Hey SLAYERS! Missed us tonight on SLAY TALK LIVE tonight? Not to worry, catch what you missed here.
A great chat with best-selling author Kelly Martin about Dealing With Anxiety.
Love
Embracing Is Acing
Before walking this path the only thing I was embracing were the outside things I thought would fill me up. None of them ever did, not in the long-term. Sure I might get a hit of satisfaction or relief, but soon after that emptiness would creep back in. Back then, I couldn’t even fathom embracing something I deemed negative. Which, was pretty much everything in my life, including myself.
When I sought help and started to change my behaviors and embarked on a path of self-love, I had to learn to embrace all of those things I didn’t like. Those imperfections in myself, and in my life. Which was a lot to take on. I was pretty much unhappy about everything. But I started with learning to find acceptance first. And boy, that took some work, but learning to ease off, to let go, to look at each thing and ask if there was something I could do to change it, asking myself, honestly, why I didn’t like it, and using that information to move forward. If there was action I could take I had to take it, otherwise I was not permitted to complain about it. Fair enough. And if I wasn’t ready to take action, I would write down what the action should be, will be, because that was the only action I was ready to take in that moment. Finding acceptance for the things I couldn’t change came next. I felt frustrated, trapped, and discouraged. But if I was going to get better I had to learn to let those things go, they weren’t serving me, they were only bringing me down.
And that’s it really. It’s taking a look at our lives and what is helping us and what is pulling us back, or keeping us staying stuck, and then doing something about those things that aren’t helping us get to where we want to be, or, robbing us of our peace and serenity. There are a lot of things I have no control over, and once I was able to let them go the happier I became. In terms of myself, I was eventually not only able to let go of my hate, judgment, or disappointment for those things n myself I didn’t like, I learned to embrace them. Embracing my flaws made them my assets. And yes, there are some that do hold me back, but the more I practice living in the light and living in my truth, the more those personal flaws start to lessen their grip on me.
As you know, I am a big believer in contrary action. Doing the opposite of what we’ve always done. That is the only way to get different results. And when we practice contrary action not only do the results change, but so do we. Our self-confidence grows, our self-esteem gets bigger, we start to love ourselves for who we are, and we start to see what makes us special. We learn to embrace who we are, all of who we are, and we begin to live a life that supports that love and is more loving to ourselves. When we are embracing we are acing. A reminder that we need to embrace our true selves, it’s only then that we begin to ace life, in whatever that means for you. SLAY on!
SLAY OF THE DAY: Do you struggle with embracing who you are, flaws and all? What holds you back? Why do you think you have trouble? The reasons you’ve cited, are they stories from your past that you’ve continued to hold on to? Let them go, those stories are old, and no longer you, only if you allow them to control your present. Write out who are you, as a person, what makes you you, write out your hopes and dreams, and then write down what holds you back. What can you do to diminish or get rid of those things that hold you back? Maybe even embrace them and make them work in your favor. You can SLAYER, if I can you can, I believe in you. Start looking at those things as something positive, something you can overcome, work around make you stronger to go after those things you want in your life, to be the best version of you. Take charge and focus on what you can do to move forward, and letting go of the rest. Embrace who you are and what you are, and you’ll see many of those obstacles fall way.
S – self L – love A – appreciate Y – you
Slay Say
Good morning SLAYER! You have two hands, one for helping yourself, and one for helping others.
New blog goes up Tuesday, until then…SLAY on!
Held With Invisible Hands
I talk a lot about how STATE OF SLAY is a community of like-minded people who love and support each other through their journeys. We talk about carrying a torch for each other, lighting someone’s path when it gets dark. And, I talk about walking next to you on your path as I walk on mine. But we are also all held by invisible hands. We are supported by all the hands of the many SLAYERS around the world, we may not see those hands, but they are there, guiding us, giving us strength, loving us, and cheering us on when we are victorious, or just need a hand to hold. Those hands are always there.
I was thinking about that the other day. I feel you all with me, all the time. Even though we are in different time zones, different parts of the world and on different parts of our paths, we walk as one, and as I often say, no one gets left behind.
Our hands are always stretched out for those in need, they are there to embrace one another in greeting, or in love and support, they hold the hands of others to help when it’s hard to speak, or share our truth, our hands can’t be broken, they make a chain, a link, to all of us, and that chain continues to grow.
I walked most of my life alone. And I felt alone. When I think of all of you out there I know I’m not alone, you are all with me each day and I can feel your hands around me, I hope you can feel ours too. And maybe that’s something to focus on, when we feel anxious, nervous, unsure, visualize those hands with you, holding you, giving you strength, because they’re there, and just by seeing them in your mind, they may give you exactly what you need in that moment.
We share a common goal, we share many common experiences, and we walk this shared path to becoming our best selves. We can’t do that alone, I know I can’t, I tried, and, it’s so much better to do it with others you know, you love, others who understand. Those outreached hands can also help us to learn. We can learn to trust again, or maybe for the first time, we learn that those hands are there when we reach for them, even when we don’t, they are always stretched out in our direction, we can depend on them, and we learn that we can stretch out ours, that it is safe and that we feel good when we do it. Those hands connect us to others, to old friends, to new friends, to those like us, we see that we are not alone, that who we are is OK, that we’re more than OK, that we are incredible and we should celebrate that.
Each and every one us is held up by invisible hands. Whether from this community, or others you may belong to. We are here to support one another, to lift each other up, to share this journey when it gets tough, and to show those who are struggling that it gets better, brighter, and that there is hope. All of our hands reach out to yours, we are always here, even when you don’t see us, we reach out to you, and hope you’ll reach out to us too. There is room for everyone on this path, and sometimes just to get by, it takes a lot of hands. SLAY on!
SLAY OF THE DAY: Do you feel supported either here within our community, or within one of your choosing? If yes, why? If not, why? If you don’t, what can you do to connect with others, or at least one person, who can walk with you and share your path with you? Is there something that stops you from connecting? What is it? Is that the truth, or is that a story from your past that is no longer valid? Only you can make it valid today, if it’s an old story, let it go, try something new, reach out to someone who you admire, who’s walking a path of being their authentic self, who will take you along with them. The only person we hurt by not reaching out is us, we lose every time, it is when we learn to overcome our fear to connect with others that our world opens up, it gets brighter, and we see those hands reaching out for us. I challenge you SLAYER, reach out to one new person this week, talk to them, meet up with them, and share with them, you can never have too many hands.
S – self L – love A – appreciate Y – you
Slay Say
Good morning SLAYERS! What would you say today to your younger self?
New blog goes up Sunday, until then…SLAY on!
Talk To Your Younger Self
I’ve brought this up before, especially for those struggling with self-care and negative self-talk, to talk to your younger self, or care for your younger self, because sometimes it’s easier to start there, you wouldn’t treat that little you as harshly as you would the you of today. I’ve often thought about what I would say to myself, and I guess, by doing the speaking I do, I do get to do that in a sense. I get to share what I know now with those like myself who are perhaps still struggling, or just starting on their path. Whenever I am called on to speak in front of group, I always ask to myself before I begin, what would I want to hear. But, I think that’s a good approach in learning to talk to ourselves in a healthier and more positive way. What would you want to hear?
For me, I think back to the scared and unsure girl, so full of hopes and dreams, and not sure she had what it takes to get them, just wanting to escape, to be somewhere else, to hide. I think back to her, see her in my mind, and think about what I would say to her today, how I would care for her, what I would make sure she knew. But I can do that, because she is in me, she’s there, and it’s that little girl who I fight for every day. Who I protect. Encourage. Cheer on. And comfort. She is who I SLAY for. She is worth everything in the world. She is my heart.
So now, when I get in my head, when the negative self-talk kicks in, and it still does from time to time, I think about her, and I think about those negative things I’m saying to myself being said to her and it breaks my heart. That stops it for me. The puts it to an end.
I also talk to my younger self when I have self-doubt. I think back to the fear I had as a child and I think about what I would say to her now, and then I say it. Because no matter what my age is, that girl is still there, she’s fighting each day along with me, she’s laughing with me, she’s winning with me, and she’s losing with me. She’s doing it all. But she is the source of my shine, she radiates light at my core, her excitement, her love of adventure, her big heart, she is the life force that keeps me going. To do something to hurt her would kill my core self, my heart, my soul.
It is important to acknowledge and talk to our younger selves. When we get knocked down, it’s those younger selves who need comforting, who need to be picked up again and told it’s going to be OK. It’s our younger selves who can teach us the importance of self-care and self-love, and when we may feel it’s selfish, our younger selves remind us it is not. It is our younger selves who remind us who we truly are, before life got in the way and stripped us of that goodness and innocence, but we can regain that, only now we have some amour to protect it, and them. Let your younger self shine, celebrate them and who they are, because they, are we and our most pure. Never say anything to yourself you wouldn’t say to your younger self, care for, nurture, stand by those young versions of us, they are the key to everything we want and work for. SLAY on!
SLAY OF THE DAY: Do you talk to you younger self? If yes, what do you say? If not, have you ever thought about it? How do you feel about talking to your younger self? If you could say something, what would you say today? How would you protect your younger self? What can you do today to protect your younger self? Is self-care and self-love easier to practice when you visualize you saying and doing what you are to your younger self? Do it SLAYER. I challenge you to think about your younger self over the next week. Talk to them, care for them, remember what makes them so special and why they shine so bright, and remind yourself that that younger you lives inside of you, it is the center of who you are, so let that little light shine from your younger self and let it turn into beacon of hope, love, and your best you. Let your light shine.
S – self L – love A – appreciate Y – you
Slay Say
Good morning SLAYER! Fill yourself up with love until you become like a magnet and that love becomes attracted to you.
New blog goes up Sunday, until then…SLAY on!
Find Your Own Fullness
I’ve written about feeling empty before, that at my bottom it felt like there was just an empty hole inside of me, I was just the vessel, I was dead inside. I tried to fill that hole with many things, relationships, control, alcohol, shopping, sugar, work, anything I could grab that I thought would fill me up inside. The trouble was, nothing could. None of that worked, maybe some of it did temporarily, but as my mental health got worse, I wasn’t even getting a brief hit of satisfaction anymore, it all just felt empty, but, not having a solution outside of those things, I just kept trying them in bigger quantities. When I finally surrendered and asked for help, I had to stop all of those things I used to use, and even though they had long stopped working, I was terrified to feel the emptiness I did inside without any way to dull the pain. I learned that only I could fill that void, nothing outside of myself would have ever have filled it. The question was, how the heck was I going to do that? I had always felt that way, from as far back as I could remember, I always felt empty, like something was missing, the question was, what was missing?
Well, for one, self-love was missing. I didn’t love myself, I didn’t even like myself, so that added to that feeling of emptiness, and as the pain of self-hatred increased, so did the blackness inside of me. With no vices to hide my pain, I set out to find what would fill me up. That seemed like a tall task, but I knew my life depended on it, and the promise to finally stop the pain was enough to get me motivated enough to try. I was told there was a solution, and that how I felt was within my control, I just had to learn how to fill myself up with meaningful things that would set my soul of fire. So, aside from learning to love myself, I set out to find myself, to find out who I really was. There was a lot of self-discovery, a lot of saying yes to new things, with new people, and there was lot of me discovering what my spirituality was. And I gave myself the gift of time to figure it out, by not setting parameters, just walking through my days with the intention to learn and grow. Over time I started to feel fuller, that blackness and emptiness started to fill up and I did start to love myself. That love came from forgiveness, it came from acceptance, and it came from a newfound appreciation of who I was, yeah, that started to happen. It happened when I made an effort to let go of the way I had been living and learn a new way, a better way, a way in the light, a way I could be proud of, a way that let me be my best me, and let me love me. This journey took time, but once I started to fill myself up I realized that nothing on the outside every would have done that job for me, it only made me feel more empty.
It’s easy to look around and think that a new car, a new friend, a different city, another event will fill you up, and it might, for a while, but outside things will never fill an inside job. Find out what fills you up, take the time to get know you, to love yourself, and go on quest to find all the ways you can fill yourself up with your own fullness, until you do, you will always be chasing the next thing to give you that little bit of full that will keep you going, but, over time, you may just be running on empty because those solutions are not the solution of finding your full. If you couldn’t use any outside things to fill yourself up, how would you fill that void SLAYER, that, is the question only you can answer. SLAY on!
SLAY OF THE DAY: What do you use to fill yourself up? Are these things that can be bought? Are these people? Places? Things? What if you couldn’t use those to fill yourself up and only had to use yourself, how would you do it? What makes you feel full? What of those things can you not buy? Do you still have some things on your list SLAYER? Find more of those things, discover those things in your life that fill you up inside that you cannot buy, learn what they are, find a connection to those things that give back to you, that is the only way to truly feel full, and the only way to learn who you truly are.
S – self L – love A – appreciate Y – you
Slay Say
Good morning SLAYER! Don’t let the shadows of your past darken the the doorstep of your future.
New blog goes up Friday, until then…SLAY on!
Slay Talk Live Video
Hello SLAYERS! Thank you to all the SLAYERS who joined me tonight! For those of you how didn’t join us, here’s what you missed!
SLAY on!
