Sip, Shop, and Storytime: A Sparkling Author Afternoon

Have you recently gone through a difficult divorce? Are you still grieving that lost friend or family member? Did you just get a tough medical diagnosis? Have you recently had to move away from the only home you have known for years? There are so many times in our lives where we must be brave for ourselves or even for other people. Do you put on a brave face when you are dying inside? It is very easy to do. Sometimes we do it because we don’t want anyone to know our real stories. At the end of the day, we may only be hurting ourselves by keeping it all inside. If you want encouragement from 8 very brave women who have lived to tell their stories, check out this book in the Lightbeamer Series. https://amzn.to/3UJ8UV4

Do you need to remove your shades or do you simply need to open your eyes to certain things? Maybe you need to open your eyes to the beauty that is around you. But maybe you need to open your eyes to how someone may be treating you. Maybe you need to take the glasses aka blinders off. I think sometimes we choose to keep our eyes hidden for fear that we will see something that we suspected all along. A natural trauma response to avoid dealing with certain things is to simply act as though it doesn’t exist. If it doesn’t exist, it won’t be real and maybe the pain won’t be there. In order to get past the pain, sometimes we need to take the blinders off and face reality. Facing our situations head on, although likely uncomfortable, will allow us to move on past the trauma or thing you are hiding from. What do you need to open your eyes to today?

Have you ever felt like you were being swept along life’s river at a fast pace, trying to resist the current? Have you ever felt the tide dragging you down? In those alarming moments, what were your thoughts? How were you going to escape the current and avoid drowning? Life, like a river, can overwhelm you and sometimes make you feel like you are being pulled in directions you don’t want to go. It can even make you feel like you are about to drown. When that’s happening, simply take a deep breath (don’t hold your breath, that’s different) and float. When you are in a relaxed position, you are more likely to go with the flow instead of fighting a current that is taking you in another direction.

Do you ever feel sad or down because of something someone else has said about you or done to you? Do you allow that to hang around and affect your mood for the day or even longer? If so, then you are allowing someone else to hold the key to your happiness. Of course it is hurtful when you hear someone talking about you in a negative light. And it is sometimes heartbreaking when you go through trauma where someone has done something to you that you didn’t ask for. But, if we stay there in that pain and allow it to affect the way we view or treat others, then we have relinquished control of our happiness to someone or something other than ourselves. It is really easy to do, I have done it a million times. Being in control of your own happiness is easier said than done when you are hurting. It is a daily struggle that I found takes daily, conscious effort to get in the right mindset. The mindset that no matter what comes my way I am going to find good in it. The mindset that I am worthy and I am loved no matter what anyone else may say about me. Start today, fresh, renewing your mindset and taking control of your own happiness. You’ve got this!

Do you ever have imposter syndrome? If you have, you know exactly what I’m talking about. That voice telling you that you can’t do something, or you’re not good enough or smart enough, or that what you’re speaking about you have no knowledge of. Don’t listen to that voice…

• You are good enough!
• You are smart enough!
• You are capable enough!
• You are knowledgeable enough!
• You are enough!

Walk into a room like you are meant to be there because you are. Speak up in instances where you have something to say because you do. Don’t listen to all of the background noise.

What makes you tap your hands or feet to the beat? What makes you stop and take a second look? What makes you feel a sense of peace and tranquility? Whatever it is, do those things… as often as possible. Those are the true things that set your soul on fire!