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How plump is your orange?

I was talking with my coach recently and she shared an image that came to her:

I want you to squeeze all the juice out of me – I am an orange!

Similar to a quote about the unlived life and not wanting to arrive at death not having lived, she was reflecting on her desire to live, to give, to be fully used in this lifetime. She envisioned each of you drinking from a straw, drinking in her orange sweetness!

It occurred to me, however, that oranges grow on trees. I couldn’t help but see an orange tree with straws sticking out of big, juicy, orange fruit! In this vision, even as we live, give, and are used in this lifetime, we are continually nourished by the tree. We are the channel through which powerful life-giving juice flows. Rather than being used up by life, we can choose to be aware of the ways in which we are ever-renewed while allowing life to flow through us.

What is the juice IN YOU which nourishes others?
What is your “orange tree”?
How plump is the orange of you today?

What will restore its juicy, round fullness?

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Brain on overdrive?

Is your brain ever bombarded by planning, thinking, worrying, conniving, others’ requests? You know the times … when no matter how hard you try, you cannot stop the spinning or take your mind off of the hamster wheel?

This usually happens in me when the to-do list for today (and the next 6 months) is long. There is way too much to do to take a break. The impact, however, of acting from a state of brain overdrive is usually a massive headache, mistakes, inefficiency, or absolutely NO forward progress on anything!

Today’s invitation is simple. The next time that you find yourself in overdrive, celebrate that you noticed! Then, dare yourself to stop and downshift. Downshift from brain overdrive to heart beat. Take five in heart beat gear and ask:

What part of this is EGO?
What does Compassion offer?
What does my Heart need?

Then dare to meet your heart’s desires.

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Energy Leaks

What do you think of when you hear “energy”? Perhaps you connect with being tired or sick and having no energy. Or maybe you slept soundly and are filled with energy! Today, though, I invite you into the energy of your emotional and mental beings for a moment. Consider:

  • the energy to spin a decision around and around and around before actually deciding and taking action
  • the energy consumed by worry around what might happen
  • the energy spent avoiding the task you don’t want to do … but which will take a total of 15 minutes once you begin
  • the energy consumed by fear of the unknown, fear of how another will respond, fear of the amount of work ahead if you make “that” decision
  • the energy consumed as you try to hide your preoccupations, fears, worries

All of these are energy leaks, draining precious life energy from you. Only you can plug these invisible leaks. Here are just a few ideas:

  • Decide to postpone action until some later time, mark your calendar, then – let it go! Give it no energy until then.
  • Take a minute to notice how it will feel to have completed that 15 minute task, then set a time and when that time comes, just do it! Don’t forget to celebrate when you are done!
  • Talk to a trusted friend about the fear or worry you are trying to hide. Let the dam break open. Then revisit the situation.

What energy leaks are you experiencing now?
What energy would you reclaim by plugging the leak?
What now?

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Deepen it!

Likely you have heard that visioning is powerful and that staying in the vision, embracing it with your body, mind, spirit and emotion, making a visceral connection to what it will feel like to live the vision, is crucial. Why? Because when we can imagine it to that extent, feel it as if it were happening, we are likely to make choices that match who we are in the vision. We manifest the vision by deepening the felt experience of it in the present.

Deepening the felt experience can also serve us when we want to move away from a behavior or habit. Try it. Call to mind one of those “should do” messages you are always giving yourself:

  • I should exercise more
  • I really want to learn to play the piano
  • I should spend more time with my children
  • I should …

Now deepen it. Imagine nothing changes and, for the next 10 or 20 years you continue to not exercise, never start playing the piano, and you do not spend time more with your children. Deepen it some more.

What are you sensing?
What is that 10 or 20 year vision?
What shift is needed now?

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Free Agent or Groupie?

I used to have a very strong need to *belong*, to feel part of the gang. Can you relate? These days, I am noticing something has shifted. No matter how much I value something or someone – the organization, musician, author – no matter how powerful their impact on my life … I am not a groupie! I won’t go anywhere, anytime, to see them perform. I won’t do anything, anytime, in service of the organization. My need to belong has lessened. My willingness to go to any length for “it” isn’t there anymore.

So, if I’m not a groupie to anything or anyone, what drives me, supports me, guides me?

I realize that I am a free agent and the Universe is ever watching out for me – creating opportunities from which I will choose how I will impact the world. Ever free, and with Universal Guidance on my side, I belong to everything and nothing at the same time. I belong to all and yet am not bound by anything.

To what do you belong?
What guides you?