Mind Stories vs. Heart Stories

"Our past are the stories that exist only in our minds, but our future are the stories that exist only in our hearts."--Angela Carr Patterson

All of us have these stories swarming around in our minds. Stories of rejection, stories of betrayal, stories of abuse and stories of fear. But are they really real? They become real as long as we continue to give them life. We give them life when we continue to remember them, to talk about them, and to re-experience them. And when we continue to give these stories life, we re-create them in our lives as well.

It's time that we begin to tell a new story. The stories that we carry within our hearts. Those are the stories that each of us want to create in our lives. Stories of forgiveness, stories of hope, stories of renewal, stories of abundance and stories of love. Our love stories.

As a Fatherless Daughter or a woman who grew up without her daddy playing a "real and significant role in her life, it can become difficult to tell new stories. Not having daddy to contribute in our lives can leave a void and an emptiness that we spend a lifetime trying to fill through creating a world of "false power." This false power can come in the form of relationships, career, businesses, clothes, cars, jewelry, money, food, drugs/alcohol and even religion.

We try to fill our lives with these things, thinking they will help us replace the old stories. But as long as we don't learn how to release the old stories, we cannot tell new ones and nothing in our lives will change. The only way to begin telling new stories, the ones that live in our hearts, is to release the stories that still exist in our minds. There are 3 simple steps we can do to begin creating a new story.

1. Change Your Mind.

The stories that remain in our minds are the ones that entered there based on experiences from our past. These experiences have formed beliefs systems that are controlling our current lives. If you want to know what your beliefs are, take a look at your current life’s circumstances. They are all a direct reflections of what you are believing. But at any moment you can begin to change your mind. You don’t have to believe that you will never amount to anything. You don’t have to believe that no one will ever love you. You don’t have to believe that you will never be financially wealthy. You can change your mind by replacing those beliefs with new ones. The ones that live loud in your heart. The ones that say, you are loved and you are lovable. The beliefs that say you can live your dreams and you can have, you can do, and you can be anything you want in life. Begin reading new books, begin taking new courses, begin going to new seminars. Saturate your mind with new beliefs.

2. Change Your Company.

Who do you spending most of your time with? In order to begin telling a new story, you have to surround yourself with people who are telling the same stories. They are people who tell stories of hope, renewal, abundance and joy. It has been proven that who you spend your most time around influences your thoughts, your choices and your actions. It may be time to take a good look at the company you have been keeping and change it now. Begin creating you a new supporting cast of people who will encourage and empower your life.

3.Change Your Talk

Our words shape our lives. What are you saying? Are you talking your life into a continuous rut? Your words have power. But not just any words. The words we speak from our hearts are the ones that have the most power. What does your heart say? Your heart will always speak love and life into existence. Why? Because, your heart is where God lives. Begin speaking from your deeper voice. The Voice of God will fill your mouth with words that bring abundance, joy, and love into your life. Be sensitive to this Voice and only speak that which you hear from Him. As you change your talk and speak “heart words,” your life will begin to take on a new story of its own.

We do have the power to change our stories. It is not an option any longer. It’s time for all of us to tell new stories in order to have a new life and in order to create a new world. We want to hear from you.. Share your new story below by writing a few short sentences. Your story will inspire others, so let’s share.

It's Time to Tell a New Story!

We all have a story. Every woman has her own unique story of pain and of triumph. No matter what your story has been, if it’s not what you want, you have the power to change it at any time. You can tell a new story? My defining moment came when I was willing to release the past, the old story, and write a new story for my life.

For years, I longed for the day when my father would knock on my door and say, “I’ve come to see my little princess.” That day never came and that day will never come. So one day, I sat down and decided that it was time to tell a new story. I could no longer allow what others did or did not do, determine what my story would be. I discovered that I had the power to change it and write a story on my own terms. My story became one of forgiveness, renewal and hope. It was my story…my love story. Except this time, I was the star and God, my Heavenly Father, was the Director.

You have that same power within you to write your story. As we choose our stories, we are also choosing our destiny. We can create stories filled with hope, with promise and with love. This is your story…this is my story…and it is our story. It really is time to tell a new story!

Your New Year, Your New Life!

I love this time of the year. A new year represents a new beginning. Another opportunity to start over, to leave behind all the things that did not serve me in the previous year. Another chance to walk through new opportunities and new possibilities.

I can sense that you agree with me. However, one of the things that I see happening over and over again is that we repeat the same behaviors and expect to get different results. Now I know you have heard all of this before. But have you really taken the time to reflect upon what it really means?

Doing the same thing and expecting a different result has been said to be insane. And I agree. We will never move our lives forward in the new year or the next new year, if we don't change our beliefs...our mindsets. Your current beliefs have created the life you are now experiencing and if you plan on experiencing something different in 2011, you will need to change them.

One of the major beliefs that tend to follow Fatherless Daughters is how they view themselves. The way we see ourselves and love ourselves comes from the love we see reflected towards us in our father's eyes. And for most of us, that did not happen. Many of us didn't have our dads around as we were growing up and others whose dads were there, were still absent in our lives.

So what shall we do? We can begin to retrace our identity, our beliefs about ourselves, beyond our mother's womb. We can start by connecting with the most powerful, loving force in the universe and for me that force is "God." God is the very essence of true love. As we learn to identify our beliefs with a loving, forgiving, always present God and stop focusing on the love, protection or support we didn't receive from our fathers, then and only then can we move forward to a new year, a new life and and a new world.

So what steps will you take this year to retrace your life beyond your mother's womb in order to form a new set of beliefs? We want to hear from you. Write your comments below and let's share!!

Are You Really Happy?

Are you really happy with your life? Do you wake up each morning ready to live your life with joy, happiness and love? Are you days filled with laughter and pure bliss? Most people that I meet would answer “no” to these questions.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Life can be joyous and happy for us when we are able to answer three critical and important questions. These questions are: Who am I? Why am I here? What am I here to do?

When the answers to these questions become the most important and central reality of your life, every choice you make and everything you think and do will reflect that reality.

True satisfaction with life will only come when we discover the authentic core of who we really are and what we are placed on the planet to do. When we are aligned with the who, the what and the why God created us, our joy then becomes filled. When that happens, we will be able to say with a loud shout...I am really and truly happy today!!

What choice can you make today that would be truly consistent with who you are and make your life a joy to live?

How Much Love Are You Giving?

How much love are you giving? I work with people everyday who often feel that no one really loves them. Or they wonder if they will ever experience a real love relationship with another.

But the question we all should be asking is...”how much love am I giving?” Because only what we are not giving can be lacking in any situation. The purpose of relationships is to expand us and where our love is conditional, we need expansion. Wanting to be loved when you are not ready or willing to give love is really a very selfish and self serving desire.

Can you love even in the absence of love? Can you love even when it seems that no one is reciprocating?

True love has no expectations...all true love wants to do is love...to give it. So I ask you once again...how much love are you giving? Take a look around you...if your life is not overflowing with love...maybe you are the missing link.

When We Don't Have All The Answers

Life has a way of bringing to us the unexpected. But what happens when the unexpected comes wrapped in disappointment? Do we forget about the very foundation of what we believe and stay true to it or do we fold under the pressure?

Yesterday started out to be a great day. My husband and I went for our morning walk; I spent my power hour in mediation/prayer and listened to some personal/spiritual growth information on my IPod.

Then the phone rang and it was my son telling me that they had lost the baby. She was still born. My heart stopped for a moment because we had just experienced this last year, when little Maya was still born. I just didn’t want to do this again.

And the worst was to hear my son’s voice as he shared the information. He said mom, “I wanted this baby so badly.” As I put the phone down, I began to remember who God is and how His Love will comfort and protect us. That is my foundational truth and at this moment I needed to remember it.

When the unexpected comes our way, and there is no explanation for the pain, we must shift our hearts and our minds towards love. Please know that my family and I did experience pain and we couldn’t keep it from coming our way. But we do have a choice...not to suffer.

While this is painful to experience, we will not allow it to make us suffer. As we remain in love’s space and as we continue to love each other and thank God for what we will never understand, we can and will heal.

Loves heals, renews, make us safe, inspires us with its power and brings us closer to God. This is what I know for sure. In times when you don’t have answers, remember that love is the answer to every question.

The ultimate lesson here is that we walk in the light of love and the truth that extends beyond any truth that our human mind presently knows. Because the spiritual mind knows far more than we could ever comprehend. So it’s really okay to not have all the answers, as long as we have love and peace. This is what I know for sure.

What's Love Got to Do with It?

The internet is inundated with lots of information, such as how to create wealth, the newest health craze, the latest fashion trend, relationship issues and even religious stuff.

But one subject that seems to fly under the radar is “Love”, yet this is the message of my soul. In a world where folks are losing their jobs, their homes, struggling to pay bills, get health care, or battling a bad relationship, the last thing they want to hear or talk about is love. While this is not a popular topic, it is the answer to every problem you have in your life. Love is the greatest answer to the world’s problems.

Perhaps that is why it gets so little attention. Really, how could love be the answer to your problems? As Tina Turner said, “what’s love got to do with it?” Love has everything to do with it.

The real reason we don’t embrace love as the solution to our problems is that it will force us to begin to take 100% responsibility for our own lives. It won’t allow us to play the victim any longer. But more importantly it will make us look within ourselves for answers instead of externally.

How can love pay my bills, find a job, or make my husband treat me better?” you may ask. We all live by two different driving forces, love or fear. Whatever force we allow to govern our lives, produces the results that we are currently experiencing.

Fear produces lack, scarcity, chaos, want, confusion, sickness, depression, fatigue, violence and etc.

Love produces abundance, increase, joy, health, energy, ease, harmony, peace, happiness, fulfillment and etc. It's not the devil that is playing havoc in your life. It is where you have chosen not to love. Fear produces a vibration in our being that summons or attracts all that fear represents to us.

But when we choose to love, embody love, become love, then it will begin to call forth or attract all the things that love produces. Learn to love at that level now! Email me angela@thelovelifestyle.com