As many of you know, my passion is to bring all tools and resources you need to help you awaken your wealth. I’ve put together a toolbox, I go live regularly on my Facebook, and I’m continually referring to other experts and resources for you to truly awaken every aspect of your wealth. Because real wealth is about more than just money.

It’s so important to understand that money can only be the result of everything else happening in your life. Right now, many of us are going through a season of overwhelm, which is why I think it’s hugely important to share that my dear friend, Christine Arylo, has just come out with her new book: Overwhelmed & Over It. 

So get ready to get over your overwhelm because it’s time for us to finally start living from our heart’s space.

I’ve yet to find the person who would argue that getting enough quality sleep is a goal in their lives. We know it contributes to better health, lower stress, and even an easier time maintaining a healthy weight. 

Even more, deep sleep offers a time for your mind to access a whole new world when your rational brain and ego are turned off. In this sacred space, there are no limits. You can fly, you can connect with loved ones who have passed over, you can be anyone and do anything. 

Field of Dreams: Your Intuition Speaks

Your intuition can more easily send you messages during this time. The symbols and messages in our dreams can provide intuitive insight, directing us on our path and helping us connect with our higher knowledge, heal old wounds, work through problems, and even give insight into the future. More on that in a minute… but first, let’s talk about how TIRED we all are!

I drove around my neighborhood the other day and noticed several houses already decorated for the holidays. Seeing the colorful twinkling lights around the windows and giant inflatable Santa Clauses waving from front lawns puts me in the holiday spirit.

But this year, as we all know ... things are different. A nasty Grinch called Covid-19 is trying to steal Christmas from us. With more lockdowns in place and more cases prohibiting us to cross borders and visiting our loved ones, the classic holiday song, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is literally coming true for 2020.

I wanted to share some interesting parallels I learned about this popular song and our challenging year fighting the pandemic.

People were singing “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” when we were involved in another tough battle—World War II. The lyrics were written in the voice of a soldier serving overseas who is reminiscing about the holidays—surrounded by family and friends. This soldier looks forward to coming home and asks specifically for things that represent the holidays: Please have snow and mistletoe, and presents by the tree. The song, however, ends on a melancholy note with the soldier saying: “I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.”

On this day 31 years ago, I became a mother for the first time. Happy birthday, my sweet Katherine! You have become an amazing young woman and, now, a loving mama as well. I love you to the moon and back.

I love celebrating my children. I love celebrating friends on their special days. I think it matters when you celebrate a person. It matters when you know their favorite meal, their favorite TV show, their favorite song, their favorite dessert, etc. It matters when you take the time to let them know what you love about them, what you see in them, and why their presence on this Earth matters to you. 

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on all of our lives, and it has made it harder to celebrate the people and things we love. That is why I think it’s more important than ever to celebrate those we love no matter the day—their birthday or otherwise. Celebrating someone doesn’t have to involve a big party or material gifts. What it should involve is an intention to celebrate them and share everything you appreciate about them. 

Tonight, I’ll do that with my daughter, but I also want to do that more in the coming days with others I care deeply about. After all, there is no time like the present to celebrate those you care about and who have left a footprint on your heart. 

There can be no starting place in our lives any truer than what our own awareness of the present moment permits. This friendly fact tells us that our life direction, our actual destiny, is determined by the level of our awareness that attends the full range of each step we take. 

It's crucial for us to understand that the thrust of our habitual thinking lives with its attention fixed, not on beginnings, but on the end of things. Don't we always wonder what our lives will be like tomorrow? Aren't we forever dreaming about how different things will be once we win this or achieve that? Don't we, in our mind's eye, perpetually walk towards a brighter moment to come, thinking about how good we'll feel once we're able to resolve some nagging situation?

Across America, people are wondering what the holidays will be like as pandemic-related restrictions on traveling and gathering drag on. Mental health experts worry about how adults and children will cope when normal ways of celebrating are curtailed.

About two-thirds of American parents are worried about the pandemic impacting the mental health of their children, according to a recent survey from Nationwide Children’s Hospital. 

The holidays are already a time when many people struggle to feel happy and joyful amid the festivities going on around them. This year many families and individuals are coping with feelings of grief after losing a loved one to the pandemic or other causes.

It’s always hard to face the first holiday without a beloved family member or friend. It will be even more challenging this year as many people choose to stay home and gather only with those in their households, especially for those who live alone.

Even during the best of times, the holidays can be stressful and disruptive to your body, your emotions, and your routines. So how can we manage feelings of stress, isolation, and loneliness this year during holidays marred by a global crisis?

This year, it’s more important than ever to take steps to guard your emotional, mental, and physical health. Here are a few ideas to help make your holidays joyful in spite of the pandemic:

As our last weeks in Florida go by, I find myself looking with fresh eyes at the natural world right outside our door, just like I did when we first arrived here. When you know you are moving (and who knows when you will return), everything takes on a special light, a different vibration. Habit falls away and you see every detail with delight and appreciation. A group of ten white ibises with long curved orange beaks walks slowly past our lanai. A palm warbler on the window ledge looks around curiously, bobbing its tail. A giant swallowtail butterfly, the largest in the U.S., serenely floats by and lands on a bush next to the trail where I am walking. A zebra longwing butterfly flutters in the air nearby. So many amazing creatures so close and clearly visible. None of them native to Massachusetts. These are once-in-a-lifetime moments, I say to myself; savor them.

Over the years, I’ve spent some time learning how to practice persistence. Some of this has come with hard life lessons, and other valuable insights I’ve learned by watching the inspirational journeys of others.

The power of persistence is so important for achieving success in all aspects of our lives, so I want to make sure I share it with you.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Calvin Coolidge, who once said:

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

This quote is so powerful because it’s true. It doesn’t matter how much money you were born into, or how smart or talented you are. It doesn’t even matter how ambitious you are.

If you don’t have the necessary willpower and drive to keep moving forward to your goals no matter what roadblocks appear on your path, you will never unlock your true capacity for success.

So today I’d like to talk to you about the importance of persistence, and how your ability to persevere in the face of any obstacle is the key to your success in life.