Cruise Control

Your Soul-full Journey

There's a desire bubbling within you - a potential accomplishment, an acquisition, a creation, a condition of health, wealth and happiness...  It's big and it's juicy, and the idea of 'getting there' makes you lick your lips in anticipation!

But how do you know if this desitnation is on your True Path?  How do you know if it's really for you and not just a distraction, a shiny bauble dangled by a world that tries to tell you what to want?  

Here are a few simple but powerful questions to help you find out:

• Can you 'get there' by being authentically you?
• Will it call even more of the Real You through you? 
• Will accomplishing the goal require that you 'ditch some baggage' - old habits, outdated ideas - and leave who you are not behind?
• As you imagine the person you will become, do you like what you see? 
• Will what you create and experience along the way bless others, even as it blesses you?
• Is it worth the attempt even if you never get there?

Your Dream Destination not only calls you forward, it calls forward the very best in you.  It requires that you connect more fully and more consistently with the deepest broadest truth of who you are, and allow yourself to be guided by the loving impulses that arise from that place.  Every move you make, big or small, carries with it the deep satisfaction of knowing you're doing what you came here to do.  And it energises you with the Thrill Power needed to experience an effortless, Soul-full journey.  

So take another look, and ask yourself honestly...  Does your goal have Soul?

 

 

You're Not Where You've Been

Sometimes it's easy to forget that where you've been is not where you are.  When painful memories crowd in, when critical voices from the past have their say in your head, when your gremlins take a look at your Dreams and cry, "Who do you think you are?!", it's easy to feel overwhelmed.  It's easy to see your past as baggage, weighing you down and holding you back.  It's easy to define what's possible in the future only by your experiences of the past, and trade your Adventure of a Lifetime in for the drag of a daily commute...

But what if every moment of your Journey so far has unfolded exactly as it was meant to be?  What if you were able to see clearly the incredible skills, strengths and personal qualities you've developed along the way?  What if where you were, and where you are, have been the perfect preparation for where you want to be?  

You are where you are not in spite of your past, but because of it.  You are who you are because of everything you've experienced and everything you desire.  You are poised for success and happiness, because of everything you've lived so far and everything you allow yourself to dream for your future.  

You're ready. Now, where do you want to go from here?

"You are not defined by your past.
You are prepared by your past."
Joel Osteen 

 

365 Days of Adventure...?!

Meet Jane Talbot, or Intrepid Jane as she's known to her friends and blog readers!  Type her name into Google and you'll soon discover how she earned that monicker, raising funds for Help for Heroes through a string of adventures culminating in running 203 across the Scottish Isles of Islay and Jura in just 9 days! This girl's got mettle...

This year, she's embarked upon an adventure of a different kind, an exploration of the adventure available to each of us in our every day lives. I'll let Jane introduce the idea in her own words in under 60 seconds...

(If the embedded video does not appear below, please click here).

 

Already Jane's adventures have led her to learn braile and sign language, to discover survival skills, and even to investigate the truth of the declaration "Shopping trolleys will not operate beyond this point"!  And her love of life and connection to the present moment shines through in every one...

Now it's clear what Jane's "word of the year' is!  But what's yours?  What is the essence of the experience you'd like to have as your year unfolds?  What 'higher quality' of your True Self are you ready to align with more fully?  Last year I chose the word 'courage', and invoked this essense as best I could in every decision I made.  The effect was profound.  This year, I've chosen the word 'creativity', as I align with translating more of my ideas into tangible outputs - from experimental new dishes for dinner to finally writing my long-incubated book!

So, who are you becoming?  And what 'word of the year' would best guide you along your way?  I'd love to hear from you...

"The quality of life is more important than life itself." Alexis Carrel

Stay in the Driving Seat

My wonderful friend Kathy Stewart sent me the following quote, from Deepak Chopra's book "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success". She knew I'd love it, as it conveys so well an insight we've discussed many times, and which has been life-changing for us both:

"When you feel frustrated or upset by a person or situation, remember that you are not reacting to the person or situation, but to your feelings about the person or situation. They are your feelings, and your feelings are not someone else's fault. When you recognise and understand this completely, you are ready to take responsibility for how you feel and to change it." Deepak Chopra

This is a challenging idea at first.  It flies in the face of what many of us were trained to believe since birth, and to make use of it in a constructive way, you have to make a crucial distinction between taking responsibility and taking the blame.

Blame is debilitating.  At first, it feels like relief, but when you make someone else responsible for how you feel, you give away all of your power.  You are no longer in the driving seat of your own life.  And very soon you feel like the victim you just perceived yourself to be.  Worse still, when blame is directed towards yourself it turns into shame.  Even more debilitating.  Toxic.  Paralysing.  After all, when you mistakenly believe you are 'not good enough', you are no longer resourceful enough to believe you can do any better. 

When you take responsibility for how you feel, recognising your emotions are your body's reaction to your thoughts and not the people and events in your life, you connect with the Truth.  You understand that you have been doing the best you could, given whatever stressful thoughts you were believing in the moment. You also have all your personal power available, free to change how you feel, and free to make new choices from now on.  With that awareness comes profound peace.

So if you are angry or upset with someone right now, put yourself back in the driving seat.  Choose the best-feeling, most empowering perspective you can find, and come back home to your beautiful,  heart-centred, powerful Self.

Your SatNav for Life

Don't you just wish you had a SatNav (GPS) for Life?  Not just any old SatNav, but a state-of-the-art system that would remember where you're headed even when you've forgotten, and guide you through every twist and turn that came your way? 

Well, I have exciting news!  You DO indeed have such a system.  You came here factory-fitted with the most sophisticated guidance system you could ever need.  There's just one small problem: Most of us were never issued with the User Manual.

Here's how it works...

Your emotions are your SatNav for Life. 

Every emotion you ever feel is telling you where you are in relation to where you want to be, and exactly what you need to do next to live your best possible life.  Your best life is the natural by-product of allowing your True Self to sit in the driving seat.  

Your Soul - who knows you intimately, and is the keeper of every desire you've ever felt, every Dream you've ever dreamt - is present in every moment, seeing what you see, hearing what you hear, experiencing every experience, and forming an opinion from the broadest, most expanded perspective possible.  Your Soul is your inner guru, the only guide you'll ever need.

In every experience, you (or the personality you think of as you) are also seeing, hearing, formulating opinions.  And your emotions let you know in every moment the gap between your perspective and perspective of your Soul on the same issue. 

The better you feel, the more aligned you are with your deepest wisdom, and the life you want to create for yourself.  The worse you feel, the wider the gap.  And if you are nose down in a ditch of despair, the thoughts you are thinking are a million miles from the perspective of your Soul.  

When you think you're not good enough, it feels awful because your Soul knows you are magnificence in human form, and never for a moment loses sight of that fact.  When you worry about your future, it feels awful because your Soul knows that everything is unfolding perfectly for your highest good.  You imagine yourself to be powerless, and nothing could be further from the truth.  When you hate someone, it feels awful because your deeply loving Soul adores them without condition - you are love at your core - and when you don't it tears you apart. 

You are guided 24/7 towards your most magnificent life, if only you will pay attention to how you feel.  The better you feel, the more fully you are allowing your Soul to be present in your life - and with it your deepest wisdom, greatest courage, endless compassion and every other higher quality you could ever wish for yourself.  You are present in the world as your True Self...

I am deeply grateful to Esther Hicks and the Teachings of Abraham for helping me to understand this profound gift, and to interpret it and apply it for myself.  This learning has been truly life-changing, and is now the basis of every choice I now make.  Over the past 5 years, not once has my SatNav steered me wrong.  I've made mistakes, of course - many of them!  But only when I was not paying attention to how I felt...

So tune to your SatNav. Notice how you feel.  Follow your deepest joy and excitement.  Trust yourself, even when those around you see things differently.   When you put your True Self in the driving seat, and let your Soul guide the way, you're unstoppable.

"Being happy is the cornerstone of all that you are! Nothing is more important than that you feel good! And you have absolute and utter control about that because you can choose the thought that makes you worry or the thought that makes you happy; the things that thrill you or the things that worry you. You have the choice in every moment." Abraham-Hicks

 

Are You on the Right Track?

Want to know if you're on the right track?

Just stop and ask yourself,

"Does this road have heart?"

Ask yourself from the neck down.  There lies you real answer, your own deep truth.

The Loneliness of the Open Road?

Have you ever felt lonely, even though you were surrounded by other people?  And when alone, perhaps in nature, have you ever felt deeply connected to everything - and perhaps even every other person on the planet?!  If you have, then one thing is clear; being alone and feeling lonely are two very different experiences.

So what, then, is at the root of our experience of loneliness?  I believe our sense of separation reveals the loss of a connection on the inside.  It tells us that we have dropped our loving relationship with the most important friend we will ever have; our own True Self.

No matter how many or how few wonderful people are part of your Convoy this time around, you are the one you're with 24/7.  You're the one you wake up with.  You're the one you sleep with every night.  You're the one who goes everywhere with you.  And it's the relationship you have with yourself on the inside that determines the quality of your moment by moment experience.

You can't be lonely if you like who you're alone with.  So, as your Journey unfolds with all its twists and turns, remember to speak to yourself with as much loving kindness as you can.  Listen to your hopes and dreams.  Honour your emotions.  Meet any difficult moments with self-compassion and self-acceptance. Celebrate your own brilliance.  In short, be your own best travelling companion... for life.

"Any negative emotion is... a sign from our deep Self that there is work to be done." Gill Edwards 

Pave the Way with Love

Joy and happiness.  Wisdom and true knowing.  Freedom and abundance.  Ease and flow.  Love and deepest connection...  The details of our individual Dream Destination may be as unique as we are, but the essence is the same.  And if you wait until you 'get there' to experience what is available to you in every moment should you choose to tune to it, you'll wait for a very long time.  Why?  Because an unhappy Journey cannot end happily.

A scarcity mindset can certainly cause you to take action to make money and lift yourself out of poverty, but then what?  Will it last?  And, more importantly, does it bring the peaceful sense of security and wellbeing it was intended to create?  Or does it simply give you more to worry about losing?  Unless the way you perceive and experience your moment transforms, the essence of the Journey remains unchanged.  A scarcity mindset knows nothing of the idea of 'enough', let alone the fullest experience of true abundance.

What if you were to stop waiting until you 'get there' - wherever 'there' is - and tap into the feeling-place of your Dream Destination right here, right now?  What if you let your heart and soul reveal to you the state of grace in which we all live?  What if you were to notice the many blessings in your life as it is, tune to the miracle that you are here at all, and allow your natural joy to well up inside you without condition?

The circumstances of your Dream Destination may be some way down the road, but the way you want to feel is available to you now.  All that is required is that you

focus on what you want instead of its absence.

That's where the miracles begin.  Not only do you get to 'enjoy the Journey' along your way, but the circumstances and events you want to experience have a habit of showing up - more easily, more quickly and more perfectly-formed than you were able to imagine!   

The next time you are heading in to a meeting or family gathering, and you want it to go well, tune yourself to the very best in each of the people who'll be there.  The next time you write a letter, a Facebook post or a piece for your blog, tune yourself to the soul of each reader and set an intention for touching their lives in a positive way.  The next time you are heading out on the school run to scoop up your children, remind yourself of their most adorable qualities and the best of times so far, and allow yourself the positive expectation of a joyful evening together as a family.  

When it comes to the Journey of Life, you are not just the driver, you are the Road Builder. Let your love pave the way.

"Send the light of your own loving ahead of you." Peter McWilliams

 

What Would the 'Real You' Do?

If you really want to get somewhere, you already know there's more to consider than just your speed.  After all, putting  your pedal to the metal in the wrong direction just gets you nowhere fast!  So how can you ensure that the action you take and the energy you expend is genuinely moving you forward?

If you took up the invitation I set out in my previous post, then you already have a big part of the answer, and know where you're headed - even if you haven't 'set your goals' yet.  I'll show you what I mean...

Open up your Travel Log and re-read your "How will I be...?" entry.  Feel the THRILL as you tune into the fullness of who you are... becoming!  Now, read it again, and this time underline any word which represents a personal quality or characteristic.  For example, from my entry I underlined words such as 'compassionate', 'loving', 'inspired and inspiring', 'abundant' and 'courageously bold'!  If any new qualities come to mind as you reflect on what you wrote, add those too.  Keep writing until you feel complete, or at least ready to pause...

Now scan the words you've underlined, and ask yourself this:   

"Which of these higher qualities, if I were to live it fully, 
would make the biggest difference in my life?" 

And then live it!  Align yourself with this 'higher quality' for a whole day.  For example, if you chose the word 'loving', you would commit to think, speak and act with love to the best of your ability for the rest of the day.  If you faced a decision, you might ask yourself "What is the loving choice here?" or "What would love do in this situation?"  And you would direct that love inwards, towards yourself, as well as out towards others. Now remember, life is far too important to be taken seriously!  So be playful with this.  Have fun.  And catch yourself getting it right!

As you align yourself with the qualities of the Real You, you lock onto your true destination - even if you don't yet consciously know where that is or what it looks like.  The experience you hoped to have at some point in the future, as a result of achieving your dreams and goals, becomes your moment-by-moment 'mode of travel'!  Every action you take from there will move you forward, easily and effortlessly, as you swap Will Power for Thrill Power! 

And tomorrow...?  Well, tomorrow is another day, and the choice is yours:  Continue with the same 'higher quality', or scan your key words again and commit to another.  I've been playing with 'courageously bold' for months now, and I'm not even close to done... ;-)

 "Happiness is not a state to arrive at, rather, a manner of travelling."  Samuel Johnson

The Secret to a Joyful Journey?

When I am asked about the best way to create a successful and joy-filled Journey of Life, the question is often posed as some kind of grand dilemma: "Should I set my sights on a magnificent Dream Destination, as you suggest, OR would it in fact be better if I just did the 'gratitude thing' and got really happy right where I am?"  As if this is choice we have to make?!?

You already know from your travels thus far: The secret to a truly joyful, meaningful and deeply satisfying Journey is to know where you're heading, milking the delicious anticipation of the 'more' that is on its way AND enjoy the sights along the way.  And I'm not just talking about the Magical Milestones that let you know you're on track.  I'm talking about the evidence that surrounds you - right here, right now - that you are already truly blessed!  

At first it may feel like you need to simply ping-pong a little more frequently between these two perspectives - finding things to love that are out there in your future, then finding things to love about where you are right now.  But, sooner than you think, these perspectives blend, affording you the most deliciously satisfying and exciting Journey possible! 

The 'Secret to a Joyful Journey'?  Constant seeking and constant finding.   Be curious.  Be open.  Practice this blending, and you'll create your very own 'Heaven on Earth'.

"Heaven on Earth is a choice you must make, not a place you must find." Dr Wayne W Dyer