Women, Business and Confidence

Recently there has been quite a bit chatter in the news regarding women, business and women's inability to move ahead. A report recently on MSNBC cited the following two key elements for the reason:  "Glass Walls" and confidence (specifically, a lack of confidence).

When I was watching these news broadcasts, the lack of confidence resonated with me, as I believe we've all had our confidence shaken and challenged more than once as well. Similarly, I connected with the reference to the Glass Walls. I never personally believed in the Glass Ceiling excuse, but I do see the truth within these newly identified walls.

What confines us behind these walls are the following three parts, as set out in the news broadcast:

• Doing everything
• Lack of network support
• Thinking small

But I would like to add a fourth part: emotional trust.

The first three are obvious in their definitions, but the fourth—emotional trust—may not be so obvious since it also contains a few elements of its own. Being part of the human race means we're emotional beings; we use our emotions to learn, experience and grow. As women we embrace our emotions on an even greater and deeper level, resulting in our having a larger emotional investment in all that we do. When our emotional investment causes us pain or we experience negative backlash, our emotional trust is challenged and we become more cautious regarding where we place this trust in the future.

All our decisions are based on where we stand emotionally with regard to...

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Emotional Crisis? Emotional Infidelity

When we hear the expression "infidelity" in reference to a relationship, we frequently don't even think about anything outside of a physical interaction. But emotional cheating can be as damaging to a relationship as unfaithfulness. The difficulty, though, is that unlike infidelity, emotional infidelity isn't simple to catch, confirm or even admit! Very often the majority of people aren't even conscious of the fact that they are cheating on their partner emotionally.

Emotional cheating typically starts when one develops an emotional bond with a person of the opposite sex and begins sharing more with that person then with his or her partner. These relationships may or may not lead to physical intimacy; in either of the two cases, the existing relationship of the cheater suffers.

In the majority of cases, emotional cheating begins as an innocent friendship but develops into a "more than friends" relationship without the physical intimacy. It therefore results in being simple for people to convince themselves and others that they only share a special friendship and nothing else. A person might even equate it to the sharing of information or time with that of two best friends.

With the age of technology and the ease of "meeting" new people and connecting with "old friends," it's easy to figure how sometimes people develop meaningful emotional bonds with their online acquaintances. It's this kind of emotional infidelity that's even more difficult to identify and admit. The clandestine nature of these relationships, along with the benefit of mystery the World Wide Web provides, makes the dynamic of emotional infidelity even more complex.

So how do you know whether you're cheating on your companion emotionally? The following are a few of the biggest tell-tale signs:

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A Teacher’s Philosophy

Part of my own personal philosophy is that we carry the energy of both “student” and “teacher” within us, and depending on the experience or situation in which we find ourselves, one of these two energies becomes primary. We invoke our inner teacher when we have the need to pass along our knowledge, wisdom or a gold nugget to another; and when it is our time to listen, learn and embrace new information, our student self steps forward.

So the one question that yearns to be answered is, “What is my teaching philosophy?” Not sure? A great place to begin is to honestly acknowledge you have something of worth to pass along to another. Then begin to remind yourself of all the amazing ideas and experiences you have collected throughout your life while bringing in the perspective of a teacher. Begin to ask yourself what type of student might need to learn what you have to offer.

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Breast Cancer: One Degree of Separation

I sat down to write a blog about breast cancer, not really sure why since I know so many people who are first-hand experts and I am fortunate enough to be at arm’s length and hold an inexperienced and innocent view. I truly believe there is not one thing that happens on this earth that there is not a higher reason to support the experience, but when it comes to the C word I often wonder what in God’s name is a good enough or high enough reason for anyone to experience cancer. And then I always pose the question, “Isn’t there another way to learn the same lesson or experience the same emotional learning opportunity?”

My very first experience with breast cancer came just two months after moving to California from Vancouver, British Columbia. One of my closest friends, Roberta (Bobbi) Stackhouse, called me with the news she had found a lump while in the shower. I was 28, she was 34, and it was September 1997. When we hung up the phone I cried: not because I felt bad, but because I had not one clue about breast cancer or what she might have to go through in the coming months. From my perspective, my fears of being of “uneducated” and “ignorant” had come true.

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Emotional Cheating

When we hear the word “cheating” in reference to a relationship, we often don’t even consider anything outside of a physical interaction. But emotional cheating can be as damaging to a relationship as infidelity. The problem, however, is that unlike infidelity, emotional cheating isn’t easy to catch, prove or even admit! Very often most people are not even aware of the fact they are cheating on their partner emotionally.

Emotional cheating usually starts when one develops an emotional bond with a person of the opposite sex and starts sharing more with that person than with his or her partner. These relationships may or may not lead to physical intimacy, but in either of the two cases the existing relationship of the cheater suffers.

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Stories of Faith

Every religion in the world stresses the power of faith. Stories in most religious texts have more metaphorical importance and should not necessarily be taken literally, but to be open to their lessons is critical to understanding where our own beliefs and level of faith reside. The same rule applies to stories of faith as well. The common element in all the stories below—despite the fact they are parts of texts belonging to different religions—is they stress on the importance of faith.

Most of the historical stories that have been handed down through the religious texts are stories asking you to walk in faith of a belief, without question. Applying these to real-life and current situations can be difficult. Adding in the Law of Attraction—remember it states “like attracts like”—your faith is not be based on pure “blind” belief, but rather on your actions supporting these beliefs.

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Health and the Law of Attraction

Can the law of attraction help you heal and restore your natural state of health and well being? The answer is definitely “Yes.” Well, that is as long you believe in the power of your own mind and you know the basic principles of how to attract good health.

Law of Attraction
The Law Of Attraction (LOA) simply states that you can attract whatever you want into your life by focusing on it with your entire being. This means if you focus on healing yourself and staying healthy with your actions and thoughts (both conscious and subconscious), you can feel healthy again.

The key to truly invoking the principles of LOA is action, and as far as actions are concerned you need to take conscious steps in order to stay healthy. For instance, just thinking about becoming a healthy weight won’t do you any good if you continue to gorge on junk food…

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Intuition and Body Talk

Can our body really talk? Can it actually react intuitively to situations and people? The answer is yes! All you need to do is pay close attention and you will be able to hear and interpret the subtle language of your body’s signals and signs while learning its unique language.

How to Listen to Your Body
Awareness, faith and practice are what you need to understand the intuitive guidance of your physical body. Our bodies react to the energies around us, and if you pay close attention you will notice your body feels relaxed when you are surrounded by natural beauty. People often tend to feel calm and at peace when they visit a place of worship. Similarly, places with negative energy—for instance, an old prison, fort or castle rooms that have been witness to torture or murder—tend to create feelings of discomfort in our body.

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Faith and Spiritual Journeys

How would you define your faith? Is it unshakable, or is it driven by your circumstances? Do you trust God or believe in the existence of a universal power—but only as long as life favors you? Or do you find yourself questioning your faith the moment you feel your good karma, prayers or positive attitude weren’t rewarded? Your answers to these questions will help you understand yourself and the path of your spiritual journey.

From the moment we are born we start receiving messages about the two-way relationship between effort and reward. The conditioning starts with a baby’s first steps and generally continues until the time an adult reaches the end of his life cycle, with everything in life governed by rewards whether they be material or emotional.

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