Awaken Into Life Blog

31 Days

veda challenge 2013Thirty one days.  On August 1st I made a snap decision to make a video for every day in August.  I didn’t know when I began just how hard it would be to “get it together” and share a piece of my life every day.  I didn’t know how much I would dread trying to think of something to say in those moments. 

You see, about a year and a half ago I closed a healing arts studio.  A place I had created because I wanted to create an open and supportive community for people to learn and grow in the little conservative town of Jersey Shore in central Pennsylvania.  I failed.  I mean like really, really failed.  I didn’t know what I had gotten myself into.  I didn’t understand how challenging it would be.  At the time, I felt as if the little town had rejected me.  Read more…

8 Ways to Be a Better Listener

earAre you a good listener?  Some people mistake being quiet for being a good listener.  I remember having a conversation with a woman once who was telling me that she felt that one of her best qualities was that she was a good listener.  During that exact same conversation, I noticed that while I was talking, she was very quiet.  She was so quiet in fact that her eyes became glazed over.  I knew that her mind was somewhere else completely. 

If you are “listening” but you can’t recall the gist of what the other person was saying then you might not be such a good listener.  Allowing someone to talk is a nice gesture but don’t mistake it for good active listening skills.   Read more…

Journaling Prompts for Releasing Resentment

sheletgoIs resentment destroying your life?

When resentment gets a hold on us, it bites deep.  Webster says that resentment is a feeling of indignant displeasure or persistent ill will at something regarded as a wrong, insult, or injury. 

Most of us have felt resentment towards a person or a situation at some point in our lives.  Resentment pops up for me when I begin to feel like I don’t have a ‘say’ in how life is going.

Today I invite you to consciously step back from resentful feelings and ask yourself the following questions:  Read more…

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

lineLast weekend we visited an amusement park.  The lines were long.  I’m always amazed at how long people will stand in line for a 30 second thrill.  It struck me as we inched forward in the lines how interesting and symptomatic these lines were.

We are waiting, waiting, waiting.  Waiting for the next adrenaline rush.  The next adventure.  We are waiting in line for someone else to take the reigns and give our lives that 30 second rush.  Read more…

67 Ways to Combat Loneliness & Reclaim Your Freedom Factor

lonelinessfreedomI am lonely this summer.  You know that feeling when you’re at a picnic full of friends and family, people who love you, but you still feel a deep sense of loneliness?  I’m feeling that.  I’m not sure why.  I think part of it is because I have not done any traveling this year.  I love planning for and going on adventures.  It fills me up, the connecting with new places and people and experiences.  We did not take a vacation this year.  I’ve tried to plan some other smaller family adventures but there is not much interest from the fam.  So I decided I would take all this lonely, stuck in the mud energy and put it to good use!

I made a list (hoping to get to 100) of activities that I knew would help me climb out of the loneliness pit.  I choose one thing from it every day and do it.   Help me add to it in the comments below.   Read more…