Unconscious Beliefs and the Law of Attraction

Rampart! Rampart! Someone's gotten into my subconscious and I can't get them out!

"You are going to end up being a garbage man!" my father yelled at the top of his voice. "Now sit down and focus! You won't get into college if you can't do the math. You will never be able to do what you want!"

He started again, "Imagine you have a pie and you take one slice out ..."

Math homework for my brother was a nightmare. It probably didn't have to be that way but that is the way it was.

He's been a garbage man now for about 25 years.

And there is nothing wrong with that. But it's not his dream and it never was.

He probably doesn't remember that moment at the dining room table, but I do. I remember watching and wishing I could save him from the humiliation and even felt ashamed that math came easily for me.

He wanted to be outdoors. He loved hunting and fishing and the show Emergency. Do you remember that show? Well he LOVED it. He watched every episode.

It was such a calling for him that he later took EMT classes, trained as an underwater scuba rescue person and now volunteers at the local fire department. He has saved numerous lives. He dives under the frozen ice into freezing cold water to save people. He has two awesome sons, one a fireman and another studying to be a doctor.

That's what I see. But it's not what he sees.

So when Rev. Bruce gave us a little preview his workshop coming up on Saturday August 24 I couldn't help but think of my brother and that moment at the dining room table.

What are the unconscious limiting beliefs that you have about yourself? 

What are the limitations that you have bought into? You may not even remember the moment but we all have them. Sometimes they come from something we have observed. Sometimes they come from the poorly chosen words of a frustrated parent. Sometimes they come from our own negative self talk repeated through the years.

But the point that Rev. Bruce made is that this limiting beliefs must be erradicated if we are going to live truly inspired, authentic lives. No Law of Attraction stuff is going to work if we are harboring these untruths in the deep recesses of our mind.

Here is a clip from Sunday's service of Rev. Bruce talking about these "unconscious beliefs."

Join us on Saturday August 24 for the workshop with Rev. Bruce Fredenburg one of the lessons will be how to find and irradicate these unconscious beliefs one and for all!

And if you sign up before August 7th you will receive the additional bonus of some one-on-one follow up time with Rev. Bruce Fredenburg, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, to help put these principles into practice.

'Self-Worth, Self-Love, Self-ish'

Being in love with yourself isn't selfish - is it? Join us as we steep ourselves in all that we love and experience the transformation of self-love! 

"Today, I recognize my soul's longing to be nurtured and loved.  I open my heart and allow myself to receive kindness, love and compassion, acknowledging I am worthy of all good things.  And so it is."    -Juli Isola

Who's Your Boss?

Back in the early 2000s, I began to experience a symptom I now know as air hunger. I should say, re-experienced, because I’d had the same problem when I was in my early 20s. “It’s just nerves,” the doctor said. “Relax and it will go away.” And indeed within a year it was a distant memory. When it happened again, my doctor said, “nerves” and handed me a prescription for Xanax. But this time it wasn't going away, in fact it was getting worse.

When I was young, I believed doctors knew best…better than I did. After all, they were highly educated, trained professionals, right? So when my body didn't do what it's supposed to do, the doctor could fix it. And if the doctor couldn't fix it, then it was either unfixable, or all in my head.

But I've learned a lot in the intervening years. I learned that if I was in a relationship where my partner treated me badly, that I could choose to leave – or stay. I learned that if my employer was taking advantage of me, I could choose to leave. In fact, I learned that it was I who chose that disparaging partner, that disappointing job and if I’d listened to my own inner wisdom, I might have taken a different path.

My inner wisdom was telling me this breathing problem was not “all in my head”. It wasn't just stress. And when my tests came back normal, I trusted my inner wisdom. I kept searching. Specifically, I refined my perception of the issue and discovered “air hunger”. Once I could clearly name it, I could find the condition – Babesia, a malaria-like infection that often comes with Lyme disease, which I also have.

I’d like to say I did this all on my own. And while taking total responsibility for my health was all me, I had invaluable help. I tapped into the vast well of knowledge and experience of other Lyme patients. There’s not one symptom; one reaction to medication, one painful procedure I experienced, that someone else in my Lyme community hadn't been through. There was always someone ready and willing to share, guide and support me.

Inner wisdom, what some call intuition, is simply the Universe speaking. Sometimes It speaks so softly you have to lean in. Sometimes the inner chatterbox drowns It out, but you can learn Its voice. Inner wisdom never fails.

--Pamela Rocke

How Evolved Are You? Visit Your Family - Part 2

Last week I posted a blog about the anticipation of visiting my drama-ridden family in Pennsylvania.

I had mentioned a saying I once heard, "If you want to know how evolved you are, visit your family for three days."

So, after almost eight years of being away from my family, I set off for a 12 hour drive with my kids and my mom to visit our family in Pennsylvania...the family I had left at the age of 18 and rarely visited since.

I was worried about the drama.  I was worried about the lower energy.  I was worried about what would happen.

Well, contrary to everything I know, my worry was simply worrying about something that hadn't happened....

....and, to my surprise, it didn't.

After traveling so far, I took time to reconnect with my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. and sat up night after night reminiscing about old times.

We had a picnic in the very spot in the yard of my grandmother's house that we had spent so many summers in the past.

My kids saw lightening bugs for the first time.

Catching Lightening Bugs

They experienced my crazy uncle throwing boxes of firecrackers into the fire scaring the sh*t out of all of us as he did EVERY summer that we picnicked in that same spot.

We went horseback riding.

We laughed, we hugged, and we remembered good memories....forgetting to bring up the old, not-so-memorable ones.

Was there drama going on around us?  

Of course.

Did I notice it?

Not really?

What I noticed were the family members who wanted to catch up.

What I noticed was the quiet beauty all around me that I took for granted all those years growing up in Pottstown....the rolling farmland, the blackest black of night, the lightening bugs, the deafening sound of crickets.

I noticed the kids of my cousins laughing with my own boys.

I noticed the love that our family has for each other that sometimes is blinded by the arguing that goes on.

Mostly, I noticed how far I have come in my own mind.

I could have gotten involved in the gossip or drama going on, but I chose to notice the beautiful love deeply embedded in my family.

As I returned back to South Carolina in another 12 hour drive, I noticed how well-behaved my kids were.

The worry I had going into this trip was all for naught.

Another reminder that worry is all about something that hasn't happened, and if we are aware enough of our thinking, probably won't happen.

Thank you, Universe for this amazing reminder, this amazing family I have, and this amazing life I am living!

I am truly grateful.