And So......

Everything is right with the world....

Today....

As I sit here feeling full of all that is good after a Ginormous (j-eye-norm-us) Total Recall Women's Retreat weekend on Pelee Island!

A beautiful B&B right on the water's edge.

A roommate that ROCKED and shared my interest in sleep!

A realization (again) that I am not superwoman.

The courage to act upon the re-discovery of my 'un' superwomanly self.

Laughter (most important).

Great food (okay...maybe this one is most important).

Hearing someone confirm for me that I am and I have made a difference in their life (bonus: without even trying!).

Recognizing the incredible influence that this past year has had on me.

The kick ass suntan I am going to have!

Getting the chance once again to stand in front of people willing to learn and grow with you.

Rediscovering the word 'magnificent' and feeling like it describes who I am (A first for me!)

The list is endless.

My point?  I am happy.  I can see my blessings.  I know their names.  I know their smiles.  I know their hugs.  And I know that I am worthy of them.

Just as you are worthy of yours.

<3

Benefits to Humanity

This week I got to meet a 16 year old boy who has autism.

His parents brought him to State of Being for a Reiki session;  they had been all around the world seeking healers to heal him of his 'issue'.

His parents were evaluating my skills as a healer to see if I could help their son.

He took his Reiki through his Mother as a surrogate.  He didn't let me touch him.  He didn't want to be here.

His energy was saying "leave me alone" throughout the entire session.

Leave me alone.

He had endured different healers poking and prodding at him for years.  Endured his parents seeking out people who might be able to 'fix' him.

Granted his parents love him very much.  He doesn't see it like that, he sees it as not being accepted for who he is.

I could see the gift that this beautiful boy had brought to the world.  I could see the joy and love in his sisters faces as they watched him move around the room and touch everything in sight.  I could see the pain and exhaustion in his parents eyes.

The boy doesn't know he has a challenge.  He thinks he is just fine.  It's the perception of the parents that says he has something wrong with him.

This boy and his family touched me, because it made me realize how much I had been denying my own imperfections.

I have been the one in my own life who has been searching out 'cures' for what I see as challenges, deficiencies and defects.

I began to wonder this week what would happen if I just embraced all of that, accepted it and moved on.

I had told the parents of this boy that their son was a gift to them, brought here with a purpose to serve humanity by way of teaching patience and tolerance.  Both of which this world needs a whole lot of.  When you begin to see your son as perfect and as a blessing that is when you will see changes.  The changes won't be his, he will be the same.  The changes will be yours.  Your perception will have changed and that can change everything.

I thought long and hard about this message once my clients had left.

I realized that this message is for all of us.

For each one of us, our challenges, quirks and special personalities are serving a purpose to humanity. 

It's up to us to change our perception of each of these and accept them so that humanity can finally benefit.

Boundaries and Beyond

We've all spent countless hours considering our goals, creating vision boards and visualizing our futures right down to the tiniest detail.

How many of us have spent that much time (if any time at all) confirming and setting our boundaries?

This was an 'AHA' moment that I had this morning.

It's easy for us to feel violated, encrouched upon and irritated when our boundaries haven't been defined.

For instance, even though I work from home, I still like for my children to ease back into my "space" gently when they arrive home from school.  My youngest loves to fly in, throw his face into mine and start explosively sharing the events of his day (anyone that has met Mr. Benjamin will know that he doesn't do anything less than explosive).  Even though I know that he is going to do this, it still can set me into a mood.

I can't place blame on him, I haven't verbalized my boundaries (and quite frankly until yesterday I didn't really know that this situation needed to be a boundary at all).

The point is that every day we walk around with unset boundaries and we wonder why we feel walked on, taken advantage of and abused.  We wonder why people are constantly putting their expectations on us.

As a business person, I've had many occasions where my boundaries (invisible as they are) have been crossed, that I find myself doing something in the name of 'business' and 'making money' and then feeling horribly about it afterwards.

It's time to set some firm (yet flexible) boundaries.  It's time to give myself permission to say "here's what I will accept and here's what I'm not willing to entertain".

Where are your boundaries?

Have you clearly set these boundaries or are they figments of your imagination.

I feel like setting boundaries is another way to be authentic and show others that you have integrity in the work that you do (whatever that work is).

The issue has been something I've struggled with for a long time, so I'm excited that I'm feeling ready to take on the task of setting myself up for further success by placing some healthy boundaries.

Now sticking to those boundaries is a whole other blog post :)