Are You Telling Your Dreams, “Maybe Tomorrow”?

Last night, I pondered what major part of my life I would need to bring in line to better fulfill my life purpose (from Ask and You Will Succeed, a great read by Ken D. Young).   As I held a clear image of myself living the professional and personal life I envision and saw the gap between the now-me and the then-me more clearly, I caught myself writing, “I will…and I would,”  and then I GOT IT!  Every aspect about which I keep saying I “will” instead of I “am” is keeping my dream in the future rather than today, only to wonder why it wasn’t materializing.

Our human mind is so complex we can actually be moving forward and holding ourselves back at the same time and not even realize it.  We really want to be lean but then we believe we dislike exercise and healthy foods, so we yo-yo for years.  We really want a happily-ever-after intimate relationship yet we stopped believing they’re even possible, so now we don’t fully give ourselves to a relationship anymore.  We want a successful business and yet push money away by believing people can’t afford us, don’t have any, or it will somehow corrupt us to have more money.  We are in essence creating a wonderful nature party in our dreams only to have our guests arrive to a TRAIL CLOSED sign while we wait inside wondering why they haven’t arrived.

As we visualize our dream and identify gaps between who we are today and who we must be for our dreams to come true, let’s begin with the aspects we recognize we’ve been telling ourselves we WILL do in the future.  We know if we want a different result, we must take a different action.  Why not move those to the top of the list and find ways to slowly begin those transformations?  Only then will we finally stop telling our dreams to come back tomorrow, and begin readying ourselves for that life today.

Namaste,

Sheryl Sitts, Chief Inspirational Officer

Journey of Possibilities

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO JOIN US APRIL 28TH FOR OUR HOLISTIC HEALING EXPO (CLICK LOGO BELOW FOR DETAILS)!

The Magical Player Piano

One weekend when I was little, we took a car ride that seemed to last forever out to visit my cousins in a neighboring city.  Although I’d been told there would not be any children there to play with, I was assured I’d find a wonderful treat awaiting me.  When we arrived I saw a beautiful piano and ran over to see if I could remember how to play Chopsticks after playing it with my kindergarten teacher at school.  As I tapped the ivory keys, my cousin took out a scroll of paper and loaded it into the front of the piano, anchoring one end on a clip and then stretching it upward and placing the roll into a slot.  I told her I didn’t know how to read the dots, and she laughed and told me to just press the pedals at my feet.  Soon a most complex, beautiful song began to play itself on the piano!  I was enthralled as the notes filled the house, and any time we visited them in the future I enjoyed the piano as much as I had that day.

This morning as I awakened to memories of my wonder at that magical piano.  I was surprised by the similarities of that piano to my own spiritual journey.  As souls, we choose the musical scrolls (life experiences) we want to have here for the evolution of our Spirit.  It matters not the song, only that we attend to the rich notes of that song in the most open and loving way possible, regardless of how we may feel.  We can add a note here and there any time we want, for we also have those ivory keys (our own mind) to co-create music.  Indeed, we can take control completely and bang out a very different song, but whenever we choose or are forced to let go, that scroll (our Divine Path) resumes.  If there are pauses in the song, we can ask someone to confirm and reassure us that all is well just as God is always there and our spirit guides and angels are only too happy to help any time we ask.

There is a Divine plan at work here, even and especially when we can’t see it or don’t understand the music that is playing.  Our role is as simple as a player piano.  In this concert, we are here to be willing participants and surrender the keys any time we catch ourselves overtaking the music.  Oh yeah, and our most important job is to enjoy this miraculous experience and love each other through the hard parts of whatever song is being played.

Namaste,

Sheryl Sitts, Chief Inspirational Officer

Journey of Possibilities

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Who Are You Really?

Earlier this week you were invited on our Facebook page to ask your Higher Self  (the Soul within you thru every human incarnation) to write your lower self (you in this lifetime & body) a note about Who you really are…without your looks, achievements, career, hobbies, desires, dreams, feelings, or history.  The root question was, who are you at the CORE and WHY do you believe you’re HERE? How did that go?  Any surprises?

It surprised me how many of my initial responses were about my education, family, friends, dreams, lifestyle, looks, etc.  Did you catch yourself doing that, too?  We sure can get caught up in all the distraction and busy-ness of Earth School, can’t we?  Anyway here’s my response as promised:

I am an old soul here for experiences that raise my consciousness and advance me in my Journey with the Divine.

How SIMPLE!  Was that anything like what you ended up with?  Amazing how all that we find so terribly important in our daily lives pales in comparison.  Thankfully we are evolving through our relationships, or we wouldn’t get anything accomplished once we got down here and lost ourselves in the hustle and bustle of these complex social structures we’ve created.  Isn’t it fun to get a fresh perspective on what really matters in your life?

That is what I do.  I help people get a fresh perspective on situations in their lives where they keep getting stuck.  If I can help you with that, please reach out.  I don’t give answers, only clarity to find the best answers within.  Have a great week!

Namaste and much love,

Sheryl Sitts, Chief Inspirational Officer

Journey of Possibilities

DON’T MISS Illumination Houston 2013 ~ Lighting the World One Soul at a Time!

When is Doing the ‘Right Thing’ Wrong

“Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.” ~ Democritus, Greek Philosopher

Don Miguel Ruiz writes in The Four Agreements about how we are “domesticated” by our parents, schools, and society into a story about how things were, are, and will be. We’re rewarded for complying and punished for rebelling until we are finally fully domesticated, or locked away in either a prison or an insane asylum.   How depressing to finish 18 years of school and realize I’d been a great drone programmed to succeed in the current story.  After living the corporate story, the marriage story, the community leadership story, and ending up unfulfilled, I knew I’d lived everyone’s story but my own!

When we live outside what Democritus calls opinions, we can create our own reality.  While many talk of living in faith, how much do we honestly trust our hearts and Divine Guidance, and fully surrender to find our own unique Path?  We have all these stories about how we can’t just expect money to show up without working really hard for it, the right people aren’t simply going to show up in our lives, etc.  Ironically, those things are completely possible when we live in faith and trust our spirit to guide us in the right way.  Letting go and surrendering is the challenging part!  It’s so much easier to believe the 401K, ‘secure’ job, married-with-kids, socially popular, and materially successful life we’re programmed to seek will make us happy.  If so, great!  If not, time to change it!

These stories are chains that bind us into lives that are not our purpose.  We are here today to write our own story, and the only one who can author our happiness and best path is US.  We must trust and have the courage to follow our inner compass to our own happiness, for if we live others’ stories for us, we actually prevent ourselves from getting there.  I for one am happier than ever not having any idea what tomorrow brings, for even though I have my scary and insecure moments, the joy is off the charts!

Namaste,

Sheryl Sitts, Chief Inspirational Officer

Journey of Possibilities

Photo credits:
Horse/Rider – korosy istvan
Dark Figure – Maria Li
Castle – susanne wunderlich
Sky – Julia Starr
Sky – Dimitri Castrique
All other effects – CG Textures

How To Speak Our Deepest Truth

Now more than ever it is imperative that we each find and stand in our own personal truth. Still, our truth often doesn’t match the truth of those we love in our life, and that makes it less than easy. This is increasing as the energy heightens our intuition and empathy.

We must be true to ourselves, for anything less results in us living others’ dreams for us instead of our own lives. Therefore, let us help one another learn ways to stand deeper in our own individual truths with as much love as possible for ourselves and those around us who love us, too.

This week, rather than writing about this topic, I’d prefer for YOU to share with us any helpful insights or experiences you’ve had with this. Specifically, how would you respond if your best friend in the world asked you:

How do you speak your truth to someone you love when you can feel it causing them anger, fear, sadness, or disappointment?

Thank you for sharing your best tips on this common challenge. For all who celebrate Thanksgiving this week, may your holiday be joyous while standing in your true and authentic self.

Namaste and much love,
Sheryl Sitts
Founder & Chief Inspirational Officer
Journey of Possibilities

Is It Really Love or Something Else?

Someone recently said to me that all love is the same.  Do you agree?  I can think of several people in my life who I feel I love in very different ways.  One feels more like family, one more romantic, one not like either of the other two. When I look back through my life, did I really love the same at 16 or 17 as I do now?  It sure didn’t feel the same!

As this conversation continued, I began to agree that there is only one love.  Love is love.  However, we don’t always do the best job of identifying and separating all the other feelings that can bundle up with that love, because it’s easier to lump it together and call it love.  In the prior example, loving someone romantically tends to involve a degree of passion, endearment, loyalty, etc.  When we love someone like family, there may be loyalty as well, but maybe it is deeper, and then maybe there’s nurturing, protecting, and familiarity or comfort also present.

Can you remember a past relationship you called “love” that seemed like something else as it continued?  In my past, I definitely did that and then there was confusion and hurt.  All this makes me wonder how we got so cloudy about our own feelings.

I attended a workshop once in which they asked us how we felt in that moment, and we were given a huge poster listing various feelings, each with a sketch of a face next to it showing how that may look.  There must have been dozens of faces on that poster.  Dozens!  Typically, we use about four or five in our conversation, saying we are happy, sad, mad, lonely, etc.  It’s kind of difficult to learn how to understand and express our feelings in relationships when we don’t even talk about half the feelings we have!

I love a lot of people in different ways, and it’s interesting to sit and really think about all the other feelings that are bundled up with that love.  The idea of one soul mate as the only person we would love romantically in our lifetime is really hard for me to imagine.  Look at all the other love I’d miss along the way!  Maybe they aren’t really referring to just love when they say that.  What do you think?

Namaste,

Sheryl Sitts

Founder & Chief Inspirational Officer, Journey of Possibilities

FREE EBOOK “HOW TO JUMP OFF A CLIFF AND FLY” available thru our website

NEW SACRED WISDOM CIRCLE coming to Montgomery, Texas starting 11/11/12 and monthly thereafter.  Won’t you join us?  Click here for details.

VISION BOARDS work!  Want to start bringing your dreams to life?  Contact Sheryl to schedule a fun Vision Board session at your home, office, or social group!

How Speaking Up for Yourself Transforms Your Relationships

How do people react when you stand up for yourself or ask for what you want/need?  I’ve been working on this a lot these past few months, and even more since my meditation retreat (see my video Why Meditation Causes Natural Healing).  I’ve come to realize how much I freeze up when it comes to asking for what I want or need, and yet how eagerly I help everyone else do so.  In fact, I have a new agreement with myself that  I can only help others fulfill their needs and desires when I am fulfilling my own.  I can only help others love themselves more when I am loving myself.  It’s like the old adage that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, only with a positive, self-love spin.  If I don’t honor and respect myself, how can I honor and respect anyone else?

Speaking up for ourselves is so important, but that doesn’t make it easy.  In fact, the only thing harder than speaking up for ourselves is not speaking up!  When we do not speak up for ourselves, often it’s because we feel the relationship is more important than our issue.  How silly!  If we don’t speak up, what happens?  Resentment builds, frustration builds, and then one day when we finally do speak up, we are fed up and really do damage the relationship.  Isn’t it better to speak up right away in a calm, loving way?  Our truth is our truth, and it isn’t likely to change.  Anything based on less than our truth is merely an illusion, not a deep, loving, mutual relationship.

So then, how do speak our truth and do the least damage possible if we know they may not like what we’re going to say?   Saying things as gently yet firmly as possible, coming from a place of love is a great start.  It often helps to consider how it would feel if the person were going to say the same thing to us.  How would we want to hear it?  Saying things like “I feel…I need…I want…I love…” are indisputable truths about you, rather than critical statements about the other person that usually begin with,  “You always…you never…why don’t you…”.   This compassion helps as much as anything can, as does understanding that it’s not personal!  No matter how much it may feel personal, their response is about them and where they’re at in life and growth.  (See  The Four Agreements for more on this).

Once we’ve had our difficult conversation, silence often follows.  I’ve recently been reminded of how that silence can grow into misunderstanding.  I understood it as withdrawal from my life, and it was actually an attempt to give me the quiet and space the other person thought I wanted.  Lesson?  Gently break the silence and observe what follows objectively.  We may be quite surprised at what follows, but we won’t know if we don’t take a risk and go there.  We both felt silly for our misunderstanding and peace is now restored.

The final piece is usually the hardest….patience!  We have no control over how another person feels after we speak our truth.  They deserve the same time to process what has been said and feel their way through it that we had in developing our approach and timing initially.  They may want/need hours, days, or even weeks.  Eventually, one of two things will happen.  Either they will get past their hurt, resolve any anger, feel your love and return to an even stronger relationship based on reality and truth, or they won’t.  The deepest and most genuine relationships heal stronger than they were; less authentic relationships not intended for our path any longer show themselves as longer true for us and move out of our lives.

Often as we grow deeper in self-love and rediscover/use our voices, those in our lives who are used to (often unconsciously) molding us to their will become uncomfortable with these changes. They need time to get used to the shift and then ultimately decide if they wish to share a more mutually respectful love with us or move on to someone more easily manipulated to their desires.  This is painful to recognize, I won’t lie, but these are the changes we must allow to unfold, standing in the comfort of endless Divine Love and our own self-love to comfort us through the transition.  Thankfully, beautiful new relationships also appear in our lives that reinforce the amazing feeling of giving and receiving healthy, respectful love.   When we allow this new joy as well as any pain that may surface to unfold, we transform our relationships within and without, finally embracing authentic connection and joy.  This is a gift we can only give to ourselves; if not now, when?

Have you had an experience like this?  Maybe you’ve tried this but met with challenges?  Please share your comments, experiences, and ideas with us as we Journey together in this amazing experience of life.  Sending you Divine Love and Light!

Namaste,

Sheryl Sitts

Journey of Possibilities Founder & Chief Inspirational Officer

FREE EBOOK “HOW TO JUMP OFF A CLIFF AND FLY” available thru our website

NEW SACRED WISDOM CIRCLE coming to Montgomery, Texas starting 11/11/12 and monthly thereafter.  Won’t you join us?  Click here for details.

VISION BOARDS work!  Want to start bringing your dreams to life?  Contact Sheryl to schedule a fun Vision Board session at your home, office, or social group!

We All Truly Deserve to be Happy

Astrological forecasts predicted that these past few weeks would involve digging up old wounds and healing them, and boy were they right.  It seems we must all do that to really transcend our old junk and discover a new life and real joy.  Since I’m not  one to give in easily, I had to try every possible means of avoidance before becoming fed up enough with the old and familiar to truly surrender this year.  I’m certainly thankful, for it’s been the best gift I’ve ever given myself.

I’ve had to go through endless dates, boyfriends, a couple of fiancés (both amazing men I didn’t believe I deserved), and one very patient husband, before admitting when I found myself alone AGAIN that I simply MUST do this work.  If I don’t heal, I can’t give love at that level, nor can I receive the beautiful love I know I deserve.

I’ve had to realize my deepest fears about money to acknowledge that no amount feels secure.  By really feeling deeply in my heart that God, not money, has always been my true provider, I can be free to follow the path my heart knows to be my Divine possibility and know that God will continue to provide for me as ever.  That has become invaluable in times when my limited eyes and mind can’t see that coming.  Sure enough, god always comes through!

Speaking of God, I’ve had to extract the Divine from all forms of man-made religion and rules to assemble the pieces that feel true to me.   Only then has it been possible to discover a church that reflects my deepest core beliefs, for the Divine Law of Attraction promises that we manifest all that we believe and focus on.  Now I have a beautiful spiritual family here on earth.  More importantly, I can truly see that God has never abandoned me; man did.

I’ve come to see how my mother protected me to a very unhealthy extreme because of the pain she herself had endured…and a deep, deep love for me.  That beautiful unique love drove her desire…her need to shelter me from experiencing such pain, although her efforts were futile and I resented them in my youth.  Healing that allows me to see how I did the same in my efforts to parent my stepchildren, particularly my (step)daughter.  I can now share my realizations and apologies, and maybe she’ll recognize how healing the pains of her childhood is the best way possible to protect the next generation.

What we resist persists.  In each of us, the best way we can reach out to help and heal others is indeed to help and heal ourselves.  The healing energy radiates outward and others are healed and guided to healing simply by the love that we project.  No matter how distracted we may keep ourselves for a time in work, play, family, sex, video games, shopping, religion, etc, the truth is always there waiting for us just beneath the surface.  There is so much healing help around, and I would love to help connect you with some if you feel so inclined.  Let’s not put it off our own authentic joy any longer!

Namaste,

Sheryl Sitts
Founder & Chief Inspirational Officer
Journey of Possibilities

How We Disagree (Words Can Hurt!)

What do disagreements sound like in your family?  Do they turn into horrible screaming matches where you are reminded of every wrong you’ve ever done?  Do you walk away scared, ashamed, or embarrassed?  Do you feel loved?

As I’ve shared, I come from a family in which alcoholism dated back to…the dinosaurs?  Anyway, because they didn’t often drink (my folks were a shopaholic and a workaholic), I didn’t understand until my 20s and 30s that we had the same broken communication patterns, and those are especially evident during arguments.  Insults, digging up old disagreements and rehashing them, yelling louder and louder to ‘win’, the idea that someone wins and someone loses, suggesting that not seeing things my way (opinion) means you are stupid (fact), one person allowing insecurities to fuel jealousy that they take out on another person who didn’t do anything to bring them about in the first place…does any of this sound like your family, too?  No one agreed to disagree or tried to learn something new from another disagreeing with them, they simply felt threatened and yelled louder until the other gave up or broke down, which meant the loudest person had finally ‘won’.  How painful!!!  Besides, when everyone in a loving family is hurt, scared, and defeated, how can anyone be a ‘winner’?  Aren’t these the people who are supposed to have our backs no matter what, be in our corner, be on our team?

When there is physical abuse, there are physical signs and we can seek legal action and get protection.  However, we may go years, or even a lifetime, without healing the effects of hurtful, destructive words said to us by loved ones in the heat of an argument.  There are no restraining orders for broken hearts and bruised egos, or destroyed self-esteem, yet they surely shape our lives every day moving forward until we heal that hurt.  We take those broken communication patterns and that win/lose, smart/dumb, right/wrong attitude with us into every relationship, picking the same types of partners, and wonder in the end why that one doesn’t work out either.

Today I simply want to share a very strong reminder that you deserve to love and be loved in a way that builds you and the other person up, so that each of you becomes MORE, not less, of yourselves.  That love begins with loving and healing ourselves so that we can approach others as a whole person and end the cycle of punishing others for our own insecurities and incompleteness.  You deserve to love and grow and heal!

For me, this has not been a weekend retreat or a year alone to heal 30 or 40. It is instead a lifelong process that starts with some deep work and then continues as I grow and change, and more of myself is revealed to me.  However, the Journey to self is our greatest Journey of Possibilities, with God as our navigator loving us through every step of the way.  A good book that helped me begin to open and may do the same for you is Your Sacred Self by Dr. Wayne Dyer.

Our parents loved us and raised us the best way they knew.  They were operating within the boundaries of their own family of origin, knowledge, and experiences.  Now it’s up to us to begin here and make our life the best experience possible.  I will admit to having walked through a lot of pain to get where I am.  I will also promise you it’s worth every step along the way to get to a place where I can experience this level of immense joy and love!  I don’t need anyone to complete me but God; I am complete and I feel complete.  Others enhance facets of my life, and this is how relationships should be.  Our disagreements allow me to learn from them an expanded way to view the world and all in it, and we love one another regardless of whether we agree or not.  No more personal insults, painful jabs, or destroyed self esteems.  We build one another up and understand that is how it should be.  I pray that in sharing this with you today you will talk to someone, find a meeting, open a book like Your Sacred Self, and finally begin the most precious Journey you will ever take!  Above all, I know that you matter and you deserve it.

Namaste,

Sheryl Sitts, Founder & Chief Inspirational Officer

Journey of Possibilities

Recognizing Signs in Nature

This week we are honored to welcome Shelly Wilson, Reiki Master, as our guest.  We asked Shelly what our slogan Return to Nature and Remember Who You Are” means to her, and we truly appreciate her response which follows.

The Universe is splendid when presenting us with guidance and signs. The ability to recognize when you are receiving guidance from the Universe, your Higher Self, your angels, and your guides is a skill that is easily mastered with practice and patience. Signs are presented to us as coins, songs on the radio, overheard conversations, and pictures. When stepping outdoors to bask and revel in Mother Nature, a multitude of opportunities for signs await us in the form of birds, clouds, butterflies, and various other insects.

Guidance is sometimes subtle and comes in whispers and gentle nudges. This same guidance may become louder, more persistent and may feel like the proverbial push or shove when we do not recognize or acknowledge it. When this happens, the Universe is adamant that we receive the message. It is up to each one of us to choose to listen and to take action on this guidance. We have free will and can always choose whether or not to do so. However, it is important to recognize and acknowledge the guidance you are receiving and express gratitude for it. Understanding the how, when, why or what is irrelevant at the moment it is recognized, yet it should be acknowledged. The significance will be realized at precisely the moment it should.

I would like to share with you the story of a pivotal sign that I recognized immediately. On December 2, 2010, my day began with a short guided meditation and pulling a card for myself. This day I opted to use Doreen Virtue’s Archangel Oracle Cards.  The card I pulled for myself was “Spread Your Wings!” with Archangel Ariel stating, “Do not hold back right now. The timing is perfect,and you are ready to soar!”  I accepted the message, but could feel the doubt settling in to my humanness. Truthfully, I questioned my abilities and my purpose.

A few hours later, I walked down my driveway to get the mail. I clearly remember the bright cloudless blue sky. Walking back up the driveway and nearing the house, there was one cloud in the sky. I stared at it in amazement and smiled. The image from the oracle card was being presented to me “bigger than the sky.” I ran into the house grabbed my camera and snapped a few photos. I went back inside to upload it on my computer. Returning outside to view the cloud once again, it was completely gone.

Now I should mention that there are naysayers when I tell this story. They say it was the trail left by an airplane. To me, the how or what doesn’t matter. The Universe provided me with a sign. I promptly recognized this sign and expressed my gratitude for it. This cloud picture is my inspiration to continue to spread my wings and soar and to encourage others to do the same. I utilize it as my logo knowing that this message was the proverbial push I needed to get going.

I encourage you to allow yourself to recognize the signs that nature presents to you. I have many other stories about clouds, bluebirds, and butterflies presenting themselves to me. My awareness for signs is heightened and I lovingly recognize and accept these signs with gratitude.

About the Author ~ Spiritual teacher and life enhancer Shelly Wilson made the decision to quit existing and start living several years ago. She desires to make a difference in the lives of others and encourages individuals to live an authentic life. Shelly holds a BS degree in Business with a minor in Psychology and is an Usui/Karuna Reiki Master. She is a motivational speaker and hosts “Believe and Believing” and “Journey into Consciousness”, which can be found on iTunes and Blog Talk Radio. Shelly offers private intuitive readings, life enhancement sessions, Reiki healing sessions, and teaches classes.

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If you have a testimonial or insight as to how Nature has helped you discover and explore your own Divine Journey of Possibilities, we would love to hear from you as you will undoubtedly inspire us through the challenges of our own Path.  Namaste. <3

Sheryl Sitts, Founder and Chief Inspirational Officer

Journey of Possibilities