If You Can't Trust Yourself.......

I woke up this morning with this thought in my head.

"If you can't trust yourself....who can you trust?"

I can't tell you how many times I have been questioned because I made a decision based on my gut instincts.  People don't like it when you trust yourself more than you trust them.

I've had even more moments where I've regretted NOT following my gut instincts and going along with the status quo.

This early morning thought got me digging a little deeper. 

For instance, how many people are out there walking around with no trust in themselves.  Who have no idea that their stomach is turning because it's trying to tell them something really important or that the reason why they get a massive headache everytime they are in certain situations is because they'd be better off avoiding such people, places and things.

My favourite are those that see a psychic every other month to get 'direction'. 

**disclaimer:  I am not, nor have I ever been against psychic readings, I love them, I have had 3 in my lifetime and they have all been amazingly accurate.  I think it's great that we can get some guidance when we are at our wits end and cannot seem to get our head on straight **

I view outsourced intuitive guidance as a road map to use when you are so lost you can't even find your way back to the main road.  To over use this service is to negate your own inner wisdom (that same wisdom that a psychic taps into when giving you your reading!)

So let me ask you this question.  If you don't trust yourself enough to ask yourself the tough questions, how much can you really trust that person across the table from you telling you that soon you will meet Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome, get married and have 5 kids before May of 2013?

Seriously?

You're probably laughing right now, but this happens ALL the time!  And the part that is so frustrating is to watch someone you care for walk around living their lives based on what that intuitive told them would happen!  YIKES!

Wouldn't it feel better when at the end of the day you could say to yourself "hey, you listened to your gut instinct about that issue and look how great that turned out".  And wouldn't it feel even better if you weren't always questionning how life unfolds because it's not what the tarot cards told you?

I'm just saying....  If you are trusting someone else more than your trusting yourself then your in for some disappointing times.

Releasing Responsibility

I want to share a quote I found recently.  This quote sums up how I pretty much feel about my parenting style.

"Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon them and to let them know that you trust them."  ~ Booker T. Washington

A few years ago you would have found me full of anxiety over my parenting skills. 

Back then I used to hang onto every little thing.  I had control over everything and I didn't give responsibility to anyone in my household.  No one could do laundry or dishes quite like I could.  I used to parent based on what others thought was best for my kids, not what I thought was best for them and I was always afraid of what someone might say if my kids weren't dressed just right!

No wonder I was in full panic mode most of the time!

This quote reminds me of our recent trip to the cottage.  Our older two sons (17 & 14) are both working and of course in school.  They weren't too keen on taking a trip and missing out on work opportunities (our oldest son has just started his first job and so didn't want to take time off) and so we opted to leave them behind. 

We opted to give them responsibility and trust them for the nine days that we would be away.

I was more emotional about not having them with me than I was about leaving them to their own devices for nine days.

They did great.  They got along well, they didn't starve and the house didn't burn down.  Their time without parental supervision was a success.  Who'd have thunk it?

What I would have missed as a parent had we not given them that opportunity, was to see just how responsible and capable they are.  Handing over responsibility to your child shows you just how well you have parented them up until this point.  It's like a parenting report card. 

If you are one of those parents who doesn't allow your child to do anything without your supervision, you are missing out big time!  Not only do you not know how well your child will cope in a situation where you are not with them to make their decisions for them, but you are missing an opportunity to show your child just how much you trust their judgement.  You are missing an opportunity to empower your child!

Ahem.  This goes for all you parents of adult children as well.

Granted you are not going to leave your eight year old home alone for nine days.  But there are things you can do for your younger children that will empower them.  It was always helpful in our house to let the boys dress themselves the way they like, pack their lunches the way they like and (as much as it pained my control freak ways) to let them do their chores the way they would like. 

Trust me, letting go a little bit now when your kids are younger makes it WAY easier to get into the passenger seat with them when they are working on getting their drivers license! 

So, do your kids a favour, heck do everyone in your life a favour; give over responsibility to those you have been withholding it from and then trust that all is well.  

A little faith

There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever.   ~ Mohandas Gandhi

I am a quote-a-holic.

Quotes perk me up the way little blue pills................well......you get the picture.

The above quote is a great reminder for me today. 

I didn't sleep well last night at all.  My dreams were all over the place (as they have been for quite some time now) and I found myself in that crazy place where you are aware that you are dreaming and you want to do something about what you are seeing but you can't because you are really asleep.... 

So all night it felt like I was trying to put out fires, or at least create a change in what was happening only to find that I could make no difference at all.  I woke up feeling helpless and hopeless, insignificant.

And then I found this quote this morning.  Aha!

Last nights crazy dream situation reflects how I've been feeling in my waking hours these days.  I can see relationships ending and circumstances in my life changing (drastically!) and even though this is all familiar territory, I have been worrying about it incessantly!  Trying to find the logical explanation (is there one?) and trying to find a solution that keeps everything fine and dandy.

If I'm being honest with myself, I have no control over any of this, whatsoever!  I didn't put these balls into motion, they just started rolling and here I am on the sidelines watching it happen feeling hopeless, helpless and insignificant.

That's my real problem.  I've expected myself to know what to do and to fix it.  I've had no faith in the flow of life and I'm exhausted from trying to keep up!  There's a picture.  I'm trying to keep up with God's plans for me instead of allowing that energy to lift me up to the place I need to be.  It inevitably always does!

Last night I went to bed looking forward to the sun rising.  And now I know why.  Somewhere in my being I knew that clarity would come by sunrise.  And it did.

Today I have the opportunity to let go.  Now that I can see where it is I was resisting, I can loosen my grasp and relax a little knowing that in the end all I need is a little faith.








 

Always room for change

There are moments in my life that have been undeniably powerful. 

They are unforgettable.

I can remember every moment when a lesson was presented to me and I took the challenge because they are also the moments that my life had been changed forever.

In the beginning of my journey to awareness I would be kind of blind sided by these times.  Not really recognizing them for the precious jewels that they were until all was said and done and I was standing safely on the other side.

Now, I recognize them in the moment.  I can feel it in every cell of my body.  The pivotal moment when everything changes......forever.

I had many of those moments yesterday.

While standing at my Uncle's funeral service, the words spoke straight to my heart.  I could feel a presence that was undeniably divine preparing me for the next "phase" of my journey.  At one point I couldn't help but smile as the feeling of knowing nothing would ever be the same again filled my heart and then my body, one cell at a time.

My uncle had a heart of gold.  He was there with a helping hand before it seemed you even knew you needed one.

He lived his life by the grace of God, had a bold faith in knowing that where he was going was a place of eternal bliss.  He hand selected every aspect of his funeral service to deliver a message to the hearts of everyone in attendance.

The message that was delivered answered my deepest questions and soothed my worries and fears instantaneously.  It gave me a deeper understanding as to why I am on this planet and shone a new light on the things I had either forgotten about or tried to hide in the dark corners of my memory.

I am excited about the upcoming days, weeks and months knowing that something profound has taken place within me.

There is always room for a little change in my life!

What about you?

What would you be missing?

It's not always easy to take an idea and show it to the world.

To own it. Take responsibility for it.

It's not easy, but it is apparently necessary.

I remember hearing once "think about if you don't bring your dream into reality, think about what the world would be missing out on if you chose not to move forward because of fear."

I don't remember where I heard this phrase, but it came back to me as I listened to a woman confirm an intuitive message I had received for a friend of hers.

I had been asked to do an intuitive drawing for her friend. I felt as though this was a sort of test and laughingly denied that I was able to do such a thing but that I would give it a try and see if it turned out. Let me state for the record, that I doodle for fun. That my love of pastels has just recently come to me and I am always surprised when someone actually likes what I've drawn.

Not a week earlier I was telling a fellow artist friend of mine that I don't feel comfortable doing these types of things, there is more pressure to come up with something pleasing to the eye than there is when I work on something solely for my own enjoyment. Also, what if I'm wrong? What if what I come up with is total s*@$! What if the message doesn't make sense? Then what?

This is scary business for me. This is really stepping outside of my comfort zone and stretching my limits. These types of things are for the wise of heart, not people like me who just think they have a strong connection to their intuition. Afterall, following intuitive nudges throughout the day doesn't qualify me to actually give intuitive readings and attach them to a visual piece of art. Does it?

In the end though, the positive confirmation came and as it did the goosebumps were standing up on my arms and I knew I had stepped into something special.

This piece of art is going to make a tremendous difference in this woman's life. It is going to be confirmation for her that what she is experiencing is real and it is divinely guided and perfect for her in this moment. It is a beautiful message lovingly delivered by her guides to my hands and heart for her to know and keep.

And I can't help but apply the above phrase to this situation. What if I decided not to go ahead and try the intuitive art thing? What if I said no and walked away. Sure, someone else would've been able to do it for her I suppose. But what would I be missing out on? What would the world miss out on if I wasn't involved in this process?

I guess we'll never know.