I recently finished reading a book called Still Life by Louise Penny, a French
Canadian mystery writer. I love mysteries, and was happy to find Louise Penny. She provided an intriguing story.
What really caught my attention, though, was when the reason for the title was revealed. Yes, many of the characters were artists and a painting figured into the plot. But the “still life” referred to people who were stuck in their lives. They weren’t moving forward. They were standing still in their lives.
We all get stuck sometimes—that’s life. We get confused and stymied and need help. The way forward simply isn’t clear. When we seek help, whether it be from a close friend or a coach, or counselor, that’s a great step toward becoming clear and finding your path forward. One of the characters in the book was a retired counselor. In a conversation with the detective (I don’t think I’m revealing any spoilers in case you’d like to read the book!) she said she retired from counseling and opened a book store because after 20 years she got tired of the people who kept coming back to her, year after year, with out making any progress. She said she felt they enjoyed their problems. Some people made rapid progress, though. They were the ones who took responsibility for their lives and did the work. And that’s the key.
[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#LOA #LifePurpose”]We are the only ones with the power to change our lives.[/tweetthis]
Often I see people expecting someone or something outside of themselves to fix their lives. While a helping hand can help—and should be extended—the truth is, no one can fix your life but you. We create our reality with every thought, feeling and expectation. This is both the bad news and the good news. Because if we are the creators of our lives and we’re living a reality that we don’t like, knowing that we created it, we are immediately empowered to change it. Doing so requires a change of thinking and a new perspective. It requires practicing new skills, new thought patterns, new expectations and feelings. It requires getting into a mindset of appreciation, gratitude for what is going right and excitement about what you want to create. That puts you in the flow of being open to the opportunities that show up—and then acting upon those opportunities. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it happens. It’s OK to slip up—we all do because new habits take practice. Loving yourself where you are is part of that process.
As a law of attraction and life purpose coach, I help clients with tools to help them shift their perspective and think in new, more supportive ways. Knowing that we all have our answers within us, I encourage inner exploration by asking powerful questions and support my clients as they make changes in their thinking and take action as they are inspired to do. But I don’t take credit for their progress. They are the ones who change their lives because they do the inner work that is reflected back to them in their new reality. I simply teach them the tools. We are all powerful creator beings.
You may be thinking, but what about the world at large? What about this election we just had? How could one person possibly change that? The answer is, no you can’t change it. But you get to choose how you react to it and how it will then affect you. Fear creates what we don’t want because we are continuing to put our focus, attention and energy on the thing we don’t want. So, keep your attention on the vision of what you do want. Feel the feelings you think having what you want will give you. Practice those feelings and what you want will have to align with them, showing up in your reality.
If you need help with the tools for changing your life in positive ways, I’d love to chat with you. You can sign up for a complimentary Life Purpose Discovery Session here.
