by Carol deLaski | Jul 17, 2013 | Confidence, Fear, Laura Hall, Success
Yes, that’s me! I did it! On July 6th, 2013 I went skydiving for the first time and the experience was everything I wanted it to be and more. If you read my last blog, “The Thing You Fear the Most“, you know that I took a lot of baby steps to get to this place. It feels a little surreal to have this experience behind me. I’m excited to report that everything went almost exactly as I had visualized it would. I had a beautiful day, a competent tandem instructor, and I was actually present for the experience. I enjoyed it! (As you may be able to tell from the smile on my face.) Knowing what you want is so important in life. You will never hit a target you don’t aim for. I definitely hit my target with this experience. The coolest thing I saw was a circular rainbow in one of the clouds. I looked this up on the internet and learned that they are very rare and have a special name. They are called a “glory”. There is no doubt in my mind that this was a sign from God. When I saw the glory I had an overwhelming sense of peace and just knew I was going to be OK. Click here to see a picture that is similar to what I saw. It was beautiful!
People keep asking me how it was and the simplest answer is, “Amazing!”. I’m finding it hard to put the experience in to words. I think that’s because it really wasn’t about the physical act of jumping out of a plane for me, but rather it was about turning and facing a fear rather than running from it. It was about rewriting a rule in the rule book of my life.
You see, I spent a good portion of my life avoiding a lot of the things that scared me. One of the the rules in Laura’s little book of life rules was, “If it scares you, figure out a way to avoid it!”. What, you never heard of that book!?! Hmm…well whether you know it or not, you too have a rule book that you operate out of. Some of the rules really work for you and make life more peaceful, happy and full, while other rules can get in your way and keep you from living the life you want to live. I encourage you to think about this rule book idea for yourself? Do you know your rules? Which ones are supporting you, and which ones are holding you back? How do you feel about rewriting the ones that are no longer serving you?
When I decided that I wanted to rewrite my rule around the things that scare me, I started thinking a lot about the word FEARLESS. What does it take to be fearless? The dictionary defined fearless as, “without fear, brave”. I figured I could practice being brave, but I wasn’t sure how to be without fear. I decided that breaking down the word made sense to me. I could work on being fearless by fearing less. My new rewritten rule became, “Feel the fear, but do it anyway.”. What I found was that the more I did something the less scary it became; I feared it less. When I felt anxious or scared by something, instead of running from it, I looked at it as an opportunity to practice my new rule, feel the fear, but do it anyway. I was making the choice to see things that made me uncomfortable as an opportunity, rather that something to be avoided. It wasn’t easy, and there were many times I was tempted by the old rule, but I was determined. I saw skydiving as a very physical symbol. Fear made me feel like a bird tethered to the ground. There were things I wanted to do, but I was afraid. I wanted the freedom to fly untethered. Skydiving, because it was something that at one point I thought I couldn’t do because of fear, represented freedom. It way my way to soar. I’ve found in the last week, whenever something starts to scare me, all I have to do is remind myself that I jumped out of a plane, and actually enjoyed it and look forward to doing it again. With this big fear behind me, it puts everything else in perspective. I am basking in the freedom of believing that I can do anything I put my mind to.
Skydiving was a major fear of mine and was the thing I just knew intuitively I needed to conquer to prove to my self that I could fear-less. What is your thing? What are you avoiding that you know, deep down, you really want to turn and face. What’s your plane? What are you ready to jump from? Where are you ready to soar? Let’s break the chains of fear and really fly! I know you can do it!
Today’s author: Laura Hall is an iPEC certified life coach whose business, Hall Coaching, was established in 2009 with the vision of waking women up from the nightmares of “How did I get here?” and, “Is this as good as it gets?”, so that they can begin creating and living the life of their real dreams, hopes and desires. She offers both one on one as well as group coaching services. She can be reached at [email protected] or check out her website at www.hallcoaching.com
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by Carol deLaski | Jun 13, 2013 | Confidence, Fear, Laura Hall, Personal Development, Success
Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain. – Mark Twain
Today I’d like to make a public declaration that on July 6th, 2013 I will do something that at one point in my life I thought I couldn’t do. I am going skydiving.
It’s amazing to me how just writing that, I can feel my heart rate increasing. Our fears certainly can have interesting affects on us. What’s up with this physical response? I’m not actually skydiving right now, I’m just thinking about it. Any fear I’m having right now is entirely in my imagination. Our minds certainly are powerful things.
When I went through coach training in 2008, I was encouraged to write a new rule book for my life. At that time I was riddled with anxiety related issues, but I was determined to stop letting fear hold me back. My new rule became, “feel the fear, but do it anyway”. As I prepare myself for my upcoming jump, I find myself repeating this rule often.
As I coach, I also believe in baby steps. Here are the baby steps I’ve taken since deciding that this was a fear I wanted to face. First, I put a picture of a girl skydiving on my vision board which hangs in my bathroom. I look at this on a daily basis and imagine what it’s going to be like to feel the wind in my hair and see the ground below rushing up to greet me. Second, I went to a vertical wind tunnel where I experienced what it feels like to have the wind pushing against me. Third, I’ve been visualizing the ideal skydiving experience (this was suggested to me by my own coach). I picture myself on the ground feeling euphoric, having just had the most amazing jump. And as I am writing this, I am on hold waiting to schedule my reservation. I am going to do this!!!!
How about you? What fear are you ready to face?
Did you know that on July 23rd Wholistic Woman Retreats is hosting Zip, Swing and Soar? What is this you ask? It’s an evening at Upward Enterprises where with the assistance of the Wholistic Woman Retreat coaches you will have the opportunity to try ziplining and the giant swing. For those of you that participated in this with us last year, you know how much fun the ziplining was. We’ve added the swing as another optional opportunity to step outside your comfort zone. Click here to see what the giant swing is all about. If this sounds like something you are interested in then please sign up to join us for your treetop adventure followed by dinner at the Buckeystown Pub. Click here for details.
I hope to see you there, and don’t forget to ask me about my skydiving experience!
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by Carol deLaski | May 15, 2013 | Guest Blogging, Laura Hall, Personal Development, Professional Development, Success
“Never give up. And most importantly, be true to yourself. Write from your heart, in your own voice, and about what you believe in.” -Louise Brown
In October of 2010 Wholistic Woman Retreats published it’s first blog. Since then we’ve posted 65 blogs, including this one. As the quote above states, we’ve written from our heart, in our own voice and about what we believe in.
A few months ago, we came up with the idea of opening our blog space to members of the Wholistic Woman Community. We know you are living amazing lives of both personal and professional trials and triumphs. You have stories to tell. Stories that may lift someone up at just the right time. Stories that may give someone else an ‘ah-ha’ moment. Stories that connect and inspire. What’s your story?
If this idea is appealing and you are ready to share your wisdom about your own growth with our community here are the guidelines to participate.
Who is eligible to post?
This is a benefit for members of the Wholistic Woman Community only. For information on membership, click here.
Content:
We are looking for blogs about personal and professional growth. They may be inspiring, thought provoking, or personal in nature. Of course they should be original with women being the target audience, but the material does not need to be exclusive to women.
Length:
400-1,000 words
Exclusivity:
We are looking for blogs that are written specifically for the Wholistic Woman Community and therefore request that you do not post your blog on any other sites.
Links:
- Blogs may not include affiliate links
- Personal links should not be included in the copy
- 2 personal links are permitted in your byline
Images:
Please supply an image to accompany your blog. If you need help with this, we will be happy to help you. Please make sure you have permission to use the image you choose and if necessary give proper credit to the source.
Editing:
Wholistic Woman Retreats has the right to edit your blog as we see necessary. We will send the edited version to you for approval prior to posting. We also reserve the right to reject blogs that are not consistent with our messaging of personal and professional growth.
Sharing:
Once your blog has been posted we request that you help promote it via social media. You will be allowed to provide a link to it from your personal website if you choose. We also request that you respond to any comments it may receive.
Now, what’s your story? Please send your blog submissions to [email protected]
We look forward to hearing from you!
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by Carol deLaski | Apr 19, 2013 | Children, Family, Laura Hall, Success
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch
What scares you? Where is fear holding you back in life? Before you read any further, STOP! I want you to really think about those questions.
OK, thanks for playing along! Now we can proceed.
Something you should know about me, is that I LOVE quotes. They motivate me, challenge me and inspire me. Neale Donald Walsch’s above quote is something I believe and try to live on a daily basis. It reminds me to challenge myself and to remeber that it’s OK to feel uncomfortable sometimes. I work on being comfortable being uncomfortable. Does that make sense?
When I see other people stepping outside their comfort zone, it warms my heart. I feel a kindred connection to people who are willing to feel fear and instead of using that as an excuse, they turn and face it and refuse to let it hold them back. Today, I’d like to tell you about two amazing wholistic women who I recently had the privilege of watching step outside their comfort zone. It just so happens that these two amazing women are my teenage daughters, Kayla and Helena.
Let’s start with Helena, for no particular reason other than she’s the 2nd child and usually gets listed 2nd so today we are going to let her go 1st.
Helena is 15 years old and recently bought herself a ukulele. In the span of about 3 weeks she taught herself to play, added 3 songs to her repertoire, and decided she wanted to step outside her comfort zone and challenge herself to perform at an open mike night at one of the local coffee shops. The night of her big debut came quickly and as I sat there with her, waiting for it to be her turn to perform, I noticed she was very quiet. She was nervous, but I also sensed a determination to not let her fear stop her. When they called her name, she walked with confidence up to the performance area, joked with the audience about how if she messed up they should give her a break as she had only had the ukulele 3 weeks and proceeded to play 3 of her songs to an audience of about 40 people. I was so proud of her! Here is a brief video of her performance:
Helena’s Performance
The next story is about Kayla, my 18 year old daughter who is a senior in high school this year and will be attending Towson University in the fall to study nursing. About a week ago I had a little accident at home which resulted in 5 staples in the top of my head. I won’t go into the gory details because they aren’t important. What is important is that because I have a degree in physical therapy and my husband is a dentist, I convinced the doctor at the urgent care facility to give me the staple remover so that I could take them out at home instead of having to make another visit to urgent care. When the night came to remove the staples, I asked Kayla if she wanted to take them out for me. She said yes, but admitted that she was feeling a little sick to her stomach and was nervous about hurting me. I assured her that I have a high pain tolerance, and after my husband demonstrated the technique to her, she then removed the remaining 4 staples, growing in confidence with each one. She is going to make an excellent nurse one day and I am proud to say that I was her 1st patient.
I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly thank my daughters for being an inspiration to me. Watching them step outside their comfort zones reminds me that it is normal to feel uncomfortable and even to experience fear when we are challenging ourselves in some way. The problems arise when we let the fear stop us. Being fearless isn’t about not being afraid, but rather fearing less. As Mark Twain says, “Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.”
Where in your life are you stepping outside your comfort zone? I encourage you to share your story in our comments. You may just be the inspiration someone else needs to turn and face their fear.
Today’s author: Laura Hall is an iPEC certified life coach who believes every woman deserves a coach. She offers both one on one as well as group coaching services. She can be reached at [email protected] or check out her website at www.hallcoaching.com
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by Carol deLaski | Feb 27, 2013 | Health, Laura Hall
How did you play as a child? How do you play as an adult? Those were the questions posed to me earlier today in my spiritual study group. We are studying a book called, A Hidden Wholeness, The Journey Toward and Undivided Life” by Parker Palmer. We are into the third chapter, and so far, I’m really enjoying the book.
These questions got me thinking about fun and play and what role they had in my life when I was a child, as well as what role they have in my life as an adult. My childhood was full of fun and play. I always lived in a neighborhood that was teeming with other kids. Some of my memories include playing jacks with my next door neighbor, Vicky, getting a group together to play kick the can, jumping rope to singsong tunes, or just laying in the grass and playing the cloud game where we would find animal shapes among the clouds.
As an adult, I continue to make a point of bringing fun and play into my life. I’ve found a really fun gym where I work out regularly with a bunch of playful women and a few men, I take time to have creative fun with scrapbooking, at least once a quarter my daughter and I host a game night with family friends (right now our favorite game is Telestrations), twice a year I take a weekend away with my close friends, and I lead as well as participate in workshops that inspire and uplift me. All of these things constitute fun and play for me.
Fun and play are important because they are part of living a well rounded life. There is more and more research coming out about the benefits of play, which include, but aren’t limited to stress reduction, increased problem solving abilities, increased longevity, connection to others, and increased energy. With benefits like these I’m sure you are probably asking yourself why you aren’t playing more in your life.
How do you have fun and play?
If you are looking for something fun to do next Friday evening, consider joining me and some of your other Wholistic Woman friends at Frederick’s International Women’s Day Celebration. Details can be found at https://wholisticwomenliving.com/ai1ec_event/international-womens-day/?instance_id=230
Today’s author: Laura Hall is an iPEC certified life coach who believes every woman deserves a coach. She offers both one on one as well as group coaching services. She can be reached at [email protected] or check out her website at www.hallcoaching.com
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by Carol deLaski | Feb 20, 2013 | Laura Hall
Are you a ‘word’ person? Do you know someone who searches for just the right phrase or word to describe what they’re thinking or feeling? I have had a lifelong passion to use verbal and written words creatively in an effort to effectively express myself. My passion has expanded in the process of writing my first book. Like many authors, I have found that writing my book went much quicker than editing my book. The editors and I have sent the manuscript back and forth between us for months, fine tuning and massaging the material so that it flows smoothly, and accurately captures my intended message. It’s a process that can sometimes feel maddeningly slow, yet if I let go of my expectations about when it will be done, it can also feel fluid and effortless. That’s because I love words and the way they enliven communication.
A deck of inspirational self-care cards are one of my favorite sources of empowering words. I enjoy spreading the cards out and, without looking at them, selecting one that ‘calls’ to me. Turning it over in my hands, I read the single word on the card, appreciate the beautiful illustration, and read the brief message. I then ask myself what the one word means to me on that particular day. Sometimes the message resonates with me immediately, and other times I have to wait and observe how the day unfolds before I understand its message in hindsight. On a recent morning I drew the word Patience. I had great expectations about what I wanted to accomplish that day on my manuscript. Looking at the card in the morning I was sure it was highlighting the need for patience in other areas of my life. However, after a frustratingly slow day of editing I saw that I needed to apply Patience to my writing. This observation helped me revise my expectations, release my disappointment, and accept my process.
Viewing your life through the lens of one word is a powerful exercise. Whether you subscribe to a ‘word of the day’, or like me, pull word cards from a deck, practices such as these have the potential to broaden our life experience by providing a focus we wouldn’t otherwise have. I invite you to give it a try and encourage you not to make it a willful mental exercise, but to allow the word to come to you. How would you do that?
‘One Word to Change Your Life’ will be the topic of a workshop I will be leading on February 27th from 7:30-9:30 am. The workshop will be based on the book “One Word That Will Change Your Life” and will guide participants to select their word for 2013. Once you find your word, or more accurately, your word finds you, it will be a lens through which you can view the experiences of this year. It will be a powerful tool to enhance your ability to create what you want in your work or life. Bringing laser focus to your intentions and growth allows for greater expansion and development. Click here for more details or to register for the workshop. http://home/wholisu6/dev.wholisticwomanretreats.com.readyforinsight.com/ai1ec_event/breakthrough-breakfast/?instance_id=9
Hope is an especially empowering word and will be the focus of Frederick’s International Women’s Day. ‘Healing Trauma, Restoring Hope’ will be the topic of this year’s event on March 8th from 5-8:30 pm. You are warmly invited to attend. https://wholisticwomenliving.com/ai1ec_event/international-womens-day/?instance_id=230
Today’s author: Carol Hayes is a Certified Leadership Coach, speaker, and soon-to-be author, who provides workshops for personal and professional growth. Contact Carol at 301-371-7460 or [email protected]
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