Category: Personal Power

This is a pretty big statement, I know. And there is also a “should” in there too. Well, today I’m feeling a little bit like throwing caution to the wind and breaking some rules.

Yes, I don’t like being “should upon” any more than the next person. And at the same time I really do believe that your life should light you up! I believe that if you’re not happy with your life, if you don’t feel joy, passion, happiness and some sense of meaning in life, then you’re missing out.

I actually think life is meant to feel inspiring, interesting and easy. Yes, easy. I don’t think the happiest people are the ones that struggle the most. I think the happiest people are the ones that take on the day as it comes. The ones that go with the flow, that take things as they come.

I think these people have an ability to let go of things they cannot control. And it makes sense. Why worry about something you can’t do anything about anyway? It will only bring you down.

So maybe happiness comes from being content in the moment? Maybe it’s about being able to appreciate where you are right now, feeling good about it, and not wanting for more in this very instance? Maybe happiness is about being present? Maybe that’s what people call happiness?

I’m thinking that maybe many of us have this distorted picture of happiness, that it’s a desired state to live in, all the time. Like watching a fun movie or giggling with your girlfriends, that bubbling feeling of outward expression.

What about if happiness is not that? What if happiness as you think it should be is just a concept? What if it’s something you are yet to discover the meaning of for you? What if the point is being content with where you’re at, and inspired to be journeying towards where you want to go? What a possibility! What an inspiring, new finding to grow into.

I do believe growth is paramount to feeling like your life is lighting you up. And I don’t mean growth in size. I mean growth as in spiritual awareness, as in taking on a new challenge, learning a new skill, doing something you’ve never done before.

Growth can also be about being afraid of something and doing it anyway. Whenever I do that, I feel better after. I feel stronger. I feel alive. You might even say that I feel like my life is lighting me up!

What can you do to make sure your life lights you up? I’d love to know.

Cheers,
Sara

Your life should light you up!

I’m currently reading “The Me Myth” by the fabulous Andrew Griffiths. Such an inspirational book filled with little gold nuggets.

If you don’t know who Andrew is, go have a look at his website. He’s a really great guy and “The Me Myth” is a story about his personal journey in life. He’s been through some pretty tough times and made some inspiring decisions. I’m lucky to have Andrew as one of the mentors on a business development program I’m currently attending. Anyway, this is what caught my eye and tied in with my emotions today:

“Over many years I have learnt to identify other people’s fears coming to the surface. As soon as I hear someone telling me what I can’t do, or why I shouldn’t be doing something, I get a small internal smile and I look at them to see why they are scared of my desire to reach for my dreams. That is their issue, their problem, their challenge, but I never let it stop me.”

Reading this I realised how often, in the past, I have not been supportive of my friends dreams. It made me stop dead in my tracks! I would like to think of myself as a pretty positive person, someone who is supportive and helpful to her friends. And then it hit me. I often hide behind being the “logical” or “reasonable” friend. The one who “stands with her two feet on the ground” (not that there’s anything wrong with that, on the contrary, it depends on how you do it though and that it’s not just a cover up for being stubborn and boring). I’ve been the one who will ask: “Have you really thought this through?”.

Sometimes that question might be called for, and sometimes it might well be much more about MY own fears than about supporting my friends in living their dreams. So from now on I’m going to be super-vigilant about this! I’m going to get to know myself and my fears and do my very best to keep my own fears from getting in the way of me supporting my friends to live their dreams. I’m thinking that when I manage to do this myself, this is what I will see in others too. It will come back to me in the way of the people around me being supportive of what I want to do, the dreams that I dare to dream, the cool stuff I want to create. They will encourage me and I them. This way, we will create a more positive, fun relationship between us.

There might be a time and place to ask questions, to be a bit cautious, to get to the bottom of what is going on. And generally speaking, isn’t it more fun to be supportive, going with the flow and seeing the possibilities that are out there? Doesn’t it feel better to have a positive attitude and be happy about someone going for it instead of finding reasons why it won’t work? And to know that perhaps, more than anything, those reasons why it won’t work for your friend, is just your own fears talking? When I look at it like that, what can I learn about me? And how can I use these insights for my own growth and development?

What do you think?

Here’s to playing a bigger game and living life to the fullest!

Cheers,
Sara

This is going to be a bit more of a personal reflection type of post today. I’ve had an interesting time lately, personally and also watching the people around me. There are some people who just naturally act from a point of love and acceptance, and there are other people who seem to naturally act from a point of lack and disbelief. It’s interesting watching the different results, and it’s interesting being around, or surrounded by, one or the other. In one atmosphere there is love, acceptance, abundance, laugher and sharing. It’s including rather than excluding and these people create wonderful things together. There is understanding and support here. Its’ a safe environment to share and grow.

In the other environment there’s competition, fake smiles, back stabbing, and a sense of heaviness and stress. There is no real sense of connection. It seems to me like there is a lot of blaming going on, people keep tabs on who said what and who got away with what when. It’s tiring and nothing much moves in an environment like this. There is no natural collaboration, no one lends a helping hand and no real results are created.

So I’ve been thinking… What creates the difference? Is it down to what people often refer to as “company culture”? And in that case, where does that stem from? Who stands for, and decides the culture, in any group, association or company? Personally, I think it starts at the top. How was this group of people pulled together to begin with? What were the intentions of the founders? And how are the leaders behaving now? They might be the same people that started it all, or they may be new. It doesn’t really matter. It seems to me like this “culture” has a life of its own and it keeps on going in the direction it was once set off.

So therefore, I think it’s very important to look at our intentions when we start something new, even if it’s “only” a personal project or journey. Why am I doing this? What’s driving me? Where am I coming from? Am I doing this to create something? Or am I doing it to oppose something or someone? What energy am I starting off with? And how does that sit with the end result I want to achieve?

Have a think about that before you start something new. Take a few moments to get clear on what it really is that you want to put forward. What feelings do you want to be associated with this thing that you’re about to do? And then act from that space, whatever it might be. You are responsible for your own creations, make sure you create what it is that you truly want!

Today I’m choosing to act from love, to be in love, to surround myself with love. Because I’m worth it – and it feels better!

Have a great weekend!

Love,
Sara

Love Cats! 🙂

There are three so called “lucks” in Feng Shui: Heaven Luck, Man Luck and Earth Luck. Earth Luck relates to your surrounding and this is where Feng Shui principles for homes and offices come in. Man Luck relates to you as a person, the good deeds you do, the way you approach the world and how and what you give back to your community. Do you leave people feeling better for having met you? Or are you a black hole that sucks the life out of everyone around you? Or something in between?

Well this morning I met a group of people who left me feeling better for having seen them – The staff and members at Pioneer Clubhouse in Balgowlah.

In their own words:

“A Clubhouse is a community intentionally organized to support individuals living with the effects of mental illness. Through participation in a Clubhouse people are given the opportunities to rejoin the worlds of friendships, family, important work, employment, education, and to access the services and supports they may individually need. A Clubhouse is a restorative environment for people who have had their lives drastically disrupted, and need the support of others who believe that recovery from mental illness is possible for all.”

What I got to see this morning is that Pioneer Clubhouse is a place where people with mental illnesses can come together, make a difference, meet new friends and get help to get back into the swing of things. Often times a mental illness will leave the person lost, lonely and perhaps even scared of the world. Often while being in hospital or at an institution, people are told what to do, they have decisions made for them and they are reduced to something to be taken care of rather than someone with their own likes and dislikes, interests and passions.

Personality and choice seems to go out the window when an illness “takes over” and often people with a mental illness are treated as if they don’t know what they want. At Clubhouse, these people are someone again. They do what they want to do, they help out where they want to help out and they are allowed to have an opinion. They are encouraged to again make decisions for themselves. Something that those of us who have never been mentally ill see as such a natural thing. I for one don’t even stop to think and appreciate the fact that I get to choose what I’m having for breakfast every day…

I was blown away by the important work that Pioneer Clubhouse does and the wonderful people involved. So in Feng Shui terms, being involved with something like this certainly will add to these people’s Man Luck and the whole of their lives will be better for it. It feels better to help out, it feels better to be of service and it feels better to take a moment and care about other people. We all want to do it I believe, and some of us forget or get too busy and caught up in life.

Giving something back is a great way to align yourself with what is important to you. It doesn’t have to be a big thing, it doesn’t have to be a lot, or take up massive amounts of time. Just a little something. Just something that feeds that part of you that feels happy and proud and good when you know you have made a difference.

Charity work, or any volunteering where you get to support other people or animals is a great way to give something back. It’s not always about money, though many of these organisations do need funds. It can also be about time, a helping hand, a good deed, donations in the form of clothes, furniture, lending your skill set etc. When you do good for others, you do good for yourself too. And it feels better. Thank you to everyone at Pioneer Clubhouse for reminding me of this today.

What is/would be your charity/cause of choice? What to you do already? Or what would you like to start doing from now? Please feel free to share.

Happy Feng Shui Friday,
Sara

For more information on Pioneer Clubhouse and the work they do, please check out their website

As I was sitting down to write today’s blog I hit a wall. I had no idea what to write about. At all. I was contemplating not writing anything and just let it be. And then something happened. My beloved cat Rufus jumped onto my desk with his favourite toy, demanding my attention to go play with him. I figured I had nothing better to do, so I did.

Rufus loved it and I loved it. I was present with him. I wasn’t worrying about the blog. In fact, being in that space of play was really fun.

And now here I am, back at the computer with an idea for this blog. All I had to do was get out of my own way a little!

Energetically I can support myself and what I want to or need to get done, or I can work against myself and make it a struggle. Today I just learned again that it’s ok to take a break. That pushing through is not always the best way forward. That when I leave a situation where I feel stuck and do something that I find enjoyable, energy starts to flow again.

You are an energetic being, resonating at a certain frequency at a certain time. This frequency can either be aligned with what you’re doing, or not. If it’s not, you struggle, you feel stuck, you push and push and nothing happens. You do not move. When your energetic frequency is in alignment, things are easy. You go from one clarity to another and the things that you want come to you easily. I’m sure most of you know what I’m talking about here.

It’s the same with your home. The energy in there can either be supportive of what you want to create, or not. You can have a bedroom that is set up for rest, recuperation and peaceful sleep. Or you can have a bedroom that is keeping you awake at night. There might be a mess, lots of clutter, work papers, computers and maybe even a TV bringing active energy into this space of rest. Knowing what you want to create in a room and supporting those kinds of energy is like creating magic. You have the power to choose and change.

So what can you do when you’re stuck? Anything that works for you really. Maybe take a walk, do a 5 minute meditation, clean out one of your desk drawers (cleaning brings in lots of fresh energy), make a cup of tea, play with the kids/cat/dog. Do something that you really enjoy. That’s the key. Something that will put a smile on your face. When you’re happy, you’re in alignment, always. And from that space, you can create.

What will you create today?
Sara

This is Rufus, helping me leave work for a while to re-align my energy.