An Empowering Space

Two of my favourite authors and coaches are Rhonda Britten (Fearless Living) and Debbie Ford (The Shadow Effect). Both of them write about our fears, doubts, and aspects of ourselves we wish to hide.

So much of life is spent running on this never ending treadmill, trying to avoid, deny, escape certain aspects of ourselves while chasing the exact opposite to prove we are this better, good, smart, loving, creative, strong, independent, loyal, dependable, honest, generous person. When we feel badly about ourselves we start running in the opposite direction to escape these feelings, instead of being with these feelings to see what they are really trying to let us know. What messages can these emotions teach us about our true self? We run from the dark and chase the light. Yet, you could not recognize light, if you did not know darkness and vice versa.

Our emotions trigger that lightness and darkness within ourselves. Some of us are addicted to one emotion - sad, mad or glad. Sometimes we, judge, criticize, blame, and beat up on ourselves, which leads us to a very dark disempowering, uncreative space where we feel we have no choices. Our emotions trigger thoughts which then affect the actions that we will take. The key to success is awareness, only through awareness can we have choice and open up to a wellspring of creative solutions.

I was sent a wonderful set of intentions in the following Vow of Emotional Independence written by Debbie Ford in her monthly news letter, and thought I would share it with my readers. I now use this as my morning practice, where I recite these wonderful vows and intentions.

The Vow of Emotional Independence

I, (insert your name), (Lydia Mattison) am committed to living free of the strangulating grip of fear, shame, doubt, worry, anger, and sadness.

I promise to give my power to the force greater than myself rather than some food, substance, bad habit, or disempowering craving.

I will stand for my highest expression rather than allowing others’ judgments to define who I am.

I will always make sure to please and take care of myself instead of succumbing to any people-pleasing habits.

I will listen to the voice of my soul rather than listening to the voice of my critical internal judge.

I will find joy in each and every day of my existence rather than get caught up in the insanity of my world.

I will take care of my planet and let my voice be heard instead of waiting for someone else to do it for me.

I will choose powerfully each and every moment to make choices that leave me feeling inspired by myself and will graciously let go of my self-defeating behaviors.

I take this vow NOW as a positive stand for my soul’s highest expression and for every man, woman, and child on this planet today.

As I set myself free, I am freeing myself and others from the violence of my darkest thoughts, my negative projections, and my limiting self-image.

And now I ask all the powers that be to support me in living this vow each and every moment of each and every day.

As I surrender my will for the higher will, I know that I will be guided from my darkest thought to my greatest dream, from my head to my heart.

Today, I commit to living in full accordance with this vow.

And so it is.
Live as if this is your birthright and your destiny - because it is.

© Debbie Ford, July, 2010

What Will Matter

Ready or not,

some day it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises,

no minutes, hours, days.

All the things you collected,

whether treasured or forgotten,

will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power,

will shrivel to irrelevance.

It will not matter what you owned,

or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies,

will finally disappear.

So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans,

and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important

will fade away.

It won’t matter where you came from,

or on what side of the tracks you lived.

At the end, whether you were beautiful or brilliant,

male or female, even your skin colour won’t matter.

So what will matter?

How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought,

but what you built;

Not what you got,

but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success,

but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned,

but what you taught.

What will matter is

every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice

that enriched, empowered or encouraged others.

What will matter is not your competence,

but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew,

but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.

What will matter is not your memories,

but the memories that live in those who loved you.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.

It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.

By Michael Josephson.

RISK - Author Unknown

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk involvement.

To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.

To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd

is to risk their loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To live is to risk dying.

To hope is to risk despair.

To try is to risk failure.

But risk must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life …

is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing and is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply

cannot learn, feel change, grow, love…live.

Chained by his certitude, he is a slave, he has forfeited

freedom.

Only a person who risks….is free.

There is nothing more moving, inspiring, or effective than speaking form the heart.

Join my guest Sheila Radha Conrad M.A. and me, Lydia Mattison host of Empowering space - Your Hour of Power as we share an insightful and transformational conversation on the Power of Communication

at 8:00pm EST Thursday 17th September, 2009

Come join in our conversation and learn to express yourself genuinely as we discover how we hide behind our language.

Have you ever noticed that most human interaction is based on enrolling people in complaints?  Complaining is such a huge part of human interaction that we are not even aware to what extent we are doing it every moment of our lives. We are either complaining about something or a complaint waiting to happen.

• I am so busy, I don’t have time to breathe.
• I wish we could get together but I just don’t know where the time goes.
• Why don’t people do their job?
• Oh my back hurts?
• Why don’t you come visit more often?
• This sun is so hot.

We relate to our complaints as though they were the TRUTH.  A complaint is a projection.  A complaint is a request waiting to happen.  A complaint is an opportunity to look at yourself. An opportunity to give what you want to receive.

Looking at your complaints, consider how your life would be without those complaints?

Consider that you can have a life free of all those complaints, what would life be like?

How can you transform complaints into possibilities?

How does our communication block us from our compassionate nature?

How can we remain present and connected during our communication?

Meet us Thursday 17th September 2009, 8:00pmEST at www.blogtalkradio.com/empoweringspace

Call in number: 347 215 8414

This poem is an invitation to live life fully, to design and create a life that makes us feel fully alive - to be totally present to our life, to risk, to love, to share, to connect on a deeper level with ourselves, with others and with our own spirituality. An invitation to redesign your life.

“The Invitation“

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it’s not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

by
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
copyright © 1999 by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

What Empowering Step will you take today to live more fully?