Become the true master of your life. Sometimes we do so much for others that our vision can become skewed or ideas get lost. Sometimes we focus entirely on one aspect of life, like earning money or public acknowledgement, and then trust other life aspects to be decided by others. On first glance, that singular focus can look like the easy or justified important choice for your life energy. But, like most easy choices, it actually becomes a much harder and complicated situation from which to escape when you realize the rest of your life is out of your control. Along this path, you may have lost your instincts for keen observation, intuitive knowing, safety, and self-actualization.

Are you with your soul family, or are you with friends and family who may not want to support your life decisions that could disturb them? Have you allowed or enabled another to redact content from your life-plan pages? Are you feeling bound by highly restrictive cultural and societal expectations--or a desire for public perception and approval resulting from your own ego and pride? It can be hard to balance yourself when you are surrounded by demanding people. It can be even harder to search inside oneself to understand what emotional wounds may be causing prideful ego to drive decision-making. If you are unfamiliar with unhealed childhood wounds, or traumas, these experiences such as neglect, emotionally distant parents/caregivers, or worse, can result in adult behaviors of co-dependency, trying to fix others, fear of abandonment, need for external validations, need to prove oneself, and people pleasing/deprioritizing one's own needs, amongst other behaviors. Look closely at the type of people with whom you've surrounded yourself and attract.

Of course, assess your responsibilities, then step back and become clear on what will give you a deeper and more fulfilling life. I suggest practicing self-care to rebalance and begin to heal from life traumas. Professional guidance is available to assist in healing. Your life is about YOU--your journey, your lessons, your development, your expression. Follow your heart and make positive changes. And, seek supporters who genuinely want you to thrive.
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Some of you may relish the wisdom in the book, Women Who Run With The Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés...myths and stories of the wild woman archetype. Perhaps about 20 years ago, I discovered her insight to better understand how we make decisions and fall into traps.--Jeannette Bondurant​©
Photo: Patrice Schoefolt, Pexels.com

A few friends have called out in the night in the past week. I think it's worth saying publicly... Sometimes we need to be babies. Sometimes we need to hear someone say it's going to be OK and that we are valued and are seen and truly loved by others. We are not alone on this journey. We all have different versions of it. Sometimes we make it messier before we clear it--that's just how some of us need to learn. Lessons and loss can be extraordinarily difficult to process and swim through.

Gentle reminders...You are loved and valued more than you know. There are kind and seeing hearts around all of us. Often our self-doubts--or feelings that we are unworthy of love unless producing work or service--and the causal wounds of childhood, neglect or coldness or unenlightened parenting or worse, can affect our ability to find our footing when things seem to crumble.

If you don't feel strong, I suggest the following: Pretend you have more self-love. Feel it. Absorb it. Live in that imagining, and make it manifest. Pray for courage, insight, and support, or whatever is in your heart. Then, call a friend. Take care that you don't give your power away to destablizing circumstances and fear, or controlling persons whom you deem as authority figures. It is really and only about you. Your life. Your perception. Your love. Your free will.
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Find your strength, integrity, and voice. Friends and professionals are within reach if the journey seems too much. You are loved and valued by many. People just forget to say it enough. --Jeannette Bondurant©
Photo: Pexels.com

October Tuesday, just about bedtime. Took a late night drive in inky black central NC country. My soundtrack was the sole option offered...Def Lepard, Police, Rush, Frampton, and Foreigner. No street lights. No highway signs. No embedded road reflectors. Just me and my headlights in an arc, pacing along the dashed white lines to rock music. My soft black leather jacket seemed just right. There was no demarcation where the thick black corridor of woods would have silhouetted against the sky. Passed through a pungent cloud that in Cali would be colitus but here was a reminder of natural wildlife. Began praying no deer would launch out. It's primetime buck rutting season; they're crazed. And then, I turned off on my exit. There it was...a sole street light illuminating the deserted local Outlaws biker headquarters. Almost to my place, now.  What decade is it?  Welcome home, city girl...
-- Jeannette Bondurant©
Photo: günter, Pixabay

We've all experienced dark times, whether it's financial, environmental, or personal loss/disappointment. I apply the hard-to-believe adage of there's a light at the end of the tunnel, especially from an emotional and spiritual perspective. Through soul-searching experiences that usually last uniquely for as long as we individually need to grow and understand things from a new perspective, it seems we can emerge in a brighter light of self-awareness, new understanding of others, and greater self-love. I've experienced these epiphanies after situational distress. Yes, it can be damn hard and could last for years. You are not alone in these journeys. They are universal. I've been there. My friends have been there. And, stories abound from history in all cultures about these journeys. It seems this is the way toward a more enlightened, compassionate, and balanced life. At least for me, it is the proverbial blessing in disguise. No one said life would or should be easy--although living with more joy and manifesting the life you desire appears to be easier when lessons are embraced rather than fought. A very wise friend once said to me, when you keep hitting your head against a wall, that's not your path and that when the "Universe" rolls out a red carpet, don't hesitate, because you are being shown the new way to turn. I embrace that philosophy with eternal hope and expectation. My joy of life is partially rooted in this belief. --Jeannette Bondurant©
Photo: Germán TR, pexels.com

I remember Beijing was dusty. ​​Unrelenting winds blowing from the west brought dust...tiny particles from eons past rushing across the plains, the mountains, and The Wall.  While facing out to the mountains with my back to all signs and sounds of the present, I felt a spiritual connection with those before me who lived and died building this incredible structure.  -- Jeannette Bondurant©
​PHOTO:  J Bondurant, Larimarjcommunications.com

It takes more strength to love than not to love. Being vulnerable and revealing emotions are not signs of weakness but of strength. When you release the need to control, which is "of the mind," you then begin to exist more through your heart, which is the only way to feel true, deep, resonating happiness in life. Everything else is mostly assuaging the ego, often rooted in childhood wounds, and those fleeting satisfactions are only band-aids. Take a breath and reassess your motivations. An open and loving heart with a mindset of positive expectations that you tell yourself-- and believe--are already part of your life are keys to manifesting exceptional things in your life. That's expressing gratitude in the present for gifts coming in the future. Call it trust in prayer, vibrational alignment, or whatever you want. We all are worthy of love.  It begins with self-love at the core. -- Jeannette Bondurant©
PHOTO: Marek Piwnicki, Pexels.com

Let's take a look at your perspective about your work and mission, whether you call it manifesting your future, the power of positive thinking, or being Spirit-led.

The last decade of business advice rode a wave promoting the benefits of "doing good while doing well" -- finding ways to do good works through one's company to see a rise in profits and public appeal, while effecting positive changes on the planet. The trend caught on, and, now, some PR agencies make it a requirement for new clients. Many businesses have departments or foundations to research and manage their philanthropy.  A benefit of the do good/do well strategy can include feeling a greater personal happiness for employees' work/energy/time investment, in addition to scoring increased public approval for brands and seeing an improved bottom line. 

​My deeper dive into business strategies that improve an entrepreneur's happiness, along with the longevity and success of a company, is about the heart connection between a company's mission and the passion of its leader and crew.  Yes, by all means, charitably donate time, funding, and/or leadership through your business. But, if the core mission and purpose of your business endeavors are not driven by legitimate personal passion, then I suggest taking a closer look at that disconnection, even if you have hidden it well. 

​Not all successes in business are equal, especially when viewed through a holistic lens.  For simplicity, I will focus on the entrepreneurs and small business owners. That friction or disconnect with one's heart ultimately can be a source of stress, discontent, employee attrition, and the frustration of plateaued or dropping sales, clients and outside funding. A key belief in the study of mind-body medicine is that feelings affect one's physical and emotional levels of wellness.  Doing good works for others, as part of a company strategy, can support the human need to help others and to feel like part of a beneficial organization. However, when a company's mission is truly aligned with the passion of its leadership and team, everything can be positively elevated.  It may take a slight shift in approach or a full re-evaluation of skills, talents, and priorities to re-direct toward a path that is aligned with the heart. Imagine the clarity and brightness of spirit you could have daily when what you do aligns with your true self. For me, it is happiness and knowing that I am building something on my own terms that truly helps others. Whether viewed from the point of being Spirit-led, or "the power of positive thinking," ​or taking steps to manifest one's future, that elated feeling and personal vibrancy seem to attract success like magic.  
 
If you feel a sense of struggle with your work or have a portfolio of talents and skills that are not well-prioritized, combined, or utilized, you may benefit by a professional assessment, especially to launch or rebrand a business.  Take the time and care needed to find your investment of self in your career or business that is aligned with your passion. On the extreme end, burn-out in business or a career can happen for many practical reasons, such as a chronic lack of support, but, I believe, on a higher scale, it is always the heart’s cry for long-overdue change.

At Larimar J Communications, we can help create with you the brand and direction that are driven by your passion. Often, our clients have so many credentials and such a range of training that they need our help with assessment and language to define their unique leadership and to clarify their mission.  --Jeannette Bondurant©
PHOTO: Belle Co, Pexels.com

 Well, please answer these first:

1. Are you wishing your website was a better or more persuasive and appealing representation of you and your company?
2. Is the uniqueness and value you know in your heart not translating well through your website?
3. Do you wish you were positioned as a leader?
4. Are you fearful a website re-do will cost too much?

A media kit is a foundational tool that should beautifully create your personal/professional image, and it becomes the resource for your website content. Not only do interviewers ask for your media kit, it also is an essential tool in the process of improving your branding materials and website messaging.

The name is somewhat of a misnomer, because it goes far beyond media outreach.  That's why I tell my clients it is a "branding kit." A polished, professionally created media kit is perfect for those looking to hone their message and better understand how to position themselves and their skills, talents, services or products.  A good media kit is a tool for website editing that you and your web master will love.  At its best, it includes a long bio that beautifully weaves your most significant experiences, passions, services/product, and branding language into a stand-alone piece that is suitable as a published article. I’ve found that media kits often become the backbone of my clients' website language. In addition to your bio, it should build your brand with a page about your business services or products that ties directly to the language in your bio. Additional components are included in a full five to seven-page media kit. This powerful representation about you and your company can make the difference between an open and closed door.   

If you answered YES to any of my four questions, then seek out a recommended pro for a free consultation. You may not need a full website re-do. An in-depth media kit may be the answer.

We can help at Larimar J Communications.
--Jeannette Bondurant©
PHOTO: ​Natalya Letunova, Unsplash.com