“Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands – and then eat just one of the pieces.” ~Judith Viorst

I travel quite a bit.  Most of my travels have to do with someplace I am going to speak but occasionally I get to do a trip here and there that is just for me.  Many of my friends watch my postings on Facebook gallivanting around the world and I always hear the same comment, “Where are you now?”  Or if I am at home when they call I hear, “Are you in the country?”  I will be the first to admit (and am extremely grateful for) that I have a very blessed life.  I am healthy, have a wonderful relationship with both of my girls, I own my own business which allows me flexibility in my schedule, I travel all over the world and every day I feel like I am blessed with yet another gift from God in whatever form it may show up; an unexpected check, a new hiking trail, a new friend, etc.

My life was not always this way though.  I used to suffer from chronic ulcerative colitis, have daily migraine headaches, was overweight and felt overall as if I was trapped in my life and had no choices.  I had “responsibility” you know.  Bills to pay, kids to raise, a job to go to (which I hated)…all things I HAD to do.  I am not sure exactly what happened…it may have been the severe colitis that finally got to me and being sick of feeling sick or just being plain tired of being tired.  One thing I do know that happened is the pain of staying where I was became greater than the fear of what was ahead; the unknown.  When we hit that point, we always do something differently.

I had to “unplug from the Matrix.”  Neo never showed up to tell me I was living in “the Matrix,” an illusion world, but I somehow felt in the pit of my stomach there was more to life than what I was seeing.  I unplugged by taking some time off; not only from work but from my life.  I stopped doing everything for everyone else and took some time for me.  I entered the equation of my life again.  All of my decisions up to that point in my life were based on what I thought other people thought I should do (that even sounds silly when I type it) instead of what I thought I should do.  I was not in the equation whatsoever when I made any decision in my life.  Nothing, and I mean nothing, had to do with me.

In short, here is what I realized; I came to find the power of the mind.  We all heard the word “discipline” growing up and most cringe when they hear it.  But controlling your mind…taking charge of your life…takes self-discipline.  I now have a “daily discipline” I follow and it is what starts my day every day.  It is what keeps me centered and what allows me to stay in a space of graciously receiving anything that life offers to me; love, pain and anything in between.  If your life is running you instead of you running your life, sit down, take a breath and listen to this next part.  Here is the formula:

• Get to know yourself again by taking time everyday to do something that makes you feel good.  (Reading a book, going for a walk, having a cup of tea, petting your cat, etc.).

• Let your feelings guide you.  Our feelings are the physical manifestation of God talking to us (your guidance).  If a situation or a person is making you feel bad, listen and then act.

• Make a list of everything you want in your life; your bucket list.  No blinders allowed!  Don’t worry about if what comes up is realistic, write it down anyway.  Don’t worry if you don’t know how to do it, write it down anyway.  Shorten your list to things you feel you can accomplish in the next 6 months and read that list every morning.  Your subconscious mind will get it and start working on it.  The “how” is not up to us anyway; the Universe handles that one.

• Start your mornings slowly.  Get up earlier.  Find a routine that works for you.  Just like you need to feed your body every day, you need to also feed your mind.  Start the day by feeding it good affirmations such as, “I am blessed by perfect health, unlimited wealth, all encompassing love and achieved successes!”

• Do something for yourself every day physically (exercise), mentally (positive reading and affirmations), emotionally (allowing your feelings to come up and be released) and spiritually (decrees, prayers, meditation).

• Let the day and your feelings guide you.  Your best is different every day.  Be easy on yourself.  If you’re tired, go slower or rest.  If you feel sick, give yourself permission to take care of yourself.  Don’t worry about what others think and what they might say.  Who are “they” anyway?

And last but not least, try this small mantra everyday and believe it;

Be still, know all is good
Be still, know all is
Be still, know all
Be still, know
Be still
Be

Living in the my own (and uniquely created) real world and loving it,
Chris

Chris Sopa is founder and owner of Chris Sopa International, Inc. You can learn more about her at www.ChrisSopa.com. Find her at Facebook.com/ChrisSopaInternational, Twitter @ChrisSopa, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Several years ago I came across some lectures on cassette tape (that is how long ago it was) called “Infinite Self” by Stuart Wilde.  I remember listening to his tape series over and over again until I pretty much had the darn thing memorized and the cassettes began to sound warped.  His teachings seemed way before his time then and as I listen to his messages now, I can see how far I have grown spiritually in my life and how exact he was with his teachings.  His message was about the “true you” inside the you that you think you are and how to tap into that person.

There are so many of us experiencing changes of all sorts in our lives presently.  Some changes we are choosing consciously and others are happening to us seemingly without our permission.  Change isn’t necessarily about cutting things out of your life but more about forming new habits, thoughts and ways of being; realizing your power, how you use it and where you lose it; and allowing the changes to help you grow into the person you were born to be.

Stuart Wilde called this true you your “Infinite Self;” A self that cannot be touched or harmed by outside forces and one of which you are completely in control.  To give your week a jump start and some things to think about, I included here 11 of Stuarts “33 Ways to Affirm Your Infinite Self.”  Read them, memorize them, believe them and put as many into action as possible.  Some will be easier than others and some will seem impossible from where you may find yourself now.  Embrace the ones that ring true to you.

AND, on top of that, if you are seeking a personalized live workshop on how to deal with change, August 20^th in Perryville, MD and August 30^th in Scottsdale, AZ I will be teaching on change in my workshop, “Riding the Waves of Change:  Dealing With and Successfully Moving Through Life Changes.”  Both events will be held in the evening from 6:00-7:30pm and in honor of the “33 Ways of Affirming Yourself,” the event will cost only $33.00.  See my “Journey Back to Self” blog on Wednesday for more details!

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33 Ways to Affirm Your Infinite Self
~Stuart Wilde

1. What I believe I am, I am.
2. By holding onto nothing, I actually have everything.
3. My power rises from within.  I don’t need to push a situation; the appropriate outcome is drawn to me.
4. My most powerful action can be non-action (non-judgment, non-involvement), where I operate from a state of “clear being” rather than “hectic doing.”
5. I maintain a fresh, energized attitude toward life.  I observe nature and align myself to it.
6. I do not fear death, but rather accept it and get on with living.
7. I am physically disciplined.  I provide my body’s requirements for optimal condition.
8. I am emotionally disciplined.  I experience emotions, but I release them.
9. I am mentally disciplined.  I don’t let negativity and “logic” dominate my life and direction.  My higher self shines through.
10. I do not invest energy in things that do not resonate for me.  I live my truth and let the rest go.
11. I am spiritually disciplined.  I acknowledge the source of my light and power regularly and often.

Affirming how beautiful you are,

Chris

Chris Sopa is founder and owner of Chris Sopa International, Inc. You can learn more about her at www.ChrisSopa.com. Find her at Facebook.com/ChrisSopaInternational, Twitter @ChrisSopa, LinkedIn, and Google+.

“Things may happen around you and things may happen to you, but the only things that really count are the things that happen within you.  We cannot always control what happens to us.  But we can control what we think about what happens – and what we are thinking is our life at any particular moment.”  ~Eric Butterworth

As I sit here thinking about “mistakes” (and I purposely put that in quotes because I believe there are no such things!) I cannot help but think back to all of the “mistakes” I made in my life…actions taken, words spoken, even thoughts formed.  With every single one of them I think of, I can also connect it to the lesson I learned from it that made me who I am today.  Why?  Because that is how I CHOOSE to view my “mistakes.”  As lessons.  The fear of making mistakes is one of the MAIN reasons why we do not CREATE and why we do not take ACTION in our lives.

(The following is an excerpt taken from Chapter 4 of my new book due out this summer with Balboa Press, “Living the Fearless Life: The Choices of Sustainable Joy” – ENJOY!)

Once you begin to understand that everything in life happens for a reason, you begin to view the idea of “mistakes” in a very different light.  Was it really a mistake to date that person?  Was it really a mistake to take that job?  Was it really a mistake to go on that trip?

More than likely, if you would have not had those experiences you call “mistakes,” you would not be the person you are today.  You would not have the strength, the knowledge and the wisdom that makes up who you are.

We fear mistakes for many reasons; most of which are personal.  Some people fear what others think, some fear failure again, and some fear rejection.  The fears we have about mistakes come from our conditioning; what we were taught and what we saw as we were growing up is ingrained in the back of our minds.  Sometimes what we fear didn’t even happen to us but someone we knew and it was so impactful that it became our fear as well.

Many people view mistakes as something bad, something that should not have happened and something that made them feel a way in which they did not want.  When you make a choice that leads you down a path you did not want, instead of reliving it in your mind and going over and over it again as we all do, begin to look at mistakes as opportunities to learn.  Your only purpose here on earth is to grow.  There are no accidents and there are no mistakes.  A mistake is only a “mistake” if you did not learn and grow from it.  When you fret over a mistake and keep re-playing it in your mind, all you are doing is drawing the energy and vibration of that mistake to your present time.  What you think about most you bring about, so if that is the case and you are thinking constantly about how you said or did the wrong thing, guess what you will attract to you?  Guess what will happen again?  BINGO…that very same “mistake!”

Instead, think about what you learned and take that with you and leave the experience behind.  Stop dragging the entire experience with you to relive over and over again.  Ask yourself, “What can I do differently in this situation next time?”  Then, the next time you are presented with a situation that is similar, you can pause, remember your “mistake” from last time and make a different choice.  Mistakes are proof that you are trying and moving forward!

“If I had my life to live over…I’d dare to make more mistakes next time.”  ~Nadine Stair

Affirmation for Today:
I ask that all effects of mistakes and misunderstandings be undone, both in the past and the present.  And so it is…