Harness Your Power: What's On Your Mind?

There are times when I just don't know what to write. Today is a day like that. You might find that hard to believe given how much I write (a daily email, a weekly blog and a weekly column).

Most of the time words gush from my soul. Yet, sometimes an inner silence grows inside me and I just need to sit and listen until something more arises. Or, I wait and then I receive an email from a reader of my column or a client or a friend and it stimulates fresh ideas.

So, today, I ask you to share your perspectives with me. What is on your mind and in your heart? Are there struggles? Is there excitement? Are you making progress in a way that you never imagined? Tell me about you. Tell me what topics you need to hear more about.

The one thing I can tell you is that change is constant. When I sat down to write my weekly column yesterday, here is what came out:

Change

There is tension in the space between where I am and where I am going. It is a mixture of excitement for the new chapter and a sadness to let go of my current one. At the darkest points, in times of greatest uncertainty of what is to come, the dawn is closest. The sun rises promising something fresh and new, yet there is a hesitation – a fear of what comes next.

Then the words stopped. That was as far as I could go. I moved on to edit an article I already drafted. At some point more words will come to finish that article.

I am in the midst of many life changes. I know that something new is coming but I don't even know what that means yet. I found out yesterday that some of my closest family members are moving to another state. I found myself feeling sadness. It's always hard to say goodbye yet I trust that the Universe aligns our lives in the most amazing ways. So, I forced myself over and over to come back to the present moment, breathing deeply and opening to peace. My constant affirmation lately has been: I rest in the peace of the Universe.

That's where I am today, in peace. Living right now. Opening to the beauty of What Is. Resting. Trusting that my life unfolds miraculously moment by moment. I open to Life.

I look forward to hearing from you this week via email or comments on this blog. Take the time to write. I value your perspectives. I learn from your thoughts and your life story.

With great love for you,

Patricia Omoqui

http://www.patriciaomoqui.com/

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Harness Your Power: Love What You Do!

I've spent quite a deal of time with Maggie and Skye this week since they are now on summer break. It's such a pleasure to have this luxury (something I now considered a necessity). As we drove to some of our favorite places (the park, the zoo, the library, the pool) I was continually reminded that not too long ago, I would never have the freedom to spend this time with them. For many years I did not have this flexibility.

Let's rewind to 2004: I was sitting in an office with a nice title, a good paycheck and feeling BORED out of my mind. To honor my employer I did my best every day. I must admit, though, that my mind often wandered to the question, "What do I REALLY want to do with my life?"

I struggled for a long time and could only answer, "I don't know." Even though I couldn't pinpoint the type of position or title I wanted to have, I began writing down the things I wanted: flexibility, more time with my kids, to feel happy every day, to have freedom to travel and work whenever and wherever I wanted...the list grew over time. This clarification process went on for over a year and then suddenly, the light bulb came on. I spent two days at a Terri Levine seminar called The Learning Spa and within the first few minutes of being there, I KNEW! Many attendees were life coaches and they began explaining their job to me. What? I could get paid to help people improve their lives and feel better about themselves???

I instantly realized coaching was for me. Not more than five minutes later the first speaker got on stage. I sat in my seat wondering, "Why am I not up there speaking?" I had done public speaking in junior high, high school, college and as a professional basketball player. I knew that I wanted to be on stage again.

At that point I already was producing my daily email list, Food For Thought (you can sign up at my website http://www.patriciaomoqui.com/ ). So, I finally concluded with my affirmative statement: I am an internationally recognized speaker, life coach and writer. Wow. I had my vision. It was finally clear.

The road forward was not always easy as I got launched but I kept taking small steps each day: printed business cards, set up a blog, a website, took coaching classes, did speaking gigs for free -- I started where I was with the resources I had and before I knew it, I had a paid speaking engagement and a paying coaching client! Those were exciting times for me and I certainly celebrated. There were often challenges and there still are many that I face. However, I LOVE what I do.

A friend commented on my Facebook site the other day, "Trish, you are really good at this." Yes, I am. I am good at it because it is what I am passionate about and it fits who I am as a person. My growing success has to do with my hunger to learn more, to help more people and to be the best ME that I can be.

If you are sitting in a boring job wondering how you can stomach another day of work, please begin to affirm this several times an hour through your day: I open to doing something I love to do for my work. Open to the possibility that there IS another option and you CAN find it! Just starting to believe that you won't be stuck doing work you tolerate (or even hate) will give you some fresh energy. Then begin to imagine waking up and feeling truly excited about the day ahead rather than dreading it! How different would that be?

I challenge you this week to spend at least 10 minutes each day thinking about what you would really love to do. If you already have a job you enjoy, then spend the time dreaming about personal endeavors that get your juices flowing -- is there a book waiting to emerge from your soul? Are you longing to travel to every country on the Globe by age 55? Do you want to fly in a hot air balloon? Let your heart open and allow any suppressed desires to come up for exploration.

When you do what you love and love what you do, life begins to feel much like heaven. Yes, there are still difficulties, road bumps and detours in life, but you have a lighter spirit and more energy to deal with them.

What would you really, really, really love to do? How do you really want to feel about life? Who do you desire to be? Some wonderful questions to ponder this week!

If you need any support in answering these questions, please email me. In my work, I help people get clear on what they truly want in life and then give them the support they need in moving one baby step at a time towards it.

Loving life,

Patricia Omoqui

http://www.patriciaomoqui.com/

Harness Your Power: Accept the Moment

I find myself in a different set of circumstances this week. My husband is off to Nigeria doing business and the kids are both finished school. Thus, I am a full-time mom for the week with a few spaces to get my professional work done. There is part of me that, in the past, resisted times like this. I love writing, speaking and coaching so much that it is often challenging for me to let my working time go. I am passionate and focused -- sometimes to a fault!

So, the Universe likes to throw me some twists and turns to help me remember to relax, play and be a kid again. I know that if I resist the role I'm assigned this week, I will feel frustrated, as if I'm being held back from what I want. Rather than pushing against the stream of life and where it is guiding me this week, I want to relax into my assignment and celebrate it.

What is there not to love about a week with my two little angels. They want me to be involved in everything they do. They invite me to snuggle with them on the couch as we watch a movie. They want me to chase them around the pool and they shriek with delight as I sneak up on them to surprise them. They want to sing fun songs in the car. They like to indulge in icecream, chew gum with their mouths open and let out bodily sounds that crack us all up. Why would I ever think that I should be doing something else when I am being given a precious week of intimate moments with Maggie and Skye?

Thus, I watch my mind again and again. I observe that I judge my time and create an artificial hierarchy of what are "important" ways to spend my time and what are "less important" ways to spend my time. I have to laugh at myself and the way I've been conditioned. Yet, it is wonderful to know that I need not buy - in to old belief systems and conditioning. I break these patterns of thinking and embrace each moment in new ways.

So, my assignment this week is to have fun. To enjoy each moment of not working. To be focused in the hours that I am able to work and then to let it all go and be open to the miracle of love that I share with these little, earth angels who chose to grace my life with their presence.

What more could I ask for? I am blessed. I see the perfection of the circumstances the Universe brings me. I know I am being asked to flow with life and trust in a way that I couldn't have fathomed even a year ago. Life is truly an adventure, a joyful one, when we accept the idea that each moment happens in the way it does for the purpose of our soul's evolution.

I choose to celebrate this week and find more of my inner child. My children will guide me in this process and are my best teachers.

What are you resisting? Do you feel that you should be doing something else than what you are doing? How do you feel when you judge where you are as "not good"? Just notice. The interesting thing is that when we release the judgment and accept where we are, then it all changes anyway. It's as if the Universe wants us to come to peace with the current set of circumstances and just as we do, the floodgates open and we rush forward to the next chapter of our lives.

I'm here for you to listen, to love you and to share my experience as honestly as I can. I will be availalbe this week so don't hesitate to be in touch:)

Would love to hear from you!

Patricia Omoqui

http://www.patriciaomoqui.com/

visit my listening forum on my new website for some soothing, inspiration...the Observe Your Mind tele-seminar can help you learn to see your mental patterns in a whole new way....

Harness Your Power: Thanks to Pioneers

Last night I watched the movie "The Secret Life of Bees." The movie was set in the 1960s in the South of America. What touched me most deeply was a scene where a teenage African American boy went to the movies with a white girl his age. The two were clearly falling for each other. When they arrived at the movie theater, the young man had to go through the "coloured" door and the girl went through the "whites only" entry of the theatre. Rather than sitting in separate areas like they were supposed to, they decided to sit next to each other and share the snacks they had purchased.

Angry white racist men stormed into the theatre and began to beat the young man. The girl screamed, begging them to stop their violence. They continued their violence anyway and took the boy away in a car. Nobody knew if the boy would ever be seen again. (You'll have to rent the movie to see what happens...)

As I sat with my husband watching the movie I began to think of how often I take for granted that I am in an inter-racial marriage and my children are of mixed race. Look how far the United States (and other parts of the World) has come in regards to race relations in the course of 50 years. Of course, there is still racism, but much has changed!

Today, I take time to celebrate pioneers--people who have stood up for their vision of what is right. When confronted with violence, anger and hatred from those who want things to stay the same, they don't back down. Pioneers see beyond where the culture is and know that we can evolve further. Martin Luther King Jr reminds us, "Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better." That is the type of minority I want to be counted in.

I thank the leaders of the women's rights movement and the civil rights movement for the progress they made and for the groundwork they laid to allow me and my family the lives we live today. I am truly grateful that they stayed focus and never gave up.

It also caused me to consider whether I have the type of courage to stand for my truth. I want to be so committed to progress and to helping others live their best lives that I never let up in my pursuit for what I believe in. I pray that in moments of trial I will be able to stay the course and be strong as those who have gone before me.

Don't give up on what you believe in. Follow your passion. Live your vision no matter what anyone around you tells you. There will be plenty of naysayers and many cowards. Martin Luther King Jr. also said, "A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus." Don't stick with the crowd. Stay true to your heart. Pave the way. Create the future.

Be the pioneer that opens the way for future generations to enjoy an even better, more peaceful and secure World than we have today.

with sincere desire to make our World a better place,

Patricia Omoqui

http://www.patriciaomoqui.com/