Hey love <3,
I know that we've had a TOUGH few days. I wanted to send this to you yesterday but I know today it will still help - if you are in need of help to feel better about the state of things.
I think what's most important is that you and me - we - remember all of the examples in our own lives where choosing the higher path of love changed things in an instant. I'm talking about moments where you smiled at someone, you held the door open, you conceded that you were wrong and apologized..even when you gave someone a hug that needed it. These are the acts, thoughts, and deeds that will change us and those around us into the people we wish they were and we wish we were. That little bit of extra effort is going to be so worth it.
I talked about this in a FB Live Chat yesterday morning as it all was sinking in. You can watch it here. Now is the time to challenge yourself to be encouraged. So much is riding on it in these days <3.
Always love!
P.S.If you are feeling dazed and need help moving forward, I am here for you! You can reach out via my Tarot page (just click on the image below) or by hopping on my schedule at calendly.com/leahpatterson
A few weeks ago, I gave a talk in my Facebook Group Inner Goddess, Outer Glow on getting your 'mojo' back. For me, mojo is your vitality, spice for life, essence of thriving! As we all know, life can take it's toll on us if we aren't mindful and all of a sudden, we can find ourselves without our usual zest and pep in our step.
It's easy to approach this with in the moment fixes, however, long term attention is often the best way to bring about lasting change and get our mojo back revved up enough to sustain us. That's why I focus on herbal allies in this video :).
Check it out and be sure to download your special worksheet afterwards! You can access the video below, you just need to join the Facebook Group if you aren't already a member.
Watch video: https://www.facebook.com/1renaissancewoman/videos/10209017573530898/
Download your worksheet here!: http://bit.ly/herbalallies
When you’ve dealt with debilitating depression and finally feel out of the worst of it, it’s surprising how easy it is to forget what it felt like in the middle of it. It’s very easy to forget the details of your story and even to downplay them. Slowly, your narrative turns to just remembering it as a bad time. You begin to forget that it wasn’t just a bad time, that it was in fact a strongly debilitating, stagnant time that almost destroyed your life. That’s what depression does. It takes over and throws your life dangerously out of whack.
But when you are feeling better, it’s easy to forget this.
And that’s what I want to speak with you about today. I don’t want you to forget. I want you to remember. I want you to remember down to the minute details of how your depression affected your life. It’s so very vital to your continued recovery and your ability to be happy with your life.
Without this remembering, you will be tempted to start seeing yourself on the same playing field as everyone else, holding yourself to the same standards. You’ll begin believing that the amount of effort required to reach their results should have been the same for you. And you might even begin to buy into that story that if you’d only tried harder, you would have overcome your issues and maybe you’d even be further along in life.
Especially when you have big goals and aspirations, which many people who suffer from depression do, beating yourself up for how your life has progressed is really easy to do.
But it’s not fair at all.
What I want you to remember is that you were doing the best that you could. Your stops and starts, ups and downs and seemingly insurmountable odds had so much more to do with how your mind was processing life at that time rather than any lack of effort or laziness on your part.
“Especially when you have big goals and aspirations, which many people who suffer from depression do, beating yourself up for how your life has progressed is really easy to do. But it’s not fair at all.”
And yes, you may have heard things like:
“Apply yourself more.”
“Just stick with it.”
“Keep trying and don’t give up so easily.”
“You have to at least try.”
Even things like:
“It’ll work out eventually.”
“You just have to stay positive.”
“Everybody has bad days.”
And upon looking back, you may be tempted to believe that all of those things were true and that if you’d just ‘something’, you’d be further along now. You’d have been able to accomplish your big goals back then despite your depression and anxiety.
But know this.
It’s simply not true. Your depression was real. It is real. It did have an effect. It did exist. And it did hold you down and back. It did sit on your life and suffocate your joy and hope and happiness. It did that. You didn’t do that. Your depression did that. YOU on the other hand are courageous. YOU continued to have hope, no matter how small, even as it was being strangled almost to death. YOU allowed yourself to be helped and pulled out of the spiral of depression. YOU made that decision, however small and timid it began. YOU did THAT. YOU should be commended and celebrated and awarded for reaching THAT goal.
For that is not an easy goal to attain. That’s one that even the most determined, goal-oriented person you can think of would have challenges attaining in your shoes. The obstacles you’ve had to overcome have been many. They’ve been obscure and they’ve been difficult to pinpoint. They’ve been elusive and they’ve been unclear. And yet you have still triumphed. You are still here on the other side of them, living so much more closely to, if not already in, a life that feels good more than it feels bad.
“YOU allowed yourself to be helped and pulled out of the spiral of depression. YOU made that decision, however small and timid it began. YOU did THAT.”
This is why I want you to always remember your story. Remember that your depression wasn’t just a small thing that you let take you down. It was a huge monster that dragged you down. And you triumphed still. Be encouraged. Be proud. Be bold and boastful about where you are in your life. You deserve that. You are a champion!
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Hey goddess! So I'm a-buzzing😊. I just finished teaching another Salsa as Sacred Dance online class! I had to pop over and share with you all how transformative teaching it has been. This is the second time I've taught it and I'm realizing more and more how teaching my experience of salsa in this way is unique and yet relatable.
It's not at all that it's a concept or feeling that people aren't aware of, but it is definitely something that people have not put emphasis on. And I think there is such transformation that can come from actively acknowledging this aspect of it!
I'm staying open and receiving to divine guidance about how exactly to offer this class. Stay tuned 💖! (Silly pictures while getting ready below :-P).
