Do you ever find yourself all wrapped up about a future outcome feeling like you are fending off negativity at every turn?

While obviously and physically here right now, most people barely visit the present moment rushing from past regrets and future trauma. The human mind has the incredible capacity to draw you back into the past and/or propel you into the future, all while you go about your day-to-day life.

Just like you, I love to relive old memories and dream about the future, in fact daydreaming and visualizing your desired outcome is advised. What you want to watch for is repetitive cycles of self defeating thought.

As I describe in my best selling book, The Map: Finding the Magic and Meaning in Your Life, you are living out a narrative of your life. Some argue they would not tell their story this way.  Maybe heartbreak has crossed your path.  Maybe you are in a life or career challenge that you didn’t see coming.

In the book I lead you through a profound process to discover the inner landscapes you inhabit on your path—the unseen patterns, hidden motivations, and family legacies—and show you how to break free of whatever is holding you back from the super amazing and meaningful life that is your birthright.

If your thoughts are stuck and you can’t see the next logical step, you might be doing a little ‘Time Wandering’–living “some-when” other than the present moment. Here’s a short quiz to find out when you’re often living:

•    Have you ever found yourself back in frustrating situations that are eerily similar to your past and make you feel powerless?

•    Does your mind often wander to past relationships or old frustrations or “failures”?

•    Do you ever run scenarios in your mind about conversations you’ve had with someone or are about to have with them, taking your attention off, say, driving your car?

•    Have you ever found yourself sitting in a meeting and running through scenarios that have nothing to do with your surroundings?

•    Do you sometimes find yourself anticipating the worst to happen, just like it once did in your past experience? (I.e. He/She will leave me, just like the others.)

•    When you’re frustrated with something in your life, do you tend to focus on your past or future rather than deal with your current emotions and experience?

If you answered yes to any of these questions (and I don’t have to be psychic to suspect you had at least one yes!), it’s a sign of being “some-when else.” And, when you’re some-when other than the present, you are never in the now.

As I’ve often said, right now is where all your power is! In this moment alone is where you access the magic wand to direct your life.  Of course, there’s absolutely no shame in having slipped back into an old landscape or in getting caught up in anticipating a future event, we are all story-telling beings, after all.  That is why I am launching the Master Intuitive Coach® Institute. There are more people than ever who need the processes I have discovered along the way.

You see that you have the power to choose your perceptions about whatever you’ve experienced.

Stop and go back.  Read that again.  You can learn to change your perceptions about your past.  You must choose it. IN-Vizion ® process, available at the Master Intuitive Coach® Institute training, is the preferred method to transform memories of lands you traversed long ago, and even awaken new memories to shore up your new perceptions.

Remember, now is where all your power is to shape your Map—past, present and future!

Exercise:

Close your eyes as you focus on your breath. Let all your thoughts fade away and then ask yourself: Where am I? Allow your inner awareness to show you where you are and this place’s features.??Then, in your journal, take some time to describe the landscape you were just pointed to, and then answer the following questions: Have you been here before? Are you in the future or past? How do you feel here? What lessons are to be learned here? Have you been here before? If so, does it feel like you keep coming back for a reason? How can the experience of being in this particular landscape help you today?

The Master Intuitive Coach® Institute is a new and exciting integrative coaching program designed for anyone who is interested in becoming a coach, looking for a new skill set to add to their coaching, counseling or therapeutic healing practice or even if you’re someone looking to experience your own personal transformation, growth and development- there is something here for YOU! http://masterintuitivecoachinstitute.com

So, what do I say? My answer to these types of questions often elicits a perplexed look. I tell him or her that they should first consider their motives behind their motivation to become more advanced. “Sometimes,” I say, “you have to first forget your desire to learn more advanced techniques and get back to basics. Sometimes all you need to experience increased awareness is to have humility and be like a child who is seeing something for the first time.”

Of course, I just LOVE everyone’s thirst for knowledge and enlightenment. The desire to grow and learn is essential if you want to harness your power to create the life you long for. I also LOVE sharing new ideas; so in these moments it’s often difficult for me to not talk about an alternative technique.

But, advanced isn’t always better. In fact, our search for more sophisticated, advanced tools can actually hinder our growth, block our intuition, and prevent us from experiencing the very fulfillment and happiness we think they’ll bring about.

Now, I know what I’m saying is not what you’re used to hearing. Throughout our lives, we’re taught to strive to be advanced, sophisticated, and better than the rest. Even in the spiritual realm, we’ve somehow been lead to believe that we must become advanced if we want to have it all. With the growing pressure to be perfect and better than the rest, there’s been a trend toward spiritual snobbery.

Yes, I just used the word snobbery in a spiritual context! But, I’m exactly not referring to “snob” in a “mean girls who talk about you behind your back” sense of the word. When I say spiritual snobbery, I’m talking about approaching spirituality as if you should know more than another, are above others in your development, need more advanced tools to connect with Spirit, or must be spiritually sophisticated to be a good person.

Now, if you recognize any spiritual snobbery tendencies in yourself, there’s no need to beat yourself up. I’m willing to bet all of us have unconsciously fallen into the trap of spiritual elitism from time to time.

The problem is this kind of quest for sophistication not only keeps us stuck, but it also separates us from the All That Is!

Of course, I’m not saying you should stop growing spiritually. You should! But, as you seek out new knowledge, it’s important to still have humility and approach all of life with fresh eyes.

We’re always at the beginning in some area of our lives. Even when we think we know everything there is to know, we still need to approach things as if we’ll learn something. No matter if you’ve done the same meditation a hundred times or feel like you know all your patterns, with a change in perception and a dose of curiosity, you’ll always see something new.

The truth is that no such thing as advanced. No soul is—or can be—more advanced than another soul. Yes, each of us is unique with our own path. But, no matter how much we’ve read or practiced, we are all equals and just as deserving of love, happiness, and enlightenment.

When you think about it, this is one of the amazing wonders of life! You can be sophisticated, but life is smarter. When you surrender to this “not knowing” and approach all of your experiences with humility and curiosity, you’ll always find a new nugget of gold that will further help you on your path.

Exercise:

Look Through Your Childlike Eyes!

This week, focus on having humility and curiosity, even in your daily to-dos. Let go of the desire to become advanced and improve, and look instead with fresh eyes. Be like a child with wonder as you take your usual walk, do the same old meditation, or pick your daily oracle card, all while knowing that new awareness will come from even the basics. If you need to, get back to the intuition 101 and simply go for a walk knowing that Spirit will help you open your eyes to a new message.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please share them!

In love and service,

And please, if you found this information useful, then spread the    love and use the Share This link below to share this post with people you know, facebook or twitter.

Become part of our wonderful community with a monthly draw for a  free 15 minute reading with Colette, our newsletter, and so many  giveaways. Go to the HOME page and join now!

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In today’s youth-focused culture, aging is viewed as something to be fought off as long as possible. Even for the most liberated of us, growing old can feel like a threat to our self worth, our confidence, and even our very identity. But, it doesn’t have to be that way!

Growing older is an inevitable and—dare I say—beautiful fact of life. From our first breath to our last, we’re here to experience, to grow, and to evolve. With the right mindset, aging can become an incredible gift—one that is full of wisdom, strength, purpose, adventure, and more and more fun.

It’s funny how as children, we can’t wait to grow up. We count the days to our birthdays, daydream about blowing out all those candles, and delight in all the presents. Yet, as we move through our 20s and 30s, and the dreaded 40s, many of us start to cling to the lower numbers and begin to dread each passing year. Unfortunately, this all too common mindset is a recipe for unhappiness, stress, and hopelessness. The more we long for the years gone by, the less we’re able to enjoy the present, which is where all of our power is.

I can still vividly remember the first time I looked in the mirror only to discover that two crevices had suddenly appeared around my mouth. At 32, I’d just started to feel like I’d come into my own and my life had more purpose than ever before. There I was about to meet a friend for dinner and going about my usual routine of getting ready. I went to the mirror to put on a bit of lipstick when I discovered these two seemingly gigantic wrinkles that seemed to have appeared in the midst of only a few hours. Who was this person with these laugh lines? What was going on?

I felt a bit stressed and somewhat worried about this new discovery. Of course, I knew that I wouldn’t have the glowing skin and firm booty of a twenty-something forever, but up to that point in my life, aging seemed like a distant thing. My initial stress and shock wasn’t so much about getting wrinkles as it was about facing the reality of my mortality. In that moment, it hit me–just like everyone else, I was going to get old and my body would eventually die.

We’ve all had moments like this. While difficult, they also empower us to grow and change our perceptions. Yes, our physical bodies are going to die, which is a difficult truth to accept. But, with this acceptance comes greater power and a stronger connection to the Divine.

Life’s magic is everywhere, even in places that seem wrinkled.

When I look back on that moment in the mirror, I can see that it was one of life’s mini wake up calls. Once I embraced those two new lines and the fact that I was indeed getting older, I was finally able to make the shifts I needed and wanted to make in my life. I was able to get clearer about my purpose and finally had the courage to walk that path. Embracing aging inspired me to cultivate a deeper connection with Spirit. And, I also become more dedicated to living fully in each moment and adding more fun to my life.

Now into my 50s, I celebrate each passing year—and each new laugh line—with more enthusiasm than the last. I just turned 53 in July, and had the most fun-filled weekend of riding my Harley motorcycle, holding hands and snuggling up to my gorgeous husband while seeing Harry Potter, and indulging in a little bit of cake and ice cream. I practice moderation and I make a point to consciously love and accept my body flaws and all! I spent too much time berating myself for my weight, cellulite, wrinkles, ad infinitum. I have learned that loving myself now in all my perfect imperfections is the answer!

OK, you might be thinking, “But, Colette, I just can’t get over the flaws I see in the mirror.” Or, “There’s no way I can embrace my age with all my health problems.” Or, “I’ve made so many mistakes and have so many regrets, happiness and adventure at my age is impossible.”

Here’s the thing: We are all getting older, it’s just a matter of whether we decide to do so with passion and purpose or to do so kicking and screaming!

When you refuse to accept your age or continually loathe yourself upon glancing in the mirror, you end up trapped in the Ghostlands, where there’s no learning or growing because you’re so focused on the past. (To remind you again, there is no power in the past or future—only the present!) As I talk about in my book, The Map: Finding the Magic and Meaning in Your Life, this kind of obsession with the past only prevents you from experiencing joy in the present and planning something better in the future. It just keeps you unhappy and stuck in your mind. The more you dwell, the more time gets away from you; before you know it, you’re sleepwalking through each day, losing the valuable time you do have while you’re fixating on the time gone by.

Ultimately, when you choose to embrace the process of aging, you tap into the incredible power of the present to co-create the purposeful and authentic life you desire. Moreover, with that positive change in mindset, you’re actually bound to look and feel lighter, happier, and even younger.

Exercises:

Get Out of the Ghostlands!

In order to move through the Ghostlands of Aging, it’s crucial to get out of any denial and to ventilate your emotions. I know firsthand that getting older isn’t always an easy process. It’s natural to resist it and to feel angry, confused, regretful, and so on. Rather than keep all of these feelings inside you, it’s important to let them out so you can move on. Either spend some time writing in your journal or write a letter to Spirit about your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs on aging, growing old, and even dying.

Age-Embracing Rx

Gratitude and Humility?No matter what’s going on in your life, you have to honor what you have now in the present and be grateful for it. You have to heal yourself and find beauty in your life today. When you practice gratitude and surrender your fears to Spirit, you gain the power of perception and open yourself up to the magical doors of possibility and even better goodness to come. So, write a letter to Spirit in which you turn over your fears and worries. Then, make a gratitude life. What’s good about your life right now? What do you love about yourself?

Take Out a New Lease on Life!

This is the perfect time for a self-inventory so you can open your eyes to what you want to experience in the years to come!

Looking back on your life so far, what are you most proud of? How have you grown and evolved? What might you have done differently?

What are your dreams for the coming years of your life? Who do you want to be? What would you like to do? What new memories would you like to create? How do you need to grow and evolve to become the person who lives this life?

In love and service,

And please, if you found this information useful, then spread the love and use the Share This link below to share this post with people you know on facebook or twitter.

Become part of our wonderful community with a monthly draw for a free 15 minute reading with Colette, our newsletter, and so many giveaways. Go to the HOME page and join now!

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Everyone experiences feelings of anxiety and unease from time to time. In fact, it’s a very normal reaction to stress. It helps us deal with a tense situation in the office, study harder for an exam, and keep focused on an important speech. In these situations, it helps us cope and become more alert. But, what do you do when you’re feeling dread, panic, or anxiety more often than not?

From worry about our health or job security to fear about what might happen down the road, more and more of us are living in a constant state of anxiety. And, it’s no wonder! Many of us are juggling so many responsibilities and challenges in life that our own peace of mind and self- care end up on the back burner. Moreover, it seems not a day goes by without some panic-inducing news flash about economic strife, environmental degradation, terrorist threats, and so on. All of this is taking a toll on our physical, mental, and spiritual health. In fact, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than 19 million Americans have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. At any given time 13-25% of American adults are experiencing heightened anxiety. It’s also been estimated that 75-90% of all doctors’ visits are due to the effects of stress. That’s a lot!

But, here’s the most fantastic news. You truly can conquer anxiety and overwhelm. Here are some of my favorite anxiety-busting tools, which I’ve used in my own life and in my work with clients.

The Landscape of Peace and Calm: As I talk about in my most recent book, The Map: Finding the Magic and Meaning in the Story of Your Life, the environment of your mind—the internal landscape of your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs—is what creates your experience. The problem is that it’s incredibly difficult to shift what’s going on in our mind with willpower alone, especially in the midst of heightened anxiety. But, as I show you in the book, when you can easily make such a shift when you engage the power of metaphors and imagination. When you explore your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs as enchanted environments where your emotions take on attributes of the outer natural world, you’re able to detach from your emotions and access the wisdom you need to transform your inner and outer experiences.

Here’s how you can do this to shift out of anxiety.

First, think of whatever is making you anxious. Then close your eyes and imagine your anxious thoughts, feelings, and beliefs as an environment. Perhaps when you feel anxious, it’s like running through a dark forest with giant ghost trees jumping out of nowhere. Or, maybe it’s like a stormy ocean with ominous clouds above. In your journal, describe your landscape of anxiety.

Now, think of a time when you’ve felt calm, peaceful, and happy. Then close your eyes and picture those feelings of calm as an environment. Perhaps it’s a sparking pond with a rainbow above. Or, maybe it’s lush garden of sunflowers.  Once again, describe this environment in your journal.

Which landscape would you rather be living in? You do indeed have a choice! Now that you’ve plotted these two points in your consciousness, any time you feel anxiety take a moment to recall these two landscapes and remind yourself that you can make the choice to be in the one that’s more appealing. By picturing the calm landscape, you’ll find it’s much easier to connect with the calm emotions that come along with it.

Meditation: Among the many proven benefits of meditation is stress relief and peace of mind. Neuroscientists have actually found that people who meditate shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex—brain waves in the stress-prone right frontal cortex move to the calmer left frontal cortex. This mental shift decreases the negative effects of stress and anxiety, and they were calmer and happier than before. There is also less activity in the amygdala, where the brain processes fear.

Meditation also enables you to move beyond the busy ego mind to that peaceful place within your consciousness where you’re connected to the All That Is and your intuition. When you meditate, you’re able to step back from the anxious chatter and can more easily shift your perspective on whatever is bothering you.

The Art of Mindfulness: Another form of meditation is mindfulness, which involves bringing your awareness to the here and now and simply noticing what you’re thinking and feeling without judgment. Instead of working against the voice in your head, you sit back and “observe” your thoughts—just notice rather than become involved in them. As you observe them, the thoughts often become less stressful and you start to see that it’s not the thoughts themselves that are causing anxiety, but rather the power you give them.

Focused Breathing: Emotions and breathing have a reciprocal relationship:  when you’re feeling anxious, nervous or upset, your breathing quickens and may even become erratic. And, when you’re relaxed and composed, your breathing is slow, calm, and rhythmical. By working with your breath, you can calm your mind and emotions.

Here is an easy breathing technique for stress reduction:

Touch the tip of your tongue to the top of your mouth, just behind your teeth. Then inhale slowly through your nose, counting to four. Feel the breath filling your lungs from bottom to top. Hold your breath for a count of seven seconds. Then exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of eight seconds. You might even want to picture yourself exhaling the thoughts that are bothering you.

Seek Out Support: Just talking about your anxiety with either friends or a counselor can do wonders for helping you let it go. In fact, the mere action of saying your worries aloud often enables you to shift your perspective. If you’re up for it, you might talk about it in a very dramatic fashion, using all sorts of descriptive words. Then, tell it again. By the fourth time, it usually becomes silly and you have a good laugh.

And please, if you found this information useful, then spread the love and use the Share This link below to share this post with people you know, facebook or twitter.

Become part of our wonderful community with a monthly draw for a free 15 minute reading with Colette, our newsletter, and so many giveaways. Go to the HOME page and join now!

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Okay, maybe I’m not a bona fide comedian, but I hope that joke gave you a chuckle… because adding more laughter to your life is one of the most transformative steps you can take! A chuckle a day is proven to not only help keep the doctor away, but also transform your outlook, strengthen your relationships, advance your career, and enhance your connection with the Divine.

As I teach you in my new book, The Map: Finding the Magic and Meaning in Your Life, the power to change your external reality comes from within. In the book, I guide you in an exploration of the inner-landscapes of your subconscious, which is what really shapes your outer world.  Since most of us tend to get wrapped up in what’s going on in our outer world, it’s extremely difficult to see that it’s actually our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about what’s going on that are ultimately shaping our outlook. When we shift that internal world, we unleash the powers of perception to transform what has been, what is, and what will be!

One phenomenally powerful way to shift your internal world is to laugh! Even more powerful than smiling, a hearty chuckle enables you to instantly detach from any difficulties you’re experiencing so you can transform your perceptions. The more you laugh, the more you harness the power of the present to shift your consciousness and create lasting change in your life and the lives around you.

Laughing has so many significant benefits that I’m surprised they haven’t found a way to put it in a jar and sell it for a thousand dollars. Here are some reasons to start laughing more:

Laughter changes your perspective: According to research, stressful events can be altered by whether you view something as a “threat” or a “challenge.” Humor and laughing can give us a more light-hearted perspective and help us view events as “challenges,” thus making them less threatening and more positive. Laughter brings the focus away from anger, guilt, stress and negative emotions to them alongside other “mere distractions.” It makes you cheerful and puts you in a positive frame of mind.

A good chuckle does the body good: Tons of studies have shown that laughter really is a form of medicine. It’s been shown to strengthen the immune system, reduce food cravings, and even increase your threshold for pain. Laughter reduces levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and increases health-enhancing hormones like endorphins.

Laughter is also a surprisingly great workout. A good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm, contracts the abs, and even works out the shoulders, leaving your muscles more relaxed afterward. It even provides a good workout for the heart. Laughing 100 times is the equivalent to 10 minutes on the rowing machine or 15 minutes on an exercise bike! Yowza!

Those who giggle together, stay together: Laughter improves your relationships and bonds people together. Laughter establishes (or restores) a positive emotional climate and a sense of connection between people. It really is the glue that keeps people together, especially when it comes to your intimate relationships. It synchronizes the brains of speaker and listener so that they’re emotionally attuned.

In fact, some scientists believe that the major function of laughter is to bring people together, and all the health benefits of laughter may result from the social support that it stimulates. Laughter is contagious, so if you bring more laughter into your life, you can most likely help others around you laugh more. As a result, you can diminish their stress levels!

You can laugh your way to success: It’s true! Laughter can actually improve your job performance, especially if your work depends on creativity and solving complex problems. By decreasing your stress level, it enables you to more easily concentrate and focus. With the positive outlook that comes from giggling, you’re also going to feel more energized, creative, and inspired. And, with the impact laughter has on social bonds, it enhances your relationships in the workplace, creating win-win experiences for everyone. So, if you want a raise, it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to come up with some jokes to share with your boss! (Though you might want to skip the psychic joke I told at the beginning!J)

Laughing is sacred: A recent study showed that pre-school-aged children laugh up to 400 times a day, but by the time we reach adulthood, we laugh a mere 17 times per day on average! What happened??

Laughter is a Divine gift, and we were all born to laugh A LOT. Many of us have become caught up in being serious and have forgotten that laughter is an innate part of who we are. Laughing enables us to lighten up, live in the moment, and see the big picture. It moves us out of the ego and into the realm of connection, which is where we’re able to co-create with the Divine.

All this and more is yours for FREE: Best of all, laughter doesn’t cost a thing and it’s highly contagious. Forget all those how-to books, seminars on getting rich quick, fancy clothes, and spa vacations, laughing more can give you the same results and more for free!

Exercises:
Increase your laughter quotient:
How can YOU add more laughter to your life? Perhaps go to a comedy club, spend more time with children or animals, rent a funny movie, exchange jokes with friends, etc.

Studies show the positive effects of laughter whether it’s real or fake. So, you can in fact fake it until you make it and just decide to laugh in the car on the way to work. (Just don’t get too doubled up that you miss a stop sign!)

Find the humor in your every day life:
Make a list of all the things you usually perceive as frustrating and tend to complain about. It could be as simple as traffic or as complex as an argument with someone. Then for each one, look for a way to find humor in the experience. Notice how you might look back on it and laugh about it. Or, imagine how you might tell your friends about the experience with added ridiculousness that you all laugh about.

When you choose to laugh and see humor in the various frustrating elements of life, you’ll become less stressed and more connected with the Divine to create a better experience. You’ll bring more to laugh and smile about into your life!

The Landscape of Laughter:
Here’s a way to easily bring laughter into your life no matter what might be going on. Think of a time when you laughed hysterically. In your journal, describe that experience.

Then close your eyes and chuckle as you picture that experience as a landscape taking on elements of the outside world. Perhaps to you, laughter is a circus full dancing bears and upbeat music. Or, maybe it’s a field full of colorful flowers. Let you imagination flow.

By using metaphors and your imagination to create an inner landscape that represents laughing, you’ll find it’s MUCH more easy to connect with the emotions you feel when you do it. Whenever you want and no matter what frustrations might be happening in your life, you can just picture that landscape to experience the power of laughter.

I also recommend creating an anchor to remind you to laugh every day. Just find a picture or object that reminds you of the inner landscape of laughter and put it in a location you see every day!

In service and love,

Colette

P.S. Feel free to post your favorite joke or funny story so we can all share some laughs!

Are you overwhelmed that there aren’t enough minutes in the day to get all your to-dos done? Ever feel like you’re drowning and failing miserably at managing your life?

When you find yourself in the metaphorical landscape of the Sticky Swamp, you feel utterly stuck. The air is murky and the muck beneath your feet is primordial ooze. Perhaps life has thrown you a curve ball and you have to care for an aging parent as well as a toddler. Or, maybe your company has cut back on contractors and you’re now stuck with twice as much work. Maybe you’ve procrastinated and now you’re swamped with three deadlines looming and your just car broke down. You might even be in the midst of a big move like me!

We all end up in the Sticky Swamp at times. But, it doesn’t have to be as sticky as it first seems. In fact, if you relax and stop struggling against the mud, you’ll be surprised by the abundance of treasures that float to the surface!

As I talk about in my new book, The Map: Finding the Magic and Meaning in the Story of Your Life, it is the internal landscape of your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that shapes your outer reality. The best way to dramatically transform your outer experience is to access the hidden wisdom within your consciousness. To help you do just that, I’ve developed a process through which you describe your inner world as enchanted environments where your emotions take on characteristics of the natural world. As I teach you in The Map, this enables you to tap into your profound power of self-awareness so you can harness your power to direct your life.

When you’re in the metaphorical internal landscape of the Sticky Swamp, you feel overwhelmed. It’s not just that you have a lot to do—your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs are also highly charged. With the Sticky Swamp comes a sense of stuckness, stress, exhaustion, and lack of motivation. You feel you have to do everything and be everything to everyone. The more you struggle and stress within, the stickier your life seems to get on the outside. But, remember, this doesn’t have to be your reality.

To get out of the Sticky Swamp, you need to chill out and relax! All the stress and struggle in the world will not get you out of the mud. Even when your thoughts are running on about all the things you need to do and your emotions are screaming that you should be stressing out, you must quiet your mind. Sometimes the Sticky Swamp might get the better of you, as it did with me yesterday. But, all it takes to come up for air is a moment of stillness. When you get quiet and make a conscious decision to relax and trust, all will soon be well. The Spirit of the Swamp will guide you to the next right action, and you’ll find that there is enough time to do everything.

There is an ancient saying from Norse runes that I love to keep in mind during sticky times: “We do without doing and everything gets done.” When we stop trying to do everything, we open up to Spirit and allow for synchronicity to work magic. In the Swamp, we can open ourselves to the amazing gifts and support of the Divine.

So as I sat overwhelmed in that park yesterday, I decided to relax into the stickiness of our move. In fact, I made it my mission to hunt down a snazzy pair of bright yellow mud boots so I could completely chill out in all the swampy muck of it. And, while I watched all the equally overwhelmed passersby on their lunch break, I hoped they too would get a moment of stillness so they could find the amazing gifts in the Sticky Swamp.

Exercise:

1. Think of a time when you were in a Sticky Swamp. In your journal, answer the following questions:

• What were your predominant thoughts, feelings, and beliefs at this time?
• Did these thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, have positive impact on your outer experience or might they have caused you stress?
• Looking back, did any gifts come out of that time?
• What lessons did you learn about yourself and life from the Sticky Swamp? (I,e, that Spirit will open doors when you relax)

2. Whether you find yourself in a swamp right now or not, we could all use more stillness in our lives, so take some time today to take your mind of things and relax. Perhaps go for a walk, meditate, or take a bath. Get quiet!

And please, if you found this information useful, then spread the love and use the Share This link below to share this post with people you know, facebook or twitter.

Become part of our wonderful community with a monthly draw for a free 15 minute reading with Colette, our newsletter, and so many giveaways. Go to the HOME page and join now!

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In my over 22 years working as an intuitive counselor, I can safely say that at least 90% of my conversations have involved love. Relationships are, after all, an intrinsic part of our human experience. They are one of the most important aspects of our lives and help us evolve on our path. Yet, for many of us, love is also incredibly frustrating. It’s something that we all want, yet for many of us it remains confusingly elusive. We’re either looking for love or trying to find a way to sustain and feed the love that we already have.

But, it doesn’t have to be this way! Love doesn’t have to be something you long for but never seem to quite master. You really can completely transform your love life. I not only speak from my professional experience teaching my clients how to radically shift their relationships, but I’m a living example. After years of seemingly hopeless relationship struggles, I’ve been able to create the authentic relationship I’d always wanted. You really truly can do it!

So, what’s the secret to experiencing real love? You have to look at WHO is in the driver’s seat. Is it your Goblin or your higher self?

I’ve often talked about the Goblin, the character I created to embody the wounded ego we all have. The Goblin is a metaphor to represent what we have disowned in ourselves. He is made of shadow and holds our fears, our low self-worth, and all the things we don’t want to admit we are as a result of the misinformation we received about ourselves.

The Goblin will wreck havoc on your relationships if you let him, but he’s not a horrible villain. He’s actually trying to protect you by repeating false ideas about your self and others to keep you in what he believes is the truth. He is the wounded little girl or boy who is just trying to get by and doesn’t know any better.

The Goblin creeps up on all of us at times. For example, if we get annoyed when someone is controlling, we may be disowning a part of ourselves that is controlling. Or, when we can’t stand neediness in our partner, it might be that we’re ashamed of being needy. When we’re unconscious of this part of ourselves, we end up handing over the wheel to the Goblin to drive our life. Since he can’t have a relationship with anyone but another Goblin, we end up repeating the old patterns and drawing in the same types of partners.

When it comes to our relationships, the Goblin can take on many different motivator archetypes and be hard to recognize. To help you name your inner saboteur and enable you to recognize him in others, I’ve coined 12 Goblin archetypes. You will find that you strongly relate to one of these as your main Goblin and then two to three more as smaller tricksters.

• The Judge: Critical of others, puts others down to make himself feel better, and looks for flaws in everything. Experiences cynical symptoms of low self worth sometimes masked as arrogance.
• The Controller: Needs to be the leader at all times, unable to hear others’ ideas, and must have security. Acts out of underlying fear.
• The Pleaser: Co-dependent and lacks a clear identity. Will do whatever the other person wants but resents it later.
• The Rescuer: Distortion of healer. Needs someone to be less than so he can fix or help. Yet, ultimately, it’s him who really feels less than.
• The Victim: Needs to be known as violated in order to not move forward. Based on fear, needs attention, and has repressed rage.
• The Invader: Will hurt you before you get to hurt them, fear of abandonment, and no boundaries. He is disrespectful and has repressed rage/fear.
• The Prostitute: Willing to give up integrity for the possibility of love, no self worth, and sees sex as a currency to get what they want (i.e. love or security).
• The Manipulator: Never moves in a straight line, never says what they really mean, and doesn’t know how to ask for their needs for fear they wont get them. Covertly coercive or sneaky and can lie.
• The Debater: Uses language to diminish another, always needs to argue, and can be self-centered. Talks at you but cannot hear.
• The Gypsy: Cannot commit, always looking to leave and go somewhere else. Fears exposure through potential intimacy.
• The Drama Queen:  Everything is a TO DO. Focus is stress, stress, and more stress. Use drama to get people to pay attention to them and the dust cloud their hiding behind. All about distraction.
• The Addict: Continues to do the same thing over and over but expects a different result. Flourishes in longing and yearning and chooses partners to set the stage for longing and yearning. Experiences low self esteem, repressed rage, and can be manipulative. In constant state of denial.

Which Goblin resonated most with you? Remember, there’s no shame in owning it, for we ALL have Goblins that are trying to protect us and operating under old wounds. But, in order to change our relationships, we can’t follow our Goblin’s negative babble!

When you own your Goblin and give it unconditional love, you hand the wheel over to your higher self and reconnect with your soul. You can then attract and create a relationship that reflects that authentic part of you.

Exercise:

In my new book, The Map: Finding the Magic and Meaning in the Story of Your Life, I share several powerful exercises to help you tame your Goblin. I shared one of those exercises in my recent blog, The Map: Who is Guiding You on Your Path? Even if you did it then, I encourage you to do it again but this time focus on your main Goblin archetype.  This will help you uncover the wisdom that lies hidden within your subconscious about this disowned part of you.

First, close your eyes and imagine the little mischievous Goblin that is a part of you and is keeping you from experiencing more love. He is responsible for all the negative self-talk and beliefs about yourself that cause you to feel low self-worth.

• What’s your Goblin’s name? (He might be the name of the archetype or your intuition might give you something different.)
• When was he born?
• What does he have to say to you about love and relationships?
• Is what he says true or is it a belief designed solely to keep him busy and feeling important?
• Can you give the Goblin what he wants to express love and compassion to him?

And, finally, I encourage you to do my special Goblin meditation to put your trickster to sleep.

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For nearly two years, I poured my heart and soul into writing The Map, and that’s in addition to the 22 years I spent perfecting the exercises as I worked with clients. I felt called to share something new with the world. Having worked with over 33,000 clients from all over and talked with countless others through my seminars and radio show, I saw that so many of us wanted to bring more meaning and magic into our lives, yet the same old steps weren’t working. And so, I developed an innovative process to help people successfully navigate to the authentic lives they longed for. Before long, I was astounded by the magical transformations in the lives of my clients. I even used the process on myself with incredible results. So, I put tons of energy into sharing everything in The Map.

As launch day approached last Tuesday, I found myself giddy with excitement as week as feeling a little bit daunted. “Will people like it?” “What if they don’t?” “What if they do?” “I really hope they do!” Wow, did my Goblin fears and Chatterbox distractions start to fill my head! Luckily, I know how to relax and cultivate trust by turning up the volume of my wise self, the Wizard of Awareness. (In the book, I teach you about all of these and other magical facets we each have in our consciousness.) Thanks to all of your support, The Map had broken into the top 10 charts of all the big book markets by the end of launch day, and it reached an amazing high as #1 on Barnes and Noble and #6 on Amazon!

I’m beyond moved by the support of all your for rallying to help make The Map a bestseller. I’ve often talked about the importance of community and reaching out to the world around us. This past week, I found myself asking for help from you… a step that was hard to take! My ego felt like I shouldn’t “bother” people, yet deep down I knew that the most authentic people know to ask for help when they need it. As I say on one of my Wisdom of Avalon Oracle Cards—The Horse: “Sometimes you need to be carried to your destination.” Thank YOU again!

So many of you have emailed me about how The Map is impacting your life and how you’re waking up to the power of your consciousness. I’m so touched by your letters and comments. Over my past few blogs, I’ve shared some of the concepts from The Map. Today, I want to share a powerful exercise from the book to help you start to tap into the power of YOUR consciousness and intuition.

In The Map, I share a story of one of my clients, Joel, and the difficulty he was having moving forward with a business deal. He and his friend were full of innovative, grandiose ideas and schemes, but the project wasn’t getting off the group because they were bickering over proverbial pieces of the pie. Joel was unhappy, frustrated, and unsure what to do. I noticed that he was caught up in the emotions surrounding the situation, which was preventing him from getting the clarity he needed to move forward. So I asked Joel to imagine that he and his partner were famous explorers having a business meeting about a new venture. I knew that if I helped him set the stage with different players, he would observe what he couldn’t see with his emotions.

Joel called me back the next week and told me the story he had imagined. He was Christopher Columbus, his business partner was his first mate, and they were in a tavern scheming about the riches they would discover in the New World. (Of course, the real Columbus didn’t know he was setting sail to “discover” the New World existed. Your imagination doesn’t have to be historically accurate.) As they sat in the tavern scheming about all the glory they would find, they become increasingly drunk from the alcohol and the dreams of their new riches. Soon, they began to argue about who would get what and got in a fistfight. They were thrown out of the bar, unable to pay the bill, and with no boat, crew, or supplies. What if all they did was drink and scheme, but never found a way to actually launch their journey?

After he created this magical tale in parallel to his situation, Joel was able to step back from his frustration with his partner and see his role in their bickering. He was able to implement changes in their business relationship by shifting his focus from the future to now and identifying what he could do differently to shift their relationship and get the business off the ground.

Now, it’s your turn! Think of a situation in your life that you need to guidance on. It could be your career, a relationship, anything. Now, close your eyes and let your imagine create a parallel scenario.

After you’re finished, write down your tale. Then, ask yourself what guidance your consciousness has for you through this fable. Write down whatever comes to mind. Trust your intuition!

I’d love to hear your feedback! What guidance did you get from this exercise? And, what do you think of The Map?

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P.S. YOU can still get The Map today and enter to win our amazing celebration giveaways. Click here!

So, although the signs are based on the constellations, their dates are determined by the seasons. The first moment of spring is the beginning of Aries, summer, Cancer and so on. So the recent “discovery” of a 13th sign was nothing new. The constellation Ophiuchus has been there as long as all the others. The problem? Astronomers – scientists – pretending they know about astrology. They made the incorrect assumption that the signs are based on the actual shape of the constellations in the heavens. Examine a map and it’s immediately clear they are uneven. It’s true, Ophiuchus is partially wedged between Scorpio and Sagittarius. But other constellations sit between many other signs.

The fact is. The signs are derived from the dates, always were and always will be. The astronomers in question should apologize for causing so much confusion. Since they’re unlikely to, it remains for me to say, everybody can now relax. They were wrong – and you are the sign you always were.

Now, how did that make you feel? Better than you did before, right?

The simple act of smiling can truly help you make 2011 your best year yet. It’s true, smiling can transform your life from the inside out!

As I talk about in my new book, The Map: Finding the Magic and Meaning in Your Life, the power to change your reality comes from within. In the book, I guide you in an exploration of the inner-landscapes of your subconscious—the hidden patterns, shadow motivations, and past legacies that make up the Map of your life and shape your external reality. In my last blog, The Map: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, I shared some of my insight from the book and talked about how our minds are the key player in telling us where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going. When we know where we are in any given moment, we tap into the powers of detachment and harness the incredible power of the present to shift our consciousness and create lasting change in our lives.

So, what does this have to do with smiling? Well, at any given moment, you can change your consciousness—your inner-landscape—with a smile, which in turn helps you shift your external reality. Smiling, even (and especially) when you don’t feel like it, sets off a positive domino effect in your life, and the more you do it, the more you shift your inner world and create real and lasting changes in your life. Smiling pushes us to move past the small stuff in life and into the realm of the big picture, where we connect with our intuition and the All That Is. A smile enables us to distance ourselves psychologically from whatever may be bogging us down. When we smile, we’re able to connect with the broader picture, focus on what really matters in our lives, and make better decisions. We invoke change from within and can better shape our destiny. In contrast, frowning and a foul mood keeps us stuck both within and in our outside world—we stay focused on our problems and let our wounded egos run the show. As a result, we remain disconnected from Spirit and our intuition and are more likely to make short-sighted decisions.

So, it’s time to turn those frowns upside down! Here are some of the most amazing benefits of smiling:

Smiling Boosts Your Mood: According to The British Dental Health Foundation, a smile gives the same level of stimulation as eating 2,000 chocolate bars! A study the foundation conducted showed the act of smiling to dramatically lifts your spirits. Indeed, it is a fact that smiling increases happiness in yourself and others, and improves your confidence. Smiling has been found to boost levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that plays a vital part in regulating your mood, sleep, and appetite. So, the more you smile, the brighter your mood and the more you’re able to change your outside reality. Smiling enables you to feel instantly happy and attract more joy into your life. (And, who knows, since it feels like 2,000 chocolate bars, we may also end up losing unwanted pounds!)

Smiling More Helps You Create More Success: A review of 225 studies, involving 275,000 people, published in the Psychological Bulletin concluded that happy individuals (the people who are smiling!) are more likely to tackle new goals than unhappy people. According to the study, chronically happy people are, in general, more successful across many life domains than less happy people, and their happiness is, in large part, a consequence of their positive emotions, rather than vice versa. The researchers concluded that happiness, in many cases, leads to successful outcomes, rather than merely following from them.

Likewise, in another study, researches at the University of California were able to predict the future success (30 years down the road) of 21-year-old women just by looking at their photographs. The key was the intensity of the women’s smiles. The women who displayed more positive emotion were more likely to be married by 27, less likely to have remained single into middle adulthood and more likely to have satisfying marriages 30 years later. Wow!!!

Smiling Improves Your Health: Your body immediately releases endorphins, the neurotransmitter known as the natural painkillers, when you smile, even when you force that grin. This sudden change in mood helps you feel better and releases stress and anxiety. Not surprisingly, endorphins are also released when laughing, exercise, frequent sex, eating chocolate, sunbathing, massages, meditation, dancing, singing and listening to music to just about anything that leaves a smile on your face!

Studies have also shown a clear link between optimism and good health. People who are optimistic (and once again, these are the people who are out there smiling!) have more robust immune systems and are actually able to fight off illness better than pessimists. This isn’t just a generalization—it’s been proven! Smiling also lowers your blood pressure and reduces stress and anxiety.

And, as if all those benefits weren’t enough, smiling actually helps you live longer. According to a study published in the November 2004 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, elderly optimistic people, those who expected good things to happen, were 55 percent less likely to die than pessimists.

Smiling Brings Joy to the People Around You… and Draws More People to You: When you smile, you have a more positive effect on your environment, and you’re better received by others. Your smile can lighten a room and boost the moods of the people around you. Seeing a smile creates a ‘halo’ effect, helping those who witness your grin to remember other happy events more vividly, feel more optimistic, more positive, and more motivated. What’s even better is that the more you smile, the more others will too. And, smiling draws more people to you—it’s the ultimate attraction tool! And, it makes you look and feel younger!

Exercise:

Take another moment to smile, but this time close your eyes and imagine a landscape as you smile. Be sure to make it your best grin! What does this place look like? Describe it in your journal. Now, you’ve permanently marked this spot on your inner map and can go to whenever you want, regardless of what’s happening in your life. All you have to do is picture this landscape and you’ll be moved to turn your frown upside down and feel the happiness, optimism, and joy that accompany smiling.

To make this exercise even more powerful, make a picture of your landscape or search for a very similar image online or in a magazine. Then, put this picture in a place you’ll see it every day—perhaps tape it to your car visor, refrigerator, or bedroom mirror. Now, every time you see it, it will remind you to continue to reconnect with your inner landscape of smiling!

Here’s my example of this exercise:

As I smile, I find myself instantly transported into a beautiful garden, filled with all sorts of flowers making up every color of the rainbow. I walk past a bunch of glowing tulips as they sway happily in the breeze and find a big oak tree. The tree looks like he’s smiling. Haha! I decide to sit down next to his trunk to full take in my surroundings. I’m happy and at peace.

I’d love to hear what you think about this blog and smiling. Please share your comments with us!

In service and love,

And please, if you found this information useful, then spread the love and use the Share This link below to share this post with people you know, facebook or twitter.

Become part of our wonderful community with a monthly draw for a free 15 minute reading with Colette, our newsletter, and so many giveaways. Go to the HOME page and join now!

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P.S. If you’d like to learn more about creating change from within, my new book, The Map: Finding the Magic and Meaning in Your Life, is now available for preorder here.