A Personal Breakthrough

Last week we finished the Expect Miracles program. It being the last session, we reviewed the work we had done over the preceding weeks, anchored what we have learned, celebrated our courage to do the work and concluded the seven-week journey.

It was a fabulous session. I felt it in my bones and the participants’ comments afterwards echoed my experience. Simply marvellous!

I felt wonderful! I was on a high. I designed the course, marketed it, developed the content and delivered it. It had hit the mark and was well received. It was when I attempted to explain to someone how in awe I was that I had managed to do all this in seven weeks, that it hit me: I was appreciating myself. Acknowledging myself for this achievement.

Breakthrough

It was a breakthrough moment for me. To stop, allow those feelings to envelop me, appreciating all that it entailed and that it was well deserved. Nothing about pride – ‘Oh look at me!’ – just a deep, heartfelt appreciation and acknowledgement for myself and what I had done.

How often do we stop to appreciate ourselves?

Some years ago I had a conversation with a friend that went something like this:

‘Riana, you talk about changing career from radiography to information technology, going through a divorce and coming to a new country as though those are everyday things. They take a HUGE amount of energy. They are BIG things. And I am just the same. We don’t stop to appreciate the toll it takes, the effort it takes, and the energy we expend to put our lives on an even keel again after such an upheaval. We make out that it was just a little bump in the road. We simply don’t appreciate ourselves and acknowledge ourselves for what we’ve been through and our own achievements.’

I could not agree more. She was absolutely right. Did it change anything for me? Not a jot. So feeling the appreciation and acknowledgement after the Expect Miracles course was HUGE for me.

I suspect I had a little help. Just three weeks ago, I had similar feelings of appreciation and acknowledgement of what it took for my daughter to train for, run and finish her first marathon.

Now I know the feeling. I even know how to get back to it: Talk about it. Write about it. Think about it. And because I can associate it with what I felt when Kris ran the marathon, it makes it easier and anchors it even more.

Appreciation leads to love

A Course in Miracles tells us that God does not need our appreciation, but we do because we cannot love something if we don’t appreciate it. In other words, if you don’t appreciate yourself, how can you love yourself? Louise Hay, author of ‘You can Heal your Life‘ writes in her book that all our troubles stem from not loving ourselves.

How is it for you? Do you appreciate yourself? Love yourself? Do you stop to acknowledge yourself? Or do you bat away or shy away from compliments and acknowledgement from others because you don’t see it, feel it or sense it for yourself?

What difference would it make if you could truly appreciate and love yourself?

If you are interested in exploring the answers to these questions, keep an eye out for the next time I run the Expect Miracles program. You will learn tools and mind shifts to deeply connect with yourself, heal your life and let your love shine in all its riotous glory in every aspect of your life.