Lamisha Serf-Walls

Surprise Speed Bumps

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Recently I have been on a super positivity kick.  I have been focusing on the positive that surrounds me daily, making lists of things I am grateful for, and staying focused on the things I want to create and cultivate in my life.  For the most part things are running smoothly.  I am feeling good about where I am headed and am confident in the process and while some things seem to be moving slower than I want, I continue to bring my focus back to the present.  I know all is well and all will be well.  No worries.

Well almost no worries.  While I have spent most of my time focusing on the positive, there have been moments (or many moments) when some negative thoughts creep in.  I do my best to send them on their way by thinking more positive thoughts with the intention of staying in my positive frame of mind more and more each day.  Naturally I thought my manifestation process would get easier and then today I hit a surprise speed bump.

Long story short, I had an “accidental” financial oversight that resulted in me being in the red by several thousand dollars.  YIKES!  I quickly called all necessary parties to get this matter resolved as quickly as possible, however in the back of my mind I kept thinking “What a dumb thing to do.” and “I can’t believe I did that!”.  Needless to say my self-talk wasn’t all that great.  I made a mistake and I was ok with it to some degree (provided it could be fixed), but the interesting part was the lack of emotional reaction I had.

In the past if something like this would have happened, I would likely have broken down into tears while anxiety took over my body.  My mind would have been racing while my stomach twisted into knots and I would be in the throes of a serious reaction.

As I took a moment to step back from the situation, I realized even though this mistake does require some rearranging of resources and phone calls to hopefully get it all worked out, I have grown.  I took the situation and responded accordingly without reacting to it negatively.  Sure I was concerned about the mistake, but I was able to take it in stride.  Something I would not have been able to do a year ago.

I suppose this “accident” was a way for me to realize I am making progress in my personal growth and though all of the manifestations are not here right now, I am becoming an overall more positive person.

So the next time you hit a surprise speed bump on your journey to your dreams, take a step back and see what it is telling you.  Is it evidence of changes you are making along the way, or is it a warning to focus more on the happiness you have now?  Either way I think you will find there is an underlying lesson.

 

Imagination vs Reality

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In speaking with a friend today, I was reminded of how many of us live in a world where many of the choices we make in life revolve around what we deem “realistic”.  Many of us are working, living, and simply planning our lives in a way that allows us to get through the next week, month, or year without ever focusing on what it is we want in this life.  We have somehow allowed our lives to be a matter of survival instead of a life of abundance and joy.

The creative thought we once had as a child has been put to sleep while reality has infiltrated our minds, giving us a false sense of security.  We are made to believe that we must follow a path that makes the most sense and stick with it.  After working and living a mediocre, just getting by life, we may be able to retire and then get to the things we always dreamed about.

But isn’t that backwards?

I always thought the sequence of events from High School to College to Adulthood seemed too swift for my liking and nonsensical.  How in the world was I supposed to decide what I wanted to do with my life when I hadn’t ever explored the world?  Shouldn’t I have some knowledge of my choices before I blindly choose a career?  As they say: hindsight is 20/20.

Since I didn’t know any other way, I followed what many of my peers were doing.  I decided on a career that I thought would carry me forward for the rest of my life.  I decided to major in Exercise Science and minor in Dance.  Seemed easy enough right?  The truth is, I didn’t think doing something else was an option.  I didn’t know I could use my imagination to create the life of my dreams.  I thought in order to be successful you had to find a box that you fit in and follow the path like many other boxes before you.  It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized I could get out of that box and meander along a new path on my own.  I finally realized, I do have a choice.  You have a choice too.

Consistently focusing on what you or other people think is reasonable or realistic in terms of your career or other life choices is the perfect way to maintain a mediocre life.  If you allow reality (however you define it) to dictate your choices in life, you are bound to feel like there is something missing.

It is only when we allow ourselves to reawaken the imagination that lies dormant in so many of us, that we can finally take a much-needed step outside of our comfort zone.  A comfort zone that has kept us in one place and in some ways has limited our personal and sometimes professional growth.  Sure it can be somewhat scary, but it can also be incredibly rewarding and an amazing ride.

The next time you make a choice, whatever choice that may be…consider if it is coming from a place of “reality” or a place somewhere in your imagination.  I think you will find your creative choices will make life, not only more interesting, but wildly fulfilling.

Use your imagination to create the life of your dreams.  In your imagination anything goes!  And remember thoughts become things so as you ponder the most fulfilling life you ever imagined, you are creating a flow of energy to make those dreams become your future reality.

Flowing vs Forcing

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After my big announcement yesterday I had a difficult time sleeping last night.  I don’t know if it was the excitement of sharing the big news or if it was my mind running wild with all kinds of ideas and insights.  One thing is for sure though, my inspiration is high and I am so excited about moving forward with my dreams, I can hardly stand it.  I am trying to stay in the inspirational mindset and not allow myself to float away on a sea of questions that seem to be popping up here and there.

Questions like:

How are you going to get clients?

When will you start?

How much will you charge?

Are you sure you can do this?

How? How? How?

I am letting go of all of those questions right now and focusing on the current task…building my model.  Instead of worry about all the details, I am taking it one step at a time and allowing my inspiration to lead me and to be honest, my model is coming together faster than I expected.

I am allowing my inspiration to lead me as opposed to my logic.

I am choosing my dreams over what reality tells me.

I am choosing hope over doubt.

I am flowing with my ideas instead of forcing them and I must say it feels great!  Who knew letting go of the how could feel so good?

My Flying Leap!

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I love when I get messages from the Universe that catch my eye and provide a bit of meaning to my current situation…that is when I take notice.  Sometimes I don’t realize the meaning or impact of a quote, statement, or article until I look back, often kicking myself for not noticing it before.  But, as I am learning, everything happens for a reason, even if we don’t know what that is.

Looking back over the last few weeks I noticed I had an eery feeling of discontent upon waking almost everyday.  I didn’t have any particular worries on my mind and I couldn’t quite pinpoint the source.  I would meditate, write in my journal, and compile my gratitude list to help combat this feeling, but I was never really able to get rid of it entirely.  I have also been reading a lot.  Books, quotes, articles, other blogs, and newsletters all with a similar theme.  They became what I like to call “inspirational nuggets”, and while I really enjoyed the information, it didn’t really click.  At least not right away.

The first post was from the When I Grow Up Coach website.  It was about how Michelle Ward’s husband decided to quit his day job to venture into the freelance world.  It’s a really great post and you can read more about it here.  I read it and thought, “Gee I can’t wait to be able to do that.  Of course I will have to do x, y, z first and then…”

The second post was a post from Tiffany Han that discussed achieving your dreams Someday vs Right Now.  In my head my life coaching business has always been a someday kind of thing.  Sure I want to do it and I know that it is what I am meant to do, but there are so many things I should do first…or at least that is what I kept telling myself.  When I read this post, I was thought..”Sounds good but…” and I left it in my inbox to be read later.

I then received this post from The Green Bough which included the quote “I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument while the song I came to sing remains unsung.” by Rabindranath Tagore.  (Hmmm, do you see a theme here?)  It was this post that got me to start waking up a bit, but I still wasn’t there yet.

I hadn’t quite gotten the full message until a few days later when I was having a conversation with one of my co-workers.  She mentioned she had decided to go back to school to be a pre-school teacher.  She had mentioned wanting to do something other than the work she was currently in and just saying she was going back to school caused her to overflow with excitement.  I was so happy for her.  I congratulated her and told her how I wish I could move forward with my dreams, primarily the life coaching dream.  That is when she said, “You just gotta take the flying leap!”

The idea of a flying leap sounded freeing.  It sounded exciting.  It sounded like throwing my procrastination to the wind and finding another way for it to all work out.  But how???  From the time I decided I wanted to be a life coach the logical step was to get training.  In order to get training the logical step is to save for the training…you get the picture.  It was then I realized I have far more power and knowledge than I am giving myself credit for.

From the time I graduated from college I have been talking to, encouraging, and inspiring co-workers and friends to follow their dreams.  I started this blog for that very reason.  I wanted to continue to inspire others through my journey.  And while I thought there was something specific that I needed to learn in order to help people, I realized, I have been doing it for years already.  So why not take my own flying leap and create my very own model of coaching and do what I love?

I couldn’t come up with a good reason not to, so I took the leap.  I am currently working on a coaching model that I will use in my business.  I am no longer waiting for the “right time” or for someday to come.  I am choosing today and I must say it feels great.  I am inspired and challenged, but most of all proud that I am taking control of my dreams.

One day soon, I can help you take control of yours too.  (That sounds so good!)

Fearless Living…The “How”

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Let me first apologize to you lovely readers for taking so long to continue my thoughts from last weeks “fear” theme.  Sometimes the things we plan are not the things we must do in the moment and I am learning that more and more each day.  With that said, I am back and I am excited to update you on some recent developments in my world.

I ended last weeks post with a promise as to how I was going to begin living a fearless life as a way to teach my son (and future children) to do the same.  At the time my thoughts were on taking some much-needed action toward my goals and leaving fear in the dust.  Before I do that, let me give you a little insight into why I haven’t been moving forward as much as I would have liked.

I have talked a little bit about my plans to write a children’s book and I set the intention to begin writing on a certain date.  I thought the best way to do it was to jump right in, but I soon realized (after scheduling conflicts) that maybe I should wait until I have more inspiration before I begin writing.  I still stand by that decision, but the more I found myself waiting for the inspiration to hit me, I realized I was also allowing fear to dictate my plans.

I had a moment (or two) where I thought if I don’t start this book, I can’t fail.  But then again if I don’t start it, I can’t succeed either.  So, in order to accomplish my dream of writing a book, I have to write, but in order to write the best book, I have to be inspired.  To be completely honest with you fear was not only dictating my plans for writing a children’s book, but also my plans on starting my business and many of my other dreams.  Looking back, I can see my vision was a bit skewed.  I thought I needed certain pieces to fall into place in order to execute my plan of action.  I realize what that really was, was fear.

I was procrastinating and in a way sabotaging my dreams by not even getting started.  I did a lot of good talking about my dreams, about my plans, about the many things that had to happen first, and then I could start working on my dreams only to find they were excuses.  Excuses not to start for fear of failure.  Excuses not to begin for fear of not being good enough.  Excuses not to dream bigger, for fear my reality wouldn’t live up to the picture in my head.  And when I jumped off the boat of self-pity and self-sabotage, I remembered this…

The best part of our dreams is the journey we take in reaching them.  The mistakes we make, the lessons we learn, and the amazing experiences we have along the way make our lives worth living.  And to be completely honest with you, if all of my dreams came true in the blink of an eye, what fun would it be?  Sure my book series would be a success and my business would be booming, but would I appreciate it as much without the journey?  Probably not.

So, with that said I am accepting the journey ahead of me with open arms and while fear may accompany me a little bit along the way, I vow that I will not allow it to become the captain of this ship.  Instead, I am moving forward with my dreams and as I do, I will go where my inspiration leads me and I hope you do too.

(Tomorrow I will give you a little insight into the inspirational nuggets that have appeared to me in the last few weeks. )