Dear Reader, this is what I want for YOU

I woke up the other day feeling a deep sense of love. I felt almost giddy with love. There was no particular reason driving how I felt – no person, no event, no memory, not even a song or scene from a movie. I simply felt love.

As I got my day started, I began to ponder what was creating such strong feelings to show up. I began to reflect on a text message I had received and wondered if there was any connection. Stick with me here.

A few days prior, I did a live video on social media where I shared a message about the significance of making changes if you are not happy with your situation or circumstances, and that there is always something you can do to make an improvement - anything from moving to changing your mindset to buying something to help.

In the video, I used myself as an example. I shared that I seriously dislike cold Minnesotan winters, but I had committed to myself to spend more time in nature. I explained that I had a choice now to stay inside and feel depressed about the weather, but that I had instead decided to buy a new hat and some nice warm boots for walking. I made the decision to shift my mindset to embrace the situation and bundle up and keep going for walks in the woods.

The text that I received the day after my video was from someone I have loads of love and deep respect for. He had seen my video and was thoughtful enough to send me the message: You are so inspiring, down to earth and driven. Wow! Given how much I trust and value his opinion, these words meant the world to me.

I’ve been sitting with these words for several days now. Exploring their meanings, how much I strive to embody each of them, and how much I may recognize each of them within myself at this point in my journey. Each word is very meaningful and impactful in its own way.

Inspiring

I work to inspire others to create and live a life of their own design, according to their truths. This is important to me because I have transformed my own life and understand how worthwhile it is to make the necessary changes. If I am not inspiring others in the way that I show up, then I am not living in alignment with my purpose. I am so appreciative when I receive comments and messages from people letting me know that they felt inspired or motivated by something I have shared from my own life. That external validation lets me know that I’m showing up in a way that is important to me.

Driven

It is true that I am driven. I have goals and dreams and I am taking the steps I need to take to make those goals and dreams a reality. (Whether I take big enough steps may be another story.) Like most people, I have always had goals and dreams. However, I haven’t necessarily always been driven to make them happen like the way that I am now. It took a lot of unwinding from old limiting beliefs and unhealthy behaviors to liberate the energy needed to become so driven, so receiving the message recognizing my drive was meaningful to me.

Down to Earth

This was a biggie for me, and is the one that caused the most contemplation the past few days. My original thought on this was: Yes, of course, I am pretty down to earth.

But then I started to dig deeper and question the truth behind the “of course” piece of my thinking. Had I always been down to earth? What does it take for one to be down to earth? Do I embody that?

I believe that it requires some pretty big self-acceptance in order to be truly down to earth, and I realized that I have not always embodied this. Actually being down to earth involves being able to come from a place of authenticity. And being able to authentically BE oneself requires self-acceptance.

I have spent more time than I care to admit not feeling comfortable with who I was or what I believed. I never really felt like I fit in when I was growing up. I never fit a label - jock, geek, freak… I always felt like I was on the outskirts.

I never truly belonged in the corporate world either. I learned a ton in my corporate positions that prepared me for my life as an entrepreneur - which I am thankful for - but I never belonged there. In fact, my coworkers even told me I didn’t belong there! (From a place of love, of course.)

And this brings me back to waking up feeling so much love.

The morning I woke up filled with a deep sense of love, there was a reason I was triggered to think about his message. I was feeling deeply content, fulfilled, and joyful. I was entirely grounded in the present and authentically me. And it struck me that the love I was feeling was SELF-LOVE radiating out. 

This was an incredible and powerful reminder that when you accept yourself and are happy with yourself, you are filled with so much love and joy that it shines outward. THIS is why I do what I do with my life coaching. 

The text had activated internal contemplations about my own core values. Was I living in alignment with them? Was I showing up authentically? The answers were all YES. I have accepted myself and live happily and confidently with my personal beliefs. And that confidence has guided my decision making progress from everything from relationships to habit changes. I am embodying my core value of being down to earth because of it. Because I am showing up for MYSELF, I am showing up for the world in a powerful way with love. 

This is deep and this is personal and it was so important for me to share this because I want YOU to find out how you can shine love into the world in this way. 

How are you showing up? Where you want to be?

Are you living as your authentic self?

Do you know what living your authentic truth means to you? I mean your own deep-down truth that isn’t a reflection of what you have been taught to be like.

What would it take for you to live as your authentic self?

What do you feel it is costing you to not live your truth?

What do you feel the cost of finally discovering and living your truth would be? What would you have to give up?

I’ve worked with so many people to help each one uncover their own personal truths and to create a life around what their truth is. This is a struggle for so many people because they have been living with habits and haven’t spent the time figuring out what they truly believe. And, honestly, most have been existing inside their comfort zone, and the idea of doing something outside of that can be scary. 

I promise you the deep work and questioning and life outside your comfort zone is WORTH IT. To wake up with love and happiness and joy for the world is almost indescribable. To live authentically and be recognized for having the qualities that you hold close to your heart is the best feeling in the world. What that looks like for each person is different. I’m here to tell you that you CAN be the person you’ve always wanted to be. You CAN design a life you love and it all starts with accepting yourself and loving yourself… your true self.

Enjoy the journey. xo