Chapter 1 - Moodlings

The Simple Abundance Companion
by Sarah Ban Breathnach

(Page 4 of 4)

Welcome to You

1. Each one of us makes silent promises to ourselves-to lose ten pounds, begin an exercise program, stop smoking, or some other promise we swear we'll keep. Can you think of some promises you've made to yourself and not kept?

2. Does the list above look like you've promised yourself with a “have to” or “should do” scolding in mind? Let's try to promise ourselves love. You are dearly loved and deserve to promise yourself joy. How about a ride on the Orient Express, a facial, attending a fashion show of your favorite designer, an aromatherapy massage? What are some promises you can reward yourself with? 3. How many promises have you made to others and kept at the cost of your own desires? I'll drive the kids to the pool, I'll make snacks for the soccer team, I'll call you back in a minute. Think back to yesterday (or last week, or any day that stands out vividly in your mind) and record the promises you made.

4. Now go back and look at the list of promises above. Which are the ones you're proud of, and which are the ones you feel in retrospect should never have been made? If you allow yourself this kind of analysis every once in a while, I hope you'll find yourself becoming more selective about granting your time to others. The time you do grant will count more now, and you'll feel better about it, and the time you reserve for yourself will feel all the more deserved.

5. Select one personal promise that you have wanted to keep. When can you keep it? By the end of the month, three months, six months, a year? Record the time frame in the space below. Remember to be realistic-if you are, you're halfway to keeping that promise already.

6. Let's get cracking at excavating your buried dream. Think about the dreams you've had and abandoned. Now quickly match each dream to the cause of its demise, listed below. This is how we retrace our personal pattern of discouragement.

Good Intentions	Rejections
Naïveté (lack of experience)	Wrong Choices
Relinquishment	Bad Timing
Bitter Failure	Bungled Efforts
Detours	Stupid Mistakes
Disappointments	Whims of Fate

7. Now think about a dream that you did bring into the world. What action or choice did you do that made this one succeed? If writing down your excavation process feels limiting, work with collage in your Illustrated Discovery Journal. This time look for “concept” pictures-ones that evoke a mood or tell a story. Always remember that your Illustrated Discovery Journal is your Authentic Self's visual autobiography.

8. Intuition is often described as a “sixth sense,” an inner instinct that gives one an instant clarity. You just know. What kinds of things do you use your sixth sense for? Can you sense if something is wrong with a loved one? Do you somehow know ahead of time when someone is going to phone you? Write down some experiences of intuition at work in your life.

Can you think of an instance when your intuition protected you from harm?

9. Can you think of a time when your intuition nudged you to take a step in a new direction and it enhanced your life in some meaningful way?

10. How about a time when you didn't listen and an opportunity passed you by?

11. Make it a priority to hone your intuition. This can easily be achieved through a little practice. The next time you feel a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, pay attention. Write it down as soon as you get a chance. How did it turn out? Was the feeling justified? When you get a little feeling of giddiness when faced with another decision, pay attention to that too. If you listened to your instinct, did it pay off?

12. How does it feel when you honor your intuition, especially if it is uncharacteristic behavior for you? Write down five hunches you have followed in the last week. Look at that list every time you hold back from listening to your own personal cues and remember that a connection with our intuition is a connection to our Authentic Selves.

Write Your Way into Wholeness

You Cannot Fail If You Have Done Your Best, Only If You Have Not Done What You Were Born to Do

They wish to dissuade me
From all that the forces of Love urge me to.
They do not understand it, and I cannot explain it to them.
I must then live out what I am;
In this is my being: for this reason I will do my best.

Hadewijch

Copyright © 2000 by Sarah Ban Breathnach

About the Author

SARAH BAN BREATHNACH'S (pronounced “Bon Brannock”) work celebrates quiet joys, simple pleasures and everyday epiphanies. The wisdom, warmth, compassion and disarming candor of her No. 1 New York Times bestsellers, SIMPLE ABUNDANCE: A DAYBOOK OF COMFORT AND JOY and SOMETHING MORE have made her a trusted voice to millions of women.