You lead, I'll follow... or, maybe I should Lead?

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.~ Rosalynn Carter


Isn't it terribly uncomfortable, this thing we call living? Here we are, going through the motions, day in and day out, and constantly wanting. We continue to do what we do, and we continue to dream of what we want. My question is, when did we decide that the two ideas were mutually exclusive? When did we back ourselves into the closet, pull the door closed, and then proceed to lock the door. From the inside. When did we decide that life had to be so hard and unsatisfying?

I believe that life is hard. And, satisfying. It's hard because I push myself towards new challenges. I ask tough questions. I think and feel deeply, I often over-analyze and explain my feelings to people until they are bored into oblivion or they feel condescended. So, in some ways, I guess I contribute to life being hard not only for myself, but for others as well!

As we push one another and ourselves though, we push through our self-taught limitations. We dip our toes into the metaphorical pool of possibilities. And, we find that the water feels good... Much like diving into a cool pool on a hot day, shocking and uncomfortable at first, then stimulating, refreshing, soothing, enlightening later! All new things are unnerving at first. And yet, typically, once we fully dive in, they become normal and safe in a hurry.

I think it's important to look at what is normal and safe in our lives and see if that resonates as a "good" thing or a "bad" thing. Look for small changes you can make that will motivate you towards fulfillment and joy! Maybe it's something just as simple as rearranging your living room to start. Maybe it's hiring a life coach to help you carve out and give form to your ideas so you can manifest your deepest desires. However you decide to do it, do it! Make some changes. Try something new. Carve your path and make your own torch to light your way!

Check out this awesome, yet bumpy, video clip on being a leader!

Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy

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Leadership Lessons learned from Dancing Guy. Read transcript at http://sivers.org/ff Original video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA8z7f7a2Pk

Riding the Wave!

The metaphor is a bit cliché, but I like it though for my purpose of todays topic. You see, it's versatile as well as, ambitious! For instance, have you ever tried to surf? It takes time and practice, over and over getting tossed by the waves, wondering if you are ever going to resurface, wondering if ever it's going to be easy... until finally one day your feet find themselves beneath you and you are standing, perhaps a little wobbly, and being propelled towards the beach by an undeniable wave! This, my friends, is the way life often operates.

And, it is also the path to success.

Those who make it big in life are those that choose to keep trying. To fall again and again, refining and perfecting their entrance, their exit, their posture, their timing, their proposal... tweaking all of their approach to align themselves with success!

I believe that all of us are meant to ride the wave. We are all meant for success, we only have to define what success means to us individually. I don't mean what society has told us it's supposed to mean, but the meaning that is clear to us on the deepest, most cellular level. Only we can know that and often it is a very private understanding.

My thought for today is, what is your definition of success? Are you living it? What steps do you need to take in order for you to metaphorically stand up on your board and ride your wave? Who do you need to talk to? When you sit quietly, what does God or your intuition tell you? If you were to die now, would you be pleased with your life? What would you change?

Write out what comes to you and I challenge you to start taking action and manifest your own success. One baby step at a time, learning from all the times you have fallen and will fall, Ride YOUR Wave!

It's NOT Who We ARE, Not Really, Anyway...

I was having a deep conversation with one of my friends last night and she made a comment about emotions, and how she felt often disconnected from them. It hit me in a very profound way, as I've often noticed that my emotions so often feel disproportionate to the event that caused, or sometimes didn't cause, the actual emotion.

I'm wondering if there are many others out there that feel this way? I'll try to explain more in depth what I mean...

Sometimes, in the midst of a deep emotion, I'm struck by the thought that if I were on the spiritual plane, I wouldn't be emoting at all. Likely, I would just be reflecting upon the learnings the event provided. It sounds cold and callous to even write that, because there are certain events that are surely worthy of deep emotion. I do believe this. I just sometimes also believe that if I were in Spirit form, or rather, sometimes when I am more aligned with my spiritual self, the emotions wouldn't be so profound because I would understand fully the continuance of everything. For example, my humanness allows me to cry when my Grandmother passed away. I'm crying for selfish reasons because I will miss her and do miss her in my life in the physical form. My spiritual form sees it as a wonderful opportunity for my Grandmother to shed the body that was no longer serving her and to move on to new challenges. My Spirit sees it as a rebirth into the next phase of the life cycle. My Human self sees it as the death and loss of something valuable.

The contradiction is obtuse. And, conversely, acute. Eckhart Tolle talks much in his book, The New Earth, about how to better align ourselves with our Spirit self. And, I agree so much. And, I disagree in part as well. His brilliant book was groundbreaking in many ways and so elegant and helpful. The part that I disagree with are minor, but huge in the big picture. I believe that we choose as Spirits to have human experiences and that we aren't meant to experience life solely from an esoteric perspective. We choose to be here. We choose to experience hurt, joy, frustrations, love, empowerment and impoverishment. We choose to feel deeply and fully a myriad of emotions and experiences.

So, sometimes in the midst of an emotional outburst, I will chastise myself for the emotion. I will go into a disconnect with my feelings, trying to explore the highest good of the situation and why or how my emotion is acceptable, or not, and how to improve it later. I think its okay to do that, as it may help me in my journey to understanding myself and what I am doing here, but I also think its important allow human expression as it radiates.

And so, I come back to the idea that we are NOT our emotions, just as we are NOT our occupations, or anything else that we align our selves with. We are not nouns, but an abundance of adjectives!

We are Spiritual beings that have chosen to have a Human experience. And, that doesn't just involve positive experiences! While we are in human form, it is only natural and necessary to have human emotions. That's what we signed up for and that's what we are getting.

I encourage you to explore when and how you most emote. When is it acceptable in human form? When is it unacceptable? What can you do to balance your humanness with your spirituality? If you look at the way you emote from a higher perspective, what do you see? What do you feel? What type of human experience do you want to have? Chunk up or down your perspective so that you can find the balance that will best serve you and others and enlighten you at the same time!