What are you going to carve out of your block of chocolate?

Today I’m at Eurochocolate in Perugia and they’re creating some every special and interesting things out of very large and ordinary blocks of chocolate.

This struck me as a rather good metaphor for life. You can treat your life as a big block of ordinariness that can’t be changed. Or you can look at your block and ask yourself, “What am I going to create out of this?”

You’ve only got one life. What are you going to create with it? Is it going to be amazing or is it going to be a big block of ordinary where nothing ever really happens? It’s completely up to you to make your life into something wonderful.

My client Maddy recently gave me feedback on one of my programs. She said her life is now “exhilarating” because she’s connected into what she wants and she’s doing it!!

I feel so blessed to work with women like Maddy who say things like, “It’s my life and there’s more than this so what do I have to do?” If you’re that kind of woman then I want to hear from you too.

My new three-month intensive program is called LIVE ON PURPOSE and it’s designed to help women connect back into their passion, own their intuitive power and discover their purpose.If you’re ready to carve out your block of chocolate and create something magical then email me at lucretia@lucretiaswords.com or PM me on Facebook.

Let’s do it!!!

Naked, open to the world and lighting my own way

nakedNot long after I moved into my first house as a newly-single person, I bought a metal sculpture of a naked woman, reclining backwards, holding a candle aloft.

These days the sculpture has migrated from my lounge-room to the deck and, although it looks a little worse for wear, it still attracts interest from my visitors.

Often they are intrigued. ‘Why do you like that?’ they ask. ‘What’s that about?’

My answer is always the same, ‘She symbolises how I wish to live my life. Naked, open to the world and lighting my own way.’

Now don’t misunderstand me. You won’t see me strolling through my local streets without clothes on anytime soon. It’s more of a metaphor.

The nakedness and openness speak to my desire to live openly, without barriers and from the heart. I wish to live as I truly am, not as others or society expects me to be.

I wish to light my own way by knowing I always have the strength and light within me to keep moving forward because I trust my own judgement and intuition. It’s not about turning away from the assistance of others. Instead it’s about knowing that my light comes from within me and I can re-light my own candle whenever I choose. I do not have to wait for someone else to light it for me.

When life gets difficult, as it does for all of us, it can be easy to put up barriers between ourselves and others, close down our hearts and let our light go out. It can be easy to lose faith that we have the strength and inner guidance to find our way forward, to take the next step, to just keep going.

But in those moments I will glimpse the naked lady and I’m reminded of my capacity to find my way. Like me, she has some age spots (in her case, rust) showing up here and there, and she has weathered a few storms. She has matured a little more and, in my more fanciful moments, I imagine she has, like me, relaxed into her own (metal) skin over the years.

Yet in spite of all the bumps, rust, storms and challenges of living exposed to the elements, she is still there naked, open to the world and lighting her own way. She is still there inspiring me to do the same

Are you ready to create your life?

lifeSo here’s what I know to be true.

You can create the life you dream of. But you have to work for it. You have to put your money where your mouth is. And you have to believe you are worthy of your dream.

So start. Get up out of that chair and start.

Make that phone call. Start that blog. Register your business. Call the person you love and tell them you’re ready to take that chance. Enrol in that course. Start that exercise program.

Ignore those people who tell you that you’re crazy and deluded. You’ll need to trust yourself if you’re going to make it happen. So just take that first step and keep going.

Persist. Believe. Do.

Set your intention and give yourself small goals to reach along the way. Keep them small so they are attainable and eventually build up to something big.

Only you can do it. It’s your life and no one else is going to do it for you. So what are you waiting for?

I have faith in you.

Now it’s time for you to have faith in yourself

Why hiding from yourself never works

HidingA good friend said yesterday that she wanted to move to another city. ‘At least I’d be able to get away from X,’ she reasoned.

I shook my head and said, ‘But you know if you try to run away from yourself, you’ll only run into yourself.’

She looked at me like I was mad and said, ‘That makes no sense.’

But I have to tell you it’s the truth.

When things are too real, too painful or just too uncomfortable, we often try to run away. But what we don’t realise is those situations are part of ourselves. And you can’t run from who you are because it’s like you’re running away from you. You can jump on a plane and leave the country but your problem, issue or pain will still be with you. You might leave the ‘person’ you hold responsible behind, but if you don’t deal with the issue it will come back to haunt you later in another way.

Some of us will even try to hide from things we desperately want but don’t believe we deserve or could ever have. You might stay in a nice, dependable and well-paid job when you really want to do something that pays less but will make you happy.

Or consider the person who desperately wants to be loved but runs away from it because the thought of letting someone see all of them, with all their flaws and darkness, is terrifying. So instead they choose relationships that will never run too deep and choose to keep hiding.

We can become very good at pushing away the things we want.

It happens every day and I am no exception. I have tried to hide from myself many times.

It takes courage to be honest with yourself and face your demons. The thought of picking away the scab to see what’s beneath can be terrifying. What if we don’t like the person we find? What if we’re not strong enough?

Some people will never ‘go there’. They will hide for a lifetime because it’s easier.

And they’re right. It is easier.

But if you hide from who you are and what you honestly want, you will never be truly happy. You are a wonderful spiritual being living a human existence. That means you are here to learn lessons and expand your soul. Sure that expansion means facing pain and discomfort but the process also brings boundless joy, love and understanding.

Imagine if you could extend that love and understanding to yourself.

 

Are you reverting to type?

TransformHave you ever found yourself acting differently around certain people? You might try to appear ultra-professional in a new job or try to be the perfect partner when you start dating someone new.

Sometimes we’ll try to change ourselves to fit into a new environment or so we can be who we believe our new partner wants.

But unfortunately, this behaviour is unsustainable because you are essentially attempting to change yourself for someone else. Sooner or later the ‘real you’ will come out.

Sometimes it will be fine because the ‘real you’ still fits. But other times the ‘real you’ will simply cause a lot of discomfort and potentially pain to the people around you because you weren’t honest about who you were in the first place. Your new boss may feel you misrepresented your skills and your new partner may wonder if the person they fell in love with ever really existed. Inevitably you will then lose that job and find your shiny new relationship floundering on the rocks.

Sometimes we try to make these changes and become new versions of ourselves for good reasons. We want to improve who we are and be better people. But it’s when we do that for others that we become unstuck.

True change and transformation of self is a choice we must make for ourselves. It cannot be done to please another. It must be chosen and come from within to be real and have longevity. Part of you may wish to change but if you are not doing it for yourself, you will not be able to sustain the shift. You might keep it up for a few weeks, a few months, or perhaps longer, but sooner or later the charade will collapse and you will begin reverting to whoever you really are. You will revert to type and begin repeating all the healthy and unhealthy patterns you’ve always repeated.

I believe we are all capable of transformation. We can choose to go within, face our demons and do the work necessary to change who we are. We can choose to step up to the plate and do the work.

But it’s not easy. Trust me, I speak from experience when I say it can be an excruciatingly painful process. Realisations and life lessons frequently push you to your limits and force you to break through boundaries that no longer serve you. You must face things in yourself that are sometimes dark and very uncomfortable. You must be honest about what is important to you and get real about the things you need to deal with. And while others can help guide you through the process, you must essentially do the work and travel the path alone.

Some people may never take up the challenge. Others will start but decide it’s all too hard and simply go back to the way things were because it’s easier. And that’s true. It is easier to simply revert to type and carry on as before. Nothing will change and you’ll be a lot more comfortable.

But if you follow through and don’t give up, something quite magical will happen. From all that pain and hard work something quite beautiful will emerge – a strong sense of self and inner-knowledge. You will possess a clearer understanding of who you are and that the only limits are those you impose on yourself. You will judge yourself and others far less because you’ll understand that no-one is perfect and we are all just learning.

I’m not suggesting you will become Zen-like all day, every day. Most of us aren’t built for sainthood and will never become wise yogis perched on a mountaintop in the Himalayas. But the process will in many ways bring you peace because as you gain more understanding you will have more forgiveness in your heart for yourself and others.

You will also need to keep doing more work as you grow older because, as you become more aware, you will be led to deal with more of your stuff. So the journey will continue throughout your lifetime.

I’m not suggesting your ‘type’ is necessarily something that must be fixed. But if you start that walk on the path to self-awareness you will be rewarded with a stronger sense of self and amazing growth. You may even meet someone who becomes the catalyst that causes you to re-evaluate your life and believe it could different. But you cannot make the shift for that other person. You must always make it for yourself.