I am more and more aware that "all" we have to do is ask. Ask for a wake up call (my friend calls it "asking your angels"), ask to be left to sleep in a little more. Ask for clarity, ask for a prompt, ask for inspiration, ask for courage. Ask. And them make room for the answer. And know that it's coming. Today, these words, by Brené Brown. For us. ''I think midlife is when the universe gently places her hands upon your shoulders, pulls you close, and whispers in your ear: 'I’m not screwing around. It’s time. All of this pretending and performing – these coping mechanisms that you’ve developed to protect yourself from feeling inadequate and getting hurt – has to go.' Your armor is preventing you from growing into your gifts. I understand that you needed these protections when you were small. I understand that you believed your armor could help you secure all of the things you needed to feel worthy of love and belonging, but you’re still searching and you’re more lost than ever. Time is growing short. There are unexplored adventures ahead of you. You can’t live the rest of your life worried about what other people think. You were born worthy of love and belonging. Courage and daring are coursing through you. You were made to live and love with your whole heart. It’s time to show up and be seen.'' May your day be real, may your day be yours, may your day be brave. XOXOX Sitting at a red light that just would not turn green, I learn a great little lesson about getting out of my own way. How often we hesitate to do what our heart is trying to tell us, because we are afraid? Afraid to look stupid, afraid to be misunderstood, or even afraid to soften up? If you enjoyed our time together, please subscribe to my podcast on iTunes, and leave me a review.
Follow me @LauraLavigne, and check out my Pink Hair & Chocolate Cookies book - where this story was originally published. I am learning so much by the anonymous responses I keep on receiving to the questions I posed this week (and you are warmly invited to add yours). One the recurring themes I am reading is fear of failure. It goes like this: Q: If you could do anything you wanted to, right now, without worries, limitations, or hurting anyone, what would you do? A: XXXX (play the guitar. Learn to speak Italian. Perform in a play. Sell my art....) Q: What, exactly, is in the way of you doing that? A: I'm afraid I'll fail. Over and over again. Today, I am studying a book on podcasting, as I get closer to launching my Essential Happiness Podcast . And I find these words, by podcast guru Paul Colligan. They ring true so much for me, I want to share them with you (and really, forget the podcasting part. It does not matter. These words apply to just about anything we are afraid to BEGIN.) He says: "I wanted to be a podcaster. I had zero experience; I had zero online presence. I'd never spoken into a microphone before or interviewed anybody... but I wanted to be a podcaster. The only way that I was going to be a podscaster was by doing that thing, was by podcasting. I was willing to have the courage to be bad, because it does take that courage. For a decent amount of time, slowly getting better by practicing the craft, by pressing that red button every single day, talking to somebody that was so much more successful, so much more eloquent, so much more polished, so much more impressive than me. Bumbling around, acting the fool, stumbling on my words, trying to have a coherent conversation. But every time, I'd think "Wow, that was bad, but I did a little better on this or on that." *** I love this. Having the courage to be bad. Having the awareness that even though we may be bad, we won't die. And that we may actually, eventually, become really good. As someone who started a bakery without really knowing how to bake, I have a whole lot of respect for the power of this awareness. |
SCARED OF THE SACRED
HAPPINESS SCHOOL:
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