Today is Mine.

Today is new! Yesterday is down and in the books. It's something you can't go back and change. No matter how wonderful or how pain-filled it was, the key word is ... WAS.

I can't fix, take back, change, or remove the feelings, experiences, memories, and reactions of yesterday. All I have any control over is what I do with them. I choose to learn from them, and then move forward with that knowledge obtained. It doesn't do anything to wallow in yesterday's mistakes, misfortunes, triumphs or tribulations. I'm not going to rub them across my bosom, or sleep with them under my pillow, and I DON'T WANT TO!

I choose to take the knowledge of yesterday and do what I can to be a better person from the lessons taught me. Today, is new. An opportunity to make better that which I may have failed at in my past. Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

I know it's hard to let go of burdens or pain from your past. We all know our past is what paints our future, however, it doesn't have to define it. What I was yesterday, a month ago, a year ago, a decade ago isn't who I am today. Because today I choose to be free from the need to make excuses for something I can't change. I own my past, take responsibility for it, and MOVE forward.

There are people who can't move out of it. They decide that their past, present and future is who they were and not what they have to potential to become. We've all felt this way, at some point in our lives. But, it doesn't serve you or your future to cling to your foibles of your past. The failures of yesterday are the stepping stones to the successes of tomorrow.

I choose to stop reaching outside of myself for who I am. I decide to look within and make the necessary changes within me. Because, truthfully, that's all I have any control over. People's reactions aren't mine to own. It isn't heartless, on the contrary, it's being heartfelt. Because when we come to the realization we can't control others, we begin to understand that the only thing we can control is our reaction to their actions. Somehow we begin to embody the compassion, love and understanding of where they may be coming from.

Take the time today to celebrate your breath, the thunderous heartbeat in your chest, the thoughts that swirl through your head when you really love someone. Embrace today as if you have no access to yesterday's files. When your feet hit the floor, know that everything from your past is forgiven. That you learned from what bones are buried in the soil of yesterdays battles.

YOU are magnificent! The miracle of another opportunity to grow, learn and expand your consciousness. Why not wake up with the expectation of something wonderful is about to happen. Even in the darkness, when the light appears, the darkness dissipates, EVERY TIME!

You are the light of this life, my friends. It's time someone told you that.No matter what. No matter the situation, emotion, reaction or interaction, you are the light of your life. Okay, I'm gonna get a little bible-bangin' on ya, but it's such a powerful metaphor, "When God said, "Let there be Light", there was light." God demanded the light, he didn't ask, beseech, question or guess there would somehow be light. With the conviction and authority of the Almighty, you have that same right to demand it from the Universe. LET THERE BE LIGHT. The Universe gives you only what you are capable of embodying. If you're only capable of a small flicker of a spark, then celebrate that you have a spark. If you're a raging fire, then you celebrate that. It's time to give yourself permission to just be who you need to be today. Because that which you focus on grows.

May LOVE and PEACE find you in everything you do today! #ILOVEU #TakeAMomentForGratitude #EvenIfImHeartBrokenIFindMySoulsSong #LoveAndLight #LightDissapatesTheDarkness #LetThereBeLightAndThereWasLight.

Knocking on Failure's Door

We have to stop looking at failure as a reason to quit! Stop looking at the hurdles as impossibilities. We lose too many talented people in too many industries because of the belief that failure is a one way ticket to doom and gloom.

Failure is a form of success. Hear me out, if you don't like my explanation, then we'll talk about it later.

We need to reconfigure the definition of what failure means to us. It doesn't have to be something that rips you to shreds and ruins your ability to carry on. When we fail at something, or if the results aren't what we wanted, we grow, we evolve and we learn in the midst of that failure how NOT to do something. We essentially succeed in gaining knowledge when we fail.

I'm not going to say it doesn't sting, hurt, discourage or down right turn us sour, because failure has the ability to do that. But when we step out of the chaos failure creates in our thinking, and we approach the results from a different mind set, failure can become a springboard of infinite possibilities. Let's face it, failing at something can be one of the biggest motivators in our lives. Aaannnndddd, that's because we all have something called EGO.

I couldn't talk about failure without talking about ego.

DEFINITION OF EGO: Your ego is your conscious mind, the part of your identity that you consider your "self."

Ego is a tough thing because it can play into the hands of failure. When we identify as that failure, our ego hands us that failure on the most beautiful shiny platter around. Our thinking takes a turn into the idea that we are our failures and our ego serves it up.

Think about it, how many times have we worried about other people's ideas about who we are and what we do? That's our ego, that's us being conscious of our "selves".  When we approach failure from the outside in, from a different view point, the power failure once had over us, becomes nothing more than a fleeting thought and we begin to figure out a different way of succeeding at something. We can fail once and give up or hundreds of times, it's only those of us who dig back in that will eventually find their way to success.

Just as in nature, we must flourish or parish, (not necessarily in a physical sense). It could be an idea that parishes, a way of doing something, an action, reaction or even a thought process.  When we let go of the "ego-ness" of failure, and we embrace the idea that through being unsuccessful at a particular action or event, we are cementing the stepping stones to creating something greater and more expansive. We are taking the knowledge we just obtained and applying it to the process of becoming successful.

You know failure and success is in the eye of the beholder. It's your eye that defines what your failure and success is. It isn't in the power of those outside of your mind, who define who and what you are, That is your job, your responsibility to take. I keep saying this because it's true; YOU are the only one who has access to your thinking and thoughts 24/7. Nobody can fix your definition of what you believe is success and failure. That, my dear friends, happens to be an inside job.

Take a moment today, to look at something you believe failed at, something that didn't turn out quite as you had planned. Look at it from a different thought process. Maybe you'll see that if you had succeeded you might not have what you have now, Maybe you'll see that through failing you learned compassion, understanding or cooperation. There's always something to learn and grow from, and isn't growing and learning a step toward expanding your consciousness which in turn is a step towards your success?

I say the next statements a lot, and I MEAN A LOT, but I think we just don't hear it enough today, so I'm gonna keep saying it until it becomes as natural to you as breathing. Here goes. YOU ARE A MIGHTY MOVING FORCE IN THIS WORLD. YOU ARE THE MIRACLE YOUR LIFE IS WAITING ON. YOU ARE THE CHANGE THE WORLD NEEDS. YOU ARE AN INFINITE POSSIBILITY WAITING TO UNFOLD. It's time you started to believe in your inner power and strength and stop waiting for others to label you. YOU ARE NOT YOUR FAILURES, you are GREATER than that, you possess within you the same energy that produced the universe. It's time we all started seeing what we are, instead of what we aren't.

Go, take on today, knowing that what you put out into the world, comes back multiplied, and stronger than ever. Make today, the best Monday, January 25th, 2016 ever!

Love,

Gretchen

#YouAreNotDefinedByYourFailuresYouBelongToSomethingGreaterThanThat #BeTheChange #MightyMovingForce #SuccessIsntMeasuredByHowWellOthersSayYouDidButHowYouFeltDoingIt #BigOLove #BigO #O