Learning Along The Way

4 Words to Tell Yourself (again & again)

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Have you ever thought much about your self-talk?  The words you tell yourself in your head? They may come out of your mouth when you think no one else is listening.

Are they kind words?  Are you nice to yourself?  Or do you have the voice of “the Bad Girlfriend” as my coach calls it?

I hadn’t thought about how I treat myself until one day I overheard my little boy say something to himself when he dropped something.

“That was stupid.”

ouch.

My eavesdropping became an awareness to change something I hadn’t had on my radar.

Maybe that is something you need to be aware of too.

Change is hard.  But the good news about change?  It’s constantly going on all around you. You might as well join in!

I’ve worked on that self-talk change for almost 20 years.  I have learned a four word phrase that I’ll share with you that you can tell yourself too.

You Can Do This.

These 4 words have helped me again and again.

We sent one son off to college. You Can Do This.

My mom and dad passed away in the same year. You Can Do This.

My husband and I trained for 6 months to ride our tandem bike around Lake Tahoe.

You Can Do This.

We’ve watched one son get married and move away. You Can Do This.

We launched our youngest to college all the way across the country! You Can Do This.

We emptied our home of 15 years and moved away from our community.  You Can Do This.

See what I mean?

A very helpful phrase.  But it’s really a shortened version of the first Bible verse I memorized when I came to faith in Jesus Christ at 23 years old.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil. 4:13

If you follow Christ, You Can Do This.  Whatever He calls you to, He will be with you in it.  His strength is yours to rely on, to sustain you through the change.  God doesn’t change.

Everything around us may change but God remains the same.  Yesterday, Today and Forever.

You Can Do This.

My recent challenge?

Food changes.

This guy has had hidden health issues. A change in what he eats will improve the issues.

Colin at Apple

So we became vegan.  Not just a change like “eat less fats” or “cut out sweets”.

A plant based diet will reduce the scary numbers that say bad things could happen.

I had to change how I cook, what I buy and just about everything I knew about food prep.

Tempeh Tacos

You Can DO This!  (these are tempeh tacos)

You might be a passionate cook who looks at a challenge like this with great enthusiasm.  That’s not me.

I have to talk to myself. Daily.  I had to find new sources of inspiration (check out my Pinterest boards for proof!)

Here is a new favorite book

French Market

Remy would be proud (ratatouille)

Your change challenge may be much different than food changes.  Believe me, I know change is hard.

But change can be good.

You Can Do This!

I’d love to hear your changes so we can encourage one another!

Also, I’m linking up today over at Sue’s blog:

Tasting on Tuesdays

Sunday Celebrations (Part 2)

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Sundays during Lent are times to remember.  Remember and Celebrate the gift of salvation achieved through Christ’s sacrifice and miracle of Resurrection.  So in my blogging today I am completing what was begun last week: the story of a new life direction.

In my post here we began following an imaginary creek; my story answering the really great question ‘Why “Learning Along the Way” is my business name’.  It’s time to share the rest of the story.

For the ten years from 1997 to 2007 I was a busy momma.  Privileged to be a stay at home Mom, raising two sons, homeschooling, volunteering, gardening, canning, attending sporting events, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, music lessons, AWANA and all the things one might imagine fills the life of a wife and mother.  Whew!  I’m tired reading this partial list!  It was a full ten years but not just full with time commitments.  It was a period of life full of learning, full of love as I watched two boys grow to men, and full of loss as I learned to let go.

In 2007 tragedy struck my life.  My mom became suddenly ill, was hospitalized and within two weeks passed away.  Nine months later, my dad committed suicide.  It was at this junction that the apple cart of my life was overturned.  I have written of this season before,  so I won’t take the time now but would love for you to have the full perspective if you’re interested.

After these big losses and forced letting go, I began working with a counselor for healing past hurts and a Life Coach for personal growth.  Two crucial, yet opposite, aspects of life being worked on simultaneously: looking back and looking forward.  It was an intense year and a half, but oh so fruitful.  Out of this time came the realization that a new chapter of my life was beginning.

I knew I didn’t want to simply “put my life back together”.  I wanted God to be the One to put my life together.  The apple cart filled with what He wanted in it.  I prayed.  I sought wise counsel.

I loved the process of being coached. It was action oriented and so uplifting!  I began coursework to become a life coach myself.  In one of the courses we were to come up with a name for our business as well as what we wanted to have as a niche, a corner of the coaching market if you will.  Those were big ideas!

I wanted my business to accurately reflect me.  I wanted my clients to get to know a little about their coach.  I recognized that my business was going to be best represented by what I am most passionate about: learning; learning how to live my life following Jesus and giving Him the credit, the glory.  Hence, Learning along the Way.  His Way.

We can live our life doing all we can to have safety and security.  We can be honest and moral people.  But are we living our life following?  Or living our life carefully to not make bad decisions or mistakes?  To manage damage control when carefully scripted lives unravel without reason?

The focus of ‘being in control’ is a very common focus for women.  There are lots of reasons for that desire; I won’t explore them now. But recognizing the desire and how it affects all of life is a step toward changing, learning along the Way.

I would love to talk with you about making those changes in your life; to coach you through transformation as you learn and grow in Christ.  It would be a holy privilege.

Won’t you take that next step in your journey?  Click over here to contact me.  The first session is complimentary!  What’s there to lose?

 

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