Presence presents 🎁

What does being present mean to you?  How in your life do you stay present?

To me, presence has two key components. Presence in mind and presence in body.  You can be one or the other. Or you can be both. Being truly present means to be present and think present. It can be conscious or unconscious.  

Presence in mind means that you are present in your thoughts. You aren't thinking about a past event. You aren't thinking about the future and what could happen. Your thoughts are here and now engulfed in each and every moment as it passes you by.

Presence in body is different. Presence in body means that you are present in your actions.  This is a bit tougher to achieve. 

I remember when I first started out doing self work. I would be present in my thoughts or have nothing going up there at all, but I was still not being present!  I came to realize that presence doesn't just mean being present in mind, but that presence also requires presence in body. 

From the time that we are born until the present day, we have acquired our own belief systems, habits, self-identity, self-talk, pain, and triggers. Whether or not we realize that we have. It doesn't take a traumatic incident in your life in order to acquire these things. 

Any time you react to a trigger or situation in your life, in any single moment, based upon the past (or even the future) you're not present in that moment. Your mind may not be full of chatter, but your subconscious sure is.  This comes to be more unconscious than conscious, but you CAN become conscious of it. 

If you experienced something in your life that validated your thought process of yourself in such a way that you had low self esteem, any time you meet new people, you could unconsciously (or consciously unconsciously) be less open towards that person. You may not initiate a conversation, assuming that they probably don't want to talk to you anyways. Greeting people or saying goodbye to people (before they do it to you) would be another way it could come out in this scenario.  This doesn't have to show up every time. Just some of the time. 

How about fear of failure?  You might end up starting something, but not finishing it. You might procrastinate. Or you may not even take action towards doing something that you want to do. Again, this doesn't have to be all of the time either. 

We unconsciously come to conclusions and make assumptions based on a past that is already gone. Past pain. Past hurt. 

You may not be thinking about how, last week, Susie Q decided that she would put the blame on you for something (bad) that she did, and then decide to ruin your whole day by repeating the scenario in your head to yourself over and over again until you have successfully made yourself miserable. But the moment that you think that you either could face a similar situation before any "evidence" (therefore being in the future and the past) or think that you are facing a similar situation and see "evidence" (therefore being in the past) and decide to remove yourself from the situation or make accusations, you've lost your presence. You are now acting based off of the past. 

How about, what if your parent(s) always react to you in a certain way sometimes, in certain circumstances. Let's say that any time you mention your dream of being a professional football player, they always bring you down. This is your thought process about them. That they always act this way towards you. Would you withhold something you want to say to them or show them because if you say it they "will" react in this certain way?  Does this show that you're being present?  Your parents may have acted a certain way towards you in the past, but wouldn't being present in this way mean that you would still say or do what you wanted to, because each new moment is fresh, brand new?  Anything can happen. So why can't they maybe react differently than they have in the past?  You withheld something that you did not want to withhold, based off the past. Not so present if I do say so myself!

If presence is something that you are trying to achieve, be present in your thoughts and in your body. How to go about doing this depends on how consciously you're living. Full presence is achieved through both avenues. Not just one or the other. 

If you're brand new at this. Start by trying to recognize your thoughts when you are having them. Once you have this, you can recognize when your thoughts are present or not. Be mindful of your actions. How are you reacting to other people and your surroundings?  What do your actions or inactions tell you about how present you are?  Becoming conscious of that which typically happens unconsciously is the first step.  Once you recognize it, bring yourself back to the present moment. 

The past and the future are illusions. Nothing exists except the here and now.

This is my present to you about presence 😊

Check out my blog's Facebook page and Pursue You Coaching Facebook page for more information and join my Facebook Group or contact me at pursueyoucoach@gmail.com for a FREE 30 minute session. You can also check out my website: https://pursueyou.org

SpiritYOUality

There's a reason that there’s a U right smack dab in the middle of it. Some may view it in religious or mystical terms, but what does spirituality actually mean?  What does it mean to be spiritual?

Although any definition will suffice for each individual, as you will see, spirituality is about self and your connection to self. 

Take a deep look at yourself. How many times per day do you allow someone else to dictate your actions or how you feel?  Have you ever listened to someone else's advice and ended up in a situation that you did not want to be in and then thought "I should have just done what I felt I needed to do instead of listening to that other person" or done something that just didn't feel right to you only because someone else told you to do it?  Ever listened to someone else's thoughts about you and allowed yourself to be emotionally affected in a way that made you feel uneasy? 

Are you connected or disconnected to yourself?

Each individual on this planet is on his or her own personal journey.  A journey that is custom made just for them!  In this beautifully orchestrated chaotic but yet orderly universe that we live in, everyone has their own part to play in this nature.  YOU know what is best for your own journey in life.  Although receiving guidance from others is helpful, such guidance should resonate with you and feel right. As "they" (whoever "they" are lol) say, if it feels right, then it's right.  Feel it in your heart. In your body. If something is amuck, stop for a second, look deep inside of yourself, and see what direction leads to disconnection with yourself and which leads to connection with self. 

Let your heart be your guide. Nobody can tell you what is best for you other than YOU.  If you were allergic to apples, you wouldn't eat an apple because someone else told you that they're good for you and you should eat them!  So why and how would anyone else know what is best for you any other wise? 

Be your own guide in life.  Wherever your spirit leads you is exactly where you need to be and when you need to be there.  It may not be what we want or where we want.  But there is a bigger picture at play. The universe is a puzzle and each person in it is a piece of that puzzle.  Each piece fits perfectly into another and so on and so forth that makes this beautiful thing we call the universe. 

Trust in YOU.  Believe in YOU.  You are much more than you think you are.

Check out my blog's Facebook page and Pursue You Coaching Facebook page for more information and join my Facebook Group or contact me at pursueyoucoach@gmail.com for a FREE 30 minute session. You can also check out my website: https://pursueyou.org