How to Access Your Joy and Transform Your Life with Ease & Grace By Carolyn Beale (Excerpt from WE Magazine for Women Fall Success Alchemy)
Before my own Success Alchemy, I struggled daily with my own self-defeating beliefs, fears, and limitations. I KNEW (or at least had an inkling!) that life should and could be better, yet I remained stuck in my patterns and frustrated at my lack of progress toward the life of my dreams. I myself experienced bereavement, job loss, parenting challenges, and divorce, and through my family – addictions, sexual assault/violent crime, and life-threatening injuries.
I knew that Spirit was nudging me to express my gifts in the areas of energy work, writing, and coaching, and yet I was playing small and worried all the time about finances, which, of course, negatively affected many aspects of my relationships and my health. I was squelched by my own inner critic constantly berating me – telling me I either wasn’t enough (or too much!) to amount to anything in this world. No matter how I tried, how many courses I took, I would assimilate the information but do… pretty much nothing.
Then I would beat myself up for not taking action. I was overweight and tired, and I struggled to find the energy to get out of bed in the morning and face another day. I was doing work I thought I ‘should’ be doing but I felt unfulfilled and empty, and when a whisper of intuition would arise as to my true purpose, doubt and shame and fear overcame me and I retreated to comfortable yet numbing habits.
Finally – losing my apartment because I couldn’t make the rent and faced with both financial and emotional crises – I made the choice to start taking care of myself – body, mind, & spirit – and to get the support I needed from loving guides and mentors. I realized that all the tools and processes in the world were of no value to me until I made the choice to align energetically with my good, and actually use them in a focused and joyful practice. It was the beginning of experiencing my life differently…tuning into my body’s wisdom and my inner guidance. Truly, it allowed me to begin to accept and love myself, ALL of ME, so that I could begin to express my voice and my authentic gifts. And miracles began to happen!
I discovered the simple yet immense power of appreciating my body for the utterly amazing and beautiful temple that it is. I found an essential combination of tools, processes and energies that allowed me to unlock my loathing and self-judgment, and I began to appreciate that I truly had choice in each and every moment to create my life consciously – instead of simply accepting the circumstances I had created by default.
As I began to align energetically with health, well-being and wholeness and embody Spirit’s flow through me, my body and my life transformed and I began to celebrate the miracle that I am, simply BEing the gift I am in the world. Through soulful appreciation and celebration, I discovered the transformation of energy alignment and the realization that the door is wide open for each of us to create an amazing life of fulfillment, joy, and exhilaration.
To read the entire article check out WE Magazine for Women PDF Version
