Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:02:15 -0800WeeblyMon, 02 Apr 2012 07:26:33 -0800http://www.happyfulfilledlife.com/1/post/2012/04/toilets-and-tarantulas.htmlBy now most of you probably know that I've moved from London back to Austin. Some of you have asked about the move and what I'm doing now so I thought it would be a good time to start up my blog again. So where do Tarantulas and Toilets come in you ask? The rustic little house I'm living in overlooks beautiful Lake Travis. My description of rustic includes the tarantula that was outside the front door recently. The house does have running water but it comes straight from the lake and as I recently found out this can cause problems when lake levels shift from rain with dirt coming through pipes both from the faucets and in the toilets, something I've never encountered before. This is a big change from life in London but even so living out here has been wonderful. This property has the most beautiful view of the lake and spending time out of the hustle and bustle of the big city has given me the space to do some soul searching to figure out what I want to do with my life now that I'm back in Austin. Before I start with that I'll fill you in on what has led up to this.

Within six months of moving to London I knew I would be gearing up for a career change in the following years. Sales was the only career I had known but something just didn't feel right about it anymore. Let me put this out there. Sales can be a wonderful career. I am so thankful for all the amazing people that I have met doing this work and for the lessons I learned. Many doors opened for me doing sales. But truth be told I dreaded going to work every day and even when I wasn't there I was worried about what would happen the next time I was in the office. What made it tough was the fact that I was good at sales and had absolutely no idea what else I could do but the stress I was feeling on a daily basis was undeniable.

In the past I had enjoyed a strong spiritual connection and meditation and prayer had been part of my life. Now I had become so tired and beat down that it had slipped away. Here I was in London. It had been my dream for so long and I had worked so hard to get here yet I was too tired and stressed out to enjoy it. I knew something had to change. Thankfully one of my dear friends from home sent me some inspirational books in a care package and that was a great reminder that it was time to reconnect with my spiritual roots.

A combination of prayer and soul searching starting bringing me clues of the right path to take. At a point where anxiety was at an all time high with my work situation I came into contact with Sue Frederick who is an amazing Career Intuitive. Check out her blog/website if you are interested in learning more about what she does: http://careerintuitive.org/blog/ I had no idea what was in store for me during the session. Was she was going to tell me I needed to suck it up and find a way to love sales again since I was lucky enough to have been successful at it? This was furthest from the truth. She shared with me that my natural skills are actually in the coaching and healing realm. What she said resonated with me on a deep level. It was like someone turned on a faucet and tears flowed from me. What she said felt right but I had never imagined myself in that type of work.  All at the same time I felt grateful, excited, overwhelmed and scared. Thankfully she recommended that I take baby steps and gave me ideas of how to begin because I had no idea how to start this journey.

That session with her shifted me in a profound way. Finally I felt a sense of greater purpose. Things at work were still stressful but I had something worthwhile to work towards. Knowing this allowed me to relax and enjoy where I was. As I began soaking in the culture and settling into living the life of a Londoner, I began taking the necessary courses to become certified. The first thing I did was get certified as a life coach. It was a great place to start and gave me a good foundation to work from.

Soon after I completed this course I found out that Sue Frederick was going to be holding courses to train others to do the work that she does. Because the session I had with her made such an impact on my life I wanted to learn what she had to teach. I knew there had to be others out there in the same situation I had been in, wanting to make a change in career but not having an idea of what that would be and it would be nice to know how to help them.

As I began doing sessions for people it became clear that although many of them connected with the information we discussed about their natural gifts and the career possibilities that would allow them to use these gifts they still felt stuck. Knowing about their potential even when it felt right and knowing steps to get started on this path wasn't enough for some. Old beliefs came up about why it was fine for someone else to follow his or her path but they had a list of reasons why they couldn't do it themselves. I felt it was something more than them just making excuses because some of these people truly wanted change in their lives. In a way I could understand. Although I was taking the steps to make a career change, part of me still didn't feel it was possible. Even though Sue assured me that I had the skills and was ready to start coaching full time something was holding me back. As much as I was "done" with the corporate world I was scared to leave it and I didn't know why.

I decided to follow my intuition and learn Reiki. Energy work was something I had experienced before and I knew the value of it but never saw myself learning it. However Reiki became an important piece to the puzzle. It was the first step in branching out from just coaching into also doing healing work. As I learned Reiki and received my first attunement it seemed to deepen my connection to God. As this happened my intuition geared up to a whole new level and by the time I learned the second level of Reiki I felt strongly that it would be important for me to also learn Theta Healing. The thing about this was I knew little about Theta Healing and had never even had a session. But the push was so strong it compelled me to go online and research it. As things seem to happen when they are divinely guided there happened to be a course that month not too far from my flat.

Theta Healing opened up a whole new world for me. It was a link that allowed me to combine what I had learned through coaching with the energy aspect of Reiki.  A large part of Theta Healing is working with beliefs, both conscious and subconscious. This gave me better understanding as to why some people stayed stuck even when they wanted to change. I learned how to connect to the Theta brainwave, how quickly healing can occur there, and that it is possible to shift beliefs even if we're not aware we've had them or if we've been holding on to them for years.

It was amazing to see how this helped the people I worked with and as I worked on healing myself things in my life started shifting too. The job that I had been afraid to leave suddenly didn't feel right even as a way to pay my bills as I was slowly building my practice. I still wasn't quite ready to completely leave the corporate world and right on time another job showed up. Around the same time I met a man and fell deeply in love and for several months things were great.

He ended up changing my life, just not in the way I had expected. One night he told me he loved me like he had done for the past few months and then the next day out of no where broke things off. I felt blind sided. It wasn't the kind of break up where you say ok, good riddance, next. Both my heart and soul felt broken. There were days that I felt so sad I didn't want to get out of bed.  And I was so confused. Why had this happened? I was doing the spiritual work, I had cleared beliefs around relationships. Or so I thought. Deep inside of me beliefs I held about abandonment still lingered and he reflected this to me. I still had deep seated beliefs about abandonment and he reflected this to me. I allowed myself time to grieve and heal. Even though I was still in pain I decided that instead of my broken heart being a roadblock and a reason to set me back or keep me stuck I wanted to turn it into something positive and see the gift in it even it it wasn't obvious at the time. I dug deeper into my spiritual work and into my studies of the mind, body, spirit connection. The vacation time he and I would have spent together I used to take a 3 week intensive course called Intuitive Anatomy which covers each body system and how our emotions and beliefs are stored in each system affecting our physical body.


The "gift" from the heartbreak was beginning the emerge. The course was amazing. For many years I've been aware of the work of Louise Hay and the many other authors and medical experts that speak of the mind body connection and how our thoughts and emotions affected our body. A new level of awareness dawned on me as I learned how to apply this in a practical way for my clients as well as allowing myself to heal further. Just as in my experience with Reiki I could feel my intuition kick up another notch. Sessions with clients became even easier. I was able to quickly tune in and help them uncover unconscious beliefs that they had no idea were holding them back. Now I was also able to tune into body parts that were causing my clients pain and help them release emotions they were holding on to that had been causing the pain.

On a personal level things were changing for me too. When I first moved to London I had planned to get my citizenship and stay there for good. The healing that occurred for me during Intuitive Anatomy shifted something in me and I started feeling as if it was time to move back home after living there for four years. I can be very stubborn and in the past I would have dug my heals in and fought it. After a bit of a rocky start I was finally feeling at home in London.Why should I move now?  I'd met some great people and was loving this new work I was doing even if it was part time. What was this guiding me to move home? I knew there was still a bit of unresolved pain from the break up but this felt much deeper than that. My intuition had been right about learning Reiki and Theta Healing so after taking a few months to decide if it was really what I wanted to do I decided to move back to Austin.

When I first got back to Austin in December I was still in the mindset that I needed  to have a corporate job. Largely from habit and because living in London this would have been true for at least a couple of more years due to visa requirements.

Once I really started to get settled back in Austin I started toying with the idea of building my practice full time. It was really all I wanted to do because I believe in this work and know what a difference it can make in peoples lives including my own. My life has shifted in dramatic ways since I've begun this new path. Not just in where I live and my career but in how things affect me. It is much easier for me to hold a space of peace when faced with things that would have really bothered me before. So,  I held the intention and prayed for the right doors open up for me. And then when I least expected it certain things felt into place allowing me to do this full time.

This is just the beginning and would love your help to grow. Several of you have expressed interest in the work I'm doing right now and receiving sessions. To say thank you for helping me get the word out I'd like to offer a couple of opportunities to receive one for free. I'll give a free one phone session to the person who refers the most new people to like my facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/HappyFulfilledLife Just have them comment that you've sent them so I can keep track. And if at least 25 different people comment on this posting I'll draw a random person to receive a free session. I've decided to make these phone sessions so people outside of Austin have a chance too. Thank you so much for being on this journey with me. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. If there is anything specific you are interested in me writing about please comment on this post and let me know or just say Hi and let me know that you read it. Keep in mind 10% of all sessions will be donated to Texas Star Rescue through April.

Oh and the tarantula? Thankfully he left about 10 minutes after I saw him, however the toilet downstairs is still having an issue since the lake levels have been fluctuating. Let me know if you happen to know of a good plumber in the Lake Travis area. :-)

]]>Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:25:30 -0800http://www.happyfulfilledlife.com/1/post/2010/03/comfortably-numb.html Many tourists travelling through London don’t realise the musicians they see playing throughout the Underground stations are working legally and licensed through the London Underground.  According to the Transport for London website there are over 400 buskers and they provide more than 3,000 “music events” every week on the tube network. Because I love music, especially live music, I have a soft spot for these buskers. If I’m not too pressed for time I might stop for just a minute to listen before tipping them. Even if I am rushing the music seems to follow me at least for a couple of minutes to a different part of the station and many times puts a smile on my face. During a recent trip to the V&A museum as I was walking down the subway from South Kensington tube station one of the buskers was playing Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb”.  He was so good that at first before I had seen him I thought music was just being piped through the walk way and that I was listening to a recording of Pink Floyd.

A session with a client this week brought me back to that moment. She has been working the same job for the past 6 years. The first couple of years it was something that she really enjoyed and she went to work every day feeling inspired. The past two years have not been so easy for her. She described it as numbing. She just goes to work out of habit and finds no enjoyment in it.  She feels stuck and without a clue of which direction to take to move forward. Part of the issue is that although she is really good at what she does she no longer feels passionate about the type of work she does. Wisely rather than just switching to a job in her same field she decided to do some soul searching to figure out what the next move in her career should be and that is how she found me. In the beginning she seemed almost skeptical. In her mind she’d done the same type of work for so long that she had a hard time seeing that there were other options. As we discussed the work that a 22 life path values her eyes lit up. It was as if she changed before my eyes. She has long held the dream of creating programs for musicians and artists who feel like outcasts or have addiction issues to heal. She’s pushed this dream and the things she loves such as music and reading aside to spend time building her career. But she doesn’t feel like she’s getting back from her career all that she’s putting into it and says that she goes home feeling too tired and numb to remember the things that were once important to her.

Remembering her dream and having some listen to it in support seemed to wake her up. It was if a well was open and gushing out of her were ideas of new directions she could take in her career. I look forward to working with her and supporting her during this transition.

How does your current situation leave you feeling at the end of the day? Are you inspired and enthusiastic? Or are you numb? Working with a Career Intuitive can help you determine the path to help you shift from work that leaves you numb to work you truly enjoy.]]>Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800http://www.happyfulfilledlife.com/1/post/2010/02/giving-up-ghosts-of-the-past.html I’m taking a writing course now and we are tasked with as much reading as writing in this class. Our recent assignment was “Giving up the Ghost” by Hilary Mantel.  It’s a memoir that won the MIND Book of the Year award in 2003 when it was published. Aside from this Hilary has been short listed for other major literary awards and in 2009 won the Man Booker prize for her novel “Wolf Hall.” In this age of reality TV and people exposing the most intimate details for others to see it’s no surprise that memoirs have become increasingly popular. Two of the most popular types of memoirs these days are those written by celebrities and “misery” memoirs.  Misery memoirs can be cathartic to the writer. As they write they can release pain they’ve held onto.  It can also be inspiring to the reader to read about the challenges the author has faced and been able to overcome.

“Giving up the Ghost” falls into both of these categories of memoir and raised quite strong reactions from many in my class. Some had a very difficult time connecting with the author. They felt as if she was moaning too much. One person said it was a luxury that she was able to even have this book published and that it only happened because she was already an accomplished writer. Others appreciated Mantel’s unique style and found humour in the way she described her childhood and inspiration that despite all she went through she went on to be an award winning author.  Personally I had mixed feelings about the book. After finding the first page interesting it took me another forty nine pages to get into it.  Parts of it seemed to drag on.  I did enjoy reading about her antics as a child. The way she wrote about this took me back to my childhood and reminded me of how differently a child can see things than we do as adults.  Even though it wasn’t my favourite book ever it was one that really made me think and has stayed with me after I’ve finished reading it.

 In parts of the book she hints at what we know as supernatural ghosts but the ghosts that Mantel mainly speaks of are the memories that haunt us and can hold us back or propel us through our lives. For Mantel this was the scars of a dysfunctional family and debilitating health issues that were incorrectly diagnosed for years. These “ghosts” stayed with Mantel and bred other ghosts that accompanied her as well. We all have our “ghosts” Prior to moving to London I was positive that I had released all of mine. I’d worked with a life coach for two years to make myself ready for this move only to show up in London and realise the ghosts I’d let go of had made move for others that I’d not paid as much attention to. I’ve made a conscious decision to try to release them and let them go as they emerge. Of course some ghosts hold on tighter than others.

 Part of life is about being able to heal, let go and reinvent as we need to.  What ghosts are you carrying around? When we’re in the midst of pain it’s hard to imagine we can ever escape it. Sometimes we carry around these memories thorough our lives reliving them and using them as excuses to not move forward and do what you’d really love to do. What if we used these ghosts as catalysts to evolve? Rather than letting painful memories hold us down we can use them as fuel to change our situations. Many people have had great success because their pain has given them the motivation to do things differently. It’s important that we all remember our strength and power so that we these ghosts show up we can take inspiration from them. As we let go of these ghosts we can let go of beliefs and situations that no longer serve us and make room for those that do.]]>Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:54:45 -0800http://www.happyfulfilledlife.com/1/post/2010/02/fun-and-inspiration.html London is such a great city to live in. It is vibrant and cosmopolitan and there is so much to do.  One of the things I really enjoy is catching a show in the West End.  So I decided it was time to get out and see a show. I decided I wanted to see something light hearted and Legally Blonde seemed to fit the bill.  I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the show but it had received good reviews. So I decided to check my two favourite places to get a good deal on theatre tickets.   An online search revealed that I’d waited too long to be able to get a good deal on Lastminute.com for a Sunday matinee. However thanks to the TKTS booth in Leicester Square. I was able to get a ticket in the stalls front and centre for half price. I love getting a good deal. 

Adapted from the movie, the West End version of Legally Blond stars Sheridan Smith (known for playing Janet in the BBC sitcom “Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps”) as Elle Woods and Duncan James (of boy band Blue) as Warner.  It was not a serious show but I can say it was one of the most fun shows I’ve seen and I enjoyed it more than I even imagined I would. So did the other people in the audience. Even the men and boys who were there because of their wives, girlfriends and mothers really seemed to enjoy it.  Everyone around me was raving.  As in the movie Elle follows her ex-boyfriend Warner to law school after he breaks up with her. Rather than just blending in with everyone else at Harvard, Elle stays true to her West Coast roots.  To me this is one of the most appealing things about Elle’s character.  Even though she goes to Harvard to follow Warner she stays confident in who she is.  Ultimately she realises that law is her calling and that she has it in her to excel as an attorney.  I think it was the combination of the uplifting story and the fact that the actors were so connected with their roles and engaging with the audience that made Legally Blonde so enjoyable. It is clear that Sheridan, Duncan and all the actors in this show are following their life path and doing the work that is meant for them.

Normally my clients come to me because they really aren’t sure what work best suits them.  But sometimes I see a client because they have a very clear idea of what they want to do and want confirmation they are on the right path. Yesterday I had a session with a 23 year old university student from America. Her mother recently had a session and thought it would be helpful for her daughter to also speak with me as she will be graduating this year.  Based on the science of numbers I figured out her life path as that of the humanitarian.  Before our session I meditated as saw her as an advocate for those who have no voice.  As we talked about what I thought would be ideal career choices for her she was amazed. It resonated well with her dreams and goals of what she would like to accomplish when she leaves university. We talked about steps she can take right now as she’s getting ready to leave university to put her on the path of making her dreams a reality.  Even for those who already know what they want to do, it can be very reassuring to have a non biased person support their dreams and give them practical advice on how to transition into their perfect work. 

If you feel stuck and aren't sure what your dream job is think about the things you love doing. Do you have hobbies that you could spend hours on? What is important to you now? Thinking about these things can give you clues to the path of work that will inspired you and leave you fulfilled.

]]>Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:41:53 -0800http://www.happyfulfilledlife.com/1/post/2010/01/sunshinesunshine.htmlAlthough it was cold and crisp it was also bright and sunny here in London today. If you live in London you know what a treat sunshine is in the winter when the daylight hours are short and it’s typically dark and overcast. My plan for today was to get out and see an art exhibition that a couple of my friends were participating in. Normally I use the London underground also known as the tube for transportation.  As far as public transportation goes I find it to be easy to use and it gets me where I need to go. However, today the station closest to the exhibition was closed. So from Euston station I was forced to ride the bus.

Maybe it wasn't as fast as the tube but it was quite enjoyable looking out the window and seeing different parts of London. As we passed by the British Library I made a mental note that I have to visit it soon. It's such a majestic building.  Coming from the US I'm still amazed at the architecture here and the beautiful old buildings. Before I knew it I was in Islington where the show was held. It was a small show but one was about quantity versus quality. I left feeling inspired and decided it was time to start a blog.

I've always enjoyed writing and journaling. Now that I am working as a career intuitive/life coach helping people discover what work is best suited to them and working with them to help them transition into their dream jobs, it just seemed like the right time to start my blog.  I came up with the name for the blog, Happy Fulfilled Life because I help my clients create lives that are happy and fulfilled. I'll write about different things like my experiences living in London and whatever I'm inspired to share. For those of you who are looking to discover what work you are meant to be doing I'll include tips that will help you with this.

Calling this post Sunshine, sunshine was inspired by the lovely sun we had today but as I was typing it the lyrics of the U2 song Unknown Caller came to me. The song actually starts with Bono singing "sunshine, sunshine." It's a song about connecting to our higher self. Some people might call this God, or their Buddha self or the void. The song urges the listener to "shush now, cease to speak, so I may speak." When we quiet ourselves and allow our minds to stop thinking about our daily concerns through meditation or chanting we connect with our highest self. It's then that we receive the guidance we need. Our highest self already knows what direction we need to take but we need to quiet ourselves from all the thoughts going on in our head to be able to hear it. When we regularly practice chanting and/or meditation things just begin to flow in our lives. Synchronicities occur. The right people and situations begin to show up. If you don't feel the work you are doing is meaningful and you are not inspired when you wake up in the morning try meditating or chanting. It will help you battle stress and help you relax. When you are relaxed it's easier for new ideas to come to you. These new ideas could lead you to the work you are meant to do.]]>