Perfection - Personal Practice

I’m in the Clear! 

That’s how I feel after last week.  I was so “fuzzy” with my thoughts and couldn’t get a coherent sentence out when talking with my friends and family.

Then my buttons were pushed by a family member.  This person new just the right thing to say to make me purge myself from all the negative thoughts I’d been having.

“How are you going to get what you want?”

I’ve been talking about all the things I want for my life and at the same time feeling sorry for myself that I don’t have them.  I listed these things out as goals for myself.

But I missed the important step in reaching these goals.  The “how”!

What was my plan to reach “my” goals?

I have spent countless hours and days of my life helping others to reach their goals.  I have plans outlined with detailed steps to help others accomplish their goals.  

I was “fuzzy” with my own because I was still in the forest and could not see the flaws in my own plan.

My practice this week has been to recognize and accept that an objective opinion can make all the difference and help you to move into the clear.  

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m still standing close to the forest.  However, I really don’t want to walk back in.  So I sought out help to push me into the clearing.

Now the real work begins for me.  I am to state what I want and list out my steps to accomplish it!

Set an Intention!

Perfection - Yoga Lesson

Life is imperfect.  That is the beauty of life and the journey that is your own.  You get to define your life as you go along and the mistakes you make on your way to perfection are what will make you special.

So make mistakes!  It’s okay. 

Listen to your heart and gut!  It’s okay.

Ignore another’s idea of perfection!  It’s theirs, not yours.

This is what makes the journey of your life interesting.  

Allow yourself to make mistakes!

Let It Go-To Let In - Personal Practice

This past week has been one of true discovery for me.  I took a chance and opened myself up to a new community of people and found the life experience and knowledge they are sharing with me has given me so much insight into myself.

I’m amazed at how complex a person I am, as I’m sure we all are!

I have been reminded that there is always a reason for our behavior.  Actions we take in our day to day lives are based on a spectrum of life experiences that are only truly known to us personally.  

I was adamantly told by a stranger that I needed to try something different.  I desperately did not want the inconvenience of stepping out of my comfortable routine I created for myself.  Really more like my comfortable “patterns”.  

However, as painful as it was and inconvenient to stepped out and have now found myself in a growth stage of my life that has been long overdue.  

I knew I needed growth like this for sometime, I knew I was stuck in a pattern of behavior I needed to change, I didn’t know how.  

You see, I was in the forest and couldn’t see through the trees.  As I stopped to rest and regained my sense of direction I noticed the light and followed it to the edge of the forest.  

I’m at the edge now.  I know I’m not in the clear, but I’m so happy to be out of the thick of the forest.  I don’t mind hanging out on the forest edge for a while.

I was reminded this past week that when we take the time to share our experiences with others it helps us to grow as individuals and as communities.

I say a Big Thank You to this community of people!  

I say to you; a simple life story you share may mean the world to another person and change their lives forever.  Saying out loud your own story may help you to let go of a past that no longer serves you and open doors to let new experiences in.  So, by all means please share your experiences as they are truly meaningful!

Set an Intention!

Let It Go-To Let In - Yoga Lesson

Have you ever had someone give you direction to “let it go”?

Many of us have had the experience often.  We have those closest to us or those who care about us offer those words to help see us move past something in our lives.

But, have you ever had someone ask you to “let in”?

When you are in the process of letting something go, ask yourself what you can let in.

What new opportunity are you possibly missing because you can’t let go of something?

Why not challenge yourself to do something different and new.  

Let it in!

I Don't Know? Yes You Do! - Yoga Lesson

How often do you find yourself saying “I don’t know” in answer to a question about what path you should take with you life?

Think about how often lately you may have said those words “I don’t know”.

Did you say those words because you thought others would think what you do know is silly?

Maybe you thought that it would be an inconvenience to say what you do know because it would cause discomfort for you or someone else.

Practice this week setting the intention to catch yourself when you say the words internally or out loud “I don’t know”.  

Then ask yourself what you do know.

Practice setting your intentions to create an honest relationship with yourself when you answer!  

I Don't Know? Yes You Do! - Personal Practice

This week has been very interesting.  It was recommended to me in my practice that I was ready to take the next steps in my journey which would allow me to grow as a person the way I want to.

I have wanted personal growth in so many areas of my life and have been trying to reach my goals, but I haven’t been ready to let go of my past.

Last year, 2008, was supposed to be the “Year of No More of the same”!  

In many ways it was not, but upon closure of last year and the steps I’ve taken in my practice this past week, I see that I did so many things the same.  

I thought I was making progress and I see now that I had to believe I was as that is what brought me to this acceptance of myself as I am.  

The truth however has proved that I fell into some patterns that I was trying to break free of, and have been trying to break free of for years.

When I followed my intuition, MY GUT, that’s when it all happened.  I listened to my inner voice and let go.  I wouldn’t let others deter me from my intention.  I had to sit painfully with myself and practice letting go.  I had to accept guidance and support from others that I didn’t want to take the time to do.  This has been and continues to be uncomfortable for me.  I’m committed though!  I want to be the change that I wish to see in myself so that I can be a better person for myself and ultimately to others.

I have work to do, but I believe in my intentions.  I can break free of these patterns!

I am lonely, but I know it’s my patterns that lend me to “think” I’m lonely.  I am not, I have me and I’m great company!  I will not be fooled by the thoughts that accompany the desire to fall into old patterns.

You can guess at what my lesson has been for me this past week, but I am purposefully not saying exactly what I have been working on because I think this message may speak to you.  Possibly you have your own specific pattern you are working on breaking, but while you do so you refuse to let go of your past and ignore your intuition.  

I say let go.  I say listen to your gut.  It’s painful, but working through the pain will bring you reward in your journey.  You are worth it!

Follow your Intuition!

You Do Not Control Your Fate! - Personal Practice

Each week I find myself wondering what lesson have I learned?  What is it that I have been tested on or what blessing have I received?  What is the thing that is most prevalent in my life this week that stands out above all else?

I found myself this week looking at my friendships and the fact that I do not control others or how they react to circumstance.  

When I ponder this past week of my life I realize I had to put into practice and contemplate the following:

Friendship takes work.  Friendships that prove to weather the tests of good and bad times are true friendships.

It’s easy to call a person friend.  It’s a completely different thing to actually be a friend.

In desperation for approval and belonging I have tried too hard to make a friendship work.

I have judged myself by the standards of some friendships in my life.  I recognize that try as we do to be an individual we are human and can’t help but be drawn into the energy of those around us. It takes practice to surround your-self with positive friendships and strength to walk away from negative friendships.

As I continue to practice fully living my journey, I know I will be challenged and I will find myself in relationships that turn out to be negative and I will need to walk away.  I always have a choice in this journey and it’s my choice who I call friend.

So I say, choose positive relationships!

You Do Not Control Your Fate! - Yoga Lesson

Fate can be as simple as walking outside and a bird flies over and poops on you, which by the way I hear is good luck.

Fate can be as drastic as a bus hitting you.

Fate can be as beautiful as being in the right place at the right time in which that special someone you spend the rest of your life with appears.

With set intentions, you know the right choice for you when presented with fate.

Your destiny is the series of choices you make. 

Practice setting your intentions to create the destiny you want for yourself!  

Accept Fate!

Set an Intention! - Personal Practice

I got to thinking about all the Intentions I have for myself.  I’m confident this year is going to bring into my life all that I want.  The question I had for myself was what is it that I want?  So I started to write everything I want down.  I want a lot!

Then I thought what do I want that is important?  What will lead me on a path with discipline that will add passion and determination to my life versus adding dread and discontent?  

Do you ever do that?  Make a list of things you think you have to do or have to be happy?  I’ve been practicing refraining from this type of behavior, but from time to time I realize I still do it.

So I started to refine my list.  As I did so, I dug a little deeper and started thinking about trends in my behavior.  What has led me down paths in which I have not achieved things on my list to date?  As you can guess many things on my list have been there for some time.  

Then I started to wonder if I haven’t achieved the things on my list because they may not actually be that important to me and I only put them on my list because society has taught me that I should have a socially acceptable goal to be happy.

So I started looking for lessons as I always do.  I looked for them from my teachers, my friends, my family, chance conversations with strangers, the media, from my books, etc...  I’m always looking for lessons and receiving them.  

For instance: 

1) Set an intention.  A good teacher teaches their students to listen to and to trust themselves, to believe in their dreams and set intentions. 

2) There is no such thing as perfection.  We are human and will make mistakes and do things we know are not good for us.  

3) All things change.  We can choose to dread change or embrace it. 

With these three lessons above...I thought...

To live and to experience life is all we have, and we can set intentions but they may change as life is ever changing.  We should embrace the change as it appears to be the Divine’s way of letting us know that we shouldn’t get to comfortable or satisfied with any one accomplishment.  To live is a practice and we should practice everyday to achieve being our best selves, utilizing the intentions we have set for ourselves in the moment.

So, Definitely Set an Intention!  But, don’t beat yourself up for changing your mind or making mistakes, after all you’re human!  

Set an Intention! - Yoga Lesson

So often we set intentions for our lives based on the expectations we may have set for ourselves long ago, or expectations others may have had for us.  

Additionally, there is society pressure telling us who we should be and that our lives should be based on an idea of what success means.

What does success mean to you?

Why not take some time to ask yourself what “you” really want for your life?  

What intention(s) will you set for yourself?

You can make it happen!

Be Intentional!