These words are the title of Chapter 3 in Louise Hay's and Cheryl Richardson's new book "You Can Create an Exceptional Life".  These words caught my attention as I'm living a different kind of life these days and I keep thinking "how do I live every day from my heart".

I began thinking about habits.  By their automatic nature, they can be so blind to us.  We may not even be aware that they are limiting us.  I thought about how uncomfortable it can feel to let go of the familiar - and how easy it can be to judge something new as wrong.

As I've been working with these questions for the past couple of days (not to suggest that I have any answers) I'm very aware of my own sensation of inner stuckness - like trying to ride a bicycle through mud.  I'm wondering, what's up with this?  What automatic habits might be kicking into action for me? How am I working with flow in my life?

I started noticing the way I plan.  In reflection, I thought about how I used to plan everything, every moment, of every day.  It was a point of humor in my family when I would be spontaneous and my husband and children would get a laugh at how out of character this would seem for me.   This planning skill worked very well in my life for many years.  As a working mother of three children, there was always a list of things to get done.  I worked full-time (meaning 50-60 hours).  I often continued working at home in the evenings.  There was making dinner, car pools and after school events for my children.  By the time the week ended, I would roll right into the next week with our shared list of family to-do's, honey-do list, the calendar posting of who needed to be where and when for what appointment.  It was exhausting but it kept us afloat - so I continued without examination.

Today, I'm building a new business.  And while I have plans and ideas that I'm putting in motion - much of my work is creative, organic and evolving.  Each day something shows up or is brought to my attention that allows me to expand my thinking and direction.  How can I plan for what I don't know yet??

Before jumping to solutions (another automatic habit), I decided to just start paying attention.  I'm using self-observation and journaling as tools to notice where limiting patterns are showing up and to be intentional about what I introduce in each day.  I'm asking questions about what is giving me spaciousness?  Where am I pushing too hard?  I'm beginning by taking stock of how I spend my time and how satisfied I am with the outcomes of that time.

If you're interested in seeing how you're living your life - take this Life Balance Survey and share your insights if you'd like.

Peace to you,

Terri