Your Relationship With Money

Relationships. We read books about relationships, we talk about relationships, we take classes on relationships. Relationships with our partners, our kids, our bosses.

What about your relationship with money?

“But I don’t have a relationship with money!”

That, in a nutshell, is the problem. Having a relationship with money isn’t the same as having a relationship with a person: money isn’t going to say something rude about your mother, forget to clean its room, or forget your birthday. But we have feelings about money, and how we view our money defines our relationship to it.

So, how would you rate your relationship with money? Is it an old friend that you can rely on? Or, if you’re like most people, is it more love/hate – or just hate? Do you waste money and then feel badly? Do you use money to make you feel better and then ignore it until the next time? Are you always wishing you had more?

What are your beliefs about money? Is it a symbol of evil and greed? Is it only for people who are willing to sell their souls? Is it possible to work at what you love and get paid?

How does money make you feel? Dirty, ashamed, jealous? Greedy, confused, anxious?

Think about what comes up for you.

Your Relationship With Money vs. Your Thoughts

If you have negative thoughts and beliefs in your list, then how can you have an abundant relationship with money? Would you date someone who made you feel ashamed? How about someone who made you feel jealous all the time?

Money can not flow to us when we think negative thoughts about it. If we think that money is the ultimate symbol of evil, then to have money would mean that we are evil too. So we go out of our way to ensure that we don’t have evil in our lives, which also means, in that case, that we don’t have money in our lives either.

To have more money in our lives and to feel better about the money and the spending that we do have, we need to really look at what money means to us, look at creating a relationship with money. Money isn’t evil or dirty or any of those things. Those are our thoughts about money.

And who controls our thoughts about money? That’s right. We do. We are in control of how and what we think about money. A lot of our thoughts are unconscious beliefs, many of them formed as far back as our childhood. (Did your mother have to ask your father for money for groceries? Were you teased because you wore hand-me-downs?)

Wherever and whenever our beliefs formed, by looking at them consciously, we can change how we think about money. We can decide what money means to us now. We can decide that we want a relationship with money. Not just a one-night stand but a lifelong love affair. Wouldn’t that be something worth working towards?

It’s comment time. What messages did you receive about money while growing up? Do you find it easy to manifest money? Do you see the connection between your level of wealth and your relationship with money?

Esme Gosling

Esme Gosling is a Money Coach who helps her clients to create lifelong love affairs with their money. To sign up for her newsletter or get started with a free coaching session, visit www.esmegosling.com!

  

Inspirational Thoughts on Giving and Receiving

Are you a giver who keeps on giving, often neglecting yourself and rarely receiving anything in return? For your compassion and generosity I say thank you. For every person who has taken your generosity for granted, I say thank you. For every time you went unnoticed and unappreciated, thank you. For caring enough to give of yourself, for wanting to make the world a better place, for acting out of love and oneness with other beings—I say thank you. But there’s something else I want to say.

Everything in life is best when in balance. As you’re giving so much of yourself, remember that giving is at its best when the giver’s “cup” is full. Of course, in order to give and remain full, you must also receive. And in order to receive, you must sometimes ask.

Today’s inspirational thoughts encourage you to honor your need to receive, to embrace the cycle and allow the balance.

Being generous to everyone except yourself is not the path to fulfillment, happiness or a better world. It’s the path to destruction of your first priority in life. It doesn’t make you more loving, worthy or righteous. It just makes you a victim of yourself; and victims give up their power to change the world.  Take your power back.

Every gift that can make this world a better place begins within.  Inner peace must come before world peace.  Inner joy before we live in a joy filled world.  Herein lies the necessity for the cycle of giving and receiving.

To Keep Giving, Keep Receiving

Your generous heart longs to give, so start with the one person you were born to take care of above all else. That person is you. You ARE important. You are worthy of receiving, so give yourself permission to do just that.

Instead of wrestling with guilt when taking care of you means saying no to someone else, remember that you’re a better person for everyone when you are first good to you.  Instead of trying to do everything alone, embrace the humility in asking for help.

With a smile on your face, do something special for yourself. With a willingness to move through any feelings of vulnerability, reach out to others for support. Allow yourself to experience life as both giver and receiver. Feel the balance.

Give yourself permission to prioritize your own physical, mental and emotional health. When you need to invest time, energy or money in you, do so without hesitation or regrets. To receive from yourself, you can take a class, go on a retreat, get a massage, enjoy a long bubble bath or take a day off. But don’t stop there. It’s just as important to receive from others. Have someone else run an errand for you, invest in your business, help out around the house or own parts of a project at work.

However you do it, just allow yourself to receive all that you deserve. And you do deserve it.

You deserve to be loved, respected and cared for. You deserve to have your cup running over with energy, love, knowledge, peace of mind. You deserve balance and a sense of connection to those who share this wonderful world with you.

Most importantly, you deserve an opportunity to say, “Thank you.”

Thank you.

Image credit: ChobiWaLa

Nea Justice

Nea is a Transformational Life Coach whose mission is to help you love your life.

If you desire the “good life” and you want to know how Nea can help you attain it, contact her now.

    

Image by: Guava Jelly

When I picked up the cold, frail, lifeless kitten; she wasn’t moving. Her tongue was hanging out, she was unusually tiny, she had missing patches of hair, her eyes hadn’t yet opened and she was barely breathing.

I’d never seen anything so sad and helpless in my life. She was clearly in death’s grip, yet clinging to life nonetheless.

Not knowing how long her shallow breathing would continue, I decided to just hold her until she passed away. I wanted to make sure that, if nothing else, she would not spend the last few moments of her life alone. She could make her transition peacefully while comforted by me, a strange being of a totally different species.

Part of me hoped that the Universe would grant her the gift of a second chance, but I knew it wasn’t likely. I accepted that, but not without a barrage of mixed feelings.  I didn’t want her to suffer even for a moment, yet I didn’t want her to die. I was happy to give her warmth and love, yet saddened by the overwhelming odds against her.

I put this precious little darling inside my sweater, her face barely peeking through the V-neck cut. I laid her on my heart, connecting her to my life source as I spoke softly both to her ears and her Soul.

Eventually, her tiny body felt warm to the touch. Shortly thereafter, I felt movement. She stirred just a bit and a surge of hope shot right through me. It was nearly palpable. Right then, I knew she had her second chance.

Believe it or not, I was never much of a cat person. But I am a life person. In fact, I’d say that is more true now than ever. Having this tiny kitten’s life in my hands was a strong reminder of just how precious (and temporary) our journey is on this Earth. Every moment could very well be the last moment, yet I’ve wasted so much time by not slowing down to be fully present in and appreciative of each experience. No more.

Within hours of the kitten showing signs of life, I put everything on hold to learn  all that I could about raising a premature kitten by hand. After 18 years of raising my only child, I quite unexpectedly became a mom all over again.  It looks a little different this time: Warming bottles of KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement), feeding every 2 hours (even at night), kitty CPR, stimulating urination and defecation by hand. Still, much of the experience is familiar: loving, nurturing, comforting and even worrying. I’ve named this little fighter Laila. Like the boxer Laila Ali, this kitten has exhibited amazing strength, determination and gusto.

She is not out of the danger zone and I don’t know what the future holds for her. What I do know is that she’s had 3 whole weeks on this Earth and she seems to be enjoying it. She’s walking, playing a bit and displaying a healthy appetite. What a miracle! She received the gift of life, but I feel as if I did too. I was clearly alive and well, but this experience allowed me to awaken even more. It seems that I was given the better gift—an opportunity to help save a life and to reflect deeply on my own.

Rescuing Laila has also reminded me of how important it is for us all to reach out to each other. There are too many people who, although they are alive, are dying inside. They are desperately in need of “life support,” yet most people are too busy to notice or care.

I deeply believe that we can make a difference by giving of ourselves when others—even strangers—need a hug, a shoulder to lean on, an encouraging word or an ounce of compassion.

No one person can save the world, but we can all help to save a life—even if it’s just for the moment.

Hi, I'm Laila

Nea Justice

Nea is a Transformational Life Coach whose mission is to help you love your life.

If you desire the “good life” and you want to know how Nea can help you attain it, contact her now.

    

Inspirational Thoughts

If life has brought you a challenge and you’re feeling a bit distressed, today’s inspirational thoughts are for you.

As you move forward with your week, remember that where you are is always the perfect place from which to springboard into a better reality. And you have everything that you need to do just that.

You have the ability to learn, grow and make life-changing decisions. More importantly, you have the freedom to direct your thoughts and, therefore, your feelings to change your reality for the better.

Right now, in this moment you can decide to procrastinate, feel sorry for yourself, give up or give in. On the other hand, you can make this moment the most amazing turning point of your life. You can rewrite your story to include what happens when tools like self-confidence, a positive attitude and determination are put to good use.

You may feel frustrated, angry or defeated today; but it’s still a perfect jumping off place for something better. If you want to be happy—to feel happiness—it is yours.

Even if something you deeply desire seems completely out of reach or you’ve just experienced a grave disappointment, the story doesn’t have to end there. As long as there is air in your lungs, don’t give up. Keep crafting the story.

From this place that you stand right now, you can choose to springboard into something absolutely magical. Or you can choose to just stand there shivering and complaining.

If you choose the former, you can accomplish your goals, follow your dreams and realize your heart’s desires. You can experience the happiness, love and boundless joy that is overdue for you.

Will you join me in making the shift?

Think for a second about the difficulty you are facing right now and slowly turn your thoughts to the new story you want to tell. What will you do differently? How will you shift your thoughts, actions, reactions? 3 months, 3 years, 30 years from now, does the story say that you sat helplessly in a puddle of tears or that you tapped into the limitless possibilities of you? The decision is yours.

The current challenge in your life is without doubt not your first and it won’t be your last. Fortunately, however, they all have something in common. They are your springboards. Instead of freezing in a state of fearful desperation, see every challenges as the perfect jumping off place that they is at every single moment of your life.

“You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there.”

~Edwin Louis Cole

Image credit: Eva Wilander

Nea Justice

Nea is a Transformational Life Coach whose mission is to help you love your life.

If you desire the “good life” and you want to know how Nea can help you attain it, contact her now.

    

Reflecting on life lessons learned an sometimes be a less than cheerful trip down memory lane, but this one is actually quite funny. The joke is on me, but fortunately for you I’m not afraid to laugh at myself. So here we go.

If you live in a cold climate, you know very well the pain of shoveling snow from your driveway so that you can drive out of the garage. Well, I didn’t quite understand this concept when I moved to Minneapolis, MN from Memphis, TN.

In Memphis, the entire city would shut down if there was one inch of snow; and that was just about the most I’d seen at once. Please take this into consideration before calling me braindead as I share my crazy experience with you.

Life Lessons Learned, Minnesota Winter Style

It was my first Minnesota winter and there was more snow on the ground than I’d ever seen in my life. Everyone was scraping and shoveling and acting like little snow worker bees.

Being a little naïve and a lot impatient; I decided that standing out in the cold with a shovel was a waste of time. My thought process went a little like this, “It’s just snow—crystallized water—so why in hell would it be any match for a 2 ton car. I don’t have time for this shit. Maybe this is normal to these Midwesterners, but I’ll show them how a Southern girl gets things done. I can just drive right over this stuff and move on with my day. No big deal.”

Braindead? No. Blonde moment? No. Completely out of my freaking mind? Maybe. I put the car in reverse and pressed on the accelerator. WTH…The tires spun, but I went nowhere. So, I pressed that accelerator more and more. Lots of smoke, spinning tires, distressed noises from the car—but I was still there. Being the stubborn Capricorn that I am, I kept trying, achieving nothing except to royally piss myself off and delay the time it would take to get where I needed to go.

Needless to say, the snow won this battle. I finally gave up and realized that, if I wanted to get anywhere, I needed to make the snow shovel my new best friend. Bummer!

Unfortunately, this hopeless scenario is reminiscent of the way we as people often live our lives. We want to reach our potential—to live a better life—but we want to do so without purging all the crap that’s standing in our way.

Negative expectations, an attitude of defeat, low sense of self worth, limiting beliefs and fear are all blocks that can make it nearly impossible to reach your destination. For some, these blocks are relatively small but for many others they are huge snow covered mounds that keep you stuck in neutral when you’re most desperate to move forward. In either case, progress is possible.

In order to turn my plans for the day into reality, I had to step out of the car and shovel the shit out of that snow. I wanted to just act as if it wasn’t there—to disregard it and run it over—but that was not a workable solution.

Sure, there may be times when you can navigate your way through a rocky road along your path. But there will also be times when you run into a real road block. Running into it while acting as if it isn’t there won’t get you very far. At times like these, you have to get a little dirty, cold and tired if you want to change your life. You have to realize that what you’ve been doing isn’t working and that continuing to do the same thing will simply keep you wherever you are.

Every single one of us has amazing potential, but reaching that potential won’t always happen just because we decide that we want it to. If you want to turn your life around in some way, yet you’re not getting very far; take a closer look at what you’re allowing to stay the same. What are you trying to ignore? Whatever it is, just know that you have what it takes to change it. So, break out the tools and resources available to you and shovel your heart out until you can, once again, move in the direction of your dreams.

It’s comment time…

Minnesota winter clearly taught me a big life lesson. Can you think of any life lessons learned through seemingly unimportant, possibly humorous, happenings in your life? What do you think it takes to really change your life?

Nea Justice

Nea is a Transformational Life Coach whose mission is to help you love your life.

If you desire the “good life” and you want to know how Nea can help you attain it, contact her now.

    

Do you feel the boundless freedom and the power of the present moment? The freedom to live with both the motivating excitement of a new beginning and the enthusiastic anticipation of completion. Not the power to become—but to simply be. Not the power to remember—but to create anew. That is the power of now.

Yesterday and tomorrow—beyond the extent to which they motivate and inspire you today—are irrelevant. This day, this hour, this moment is all that truly matters. Yesterday is no longer, and tomorrow does not exist. The now is all there is, all you need, all that’s real. Embrace it, enjoy it and make magic in it.

The more you choose to honor the amazing power of now, the more you allow the peace of mind, happiness and well-being that are your destiny. They are always here, waiting for you to turn your attention away from the meaningless illusions that threaten to separate you from your joy. Can you feel it?

This moment—the now—is yours. Check in with yourself to make sure that you’re here. Are you truly present in the now? Not just physically present with your feet planted firmly on the ground beneath you. Are you deeply, completely, wholeheartedly present?

Such a presence has the power to raise your vibration so that you are allowing your full connection to the Source of everything beautiful, right and marvelous in this world.

There’s so much to love and appreciate about today—about your now. Join me in tapping in to it.

Take a moment to center your thoughts on the possibilities available to you in this moment. Find something in your mind’s eye that’s worthy of a smile, a laugh, a sigh of relief, an attitude of gratitude.

If you’re blocked, breathe in deeply and notice the way your breath travels perfectly through your body, keeping you alive and giving you another opportunity to appreciate your life. Now place your hand gently on your chest, noticing the soft thump of your heart against your fingertips as the blood circulates through the miracle of you.

You, my friend, are a masterpiece. Nothing that has ever happened or that ever might happen is more important than this fact. Right here, right now is everything.

With every breath, let your past regrets and future worries slip away. With every heartbeat, guide your thoughts to the deep, empowering truths that serve you. Love this moment. Love who you are in this moment.

There is no way to know how many heartbeats or breaths of fresh air you have left; but what you can know is how you will use them. This choice is your power. It is the power that you, in all your awesomeness, evoke to create your reality. It is the power of now.

What will you do with it?

It’s comment time. Did you enjoy this week’s inspirational thoughts? Are you able to be fully present, embracing your now?

Image credit: Rachel Susko

Nea Justice

Nea is a Transformational Life Coach whose mission is to help you love your life.

If you desire the “good life” and you want to know how Nea can help you attain it, contact her now.

    

January is an awesome month for me.  Not only is it the start of a new year, it’s the time to celebrate the day I was born into this world.  As of January 14, 2012 I am 35 years awesome. Woo hoo!!!

One of the things I love to do around this time of year is to reflect on the life lessons learned since my last birthday; as well as, those learned over the course of my life.  As if such an opportunity isn’t enough of a gift, I have the extra good fortune of being able to share my life lessons with you. And that’s exactly what this post is all about.

Thanks for sharing this occasion with me. It is my hope that the life lessons I’ve learned will serve you in some way.

Life Lessons Learned by 35

1. “Should” is irrelevant. “Should” can keep you stuck by making life experiences all about obligation and saving face. I don’t know about you, but those ingredients are not welcome in my happy life recipe.  When it comes to making decisions that matter to me, the determining factor is not what I “should” do.  Instead, I turn to the inspired desires of my heart, the purpose of my life, the gentle tug of my Inner Being, the voice of my higher self and what I feel called to do.

2.A baby step is still a step. It’s easy to celebrate the accomplishment of a big goal, but I’ve learned that the best way to remain motivated enough to reach that point is to celebrate the tiny steps taken along the way.

3. It’s never too late. Choosing a career by 17, completing college by 24, climbing high on the corporate ladder by 30…these are honorable goals; but I’ve learned that it’s never too late to follow your heart.  I realized as a 30-something that I chose my career for the wrong reasons; and I decided to do something about it.  That meant rendering my youthful accomplishments useless and starting from the bottom. But it also meant increasing my level of satisfaction in life, following my dreams and living my life purpose.  As far as I’m concerned, a late start on the right path beats the hell out of staying on the wrong one.

4. Healthy selfishness is vital. After neglecting my needs for many years in the name of love and generosity, I learned that putting self-care above all else is one of the best things that anyone can do for another person.  It is a way of positively affirming to yourself that you are important, deserving and deeply loved.  The value of knowing your worth and putting yourself first spills over into every other aspect of your life; and everyone shares the benefits.

5. Parenting doesn’t end when they turn 18. I’ve spent my entire life dreading the day that my only daughter would turn 18.  Well, that day just passed and I’m happy to say that my baby girl, although she is officially a woman, is still my baby girl.  The sky didn’t open to provide new guidelines for us, there was no giant leap in maturity on her birthday, she didn’t suddenly lose the desire for motherly advice and (most importantly) our bond as mother and daughter remains solid as a rock. For me, this may be the most comforting of all the life lessons learned.

6. The life lessons never stop. At 15 I thought I knew it all. At 25, I knew I had more to learn, but I figured I’d have it all figured out in a decade. At 35, I realize that I’ll be learning as long as I am breathing.  Life, I now realize, isn’t about reaching the point where you have all the answers.  It is about the sacred, everlasting journey of discovery.

7. It’s okay to love money. Like most people, I grew up with negative, limiting beliefs about money and the people who have “too much” of it.  However, I learned that you must change your relationship with money to allow the flow of abundance in your life.  Money is not the root of all evil.  Money is energy…don’t block it.

8. Mentoring is not coaching. Although I believed that I was a natural life coach and that I’d been coaching forever; formal training showed me that I wasn’t coaching at all.  Instead of helping people tap into their inner knowing, I had been mentoring and advising—guiding people based on my knowing. I now know the value of empowering people to tap into their own truths rather than allowing them to become dependent on me for their answers.

9. Silence, when not used to manipulate, is golden. Sometimes we need nothing more than a moment of silence to think, reflect, calm down or listen. Through Zen meditation, I practiced sitting silently for 40 minutes at a time while releasing every thought that came to me.  This silence relaxed my mind and restored my Spirit in ways that I can’t even begin to explain.  Silence is indeed golden.

10. Silence, when used to manipulate, is destructive. The silent treatment is a passive-aggressive nightmare that wreaks havoc on relationships. In my 20s, I was the silent treatment queen; but I’ve learned that this tactic can be even more hurtful than words.

11. I am not my hair. After 30 years of chemically relaxing my hair in order to achieve and maintain the “straight look,” I decided to get acquainted with my natural hair in the most drastic way. I cut off ALL of my hair.  With no hair to obsess over, I quickly learned that my hair doesn’t make me who I am. Beauty comes from the heart and I have a heart of gold.  No hair style, length or texture can change that.

12. Fun deserves a higher priority. For productivity junkies like me, fun can seem absolutely overrated. However, major burnout taught me that fun is just as important as every other aspect of a balanced life.  In fact, taking a time out to have a good time can be so restorative that it boosts productivity in the long-term.

13. Your choices tell your story. We can say many things about what we want, what we stand for, and what we believe in; but the truth is in our choices.  Everyday, we make decisions and those decisions show the story that lies beneath every claim that we make. As I look back on some of the goals that I didn’t accomplish and habits that I didn’t break, I can clearly see that I wasn’t as committed as I claimed.

14. Nobody is fearless. Although I’d love to say that I have no fear, that would be a bold face lie. What is true for me, however, is that nothing that really matters requires fearlessness.  Love, growth, spirituality, service, success, happiness, change, commitment. They don’t require me (or you) to be fearless—just to be determined enough to not let fear stand in the way.

15. Lion King rocks. This isn’t exactly a self-improvement style life lesson, but I couldn’t leave it out.  I put off seeing The Lion King on Broadway every year for as long as it has existed, but that ended last weekend. My birthday treat was to finally see this show and I was blown away. Lion King is absolutely amazing, so go check it out if you haven’t yet.

It’s comment time. Did any of the life lessons I’ve learned resonate with you? What life lessons would you like to share with the world?

Nea Justice

Nea is a Transformational Life Coach whose mission is to help you love your life.

If you desire the “good life” and you want to know how Nea can help you attain it, contact her now.

    

I’ve compiled these quotes by Martin Luther King Jr. to celebrate the birthday of a man whose courage, vision and greatness touched countless lives with the gift of a deeply powerful, eternally relevant message. The message is one of pure truth, love, peace and respect for all of humanity.

Quotes by Martin Luther King Jr.

1. We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.

2. Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.

3. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

4. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the positive affirmation of peace.

5. The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.

6. Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.

7. An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

8. Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.

9. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.

10. An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.

11. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

12. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

13. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.

14. Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

15. We must combine the toughness of the serpent with the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart.

16. The chain reaction of evil – hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars – must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

17. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

18. A lie cannot live.

19. If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.

20. History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

21. I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

22. If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive.

23. Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.

24. Pity may represent little more than the impersonal concern which prompts the mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one’s soul.

25. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

26. We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.

27. Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”

28. Hate distorts the personality of the hater. We usually think of what hate does for the individual hated or the individuals hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic, it is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates.

29. Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

30. Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

I hope you enjoyed these 30 Martin Luther King Jr. quotes, and that you found them reflective of who he was and what he stood for.  He gave his life for the dream that he so deeply believed in- a dream that included you, me and everyone around us.  Join me in paying it forward by seizing opportunities to keep that dream alive.

It’s comment time. What can be done? What do you stand for? What will you do?

Nea Justice

Nea is a Transformational Life Coach whose mission is to help you love your life.

If you desire the “good life” and you want to know how Nea can help you attain it, contact her now.

    

On this beautiful Monday, I feel compelled to remind you that, no matter where you are on your journey right now, all is well.

You have the support of the entire Universe; therefore, wherever you are, there is boundless opportunity for joy. All that you have or don’t have, all that you know or don’t know, all that you are—is absolutely enough. Enough to make magic and to create the life of your dreams.

I offer this perspective in hopes that you will take it as your own, trusting that this powerful belief is the precursor to manifesting the “stuff” your dreams are made of.

I don’t know exactly what you desire or what would bring you joy; but I do know that joy is your birthright. I know that you need only to tap into it, to release any resistance, to allow the manifestation of it, to go with the flow of it.

Life, I believe, is like a stream—flowing perfectly, confidently, serenely and always in the right direction. Flowing unconditional love, happiness, light, peace of mind.

As a living, breathing reflection of the Source that lives within you; you can never stray away from this stream. That is the miracle here. Your best life is never out of reach.

Now, I must say that I, of all people, know how untrue this can feel. When times are tough, life feels more like falling off a cliff than flowing effortlessly in a stream. But I want to share with you a perspective that has helped me to change my life.

No matter how far you feel that you are from your “happy place” or how much you believe you have strayed from your path, you remain one with the stream.  No action, inaction, choice or mistake can ever change that. All you ever need to do is figure out how to go with the flow.

Should you find yourself feeling separate from the stream, realize that this is an illusion. Thoughts and beliefs that don’t serve you can resist the stream, which feels very much like separateness. But there is no true separation. You are in the stream and the stream is in you.

By “swimming” against it’s current, you may cause yourself unnecessary pain. Yet, that pain is only a message. It is a message from your Higher Self that calls you back downstream, summoning you to go with the flow. Every emotion lower than joy is a reminder of this message.

To honor the message and to flow with the stream, let go of what holds you back. Let go of what fear wants you to do. Turn away from what resentment, scarcity, doubt and anxiety want you to do. These are all forms of resistance…and you know what happens when you resist (or work against) a current.

The stream of life is there for you and it can perfectly support you in living your best life. Why not allow it to do so?

If you’re holding on to some stick in the mud while the stream is flowing you forward, just let go. Go with the flow. If you’re thrashing about and swimming with all your might, just let go. Go with the flow.

In the flow, miracles happen. Love, success and accomplishments happen. Relationships evolve. Success takes on new meaning. Joy becomes the “way” rather than the occasional outcome.  Storms pass you by. Rainbows seem more vibrant. The sun shines on you even when the whole world seems cloudy. Hearts heal. Minds relax. Lives change forever.

Will you go with the flow?

Photo Credit: Moyan Brenn

Nea Justice

Nea is a Transformational Life Coach whose mission is to help you love your life.

If you desire the “good life” and you want to know how Nea can help you attain it, contact her now.

    

Affirmations  rock! Do you agree?  They are among the most well-known self improvement techniques, so I won’t bore you by defining what they are. You know that already. But do you know that everyone uses affirmations every single day?  Moreover, do you know how common it is to unintentionally use affirmations to create a reality that sucks?

When used regularly, affirmations become beliefs; and beliefs create the reality that we live.  This is absolutely wonderful as long as you know what you are affirming.

Think about the messages that are replayed over and over in your head.   These messages are directly related to the level of joy in your life.  Whether positive or negative, they are your affirmations.

With enough repetition and reinforcement, affirmations have the potential to become so deeply ingrained in you that you aren’t even aware of their existence. Your subconscious mind accepts them as your truth and they become thoughts that you sort of think without thinking. But where did they come from in the first place?

Where Your Affirmations Come From

You’ve been absorbing affirming messages, giving them your attention, seeking evidence to support them, speaking them into the Universe and using them to create your reality since you were a tiny fetus in your mother’s womb.

You pieced them together based on your understanding of the many elements of your life experience—your parents and teachers, accomplishments and mistakes, successes and failures, siblings, friends and foes, religious leaders, peers, the media, society, misunderstandings, comparisons, etc. You may or may not be consciously aware of what you are affirming; but I’ll give you some tips on how to recognize your affirmations, quiet down those that do not serve you and turn your life around with positive affirmations that work magic.

Increase Your Awareness of Affirmations

Whenever you want to create change or find relief from a difficulty in your life, the path of least resistance is to extinguish any internal messages that feed the problem. However, it’s pretty tough to get rid of something that you don’t even know is there. So, how do you recognize the negative affirmations that are creating a reality you don’t want?

Negative affirmations may show up as “voices” in your head like, “I can’t trust anyone,” “I’m not strong enough” or “There’s never enough money.” These are fairly easy to recognize. However, some of the strongest, sneakiest, most powerful messages that you send to yourself are sent with no words at all. These messages are played out through your feelings and behavior.

If you often feel that you’re not safe, loved, worthy or supported; you’re experiencing negative affirmations through your emotions.

These affirmations may not have been deliberately or explicitly created by you, but they are indeed kept alive by you.

Every time you procrastinate or sabotage your way out of an opportunity to succeed, you tell yourself (without words) that you are not capable or successful. When you give up on a dream or goal, you affirm that you can’t be trusted and that you welcome self-doubt. When you hold onto toxic relationships or avoid looking at your naked image in the mirror, you affirm that you are not deserving of love and appreciation. There are many other ways that people keep negative affirmations alive, including:

• Accepting the advice of others over your own intuition.
• All work and no play.
• Avoiding social situations.
• Giving in to fear.
• Holding on to horrible jobs.
• Hoarding.
• Not making decisions.
• Distrusting everyone.
• Blaming.
• Lying, deceiving or manipulating.
• Hiding behind oversized clothes.
• Refusing to take risks.
• Avoiding opportunities to give.
• Playing the victim.
• Acting out passively, passive-aggressively or aggressively.
• Giving up.
• Self Sabotage of any kind.

Every choice that you make or don’t make represents a thought that you’ve been thinking. These thoughts affirm what you believe to be true in your life—and they create the fact if you keep them alive. They are your affirmations.

Since we are all natural geniuses at affirming messages to ourselves, why not use this talent in a way that produces positive change? I do it…and you can too.

Positive Affirmations That Heal

By creating a list of positive affirmations and deliberately affirming these messages to yourself until your subconscious mind accepts them and you absolutely believe them to be true, you can create your reality in a way that is perfectly aligned with what you really deserve.

Personally, I have used many of the same affirmations for several years because they relate to the general makings of a happy life. However, I do make additions and revisions as my life circumstances change. If I take on a new project or face a situation that brings up old, outdated messages; I come up with brand new positive affirmations to challenge my perspectives and to shine light on the way forward.

I am happy to share with you a few of the affirmations that I will be using throughout 2012. My focus for the year will be on growing my life coaching practice with highly motivated clients who are a perfect match for me, loving myself more and more each day, enjoying all of the happiness and peace of mind that I can stand, living more abundantly, and being generous in new ways that I feel good about.

My List of Positive Affirmations for 2012

General Daily Affirmations

• Today is going to be marvelous day.
• Every day of my life is an absolute joy.
• The better it gets, the better it gets.

Positive Affirmations for Peace of Mind

• Where I am, there is peace.
• I am loved, supported and appreciated.
• I trust my Angels and Guides to support me in every way.
• All is well in my world.

Positive Affirmations for Business

• I attract ideal clients with ease.
• My business is expanding perfectly and abundantly.
• My business is successful and fun.

Positive Affirmations for Giving Back/Generosity

• I always find the perfect opportunities to give.
• My gifts are gifts to the whole world.
• I am thankful that I have so much to give.

Positive Affirmations for Money and Abundance

• I think positively about money and abundance.
• I give myself permission to be fully abundant.
• Today is a perfect day to enjoy abundance.

Positive Affirmations for Self Love

• I adore me as I am and I become more wonderful everyday.
• I see myself as Source sees me—beautiful, worthy, whole and complete.
• I am a unique and special gift to the world.
• There is so much to love about me.

I hope you’ll find some value in this list of affirmations. As you walk the path that you choose in 2012, just remember to pay attention to the messages you are carrying with you. Affirmations, both positive and negative, are like ingredients in a recipe. The final product, which is your reality, will be as good as what you put into the mix.

Nea Justice

Nea is a Transformational Life Coach whose mission is to help you love your life.

If you desire the “good life” and you want to know how Nea can help you attain it, contact her now.