Risk; the road to growth and joy

What is it about taking risks that is absolutely liberating and a bit scary at the same time? 

That sense of aliveness that comes from stepping into unknown territories and new frontiers. Risks are dreams waiting to be realized and consciously created. The willingness to take a risk, or chance is the ability to trust that whatever happens is guiding you more near to inner growth and joy no matter what the outcome. 

Everything begins as a dream, from our deeper self. We are the dreamer dreaming our own dream. A risk is a intentional action that acknowledges future uncertainty about deviation from an expected outcome. Risk measures the uncertainty one is willing to take to realize a possible future gain. Taking a chance on changing careers, moving somewhere new, investing in ones education, starting a new business all begin as a dream, a vision from ones heart and being.

I don’t believe our life dreams are random, they are leading us to our divine purpose and gifts.

Without risk there would be little growth for forward momentum, as nothing is certain or stays the same. To have choice to stay the same, or move beyond is a gift to our souls purpose. I believe within each human lives a dream that is asking to be known, seen and worked towards. That thing inside that feels “oh so right”- a true alignment with our mission is what moves us forward beyond current realities.

3 levels of taking risks:

Level 1: Dip your big toe in:

How do we know what and when is a good time to take a risk? Dip your toe in the water. Start by taking small risks. Play with the edges, get just a smidge uncomfortable. Learn to trust your instincts. Get curious about the outcomes, studying risk is a great way to begin. Be playful, explore and see how each time you take small steps, that can help you build more confidence in yourself and the universe in which you are co-creating with. 

Level 2: Turn within: 

Ask yourself what you really want for your life. Life map, what would it take to get there? What are your biggest fears and possible obstacles, and what would happen if you stayed the same, or grew into this new dream? Straight up journal and meditate on this, begin to listen to your soul and trust your inner compass, your true north. 

Level 3: The leap of faith: 

You have done the work to lead up to this moment. You have taken smaller, intentional risks, explored your edges of comfort and learned to be open to different outcomes. 

You are ready for the leap of faith! The bigger step towards your dreams aka: souls calling. 

Maybe you want to invest in your future with additional schooling, a new home, relationship or career. You are happy and comfortable where you are, you also feel there is something bigger waiting for you. 

Jump into the abyss of the unknown! Yup, it will be a wild adventure, you will fall and pick yourself back up; becoming stronger and more resilient. You will meet people along the way that will help you realize your dream. Even the perceived “obstacles” are opportunities for you to grow, and awaken your potential. You will question your decision at times, and remember the days you were comfortable and content. Through this all, you will also feel alive, excited and learn things about yourself you had no idea existed. 

You will create your dream, and it will look different that you imagined- most of the time “better”. You will arrive at your new reality a bit scuffed up, polished and even brighter than before. Like a coal under pressure that becomes a diamond.

It hasn’t been easy, but looking back you have grown so much as a person. You have made new friends, and built more confidence in yourself. You may, or may not have “arrived”.

At this point you realize that the dream you dream is a story inside you waiting to lived, not achieved. That each risk, large or small; bring your closer to living your life more fully, with presence and deep intention. With each risk, your heart opens to more grace and possibility. You learn that whether you take a risk intentionally or not, life itself is a risk as well waiting for you to play with it, exploring and learning great lessons along the way.

Risk; is the ability to tune in, listen and create our lives consciously with mad faith, moving from the place of desire to grow and create expanded joy in our lives, fearlessly.

Intuition is your soul speaking

I believe deep within our beings, is a light that is connected to the all. Through this light, we can transmute information, connect to different levels of consciousness and tap into our innate knowledge and wisdom.

It took me a while to learn how to trust myself and knowing. to be honest, it’s a skill I’m still acquiring and fine tuning.  Being empathic and sensitive is a gift, but can feel like a burden. To feel everything so intensely, and to see clearly can actually be quite a muddy and confusing experience. Tapping into our intuition takes practice and patience. Learning to discern intuition from fear or fantasy is a focused dive into the abyss of the soul and psyche. 

A lot of my life I remember being very sensitive and raw. Life just hurt. I could feel life and energy traverse through my being as a young girl. This made me shy, and a bit of a quiet loner. Looking back, I believe it was hard for me to distinguish my energy or thought from “the other”. It made it challenging to listen to myself, trust my intuition, when I had the noise of everyone else inside my mind and heart. 

When I was a teenager, until I got sober at 30 I used drugs and alcohol to numb my sensitivities. It worked! For a while.. until it caused more suffering than feeling all the feels. 

Deep in my being, I knew it was a gift. A intuitive nudge. I began studying yoga, metaphysics and the healing arts more in depth through out my 20’s and 30’s. This exploration guided me to understand my empathic qualities and to discover there are others out there that struggle and THRIVE with this same experience!

As I get older, I am able to hone in and harness the gift of sensitivity in a helpful way to myself and others. Being sensitive is like a energetic exposure to the world, a raw receptivity. More information comes through. It’s like my personal “antenna” is sky high; picking up on random info from all directions. The dial of the soul, calibrated, fine tuned to subtler frequencies. 

We all have this ability to tune in. 

I believe this ability to tune in with our sensitivity is our intuition. And our intuition is our soul speaking to us. How do we discern the information that’s coming through? Often our intuition is not something we “want” to do, yet feel “called” to do. When I check in and try to discern if the feeling, sensation or message I am getting is intuition, fear or fantasy? I ask my body, I see where I feel it. I try to sense it’s intention, and “where” that sensation is coming from.

If there is peace around it, heart spacious with a resonance of knowing-it’s often my soul speaking. Even if intuitively I am being asked to live beyond my comfort level, or to do something new and scary.. there is peace around it, a deep sense of OK-ness.

If there is mad, frantic anxiety around a thought or message coming in.. it’s often ego not intuition. If I begin to get in my head, instead of in my heart around an issue. That’s definitely ego and fear not intuition.  Lots of different stories created in the mind, fantasies and such.

This isn’t usually the soul speaking, rather a grasping from my ego out of fear.

However, sometimes visions- bursts of insight come through as truth. That is intuition. A message from the higher self.

Intuition is tuning “in-to-it” tuning into yourself. Listening, paying attention and acting from a place of alignment within. 

Listening to your soul speak, trusting it and acting upon it is a practice. It takes getting to know oneself on a intimate level.  A relationship with ourselves (and soul) is the foundation for all other relationships we attract and interact with in this lifetime.

A few powerful ways to touch in is through prayer, meditation, yoga or journaling. Quiet the mind, get still. Ask yourself lots of questions, get curious about what comes up. Notice where you feel the information in your body. What’s the energy around the information you are experiencing in your atmosphere of being? 

The body is a physical storehouse for the mind, emotions and soul. Check in, listen and trust your knowing. 

The intuition is a scared gift, a nudge to walk the path of your highest truth and self. 

Love, Brittany