Trusting What You Can Not See, by Sheri McConnell
(Excerpted from Smart Women Know Their Why-Pub. Date June 2010)
Faith is a big part of living a successful life and being a successful entrepreneur. My secret is deciding to have faith in myself more than any type of external force. Notice I said the word “decision” because that is where it starts. My journey has taught me that I always intuitively know which direction to head next and when I look to find answers outside of myself, I always end up off the path a bit. It took me until I was well into my thirties to be able to trust others because of not having established trust in any form whatsoever during my childhood. For me, I had to have my own family and connect with the love I had for them to be able to trust myself and others.
The deeper reason it is important to be able to trust is because your heart must be full and complete in order to bring out the passion and joy for yourself and others in your life. The feeling of trust will penetrate the walls surrounding a broken heart, the pain from being alone or feeling alone. Just like you, others have been in the dark and are searching for what you now know to be true. They are searching to believe in themselves in the darkest moments of their being. This is trust at its core.
So let’s talk about a few ways to learn to trust yourself so you can be empowered to live the life of your dreams which could mean grow a very profitable business, or have a huge family, author a series of books, or travel the world and meet exciting people—shoot your dream life could include all of these—mine does!
Trust in Balance
If you are moving in “auto-pilot” the heart will not shine and the days will cast heaviness in the center of your body. Balance will provide the base of being grounded to the truth. Believe in the love you have for yourself and you will come from the deepest parts of your soul.
The fastest way to develop a trusting relationship with balance is connect with nature. This will bring the balance between work, family, love, and life. In this connection you will build the foundation that will hold you up in any storm. So each day work on getting out and just seeing the beauty of nature around you. This will help make the connection stronger and remind you of just how small we are in the universe. The more you bring in nature and hold the thought of each molecule and atom circling in your path, the more balanced you will become.
Now, I am aware that I live in San Antonio, Texas and we are blessed with nine months of beautiful weather each year, so I know I am able to connect more often than some—if you live in an area that isn’t as mild as where I live, do whatever you can to create the sounds and smells of nature in your home during the cold months.
Trust in Power
True power will emerge when you are in service. All you have to do is trust that the power is given to you to serve and that if you serve, the world is abundant. This doesn’t mean when running a business, you don’t charge for products and services. You can’t produce quality products and services and really help your customers if there isn’t an exchange of money. Trusting in your own power to lead others through your products and services is the inner structure that allows the new ideas and the new beginnings to come forth.
Trust in Energy
The innocence of childhood energy is what we tap into when we are at our center. Remember the feeling of being with one self and no cares or a negative thought to speak of. Trust that this energy still exists within you and allow yourself to bring this calmness into your thinking when you are taking on the biggest obstacles and the biggest conflicts. Tapping into this energy will help you to reduce stress and become heart centered. This is the constant energy that is felt by others so they can rejoice in their knowing of this power within them. And knowing about this energy will help you break the barriers of negative energy in any room.
I have found that our truest sense of self comes from just trusting in our energy and the energy signals we get from others. Your goal is to have no barriers or boundaries where energy is concerned and just be with the energy of each moment. In the present moment, there is no fear, no doubt, just you in your power and experiencing all of life’s joys that are presented to you each day.
Trust in the Journey
A lot of people get stuck in their own journey. They relive the worst parts of it over and over again in a very unloving way. It becomes a vicious circle of inner self disappointment that circles them right back around to the same place again. I’ve been there and I get it.
Instead of getting stuck on your journey, take the mistakes you made and will make and love yourself as if you were a child who is learning. Even as adults, in some areas of growth we are only children and we must be gentle with ourselves to truly grow through the journey. What I know to be true is that people are searching for a place of belonging and validation. You can create this for them by being a leader who spreads passion and love.
Remember that your journey is a gift because it provides the wisdom you will need to go out and create positive change in the world. So your goal is to learn from your past and do better as soon as you know better. Be strong and have courage to change. Trust me, I know how hard it is to move past a dysfunctional patterns that have become comfortable. But the rewards of doing so allow you to stand outside of yourself and get a good look at whom you have been and where you are now. What surfaces is love. And now you can shine this love for others…. You see, without the journey, you would not have this gift.
Because of my journey (see chapter one), I was able to survive the darkness and now shine a light for others who are now in the shadows of darkness themselves. They need help from someone who has been there and conquered the fear of internal and external chaos. I do this by casting light on dark situations and allowing my words to fill the gap between doubt and love. I invite you to find your passions (your gifts) and cast light for others too.
Want To Use This Article In Your Ezine or Website? You have my permission, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Sheri McConnell is the CEO of Sheri McConnell Companies, Inc. and the president and founder of two global organizations, the Smart Women’s Institute of Entrepreneurial Learning (formerly the National Assn of Women Writers-2001) and the Global Institute of Associations-GIA. You can visit Sheri, access her free article archive, and grab lots of free stuff at http://www.sherimcconnell.com or http://www.giaconnect.com. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband, their four children, a weenie dog, and three hermit crabs.
