POEM: The Power of ME

In many of my posts, I talk about discovering your innate talents, turning them into strengths, and discovering your purpose in life. I have walked you through my own journey of discovering who I am, what I do, and why I do what I do. I have done this by walking you through my own life story and writing about scenes of my life where internal and external struggles have taken me into a dark pit. I make connections to memories of past successes and how the power of persistence helped me crawl out of the pit on a search for solutions. And, most importantly, I teach you how my search led to discovering my own strengths which pathed the way to my breakthrough moment in life. But, today, I want to pause for a moment to address a fundamental part of this journey, self-acceptance.

The path of learning, inner-growth, and discovering your life purpose is a long winding road. One that never really ends as every new day brings with it different experiences, challenges, bumps in the road, and transitions. It can take years of self-observation, investing in coaching, practicing mindfulness and meditation, and inner awareness to truly acknowledge your innate gifts and accept who you really are. The truth of the matter, my friends, is that not everyone achieves this state of clarity ever in their lifetime.

“Self-acceptance is an invitation to stop trying to change yourself into the person you wish to be, long enough to find out who you really are.” – Robert Holden

When I speak about self-acceptance, I don’t mean liking some things about who you are and dismissing the rest. I don’t mean suppressing your weaknesses and pretending they don’t exist. True self-acceptance is about loving all of you inside and out.

This is by no means an easy task. In fact, it can be very painful. Those of you, who follow my Blogs, read my social media posts, and consider me your friend or colleague know I come from a heart-centered place. My consistent and authentic message is to inspire you and others to never give away your passions, dreams or hope. This is my personal value statement and my purpose in life.

But, self-acceptance is an area of struggle for me too. Despite all that I have shared openly, the path to success has not been straight and narrow. It has had it curves, turns, and detours along the way. To be perfectly honest, it continues, even today, to be that way. I can gain clarity, confidence and calm in one direction only to veer slightly and find myself driving down a road of fear, self-doubt, and frustration. I discover I am lost, have no sense of direction, and need to decide if I am going to stop to ask for help.

Take a moment to remember a time when you were lost. Metaphorically, a time when your GPS failed you? Despite your passenger begging you to turn around, you spent several minutes, maybe even hours, driving around and around? Yet, you were so determined that you could find your way, you refused to stop and ask for directions.

I hope in this very moment as you continue to read on, you have a slight smile on your face, let out a chuckle or paused to reminisce at a time when you too experienced this.

My point in yet another story is to share a poem that I wrote last night as I was contemplating my own journey and the day to come. It is a subtle reminder that can be read over and over again to help achieve the true desire of self-acceptance. It is a gift not only to me, but to share with you too. Visibly post it, read it daily and…if you really like it, please click like, comment, or share. Enjoy!

“Today, I choose MY life. Not what you think it should be, want it to be or expect it to be.

Today, I choose ME. Not who you want me to be, think I should be or expect me to be.

Today, I AM me.

The REAL me!

The me I was BORN to be.

Nobody can TAKE me away from me.

Today is the first step to FREE me.

It is the only step forward to BE.

Without the real me, I am useless. With the real me, I am LIMITLESS.

I AM ME.”

– ©2015, Beckie Jorgensen

Are You Tuned In?

Have you heard the buzz recently about mindfulness? According to the experts, becoming more mindful can impact many areas of your life including your mood, habits, peace of mind, how you interact with others, and so much more.

To be more mindful means to be more aware – more tuned into – and accepting of your thoughts, feelings and actions in the present moment. But too often, mostly out of habit, we simply go through life doing things mechanically, or mindlessly.

Have you ever driven by your exit on the freeway, or eaten something and couldn’t remember if you did, or gone into a room to get something and left without it? These are all acts of mindlessness. No, we’re not losing our minds, or getting old. It’s just that our minds are so filled with ‘noises’ of the day that doing things without thinking about them seems to save energy for the things that require extra thought and effort.

However, studies have shown that by clearing your mind, focusing on one thing at a time, and creating a habit of being in the present moment at all times will dramatically increase your energy, health, mood, well-being, and overall enjoyment of life.

Aside from those powerful benefits, being mindful or ‘in the present moment’ awakens you to many things you otherwise would miss as you go throughout your busy day.

“Learning to live in the present has taught me that there is no such thing as problems unless I choose to create and view opportunities as problems. By being open to and welcoming opportunities, and removing negative self-talk/perceptions, I open my Universe to receiving the good out of every situation.” – Beckie Jorgensen

To heighten your level of mindfulness, try these simple activities.

Activity #1: “Open Your Eyes”

Slowly look around the room you are in, taking in everything with your eyes. While you notice the objects in the room, hone in on the things that are red. Write down 10 things that have the color red in them.

When you have identified 10 items with red, answer the following questions:

• What does it take to be aware of something?
• How did having a specific thing to look for change your mind set?
• Give an example of something you started seeing all the time once you became conditioned to seeing it?
• How does ‘finding what you are looking for’ apply to your business or personal life?
• What are some visual triggers that have challenged your level of awareness?

While going through your day, deliberately notice and acknowledge the things you see. It may sound like this:

“The leaves on the trees are so vibrant.”

“The water glistens as the sun reflects off of it.”

“The mountains are hazy today behind the clouds.”

“My lunch is perfectly balanced on my plate.”

“The sofa brings out the blue in that picture.”

“My socks are slightly different shades of black.”

Activity #2 – “The Sounds Around You”

Get to a place where you can sit, get comfortable and be uninterrupted for one minute. Close your eyes and listen to your surroundings, noticing the sounds you hear in the ‘silence.’

After one minute, answer the following questions:

• What did you hear in the ‘silence’ of your surroundings?
• What internal disposition do you need to have in order to be mindful of what is going on around you?
• What does it take to be fully present?

You will notice that as you become more mindful of what you see and hear, and as you say the words to yourself as you observe them, that your life will literally get clearer and brighter.

We need to be aware of when our thoughts shift from the conscious (present) to the unconscious mind (past or future). Listen to those thoughts, feel the emotions, and observe your reaction. But just listen, don’t waste precious energy judging or analyzing them. The art of listening to your mind alone can recenter you to the present moment and bring forth the tremendous value of clarity, confidence, and calm!

Are you thinking about hiring a Coach to help you? I offer a complimentary introductory coaching session to help you discover if my program is right for you. Go here and complete the contact form and I will be in touch to schedule your session!

To learn more, visit: www.beckiejorgensen.com

Is There A Monkey Chattering In Your Head?

We all have negative voices in our head.  For some they are subtle, passive, and even deceive us into thinking they are there to protect us and keep us safe.  For others, they are much more aggressive, and downright mean.  Sometimes we are aware of their words and influence.  Most other times we are oblivious to their destructive messages, and they impact our beliefs, sense of self, motivation, and happiness.

One of the best ways to become savvy to the negative inner voices in your head is to practice mindfulness.  To be more mindful means to be more aware of your thoughts, feelings and actions in the present moment.

The problem with not being mindful of our thoughts is that we treat our thoughts as if they are facts. We just simply accept whatever comes into our mind as truth without giving it a second thought. And we have these thoughts so often that we believe them as fact. But really a thought is not a fact.  A thought is just a thought. And when they are destructive (which they mostly are), they have very negative ramifications.

You may have the thought “I am no good at this,” or “I’m fat,” or “I’m not smart enough,” or “Nobody understands me,” or even “I am brilliant!” Does thinking it make it so?  Once or twice, probably not. But if we think it enough, our mind will accept it as truth, regardless of whether it is good or bad.

When you start to pay attention to your thoughts through mindfulness with gentle curiosity and no judgment, you can observe your thinking more objectively. You can notice your thoughts, assess them for truth, then either accept or reframe them more positively. This is a powerful tool. Imagine catching even a fraction of your negative thoughts, assessing them for truth (which most aren’t), and reframing them in a more positive and truthful way.     

To further improve your mindfulness, try this activity.

Activity: “The Monkey-Chatter in Your Head” 

Start this activity with mindfulness of your breath.  Focus specifically on your breath –slowly in and out. Perhaps even speak the words in your mind. “I breathe in deeply, filling my lungs, and then exhale slowly, emptying my lungs.”

Then as you continue to breathe, allow yourself to notice any thoughts that come into your head. Pay attention to these thoughts without judgment. Thoughts are just thoughts – it’s whatever is going on in your mind at this particular moment.

It may sound like this:

“This is different - O.K. I’m going to do this.  Hey, there’s a fly.  Breathing in, exhaling out.  Ouch, my back hurts.  I should just get back to work.  There’s me thinking about work again.  Give yourself a break for a minute.”

Then it may go to something like “I’m sitting here thinking of my thoughts…  O.K.  It’s a beautiful day.  My stomach is hungry.  Hmmm, I can’t do this very well.”

These are all valid, normal thoughts. And very often they are all over the place like the example you just read.  Allow yourself time to think about your thoughts. Don’t rush, don’t judge, and don’t stop.  Find curiosity, interest and even humor in your thoughts.

You can also imagine your thoughts floating by like clouds in the sky, or leaves in a stream. Notice each passing thought and then the one that comes after it, and then the one that comes after that. You may notice that just at the moment you become aware of a thought, it passes and is replaced by another thought. That’s what happens – thoughts come, and they go.

Finally, to end this exercise bring yourself back to the awareness of your breath.

The value in this exercise is to realize first how little attention we pay to our thoughts, yet how extremely powerful they are.  Then learning to notice them can lead us to better control them to serve us for the better. 

"Remember...positive thoughts create a positive emotion which creates desire ~ resulting in new possibilities!" - Beckie

7 Steps to Strengths-Based Personal & Professional Development

Live Your Life: The Art of Leveraging Your Strengths to Live Your Purpose

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