There is a home in our neighborhood that has seen a major amount of activity in the last several weeks. First, a garage sale. Then another. Things left on the curb for pickup. Much trash. Trucks in and out. Bush trimming. Perhaps some paint. And finally a crew of workers planting the most lovely sod!

I know that our whole neighborhood was thrilled to see that, as it desperately needed it.

Today, I saw what looked to be the packing up of the rest of the belongings.

This is disappointing to me. Not that I am not happy for them and see them moving off to some grand new adventure. My disappointment is that after years of living in a home, only upon moving/selling does one decide to take excellent care of it?

Hey, I have been there myself. We become blind to what we are settling for in our environment. We think oh, its just me its okay, I can live with this.

Then we go to move and it is wow, let’s get into action to make this place look fantastic for the new owners. What?! Why are we not worthy of the time and effort and focus to make it look fantastic for us, the present owners? Why wouldn’t we allow ourselves the pleasure and pride of living in a beautiful space?

Well, we would. We will. We do. Today. Any baby step counts and cleaning is FREE.

Another thing that is no cash investment, at least for the time being, is a Clarity Call with me. Sign up here while you have the chance, on me.

What a glorious fall day! It is absolutely gorgeous here now that the rains have subsided. It is quite cool (at least to me) in the morning and then warms to a perfect afternoon. The grass has started to take on a purple hue.

Fall is the season of harvest. Fall is a season of major change.

What are you harvesting? What we see in our lives today is the result of the thinking and doing that we did up to now. It could have been minutes ago but more likely in the months and years leading up to now.

Want to see a major change in a good way? Start thinking better thoughts and taking action on them today. Done consistently and persistently, you will hardly recognize how much better your life will look this time next year.

Need help navigating toward vast improvements? I can help. I am just a Clarity Call away. Book yours now courtesy of Love Starts with Me.

What is one decision you can make today to improve your life? What is one thing you can decide to do to move you into a new level? I am not saying that you actually have to do or complete the thing today, if you can it is that much more powerful, but make a decision.

Then take action.   That could be putting it on the calendar. It could be opening an account to start saving for it. It could be making the call to put some “feelers” out. It could be going to the store to get some better foods. It could be researching a gym or ordering a book.

Whatever it is, as Nike would say, just do it.

Today I have been somewhat at a loss as to what to write. It happens. Not very often, fortunately, but it does.

So, I looked back at some of my writing from before Love Starts with Me started. I had, as a few of you may know, a blog called The Cussing Christian. I only posted a handful of times on it over the course of a few months.

I hadn’t developed the habit of writing daily. I wouldn’t develop this habit until about 6 months or so later, after I had decided not to continue posting but to simply write for habit building and to get better.

I look back at the old writing and I can’t see that the style has improved significantly (I am not bashing myself here just observing) but what I can see is that my THOUGHTS continue to improve. That is extremely exciting to me!

For our thoughts create our lives. Thoughts and words and actions – the habitual ones especially, end up determining what we experience. I have made a habit of improving my thinking. There is no limit to how much better we can think.

Think about that one…

As you know I left my corporate job recently. While I was on my sabbatical, a few days into my new life, my right shoulder started hurting. At first, I was a little bothered by it. As the days and hours went by and as the reality of taking the Big Leap sunk in, the pain got worse and worse.

I mean B-A-D! Thankfully, I have learned to listen to my body. Whereas before I would have simply taken 3 ibuprofen as often as needed to knock out the pain without exploring what my body was trying to tell me, I don’t do that anymore. I don’t really like to take any medications and I am blessed that I don’t need to. Now I listen.

Well this time was different. It was really hurting and showers and Epsom baths and tapping weren’t working. Oddly, whenever I had a job/security issue before, my left shoulder would hurt. I had figured that out a few years ago that my job security and stress showed up as pain in my left shoulder. And here I was, just days from resigning and shoulder pain was there but wait – wrong shoulder!

So I did what any medically minded Health Coach would do. I googled it. I found that right shoulder pain related to things that were not my responsibility. Hmmph. Not my responsibility. Interesting…

So, I quit my job to dive headlong into my vocation and now I get the message that it is not my responsibility? Woweee wow! Mrs. Personal Responsibility and “create your own life, make your own choices” Susie?

Yes, ma’am.

It didn’t hit me what that truly meant until later that night when the pain woke me up. Yes, it was that severe. I just prayed. And what I knew to do then was to breathe. To breathe deeply and fully into my shoulder and to breathe in TRUST. To breathe out fear and doubt.

So I did. I breathed deeply and slowly. Trust in and doubt out. Trust in and fear out. Trust in and yuck out. I breathed in trust until all I could breathe out was trust as well. Then I fell asleep but even before I dozed the pain was gone. Completely. Totally. Gone. And it’s not coming back. I trust that to be true.

Yesterday I talked about my cleaning, clearing and repairing. Today I invite you to consider what in your life can you now afford to, must you decide to, might it be time to change/remove/replace/upgrade?

You can begin anywhere but oftentimes your closet is the easiest and quickest. What is in there that you do not love to wear? What is in there that is torn or too small or too ugly or too anything else? What is in there that is only there out of guilt?

You know the one I am talking about. That thing that was given to you or you bought on sale or on vacation but you have never worn or used? Except maybe that one time as a courtesy?

OUT!

It isn’t helping anyone in there. Give it a second chance at a better life elsewhere.

Now, doesn’t that feel better? The new upgraded version of you was waiting all along.

Hello! I am back! It is so good to be here with you and back to doing what I love. I did not end up taking a road trip for my sabbatical. I ended up continuing to clean and clear. It was actually more effective in mind-clearing at present than I think a trip would have been. Everything in its season.

As I transition from Corporate life into my Transformational Coaching role exclusively, I am taking some time to clear out, in the physical world, everything I can now that no longer serves me or enhances my life. It has truly been revolutionary.

I began this in earnest before my last day on the j-o-b. In fact, I will go on record here in saying that it led me to my last day on the j-o-b. Doing the physical clearing and releasing of clutter and old “stuff” over the last several weeks cleared the way for me to take the big leap in leaving my “safe” cushy job to go all in on my vocation.

And I am not done yet. I have several more projects and areas to tackle in repairing, decluttering, organizing and generally getting my ducks in a row.

Nature abhors a vacuum. My opening up the physical space and reworking my office for the countless time in the last few years has now opened up a beautiful path for new and better to come in.

Woohoo! Let the doors swing open and the bounty come on in! I am ready, willing and able and I receive!

This week marks the first week of my sabbatical. As you know, last Friday was my last day working for Corporate America. I am so very grateful for my time there. I learned so much in that world and all of it will continue to serve me going forward.

For today, for the rest of this week and next, I am going to sign off so that I can reflect on this new season in my life. I have a really good sketch of what my next phase looks like and I know that some time in inner reflection will serve me well in gaining even more clarity.

I will be thinking of you much during this time. While I am away, revisit how far we have come by catching up on previous issues.

God bless!

A few years ago there was a book out called Who Moved My Cheese. It made the rounds and was a big hit in the business world. It basically taught us to stop being the mouse who continues to look for cheese in the same place out of conditioning and habit. It was a message of how to adapt to change.

That was, I’m guessing, maybe 10-15 years ago. In many ways, the lesson still holds.  Change is inevitable and continual.

However, now there are millions of us who have awoken or are awakening to the fact that we are actually allergic to cheese! We had been chasing it and eating it, looking for it in new places as we adapted in the corporate world. We didn’t realize that it was slowly poisoning us to keep eating it at all!

We are now seeing that there is a better way, a more fulfilling, delicious and healthy way to live that allows us to serve more passionately, more fully without an allergic cheese hangover. Rather than following the cheese that was moved on us, we are questioning and discovering that we are better served and of greater service by proactively choosing field greens and grass-fed steak! There is a whole Whole Foods Market out there!

I invite you to think in new paradigms, in a more expansive way of what is actually available for you. The corporate cheese treadmill is speeding up for some and slowing down overall. Perhaps it is time to begin considering another way entirely.