When discipline wanes, your internal fire starts sputtering. Pushing doesn’t help, but connecting the dots to what truly serves you and WHY does help get back in alignment and fired up again. Sometimes you need external support to get going again.

What happens when your discipline and good habits start to wane and you listen to “them,” the “people” who make passing comments about your good choices? If you’re not solid in yourself, your choices and your values, you just might start throwing yourself under the bus to make other people happy. Spoiler alert: you’re the one who suffers.

At this monthly gathering in Grass Valley, California, women come together and are invited to lay down their burdens and responsibilities to uncover what’s there, beyond the reach of expectations. One of the tools commonly used is free writing. Here’s a piece that relates to our 2019 theme of Eternal Flame. This women’s circle is ongoing and open to drop ins each month.

What can you learn from longing for “what was”? The longing, if you can bear to look at it, may cause you to swell with gratitude for what is and recognize the choices you made that brought you to this point. If not, it may motivate you to change what is and carry forward something that feels it would still serve your soul.

When you lead by your values, you have a clear indicator to check in about who you do and do not want/need on your team. The whole team can get behind those values and help you uphold them as well. Bye bye power dynamics, Hello heart and soul. And what a clear indicator of being in or out of alignment for making decisions.

Even when someone is down and out, I still prefer giving to those where I can see their strength. Pity does not inspire me; compassionate understanding does.

It can be challenging to sync up with Winter when most of society is encouraging goal setting and working on what’s next. Spending some time in reflection over the last year may be just the gift you are looking for.

Competitiveness leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. Is there a way to rewrite the rules to increase engagement, growth and playfulness? How about connection over shut-down-the-board strategy?

Having a word for the year can open up something different than goals. It allows for curiosity to see what comes and an expansive space for you to grow. My word for 2019 is Core, although it’s not my only longing.

Do you ever stumble across your own writing and wonder, Who wrote that? This piece I found sounds like something from my life now, years before my life was like this. Writing often does feel like spell casting.

A year ago I said “Yes!” to my fiancée, so why am I now pondering my divorce that happened 10 years ago? I’m ready to lighten the load of whatever confusion and sadness I’ve been carrying.

Here we are in the thick of the holidays… are you able to hold your own desires, or are you struggling with the desire to fit in?