How Do You Eat An Elephant?

...One Bite At A Time



Now that the holidays are over we can all take a nice exhale, clean up the rest of our 2011 thoughts and actions, take an inventory of our lives and prepare for the New Year upon us.

It's time to get EXCITED about your life! It's time to change the things in our lives that need changing without the self-defeating fears. Perhaps it's time to let go of some things and run towards others. Maybe it's time for the new. Maybe you've lost your job and are now forced to put yourself out there for something new and even better, though that may be hard to imagine at this moment. This is where Faith comes in. "Faith, is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1)

I always say God drags us kicking and screaming into a better life than we could ever imagine for ourselves. This has certainly been true for me, or I wouldn't bother writing about it. There have been times things happened in my life that scared me, things I didn't want or necessarily like. As with most people, I didn't like change. By nature I'm a creature of habit. I was happy with the way things were. At least I thought I was until something better eventually came my way as a result of forced change. That something turned out to be worth waiting for and only happened because I finally learned to stop fighting what was happening and got in flow with what actually was. Fighting change is one of the major things that causes anxiety. When something takes struggling and yet nothing seems to happen, it might be a signal that we need to change our course. Don't know what that course is? Pray to know. This simple prayer actually works:"Dear God, I want to know what I want"

When people come to me for coaching they often tell me that they don't know what they want, they only know what they don't want in their life anymore. I call this "emptying the cup." While it's important to know what you don't want, it's more important to know what you do.

In order to bring the new in, you must get rid of the old. Its not all that different from curtailing your spending by promising that for each new thing you buy that will add bulk to your closet, you must first get rid of something so your closet doesn't become a cluttered mess.

Our lives also become cluttered messes because we don't empty our cups before filling them with more. Simplify. Simplify. Simplify. Get rid of the old and the useless. Make room for the new and the beautiful. Have a garage sale or better yet, sell the nicer things on ebay that you no longer use. Think no one will want it? Think again. One man's trash (or woman's) is another man's treasure.

Get your life streamlined. Empty the cup. Make room for the new and the new will come. This goes for cleaning out your "people" closet too. Anyone who makes you feel bad about yourself must go. To the people who don't support your dreams, buh-bye. People who use you or if it even feels like you're being used...POOF!
This is what I call cleaning your spiritual house. You don't have to be mean, simply Bless them and send them on their way.

If you want to know what your life is going to look like in five years, look at the people you surround yourself with. A scary thought for some, but trust me, there is no truer truth.

So as we enter 2012, take stock, take inventory of where you are and focus on where you want to be one year from now, taking it a day at a time. Let nothing or no one derail you. Get control of your emotions so they don't end up controlling you. Get on a spiritual program. Meditate daily before the world hurls anything at you. Take an extra ten minutes to start a prayer book you can write in every day. Make sure you not only ask for but also thank for what you receive. Track your progress this way and you will be amazed at the movement you, and God with you, create. Be grateful for everything, every day, and acknowledge it.

You can CHANGE your life.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year

December Inspirations

I love to people watch, and there is no better place to watch people than a convention. This week I was part of a convention in Las Vegas for entertainers and the people who hire them.

Yesterday I spent my break finding and introducing myself to other acts, especially the people who do what I do, because I am a people-person and I appreciate meeting others who have a passion for our art.

Imagine my surprise when I was only well received by one, yes, ONE other performer. The rest looked at me like I had three heads for stopping by their booth. Having learned over the years of evolving not to take things personally, I took the opportunity to study these moments as they were happening. I'm not even sure most of them even knew the negative vibrations they were giving off, or the facial expressions they made while trying to figure out why on Earth I would be introducing myself to the "competition." I use that word because that is exactly the energy I felt off of each person (except one) that I introduced myself to. That instead of seeing me a friendly person, they saw me as someone who threatened their livelihood.

Personally, I don't believe in competing with anyone but myself. I want to be the best me. The best performing me, the best personal me, the best lover me, the best wife me, the best sister me, and so on. I guess I could say, I am in the business of me, and in short, you are in the business of you. So how does this my sad convention tale apply to an inspiration? Here are my thoughts.

If we are going to look at life as a battle, struggle, or competition, then that is what life will become. And who wants that? In business, and in life, each of us brings something unique to the table. We are individual beings. We have our own personalities, our own uniqueness, and our own abilities to reach our highest potential, regardless of what others may say we are capable of or not capable of. We get to be just who we are without fear (if we choose) we get to control each thought, and how it will affect us by learning to manage our emotions. We can go as far as we are willing to work for and use our imaginations towards, without taking away a single thing from someone else, because they get to do exactly the same. It's a big world, full of people and opportunity, and thankfully, not everyone wants the same thing, which is why the world goes round every day. Thankfully we aren't all attracted to the same type, we all find different things interesting and/or attractive, and the good news is, it works that way in all aspects of life.

When we embrace our very own uniqueness, our very own special passion, our very own special gifts and talents, and lead our lives with the energy of love and gratitude, we never have to fear the "competition," and instead, create a community of lifting each other up while at the same time honing our personal power.

In reality, competition is an illusion. And when they don't serve us, illusions are made to be shattered.

Competition is a lack mentality, because the truth is.. (drum roll please..) there's enough for all of us! What a relief! All you have to do is just be you, and more importantly, be love. It's what we were built for, and being anything less is doing a disservice to your divine spirit of the human experience. Eliminate that spirit of "not enough" in your life. Do your work, mind your business, and be a cool person and you won't believe the magic that will happen in your world.

Merry Everything!

Cat