constantly and turned them into bite size choices. Smaller choices that get you to the bigger one in small steps. Wouldn’t that make the choice easier?

Any choice is a big deal for you and your life, even the ones that feel very benign.

You never know where a simple choice might lead you someday so step into your power, not away from it and choose your life, your attitude and how you want to feel. And when you feel the words “I guess I don’t have a choice” coming into your head, stop, breathe and choose. Making a choice will keep the life in your life!

Tell me how you feel about making choices and what choices you have made that really changed your life.

Share the love of this post with someone in your life that might need more choices in theirs. 

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Loving the Imperfect You!

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“We are all wonderful, beautiful wrecks. That’s what connects us–that we’re all broken, all beautifully imperfect.”
~ Emilio Estevez

A new year for me always means a clean slate, a fresh start on how I want my life to go. As I was plotting the new direction of my journey for this next year, I realized that one of the first things I needed to do was to work on truly acknowledging and accepting my shadow side.

For those of you that don’t know what I mean by ” shadow side”, let me explain.

We all have a side of ourselves that can be dark, where we harbor negative thoughts, wishes and even desires. Our shadow self is not something we want to talk openly about and more often we deny.

You can’t accept what you don’t acknowledge so I’m here to share my discoveries from the other day when my shadow side was running full tilt and very uncensored:

  • inside the ugly hateful thoughts that were filled with strong words, there was a light of clarity
  • that clarity lead me back to the true root of my feelings which was fear first, then anger
  • the anger and fear revealed other dark feelings that truly made me understand,
  • to deny any part of my shadow self would be accepting only part of my whole being.

Loving and accepting this part of yourself is the bridge to moving forward into your life fully so that you can do and be all that you want to be. We all have a shadow side and the more acknowledgement you give to that side of yourself the more freedom you will have.

“Accept your dark side, understanding it will help you to move with the light. Knowing both sides of our souls, helps us all to move forward in life and to understand that perfection doesn’t exist.” ~ Martin R. Lemieux

Once you accept that you are not always going to be “cupcakes and sunshine”, what’s your next step in acceptance?

Keeping an open mind so that you can view your shadow self through a non-filtered lens, looking for the message within the darkness or simply learning to let those dark moments pass by without judgement.

The moment you hear the words, “Oh I shouldn’t feel like that or how could I think that” is your cue to tune in and see where your shadow side wants to take you. Will it lead you to clarity like mine did or do you just let it rage and move along? Either way you become more schooled in what your shadow side wants and in time acceptance will become easier.

Just like anything else in life, this is “life work” which means you have to roll up your sleeves and get dirty. If you want to grow your life then you can’t scratch the surface of the ground and expect to grow a wonderfully lush garden. You have to dig deep, plant well and enjoy reaping your harvest once you have succeeded.

That my friends is how you create a life you truly love and what better time to start than at the beginning of a new year.

Will you accept my challenge and join me?

I would love to hear your comments in the comment section below. And share the love of this post with someone in your life and have them sign up so they can receive even more love.

* 2014 for me personally and here at Zen Chick is going to be all about “breaking the rules.” Breaking out of  what I’m suppose to do and blazing some new trails. If you would like to be a trailblazer, jump on over to my Work With Me page and see how I can help. Let’s make 2014 a year to remember. Peace and love to you all!

 

photo credit: enggul via photopin cc