So glad to have Lisa Marie Selow posting here today. Lisa is a cool chic I had the pleasure of connecting with last year. Her unique perspective on life always inspires me. Lisa blogs here.

When you think about rebellion, stereotypical images may come to mind. The paths of self-destruction, or even violence, are associated with rebellion. Perhaps, you see leather jackets and motorcycles? Maybe you think about certain countercultures such as the beatniks, bohemians, hippies, punk rockers, Goths, or Emo kids? Yet, rebellion can be positive, when it comes to healing your spirit. Your spirit is that part of you that knows what is true in your heart. It’s where you feel connected to the universe, your version of the divine. Your spirit feels the connection with all living things.

Your ego is the opposite of your spirit. It tells you that you’re greater than or less than others. It makes you feel not good enough. It’s that voice telling you that you are damaged goods. The ego takes on the limiting beliefs that you’ve inherited from childhood or just living in society as reality. I myself allowed the voice of ego to hold me back for many years. It made me feel so worried about what others would think of me. In my spiritual studies, I tried to find a solution to silence and even destroy the ego. Nothing seemed to work when it came to quieting the ego until recently.

During a very trying time in my life a few years ago, my ego was in overdrive, making up all kinds of scenarios about possibly ending up divorced and homeless. At times, it felt impossible to stop the negative thoughts that recycled again…until I had a thought come out of the blue. It came during a time where I had slowed down my thoughts just long enough to meditate and connect with the divine. The thought came as: “Perhaps, the best thing one could rebel against would be the ego.”

That idea really grabbed me! I had considered myself to be a rebel during most of my life. I rebelled against all kinds of things, including authority figures, institutions, and popular culture. I realized that it was my rebellious nature which led me to pursue my own spiritual path, instead of following a traditional religion. An a-ha moment also came to me when I saw that I had been on a personal journey of healing for at least 20 years. My path had included a rejection of both internal and external types of negativity. I saw that my form of rebellion was positive, since I was working on loving myself more, living my authentic purpose, being my true self, healing past hurts, and creating happiness.

Positive rebellion’s main gift is that it can effectively disarm the ego. I found it to be empowering and fun when I renamed my self-healing efforts as positive rebellion. It became a bit easier to shift negative thoughts, feelings, and emotions into positive ones. It is sometimes difficult to change a negative thought into a positive one right away. First, I have to start with the rejection of the negative. I rebel against it. For example, if I hear myself say, “I feel fat,” it can feel like a huge stretch to go straight to the opposite thought of “I love and approve of my body.” Before getting to the positive, there has to be a rejection of the negative. Positive rebellion is like telling the ego, “Oh, thanks for sharing, but I’m not going to listen to you.”

Try it and see what you think. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Blessings,
Lisa

Lisa Marie Selow is the Hay House author of A Rebel Chick Mystic’s Guide (coming November 2012!). She is a life coach, motivational speaker, women’s empowerment expert, and modern mystic. Lisa lives in metro Detroit, Michigan with her husband, JT, along with several electric guitars and friendly outdoor squirrels. Her website is: http://lisaselow.com/

A couple of months ago, Jane, a fellow blogger contacted me on Facebook telling me that she had seen an update on Twitter from Louisa, another blogger we both were connected to. The update seemed to suggest that Louisa was very upset with a situation at home and wondered if life was worth living.  Jane kept Louisa occupied with responses via Twitter, until Louisa stopped connecting abruptly.

Jane then contacted me and told me about this and asked if I could contact Louisa via Facebook.  Another friend, Ann who had also seen Louisa’s Twitter updates expressed her concern too. I tried but didn’t get a response.

I contacted another blogging friend, Mindy, who lived in the same country as Louisa and asked if she could connect. When she didn’t get a response either – we began to connect with Louisa’s sister and friend via Facebook and make inquiries. It wasn’t until the next afternoon, and many worried inquires and prayers from a lot of other bloggers that we got news that Louisa was okay – a little down but had not harmed herself in any way. We heaved a collective sigh of relief.

Why am I telling you this? Because it involved so many bloggers responding out of concern towards someone we had never met. We were in three different countries – in different time zones too – attempting to reach out to another blogger.

I thought it was amazing how virtual strangers were now real friends.

I also thought that the next time I hear someone tell me that my online friends are not ‘real’ because I’ve never met them, I’ll have some directions to the closest lake ready for them to go take a leap into!

I’m also telling you this, because all of the people I mentioned in my story (names have been changed to protect their privacy) are part of a fantastic Facebook Blogging Group: Blogplicity. It’s a wonderful online community where we share a lot more than links to our posts. I am grateful to Savira Gupta for inviting me to this group. 

I find Blogplicity to be a microcosm of life – a variety of characters who manage to ‘live’ together.You will find support, laughter, sharing of views, and sheer madness. There’s a lot of give and take there. At times, there are disagreements and some people up and leave, but then that’s what happens in ‘real’ communities too.

If you are a blogger who is on Facebook (if you’re not, why aren’t you?) and wish to join Blogplicity please contact me with details of your blog and Facebook profile and I will pass on your request to the admins who will make a decision about allowing you in.

If you have a story of a blogging connection that turned into a real friendship do write a post about it and link into :

The ‘Blogging and Friends’ blog hop at
Bongo Is Me  
and
Living with Food Allergies and Celiac Disease

May you be inspired – every day!

Follow @CorinneCR
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Carbs! Hot topic, right? There are all sorts of rumours, perceptions, tips and tricks floating around out there in this world of health and wellness regarding this single group of food sources. And I certainly cannot dispel, correct or answer them all in one blog post today. However, we can tackle one crucial element of carb consumption: Timing!

Timing is EVERYTHING!

And that begs the question: When are you eating your carbs?

Before you answer, let’s quickly discuss the purpose of carbs in our nutritional strategy. They are, in fact, necessary. At their basic level, carbs are our source for fuel. They provide the energy by which we are able to function effectively. Yet, these stealthy components of our nutrition can be our enemy as well as friend. Trouble enters the scene when carbs are consumed and not used: a common issue in a modern lifestyle. Why? Sedentary lifestyles. But instrumental is the fact that carbs are readily available, relatively cheap and convenient food sources. That means they have become a major, in many cases the primary, element of nutrition. They are also addictive. When refined as so many are today, they are like sugar or any other drug. Your body demands more, more, and then more. Problem is more is never used!

When those carbs, remember they are your fuel supply, are not used they are stored. Yep, right on your hips, thighs, bum and belly. I know, it’s not pretty but it is truth. Your body is not the culprit though. It’s just doing its job of self preservation; doing what it was designed to do for survival. But this is the modern world and your food supply is not limited. Your survival is not in jeopardy from starvation. Most of us can eat whatever we want whenever we want. So then, what is the culprit? You are eating carbs at all the wrong times.

Eat carbs when you need fuel!

Simple right? It really is when you stop to think about it. So, when are you active? The answer determines when you eat your carbs for the day. Here are 3 basic guidelines.

1. In the Morning

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day and it is true. You have been in fasting mode all night, you have the whole day ahead and you need fuel. Now is the time for some quality complex carbs (examples:sweet potato, winter squash, whole grains) ! Eat hearty with a balance of lean protein (examples:egg whites, chicken, fish, turkey, beef tenderloin) and quality fats but eat up!

2. Pre-workout

You are about to tax your bodies resources. This is not the time to starve it especially of its fuel supply. Eat a hearty helping of clean, quality carbs, again balanced with proteins and fats an hour before hitting the gym!

3. Post Workout

This guideline has 2 rules. IF your workout is cardio intensive, then wait one full hour before eating. Drink plenty of water but no food. Not one bite. Why? Your body continues to burn fat during that window of time. Food stops that process instantly. However, IF your workout is resistance based, then you need to eat immediately after as the body needs to refuel and recover. The same guidelines apply of complex carbs, lean protein and quality fats.

We can talk more in future posts about the differences in refined, simple and quality, complex carbs. For now though, know that there is no need and it certainly is not healthy to run away from carbs. Simply be mindful of timing and be assured your body will be much happier for it! Plus, you’ll like what you see in the mirror a bit better too!

Has this helped you, given you some relief from the worry of carbs and their negative impacts on the body of your dreams? Let us know in the comments below!

Carl Mason- Liebenberg is a Wellness and Weight Loss Specialist, Author, Fitness Coach, and a Leader in Creating a Lifestyle of Wellness. His passion is for those who suffer from poor nutrition, related illnesses, addictions and overweight conditions; with a specific focus on women. Carl unveils the power of nutrition and fitness to bring recovery, healing, restoration and strength.

Carl has personally experienced what he teaches and continues to study and learn to improve his ability to teach you a Lifestyle of Wellness.

He has recently launched a series of e-products called Simply Good that you’ll want to be sure to obtain in your journey to authentic wellness. 

For more information and opportunities please join him at http://www.el3mentsofwellness.com.

Image Source: bing.com via Corinne on Pinterest

Recently the closer blogging community of which I am a part lost one of its members in a very tragic way. Someone who seemed so vibrant, was so kind and loving took her own life unable to bear her own inner pain. Naturally, it made us all really sad and those of us who were closer to her blamed ourselves a little bit for not reaching out more to her. Those of us who didn’t know her too well wondered why we didn’t take the trouble to connect with her more, and how we hadn’t guessed she was in pain.

The more I have reflected on this, the more I realize that perhaps even if all of us had reached out to her, it wouldn’t have stopped her from doing what she did. Because from all I gathered, this beautiful young woman didn’t believe in her own loveliness, the beauty of her heart.

Today, as I remember her with sadness, I also want to reach out to you dear reader and my blogging friends with this message: You are Enough. No matter what you are going through at this point in your life, believe this.

You must take the time and make the effort to find the beauty of YOURSELF.  No more, ‘I wish I could be like………’  or ‘If only I had not made bad choices………’  Whatever has happened in the past, whatever is going on at present, believe me when I say that you have the resources within yourself to make it through. Believe in your own beauty, in your own strength, in your own purpose. You have an important role to play in this world – and even if you are not sure of it at this moment, it will be revealed to you in time. Believe.

You suppose you are the trouble
But you are the cure
You suppose that you are the lock on the door
But you are the key that opens it
It’s too bad that you want to be someone else
You don’t see your own face, your own beauty
Yet, no face is more beautiful than yours.
~ Rumi

Listen to Keb’Mo’s ‘I’m Amazing’ here.

If you need to reach out to others for support – do that.

May you believe that there is no face more beautiful than yours – every day!

Follow @CorinneCR

Photo credit

My parents tell me that when I was less than three years old, I would wander around the garden with a little basket in hand saying that I was going to the market to buy ‘Atto pork’ (tomatoes and pork for the ignorant! ) for my husband who was in Goa. I’m not sure how I conceived this story but my brothers always teased me about ‘my husband in Goa’.

As I grew older my ambitions for life consisted of being a wife and a mom. So it seemed rather strange that I eventually became a wife only at 41 after going through a lot of other career options There were times I despaired about finding the right person. Now I’m certain the right person came in to my life at the right time. (Was it a coincidence that we got married in Goa?)

There are many more instances in my life of things happening at ‘the appointed time’ – just when I needed them to happen.

The Bible, originally written in Greek used two words to describe time: chronos and kairos. Chronos, from which the word chronological is derived transalates in to time – days, hours, minutes. Kairos means  ’in nature’s time’ or ‘in due time’.  In other words, it was believed that  kairos was the appointed time.

I wonder what if we stopped being chronos-people – no longer ruled merely by the days and hours? Instead, if we became Kairos-people we would believe that everything that takes place in  life, happens for a purpose and at the right time.

Of late, I’m convinced that the more we look at every moment of our lives as Kairos – the happier and more blessed we will be.

Do you believe in kairos too?

May you be inspired – every day!

Follow @CorinneCR

There are times when I either get caught up with worrying about the future or having regrets about the past. In recent years, such times have greatly reduced. This is mainly because I’ve learned to focus on enjoying the present moment – the now.

There’s a simple exercise I do when I start to revert to worry-mode and I’d like to share it with you.

Here’s what I do:

• Stop whatever I’m doing and relax for a moment.
• Experience the quiet calm of the moment.
• Let go of the worries about the future and the regrets about the past.
• Focus my awareness on the ‘now’.
• Realize this is exactly where I am supposed to be ‘now’
• Give thanks for the moment.

It only takes a minute to do, but the results are instant. I notice that I immediately I become aware of the sounds around me. I become aware of my body. My breathing slows down and I feel much lighter. Most of all, I’m flooded with gratitude for all I am and have.

Try it out, if you don’t already, and let me know how it works for you. I you have other ways of enjoying the ‘now’ I’d love to hear about them. 

May you be inspired – every day!

Follow @CorinneCR

Photo credit

Looking back, I think I was a really opinionated little girl. Let me tell you why. When I was about seven, my Mum bought a second hand doll house for me. It was huge and it had two levels and some great furniture in it. I really loved it. However, not too long after I acquired it, along came the parents of a girl who was a few years younger than I am. They visited us to check out the doll house to make a replica for their daughter. I was furious and wanted to know why they had to copy my house – couldn’t they come up with their own. Why did that little girl have to have exactly the same doll house at me. I think much of the joy of owning that  doll house went out when a copy was made!

Recently, I’ve discovered that I have a blogging shadow (okay, an imitator). I should be flattered, no?  But I’m feeling kind of ‘doll houseish’.

Yesterday, I wrote about finding my own voice.  I cannot stress how important that is to me and to every person. The moment you try to imitate, you lose out on creativity. You lose out on being you.

When someone imitates me, I’m irritated and upset with them – can’t they be themselves and let me be me. I’m not flattered. Are you? 

May you be inspired – every day!

Follow @CorinneCR

Listening to Imitation here.

I’ve been going through the archives of my blog and deleting some old posts. I still have a lot of work to do on that. What am I removing? Loads of posts that were merely quotes with pictures and other posts that were copies of what other people wrote, published with due credit of course!

Why am I doing that? One is a very practical reason – to make my blog lighter. But the more important reason is to make sure that my blog is a reflection of me – what I have written. I started out initially writing my own stuff, but as the blog grew I felt pressure to keep posts coming and took the easy way out. Also, perhaps deep within I wasn’t confident enough about the quality of what I was writing? Would it appeal to people?

Given my background in training, I assumed that I would fit well in to the personal development niche. I read loads of personal development blogs and found that most people wrote a lot of ‘how to….’ stuff**. I attempted to do that – but didn’t do too well. The reason? It just wasn’t authentic to me. I found that I couldn’t really tell people ‘how to’ unless I was walking the talk. I couldn’t make a list of steps to follow, because I believe that everyone finds their own way. I can only accompany people on their journey, not give them a route map.

So, with a lot of urging from my husband,  I began more and more to write about  personal things. I began to write about my own journey, share lessons I’ve learned on the way, talk about ongoing struggles I have, and gradually I found my voice.

I can’t tell you how freeing that is. There is no pressure to be a fount of wisdom. There’s no pressure to compete with anyone else. There’s freedom to be silly, to funny, to be profound (!), to be inspirational (!!) – but most of all there’s the freedom to be me. And I’m grateful for the response I receive to what I write. You dear, readers affirm me. Thank you.

Each of us have their unique voice. It can be expressed in different ways, through your work, your art, photography, sewing, designing, social work and just about any other way that is you. The challenge is to find your voice and then sing loud and clear - be you!

Have you found your voice? Are you looking for it?

May you be inspired – every day!

Follow @CorinneCR

(Listen to Demi Lovato’s ‘This is Me’ here.)

** Please note, I’m not finding fault with bloggers in the personal development niche…but just stating that I don’t feel I belong there at all.

This morning the earth shook – literally! We experienced a minor tremor in Mumbai. What was the first thing I did? I rushed to change out of my pajamas – just in case we had to run out of our apartment. I was certainly not going to be running down the street in my night clothes!

Laughing at myself, I began to think about all the just-in-case things I do. I always go to the toilet just before leaving the house. I have a sip of water just before leaving home. My pencil case has a scissors, a stapler, staple pins, two erasers, four pens, five pencils…..just in case! Not to mention the emergency supply of toiletries in my handbag.

When I was working, my colleague would always tease me about my handbag – it was full of just-in-case stuff….needle and thread, safety pins, marker pens (I had a training company). He’d sometimes say to me: ‘I’m feeling hungry, do you have a burger in there?’

From Harold's Planet

When I’m travelling, the just-in-case list gets bigger and bigger – much to my husband’s amusement. However, when we do have to use some ‘emergency’ supply of mosquito repellent or stitch on a button – then I have the last laugh.

I’d love to hear what just-in-case things you do or carry around?

May you be inspired – every day!

Follow @CorinneCR

I am fascinated by the name of your site, Barrie – Live Bold and Bloom – it just draws you in. How did the name come about?

The name goes hand-in-hand with my personal coaching business (Bloom Life and Career Coaching). I am intrigued with how much potential people have that they aren’t using – mainly because of fear. In my coaching business, I want to invite and challenge people to bloom to their fullest potential. But to do that, they sometimes must be bold. They might have to step out of their comfort zone. Being bold, taking risks, challenging yourself – that’s really the path to growth and creating a better life.

I know that you’ve worked in public relations for a long time before you moved in to writing and coaching. How did the transition come about?

It came about as the result of my oldest child leaving home. She is an aspiring professional ballet dancer and had spent many years training here in Atlanta. I spent a lot of time driving her from our suburban home 60 miles round trip to Atlanta Ballet, which is in downtown Atlanta, every day. Then I would go back to get her again in the evenings. So needless to say, once she left home, I regained a huge chunk of time. I started thinking about gearing up my PR practice, but I just couldn’t get excited about it. There was no passion around it. So I started a personal search for my life passion. I took assessments, workshops, read every book under the sun. And I finally discovered that my passion was helping other people find theirs! I enrolled in a coach training program, and I started my blog as a way to market my coaching business. But then I discovered my passion for blogging. When you pull one thread, you sometimes find that it opens the door to many related passions. Now most of my coaching is done through my blog and the courses I teach related to my online business. I just finished a self-confidence course with Erin Falconer of Pick the Brain, and I’m about to begin the Habit Course (for the 3rd time) with Leo Babauta of Zen Habits and Katie Tallo of Momentum Gathering.

In a recent post you asked 20 highly successful bloggers: What is one bold and fearless thing you have done that has made a profound positive impact on your life? What would you answer be to that question?

Without a doubt, it would be starting my blog. I had no idea how to blog when I first started. In fact, I was really fearful of computer technology and completely ignorant about how to build a successful blog. But my passion for writing and sharing with people just kept driving me and giving me the momentum and energy to figure it out. It’s amazing how feeling passionate about something can help you overcome just about any seeming obstacle!

What in your opinion keeps us from leading lives of passion and purpose?

Fear. We are afraid we will fail, that we aren’t good enough, that people with judge or reject us, that we are being selfish or indulgent, and any number of other fears. But most fears aren’t substantive. If you challenge the fear and take action in spite of fear, you will see that there is very little truth in what you are afraid of. But you have to get to the point where your desire for living with passion and purpose is greater than your fears. Once you are at that place, you can take that first tentative step. That’s all it takes. Then you are home free.

How do you suggest a person can live a life of passion on a day to day basis? What tools should s/he acquire for this?

Most of the time, passion and purpose don’t just land on us. There are some people who are born knowing their passion and purpose in life, but most of us have to uncover it. This is a process of self-inquiry, self-discovery, and trial and error. You have to know yourself really well; understand your values, skills and joys; and do some research to see how those things can be integrated into your life and/or work. I’ve written an entire course on how to find your passion called Discover Your Passion: A Step-by-Step Course for Creating the Life of Your Dreams. Finding your passion is hugely important work. Yes, you can survive without finding it. But if you want to thrive and squeeze the best out of life, then passion is essential.

Barrie, one of the areas you offer coaching in Blogging. Could you share one tip for the readers who are bloggers here?

Wow, one tip is hard. But I would distill it down to this: consistently write great content that serves your reader and is insanely useful. If you do that, your readers will keep coming back for more.

Could you tell us some more about your course, Discover Your Passion?

It’s a 7 module course with assessments, worksheets, and action steps to help you to see and understand yourself clearly, and to motivate you to move forward toward a better life. Through the various modules, you will investigate your personality type, your skills, your core values, your joys, and your dislikes. Also, you will delve into the limiting beliefs, emotions, and tolerations that are holding you back from taking action on your passion. One module of the course focuses on defining your ideal life vision and creating mission statement which serves as a blueprint for all of your decisions and actions.Then we pull all of that information together and look at where the various pieces intersect. That’s where you will find your passion. Of course, once you find it, you have to put it into action. You will do some of this work of taking action on your passion in the Discover Your Passion course. I’m working on a follow-up course that goes into this further, helping people learn to integrate their passion into their lives in some meaningful and/or income-producing way.

Thanks, Barrie. I appreciate your time.

Barrie Davenport is a personal and career coach and the founder of Live Bold and Bloom , a blog about bold and fearless living. Please download her free Bold Living Starter Kit here.

May you be inspired – every day!

Follow @CorinneCR