Happy Monday morning everyone.

Ok, so here is a challenge for all of you busy bees who like to take the day armed with a list of have to’s, should do’s, and must do’s from work chores to food and exercise, etc.

Can you let the day guide you?

Can you be open somewhat to letting your body and soul dictate (where possible) some of the things that you will do each day over the coming days? Can you let the universe whisper in you ear and guide you to the places and people who call?

This is easier said than done!

We all like to have a degree of control on the spaces between the ticking hours on a clock, not many of us are good to simply flow with the nudges of heart and soul and the compass guiding us from the deep wisdom calling us.

Many of us are actually scared of the quiet spaces and so fill them up, not only this we aren’t happy until we stuff them so full that we don’t even get a chance to listen to the whispers from within. Then when the soul starts to yell, we have no idea what this is; it feels like anxiety.

I am striving to create this silent listening space; I didn’t think I was bad at it before to be honest; but I see clearly how I do actually like to write lists and force the day rather than embracing each day with the sunrise.

The past year has been focused around structured training and race preparation. I wrote about this here. Things changed, and my focus currently is allowing the body to heal while I seek answers and solutions and letting the body “be” is actually harder than we all think. We like to plan, and to just listen and act from there isn’t actually that simple at all.

My friend Andree sent me this early on Saturday morning. She had stopped to take in the morning; a few silent moments to guide her day.

So I am asking you to test yourself a little; when the time is right, see can you be guided by the day. This challenge is aimed at those that like to have a plan, that control the day and the week and are always striving to fill the spaces with busyness. This task is not for those that are the other side of the spectrum (and aimlessly moving through the day – you folks need to jump in at the other side with challenging yourself to set more goals and try to plan time better!!).

So, have a think……you will know when the time and space is right to challenge yourself in a similar way. Life flows in chapters; some chapters are busy and require dedicated planning and commitment, then there are weeks when you must slow down and take stock. Let the day guide you, let the wisdom in. These are the weeks that allow you to grow from the previous weeks and set up future productive weeks.

Can you see the silver lining in the clouds? Sent to me by Jenny – my soon to be mother in law. Excited!!

Me? My intention over the coming two weeks as I allow myself time and space that I have not given myself in the four years since I started structured training for triathlon races is (OK, can you see how I am already trying to control this with a 2-week deadline. You see what I mean? It is human nature to strive to control things. This is another level that I will delve into now that I have awareness. We like certainty; that’s ok. Keep peeling the onion!!):

• let the body decide what training (movement and play) she wishes to do, if any, each morning. To not plan my week ahead and then follow the plan without letting the body have her say. I am listening – I trust my body to guide me.
• To invite in more from the universe to guide me in my creativity: writing, making, being, doing….
• To listen to where I am supposed to be in relation to my work with the land and rivers and streams.
• To honour where I am called in relation to people; family, clients and loved ones.
• Eat even more intuitively; no planning (again this is counter to what I recommend for most that need MORE planning. Some of us however that like to keep control on things when training and busy can benefit from going with the flow and being more body and appetite aware.)
• I believe that practicing the above will only add to my skill set for life, work and training – sometimes it is good to LET GO… as much as it is to become the queen of planning and structure.

Simple? Let’s see but this space I believe is where my mind and body will find the answers to guide the next steps… in health, in purpose, and in passion.

Love,
Andrea

This is where I was called on Saturday; to the river Shannon at Castleconnell to spend some time listening and sending healing and gratitude into our water.

Why is breaking yourself almost to the point of death considered more heroic than caring and healing yourself in our current world?

Take a look at the extreme limits people are pushing themselves to these days regarding their physical health and well-being all for the kudos of being seen. If it wasn’t for modern medicine putting them back together or technology saving their asses would they be dying right, left, and centre as a result of the extremes they are striving for? In times got by survival was more important…

Is the warrior in us confused about where to channel our energy and skills?

We have people going beyond all reasonable balance in terms of sport, business, and life all around us and social media is a feeding frenzy as a result of it.  It appears that pushing your mind beyond balance, your body beyond health and function, and your nutrition into unsustainable imbalance is what gains us attention and kudos thumbs ups. What purpose is this serving for people?

Well they get seen; and it seems that stupidity gains more attention than sense. Because being sensible and smart is often invisible; it doesn’t always get you the same likes and attention.

Are you comfortable in seeing yourself for who you are? Can you strive to grow and challenge yourself and face fears and go to bed at the end of the day recognising what you did and not needing others to? Can you quietly feel good about who you are as you continue to do your best?

Why is it that we applaud the extremes; the broken athlete, the crushed entrepreneur, the person going one step beyond because it grabs sensationalist headlines?

Why do we need to be seen so much these days? The validation from social media requires that we do things that are not truly in agreement with our inner selves.

Continue reading →

You know when you injure yourself and it hurts how you notice it because it hurts? So you pay attention to it, and do what it needs, so that it can heal and grow stronger. And then it heals; perhaps with a scar but it heals nevertheless.

Our emotions are a bit like this. The wounds we carry from life. They want to heal and help us to grow from them. They want us to get back living.

It is said that we come into existence to learn great lessons in our life. To overcome, to become, to thrive.

Growth comes with growing pains – some of us are more aware of this than others and this is ok. Some days feel like a veritable shit-storm but if we stay there too long we miss the rainbows.

We all have different experiences in life and some occur at significant times in our development (early years) that can lead to deep wounds, and some of us are more resilient than others, or better at blocking it out and building a giant wall to contain the pain wound. Some of are so sensitive that the world of people can create great misunderstanding and emotional trauma. You are not weak, they are not necessarily cold callous strong – it is just a case of different thresholds, different experiences, different nurturing at crucial times to build attachment, skills and resilience.

Life is a gift, of this there is no doubt; it is often hard to shed light on the deepest wounds because they hurt and then we feel ungrateful even giving them a voice. And awareness can cause us to focus so far inwards that at times it can feel like we have just opened Pandora’s box to victim-hood and feeling sorry for ourselves. Yet without looking in, we cannot put love into the emptiest of places, we cannot ask questions about what all this means, we cannot have awareness of what that pain feels like or how it drives our actions and behaviours and then we cannot find solutions and strategies to live to our full potential.

No, we must sometimes look in, to start shining out. Healing doesn’t always make it go away; but it teaches you to face and over come fears and limiting beliefs. It shows you that it is worth braving life in all its wonder.

The pain triggers we each hold can be very different, and how these express through our actions and words and walls or physical pain can be so different between us all that there is no right or wrong. It just is. But to run from or ignore the wounds and the inner child can sometimes hurt us even more. You will know your best strategy. Not every one of us needs to open that box; some of us don’t need to understand or unravel it and find that the best solution is to leave the box closed and move on in life.

Respect how one another wants to deal with things; but don’t reward people’s bad behaviour.

We all have to ‘grow up’ at some point which essentially means growing through our experiences and understanding that this is a process asking for patience and curiosity.

We cannot throw the pain out as anger or control or other negative patterns at other people… this isn’t fair and it isn’t being responsible; nor can we throw these negative emotions inwards in self-destruction.

Let the process unfold…

We are all far stronger than we believe; and although deep hurts can leave us feeling alone, abandoned, isolated, scared, fearful, anxious, depressed, angry and so on there are many ways to release these emotions and replace them with new focus and goals and more importantly compassion; compassion for ourselves and for all humanity.

Feeling alone and unsupported is a trigger for me. Some days I feel desperately alone feeling the world and her pain. I feel emotions from within and coming at me from externally. It then triggers many irrational thoughts around letting people close, trusting, fears over the people I love leaving and feeling alone and separate in my family. The fears manifest in my body with anxiety and unrest and tummy issues and my head starts to go a million miles into the conflict of emotional feelings versus physical feelings. Words not related to the trigger but that I experienced from my past surface. It all becomes a bit of a mash. I push people further away, I forget my support team of spirit world that are there holding me safe. I doubt my capacity to help people and do what drives me in the world because I don’t feel strong enough. All triggered from my childhood and experiences through life and yet so so powerful that the best I can do is to continue growing from them and being better as a person.

Nature world fills my cup and heals me

It’s a slippery slope and yet the world around me thinks that I am strong….. hilarious really. Also I am highly aware of the tools that help me, the skills I have learnt to shift my focus, the powerful healing that surrounds me in Mother Nature. The strong man by my side believing in me. You see, I too scramble around in this mess of pain, because I must understand it to do the work that I do and understand you. If it was simple to just snap out of it all then I would have zero compassion.

I KNOW many big scary and overwhelming feelings and emotions because I have been there too. I understand more than anything how badly you want to feel seen, and heard, and safe and supported.

I get it that some days it all feels too much.

I also know that to shift focus into a better feeling space is possible; and to see yourself as the beautiful caring individual that you are is also possible.

You didn’t come here to stay stuck; you came here to emerge and fly………..

You aren’t mad, you aren’t daft and you aren’t selfish…..acknowledge the feelings and start to see your story as a journey towards something great and the greatness is in every step.

The story of your life…. you can write everything after chapter 1.

Love,
Andrea

PS these words grabbed my attention this week; I think from A Note from the Universe!

Those who are needy of attention, Andrea, hide from themselves their greatness.

Those who are needy of opportunity, Andrea, hide from themselves their power to create.

And those who are needy of love, Andrea, hide from themselves what’s already there.

Be mindful how you measure yourself

The journey of a thousand steps cannot be measured by the last one…..

Life and how good we are at doing life, of late seems to be increasingly measured by the success of our performance in one thing: one race, one competition, one event, one exam, one XYZ.

We measure ourselves harshly on this one moment. We forget what we learned, who we became, how our skills grew, the obstacles we overcame, the relationships we built, so many positives to every step of the way.

For most of us it’s a complex process getting to the start, the race, the exam, the event, that big thing. The journey is often riddled with life challenges, personal obstacles, the thief of time management and all sorts of curve balls. The substance of life, that grows us!

Why do we so desperately want to measure and define our entire identity on just this one thing? We believe that we are judged by everyone on that one thing and as a result, it often becomes our biggest brag or biggest excuse. Neither of which are a pleasant energy to be around. We become needy, needy to be seen and recognised. It becomes our identity.

And yet often what matters more is who we truly are as a whole person, how we behave and act, and how we are remembered by others: in other words each step along the way and how this dynamically forms us.

See the journey of a thousand steps…as a thousand steps of life, growth,experience, learning, strength…the last step takes on a far greater meaning when you take a moment and contemplate each step that fell before.

Me on a long walk, focusing on the steps

Take a moment to absorb the view, not get absorbed in you

Me on a long walk, focusing on the steps. When you get ‘there’ take a moment to absorb the view, not get absorbed in you and a litany of judgements.

I am not especially religious but imagine if God only judged each one of us at those pearly gates by how fast we climbed the steps, the drama of our death, the bragging of our pain, or with our litany of excuses…no he acknowledges the thousands steps that you took before this; steps that were often invisible and alone in the quiet spaces of your life.

Love,
Andrea