Happy Friday, my friends.

Have a lovely weekend!

xo, Connie

Trusting your instincts . . . .

As I was returning home on the plane yesterday, I was reading several articles about Intuition in the August issue of O Magazine---the topic in which Oprah dedicates this issue to. I understand that "gut feeling" that she refers to; the one we have when we are trying to make a decision about something; and the knowing that you really should listen to those feelings. But I wonder just how much we really listen to that inner voice. Do we brush away those feelings all too often? One article begins by saying, "Someone is trying to tell you something, and that someone is you. Your Intuition is the wisest adviser you'll ever have, and what it says---about what you should do, what you should not do, and how you should live your life---can change everything." Do you hear that voice? Or better yet, do you listen to it? It says, "It's not always easy to hear your inner voice---especially when a certain louder, pushier, and seemingly more sensible presence wants to drown it out." That's the hard part.....when we ignore our gut and go with the pushier voice! You then later realize that you made the wrong decision.....asking yourself, Why didn't I trust my gut? If you haven't read any of these articles, trust me, grab a copy of this issue! It's one decision you won't regret. You'll find lots of great advice on how to go about listening more often...... 

• Wisdom is sensory, not verbal. When something's wrong for you, you'll feel constriction and tightness. The wise choice leads to feelings of liberation, even exhilaration.
• When you feel your body begin to let go of tension, you know you're headed in a wise direction.
• Intuition is more like a muscle. You develop it the more you use it.

"So next time you don't know what to do, 

do nothing. 

Get quiet so you can hear the still, small voice---

your inner GPS guiding you to true North." 

-Oprah Winfrey


Photo via Sunday in Bed

Show 'em what you've got! . . . .

I hate to break it to you, but people aren't always really happy for you when you succeed. Please don't let them control you with jealousy. If you let them, they will define you in a way that is convenient and nonthreatening for them,..... which is completely unfair, don't you think? Don't let them dampen your spirit or your passion just because it works for them! You are alive for a special reason and that reason is to be the best that you can be. Do not allow anyone to take that responsibility from you, especially not for the sake of their own comfort. When you were a child, you couldn't stand up for your own authenticity, but you sure can now! The real you is set apart by all that is within you...... confidence, hope, optimism, joy and purpose. Show 'em what you've got!....... Rawr!

"Jealousy springs more from love of self 
than from love of another." 


-Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Follow your intuition . . . .

Happy Friday!

Have an awesome weekend!

Photo by PETRA VAN RAAIJ via One League Management

It's your call . . . .

Your life is the consequence of your decisions. Regardless of your life situation, you have to see that your decisions matter. It doesn't matter what context we're talking about - it's your decisions that matter. You hit the snooze button one too many times and now you're late for work - that decision matters. You spoke too soon and said something you regret - that decision matters. You let fear hold you back, and now you've missed another great opportunity - that decision matters. And what about doing nothing when you should have done something? William James once said, "When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice." We all make bad decisions from time to time. But the experience that we learn from making poor decisions is what shapes us; it's what allows us to grow. I've said this before.........if you realize that you made a wrong decision, immediately begin working toward making it work to your advantage, or begin to change it. The best part about tomorrow is that it presents you with a clean slate, and an opportunity to begin again.

You've got a lot of choices.  If getting out of bed in the morning is a chore and you're not smiling on a regular basis, try another choice.  

-Steven D. Woodhull

Be true to yourself . . . .

It's true.......your parents, employers, co-workers, and friends all have needs for you to be a certain way. And in all likelihood, you have complied with and conformed to those expectations, at the expense of your own gifts, abilities, and dreams. If you send messages to the people around you that you will passively allow them to assign you roles that you wouldn't have chosen in a million years - they will. The people who really care about you will try to find a way to help you get what you want, even if it scares them for you to change.

Change can be painful, even when it is change for the better. You have the ability to light up your life like you can't believe, and the sooner you understand that, the better. Your abilities will flourish when they are not controlled by someone else's idea of who you should be. Your authentic self is there, it has always been there, and it is fully accessible to you. You are not the exception to this fact. There are no exceptions. 

You have the power . . . .

Passion, excitement, and confidence are the important medicines that we need every day. At some time or another, all of us have encountered people who seemed to be larger than life somehow, people whose experience of life was filled with color and excitement. In short, they were excited about life and were having a ball. Through them we catch a glimpse of what the authentic life is like. Is it possible that you are an excitingly unique individual with the need to do and be all of who you are, yet you are denying that powerful individuality, and you remain bogged down and buried in a world of "responsibility traps" and "don't make waves" conformity? Think back to when your own life was the most interesting one you knew, and you couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Perhaps most important was the fact that you accepted your self for who and what you were. Whether you know it or not, you will always have a tremendous power to determine your life. You can make your life hum if you will link up your true self and your world. To do that you have to get intimately in touch with you. As you address the question of you, starting now, stop dealing in opinions or assumptions, and start dealing in facts. That fact is, it takes so much energy to be what you are not, and it takes so little to be what you truly are.

Compiled from a Self Matters calendar
Photo via Google Images

Find your wings! . . . .

Everyone has inside him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!

-Anne Frank


Happy Friday!
Have a lovely weekend!


Photo via Google Images

Make no mistake . . . .

Finding the positives about your self can be difficult, even when you consciously focus on the task. But make no mistake: At the core of every human being is a uniqueness, individuality, and distinctness that demand to be expressed. You are no exception. However deeply your individuality may be buried...no matter how lost or non-unique you may feel, you are in there. Once you have found your way back to the you that has been buried under a mound of world experiences and self-pounding, hang on. Hang on, because you aren't going to believe what is about to happen in your life as you claim the power of refining your personal truth, knowledge, and personal power.

-Unknown

Photo via Google Images

Be true to you . . . .

What do you want? Have you made it a priority? You can't give all that you have to give, to yourself and the world, unless you are first true to yourself. Sound selfish? Good! Selfishness doesn't mean you don't care for others, and it doesn't mean you don't lend a hand where needed. It does mean that you understand that your fulfillment, happiness, and laughter count.....big time! It means realizing that your greatest responsibility as a human is not to save the world but to save yourself, because no one else can or will. And it means honoring your own passions, instincts, and desires so that you can always hear the call of your dreams and respond.

Then, as your dreams begin coming true, others will benefit, even people you don't know. Your life begins getting easier. Your vibrations are raised. You begin living with a newfound lightness, projecting an aura that shines onto the darkened paths of others. And the world does, in the end, become a much better place, thanks to the example you've become.

Be true to yourself

in the games that you play,

or it could be your dreams

that you one day betray.

From the book Choose Them Wisely

by Mike Dooley

Photo via Imgfave

What is your YouTube? . . . .

From the time we are in grade school, we're taught to think that the best answers and ideas are in books or come from someone else's head. What the world really needs to know right now is what kind of dreams and crazy ideas are in your head! 

In 2005 three college guys wished they had a simple way to share videos online with their friends, so they threw together a simple invention - a way for virtually any video to play on any web browser, and started their own little company called........

                                     

One year later they sold their company to Google for $1.6 billion, and Time Magazine named their idea "Invention of the Year."

It's easy to come up with big ideas. Just think of something that everyone agrees would be "wonderful" if it were only "possible", and then set out to make it possible.    -Armond Hammer

From the book 5

Where will you be 5 years from today?

by Dan Zadra

If you believe . . . .

Photo via Getty Images

How sweet the surprise . . . .

-Unknown

Photo via Google Images

Exude true beauty . . . .

Unfortunately, we live in a world that is constantly trying to convince us that if we buy their product, wear certain clothes, or  weigh less, we'll finally be happy. And while I wholeheartedly believe that when I look better, I feel better, I don't believe that's what ultimately makes you a happy person. I do believe that when you begin to live your life from your heart, authentically, that's when you will begin to find true happiness. Doing so, empowers you! It equips you to be the most effective and certainly the most genuine person that you can possibly be. And that's when you are able to outwardly show your true beauty to others. Your life will begin to hum once you allow your true self to join the world. 

"To be nobody but yourself 
in a world which is 
doing its best, night and day, 
to make you everybody but yourself, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight. 
Never stop fighting."

-E.E. Cummings

Photo by James Strack via One League Artists

It's called choice . . . .

. . . . and it's all yours.  Happy Monday! Not only is it the beginning of a new week, but it's a perfect  time to begin making changes in our life that might enhance our day, create a new path, or change the way we feel. There is nothing more empowering than the moment you realize that IT IS possible to re-create your life. It is possible to turn that poor attitude in to a more positive outlook. It is possible to begin that exercise program that you've been putting off. It is possible to be a happier person, more peaceful, more in touch with the love and the wisdom that is at your core......because that's where your beauty lies. And that's where you'll find the very essence of who you are, and who you were meant to be. Begin to listen to your heart, and trust it. Realize that you can make choices that will allow you to begin living your life in a happier and healthier way. What changes would you make in your life, and what are you waiting for?

"If you limit your choices 

only to what seems 

possible or reasonable, 

you disconnect yourself 

from what you truly want, 

and all that is left is compromise."

-Robert Fritz

Photo by James Strack via One League Artists

To thine own self be true . . . .

No one can ever know like you do what your dreams are in life....what you aspire to do. No one else can know what fulfills you or what drives you; and no one except you can know what potentials & talents lie dormant inside you. If you feel that you're so far off track that you have no idea who the real you is or what your greatest potentials are, then you're probably asking one of the most asked questions of all time. "What should I be doing with my life?"

Here are a couple thoughts from the book Infinite Possibilities that will help anyone get back on track.....

1) Be yourself. It doesn't matter what "hat" you wear as long as you're you. And by being your real self - true to yourself - you'll automatically be led by your own inclinations and impulses to the roles that will please you most at any given point in your life.

2) Deal with what's on your plate. Embrace your current situation for what it is, and for as long as you remain there, be your best and shine like there's no tomorrow. Don't fight it or you'll create such an attachment with your negative thoughts and feelings that you'll anchor yourself in place! Instead, accept it, go with the flow, approve of yourself, and understand its worth and value, and you will rise above anything unpleasant you may now be facing, releasing yourself from the past and the grip your resistance has had on your present circumstances.

3) Follow the fun. This advice may sound irresponsible to some, but it's probably the most responsible thing you can do. Whether or not you feel lost, always follow the fun. That doesn't mean that life should be one nonstop party. Some of the greatest fun can come from the satisfaction of a job well done, like being a good parent or spouse, or growing a flourishing garden. Almost anything can be fun with the proper perspective. You know what gives you peace and fulfillment--you remember the kind of things you liked as a kid--and in this regard you probably haven't changed much. Think back to those times. Scan your life, past and present, and reacquaint yourself with making fun a joy and a priority.

4) Begin it. Whatever you decide to do, begin it. Even if you're not sure what you should be doing with your life, take baby steps, today, in any direction that may possibly resonate with you. Do something. Anything is better than nothing. Move. Take action. Be the spark. Just do what you can. Weave new steps and thoughts into your workdays and throughout your weekends, and inch forward however possible. Be gentle on yourself, forgiving and compassionate, and don't expect overnight enlightenment. It will come, and it will light your way; that's inescapable. And you can accelerate its arrival by simply busying yourself in each moment, addressing what's before you and simply expecting it soon rather than later.

From the book Infinite Possibilities 

by Mike Dooley

Photo by PETRA VAN RAAIJ  via One League Artists

Just once, perhaps . . . .

Sometimes the heart

should do things

without the brain's permission.

Photo by Anna Kern

Ask yourself . . . .

Got a question? About life? About work? About love? About your past, present or future? Very likely there are lots of great people in your life you can turn to for answers, but none know you like you know you! And none are as wise to the ways and the needs and the dreams and the desires that are your own as you are. Neither could another know of your greatest potentials nor of the promises life has in store for you. Ask yourself for the direction you seek and look for the answers in your feelings and intuitions. Listen, too, to your mind. The right way will feel good and make sense. Expect answers!

The mysteries of your soul begin

to show themselves when you look within.

From the book Choose Them Wisely

by Mike Dooley

Photo via .la douleur exquise.