A couple of years ago I was up early and decided to take a walk through some local markets. I had a funny feeling I was going to bump into someone I knew and wondered who it might be.

As I walked around, a very simple and minimalistic stall caught my eye. I went over and began chatting with the lovely Maori lady who owned it. She began to tell me her story. While we talked, she offered me a card reading, and eventually, I couldn’t resist. I thought to myself, this will be a great test to see if she’s real or not.

I had forgotten for a second that the Universe ALWAYS knows what it’s doing.

She turned over four cards, one at a time, and interpreted each of them. As each one was turned, I felt my eyes filling and the silent tears roll down my cheeks.

The first card confirmed why I had gone to the markets and who I would be meeting. ‘Oh‘, she said, ‘The Agent / Manager. You’ve already started something, and this card is telling me you have a guide who is working with you to help you to do what you need to be doing‘.

I smiled. I didn’t need to hear any more. I had been validated and I knew that despite feeling so incredibly alone at times, I never really was. Despite having more moments than I cared to admit of not having a clue what I was doing, I just had to trust that everything was unfolding as it was supposed to… and I would be okay.

With each card turned, another accurate piece of my life at the time was revealed. Of course, cards are always open to the reader’s interpretation but if I had deliberately chosen the cards myself, they couldn’t have been closer to my truth at the time. And yet, I knew on some level I had chosen those cards.

Everything we do today creates our future. Everything we tell ourselves contributes to our self-image. Our self-talk will either grow our self-confidence or fuel our self-perception of inferiority, less than or simply not enough.

I wrote recently about how our cave brain is great at coming up with all the things that can go possibly go wrong. Who hasn’t gone waaay down deep into one of those rabbit holes?

For me, identifying what I believe might be the worst possible scenario ‘what if that happens’ and addressing it, seems to take the charge out of any imagined catastrophe.

I love writing, so I have been known to create a ‘list or two’ of pros and cons. This always includes everything I can think of that could possibly go wrong.

Once done, I ask myself, ‘Is that all? What else? And if that happens, then what?’ Once I am sure I have covered every possible angle, I breathe.

Then I go through my list and ask, ‘What are the chances of this actually happening? And if it did then what?’

This does two things:
1. It takes the negative and scary energy out of the perceived obstacle or threat and,
2. Allows me to cross off anything unlikely to happen.

Usually, what’s left no longer constitutes a list. But if there is anything, then I either have no control over it, or I put a strategy in place just in case.

The funny thing about problems is that once you find a solution to them, you can’t un-know it. Once you learn something you can’t un-learn it. Or to put it another way, You can’t un-ring a bell.

For most of us, embarking on a new adventure, career, project, or way of life brings with it a range of emotions –
doubt – in the form of imposter syndrome
anticipation – what if…
fear – OMGosh what the hell am I thinking?? I CAN’T do this!!
nervous energy – Ok, ok, I’ve got this, I’ve got this… and
a sense of exhilaration – I don’t know how, but look out world ‘cos I’M DOING THIS!!

Life is there to be experienced, the highs, the lows, the successes, and the perceived failures.
Every single one of these counts – everything we do counts.

Without repeating myself again, yes, it’s the little things that matter and they ARE important.
The difference the simple but intangible activities make is often not obvious straight away.

Sometimes going back to basics and remembering the things that really matter bring us the most benefit across all areas of our life, and deliver the most joy.

Why do we feel so good when we connect to nature?
Why do we feel so calm, with an increased sense of clarity, after a meditation or yoga session?
Why do we feel happy when we do something for another person, particularly a stranger?

None of these things can be bought but the emotion, as a result, is where the power lies.

Most of the time, the things that hold us back from doing something amazing are our own inaccurate and self-limiting beliefs. If we have the power to imagine everything that can go wrong, then we also have the power to imagine everything that can go right.

Which attitude will serve you best?

Much Love
Dalya xx 💙