Thankful for Second Chances!

I went out for a drive and as many of you know, I take these drives to clear my mind. Well, I did not get far. Why?, you might wonder. Well as I am driving my mind is at work and my inner voice instructs me to come back home. It says, "Go home, clean house you have to get your life in order". When I heard this I thought, "Yes, I need to clean house, reorganize myself, my thoughts, feel good about my environment, see life through clear eyes". So I head back, I decide to drive down Riverhead which is a bit longer drive, however I took that road. As I get on to the LIE, I drive past a section and then it hit me...... Am I am thankful or grateful as I can be?

In that very spot 4-5 years ago I had an incident that could have changed my life and my family’s life yet tragedy was avoided. It was a snowy day and I had just left my sister’s home, I was with my Mom and my Daughter. As I got into the LIE, my car slid and took off downhill, crossed the three lanes right in front of a truck and other vehicles, my car jumped through the center which is deep yet it flew landed in the other side of traffic yet when it did my car swirled and turned back to where I came from and came to a full stop. By my car turning it avoided the other side of traffic. I had just missed getting slammed by a truck, avoided my car falling into the ditch and was spared of the next incoming traffic. I had no time to think, to pray. For some reason I just held on to the steering wheel and never attempted to turn, it was out of my hands. I knew back then it was a miracle we had not gotten hurt, yet how grateful have I been? You see I believe God has been in my life for a long time yet back then I was not looking for him. I was a resentful woman and I believe God has plans in my life. I don't know why I remembered this episode as I drove down the LIE today however I do know its tied to my need to clean house. I have a purpose to fulfill and I am not doing it, I have to clear my mind, be thankful for the opportunities and get to work.

I am thankful for second chances, thankful for health and for the ability to move forward in life. I am thankful for reminders, for the love and mercy bestowed upon me. I am thankful for the patience and for the wisdom at times shared with me. Life has been a journey, an interesting one I might add. Yet with all its ups and downs, twists and turns, bumps and bruises, I have been made stronger, wiser, tougher. I am not where I need to be, yet I am well on my way. God gave me a chance and I am going to take it. Life is not about wishing for things it’s about using what you have to make them happen. Why my life is not the same, we will never know yet we do know that you and I have the same opportunity, we just need to go out and take it.

Be thankful for what you have, Be thankful for the second chances, Be thankful for the lessons learned.

http://www.eileengonzalezlifeaccordingtome.com/#!services/c5ro

4 Steps to start our journey of self improvement

–Clarity
     Get clear on who you are, what you want and why you want it.
–Forgiveness
     Releasing yourself from past mistakes, painful events equals freedom to move on
–Belief
     Understand and Define your beliefs vs. the beliefs engrained in you by others
–Call to Action
     We can want it all....but until we commit to take action, to learn new skills, to try new things,
     we will always be in the WISHING MODE

These are just 4 steps to get started, this alone does not create change, yet it gets us clear and prepares us to begin our journey.

Job Security, a thing of the past!

I went to a job fair the other day to find that there are not many employers out there seeking. Why is this? Well for one reason there are more employees than jobs and because of this they have the upper hand. I met some professionals, highly skilled that have been unemployed for over 11 months. That is crazy! For those that live in Long Island as I do, every day you go unemployed your world gets darker. I had the privilege to speak to some one on one and hear their personal story. People that have wonderful resume's, look the part yet they are either over qualified or can't afford the pay cut that comes from accepting what is out there. 

Why do I share this? I share this because we need to be in constant movement, we can't get comfortable where we are or with what we know. The knowledge of yesterday is obsolete tomorrow. Therefore we must continue to improve, to explore, to train because we are as good as we our ability to evolve. We also have to stop believing or expecting "job security". That term could have had meaning during our parents time, yet times have changed. The only job security you will find is by being self employed and in charge of your time, your income and with who or where you do business.

What does this mean to you? This means you need to take action, "no news" on change at the workplace does not mean change is not happening. Chances are by the time you hear about it, it has been well planned, coordinated and underway. Therefore it is your responsibility to not be taken by surprise. Take courses, freshen up your skills, learn new things. Be innovative, try new things. Prepare yourself where you are so that if and when that day comes you are not left in the dark.

You would not drive without a spare tire, would you? Therefore why would you only depend on your job?  

Behind what you see, lives the Real You!

Behind all the uncertainty, the self doubt, the shyness, the fear. Behind it all.....you will find the real "YOU; "a dreamer, strong, caring, wanting to do more. Dare to find that person....dare to let them shine through, dare to listen to their voice and let them guide your way.

Share your Knowledge!

When I was young adult and even through my adult career. I remember meeting people that would simply not teach anyone how to do their job in an attempt to secure their own job. That so called “job security”; you know anyone like that? Well I never liked that mentality and I chose to not take part of that. If I knew it, I taught it. The funny thing is that was just how I was, had nothing to do with this journey to a better me. It just did not make sense to me to hold back on information or skills. The way I see it, if you train others and do it well, you are seen as a leader and that can open doors for your growth. This so called “job security” no longer exists. With cost savings most likely your job will be outsourced therefore protecting your job don’t help you much.

When I began this journey I realized that sharing what I knew went beyond what I thought, it really goes toward helping others become better. When you take the time to teach someone you are helping them gain opportunity. You are blessing them with skills that can help them flourish and become better. We are all connected, therefore let’s stop holding on to what we know as if someone else were to take it from us. Be better, help others be better. There is room for all of us and at the end, we take with us what we give, what we teach, what we share…..we take with us the goodness in our hearts.

Change requires re-adjustment of how we think

I believed I knew who I was and what I wanted in life; yet not until I began my journey did I realize I knew very little of who I was. Understanding who I was became a true challenge for me as I had to break free of beliefs that were ingrained in me throughout a lifetime. I had to force myself to see myself through my eyes instead of through the eyes of those I loved or surrounded me. This was very difficult as I had learned to judge myself by what others said about me, expected from me or had told me I could achieve. Change requires a re-adjustment of how we think, and in my case it did not happen overnight; it took me a long time to figure it out.  When I began this journey I had no idea how difficult it would be or how long it would take, yet one thing was clear, I could not turn back. I was clear that my past was full of mistakes and I needed to get myself on the right path.  There were times that I would shake my head wondering what I was doing wrong? why change or improvement was taking so long?, however change was happening behind the scenes. I was changing, I was getting stronger, I was pushing myself and even though I did not see what I wanted, I was getting better.  There are times that we give up because we don't see the changes occur quick enough, we want instant gratification and having to wait does not work for us. Yet we need to remember that these mistake, these issues, these painful events did not happen overnight.  We worked hard at messing up and sometimes repeated the mistake several times which just dug our hole deeper.  Therefore when we make the conscious choice to change, we can't just give up, we need to be open to change and patient with ourselves.

The first step is to get clear, to understand who you are and what you want.
The second step is to define what your goals are with timelines

The third step is to believe you have the potential to achieve

The fourth step is to take action

http://www.eileengonzalezlifeaccordingtome.com/#!services/c5ro