Carolyn's Creedo for Life

It is a seriously dull and rainy day here on the coast of British Columbia. Summer feels like it may never arrive, yet I recall how this has been the pattern of the past few years... a rainy May and June before sunshine's emergence come July. I pray we'll have a lovely summer, for those few weeks of light infusion definitely help to recharge my batteries for the remainder of the year.

I've been reflecting lately on the person that I experience myself as today vs. the person I was back in November before spending time at The Haven Institute in personal growth seminars.

Gone are the long spells of dwelling in the fearful futures in my mind.
Gone are the wakeful nights of brewing and stewing and feeling anxious. Gone is the need to be in charge of the whole world around me.

I feel I am much more present than I've ever experienced before, living as fully and peacefully in this now moment.

I have energy galore and happily do all I can do... and simply won't worry about the rest.

Even my eating style has found ease. The need for emotional feeding has fallen away... as have 12 pounds, without the previous strain and deprivation. I'm simply not holding on like I was before.

Today is rich and tomorrow will become what it will become... I will deal with all it presents then, and not until then.

For me, the biggest change over these six months have come because of the decluttering and healing of my mind. I was literally driving myself nuts... and those around me, too. This following quotation speaks well to my experience , have a read...

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."
Quotation by Henry David Thoreau

Carolyn's Creedo For Life...

* Let go
* Be now
* Be open to and ever grateful for the riches of this very moment

* Life is sweet, depending on where I focus

If you're ready to make some personal changes in how YOU experience life, get yourself a copy of Becoming the BEST YOU Possible eBook and implement the prescribed practices. You, too will begin to feel a similar shift in how you experience your Self and your life.

Until I talk to you again soon,

Warmly Carolyn

Making Curiosity A Life Motivator

Hi again,

My three times away in seminars at the Haven Institute over these last six months have gifted me with many insights into the deeper understanding and nature of who I am as a person, what holds me back AND what inspires me to become anew. When I found the following quotation this morning, I knew I wanted to share it with you because it really speaks to what I feel has become a vital place in my continued personal growth... have a read...

"The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become."

Quotation by Charles Du Bos (1882-1939) French literary critic

I interpret this to mean that unless I am willing to both examine AND release those non-working aspects of myself, I will be unable to truly move ahead in a greater potential within. Keep actively evaluating and checking into me! Listen deeply and act to make changes when ready. Change is good... and through change, I just keep expanding in my levels of life / self enrichment and fulfilment.

My focus has now become having a sense of curiosity about;

• Who I am (and I'm never the same person I was yesterday)?


• What's working and what's not working for me in my life now?
  
• What would I like to focus my creative attention on today?

I'm excited! For the first time in a very long while, I feel as though I am wearing new glasses on which to see myself with... honesty glasses with a daring willingness to take a realistic assessment of all that has and is true for me in this moment.

Curiosity, instead of reaction and fear-based thinking is now the primary place I am approaching my life from... and I like this vantage point! What an incredible shift. Suddenly, I'm asking the following questions of myself AND being open to hearing new answers...

Who can I make myself into now?

What can I let go of that would open me to greater freedom and expression?

What would I like to create of myself and life next?

To me, these are great new questions for a new way of being. Have you asked yourself any of these questions in the last while? You might find yourself excited, as I am with a new and curious inquiry into your Self.

Finally, I was very pleased to realize that our "Becoming the BEST YOU Possible" eBook is addressing this exact issue... helping individuals to realize those limiting aspects within, set them free and grow into a greater sense of realized potential within. Very cool, indeed. Of course, you can get your copy of our eBook by clicking the link below.

My big word is CURIOSITY these days!

Warmly, Carolyn

www.life-balance-success.com

How's Your Spontaneity?

NEVER before have I ever been SO spontaneous!

I know, I know... I keep going off and not talking to you for periods of time.

But, tell me...

If you had an opportunity to pack a suitcase and be on an airplane one hour later heading to a beautiful island for two weeks, wouldn't you do it too? Well, OF COURSE you would!

That's precisely what happened to me over the Easter weekend. An email came with a last minute invitation, I thought about it for about an hour, took the following hour to race around the house and throw necessities into a suitcase and away I went to board my float plane. Synchronicity had it that I got the remaining seat on the plane and the last available room at the retreat center... was I meant to go, or what!

Never before have I ever been so spontaneous... and I loved it!

I've always thought of myself as very adaptable, able to change with the seasons and places, able to travel in style and also rough it in the jungle, too. NOW I can also say that I am able to make prompt and decisive choices for myself and be free-spirited like the wind. How I like these characteristics!

So where was I, you might be asking? Here...

For the THIRD time since September, I got to go to the Haven Institute to attend a powerful personal growth seminar, Phase Two. This time was especially exciting as I got to meet up with approximately eight friends that had been in my earlier programs. And, believe me, when we spend two weeks together as intensely as we do at Haven, friendships become very deep, very fast!

I even got to have my very first experience of kayaking, which was wonderful!

I am ever grateful to Richard for supporting me to go and do this life-changing work on myself at this time in my life. Having spent many months at Esalen (a famous growth center on the California coastline) years ago, and knowing the transformation possible, Richard has urged me to gift myself with this experience for a long time... and I'm doing so now. I've come home feeling so rich in so many ways.

So, I'm back... gradually catching up on life and reaching out again.

I hope you've been really well and that you might consider crazy spontaneity in your life, too. Talk about affirming!

Yes, I'll talk to you again soon, Carolyn...

no more travel until mid-May now, when we will go off to Atlanta, Georgia.

Go to www.life-balance-success.com for your copy of our BEST YOU Possible eBook with it's numerous great bonuses AND Relaxation MP3.

$27... that's all.

Coming Alive at The Haven

Warm hellos again.

It has been a long stretch since I last wrote as I've been away on a personal development program entitled, "Coming Alive" at The Haven Institute for the past ten days.

This time away (from the intensity of writing our eBook and developing the website to promote the eBook) gave me the break I've SO needed... time to step out of living in my busy head and to focus on and nurture my heart, body and soul.

Coming Alive is not for the faint of heart. Each participant was called upon to search deep inside for the courage to be there among virtual strangers and do "the work"... me included.

With 28 other participants, this became our opportunity to share deeply in caring support of each other and to look at our individual inhibiting patterns of feelings and behaviours together. Believe me, we were not strangers for long... friendships quickly got deep. There were many different lives and many different life stories present... every heart-touching story you could ever imagine.

I learned much about myself, with my fellow journeyer friends reflecting important aspects of me that I wished to be free from. This program is about transformation... and transform I did.

The quiet mornings had me participating in a rigorous Hula dance class with the wonderfully brilliant and entertaining teacher, Gary Dillon. I felt truly joyous dancing every day.

And not once but TWICE I gifted myself with the most powerful massage I have ever had the opportunity to experience... LomiLomi Hawaiian massage! It is not only a very thorough deep muscular massage, but a sacred event as I was chanted and sung to by the practitioner, who was also the same Gary. Talk about bliss!

Mid-day, each day, the swimming pool beckoned me for resistance exercises followed by dreaming in the sunshine. Evenings, I joined others for lively conversation in the awesome hottub overlooking the beautiful night lights of Nanaimo across the inlet.

Every day offered me valuable time to walk in the beauty of the coastal environment, to move my body more than I'd done in many months and to feel new levels of muscle tone returning.

Every day offered me the opportunity to listen to the stillness within and to journal write the truth of my heart. I witnessed both sunrises and sunsets, too.

Great healthy food, lots of water, deep conversations and friendships that quickly emerged from mere strangers... this was my soul food. I even came home with several recipes of my favorite dishes... thanks to Travis!

I learned many very important things about myself, for which I feel grateful.

I learned that I NEED to be an integral part of a community of like-minded individuals living their potential, free from patterned behaviours.

I learned that I need quiet time every day to reflect on life and being on this human journey.

I learned that I am naturally an energetic and physically strong person.

I learned that I have a good heart to help others, even though I have the tendancy to "caretake" at times.

I learned that fear and anxiety are my own creations and that I can surrender them through breath.

I learned that I can still my mind and be at home in my body through movement sessions.

I learned that I am willing to fight hard for the expression of my life passions... that mediocrity is NOT an option.

I was reminded of how much I love the outdoors, taking photographs of nature and sharing them around.

You know, we ALL require time away from the craziness of our everyday lives to remember what is really important for our life quality...

... in our heart

... in our emotion

... in our soul

... in our body

... and in our being a part of the human experience in relation to one another.

We can be wonderful mirrors for each other to grow, if we allow ourselves to be open.

I will go to The Haven again... I hope sooner than later. If you are looking for an amazing place to step back, get unstuck and become more in touch with who you really are, I highly recommend that you consider going to this special haven for personal growth. http://www.haven.ca/

In addition to carrying on my daily personal growth practices, my task now that I am home is to introduce our "Becoming the BEST YOU Possible" eBook to the Internet public. I hope you'll check it out for yourself and share it around with others you see that can use some support with getting rebalanced in life.

http://www.life-balance-success.com/

I'll talk to you again in a day or two.

Namaste, Carolyn

http://www.innerfitness.ca/

Incredible Beings

Hi and welcome... glad you're here.

Sometimes certain individuals come into our lives that make a really big impact on us... making us stop, catch our breath and be amazed with their "incredible-ness." This last weekend, Richard and I had the honour of meeting a person like this.

To protect her name, I'll call her K. She is a fresh, natural looking, insightful young woman who sought out our counselling services, determined to get the help she needed in order to grow beyond some serious historical patterns of behaviour and contained emotions.

We settled into a day-long session with her, us giving her the very best of our professional and caring attention... and she "showed up" to heal with a spirit and openness that truly moved and impressed us. K had come to realize just how much her addictive behaviour was undermining the potential success of the good life she was otherwise creating... and decided she was ready to set herself free!

To wake up and realize, "I am keeping myself stuck! I don't want that reality any longer and I am now ready to do whatever it takes that's necessary to grow and change" is very powerful!

Recognition is always the first step towards change!

Shaking up life to become a better person takes courage. K was a blessing to work with because of her incredibly determined spirit to realize more of her potential... and we know she will never be the same person she was because of it.

Richard and I feel rewarded to have been invited to be a part of K's growth and our lives are richer for knowing and supporting her.

Who is the person in your life that most affects you with his/her "incredible-ness?"

What is it about that person that touches you in such a deep way?

Give this some thought today.

Hanging around with these individuals is "good medicine!"

Warmly, Carolyn

www.innerfitness.ca

Our Return From Texas

Hello again!

Richard and I are just back from our great trip to Austin, Texas where we taught a "Balance For Wellbeing" seminar for the realtor and mortgage broker members of Core Training's Summit conference. All went very well and it was a treat to be with them again, a bi-annual event for us over the last two years now.

Thank you to the founders of Core for including us in their awesome program. Their money management emphasis are vital teachings that every person should have learn early in life in order to earn but especially save wisely, able to live prosperously within our means. Though in a very different business than the Core members, Richard and I always come away from these events feeling as though we learned valuable lessons to apply for our own lives, too.

What really inspires me at these events, though, is how motivated and optimistic each person is to grow their business, how they set achievable goals for each six month period of time... and have the drive to make these goals happen. Indeed, they are an inspiring bunch of business owners playing large in life and we admire them for it. Not only motivated, they're just a GREAT bunch of people, too. Our friendships are deepening and we appreciate that we're invited to contribute to their gaining more balance in their personal growth, their families, their relationships and in their self-care.

Happy that we took a few extra days to play after the completion of the conference, we rented a car and travelled around the countryside seeing small towns, massive ranches and enjoyed the warm sunshine and the gorgeous landscape. We were warmed by the Texan hospitality!

Without a doubt, we'd love to return to Texas... and if our lifestyle could manage it, we decided that the outskirts of Austin would be the perfect place to winter each year. Maybe that's a goal we'll work towards!

Anyways, I hope all is going well for you since we've been away and thanks for visiting again. I have lots to write about, so visit again soon.

Warmly, Carolyn
Inner Fitness(R) Programs
www.innerfitness.ca