Growing Forward Personal Growth Services

I’ve been really marveling at the process that butterflies go through to become a thing of such beauty.

There are four stages that they go through very much that same as any human beings.  Egg-larva-pupa-Butterfly.  We of course refer to it in different words however the process I believe is quite similar.  In many ways we arrive in the same fashion and go through our own metamorphosis.  The difference between butterflies and humans is significant in the way that they have no intellect and simply allow life to unfold.  Trusting is all it takes to become a butterfly.

I played around and ‘Googled’ the stages of a butterfly and smiled as I read the last section and how it relates to us being human and the environment that we live in.

What we tend to overlook, when we are first attracted to butterfly observation, is that the butterfly is the result of a much longer journey……a journey that is quite different from that of many creatures on this planet. The flight stage is the final statement……the last hurrah so to speak.

No doubt that during your early adventures you will become increasingly aware of these other facets of a butterfly’s life span but for many these stages remain a mystery. Actually what occurs prior to the flight stage of development is by far more intriguing and captivating. As you gather information on the stages of butterfly development, scientifically known as metamorphosis, please keep in mind that the way in which it ultimately plays out can be species specific.

These timelines can be complex and require a little more determination to follow in their entirety but it is very rewarding to observe the slightly different approaches to all four stages of the journey. As you can see from this page all butterflies follow the same scenario but not necessarily the same timeline when confronted with a seasonal environment. Even within the same species and the same season the timeline can vary between broods. Adaptation is the key to survival for any butterfly.

What I found to be interesting is the fact that they say through the ‘larva’ stage the caterpillar has to shed its skin several times to accommodate its growth.  Are we any different than the caterpillar?  The layers that we shed are our past.  For some of us it takes longer than others.  Note that they say the environment will make a difference as to how long it takes the caterpillar to transform even though they all go through the same process.

If you read the above and consider your own life and consider everything to be a metaphor, you may well discover that your in ‘metamorphosis’ yourself.  The caterpillar who transforms into the butterfly has no sense of blame, shame or guilt that is looked back upon.  The layers have been shed and now it’s time to fly.

We as humans have a vivid intellect that is typically alive and well.  Making up stories not only of our own lives but having so much time on our hands to make up stories about other people and their lives.

If we’re going to transform our lives, we need to consider that a state of ‘being’ is more important than a state of ‘doing.’  The caterpillar has nothing to do and the transformation occurs.  It does not look back on it’s history and blame anyone for where it was laid to develop.  It trusts that it will have everything that it requires to survive.

It’s possible that as a child our surroundings were not so loving or possative.  However as we become adults and are no longer children, we can choose a life that is meaningful or one that puts us in a state of decay.  Personally I was born to not only live…but to live FULLY.

Living fulling is my choice about how I choose to live.  And yes, it would be so easy to look back on my up-bringing and blame everyone for everything and never take on responsibility on my own behalf.  However, that is not who I am or choose to be.

I’ve heard some people say that they were born to die.  Wow!  Sure!  And not my holodeck.  I was born to live, play, discover and experience all sorts of things in my life.  If you want to struggle within your own cocoon, go ahead.  I do not feel sorry for you because I not only know what is possible, I experience it.  I have heard stories of horror from individuals.  And yet they  have shown such a strong will to survive and in a breath as they share the truth of their experience (pay attention that I said, “THE TRUTH”  not the Story), they get to reclaim their lives and start new.

No one is broken and I believe that anything is possible because I experienced it first hand.  I’m not saying that the past wasn’t difficult or caused you great pain.  What I’m saying is CHOOSE DIFFERENTLY and get on with a life worth living.

Transformation and Evolution ~ A state of being.

Amy

I feel calmness today which is different than what I’ve experienced before.  How is it different this time and why is the experience so different within my body?

A friend of mine said to me one day, “I’m really excited for you and to watch how things are unfolding for you, but why can’t I create something like that for myself?  She was near tears until I shared what I believe happens for some of us or ‘needs’ to happen for some of us.  How do we find what we’re looking for?  How do we become enlivened by our own being?

When our history has been such that we’ve only known limited lives and ways of being, how do we pull inspiration out of our hats and get excited by simply waking up everyday?  I believe that if we ‘attach’ ourselves to someone who inspires us, we’re able to get a feeling or an understanding of what’s possible.  After-all if someone else can do it, why can’t we?

So I shared with my friend to ride the wave of excitement with me.  Feel it, experience it for yourself, know at this point your may not be ready to ride the wave alone.  As the momentum picks up and the excitement build, keep riding the wave with me until you realize that ‘you are the wave.’  Once you know that you’re the wave, anything becomes possible.

I’m here for others who may at this point find it difficult to be inspired by their lives.  If they feel an ounce of joy or inspiration when in my presence, then I invite them all to ride the wave with me.  It’s important to know that you are not alone and together with someone else who believes in all things  possible, in a breath you may very well discover that not only are you the wave, but are the very person that inspired the other to ride the wave in the first place. 

Why do I choose the wave and to become the wave and ‘be’ the wave?  It inspires me because it is in constant flow and never stops.  It doesn’t know what isn’t possible, it knows ‘being the wave.’  I AM the wave in constant flow and transformation.  I am at a point in my life where I can inspire myself by simple not stopping and always considering ‘what else’ is possible?

Do I inspire others by being the wave (which is simply showing up and being me)?  I believe so.  No, I know so.  I AM willing to claim that I do make a difference in others lives.  If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be surrounded by women like, Naomi, Lisa, Rolanda, Sarah, Louise, Marie, Lucy, Noreen and to be honest, I could fill this page.  I have vibrant, magnificent women in my life and I know that if I didn’t make a difference in their lives, they wouldn’t be in mine.

You see we’re quite clever even though we’re not always willing to claim it.  I know that we keep moving forward in our lives until we connect with others that fuel our passion and our desire to become the more that we are.

So, I invite you to ride ‘my’ wave.  Know that together we’ll discover the more that we are, together and alone.  Know that in a breath, you’ll become the wave and even though you may no longer need me, I’ll be there as long was you want me in your life. 

Huge hugs to all of my ’surfer’ friends…and you know who you are….and I know….’Some of you I haven’t yet met and know that I’m happy to have you ride the wave with me.’

Consider all things possible and…Ride the Wave!

Amy

Today my mind drifted and I heard an expression which many of us can identify with.  “To hell and back.“  It’s a descriptive way of sharing with others where we’ve been in our lives without giving the details.

I can honestly say that for most of us we’ve taken that journey, and some of us come back from it fully charged and ready to take the ‘Bull by the Horns.’ Some of us are stuck in it wondering if there’s a way out.

“You have nothing to complain about.”  I love this when someone speaks to you as though they live in your body and have shared the experiences that you have been through.  Thank-you for saying that and….”Honestly you haven’t a clue.”

I do not claim that my journey has been worse than yours or that yours has been worse than mine.  How do you place a ‘measurement’ on what we as individuals have moved through?

I had a conversation with someone who knows me and some of my family.  Their comment had me confused as to what I had experienced personally.  I was apparently ’so lucky’ that   “x-y-z.”  I smiled and said, “that’s funny.  That is not my experience at all.”  Yes, but ’so and so’ said that………..”

What I shared with this person was that, ‘what I experienced was something different.’  The other person doesn’t know what it was like for me because ‘they’ do not live in my body.  Another person can only ‘make up’ stories about what they experience by witnessing with there eyes.  What we see with our eyes is more of an illusion than I could have ever possibly imagined.  What I ‘experience’ in my body with sensory cues going off…is real.

We have all had something in our lives which we could refer to as ‘going to hell and back.’  All different from the other and yet all equally devastating to us.  What I went through was devastating for me and yet for another, what they went through was 10 time worse.  This is why our own personal trauma’s are measurable only by our own ‘internal’ landscapes.

Some of the things that people have shared with me used to surprise or shock me.  Now I realize that as individuals, there is nothing that we wouldn’t do to survive including mame another person.  Sometime the individuals that are mamed, are our children.

Now as adults, the women (and men) that I connect with have been left in a state where they feel incapacitated.  They have been mamed by experiences of their past and don’t know how to move forward.

I have journeyed “To Hell and Back’” and I’m here to tell you that I’m still alive.  In fact, I am more alive that ever before.  By sharing the truth of my experience with others, I have helped others see for themselves that absolutely anything is possible.

I remember one woman in particular saying that I was such a gift for her.  She found herself able to open up and share the truth of her experience with me without me judging her or the individuals that ‘mamed’ her.  I move through my world without judgment of another because I know, ‘they only know what they know.’  We have all come from similar back grounds and upbringings, and they’re just different and yet very much the same.

I was mamed as well and I choose to not be ‘incapacitated’ by others any longer.

I’ve grown tired of waiting to see how people will react to what I’m saying, in order for me to move forward.  I simply move forward and decided for myself whether or not it feels meaningful or not.  I’m done waiting for other people’s approval before I decided for myself.  My life is clearly about me.  If I choose to make my life about you, then I’ll never get on with mine.

So if you’ve been to Hell and Back – and you are indeed back, what are you going to do to choose differently so that you don’t end up back there?  If you want growth and evolution, if you want to shine and know for yourself that absolutely everything is possible, stop looking at what you don’t have and what isn’t, and embrace what is.  If you want more in your life, then create it.  Stop making up excuses why you can’t and start making choices that say you ‘can.’

If you have been to Hell and Back, you know what took you there.  If you’re an adult now, know that you no longer have to be ‘incapacitated’ by your past.  (And I don’t mean ‘pretend’ that it didn’t happen).  Embrace, and love it and no matter how devastating it was, I will share with you that there was genius in it.

If you feel stuck in your life and don’t know which way to turn or maybe start, I encourage you to connect with me to discover “The more that you are.”

I’m in the process of building a Personal Growth and Wellness Center so that no matter where you are on your journey, that there is a place for you to ‘physically’ show up and stand tall in who you are.

I look forward to meeting with you and bearing witness to your magnificence.

Awakening the Possibilities Within

Amy

Growing Forward ~ Personal Growth Services

amy@thepowerlieswitin.com

As I live and breath I know that Self help books and cd’s and inspirational ’stuff’ is a multi-million dollar business maybe more.

And the bottom line is, we don’t pay attention to the very first word.  “Self.”  “Excuses be gone.”  A wonderful book and very inspiring and it all makes sense.  So why will some read it and be in the exact same place at the end?  Because there’s no magic wand being waved to make ‘your’ excuses disappear.

Today I find myself tired of the ‘excuses’ that we as a society come up with.  My god we’re absolutely amazing at making up excuses why we can’t get on with our lives.

You better prepare because we’re gonna get heavy rains and winds.  Hmmm, sure. -  I can’t right now because I’ve got too much to do.  Hmmm, ever consider that if you had of ‘gotten on with things’ that you wouldn’t have so much to do?  -  I have to do my laundry because I have nothing to wear.  Hmmm, I guess that when you reached for your last pair of underwear that you possibly thought that tomorrow wouldn’t come so why do the laundry?

I was joking with a friend of mine this morning and then realized that I wasn’t joking.  “Do you want a piece of me?”  Really, “Do you want a piece of me?”  Some do because they view my world and life is wonderful and maybe magical.  Well guess what?  It wasn’t always like that and I’ve now created it that way.  No fairy god mother appeared, no ruby slippers made it happen and magic Tom was no where in sight.  I did it all on my own.

Oh poor me.  Every one around me has amazing lifes but I don’t.  Everyone around me has money, but I don’t.  Best you start paying attention to what is coming out of your mouth.  If you say you don’t have something then guess what?  You’re right!

Stop focusing on what you don’t have and start focusing on what you do have.  If you have a mouth, then you can open it and take action on your own behalf.  If you don’t open your mouth and speak up and speak out then what I have to share with you is that you’ll get back exactly what you put out.  NOTHING!  Feel sorry for yourself if you wish and know that you’ll be pittied.  Bravo for you.  Now that you know that you’re capable of having others feel sorry for you how about you turn things around and start having them cheer for you?

My life hasn’t always been perfect.  I’ve had my own tragedies in my life and at some point I had to take a deep breath and be done with feeling sorry for myself and get on with my life differently than what I’ve always known.

Open your mouth and ask for what you want.  This is a simple and easy investment in Self and yet we find in easier to bitch and complain about our miseries.  I can’t even afford  ‘X’ amount to do the little things that I want to do.  If you’re busy looking to take part in only the things that are ‘free’ ask yourself how much of an investment are you truly willing to make in yourSelf?

You must ‘Pay’ attention to what is coming out of your mouth.  You’ve heard the expression, “You get what you put out”?  Well you do.  Funny when I thought that my life was shitty…I had a shitty life.  Now I think my life is absolutely amazing and…that is exactly what I have.

Lets see how about, “You reap what you sow?” Everything that happens to you is a result of your own actions.  So if you’re not taking action, those are the results that you’ll get.  Nada!

Focus on what you have and consider what else you can create for yourself and stop talking yourself out out it.  Take a deep breath and know if you say you can, then you can.

Creating space for others to consider their lives differently.

Amy

I’ve come to the conclusion that at some point in our lives, we’re waiting for some kind of recognition from someone, somewhere to take notice of us.

So we sit patiently waiting sometimes 25-35-45 years in anticipation, hope and maybe for some of us we pray, that someone will recognize our genius and accept us for who we are and not focus on who we aren’t.

Life is so much more than just  something to do.  Life is about experiences and some of those experiences leave us void of all hope for ourselves.  The smart  or ambitious people are always someone else, and never us.  Will we ever feel good or smart enough or simply be enough, not for others but for ourselves?  It takes great courage to not curl in ourselves while waiting for someone to see us and acknowledge us for who we are.

When we’re young we never sit, wait and if we anticipate it’s always for endless possibilities.  We don’t hope because we simply know and we don’t pray because we know that we’re pure genius.  One fine day we’re told that the fire burning full force in us, is inappropriate and that it bothers others.   We’re not only taught to obliterate our bursting flame of energy.  We’re taught that it’s not good and that we won’t be liked or accepted by others for showing it.  Therefore, we learn quite early to quench our fire.

We start early knowing that we must seek ‘approval’ to be accepted by others.  We have a knowing that by simply looking at an adult (whether it be parents, relatives, teachers or any authoritative figure) that what we’re doing isn’t approved of, so we  quickly stop .  I wonder at what age it is that we discover that ‘being’ isn’t a good thing?  Irrelevant of the age, we stop ‘being’ and start ‘doing’ what is appropriate in someone else’ eyes.  Soon enough as adults we see that it’s a long and lonely road and not to mention, ‘thankless or fruitless.’

From a very young age, through our journey to adulthood, the fire which we had burning so freely within us (that we learned to suppress), is still smoldering.

One day we awake and we’ve grown tired, impatient, bitchy and we’re done.  We wake up totally agitated one morning and we have no idea why we feel that way. We feel contempt towards everyone around us and yet it’s not ‘everyone’ that we feel contempt for.  It’s ourselves.  We start to reflect on our lives noticing that we’re not the person that we were.  At a young age we were unwilling to not dream knowing in our body’s that everything was possible for us.  Where is the person that once was and what will it take for us to reclaim that which we allowed to be smothered?

I believe that for some of us, we need someone to be the first to create a path.  Once we’ve bared witness  to what is possible, we set out to carve out our own path.  As we journey down the path that was created by the first woman, we start to see the genius within ourselves by allowing someone to go ahead of us.  It now seem effortless because it is now carved not only by the first woman but by you as well.  Then comes another woman seemingly following in the same foot steps however the first person’s foot prints are less visible.  As we continue our journey we recognize that the genius of it all is that we are all reflections of each other.  So as much as some one went first, them being an aspect of our consciousness, it’s as though a part of us went along for the journey.

Don’t beat yourself up because someone did it before you.  Marvel in who you are and marvel in who they are and that they had the willingness to go first because in that time and space it was right for them.  Possibly in this time and space it is right for you.  It really doesn’t matter who went first as much as it matters that you be first in your life to carve your path.

There is always a journey and being that life isn’t static there is always movement and flow.  Instead of thinking of who went fist, possibly consider that we are all part of a continuum and are merely at different points and are constantly changing and evolving.  Know that as you recognize the genius in another, that they are an aspect of your consciousness.  Meaning, you cannot see the genius in another unless you already know it to be truth in your body.  Maybe in this moment you cannot see the genius of who you are but being able to recognize it in another is a great place to start.

It has been three years ago now that I went to a book unveiling.  I marveled at some of the bravest and most powerful women that I had ever witnessed.  Today I find myself amongst those women and I am no different than they are.  Three years ago I didn’t think that.  Today I know it to be fact.  Louise LeBrun, the creator of the WEL-Systems Institute and the body of knowledge which she created,  was the woman who I could see had carved out a path for me.  It became effortless as I discovered the more that I am.  Now as I move forward, I am the one who is carving out a path for myself and others.  The women who start down this path will be the ones to carve it out for someone else.

We’re all at different points of the continuum and all that it takes for you to move forward is your willingness to follow the impulses of your body.

Don’t look to the past.  Don’t worry about who went before you.  Pay attention to whether you’re moving forward or if you have a foot stuck in the past.

Marvel in who you are.  Don’t wait to be invited, invite yourself.  Don’t wait for someone to recognize you for who you are, rather make yourself known to others.  Allow yourself to stand out in a crowd.  Know that you are responsible for moving forward.  Someone can point you in a direction and it’s up to you to see for yourself if it feels right for you or not.

I suggest that you stop making up stories as to why you can’t, and consider why you can.  Don’t worry about what you aren’t, marvel in who you are.  Don’t worry about the past as much as embrace it and know that what didn’t work you don’t have to repeat.  ‘You,’ being key.

Always consider what is possible and simply move into it.  If you move away, you surely won’t get what you’re looking for.

Creating Space for others to Consider their lives differently.

Amy