Tag Archive for: dream

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Barefoot in Bangkok

Greetings from Bangkok,

As I write this blog, I sit curbside and barefoot on the vibrant Koh San Road, Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” coming through my earphones mixing in with the chaotic sounds of tuk tuks beeping their horns and weaving through the crowd of back packers, food trucks and wandering dogs. In the back of my mind I am brought to the opening scene of “The Beach” where Leonardo DiCaprio zig zagged in and out of the dark watering holes of this very street. It’s midnight and I’ve just arrived after spending a sleepless night with friends back home in Venice Beach, California. Tonight is a special night for me, as it marks the very beginning of my Gypsy Wanderlust Soul Journey. A one way ticket with no time frame and no destination other than following my path as it lies brightly illuminated before me. 

I made the journey from Los Angeles to this backpacker section of the city barefoot. Yep, to and through LAX, on to Tokyo right to Koh San Road, Bangkok, barefoot. Pretty ironic since just less than 5 years ago you wouldn’t see me in anything but high-heeled Prada or some other over priced designer shoes. Funny how life can literally spin on its heels and shift your world. So why though, why am I barefoot in Bangkok? It’s an interesting story, and one you may even relate to. 

A few months ago before I made the decision to finally embark upon this dream of mine, I was on a two-week vacation here in Thailand. I was staying in a quiet, little beachside town in the northern part of Koh Phangan. The second I arrived I slipped right into island mode with the locals and ex pat community. I met the best group of angel travelers in that peaceful enclave. These are the very people who inspired me to finally do this. Let go of my home town comforts, shoes and all, and set sail into the unknown. To travel from where I am, to who I am and follow the current. Even if just for a little while. 

Our lives can become so structured and sometimes it’s difficult to breathe into ourselves. We all have responsibilities. Rent, work, school, kids… life. I was so caught up in that cycle a few years ago. My life was insanely intense. I felt like a hamster on a wheel. I worked hard, I played hard, I even practiced my yoga hard. I was putting so much energy to a system I didn’t even vibrate with. I felt like I was losing sight of me. I was more concerned about who I was wearing, rather than who I was.

When I moved from New York City to Los Angeles is when I first said goodbye to the system and the matrix. I jumped off the hamster wheel and let go. I gave notice to my job, let go of my six figure salary, sold most of my stuff and moved to Los Angeles with nothing more than two suitcases, 4 boxes and large mortgage I had to somehow figure out how to pay. It was a bold move but I went forward, fearless with a heart full of faith.

And that’s what brings me here today. Since that day, I’ve been playing with a new set of rules. More like, no rules. I can remember days sitting in my office in Manhattan dreaming of doing just this. And as a testament to the commitment to walking my path, I made a deal with one of my fellow Wanderlust travel friends, that the day I finally do it, I go full on, Barefoot to Bangkok! So I paired down my possessions once again. This time to eight boxes. There is something so cathartic about doing that. I even sold a pair of $750 Louie Vuitton high heels for $88! I won’t be needing them here in Thailand.

The point is, I’m living my dream. It may not be your dream. But you have a dream too. And I invite you to not let your dreams fade into the distance. Because the days turn into months and the months turn into years; and you find yourself in the same place with your dreams slipping away. It took me a decade to do this, but I’m doing it. My prayer to you is that you reach out, go for it with faith and courage. Let go of fear and doubt. Because fear and doubt are fate killers. When you slip into fear mode you get out of synch with the universal rhythms. Stay in synch and allow the journey to unfold. And know there is a way through every block.

Now your turn, I’d love to hear from you. In the comments below let us know…

Have you ever left your comfort zone to follow your dreams? What exactly did you do?

What beliefs do you think may be getting in the way of your dreams?

As always, thank you for reading, watching and contributing. I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say on this topic as it’s a really important one!

Dream On and Shine Your Light,

Jewels

Shine By Jewels

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From Corporate America to Wanderlust

From Corporate America to Wanderlust | My Spiritual Pilgrimage

Wanderlust (n) A strong, irresistible desire to travel unexplored lands and the inner soul.

Today, as I write this blog, I am about to leave my comfortable home and life in sunny Marina Del Rey | Venice Beach, California. Some ask me, “Why are you leaving this? You have a wonderful life here in Los Angeles” And I do. I live in a lovely home with water views, I teach yoga, have a reiki / chakra balance studio in Santa Monica, a slew of friends. Life is great! Yet I can’t shake this urge to spread my wings and fly, seek, experience and explore.

 As early as I can remember, I had powerful desire to travel. My favorite books as a child were those about colorful, brave characters who nomadically roamed through exotic lands.

At six years, old I took my first out of the country trip for an entire summer to visit my mother’s side of the family in Athens, Greece. Immediately, I eased my way into this new culture. I enjoyed speaking the different language, eating new foods and soaking up the vibrant colors and smells of this exotic land.

Maybe it was that trip. Maybe it was having a mother who was from another country. I’m not sure, but I wanted more of this. I was not able travel out of the country again until I turned 19. And from that point on, I have been fortunate enough to travel every year.

As I observed the lifestyles of other cultures, I became disconnected with the American lifestyle and the American Dream. Work, work, work. Make money. Consume, consume, consume. More work. Retire. The cultures I enjoyed the most were the ones that focused much less on this and more on family, nature, and the simple pleasures of life. American Dream… It was a dream that was spoon fed to me, but something I just couldn’t swallow. I even tried to embrace this “normal” lifestyle. I got married, bought a home, had the big paying corporate gig with the fancy titles, I had a 15th floor, corner office at CBS Radio overlooking the vibrant streets of midtown Manhattan in New York City. Yet I found that none of this fulfilled me. I was filling my pocket-book, but depleting my soul. I was stressed out, unhealthy and exhausted.

As I circle back to my query, why? Why do I have this burning desire to roam and explore? I realize, that the open road makes me feel alive, free and vibrant. I gave the American Dream more than a good try. I worked for two decades in Corporate America. Today, I have reinvented myself and found a way to support my dream, my life and my pocketbook living out my destiny.

I’m heading off on a one-way ticket to Thailand and the beautiful countries of South East Asia. I have no time line. Maybe a year, maybe more, maybe less. I will be teaching yoga, meditation and holistic living both abroad and on-line. I’m on my spiritual journey

I’d love to share my experiences with you and perhaps even see you on the other side of the world at one of my holistic retreats. So if you haven’t already, sign up for the newsletter. I’ll also continue to record and post my favorite meditations and holistic tips designed to help align you in the highest vibration so you can live out your happiest, authentic life.

Shine Your Light,

Jewels


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READY • FIRE • AIM

Do you have dreams, ideas, projects that you would love to start but for some reason, you feel stuck and can’t move forward? In my last blog, I talked about Feeling Ready and Just Starting your projects. Here’s the link if you didn’t have a chance to read it… My Secret Sauce for Success. In my own experiences and talking with my clients, I find that many of us, when starting a new venture, don’t always feel adequately prepared and therefore never start. But the best way to get your project off the ground is to just start it.

Today, I want to go a little deeper into this idea. When I start any new project, I use a trusty little mantra that gets me going. I’ve come across this motto from many thought leaders and many successful entrepreneurs, and it always brings me into inspired action. 

READY • FIRE • AIM

Yep, that’s the mantra. Ready • Aim • Fire. When I was younger, I spent so much time on the aiming. I prepared and prepared. School, internships, mentorships. Then one day I said, the heck with it. I’m ready to fire. This flip of the switch, this change in order changed my life. From career choices,  rapid advancement, traveling and starting a business, I’ve experienced what I call magic. And it came from a whole lot of faith and firing into action.

SO LET’S BREAK IT DOWN

READY

This part is great. It’s exciting. You have an idea. Heck, you may have many of them. Start to flush ’em out and decide which one to move forward with first. 

FIRE
The next step, fire, yep fire. Don’t get too caught up on the aim just yet. Sometimes you’ll find that you can aim while firing. Just start. Feel the fear and do it anyway! Take action steps. What are you waiting for, to be fear free and have everything planned? Well that might never happen. Now I’m not saying to blindly fire away. Sure you need to do some prep, you need some research. But so many times you can sit their aiming away and never actually fire. We research, we prep… we do more research and more prep. We ca get into a never-ending cycle, awaiting that guarantee that it will work. This is where we can get stuck. There comes a point where you just got to do it. Not everything is going to work anyway. So don’t over analyze this part. Just keep moving. See what works and what doesn’t.

PROCRASTINATION

Endless aiming often times is a form of procrastination. Procrastination stops you from doing the things you want to do with your life. In dealing with procrastination, it is important to know that it is born out of fear. It keeps you “safely” stuck. It’s your negative mind in action. It holds you there, telling you that taking that first bold step is too dangerous, too risky. “Oh No, I Can’t Do This, I’m Not Ready.” “I Could Fail” or the old standby, “I Just Don’t Have The Time.” These are just a few examples of the negative mind at play. Yet it’s the very action of just moving forward that has the potential for you to not only survive, but to thrive!

AIM

So now you fired. Yay for you! As you push the ball down the field, here’s where you direct the course of action and direct the aim. It’s during this point that you can learn what is working while you build. Now take your plan, and break it down to small action steps. Make it real. Do something everyday. Get calculated about it. Write lists, map out tasks in your calendar. Even if you’re taking little steps everyday. Action gets the ball rolling and you start to collect momentum. Just keep the ball moving. Believe me this works. I practice this successfully in my own life, I coach it to my clients, I write about it and I will keep reaffirming it. 

MY EXPERIENCE

I remember back in the days when I was a radio executive. My job was to sell commercials to potential advertisers. I was so scared when I first started. I was new and not “seasoned” yet. I was so afraid to go on meetings and reach out to clients. Asking business owner to trust me and invest thousands of dollars on advertising was absolutely frightening. I was paralyzed with fear. Then one of my colleagues said something to me that really hit home. She said, “What’s the worse that could happen. They throw you out. Who cares just laugh and leave and go back again the next week.”  And you know I did just that! I actually did get thrown out of places a few times. Well not so much thrown out, but told ” I’m too busy to talk to you right now. Or no, I’m not interested.” Each time I smiled and I went back the next week with a new approach. And believe it or not some of those clients actually became my best costumers. Who knew. All I had to do was face that worst fear head-on. And it wasn’t so scary. So you see sometimes you just got to go forward and face your fears. Even fall down. Get back up and turn it into a positive. 

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” ~Henry David Thoreau 

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Peace and Blessings,

Jewels Bertrand

If you would like to book a reiki, private yoga, health or spiritual counseling session with me, check out my services in this link: WORK WITH ME

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Just Start, My Secret Sauce to Success

Just Start, The Secret Sauce to Success

“I’ve never begun any important venture for which I felt adequately prepared.” -Sheldon Kopp

I just love that quote. We all have times of hesitance when we embark on a new endeavor. Even the most successful of us are not free from that feeling of, “Am I really ready?” How many plans, ideas, goals and dreams did you sit on because of this nagging voice? How many sparks of illuminating inspiration have you had that withered and faded into the distance because you did not feel like you were adequately prepared?

Does any of this sound familiar to you? “I’ll be ready once I take just one more class. I’ll do it when I lose 10 more pounds. I can start once I have a little more money.

EGO TRICKSTER

You may not realize it, but that voice of hesitance is the ego tricking you. You see, the ego’s job is to help you to feel safe. That’s why it’s always telling you that you need to take one more class, get one more certification or that you need what ever “it” may be. It goes on and on in a never-ending cycle. The ego wants to hold you in your safe zone. It’s afraid of change. Even if the change is better for you than staying where you are. But the truth is, you’ll never feel adequate until you just begin. Sure, you may be scared. You may make mistakes. You may be rough around the edges in the beginning. Heck, you may even fall flat on your face. But you have to start from somewhere. I mean really, it’s pretty difficult to be perfectly perfect right out of the gate.

JUST START

The trick is, it’s actually easier if you do yourself a favor; release the pressure and JUST START, even if you don’t think you’re ready. Starting is the key ingredient to the secret sauce of success. Take one step at a time, and keep going, and going, and going. The mere act of starting creates momentum. The fire is sparked, energy flows, and low and behold, you’re on your way. And the great news is, you will have the opportunity to fine-tune it as you move along. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” -Mark Twain

 

F*E*A*R

Yet too often, fear comes into play. You feel more secure in the safety of what you know. But in actuality, this sense of security is mostly a superstition. Avoiding fear is no safer in the long run than getting right out there and taking a shot. And what is fear? False * Evidence * Appearing * Real.

EMBRACE THE CHANGE

In the wise words of Socrates, “The secret to change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but in building the new.” Because trust me, that which you focus on, becomes your world. And if you fight for your limitations, they will be yours to keep.

WORST CASE

So let’s break it down. What’s the worst that’s likely to happen if you take the leap and Just Start? Dig into your deepest fear. Is it that people won’t accept you? Is it that your plan might not work? Maybe you will lose? So what??? This is not life threatening.  Keep on going. Dare yourself to fail. In life, those who take the risks are the ones who achieve success.

SUCCESSFUL FAILURES

Did you know that some of the most successful people in the world had to first endure failure? Michael Jordan was turned down by his high school basketball team. One of the greatest NBA players in the history of basketball and his high school team turned him down! And Oprah Winfrey, she was told that she wasn’t good enough to be on TV. He-he-he. Really??? Didn’t stop her from being one of the biggest TV hosts in the world. Oh, and that little known band the Beatles, they were turned down by Decca records and told that they never make it in show business. Way to call that one wrong Decca!

DREAM ON

So challenge yourself to become the dreamer of dreams, become the risk taker. And start, even if you don’t think you’re ready.

I hope this inspires you to go forth with confidence in the direction of your dreams.

I would love to hear your comments. Share your inspiration with us. Have you started a project before you were ready? Do you have a idea that you want to get started on. The story continues in the comments. Let’s inspire each other.

Shine On!

Jewels Bertrand

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