A Special Report for You:

4 Ways to Be Inspired in Your Life and Work NOW!

By Teresa Proudlove Copyright 2010 www.yourlifework.com The clue to being inspired in our life and work NOW is right in front of us. Notice it is called BE inspired not DO inspired. Want to be inspired in your life and work NOW today this moment? Then, stop. Stop doing. Now, you are likely thinking: Thanks, Teresa. I have fifty things that need to be done now and you say Ill magically be inspired in my life and work if I stop doing everything that needs to be done?! Stay with me for a moment First of all, stop worrying about what you need to do next and how you cannot waste time reading this report. Come with me now, dear reader. Let us stop and take three deep breaths. 1. Breathing In Breathing Out Being Begin by taking a deep breath in through your nose while simultaneously raising your shoulders to your ears. As you slowly exhale through your mouth, lower your shoulders and count silently three. Then, repeat taking a deep breath in, raising your shoulders and releasing them as you slowly exhale counting down two. Repeat while silently counting Oneat One. Now, notice How do you feel inside? Do you feel different? Yes? A little calmer perhaps, more centered.grounded. You have just moved yourself from the realm of the busy-mind whir and connected with your being. Our being, our essence, our true Self, God within (however you choose to name this) is where our true guidance, calm centered, authenticity, and creativity flow from. Each of us is a spark of the divine but too often; we are separated from the knowing, guidance and peace within us because our busy-mind runs amok.

Feeling pushed, anxious, harried, worried, angry, fearful, frustrated? Stop. Our emotions and our tense, tight bodies are telling us something Stop. Turn within and focus upon your breath. Recently, I read that author; Eckhart Tolle said we would benefit more from regularly, consciously breathing than from taking a year of spiritual classes. Observe within how you use the word stop. My inner critic grabbed this reminder to stop and began using it on me like a scolding parent STOP IT! Perhaps, you would rather use the word HALT as they do in Alcoholics Anonymous literature. H hungry; A angry; L lonely; T- tired = HALT. I would add to the Ts: tense, troubled, tight, tearyall clear messages we need to halt, feel our feelings but dont fuel our feelings. 2. Change Your Story Line Change Your Life Buddhist monk, Pema Chodron says we all have a story line we tell ourselves when we are squeezed by lifes events (hungry, angry, lonely, tired, tense, tight, troubled, and teary). When I was forced to close the two womans retail stores I had owned for ten years due to high interest rates I lost my income, both businesses, my house on the lake, $100,000., my marriage and self esteem. I was certain I had to resign from the executive positions I held back then as I thought no one wanted a failure to sit upon the board of directors. We may not be able to change anything in the outer world in this one moment however; we have a choice over what we tell ourselves. And, paradoxically, what we repetitively tell ourselves shapes the trajectory of our lives. If I had not changed my I am a failure/loser story line I would not be working as a writer and speaker sharing my wisdom with you today. According to Dr. Amen, leading brain researcher - negative thoughts release chemicals in the brain that make you feel bad. Through gentle inquiry into my negative story of I am a failure/loser I was able to see that statement was NOT true and let it go. Now I know losing my stores was divine intervention. I was forced to change, to dismantle the phony, prestigious image I clung to. After losing the stores I

reconnected with my true loves of speaking and writing. Had I stayed in the fashion business I may have missed this personal transformationthe chance to fully express myself in the world. As we practice stopping, sitting, breathing, letting go a few times a day we begin to notice that feelings shift; they come and go. We begin to see that much of our suffering is caused by our thinking. With compassion for our human suffering we remind our self: It is just a thought and let go and breathe. Thoughts and feelings are not the truth of our reality. You know that thinking that our life, work, kids, spouse, finances, the world, even our self-doubt is supposed to be different somehow. When we think like this we are fighting our selves and our life. Wanting, and believing our life is supposed to be different from what it is causes us to suffer. 3. Acceptance and Trust is the Answer In order to stop fighting what is - we let go of our story line and practice acceptance and trust. Acceptance is not a passive dismissal or denial of lifes hurtful events but rather an active effort of accepting life on lifes terms. Can we practice acceptance in our own life by saying: This is who I am. I am doing the best I know how - right now. (And too, I did the best I knew how back then.) Can we rest and trust that things have a way of working out even when we dont know how? Can we trust that at some deep level we have the answers we seek? Can we trust in something larger than ourselves weaving a great tapestry that needs the dark as well as the light threads? When we cease fighting what is and practice acceptance and trust we make room for inspiration to bubble up within usTo see the guidance always being offered to us. Peace is seeded here. 4. Our Work is Sacred Work Lastly if you want to be inspired in your life and work now find the meaning in your work whatever your work may be - right now. Whether we are parents at home with children; work on an assembly line; in an office; or are unemployed - can we find peace, honor and worth in what we do and who we are now?

After losing my stores, income, money, home I was forced to find worth, honor and peace within me that was beyond what the world could give or take away. We enter this world as a divine spark that no earthly event can tarnish or take away. We forget the truth of this when we are separated from our true Self with painful thinking. Of course, seeing the honor and worth in our jobs and ourselves is not always an easy task. When I had grown weary of facilitating the same career search program for nine years, I sat and asked my soul and you can try this too What work am I really doing here every day? My small, still voice within whispered the truth, "You are bringing light and hope to people." The work I was doing was not about self assessment tools or job search but about bringing light and hope to people. From that day onward the program was no longer repetitive for me. As I gained more depth and meaning in my work, so too, did the program. The truth is we are all bringers of light and hope. We are all called to share the light and hope within us with the world. Monastic writers have described their day-to-day, menial work as the path to holiness. Your job is much more than a means to pay bills. Envision your job as your ministry and yourself as a bringer of light and hope. When we see our work as sacred work and every moment as a holy moment our work and being are transformed. This is our true lifework. As Martin Luther King Jr. advised, Whatever your life work is, do it so well that no one else could do it better. If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, like Shakespeare wrote poetry, like Beethoven composed music. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper. Want to BE inspired in your life and work NOW, this moment? Then: 1. Stop. Halt. Breathe consciously as often as you can remember. 2. Compassionately let go of your story line and run amok thinking. 3. Practice accepting and trusting in your lifes perfect unfoldment. 4. Know that your work is sacred work. That you are a spark of the divine - fearfully and wonderfully made! Know that it is your lifework to bring light & hope to the world in all you do and in this BE Inspired in Your Life and Work NOW!