To all my American Family and Friends

Happy 4^th of July!

~Lesia S.

LIVE – by your values, within your means and like there is no tomorrow

LAUGH – until your belly hurts

LOVE – to no end!

WHY? - Because it’s healthy for you and among other things, economically stimulating for your country.

Happy Canada Day!

~Lesia S.

*What do you think could happen if you lose trust in someone who you once trusted without first practicing due diligence?

First of all, when do you deem someone trustworthy?

When they respect your wishes most of the time?
When they are loyal to you?
When you ask for discretion and they honour it?
When they are generally supportive of you?
When you feel you have a bond or partnership with them?
When you feel that your secret would be safe?
When you feel that even if you had differences you could still rely on this person?
When you feel in some way relaxed and at peace after being or speaking with them?
When you feel that they will tell you what they think not what they think you want to hear when you ask for their input?
When you know that you could trust them with your most prized possession without worry?
What else?

*If you are finding it hard to trust someone whom you’ve always considered trustworthy, what do you think is causing your mistrust and what do you want to do about it?

Here are just a few questions to think about:
What specifically has this person done to make you lose your trust in them?
Has this person said something to you that you found offensive? If so, how sure are you that your understanding of what was said is how it was meant and how important is it for you to find out?
Is the mistrust escalating as a result of more time apart and less time communicating?
What thoughts are going through your mind?
Have your thoughts and beliefs been substantiated by facts stemming from direct communication with the source?
If you have a hard time believing what this person is saying to you, what would it take for you to believe them?
How are you feeling overall at this time?
What level of stress are you experiencing in any area of your life?
How satisfied are you with your family, your work, your finances, your health or anything else that may be on your mind?

Consider this:
How much does this person in your life who you once considered trustworthy, mean to you today?
If they were suddenly gone from your life tomorrow, how would you feel about not having trusted them?
How invested are you in finding out the truth of the matter that is causing your lack of trust?
What could rekindled trust potentially do for your quality of life and your relationship?
How much do you want to trust this person again?

Your answers to these questions will likely create new insight, some learning and perhaps more questions.
How easy or hard do you think it will it be for you to trust what your insight uncovers?

When all is said and done, one thing that you can trust for sure is what your heart is saying.

~Lesia S.

How do you set an intention for the day?

Think about something you would like to accomplish or something you wish to bring into your conscious awareness, to shed light. Your intention can be to act a certain way, to observe, to listen, to notice, to finish, to start, to think about, to plan for, to respond to, to acknowledge, to save for, to work toward …
An intention can be about anything that is at the forefront of your mind or perhaps causing you stress and also at times, an intention can be quite challenging. The challenge is to maintain the onus on yourself and ownership of your intention and minimize the natural temptation to use excuses, blame or accusations (example: “ If he/she/ it hadn’t…” or “ I couldn’t because”), which often prevents successful execution.

You can experiment setting a random intention as practice to experience how it can create focus, (example: see how many green cars you can spot today when you’re out and about – who knows, you may be considering buying a green colored vehicle and want to know how popular they are).
You may want to choose an intention that has a more critical meaning to you, (example: if you are having trouble communicating effectively with your spouse or anyone important to you, make it your intention to notice the tone of your voice or your choice of words and the subsequent reactions you are getting).
Other intentions can be task related such as choosing a drawer or a box that needs to be cleaned out and then completing at least one.

Consider the following questions:

What good can come from setting any intention, in other words saying, “Today I am going to do this”?
What is important about setting an intention that is meaningful to you?
In what ways can being intentional improve your quality of life?

There are pros and cons to being spontaneous or even oblivious at times but how can being intentional when dealing with a particular subject matter that is causing you stress, possibly create more desirable results?

How are you different when you set an intention aimed at attaining your most profound want?
How critical is it to know what that want really is?

Recall the last time you intended to do, to get or to feel something that you wanted and reached it. What was it? What did you focus on each day leading up to success?
Example 1: How many of you remember saving up money for an item that you desperately wanted and eventually purchased, what did you do each day?
Example 2: Because of focused intention which created new awareness, you came to realize that you had control over your perceptions of things and let go of a destructive thought process that was eating away at you. As a result you felt peace within.

In both these examples intentions were meaningful and felt good when results were met with success, satisfaction, a feeling of accomplishment or one of many warm and positive emotions.

At this time, consider how you want to feel at day’s end. What intention would you like to set for yourself that will either begin to move you toward or make you feel the way you would like?
How will what you choose today jump-start you on a path that will render you in some regard, a better person and/or a happier one?

Note: This is all about you and your intention, not your intention for someone else.

With all that life throws your way each day, it takes courage to set even a seemingly small intention and bring it to fruition.
For those of you who choose to harness your courage, with a personally meaningful intention, you can bet that each day will feel much more than just another day gone by.

 ~Lesia S.

TO ALL WOMEN

WHO HAVE GIVEN BIRTH TO A CHILD

ACCEPTED THE ROLE OF GODMOTHER TO A CHILD  AND/OR

‘MOTHERED’ SOMEONE ELSE’S CHILD

WE CELEBRATE YOU TODAY!

        HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

~Lesia S.

What are you not seeing when you see the worst?

What are you missing now when you think mostly about what you’ve missed in the past?

How much of your time is spent thinking about how you can fail at something as opposed to thinking about how it will be and how you will feel when you succeed at it?

How much time do you obsess over what is not working in a relationship for example, instead of finding ways and taking action to make it work?

How can visualizing what you want instead of what you don’t want or can’t have, be a step that saves you from emotional turmoil, wasted time and immobility?

Let’s say that you want financial security, do you think about how hard it is or will be to achieve it or are you envisaging and believing all the ways in which it will provide a sounder quality of life once you have it?
Essentially, are you prepared to have financial security or fearing and preparing that you will not?
If not, what is creating that fear and do you wish to overcome it?

*When you are emotionally and intellectually prepared for success and prosperity, you will enjoy it. When you accept that your life will take you in the direction that you choose for yourself and know what you want, success will be yours.

*How does one prepare emotionally and intellectually to reach their measures of success and prosperity?

It starts with personal permission, openness and desire to go through a process that creates greater insight, generates action and requires commitment on your part. The ‘process’ is what deepens your learning by generating the insight and answers to your quandaries, perhaps similar to the ones above. As soon as you choose to fully engage in the process, the personal successes emerge and they beget further successes. Personal barriers are overcome and momentum is generated.
Not surprisingly, what ends up happening is you begin to see and think predominantly about what you want as you move forward, which is then reinforced by the belief that you will have what you want based on recent learning, growth and experience, until ultimately you learn to expect, accept and enjoy the many successes that follow.

For those of you who are ready today, acknowledge how you are thinking, how you are feeling and what your heart seeks, begin the ‘process’ and be prepared to ‘see success’.

~Lesia S.

Over this Easter weekend, what has been going through your mind?

Have you been reminiscing about past Easter gatherings?
Are they memories to remember or ones you would rather not?

Are you self-reflecting?
If you are, how are you positioning yourself, as the provider, the teacher, the muse, the victim or who?

Are you thinking about what you believe?

Perhaps what this Holiday means to you?

What you were taught in religious studies?

How teachers, spiritual leaders, family or friends have influenced your beliefs?

Maybe you took this occasion to ponder all the people who have contributed to your successes and to your learning and were meant to be on your life’s continuum for a reason?

What ever it was that went through your mind has influenced what path you will take as you move forward.

May the path you have chosen be a means to a fulfilling and joyful end.

~Lesia S.

What hopefully many of you will be doing today is a perfect example of a process that works if all the steps are executed and the intentions are authentic. What does that mean? Becoming aware of something that you want to change and what it would mean to you is the first step in the process to achieving it. In this case, you may want to think about what turning off the lights for one hour will do for you, your family, your community, your neighborhood, your city, your province or state and so on.

Once you realize that it would feel right to participate in this hour of awareness and action, as well as recognize all the reasons why you feel this way, you will perhaps then be in a position to decide that you will join the masses in Earth Hour. Your decision to act is the next step in the process of achieving what you set out to do. What do you think comes next?  You’ve identified something you want, you’ve decided when and how long you will partake, now what?

What makes you actually do it? What helps you solidify that intention? At this stage, you know what it means to you to turn off the power for one hour (oh, that could be a good slogan!). You know you want to act today but what will make you commit to doing it at 8:30 tonight? Your answer to this question is what will make you accountable to yourself to follow through at that time. Perhaps one reason why you will feel committed to doing what you say you want to do is because everyone in this case will be acting at 8:30 and you want to be part of that. Your commitment to execute your intention is the final step to reaching it. At 9:30 tonight you will have accomplished the final stage of the “process” and you will have conquered your goal.

You may well agree that while the ‘process’ of executing any intention generally seems straight forward, the steps are seldom so.

What do you think make the ‘steps’ in the process on this Earth Hour day, a little less challenging than when you attempt to reach other goals?

~Lesia S.

What makes you jump into action?
Necessity
Need
Desperation
Desire
Force
Knowing what you want?

What makes you break through roadblocks?
Necessity
Belief
Seeing options
Inner drive
Courage
Envisaging the goal?

What motivates you?
The risk of losing something or someone
Having no other choice
Knowing what you want
A mentor or a champion
A dare
A reward
Setting a measure of accountability?

What are the implications of the above choices, for you?
For example, under what circumstances have you been ‘forced’ to jump into action? How did that work for you? Or, how could ‘envisaging a specific goal’ (or not having one) play out for you when faced with a roadblock? Or, in what way could having someone champion you and your goal help you achieve it?

How in tune are you with your inner mechanisms that propel you to take action or that grind you to a halt?

What have your responses to these questions made you more aware of?

~Lesia S.

If you’re facing an issue that involves having to make a pivotal decision and you find yourself at a crossroad, how do you proceed?

How much time are you spending thinking about it?
Which of the following comes close to describing how you feel?

“I feel frustrated because I don’t know where to begin.”
“I fear how the decision I make will affect my future.”
“I’m stuck.”
“I have friends and family who have been in similar situations that are helping me sort through things, but I still feel like I’m not seeing everything. I’m not at ease.”
“I feel overwhelmed - so many questions are popping into my head.”
“I don’t know what to do and feel very much like everything rests on my shoulders.”
“I am putting off thinking about it.”
“I’ve decided to give up on it, I don’t see how it will work but something continues to haunt me.”

Making difficult choices or forming value judgments will have either positive or negative consequences. They will impact you and those around you in some way - and for some time to come. So you will likely want to be sure that what you do or say will come from a place of clarity and peace of mind - which comes from knowing what you need to know, deciding what you want and then taking action.

Feeling that clarity and peace of mind can be likened to what a member of a jury might have to feel before announcing a verdict. The guided process leading up to a jury’s final decision consists of gathering fact-based evidence and presenting that evidence where it is heard and may be countered with further evidence.
Imagine for a moment that you are a jury member and there is evidence brought forth that casts doubt in your mind. Until that doubt has been put to rest, how do you feel?
How would you feel if the other members of the jury were ready to pronounce judgment before the evidence was all in or if you personally saw holes in the testimony? How would the uncertainty of being left with unanswered questions and being aware of what’s at stake play out in your mind? What would you need in order to feel at peace with your final decision on the matter?

At times it may feel like you’re in the midst of a trial because the decision you have to make feels like it will change your world or someone else’s in one way or another. Gathering evidence and gaining clarity when making a personal decision, often translates to understanding all the facts surrounding feelings, thoughts and beliefs – of all parties concerned.

A professionally guided process is key to feeling like you have thoroughly weighed all the ‘evidence’.
Know the facts - not “hearsay” - so that you may, without reasonable doubt, state your verdict on any matter and release from your shoulders, the burden of prolonged inquiry, guilt or indecisiveness. Make resolutions and choices that you can live with.

~Lesia S.