“The Kingdom of God is within you.”~Jesus

I’m sitting at Alfalfa’s on day three of my High School substitute teacher gig. It’s been awesome. I’m present to how I’ve created a life I love and I want to share my secret with you.

 

You see, I’ve been cultivating a life of ease and grace.

 

I am committed to creativity and freedom. I want to live well, have money, and I want time to be in the sun and choose what feels good to me.

 

If this sounds good to you, read on to learn what I say is the secret to living a life you love.

 

I got a four-day gig at the local High School. I’ve only had a couple of classes per day and the rest of the time I was told I could leave the campus, they’d call if they needed me.

That’s translated to freedom to write and blog and be outside, all while being paid.

Now that’s what I’m talking about. You see, before I take a job, I always ask. Then I listen for the answer. I turn down a lot of work. I say yes when I feel it’s right. These easy gigs are what I end up saying yes to.

 

In my quest to live in alignment, heart and soul, I’ve had to take some courageous leaps.

 

You see, I gave up a full-time career for a lot of uncertainty. The ground is not always solid under my feet and no, I don’t always know where my paycheck is coming from.

In this endeavor, which is really about prioritizing me first, I’ve opened to creative new ways to receive abundance from the universe, inside of a lot of freedom.

 

I’ve realized I can have my cake and eat it, too.

 

There is a way to have free-time for fun, and make money part-time. There is a way to hone in on our deepest gifts, and make them the way we support ourselves.

 

After all, if I’ve learned anything in my thirty-five rotations around the sun, it’s that we must prioritize our creativity, our genius, our passions, as being number one.

 

Let me explain further. If we say that writing is the number one most important thing to us, then it should be the FIRST thing we do in the morning. If our kids are number one, the FIRST thing we do would be to tend to our kids.

 

Whatever you do first thing when you get up is what is most important to you, period.

 

Unfortunately, for many of us, we’d argue that it’s not. We get tied to a job, the way we earn our secure money, and we scramble for our employers and sacrifice the joy and passion in our hearts.

To foster a life we love, we must be willing to leap off the cliff, trust that we shall be provided for and get serious about our creative work. This takes courage.

As I’ve been subbing, it has reminded me of what my life was like for the last seven years. Up by 6:30 a.m., a quick rush to shower and get ready, out the door by 7:30. Usually meditating, writing, and eating well were all pushed to the back burner.

 

I’d get a coffee on the way to school and that was the highlight of my morning.

 

As soon as I entered school, I was in service to others, and all my needs went out the window. There were hours I’d be teaching, counseling, planning, collaborating and I’d forget to use the restroom, or eat, and be inside till the sun went down.

I’d drive home and plop on the couch. Food, a shower and some mindless internet surfing were about the most I could manage on any give week night.

 

I did that for seven years. SEVEN years.

 

One day, the call came.

At first it was quiet. It showed up in my imagination, daydreams, my desires.

Then, it was a loud call and I knew that to answer, was inevitable.

 

For awhile, leaving my job seemed impossible. There was no way out. I was stuck.

 

Then, I realized I could cash in my retirement and live for a year. This would buy me time to write, to play, to daydream, to connect with myself. I could live on the security of some day, or I could begin to really LIVE my life, now.

I did it.

 

It took me nine months to learn how to really connect with myself.

 

I was depressed, uncertain, sad, lost, angry, frustrated, scared, elated, happy, fearful.

One day, I realized I’d found my rhythm. I was writing, meditating, exercising, dancing, building a business, spending time with friends, dating, doing yoga, traveling and even taking a few moments to unwind with my geek bar vape when I needed a little pause.

 

It happened one day that I realized I’d grooved right on into alignment with myself.

 

You see, I think it’s a fear many of us have. Perhaps schooled our whole lives, then on to a job all day and a family to raise, when were we encouraged to really cultivate deep connection to Self?

I see it with my mom, too. She has worked as an 8th grade Science teacher for 26 years. She doesn’t want to retire. “What will I do?” She says. I stare at her with compassion because I know underneath that statement is a fear to have all that space.

It will force her, at the ripe age of 61, to finally face herself after all these years. For in the space and time of not working, she will feel all that has been swept under the rug her whole life as she’s worked and kept busy and served others.

 

She will meet herself. That can be scary; but do it, we must.

 

Here’s the Secret:

Make what’s most important to you the first thing you do in your day.

 

It may seem simple, but it’s deep. It’s a gesture of conviction, it’s an act of self-love. It’s a gesture that says, “Me first.” It is self-love. Cultivate that, little by little, and you open the kingdom of heaven.

To know God, to channel spirit, to be taken over by the Muse, the Divine, we have to be connected to ourselves, tell the truth to ourselves, and align our actions with our deepest heart’s desires. If we delay, postpone, procrastinate, we send a loud message to the universe that our gifts, our talents, are not respected.

If you don’t use it, you lose it.

 

Hone in on your gift and give it to the world.

 

So, if you feel like it’s time to hunker down, get serious and earn some money, then get serious about your number one creative passion! In your passion lies your money making.

If you aren’t sure what your passions are, see me for a session. Click here.

 

Leave me a comment and tell me your gift you have to share with world, or tell me of the ways you’ve opened to deeper connection with yourself!

 

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All my love,

xoxo

Rachel Claire