The Nudge

 We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.
We are spiritual beings on a human journey.
Stephen R. Covey

Ever get a "nudge" to do or say something? 

Something I learned early-on in my writing and coaching work was to give my thoughts, feelings, and intuition a voice—a way to better understand the language of my mind, body, and spirit. We all perceive information through our senses and this information is being filtered and translated into our thoughts, feelings, and intuition. We can use our words to describe how we're thinking or feeling, but how do those internal voices work?
 
Usually the loudest voice—our Mind—is busy analyzing information and making conclusions. Simultaneously, our Body is translating all the visual, audio, and tactile stimuli of our busy world and giving us feedback through the voice our feelings. Logic and emotion—the constant balance between head and heart. But while our minds and bodies are "doing", our Spirits are just "being". In fact, our Spiritual energy is working with the power of our intentions—consciously and subconsciously—and the voice of Spirit is always coming from a place that knows what we really want, versus what our minds and bodies think we want. I equate intuition as a "gut feeling", or sensation in the pit of my stomach.

Since Spirit is the eternal part of our tri-part being, the quiet voice of our Spirit gives us little nudges and hints throughout the day. This nudge may come to us as, “I should hold this door open for that person,” or “I can spare some change for the woman ahead of me in line.” Sometimes it's even just a smile to a passing stranger. Spirit never asks from us more than we can give at a given moment. Spirit knows us and our boundaries. In fact, our Spirit lets us exercise our healthy boundaries and create new ones, while our Mind may have us thinking in old patterns or behavior and repeating the same mistakes. Been there, done that!

By paying attention to those little nudges throughout the day, you can get closer to hearing your natural intuition. In fact, if you get quiet and really listen, you will start to hear the calm rhythm within. And once you start accessing the energy of your Spirit, you can bring your thoughts and feelings into better alignment with intuition, and activate that knowledge to create better balance in your life—awareness, alignment, activation: the balance formula is complete.

How can you be quiet and listen to the intuitive voice within you this week?

To Your Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Need some inspiration? Pick up a copy of 21 Days, Steps & Keys, or one of the other books in the balance series, and start off 2015 by finding better balance in your career, relationships, and life. You can also tune into Michael's recent radio interview with Sharvette Mitchell at: bit.ly/15H2MRK (Michael starts after 31:00).

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to help people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com 

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Free Book, Anyone?

To celebrate the upcoming release of: 21 Days, Steps & Keys: The Complete Book Series to Better Balance, I am giving away 5 personally-signed copies on Goodreads. The giveaway starts runs from October 10-November 10, 2014, so be sure to click the link below and register today to win your copy!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

21 Days, Steps & Keys

by Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Giveaway ends November 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Your Mind: Teacher, Creature, or Companion?

"It's mind over matter." "Make up your mind!" "Oh, never mind..." Just think about how frequently the word "mind" enters our daily conversations. Our minds are an integral part of our three-part being: mind, body, and spirit. We often associate the mind with our head, thought, and logic. But despite the form in which we imagine our minds to take, there are some very different roles the mind can play in our daily lives:

• Teacher: The mind is a powerful and complex teacher. It re-minds us when we’ve forgotten facts or figures and helps us through a challenging problem. It causes us to stop and think when we need to make a decision, and uses our previous experiences as reference in order to make better choices. It keeps a record of everything we’ve ever thought, said, and done, and uses memory to bring us the gift of contrast (“Been there; done that”).
  
  Our mind works with our feelings and sends us signals that something might be awry and we need to pay attention to it. It is the reflective and supportive adviser—helping us weigh the pros and cons from changing our internet service provider to changing our views about the importance of diet and exercise. It’s with us every day, every hour, every minute, and doesn’t like to be shut off. But once in a while it will allow us to be away from it... maybe for a minute or an hour... and then when we reunite it's like plugging back-in and booting up the computer. Class is back in session.
  

• Creature: The mind is a powerful and complex creature. It creeps around and waits for the opportunity to jump out and scare us, or catches us by surprise when we’re not looking. It lurks around the dark corners with a mirror and attempts to make us look into it and judge our appearance. It can be the constant critic, judge, and antagonist, carrying around a thick history book of everything we’ve ever thought, said, and done, and then re-minds us about our mistakes and uses them against us like a court of law where we're guilty until proven innocent.
  
  Our mind has a voice recorder that plays back every negative word that every person has said to us, sticking to our fears like a sliver we can't remove. It keeps us up worrying at night, wakes us up with a headache in the morning, and never stops running. And we’re tired of the chase. Sometimes we’d rather be without it. It controls our manners when we’ve been scolded and makes us feel ashamed for who we are. It can be our worst enemy. And if we spend too much time focusing on what it is constantly saying, it can make us feel crazy and out of control.

• Companion: The mind is powerful and complex companion. It wishes us happy birthday, and re-minds us where we parked the car in the stadium parking lot. It’s there to provide a history of everything we’ve ever thought, said, and done, and then uses our success to re-mind us about how far we’ve come. It plays back the recordings of anyone who’s ever thanked us, praised us, or shouted our name as we raced toward the finish line. It allows us to take a moment to pause and reflect upon a fond memory triggered by a beautiful song or the smell of fresh-baked cookies.
  
  Our mind is there to help us stay calm amidst a crisis, or speak a kind word to a friend in need. It’s our constant friend, confidant, and partner. And it always answers when we call. It’s there to motivate, encourage, and inspire us, and becomes the coach urging us to hang in there and just keep swimming. It reminds us that it’s okay to make mistakes, and it forgives us every time—no exception. It loves and accepts us as we are. It is our best friend and our family. It holds us when we are alone and reminds us that everything will be okay.
  
  

Question: Is your mind playing the role of teacher, creature or companion today? Depending on the situation, it could be playing the role of one, two, or all three at once. But the most important thing to remember is that it’s our choice to pay attention to what feels best. Whichever voice we focus on becomes the loudest. 

The best part is that we can control our minds. We can choose to focus on the teacher, creature, or the companion. When our minds are working for us in a positive and supportive way, we can better connect with our inner beings and bring more alignment and consistency to our lives. That’s the secret to finding better balance.

Today, become aware of your thoughts and the role of your mind, and remember you have the power of choice. Then, choose wisely what you consider your truth… for it is, truly, “all in your mind”.

To Your Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Find better balance in your life, relationships, and work. 
Visit 21daystobetterbalance.com and learn more.
  

Spring Cleaning Your Life

As we do each season, my friend Shawn and I were reflecting last week on the change into Spring. Even though Minnesota just had a late winter blast of 8 inches of snow on Friday (oi!), the temperature has since shot back up and the snow is finally melting. On behalf of the rest of Minnesota, can I just say, "Whew!"

As hearty Minnesotans and others from the Midwestern states begin emerging from their caves of winter hibernation, Spring cleaning begins. Not only is Spring a time to clean the house, the garage, and rid those old dusty closets and of their clutter, but Spring is also a good time to clean-up your personal life and reduce the emotional "clutter".

"Emotional clutter?" you ask. Yep. Just like old clothes and unused shoes, old unresolved feelings of anger, jealousy, pain, or any other emotions can linger around, collect dust, and take up valuable space in our lives. Stale thoughts and worn out beliefs can weigh us down and impede our ability to make healthy decisions

"Okay okay," you say. "I'm starting to follow your analogy. But how do I 'Spring clean' my life?" Start by thinking two simple things:

1) What is working. Whatever is "working" in your life are those aspects (thoughts, feelings, beliefs, relationships) that are serving you—they are in alignment with who you are. Actions and changes made in these areas will have powerful effects on your well-being

2) What is not working. Whatever aspects are "not working" in your life are giving you information about where to place your focus and make changes, or clean it up.

Regardless of the time of year, is it time to Spring clean areas of your life? I think you'll find that with focus, patience, and courage, Spring cleaning can be a time of powerful change resulting in feelings of relief, happiness, joy, contentment, and better balance. It's your choice!

To Better Balance,

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Find better balance in your life, relationships, and work. 
Visit 21daystobetterbalance.com and learn more.

Nourish Your Spirit

We need silence to be able to touch souls. 
Mother Theresa

Each of us is a tri-part being comprised of a mind, body, and spirit. The voice of our mind is our thoughts; our bodies gives us feedback in the form of feelings; and our intuition is the language of our spirit—our connection to God, Source Energy, Creator, the Universe, or whichever name you use to describe the power that connects us all. With practice we can become aware of our thoughts and feelings, but our intuition is quiet and often difficult to hear. Getting in touch with our intuition can be achieved by using silence to create a space for our intuitive voice to be heard.

Silence is like a spiritual retreat or a healing center—a place where we can go to be alone and reconnect with ourselves. While traditional counseling is healing for the mind and physical therapy is healing for the body, silence is healing for the spirit.

You can create a space for silence by simply unplugging from the world and turning down the noise. Technology provides us with powerful means for connecting with others, but the point of silence is to connect with yourself. At first it may seem like you are missing out, but unplugging for periods of time will raise your frequency—and over time, can significantly strengthen and enrich your personal connections. When we lower the volume on the outside of our lives, we raise the volume on the inside. In silence we can discover the true benefits of being still and listening to the calm rhythm within.

This week, spend some time in silence and notice the benefits. Silence can be achieved by doing something as simple as taking a walk by yourself after lunch, or by just closing your eyes for 5 minutes during an afternoon break. By practicing a little bit of silence each day, you can learn to appreciate the value of stillness; and taking time to nourish your spirit will always bring more balance to your mind and body.

To Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Find better balance in your life, relationships, and work. 
Visit 21daystobetterbalance.com and learn more.

Reboot Your Body

 Your body is a temple, but only if you treat it as one.
Astrid Alauda

The body is like a car. Cars come in different shapes and sizes, colors, makes, and models. But all cars have three things in common: They are unique, they require fuel, and each needs a driver. Keeping a car running smoothly and in alignment requires regular maintenance including oil changes, fluid checks, and replacing parts when necessary. Regular cleaning helps reduce rust and keeps the body strong.

Like a car, the human body comes in assorted shapes, sizes, and colors. Our bodies require fuel in the form of food and drink, and each of us has a driver in charge of operation and maintenance. A body neglected will not operate efficiently. We can care for our body by fueling it with foods that support strength and good health; we can schedule regular check-ups for health and wellness; and we can choose to keep our bodies clean, fit, and strong.

This week, make a commitment to paying attention to your body. Select foods that taste good, feel good, and resonate with your body's natural energies. Move naturally by taking the stairs instead of the elevator; take a walk at lunch or after work; if it's cold out, go to the mall and window shop as you get in some extra steps; pay attention to how you feel as your breathe; drink an extra glass of water before every meal. Notice how your energy changes as you gently shift your activities.

As you take care of your body and listen to its messages, you will be guided to better health, strength, and balance.

To Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Find better balance in your life, relationships, and work. 
Visit 21daystobetterbalance.com and learn more.

The Nudge

 We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.
We are spiritual beings on a human journey.
Stephen R. Covey

Something I learned early-on in my healing work was to give my thoughts, feelings, and intuition a "voice"—a way for me to better understand my mind, body, and spirit. We all have the ability to perceive information via our senses, and information is constantly being filtered and transmitted through our thoughts, feelings, and intuition. Often, we put words to our thoughts and feelings and experience them as a voice within. But what do we hear?
 
Usually the loudest voice—our Mind—is busy analyzing information and making conclusions. Simultaneously, our Body is translating all the visual, audio, and tactile stimuli of our busy world and giving us feedback through the voice our feelings. Logic and emotion—the constant balance between head and heart. But while our minds and bodies are "doing", our spirits are just "being". In fact, our Spirit is working with the power of our intentions—consciously and subconsciously—and the voice of Spirit is always coming from a place that knows what we really want, versus what our minds and bodies think we want.

The quiet voice of Spirit gives us little nudges and leaves us with that “tingly” feeling in the pit of our stomach. The nudge may come in forms such as, “I should hold this door open for that next person,” or “I can spare some change for the woman ahead of me in line at the store.” Spirit never asks from us more than we can give at a given moment. Spirit knows our boundaries. In fact, Spirit lets us exercise our healthy boundaries and create new ones, while our Mind may have us thinking in old patterns or behavior and repeating the same mistakes. Been there, done that!

So if you pay attention to those nudges, you will get closer to tapping your natural intuition. In fact, if you get quiet and really listen, you will start to hear the calm rhythm within. And once you start accessing your Spirit, you can bring your thoughts and feelings into better alignment with intuition, and activate that knowledge to create better balance in your life—awareness, alignment, activation: the balance formula is complete.

How can you be quiet and listen to the intuitive voice within you this week?

Be Balanced!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Find better balance in your life, relationships, and work. 
Visit 21daystobetterbalance.com to learn more.

Healthy Holidays!

 

Speaking from someone who loves to celebrate, this time of year can be most exciting. The holiday season gives us opportunities to be thankful, giving, and ring in another new year. With all of these reasons to act in exceptional ways, this time of year can also cause many of us to lose our sense of equilibrium. Stress, expectations, and "waiting until the last minute" to get something done can push us out of alignment and affect our natural sense of balance.

As the holiday season is moving into full swing, here are some quick tips to help us maintain better balance in our mind, body and spirit while we celebrate this exciting time of year:

• Get plenty of rest. The holidays always include extra activities and will take more energy than usual, so getting adequate amounts of rest will let us join in the fun!
• Drink lots of water and other fluids (including hot teas). This will keep us properly hydrated and less prone to holiday germs.
• Eat healthy foods high in vitamins and minerals. Most of us will eat some holiday treats (candy, chocolate, etc.), but be sure to keep it balanced with healthy portions of proteins, fruits and vegetables. Too much sugar will spike our energy and can cause headaches and fatigue.
• Help stop the spread of holiday colds and illness. By covering our mouths when we sneeze or cough, and washing our hands often we lessen the spread of germs. Carry extra tissues with you if your nose is runny or throat lozenges if you have a cough.
• Get plenty of exercise. Even a short walk in the mornings or evenings will help keep our blood moving. Exercise and stretching helps improve circulation and promotes faster healing!
• Take time to spend with people. Visiting with our family and friends during our holiday time off and taking the time to reconnect with those we love strengthens our relationships, boosts our immune system and reconnects us back to ourselves.
• Unplug a little! Take time off from the busy hustle and bustle: Turn off the ringer on your phone and let calls go to voice mail; take a few days off from Facebook & Twitter—the world won't end without your updated status; don't read email for a couple days; turn off the TV and pop in a classic holiday movie—unplug from the world and plug back into a good book, the people, the music, and the nature around you. It's all there waiting for your attention!  

May this holiday season allow you time to relax, refresh and "recharge" your batteries, and provide you with the opportunity to connect to the natural balance within you.

Namaste,

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Bring in the new year by returning to better balance. Need a bit of motivation? Pick up a copy of 21DaystoBetterBalance or another book in the series, and start finding better balance with yourself, your relationships, or your career in 2014!

Moving Into Alignment

 If you are attuned to your inner guidance,
there is no way you can become severely out
of balance with your natural environment.
Shakti Gawain

Have you noticed know how some days just feel better than others? How about how some people seem to emit better "vibes" than others? Our feelings are feeding us information, and feelings of balance can be most easily experienced through our feelings of alignment. After exploring Awareness, Alignment is the second part of finding better balance in your life.

Alignment happens both on the inside and outside of us. Alignment means that our thoughts, beliefs, and intentions are aligned with our deepest truth and best understanding of our purpose in the world. Internally, this means that we strive to be conscious of our thoughts, feelings, and intuition so that our behaviors reflect our true values. Externally, this means that over time, we bring our attitudes, actions, and words closer and closer to our fundamental beliefs. Alignment also comes through our relationships with others. As we move in and out of alignment with our deepest selves, our relationships directly reflect our present state of balance—relationships are mirrors.

This week, think about someone in your life who challenges you—a friend, family member, co-worker, boss—someone who is driving you crazy, or someone with whom you just don’t get along. Now put that person in your mind’s eye, and begin to think of something—anything—that you genuinely appreciate about them. Even if it takes a while, come up with a list of at least three things. There’s buried treasure in there somewhere! Focus on those things the next time you speak with that person, and notice how this simple act of unspoken appreciation brings them into better alignment with you.

This second step of moving into alignment helped me reconnect with my natural state of balance and reminded me that whether it's my own sense of equilibrium or the alignment I feel with others, the power to change my life is always in my hands.

Namaste,

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Find better balance in your life, relationships, and work. 
Visit 21daystobetterbalance.com to learn more! 

Key 2: Choice

 Being aware of the choices you make gives you
the freedom to create your own experience.

Each new year, Tim would promise to start a new exercise routine but could not keep the motivation to follow through with it. But this year he decided he was going to stick with it. To help him stay motivated, Tim took the advice of a co-worker and hired a personal trainer to help him get started. After the first two weeks, Tim had a workout routine personally tailored to his body type and fitness goals.

After the first month, Tim found his personalized fitness plan was key to his motivation. But Tim also began to notice something else—he started making other healthy choices. As his body began to adjust to the physical exercise, he started craving healthier foods. Because he was eating healthier foods, Tim's weight began to shift. His attitude improved and his stress level was decreasing. As a result of his better mood, work started to flow with a new ease and Tim's relationships started to improve, especially with his wife. Tim had never realized how many aspects of his life were connected to his physical health and well-being. Tim quickly realized that one healthy choice can lead to so many more.

Take a moment this week to prioritize two important things: tasks and people. Take a short inventory of your tasks and ask yourself: Which tasks do I need to spend more time on? Where should I reduce my time? Now take inventory of your relationships: Whom do I need to spend more time with? From whom do I need to detach or take a step back? Add these decisions to your calendar or to-do list for the coming week.

To your best balanced life! 

The Ambassador of Goodwill

Find more tips for better work/life balance at: 21keystoworklifebalance.com

One Bite

A recent study from Cox Media Group found that 89 percent of Americans view their work and life balance as a significant problem. Whether it's due to the expansion of technology or the plethora of choices that we face each day, our ability to filter information and stay focused is a constant challenge. The speed of our world is accelerating at an exponential rate and it doesn't appear that it will slow down any time soon. It's no wonder that it becomes more and more difficult to balance priorities between family, friends, and personal obligations while supporting our careers!

You have the potential to make healthy choices and balance your priorities no matter where you are on your life journey. However, change doesn't come easily—it takes courage, dedication, and commitment. Lasting change comes in small steps. Each step evolves into a new habit, and over time, healthy habits become major life changes. By seeking to understand yourself better, learning to focus your energy, and practicing new healthy habits, you can find a better balance of your work and life.

This week, write down one thing you’d like to stop doing and one thing you’d like to start doing to help bring better balance between your work and home life. For example, I will stop checking my email every ten minutes, and, I will start taking a 30-minute walk each day. Put this list where you can see it—on your laptop, iPad, desktop, or sticky note in your car—and make a commitment to changing only those two things this week.
 
Embrace change like enjoying your favorite food—one bite at a time.

The Ambassador of Goodwill

Look for the 21 Keys to Work/Life Balance book launch May 15, 2013 at Amazon.com and 21keystoworklifebalance.com
 

Key 1: The Balance Myth

The following is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of 21 Keys to Work/Life Balance.

Is there really such a thing as work/life balance? Many say it's a myth. Balance implies harmony or equilibrium among opposing elements. Imagine what this looks like on a scale—work and life are not only separated, but at opposite ends of the spectrum. In this way, the idea of “work/life balance” supports the idea that work and life are separated. This myth of separation is supported by our environments. Since most people leave their home to go to work each day, the differences between work and home environments shift our energy and force us to refocus.

Now consider a different picture. Visualize your life as a circle with work as one of many different circles contained within it. All of our thoughts, feelings, and actions are constantly flowing in and out of these circles—now work and life are not opposing elements but rather work is one element in a much larger “life.” Work is a part of life. The two elements are integrated. The answer to finding better work/life balance is to find the right blend between all our life activities—regardless of where and when they occur.

A true balance between work and life
comes with knowing that your life
activities are integrated, not separated.

 

 

Look for 21 Keys to Work/Life Balance coming May 15, 2013!

 

Namaste,

 

The Ambassador of Goodwill

  

Win a Copy of 21 Keys!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

21 Keys to Work/Life Balance

by Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Giveaway ends May 15, 2013.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Work/Life Balance? Help is on the Way!

Coming May 15, 2013

21keystoworklifebalance.com

Soften Your Stance

Excerpt from 21 Steps to Better Relationships, Step 19: Soften Your Stance

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex,
and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot
 of courage—to move in the opposite direction.
Albert Einstein

We are all gifted with powerful thoughts, feelings, and intuition. Taking time to listen to our intuition and choose responses to our thoughts and feelings wisely will increase our chances of experiencing harmonious interactions. To soften your stance is to step back from your natural impulse to speak or act with power and force and either choose a gentler response or none at all. Sometimes nothing is the best thing to say and often the best thing to do.

When we soften our stance, we become aware of the impact we have on those around us and learn to respond in appropriate and effective ways. Even when we are very passionate about something—which can create more intensity and enthusiasm—we can consciously choose to pause, breathe, and think before speaking or acting. By calming ourselves and resting in our perspective, we can choose how to respond to our thoughts and feelings with calm confidence.

Our interactions with others provide the best opportunities for us to learn about ourselves. Through observation and feedback, we can learn how to soften our stance and pay attention to our approach. We can learn to discern between impulse and intuition, see the bigger picture, and consider our options before our actions.

Soften your stance to give yourself and others more room to connect fully.

Heidi is a well-respected and powerful senior manager of a Fortune 500 corporation. She has risen to the top of every team she’s managed and is known to speak her mind when action is needed. Since she is a natural problem solver, people come to Heidi for solutions. Over the years, however, Heidi began to feel overwhelmed, and her relationships with co-workers and supervisors became difficult and stressed.

When Heidi learned she could soften her stance, she had a personal epiphany. Her natural inclination was to be vocal and outspoken, but she realized that she didn’t always need to share her thinking. Heidi realized she could pick and choose where and when to focus her energy. When she committed to not doing and saying her first impulse, others around her were able to step up. Within a month, Heidi's blood pressure went down, her happiness went up, and her relationships improved. Heidi discovered a new type of personal power.

Questions:

·       In which areas of your relationships could you benefit from learning to soften your stance?

·       In what ways might softening your stance change your connections with others?

Call to Action: Get More Flies With Honey

Tired of pushing your pitch? Remember that we learn the most by sharing ideas through collaboration rather than collision. This week, pay attention to the next time you’re asked to take action or you’re trying to get your point across. Pause, think, and try softening your stance. Notice how it shifts your energy and the energy between you and others.

Find links to the books and eBooks of "21 Steps to Better Relationships" beginning August 15, 2012, at 21stepstorelationships.com

Namaste,

The Ambassador of Goodwill
  

Enact Love

Here is another excerpt from my forthcoming book, 21 Steps to Better Relationships, set for release August, 15, 2012. Find it at 21stepstorelationships.com. Enjoy!

Step 21: Enact Love

To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act
is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.
Mahatma Gandhi

Love in action is the highest form of love. If you’ve heard the phrase “Actions speak louder than words,” then you know the important role that action takes. Thinking loving thoughts is a great start; feeling love in your heart is even better; speaking and acting out of love is as good as it gets.

Love in action takes many forms. The gift of your time and attention is love in action. Showing your interest is love in action. Listening with an understanding heart is love in action. Telling someone how much they mean to you is love in action. Standing by someone when times are tough is love in action. When you demonstrate love in action, you seek the best in all situations; you encourage and support others unconditionally.

Love in action provides mutual benefits—both the giver and receiver benefit by the joy that love produces. When we act from love, we reconnect with the love in ourselves, and this keeps our frequency in alignment with a state of peace and joy. When love comes first, actions will follow.

Activation of the love within you creates loving attitudes, actions, and words.

One year at the Special Olympics, nine contestants assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with the goal to run the race, finish, and win. All, that is, except one boy who stumbled a couple of times, fell, and began to cry. The other eight runners heard the boy cry, slowed down, and paused. Then they all turned around and went back—every one of them. One girl with Down Syndrome bent down, kissed him on the head, and said, “This will make it better.” Then two of them helped him up, all nine linked arms, and walked together to the finish line. Everyone in the stadium stood and cheered for ten minutes.

Questions:

·    How are you thinking, acting, and speaking in loving ways in your relationships?

·    What might be some ways you can increase loving thoughts, actions, and words to bring more balance and harmony in your relationships?

Call to Action: Act Up

Take time this week to send someone you love a card, email, or text message, or pick up the phone and tell them how important they are to you. If you’re comfortable telling them you love them, then go ahead. Otherwise, think loving thoughts and speak loving words—choose words that uplift and encourage. Feel how much love is a part of your relationships and the important role it plays in keeping those connections strong.

Namaste,

The Ambassador of Goodwill
 
 

It's Called T-mail

"I'm so glad you called. You must have gotten my t-mail."

"T-mail?" Shawn asked, "What's that?"

My best friend, Shawn, and I had just been chatting about when someone is on your mind how they often show up in your life soon afterward--they call you, text you, email you, or you run into them in public--somehow they just appear. How many times have you told someone, "I was just thinking of you!" It happens to me all the time. 

The energetic Universe is larger and more complex than we can possibly imagine, and although there are many things we cannot "prove" scientifically, we can still experience them. If you know about personal frequencies and how each of us is an energy source emitting vibrations--much like radio stations--you will understand that thinking of someone sends out an energetic signal. This signal, in turn, can be received and interpreted as either a thought, image, or response. Sort of like when we say our nose itches or our ears are burning, we have the potential to equate an energetic response as a vibrational feeling when someone is thinking of us. Perhaps this may be an urban legend or old wive's tale, but interesting nonetheless. Plus, it's kind of fun. And why not have fun with the unexplained?!

So the idea of "t"-mail is simply "thought" mail--a fun way to describe the feeling of a message sent and received to one another through our thoughts.

Whether it's sending and receiving t-mail, or simply focusing our thoughts to create a positive experience, our thoughts are major contributors to our life experiences. And if we remember that our thoughts form the basis for our attitudes, actions, and words, whatever we pay attention to will expand. So be sure and choose wisely which thoughts you focus on throughout your day.

Learn more about your thoughts, personal frequency, and the frequencies of others in 21 Days to Better Balance--and how becoming aware of your thoughts can help you find better balance in your mind, body, and spirit.

Have you checked your t-mail today? :o)

Namaste,

The Ambassador

3 Steps To Better Balance

Finding better balance? Really? Where? I thought if I work hard enough I will arrive at a state where my life is in harmony with my desires, right?

Almost. In actuality, finding better balance is a process of returning to a natural state within us. We are born in a state of equilibrium: the mind, body, and spirit have been designed to work in harmony. It's just that as we grow, we absorb the fear of the world and begin to lose our alignment—our 'centered'ness—which contributes to our feelings of being out of balance.

So how do we return to a state of better balance? By removing the barriers to balance within us, many of them created by our own thoughts and behaviors. As I started writing about balance over 15 years ago I knew there must be a way to break old patterns and return to a healthier balanced state. In my book 21 Days to Better Balance, I highlight several of the ways I’ve found that have had the largest impact on my balance. Sometimes the best teacher is our own experience.

Much like eating a meal a bite-at-a-time, the book is portioned into 21 themes, each designed to bring you back into better balance with your mind (thoughts); body (feelings); and spirit (intuition). The themes are divided into a three-step process. Here is a quick review the 3 steps and the accompanying themes:

1) Awareness

Our powerful consciousness is absorbing and processing everything in our environment—sights, sounds, and smells—whether we realize it or not. In order to find better balance in our lives, we must first become aware of the factors that influence our balance.
Themes: Thoughts, Feelings, Intuition, Frequency, Fear, Time, Flow

2) Alignment

Alignment happens both on the inside and outside of us. Alignment means that our thoughts, beliefs, and intentions are aligned with our deepest truths. Internally, this means that we strive to be conscious of our thoughts, feelings, and intuition so that our behaviors reflect our true values. Externally, this means that over time, we bring our attitudes, actions, and words closer to our fundamental beliefs.
Themes: The Body, Relationships, Silence, Truth, Intention, Purpose, Abundance 

3) Activation

Activation puts theory into practice and ideas into motion. Without activation, good ideas are only ideas. Activation is the key to implementation and the third step to finding better balance.
Themes: Choice, Boundaries, Perspective, Focus, Empathy, Allowing, Gratitude

The mind, body, and spirit were designed to work in harmony and unity with one another. My hope is that the personal observations, insights, and analogies that I’ve used to find better balance in my life will help you find better balance in yours. After all, what good is wisdom if we don't pass it on?

Interested? Find the book and eBook here.

Namaste,

The Ambassador of Goodwill