In the game of life, naturally you want to win.

You know how that feels. But I swear you learn more, grow more and evolve more in the losses than the gains (ok maybe not in the stock market 😓).

How do you handle your losses? This is all about character. Do you reflect and look at where you may have got it wrong? Do you add clarity to your list now that you’ve learned what you don’t want? Do you blame others? Do you feel sorry for yourself and spiral a while?

How much time do you take to make a choice? Do you think about the consequences it will have?

This inSight was inspired by one of my best teachers, Carolyn Myss.

Technology has taken out the time we may have taken to make our choices more wisely. Be aware of this. I’m suggesting that you take a little more time in the receiving, contemplating and responding cycle of your decisions.

You may be asking, why? It’s because all choices have consequences and you can’t hide them, and they are immediate.

I realize, there is a ton of information on this topic already, in a world that I believe is far too focused on our external image. I won’t give my two cents on diet and exercise often, but I figured I’d hit on this one anyway, because hey, health and wellness is an important topic. 

What I do works for me. Your work is to find out what works for you.

I just finished reading the book ‘Attached’ by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller. I was hesitant to read it because I dislike putting people in boxes. I believe we all have a little of everything in us.

I believe the purpose of a relationship is to provide a loving safe place where you are heard and understood. But this takes skill. In order for someone to hear you - you need the time to explain, and to be understood - they need to know your truth.

This blog is not about religion. 

I talk about the universe as a whole. Angels as a mystical idea and God as good. There is a force unknown that no one can explain, although many have tried and still are. 

Energy is everywhere and in everything. Nature is beautiful and works perfectly which allows me to know for sure that there is something bigger than us running this show. 

I’ve done my fair share of healing old wounds from childhood. Our caregivers did their best and now we get to do better. But there are times we need the truth from a parent - who really just wants the best for us. They don’t always deliver the message as gently as someone else would - but it’s a message nonetheless. And isn’t that a major role of a parent? No matter what our age, they get the right to tell us what we need to hear. It can be ruthless and direct, but hey, it’s not an easy job to raise a child.

Don’t you just love Netflix? And I’m sure like me, you’ve binged out a few times over… like just one more episode and you’ll head to bed? 😜 It got me thinking about the similarities between our lives and Netflix. So many genres, so many choices. What’s your mood? What do you pick? Where do you go? How do you feel about your life if it was being watched?

Whether you’re in an intimate relationship or not, this applies to all humans. We either get better where we’re at or we’re getting ready to be ready! Years ago while I was studying, I thought a good title of a book could be, “It begins with me, then you, and then the relationship.” Funny this title has never left me. We come together with our own individual beliefs and values. Our past and upbringing is what creates these combined with previous life experiences and hence we have a story. We are all unique and imperfect and yet we come together and believe things will just work out. We will find ‘the one’ who will see us and love us and we’ll be ok and accepted, once and for all. Haha. Isn’t that humorous?

A glorious part of my journey was when I finally realized that all the answers I was looking for were inside of me. It was only until I stopped looking outside of myself that I tapped into the true power I had within myself. Hence how I came up with my business name, Everything Begins Within. 💜

So I’ll just share some questions I've had to ask myself and maybe it'll help you to get to know yourself in some new ways:

Working towards what you want, is the exhilarating part. Think about how often you feel so good when you’ve worked hard at something and then received the result. But was it the actual result? Or could it be all the experiences you had along the way? I believe in order to really love something we have to believe we earned it. That’s where true value and appreciation come in. And this becomes our memories. Plus, before you know it, you’re on to the next project or task, all the while thinking it’s for the result you’re after.

Today, I want you to think about how awesome you are! Think about, and capture all the things you love about yourself. Then all the things you like about yourself.

An affirmation is a positive statement that you believe or want to believe. Example: “My connections with others are meaningful and provide a positive impact.” Here’s the thing - you have many built in affirmations already within you and they have become beliefs over time. So yes, they work! Can you replace or add new ones to affect your current reality? Yes… BUT. They have to be repeated, a LOT! The time it takes to create a new belief will be dependent on how consistent you are in downloading the new information. So, for example, you might want more abundance in your life.

To be triggered is a response based on something that happens to you. You’ve been there, (we’ve all been there) - someone says something to you, similar to an unapproving parent for example - and you react with anger or shut down. Maybe you smell a fragrance which takes you back to a bad experience and all of a sudden you are filled with anxiety or dread.

Triggers are interesting, and definitely a good place to see where you might hold old wounds. I’ve noticed, the more work I do on me, the easier it becomes to not react, and therefore, keep my power.

Do you realize there are powers ‘out there’ that can help you beyond what you can do on your own?

You want what you want. Right? Let’s call this your ‘dream.’ And if you could just go out and buy it, you would. But I don’t think dreams are always tangible. You can’t buy all of your dreams, but you can manifest them! Dream big or small, that is up to you.

Without a dream life seems to just happen, getting what you get, but maybe missing out on your true desires.

I hope you’ve never felt like I think you need to change. My purpose here is to provide you with some ideas that help me stay centered and aligned. I do my best to be my own best friend, learn, apply and it works. I am absolutely living my best life and I want that for you as well.

Whose life do you really know? And do you think that represents real life? Is there someone’s life you want? But whose life do you REALLY know? And are you really looking at a real life? I think it’s something we think we know but unless you actually live with people (for a long enough time to let them be real) you have no clue what goes on behind closed doors. This is probably a good thing.

You want to play a little game with me?

Over the next month, let’s see how many times we follow our intuition! This is not as easy as it sounds, hence why I’m giving us a month. And when the stakes are higher it's tougher to do.

I just had 2 experiences where I did NOT listen to my intuition, and it made things go from bad to worse!

I’m curious - how do you begin your days? We are habitual creatures, so I think it’s important to create good habits, and what you do first thing in the morning is a great thing to look at. Morning quiet contemplation is a great start.

The reason I want you to do this is because I just experienced once again the ‘magic’ of what can happen when you do.

So often we look at what is and if we don’t like ‘what is’ we can feel disempowered. But you are not. You can have what you want. The roadblocks can trip you up though, which is why it’s important to have a vision of where you want to be. Take the big picture and break it up into tiny achievable steps.This is what empowerment means. You are the captain of your ship. You are where you are, and that’s just fine. You have to be somewhere right? There’s no benefit in blaming anyone or figuring out why. Begin again, right where you are.

So often we hear people say, “I just want to be loved for me.” Well I think you are actually.

I’m beginning to ask this question instead, ‘how am I giving love?’ I believe there’s actually more feelings generated in my body when I give love, than when I receive love. 

Think about this for a moment. How does your body feel when someone shows you love vs when you show love? Like gifts. They say it’s better to give a gift than to receive one. 🤔