It’s Sunday afternoon as I sit to write this. So far today I have walked my dogs three times. I confess to not wanting to go out so often sometimes, but I am always grateful for the air and time to think. Also, today I have been making a workbook for a course on Udemy. Creation and being creative is something I adore. Going for the walks lets the processes fall into place. It’s all quite magical.
There’s a cake that wants to be made. A chocolate cake – but I am lacking the requisite enthusiasm. In fact, my enthusiasm has deserted me these last few days, and I have found that I have had to push myself to get things done.
I was due to start on my passion project, and I kept thinking I can’t be bothered and even worse I should be cleaning up (I should…). I’d recently had a new log burner installed and the house was covered in dust.
You guessed the cleaning won. A few hours later it was mostly done and I was pleased that I’d made the effort.
It’s easy to give up, isn’t it? However, what struck me the most was that sometimes we are hard on ourselves and that a bit of TLC is a good thing.
It also made me think of comfort zones and how easy it is to stay there and there are often good reasons to be in your comfort zone. One of them is:
Comfort Zones Give Room for Daydreams
Where do goals or heart’s desires come from? They are created when we’re calm, have a sense of inner peace and feel relaxed. Comfort Zones are a great place to imagine a better future and create new opportunities. And they are places where we can find a space for inner peace and meet ourselves where we are.
Being in this place also gives us a chance to ponder a few other things:
Awareness
Awareness gives you choices and understanding. When I bring attention to my body, I can hear her speaking to me, and it gives me clues about what to do next.
I use two things. The heart connection model. This is where I come into the heart to ask what do I need to know and I am guided to a colour and energy centre (chakra).
To do: Stop what you are doing and simply notice your breath. What do you learn from this observation? And when you notice your breath and take it around your body – what else do you learn? Take it to each of the energy centres and reflect on what comes up?
This super awareness of what my heart wants to tell me gives me clues about what I need to know, and I can ponder on how the messages can support me through the day. I find keywords that come to me, and I turn these into questions and affirmations.
What do I need to know?
The other is automatic writing and I ask three questions while in a meditative state:
- What do I need to know today?
- Who Am I?
- What is today’s purpose?
To do: Put pen to paper and ask the three questions.
This means that every day I can let my intuition guide my awareness and push or pull me in the direction I need to go.
Where am I?
This is about taking a 360-degree view of life via a set of life focus areas.
- BODY (Physical)
- MIND (Mental)
- HEART (Emotional)
- SPIRIT (Spiritual)
- HOME (Environmental)
- MONEY (Financial)
- CAREER (Professional)
- PURPOSE (Purposeful)
To do: This is one for your journal. Put a stake in the ground and look around. This may seem very simple, but it is, in fact, very powerful and may bring up all kinds of feelings. You must look around you and take it all in. Acknowledge that this is where you find yourself. Describe where you find yourself. Consider how this feels. What do you see and what do you know about this place? Then score 1 to 10 in each of these areas. 1 being not focused and 10 is rocking it. What does this teach you about where you are?
What do I want to create?
I ask this of everyone I work with. What do you want to create could be here and now – the short term. Or sometime in the future – a timeframe that you want to choose. Some people think that this could be their legacy and it could, but in reality, your legacy is what other people value about what you leave behind, not what you think they will get.
Asking this question starts the envisioning process. It’s about what you think is possible without the confines of your I can’t language. Creation gives us the big picture and then you can come back to where you are and have an idea of what your next aligned step is.
To do: Ask what do I want to create? Put pen to paper, start with the mundane and allow the magic to flow. I dare you to be bold and ask if you were to create a passion project – what would it be?
It’s interesting when you come to meet yourself where you are now and ask this question, especially if you just let go and wonder.
How do you feel?
Meeting yourself where you are is connecting to your emotions and feelings in this moment. Do you feel angry, helpless, trapped or joyful, or light and with a sense of inner peace? I know that the people I am talking to swing between the good and the not so good almost within the same minute.
I think it’s important to sit with your feelings and notice (become aware) of what they are saying to you and why?
When you look at yourself without judgement and merely observe it is incredibly powerful. This is not the time to fix you, it’s the time to notice.
Fixing, slaying or healing can come later. I, of course, prefer the word heal, rather than take a hammer to them and fix them up against the good feelings wall and declare triumphantly ha got you!
To do: Stop for a moment and write in your journal the emotion you feel and what you observe about it.
Tap into joyful moments
Even in my darkest moments, something happens to make me laugh. It’s usually one of the dogs. Perhaps I’ll be chewing my food and not paying attention and Angel decides that mmm she’d like some of that and since I wasn’t paying attention it might as well be hers. I laugh, every time she does something because she is sweet, funny and loving. Then there are the farts (usually Marley Moo) when you are meditating – yes I do laugh.
To do: Remember to laugh at the small things. Let moments of joy seep in.
Be patient
Oh, this one has caught me so many times. I find myself wanting the yuk to be over with NOW. What I have learned is things always get better when I am kind to myself. Journaling, eating cake (not all of it) and walking with the dogs always lift my mood.
I remind myself that Rome wasn’t built in a day. And that all I have to do is one thing that moves me in the direction that I want to go in. When I look back in my journal, I can see just how far I have come and that’s the reason to celebrate – isn’t it.
Let go of what doesn’t serve you. What might seem important right now, often doesn’t the following day.
To do: What might life be like if you were more patient with yourself? Remember to celebrate how much you have grown. Also, give yourself permission to focus on what’s important.
Start where you are. Utilise what you have. Express what you need. Take one tiny step.
Value and values
Remember your value and values. What do you value and why? Where do your ideas around value come from? Value this moment and what it teaches you about yourself.
What are your values? How do you know that they are? Who taught them to you? Do you own them and live by them?
Value yourself and live by your values, these two things will help you to navigate life and know where you are.
Could this be the start you need to make? Being bold is about creating a life that you love, which starts with meeting yourself where you are.
Start with the Exploring Purpose E-Book.