rainbowsoverruins

Taking Notice of Your Inner Advice More Quickly

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Today, I am laughing at myself.  You see, I just realized that I have spent months developing tools and techniques, visualizing, planning and taking action toward my goals, yet missed something that was right in front of my face.

In “Rainbows Over Ruins,” I tell you my story, however, I want you to be able to do this for yourself.  This has translated into the development of a social media platform where you can find me and content for a course on these topics.

There’s a touch of’ do as I say, not as I do in this.’  Note that I instruct others to develop a strong relationship with their Higher Self; call it your subconscious mind is you wish.  This relationship can be an important factor in achieving goals.  That’s where the humor comes in.  I am not always listening to my own inner voice.  I think I am listening and taking action when I receive an impetus to do something, however, often I just file the ideas away for future reference.

Here’s an example:  In “Rainbows Over Ruins,” I describe my desire to build a center where people can develop their ability to use the power of their mind, work with others, and incubate their dreams into realization.  Over the past few months, the sense that I should begin to focus on this center has grown ever stronger.  I often suggest students should ask themselves a question – What can I do today to feel the way I want to feel when I have or achieve my dream?  Asking myself that question, the answer that has come up is to volunteer at a similar venue to my dream site.  I’ve been searching for one.

Spiritworks-Center For Spiritual Living - Burbank, CA, United StatesThe humor in this is that this week I realized that the Universe has been pointing me to a place for months.  I drive past it on the way to work most mornings.  A colleague, John Charnay, discussed it with me a few months ago.  And I kept saying to myself, “I’ll get over there.  I’ll introduce myself.”  Then John scheduled a workshop at the very same facility on vision boards (which you may be aware are one of my passions). Of course I went, both to support John and because I love playing with vision boards.  The results: (i) a new, smaller board for my home office, (ii) a visit to the SpiritWorks center, (iii) meeting the very person on my list of people to contact, and (iv) seeing that the facility has several components of my dream center.  This may very well be an ideal place to actively pursue volunteer work.  Plus, a new afformation is being added to my routine:  Why am I listening responsively to inner suggestions I receive?

I wonder, what inner nudges are you receiving that you are just not taking the time to investigate?  Today is a perfect day to explore possible answers that may move your dream projects one step closer.  Let down your resistance; let go of the compulsion to know and control everything – and see what happens.  It’s just one step after all, not a lifelong commitment.

May you find joy in the discovery of what your Higher Self is suggesting for you.

To Your Success,

Susan

 

Five Steps to Help Rebuild After a Mudslide

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This coming February, it will be 10 years since a mudslide swept through out home and changed our lives dramatically. Once again, mudslides fill the news in the wake of heavy storms after years of drought and fire damage. The plants that hold our soil to the surface of rocks have been destroyed and with their loss, people face serious challenges as well.

In a matter of moments, our lives as we have known them are swept away.   It is hard to believe as we survey so much loss and destruction around us that we are standing at the edge of a creative opportunity that will enable us to not only survive, but thrive.

It is a process that can take considerable time. Having lived through it, perhaps these suggestions will prove helpful now:

  1. Find help. Although you will have to do this on your own, you cannot do it alone. In the immediate aftermath, you will need to take care of your safety and shelter before everything else. Seek out those who can assist in your rescue and recovery. You want a support system to get you through the profound grief, fear and shock that immediately follow a disaster, as well as resources to rescue what you can.

Peter and I found our church to be our strength during this most difficult time. Members put us up, helped us find temporary homes for our animals, and helped us rescue our belongings and get them to a storage facility. They prayed with us, cried with us and gave us the emotional strength to carry on.

  1. As soon as possible, begin to focus on what you want The recovery process takes time. Knowing what you want provides a mental anchor to which you can return regularly as you work through each step.

Peter and I knew we wanted a home and space for our family of animals – horses, dogs, cat, bird and fish. We were able to focus first on everyone’s safety, then places to live in the immediate time period. During that time, friends from church permitted us to use rooms, pipe corrals and other storage places until we could get on our feet. It took about 6 weeks to find an independent rental home and another 1 ½ years before we found a new permanent home.

  1. Once you have your focus on your desired results, your goal, you can begin to examine where you want to go and identify the resources you have to move toward it. One of the big surprises for me was that this does not happen overnight. More is swept away in a mudslide than your physical possessions. Over an extended period of time, you will go through stages of looking at physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of your life that have been affected. I found that taking an inventory of these various aspects enabled me to examine what was and was not working in our lives up to that date and then recover, rebuild and recreate what we desired with our goal ever before us.
  1. In the immediate aftermath, your surrounding circumstances may not give you any reason to believe in a brighter future. However, you can create one. You can use your natural skills and abilities to yield even better results than you had before.

I found I could do this by learning more about the mind. Current scientific research finds that the default position of the brain is to fall into negative beliefs of loss, despair and hopelessness, and the litany of “it won’t work, it can’t be done.” We are all familiar with this voice in our head when we are feeling down and out.

So the best thing you can do for yourself is to cultivate the habit of positive possibility thinking using affirmations and Afformations. I used these along with neuro-emotional work with a chiropractor, myofascial therapy with an occupational therapist, hypnosis and guided imagery.   The most powerful work I did to maintain my mental and emotional health throughout this time period involved asking positive questions, journaling, meditation and centered prayer.

My book, Rainbows Over Ruins is a story of recovering, rebuilding and recreating after such a disaster. If you would like to read about someone who has been there and gotten through it, pick up a copy. It’s available on Amazon.

Wherever you find yourself today, know that if I can do it, you can too. You can get past these losses by keeping your goals in front of you as you work through the process step by step. If you have questions, reach out to me. I am open to helping you think through your steps to recovery. May you find as I did that deep within every crisis lie the seeds of infinite opportunity.

To Your Success,

Susan

Going Viral with Appreciation

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Did you feel it? My inbox and social media sites have been filled with expressions of gratitude as we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the States.

Since the publication of Rainbows Over Ruins, I often hear from people who have been inspired by my story. After all, if I can survive the after effects of a landslide, and go on to thrive, others can hold onto the possibility that they can too – in all areas of life. They can use the road map I have shared in order to come to understand the power of their minds and retrain their thinking. They can start to grasp the creative process.

Still, when you are in the midst of a crisis, where do you begin? I used to ask myself, how do people pull themselves up by the bootstraps when they have no boots? And the answer was to imagine the boots. It may be a little too simplistic, but imagination is one of the great powers of the mind. Over time, I’ve found that our imagination yields richer results when we open its treasures with an attitude of gratitude and appreciation.

So how do we start? How do we express a sense of appreciation when we are at a low ebb in our emotional life? Here it is. Take the time to appreciate one thing in your life that makes you feel better, brings joy or a hint of well-being every day.

There is an immediate shift in the energy you are putting out. The new energies are closer to what you want to be feeling. The magnetism of that improved frequency draws more of the same. The more you do it, the more you attract.

One of the cornerstones of my meditative work is to express gratitude. I have been following someone’s suggestion that I look for 10 things every day for which I am thankful. Sometimes I have to stretch to think of so many things, but I focus on this feeling as it opens me to new and wonderful ideas during the rest of the day. It does not matter what it may be – a moment of rest and relaxation, sunshine, rain, food, shelter, loved ones, being greeted by a happy pet, solitude, friendship, a new inspired thought, a surprise gift, the opportunity to give to others, goals achieved, the ability to work toward my goals, the connection to consciousness and on and on. The key is to express your appreciation every day.

So what are you happy for today? What are you grateful for? What do you appreciate? If you are looking for an action step to improve your life, grab a pen, pencil or crayon and memorialize it in your journal or drawing pad – even on the back of a napkin. And keep doing it. If you’d like to spread the sense of appreciation to others, send me a comment, make a You-tube video, let the people who serve you know that they are appreciated. Let’s keep the feeling of Thanksgiving going. Let’s go viral with the feeling of appreciation.

May you share your love in the form of appreciation to all around you today.

To Your Success,

Susan

Do You Schedule Enough Dreamtime?

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Sharing the story within my book Rainbows Over Ruins has taken over my free time. It speaks of the creative process I have been learning since the landslide, and I have been contemplating all manner of ways to tell people about it. Since finishing the manuscript, I have been writing a companion workbook for readers to go through the process as they read. As that has developed, it has naturally led into thoughts about how to coach them through the exercises as well. This natural progression is the result of what Noah St. John calls “imperfect action taking.” We don’t wait to try something until we become perfect at it. We start where we are right now and let the results emerge through us.

It is as if we are all wired to become the best “Me” that we can be. I couldn’t help thinking about babies and small children who are willing to try and try again until they master life’s basics. As infants, they want life’s comforts and master the communication skills that get adults to bring it to them. As they observe others in their environment, they begin to desire what they see around them. They want some control over their ability to have these things and the freedom to get them when they want it. They want to do what they see others doing. Those desires fuel their relentless attempts to roll over, crawl, stand and walk. They make no excuses for their tiny failures and naturally persist in doing whatever it takes to get what they want. Along the way, they develop likes and preferences and a sense of who they want to be when they grow up. They play and pretend, using whatever resources surround them to create the environment they believe makes up the adult experience. They mimic.

But something else can also happen to us. As we grow older, the cumulative effect of failure, rejection and loss can lead us to become more risk adverse. The mind numbing effect of too much information overload and the drug like, hypnotic effect of media may stop us from seeking to expand our circumstances and surroundings. More complacent, we may be content to follow familiar routines and habits regardless of whether those actions contribute to future dreams. It begins to feel too hard to change, adjust or rebuild after a loss. Sometimes we don’t remember what we wanted to be when we grew up or care about becoming the Best Me I Can Be anymore.

The results are not good. We get bored, depressed or overwhelmed by even the smallest problems. As a young woman, I remember asking myself “Is this all there is?” Our thoughts are filled with negative questions, doubt, worry and fear. We whine and complain, resent others for having better lives, and often look for ways to dull the memories of distant childhood dreams. Some would rather stay stoned or become addicted to blot out the pain and frustration.

After the landslide, I experienced some of those feelings. I had no idea of how to rebuild after losing the house, and in its aftermath, we didn’t even have the comfort of familiar routines. Feelings of doubt, worry and fear threatened to drown me. Peter and I could easily have given up because at first it looked as if there were no answers. But we got through it. We dealt with the problems one step at a time, daily, as the next presented thing and moved from disaster to dreams coming true. We both enthusiastically continue to pursue our Best Me I Can Be every day.

So how did we turn the situation around? That is the subject of my book as we unknowingly lived the creative process in order to rebuild. I’ve come to believe that everyone has the ability to express this creativity to improve the circumstances and events in which they find themselves. We started by taking an inventory. We looked at the resources we had left, acknowledged the contrasts and conflicts around us and began to dream of what could be better.

If you are serious about improving your life, you need to make room in your daily schedule for more dream time. Use daydreaming, mind movies, meditation, journaling or centered prayer, but allow the well spring of creativity deep within you to emerge so that you can feel how good you feel in those dreams. It is key to getting what you want. If you can find one thing that makes you feel good or one action you can take every day, you can use the power of your mind to ask for what you want as part of your daily routine. It may not happen overnight, but you will be amazed how much can shift in a positive way. Try it. I think you’ll like the results.

Willing to Meet the Audience

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I’ve spent my morning daydreaming and planning how I am going to share my book Rainbows Over Ruins when it is published. The prospect of reaching out to others has been looming over my head for months. With only a few items in the editorial notes left to address, this could be happening within a very short time frame. Of course, it’s also part of my work in television. We are always asking questions about developing an audience. What I have been learning is that building an audience for a network program and building one for a personal project is surprisingly similar.

First, finding our audience is a natural outgrowth of creativity. At some point in our creative process, we are going to want to share our creations. This is especially true if you make multiple items that require storage, if you want to move a project along in order to make room for new ideas, if you need additional resources in order to continue to create, or want to recoup the costs of what you have already done. It helps to know what you ultimately want from your creativity.

In my case, after a landslide destroyed our home, I became fascinated by the creative process and the power of the mind, especially when I saw that my own steps to rebuild paralleled the process involved. I set out to describe it. What happened to me next led to greater depths of understanding than I expected as each step was revealed and the corresponding life lesson learned. I believe the information contained in the story I tell can improve people’s lives.

Was I thinking about sharing the story when I set out to implement the idea of writing a book? Of course, it was in the back of my mind when I started to write, however, as I got inspired with the project and working through all the details involved in order to see my vision come to life as a published book, how to share wasn’t front and center.

It is now. Once I have a box of books on my dining room table, what am I going to do with it? I’ve been reading and now have scraps of paper, pages in my notebooks and white boards of information designed to help me create a plan to raise awareness of my book so that people will know it exists. All this study has provided me the basics to know what to do. What remains is to activate my willingness to make it so.

It’s a little daunting as I begin to introduce myself to strangers and share what is a very personal journey through the creative process. Yet each time someone comes up to me to ask me a question or tell me how much they are looking forward to reading Rainbows Over Ruins, I feel better. And it feels good to be able to encourage others to share their creative projects as they see me going through the experience as well. Each conversation is helping me realize who needs what I have to offer and I’m glad – and grateful – that they are willing to share that with me.

Reporting in: I am where I am and it’s okay

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I am surprised to see how long it has been since I last posted here. Life has taken me off on a creative journey that has consumed every waking moment – and probably quite a few sleeping moments as well. I am happy to report that I am pleased with where I am now. It has taken several years to move from the night of the landslide through the rebuilding process, yet today, I stand at a place of infinite possibility.

You would think it would be enough to have found a ranch to replace the one we lost or to be part of a daily morning show like “Home and Family” that airs on Hallmark Channel. But that was only a piece of the puzzle.

Along the way, I became fascinated with the creative process. What did we do to make the ranch a reality? How could I learn to do that consciously? How could I help others do it too? I had studied to become a life coach, then refined my studies to understand the power of the mind and success principles as one of Bob Proctor’s LifeSuccess Consultants. Bob encouraged each of his students to write a book, but who was I to write? What could I write that would have meaning for anyone else?

In the end, I decided to translate an outline of the creative process into real life experience. The old adage held true – if you really want to know a subject, teach others about it. I set out to live what I was learning and share that journey. It was painful at times as I wrestled with the application of new ideas on old paradigms. Whenever I hit a roadblock in my understanding that interfered with the writing, new experiences would crop up to help me learn what was needed to move forward.

It took time to write, but after working with the editors at Balboa Press, I expect to place the resulting book titled “Rainbows Over Ruins” in physical production shortly. There will also be a free e-workbook available for anyone who would like to be mentored on their own creative journey while reading my story.

“Rainbows Over Ruins” is what one of my colleagues calls a Siddhartha journey. Along the way, I learned that the creative process embodies success principles. Creativity is an intimate dance with quantum consciousness, the interplay of conscious ideas, questions, and feelings with the power of the subconscious mind to take action and get results.

As I prepare to update listings to reflect my new status as author, I feel a bit like Indiana Jones, about to step off at a leap of faith location. I am so grateful for the support of my many mentors and colleagues. We have to do things on our own, but we do not do them alone. In that spirit, I offer the following question to get your juices flowing. Why do you want to create what you want today?

To Your Success,

Susan

The Power of the Mind

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I’ve been thinking a great deal about the power of the mind to create opportunities lately.  As a LifeSuccess Consultant and Life coach, the majority of my work involves explaining how this power works, and then facilitating the application of this power in a certain way to obtain the results people want.  I find myself fascinated by the process.  It’s a creative process.  In fact, you could say it’s the process of creation itself.

Here we sit in a vast ocean of thought energy.  We’re not just surrounded by it, it permeates every cell of our being.  The philosophers tell us that everything begins with an idea.  Everything is the world started as an idea, from the creation to the acquisition of the things that surround us, the environment and the situations in which we find ourselves. I heard a statistic that 80,000 thoughts pass across the screen of our minds per day.  Then one thought resonates with us, gets us excited and we start to play with it.

In the LifeSuccess programs, we work with this process of the mind to consciously obtain the results we want.  One of the key steps involved is to hold the idea we like continuously. to concentrate on it while we play with it and imagine what it would be like to have what we envision.  What would our lives be like?  What would change?  What do these results mean to us?  When you think about it enough, you take action and the actions product results.

The challenge in this process is that it may not happen overnight.  People give up when they should persist in the pursuit of their goal until the idea of it as they envision it becomes the dominant thought and all the pieces can come together.  For some people, this can happen almost overnight.  For others, it is slower.  Like getting our ranch.

I now live on a lovely ranch, however, it took my husband and I eighteen months to get here.  We had just lost our home to a landslide.  We had no idea how we would move forward.  What we did know was that we wanted to replace our home with a new one that supported our lifestyle.  We went shopping every week, even when we had no idea of where to get the money, given the circumstances.  We held the idea.  We got to know the area, had time to envision what the ideal ranch would offer us.  We held the idea, worked with all the pieces of the puzzle until they came together.  I became a believer.

You can do it.  You can create opportunity.  If you doubt that, then we should talk.  Those limiting paradigms can really get in your way.  We can change them.  We can open your eyes to the field of all possibilities and experience the awesome power of the mind.

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