Ask 5 people - "What are my gifts?"

I enrolled in Marie Forleo's BSchool.  It was/is a marvelous, ridiculous, hella hard experience, but worth every moment.  EVERY MOMENT.

One of the exercises was to ask 25 people to describe what your gifts are.  TWENTY-FIVE!  I set up a SurveyMonkey and sent out 25 terrifying emails asking for three words that describe me/my gifts.  These 3 words didn't have to be 'positive' or 'nice.'  They had to be authentic and accurate.  I took the top 5 words and let them inform my decisions as I worked through BSchool.

The response wasn't 100%, but the answers were amazing, authentic, and breath-taking.  I couldn't believe some of the responses that were given.  It brought me to tears.  AND to top it all off - 5 people responded in under 10 minutes.  People were chomping at the bit to tell me what they thought of me.  It was a liberating experience.  It brought me up - even higher - than I already was.  Setting a benchmark that I wasn't even aware of for self-awareness and self-love.

I challenge you to do the same.  You can even start with 5 people, ask - "What are my gifts?"

Little Perception Changes

A Course in Miracles says a miracle is "a shift in perception." These little miracles happen all the time, if only we pay attention so that we can see them.

I had a change in perception the other day. I had decided to take an eCourse. This course requires an art journal. I've never had one of those before, but knowing the paper weight requirements, I went to two different art supply stores with my coupon in hand. I could envision what I wanted. I was ready to spend my $20. Except, I couldn't find my art journal!

I had plenty of options, but none of them fit what I wanted. I was close to settling several times. I stopped myself, "I know what I want! Don't settle, you will find it!"

During all of this I was framing some pictures for our home and I needed to have a few blown up.  While picking up these (fabulous) pictures, I decided to poke around and see if I could find the art journal I was looking for.  I didn't feel like I would find it, but I knew to look.

Sure enough, I found exactly what I was looking for!  I checked the price and low and behold it was cheaper than what I would have paid at the art supply store with my coupon.

I smiled and said a little "thank you" out into the universe.  

As I checked out, the art journal was half of what I thought it was!  How exciting!! That's a 75% or more savings, which made me a little giddy!

It was at that point, in my car with my big geeky smile, I realized that this is my 'miracle.'  Instead of taking this experience for granted, I stopped and really appreciated it.  These little moments happen to me all the time and the more I recognize them and appreciate them, the better my days, weeks, and moths go.

(The picture turned out really nice as well!)