Awaken the Genie Within

Just Tell The Truth

As I entered the place where I was about to have a massage, two women were standing there looking rather stressed and stopped talking the minute I entered. They were my massage therapist, Mercedes, and Janet, who does facials. Since I knew something was up, I asked, "Do I have the time wrong?" Now mind you, I knew this wasn't possible since it was only 5 minutes ago that Mercedes called me and said she had a last minute opening and I could come in right away if I wanted to.

They double booked the room they share - Janet for her facial client and Mercedes with me. I told them I'd be fine rescheduling. Janet then said she wasn't sure her client would even show up since she made the appointment 2 weeks ago and sometimes is a no show. So we agreed I would wait 5 minutes and if the woman didn't show I would get my massage since she would then be 10 minutes late for her facial anyway.

The time passed and Janet decided to leave a note on the door in case her client did show up. Made sense to me although this wasn't easy for Janet. She suddenly found herself struggling with what to say. Trying to come up with a reason that would keep her client from getting upset if she did show and Janet wasn't there.

This baffled me and I said to her, "Just tell the truth!" I swear to you, Janet looked at me stunned and then said, "But what if she gets upset with me for double booking the room?"

Then I said, "And as of now she's 13 minutes late and you even said, sometimes she's a no show. If she gets mad, so be it. You'll deal with it."

Within a matter of minutes the note was written and placed on the door. As it turns out, her client never showed up - again.

Telling the truth just shouldn't be that hard. Especially when we haven't done anything intentionally wrong. Stuff happens in life and coming clean with our mistakes and mishaps lets the other person or people know we are choosing to live in integrity and that they can trust us. Doing this gives us the opportunity to deepen our relationships and encourages others to tell us their truth when the time comes

You stand a much better chance of building relationships based on respect, growth and love when you just tell the truth.

A ThanksGiving Moment

With Thanksgiving a day away I'd like to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you have beautiful day spent with your loved ones. I am grateful that you take the time to stop by and read what I write. Without you there would be no purpose to this blog, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Each year when I get together with my family we make it a point to go around the table and share what we are grateful for. It's always interesting hearing what is being said and how easy it is for some and not so easy for others. But as shy as some are expressing themselves this way, they do it anyway and there is great love and appreciation felt by all for their willingness and effort to step out of their comfort zone in the moment.

Giving thanks out loud to a group of people, even when among those who care about you can be challenging for some. If you're someone who's shy about sharing what you're grateful for out loud, take a deep breath and share with gusto. Expressing heartfelt gratitude for that which you have in your life with a group of people raises the vibration in the room enormously. That energy has a ripple effect penetrating through the walls of your personal environment extending out to the rest of the world.

In this day and age, anything and everything we do that helps create more joy and love in the world, even if only for a moment, is so very worth the time to do so.

Thank you for being a part of my life through these blogs and doing your part to make a difference in the world just by striving to awaken the Genie within!

With Blessings,
Linda

 

It's Time To Back Off

For those of you who get caught up in other people's suffering please take this story to heart. It's a longer post than normal but worth it in my humble opinion.

Last June a woman named Jessica hired me for one coaching session. When she called me she was at her wits end after a year of supporting her friend through a very difficult time in her life. Jessica became emotionally drained, explaining that no matter how much she was there for her friend, nothing made a difference.

She was hoping that I could give her guidance on what else she could do to help. "Nothing," I said. "It's time to back off. It's not your job to save this woman. Until she does something to help herself it won't serve you or her to continue being her leaning post." This was not what Jessica wanted to hear. She believed you don't turn your back on people in their time of need.

We talked a bit more about that and she came to understand that her belief wasn't serving her at all in this circumstance. And she already had resentful feelings toward her friend. By the end of the call she said she knew that it was time to back off no matter how hard it would be.

Fast forward to the present - 5 months after our coaching session. I received a call from Jessica thanking me for the insights she gained during our session. She said she did exactly what we talked about and it was the best thing that she could have done. She went on to explain that her friend recently called her after not speaking to each other since June and told Jessica, "I've turned my life around. I'm volunteering my time to help others. I'm feeling stronger, I'm happier - thanks to you. When I no longer had you to complain to, I had to face myself and it wasn't pretty. I realized I'd better stop being a victim or I'll have no one in my life!"

They're getting together for lunch in a few days and needless to say, Jessica is looking forward to seeing her dear friend knowing their time apart gave them both an opportunity to grow and they can now reconnect their friendship in a deeper way.

There are no guarantees that anyone you back off from is going to have an awakening like Jessica's friend did. If they don't it's critical to remember - it's not your problem. It's not your fault and it's certainly not your responsibility. Until people are ready to make changes nothing you do or say is going to make a difference.

With the holidays fast approaching, all sorts of dynamics in relationships play out. Pay attention to whom you have a difficult time standing up to or whose drama you allow yourself to get dragged into over and over again.

Listen, I'm about to say something I don't normally say because I hate the sales pitch. But the fact is I'm speaking directly to you from my heart right now for several reasons - Jessica's phone call inspired me to do so. Readers are sharing with me how my book is making a difference in their lives and because I really do believe this book has a lot to offer people.

I wrote Awaken The Genie Within to help you with situations like Jessica's. I wrote it to empower you and arm you with information to gain control over your life. And I wrote it so you can have wonderful relationships without sacrificing your own happiness.

So if you haven't done so already, I encourage you to buy this book as a gift for yourself to help you through the holidays. Then I'm going to be so bold as to say, why not buy another copy for a friend or family member and maybe even another one if there's someone in your life like Jessica's friend, so they have a chance to come to their own awakening through the written word.

You are here to awaken to your full potential - recognizing, owning and utilizing the powerful Being that lives within. Be your best and lead by example - that is how you help others most effectively.

Here's the link to Awaken The Genie Within; A Handbook to Help You Silence Your Gremlin, Manage Your Emotions and Bring Out the Best of Who You Are 

A Moment of Enormous Gratitude

Yesterday I was shopping at my local Trader Joe's market when I was suddenly overcome by enormous gratitude. As I was walking down the aisle the abundance of food surrounding me hit me like a ton of bricks.

It hit me so deeply that I had to move over to the side to gain my composure as tears started to flow. Just the idea that there were so many choices and I could have any of those choices left me humbled by the good fortune of not just myself but everyone in the store with me.

When I continued shopping I found myself giving thanks for each item I put into my cart. I knew having these kinds of choices was not to be taken lightly and this awareness allowed me to really grasp the concept of wanting what I have in my life already instead of wanting what I don't have.

Take the time during your day to notice all the abundance that surrounds you. Really breathe in and feeeel deep in your soul all there is to be grateful for and how many amazing choices you really do have in your life with everyday experiences.

Accepting What Is

Perhaps the greatest suffering we cause ourselves is the constant internal battle of accepting what is vs. what we want it to be. Wanting things to be different when they can't is placing ourselves in a self-imposed prison and throwing away the key.

An article in the LA Times about Los Angeles basketball player, Lamar Odom, inspired this blog because it really helped remind me of the advantage of accepting what is. I hope it does the same for you.

This year he's been moved from being a starting player to being their sixth man and coming off the bench. At first he 'expressed his disdain at the notion of coming off the bench' but 'has seen the light, his mind-set freeing him to welcome a new challenge' as written in the Times article.

Some of the comments he made in the article are indicative of what can happen when we shift internally and allow what is, to just be:

"I was watching the game almost from a coach's eye. Now I'm coming off the bench and having to kind of watch the pace of the game, figure out who's hot and who's not, how things are going."

Odom has allowed himself to accept and take advantage of the 'what is' so it not only makes a difference in his personal game but a difference for his entire team  - Kobe Bryant said, "...and you see his game flourishing because of it."

When you're faced with needing to accept what is and having a difficult time, do your best to look at the situation with a new set of eyes like Odom did. You may be surprised what insights you gain and how those insights can raise the level of your game bringing your winning results.

Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what things should be.
William Hazlitt - British author

Work To Complete

Over the years I've had fascinating conversations with people who have had near-death experiences. Their stories are quite similar in the way they talked about what they saw and how they felt. For some people the experience changed their life forever and for others, the impact faded with time.

Recently, I was speaking to someone that I didn't know all that well about his near-death experience and he shared with me that he was told he needed to go back because it wasn't his time - "I still had work to be complete." When I asked him if he knew what that work was he said he wasn't sure but trusts it will show itself in the right time.

When we parted I kept thinking about what he said, "I still have work to complete." and that he wasn't sure what that was. A few questions ran through my mind. What if the work we have to complete before we make our transition isn't as big and profound as we tend to think it's supposed to be? What if it's not about making some huge impact involving millions of people? What if the work is about life's simple tasks yet one's that we struggle with on a daily basis?

Such as; loving more, loving better. Being more present with friends, family, co-workers. Laughing more and stressing less. Listening with both ears and an open heart. Taking time to play more. Learning to forgive and let go. Judging less and accepting more.

The list could go on and on. And I suppose, if each of us considered what work we have left to do from this perspective, we might realize that our work is right in front of us each and every day just waiting to be completed.