by Cherie Ray | Aug 15, 2019 | Being Human, Inspiration, Thought
Seeing something fresh and new is not special. Human beings are designed to receive insights, fresh thinking, aha moments, whatever you want to call them. It’s built into each of us and you don’t have to do anything special for it to happen. With that said, it’s possible to see life’s truths, simply by living. By doing what’s in front of you to do, in this moment. Recently, two insights about being human occurred to me and I wanted to share them with you.
It was my turn to have a colonoscopy. I’m a huge proponent of this procedure because it helped several people very near and dear to my heart catch diseases that would have otherwise gone undetected.
You hear lots of stories about the prep for this procedure. To prepare, I began reading all the instructions over and over because I didn’t want to miss any details. I knew for certain that I only wanted to do this dance once, so following the directions to the letter was imperative.
On the day before the procedure, I wasn’t allowed to have any solid foods, only clear liquids. For me this consisted of chicken broth and popsicles (no red or purple flavors allowed). What I found so interesting was, when I took food off my mind, such as, what I’m going to eat, getting the right food, and when to eat, I realized there was a huge open gap of space in my mind. It really surprised me how much ‘food thought’ fills my head daily! When that topic was taken off the table, WOW, my mind felt so spacious. Less on my mind felt great! Change is interesting.
The second part of the story, which I found so clever, was how my mind was trying to tempt me to break the fast! I bought a fruit bar as one of my popsicle options and when I went to eat it, I noticed it had chunks of pineapple. My mind is saying you’re hungry, eat it, it won’t matter, it’s not that chunky, etc.
The clarity in me said, no way! I’m not about to blow this process by eating something solid. With the vigilance of a D.C. lobbyist my mind wasn’t letting up. I was amazed how my mind was operating on its own agenda while the clarity in me didn’t budge. It saw the cost and said no way!
This mental tug-a-war brought a simple but significant insight. It showed me that as human beings, if we REALLY understood the cost to our experience or sense of wellbeing, we would not indulge our thinking. The clarity in us would stop us from languishing in events that have passed or made-up future events. If we found ourselves in the weeds of those two topics, we’d come back to the present moment.
What I know for sure is, I’m going to feel whatever I’m thinking about. If it scares me, I’m feeling scared. If I have thoughts of regret, I feel rotten.
Engaging with life brings insights. Since I’m a girl who likes bullets, I’m going to make it simple.
To me, this looks universally true for human beings:
1. If our minds are freed up from habits of thinking or anything else that consumes space in our heads, we have an invitation to see what else is on offer from life. When minds are less burdened, life feels lighter, more hopeful, more promising.
2. Understanding the TRUE cost of indulging our thinking, supports us in exercising free will. If we want to feel better more of the time, we can’t afford the mental indulgence. By indulging our thinking, we leave the present moment and live life through the story being created in the mind. If we’re playing it out in our heads, we’re not present to life. We’re not in touch with what’s alive, life, we’re in touch with our story.
This timeless video clip continues to bring me smiles every time I catch myself in my humanness!
I want to share my deep appreciation to all of you who commented on my last blog. It was wonderful to hear from you. Thank you for taking the time to say hello!
Sending smiles,
Cherie
by Cherie Ray | Aug 1, 2019 | Being Human, Transitions
For the last 10 years, I’ve been consistently surprised by what life offers me and what my mind makes of these offers. When I speak of ‘offers’ I’m referring to invitations and inspirations that reach me through other people or fresh ideas that come into my mind. You know the ones that kind of shake your reality? The ones that you immediately say NO to, in your mind but then they don’t leave you alone. Those are the taps on the shoulder from the source of all life saying, want to play a bigger game?
Recently, I’ve received a few of these big-ass taps on the shoulder and watched how my mind quickly determined what was possible for me. And just as quickly, I believed what popped into my mind as a GO/can’t GO. As if the TRUTH police or Judge Judy made a determination. More times than not, my mind says NO, nope, nada, it can’t work, not possible, etc.
I can trace this conditioned NO response to an upbringing that embedded in me the answer to every invitation to do something ‘unnecessary’ came back with a NO. I laugh out loud when I think of my dear father’s response to me asking if I could spend the night with my best friend. His response was, “no, you have a bed”. Seeing the cause of this historical NO habit doesn’t help. It still looks and feels true.
It’s at this point of the self-talk conversation where I would live with the answer NO and move on. Now, after the initial NO response, a whispering curiosity comes on the scene, “Could I do that?”
Recently, I received an invitation to attend an event 2400 miles from home. Immediately my mind said NO! My internal monologue continued with a litany of, What? Go all that way for one night? Ridiculous! Get a plane ticket, rent a car, secure a hotel room and what to wear? The idea really did look absurd to some part of me but another part was answering, why not?
This time I said YES! With YES, the ball began to roll and the adventure began to unfold. By saying YES, a rich sense filled me! I was delighted and amused by staring absurdity in the face.
Within moments the entire adventure was planned. It was simple and easy. Who knew this was possible? Not me! I marked my calendar and boarded the plane.
The gifts for me in saying YES to the concept of ABSURD:
- While deplaning upon arrival, my phone alerted me to check-in for my flight to Houston the following day. LOL!
- Participating in an event that was filled with joy and celebration.
- Connecting with people that I don’t usually get the chance to have lengthy, rich conversations with.
- Experiencing fields of tulips and daffodils! A vision that compares to Holland and Belgium in magnificent beauty, I’m told.
- Standing solo in the tulip fields at sunrise. The vibrancy and vitality from Mother Nature was palpable.
- Seeing I really do love an idea that engages a, ‘what the hell’ response!
- By saying YES, so many concepts of limitation fall away.
- Having the opportunity to see that NO is a habit, not life informing me of what’s TRUE.
Looking back with immense gratitude for this learning opportunity, I see how much I would have missed by living in my habitual NO. I see that by following feelings of delight, inspiration follows.
I encourage you to face absurdity head-on and to partner with delight. Your experience of life will grow as naturally as the tulips!
by Cherie Ray | Jul 3, 2019 | Inspiration
Happy 4th of July!
In the United States we celebrate the 4th of July as our declaration of independence from Great Britain beginning in 1776.
What does Independence Day mean to you?
For me, this date is an opportunity to look deeper into the Truth that I am free beyond measure. I’m free to do what I choose, to think what I choose, and to play with life as FREELY as I choose. For me I notice how my mind can suggest a limitation in such a convincing way that I look at it as if it were “sent down with the stone tablets.”
Oftentimes, when I wake up from this well camouflaged thought, I see that it’s only me making up how much freedom I will give myself. No Thing or No One is playing this game with me. It’s just me listening to the convincing thoughts from my very conditioned limited mind.
This Independence Day, I invite you to inquire into any limitations that appear to be true for you. There’s no need to answer or solve anything. Simply questioning the limitation sets the wheels of FREEDOM in motion for you. Freedom is your birthright. Test the limits you create for yourself.
Happy Freedom Day,
Cherie
PS. In my coaching work and workshops, living free of limitations and living with inspiration, in any circumstance of life, is where I work. If you’d like to explore the possibility of getting coaching support, please contact me and we’ll have a conversation.
by Cherie Ray | Jan 1, 2019 | Being Human
We’re on the cusp of a New Year! This February marks the 12th birthday of True You Creativity Studio. At the conception of this inspiration, I could never have imagined how many wonderful people I would get to know. I also had no idea how my life would take shape by taking the next ‘unknown’ steps in the direction of this inspiration. I often shake my head in disbelief and gratitude for the intelligence behind life that moved me, even with all of my humanness (insecurity, doubt, you name it!) sounding so credible.
This morning I received an email from someone who is curious and looking for support. I felt it was the perfect conversation for welcoming a new year. While the start of a new year often brings reflection, I see where the sentiments of what was shared can be a consistent undertone in our day to day lives.
“Like many people – I have a tendency to let my fear of failure, criticism, and rejection holds me back. I desperately need to work on developing creative outlets for myself but am lacking the confidence and guidance.”
Somehow along the way we lose our innate understanding that we’ve got this. We lose site that we are enough, just the way we are, to do this thing called LIFE; to thrive, to try, to move, to create, to take a chance, and to respond to inspiration. The good news is that this type of questioning is just a lack of understanding not a lack of ability.I stand in these same shoes every time life offers something fresh or unexpected. 2018 has been a year filled with ‘Oh, I couldn’t do that’ to ‘Oh yes you did.’ I understand more and more that the insecurities I feel when moving in life are not the voices of wisdom, just the voice of my humanness. I know the innate ability to do life is there, even when I can’t see it. As I look back, I’m grateful beyond belief that there is another way to experience life.
I would love to connect with you. Coaching and workshops are for the sole purpose of seeing and experiencing life with more freedom. Your natural state of being is relaxed, creative, confident, and rich with potential. Everything we do here clears what separates you from living naturally with a confident understanding of ‘I got this’.
I feel very blessed and grateful that I have the good fortune to have you in my life. Thank you for your friendship.
Smiles,
Cherie
by Cherie Ray | Dec 13, 2018 | Being Human, Thought
I love the fact that all human beings have the ability to receive new information via insight. Insight is the effortless, natural ability to see something fresh. Insight seems to pop into our minds from out-of-the-blue. Something that was once invisible to us becomes obvious… that’s insight.
This happened to me recently when I caught myself dreading and dragging to get something done that I needed to do. I spun around my house doing everything except what needed to be done the most. It was similar to being in college and thinking cleaning my dorm room was a better idea than studying for my exams. Crazy!
As I was spinning around avoiding the obvious, an insight in the form of a question popped into my mind, “What would you do if you could just get over yourself?” Almost immediately, I hear a response to this question, “Oh, I’d just do it.” Just do it? That’s an option? Who knew that was possible or even existed? And surprisingly, I did just that. I got over myself and completed the task with incredible efficiency, spaciousness, and enjoyment. This was a brand new experience for me.
As I continue with this inquiry of ‘getting over myself’ I’m finding that life gets simpler and simpler with more opportunities than I could imagine for practicing this fresh insight. LOL! I find this inquiry especially helpful when I’ve taken something personally. Yes, even when I take something personally, the sooner I ‘get over myself’ the more I find myself enjoying what life has to offer and the people that surround me.
With the holidays upon us, I felt like sharing this insight with you to support you in having a better overall experience in the coming weeks. With the many expectations we put on ourselves, others, and the holidays, if we could get in the habit of ‘getting over ourselves’ we could get on with the things we want the most, connection with the aliveness of life and connecting with the ones we love.
I hope you’ll give yourself this gift. It’s been a real eye opener for living with greater peace and possibilities.
Sending smiles,
Cherie
