I came into this world with childlike innocence and wonder, trusting everyone and everything. Then at some point my world view began to change, it was no longer safe to simply be me. I started to judge myself based on the expectations and judgement of others. I started to compare myself to others and in this comparison made myself wrong. This inner story snowballed and silently affected my experiences and relationships. Then one day I started to question this story. Does this sound familiar?

I believe that we are here on this earth to experience being human. At the same time as we are being human, we are also uncovering our spirituality. An interesting paradox to live and experience. We look to teachers and positive messages to guide us and return us to wholeness. My observation is that in the process we are striving for perfection in a "spiritual" way which creates a different level of stress and imbalance. We may notice all that we are "not" as we seek spiritual growth and self awareness. 

To suggest that somebody might have the desire or need to grow up is a bold statement. After all we are adults with responsibility and commitment, we have brought children into this world, we own homes and cars etc. Despite the truth of all those grown up acts, we can be emotionally child like inside our adult bodies. Grow The F#&% Up is intended to be an urgent call to action; a metaphor for a deep desire for personal growth and change. At the same time there is an interesting

Over the years it has become easier to openly share my stories and my fears and feel like I have nothing to hide. While this is my truth, it is most certainly not everyone's truth. I had forgotten how difficult it can be to share with others and be vulnerable. Creating a safe space where authentic sharing and reflection can happen is a real passion of mine. Fire represents the intense courage and risk required to be authentic, open and present in our interactions. When the person you are speaking to opens their heart and lets down their shield a different fire begins

Life can be messy and in those wonderful situations that life presents us there are always gifts that eventually present themselves. Your rocks, are those things that keep you anchored when things are tough. Your rocks are the things. you absolutely believe in, that can sometimes keep you stuck. Your rocks can represent your core needs.

Last week, I went to a talk about "Issues  in Adolescence" and as information was being shared, I had this growing awareness / idea. We are emotional beings, yet I don't recall anyone giving me permission to be emotional until I started training as a life coach at the age of 36. Although as I grew up, I do remember being told things like; "don't cry in public" or "don't be angry" or "don't be so loud" or "don't cry" or "be strong" etc etc. As a species, we have evolved very quickly and we still have primal instincts such as fight or flight, which is a response to fear. A dog's response to fear is to growl, which is a natural / necessary response to danger. It is instinctual, for a dog to growl or bark. I think we as human beings, have become disconnected, from our natural emotions and instead of feeling them we are suppressing them, because we don't know what else to do.

I had an interesting experience today at work in regards to anger. I have recently spent some time listening to Panache Desai, and loving what he has to say about our life journey. I first saw him on Oprah Super Soul Sunday and I have also watched a couple of his interviews on YouTube. There are a couple of things that he says that apply to what I am sharing today. Firstly, he says that, "our job is an excuse for which you get to love people."  This has really been a thought in the back of my mind recently. I have worked at Starbucks for many years now and I encounter a broad range of people. My thought is, "Love Everyone".... wow, that might be a stretch. The other piece that Panache speaks of, is embracing our emotions and allowing them to surface, be present to them, feel them, notice them. Our emotions are energy in motion and allowing them to move and to experience them is a good thing.