An Invincible Summer - A Woman's Journey

I am doing a couple of Adult Children of Alcoholics meetings a week now. It is so inspiring for me to hear the stories and relate to the feelings expressed and realize that I have a community. There are other people that have to fight the need to control and to try to force others, through various behaviors, to ease the uncomfortable emotions they may be feeling. There are other people that are afraid to feel certain emotions like hurt, shame and uncertainty and that fear presents itself in far more hurtful or counterproductive ways than actually dealing with the feelings. People can be so damaged by their families even if their families are/were not aware. I think of a few of my blogging friends and of some of the people in my meetings that are fighting, tooth and nail, to break out of that shit they were handed as little children and rise above to a more beautiful and peace filled place and I am in awe of them. By comparison I didn't have it too bad but I am aware that that is...

Fears often control my thoughts or actions.  I hate that it is that way but I developed that coping mechanism long before I was aware there was such a thing as a coping mechanism and getting rid of it has proved to be a full-time job. Distinguishing between a fear and intuition it a tough one. Knowing when your heart is trying to protect you or when it may be constructing a fortress can look surprisingly similar Recently, when having a heated discussion (OK, OK....a full out argument), I needed to step back and look at what was prompting the fight. Was it legit or was it fear? I couldn't honestly say which so I went back to my Al-Anon work and then did some research on the internet and according to  Dr. Judith Orloff  here are some tips on figuring out the difference. Signs of a Reliable Intuition Conveys information neutrally, unemotionally   Feels right in your gut Has a compassionate, affirming tone Gives crisp, clear impressions...

I love the smarts I have in my area of expertise. My business has slowly and steadily grown over the last 24 years....luck and hard work. I attempt to keep myself up-to-date with the latest and greatest and I rely heavily on the past to populate the work related conversations that arise both in business and socially. I enjoy terms like optimal demographics, increased ROI, advanced data  analytics  and multi-channel marketing. Professional fortitude does not necessarily translate into personal confidence. The tools needed to foster that are much more complex and far more elusive. The book The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz, was the start of a new way of thinking that has helped encourage basic change in how I feel.  Number 2 - Don’t take anything personally, was huge!! In addition to that I try strengthen my relationship with myself and deepen my personal power and self knowledge with the following: 1.     Loving and accepting who we a...

There have been times in my life where, somewhere deep inside, I know.....I know something that, for all intents and purposes, I should not know. Have you done it too? Where you know for a fact that someone is lying to you or hiding something or there is a problem somewhere with a loved one. It's such an interesting feeling to know and not be able to back it up or explain why but you know just the same. When confronted, unable to explain, self doubt might kick in; but stick with it, it will rarely steer you wrong. The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. ~ A Einstein   The problem with my intuitiveness is twofold; first, living with a great deal of fear can manifest itself with ugly thoughts that can be confused with intuition and second, people who lie, for whatever reason, will attempt to manipulate the situation to make the intuitive feel a bit nuts for kn...