Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 409 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast. Thanks for being here. I appreciate you so much, not only in that we get to be together twice a week, but also in that together by making ourselves better we are making the world better and for that I thank you for making life better.
This life is so much more than it appears on any given day. We all go through life and we have our daily routines, our life drama, our new experiences, our likes and dislikes, I could go on for days describing the things we live every day. There’s more to life than just waking up, going about our routines and then doing it all again the next day. If we are really searching, striving to be the best that we can be, which I believe you and I are…I say that because we spend 2 days at least together every week with this podcast working on our mindset and working on being our best so I know you are working at it just like I am. But if you are searching for how to be the best version of you the universe or God or intuition whatever you want to call it that is guiding you, hinting to you, nudging you towards things that will delight you and inspire you and encourage you and put you on the path that you know deep down you were meant to live.
Because I say this a lot and I hear it a lot from Esther Hicks because I love her teachings but life is supposed to be fun. You should be having a good time more often than not. I hope you know that to be true. I talked in episode 408 about our two different realities. The one that’s happening and the one in our head about what’s happening. That is such a good point to know because our happiness and the actions we take day to day that either lead us to more happiness or away from it, it all starts in our head. And it may sometimes feel like you’re out in this big crazy world all alone trying to figure it out. Of course you have friends and family, and thank goodness for them but you’re still responsible for you and your happiness. No one else can be responsible for that for you. Someone can influence it but they can’t do it for you.
So I love those moments, those books, those people that feel like it was just providence that they came into my life.
My friend Leena, recently bought me a book, now she didn’t just buy a book, she bought a book that has a movie out right now and she said I’m reading this too and then I thought we could go see the movie once we are done reading the book. Which I thought that was a fabulous idea. We are almost done and we are actually going to see the movie with our husbands on Monday so I’m excited.
Now I’m telling you this because this could have easily been an experience where I read a great book and then watched a great movie with my friend and that would have added to my enjoyment of life and thats the end of it. BUT because I feel like providence or the universe is always giving me hints at how to make my life even better, I’m always open to it. I haven’t always been this way but pivotal things have happened in my life where I’ve had to do some soul searching which led me to create this podcast which has opened my eyes to amazing things, which is hopefully opening your eyes a bit too.
So. Yes I’m reading this great book, it’s The boys in the boat, that’s the name of it. And as I’m reading it his experience in life with his family was extremely hard. I wont tell you everything because I hope you read the book or go see the movie, but let’s just say, his Homelife was not good. He would have been very justified in being angry with his family for how he was treated…Just for a point of reference, spoiler alert coming up…….skip forward 30 seconds if you don’t want to hear it……ok, so you gather my meaning here, His mother died when he was young, his dad remarried and had several kids with his new wife, who wasn’t very nice…..ultimatley, He was abandoned at 10 by his family, picked back up then abandoned again for good at 15. While I am reading this, I really felt immense anger at his family and especially his dad. As he grows up all on his own, he reaches out to his family wanting to have a relationship with them and Im reading going “they don’t deserve to have a relationship with you, don’t go begging to see them, they aren’t worth it”. I felt myself thinking how justified he would be to never want to see them again, but here he was reaching out to them, risking rejection over and over. I felt like he should have held onto his pride and rejected them right back. I actually had the thought that it was pathetic that he was giving them a chance to be back in his life…..in my mind they should be reaching out to him, not him reaching out to them…he was the one wronged! Ok, I know this is sounding bad but that’s how I felt, I had strong feelings, It hit me kind of hard, I know why.
If you’ve been listening for a while, you know why too. My sister rejected me and my husband Eric and I have felt very justified in my return rejection of her. I have been so prideful in that I don’t feel she deserves my attention or the attention of my other siblings because of how she acted. I feel very justified in my prideful stance of forget her, but that attitude hasn’t been working for me and as I read this book, I saw how because of his willingness to reach out, eventually he has a great relationship with his family, all because he never gave up and only showed love.
So Im willing and open to listen to the nudging that the universe gives me and I know Ive been part of the problem even though I feel wronged, and justifiably so, I mean I wouldn’t be wrong to move on and never try to reach out but that is my pride talking, that assures there will be no communication at all. That’s not what I want, of course it’s not, the reason it bothers me is I want to have a relationship with my sister and her family, if I didn’t, I just wouldn’t care, but I do.
So, I listened to the nudging and I sent my sister a text out of the blue the other morning asking about her new puppies, saying I would love to meet them and also that I had cleaned my closet out and would my niece like to have the clothes? Now this was out of the blue, it’s been a year since we have had any communication. I wasn’t sure what I would get back and I knew it could be complete rejection again. I would have been right to be hurt and stay mad because she shunned me, not the other way around. But I also knew that old phrase “do you want to be right or do you want to be happy” is a real thing. I want to be happy and as long as I do everything on my part with no pride in my heart, then I can move forward in this life with no regrets, regardless of the outcome.
What happened next is like my own movie. She text me back fairly quickly telling me all about the puppies and that she was wanting to bring the puppies to mom and dads and maybe we could all get together there and meet the puppies. She also said yes, Addison would probably love to go through the clothes and maybe we could meet in Memphis where I live. This was much better than I even thought. Simply because I let go of my pride and reached out, risking rejection, knowing it was possible but also knowing I can handle any response I get because I was letting my heart do the talking instead of allowing my pride to try to protect me. That’s all pride is, it’s a protection from further hurt. But pride in this situation actually can cause more hurt because it holds you back from taking steps towards reconciliation, even though it seems justified and from a lot of points of view it is justified.
My point though of this story is the universe put that book in my world through my friend Leena and it was my job to take from it what I needed to hear. Yeah, reading the book, going to see the movie with our friends, that alone would be great but finding the deeper meaning and seeing where I can apply it in my life, that’s the good stuff, that’s what takes life from really good to simply outstanding. And those nuggets are everywhere all around us all the time, we just have to be willing to see them, to be open to them and then to take action in our own life because of them.
The universe is always speaking to you. But you gotta listen.
My challenge to you this week is to notice one thing this week that could have a deeper meaning and don’t just enjoy the moment, act on it. Do something. Make a call. Send an email. Reach out even though it may be uncomfortable. A lot of times, the good stuff is just across the line of your comfort zone. Share this with the first 3 people that to mind with this episode. I love you guys! Ill talk to you in a few days.
