Planning

Repurpose Your Thoughts to Change the Outcome

September 28, 2017 By Cara Lumen

If your life isn’t working out the way you want it to, change your thoughts and daydreams. It’s all on you. Your thoughts create your life experience. You have the power to change that. You have the power to design the life you want!

Look at what’s not working

Sometimes there are very subtle things that keep us from achieving happiness. It may be some self-worth negativity you’re feeding yourself. It could be that you have set your expectations too high, or too low. It may be that your dreams seem not to be aligned with your reality. Big or little, become aware of what’s not working.

Change your expectation

Take a close look at what you expect can happen. I sometimes look at people with a broad business platform and mostly see the repetition it takes to acquire that. I would be bored singing the same song over and over. Or giving the same talk, or teaching the same classes. I don’t even want to write about the same topics over and over. Exploring is at the core of my happiness. So the bottom line is that I don’t want to have a broad platform if what I have to do requires a lot of repetition.

But what if I change my expectation of what it takes to have a broad platform? What if I drop all the “ways I know to get your business known” and just keep putting out my natural enthusiasm and the discoveries I continue to make? I would be happiest doing that.

Change what you believe is possible

See how I have damaged my expectation? I hold a belief I need to release. That belief says I have to repeat the same material over and over in order to become more known. And everything in me is saying, “Keep exploring. Keep exploring!”

What if it’s possible to simply radiate my ideas and discoveries in the forms that are the most enjoyable to me and believe that more and more and more people will find my work and be moved by it?

My measurement stick is flawed. It’s not about numbers. It’s about the results that are created. I have a very high open rate among my readers so I know that lives are being changed by the shift that happens from some of the concepts I explore. I also know that my work (as does yours) has a ripple effect.

One idea received and absorbed and acted upon can move mountains.

What is your more expansive thought?

In my heart, I know that I touch lives. I get to release any thought of measurement by numbers. I now think in terms of the depth of the change that’s made in the people who are drawn to my discoveries and my insights, in my current forms of sharing. And because in my mind I know that those who are drawn to my work are major players in their own sphere of influence, I know that the ripple effect of my explorations goes places I cannot even begin to imagine.

What do you think you are doing?

How can you change what you think your impact is in order to allow it to be resilient, heart-touching, and far-reaching

One heart at a time. One life at a time. One share at a time. Keep shining your light – and trust.

To Sing a Deeper Song Consider

The Mirror of Appreciation

What is Your Unique Purpose?

What Do You Need to Leave Behind

Where Do YouPlant our Stake?

How to Hold the Space for the New Vision to Emerge

The Three-Year Promise

May 18, 2017 By Cara Lumen

We overestimate what we can do in one year and underestimate what we can do in three years. What do you want in three years? Are your goals about work, or relationships or health? Are you thinking big enough?

What do you want to have accomplished in three years?

Stop. What just popped into your head when you read that? What do you want to have accomplished in three years? That thought you just had. That’s it. That’s what you work on.

It doesn’t need to be particularly specific, but keep that goal in mind as we explore some ideas to make your goal a reality.

I was totally surprised to find that my three-year goal was that I wanted to recover some of my physical ability. Being a metaphysician, I don’t want to buy into the common idea that as we age our body becomes less effective. However, that’s hard because I live in a senior facility filled with walkers and stooped-over people on oxygen.

I work to see and feel my body as strong and supportive. But I have both inner and outer work to do and beliefs to change and things to learn. So I choose as my three-year goal that my body will be stronger than it is now.

What did you choose?

What would that look like?

What would that feel like?

You gotta have a plan

The first thing I realized was that I need to have a plan. A plan that I’ll stick to and improve on for three years – steps I’m willing to take, goals I truly want to achieve. I need to formulate a plan that’ll help me achieve the desired results.

You gotta have determination

You need to want this goal – a lot.

I have a friend who is sick. There’s stuff wrong with her but she is not helping. She’s not eating. She’s not moving her body. She’s not helping herself. This passiveness has been a pattern in her life. Not pushing through. Not taking charge of her own destiny.

I can’t help her. No one can. She is totally responsible for the outcome of this opportunity in her life.

As are we all.

What your life looks like now is a direct result of your choices and actions. What choices are you making in your life that are manifesting in what you see before you? What do you need to change – about yourself – about your actions? What choices will you make in order to achieve your three-year goal?

Make a plan you can follow

I gave this idea of a three-year goal a lot of thought because my natural tendency is to work my mind rather than move my body. So I had to create a plan I would follow, either through determination or trickery.

I choose the number 21. It takes 21 days to change a habit. I would do whatever form of movement I chose for 21 minutes. I don’t think I’m going to do 21 different forms of movement, but you get the picture.

Trick yourself. I can add 12 (the number 21 reversed) leg lifts every time I stand at my kitchen sink. I watch The View every day and for one 15-minute segment I will stretch and move. I walk each day but may count 210 steps or walk for 12 minutes. I could climb 21 steps 21 times. (Doubtful). There are 16 steps in the hall by my mailbox so even one trip up and down would be a positive move.

Dancing is a sneaky way to exercise. Turn on some music and sing and dance with great enthusiasm. Get creative. Sneak in small steps.

I have discovered that the most productive time to sneak in a new habit is during television commercials. When I use that time to move my body, during one hour I may get as much as 15 minutes of movement tucked in. I could also use commercial breaks to dust or put stuff away or tidy my kitchen.

Whether you sit in your chair and stretch, or get up and lift some weights, or take some other action toward your goal, look for the hidden down-time moments that are organically built into your day.

If my three-year goal was around relationship, I would work very hard on changing me.

If my three-year goal was focused on a project, I would mind-map broad steps, divide them into manageable segments and begin.

Listen to your inner voice

As I make these physical choices, I have to learn to listen to the messages of my body. I have to learn to give it what it needs in the form and amount that it needs. And I get to notice whose voice it is that says “do three more steps” and to ignore the voice that says “too hard.” They are both me, but I need to find the balance between pushing too hard so that I get discouraged and pushing just right so that I feel and see progress.

Check your progress

The only way I know to track my progress is to record my starting stats. Then I record my progress monthly. That progress may be in mental attitude, or in actual physical change. Decide upon the signals you can read that will let you become aware of your progress. Take time to reflect on this progress and make adjustments that will help you get more results.

I do a self-awareness check on my birthday. I check in with myself at the end of the year. I am also reflective at the time of the New Moon and at Full Moon. Pick what works for you but do record your progress so you can see it and you can tweak your plan.

Visualize your results every day

Each day in your quiet inner time, visualize how you will feel at the end of the three years when you have surpassed your own expectations. It’s awesome for me to remember the freedom my body used to afford me, the adventures we went on together. I want that back. When I visualize, I feel that way again and it inspires and motivates me. Your emotions are a better indicator of success than what things look like.

Allow room for change

Your goals may change as you change. As my body improves I may change my vision, my goals, even the action steps I choose.

What is your three-year vision? Will you begin working on it today? What’s your plan?

To Sind a Deeper Song Consider:

My Three Words for 2017

What Do You Need to Leave Behind

What Seeds Do You Allow to Grow in Your Garden?

The Shedding of Your Skin

Clean Your Inside Home

Why We Are Afraid of Change

Be the Story you Want to Tell

VLOG: Insights of a Deeper Song

PODCAST: Reflections of a Deeper Song

Your Gift to the Future

May 4, 2017 By Cara Lumen

I was on a webinar in which we took a shamanic journey to 200 years into the future. We were to see what descendants were there and to ask what our purpose is in this lifetime.

What does 200 years in the future look like?

In my inner journey to 200 years in the future I found that we were gathered around a fire. Not because it was all there was but because it was a connection with nature. The guide that was there for me is the guide from my past and present. Her name is Sage and she is a wise woman.

What do your descendants look like?

I gave a brief thought to the descendants I have in this lifetime; but 200 years down the line? Is that four to five generations? That could be a lot of people. It was a bit daunting to know that what I do now will influence the lives of a great many people in the future. It makes me look carefully at the actions I take today. The world has changed so fast in my own lifetime that it’s hard to imagine 200 years from now.

What gifts have you forwarded to the future?

In this internal, visioning journey, when I asked what my gift to my descendants was, the word “storytelling” leaped out. The idea touched me deeply.

Yes, I write. Yes, I figure things out and I think that helps other people, but a storyteller feeds the imagination of her people, she inspires and motivates them. The idea of passing forward ideas to people 200 years down the line is sobering. And it intensifies the focus of my work.

There are many ways we will pass our work forward. Some of our art will survive, our music or writing and videos will preserve a lot of our ideas, but it is the values and the insights that we share now that will influence, inspire and shape the choices of future generations.

So what am I doing now that will benefit future generations? What kind of impact do I have or will I have? That is a question for each of us to answer for ourselves.

In my spiritual exploration I continue to go deeper to explore, to interpret, to draw maps that others may follow. As I age, I work to figure out the meaning of life and how to be productive to the end. I offer insights and unique combinations of concepts that I hope increase self-awareness and help people achieve personal transformation.

What you do now affects future generations

The biggest insight I received from this imaginary journey into the future was that the work we do now has the potential to touch someone and help them shine their light brighter. They, in turn, focus their brightened light toward another person and that light moves across and forward or backward to heal and balance and whole. It affects this lifetime as well as the life experience of future generations.

What gift are you leaving the future? See if you can understand what it is. Then do more of it.

To Sing a Deeper Song Consider:

How to Manage Your Subtle Energy

Our Work in the World

How to Hold the Space for the New Vision to Emerge

The Emergence of Collective Individual Spirituality

How do You Put your Spiritual Insights to Work?

VLOG: Insights of a Deeper Song

PODCAST: Reflections of a Deeper Song

The Power in a Ceremony of Releasing

October 6, 2016 By Cara Lumen

My pedicurist is a healer. Recently she helped me release something big and old. We don’t have to know what it was, just that it was time to let it go. I can feel the release throughout my entire body.

And it made me think. Why don’t I create some sort of ritual, ceremony, intention each day to let go of something within me that I no longer need?

What do you need to release?

Whatever shifted in me affected my body, it affected my mood. It was a good thing to let go. And I know no specifics of what or where it was. You may very well be aware of a particular area of stuck-ness, but you can create your “ceremony of releasing” without knowing the details.

Create affirmations that release whatever you no longer need, or whatever is keeping you from moving forward, or whatever is keeping you from understanding, or seeing or feeling. Those are powerful areas to unplug.

I have used both specific and unspecific affirmations in my releasing ceremonies. The unspecific ones are a bit more exciting because you don’t have any idea what’s going to leave. You don’t need to define what you want to release. Let your inner self take care of that. Just express your willingness to release what no longer serves you.

Create a small ceremony

A ceremony can be as a simple as an affirmation said while looking into your own eyes in a mirror. It can involve slips of paper that you tear up or burn. It can include essential oils, or crystals. You can add bells or toning. You could dance or sing or chant “aum”. This is your ceremony. Make it as elaborate or as simple as you need.

The cornerstone is in the affirmation

All affirmations are made in the present tense, as if they have already happened:

– I now release whatever I no longer need
– I release beliefs that no longer serve me.
– I release whatever is no longer needed, particularly around the area of experiencing …..
– I release any beliefs, attitudes, fears, old stuff to make room for a strong, welcoming willingness to give my body what it needs now to be its healthiest, best, strongest, most productive self.
– I release whatever needs to be released so I can move forward in an aligned direction.
Watch what shows up

At the end of each day, journal what shows up so you notice it. It may be subtle. It may be dramatic. On the days that I choose a specific affirmation (such as for my body), I’m aware of being conscious of my choices around caring for my body all day long.

But the most fun are the surprises that show up when I’m willing to release whatever I no longer need. Sometimes the answer comes as a new awareness. Sometimes it shows up as an actual adjustment in the alignment of my body. Other times it’s a stunning new opportunity that appears, which I’m ready to take.

You just never know.

Release unneeded things each day

It’s very powerful to choose to release something each day. It seems that the simple idea of intending to and being willing to release something is enough – whether you affirm that you’re releasing whatever you no longer need, or indicate a specific area in your life that feels blocked.

Be willing to change

Releasing beliefs and blockages that no longer serve you is going to leave a space that might feel empty. Or open. Or serene. Notice it and don’t rush to put more stuff into it. Allow Tao to organically offer you choices that you can accept or reject. Change is exciting. Change is challenging. Change is a constant in our lives.

Notice the pattern

As you begin to use a ceremony of releasing in your daily spiritual work, notice what works best for you – either in the results or in your willingness to perform whatever ceremony you create.

I have included my releasing ceremony in the small blessing ceremony I perform when I first sit at my desk in the morning. I sometimes put it into the end of my meditation. You could affirm it on your run or during your exercise. Or even when you’re in the shower. Whatever works for you.

The changes may be subtle. Perhaps at the beginning you might want to write down the stuck status of various aspects of your life so you can look back and see the change.

It’s important to check in with yourself at the end of the day so you can become aware of what happened. It may be subtle but it will be there!

What do you need to release? How will you do that? Are you up for adding a ceremony of releasing into your life?

DEEPER SONG PROCESS

In order to Sing a Deeper Song:

• Spend the next seven mornings performing a releasing ceremony the appeals to you.

• Create a ceremony around the releasing process – crystals, oils, journaling, gongs, toning – or let the simple act of writing down an affirmation be enough.

• Write your affirmation in the present tense.

• Experiment with being both non-specific and specific in what you propose to release.

• At the end of each day, review what happened and notice the changes.

• At the end of the week, decide how you would like to continue this ceremony of releasing.

To Sing a Deeper Song

On Coming to the End of a Cycle
When Do You Let Go?
Learn to Honor Your Inner Rhythm
The Power of Your Personal Path
41 – How to Make Decisions When Your Let Your Life Unfold 7
22 – Create Your Own Spiritual Journey
Steps to Deepen Your Spiritual Awareness
What is Your Truth?

The Many Faces of Your Calling

August 1, 2016 By Cara Lumen

Our calling evolves over time. We can look back and see signs of it throughout out lives. It appears in the things we love to do most. It usually manifests as something we do so naturally that we almost don’t notice it. But it shows up in different manifestations throughout our entire life.

Sometimes the gifts of our calling are subtle

When I was in high school, I was chosen to be the Managing Editor of the school paper. Not the Literary Editor, but the organizer, the manager. In college, I was House Manager of my sorority – another organizing position. As a young mother, I organized the Picture Lady Program for our school, which ended up being taken over and expanded upon by the Nelson Gallery of Art in Kansas City.

All of those were signs that I was a good organizer – that it was a gift I was to use in my life. But one subtle part of that gift of organizing took a very long time for me to realize. It was that I was also a good organizer of ideas.

This showed up in the clarity of my writing. It was elicited as I identified the overview of their purpose for my coaching clients. And ultimately I figured out that I have a gift for explaining the complex in simple forms.

But it took a lot of years to put all that together.

Look beyond the what for the why

It’s easier to see your calling in retrospect. I have been involved with a lot of newsletters. There is something in me that gets excited about sharing ideas with others. It shows up in my writing and my teaching. I can’t explain the “why” I do it. It is just a very, very, very strong urge. A calling, you might say.

Your calling changes forms

A friend has worked in corporate leadership development. Now she is being called to move from the rigid confines of a big company into a coaching business to help people learn to lead from within. She is redefining her calling, examining the depth of what she knows and reshaping it to add what is calling to her, a spiritual component, that of leading by example. As she searches for her new place of service, she searches for the words to explain it. She’s looking for the people whose lives she can change. She’s still exploring.

She’s taking her huge background in leadership development and exploring the leading edge of a new form of leadership. She has no idea where it will take her, she simply knows she must do it. The call is strong and she’s certainly answering it.

Follow those inner urges

The urges that call me to write are so strong I have no choice. An idea appears and I leap to my computer and explore it. I am lucky. At 83 I get to stay in my own rhythm, follow my own urges, and do exactly what I feel called upon to do.

However busy you are, find a way to develop your own stye, your own rhythm, your own self-expression. Listen. Learn to interpret. Express yourself in a new way. Accept new opportunities. Look for new venues.

Most of all trust those urges. Look at what you do well in a new light. Learn to repurpose it or reapply it in a new way.

Your calling is at your core. It’s your soul speaking. Listen to your calling, discover its many forms and go where it leads you.