Open your eyes with the intention of seeing peace, beauty, love, and abundance, and I promise you it will be there.  

 Often we open our eyes and see through our limiting beliefs. Beliefs that we aren’t smart enough, pretty enough, old enough, young enough, thin enough, rich enough and so on. I suspect we all have a degree of limiting beliefs. The key is being aware of them and deciding if they hinder you from living your life fulfilled. Some are minimal and truly don’t stop you from living your best life, yet others create such a strong perception that you can’t do something and you quit before trying. I encourage you to open your eyes to your limiting beliefs and choose to see them with love, courage, and confidence.

Although I mostly look through the eyes of possibilities, I too see through my limiting beliefs. I recently began working out at a local gym to be healthier. I’ve worked out at gyms before but eventually stopped going. My limiting belief is I can’t maintain it as I never have before. I’ve used the ‘it won’t last’ excuse plenty of times, so why try? I’ve used the ‘I’m short and don’t fit the equipment’ excuse, so why try? My favorite is ‘everyone in the gym is already in great shape’ so how am I supposed to fit in? I’ve even used I don’t have the right work-out clothes for this posh gym, so why go?

 I chose to open my eyes to my limiting beliefs and joined a gym. I am getting encouragement from a good friend and the gym staff. My friend showed me what equipment would work best for me, the gym staff is encouraging and friendly, and my excuses are shrinking! HA – my limiting beliefs still tried to persuade me to return to the safety zone of not trying. As I walked down the hall of cardio equipment nervously heading towards the arc trainer, I realized they were gone! The rowing machines in front of them were gone too! How could this be as I was just there the day before? I honestly could not see the equipment at all! I looked down the three aisles of cardio equipment and decided to stay anyway and use a treadmill assuming the gym moved the equipment and I was too embarrassed to ask. Returning to the main cardio isle, when I opened my eyes to the possibility of working out on the treadmills and pushing my ‘you don’t belong here’ feelings to the side, what do you think happened? The arc trainer and rowing machines were exactly where they were the day before. They were never missing in reality, but my limiting beliefs had hidden them from me. I did my cardio and walked out feeling empowered.

 So when you open your eyes and start seeing things you don’t like, don’t want, don’t deserve, close them again and open them up to the possibility that anything is possible when you shift your focus to love over fear, happiness over sadness, and belonging over not belonging.

 This Week’s Affirmation: I see love and possibilities in every experience.

 (S)he Said:

“The eye sees a thing more clearly in dreams than in imagination awake.”  ~ Leonardo da Vinci

 “For I dipped into the future, far as human eye could see. Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be.” ~Alfred, Lord Tennyson

 “The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” ~ Henri Bergson

 “There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect.” ~G.K. Chesterton

 Soulful Links:

 In Your Eyes  ~ Peter Gabriel

 For Your Eyes Only  ~ Sheena Easton

 Through the Eyes of Love   ~ Melissa Manchester

 For the next week, I invite you to open your eyes to:

 Peace as when you look for peace, you will see it.

 Love as when you look for love, you will see it.

 Compassion as when you look for compassion, you will see it.

 Gratitude, as when you look for things to be grateful for, you will see them.

 Mostly, I wish you to open your eyes and see all the possibilities around you. Even through contrasting experiences, possibilities are plentiful just waiting for you to focus your attention there rather than on fear. When you open your eyes to love, compassion, peace, and fun, your limiting beliefs will begin to be out of focus and become a faint memory.

 Until next time, I see you in all your glory, do you?

Hugs,
Carol

Looking for a way to stay focused on Living Life Fulfilled? Make sure to surround yourself with people who lift you up, inspire you, support you, and simply love to laugh and have fun.

Do you feel safe and secure? I suspect if you listen to current media, you might be challenged to feel safe. Whether the news is covering homeland security, pandemics, layoffs, or myriad of economy issues, the stories are laced with fear. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Albert Einstein, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

 Rather than focusing on trials and tribulations, I focus on what is going right in my life. I encourage you to do the same and I promise you, with practice your confidence will grow. You will begin to feel safer and more secure as you’ll realize you have the power to bring safety into your world. Rather than focusing on what you’d like to change in your life, focus on what is going right. Some days it might require focusing on the basics of being able to breathe while other days the list of gratitude will go on and on. The more you practice focusing on appreciation, gratitude, and love, the safer your world will become. Have faith that appreciation, gratitude, and love are your safety net. You might get a scratch or a bruise from time to time, but your safety net will always catch you.

 This Week’s Affirmation: I live full out knowing I am always safe.

 (S)he Said:

“Playing safe is probably the most unsafe thing in the world. You cannot stand still. You must go forward.” ~Robert Collier

 “I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.” ~ C.S. Lewis

 “Let the people know the truth and the country is safe” ~ Abraham Lincoln

“Do you want to be safe and good, or do you want to take a chance to be great?” ~ Jimmy Johnson

Soulful Links:

Safe and Sound       ~ Sheryl Crow

 One Safe Place       ~ Marc Cohn

 Safe In the Arms of Love   ~ Chris Robinson

 For the next week I invite you to build your safety net by:

 Living in a space of love of you, others, and life

 Focusing on what is good in your life

 Allowing others to live their own lives while you live yours

 Believing in love over hatred, hope over fear, compassion over judgment, and faith over worry.

 Mostly, I wish for you the courage to listen and follow your heart and fly! Fly high and free knowing you are always safe and as you grow your confidence wings, there will always be a safety net.

 Until next time, live big, love big, and know you are safe.

 Hugs,
Carol

Looking for a way to stay focused on Living Life Fulfilled? Make sure to surround yourself with people who lift you up, inspire you, support you, and simply love to laugh and have fun.

Have you ever taken one of those personality tests to see if you were a leader or a follower? Were you excited to see you had leadership qualities? Or perhaps disappointed to find you were considered a follower? Society seems to praise leaders while disregarding the qualities of followers.

 I find both qualities admirable! Perhaps you are more of a leader than a follower, or perhaps you are more of a follower than a leader, however, I suspect each trait is in you. I admire people who lead by example and are living the lives they love. I equally admire people who follow their dreams and live it.

 If you choose to lead your life by example, with integrity and heart, your life will be joyous, love filled, and abundant while inspiring others to live their lives the same. If you choose to follow your passion and hearts desires, your life will be joyous, love filled, and abundant while inspiring others to live their lives the same.

 Lead your best life by following your heart, while appreciating your past, enjoying your today, and looking forward to your tomorrow.

 (S)he Said:

“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” ~ Nelson Mandela

 “One secret of leadership is that the mind of a leader never turns off. Leaders even when they are sightseers or spectators, are active; not passive observers.” ~ James C. Humes

 “Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” ~Mother Teresa

 “Discoveries are often made by not following instructions, by going off the main road, by trying the untried.” ~ Frank Tyger

 Affirmation: I choose to follow my heart and lead my life from love.

 Soulful Links:

 Leader of the Band  ~ Dan Fogelberg

 Follow You Down     ~ Gin Blossoms

 Leader of the Pack   ~ Shangri Las

 Follow You, Follow Me   ~ Genesis

 For the next week I invite you to:

 Lead by example – choose love over fear, compassion over judgment, and joy over sadness.

 Follow your heart by asking yourself what would love say or do and say and be that.

 Lead by empowering yourself and others to see each day filled with new possibilities to create your best life.

 Follow those who inspire you and show you your greatness within.

 Mostly, my wish for you is a week filled with the knowledge of whether you choose to lead or follow that you choose from a space of love and make it the best week of your life.

 Until next time, lead the way!

Hugs,
Carol

Looking for a way to stay focused on Living Life Fulfilled? Make sure to surround yourself with people who lift you up, inspire you, support you, and simply love to laugh and have fun.