I know I’m not the first person to come up with “Inspired Action’, but it hit me like a ton of bricks tonight. I was talking with a friend tonight about someone else I know who is getting involved in online marketing. I’ve been talking with this person for a couple of months and know exactly how they feel. When I started on this journey a couple of years ago (I didn’t do a whole lot until the beginning of this year), I was in the exact same spot as this person. There’s SO much information available and so many different directions you can go in, it’s hard not to want to jump on every opportunity, ebook, teleseminar, or product launch that comes your way. This is sort of where this individual is. They’re going in every direction that comes their way. I’m not doing that anymore.I’ve realized that the difference for me now is that everything I do feels like ‘Inspired action’.

There’s a big difference between activity and productivity. Personally, I’m sort of a fan of both. When it comes to starting a business, both are important. Too much productivity feels like a JOB though….not what I’m looking for anymore.  I’m hardly against hard work, but when what you’re doing doesn’t feel like work, you know that it’s because you feel inspired to do whatever it is you’re doing. I never feel like I have to “motivate” myself anymore. Motivation is external and inspiration is internal. Everything I’m doing is coming from within. The next thing I have to figure out is how to walk away when I’m feeling this “inspired”. There are plenty of times when I could keep working, but I know that keeping a balance is key to staying inspired. I’m still working on this, but I know I’m getting there.

How I love these thoughts on Whole Living! It seems that each one is totally relevant to what is happening in my life, at that moment! Here’s the next thought from the September issue of Body & Soul magazine, which by the way I realized I hadn’t credited the author yet! The author is Terri Trespicio.

“Worry narrows; gratitude expands. Find ways to celebrate all that you have”. As much as I’d like to think I’ve “let go” of worrying (ha ha), it sneaks up on me when I least expect it. I have a lot going on in my life right now, all of which is good- and this thought on whole living was a perfect reminder about what I have to be grateful for. It’s not just that worrying about things is a waste of energy, it also sends the wrong message to the Universe (as well as my immune system…which is fightly a lovely cold right now) and creates a ‘tightness’ inside that pulls me further away from what it is I want to attract into my life.

The next few days are going to busy, but mainly because I am fortunate enough to be going on a  wonderful vacation with my family next week. It’s certainly something to be gratful for and is coming at a perfect time as well. It’s obvious I need a little break and some down time. I have every intention of just enjoying my time, swimming with my kids, relaxing with my parents and appreciating the beauty that surrounds us.

This was the next thought in the “Ten Thoughts for Whole Living” section of the September issue of Body & Soul magazine. Here’s the next thought: “Becoming aware of your habits is key to an intentional life”. As I read this thought, I realized which habits I was very aware of and which habits I habitually ignore.  One habit (although I don’t know if it’s a habit or a pattern…..hmm) that I need to become aware of is when I have a ton of things that I need to do (and want to do) and I start borrowing trouble. I can feel the tightening inside of me as I begin thinking this needs to be done, I want to do this, I’d rather do this, etc. When I do become consciously aware of the fact that I’m doing this, there are two things that always help.

The first thing is just to take a few deep breaths and sit with whatever it is that I’m feeling at the moment. When I can physically feel that I’ve calmed down inside a bit, the second thing I do is just to take SOME sort of action re: what needs to be done. I just did this today. I have a lot of websites I’m working on, projects around the house and a paper due for a class I’m taking. I came into my office, cleaned up the ’shrapnel’ from last week (unopened mail, lists, magazines, etc.), re-did my to-do list and am now comfortably working and not overwhelmed at all. Just getting everything down on paper has made me realize that’s it’s not as much as I thought, and the added bonus to living an intentional life is that nothing I’m doing ever feels like work.

So we had the second teleseminar today (by we I mean Hemal, of http://manifestingandlawofattraction.com), which is really more like Hemal having a teleseminar, where I get the opportunity to ask the questions and more or less be his co-pilot. Today was really about the fundamentals of the Law of Attraction, and what I realized is that it all really comes down to the way you feel. Not to simplify things (which usually I don’t….I’m better at over thinking things..)but when Hemal was giving examples of your thoughts and how to change them as well as the bigger picture, softening and focusing, etc. (there’s a link on the Law of Attraction page to a free pdf download Hemal created for today’s class), I realized that it all just keeps coming back to the way you feel.

In the post I made the other day about coming back from vacation and feeling out of sorts- I realized what I was feeling and basically just put it aside. I went about my day, same intentions (building the business, getting back on schedule) and just kept moving forward. I wouldn’t necessarily say I was ‘pretending’ to feel it, but I just sort of put the blinders on and went about doing what needed to be done…not worrying about how I was feeling.

The next morning, the universe provided exactly what I needed to put me back in a place where I was more or less feeling unstoppable! I spent the first 4 1/2 hrs. of the day on the phone (with Lesley in England and Pete in Canada….creating great things to come and learning amazing things with Photoshop!). I also realized (thank you Hemal), that working with these wonderful people I’m meeting isn’t about accountability as much as it is a motivating factor for me. When I’m collaborating with other people, I feel great. Which of course, is really what it’s all about.

It’s official…I think. I’m actually getting better at meditating (which doesn’t even quite sound right…are you supposed to get ‘better’ at meditating, or do you just allow it? hmmm…). I don’t think I would go so far as to say I’m completely reaping the benefits yet, but I’ve started to notice that my ability to be still and relax into the moment, not feeling uncomfortable with the silence or lack of “doing” is getting better. I have been listening to the recording I mentioned in an earlier post almost daily, but now when I’m doing it, I’m ONLY doing that (I tried listening to it while I was doing pilates….let me tell you- those were some LONG pauses!). I know listening to a recorded meditation while I’m ‘doing’ something sort of defeats the purpose- but I think that was part of my process in getting to where I’m at. Clearly I choose to learn things the hard way….well maybe not hard, but harder. The beauty is that those ‘harder’ lessons seem to be happening much less.

I think like many other people, I really over thought meditation and tried to make it more difficult that it was. The meditation I had recorded and listened to was done a couple of years ago with this person to calm my nerves (I was feeling very anxious/nervous at the time…don’t remember why). I was in awe at how I could feel such a huge difference physically- I had always thought meditation was more of a mental thing, obviously it’s both.

I just finished another book by Dr. Brian Weiss- which really encouraged my decision to begin meditating- for as long as it takes, to reach whatever state I’m supposed to. Whether or not I reach some of the states he mentions in his book is irrelevant- for now I’m just enjoying how I feel.

What do you do when you are moving in the right direction in your own life, but things around you seem to be going off in a million different directions? Staying grounded seems to be one of my biggest challenges. I have found that it is something that I have to consciously work at every day. I’ve started listening to a meditation that someone else did with me/for me everyday. It helps to remind me that when other people in my life have their own challenges to deal with, I’m actually more help to them when I’m firmly planted in my own life, living on purpose and creating as much positive energy for myself. Sometimes we can’t do anything

Have you ever noticed that you can read the same message (maybe by different authors, but the same none the less), or hear the same message (and in my case in would be because I listened to the same authors I read) a million times- but some messages take a lot longer than others to sink in? This was sort of my brick upside the head, A ha moment I had over the last couple of days about the simple Art of Allowing.

I’ve been reading about the Law of Attraction, The Art of Allowing (not just the books by Esther & Jerry Hicks, although they’re great and I highly recommend them), manifesting, etc. for a while now. What I finally realized yesterday though is what many of these teachers/authors have been saying all along. And that is that you can’t always be doing something to get to where you’re going. Sometimes you have to relax