Your Majesty

Wayne Dyer, self-help author and motivational speaker, once said that there were two types of people in this world -- ducks or eagles.  Ducks are content to sit on a pond and calmly paddle in the water, surrounded by other ducks, not really going very far.  Eagles, on the other hand, are meant to soar and move great distances, surrounded only by the air that holds them and their own sense of majesty.  

For the most part, I am in my element as an eagle.  I love the idea of taking flight, of moving forward, and of feeling empowered by my own inner resolve.  At the same time, I know that there are times in our lives when we need to be ducks -- surrounding ourselves with family or friends, treading time and feeling rooted.  

As many of my clients and loved-ones know, I have been holding down a full-time "duck" job for the past eight years, while I've done my private practice on the side.  For two nights a week and every Saturday morning, I've enjoyed my "eagle" job, connecting and working with my clients one-on-one, feeling a great sense of mastery and fulfillment from what I know in my heart I was truly meant to do in this lifetime.

But what I realized, over the past few years, was that my ratio of duck to eagle life was way off.  The eagle in me was trying to spread its wings and take higher flight, but it was weighted down by too many other responsibilities.  I was accumulating a variety of ideas for empowerment workshops, relevant blog postings, e-books and other services and products I could provide my clients.  There was also the stack of books I wanted to read, to learn from and recommend to others.  I've had to pass on trainings and networking opportunities, learning more about social media, life-coaching, marketing, etc -- all because I haven't had the proper time and energy to fully engage in them.

Sometimes we need a strong catalyst to move us from duck-life to eagle-life, and that is exactly what happened to me this past month.  It was the perfect storm of stress: six months of trying to sell our home, then quickly having to buy a new one, changes being made to my duck job that I inherently  disagreed with, lack of professional and personal support, the many responsibilities of raising two teenagers, and then the physical toll it was taking on me with weight gain, poor eating/drinking habits, and restless sleep.  It hit me one day that if I was to keep going under this pressure, things would just get worse. 

“If we never had the courage to take a leap of faith, we'd be cheating God out of a chance to mount us up with wings like eagles and watch us soar.” ― Jen Stephens, The Heart's Journey Home 

So I took my own leap of faith and quit my duck job...and guess what?

An inner sense of calm has taken over.

For some of my clients -- and for my other readers -- this leap might mean leaving the same security of a job into one that reflects your true nature, or a leap to write the book you've been thinking about, or just jumping onto a new path of life, no matter what it is!  If you are an eagle (and I believe we all are, in some respect), you are meant to soar.  To stay a duck out of fear, only cheats God, the world, and yourself out of seeing you discover and embrace your fullest potential.

Coincidentally, this is the very experience I love working on with my clients -- transforming their lives from the old to the new.  I help those who want to reinvent their marriage, their career path, their physical health, or any maladaptive beliefs that are keeping them from truly soaring. 

But I can talk the talk all day.  This latest adventure on MY path shows that I'm willing to take the risk I ask so many others to do, trusting that God and the energy of my truest Self will carry me.  Just as the wind supports the eagle's flight, we all will be carried when we release our inner sense of majesty.