Career, Life, and Wellness Coach

There was a point in my life when I had visions of myself standing on a raft in the middle of lake with a rope tightly wound around my neck. At the other end of the rope were various people trying desperately to pull me into the water with them. Who were these people swimming aimlessly in a sea of despair? These people were the energy vampires of my life. At any given moment, if I wasn’t conscious enough, I would be abruptly pulled into the water with the energy-sucking vampires.

After spending time with these individuals, I felt drained, lifeless, and had an upset stomach. I didn’t realize what was happening, until someone pointed out that these energy vampires wanted me to save them. The only problem was that if I tried to save them, I too would drown along with them. If I was to survive, I had to cut the rope and allow the energy vampires to sink or swim on their own. Sounds harsh but at some point you have to realize people can only save themselves.

There have been a number of people in my life who have been unwilling to do their own work and take responsibility for their lives. Instead, these individuals have wanted to cheat, and suck positive energy from myself and others. Energy vampires often lack any sort of self-awareness and tend to spew their energy all over the place. They have a constant need for approval and attention and if they don’t get these two things, they often act out much like a child. They don’t realize how their moods, actions, or words can impact others. They tend to talk non-stop without even trying to engage other poor souls having to listen to them.

How do you know if someone is an energy vampire? After spending time with this type of individual you may experience any range of physical symptoms ranging from a headache, possibly even a migraine, fatigue, depression, or upset stomach. The symptoms you experience often depend on your level of sensitivity and the power of the energy vampire.

If you are serious about reclaiming your power and energy, you need to be honest with yourself about all of the relationships in your life. So ask yourself the following questions:

1)      Are the current relationships in my life energizing?

2)      Are these relationships a mutual exchange of energy or am I giving more of my energy to relationship than I am receiving?

3)      Am I trying to save someone in my life? If so, why do I feel the need to save this person?

4)      Is there anyone in my life I am in a relationship with because I am afraid to end the relationship?

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I was really excited to write this blog because I love fresh juice! If you get me started on juicing, you better be prepared for my passion and enthusiasm to be slightly overwhelming. The topic of juicing ignites a fire inside of me and I turn into a juicing evangelist. If there is one thing in my kitchen I can't live without, it's my juicer. I am not sure if I should admit this but here it goes....my juicer actually travels with me on occasion. I visited my parents over the Christmas holiday season and guess what I brought with me? My trust-worthy, best $70 I ever spent, Waring Pro Juicer. My parents thought it was a bit odd I forgot my winter jacket but I managed to remember my juicer. What can I say? I guess we all have priorities in life and staying healthy is one of mine.

My goal of this post is to talk about the personal benefits I have experienced since drinking fresh juice on a regularly basis almost two years ago. Let the juicing begin!

Main benefits of juicing:

1) Prevents sickness - Fresh juice helps boost the immune system which prevents you from getting sick. I haven't had a cold or anything close to a cold since I started juicing. Power to the juice!

2) Increases hair growth - Now I am not sure if my hair growth is from wheat grass shots or regular juice. I started consuming wheat grass on a regular basis 4 months ago and my hair has grown quite a bit. I have always had fairly healthy hair but it's never grown this much in such a short period of time. This article may be worth reading becase it discusses wheat grass consumption and hair growth: http://www.wdnweb.com/articles/2008/11/30/news/news01.txt

3) Elevated energy levels - Forgot the morning cup of java and make some fresh juice instead! I was recently chatting with a woman who told me she kicked caffeine by drinking wheat grass shots instead. She found the wheat grass gave her energy and prevented any caffeine withdrawl symptoms.

4) Post-exercise recovery - I typically consume fresh juice within an hour of working out. As a result, I rarely have muscle soreness (even after a hard workout) and I find my body is recovered for my next workout.

5) Appetite suppression - This benefit was quite surprising because I didn't realize juice could be so filling! There are times I am so full from my juice, I am not even hungry for a meal. If I consume juice in the morning, I am full until lunch or even mid-afternoon.

6) Nourishing - My body craves juice because of all the vitamins and minerals that it can quickly absorb without the process of digestion. Once you start juicing, watch out because it's quite addictive and your body will want juice everyday.

Colleen Canney is a passionate juice-loving Career, Life, and Wellness Coach based in Milwaukee, WI. She rarely goes a day without fresh juice, even when she travels! For more information on Colleen, please visit: www.colleencanney.com or contact her at colleencanney@live.com.

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The other night I went to the local library and heard an author speak about his book Yoga of the Microcosm: Spiritual Unity with Nature in the 21^st Century. Siddhartha Syamâ??s words reverberated with my soul and I felt â??Sidâ??sâ? story was also my story. Sid talked about his journey of reconnecting with his true self through nature. Like many of us, Sid became disconnected with his most innocent and pure soul when he found himself immersed and caught up in the material trappings of society. In his book, Sid writes:

After graduation from college, I settled into a career in information systems. The work was reasonably interesting, and the career path seemed to be clear. After a few years of work in India, I migrated to the United States, and my prospects for a â??goodâ? career and life, at least in the conventional sense, became even brighter. But some part of me still resonated to something not found in an urban office environment â?? the call of the trees, the sky, flowers, and mountains â?? Mother Nature.

This particular passage stood out for me because my spiritual journey involved fully immersing myself in nature in order to connect with this â??selfâ? that was struggling to break free. � Just as in the case of Sid, Mother Nature called out to me and it was though I had a sense truth would be found in nature. This struggle within was a restlessness that I felt nature could help calm and heal. � I ended up relocating from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest because the water and mountains called out to me.

When I arrived in Seattle my body seemed to immediately relax and feel at home. The mountains that surrounded me on all sides seemed to provide strength during my journey and the water served as purification for my soul. I also found a passion for trail running. Instead of running on the roads or going to the gym, I started to run only on trails. The trails beckoned me to join their peaceful state of stillness. When I gazed up at the trees while running, I realized there was so much more than my little bubble world. Every insignificant worry would dissipate with each stride I took. The trees reminded me of the vastness of the universe and the fact there was so much more to life than the mental confines we create in our head. In nature, I became connected to something larger than myself and it was exhilarating. During my runs, I would have epiphanies such as these:

While I was running today I looked up at the towering trees above me and breathed in the fresh Pacific Northwest air.�  At that moment a fusion of love filled by body and I felt so at peace with life. I turned my IPOD on and Bob Sinclairâ??s song â??World Hold Onâ? came on. One of the phrases of the song goes â??Look Inside, You Will Find a Deeper Love!â? What I realized is that so often we look for love from external sources. This love can be in the form of a love from another person, money, status, material objects, or a myriad of other tangible and intangible things. But what one must realize is that the deeper love that Bob Sinclair sings about comes from the core of oneâ??s inner being.�  When this self-love is absent, we are unable to fully accept, appreciate, or even recognize love from the outside.

Whatâ??s interesting is that before I went for my run today I prayed to the universe for some sort of excitement. I felt that my life was just mundane and not stimulating enough.�  The moment I looked up at the trees I realized that excitement involved feeling alive and I mean ALIVE! Here I was, fully engaged in my absolute favorite activity (trail running); I was surrounded by endless beauty; and I had never felt so alive in my life.�  So often I think we end up in this sleepwalking state and yearn for artificial injections of excitement to temporarily rouse us from our drunken state of unconsciousness.�  Yes, we may be excited for a short duration of time but then we crave the next injection of excitement.�  Being alive means living in the moment and being grateful for what the universe has presented to us at that very point in time. Itâ??s amazing how much â??excitementâ? you will find by putting the brakes on life, looking around, and staring in child-like wonder at the magical wonders of the universe.

Besides the trails, I also find the water very healing and nourishing. During the summer months I spend hours sitting by the lake down the street from where I live.�  As I sit in a meditative trance, I feel one with the lazily lapsing waves. Itâ??s as though staring out at Lake Washington� serves as� a tranquilizer for my soul. The water does not� numb or subdued me, but instead, the water allows me to just be, just exist. � Whenever I felt like a jack-in-the-box with the lid sealed tightly shut, I run or sit by the water and the lid on my life miraculously opens. Nature strips away all the excess in my life and reminds me of the person I� am at the core of my most untainted self.

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For over two years, I struggled with constant bloating, fatigue, constipation, weight gain, and an overall feeling of heaviness. It seemed no matter what I ate, my stomach would become bloated. I felt and looked pregnant on a daily basis, which definitely affected my quality of life.  I saw acupuncturists, integrative medical doctors, and general practitioners but no one seemed to have an answer for me. I was told by a number of doctors that stress was more than likely the cause of all my issues. While I agree that stress played a role in my digestive issues, I knew there were more “unknown” pieces to my digestive puzzle. Even when I wasn’t stressed out at all, my stomach would still balloon to three to four times its normal size and I was plagued with constant fatigue.

I did research on the raw food diet and decided to give it a try since nothing else seemed to be working. After going through some intense detox, I finally started feeling better, and eventually I felt great. My energy was restored, my constipation was alleviated, and I had this overall feeling of being “high on life.”  The raw food diet was an amazing experience for me, but unfortunately I still struggled with daily bloating, even though I eliminated all the foods I thought were causing my bloating. Also, I ended up gaining weight on the raw food diet which was a bit surprising since most people on the raw food diet seem to lose weight.

After telling a colon hydrotherapist at the Tummy Temple in Seattle (www.tummytemple.com) about my constant bloating, she recommended I read The Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates. I took her suggestion and after reading the book, I realized all the fruit I was consuming on the raw food diet was causing my bloating. My inner ecology was out of balance, most likely from candida, and fruit was only exacerbating the situation.

 I started following The Body Ecology Diet (www.bodyecologydiet.com) and within a short period of time, almost all of my symptoms were pretty much alleviated. Instead of craving sugar and other carbohydrates, my body started to crave all the foods on The Body Ecology Diet. My body finally felt nourished and at peace with what I was eating.

For anyone suffering from digestive issues, I highly recommend you read The Body Ecology Diet. As I learned however, the key is to listen to your body and become your own doctor. After seeing one doctor after another, I realized I needed to trust my own intuition and turn inward for answers instead of outward. Digestive issues are complicated and while one diet may work miracles for one person, the same diet may not work at all for another person.

If you are suffering from digestive issues and need guidance and support, please feel free to contact me for a free consultation. I am passionate about sharing what I have learned during my own journey in restoring my digestive health.

Colleen Canney is a Career, Life, and Wellness Coach based in Milwaukee, WI. She coaches clients in person or via telephone and can be reached at colleencanney@live.com. For more information, please visit her website at www.colleencanney.com.

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While a number of different factors can contribute to an individual’s level of happiness and success in life, I think self-confidence is a key factor.  What does it mean to be self-confident?  It means having a strong sense of self. Self-confident individuals are grounded in who they are and they are comfortable being themselves. Being comfortable in our own skin translates to being confident in our own skin.

In my coaching sessions I have noticed that a number of my clients struggle in making changes and moving forward in life because they are plagued with insecurity and self-doubt. Self-confident individuals are not afraid to pursue whatever they want in life because they believe in themselves, even if the rest of the world doesn’t.

Developing a strong sense of self is a lifelong process that requires a considerable amount of effort. Certain people and certain situations will constantly test our self-confidence. Learn to welcome situations that challenge our sense of self with open arms. What I have found is that when I become too comfortable and need to grow, my sense of self is tested. These challenges are a reminder to take a step back and reconnect with the core of my most authentic self.

How do you develop or increase your level of self-confidence? Below are some ideas that may help:

1) Immerse yourself in uncomfortable situations that invoke fear

When we overcome our fears, our self-confidence increases. I used to be terrified of public speaking. Whenever I had to give a speech, the mere thought of standing in front of a group would send my body reeling in anxiety for days. Somehow I made it through high school and college without having to give too many speeches. Then I started graduate school and it seemed every single class required a presentation. I had to overcome my fear of public speaking real quick, otherwise my grades would have suffered and graduate school would have been one long painful experience.

What I realized is that my fear of public speaking was all in my head. All my “worries” were just figments of my own imagination. Instead of visualizing myself standing in front of an audience feeling confident and in command of the material I was presenting, I would visualize myself standing in front of the audience sweating, turning red, and forgetting what I was supposed to say next. It is no wonder I was petrified of public speaking.

After giving one presentation after another however, I learned to overcome my fear of having “all eyes on me.” I became more comfortable and at ease in front of a crowd. The best way to conquer our fears is to constantly work on them. If we avoid fear-invoking situations, we will never grow and move forward in life. Our fears will ultimately rule our world.

2) Stop the vicious cycle of negative thinking

Our mind is our greatest asset but also our strongest weapon. I think the majority of us are guilty of verbally abusing ourselves on a daily basis. Think about how many times in a course of a day you put yourself down. You may say things such as, “I am not good enough, smart enough, attractive enough, etc.” All of these negative comments drag our self-esteem down, until eventually our self-esteem resides in the gutter.

What I have noticed is that many people are still holding on to comments that people, particularly family members, made to them years and years ago. When we allow others to define us by their hurtful and inappropriate comments, our self-confidence plummets. Developing a healthy level of self-confidence means learning to define your self based on your own terms and conditions. So ask yourself, “Have I allowed others to define who I am?”

3)  Love yourself unconditionally

When we don't fully accept ourselves, including the good, bad, and ugly within us, our self-confidence suffers. Forgiving ourselves and being gentle with ourselves are vital ingredients that are needed for self-love.

A few months ago a client scheduled an appointment with me because he wanted to feel more “alive.” This particular client talked about feeling drained and struggling with social anxiety. It seemed there was a root issue my client was dealing with but I was having difficulty pinpointing what exactly it was. Finally my client admitted he had been unfaithful in his last relationship and as a result of his infidelity, guilt dragged behind him like a ton of bricks. This guilt was causing the life to be sucked out of him and it was preventing him from starting a new relationship.

My client and I talked about the power of forgiving ourselves in order to move forward in life. We have all made mistakes, especially in relationships, but we can’t dwell on our mistakes. We must learn what we can from them, figure out how not to make the same mistakes twice, and then move on.

The next time I spoke to this particular client, his energy had been restored and he sounded “alive.” By forgiving himself, my client opened his heart and self-love came rushing in.

4) Don't look to the external material world for approval

When we focus too heavily on trying to please others and trying to prove ourselves to the world, not only will our self-confidence be negatively impacted, we will end up exhausted. No matter what we do or how hard we try, we will never be able to please everyone. Once we are able to accept this simple truth, we will feel quite liberated and will start living our own life.

Colleen Canney is a Career, Life, and Wellness Coach based in Milwaukee, WI. For more information on her coaching services, please visit www.colleencanny.com or contact her via email at colleencanny@live.com.

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Staying Positive during Times of Uncertainty

Right now is a time of tremendous change and uncertainty. For a lot of people this change has led to negative thoughts and feelings to be all consuming. If you have lost your job, you are probably worrying about money and whether or not you will find a new job. If you are still employed, you may fret about your position being eliminated. If you are a business owner, you may just be struggling to get by, hoping that customers will eventually start consuming again. Life is definitely challenging and it is forcing us to dig deep and find strength within.

As a means of providing some inspiration and nuggets of sunshine, below are some tips that may help those of you needing some relief from darkness.

*See adversity as fuel that lights your fire.

Life can definitely be challenging (as the majority of us know right now) but the true strength of a person is tested when adversity strikes. How do you deal with stress? Does it bring out the worst in you or the best in you? What do you do if you fail? Do you bounce back stronger or dwell in the shadows? Adversity can break you or it can build you up and make you stronger.

*Learn to ride the waves of life.

When you learn to live in the flow of life, you figure out when to paddle (take action) and when to sit back and allow the next steps to come to you. If you constantly try to force life, you become exhausted due to overexertion and you close yourself off from your creative outlets.

*Win the battle over fear!

When we live in a state of fear, we become paralyzed and are unable to move forward. All we think about is, "What if this next bad thing happens?" By moving from a state of fear into a state of possibility, our whole word opens up. We come up with new ideas to solving problems and we no longer allow fear to dictate how we live our lives.

To quote Kahlil Gibran, "March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move towards perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns or the sharp stones on life's path."

*Don't allow your health to decline along with the economy.

During times of stress, individuals often resort to bad habits such as drinking, smoking, overeating, and not exercising. By nourishing your body with healthy foods and daily physical activity, your whole perspective on life will shift, plus you feel more confident and full of energy!

Colleen Canney is a Career, Life, and Wellness Coach based in Milwaukee, WI. She offers coaching sessions via phone or in-person. If you are interested in learning more about Colleen, visit her website at www.colleencanny.com or contact her via email at colleencanny@live.com.

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Unemployment can translate to a loss of a steady income, benefits, and structure in life, but it can also translate to a loss of identity. When a job is abruptly stripped from our lives, we may no longer know who we are or what our life stands for. As a result, depression can set in and we can become overwhelmed with feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness. We may fret about how friends, family, and society as a whole will view us when our employment status is found out. As a result, we may feel insecure and unsure of how to embrace this new life we find ourselves forced to live.

The key to remember is that we are everything we need to be, with our without a job. Even when the title and salary are gone, we are still the same person, with the same gifts to offer the world. This concept may be difficult to grasp after years of finding a sense of self-worth from a job.  What we must learn to do is connect with a strong sense of self within. When we are connecting to this life source, we can weather any storm and still remain in tact.

Whenever adversity strikes in my life, I think of myself as a tree with roots firmly planted in the ground. These roots represent my sense of self that I have been nurtured from within. Even if the branches of my tree are swaying from a storm that is passing through my life, my roots remain permanently cemented in the ground.

If you are unemployed and are feeling as though your world has turned upside down, try to start planting your own roots into the ground. Keep telling yourself that you will get through this uncomfortable period and more than likely, you will come out the other end of the dark tunnel even stronger than when you initially entered.  

Colleen Canney is a Career, Life, and Wellness Coach based in Milwaukee, WI. She coaches clients nation-wide both in-person and via telephone. For more information on Colleen, please visit www.colleencanney.com or contact her via email at colleencanny@live.com.

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A Startling Reminder to Love Deeply and Live Without Regrets

Sitting in my inbox was an email I wasn’t prepared to read. At first I was excited to receive an email from my friend Connie but then I read the subject line and my excitement subsided with a flip of a switch. In the subject line was Connie’s full name along with the dates “1970-2009.” Maybe it wasn’t true I told myself. Maybe the email was about something else. There was no way Connie could be gone. I just saw her last fall and she was full of life and happy.

I opened the email and the words from Connie’s brother were a complete blur. I caught snippets of the email, “rare form of cancer,” “screams heard down the hospital hallway,” “not an aggressive cancer but a violent cancer that spread every 12 hours.” My body went numb as I sat staring at the picture of Connie attached at the bottom of the email.

Connie was one of the first friends I met when I relocated to Seattle a year and a half ago. I felt completely comfortable with Connie right away, probably because we had a lot in common. We were both free spirits; avid yoga enthusiasts, business school graduates, and seekers of deeper meanings and truths in life.  

The last time Connie and I got together we laughed so hard tears of joy flooded our eyes. Now the laughter and tears seem inappropriate, especially considering the circumstances.

I invited Connie to attend a vegetarian singles meet-up event at a local bookstore in Seattle. When we arrived at the vegetarian singles event we were immersed in conversation, laughing about what it would be like to grow old. I remember looking around the room thinking, “For a singles event people sure seem rather somber, plus the majority of people are 20-30 years older than me.” It was just a fleeting thought since Connie and I were somewhat in our own world engaged in spirited exchanges of words.

The introductory speaker stood up and tears started streaming down his face as he spoke about the death of his teenage son. Connie and I looked at each other wondering what kind of singles meet-up event this was. The speaker regained composure and talked about the importance of openly discussing how to deal with death and dying. Since Connie and I were in a rather lighthearted mood, we found the whole situation quite amusing. Here we were looking forward to possibly meeting single male vegetarians and instead we were sitting at a “Death and Dying” event.

We ended up quietly leaving the room because the topic was much too heavy for our current happy state of existence. After exiting the room we realized the singles event was scheduled for the following week instead of this week. Looking back on the situation it seems rather foreboding, especially since Connie and I were laughing about growing old and then were hit with the speaker’s tears as he retold the events that led to the death of his son.

Connie and I continued to laugh and chat about the silliness of the night. We planned on meeting the following week but it didn’t end up working out. I exchanged an email or two with Connie but the “Death and Dying” event was the last time I actually saw Connie.

The news of Connie’s death made me think about what Connie stood for and what her life meant. To me she represented a deeply spiritual individual who loved deeply, lived in the moment, and regularly engaged in her passion for traveling around the world. What I admired most about Connie was that she seemed completely at peace with life and never seemed distracted by the trappings of the material world. She shared amusing stories of dating different types of men, traveling for her job, and figuring out what her next steps in life would be. When I last spoke to Connie she had just quit her job and was hoping to focus on exploring her passion for writing and photography.

The death of a friend, family member, or loved one makes you question life and its meaning. Connie’s death was a reminder to keep my heart open and love deeply no matter what. Her death was also a reminder that you don’t have second chances during this lifetime. You either start living the life of your dreams today or tomorrow may be too late.

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For the millions of you who are unemployed, this may be an extremely unsettling and uncomfortable time for you. Some of you may still be in a sleepwalking shock, still not fully aware of this new state of existence, while others of you may have fallen into a deep depression, unable to get out of bed. Whatever your reaction may be, losing a job can be one of the most challenging times of your life. A constant sea of thoughts races through your mind and you just keep asking yourself over and over, “What in the world do I do now?”

In order to deal with being unemployed and prevent anxiety and worry from becoming your daily companions, below are some tips that may help as you move forward through this new phase of your life:

1)  Devise a job search action plan that includes:

• Networking list – think of friends, family, colleagues, or acquaintances you can reach out to for networking or career guidance advice. Now is not the time to be shy! In my own job search initiatives I have found people to be amazingly helpful, plus I made some new friends during the networking process. You never know what may come about by picking up the phone or sending an email to someone.

• Create a list of appealing companies you are interested in working for - A year ago I was interested in working for Amazon so I found the name of an Amazon recruiter on LinkedIn. I sent a personal email along with a resume to the recruiter and a week later I had an interview. While I ended up withdrawing from the interview process due to taking another position, the overall experience was quite positive, and a reminder that just applying for jobs through traditional means isn’t always the best route to securing interviews. The key is to contact specific individuals that work for the companies you are interested in working for.

• Figure out if you can (and should) reinvent yourself – If you are not finding open positions that fit your exact job profile, you may need to reconsider other positions where your skills are transferable. Take a hard look at your resume and figure out if you can market yourself for other types of positions.

• Obtain a number of different professional opinions on your resume – As a recruiter I know how vital a strong resume is in securing an interview. A well-written resume should paint a favorable picture of you as a candidate. It should represent you in all your glowing greatness! Work on being humble in other areas of your life, but not when it comes to your resume.

• Make yourself accountable to tangible goals – Think of being unemployed as your new full-time job. Just as you would have goals in an actual job, you should have goals during a job search. For example, one goal could be to make three networking contacts each week or apply for two new positions each week. Goals are vital to keeping you motivated and on track.

• Schedule informational interviews – These types of interviews are not formal interviews but instead are used as a means of obtaining more information about a specific position, company, or industry. Informational interviews may be quite beneficial for those of you interested in making a career change or for those of finding it difficult to secure a position.  How do you find people to meet with? Join different networking groups such as your college alumni association, LinkedIn, or specific business networking groups in your field. Maybe I have just been lucky but I have found people to be more than willing to meet with me for informational interviews.

2)  Don’t allow depression to get the best of you. It’s easy to feel the world is caving in on you when a steady paycheck, benefits and a structured life are abruptly stripped away from you. In order to combat depression, here are some ways to uplift your spirit:

• Receive a natural injection of happiness – Endorphins work wonders in helping to dissolve negative emotions. After finishing a great workout at the gym or outside you will feel much better and have a renewed outlook on life. Playing motivating music during working out also helps tremendously.

• Surround yourself with positive people – Energy can be quite contagious and during times like this, it’s vital to spend time with people who will lift your spirit and instill faith that things will get better. If you spend time with people who moan and groan and are constantly complaining, you too will start feeling down and out on life.

• Take care of yourself - Refrain from dissolving your woes into a bag of Doritos or a bottle of your favorite alcoholic beverage. During times of stress, people often resort to bad habits as a means of coping. The only problem is that eating, drinking, smoking or engaging in other bad habits will not help your situation. Sure, all these things serve as a temporary “happy” fix but you will only feel worse if you keep abusing your body. Also, all these vices only serve to anesthetize you from dealing with life. When you are trying to figure out the next step in your career, it’s important to be fully alert and at the top of your game.

• Turn off the TV - Instead of spending time listening to the disheartening unemployment statistics, do research on companies that are actually hiring. If you constantly focus on the fact jobs are constantly being cut, you won’t actually believe there are open positions out there.

3)  Express gratitude for all the abundance in your life. When you constantly focus on the “lack” (lack of money, lack of a job, etc.) you will only become more stressed out and unhappy. Be thankful for everything you have been blessed with thus far in your life and more abundance will come flowing in.

4)  Consider alternatives to finding a job such as:

• Start your own business - A friend of mine had always wanted to start her own business and when she lost her job this past November, it was the big push she finally needed to make her dream of becoming a business owner a reality. After only a few months of being an entrepreneur, my friend’s business is thriving and she is happier than she has ever been. I am so inspired whenever I think of her courage in taking such a major risk, especially in this less than robust economy.

• Volunteer – There is nothing more invigorating for the soul then giving back to others. Plus, you never know what doors may open by putting yourself in a new situation. You could end up securing a full-time position through the volunteer opportunity or finding out new insights about yourself and the direction you want to take your career.

• Return to school – If you had always wanted to finish your degree or obtain a new degree, now may be a great time to do so.

5)  Live in a state of possibility versus a state of fear – Whenever I find myself feeling unsettled or consumed with fear, I think of the quote by R.I. Fitzhenry: “Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity.” Change, especially when it initially seems negative, can turn your life upside down. It’s important to remember however that nothing in life is permanent and there will always be change. There is so little we can control, no matter how hard we try. When we relinquish control and keep our door open to new and exciting possibilities, we remove roadblocks created by our own fear. Living in a state of fear is paralyzing and prevents us from moving forward.

If you are unemployed and need some guidance and support, please feel free to contact me for a FREE consultation. Today is the day to start moving your life forward! I can be reached via email at colleencanney@live.com.

Colleen Canney

Career, Life, and Wellness Coach

www.colleencanney.com  

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Does fear hold the key to your heart?

Fear serves as the bodyguard of the heart and will exert considerable influence in ensuring love doesn’t enter. This bodyguard stands outside the heart, keeping watch with an intimidating stance. In his hands, the bodyguard holds a checklist that reads:

• Don’t make yourself too vulnerable or you may get hurt
• Don’t let people see the real you or they may not like you
• Don’t show any weakness or you will be seen as a coward
• Don’t get too close to people or they may leave you

When love comes wandering towards the heart, eagerly seeking to connect with its life source, the bodyguard stops love dead in its tracks. The bodyguard gazes at love with piercing eyes and says, “What is your intention?” Love replies that it merely seeks entrance into the place it’s meant to me. The bodyguard then reviews the checklist and decides allowing this thing called love in is much too risky. Love appears to be innocent but this makes the bodyguard even more skeptical. It’s always the innocent ones that cause problems.  What if love completely dissolves fear? Then what? The bodyguard shutters at the mere thought of this. The doorway to the heart would be wide-open and who knows what could happen.  “No way is love entering. I don’t trust it,” thinks the cynical bodyguard. Even though love appears to have no ulterior motives, it has this unassuming powerful quality to it. Fear may not have a chance of survival if love enters. Then fear would be extinct and there would be no protection for the heart.

The heart looks longingly at love through a small peephole. It sees love with wide hopeful eyes, ready to be let in. The heart has such a strong desire to welcome love in but then fear takes over and says, “What are you thinking? Are you crazy?” The heart shuts the peephole, knowing the bodyguard will shoo away love.

The heart experiences a sense of relief sprinkled with a sense of loss. At least living in fear is a known and it’s a seemingly comfortable state. The heart thinks, “I am grateful to have fear protecting me otherwise love would break through.” Then the heart remembers what it’s like to allow love in. The heart smiles at these memories. Love is carefree. Love is nourishing. Love flows freely and there are no constraints. Suddenly the heart snaps back to reality, becoming constricted and hardened again.

The bodyguard says to love, “Go away. You aren’t on the list and therefore you cannot enter. Try again some other time.” Love sighs, drops its shoulders in a defeated gesture, and casts one final saddened gaze at the entrance to the heart. Then love slowly turns and walks away thinking, “How do I get past fear? If only the heart would realizes how much it needs me and desperately wants me. I must remain persistent and keep trying. I must conquer fear. Someday I will win!”

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