On revisiting core beliefs...

"A decision is a conclusion based on everything you believe about yourself."

~ A Course in Miracles

~~~

I stood in a lineup outside my grade two homeroom. I wore my sister's hand-me-down faux leopard fur coat and matching hat. I felt pretty and glam!

Then one of the older boys in the line next to me looked me over with disdain and called me a showoff with my "fur coat"; another threw in that we were rich because we lived in a house made of brick, also with disdain.

Then & there I decided that dressing well and being rich - or the semblance of - meant being scorned. If I wanted to belong I was to lay low and commiserate. I was six years old.

Fast forward to this past Saturday. That's when this memory came up, 33 years later.

~~~

During the past few weeks I've been working through Barbara Stanny's Overcoming Underearning and I've encountered several similar scenes like the one above, all of them forming core beliefs related to money, how much is enough and how it's supposed to be earned (in case you're wondering, it's to be earned through toil and unhappiness).

I find this utterly fascinating. Who knew I was so impressionable?

Thankfully, when it comes to core beliefs it's entirely within our power to change them when they no longer serve us.

So one by one I am. Thirty-three years later. And it feels wonderful.

What's your story?

 

close-up Buddha, he sits on my living room floor

he keeps me company while I create new stories

I have many stories:

• Money's for rich people, not me. There's nothing better than getting a good bargain!
• I don't do exercise. I have weak arms.
• I have no fashion sense. But that's OK, I've always been a practical gal anyway.
• I don't like airplanes. It's OK if I never see Paris.
• I never learned how to take risks. I'm OK where I am, really.
• And more.

I think it's time to re-visit some of these 'cause frankly they're starting to cramp my style.

"The only thing I have to release in order to get what I want is my story about why I can't have it."

~ Source unknown

What's your story?

You (Yes You), Well Done!

She Donned Flowers, work in progress, 8"x8" on canvas

"The process of life's work planning can be defined, in a general sense, as creating a picture of the world you want to live in and then organizing your energies into building it. ... The true idealist is no dewy-eyed dreamer but a committed foot soldier in the cause of his vision."

~ Laurence G. Boldt, author of Zen and the Art of Making a Living

Slowly but surely, each day we rally our energies and build - work, health, relationships... Each one of us a committed foot soldier in the cause of our vision.

Let's give ourselves a collective pat on the back, shall we? I think it's well-deserved.

A Lesson in Presence, Patience and Honouring My Own Pace

It's the new year. Lists, words and resolutions abound and I'm not ready. I have nothing, zilch, nada.

Before Christmas I garnered what felt like tremendous momentum in writing and brainstorming on business and creative projects. I was on and anxious to get to it and make things happen.

Then we left on a 10-day trip down east for the holidays.

Yes, I printed out some reading material and I even packed it in the consignment shop leather briefcase my sister keeps bugging me to use (you were right Sis, it does look nice). But the briefcase stayed unopened, along with the shoe bag containing more I'm-bringing-them-just-in-case footwear than I care to admit.

tattered corner of a really funky leather briefcase

A few days into the trip, feeling frustrated by the incongruent pull of wanting to work on my business while knowing I probably wouldn't, I chose to put my creative and business pursuits aside and focus on being present where I was - at Mom & Dad's.

I won't lie, it did affect the pre-Christmas momentum I had and I was a little disappointed; year-end reflection and new year visioning is one of my favourite activities for the week between Christmas and New Year's, I look forward to it.

But oh the evenings by the fireplace, walks in the woods and gleeful reminiscing as I pulled my childhood toys out of the storage nook (Fisher-Price Little People!) were all so good. I probably needed the break.

little people out for a drive

Momentum will return and there is no rush. My words and intentions will come, they always do. I just have to stop comparing myself to others, practice patience, and honour my own pace.

~~~

What about you? Are there areas in your life where you could give yourself permission to honour your own pace?

Out With The Old

December 2011, calendar by Suzy Toronto

(Can anyone tell me how I managed to miss National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day on the 15th?)

Between work on creative projects and Christmas preparations I've been reflecting a lot this past month. Maybe it's the Winter Solstice, maybe it's the moon – full or new, or maybe it's just par for the course as I transition from one year to another.

Stuff is bubbling up, nudging itself into my world to be acknowledged, tended to or both. It comes up in my journal, my dreams or wallops me with emotion when I least expect it.

There's been a lot of talk about Release in the blogosphere these past few weeks and I'm a big proponent.

I have plenty of fears I'm ready to leave behind as I enter 2012. I don't know exactly how that will manifest yet, but I'm ready to acknowledge them and how much they've been limiting me. I might also have an outdated belief or two that no longer serve me. Yup. They might be good candidates for release too.

What about you? What's been dragging you down this year that might be getting old? Fears, beliefs, mental and physical clutter... could it be time to let some of it go?

There are plenty of ways to create ritual around year-end reflection and the release of stuff you no longer welcome in 2012. Maybe you've already participated in Pixie Campbell's Mother of All Releasing Ceremonies on the 22nd, or maybe you prefer spending quiet time with your journal or sketchbook now that the pre-holiday flurry has slowed down. Maybe formalizing it into a point-form list on your blog is the best fit for you.

You may even choose to not make a ritual of if at all and just ponder, let it all percolate. There's a lot of power in percolating possibility (a triple P coup!).

However you choose to approach it, the end of 2011 comes with an opportunity to let go of what's old and no longer serving you and in my humble opinion, it's the best way to make space for all the wonderful things that are waiting to greet you in 2012.

Go! Reflect. Release.