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

As July closes, and the Journey to Courage winds down, these are the top lessons that I have learnt: 1. Courage is in the doing - action builds courage. There must be an action to back up the thought and the talk. 2.  It takes courage to sit with feelings of discomfort - we tend to distract, want to "fix", hide and change reality, analyze  and justify. 3. Courage requires consistency, self trust, integrity and accountability. 4. Changing our habits and questioning our core beliefs requires courage, 5. Courage is an inside job- no one can give it to us, we cannot find it in a book, a church a course - it is a firm decision to act and be courageous. 6.  Courage does not require perfection - especially when we are developing a new routine or habit or is doing something for the first time. Progress is all that is required. 7  Maya Angelou says that courage is the greatest of all virtues, with courage it becomes easier to live a life of authenticity. 8. Courage and intuition works

  When we are frightened, what will we sell? When you are fear and not grounded, you will negotiate your power away to gain something in the physical world. Carolyn Myss  When we make choices that come out of fear of survival, keep jobs we are terrified to lose, don’t speak up, we go one with the lie, you are abdicating our power, creating a hemorrhage and while it looks like you are safer, it is an illusion.  The more you hemorrhage, the more paranoid, frighten, insecure you get because you are changing your capacity to access your own inner authority. Because  you betrayed yourself you don’t trust yourself and because you don’t trust yourself you don’t  trust any guidance coming through you so you keep making a mess.  Self-loathing can start and then you have to find external ways to project.  Nothing is more important than you protecting your power - your innate power. Not abdicating your power to anything to anyone Don’t give your word, if you don’t mean it Don’t agree with somethi

  As soon as extreme attachment comes, a man loses himself, he is no more master of himself, he is a slave. Vivekavani I often wonder what is the difference between going after what I want with relentless gusto when there are obstacles and going after what I want when I am told no.  Have you ever been in a situation where - especially in a relationship - where you believe with all of your heart that things could be different so you pursue, you work on convincing, you give and give and continue to do so even when all of the signs says let go? I have learned that this is attachment. When there is a difficulty in surrendering to what is. When the decision is based on potential, what could be, what "should be" and what was - rather than what IS! I have learned that making up stories to justify this relentless pursuit is a form of control. The lesson is in the letting go- in this case, letting go does not mean giving up, it means giving in to the Universe's nudges and prompts

“Learning that you can’t control the other person’s reaction, and that it can be destructive to try, can be incredibly liberating. It not only gives the other person the space to react however they need to, but also takes a huge amount of pressure off you. You will learn things about yourself based on their reaction, but if you are prepared to learn, you’ll feel free from the desperate need for their reaction to go one certain way.” Douglas Stone Difficult conversations are for me... simply difficult. Along with conflict and conflict resolution, those areas have  been some of my biggest lessons on the journey. I believe that the challenge of facing difficult conversations and conflict stems from my  wanting to be liked and keeping the peace at all cost. What I have learnt is ignoring and denying creates more conflict and less peace in the long run. And, this is the clincher, not everyone is going to like, agree, or delight in what is happening, what decisions you make and how it unfold

There will be many people who you cross paths with who will not be able to see your vision. This may make you doubt yourself or reconsider if what you are putting energy into is even worth it. The important thing is to realize that everything is not for everyone. Yung Pueblo  A very important part of this journey called life is the ability to tune in, listen and follow the guidance from our intuition. When we have an idea, a vision, a dream we cannot do it alone. Trust plays a huge part on the Journey. Trusting ourselves is part of honoring that inner voice called the gut, the intuition. Our vision, our dream requires not just communication to others, a disciplined work ethic but also trust of self and the inner guidance.  Part of this process is remembering that everything is not for everybody - not everyone will share in your vision or continue along on your journey however, when we are divinely guided we can rest assured that we are making the best decision in the moment. My challen

  It's time to shine a spotlight on the incredible wins, breakthroughs, and milestones that each of you has accomplished.​Often, we find ourselves focusing on the challenges and setbacks we face.​While it's crucial to address those hurdles and learn from them, it's equally essential to recognize and acknowledge the triumphs along the way. Harness Magazine If you are anything like me and the people that I know, you are ambitious, you want to do better, you strive for more, sometimes even perfection. In that striving, we focus on what can be improved, we focus on what was done and then we move on to another. We hardly ever focus on what we did well for more than a minute. What I have learnt is that there are lessons in what we did well, and there is a purpose for celebrating the small wins. This is a gentle reminder to celebrate the small wins, celebrate your accomplishments, celebrate YOU. Celebrating YOU is reflecting to the Universe a feeling of gratitude.  A feeling of w

  “I always forget how important the empty days are, how important it may be sometimes not to expect to produce anything, even a few lines in a journal. A day when one has not pushed oneself to the limit seems a damaged, damaging day, a sinful day. Not so! The most valuable thing one can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of a room.”  ― May Sarton Last week, I took the opportunity to go off grid for a few days. For July's journey to courage, I set an intention to do more activities that I either make up stories about being hard, feel fearful of doing, or are completely new. Petit Tacaribe is a slice of Paradise on the North Coast of Trinidad. The journey takes you via road through the long and windy roads of the North Coast past the famous Maracas Bay Beach, the lesser known Tyrico Bay, Las Cuevas (my weekly Saturday healing meditation spot) and Damian's Bay Blanchicheusse  - all beaches with long shorelines kissed by high mou

Expertise makes something complex appear simple and intelligible. Bullshit makes something simple appear unnecessarily complex and unintelligible. Expertise creates value for people who don’t know better. Bullshit extracts value from people who don’t know better. Mark Manson I love simple, I love simplicity, I love the simple life. I have learnt that simple ain't easy but its oh so worth it. My intention is to live my life simply, to embody a simplicity mindset and actions What does that mean? 1.Keep it simple by refusing to complicate things by over thinking, over explaining, over questioning. 2. Trust the process 3. Let go of the need to control everything and know everything - this is wasted energy 4. Practice your craft, prepare well 5. Believe in yourself Peace and Blessings Akosua Akosua's Books Nyabo (Madam) Why Are You Here? Now What? The Flipside What Did I Learn Today? Lessons on the Journey to Unconditional Self Love

 If you are telling yourself that you are stuck, maybe you think you made a poor decision, or you just don't feel you belong where you are, then pause. Don't ask, "Where should I go?" Or "What should I do?" Instead, ask, "What do I need to thrive?" Make a list. It should have at least twenty items on it! Alicia Rodriguez What do I need to thrive? What's on my list? 1. Healthy Food that nourish my body 2. A safe space both physically and emotionally 3. Health  4. Connection with friends and family 5. Beach, Rivers, Oceans, Nature 6. Spirituality and a consistent Spiritual practice 7. Technology to support the work that I do 8. Purpose driven work  9. Travel to new and different places 10. Laughter 11. Self Belief 12. Self Trust 13. Music - Live Music 14. Long walks  15. Therapy  16. Reading 17. Writing daily in a journal  18. Learning new things 19. Massages 20. Self Love What's on your list Peace and Blessings Akosua's Books Nyabo (Mada

  Courage – being loyal to yourself, your intuition, your heart, honoring yourself and your guidance over pleasing others and fear, It is not about overcoming fear, it is about honouring the loyalty. For July, the intention is to view courage more than the absence of fear, but the presence of faith. For July, the intention is to view courage as a test of character - can I tap into that space inside of me to do the thing that would make me proud, that thing that I chose intentionally with integrity, faith, trust and authenticity especially when it is uncomfortable, goes beyond the habits that I have cultivated and when no one is looking. So many times we chose what feels good in the moment, or we chose to avoid the difficult or uncomfortable conversations and situations. There are times we chose unconsciously out of habit and familiarity and justify it in many ways. The consequences of these actions reflect in our lives with little or large messes to clean up which we could have avoided