Are you feeling trapped in your life with your heart screaming for more? If so, I get you 100%! It’s time to listen to your heart and start taking action to the life you want.

 

I moved from the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Bay Area in my early 20’s to start a “life” for myself and my son. I became a single mom at the young age of 21 and every choice I made revolved around giving my son the best life possible. I thought moving to the Bay Area and starting a corporate career was the way to go. After all, that is what society tells us right?

 

My corporate career grew and grew and it served me well while raising my son. I was able to give him a good life in safe environments and that was my focus at the time. But I spent most of those years stressed out, living out of my brain in a fear based mode and missing out on the beauty of life. Not to mention I hated the “big business” world.

 

I’ve never been about making lots of money or having the corner office with a view, I’ve always just wanted to be happy and to help other people. I’m a simple girl.

 

I’ve wanted to be a counselor since my 20’s but wasn’t willing to go to college in the evenings after working all day and give up my precious time with my son. So it went on the back burner. We do that a lot with our dreams don’t we?

 

I grew up in the mountains far from the world’s hustle and bustle. I worked hard on our little farm from a young age and when I wasn’t working I was outside exploring.

 

The amazing thing about growing up this way is I learned to connect to my heart, my internal compass, my primal instincts. I also became very creative. I had a connection with God even at 5 years old. I knew I was led by something so much bigger than myself.

 

But when we move into the craziness of the world we have to adapt to it. It’s amazing how quickly I went from being 100% connected to myself to being 100% disconnected from myself and from what truly MATTERS in this life.

 

All our insecurities start to arise, we become complacent, we might become competitive and think that our job defines who we are as a person. This is because when we disconnect from our hearts and live from our minds, we adopt a fear based life. We go into survival mode and try to make things happen on our own. We become more lost than ever.

 

This whole idea of going to college in order to get a good job (and being in debt for most of your adult life to pay for it), getting that job and working your way up the corporate ladder, finding someone to marry, settling down to have a family, buying the house with a white picket fence, then working your butt off until you’re 65 so that THEN you can finally enjoy your life…is just NOT WORKING!

 

Why do we put off fully experiencing life and truly living until we are retired? Are we merely existing until then? That is not how God intended our lives to be.

 

This model was created after WWII and was intended to keep people “safe” but it was never developed to make people happy. It’s a fear based model of protection from danger that might come with the unknown. It’s a way to “control” your future. The truth is we really don’t have control.

 

The thing is that each individual life is unique. We weren’t created to follow the same path. We were created for a purpose and a mission in this world by God’s own hands. We will never be happy as long as we’re trying to play God and live in what we perceive as safety.

 

We tend to follow the crowd. It’s what everyone is doing right? It’s what is expected of us. If we do something different no one will like us and we want everyone to like us and accept us right? Is this you?

 

Have you ever told your family or friends about your dreams just to have them tell you you’re crazy and that you can never make it happen? Welcome to following your heart! It seriously freaks people out.

 

It’s SO IMPORTANT to realize that no one feels or hears what your heart is saying other than you. They can’t feel your excitement and passion or understand what you are feeling. Only you can. And you HAVE to be ok with this.

 

Other people are living from their perspective, their experiences and their FEARS. The last thing you want to do is ask other people for their advice. They typically project their fears back at you.

 

The answer is right inside of YOU. TRUST IT.

 

I’m an outdoorsy adventurous girl so for 8 years I turned to things outside of myself to ease the pain and stress. I became OBSESSED with outdoor sports and racing. All I did outside of work was train, race, and climb mountain peaks. I did that for 8 years and to be honest it kept me sane from my internal misery.

 

BUT I had no time for family or friends who weren’t in that circle. It would stress me out if a friend who wasn’t athletic came to town or to go to my dad’s house on a weekend because all I could think about was that I needed to be training. It truly became an obsession. It came first because it was the only thing that made me feel alive.   But we need a healthy balance and that is what I was missing.

 

What outside source are you turning to in order to ease the pain of being out of balance with who you were meant to be?   Are you overeating so that you can have a moment where you feel happy?   Are you overspending and buying things to fill the hole inside of your soul only to find it loses it’s luster really quick and you’re on to buying the next thing?   Do you go home after work and drink alcohol to numb the pain?   What is your “pain pill”?

 

In 2012 everything in me was shifting. I felt trapped and overwhelmed. I was miserable and I had this desperate need for change. I was stressed out all the time, complaining, and lost. I felt like I was going to literally come out of my skin. I knew I wanted something more but I had no freakin idea how to change anything.

 

When you know you want change but don’t know how to do it, you will feel incredibly trapped. It’s a terrible feeling. Do you know it?

 

My son was moving out on his own and I had been a single mom for my whole adult life. I didn’t know who I was now and I became super fearful, off track, and just out of balance all together. This was the complete opposite of the fearless mama bear I had been the last 20 years.

 

I came to the realization that I needed to move. I needed to leave my environment in order to find myself. I needed a fresh start.

 

I had to disconnect from all my sports friends who were also obsessed so that I could break free from that addiction and get it more balanced and healthy. I knew I couldn’t do it with them around me. Not because of them but because I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop myself.

 

At that same time my company offered me a position at a big client in Portland, Oregon and I knew this was that open door. I moved by myself from California to Oregon and even bought a house. I wasn’t messing around…I was serious about this.

 

I told God that what I was doing was NOT working and that I was giving my life to him and putting him first going forward. I asked him to do as he pleased with me. And that he did.

 

I expected this warm and fuzzy time with God as I made this life changing decision. However, I got the complete opposite. Little did I know I was about to go into the most stressful mess of a job that I could ever imagine with a boss that didn’t care about anyone but herself.

 

I led a team of 18 people who were also affected by this person and I became the team “counselor” more than anything. I was focused more on helping people than I was on the job itself. People were crying, having chest pains…it was BAD. I’ve never been more consistently stressed out in my life as I was for those 7 months.

 

At the time I didn’t realize what was happening but now I see it all so clearly. Change requires suffering. If we are comfortable we don’t change. When God takes our lives and starts molding us for our true path….it hurts!! But it’s also beautiful.

 

What I didn’t realize was this job was giving me clues to my path. The journey was nothing about the job but about what my place in that job was. I was a counselor. I helped people through a very hard time in their lives. I was doing what I had always wanted to do…help people.

 

After 7 months I quit. I was mad about what happened to me. ME ME ME! But on the day I left, the team came to me and told me they don’t know how they would have gotten through it without me. One told me I was her angel that saved her. I was dumbfounded. I had no idea that I was making an impact, I was just being me.

 

Even more unexpected, that nightmare boss…on the day I left she told me she knew I was there for a reason and thanked me for helping her to see things differently. I almost fell off my chair.

 

I encourage you to REALLY look closely at the hard things you go through. There are hidden clues to who you are and what your purpose is. They guide you on your path.

 

When you look back on all your jobs and events in your life…examine them and look at where you excelled. What were you really good at and why? What did people say about you?

 

For example I always excelled in positions where I ran my own show and was able to help clients, businesses, and teams to shift things and make them run more smoothly. I have a passion for making things better for people.

 

There was a time when I led a large single parent ministry in North Carolina where I got to counsel and help single moms and it was so natural to me.

 

See the connections and the clues? Life had been giving me clues and putting me in specific situations for a very long time before I figured it out.

 

It was NO EASY path through those 8 years. When I left my Portland job I had no plan. All I knew is that I had to leave there NOW. I stood to lose everything. I did not care. That’s how bad it was.

 

But…another door opened at the same time I was leaving and I took the next job. The problem was that I kept going to the same job….different office. I kept returning to safety. I did this 5 times.

 

Yep, I quit 5 jobs in a row. Literally up and quit with no plan. It was because my soul was in a place of change and wasn’t willing to put up with anything that wasn’t expanding me any longer.

 

In between jobs I had moved back to California for a year, then quit the job there and moved to Bend, Oregon with no job to come to. I knew without a doubt it was where I belonged and so I trusted my heart and took the leap. The doors just kept opening the more I followed my heart.

 

Here’s the thing…if your heart is telling you it’s time to change, you will keep going through the same lesson over and over and over again until you get it. I kept returning to safety with each job getting more miserable than the last until I literally had nothing left in the tank to give. If you aren’t taking the leap, things will become so difficult that you have no other choice.

 

What I learned? As long as I was following my heart, God opened doors. Each door may have seemed more miserable but each one taught me more and more about myself and pushed me down my path.

 

If your heart is calling you to do something and you’re not listening…your circumstances will get more and more miserable until you listen. Pain and suffering makes us take action. Word to the wise…start taking action as soon as you start feeling like things are off.

 

Each circumstance showed me what I was doing wrong, what I needed to change, and what the next step was. God never let me fall, he taught me that he would show up for me as long as I kept following. He was right there with me helping me as I learned and changed.

 

People in my life who saw this unfold would say “you definitely have someone in the universe looking out for you, I can’t believe how things always fall into place for you!”

 

Now, I am on my path! I’m no longer in the corporate world and I own my own coaching business helping others to transform their lives and live their wildest dreams. I get to work hand in hand with God and it’s the most incredible life I could ever imagine. Each day has passion, purpose, and adventure. It’s truly beautiful.

 

If you stick with it and don’t give up…you will get there. DO NOT GIVE UP!

 

On my last day working a corporate soul sucking job, I didn’t jump around and do cartwheels…I cried. I cried because I DID IT. I did the work and I was finally reaping the rewards. I can’t tell you how powerful that feeling is.

 

Do the work, take the action, listen to that still small voice in your heart…and do NOT give up!

 

It’s now 2021 and God is moving in this world. He is shifting things. We are in the midst of an epidemic that has caused us to slow down, to be quiet, to reconnect to ourselves and to see what is most important in life. Things are going to start coming up in you. What are you feeling?

 

Some people will feel fear, some will try to control the situation by buying 10 years worth of toilet paper, and some will stop and listen. Who will you be?

 

It’s time. God is calling you. Get away from the noise, away from the TV, and get out in nature. Listen to the world around you. Get out of your head.

 

Finding your path and purpose doesn’t happen overnight. God needs to prepare you and change you. Your job is to follow his lead and take the baby steps to move in that direction. Small steps equal mountains climbed.

 

You won’t have a road map (yikes scary!), it’s all based on faith. Each step you take opens another door to your path.

 

Fear will come a knockin…but step out in fear.

 

Do you want to stay stuck or do you want to live out the biggest adventure of your life?

 

I can finally say that I am at the place where I only choose what lights up my soul. I’m not talking about living for yourself…I’m talking about doing those things that light you up. Those things that make you want to scream WOOOHOOOO!!! from the mountain tops!

 

This allows you to live BIG and to spread it to others. It allows you to be the person God made you to be and to spread the gift that only you have to give to the world. The world needs YOUR gift now more than ever.

 

Write a list of all the things you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t. Grab onto those things. Invest in things that expand you. Don’t put them on the back burner.

 

I always said I had no creativity AT ALL. Turns out I’m a “creative”. I never even knew myself because I was always in my head…in survival mode. It’s crazy what you will find when you start searching. Get into your soul, get out of your head. Your head is where fear lives.

 

Be aware that as soon as you get excited about something, within about a minute, your brain will jump in with all the reasons why you cannot do that thing that your soul is excited about and it’s usually then that you give up and believe your brain.

 

PLEASE DON’T DO THIS! Remember this is a FAITH journey and if you follow your heart doors just open, things just happen, and you CAN DO IT. You have to trust the process. Give up the roadmap! Let your heart be your compass.

 

I can’t even begin to tell you how many crazy cool things God has done in my life in these last 8 years. Give it a try, just listen to your heart….and see where it leads you.

 

Please reconnect. You have a special gift that only you can give this world and if you don’t find it, the world will be less because of it. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US has it. Will you act? I hope so.

 

I will leave you with my life quote by the amazing Mark Twain:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you DIDN’T do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
EXPLORE. DREAM. DISCOVER.”

Let the adventure begin!

Much Love,
Denise

 

Are you ready to change your life but don’t know where to start?   Click HERE to schedule a coaching session with me and we will get you clear on your path & next steps to an amazing life!