Fall Song

by Mary Oliver

Another year gone, leaving everywhere
its rich spiced residues: vines, leaves,

the uneaten fruits crumbling damply
in the shadows, unmattering back

from the particular island
of this summer, this NOW, that now is nowhere

except underfoot, moldering
in that black subterranean castle

of unobservable mysteries - roots and sealed seeds
and the wanderings of water. This

I try to remember when time’s measure
painfully chafes, for instance when autumn

flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing
to stay - how everything lives, shifting

from one bright vision to another, forever
in these momentary pastures.

Where are Your Habits Leading You?

You are an accumulation of your habits. From how you get out of bed, how you shower, how you dress, how you walk, sit, and talk, how you respond to the world, how you act in front of others, and how you think; you’re living out your habits.

Habits are necessary. They free up your mind so you can concentrate on how to survive day to day. You don’t have to think about how to drive your car so you can be on the lookout for danger while you are driving. You don’t have to think about how to walk so you can concentrate on where you’re going.

Unfortunately, habits can also keep you locked in self-destructive patterns, which will limit your success. To become successful, you will need to drop bad habits and develop new ones that are in line with the life you want to live.

People don’t suddenly appear in the life they want to live… their habits determine their outcome!

What are the habits you have that are keeping you from achieving your goals?

Really be honest with yourself here… Are you always running late? Do you return phone calls within 24 hours? Do you get enough sleep? Do you follow through on your promises? Do you plan out your day?

Imagine what your life would be like if all your habits were their productive counterparts!

What would your life be like if you ate healthy meals, exercised and got enough sleep?

What if you saved your money, stopped using credit cards and paid cash for everything?

What if you stopped procrastinating, overcame your fears, and began networking with people in your field?

Would your life be different? I bet it would!

So, my suggested action step for you is to write down some productive habits you could adopt and visualize in your life, step two is to ‘act as if’ you were living these new habits right now!

I’d like to help you get moving toward creating more successful habits, so I’d recommend you develop four of your new success habits each year, one for each quarter.

Once you pick the new habit you’re ready to adopt, next you’ll want to create a method that will support your new habit.

Here are some ideas… You could write it down on a card that you keep with you and read several times a day. You could make it a part of your daily visualization. You could also enlist the help of an accountability partner who has habits to change, or work with a personal coach who can keep you on track.

It’s important to make a 100% commitment to your new habit, so be specific about the steps that you’re willing to take in order to drop an old habit and adopt a new one. Don’t be vague about how you will change your habits. Spell it out for yourself so you can recognize situations that motivate you to act out your new habit.

Just developing four new habits a year will dramatically shift your life to be more in line with your vision. And the more in line it becomes, the easier the other habits are to replace because your perspective is shifting and you can see more clearly how your old habits aren’t serving you anymore.

Make the decision. Make the commitment. Then watch your new, positive life unfold!

© 2009 Jack Canfield

Books & CD’s by Jack Canfield

Jack Canfield, America’s #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Copyright: Maria Mar(c)2000. No reproduction allowed

Guest Post by Maria Mar

You’ve been friends for years. But you feel trapped in a vicious circle. The more you heal and the happier you are, the worse the relationship gets. The bonds that should rejoice your heart are only causing you heartache.

You are in a toxic relationship.

This article will help you understand the profile of a toxic relationship. As you read, if you feel that a lot of what is said here applies to those who are acting “funny” with you now, then you are in a toxic relationship. In the degree in which it does not apply, you may be facing any of the other options described here.

Toxic relationships are those old tension-ridden, self-sabotaging relationships that you have used as bridges out of your self. Now that you have taken time to heal and manifest your dreams, those bridges seem broken.

Toxic relationships are those negatively-focused, complaint-packed dialogues that used to sustain your self-sabotage. Oh, how you dwelt on everything and anything that was wrong with the world! Now that you are acknowledging your blessings, there seems to be less dialogue and more silent treatments… or quarrels. What’s going on? Change is going on.

There are four types of people that will resist change, especially YOUR change.

• Toxic people
• Comfort Dwellers
• Terrified Tweeters
• Scared loved ones

Scared Loved Ones
Let’s start with the last type, because it’s the easier one to detect and handle. They love you. They are there for you. You know that if you were in a jam, they’d be there in a cinch to help. So why are they acting so strange? Why are they dropping negative comments? Why are they acting as if you had slapped them, when all you’ve done is take care of yourself and begin to acknowledge and manifest your dreams?

They are scared. That’s all. This relationship is just going through a rough patch while they adjust to your changes. They are confused and do not know what these changes mean. Will your goals take you away from them? Will you get hurt? Are you bewitched by this “Law of Attraction hocus-pocus?” Why are you leaving a perfectly good job/relationship/lifestyle to embark on some dream that they may have not heard anything about?

When you change, people who love you get scared. Children get scared. Old people may get confused because they may not understand your modern terms and choices. Lovers get terrified that you are planning to leave them or are not satisfied with them. Friends feel uncomfortable and don’t know how to relate to the new you.

These are growing pains that all relationships go through. The good ones will survive. If your loved ones react positively to you showing them more love, giving them attention (while you sustain your new limits) and explaining how your changes benefit everyone, then you have nothing to fear. Things will get better.

Comfort Dwellers
There are sometimes friends and family members who refuse to change. When you begin to change, especially if you are taking actions to make your dreams come true, this threatens them. They feel insulted. They interpret your choices as telling them that they are insufficient, that you think you are better than them by going for BIG dreams, when they have conformed.

The sad truth is that these people don’t want to look into the mirror you present now. It shows their fear and cowardice. It shows that it CAN be done, but they didn’t even try. That’s why they attack with negative comments, silent treatment or gossiping behind your back.

Comfort Dwellers feel threatened by your changes and act defensively, but they are not toxic by default. However painful the situation is now, if these people respect your new boundaries and abstain from directly sabotaging or diminishing your motivation, then the relationship is not necessarily toxic.

The best policy with Comfort Dwellers is to meet them in their Comfort Zone and avoid trying to get them to accept or support your change. Keep your goals clear and your boundaries firm and they will eventually adapt because they will no longer feel threatened.

Terrified Tweeters

Are you facing mutiny on board? You are the captain of your life, and perhaps for a while you allowed others to steer the ship away from your dreams. As you heal, you have steered your life in the direction you desire. Shouldn’t they be happy for you? So why are they acting as if you had betrayed them? Why are they giving you the cold shoulder? Why are they on a crusade to change you back into your old self-sabotaging self?

We tell our children not to give in to peer pressure. But many adults are clueless as to the level of peer pressure they carry on their Psychic Shoulders. As a result, they give in to peer pressure, betraying their Personal Dreams and their spiritual growth.

Children and teens are more direct on their peer pressure tactics. They may result to insults or name-calling. Adults are more subtle. Friends will distance themselves. Peers will murmur behind your back. Family members will close ranks and mount a campaign to wear or break you down. Because they know you well, they know your Breaking Points. They will go for these weak areas in your psyche. This emotional and psychic attack can undermine your motivation and your energy level.

The Terrified Tweeters are not necessarily toxic. However, they may be toxic to you now because they undermine your dream. They may have also become suddenly toxic because your change activated a Toxic Field in them. This is an area in which they carry and spread toxicity. For some people power and money are Toxic Fields. For others, joy, passion and uniqueness bring out their poisons. As you examine your relationship options, these friends and family members are hard to place. It’s tough to make a choice on how to deal with them. If you could only convince them…

Don’t even try.

These people may change, but it’s not your job to change them. They have free choice. By their actions or inactions they can vibrate themselves out or into your new life. But I have news for you. You can’t control their choices. And why would you?  You are trying to be free. Controlling others enslaves you to them.

To learn more about what I call the “Terrified Tweeters”, visit this article: http://dreamexpress.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/peer-pressure-and-toxic-relationships/. It will help you deal with distancing and resistant friends and family.

Toxic Resistance
When is a Comfort Dweller or Terrified Tweeter a toxic person?

Look at those people who danced well with you when you did not set limits, when you caretook them in their every whim, when you kept giving when they were not receiving. But the minute you set limits, stop caretaking and stand in your value, they begin to escalate their old, dysfunctional behavior. They create drama, and you are the bad guy. They bicker and accuse. They distance themselves. In every possible way, they pull you into the past, refusing to respect your choices.

What then? They’ve been with you for years. They may even be family members. You love them. (Though sometimes it’s hard to notice when they are sucking you dry.) What can you do?

Do for them what they don’t do for you. Respect THEIR choices. Allow them to vibrate out of your life as they hold on to old scripts and refuse to honor your needs. When you RELEASE them to their choices, you will feel a great weight lifting off your Psychic Shoulders. This is because you have stopped absorbing their Karma. And Karma means consequence. Stop buffering them from the consequences of their acts. They are capable adults. Respect their choices, even if it hurts you that they are speeding past you at a fast pace.

This does not mean that you stop loving them. In case of family members, this may not mean that you break completely with them. It does mean that you release them and stay in your center, refusing to allow them to push you from your core power.

Who is toxic?
When someone you love is toxic to you, you need to release this person as an act of love for yourself and for him or her.

By toxic, I do not mean that they are finding it difficult to deal with your change. That’s normal. I don’t mean that they “make you” feel this or that way. No one “makes” you feel. That is giving your power away. If this is the case, assume the responsibility for your feelings, attitudes and responses.

Toxic to you are friends who repeatedly dishonor or betray you. Toxic are friends who play mind games. Toxic are people who are unwilling or unable to see how their acts affect others, how they are affecting you. Toxic people are blamers. They always have an excuse and a finger pointing somewhere else. There is no way that you can come to terms with people like that. You will be trying forever. Toxic are those who take, but do not receive. Toxic are those who take, but do not give.

Toxic people take you for granted. Their actions (and sometimes even their words) consistently reveal that they not value you. They put you down with words or actions. They make you invisible. They refuse to name the beauty and love you bring into their lives.

Some toxic friends are negative, cynical and unsupportive. Among these are the pseudo-intellectuals or cynics who see dreams and goodness as fairy tales and can only accept facts if they come dressed in rags and blood.

If these friends start mocking you about your dreams, laughing at your affirmations and grimacing at your positive attitude, just answer this question for yourself. What would you do if a vampire approached? What are you waiting for? RUN!

Some toxic friends, on the other hand, may be charmers. They will pay lip service to your dreams and even bring you little gifts to show their support. But their actions speak louder than their words. These friends cannot commit to love, to you or to their own words. Some  do not know what they want. They keep asking for your help, only to drop the entire project the minute you committed your contacts or time to their support. You end up exhausted and your reputation is damaged with these toxic friends.

Some of this charmers cannot trust. They summon you, seduce you, beckon you to  them. But they always stay at a safe distance. This is how they get their kicks. This is their control strategy. These charmers keep you in a leach. The truth is that you are flying, while they only complain and wish. Yet, they may give you the impression that they are about to take off, if you would only do the lifting.

Do you know how powerful your dreaming is? When you go for your dreams and create a daily discipline of positive thoughts, you open the flow of the River of Abundance, and your vibrations begin to spin at a higher frequency. People who want to play it safe, who do not trust and cannot commit will not be able to vibrate at this frequency.

That is what all the fuss is about. Toxic people are unconsciously pulling you back into a denser, slower frequency that does not allow you to vibrate at the frequency of your dreams.

When you give yourself permission to be happy and to manifest your dreams, toxic people start a full-fledge war against your happiness. The war can be overt. But it is often passive-aggressive. Toxic people will try to exert pressure in order to bring you back to a place of suffering, so that you stay with them in their misery.

Toxic Clients
Toxic clients are those who keep asking for more and take everything, but do not RECEIVE it. Because they are not allowing the love in what you give to touch them, they do not FEEL the value of it. As a result, they always want more and nothing is enough.

Toxic clients do not trust or value your expertise. Because they do not value themselves, they distrust the value of anyone associated with them. Once they hire you, they do not value you. They will ask for others’ opinions and act on those opinions, even if these other people are not experts. They will not follow your counsel and when their actions lead them to failure, they will fail to see that it was not your counsel, but their stupidity that lead them to that end.

Toxic clients haggle about the price of your service. They pay late and come up with excuses. They do not do their work and then complain that your service is not working. They give you the materials late and procrastinate, so that you cannot fulfill your contract with them. Then they come back after the contract date is over and want you to be their time slave and keep on working for them.

Goodbye, I love you
It is hard to understand how saying goodbye can be an act of love. But if your love for another is betraying your love for yourself, then it will soon become poison, not love. The only loving thing to do is leave.

When the toxic person starts behaving toxically, do you begin to feel that there is something wrong with YOU? Do you begin to wonder what did YOU do wrong? Do you  wreck your brains trying to remember if you said or did something that might have offended them?

You just bit the bait. You are hooked on the Toxic Dance. What hooks you in this dance is your fear. You are afraid to go out into a world full of strangers. Will you make new friends? Will they love you? You are afraid to be left alone if you stand in your power. Who wants that? Relationships are essential to happiness, and nothing can substitute friendship.

So you stay in the toxic relationship. If you are facing such a relationship now, use the descriptions in this article to evaluate it. Is this friend or client toxic? Is your love or loyalty for this person running against your loyalty and love for yourself? Are you trapped in a Toxic Dance that is diminishing your self-esteem and your faith in your dream? If the answer is yes, I have five words for you.

Love them, but LEAVE them.

This is not about hatred, blame or judgment. This is about love.

If you do not release these people in a good way, out of love, when there is still the possibility of simply moving away gently ~you may come to the point of a serious clash. Then you will have to leave in the middle of a fight.

Yes, I know it’s easier said than done. I’m not going to lie to you that it is easy. That’s why I am creating the Toxic Relations Self-help Kit to answer all your questions. You can pre-order it by clicking here. You can also take 2 minutes and contribute your voice and experience to the kit by answering the Toxic Relations survey (and get a $5 discount if you purchase.)

You are an atom in the divine body. You are a gift to the world. You’ve worked so hard to learn, heal and build a good live. Love yourself enough to walk away from that which diminishes you.

No one deserves that you betray your soul, your happiness and your potential. No one deserves that you go back to your old world, becoming a ghost just for them. That option is not love. It is not love for them. And it is certainly not love for yourself. Choose the Dance of Joy and get off the Toxic Dance.

AUTHOR’S BIO
Maria Mar is the Dream Alchemist, an inspirational poet, speaker, coach, author and spiritual teacher who helps women create the life of their dreams. Visit her at:  Catch the Dream Express!

Illustrations Maria Mar(c)

Wakan Tanka, Great Mystery,
teach me how to trust
my heart,
my mind,
my intuition,
my inner knowing,
the senses of my body,
the blessings of my spirit.
Teach me to trust these things
so that I may enter my Sacred Space
and love beyond my fear,
and thus Walk in Balance
with the passing of each glorious Sun.

According to the Native People, the Sacred Space is the space between exhalation and inhalation. To Walk in Balance is to have Heaven (spirituality) and Earth (physicality) in Harmony.

Oh, Great Spirit Whose voice I hear in the winds, And whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me, I am small and weak, I need your strength and wisdom. Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset. Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice. Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people. Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock. I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy - myself. Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes. So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my Spirit may come to you without shame. (translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Hawk in 1887)

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

~ Derek Walcott ~

Ecopsychology - Educating, Counseling and Healing With Nature

I just finished my first course in Ecopsychology through the Institute of Global Education and Project NatureConnect. Tomorrow I start co-facilitating this course for new students as a requirement for my next course.

Final Paper - Tania Tyler

Our industrial society has caused our disconnection and disassociation from nature which has created a state of imbalance within life. Society and the media have taught us to believe that we are superior to nature and that it is acceptable to exploit it for the sake of our future and growth. Yet what is happening is that we are destroying both ourselves and our future. We are well aware of what we are doing. We don’t react and change because we have become numb; senseless. We have allowed our innate knowledge to be suppressed to the point where we don’t remember its importance to the balance of life.

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”   ~ Albert Einstein

Dr. Michael Cohen’s model, Natural Systems Thinking Process (NSTP) is a unique and effective, nature-connected learning tool which promotes healing and balance through and in cooperation with nature.  The model’s effectiveness is accomplished through connecting with and learning from nature’s natural attractions on a personal level rather than through scientific theories and stories. Personal experience creates personal truths; what is “real” rather than abstract concepts. The model uses the terms 4-legged intelligence - knowledge gained through personal experience, 5-legged intelligence - knowledge based on theories and stories, and 9-legged intelligence - personal experience expressed through language.

“I learned that Western culture 5-legged labels and concepts work to short circuit the relationship between the “old” and “new” brain resulting in the distorted assimilation of information.” (course participant)

The Web of Life Imperative course starts with a personal introduction to the other participants; fostering the development of community. Participants recall early childhood experiences with nature, full of innocence and free from judgment.

“One of my earliest memories is when as a one or two year old, I would go out first thing every summer morning to a spot where a purple iris was blooming, squat down, and stare at the flower. Of course, at the time I didn’t know it was an Iris plant or that it was purple.”

“As a child my happiest times were spent outside in nature or inside creating art of some kind, often inspired by my natural surroundings.”

“I can remember sitting on the hill in my backyard looking down across the meadow, and when the wind blew past I distinctly remember feeling something inexplicable.”

“As a child I loved nature and somehow learned to be quiet with it.”

It is important for us to recognize our importance in the web of life. We are all interconnected and part of life’s balance. The way to get back to our natural intelligence is by removing all of society’s stories that we have adopted as “truth” and creating our own truths through personal experience. The activities in the NSTP develop these types of experiences. NSTP teaches how to connect with nature through our 53 natural senses and sensitivities; to feel and then express what we know to be the truth, free of society’s influence.

“A man has not seen a thing who has not felt it.” ~Henry David Thoreau

Participants learned that letting go of stories is not always easy but as we spend time really “feeling” and connecting on a sensory level; nature’s way of communication, we are able to experience the balancing and support from Nameless-Intelligent-Attraction-Love (NIAL).

“I want to preface the assignment by sharing, once again how challenging I have found this work to be. I’m not sure why I am struggling so much, but I find it difficult to concentrate, and really take in the words I am seeing in front of me on the page. I find my ego jumping in and dismissing what I am reading, and some deep resistances to some of the languaging used in the books.”

“Perhaps a reason that we struggle is because of the dichotomy between the earth teachings and the online technical aspect of posting our thoughts and feelings about our connections.”

As the course progressed and labels were let go of, trustfulness of nature developed and participants experienced and were able to express this non-verbal sensory communication (NIAL) as 9-legged thinking.

“We can learn to participate in Earth’s non-verbal, webstring ways since, we, as part of all of nature, are born knowing them and able to register them. This is part of our natural substance and inheritance.”

“We can non-verbally communicate with nature & nature will communicate back.”

“That natural attractions and webstrings provide a powerful means of truly meaningful learning.”

“I feel strongly that our connection with nature allows the sharing of messages and insights. I have learned much about myself through these times of being connected. When I have a question, nature has always guided me to my answer. Sometimes it comes as just a “knowing” or unspoken voice and sometimes I am guided to notice something in nature that gives me insight into my question.”

Nature’s webstring attractions are shared unconditionally in order to maintain balance of the whole. One powerful aspect of NSTP is gaining consent and offering gratitude from the natural area or webstring attraction. Being respectful was rewarded to participants through stronger sensory connections. Feeling these stronger connections proved the interconnectedness of all and that nature does in fact use non-verbal communication to connect with us.

The NSTP model teaches us the importance of community and increases self-worth and the trustfulness of nature through personal experience. Participants experienced their roles in the web of life; feeling part of the whole and knowing that nature is able to maintain and promote balance. Through this trust and “knowing”, judgments are released.

“By creating or using labels, we limit our experience of others, nature and life.” (course participant)

“It is in nature that one loses all judgments and false pretenses because nature does not judge.” (Dyer, 1998)

Because we are a part of nature and the web of life, all knowledge and understanding gained through the activities of NSTP pertain not only to natural areas but also to ourselves and others. Achieving balance in our lives is healing; stress is reduced, self-esteem and trust grow, respect increases, relationships become healthier, communication is from the heart, and a sense of lack disappears.

Works Cited

Dyer, W. W. (1998). Wisdom of the Ages: A Modern Master Brings Eternal Truths into Everyday Life. New York, NY: Harper-Collins Publishers, Inc.

In ancient Greece there were many specially chosen Goddesses that were worshiped and revered for their beauty and boldness. To name a few—-Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Demeter, and Persephone—each with a domain to oversee. Goddesses reigned over relationships. Highly spirited, they could be quite brutal if crossed and were not averse to seeking revenge if wronged.

In the 21st century, the idea of a Goddess is becoming more universally accepted, with the added benefit that every woman has the right to be a Goddess in her own world.

A modern-day Goddess knows that she is part of God/Source/All that Is. She is comfortable with her I Am. She has successfully integrated yin and yang, feminine and masculine energies. She embodies strength, sex appeal, and intelligence. She gracefully walks her path with passion, purpose, and possibility. She isn’t above others but it very much at peace with herself and values herself to the extent that she designs her own destiny, balancing love, work, and play beautifully.

She is a woman who has a presence, who radiates an inner light that can sometimes attract and sometimes intimidate others. Above all, she is who she is and doesn’t make apologies for it. Why would she? A Goddess of the 21st century is a wonderful, warm, and loving human being striving to evolve and grow while on her life’s journey.

A Goddess is an alluring, aware, authentic, action-oriented, and allowing woman in touch with her divinity.

Would you like to become more of a Goddess? Here are some qualities to improve upon:

Alluring: She Shines
• Possesses both inner and outer beauty.
• Is magnetic and alluring.
• Owns her sexuality.
• Knows who she is and accepts the light and the dark qualities.
• Takes care of her whole self: body, mind, and spirit.
• She is fully accepting of herself and has the freedom and courage to be all of who she is.

Awareness: She Knows
• Awareness of human relationships and the impact she has on others.
• Engages in “soul work”— books, people and activities, etc that serve to raise her consciousness.
• Has a love of learning and applying knowledge to real life challenges so she grows in understanding and wisdom.
• Understands the interplay of earthly and heavenly elements, “as above, so below.”
• Manages her thoughts to create the reality she desires.

Authenticity: She Honors
• Designs a life that nurtures her inner nature.
• She feels and communicates her thoughts and emotions with confidence.
• She takes the time to get her emotional needs met in healthy ways.
• Lives from her center, and is grounded in reality, dealing effectively with day- to- day life.
• She takes the lead in her family.
• She trusts her own process, including beginnings and endings.

Action: She Works
• Her work is a form of self-expression.
• Consciously creates and accepts personal responsibility for herself and her life.
• Releases the need to control or manipulate or punish.
• Discovers her unique purpose and strives to live it.
• Seeks to improve the world through her sphere of influence.
• Views obstacles and challenges as part of the learning process and uses persistence to overcome them.
• Chooses a domain(s) to master (cooking, writing, teaching, healing, art).

Allowing: She Receives
• Balances head and heart functions to make decisions.
• Allows the universe to provide for her needs.
• Lets her soul be her guide while traveling her path.
• Employs natural laws such as the law of attraction to manifest her desires.
• Possess great vision and intuition.
• Is able to perceive the paradoxes of life and see many perspectives.
• Is open to receiving her good.

The modern-day Goddess is on a journey to discover and access her divine power. Her essence is a bright light that shines forth to empower others to shine their light. She demands special treatment because she is a unique and special human being. So she wisely surrounds herself with people who see her greatness and who she can relax and let down her guard with.

When it comes to relationships, she has higher standards than mere mortals. She is seeking soul connections. And while she may be too enlightened for revenge, she will cut away with a swift sword anyone or anything that does not honor her. Because of her discerning eyes and ears, she can see right through the ego’s defense mechanisms and will easily let go of anyone or anything that is blocking her ability to give and receive love.

A Goddess deserves respect and admiration. She will not accept anything less than what she is worthy of, and since she is of God, she desires only the best!

To get to know your inner Goddess, start with giving her a name. Look within and ask your heart what is your Goddess name. Start a relationship with her and invite her to be more present in your life. Ask for guidance when you need it and watch as your dreams magically come true.

Michelle L. Casto, Ph.D. Candidate is known as the Soul Diva Coach, Speaker, and Author of the Get Smart! LearningBook Series. She has authored 3 books and a dozen workbooks on life empowerment topics. Her coaching practice is Brightlight Coaching, she helps people come up with bright ideas for their life and empowers them to freely shine their bright light to the world. To visit:

To receive your free special report, You Can Transform Your Life Now visit http://www.smartlifechanges.com

For Spiritually Smart Books: Life Coaching to Help you Shine More Brightly
http://www.getsmartseries.com and http://www.brightlightcoach.com

Contact her for a complimentary 30 minute session: m.casto@brightlightcoach.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_L._Casto

Here is a post from my friend Colin at The Relationship Artist

Over the course of my career, I listened to numerous stories from divorced men and women who experienced a moment of clarity just before they married their former spouses. Their intuition told them not to marry these partners, but their conscious minds, their egos, overpowered them with feelings of guilt and social obligation. On their wedding days they knew they were marrying the wrong person.

I have heard others say that they knew intuitively when entering into new relationships that they were repeating an unsuccessful cycle with the same type of partner as before. They allowed their conscious minds to reaffirm their emotional choices and ignored their inner knowledge of the predetermined outcome. Clarity emerged once they decided to take a closer look at the qualities that consistently attracted them and the unmet needs they repeatedly tried to fulfill through their intimate relationships.

To break the pattern of previous failed relationships, you must relive the past to understand why cycles have formed. Suppressing such feelings consciously only allows your unconscious mind to recreate your fear over and over again. The pain and fear produced in past relationships holds the key to your most valuable traits. The grief and hurt you carry with you is evident to others, even though you believe it is concealed. Once you have decided to  accept the challenge of self-discovery and heal your pain, the types of people drawn into your life will change in response to the new energy you send out into the world.

Fear of the unknown creates a barrier to permitting change to occur, but change is a choice that you may elect to make any time. By taking control of your relationship path, you are taking responsibility and being accountable for your actions and experiences and not placing blame on others. Placing blame implies that you need the permission of others in order to have the right relationship. That belief shifts the power out of your hands and relinquishes your power over your future happiness. By taking full responsibility for the relationship choices you have made and not casting blame on other people for the absence of intimacy in your life, you are placing yourself in a position of  attracting and receiving the right person.

For more great articles, tools and events to create your everlasting relationship, visit Colin’s website at The Relationship Artist