Tag: #faith

Who do you think you are?!

emyminzel

Do you ever dream big and aim for the stars doing something you really want too? Then when you start to take the steps. It seems that once in a while, your self-doubt whispers in the back of your mind. “Who do you think you are?! What makes you think you can do this?”

It’s like there’s a grumpy angel sitting on my shoulder, asking me. “Do you remember where you come from? Let me remind you of all these limiting the beliefs you picked up along the way. Girl, it’s me. Your debilitating doubt, reminding you to watch yourself! Who gave you permission to succeed anyway?! Certainly not me.”

This sounds so silly to write it out and then read. Yet, I genuinely believe I am not the only person to fight these limiting thoughts. It has become a habit for me to write about life lessons and roadblocks to process them. As far as coping mechanisms go, writing is my healthiest. Even then, sometimes, I feel like who cares? Why do I feel this pull and desire to share such personal information?

I believe it’s not that I need someone to care per se. What I need is to feel like I am helping someone else. Isn’t that peculiar? I am a certified massage therapist, I volunteer in my community, and I have a passion for protecting the environment. Yet, with all the action I take to “help” others, I still feel that there is more to do. Then I get frustrated when I don’t see it happening fast enough.

I have this pull to write what I live; in case someone needs to hear they are not alone. Selfishly it feels like I need to write to help myself too. I just listened to a song that said. “Take your time. Life’s lessons are not learned in a day.” How powerful this short phrase is at the exact moment when I seem to be in a hurry to know it all and do it all; like, RIGHT NOW!

Even though I know in my heart that life is a beautiful journey meant to be savored and enjoyed one day at a time. Apparently, I have the patience of Hulu on pause, because when I feel my effort isn’t progressing somewhere fast enough, I get down on myself and just quit moving. That jerk voice in the back of mind kicks in its two cents and asks. “So, this is it then?! Nice try. Remember who you are, sit down and shut up.” Unfortunately, lately, I have been complying.

What an a$$Hole I am to myself sometimes hey?! I mean really, I don’t talk to my friends like this. Why do I speak to myself this way? Where does this icky habit of doubt come from? I honestly think it comes from my lack of patience and just maybe… a buried fear of success. This also seems silly when I write it. Who fears success?!

Most people I know, try every day to succeed on their personal paths. I guarantee they have doubts as well, but do they handle them better than I do? There are days I feel like throwing in the towel on all of it. That dark angel on my shoulder tells me maybe I should just go get a regular job, so I don’t have to worry about doing the books, finding clients, and building my business.

Why do I volunteer my time instead of crawling into bed with a good book and my dog? Why do I pursue politics that get me all riled up, instead of working more on balancing my Zen?! Why do I stifle my creativity because I fear judgment from those who do not create themselves? Why, do I want to have it ALL?! Is what I am working towards even attainable?

Also, why do I have so many questions about life? I hope this is coming across in a friendly and relatable way. There must be others out there who struggle with doubt when pursuing dreams and goals. Are there other people who can relate to my frustration with the pace of life when you feel like you’ve been working so hard but just to feel as if your spinning wheels?

Listen, I believe if every one of us put our problems in a pile, most of us would choose to keep our own instead of trade. This frustration I feel is not a problem, it is an obstacle I know I can navigate. Yet, it feels like I need to a little help to push through right about now. I think we are all in this world together, so I’d like to ask for your help.

What do you do or tell yourself to keep your head up and hopes high? What would you tell your best friend asking this same advice on this topic? I am a fan of sharing sisterhood support, and I’d love to hear from you today!

P.s. I’d love to hear who you think you are! And what obstacle are you working to overcome right now!

Sending the intention of encouragement and self-love to you!

Wishing you the luck you need today,

Love, Emy Minzel 

 Visit me at :

EmyMinzel.com

@EmyMinzel

Follow the Adventure Sisters on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/BWCAdventureSisters

Contact me at: EmyMinzel.AdventureSister@gmail.com

 

Stacy Crep ~

https://stacycrep.com

Photo Credit – Emy Minzel – Slim Lake, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness – Ely, Minnesota

 

 

Free falling through fear

emyminzel

Fear of the unknown is something a lot of people have in common. When we are not certain of what the future holds in store for us, we worry that it could be bad instead of hoping for the best. This worry doesn’t help in any way, in fact, it hinders our attitude and squashes hope. If you think about it. How and what we think can affect the direction of our unknown path because our choices may be conservative instead of anticipative.

My life path has been altered recently and I feel am at a point where I need to choose what direction I am going to take. I believe that once I chose the path, I will focus all my time and energy there. I will not waste energy thinking about what could have happened had I chosen differently. Tormenting myself with unproven thinking or that I might have made the ‘wrong’ decision, would be the worst thing I could do to myself.

I believe in trusting my intuition, listening to my inner knowing and the feelings that guide my heart. When both paths call to me for different reasons, I recognize that one of them feels better than the other. Yet both pull me for very different reasons. I have been working on visualizing what I want my future to look like, as an experiment, to pull more information out of my subconscious mind. The inner me knows which path would be the best one to follow!

Quieting the worry in my mind is proving difficult and hindering me from hearing the guidance I so desperately seek. I think it is because of my fear of the unknown, that I am standing directly in my own way of the information and guidance I look for. I have been making lists of pros and cons. I have worried about every little thing that I could possibly think of and then again, maybe that’s just because that’s how I am.

All this, much ado about nothing, has led me to feel like giving up. I just do not know which path to take! So here I stand. One foot on each, but not going anywhere. Do you know what is the most uncomfortable feeling to me? Stagnation! Not making progress and stuck in limbo spinning my wheels but going anywhere. This feeling is much like slow and persistent torment for this girl.

But you know what? I believe that was exactly the purpose of this divinely guided exercise. I have finally gotten to the point where I am willing to surrender to my Creator. I am ready to relinquish the control, that I don’t have anyway, and free fall into the trust of the Higher Power.

Of course, I have free will and I am not planning on quitting my job or responsibilities. However, when it comes to my dreams and goals, I surrender these different paths to the heavens and trust that I will know what I need to make the best decision when the time is right. Maybe I am just feeling stuck because it is just not time yet. Maybe this is a period of reflection, rest and recuperation that is for my greatest good?

Instead of wasting time and energy on what I do not know, I am choosing to focus on what I do and let the Universe take care of the rest. Trusting the unknown and letting go of fear, is not easy for me, but it is what I must do for my own good. Living in fear, worrying about what is not even here yet, is damaging to my spirit and my approach to life. Which is just not me! Normally, I am full of hutzpah!

I am brave and a bold dreamer who does not take no for an answer. This bravery does not mean I am not scared, it means I do it anyway. So why is it that this phase in my life is any different? It is not. It means that I must trust life to get me where I am supposed to go because that is what has always happened. Most of my fears in the past have been unfounded and only served to inhibit me from expressing my true self. Not cool man.

After this self-realization has hit me, I am determined to let go of my fear of anything at all. I am going to wake up every morning knowing that I am a divine expression of spirit and that my actions are always guided for my highest and greatest good. If by chance I fall on my face… so what?! It wouldn’t be the first time and was probably for my greatest good as well. I will get up, rub some dirt in it and try again in a different way.

I am choosing to trust myself and my inner guidance while allowing a free fall into the arms of my wonderful unknown future. The only way to do so is to let go of my fears and allow the guidance I seek to seep in. Fear urges us to put up a wall and resist change but Trust opens doors and facilitates growth. I don’t need Spirit to tell me that! I just need to allow myself to trust fall into the future and know that it will be even more magical than I could ever imagine. And so, it is.

Does this ring true to you? I’d love to hear how you defeat your fears!

Wishing you love and blessings,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

https://emyminzel.com

@EmyMinzel

Follow the Adventure Sisters on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/BWCAdventureSisters

Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

https://stacycrep.com

*photo credit – Barefoot Five

Are you feeding your faith or your fears?

emyminzel

They say, what we focus on, grows. Which is why I have been choosing to focus on good, even though I know darn well there is plenty of darkness in the world. I want to grow the goodness in myself, my family, friends, community and even the world if possible.

It seems like a lofty goal doesn’t it?! I mean, who do I think I am, to be able to affect global change for goodness sakes? I am just little ol’ me, a middle-aged woman from rural Minnesota with a humble job and no real connections to ‘greatness’ as defined by society.

But isn’t that the best part of it all? Even though I am just me, a regular Jane, I am choosing to nurture my environment in hopes that the love I have inside my soul will ripple out into the world around me. Listen, I fear plenty of things, but what good does it do? Holding on to fear has an immobilizing effect on me. When I get scared, I just want to hide in my house away from the world. Does this ring true to you?

I’d like to share a little story of my path through fear to reach faith. When I was thinking of running for State Rep, I was fearful of all sorts of things, like losing my privacy. Although I am a writer, who wears my heart on my sleeve, I still cherish my private life. I know I am far from perfect and worried that the world, or my little part of it anyways, might  find out all the lesson’s I learned the hard way. That might lead to judgments from those who think or believe differently than I. Am I prepared to handle those judgments? I mean… it’s guaranteed to be kind of a lot!

One person even told me. “It is truly a selfless act to run as a Democrat in this District.” History shows this is true. All the hard work of Democratic Candidates generally ends in defeat, according to the political election results of previous decades. Is this something I should also fear? Nobody likes to lose, especially when they are working hard and doing their best. Many knew it would probably be a losing fight.

However, no matter what you believe, you cannot win the game if you do not play! Everything about this path scared me. Public speaking was my worst fear magnified by a hundred or more. Everything I said or didn’t say, everything I wore and how I carried myself was up for judgment. This was a very scary arena to jump into as a rookie not knowing what to expect.

Honestly, I was a bit relieved when I didn’t win. I never felt so free in my life! I no longer had to show up with my underdeveloped confidence and a smile on my face as I shook like a hurricane on the inside. I could now relax. At the same time I was sad, depressed and I even mourned the experience. It helped me grow in so many ways that I will never experience again.

Facing my fears, to be part of the change I wished to see in the world, has helped me expand! All of me! Mind, body, spirit and all the energy I give out into the world has been shifted into someone I always knew I was.

Putting aside my fear of failing, or being judged and facing my doubts helped me ‘level up’ as you do in a video game. To stand up for what I believe, even though my anxiety, was the hardest thing I have done in recent memory and worth it even though I lost.

There is so much wisdom in the journey others call ‘failure’ that I no longer consider it a loss at all. I consider the experience of rising above my fears a blessing that expanded my life in ways that didn’t seem possible.

When I came out the other side, I saw that most of my fears were unfounded, unnecessary and failing was a real-life win. Learning to stand and speak my truth fed my soul and gave me true confidence I no longer needed to fake!

Instead of feeling like I was headed to the basement in a scary movie, This experience helps me see I am armed and prepared for whatever I find. I also know that I am perfectly capable of learning what I need on the job or on the fly, to come out alive and well. Choosing to feed my faith in myself and humanity, instead of my fears, has changed me for the better as if by magic.

Feed your faith adventurers, it is life changing.

Wishing you beautiful experiences of faith and love,

With love,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

https://emyminzel.com

@EmyMinzel

Follow the Adventure Sisters on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/BWCAdventureSisters

Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

https://stacycrep.com