CFP JOURNAL MAY 2012
Whether I’m conducting research on the streets of Guatemala, interviewing a spiritual leader in Indonesia, or speaking to a women’s group in Finland, what I find is that everyone everywhere seeks the same things: Love. Wholeness. Purpose. Having traveled extensively, meeting spiritual leaders from across the globe, and finding a path to inner wisdom must give you an advantage that the everyday woman does not have. Can you share something from your experiences that a woman reading this may be able to use in her own life even though she may not have the ability to embark on such a worthwhile journey as you have? For every woman who embarks on a soulsearching journey to India, Bali, or other sacred sites around the world, there are countless other women whose lives don’t permit an uninterrupted trip to the bathroom. The good news: there is wisdom to be found in the most unexpected
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places, including within yourself. I am grateful for the opportunities I have to travel the world. However, with open ears, an open heart, and an open mind, one can truly just as easily find inspiration in a grocery store in Little Rock as at an ashram in Kathmandu Valley. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, I had to travel very far to realize that I always had what I needed right inside of myself.
For the woman who is engrossed in her career and feels as though there is never enough time to get everything accomplished, but is afraid of falling off track, what advice can you offer her? You’ve heard it during the airline safety demonstration: “Affix your own oxygen mask before assisting others.” How can this same advice be applied to your life?
As a woman in business—or as a man, for that matter— chances are you’re increasingly finding yourself navigating the uncharted, unusually stormy waters of today’s ever-changing, Our contributors—who ever-uncertain marketplace. Your have so far ranged in age from 17 to 86 and staff and colleagues come from all walks of look to you for encouragement. life—prove that one Inspiration. A sense of needn’t hop on an security. Your clients airplane to lead a and customers look to more soulful you for reassurance existence. Their heartfelt stories show that your company is still poised to lead what can happen them to success. What when anyone, a daunting task, as anywhere, chooses you are likely love over fear. Once experiencing your own we begin nourishing challenges and the sacred within ourselves, we come to anxieties. And then add to it the pressures realize and honor the of home life and sacred that exists absolutely everywhere personal relationships. It makes me take a in the world. This is the basis of my inspirational e-zine, Inlightenment: Nourishing the Sacred Within (https:// www.facebook.com/ InlightenmentNourishi ngtheSacredWithin).
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sharp intake of air just typing this. So take a deep breath, and repeat after me: “I come first.” What? This seems counterintuitive to us as women, doesn’t it? Selfish, even. And yet how can we serve those around us and the world at large if we are not taking care of ourselves? You might think that if you step away to nurture yourself, you’ll surely mess up your career. Sadly, you may be right. In the highly competitive corporate culture of the United States, for instance, taking time off isn’t encouraged—whether that be leaving work early for a family commitment, using your vacation time, or taking off an extended period time for personal exploration. We’re afraid of being perceived as lightweights, and there’s generally an attitude that if we’re not willing to “give 110%” to our jobs (never mind that this isn’t even possible), there will surely be someone else who will.
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