Personal Growth Archives - Page 2 of 4

Endings Lead to Beginnings

Something has been happening this year to a lot of people who I have been speaking with. Things are ending. Things they never thought would end.

Is this anything new? I don’t know. Life is full of endings…and new beginnings. It’s always been that way—since the beginning of time, I suppose.

Buddhism states that all life is suffering due to the impermanence of everything.

Non-attachment is a useful skill. Easier said than done. We all want to feel we can count on someone and something to be there for us, especially in times of deep need.

I recently read the book, The Surrender Experiment, by Michael Singer. In this book he describes his decades-long practice of saying “yes” to people, circumstances and opportunities that entered his life whether or not his ego-mind wanted to say yes.

Rough Times Ahead?

by Nancy Harris Leave a Comment

I think most of us would agree, it’s been a bumpy ride this year globally, nationally and individually for many of us.

I believe our consciousness has a lot to do with the circumstances surrounding us. Many of us have been asleep and unconscious for a long time.

We have unwittingly participated in creating the mess.

It’s time to wake up.

There’s no more time for apathy, avoidance, denial and procrastination. We can’t keep thinking someone else will take care of the problems. We are largely in the position we are in because of our narrow-sightedness and unwillingness to pay attention to what is happening in our personal lives and the collective as a whole.

Hence, here we are. Rough times ahead?

No doubt.

But, how rough it gets will depend somewhat on how we handle ourselves in the storm. This is true in life’s daily struggles as well as with the larger global events.

Are You Living Your Calling?

by Nancy Harris Leave a Comment

94047d0501e65e6360bad69a8281bf4f All of us want to live lives of meaning and purpose in which we are using our talents and gifts and making a positive difference. Yet how many of us are actually fulfilling this call? Perhaps a lucky few of us get up each day filled with energy and enthusiasm and a deep inner knowing that we are doing what our soul came here to do.

It’s my belief that each of us has a unique purpose that only we can fulfill. That in our hearts, we yearn to complete that mission. This may or may not take the form of a career. Our purpose may be multifaceted and most likely will change at different stages of life. It may take the form of volunteer work, a hobby, caring for an elderly parent, raising our children or starting a new business.

From what I have seen as a coach, many of us get pulled off track at a young age from fulfilling our passion due to losing touch with our deeper self. We get caught up in people pleasing–often as children–and disconnect from our own dreams, talents and gifts. We’ll please our parents, teachers and other authority figures before ourselves. This can cause years of lost time, buried ambitions and missed opportunities.

At a certain point in life, this inauthenticity often becomes unbearable, situations erupt, perfect storms are created and a rupture happens. Life as we know it is simply no longer working. The soul wants to be heard and recognized…and we’re being given a chance to begin again. The question is, will we listen and chose differently?

Mindset is Everything When Creating Your Dreams

by Nancy Harris Leave a Comment

Mindset is Everything When Creating Your Dreams We all want to create changes in our lives. I listen to people’s dreams and desires all week long. Some of them are very inspiring and other’s not so much. I’m always curious what makes one person really want to go for their dreams and another simply want to maintain the status quo with perhaps a little tweak.

There are so many factors that play into this such as family history, past traumas, previous disappointments, failures or successes, whether the person has ever been encouraged and supported before and perhaps even less tangible things like karma, soul contracts and one’s destiny.

But one thing I know for sure when it comes to creating change and fulfilling one’s dreams is that mindset is key. If you believe you can do something and make it non-negotiable, the universal forces appear to conspire on your behalf.

I am about to take on some big changes and when my mind wants to tell me I am crazy, my mantra is, “Failure is not an option.” That calms me right down and puts me in reality. My reality. Not the reality of friends and family who want to caution me or suggest I reconsider.

When we work on our mindset we optimize our best chances at success.

The Universe is Speaking to You: Are You Listening?

by Nancy Harris Leave a Comment

The Universe is Speaking to You: Are You Listening? One of the ways that I choose a topic for a blog post each week is to look at my library of photos and choose a photo that I feel drawn to and let it inspire a thought for a blog. I know that may be a bit strange for anyone primarily left-brained, but it is how I let my inner guidance take the lead. Plus, I find it more fun than “thinking up” a topic. I also look for themes during the week in terms of what my clients tend to be talking about a lot or other topics in the media or news related to personal growth.

This week I was feeling a bit uninspired and was going to skip writing anything. However, as I looked at my photo library, the above photo of a leopard kept standing out to me. It actually felt quite haunting and I couldn’t let it go. My rational mind kept wanting to skip over it and was questioning what could I actually write about that has anything to do with a leopard?

Yet, I felt the leopard had a message for me. I decided to Google “leopard” as a totem animal and was stunned by the message. I am going through some major transitions in my life right now and sometimes feel as if I am being swept up in a current that is going faster than my mind can handle. My self-identity is shifting and expanding in ways that feel out of my control and it can be very disorienting at times. All I can do is stay as present as possible and take one step at a time.

The leopard’s message to me was this:

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