What feelings do you want to have?  Do you want to feel happy, successful, challenged, loved or rested?  What do you want to do?  What if there were no limits?  What if you had all the money, time, energy, and health you could ever want?  Then what?  What do you want out of life?  What if…?

As you think of everything, write it down.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a list, a mind map or even a collage of pictures and words.  The important thing is to expand your thinking.  Expand the possibilities.  The act of writing it down gives it validity and tells the universe, “This is what I want.”

Do you want a diamond ring?  Do you want your neighbors to talk with you?  Do you want people to stop fighting?  Do you want to visit all seven continents? Do you want a better relationship? Do you want to learn five different languages? Do you want to ride a horse?  Do you want to improve the educational system?

Don’t worry about how it will get done.  The how will actually show up if you let go of chasing it.  The purpose of this exercise is to just imagine all that is possible.  It’s that simple.

I did this yesterday and then again today.  Already I feel more excited for life.  I watched less TV (as in none).  I went to the beach and enjoyed an hour of sunshine with a friend and my dog. Yesterday, I ran into a cousin of mine and as we were talking, something he said created an aha moment for me and I got a really great idea.  Today, I woke up dreaming about something that inspired me, which coincidentally was related to the aha moment from yesterday.

For right now, I don’t have to do anything other than dream build on the idea.  The action will come.  But for now the action is dream building.  I’m moving to the ahs.

(Hey did you notice how close ahs sounds to Oz?  Maybe that’s what L. Frank Baum was writing about in The Wizard of Oz.  Interesting thought.)

Last summer, this man’s wife was dying and I was playing with her energy to help her be more comfortable. As so often happened, we started talking. One time, it was about her impending death. I asked her to come up with a sign that would let her husband know when she is around after her death. They decided on three different signs – white roses, his keychain, and rainbows. The idea was to have a touch point to help him.

Well about a month later (after she had died), he texted me: “Not sure if u remember the rainbow discussion, but I saw the most magnificent rainbow this morning as I turned onto the Edens [a highway]. And then when I looked to follow the rainbow to the other end, I saw a United jet flying thru the center of it.”

This gave me chills. Not only was his former wife “appearing” thru the rainbow, but she had worked for United Airlines. He felt connected. He felt her love. He felt “over the rainbow.”

A year ago, I had the thought that I’d like to retake the level three class for Matrix Energetics…you know, to brush up on what I’ve forgotten and to learn more.  At least I thought this was the reason.  This wasn’t a big sign, but it was a possible lifesaver.

Three months ago, I met a new guy and we really hit it off.  He lives in Florida, so I decided to take the level three class in Fort Lauderdale.

Three weeks ago, I had a day when my heart wouldn’t slow down after exercising.  The chiropractor gave me potassium/magnesium to help.  By the time I got home, I didn’t need it any more and didn’t even open the bottle.  I even had the idea to bring it with me to Florida, but didn’t.  My mistake.

A week ago, my uncle had a massive heart attack.  He’s out of ICU and doing better.

Six days ago, I was in my level three class learning about the magic circle and triangle, then went up to the room and my boyfriend didn’t look right.  He joked that he’d either popped a rib or was having a heart attack.  As a retired chiropractor, I figured he knew what was what.  So, I matrixed the situation until his rib felt better.  He felt great overall, more peaceful in fact, so we went out to lunch.

That night at dinner, he started to sweat profusely and was nauseous.  (Thankfully, I’d read somewhere that these are heart attack symptoms, but I let the retired doctor take the lead.)  We went it back to the hotel where he rested.  Then he stood up, tilted and passed out.  I quickly matrixed him (only about 5 seconds worth) with what I’d learned that day, and then called 911.

Luckily, he came to very quickly and the paramedics* arrived to help.  The EKG was normal and his blood pressure was low/normal.  He refused a trip to the hospital, saying it was probably just dehydration and then asked me if I’d brought any potassium.  Oops.  Did Matrix Energetics really help?  Did I save him?  I don’t know.  But the energy shifted enough to allow a better outcome.

After another day of resting, he felt much better and we drove to his home in Tampa.  He immediately took this experience as a sign and started changing his habits…less soda and food…more water.  And he’s checking in with a cardiologist this week.

So, when you hear that voice in your head, which comes across as a thought or a feeling, follow it.  The universe is giving you a sign even if you don’t know the significance of the sign.  I’ve figured out that every time the voice said do “X” and I said “no” it was a mistake.  From now on, I’m saying “yes.”

*Thank you Broward County paramedics.  You were great!

Update:  It turned out that he displaced four ribs.

I’m officially weird.  During a massage, I would have a thought or a visual image come to mind. I said them out loud and the points released more easily. (Even the therapist said this was helping.)  That by itself isn’t weird.  In fact, if muscles hold memories then when the muscles are stimulated as with touch, the memories can be released, which is another way of saying the memories are given recognition and permission to move.

The weird part was how much I think in cartoon form. Some of today’s cartoons were very creative.  While the massage therapist was working on my left shoulder in the front, I thought of a bakery with cakes lining the walls.  Then “4 a.m.” popped into my mind. I sat with it for a while and didn’t try to analyze it.  It just was.  Then an image of a white mountain of ice cream appeared.  I was skiing by myself down the mountain around moguls of nuts and chocolate chunks.  At the bottom of the mountain was a lake of hot chocolate.  I could actually see the steam rising.  I got the giggles at how silly this was.  But then I asked myself, “Who is with me?”  I saw myself sitting in a wooden Adirondack chair sipping a steaming mug of hot chocolate and looking at the lake.  In the chair next to me was my mate I have yet to meet.  We were quiet and just enjoying the moment.  The shoulder released as soon as I saw who was with me in the visual.  Very cool.

The arch of my left foot produced an even weirder image.  The thought that came to me was a money purse, like a big coin purse with a twisty clasp on the top.  It didn’t feel free moving, so I looked underneath.  A thick-silver chain was attached to the bottom of the purse and was pulled taught, attached to something below.  I went looking for whatever was holding the other end.  A jolly little man was sitting Indian style holding the chain and laughing.  It was almost as if he was just holding on until I noticed.  I greased the chain with some of Mother Mary’s blue goo and Archangel Michaels’s violet fire of transformation. The tension in my foot eased immediately.

I love when my creative thoughts just flow and images come to mind…and I feel even better as a result of it.  It’s fun to be weird.

A while ago, a teacher explained to me that it is enough to offer words of wisdom and encouragement in my coaching.  That is success.  If the client takes and uses the information, that is up to them.

Underneath it, I understood her, and even agreed.  However, it wasn’t until an event occurred in my own life that I really got how powerful it is to give without worrying about if the person accepts it.

You see, my son (who was 12 at the time) broke two fingers during wrestling practice.  Being in a lot of pain, he didn’t sleep well for the first two nights.  This meant that I didn’t either.  We would sleep and then wake up as the pain increased.  To get him to return to dreamland, I would “run energy” into his hand.  He would relax and fall back to sleep.  “Running the energy” continued throughout the days and nights.

Eventually, he would just take my hands and place them around his broken fingers.  It was a silent connection, but still very powerful.  But I was growing weary – or at least I thought I should be.  However, in reality I was calm and peaceful.  I’d even noticed that a minor headache that had started during the night was gone by the morning.  I was feeling great. (True confession: I was tired and foggy, but I was also energized because I could feel the peace and calm…and I didn’t have a headache, not even the monthly hormonal one.)

This made sense once I realized that running energy is the same as sending love.  The more love I was giving out, the better I felt.  I was offering of myself and not worrying about if it was doing what it was supposed to do.  I was offering my son’s hand love.  He chose to accept it.  But the part that is amazing is how good it made me feel.  Yes, success is in the offering.

For example, if you love your job, you will feel energized and it won’t feel like work.  However, if you dread your job or it just doesn’t interest you that much, you are more tired at the end of the day.

Well yesterday, I was tired but also energized.  In fact, I was even still excited and bouncing at eleven o’clock at night.  I’d spent the day doing stuff that I love, such as writing, learning and leading a discussion.  Today, I was looking forward to the meetings I had from nine to four.  Apparently, I wasn’t looking forward to them as much as I thought I was.  I was exhausted by the end of the day.

When I look back on the experience, I realize that while I chose to participate in the meetings, there was resistance.  I showed up late to the first, wasn’t super prepared for the second, and didn’t pay attention to the clock and was late to the last.  Oops.

But there was gold.  I did get to talk with people I hadn’t seen in a long time.  I was able to shift out of a headache. I was able to contribute valuable input.  And hey, I even found out that something very big that I’d matrixed came out in our favor…big time.

I guess the lesson of the week is to feel good by doing what you love.  And if you have to do other stuff too, then…try to neutralize your feelings so at least it doesn’t drag down your energy or simply find the gold.  And now that I’m writing, I feel much more energized, so another choice is to follow what you resist with something you love.  As soon as you do what you love, your energy will grow.

Tonight, he called for help with some homework.  He wanted me to look over his Coaching Philosophy statement and help him tweak it.  I was impressed with the draft that he presented me.  But I was more impressed with how we worked together through numerous drafts, something we hadn’t been able to do in the past.  He said things such as, “I was thinking that that word was wrong” when I tweaked a specific word.  Or  “I agree with how that sentence is now.”  Or “The reason I want it this way is….”

He was respectful while working with me.  He took responsibility for his work.  He was willing to work hard at this assignment even though it was 11 at night, and he still has to study for an exam.  And he showed the discipline to stay with the assignment until it was done correctly.  He’s really living his own coaching philosophy.  Way to go JT!!!

I’ve included his assignment if you are interested:

JT’s Coaching Philosophy

            One never truly fails until they stop trying.  My coaching philosophy is to teach my athletes what it takes to be a success in and out of sports. They will learn the values of hard work, discipline, respect, and responsibility. With these values, the boys will grow into men. My athletes will work harder and do more than the next team through structured discipline. Every day in or out of practice, we will improve at least one thing. Every athlete on the team is important to the team’s success. I will encourage all my athletes to do more than their perceived best. It is important to respect themselves and enjoy the spirit of the sport. Respect does not stop in the gym, but it is used out in the community, at home, with our fans, and especially with our opponents. This philosophy will carry these athletes through life long after the win is forgotten. I will give my athletes the tools to be successful. It is their responsibility to use them.

Let me explain.  I fell in love recently, and he’s a great guy, but unfortunately he lives 1,200 miles away.  We talk every day, multiple times a day, and recently he came to visit for two weeks.  The light-hearted, fluttery feeling of love was there.  But when he left, I realized that I was neutral…really neutral.  If we continued to date, it would be great.  If not, then he raised my expectations for what to hope for from a man.  (He’s that good.)

At first this threw me for a loop.  What if I didn’t really love him?  So, I focused on what I wanted…the feelings I have with him and all his good points.  Not only this, but my friends say they can see it on my face, and I have a new softness about me. And besides, I think of multiple things during the day that I’d like to share with him.

But wait, all my spiritual teachings have been guiding me toward neutrality – I’m okay if I do, and I’m okay if I don’t.  Wasn’t this a perfect example?  It’s just strange being so neutral and not feeling the society-accepted definition of love…the pining away, the longing, the other yearnings.  I can find the feelings, but they aren’t overwhelming me as they would have in the past.

With this wonderful man, I can speak my mind (mindful of how I communicate) without worrying about pleasing him.  I can be me.  What a concept…being me while in a relationship!  In fact, I feel like I’m a better me when I’m with him.

And one of the best things about neutrality is that if things between us dissolve, all I have to do is say, “Next.”  And I’m ready to move on.   It’s all about taking the energy out of things.  They are neither right nor wrong.  They just are.  I guess I have learned something with all this studying.

But for now, I’m going to smell the 18 roses he sent me yesterday.  Love sure can be sweet.

I challenge you to spend an hour today looking at yourself in the mirror and thinking about all the things you love about yourself. To make this even stronger, write down what you are saying so that you can remind yourself later what you love about yourself.

Too often we get caught up in judgment, which is usually negative. The more negative we think and feel, the worse we feel about ourselves. And the worse we feel about ourselves, the worse we do in life. The trick is to input more positive comments than negative ones, and since we have a lifetime of negative comments, we have some catching up to do. So, spend sometime today loving yourself.

And then follow it up with a positive action…something that will demonstrate to the universe that you really do love yourself.

Update:  I did this exercise myself today and do you know what?  It shifted my energy and I feel even better than I did when I woke up.  All I did was recognize what was already there.  Now to put it in action…I think a nice walk is in order.  Or maybe something silly like putting on lipstick and kissing the mirror so that whenever I look in the mirror and see all those kisses, I’m reminded that I love me.  Just thinking about this makes me giggle.

Being a typical teenager…in fact being human…he made a mistake. (No I’m not going to tell you what it was.) We discussed it. I let it roll around in my head for 24 hours. And then I delivered the verdict, which included me talking to the parents of the other boys involved. It was this last part that “ruined” his high school life.

This of course, led to another discussion about how emotions are so big in high school, his friends will still be his friends after they calm down…and if they aren’t, they weren’t very good friends to begin with. We continued talking and I said, “This was a mistake. What did you learn from it? What would you do differently? Now let’s move on. After all, everyone makes mistakes. This is how we learn and become better.”

But even in all this…with his feeling nauseous, upset and unable to concentrate on homework…we found the gold. To help him concentrate, I suggested we read his English book together. We settled on the couch, in front of the fireplace and spent a very nice hour together. We had found the gold in a bad situation.

Sometimes, it’s hard to be a parent. In fact sometimes, it’s hard to be a kid. But at other times, it’s golden.