Ending Negative Talk

It's so easy to be negative. Is it because the world around us supports this habit so well or is it because of the unresolved thoughts and feelings we hold deep inside of our past.

Whatever the reason for it's creation within us, we can start to end it with the practice of speaking honestly and kindly (although working on letting go of old stories is equally important.)

In the moment of catching myself using negative words, even though I want to turn it around... I might find myself thinking,

"But I have nothing positive to say," or

"But what I am saying is TRUE," or

"I cant! I can't! I can't!"

Whatever the belief in the moment, taking a deep breath, we can begin again with new positive words. The ho'oponopono mantra works beautifully to start when you feel there is no where to start:

I am sorry.

Please forgive me.

I love you.

Thank you.

Steven Covey wrote in his 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families book about the art of "being loyal to those not present." I love this idea of only speaking of others as though they are in the room listening. Kindness and gentle honesty is a miracle to keeping our tongues working for peace.

I like to add to his idea and think of speaking to and about ourselves in the same manner. If we can imagine ourselves as separate and in the room listening to our negative self-talk, could we practice speaking kindly and honestly? I might try this... "Rain, I hear that you are saying some negative words about yourself, is there something you need to help you feel more loving?"

Looking Back 2011

The time has come to begin blogging again. For better or for worse, it is time to come out and write authentically to save my own spirit. So here is my life last year in verse.

‘Twas a Year of Remodel and Right Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Not a carpenter was stirring, not even my spouse.
The stockings were hung over our new woodstove with care,
And everyone was thankful it was finally there.

The children were nestled all snug in their new beds,
Without drywall dust dancing in the air or their heads.
Papa not sneezing in his handkerchief, as I drank my nightcap,
We had just settled our brains that this was our LAST remodeling trap.

When out on the un-seeded lawn there arose such a clatter,
I threw down my drink to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Trying not to trip over our moving box trash.

The moon was so bright on the new fallen snow,
Hiding the muddy mess from past workers and landscapers below.
When, what to my tired and blurry eyes should appear,
But two sweet little does and their mama, a deer.

Without the sound of compressors, hammers and nails,
The wildlife has come back to our home without fail.
More rapid than eagles- life is back into balance,
And it seems so surreal to notice the absence…

…Of Painters! Of Plumbers! Of Siders and Roofers!
No Electricians! No Carpenters! No Permit Inspectors!
From the top of the new porch, to the new shingled wall!
They’ve gone away! Gone away! Gone away all!

Now that our house is strong enough for a hurricane, I
No longer need to travel to Home Depot to buy.
In our sweet bungalow, by the fire I remember,
While 3 cords of construction wood-waste burns bright into embers.

I started to drink, when they delayed on the roof
Their lies and excuses just increased my proof.
The morning I was drinking Irish coffee and feeling housebound,
Down the painter came off the scaffold with a bound!

He was covered in paint, from his head to his shoe,
And my garden was all tarnished with #1647, Silvery Blue.
Their bundles of mistakes were a pain in my back,
And I looked like a mad-woman just trying to keep track.

Yet now the house twinkles! The shingles, how merry!
We added some roses and four trees, one a cherry!
For now every alteration, once drew up on paper,
Is something we love, though our dollars are vapor.

The music room lives large and has room for the teens,
And the expanded kitchen is perfect for the finest cuisines.
Adding a bathroom for guests made our home seem complete,
We now have a private bath and a romantic master suite.

Yes, it was crazy and stressful and put our lives on the shelf.
And we laughed watching nightly “Gags,” just to keep our good health.
In a blink of a black eye this year’s at an end,
Life soon will be normal, only the garden and children to tend.

We will share what we learned, then go back to our work,
And we will count all our blessings, without letting one lurk.
Remember to TRUST yourself, each other and the world,
It’s what will keep you moving forward, with your hearts open, unfurled.

Spring back to your life! To your friends and family, give a whistle,
For each and every moment is precious and special.
And hear us exclaim, ‘ere we end this long letter,
“Never Remodel Again And It Can Only Get Better!”

This Moment

This moment is precious.
This moment is yours.
This moment has blessings.
This moment has cures.

This moment is sacred.
This moment is stillness.
This moment is silence.
This moment is forgiveness.

Taken for granted, this moment...
never gives us enough of man-made time.
However, this moment in your journey,
when noticed... is most perfect and kind.

So breathe... and notice
and see the wonder.
This moment can fill time and space
in your heart forever.

by Rain Fordyce

30 days Raw!

Many of you know since I did the Peace Treaty on food, I started my raw food journey. During that time, I was reliant on my local deli and co-op that served a few raw food choices. I never learned to prepare anything fancy like pies, nut burgers or even almond milk. I was about 80-90% raw for about 3 months, feeling good, looking good, losing weight... until the stress hit: my husband decided to move to LA for a job.

Oh yeah, you guessed it! That was the end of that!

I was craving everything from cake to pizza and feeling the grounding, heavy, intoxicating joy from every bite. My life felt out of place and my food choices were a symptom of my internal chaos. I knew that the food I was eating was not making me feel good and yet, I didn't stop. For the first time in a very long time, I felt as though I was in the grasp of an addiction.

Then my husband returned to the northwest and we were not moving to LA after all. Within four days, my taste for cooked food weakened. I was ready to make a major change! I bought the book, 12 steps to Raw Food: How to end your dependancy on cooked food by Victoria Boutenko, which I highly recommend. I loved her thoughts, research and suggestions and I followed every one. I gave myself a corner of the kitchen for my raw food, my Vita-mix and food processor and two shelves in the refrigerator labeled "raw shelf."

I read every word with excitement and anticipation and within 3 days, I was inspired to make the choice to go 100% raw for 30 days.

As she honestly wrote in her book, the first week is most definitely the hardest, and oh baby...it was. I wanted my soothing pizza, I wanted to taste the pasta my kids loved so much. Yet, I kept going back to the book and got inspiration to stay on the path. Green smoothies were my mainstay the first week and I purchased the I Am Grateful: Cafe Gratitude recipe book (which I also highly recommend) and began collecting the ingredients I would need to begin learning raw food preparation. Once the week was coming to a close, began feeling the energy, and joy of the raw food and made my first nut burger recipe. And to my great surprise, it was easy and delicious!

The second week I began detox, but it wasn't as bad as the first time and I began an herbal cleanse immediately... which helped my symptoms soften in only two days. I found myself so intrigued by learning the ways of raw food, I decided to make something new every morning. I chose between something savory, sweet, green or dehydrated and found the joy of having a plethora of delicious and satifying food at my disposal... in fact, I had more than I could handle. So I began sharing my treats with whoever would try them (and some actually loved my creations!)

The third week I was getting ready for my trip to San Diego (where I am this fine morning) and I began prepping the food I would need for the 3 week journey. I packed up my Vita-mix, made what seemed like a million flax crackers, and put together a strategy to always have a fresh salad and nut burger daily. Note: Raw nut burger has become an important part of my staying raw and feeling satisfied. Although, I quit using the hard to digest soaked almonds and now use the easy-feeling sprouted sunflower seeds instead.

My fourth week was strange as being around others who love french fries, Mexican food and milkshakes (my kids) I honestly started dreaming about taking a bite... and in these dreams those bites were heavenly... I woke up knowing the truth, but geez! It really wasn't easy... However, I stayed true and I found success in my goal. I feel and look great and my energy is so high... actually, so am I!

Yahoo! 30 days, 100% raw!

Now is day 33 and I am so grateful to be on the first week of my next 30 day quest. If you have a yummy raw recipe or a joyful suggestion, please send it to rain@authentictimes.com

I would love to hear from you!

The Universe's Amazing Gift

So an update is long overdue...

It all happened when I made the decision to trust myself and ask the universe for what I truly wanted inside my heart and say it out loud for all the world to hear... including me.

I was at the cliffs (in the picture) a few blocks from our home. I knew it was time. My husband was in LA and our family was divided. Our life was not joyful 2 1/2 months after he moved down there. It was full of sadness, chaos and confusion. Was it my fault? Afterall, I made the vision board that had pictures of the beach and the sun. I was the one who carefully glued the picture of our family on top of a crowd of joyous people.

It was two weeks after creating my vision board that the universe responded, providing an amazing position for my husband in LA, resulting in our move. Last time I wrote we decided to live in Washington, while he commuted the long 4 hour car/airplane/taxi/ferry commute, each way, every 2 weeks, until we could figure it all out. Did I manifest this division?

My boys were tired of it. My husband was tired of it. I was tired of it, too. I was tired of allowing this path... so I came to the cliffs and with arms and heart open wide and with absolute resolute I shouted, "I want to stay here!"

It wasn't long after that statement that everything started to shift. A kindred spirit and neighbor came over and we agreed to destroy the vision board I had created together in a heartfelt grateful burning ceremony. When I took the photo of our family off the board before the burning, underneath were these words:

Turning It Around

We both began to cry. We knew this was the end of this part of my journey. But when... and how? The response came swifter than I could imagine!

Within a week, my husband called and told me the job they promised him was not going to happen as they had promised and he was done working for them. He said he was leaving. He was home 3 days later.

We laughed, we cried and we celebrated! Yet, our move was already in progress. We had already rented a very small house that was an hour closer to the airport and we had rented out the house we were currently living in. We sat with our choices. There was nothing else in our small town big enough for our family of four available to rent. We decided to leave our dear town and move into the house an hour away that we had put our deposit on. Our plans were in motion and we didn't know how to stop it. So we floated down it's stream. We never expected what would happen next.

3 days from the day when my husband returned, we received a call from our landlord... She told us the man who was going to rent our home had a personal emergency, and though he was okay, he decided to not rent our home afterall! She asked if we wanted to stay. So much had shifted. It seems strange now, but so much had happened so quickly. I needed time to think. Time to process. Time to breathe...

After a day of processing everything that had happened, we both decided that we had gotten the gift that I had asked for and we were all so grateful to receive it!

We are staying put! No move, no shift away from what we are growing here in this small and beautiful town and, best of all, an amazing gift to find ourselves back on a loving course, living together...

And it was all given to us from the abundant and amazing universe.

Living with Temporary

It is amazing to me how many times in my life I walked (and sometimes sprinted) away from commitment. Those who have known me a very long time, know that in the past I have changed my mind a whole heck of a lot. Trying to make commitments in the past were often just a waste of my breath.

However, as I have connected with my authentic path, my choices feel deeper, more concrete based on my real values and not based on whims or what I think I should be doing. I really know what I want in life, what I value and am strongly connected to what feels right for me.

Yet that is only the path of one.

Learning to co-create with my partner has been the next leg of my authentic journey. With differing values, wants and perspectives, we have taken the last few months to get to know each other's true values and use them as a foundation to be creative and explore all of our options to find a solution to where we want to live and raise our family.

Since my husband got a dream job in Hollywood, we were set to move to LA, but soon afterwards, I realized this move was not congruent with my journey. So we began our discussions of what to do next. He didn't want to leave his project and I didn't want to leave the northwest.

After exhaustive discusions, long housing and neighborhood searches and connecting with our inner clarity, we have decided to continue to live in a state of temporary.

Yes, I know, all of life is temporary, but some choices are much shorter versions of temporary, while others are longer. The truth was, I was hoping for the longer version, but the universe has guided us and mysteriously gifted us with the perfect place to stay temporary over the next 6 months.

So I am pleased to announce that we have made the commitment to make a temporary choice.

Life is a complex web of choices and possibilities. The more your mind opens to them, the more complicated it is to sort through the data. Focus on your values and you might just find the solution to your most tangled challenges. Yes, it can be done, even when we are co-creating our reality with someone who values are not the same as yours. Yes, it CAN be done!

I am pleased that we are both choosing what we love, even if it is temporary, for that is where we will find our greatest joy... right here... right now.

Smiles and blessings,
Rain

An answer to Jude of where we are now...

JudeEastman~LifeCoach said...

OK--I'm a little behind from enjoying my rewarding-relaxing Big Island vacation.

Aren't you one of those people in my life that told me when the fear creeps in and we start to doubt our decisions or that we can "do it" that we are just about to make great strides forward and to keep the faith?

Not to say I know what's best for you and your family--The decision will come with crystal clarity whether to stay or go. All the plans already made don't matter at that point-Remember, "It's a brand new day at that point."

Love you Rain--this may all be a moot point by now.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thank you Jude :)

Yes, when fear creeps in, you can move forward and do it.

Only, this is not about fear. This is about not knowing what we truly want together.

We are talking about where we want to live and raise our children and make a living and what lifestyle we really want... and at what price.

I have to admit it has been a painful and amazingly expansive time. My husband and I are really getting to really know each other and our true values while we put the pieces together. It is amazing at how much you can still learn about each other after 13 years.

As of today, there are no decisions yet. We are just looking at what we would love to do and see if there is a possibility to co-create something new out of what we each love (which is very different) and happily put energy into it for the next few years.

I have faith that with this amazing man and our creative spirits we will design something perfect for us and our family.

Thank you for the opportunity to clarify where we are at.

Blessings to you today.
your friend,
Rain

Day 2 Emergency Plan

What do you do when the worst possible thing happens?
Do you allow yourself time to grieve, feel, process and regroup?

What do you do when you are fearful of the worst possible thing happening if you take a risk?
Do you spend every moment worrying, feeling unable to move and feeling the tension in your body?

I have a process that works for both called the
Day 2 Emergency Plan.

Here is how it works:

Write down the worst possible scenario that could happen if you take the risk you wish to take, or if the worst has already happened, acknowledge what has happened out loud to yourself or a very good friend.

Next write down your emergency plan which always starts on Day 1 with the most awesome pity party you have ever known. Write down the ways you will take care of YOU. On your actual Day 1, allow yourself to choose to do whatever you really want to do. Take a wellness day from work if possible. This includes wearing your favorite pajammas, eating whatever you want, buying yourself ease by take out, a babysitter and whatever else can give you time, buying yourself some flowers, a sad rental movie (allow yourself to cry, cry and cry some more) and a large box of dark chocolate. Spoil yourself with a day of extreme comfort.
Also make sure you give yourself extreme self care; take a nap, wear a favorite blanket (and feel a universal hug,) smell flowers, drink herbal tea, drink water whenever you can, take a nice slow walk outside and sit in a comfortable sunny spot, if you have it. Make no decisions about tomorrow, just feel, breathe and be.

Day 2 is a day to get back on your feet. Write out a plan of what you will do to take a step forward toward living your goals again. It might look like this:

• Take a shower
• Get dressed in successful clothes for the day
• Eat a healthy breakfast
• Brush teeth
  
• Return movie
• Give chocolates to a friend
• Make the calls you need to make
• Take at least one small step towards living the life you truly want
  
• Acknowledge your feelings and your courage
  

If the worst has sprung upon you, it is easy to make this list the morning of Day 2. Don't worry about it or work on it Day 1. Then use it throughout the day to move forward towards living. Don't underestimate the power of taking small steps, such as taking a shower. Any step, no matter how small is a step and is taking you where you want to be.

If you are prewriting your Day 2 Emergency Plan, tuck it away in your safe, your drawer, by your fire extinguisher or in your first aid kit. Know you have your plan, so there is no need to think about what will happen, just move forward anyway.

After all, it's when we move forward that our lives become the dreams we truly want. It is important to take breaks along the journey of your authentic trail to breathe and process. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is allow a whole day to acknowledge our humanness, while knowing we will get back up tomorrow, we aren't giving up...
we are just giving ourselves a gift of love.


Dedicated to all my friends who reached out to me when I needed it most....

Finding Strength and Courage

Sometimes life can take you in a new direction
when you really don't want to.
You may feel lost, discouraged, fearful and broken-hearted.

Keep breathing...
In fact, your instinct is to hold your breath until it's over,
so choosing to breathe can be extremely healing.

When you feel there is no reason to...
breathe in big.

Inhale as you imagine that you are breathing in life itself.
The good the bad.
The exciting and scary.
The known and unknown.
What you can control and what you can't.

Breathe deeply today...
take in everything life has offer and you will find
your strength and courage renewed.

It's 1:30 in the morning...

For the life of me, I can't sleep...
So much has been going on.

First the job in LA.
Then the plans to move to LA.
Then the incredible sadness of leaving WA.
Then the thought of maybe staying here in WA.
Then my husband thinking maybe staying here is the best thing for the kids.
Playing with the idea.

I guess the question is, 'What do we really want?'
My husband and I are famous for the inability to make decisions and then making huge sweeping decisions at the last minute.

Every Sunday is our 'So what do we want to do with our life?' day. This has gone on for 13 years. We have talked for hours while drinking way too much.
First it was bloody marys.
Then it was mimosas.
Then it was coffee.
Now I drink tea... sometimes, while my husband continues his love of coffee.

We have thought about all the possibilities for our life. We have explored all the wild choices this life has to offer. We think about our sweet boys and the impact of our decisions. We think about what we most desire. We write lists.
On white boards.
On notepads.
On the computer.
On napkins.

We enjoy the highs of making wild decisions.
When we actually and finally make them.
Then there is the maintenance of these decisions.

With the exception of our decision to be together and our decision to be parents.
We don't tend to be great at the maintenance part.

There is just always another decision waiting around the corner to think about.
This time instead of going for the big sweeping decision, I wait...
I wait...
I wait...
until the answer is either yes or no...

and here I am at 1:40 in the morning, sitting in my big, comfy chair, with my soft, warm blanket and I am just waiting...
Until I finally decide to go to bed.

Love and Feeling ALIVE

Do you ever just love feeling LOVE? It is such a gift.

It opens your heart to the elements.
You feel electricity.
You feel vulnerable and excited.
You feel warmth and beating explosions.
You feel buzzing in your veins.

Everything is YES!
Everything is POSSIBILITY!

That is how I feel when I think of my husband. My greatest spiritual teacher, my greatest friend, my thrilling experiment in co-creation.

We have been through so much, we test each other, we push the limits.

He is so beautiful, so lovely and fulfills my life in ways I never would have experienced without him.

As we take the next few steps together to try the unknown, to see what we are capable of, I know that no matter what happens...
I am so grateful for my life with him.

The good, the challenging and most of all, the explosions of feeling ALIVE!

When Life Changes, Wait on Decisions

Now that we are in motion for the upcoming move 1150 miles south of here, I am amazed as new thoughts, feelings, and decisions come into my view. It is so easy to get caught up in the drama, and it is just as easy to stay out of it. All of the upcoming decisions we have to make could be an easy source for stress and drama. You think and think and think into the future and wonder what is the best choice to make. I have done that in my life and I have learned an important key to keeping it simple:

Making decisions in the present time is the best time to make them!

Otherwise, the stress begins to form because you are making decisions without all the real time information. Soon, your mind will create false information to fill in the blanks until you reach that point in time, and you end up making pre-decisions based on assumption.

Let me give you an example:
One of the most common questions I get is, "Where are you going to move to in Los Angeles?" Since I have never lived there I do not have an honest answer to that. And if I did know the area, what if the kind of home we want isn't available at the time of our move?

This is where being in the here and now is such a gift during life changes. I know where I will live, because I will be faced with a home we have looked at in an area I feel good in. The decision will be there... in that moment. And there is only 2 choices to make, yes or no.

When faced with a yes or no decision in the moment life is happening, it is so much easier to look at all the information you have up until that point, trust your inner guidance and move forward with your decision.

Decisions no longer become long month or year long dramas, they simply are moments in your life. The best part is how much more time it gives me here in the northwest, where I am currently making decisions for the upcoming birthday party of my soon-to-be-8 year old.

That is right now and that is where I love to live.

So many emotions, so little time...

Since the big news, and taking steps towards leaving (selling the boat, buying another hybrid car, renting the house, having a going away party for Charlie) I have been having a lot of emotions. I have been:
Happy
Excited
Scared
Confused
Sad

These feelings seem to come moment to moment. Instead of trying to keep a smile on my face and continue to tell myself everything is going to be okay, I am allowing the feelings to come and show themselves. I may be excited one minute, cry the next, smile after that, then talk about my fears and about missing our life here in the northwest.

I notice that there are so many passing emotions, thoughts and reactions, and since I am not holding any judgments to them, they are passing by in seconds. I am not attaching who I am to what I feel.

So many of us are afraid of being authentic and feeling what we are feeling in the moment for fear it will grow into something too big to handle. When you allow your feelings without judging yourself afterward, you let go of the story and there is no drama or analysis... it just is.

For example, when I talk about my fear of dealing with the high population of a big city, I don't attach the judgments "I am a big baby!" "Why do you say such ridiculous things?" "You will never be able to handle all the noise, you can't handle anything!" or "You have to figure out a way to stop this move!"

Instead, I just notice the feeling of fear. Recognize it as normal and natural and feel it. When the fear seems to take on physical pain, I stop what I am doing and feel it even deeper. Let it come through me like a shock wave. Once I do, I notice it leave me. I watch it dissipate.

If I go with the stories and judgments, I get caught up in another reality. The reality in my head, instead of my heart. Our thoughts can take over and prolong the suffering of emotions. We make our feelings more important than the moment and watch the story go on for a full length movie or even a mini-series or life-long soap opera.

If you begin to notice a story taking over, just take a deep breath to create a break in the action. Go into your body and feel what is happening in there. Let go of your thoughts and stay with the feelings in the now.

The here and now is where you will find freedom. For that is all we have.

Everything else is purely for entertainment purposes only.

New Move... Big Changes!

It's time to share with you all what is going on at home here.

While I was innocently on my 2-week non-computer retreat, my husband went out and used his amazing energy to find an opportunity and his dream job.

As I was driving home with the kids and only 4 hours to go from the sunny beaches in Santa Cruz, he shared the news. "We're moving to Hollywood!"

Yes, after living and very much loving the northwest for the past 13 years, we are moving from our small town of only 10,000 residence to Los Angeles, CA one of the biggest cities in the US with a population of 3,834,340! (and that is just in the city's huge limits, the county limits is almost to 10 million!) It is something to wrap our brains around...

It has been a few days with a whirlwind of amazing connections, flow and ease...
The kids are excited.
My husband is excited.
Even I am excited.

There are a few things that are keeping me on Rescue Remedy:
1. My husband is leaving soon... next week and will be down there 3 months before we all move down officially. Even though he will be visiting us and we will come down to visit him, this will be the longest my husband and I have been apart since we have met.

2. Leaving the cool, beautiful and green forest we live in to be in the small dry plots and high population of the hot and sunny city. The trails, the quiet, the serenity of living here is such a gift. My kids love to play in the woods and build forts and create games of amazing outdoor invention. It will be serious culture shock!

3. Smog. I have always been sensitive to it and I love the clean air on the coast of the northwest. There will be a huge adjustment here of relaxing and letting go...

4. Safety. I know there is no such thing as real security... but we don't have dangerous parts of town around here. I let my 10-year old walk to town (an hour long walk) with a friend without worry. This will also be a huge shift and I am actually curious to see how I feel when I am there. Right now, I can't imagine it.

The truth is, those are the only stresses for us as we look towards this new adventure! So we have decided to go for it. We have decided to move to Los Angeles.

My husband will be working in Hollywood, where he can see premeres for new movies right across the street. Where will we actually move to and live? Well I just don't know for sure yet....
If you know of a family friendly, relatively quiet neighborhood that won't be a huge commute from Hollywood.... put your vote in here!

Meanwhile what does this mean for Authentic Times, Inc.?
I will be slowing down for awhile (I guess that is why I was on retreat...) I will still be coaching, editing and doing the peace treaty classes, just less of it as we transition through the move.

Here is to change, courage and our new adventure!!!

Back From Retreat!

Wow! I not only was off the computer for a week, I was off for TWO!

So needless to say, it went really well...
It took me a couple of days of fighting my impulse to turn on my computer. Soon I felt like I really didn't want to turn my computer on ever again!

So I met with my amazing coach... took a few more days to reconnect with what I was really feeling and it that is when it hit me like a bouquet of Mother's Day flowers!

I was ready to turn on, but in my own way and at my own speed...

Yes, I had almost 600 emails when I returned (I will get back to you, I promise :)
Yes, there is a lot to catch up on.
Yes, the web spun without me.
Yes, I am so grateful!
This is how I feel:
Yahoo!
Getting back to work feels freeing and fun!
Thank you all for your beautiful support!

I thought about where my business is headed and where I want to go, and I feel ready to take those steps, clearly and with purpose!

What did I take away from this experience?

Trust yourself... even when you think you know better!

Non-Computer Retreat starts Now!

I wish you all a beautiful week! Here is something I would love to give you...

Yikes! A Retreat From the Computer

The time has come! I have decided to take a week retreat away from the computer for the first time since my trip around the US in '07. Am I having my doubts? Oh yeah, I am!
Here is why:

• My email will explode into outerspace and I will need a special team of highly trained experts to face it when I return.
• Those who are contacting me about coaching or editing may go somewhere else and not want to wait for my hiatus to be over. (One week on the internet is like a whole year in real life!)
  
• What if I don't want my hiatus to be over?
• I don't have a VA and am not sure if I should hire one to keep my businesses in the flow...
  
• I will be forgotten on Twitter and Facebook (Oh gasp!)

Time is from Monday, April 27th thru Monday May 4th. This may be longer, if needed through Thursday May 7th.

Can I do this? ...Yes?
I mean, Yes!!!
Is anyone taking bets?

Empower Your Adult!

If you missed the show, listen in to this one. On the Voice of Change, Sharon and I talk about the power of trusting yourself and moving forward. A really powerful show!

A conversation about "The Work"

This is a response to a conversation on the blog Waves Arising Suddenly about "The Work" and Byron Katie that I found after a disturbing post I found about what happens at the School for The Work.

I am grateful for Byron Katie's work for I have grown so much; This just teaches me that sometimes the initial inspiration is what we should focus on... I would love to hear your thoughts!

_______________________________________________
I am so glad to find a compelling conversation about thoughts and ideas of the work and the school for the work.

I personally had used the work for about a year, until I realized, I was continually doing the work on suffering thoughts over and over... I continue to share it with my clients and introduce it as a trick. (Tricks are not negative, they are just quick ways to help the mind end suffering, though do not prove lasting results without positive action.)

For the same reason I left AA years ago, the work is similar in that people are encouraged to stick with it forever, or they receive a sense of shunning. AA's motto is "jails, institutions and death" Katie's followers seems to say to those who argue that you are "fighting reality" or "fighting what is."

I am not saying these programs don't help millions of people, they do. I am saying that once they help you, please think about moving forward on your own journey without fear.

The experience I have had with those who have gone to the school is a sense of secrecy... and I never knew why. If it is joyous, share it with the world, right? They seem to have a "I know what you do not" energy about them. My thoughts have been, "It's only 4 questions. It's not hard to understand, what am I missing?"

Rick Ross' sharing of the school made me feel sad. Maybe that is what I was missing... what had happened to these people while at the school. Cult, fraternity or abusive family; or whatever you call it... anything that asks you to keep secrets for any reason, is going to create separatism with others and suffering in your spirit.

If the tool you are using to end the suffering does not truly end it permanently and encourages you to add their own philosophy onto your personal authentic journey for the long term, you will stray from walking your own unique path.

I encourage my clients, friends and family all to do what is right in their own heart, to trust and listen to their own guidance. Byron Katie is doing that for herself.

We also need to do the same.

smiles and blessings,
Rain

Listening to the Voices

Okay, I admit it! Sometimes, I doubt the universe will provide. As I continue to move forward and I do what I love, every once in a while a voice pops into my head that says,

"You are living in a dream world! Life is not a dream and you have to be rational and practical."

Do you know that voice? When you begin walking on your authentic path, this voice is LOUD! There is a real fear of the unknown.

However, as I have been on my true authentic path for the past 3 years, I have actual evidence that living a life that is from your heart and spirit can and does work, although not always as we first might believe it should. Lol!

So when that voice continues to whisper in my ear and flashes of doubt soon fill my head, I can immediately go into "hopeless."

However! I have discovered a beautiful trick that works and I want to share with you today.

When the voice is talking to you with fear, simply listen and sit with the discomfort without judgment. The most important thing is to let the voice be HEARD as you would hear a child.

As I continue to work with The Peace Treaty, I am becoming more conscious of these voices being children. They are us as children, who have become quite bossy and think they know best. However, they speak out of fear and as we all do when we are feeling fear, they just want to be heard.

So next time you hear the voice telling you, "You are foolish and living a dream!" don't fight it or try to put it out of your mind. Decide to listen fully as a kind, loving and wise adult without judgment. When the voice is done talking you might say and say with gratitude in your heart, "Yes, I hear you. It does seem scary. I am the brave adult now, who is ready to take that risk!"

Courage and joy,
Rain