The stranger in you

Every new seasons in our life presents us with new perspectives, paths and lessons. It requires us to be childlike, to see things with a beginner’s mind. In a way we’re strangers to ourselves. Our reactions might be new, just as our emotions and thoughts. As we grow we’re getting to know ourselves better, learning more about all the aspects of who we are.

This is not always comfortable. Because we like what’s familiar. That’s why we sometimes create subgroups of humanity of us and them, the others. Because what’s unfamiliar is a stranger to us.

What if we could realize the parallell between the stranger in ourselves and the stranger in others? Maybe we could embrace more of what’s different from us. Be childlike when we encounter the “strange”, use the beginner’s mind.

We’re never truly finished, and we will continue to learn and get to know more aspects of both ourselves, others and life for as long as we live. What if we could always remember this. And just as much, recollect all the things in our life that was once strange and unfamiliar that is now well known and safe. Either everyone is a stranger or no one truly is.

With all my love,

Helena

Hustle is not my thing

We live in a world where hustling and grinding is considered the norm if you want to be successful. I really don't buy it. It's not true for me at least. I've never experienced great success in my life by hustling and grinding. Sure, I've had my periods of 60-80 hour weeks and it landed me a prestigious career. I had the great pay, the car and the awesome benefits. But I had no freedom. And success without freedom is not success to me. 

It's less about the hours and more about the posture of the heart. - Rob Bell 

It's the actions I take in alignment that have the greatest impact on my business. I've spent countless hours in my first years of business doing what I thought I should. It has resulted in nothing. 

I'm absolutely willing to work hard for what I want, but I'm more interested in working smart. I do what I love and I love what I do. I know I'm deserving of this. This is my success story. 

What does success mean to you? 

With all my love, Helena

People act on the outside what they feel on the inside

No one feels good being mean. No one comes to this earth with a mission to hurt other people. Only hurt people hurt people. 

This goes for you too. When you notice you're getting off at other people, playing the blame game of going into victim mode. Take a look inside. What's going on? What needs to be felt, or mended, or dealt with? 

The outer world is only a reflection of our inner world. That's why nothing changes until we change and everything changes when we do. It's up to each and everyone of us to look inside for the answers first. To take responsibility for our actions. Being able to respond. 

I believe everything gets better with love. It's my absolute experience and even though I haven't always followed my own advice in the past, I'll try my best to do so in the future. 

Next time someone is mean or rude to you, try to understand what's going on inside of them. It's not your responsibility to fix whatever is going on but maybe you could support them somehow to make both of your lives better? 

Next time you notice yourself being mean or rude to someone else or even to you, try to understand what's going on inside of you. It is your responsibility to fix whatever is going on and you can support yourself to make your life better. And the people around you will benefit from it too. 

With all my love, Helena 

Future you will catch you

I heard this beautiful quote from Elizabeth Gilbert the other day and it really stuck with me:

Fall if you must, the woman you are becoming will catch you. 

So good, right? Some say that life doesn't get easier, we just get stronger. And I think that is true too. We're constantly growing and looking back we'll all discover so many things we used to freak out about that are now part of daily life. 

If we make a conscious choice to move forward, no matter what life presents us, our comfort zone will automatically grow. We will expand in experience and consciousness. You have survived every day of your life so far, so no matter what you are going through, you will make it. The future you will catch you. If you fall, maybe you'll grow wings. 

You can take care of you. I know you can. And you can invite others in. You can ask for help if you want. But ultimately, you have the resources, internal and external to grow through anything. 

With all my love, Helena 

I've missed you!

It's been too long! I've been so focused on other things that I've forgotten how much I love writing on a regular basis. Writing without pressure. Writing for the love of it. Writing to understand myself better. And hopefully, writing to support you. 

There might be some changes to the blog in the fall but for now, I'll keep on writing. Because of the love I have for it. These are my thoughts and feelings. This is a part of my universe. I will probably post Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, just like I used to, but we'll see how it flows. Right now, writing in general is what flows so that's what I'll do. 

With all my love, Helena 

I'm living in alignment and the blog is following me

Dearest reader,

I know you haven't heard from me in a while, and if you've followed me for some time you know this happens about once a year. I write very consistently for months and then all of a sudden, I need a break. I'm on that break now for several reasons; 1. I'm focusing a lot of my energy on a bigger writing project that I will tell you all about really soon. 2. I'm discussing with a partner of maybe moving the blog and all this has gotten me a bit distracted from this space. 

If you want to hear from me almost daily, check out my Instagram where I write almost the same as here. 

And, you know, as always, I'd love to hear from you! 

With all my love,

Helena 

Living deliberately

Deliberate living is deciding how you want to feel first and then getting into action. Whether or not you get what you want is not as important when you have already experienced the feeling you want to feel. And the neat thing is that you attract what you feel, so when you're aligned with your favorite feelings you'll attract more of that which creates those feelings for you. 

Default living is actioning yourself through life and hoping for some good feelings along the way, usually only when you get the outcome that you wished for. 

You decide what perspective you want. 

With all my love,

Helena

Responsible for all of it

What would happen if you took full responsibility for everything in your life? 

Actions, reactions, thoughts and feelings. All of it. This doesn't mean that you take responsibility for anyone else's actions because that's not your responsibility, it means you take responsibility for your reactions to their actions. 

If someone did you wrong - how do you respond? It's actually not the other persons responsibility if you choose to carry resentment by not forgiving. Nor is it their responsibility if you choose to react by trying to get even. That's your responsibility and your choice. 

If you go through a rough time and get caught in victimhood and can't find your way out. Do you stay there and get bitter or do you get the help you need to get yourself out and back to your empowered self? 

I'm not saying any of this is easy, I'm just saying it's possible. And my claim is also that your life will improve when you make the conscious choice to always lean towards empowerment and out of victimhood. 

With all my love,

Helena