24 Seven September 2022

EDITOR IN CHIEF Joan Herrmann ASSOCIATE EDITOR Lindsay Pearson CREATIVE DIRECTOR Matt Herrmann GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Chris Giordano Andrea Valentie Oliver Pane CONTRIBUTORS Pamela W. Brinker, LCSW Guy Finley Gayle M. Gruenberg Joan Herrmann Linda Mitchell, CPC, LMT

SELF-LOVE: A MANIFESTATION OF OUR HUMAN BEINGNESS

BY PAMELA W. BRINKER

LIFE IN GRATITUDE?

BY JOAN HERRMANN

THE TRUTH OF LIFE UNFOLDS IN THE PRESENT MOMENT

BY GUY FINLEY

SITUATIONAL OR CHRONIC DISORGANIZATION?

BY GAYLE M. GRUENBERG

LINDA

THE WAY WE VIEW MONEY CAN EITHER MAKE US LIVE IN FEAR OF NEVER HAVING ENOUGH, OR IT CAN OFFER US THE OPPORTUNITY TO ACHIEVE LONGTERM PROSPERITY. JOYCE MARTER HELPS PEOPLE ACHIEVE FINANCIAL WELL-BEING BY FOCUSING ON PSYCHOLOGICAL AND RELATIONAL ISSUES AROUND MONEY. SHE TEACHES HOW TO RELEASE LIMITING HABITS AND BELIEFS TO OPEN UP A WORLD OF FINANCIAL SECURITY AND CONFIDENCE. JOYCE IS A PSYCHOTHERAPIST, SPEAKER, AND FOUNDER OF URBAN BALANCE. HER NEW BOOK IS, THE FINANCIAL MINDSET FIX: A MENTAL FITNESS PROGRAM FOR AN ABUNDANT LIFE.

LISTEN TO THE CONVERSATION WITH JOYCE:

Self-Love: A Manifestation Of Our Human Beingness

Written by Pamela W. Brinker, LCSW

Self-love is an invisible connection with our whole beings, experienced or felt in varying ways on different days. It’s akin to our unseen fascia, the unifying tissue surrounding and holding our organs, bones, blood vessels, and muscles together. Like fascia, self-love encases and stabilizes us. But even more, it holds and warms us.

Our thoughts work against us at times, questioning, even doubting, our self-love. So, when we are able to experience it, the awareness often comes through our hearts, intuition, bodies and energy, radiating from our deepest essences or souls. It’s sometimes a challenge to convince our minds of self-love, in fact, when we’re out of our minds, grounded in our entire beingness, it’s almost easier to experience it.

Self-love includes valuing our bodies as they are today, these changing containers we’ve been given for our true selves. When we truly love ourselves, we can cherish our bodies as they are right now. Not how they could be. Not how they used to be. Our bodies change yearly, even monthly. Self-love is the unconditional, wise grace that embraces those changes without criticism.

If you notice that you’re putting yourself down, try seeing yourself as your dearest friend or treasured family member. Pay attention to the harsh things you’re saying to yourself, then backspace and delete them. Replace with phrases that are unconditionally kind. Make these words not mere affirmations, because cognitive reframes aren’t enough; bring the truth of the absolute love that

Sis your very nature into your body and whole-being. Try strolling around a room you’re in with your hands on your heart and belly, consciously breathing into your whole-being with awareness of the love from within. Exhale into the love that surrounds you - your energyand give yourself a hug.

We often get hung up believing that we are what we do, how we look, or how we act. Those are expressions of ourselves but are not our true selves. We are integrated beings; that is who and what we are. Selflove is remembering our being-ness, personifying who we truly are and living that incarnation. Self-love is not an intention or even a commitment to love ourselves, although those help. It is activating and exemplifying the innate love we were born with, for ourselves.

Additionally, we connect to something greater with this love: to God, nature or the universe, so it is an unconditional emanation sourcing the highest love accessible. It is consciously empowering then, to counter our culture, go against the societal grain, and remember who we truly are. To love ourselves, deeply and completely.

The Author

PAMELA BRINKER

Pamela Brinker is a psychotherapist who has developed tools and practices to teach conscious bravery. She is a speaker and trainer who has taught and led groups and workshops on a variety of themes including motivation, grief, mental health, conscious bravery, addiction, and dream work. She is the author of the book, Conscious Bravery.

To Learn More Visit:

Odette Coronel Relationship Coach

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DO YOU LIFE WITH LIVE YOUR GRATITUDE?

Written by Joan Herrmann

Are you someone that dwells on what is missing or went wrong in your life? Do you whine and complain about your problems? Do you believe that you’ve been dealt a bad hand? Or, are you someone who sees the beauty in every situation, counts your blessings, and has decided that you will live your life in gratitude?

Gratitude is defined as a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation. To be grateful is a mindset, a conscious decision that we make.

I had the privilege of meeting an extraordinary woman, Colleen Alexander, who exemplifies the power of the human spirit and the ability to find the good in any circumstance. In 2011, while bicycling home from work, Colleen was run over and dragged by a freight truck. The accident left her body ripped apart and shattered into pieces as she clung to life. Her survival would be a miracle; she flat lined multiple times as EMTs, doctors, surgeons, and nurses worked ferociously to save her.

After five weeks in a coma, Colleen survived. The doctors did not know what her prognosis would be. She had lost more than 50 percent of her skin and there was a chance she would never walk again. What they did know was that there would be many surgeries in her future.

Colleen’s recovery was long and arduous. She told me that the pain made it difficult to know how to exist and that there were many times when she wanted to give up. But, after spending time contemplating her situation, she decided that she wasn’t going to let the trauma and PTSD control her life. She was going to find a way to make something positive come from her pain.

According to Colleen, her turning point came when she

Abegan to shift the focus from what she was going through to all of the love and care she was shown. She thought about the countless people who gave so much of themselves to save her: the blood donors, medical professionals, friends and family. She realized that she is part of something far bigger than the horrific incident that changed her life. From that point, she was determined to heal.

As a former runner, Colleen’s dream was to run again. She wanted to thank the heroes for saving her life and with that in mind, told herself that she would run, and when she did, she would compete in races and dedicate her medals to them.

Since that time, Colleen has made a full recovery and has gone on to run races and complete triathlons, including halfIronman events.

Colleen chose to turn her tragedy into a catalyst for healing and growth. This is a choice we can each make.

Here are a few tips to help you cultivate gratitude:

Be thankful even if you don’t feel thankful. Each day, practice giving thanks for one thing, whether you feel it or not. Over time, you will be amazed at how the act of being thankful will create feelings of thankfulness.

Keep a gratitude journal. Before going to sleep write down five things from the day for which you are thankful. At first you may struggle to create the list, but before you know it, your list will grow longer and longer.

Say “thank you” often. Expressing thanks will bring joy to others and that joy will eventually trickle down to you.

Live in the moment. Take time to notice the little things. As they say, the little things will one day become the big things.

Acknowledge ungrateful thoughts and replace them with positive ones. Being mindful of your thought process enables you to shift your way of thinking.

Appreciate every experience, the good and the bad. Ask what you can learn from each. You have the opportunity to grow in wisdom and strength.

The Author

JOAN HERRMANN

Joan Herrmann is the creator of the Change Your Attitude…

Your life brand and host of the radio show and podcast, Conversations with Joan. She is a motivational speaker and the publisher of 24 Seven magazine.

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The Truth Of Life Unfolds In The Present Moment

Written by Guy Finley

Knowledge, regardless of its sophisticated nature, is a tool. It arises from and belongs to what has passed. As such it embodies, defines, and relates us to life through what we already know about the world around us. By definition, this kind of understanding is limited. However, no system of thought can stand up to the ever-shifting changes of real life, let alone meet those same changes fearlessly. Regardless how sophisticated its knowledge, the Self that knows itself only through its own conditioned thinking can never develop beyond the content of itself.

When we meet life with preconceived ideas about how to respond to what unfolds before us, we are like downhill skiers trying to know when and where to make turns before it snows. But the truth is we can’t know what to do in advance of any given moment.

Real life is not limited to our understanding of what was; it is always new because it’s the expression of a compassionate and living intelligence that actively shapes whatever it touches, as well as whatever reaches out to touch it. You could say that each moment appears, as it does in whatever its form or color — hard or soft, dark or light — to reveal us to ourselves. How can we hope to learn from such moments, to be transformed and perfected by them, if we meet them with hardened biased views about how they should unfold?

And just as one wouldn’t mistake the ladder he must climb for the rooftop from which he hopes to view the stars, neither should we confuse even the most sophisticated spiritual knowledge for those innermost revelations that

Kcan come to us only through living in the now.

Genuine self-knowledge is one and the same as being fully self-aware in the present moment. As such, it is never static. This fluid level of Self places no demands on life, therefore it fears nothing that life may reveal. Being fearless, it never has to imagine a freedom “to come,” any more than a river needs to imagine how to flow.

When you are present to yourself, quietly watchful of the relationship that is always unfolding in the present moment, then you have no more need to prepare for what life will bring than a newly opened rose needs to ready itself for the warmth of the sun that comes to release its fragrance.

This article is excerpted from The Courage to Be Free by Guy Finley.

About The Author

GUY FINLEY

Guy Finley is an internationally renowned spiritual teacher and bestselling self-help author. He is the Founder and Director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit center for spiritual self-study located in Merlin, Oregon. He also hosts the Foundation’s Wisdom School — an on-line self-discovery program for seekers of higher self-knowledge. He is the best-selling author of The Secret of Letting Go and 45 other books and audio programs that have sold over 2 million copies, in 26 languages.

To Learn More Visit: www.GuyFinley.org

IS THIS OR CHRONIC SITUATIONAL DISORGANIZATION?

Written by Gayle M. Gruenberg, CPO-CD®, CVPO

Everyone has times when they feel out of control and disorganized. But for some, the feeling is pervasive and persists. How do you know if you’re situationally or chronically disorganized (CD)?

I often say that life transitions knock our organizing systems out of whack. We may be going along just fine, living life, and then BAM! Something happens that upsets our sense of stability, and we find ourselves surrounded by clutter and chaos. We may have experienced a loss, a move, a career change, new marital status, welcomed a child, be newly taking care of an aging parent, or suddenly working from home in less than optimal spatial conditions. All of these events are temporary and can cause situational disorganization.

Clothes may pile up on the floor. Mail may come in and not get opened for a while. Take-out meals may become the norm.

Allow time to pass to get acclimated to this new normal. Take stock of your current systems for managing time, space, relationships, and more. I call this a “periodic look-through”. Examine what has been working so far and tweak it to fit the current circumstance. Things will soon settle down and life will run smoothly again. You’ll do the laundry and it will get put away. The mail will get opened and addressed. You’ll once again cook meals, if that’s part of your lifestyle. You’ll adapt and create a new routine to accommodate the new life event.

Conversely, chronic disorganization is pervasive and more permanent. Someone living with CD has been disorganized most of their lives. Being disorganized negatively impacts the quality of their life on a daily basis. They have tried

Eevery self-help solution available to them with little success. They may have a brain-based condition, such as ADHD, traumatic brain injury, depression, or anxiety, that impedes their executive functions, which include the skills required for organizing.

Clothes may pile up on the floor and there is confusion as to what is clean and what is dirty. Garbage may not hit the trash can and stays where it lands for days or weeks. Mail comes in, piles up, is put into bags, and is hidden away in a closet. Bills go unpaid.

Without some outside intervention, the conditions are likely to remain as they are. Addressing CD requires some creativity, experience, and expertise. A multidisciplinary approach may be needed, including not just a professional organizer but a therapist, psychiatrist, neurologist, coach, friends, family, and other supports. Systems that seem outlandish may need to be created, and ongoing support may be required to maintain them.

GAYLE M. GRUENBERG

Gayle M. Gruenberg, CPO-CD®, CVPO, is the chief executive organizer of Let’s Get Organized, LLC, an organizer coach, and the creator

Make Space for Blessings system.

Just Try It!

Written by Linda Mitchell

WWhat does it mean to try something new? It could be exploring a new hobby, a new genre of books, new food, or a new career path. Whatever it means to you, the principle is the same for everyone: trying new things opens your world, eyes, and heart to new possibilities. That’s the overarching benefit of trying new things, but here are other distinctive benefits.

Growth happens. Stepping out of your

comfort zone into the wilderness of the unknown creates a swell of personal growth from new experiences. It may not always be easy or comfortable, but it certainly will expand your mind and make you aware of the possibilities life has to offer. When new opportunities are presented, if you allow yourself to explore new territory, you’ll also discover parts of yourself that are untapped.

It boosts courage. Courage is defined as the ability to do something that frightens you. Chances are, you may be a little uneasy with the idea of trying something new and that’s perfectly normal. Choosing to intentionally tackle new things will boost your courage and confidence. The greatest benefit here? You’ll be better prepared when you’re confronted with unexpected or difficult situations, and you need to muster some courage. You’ll already have experience exercising your courage muscle and things will be less intimidating as you venture forward. You’ll also have good reason to be proud of yourself.

It keeps life exciting. Variety is the spice of life. This old cliché is still true. You can enjoy quiet time or relaxation breaks but being bored is a totally different story. The good news is, it’s hard to be bored if you continuously inject your life with new adventures and experiences. It’s easy to get into a comfortable rut but that can get tedious. The next time you feel a twinge of monotony, try something new. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll get rid of that dull feeling.

If a new opportunity or experience suddenly presents itself without any prompting and you discover you actually love it, there’s probably something deeper to recognize. This didn’t happen by mistake. Perhaps your higher power or higher self is sending a signal. A new interest may spotlight untapped talents

or skills and introduce you to people or opportunities you didn’t even know existed. Perhaps it sends your life on a new trajectory; one you wouldn’t even have considered but are eternally grateful for because of the joy and fulfillment you now enjoy. Yes, some things are hit or miss, and you won’t love everything you try, but you’ll undoubtedly find some activities, people, or interests that you never knew about.

The next time someone invites you to do something a little different, consider saying yes. After all, the worst-case scenario is that you learn you don’t like it – and that’s not so bad either. Life is as limitless as you allow it to be. You owe it to yourself to explore new things and see what you can learn about yourself, your gifts and your potential. Go for it!

The Author

LINDA MITCHELL

Linda Mitchell is a board-certified coach, speaker, intuitive healer, and LMT. She empowers people who feel stuck, overwhelmed or ready for change to release their fear, gain clarity, confidence, and meaningful direction as they move through life’s challenges and transitions and step into their highest purpose.

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“Life is as limitless as you allow it to be.”