Being able to the appreciate gifts that all experiences bring, good or bad, right or wrong makes the difference between being a victim of circumstances, or the hero of your life story. – Lorraine Cohen
2009 was one of the toughest, most painful, comfort-zone zapping, heart-busting, faith building, healing, profoundly alive, exhilarating, creative, and freeing year I have had in a decade.
I admit that my own faith and confidence shook many times last year as the voice of my inner victim became stronger! Thoughts begin to swirl around, “What am I doing wrong? What makes things so hard? Life is not supposed to be this hard! What do I do?”
Contemplating all of these changes stirs up my inner chatter, which can often happen when I do something bigger for the first time, “Can I really pull all of this off? Will people respond to what I am offering and say yes? Is this what I am being Divinely guided to do or is it motivated by my ego? What if I build it and no one comes?”
When you’re making big and small changes in your life, it’s normal to have those times when self-confidence wanes, fears and doubts creep in, faith wavers as a result of the conversations you have inside our head and with others outside in your world.
The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in. – Morrie Schwartz
Article written by Alex Blackwell. Connect with me on Facebook.
Love lives at your core. It defines how you see the world, how you see others and more important love defines how you see yourself and how you measure happiness. Love is the compass that points to your true North.
However, love’s true North can sometimes appear beyond your reach and too hard to find even when you are holding the map in your hands. The way to love can feel nebulous, complex and even treacherous at times. Love is also the great paradox in life: You want to find more of it but sometimes you are afraid of discovering its increasingly amazing power.
Love’s capacity to fill the gaps in your life is always changing and expanding based on the attention you place on it. To bring more love into your life you must be willing to understand its true meaning and then be willing to recognize the meaning you bring to love.
It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes. – Sally Field
Article written by BridgeMaker contributor Ali Hale. Please visit her at Aliventures.com.
I wasn’t a very confident child or teen. My family moved house when I was ten years old, and I didn’t make new friends easily. I was overweight, wore glasses and had a “posh” accent, both of which made me a target for school bullies. Yes, it all seems a bit silly now – but I remember how much it mattered at the time.
If you read my blogs or even meet me, you probably wouldn’t think I lack confidence. But you’re seeing what’s on the surface. Like many people, I’m still struggling to throw off some false beliefs that got lodged in my head during my adolescence – and I expect that this is the case for most of us who struggle with self-confidence.
Three big false beliefs for me were – and in some ways still are – these:
I’m not attractive
I’m useless at practical things
I don’t have enough experience
Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself. Hermann Hesse
Article written by Alex Blackwell. Connect with me on Facebook.
There was once a simpler, quieter time. There was a time before your cell phone would regularly light-up with text messages, email notifications, Twitter updates or Facebook statuses. This time has been taken over by the seemingly urgent, but it has not fully disappeared.
Somewhere waiting on the other side of Smartphones, televisions and the internet is a place called stillness. In this place, you will find peace, relief and a chance to re-focus. Finding stillness is not a science, but it is becoming a lost art. Once reclaimed though, stillness can add more value than any modern-day communication device.
Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You. – Dr. Seuss
Article written by Alex Blackwell. Connect with me on Facebook.
The next time you are attending to someone’s needs, or diving headfirst into a project for work or making certain your responsibilities at home are not slipping, do something just as important as these things:
Stop and celebrate you.
How often do you forget, or neglect, to acknowledge the things you do or the gifts you offer? Lost in the busyness of the day is a part of you that needs some attention, too. You are worth the same amount of effort you put into everything else. You are worth even more than what you sometimes give yourself.
So, it’s time to stop and celebrate you.
The beautiful you
Even though I don’t know you, I do know I often forget to celebrate me. My hope is these things will give you the encouragement to take a deeper look at the beautiful you, and then celebrate:
