Are you alive?

When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918 - ), "Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art", 1980

Who do you allow yourself to be vulnerable with?

What are you missing out on by keeping yourself closed?

Who do you feel drawn to open yourself up to?

Each and every day we have choices to open ourselves to possibilities, to others, and most importantly to love. Taking chances with our minds, requires one sort of risk, while chances of the heart are unquantifiable. I know each and every time I choose to open my heart and mind, I choose to be open to God's love that flows through others.

I know as I open my heart, the wounds that have happened in the past are exposed. I also know that by opening, they are healed too.

When I open my mind, new ideas and energy flows from places that often surprise me and very often astound me.

This notion of vulnerability has me thinking about truly being seen. Allowing myself to seen by those around me and trusting that I will be loved and accepted is a leap of faith. I know that it is the trust I have in myself and my intuition empowers me to open myself to the people who are worthy of my trust.

As I open my self, I see others around me open up. It is a rare thing to be able to be in that space of trust and faith with another person. Be it a friend, a colleague, or a lover, each requires a willingness to be vulnerable to achieve the highest levels of intimacy. Intimacy on all levels, be it Intellectual, emotional, physical or spiritual demands faith in oneself and the other.

My experience has shown me the depths of intimacy takes time to develop. There are relationships that evolve quickly and others slowly. The pace of true intimacy developing is directly proportional to the amount of vulnerability each person is willing to expose.

In my life, I feel as if I develop deep relationships with people pretty quickly because of my willingness to be vulnerable. I have decided for myself that I desire deep relationships and that I have enough faith in myself and God to open myself. I trust that I am opening myself to the right people and I will learn and grow from every relationship I have.

Intimacy scares many people. I thrive in it. I love the space of it and open myself to all that it has to offer. I know that the risks I take and the hurts I experience are far out weighed by the gifts and blessings I receive. I have deep faith in bliss. I believe in a world that creates relationships and experiences that are full of love. Yes there are relationships that are hurtful and impure. I just refuse to believe that if I keep myself shut down, I will find the right relationships.

Yes, I have opened myself up and been hurt. I have also learned and grown immensely from them. I look back on each relationship and take the lessons and put them into play as I create the next ones. I am fascinated by the correlations between personal and business relationships and how they potentially can inform and inspire each other.

I am currently developing several business alliances, that I believe have great potential. As we work to solidify the agreements, we have been required to expose ourselves. I believe we have been able to do that because we each desire to be in alliance with people who share values and dreams. With out the willingness to open up, it would be impossible to create together.

We have been sharing elements of ourselves professionally and personally that have allowed us to see each other fully and hence make decisions to develop alliance or not. I believe my willingness to open, has allowed them to open. A colleague, shared that he had never so easily come to consensus on goals as easily as we did.

As we expose ourselves, be it intellectually, emotionally or spiritually we take chances that we will be hurt, judged, and maybe even be asked to do something that we do not want to do. Fear of these potential risks often close us to down to seeing the possibilities.

We know, we are all looking to be loved and accepted as we are. We desire relationships that respect our hopes and dreams. We seek support of them in every way. As we expose those dreams, we take the risk that the other person will not support it or worse disrespect them.

With each step in faith, I know I am able to create meaningful and impact full relationships. I believe in the power of love, non-judgement and faith. If I have faith, all things are possible...

Do you trust yourself to open up to the right people?

Are you willing to step in faith?

GO FOR IT!!!

Where do you need to be courageous?

Is it in a relationship?

Is it about your job?

Is it starting a new routine?

Is it something you need to leave behind?


Whatever the details, I know you have the courage to do what it takes. I know that within each of is the courage to do what it takes.

Think back to a time when you did something that you never thought you would. The courage that allowed you to do that is there for you right now. It is within you waiting to be tapped into.

Each day we step out into the world, taking for granted the courage that takes. How much easier it would be to just stay in bed.

We face cold dark mornings on the way to work, we face endless meetings and unruly bosses. Each of these things we face are testament to the courage within us. Allowing ourselves the wisdom to know that have the courage it takes to face a new journey is what is called for right now.

We take for granted how much courage we really have within us. Somewhere we came to believe that all this stuff we do is no big deal. Well I am here to tell you it is. Each day we show up and do what is needed, is courageous. We step in front of our fears, our doubts and do what we need to do.

Today courage is speaking to a friend about a tough situation in our lives. Another day courage finds its face in putting your last dollar in the basket at church. While other days it is showing up for a work out when all you want to do is go to bed.

Each of us is faced with looking within us and to find courage. To find courage within ourselves or within the relationship we have with God and others, firstly requires knowing it is there to begin with.

Know you have courage and you will find it. Know that you have used it before and it lies waiting for you. It is waiting to help you move forward, to fly and to soar!

What are you ignoring?

Is there a part of your life that you are just not wanting to pay attention to , look at?

Is it just easier to ignore than put any attention to it?

Why are you ignoring it?

What are you afraid of??

For many years I just wanted to ignore money. I hate the whole concept of it. That it even exists. Yet we all know that you can only ignore something for so long before something bad happens. It lashes out, it shrivels up and dies, something will result from the neglect.

Through this divorce, I have wanted to ignore the money thing, make it less important, allow it to do what it wants. Because of this fear of facing the issue, I have allowed myself to be victimized by myself, my husband, the reality of the situation.

I have recently begun to pay attention, not easy, but I am doing it. A few weeks ago I tuned into an conference call that was focused on facing your financial fears. It spoke about the notion of stewardship. It taught me a concept that has been pretty profound for me not only in the area of money but in relationship to everything I want more of in my life.

The teaching was about the notion that, Why would you receive more of something, if you were not paying attention, to what you already had.

Think about it. It is a pretty simple concept to understand. Why would God, the Universe send you more of something that you are not doing a good job with? Makes perfect sense to me, seems so beautifully simple to understand...

I know deeply that God does not want me to ignore money, nor does he want me to go with less than I need. Through this work recently, I have begun to understand my relationship with this issue and have begun to look at how my beliefs have formed and how they affect me day to day.

Like any issue in my life, I know this is not an overnight turnaround thing, yet even with the smallest amount of focus, I know that things will begin to change, if I continue to pay attention.

So what needs your attention?

What small action can stop the ignoring?