accelerates, so does our need to stay in balance.
Why Is It Hard to Stay In Balance?
•Balance acts as a moving target. From day to day our own point of balance can change depending on how much energy we have available and where our focus is. Every day is different for us.
•Our lives have become busier. The more we have going on in our life, the harder it is to stay in balance.
•We don’t know ourselves well enough. According to author Don Miguel Ruiz “awareness is the first step toward personal freedom.” Staying in balance and harmony really comes down to self-awareness.
•We might be involved in something that doesn’t suit us. If we are doing something that we don’t want to do or isn’t right for us, we are definitely going to be swimming upstream. I learned this first hand when I was running my family’s business.
What Are Some Things That You Are Currently Doing That Knock You Out of Balance?
1.________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________
5.________________________________________________
How can you come to have balance in your everyday life? The first step is to identify that you are out of balance. Common signs of being out of balance are feelings of being overwhelmed, continual stress, poor health, and difficulty in making progress on goals. If any of these examples fit you, you are probably feeling stress due to being out of balance. What to do? Start out by taking a deep, cleansing breath, identify the reasons, and then begin to focus on making things simpler.
How Do We Stay In Balance?
•Identify that you are out of balance—Some common signs are feelings of overwhelm, continual stress, poor health, and difficulty in making progress on goals.
•Get to know yourself better; pay attention to your feelings—Paying attention to your feelings is the best way to get to know yourself. As you become more self-aware you can learn about what keeps you in balance and throws you out of balance, as well as begin to implement that knowledge and create better habits and truly live a balanced life.
If you find yourself feeling intense, balance it with some lightness.
If you find yourself working too much, balance it with some play.
If you find yourself giving too much, balance it with some receiving.
The list is endless…there is always a counter for something we are doing too much of.
•Focus on making things simpler—Simplifying life is the easiest way to find and maintain balance. When you have time to rest, to think about what has happened prior and what’s next, it is natural to come back to center. And when you are at center, you can make proactive choices on how you want to live your life.
What Are Some Ways You Could Simplify Your Life?
There will be times when you are out of balance. It happens to all of us. But, as you become more aware of what makes you tick, those moments of being unbalanced will become shorter because you will have the knowledge and tools to turn things around as you get to know yourself better. That is the key!
It’s no coincidence that my first book was about establishing life balance. I feel grateful to have learned how to become more self-aware and to realize the importance of staying in balance at such a crucial time in my life. It helped me to build and solidify my foundation as I began my new journey. My self-growth process began to expand after paying attention to and learning about the different facets of balance and I became hungry to learn about other ideas and ways to thrive.
Chapter 4
Trust Your Intuitive Nature
in·tu·i·tion
noun: intuition
1.a direct perception of truth, fact, etc.; independent of any reasoning process.
2.a keen and quick insight.
“She learned to trust her intuitive nature.”
Intuition is the language of the Soul. When we listen to our intuition we are fed information from our higher self. Its communication is most clear when our mind is quiet. This information is Divine. It can lead you to your true purpose as well as fulfillment and peace of mind.
Listening to and trusting your intuition works in all facets of your life. You might receive a positive or negative feeling about a person you just met or whether or not to take a particular job you are offered. You might receive an “all systems go!” intuitive hunch in regard to a project that has presented itself. Or you might receive a “cautionary” feeling while dealing with someone you are dating. Make sure that these hunches are not being manufactured by your mind or out of fear. There is definitely a difference when it comes from our intuition. Our mind has a fantastic way of trying to hijack the proceedings and make determinations about what we should do for all sorts of reasons; usually not the right ones. Remember your mind is being run by your ego and the ego always has a way of stepping into our business.
Intuition can be communicated to us in many different ways.
Feelings of Restlessness—This was definitely the case for me as I began to feel it was time to leave my family business. I started to feel unsettled, unhappy, and that it was time for a change. When you are feeling like it’s a time for a change, it’s important to pay attention even if your feelings don’t make logical sense. They didn’t for me. I had a well-paying and secure situation, yet it was time for me to branch out and explore new challenges and learn from new experiences. Your soul knows when it’s the right time to move forward and will help guide you to do so.
You Have a Sense of Peace and Confidence Even When Your Decision Doesn’t Seem Rational—I definitely felt an incredible sense of peace and calm once I told my father that I would be leaving the business, so I can certainly relate to this form of intuitive communication. Even though I didn’t know what my future held, the feeling I was receiving was an “All systems go!” When your intuition speaks to you, you will feel confidence and clarity; when your ego speaks, it will present itself as uncertainty and fear.
You May Notice a Recurrence of Thoughts or Opportunities that Keep Presenting Themselves to You—If you are getting intuitive hits or hunches about something and you aren’t listening to them, they may continue showing up for you in different ways until you finally get the hint. Your brain may wander back to a particular thought, you might hear the same message in a song, or you might see a particular image pop up on television or on the Internet. Pay attention to these repeated signals. It is your intuition trying to get your attention.
Dreams and Visions—Pay attention to your dreams. They can offer tremendous guidance and a roadmap for change. The idea for my short film Guitar Man came to me in a dream one night. When I woke, I felt inspired and felt a sense of incredible duty to write down what I dreamt. Although I had never made a short film, nor even acted, very shortly thereafter I met a young filmmaker and we made my dream a reality. It was an incredible experience, which opened up many new doors for me. Visions
