When problems come your way, don’t forget about checking internal solutions. *

OK….so the economy remains to be a pretty grim topic, and situation for that matter. Most people are seeing their investments decrease, unemployment continues to increase, and yet prices seem to be going up and up. YIKES! In fact, many people I know are not only concerned for their financial future, but their children’s and grandchildren’s futures as well.

Believe it or not, among all the worry and concern, I find myself not becoming overwhelmed by the economic crisis. This is mostly due to the fact that I am working daily on focusing in the present moment, with the use of a wonderful tool by a wonderful mentor…..*

Byron Katie founded, The Work, a simple and powerful tool to help people end the suffering they are afflicting upon themselves. The Work is extremely effective and a reminder that much of our stress and suffering is due to the thoughts and stories we tell ourselves, as opposed to actual external factors.

Much of the time, many people I know seem to believe that when they are faced with a challenge or problem, that something external needs to change in order to either stop the problem, or avoid a challenge. For example, a friend of mine was repeatedly getting upset with her husband who was occasionally getting home later then she had planned…..*

I suggested to my friend that she try using The Work by Byron Katie to see if she could check out her own internal processes, versus believing that the only way to correct this problem was to have an external factor change (i.e. her husband needed to make a change). Sure enough, after trying out The Work, my friend realized that she could work on her thought process and attitude toward her husband’s action.
So the next time you are faced with a problem or unwelcome challenge, consider internal solutions and not just external solutions.

* Please note, these are highlights from an entire article in Higher-Self Living Paychecks. For more information, please visit our website at www.higherselflifecoaching.com.

“Holy Financial Problems Batman…..” *

And right about now, we could use a super hero to get us out this mess….or heck, we need the Justice League at this point. Yikes, yikes, yikes….it seems that not only is the U.S. economy dealing with a crisis, but the rest of the world is also being affected by our financial situation. I keep hearing phrases that cause me to stop and pause, such as “American Financial Crisis” and “Economic Meltdown”. Recently I heard a phrase that stopped me in my tracks…“the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression”.

Is this crisis really being compared to the Great Depression? I was told by many elders that something like the Great Depression would not happen again since “we learned from that experience”. I gotta wonder now….did we learn enough?

I realized that one thing that helps me to feel better about my financial situation, during this crisis, is to verify my income versus my expenses. That is something that I personally can do now and that helps to give me an indication of how I am doing financially, which brings a sense of confidence and assurance.

If you are finding yourself worried about the current economic crisis, and your own financial situation, please take the time to do this simple but effective exercise. Just sit down and re-evaluate your monthly income versus your monthly expenses. List everything, including small purchases, like coffee in the morning at Starbuck’s, or a donut from Dunkin’ Donuts. Better yet, take a day or week and keep track of every purchase you make. Then you will be able to tangibly see where your money is being spent. If you find that your expenses total more then your income, then you will need to analyze each expense and see where you can make some significant changes.

The great thing about this little exercise is that if most people do make sure their income is more then their expenses, then we all will help the recovery of the financial crisis we are seeing happening around the world today. So sit right down and make sure your personal situation is “in the black” (i.e. financially stable) and steering clear of “the red” (i.e. in debt).

Financial Peace to All!

We Are Life

Hello everyone,

I had a realization come to me as I took a stroll, and I wanted to share it with all of you. This came to me as I was remembering the teachings of a wise mentor, Eckhart Tolle.

I want to live, breathe, respond, and react through a state of peace, love, and oneness. For these are states of Being.

I do not want to live, breathe, respond or react through a state of non-peace, anger, separation, or frustration. For these are states of the Ego/Pain-Body.

We are all life experiencing itself through these forms.

Peace and Love to all!!

“There is no place like home…there is no place like home”. *

Let me tell you, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz was onto something with this phrase. Recently, as many of you know, I went out of town for nearly a month. Not only was this the longest stretch of time that I was away from home, but there was also very little English spoken where I was temporarily residing.

I was determined to handle this trip as an adventure and use much of my optimistic attitude and mind-set. I would learn about myself and welcome any and all challenges. What I had slightly forgotten about was the “realistic” aspects of my adventures in foreign travel. I thought all I needed was my “optimistic” handbag. Wrong. Now, don’t get me wrong, being optimistic is a wonderful trait to have. However, sometimes optimistic people tend to forget about some of the realities of life that very much exist in this world.

For example, I had not realistically acknowledged some of the things, and comforts, that I would miss during my travels. Such as, seeing family members and watching my favorite sitcoms. I thought to myself, “oh heck this trip will be great and I will be gone for only one month”. As if it was not that big of a deal.

Well, this worked for about two weeks. I was on an adventure and was absorbing new surroundings and cultures. However, during the third week, I was hit by a “reality” Mack truck….* I felt many overwhelming feelings hit me all at once. I was feeling angry, sad, frustrated, and anxious. Boom.

So I started to cry and sob, and cry and sob, and cry and sob….* I wondered where all those feelings had come from and how they seemed to suddenly surface. I realized that while I was living an adventure, I was also very much missing many aspects about the comforts of my wonderful home. I missed my family and pets terribly. I missed my cozy couch with my nice color screen TV where every 100+ channels had English speaking programs and shows. I missed pizza and McDonald’s at nearly every corner. I missed my walks in a quaint little nearby park and my backyard deck with multiply flowers and occasional butterflies.

This travel experience helped me to realize a couple of very important tips. One, that even though travel can be adventurous, there really is no place like home. Second, being optimistic is great, but also remember to be realistic as well.

* Please note, these are highlights from an entire article in Higher-Self Living Paychecks. For more information, please visit our website at www.higherselflifecoaching.com.

Holy Break Batman!!

Hello everyone,

I wanted to apologize for the lack of postings. I went out of town for a month and had intended on placing a post to explain my temporary absence. Well, time slipped away from me and I was not able to post.

However, I am now back from my travels and will be continuing to post regularly, beginning today.

Thank you all for your patience and returned views.

Shannon

When Your Emotions “Runneth Over”…. and how to prevent wide-spread contamination.*

Emotions can be pretty tricky, heck even trickier then a David Copperfield illusion. Since our emotions are deep within our bodies, and don’t have any physical form, they can be pretty hard to detect and interpret. What can even be more challenging are very passionate emotions, especially from our past.

Some emotions we hold are so strong and intense, that they can spill over and affect other areas of our life. For example, I have a friend named Sarah who would experience emotions of sadness periodically from her past. She was hurt as a child, and as the years passed she tried to just brush them off, as if shooing a fly from her food. For many years, this strategy worked and Sarah lived most of her days pretty happy and content.

However, over time, Sarah noticed that other aspects of her life were changing. In particular, she noticed that while at work, she felt occasional urges of sadness and nearly cried. Sarah wondered if her past emotional sadness was now trickling over into her work like. In many cases, that is most likely. Most people, who have past emotional pain, will experience that pain spilling over and into other aspects of their lives. This is mostly due to the fact that they may not have taken steps to acknowledge the past pain, and then heal the pain.

Our bodies often use emotions to communicate with us. If we try to disregard or avoid those emotions, then our bodies may find other ways (i.e. other aspects of our lives) in which to try to get our attention.

Sarah decided to look into her past and face the saddening pain head-on. She read some self-help books and even hired a life coach….* As Sarah continued to heal, she noticed a difference at work once again. However, the difference was the absence of sadness she felt. In Sarah’s case, her past pain had begun to affect her at work…*

Some people may deal with an un-welcomed emotion, yet still feel its effects in other areas of their lives. In those cases, I do encourage people to reach out to a counselor or therapist, as it may be related to other medical conditions.

If you believe you may be experiencing an emotion that is affecting other aspects of your life, please try one of the effective exercises (i.e. Identifying the Source* and Confirm and Schedule*) that can help you to deal and heal those emotions.

Peace to all!

Shannon

* Please note, these are highlights from an entire article in Higher-Self Living Paychecks. For more information, please visit our website at www.higherselflifecoaching.com.

”What Dreams May Come”….the good, the bad, and the ugly.*

Ah dreams…a very interesting topic many people are fascinated with. Some people have good dreams that include hopes and desires, such as starting a family or becoming famous. Other people have bad dreams that may include unfortunate news, or a replay of a past event that was not welcomed. Further, some of us also have
ugly dreams that are also known as “nightmares”. Nightmares may include losing a loved one, being harmed ourselves, or being chased by some alien type creature from the movie “Signs”. Some dreams are easily forgettable, while others sit with us all day.

In any case, most people do wonder about their dreams, and even try to interpret them, as if they were a Freudian student. Some dreams are repetitive while others are one-time occurrences. Dreams can teach us something about ourselves and even help shed light on issues or problems we may be facing.

A great trick that I learned from my mentor, Martha Beck, is a very unique and effective one. I challenge you to try this out sometime, especially if a particular dream bothered you for some time afterward. What you do is get some paper and a writing utensil of choice (e.g. I prefer the Hello Kitty Pen). Then sit for a moment and replay the dream as best as you can recall it, in your mind. Write down what you see, what is going on, who else is there, and where you are. Write down any objects and/or people that are present. Then you look at each object and/or person you wrote down, take one at a time and sit for a moment and then imagine being that object, or person, in your dream. Then write down what that object would describe itself as, or who the person would describe herself, or himself, as. For example, if there was a table in your dream, imagine you are the table. Describe what type of table you are, the color, the style, etc. If there was another person in your dream, imagine being them. Who are they? What were they wearing? How were they feeling?

Then, when you are done, look back and read what you wrote down. You may realize something you didn’t notice about your dream before, or you may see some sort of pattern or trend. Looking at your dreams from another perspective (i.e. objects or other people) can really help you to shed light on a dream, or even problem you are dealing with. As a result, you can either start taking steps to accomplish that dream, or deal and heal a problem you are experiencing.

Beware.....your point of view may start to change over time when you begin to analyze your dreams in this fascinating way.

* Please note, these are highlights from an entire article in Higher-Self Living Paychecks. For more information, please visit our website at www.higherselflifecoaching.com.