Reinventing Yourself

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

So many folks come to me who are looking for work.  Some have been unemployed for months, if not years.  Some were laid off, found another job, and got laid off again.  All are hugely frustrated from sending out resumes into the abyss.

More recently, I've had people come to me who are in secure jobs but wanting to quit.  Or people who don't have to work, but are being moved to make drastic changes in their lives.

What's so interesting is that it's the same energy affecting (and motivating) all of them.

We are being called to live in integrity.  We are being called to act in alignment with our Expanded Selves.  No longer can we work at jobs just for money.  We have to start doing what we're here to do.

It's not necessarily about finding and fulling your life purpose.  I believe our life purpose is to create.  How we create and what we create is unique for each one of us.

It has nothing to do with destiny, I don't believe anything is destined.  We're all on a road trip through life and we get to choose the route.

If you were laid off, it's a big message from the Universe (your Expanded Self) that you're to do something different.  If you keep applying for the same position, no wonder you're not experiencing any results.

The thing I know is, if you take a risk towards doing what you've been called to do, the Universe supports you.

It's all about acting with Consciousness.  Being Aware in each of your actions.  Operating from the Bigger Picture Perspective. 

You can tell when you're off-kilter.  You don't feel good.  There's conflict in your life.  You're experiencing restriction which can show up as lack of money, lack of love, lack of other needs.

Course correction can be dramatic or subtle.  You can make small changes and in a short while be on your path, feeling happy and content.  You can take extreme action and completely change everything in your life and feel exhilarated and alive.

It's all about reinventing yourself.  Who you currently are is your invention.  Everything you define yourself and your life is all subject to change.  You have the freedom to do things differently, and be a different person in the process.  Yet at your core you will be fully and completely Yourself.

In order to reinvent yourself, you have to let go of your old definitions.  You might hold on to your abusive childhood because it's made you who you are today.  Letting go of the 'survivor' label doesn't invalidate or negate your past, but allows you to step beyond it, to become a 'thriver'. 

You might discover that things you were really good at, that you got a lot of external praise for being, doesn't really satisfy you deep down.  Being an excellent marketer and able to convince people to buy products may not be what the Inner You really loves.

It can be scary to let go of what we thought was secure and real.  But the payoff is Expansion beyond our wildest dreams.

This week - reinvent yourself!

Spiritual Merit Badges

Spiritual Merit Badges ©2008 Joan M. Newcomb

We all know what society’s merit badges are – the right job, the right spouse, the right house, car and other possessions. They’re the things that give us status in the world. If we’ve been to the right schools, if our resume has the right things on it, if our paycheck reflects the right amount of digits – we can define our life as successful.

But what are spiritual merit badges? Spiritual merit badges are less tangible – sometimes a connection with the Infinite, an inner calling, a spiritual awareness. Living through difficulty such an illness or life crises and coming out the other side with wisdom and depth gives you spiritual merit badges.

Often spiritual merit badges are not seen or not valued by those with an abundance of societal merit badges, or those who are preoccupied with accumulating an armful of societal ones. Ironically, the losing some or all of society merit badges can give you spiritual ones.

It is possible to have a balance of both, but you have to give up the ‘right’ of either kind. It’s possible to be spiritual and have money. It’s possible have nice possessions and be connected with God.

From a spiritual point of view, it’s all about one’s ability to create in this world. To Spirit, there’s no good or bad about experience, so you’re equally as capable if you have an abundance of fortune as an abundance of disaster. Ever notice when you’re talking with someone who’s complaining about their lot in life and you offer helpful suggestions, they usually shoot you down and say how their problems are much worse? It’s because they’re spiritually boasting about how creative they are! Also, in offering helpful suggestions, you’re actually invalidating their creativity! If you have a particular problem, you have within you the solution to that problem.

Using your own inner wisdom you can begin by simply noticing your own spiritual merit badges, and validating how capable you are to have earned them! Realize that you create your life circumstances, and thus created all those situations in your past that contributed to your abundance of merit badges! Perhaps you'd like to now accumulate different ones (i.e. a few societal merit badges) - you can let the Universe know you're interested in learning new lessons! If you're experienced with hardships, struggle and loss, a different lesson would be to experience gain through effortless ease, for example. Put out your requests to the Universe and then sit back and watch what happens!

Spiritual Merit Badges ©2008 Joan M. Newcomb