LIVING OUT YOUR DREAMS Welcome to the December issue of LIVING OUT YOUR DREAMS. In this last issue of the year, we are pleased to present you with articles and tips for reflection for the year gone by and creating what you really want in the year ahead. We want to extend a special welcome to our 40+ new subscribers this month and thank our present readers, for your positive comments and contributions over the past year. We encourage your ongoing feedback and invite you to submit articles for possible inclusion in the year ahead. Please forward this newsletter on to anyone whom you think will enjoy it. We ask that you forward it in its entirety. If this has been forwarded to you and you want to subscribe, mail to delkin@mindspring.com with the word "subscribe" as the subject. To remove yourself from the mailing list, type "unsubscribe" as the subject. With love and respect,
Deb and Stacey IN THIS ISSUE: - Where Have I Been, Where Am I Going?
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UPCOMING EVENTS DISCOVER YOUR PASSIONS AND CREATE A CAREER YOU LOVE
Participants have been raving about this class and support each other in living out their dreams way after it is over. Join us in our next workshop starting January 25, 2000 for a 10-week exploration to discover what you want to be when you grow up! In this interactive workshop you will uncover your passions, identify your natural gifts and talents, move through disempowering beliefs that keep you stuck and begin to create exciting and viable career options that honor who you are. For more information, contact Stacey at 770-643-0886 or request email brochure by mailto:coach@balancedliving.com. Be sure to include your name and phone number in the email. Enroll by December 31st and receive a 10% discount. THE CONFIDENT WOMAN - New group forming for those who feel confident in some areas of their life but would like to maintain that confidence more of the time and in more areas of your life. Learn to visualize yourself as confident in difficult situations, believe in your self -worth and ability to get what you want, be more comfortable with who you are and take on real life projects to practice and ingrain these new skills and beliefs. Call Stacey at 770-643-0886 for more information. Tele-groups and in-person groups forming. ONGOING WOMEN'S GROUP -
This is a therapy group for women who are needing a safe place to talk with other women about the problems in their lives. It is led by a Licensed Professional Counselor and meets on Monday evenings. To find out more about this group, please call Deb Elkin, LPC, at 404-320-9548. HEALTHY COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR EVERYDAY LIVING - Getting ourselves heard in this everyday world can be quite a challenge. And listening to what others have to say to us can be just as big of a challenge. Deb will be offering a series of 5 classes designed to help you improve your everyday communication skills, your listening skills, and help you get more of the results that you want in your every day life. These classes will be offered at the Wellness Center at DeKalb Medical Center. Series one meets on Wednesday's from 11:30 - 1:00 starting January 5. Series two meets on Saturday's from 10:30 - 12:000 starting February 5. For more information, call Deb at 404-320-9548. To register, call DeKalb Medical Center at 404-501-2222.
************************************************* BE TRUE TO THYSELF
By Stacey Mayo As the millenium approaches, what better time to step back and reassess how your life and your expression of yourself lines up with who you really are. Rather than making new years resolutions this year, why not try something a bit more meaningful - a promise to be more of yourself. What does that mean? Well, it means different things to different people. But most of us keep at least one area, one segment of ourselves, closer to our vest than others. This area may be the one you are afraid to let out because others may not agree, may persecute or put you down for this behavior or belief, or even worse, they may go away. For me this area is my spirituality. I am a very spiritual person. It is part of who I am. My closest friends and some of my clients know this. I have let this side out when I felt it was safe to do so, i.e. when others expressed their spirituality in an open accepting manner. But some clients have not known me in that light. Probably, they as I have been taught not to express spirituality in business. Perhaps we had been confronted too many times by people who were evangelical in their views and tried to convert us. Some may remember when an institution or a leader's religious beliefs were thrust upon them to accept or be silent. It is time for that to change -- for us to be free to express who we are without fear of repercussion and to allow our individual spirituality to be an integral part of who we are in business as well as our personal life. What part of you are you holding back for fear of disapproval from others?
It may be a part of you that is either more or less traditional than those around you. It might be an adventuresome side that has been suppressed or a creative side that got squashed somewhere along the way by critical voices of your past. It could be an entrepreneurial part that wants to break loose from the ties of corporate or a philanthropic side that wants to make more of a difference in the world. Whatever it is, I invite you to join me in feeling the freedom that is available in truly being yourself in the world and standing for those things you believe in. Know that some may disagree or have different views and allow that to be okay. Start today by claiming that piece of you that gets suppressed from time to time. I encourage you to email me at coach@balancedliving.com and tell me what part you are reclaiming. I promise to be unconditionally supportive. Then make a promise to yourself to let that part out in the years ahead. No matter what anyone else thinks, you will feel more confident and whole as you continue on the path of being true to yourself. WHERE HAVE I BEEN, WHERE AM I GOING?
by Deb Elkin It is once again that time of year when we look back on what we have done with our lives over the past year. This year however, with the millenium coming to a close, we are provided with a special opportunity to reflect back on the course of our lives as a whole. It is a wonderful opportunity to take an honest look at ourselves, at who we are, at who we've become, and at what we've done with our lives. The ending of this millenium and the beginning of a new one is very symbolic and provides us with a unique opportunity to pause, get a fresh perspective on our lives, and decide how we want to move forward. It is a time to look at the lessons that our past has taught us and see how we want to let them positively influence us in the future. Taking the time to reflect in this way is a great gift to yourself. I really want to encourage you to create the time and space to do it. You can journal about it, giving yourself as much time as you need to let it unfold. Or you may want to explore it and discuss it with your partner or a friend. You could even let it be a theme for a New Year's celebration -sharing with a community of friends what you've learned, what you're proud of, what you regret, and what you hope for yourself in the future. That can be a very powerful way of manifesting! One word of caution before you begin. There may be a saboteur lurking in the form of your internal critic. Your inner critic will be quick to point out what you haven't accomplished, where you are lacking, what you are not doing right or good enough, or how you don't stack up to so-and-so. And we all have one. So listen out for its voice and when those judgmental comments creep into your thoughts - and they will! - acknowledge them ie "I hear you", and then tell them, "Not now. I'll pay attention to you too (because they do have valuable information for us), but not now." If it helps, imagine putting them in some type of container on a shelf and every time a new one creeps back in, open the lid and toss it in. The possibilities of questions to ponder and reflect on are many. I offer these as a guide. What's important is that you make this relevant and important to you. This first group has to do with what you are proud of or pleased with about yourself:
- What have you accomplished that you feel good about?
- What do you appreciate about the person you have become?
- What do you like about yourself?
- What do you value about yourself?
- What is working in your life?
The second group includes regrets and dissatisfactions as well as the unfinished business in your life. (This is where the internal critic usually shows up, so again, I encourage you to actively pay attention to its presence, and put it in its container when in shows up.) Regrets and dissatisfactions are not bad things. They are what we learn from and how we grow and make changes. Choose to see them as important information for your future learning and growth rather than hearing them as a litany of what's wrong with you. (That is how you integrate your inner critic and use the information it is providing you in a positive way.) From that perspective, consider:
- What is missing in your life?
- What is not working in your life?
- What do you not like about the person you have become?
- Who do you need to forgive?
- In what ways do you need to forgive yourself?
This is a wonderful opportunity to "start anew", to make the changes in the ways you have been living your life. I remember the powerful impact it had on me the first time I saw the poster, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." Let that be your truth. Let the start of this new year, this new millenium, be a new beginning. Let the lessons from your past be guides for how you want to live the rest of your life.
RESOURCES YOU CAN USE
Check out Motivational-Messages.com. Glen publishes motivational
related content and I'm sure you'll find it of great value.
You can visit it at http://www.motivational-messages.com/ or just add
yourself to his daily newsletter by sending a blank email to:
mailto:motivationalmessages-subscribe@listbot.com
Testimonials mailto:peoplesay@getresponse.com *************************************************************
If something in this newsletter resonates with you and you would like
support moving forward with it, Deb and Stacey are available for consultation. Deb is available for private counseling sessions to help you work through the unresolved issues of your life and brings a spiritual perspective to this healing process. For a free 30 minute consultation or for an appointment (by phone or in person), you can reach her at 404-320-9548 or email her at
delkin@mindspring.com As your success coach, Stacey will partner with you to help you clarify and make your dreams a reality. To schedule a free phone consultation and find out if coaching is right for you, contact Stacey at mailto:coach@balancedliving.com or call 770-643-0886. Phone and in-person coaching as well as career testing is available. http://www.balancedliving.com
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