Crimson and Clover

"Ah, now I don't hardly know her.
But I think I can love her."
- Joan Jett

***

Can I just tell you how badly I wanted the lyrics from "I Love Rock n Roll" to fit here?  

Sadly.

They don't.  

***

A few weeks ago, I led a Guided Meditation to a group of 50 college students at a Student Leadership Conference.

I want to share the exercise because the concept is such a great tool for reflection and creating a vision.

***

Close your eyes.

Focus on your breathing.  Increase the length of your inhales.   Take some nice deep exhales.  

Count to 4 as you inhale, count to 6 on the exhale.   Don’t focus on anyone else – just focus on the song of your own breath.  

Feel the energy start to settle in this room. 

Feel the calm start to ease your mind.

If your thoughts start to wander, just gently guide them back to your counting and your breath.

Notice your body today.

Take note of any areas of tension. Focus on that area to send breath to that area.

Picture yourself in the top right hand corner of the room looking down at your self and all others here in the room today.

What is it that you see?

What does your body language look like?

Are your shoulders relaxed?   Your jaw?   Your back?

Now think back to this morning when your alarm went off.

What was your routine?   Walk yourself through the first hour of your day?  Was it dark outside?   Did you eat breakfast?   Was your morning hurried or relaxed?   Did you see the sunrise?   What was the first thing you did?  Were you on time?   Notice any small change you could make that would help you shift your routine to accomplish a little more or shift where your energy is focused in those first few hours of your day.  

Walk through the rest of your day.  Who did you talk to? Was your pace rushed or slow and controlled?   Did you have enough time for everything you wanted to accomplish?  How much time did you spend scrolling through your phone?  Social media?   Responding to text messages?  Notice anything here that you could slightly adjust to allow energy for other things.

Walk through your evening.   Think about the past day, week, month.   What do you notice about your patterns?   Does anything stand out that you would like to change?  

What do you notice about your thoughts?  Are they kind?   Are they positive?   What do you notice about your behavior?   When you reflect back, are there are changes you could make that would shift the way you see yourself?

Fast forward one full year.   Imagine that you have complete control of your day and schedule.   What does it look like?  How has it shifted from where you are today?  

Fast forward five full years.   Imagine that you have the power to transform and change into anything you want.   What behaviors of yours do you want to lose?   What thoughts would you choose to change?   What elements of your past would you choose to let go of?   What are your five best qualities?   What is one way you could be kinder to yourself?   If you lived in a Utopian world, where everything was perfect and you could be anything you choose, what would you do and what would your days look like?   

As you shift your awareness back into the room, listen and hear the sound of the ticking of the clock.   Hear the sound of my voice calling you back.   Hear the sound of the breathing from the person beside you.   Hear the gentle beat of your heart and the cars outside the window.   

***

Take out a blank piece of paper and draw a line down the middle of the top half of the page.   On the left side, write down the 5 best traits you thought of about your self.   On the right side, write one personality trait you don't admire that you would like to change.   

On the bottom half of the page, write your vision for your Utopian world.  Include the values that you want to live by, the quality of your relationships, the type of job you have, the success you hold.  Assume that it is possible to create absolutely anything and be any type of person you wish and write out your vision.  

And then carry it with you every single day.

***

It is impossible to change, without a vision of what we want to change into.

I will openly share with you the intentions I set from doing this exercise.

My intention is to create abundance in my life by using the best of my gifts, skills and talents for higher good.  There is not any one thing I must do.   It can be a variety of things that use my gift of expression.   I seek the opportunity to travel and explore the world and I welcome all opportunities to do so.   I build strength in the foundation of my relationship and I have peace and harmony with all the other relationships that are in close proximity in my life.  I use honesty and courage to hold difficult conversations that will support positive change.  I am strong, lean and fit, emotionally and physically, and every day I become more of the person I was destined to be.  I am not defined by my past, but by how I choose to live today.  I am a good person with a good heart and good intentions, and my self worth is rock solid.  I believe that what's meant for me will not miss me and all will unfold in the right time and space, easily and effortlessly, with harm to none.   I inspire change through my writing and handle any success with grace and ease.  I am humble.   I am kind.   I am grateful.   I am fulfilled.  I will, from this day forward, always be true to myself. 

Now I get to ask the million dollar question.

Why can't this be true?