Harness Your Power: Observe Your Timetables & Expectations

Do you feel pressure inside because of internal timetables? Do you get upset with yourself if things don't happen in the time you want them to? Do you have certain expectations of yourself that cause you to push yourself so hard that you exhaust yourself in the process of going after your goals?

I pose these questions this week because I have been observing in myself some interesting characteristics. Just when I think I'm finally learning to relax and go with the flow, I see that I'm not!

This week I've noticed that even when I'm not life coaching, speaking or writing, I'm thinking about my work all the time. I am thinking about all the projects I want to get done.

There's nothing wrong with being excited and passionate about work. What I have found is that I struggle to release my work so that I can fully relax when I do have time for myself.

Why is this so challenging? For me, I believe it has to do with certain expectations I have of myself. I have very high expectations of how much I "should" get done each week. When I'm not meeting those expectations my inner critic starts to make noise. I thought I had gotten rid of this inner critic.

This week I asked my Observer to work over-time so I could get a sense of why I felt so tired. What I saw was that this inner critic had regained some ground in my mind.

I tell my life coaching clients often that their Observer is their best friend. The Observer, the part of yourself that can watch your mind, can help you become highly aware of your judgments about yourself and others. In understanding these personal judgments you can determine if the self-judgment is helping you or hindering you.

My self-judgment hinders me. I see clearly how judging myself drains my energy. When I push myself harder and harder to reach certain goals, I get exhausted and worn down. When I can release the timetables and unrealistic expectations, I begin to feel better. I am able to relax. As I relax, my work actually gets done faster and better!

Timetables and expectations can be a useful tool OR they can be something that hinders you and drains you.

Isn't it funny how often we impose these artificial timetables on ourselves? Who says that a book needs to get written by the end of March? I say it. No one else expects this of me. Who says that the wash needs to get done by Thursday? I do. No one else imposes this on me. Who says that I need to reach all the goals I put on my vision board by the end of 2008? I do. It's me who is driving myself crazy! I laugh as I see this.

It's funny how we've learned to put pressure on ourselves. In doing this, we make life feel heavy and serious. We begin to feel that if we don't meet our goals in a certain time frame that we are failing ourselves. Is that true? It is only if we choose to believe that it is true.

I've been practicing The Power of Now (read Eckhart Tolle's book, it's awesome) for the past few years. When I am truly able to live in the Eternal Present Moment, my work flows beautifully and I am able to simply enjoy each moment in my life. As soon as I impose those time frames and then begin to worry if I will reach them, I impose heaviness and suffering on myself.

I took the time this week to determine what I WANT to choose for myself. Here it is:

• I choose to have fun as I work towards my goals rather than feeling a heaviness about them.


• I choose to aim to reach my goals in certain time frames -- but if I can't, I choose to not be tough on myself.


• I choose to live in the moment.


• I choose to lighten up about life and enjoy the ride.


• I choose to enjoy the journey rather than being so focused on certain results or achievements I want for my life.


• I choose to take time to rest and refresh myself.


• I choose to trust the Universe's timetables.


• I choose to become so aware of my patterns with time and expectations, that I don't allow them to control me.


• I choose to release the pressure that builds up inside of me.


• I choose to be inspired in the moment and release myself to the flow of life -- in doing this, miraculous things occur.


• I choose to envision what I want in my life and then release it to the Universe -- for the Universe sees a grander picture for my life than I am even able to conceive.


• I choose to be free from self-judgment.


• I choose to harness my power.

What do you choose? Be the powerful chooser of your thoughts. Don't let those inner timetables and self expectations control you.

Take time to observe this week and become aware of these beliefs you have that cause you to exhaust yourself. As you understand these beliefs, step back and determine if these beliefs are serving you or if you are serving these beliefs.

We are more powerful than we realize. Our power comes from a deep awareness that in each moment we are choosing our life experience. Let's become fully conscious of what we are choosing.

Laughing at myself this week and having fun unravelling these deeply entrenched beliefs I have,

Trish

Patricia Omoqui

http://www.patriciaomoqui.com/

Harness Your Power: Notice the Signs

This Thursday morning on our daily drive to daycare, my youngest daughter, Skye, (her 3rd birthday is in April) reminded me of a very important truth. Every time we passed a street sign of any size, shape or color she would yell, in her sweet 2-year old voice, "Mom, another sign!"

What shocked me is that once she got started, she was telling me every few seconds that there was another sign. This continued for the 30 minutes we drove to daycare. I never realized just how many signs there are all around us.

In Skye's class at daycare they take kids for walks outside. As they walk along they look for all the signs. The signs are a tool to teach the kids about colors, letters and traffic. Little did the teachers at daycare know that as they taught my daughter about signs, she would in turn teach me and I would in turn teach you!

I couldn't help but smile as Skye kept yelling about the signs. I know very clearly that I am given signs from the Universe all the time. The signs are both internal and external.

For example, the other day while sitting in a local coffee shop, I kept having a repeated thought, "Talk to the guy at the next table." Finally I listened to my intuition. To my surprise, there was a tremendous amount that we had in common -- we shared connection and enthusiasm about sports. He is going to be traveling to my favorite country in the World this year (to a country where I've spent quite a bit of time) -- to Brazil, so I provided him with helpful information.

I followed the inner sign and met someone amazing. You just never know what might come out of a contact like that!

We receive inner signs all the time. Most of us are unable to hear the signs because we are so engrossed in the daily drama of our lives. By learning to quiet our minds and to slow down the pace of our lives, we actually save ourselves a lot of time and energy. When we hear the inner urges we are able to take the easy path to our dreams. We are also able to avoid difficult situations when we follow the intuitive feelings of uneasiness that alert us to potential pitfalls and dangers on our paths.

There are also external signs all around us in our World. I love these signs -- they are often profound. About 8 months ago I decided to do a fast to cleanse myself. For 4 days I did the "Lemonade Cleanse." It was a time of focus and refreshment for me. As I finished the fast, I was HUNGRY and ready to gobble down some food. The day I stopped the fast I left the house to do some errands. Can you believe that one of the first license plates I saw that day said, "EAT SLOW!" Now, what is the likelihood of coming across a license plate like at all-- let alone the day that you are about to break a fast. I thanked the Universe for the sign and followed the direction.

When we open our minds to experience these signs, it is amazing what can happen. I started a Circle of Abundance group recently. The group's focus is on helping people to learn to overcome their financial blocks and beliefs so that they can begin experiencing greater levels of financial abundance. After our first group session I gave each person a set of affirmations to assist them in opening their minds to new ways of looking at money. This week one of the participants emailed me and told me a wonderful story. She said that she began saying the affirmations, "Money comes to me in miraculous ways." As she said this to herself, she started to think -- that's ridiculous, that can't happen. But, she stopped herself and decided that she would give the ideas a chance. The next day when she got out of her car she found a $10 bill on the ground. Money did appear in her life in unexpected ways! What a beautiful sign from the Universe to encourage her to learn new ways to look at money.

If you aren't looking for the signs, you won't see them. As you begin to look for them, beware -- you may see more than you even though could possibly exist! That's how I felt as we drove to daycare and I began to see that there are hundreds if not thousands of street signs between my house and the daycare.

Ask for signs and you shall receive. Open your eyes and you shall see. Open your ears and you shall hear. Enjoy the comforting signs the Universe provides you for your journey. When you feel lost and you need direction, quiet your mind. Ask for help. Then, go about your business and trust that you are going to get all the signs (internal and external) that you need to create a beautiful life experience.

Life is easy. Life is much easier than we allow it to be. Slow down this week. Quiet your heart and mind. Relax. Trust. Surrender to the flow of life. Don't fight what is. Stay in the moment so fully that you notice all the signs the Universe provides you.

You will be glad you did!

With much joy and a great big smile,

Trish Omoqui

http://www.patriciaomoqui.com/

Harness Your Power: Speak Your Truth

This week was one of the most difficult weeks I have experienced in years. It also brought the most personal transformation I've experienced in years.

We all have deeply entrenched personal patterns of behavior and expression. As we understand our personal patterns and get to the "why," or the underlying beliefs, that are causing us to repeat them, we can then make more conscious choices for ourselves.

Let me explain on a simple, personal level. Growing up I lived in a situation where our family had to walk on eggshells all the time. My Dad was very unhappy and even threatened to commit suicide because he was in so much personal despair. My mom, brother and I would do our best "to make everything ok," so that we wouldn't cause my Dad to reaching a tipping point and move forward with his threat. We avoided conflict, keeping quiet at great personal cost.

I lived in fear that if I spoke my mind, something awful might happen.

We left my dad when I was 16 years old hoping that he would seek professional help. However, my Dad chose to remain angry and decided to be absent from my life. In fact, for almost 16 years, my Dad remained distant from my brother and me even though we both reached out to him, inviting him, asking him to be part of our lives.

Through this experience I developed the fear that men in my life would abandon me.

In every serious relationship I have had with a man, these underlying fears led me to repeat certain patterns. It looked something like this: Trish is in a relationship. She tries to keep peace at all costs. No matter how much something bothers her, she keeps her mouth shut. She hopes it will get better. She doesn't ask for what she wants. She doesn't even say what she needs. She holds too much fear that she will be abandoned.

Wow. I repeated this pattern over and over and carried it with me into my marriage. Even though my husband would ask me to tell him what I felt and to share what I really thought, my fear of being abandoned and my fear of receiving anger if I spoke my mind kept me in silence. Rather than asking for help in sharing responsibilities, I would take them on myself thinking I should be able to do it all. Change began a few years ago. I finally reached a point where I became so overwhelmed that I asked my husband to help. He gladly responded and gave me more assistance. Deep change began within me.

Yet, even though I was beginning to speak up more often, there were still many unspoken feelings in my heart because I still felt a great deal of fear.

The interesting thing is that in EVERY other relationship -- with my family, with my friends, with colleagues, with acquaintances, I am outspoken; I share my feelings freely.

This week was the first time I finally said everything I had in my heart to my husband. Don't get me wrong, my husband and I did communicate over the years -- but much was left unsaid between us because of our fear. My husband wasn't sharing many of his concerns with me because he was afraid of upsetting me. So, the two of us were operating in fear. This kept us from full honesty and openness.

Lack of communication in a marriage relationship causes difficulty. Lack of communication in any relationship causes misunderstanding.

I can't tell you how terrified I was this week to share everything in my heart with my husband. It's funny because he is a loving, caring man. There was no reason for me to hold back for so long. I faced some major fears this week. I looked them right in the eye. I looked at my fear of abandonment and said, "No matter what happens, I will be fine." I looked at my fear of conflict and said, "I am no longer afraid of an angry response, I must be honest and speak my truth."

This was a week of speaking my truth completely. My heart pounded as I did it. But, I did it anyway. I am determined to break my old, limiting patterns. I am determined to discover the parts of me that are still wounded and take the steps to heal. I want to experience a life where I can harness all of my power. I want a life so rich, joyful and full of love that I will never look back with regret.

I shed more tears this week than I have in years. The tears were beautiful -- they washed up deep layers of fear and self-doubt, that I didn't even know were there. By becoming conscious of my issues, I was able to sit with them and make deeper peace inside myself.

My husband and I have agreed that in order to create the relationship we both desire, we must speak the truth to each other. That is what loves does. It is new territory that we are walking together. These conversations have brought us deeper understanding and unity than I ever thought possible.

Are there areas of your life where you aren't speaking your truth? Look closely at these areas this week. As you do, you may find deep fears inside you causing you to hold back. These fears hinder you from becoming fully expanded and powerful. These fears keep you from experiencing the beauty and magnificence in life possible when you speak your truth from your heart.

Relief comes when we understand our patterns.

Joy comes when we see our underlying beliefs and realize there is a better approach we can take.

Beauty develops when we choose the belief we WANT to have and begin practicing it so that it becomes a new habit.

Excitement comes when we see that we can create EVERYTHING, literally EVERYTHING that our heart desires by moving beyond our fears, by releasing our self-doubt and by knowing that we are love embodied.

I am relieved. I am joyful. I feel beauty developing in areas of my life I never thought possible. I am excited for this journey. I anticipate all of my dreams coming true in the perfect timing of the Universe. I choose to know that love can be integrated into every aspect of who I am and every aspect of how I express myself in the World.

Part of me hesitated to share this with you because it is so personal. Yet, if just one of you reading this blog begins to speak your truth and move beyond your fears, I know it is worth it to have spoken my truth from the deepest part of my Soul.

With all my love and all my prayers that we finally begin to uncover and move beyond all our fearful beliefs,

Trish Omoqui
http://www.patriciaomoqui.com/

If you are ready to move beyond some of your personal patterns, please contact me for life coaching. I have become an expert at helping people see their patterns. I can provide you a supportive, loving space to work through these patterns so that you can begin to live the life your heart longs for. Please stop suffering in silence -- I did this for years and it is NOT worth it. You are ready for joy now. You are ready for peace now. . .so, if you would like my help, drop me an email at thoughtdr@patriciaomoqui.com .

Harness Your Power: Know Your Expanded Self

I have had profound realizations this week that I am excited to share with you. Of course, many profound realizations come from the process of healing our inner pains -- and that was the case for me. I share that only to remind you of the beauty of working through healing -- it is not optional in our soul's growth process.

Yesterday I was driving my children home from a friend's birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese. The rain was pouring down and it was very windy. As we neared our home, the sun was shining very brightly WHILE it was raining! It was an incredible sight. In the moment I took in the beauty of the sunshine, it struck me --- it is possible to experience sunshine even in the midst of the rain. Of course it is -- yet when we are in the rain we so often forget that just behind the clouds above us is the sunshine. The sun is still there and if we can stay centered and connect with our expanded self, we can envision and feel the sun even during a storm.

Let me explain further about "The Expanded Self." I am beginning to understand at a deeper level that I am far greater than the dramas and story lines in my life. I am far bigger than the emotions that are triggered by the circumstances that I experience. When we come to terms with the greater, infinite, eternal part of ourselves, we begin to see that we can find peace and rise above our "ego self" or our "small self" and feel the powerful, expanded self that we each have.

As I thought more about this concept the story came to my mind of when Jesus calmed the waves during the storm when the disciples in the ship were so fearful. In the midst of a powerful, overwhelming storm, Jesus was at peace. He could see the greater reality of the situation. He was so connected to Source that he had the capacity to calm the waters.

As we face the storms in our lives, the dark, cold times that we feel, we can find a space of calm no matter what is happening. Do you believe this is possible? Have you ever connected, even momentarily, to this truth?

I find now that the painful times I experience in life don't have the sharp edges they used to. Instead, I notice the pain come up. I watch the pain. I face it. I love my pain -- and embrace it knowing that I am greater than, more eternal than any momentary struggle in my life. By understanding this, the movement through my personal pain is exciting, invigorating and full of seeds of possibility. For, as I peel back the pain, I uncover new parts of myself. I transform. I begin to KNOW without a doubt my connection to Source, the Universal energy that we all have within us.

One last thought I leave you with today -- I am preparing a speech called, "How to be the Earth Angel You Are!" I love this speech. . .and am expanding it to a workshop. I believe we are all Earth Angels. . but most of us have not yet opened up our wings. We are carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders -- guilt, worry, fear, self-doubt, pain -- and it is keeping us from recognizing the wings we have. As we release all of this inner pain from our ego, we can uncover our wings. Once we have found our wings and we begin to use them, even in the middle of a rain storm we can fly up above the clouds and touch the sun. . . we can be so light and free that even while it appears dark, we can see the light.

Release all that weighs you down this week. In times of Silence, begin to touch the eternal nature that you have. Feel how grand a moment of silence can feel. Know that you are far greater, far bigger, far more than your personality, your drama and your personal pain. You are POWER. Will you recognize it this week? Even if you can feel it for just one micro-second, you will touch something so wonderful that your heart will begin to remember its true identity.

Much love to my fellow Earth Angels,

Trish Omoqui
http://www.patriciaomoqui.com/

P.S. there is still time to sign up for the four-week Circle of Abundance tele-group that starts this Thursday evening from 8:30 - 9:30 p.m. If you are struggling with your finances, afraid to sit down and pay your bills each month and want a new way to approach experiencing and creating abundance in your life, this circle is for you! Please drop me an email if you are interested at abundance@patriciaomoqui.com .

Harness Your Power: Remove Self Limits!

I mentioned in my blog last week that I had been feeling an inner tension between accepting where I am in my life and feeling ready for certain things to change -- like my house and moving my life mission to another level of reaching people. I gained some amazing insights this week about myself and it helped me to realize how I created where I am right now, at this point in time.

As I felt the resistance to my current house, I noticed something important -- I felt dissatisfied with being in this space because it didn't match who I have become. Let me explain. Several years ago when we purchased our house I was in the depths of scarcity thinking -- feeling that we could never meet our bills, feeling that we were just scraping by each month and feeling that it wasn't necessary to spend money on "elaborate" things. Thus, we ended up buying a very reasonably priced place -- it is nice, don't get me wrong. We have had plenty of space as we started our family. We enjoy the diversity in our neighborhood. There are many aspects of our house that we enjoy.

So, as I asked for a deeper understanding of my resistance, I began to see that very clearly I had not only created this situation for myself in choosing to buy a lower priced house because of my fear of money but ALSO, because I was in "survival mode" in the way I lived, I ended up decorating the house in a way that matched who I was at the time we bought it.

At that time in my life I was all about functionality -- keeping our lives rolling day-by-day, feeling the daily struggle of life and feeling a lot of stress about getting by each day. What has changed over the years as I have released my fears and changed my view of myself and my life is that I now value BEAUTY. In the past, I didn't value beauty -- I valued functionality. Decorating the house was a chore, a means to an end. Now, I enjoy beauty -- in fact, those who are closest to me have visibly seen me change in the way I dress, the jewelry I buy, the way I do my hair . . .in so many ways. I look like a different person compared to who I was in 2002.

Another great example to show my beliefs and values -- my husband used to take the time to buy me flowers. Yes, I liked flowers but most of all, I would tell him not to get them again because I felt it was a waste of money! So, of course, he stopped buying them for me. My fear of not having enough money kept me from enjoying so many aspects of life!

Fast forward to 2008. I LOVE and CELEBRATE BEAUTY. I buy fresh flowers for the living room because I enjoy them so much. I no longer live in a scarcity mentality -- instead, I focus on the abundance in my life. So, to sum it up, I saw very clearly this week why I was feeling inner resistance to my house right now. The way I decorated it years back doesn't match who I am right now!

It was powerful for me to understand so clearly how my thoughts created my reality. Now my thoughts have changed and because of this, my physical reality is changing all around me.

It's time for me to get some beautifully colored paints, some new decorations for the inside of the house and to make my house an expression of who I am in 2008. It will be such a joyful process for me to do this! I never enjoyed taking the time for decorating because I thought it was a waste of time. Imagine this, "SOLDIER TRISH" is now taking the time to enjoy the variety in life, the beauty in life -- and she is finally having a blast experiencing it all!

I love it when we have these mental breakthroughs where our inner eyes and inner ears see and hear so clearly what is going on inside of us. It is such a wonderful exploration process to understand who we are and why we have created the experience we are living right now.

The power comes in knowing that at any moment I choose I can be a NEW & IMPROVED ME! I can be a Trish who loves interior decorating now. I can be a Trish who enjoys buying fresh flowers and receiving fresh flowers and plants all the time. How fun! I am learning to explore and express all aspects of myself. It makes life so rich, so delicious and amazingly delightful.

In what ways are you limiting yourself from experiencing life? Give thought to it this week. You may discover some interesting insights that will help you in your next stage of personal growth.

I love transformation. I love knowing that I can CHOOSE who I am. I love knowing seeing myself and others evolve and express their powerful spirits in new ways in life.

I wish you a week full of insights!

With love, hope and beauty,

Trish Omoqui

http://www.patriciaomoqui.com/

P.S. I am starting a 4 week Tele-group called The Circle of Abundance -- for 4 Thursday evenings from 8:30 - 9:30 starting March 13th I will help those who are interested transform their scarcity and "lack" feelings to beliefs of "abundance" in all aspects of life -- but primarily on the flow of money coming into your life. If you are interested in joining us, the cost is only $99 for the 4 week Tele-group. You will receive a customized set of affirmations that will enable you to move towards creating greater abundance in your life. On top of that, the first 5 people who sign up will receive a free 20 minute life coaching session with me during the 4 weeks.

Email if you are interested: abundance@patriciaomoqui.com .