I was reading a post on Facebook the other day by a woman who lost a good amount of weight and is now marketing the product she used to do so. She also posted before and after photos side by side. Brava!! I mean this, sincerely. We all have a story that can inspire others and I applaud everyone who finds the courage within themselves to do so. Often, that courage comes from the sheer joy of living an inspired life. It’s beautiful. I started thinking about how the most profound changes we experience in life aren’t visible on the outside. You can’t see it or take photos of it.

You simply feel it and become it!

The resulting success from these internal shifts may be visible to the eye. A few pounds lighter, more vibrant health, a radiant joy that you can see in the eye or the face, the means to buy a new car or home, meeting the love of your life. All of these things we can see, yet they result from joy and happiness found on the inside first. We are shifting our consciousness, raising our energetic vibration and you can’t see it. You simply feel it and know.

All it takes is a shift in perception to create a new reality.

I’ve been leading a 21 Day Gratitude Practice to Jump Start Your Kickass Life and there’s a lot to be said for the practice of gratitude. Some say it’s the highest emotion one can express. People who practice gratitude regularly are happier and more successful simply because they give regular attention to what they have now and shift attention away from the things that they don’t have. It so simple, yet in practice it takes a conscious effort.

A few things I’ve learned about gratitude from reading and studying the work of Robert Emmons, a professor at U.C. Davis in California and a leader in the study and science of gratitude.

People who practice gratitude regularly are happier and happier people are more successful. The important thing here is that they are not happier because they are successful, rather happiness precedes success. They choose to be happy and this results in greater success in all areas of their lives – work, personal, relationships, financial, spiritual, etc. You can’t see the cause…you only see the effect of their success. The cause is an invisible, internal shift in consciousness. If you’re one of the people who is jealous of successful people…take note!

Gratitude transforms our past, present and future…if we desire it to be so. I’ve been practicing gratitude for years now and I can tell you it works.

Transforming the Past

Gratitude transforms the past by allowing us to go back into our memory and look for the good, the gifts and the blessings of any experience. To reframe how we looked at an experience and thought about it. A personal examples is one from my marriage. For a while after my divorce I focused on what my ex-husband wasn’t, or what he didn’t do in our relationship…the gaps so to speak between my expectation and how he expressed himself.

To heal that past or close the gap, it took a lot of forgiveness – mostly forgiving myself for my own unmet expectations – and reframing and looking at what he did bring to the relationship. I believe we can’t release anything we don’t love and this shifted my awareness of my own behavior in relationships and opened the door to a wonderful new love relationship.

Transforming the Present

Everything is neutral until we give it meaning.

In our present day we tend to take unpleasant experiences and either blame others for them or see things as bad, or failure, or somehow put things in a negative light. When we look at each experience and how it has helped us progress in our life, how it served our growth, we can become grateful for that. This helps us become stronger, more confident and centered in our inherent ability to live fully. And, we become more stress resilient as a result, better able to navigate challenges that arise. You can’t see it, yet you are transformed by it.

Transforming the Future

This is one of my favorite things to do because it involves a bit of daydreaming. I’m an airy fairy Libra…daydreaming, visualizing is right in my wheelhouse!

We transform the future by visualizing what we want the future to look like. What experiences do we want to have? What would we like our life to be in the short and long term. This visualization, what I call visioning the Sacred Self, lends itself to new and greater intentions for living our lives and a roadmap for how we want to show up, now. The practice of gratitude for that yet to be realized life, as though it were already here, is what draws that future life into being. There is a powerful magic in this!

The best way to predict the future is to create it ~Peter Drucker

As an example, my Sacred Self is an inspirational speaker – among other things. I see this vision clearly and I’ve set intentions to show up in my life each day as this version of myself. Since setting these intentions a year ago, I’ve been invited to speak at a couple of women’s groups. Last September I delivered the Sunday message at my spiritual center. In addition I am leading a talk/workshop at the InspiredLife: Transformational High Vibe Event for Women in May. You can’t see these internal conscious shifts in me. You can only see the effect…the outcome of my intentions.

One does need to take action, however these actions now come from an inspired place within, aligned with the intentions of this Sacred Self. When I saw the invitation to apply for the InspiredLife event, I simply knew this was an invitation for me. I applied and let it go. Meaning, I didn’t worry about the outcome nor was I married to it. I wanted to speak at this event and knew if it wasn’t to be that was OK too. By applying I was signaling the universe that I’m serious about my intention to lead inspirational talks. Period.

When things change inside you, things change around you.

I’ve been living life in this more intentional way for nearly 10 years now and coaching others, teaching what I had to learn, for the past 4 years. I know how challenging it can be to get started, yet once you do you open wide the door of opportunity. You can’t see it but you’ll most certainly feel it, and feeling is the doorway to becoming.

I am your guide, your cheerleader, your reminder that you are a powerful, creative, spiritual being! You can do and be all that you desire. I am here to serve you. What can I do for you today?

From my heart to yours,

EXPLORE YOUR SACRED SELF
You didn’t come this far just to come this far. Right?
I have 2 Intensive Sacred Self sessions available in the next 2 weeks.
90 minutes of 1-1 time – discover your Sacred Self, your inner wise self, the compass and guide to Live Your Kickass Life™.
Tuesday, February 18th, 1-2:30pm
Tuesday, February 25th, 12-1:30pm
$235.00 per session
First come – first serve. Message me elaine@elaineblais.com to schedule or for more info!

UPCOMING EVENTS AND MASTERCLASSES

Photo by Caleb Woods on Unsplash