Fear & Lessons From A Homeless Man & More

How do you turn fear into curiosity?  The first chapter of my book is titled Love, Fear, Courage and Sacrifice; huge topics to try and tackle in 14 pages.  These were the hardest and most emotional 14 pages that I’ve ever written (and rewrote multiple times). I’m sharing my story and journey as a Mother with a child diagnosed with cancer. My views are different than many in my family and when I asked my daughter Dana to edit this portion as it was also about her, it brought up more emotions still unexpressed.  I realized that in order for me to help my daughter, I first needed to heal myself and face my own fears and have used a number of tools and processes the last few years of which I share with my clients. 

The bottom line is that fear is always the emotion that keeps us stuck.  The first big questions to ask objectively, without judgment is,

“What am I afraid of?” 

The next question is  “How do I face this fear and develop the courage to cross the chasm of where I am to where I want to be?”  (hint: this is where finding someone who's walked the walk can help you) and the third question is

“How will I feel when I get there? When I've overcome this fear, challenge or obstacle.”  Only then are you ready to take action and can flip the switch from the “fight or flight” fear, to the productive, right action.  Fear is the cancer; you have to get out of fear mode to accomplish ANY goal, not just physical dis-ease. Fear can be an initial warning sign and therefore a motivator, but if you stay stuck in that mode, you either become paralyzed or may move to frenetic but often-unproductive action.  Believe me, I know this…way too intimately.

You also have to let go of your need to control the situation and the outcome. Often you have to surrender the fight in order to allow new thoughts and solutions for transformation.  Last week’s blog I mentioned the NFL football player, Keith Mitchell who lost everything he knew of, when he was paralyzed.  Through his own work, breath, yoga and meditation he not only found self, but also found love, meaning and joy in his life. 

I found this interview this morning of a homeless guy who gave up or lost all of his physical assets and lived out of a car for 8 ½ months and discovered fearlessness. http://georgeiracarroll.com/ 

Twice in my life I've lost or given up most of my personal belongings and am in the process of clearing out what no longer serves me in this home too. It's during these times when we have to rely on faith that we can and will turn things around. This is often when transformation occurs. As an entrepreneur married to an entrepreneur we have experienced both financial success and failure.

Finally a quote from Forbes article Top Tips from award winning entrepreneurs,

“If you’re afraid of losing money, you will not make it to success.” “You must exist as a business with a better angle.” Money is just a tool to make things happen.”

Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder of Chobani, 2013 World Entrepreneur Of The Year.

We either react out of love or we respond out of fear.  What loving thoughts and actions will you take today? How has overcoming fear enhanced your life?

Carpe Diem!

www.savvysecrets.org

www.carpediemwellness.org

Writing a book is like birthing a baby

Yes, it’s true…writing a book is like birthing a baby.

First you are full of excitement, pride and bravado. The word virile comes to mind.  Next comes all the fear and insecurity. Do I know enough? Will I be a good parent? Will the book be good enough? Can I really do this?  Holy %&! What have I gotten myself into? Clearly, we don’t know, what we don’t know.

To quote another analogy… Our children are our spiritual guides.  I certainly have found this to be true.  They are our biggest joy, our biggest challenge, our biggest pride, and sometimes our biggest pain.  They touch us in our hearts.  They trigger our emotions. We feel and act so vulnerable. With our children, we can play games, we can be silly, and we can be real.

Writing can also be a spiritual guide.  I felt like I had to write this book. Not because many people were asking me to write a recipe book. Truth is, I didn’t want to write a recipe book.  First of all, that is too exacting for me and I believe recipes, like rules, are meant to be broken. Truth be told, I really do not like to plan and shop and take time away from my work to do so. That’s why my recipes are flexible, quick and easy. However, I have learned, like my clients, that preparing nourishing foods can become a spiritual practice in itself. It provides time to connect with your feelings, how food affects your body and to gratefully acknowledge the miracle of whole foods.

I felt like I had to write this book when my daughter collapsed in my arms in a department store. I prayed like I have never prayed before. I promised God that I would do anything, that I would tell our story.  “Please God, just let her be OK”.  I knew in my heart that I needed to write.  And then, of course periods of mortal fear and self-doubt rear its ugly head…that is the challenge of meeting any goal.

So instead of just a recipe book, this is a book about love, fear, courage and sacrifice.  Sprinkled in with a few of my favorite recipes.

Writing, like raising children, has offered me discipline, even when I didn’t feel like having it. More importantly, it has given me a mirror and a deeper connection with myself. It drew out what was truly important to me and gave me much needed focus.  It afforded me the time to think about, create and put on paper, my seven steps to optimal health and wellness.  I wanted to demonstrate the miraculous transformation that is possible, when you give yourself the gift of self-love and focus on your personal growth and development. I wanted to explain the “how” and the “why”.

This has been an emotional journey, the perfectionist in me feels like it will never be done, never be good enough.  My friend, Dr. Elizabeth English says, “The best book is a done book” and it is time to get this story out. So I submit to you my first edition, what has been a labor of love, with love and gratitude, with all of its raw content, and all of my vulnerability for pre-order here: www.savvysecrets.org