Meaningful Change

A huge, sunny hello from New England where we have been having a splendid summer! It feels just as hot as it "should" be with a few cooler days thrown in for surprise as well as some thunder, lightning, and soaking rain storms. It seems to be the perfect recipe for creating beautiful gardens, all on display for me to appreciate on my daily walks. I am grateful that so many people choose to put the time, effort, and love into their landscaping! I hope you've been finding some enjoyment in being outdoors wherever you are.

This week's MQ (Monday Quote) was from www.tut.com, Notes from the Universe, which I love to receive every day. They're usually uplifting, often amusing, and generally a source of good information and inspiration.

"You can change a great many things, Barbara

[feel free to insert your name here!].

Or, you can change.

Same-same, The Universe."

My comment was that this has been the only way. By that I mean that as much as I can change certain details in my life, the way I've had meaningful, positive shifts over time has been when I was willing to see how I could be different, and act and think differently.

For instance, what if we have a desire to lose weight. We can sign up for a program like Weight Watchers (now aka WW International, Inc.) or Keto, Paleo, Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig -- you know the variety of plans out there is enormous and we can modify what our daily intake is, a little or a lot. We might lose weight, however unless we start to think about food in a way that we haven't before, we'll probably revert to old habits and regain the pounds we've worked so hard to release.

Another example is quite a bit broader -- what if we simply feel generally unhappy? What if we think a "geographical cure" is the answer? Let's say that we want to move out of the city because we think country living will be better. An entire book has been written as a kind of response to this, Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn, which I highly recommend. Ultimately, even if we are in another location, if we're used to being judgemental or tolerant/intolerant about certain things or continue to see people or circumstances in exactly the same way, we will probably bump up against exactly the same things no matter where we are. No matter how much we change our environment, if we don't switch up the lense through which we see everything, it won't appear modified in any way. As Wayne Dyer used to say, "If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change".

If you think it might be a good idea to tweak some of your usual responses, but you feel overwhelmed, start small. For example, if it's raining one morning and your first thought is, "Oh, what a crummy day", take a minute to ask yourself if that's 100% true. There's always lots of good to find in a day, even if you had hoped for sunshine. Make it a game to see how you can turn your thoughts around.

Ultimately, even if we go through the effort of changing things outside of ourselves, we might expend a lot of energy for a small adjustment. Finding ways to reconcile with new truths within, more in alignment with our Soul leading could take less hard work and will yield greater, more satisfying results and this is what I wish for you.

Sparkles and Love,

P.S. If you've been thinking about making some changes and it's feeling overwhelming, how about enlisting some help? I offer 30-day, mini Programs to help you start small and end up with more than you expected. You can get support from me, 1:1 or I'll also do small groups (up to 4) if you think you and some friends would like to get in on the fun together. Contact me to set up a little chat about moving forward.