The Fuel Of Our Existence

For as long as I can remember, I’ve admired people that literally glow from within because of their incredible zest for life. Those whose enthusiasm infects everyone around them, inspiring others to aspire to a similar way of being. And, as much as I’ve admired folks like this, I’ve also envied them from afar. What is their trick to enjoying life with abandon? Don’t get me wrong, there’s much I love about my life as well, but I don’t radiate with enthusiasm every day nor every hour. Not even every other day or hour.

“Insider secrets” I’ve gleaned from close friends with these qualities enlighten me to the fact that these people are chock full of dreams and faith. They allow themselves to conceive the experiences or things they wish to receive and have complete faith that this, or something even better, is headed their way. They rarely second guess themselves, wonder “how” it might happen, nor worry about whether it’s fair that they should receive the dream or not. They dream it, and believe it, through their faith.

The big take away here is that our dreams are the fuel of our existence. They are our inner fire’s kindling and if we allow them to burn out we lose our joie de vivre. Faith, is the oxygen that fans the flame, keeps it bright and allows us to believe in our dreams. Without both dreams and faith we allow ourselves to live a life of settling, reacting and merely surviving. A place I’ve found myself periodically over the years.

Aside from dreams and faith, what else do all of these people have in common? They get “out of their head”. Rather than think about their dreams logically from a head space, they allow themselves to connect with the feelings of receiving their dreams and then take action toward obtaining them. It sounds simple, and truly it is. Conceive it, believe it, and start seeking it. Let go of everything else.

So, now that you understand where genuine enthusiasm for life and a lit from within glow comes from, will you allow yourself to experience it? And, if so, what dream will you grant yourself faith to believe in? For me, it’s the dream of becoming more consistent in connecting with my faith and dreams. How about you?

 

The Courage of YES

Y-E-S. Three simple letters that, when combined, set off an unstoppable chain reaction. When said with courage, YES holds immense, flowing positive energy. The energy to accept a wedding proposal. The energy to make a career change. The energy to start a family. The energy to receive all the abundance that life offers each one of us. Why then do so many of us handcuff ourselves to lack and a sense of hopelessness? My intent is not to pass judgement, because the Lord knows I’ve spent plenty of time in my own handcuffs. But, what draws us out of the natural gravitational pull of abundance and into the seemingly bottomless pit of “not enough”?

While YES is one of the most powerful short words of the English vocabulary, NO gives it a run for its money. Deeply rooted within the letters N-O is something nearly impenetrable. Once said, NO brings a halt to the natural positive flow that we’re born into. Within moments of its utterance, a blanket of paucity wraps us in its dark embrace terminating our ability to receive. Abundance is the result of receiving, thus the word NO stops our natural flow of abundance and ushers in stagnation and even scarcity.

If stagnation and scarcity are the result of saying NO to our life and dreams, then saying YES surely brings everything we desire into our life. In reality, the ability to truly and fully say YES to our dreams is no easy task. Many try yet stop themselves short because of fear. When we say YES, we initiate flow within our lives. Flow isn’t necessarily a picture perfect screen shot of what we desire. For this reason, some of our fear originates from the unknown. What we receive may be greater or lesser than what we’re hoping for but, regardless, it’s an unknown. If you’ve ever said yes to a dream or desire in your life, you’ve likely received something you hadn’t known was flowing your way. For instance, I recently told several friends that I deeply desire to be a motivational speaker. I made a heartfelt proclamation of my YES. I have no idea how one becomes a motivational speaker, and yet, I said YES to the possibility. Within four months of proclaiming my dream, I received opportunities for two radio program interviews. Did I see that coming or was it something I’d imagined? Absolutely not! Yet, I believe that it flowed into my life because I said YES.

Because we can’t possibly know exactly what opportunities or experiences are flowing to us, fear of the unknown may permeate our thoughts and actions. This fear, many times, paralyzes and distances us from our dreams. The people who time and again receive what they desire in life have learned how to move through the fear. Those that are full-out living their truth and enjoying a life of abundance have discovered that saying YES does not mean letting go of fear. In fact, they recognize that fear is always embedded within their YES, but so is faith. When we start flexing our YES muscle, our faith grows and we begin to find courage we didn’t know we had. Faith, in essence, is the roadway to our dreams.

So, what do we require in order to say YES? First and foremost, courage and a “just do it” attitude.  Exercising courage and using the YES muscle repeatedly will strengthen our resolve to utilize it more often to stay within our flow. Second, it’s crucial that we surrender in faith to the fact that whatever we receive is exactly what we require in that moment.  Faith is the only thing that truly binds us to our dreams, the faith that we may actually experience our dream or something even better. Recognizing the “gift” in the possibility of receiving something you hadn’t even dreamed of is very exciting. Finally, embracing whatever fear arises in connection with saying YES to our dreams is a must. Accepting that fear almost always permeates our desire and the ability to say YES will help us grow used to that uncomfortable feeling and move forward anyway.

Show me a person that’s living life the way they truly desire and I’ll show you a courageous person. Those that say YES to their dreams aren’t fearless, they’ve just conquered the art of being more courageous than fearful. The beauty of this is that once you get the hang of it, you’ll never want to go back to your old ways. Why would you? Living our dreams feels good and is contagious. It leads to even bigger and more fulfilling dreams.

Once you allow yourself to receive one dream you automatically open yourself up to receiving another. I have two women in my life that continually say YES to their dreams and inspire women all over the world to do the same. Leona Wallace of http://www.awakenthebeauty.com/ has said YES to more dreams than I can count. My two favorites are when she walked the fashion runway as a 40+ year old model and then moved to Paris, one of her life long dreams. Tara Marino of http://www.elegantfemme.com/ moved her entire family to France nearly 4 years ago and is presenting her life long dream of a fashion line this summer in Paris. Ooh lah lah!!! If this post has inspired you in any way, I invite you to check out both of these women because their stories will propel you to your next level of YES and receiving within your life.

So, what dream will you be saying YES to? I have several tugging at my heartstrings but saying YES to my joy and health are at the top of my list. Please share with me your dream so I can support you in receiving it!