A Journey of a Million Miles: Being in Harmony with the Flow of Life

Butterflies are one of my favorite creatures. Maybe it is due to the butterfly decal my Mom had on in the rear window of our 1970’s Ford Station Wagon. Butterflies seem to appear out of nowhere, when in fact, there is a process to them sprouting those beautiful wings, similar to the Life of a human being.

We all have a time where we will sprout wings. Metaphorically speaking, it comes at different times for everyone. The transformation from caterpillar to butterfly occurs without struggle or strain; it is just a part of the cycle of the caterpillar to butterfly. There are over 160,000 types of butterflies in the world, just as there are differences in people. From the beginning a caterpillar is a voracious eater consuming food, just like in the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In the next phase, it ceases to consume food and goes into a “mummy-like” state. Some caterpillars go into this phase by covering themselves with a cocoon, hiding in dirt, or simply suspend themselves from trees using a silk pad attached to a tree. Whatever way they choose, the caterpillar goes into a world of its own until it is time for it to emerge. When the butterfly emerges from the cocoon it is unrecognizable, the creature that once was no longer exists.

The life of a caterpillar is not unlike the life of a human. At the beginning of life, we take in everything from food to noises to faces. At some point, there we break away and begin creating our own cocoon. It could be the cocoon of our friends, family, neighborhood, college, trade school, or job that serves to give us what we want. What happens in that cocoon can dictate our characteristics when we emerge, if we emerge at all. If the cocoon is too tight, gets damaged, or there is an accident the contents may be skewed, missing necessary elements, or not see the light of day. The cocoon is there to serve as a place for growth and development of the things necessary to survive in the next phase. When the butterfly becomes visible, they are miraculous.

Once the butterfly appears it instinctively goes on its way. Some butterflies are great navigators, flying 1800 miles to their Fall destination and meet up with others, while some stick around pollinating the plants. No matter what, each type does its job without fuss, fight, or complaint because it is in harmony with Life. Having harmony means your thoughts, feelings, and surroundings are in agreement. Harmony is not elusive; you can create harmony with these four ingredients:
1. Focus on Your Goal
2. Be Aware of What and Who Surrounds You
3. Put Your Feelings in Check
4. Fly, Fly, Fly

The next thing you know you will be in the flow of Life, your wings will appear.

Change Your Life

You have the power to transform your World right now. It takes transforming the way you relate to yourself and the people around you. Intending to have an existence that is in line with what you want takes being intentional daily. To ignite your Life means releasing the old ways of being and creating something new. There are six ways to begin that journey:

1. Invest in You: Assess your needs, wants, and desires then make those your priority. Address your list one item at a time each week, the investment in yourself will start to ignite the flames of the Life of your dreams.

2. Get Moving: Take out the list of things you mean to repair, people that need a return call, get moving in asking for that raise or looking for your dream job, or starting that business. Write three (3) things that you are going to complete each day to begin fanning the flames of the Life you want.

3. Never Quit: When you find yourself in a time of failure or what can be called “the dip of Life” reevaluate where you have things undone and move on them. Never quit, never give up. You might do best to call a friend, let them know what you are up to, and ask how they can help or if they will become an accountability partner.

4. Inject Positivity: One way to inject positivity is to write your goals in a place which is prominent; the bathroom mirror, the refrigerator, your computer screensaver, and the dash of your car. This will keep your commitment to forward thinking in front of you each day. Surrounding yourself with people who are positive and support you in moving forward is key.

5. Togetherness: Get outside of yourself and be with those who love you, those who have the same interests, and those who are where you are headed. Life happens while you are sitting and thinking about what to do or how to do it. Get involved with a volunteer project, a family member, coworkers, or a social issue you are passionate about; you never know what will come from being with people.

6. Eye on the Prize: When running a race there are many things that have gone into being at that starting line, getting up early to train, eating the right foods, resting, weight lifting, and missing friends and family events at different times. Keep your eye on what you are moving towards, all the other stuff is circumstances or reasons that come up with Life. Keep your Eye on the Prize.

How do you Ignite Your Life? Consistently put these things into practice and soon you will recognize your Life as what you dreamed now being real. The best way I can offer for you to reach your goals with velocity is to join the Unleash Your Power Group Coaching beginning in two weeks!

So What? Don't Give Up Now!

My quest for the body of Laila Ali has been in progress for a while. And this morning I felt the push, excitement, and anxiety of it all. After walking with weights for 40 minutes, I came into the house, got something to drink, and began participating in Total Body Sculpt with Gilad on FIT TV.

As I participated, it came to me that I had been here before! Literally and figuratively, two years prior I worked out daily; running 3 miles and 3 times per week I participated in spin classes. And now, I find myself at the same place again. What happened? I gave up. It got to be too much, instead of making it a part of my Life it was something else "to do". At the moment that came to me, I was on the floor doing crunches just as I had done before. My spirit, said to me "Don't you give up now!"


"Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." Thomas Edison.
Often times, we spend our time looking at how far we have to go or what has to be done to get to the end of our vision or achieve a goal. When we do that we end up defeating ourselves. Sometimes it happens when we are within reach of the goal, yet we do not know it. Surely Thomas Edison did not know how close he was to creating the light bulb when he did it; he only has a feeling that it was close. When Charles Brooks was working on a new way to have streets swept, imagine what it would be like if he had given up before creating the street sweeping truck. Our world would be a different place if people simply gave up when they were close to reaching their goal. What drove them to continue, in spite of the challenges?


Challenges are not unique to anyone that is simply a fact of life. How challenges are dealt with happens to be unique to each person and it begins in the mind. Jack Canfield, one of the authors of Chicken Soup for the Soul, was featured in The Secret. He talked about how his Life was with family dysfunction, hard times, what he had been taught by parents about money, etc. all the things that make up our "hard luck" stories. The poignant moment in his appearance came when he stated all that "story" and stuff is "So What?". "So What?" your parents were divorced, "So What?" you failed last time, "So What?" they do not like you, "So What"? Every person has challenges to deal with in Life, challenges are not unique, it is your mindset about those challenges which determines how you will come out one the other side. There are four ways to be when going through Life which if taken on in all areas of Life, at all times, will guarantee that you will meet and overcome challenges.


1. Be Diligent: Never give up. Diligence is giving consistent effort to accomplish a goal. Take the stand that there are going to be challenges no matter what happens. And that challenges are neither good nor bad, they just are a part of Life. Be consistent and continue, NEVER GIVE UP!


2. Be Patient: Patient is "bearing provocation, annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, pain, etc., with fortitude and calm and without complaint, anger, or the like". How is that for a definition? Know that things are going to happen and take them as a part of the journey. Being patient builds your ability to be calm and refrain from complaining. The phenomenon of attraction is true whether you like it or not. The more you complain about something the more get more of that something. Be patient, refrain from complaining. Be patient.


3. Be Faithful: Faith is not Belief! Faith is active, belief is passive. Put motion to what you want. Use your faith, step outside of the box and your comfort zone! Make each day a day to stretch closer to your goal. Have faith that what you are setting out to achieve will come to pass.


4. Be Focused: What are you focused on? Be focused on the things that you want to happen. Do not get overwhelmed by the things you cannot change. Take on the laser view of where you are headed. Focus takes knowing what you want and being attracted, paying attention, and taking action around it. What are you focused on? Line your focus up with what you want!


There is a way to "be" going through Life. The word "be" is defined as "to exist or live, to take place; to occupy a place or position". You are able to exist or live and occupy a particular place in whatever challenge you face. You determine what that is going to be. So, I'll be walking each day, eating fruits and vegetables, and hanging out with Gilad, until I see Laila Ali emerge in the mirror, once again!


I can't give up now! Don't You Give Up Now!

Sidney