Are we free to fall in love and still be ourselves?Why does it become so difficult in a relationship to just be and to do as we want without being judged or criticized by our partner?Why do we become so attached to our partners and lovers?
It is said that love is blind, but is it?Actually, nothing on earth is as clear-sighted as love. The thing that is blind is attachment, not love.An attachment is a state of clinging that comes from the false belief that something or someone is necessary for your happiness. Would it not be just perfect if we could love someone and just allow that someone to be, allow that someone to be free, to choose and to feel what he or she wants, without making that someone feel guilty because his or her choices are not what we want.
Love is the greatest gift we have in the universe; IT TRULY IS ALL THERE IS!Freedom to love without restraint, without restrictions, without making the other person feel a sense of guilt or wrongdoing because he or she does not act or think they way we think they should, is our biggest blessing. Would it not be great if we just allow and accepted them just as they are, unique to the world, instead of their being who we want them to be, they are free to be who they feel comfortable being.
How many times do we call our partners or lovers selfish?How many times do we label them as wrong just because they have a different vision of life or just simply because they want something different than we do?Is this our interpretation of freedom to love?
To look at something and to interprete it in our own way is our greatest right; it is our right to be free, to choose the way we look at the world. To love and respect someone who does not see the same things we do is to love freely. To learn to love ourselves as we are without judgment or criticism is our first step to loving freely.It all starts with ourselves, learning to accept ourselves just as we are in our good and challenging moments, in our weak and our strong moments, in our difficult moments as well as in our easy moments.
Accepting that we are perfect and worthy of love at every moment, without judgment, that is unconditional love.It is knowing that we are worthy of love because of who we are and not because of what we are or what we do.Stepping into that place of unconditional love for ourselves is when we learn to love and to accept others just as they are, unconditionally. That is the magic of love, pure love. Pure love means being able to see past all of our judgments to see the pureness, the wholeness, the God in us and in each other.
Can we change what happened a moment ago? Can we control what is going to happen a moment from now?All we can control is the way we react with what happens.What I am doing right at this moment, what is going on right now and, better yet, what I choose to feel at this moment, regardless of everything else that may be going on, is all I can control. It is a matter of choice.
We are great at blaming other people for the way they make us feel, but do they really make us feel a certain way, or do we choose to feel a certain way?Have we ever given that any thought?Why is it so necessary for us to take everything so personal? Why does everything have to be about us?When we are angry and yell at someone, or even say something to hurt someone, are we purposely trying to hurt that person, or are we just allowing our emotions at that moment to control the way we react?Is it about someone else, or is it about us?It is never about the other person; it is always about the way we are feeling at that moment and about our willingness to either deal or not deal with those feelings.
We are so used to having our thoughts control us. How often are we doing something and are totally thinking about something else? Why is it so difficult for us to just focus our attention on the present moment?We allow our thoughts to take us to live in the future, to how a particular situation is going to turn out, how we are going to handle it, what we are going to say, how the people around us are going to react. In our minds, we play that particular situation in every possible and impossible way.However, all we are doing is living a future experience that may never even happen.
Better yet, we take a situation that already happened and play it in our minds a million different ways. We start to feel guilty, frustrated, happy, or sad. We even pretend to know how other people felt about it. Can we change what happened?Do we really know how other people felt or why they reacted the way they did?
How about if we just understand that we cannot change what happened or what is going to happen. All we can do is deal with it in the best way we know how.How about if we just stop thinking about the situation and focus on the present moment, which is, in reality, all we have.At the present moment, there are no problems; there are no issues; it is simply right now.
Have you ever tried quieting your mind, stopping all that self-talk and the million other voices going on, and just simply pay attention to whatever it is that you are doing?There is no greater power than experiencing this moment and knowing, without a doubt, that everything is just perfect.
Ask yourself constantly what you are thinking right now.What is going on inside you? Where are you? You will find that as you start to pay attention to your thoughts and you learn to quiet your inner dialogue, you will enjoy more and more the present moment. You will learn to be more appreciative of everything that is going on in your life. You will find yourself giving thanks more often forexperiencing the little things in life, that most of the time we do not see because we are so busy giving our attention to the past or to the future. We learn to enjoy the beauty of a smile, the magic of a flower, the sound of the ocean, a great meal, the love of our children, the joy of our friends, the blessings of our partners, the gifts other people bring to us, the teachings of every experience. We learn to slow down, appreciate every one and everything in our lives for, we learn to practice the art of gratitude.
How often do we tell someone what he or she really means to us? How often do we say that we truly appreciate someone and what that someone has brought to your life? How often do we give thanks for everything that has happened to us in life? Had it not been for this someone, and others in our lives and the experiences, we may not be whom we are today!
As I sit here and reflect on the last year of my life, I cannot help but feel a tremendous sense of gratitude for the perfection of life. A little over a year ago, I moved into my cousin’s apartment after ending my relationship with the man with whom I was prepared to spend the rest of my life. Part of me just knew that there was still some inner work to do.Before I could commit the rest of my life to anyone, first I had to make that commitment to myself.How could I possibly commit to a lifetime relationship with my partner when I did not have a relationship with the most important person in my life, me!How could I be open and honest with him, when, in reality, I was not open and honest with myself!
It always comes back to us, no matter what it is.It is impossible to give what you do not have. So, after several months of pure drama, threatening to leave only to come back a few weeks later; after playing the game to exhaustion, I decided it was time for me to make a decision.I packed all of my belongings and moved out.
What seemed to be the darkest moment of my life, the end, was truly the beginning of my discovery of whom I was.After a few months, the relationship continued to be an on-and-off journey, a reflection of my lack of commitment to myself.Yet, while I was going through the turmoil, I did not realize the incredible power and strength I was drawing from it.
I had created this relationship to push me to face myself and to help me to work through my greatest challenges. In the midst of my devastation from the breakup, I felt inspired to write about my feelings.As I shared my feelings with friends, they were very impressed and could connect with the message I was sharing.I even had one of my first artilces published in a magazine and received amazing responses.Without even being aware of it, I was allowing my creativity to flow.I felt inspired knowing that in sharing my experiences and feelings, I could somehow touch people’s lives, connect with them, and help them to move forward.I continued writing articles from my heart, knowing that, somehow, at some point, people would be able to read them.
After returning from a conference in California, I was also inspired to start sending out weekly inspirational quotes to quite an extensive database that I had created. The response was absolutely phenomenal.People were connecting with the message, and I liked connecting with them.I started exploring how I could share my experiences and inspire those who were interested and willing to believe in themselves and move forward.
As I meditated and asked for guidance, the name Memoirs of a Woman came to me.It made sense, sharing my journey, my story, my memories on the path to awareness. That was the birth of Memoirs of a Woman.I could now share my articles with everyone and also share other articles from friends and colleagues.
As I continued my journey with its ups and downs, I discovered the gift of awareness.Step by step, I led myself to what I believe, is the most effective work in the entire world, Self-Discovery Techniques, and the blessing of an amazing mentor, Marcy Ouelette. www.selfdiscoverytechniques.com
Within three months, my life had begun to experience a total transformation, and I began to feel aligned with my passion to inspire and to lead others to mastering their lives.My decision to become part of the Self Discovery family was immediate and unwavering.
Now, from this point, looking back at the last 12 months of my life, I give thanks for what I considered, at one point, to be the worst moment of my life as it turned out to be one of my biggest blessings.Taking responsibility for every area of my life, knowing that I am a powerful creator, that I am in command of my life, and creating my ideal from awareness is what I am here to do.
Today, I give thanks for every moment and every experience in my life and celebrate it all, the good, the bad, and the ugly, accepting responsibility for it all.Every single moment of my life has brought me to where I am and to all there is, Now…Here!
I, like many of you, have had to overcome some challenges in many areas of life, including business. Regardless, the one thing that has always kept me going has been owning the belief of attaining my desire!
For me, understanding the power within has been such a profound journey.Knowing that there is a connection with a higher source, believing in that guidance within me, taking action and understanding that I am always loved, guided, and protected is what has brought me to a totally new level of awareness in my life.
Having the absolute belief that we are all God’s greatest creation has sustained me! Knowing that we are worthy of greatness in life, that we have been created to lead a life of abundance, that there is no separation between business and personal, it all comes from the same Source.Understanding that challenges are part of life, they bring us great lessons and help us to discover our strengths.
In our personal and professional lives, there are cycles of success. Things come to us and can either thrive or fail. When those things wither or disintegrate, we have to let them go in order to make room for new things to arise..
“If You Think Your Thought is Powerful, Then Your Thought is Powerful.” “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” is the law of life, and the creative power can no more change this law than an ordinary mirror can reflect back to you a different image than the object you hold before it.“As you think, so you are” does not mean “as you tell people you think” or “as you would wish the world to believe you think.”It means your innermost thoughts, that place where no one but you knows, that place of knowing, of believing, that place of unwavering faith.
I have always been blessed with the gift of opening doors and connecting with people.Our journey includes being able to help people connect within and to truly have faith that each one of us can accomplish anything that we want in life, that there are no limitations. The only limitations are those that we set on ourselves. To know and to see ourselves successful, joyful, peaceful, and abundant in every area of our lives is part of our journey!
To come to this point is my most satisfying accomplishment yet, not only for me but also for those I am able to help through my writing and consulting.Leading by example that anything in life is possible is to me the power of faith.
“Memoirs of a Woman” is a newsletter that was born out of inspiration.Many of you are by now familiar with some of my articles and with some of the challenges I have faced leading up to my Memoirs.
The monthly articles published in “Memoirs of a Woman” are based upon my personal journey of overcoming a very difficult period in my life. I reached a point, where although it seemed I had it all, I felt empty and lost. I was not aligned with who I truly was. I experienced a time of confusion, unease and doubt. Knowing that there had to be more to life than this, I set the intention of finding the connection missing in my life.
It is my purpose, with this newsletter, to share with you empowering stories and to also open doors to many possibilities, both personal and professional. My intention is to bring us together, to share what we are learning on our path. I welcome your comments and insights, and I encourage you to share your stories, through the forum on my website.
I would like to express my sincere love and gratitude to all my contributing writers and sponsors for their support and for sharing information that is life changing to those open to receive it.
My deepest appreciation goes out to Self Discovery, Susan and Rob James and to their trainers and in particular, to my personal mentor and friend Marcy Ouelette, for their unconditional love and support.Their dedication to an enlightened civilization has not only transformed my life, but many others as well.
My sincere thanks goes out to Dr. Hughues Valcourt and his chiropractic center. You are not only an amazing chiropractor but an amazing human being.Thank you for always giving from your heart and for your unconditional friendship.
To Kellie Keucha, Women that Win and with her very successful MastHERmind program:Thank you for helping me turn my passion into a successful business.Thank you for being an example of what being a leader is all about.Your commitment to helping all women makes a difference in our world.
To Shondelle Solomon, owner of Synergize Weight Loss Center:Thank you for the opportunity to promote you and your company in the Hispanic community. I am proud to call you my colleague, my friend and my client.I truly admire your commitment and your dedication to wellness and am proud to have Synergize as one of our main sponsors. I celebrate you and your success as a woman, fitness coach, business owner and community leader.
Also to Adriana Gomez from Weston Spa, she has been my colleague and friend for many years.You are a tremendous inspiration my dear friend.Thank you for inspiring me to stay committed and dedicated and to always do my best.
“Memoirs of a Woman” newsletter goes out to over 5,000 women and Hispanics monthly.Women who read our newsletter are really connected to this community and are looking for companies and vendors they can trust and have a long-lasting relationship with.
