The Inner Journey

/ jennced15 / 2 Comments

So . . . I have been thinking . . . A lot.

The last 3 years have really been transformative years for me. Shedding the skin that is no longer serving me and finding the better me in the process. So many things have been working behind the scenes as I have been transforming to get me to the point I am right now and I am very grateful for the process even if it seems to be somewhat slow.

I was thinking about the travel post today and decided that instead of sharing about another place that I have physically been, I would share with everyone the inner journey that I have been on and the new insights that I gained this past weekend.

What sparked me this weekend was this statement—Living in fear isn’t living.

So simple and yet for me, it hit me hard.

Fear really does stagnate us. It eliminates HOPE, PEACE, FAITH, and JOY from our lives. We shouldn’t be experiencing sudden bursts of these feelings in an otherwise fearful life. Since we can’t eradicate fear; let’s at the very least flip it.

So I thought of 5 things that I have been living in fear of over my life and how it manifested for me. Take a moment and think about your own life and what you have been living in fear of and see if you have somehow been falling into the trap of fear—then do everything to flip it around and start living in HOPE, PEACE, FAITH, and JOY.

  1. Fear of Disease

We live in a world where we are bombarded by all the things that are “better” for us. We also live where we have an abundance of options. Because of the mass overload of information and the fear of making the wrong choice—I have had moments of giving up and making no choice except what feels good. That creates the moments of eating food that does nothing to nourish me, being lazy in physical effort, and participating in habits that cause damage to my overall physical well-being.

  1. Fear of Not Having Enough

Do you ever wonder how you ended up with so much stuff in your house? I think there are a lot of people that have this fear. For me it manifested in spending money and at some points—to excess. That is why credit cards have such a place in our lives. Instead of seeing if I already owned it or could make do with what I did have; I would automatically spend more money so I had the “right” thing.

  1. Fear of Not Being Enough

Every one of us tries to do our best and be our best but my whole life I have never felt good enough. I have had moments of feeling “on top of the world” but really I compare myself to everyone ALL of the time. This has been such a hard habit to break because it is so ingrained in my psyche. For me, not being enough has manifested itself as me being OCD. I am always trying to make everything perfect ALL of the time. I even have done it to the point of insanity but . . . I am trying to break this fear once and for all.

  1. Fear of Love

All of us want the most fundamental part of us and that is to give love, feel love and be loved. We wouldn’t be human without this most fundamental trait because all emotions pass through it on some level. It would take me forever to explain how this fear has worked in my life but to tighten it up: it puts me in or keeps me in situations that are not a good fit for me. I then feel like the failure. While this one will take my lifetime to work through because it is based on experiences that are constantly occurring in my life—the least I can do is stop getting into situations that I know will not serve me well.

  1. Fear of The Present

Have you ever wished that your life could just be a little better? Is the grass greener when it is down the road and where changes will make all the difference? If we only live our lives in the future of what-if then we are actually not living right now and we are allowing fear of the present situation to hold us back from our real potential and all things that are at our doorsteps now.

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Back to “Normal Food”

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It feels like it has been FOREVER since I have eaten what I would consider a “normal” meal. I have had family from out-of-town, the holidays, parties, and long nights at the office that turned my regular eating habits upside down.

Now I am trying to ease myself back into the habit of cooking meals at home and preparing food for the work week. Here are 5 recipes that I am going to try in the next couple of weeks.

  1. Skinny Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes from Not Enough Cinnamon 
  2. Salsa Fresca Chicken from Easy Family Recipes 
  3. High-Protein Avocado Chicken Salad from Beauty Bites 
  4. Farro Bowls with Figs, Kale & French Goat Cheese from Feasting at Home 
  5. Greek Power Bowls from Delish

There’s No Place Like the New Year

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So funny thing happened this week . . .I found myself in a new year. That’s right . . .a new year–2019 to be exact. Did you find yourself in this new year as well? If so, then you and I have a lot to talk about. I know everyone is thinking the same thing–time for new year resolutions. There is nothing like a new jumping off point that gets the resolution juices turning but, I ask you to consider what kind of a resolution you really want to make.

Is the resolution you are about to make because you feel compelled to make it or because you want to make it? Does the thought of the new adventure bring you joy or disdain? I don’t know about you but anything that is forced on me gets an automatic veto (even if it isn’t right away). I don’t want to be forced; I want to choose my own adventure.

So I am setting happiness goals again this year. I will be setting 19 of them for 2019. I did this last year and I accomplished 13 of the 18 I set. I need to reevaluate the remaining 5 and see what stopped me from accomplishing them and see if they should be on my list for this year.

In the meantime . . .I decided that I needed a color this year and something to really motivate me to make this year the best yet and I found it in the form of a pair of shoes . . .red shoes. I love them! They make me smile and I actually like wearing them . . .all day! As I was wearing them all I could think of was Dorothy and her red slippers that transported her back home after becoming lost. Those shoes held the courage for Dorothy to set out on a new adventure, make new friends, and discover herself in the process all the while trying to find her way back to those that she loved.

Sometimes it is a simple object that helps us take the courage needed to make the next leap of faith. I am counting on my shoes to be just that. What is your motivator to try something new? What is it that encourages you to be brave?

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