Healing the World Starts with Me

Over the course of the past several years, I’ve had the opportunity to be exposed to many different things that all fall under the category of “Healing”. Some of them have been health care related, others have been more on a spiritual level. The takeaway for me in all of it is this: I am responsible for my own healing.

I am responsible for making sure my car is running and in safe condition. Fortunately, for everyone who drives around the Research Triangle area, that doesn’t mean that I have to actually perform repairs on the car myself! What it means is that I am responsible for choosing a reliable mechanic that I trust to work on my car. I decide when to take it in, considering recommendations from the mechanic or the auto manufacturer. I decide what work I will authorize them to do – I decline some things they offer if I don’t feel those are necessary at that time. I decide when the car will be cleaned and who will clean it. I honor its need for gas and fill it up when it tells me it can go around 65 more miles before it runs out of gas.

In all of these events, I determine whether I feel like I’m getting appropriate value for my money, whether I trust the people who are doing the work, and whether I feel good about how my car is being taken care of. I can only judge the work they do by the performance of the car. If work is done and the car runs worse, I take it back in. If the mechanic consistently takes longer than planned to do the work or charges more than the estimate consistently – every time – I find a new mechanic.

Our healing is the same way. Years ago, we were planning to take my great aunt out for her birthday. She declined to go that day because she had a doctor’s appointment and she said “I won’t know how I feel until I get back from that.”

Sometimes, it seems that we have lost sight of the fact that our healing is our responsibility. Who else could manage it and coordinate it better than we can? We are the only ones who know whether things feel like they’re working properly. We can tell whether the solution we’ve tried has made a difference or not. We know how we feel. As with my car, I may not feel qualified to actually do the healing myself – whether traditional or alternative, mental, emotional, physical or spiritual – but I do have the responsibility to seek out the help and care that I need.

Around 7 years ago, I had a physician who attributed every ailment I had to my weight. I was around 100 lbs overweight when I started seeing her. My assumption was that she had my best interest at heart, and I could certainly see how some of the issues I raised were weight-related. After I had been on my food plan for some time, I went to see her with a sore knee, and she told me it was related to my weight. She was surprised when I told her I had lost 60 lbs since the last time I saw her, even though her staff weighed me each time, and each time she harped on my weight. I was over half way to my goal, and she hadn’t bothered to compare my last weight to my current weight.

You know where I’m going with this, right? That was my last visit with her. I found a new doctor who really viewed me as a person and who was aware of what was going on with me. That’s something we should do with every person who takes care of us as much as we are able to. If you have a belief that there’s no one out there who cares about you, look to see if YOU care about yourself. If you do, know that you are worthy of having caring people take care of you – whether it’s your physician, your massage therapist, your chiropractor, your oncologist, your surgeon, your energy healer, your manicurist, or your minister.

You deserve to have every person in your life be someone who has your best interest at heart. If you don’t have that, fire the person you have, and get another one! When you acknowledge that you are the person in charge, and that it’s your job to ensure you find the best people to do the work that you can’t do yourself, you can shed the victim energy and really put yourself in a place to heal.

Even if you don’t know where the best person to help you will come from, continue to focus on what you want, how you want to be treated, and that person will show up! I also used to have a primary care doctor who was focused on the mind-body-spirit connection. Nice, huh? It was nice, except that the focus started once the doctor came into the exam room. I routinely waited 30 minutes to an hour after my appointment time to be seen. (The 3 times I went if you can call that routine.) The third visit, after waiting an hour, I left just before the doctor was ready to see me because I had something else I needed to do. For me, a focus on the whole person includes how long they sit in your waiting room. The more I took a stand about what I would and would not accept, the more I have gotten exactly what I want. I didn’t make a big fuss about it, I simply voted with my feet.

We are powerful when we take ownership. We don’t have to make a scene, tell anyone off, whine and gripe to anyone; all we need to do is stay focused on what we want and how we want to be treated and keep moving toward that until we have it.

Sometimes, being in charge of getting the best person to help you means that you will need to make a choice that is outside of something your insurance covers. When you’re making those decisions, always consider the time and energy that you put into all of the visits and tests and waiting for things that are covered. If you can’t just make the decision you’re worth it, which is difficult for some people, really weigh the time, money, energy and results (rather than simply the money) and make a choice that is the best one for you. Remember, you are in charge!

Many years ago, I was seeing a chiropractor 3 times a week for an issue with my lower back. I could barely get out to my car some days before my back was “out” again. He was on my insurance plan, so I only paid a co-payment to see him. I had another chiropractor who I saw for some nutritional work (supplements, food allergies), but didn’t go to her for my back because she had a cash only practice. When my first chiro was out of town for the Super Bowl, I needed to go to my second chiro for an adjustment. She adjusted my back and told me that I should come back in 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS? She said I could come before that if I needed to. I didn’t need to. I found out that by going to her, instead of the other one, my back problem got resolved AND it cost me less than 2/3 what I was paying in copayments to the other one.

All of this to say that it’s not all cut and dried. If you pay attention to what’s going on and make sure that you’re getting what you want and being treated the way you want to be treated, you can rest assured that whatever issues you’re dealing with will resolve more quickly!

You deserve to have the best person in charge of your healing. YOU!

What’s Your Diversion of Choice?

I recently realized that I have been allowing drama (and other things) into my life to distract and divert me from living in my authentic expression. I have actively worked to clear drama, but my new realization was that I was allowing “justifiable” occurrences in my life to take more of my energy than they needed. The extra energy I was putting into them was the part that I now see as the diversion. What a realization! Since that “ah-ha” moment, I have considered some of the things that I have attracted that fit into this category:

o difficult relationships with certain individuals (various individuals)
o family member illness/death
o car accident
o lots of things to do (I’m *so* busy)
o overwork
o job issues
o household malfunctions
o weight issues
o time on the internet/social networking sites

It’s amazing how long my own list has been! The most interesting part of this is that all of these things that I have willingly given my energy to are things that I have received much support from others on as well. Because they are things that actually do need to be tended to and addressed once manifested, it appears that whatever time and effort they take is “required”. That’s the fallacy. They don’t have to take as much time and energy and DRAMA as I’ve sometimes given them.

The key here for anyone who can identify with this is that we keep things in their proper perspective. We handle what needs to be handled, but we also continue to keep our eye on the ball. When we lose sight of our real goal, we can get diverted quickly. We are always on “our path”, however, we may be taking the scenic route and not even realize that we have chosen that over the most direct way.

Of course, there are things we must deal with. The clearer we are, the easier it is for us to manifest without diversion. Still, life does happen. When it happens, the more aware we are, the easier it is for us to make a conscious decision about how much of our energy we put into any given event. Naturally, some events require more energy than others. And, it is your life.

What we’re doing isn’t wrong, but if you’re wondering why you’re not getting where you say you want to go, take a look at what’s pulling your energy that you “just have” to do and see if you have to spend as much energy on it as you’re currently spending. It’s sort of like shopping for things that are on sale. It’s GREAT if I can get the same thing for less money. With the things in our lives that are actually distractions, it may be that we can get a better solution for less energy.

Are you willing to look at where you might be using your issues as a distraction from moving forward in your quest to live authentically? I’m putting some energy here in the form of awareness and behavior change. Whenever I feel myself veering off course, I make a choice to let go and get back on the track. It’s already beginning to pay off.

Initiating the Shift in 2010 – Are you ready?

I’m so excited to be a part of this amazing program that’s being hosted by my friend and mentor, Anita Pathik Law! The program is based on her first book, The Power of Our Way: A Path to a Collective Consciousness. It’s a 6-week program that will include 15 presenters who will contribute in 3 telesummits that are a part of the program.

The goal of the program is to SHIFT into a greater reality of peace and prosperity – and begin altering the trajectory of your life.

There will be 6 live, weekly group coaching calls and powerful healing sesisons/meditations (like the one at www.powerofmyway.com/newreality.html). This journey (details at www.powerofmyway.com/shift2010.html) offers a way to rid yourself of damaging patterns of thought such as lack, fear, worry and negative projections about the future. You will receive a number of meditations to use throughout the program – some with hypnosis techniques and proven brain wave technology that will shift you at the subconscious level!

By reflecting for just a few minutes each day for 31 days, then connecting with the author and a group of like-minded truth seekers, you can change your life and certainly change what you believe is possible.

Are you in?

Overcomers, Inc. is a bestseller!!

For the past 6 months, I’ve been a part of this amazing project. I have a chapter called “One Size Does Not Fit All” in the book Overcomers, Inc. – True Stories of Hope, Courage and Inspiration. Over the months, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with several of the authors as well as the publisher (Lynne Klippel) and marketing director (Kathleen Gage and her team). Every person I have met has been absolutely wonderful. We have had “Happy Hour” over the telephone with the authors, book marketing training, we’ve written an e-book – it’s been a beautiful experience!

Yesterday, the fruit of our labor was announced to the world. The world responded by making the book a bestseller on Amazon.com – #1 in Inspirational, #1 in Motivational, and #1 in Spiritual! If you purchased a copy of the book, thank you. I hope it will bring a little more light into your life or into the life of someone you care about.

I read the book for the first time a couple of weeks ago and was really stunned by the stories written from the hearts of my 37 co-authors. What struck me was that it was not only their stories that told me they overcame adversity. Their bios, listed after the chapter, really show how someone who has gone through whatever they’ve gone through can make an incredible difference in the world. I know this book has changed me. I hope that everyone who reads it feels the same way.

Simply having the book out on a table is inspiring to me. The cover is so beautiful and uplifting.

I’m grateful to be part of something that brings some hope to the world. Being on the project reminds me on a regular basis that I can get through the challenging times. When things get dark, I remember I’m an Overcomer. That knowledge shines a beacon of light and dissipates the darkness.

You are an Overcomer, too. Congratulations!

You can check out www.overcomersinc.com for more information about the folks who have been involved in this project. If you know you have a book in you, Love Your Life Publishing has a signature Get Your Book Done program you might want to check out!

Open to Possibilities

Are you open to possibilities that are more amazing than you can currently imagine? If not, you’re allowing your limiting beliefs to rule the good that comes to you. It’s like the difference between free-range chicken and chickens that are kept in cages with no opportunity to move out of their space. If you have a fence around what you believe is possible so that there’s no way for it to expand, guess what? It won’t expand because it can’t expand.

Fortunately for us, every piece of new information we receive has the possibility to weaken the fence so that there’s a little crack that will allow new possibilities to enter. Are you putting yourself in a situation where you are seeking out new information, or do you think you know enough already? Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that just about every person in the world believed that the world was flat. Think about how absurd that sounds now.

And what if, this may sound far-fetched, you are the only thing that stands between you and whatever it is that you desire – knowing and living your life’s purpose, having a comfortable lifestyle, being an artist? What if the only real blocks that exist are right there inside of you? It has nothing to do with your job, your boss, your spouse, your parents, the President, the economy, or any other thing that you might have been tempted to pin the blame on.

The bad news is that it’s all within you. The good news is that it’s all within you. If it’s within you, that means that YOU have the power to change it. You are in control of how you respond to the events in your life and YOU can make it different right here, right NOW. How does that sound?

Preposterous? Perhaps. Just sit with it and let it sink in. Then decide what you will do about it next.

You are the guardian of all of the possibilities that are waiting for you. You don’t create them, but you determine whether you will allow them into your space. The choice is all yours. You have the opportunity to choose to see each thing that happens as a gift rather than as a drama or a crisis. You have the opportunity to decide whether you will ask for help and whether you will accept the help that comes to you – knowing that help comes in all forms.

Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself if you’re ready to own it all. Because if you own it all, you can mold it and change it into whatever you want it to look like.

And if you’re reading this right now, it’s a sure sign that you are ready for that. Don’t delay – go for it!!

Where’d the time go?

An interesting side effect of living in the moment is that if you stop to see where you are relative to other things (like days on the calendar for instance), you find that time has flown by! That’s what has happened to me lately.

I have been present – really present – to what’s going on in my life and to living in each moment. It is a really great feeling to do that. No fear, no stress really because in every moment all is well. And then it was the middle of October. What I realized is that when you are living in the moment, you don’t feel like there are all of these “things” that need to be done – you just do what is in front of you to do. The interesting thing about this is that everything that needs to be done, gets done. The difference is that you don’t spend a lot of energy on it before you do it.

It’s a nice place to play. Try it sometime. If I can do it, I know you can!

Manifesting like crazy!

Wow! This has been an amazing week with regard to manifestation. I have received money, inspiration, work, gifts, love… all sorts of amazing stuff out of seemingly nowhere. How cool is that?!

It really is wonderful. In fact, it’s so wonderful that I found myself asking if this is really my life. How nice to get confirmation that it is AND to know that I am worthy of doing, being, and having whatever I want to do be or have.

The other part that’s exciting about it is that it’s happening so fast. That part doesn’t even worry me because if I manifest something that I don’t really want, I can simply manifest again! It’s one of the things we sometimes forget in manifesting. We don’t just have one chance to manifest. We are constantly manifesting. ALL OF THE TIME!

This means that we have the opportunity to take risks and stretch outside of our comfort zone, and if it doesn’t work out exactly the way we want it to, we can manifest again. It doesn’t get much better than that, does it?

Of course, manifesting is not just about getting more stuff. With focus, we can manifest an amazing spiritual life; we can cultivate special relationships; and we can move ourselves to the place where we absolutely trust that we are always taken care of. For some of us, manifesting stuff is an easier place to begin to practice.

When we set the intentions and turn it over to the Universe to bring about as we shift into the place of welcoming in our manifestations – when we let go of HOW and focus on ALLOW, it all comes together beautifully!

What’s your manifesting story?