I'm Going Back to The Haven

Hi!

Well, unless there's a computer at The Haven, this will be my last post for 12 days. Yes, I am returning to the wonderful Haven Institute on Gabriola Island, B.C. www.haven.ca to attend another (my second) seminar...

... my time for an extensive personal retreat!

I'll begin my retreat program with an hour-long Lomi Lomi massage, which (if you've never experienced) is WONDERFUL! From there, I have a need to step back from my day-to-day world and do some important reflection on my next life-stage direction.

You see, there are natural cycles in everyone's lives where it becomes valuable to "take stock" of our accomplishments, evaluate those passions that remain unfulfilled and to figure ways of becoming even more expressed as a living being. This is where I am at... hence the desire to retreat!

So, if I find a computer, I will talk to you again in a day or two... otherwise, I'll talk to you on November 1st. Live well until then.

Warmly, Carolyn

Embracing Change

Wow, what a super full birthday week I've just celebrated!

Sorry I've been away awhile, I love to write more frequently than this and promise I will now that my birthday and Canada's July 1st birthday celebration marathon has passed. It was great seeing special friends, receiving calls, cards and flowers. I feel very loved... thanks to all of you that remembered and reached out.

It has been a few weeks since attending the "Coming Alive" seminar at The Haven Institute. Each and every day has me reflecting on what I learned about myself and, more so, making the effort to IMPLEMENT what I learned. This little quote spoke to me, have a read...

"Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken." Quotation by Frank Herbert

Embracing change easily and without fear is quite the task... but is a worthy task. It is when we grip in fear of change that we become stagnant, within ourselves and in life.

The truth is, everything is evolving, unfolding and becoming. This is the law of the Universe and we can either embrace it, or be dragged kicking and screaming through life. Change is inevitable, so why not eagerly embrace the mystery of it and hold intrigue as to HOW it is going to unfold... AND how I can participate and influence it's positive unfolding.

My seminar at The Haven gave me a fresh readiness to embrace moving ahead. Though not easy self-work (and actually really emotionally painful in moments), the rewards of learning new things about how I'd been approaching life have given me new perspective to move forward from. Every person in my class became a mirror for me to see an aspect of myself to grow from... and for each of them I am grateful. But, this is true of every person we ALL come in contact with, if curious enough to consider how... every person a small reflection of ourselves to learn from and grow.

The task, now that I am home and back in my usual routine, is to "stay awake," remember what I learned and how to apply the every day practices that will help me to grow further on my life path. Already I'm recognizing the temptations to simply fall back into the comfort zone of past behaviour, calling on me to be ever diligent. That tends to be the hardest part of change for most... the integration of new practices and ways of being based on our learnings.

Life is not the same as it was yesterday, and thankfully it will not be the same tomorrow.

Conditions in the outer world may change, but presence of mind and heart will help us to remain constant and sure.

How are you in relation to change?

Are you a curious change artist, or do you dig your heels in with resistance to change?

If you'd like help with making change in your life and haven't yet signed up for my free Work and Life Balance tips, go to
www.life-balance-success.com/freebalancetips.html and sign in. (You can unsubscribe any time, if you want to.) I'll talk to every few days and give you ideas on how to quicken some positive new ways of being within yourself and in your life.

Better still, get yourself a copy of our new "Becoming the BEST YOU Possible" eBook! This will definitely help you in your quest for change. $27... that's it. http://www.life-balance-success.com/

In appreciation,

Carolyn Clarke

http://www.innerfitness.ca/

Crossroads For Life Change

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I... I took the one less traveled by...
and that has made all the difference.”

Quote by Robert Frost

It takes great courage to live a conscious life, especially these days with so many stresses, temptations and distractions to sway us from course.

This human journey presents many crossroads to consider, some arrive with much fanfare and clarity, while others are subtle little paths that seem obscure and perhaps not worth considering. But every fork in the road is yet another opportunity that we can either see as an invitation and embrace, or can be seem as a dangerous or insignificant diversion instead.

Thanks to Jerry Horbert/Dreamstime for the perfect photograph!

I have faced numerous crossroads in my lifetime that blantantly presented themselves into my life, but there is one road that opened that I chose to accept... a life-changing road that stands out in my memory... and will forever.

I'd decided to enroll in a "Positive Thinking and Self Hypnosis" seminar (now 26 years ago) but was undecided as to whether I would take it at the Night School Program close by, or at the local college a little further away. It was the very same course being offered, but taught by different teachers... I did not know either of them.

Until I walked out the front door of my home that evening, I still hadn't decided which one I would attend. But letting my instinct guide me, I found myself walking to the Night School Program... and to this day, I am so glad I trusted the road I chose, for it led me to meet Richard, my now sweetheart husband! He was the instructor of that program (yes, I fell in love with my teacher)... and needless to say, THAT fork in my road was instinctively the best crossroad I ever listened to!

Crossroads arrive to offer us options, new choices, expansions on who we are being in life... and offer us ways to expand our horizons. But it is only the "listeners" that will recognize the crossroads before them and be open to the potentials they have to offer. With intrigue and courage, we can dare to open ourselves to the newness that life has to offer. And when we choose to recognize these crossroad opportunities that place themselves before us, we are then empowered to make conscious committment to the magnificent life journey that is ours to claim.
If you are seriously seeking to better your life (and aren't we all!?), let your "Crossroad Radar" become quickened and invigorated... and watch the new life choices that will awaken before you.

May your crossroads be as sweetly transformational as mine.

Warmly, Carolyn
your Personal Change Consultant
www.innerfitness.ca