What did I learn today? Lessons on the Journey to Unconditional Self Love

  the BIGGEST difference you can make in another person’s life is to learn to be a place where they feel safe, seen, and heard. Tina Lifford Sharing a word from Ms Tina Lifford There’s a trick to being a place where others feel safe seen and heard. To successfully be this for another you must first learn to be such a place for your Self. We each must learn to feel safe, seen, and heard with and by our Self. This is the epitome of Self-care. When you complain about your Self, see your Self as not good enough, harshly criticize your Self, or undervalue your worth, this is Self-rejection. We all know what rejection feels like. The silent insult of Self-rejection is worst. It leaves you feeling disconnected from yourself. It instigates all kinds of addictions and accommodates unhealthy and abusive relationships. You can prove to your Self the damaging effects of Self-rejection. Bring to mind any event that causes you great emotional pain. Then consider this question. What hurts most, ...

  knowing when to push and how to rest is critical wisdom. Nkem Ndefo How do you know when to push and when to rest? Confessions on the Journey - up until a few years ago I never believed that rest was an essential part of the path that I was on. Rest to me was a concept associated with aging and to be done when you became older. Winding down the productive years. What I did learn however is that not only is rest a part of the journey, I learnt that rest is productive. Rest is more than sleep, it includes stillness, quiet time and surrender. When I don't rest my body rebels in the form of cold and flu's, injuries and body pains and all sorts. When we listen to the wisdom of our bodies, when we are in tuned with our intuition we learn the difference of when to push and when to rest. Getting to the point of paying attention to our bodies wisdom and intuition is essential! Peace

  We must actually do the work. Layla F Saad In every self help workshop, spiritual gathering and space where I joined in order to heal and grow I have been told that I must do the work. At first I was not entirely sure what this meant. Am I not doing the work? I thought I was. I believed that I was working hard, being a good person, doing what it takes, eating my veggies and drinking my water. Turns out that doing the work is holding yourself accountable, taking responsibility, loving and forgiving yourself, setting boundaries, letting go and feeling all of your feelings. Who the heck knew?  Doing the work is sometimes without immediate reward and many times without anyone else. We must actually do the work to live the life that we desire Peace Now What? Akosua's new book launches in March 2021 Now What? New Book Out Pre Order 

 Sleep helps you wake up - The Nap Ministry Have you been resting? Do you even think resting is important? We have been conditioned to believe that the grind culture determines not only how successful we are but how respected we are. There are many theories that sleep is for the weak, sleep when you die, don't sleep.  Confessions on the Journey - I too, felt the same way, it was as if when I sleep I would miss something. I would feel guilty to sleep until I was finished with everything that needed to be done and done NOW.  That belief spiraled into a cycle of grief and exhaustion. Let me tell you, this was a lethal combination. Being productive, peaceful and calm from a state of  guilt and exhaustion is tough!  The biggest lesson from this has been that rest is part of the Journey. Rest is Spiritual. My ancestors did not even have the option to choose when they could have rested. Some of them never really ever rested. I have the choice. I have that power. I know...

 Most of our beliefs are not our own until we question them - Myles Scott There are times when we absolutely have to question some of the beliefs we hold. When the beliefs we hold in our lives, no longer serve us, questioning them helps us to  navigate a way forward that better serves us. The process of questioning  your beliefs however, can be tricky. The process may involve questioning people in your life,  questioning what they told you as gospel and how you lived for the majority of your life. As a child, I was told and believed as a child that if did something bad,  a snake and Jesus would appear and strike me down and bit me, I lived in fear of that for a long time then I realized that this was so not true! When I did I was so angry that people in my family would tell me such a blatant and scandalous lie. Why would they do that? In that process, I had to learn about questioning a belief that had me living in fear, forgiveness and creating my own moral code...

  Notice how certain people will spin out of control when they can't figure a way to hook you, control you or get in your head. Your clarity is like a suit or amour against the behaviors of those who are accustomed to being able to make other pawn in their games. Maryam Hasnaa Control is an addiction. Humans love to be in control, it makes us feel safe, we make up stories that allow  us to believe that we are in control when many times we are not even close, its all an illusion. We go out of our way to control situations, people and events. When we believe that we are not in control or losing control, we get out of control. People literally lose their mind. Many times we over analyze, ask questions and act as if we don't trust the process. Trusting the process allows us to let go of control. Trusting the process comes with trusting yourself. Trusting yourself comes from doing the inner work. It is a process. I have learned that surrender and letting go takes courage. It s...

  You have to be very clear with people without healthy boundaries. They will constantly misread, misinterpret and make assumptions because they lack clarity due to their energy not being purified, and having too many other people’s energy in their space . Maryam Hasnaa   Clarity allows for better decision making, doubt and fog is lifted. Clarity may not mean that we know exactly what our next move may be. What it may provide is a level of certainty that everything will work out as it is supposed to. Clarity pushes up to embrace the uncertainty around us in a more confident manner. We are able to find a level of calm, to remain grounded knowing that even though the world seem to be in a level of turmoil, you know and accept that whatever happens after, you will be able to handle it. I am clear that I am a child of the Most High and with that comes all of its perks. I am clear that I don't know everything and I don't have to, I can leave room for the mystery, the unexpected...

“If you’re not in the arena also getting your ass kicked, I’m not interested in your feedback. If you have constructive feedback you want to give me, I want it... But if you’re in the cheap seats, not putting yourself on the line, and just talking about how I can do it better, I’m in no way interested in your feedback.” Brene Browne Starting something new can be challenging, doing something different to what you normally do can be challenging, doing something in a new way can be challenging. Living a different life can be challenging. There will  be self doubts, there will be internal noise, there will be people giving advice and many times unwanted advice, there will be critics and keep backs. This is par for the course. The question is - how will you respond? I have learnt that the best response comes from a space of knowing who you are knowing what pisses you off knowing how sure you are about yourself knowing that there will be failures to learn from along the way knowing what...

Today I honor my  Commitments  to myself and others, despite my feelings. Seven Stones Leadership   What commitments have you made for and to yourself?    commitment is that which helps us stay  the course even when it’s very uncomfortable. I commit to: 1. Eating healthy foods that nourish me 2. Having clear boundaries and communicating them to those around me 3. Self Awareness  through learning, remembering and honoring who I am. 4. Weekly exercise and movement of my body 5. Saying what I mean even when it is difficult. 6. Self Care and Rest 7. Loving myself unconditionally Would Really Love to hear your list of Committments Peace From Confusion to Clarity - A Workshop www.akosuadardaineedwards.com

  Your Service to Others Shouldn't be a Disservice to Yourself  I have some choices to make. I have choices to make on how I  now show up in the world. I must make choices on how I serve. Service and servitude are not the same. Be mindful when you start making choices from a place of servitude only. I listened to a talk yesterday on Freedom.  What does freedom mean to you?  Freedom for me is the ability to choose our thoughts, words and actions.  Never underestimate the power you have to choose. You can choose your thoughts, your words and your actions - whatever the circumstance. Some circumstances come upon you without your input however, in the response to it, you do have the ability to choose how you respond? I thought about my power of choice in determining how I want to show up.\ Do I want to show up and live by default and continue to make the same choices? Or do I want to execute my ability to choose keeping in mind that there are always consequence...

  Slow movements are intentional, powerful, and intelligently considered .  Yung Pueblo  I started a ritual in 2012 where I wrote to myself. I would write a letter to myself to be opened in following years. In 2013, I wrote a letter which was to be opened in 2021.  In 2018, I wrote one to be opened in 2022. I opened the letter due to be read in 2021 yesterday....  there so many mixed emotions. This letter stated my desires and intentions for my future at the time. In 2012, I had no books, my desire was to share my story to someone, anyone who could learn and heal from it. In March 2021, Now What will be dropping. Book number 4!  In 2012, I decided that life had to look ad feel different in specific areas such as finance, intimate relationships, business, spirituality. I can safely say that I feel different, no longer feeling hopeless about what my future holds, no longer at war with myself and others, just a feeling of peace and self responsibility. I did n...

  Thank God the life I was once creating fell apart . Maryaam Hasnaa During 2012, I believed that my life was in a complete shambles. I was unemployed,  my savings were all gone, I was fighting with everyone I knew and even those I did not know, if not openly but sometimes in my mind. Fighting others in my mind was particularly challenging for both parties as I was angry and when they appeared in front of me I took my anger out on them and they had no clue why. That anger showed in in many forms. I reached a crossroad when I felt as if I was stuck in the same place, that feeling sucked so I decided that I did not want to feel stuck every day. I chose to accept my responsibility in the role I played in finding myself where I was This included:  How and if I set boundaries, if I enforced them Playing small Not showing up authentically Ignoring the signs and my intuition making decisions out of fear People pleasing Not taking responsibility for the role I played  The bi...

  Being totally identified with the need to be right is the main cause of  conflict in relationships, we do not create more harmony by convincing others of what is right but mainly by being in harmony with ourselves so we don't have to make others wrong to be at ease - Evolve Daily As we journey towards authenticity, an extremely important lesson I have learned is letting go of the need to be right all the time, letting go of the need to, letting go of the need to  prove that I know, and to make others feel that they know very little - we say it here "put people in their place"  One of the markers on the path which led me to reflecting on why I felt the need to be right or prove others wrong came from seeing a line in the Course of Miracles that says "Do I want to be right or do I want to be happy?" I interpreted this to mean that if proving  that others are wrong leads into strife and no peace then is it worth it to be right? Is there a real need to prove to an...

  “Good riddance to decisions that don't support self-care, self-value, and self-worth.” Oprah Winfrey The beginning of a Journey throughout the next twelve months. How do you intend to show up? How do you intend to be, knowing that there will be so many factors that are out of our control. If it is one thing that I learnt is I get to choose how I respond to what is in front of me. I can choose to respond out of habit or I can choose through mindful thought and action. I can choose to look for the lesson or I can choose to blame and project. For 2o21, I choose to be mindful, to be excited, to be intentional, to be authentic, to be grateful. For 2021, the Journey to Unconditional Self Love begins with Authenticity. Join in Peace From now until January 7th From Confusion to Clarity - A Workbook Link it Here