The year 2021 just started and now we have the opportunity to start a new beginning. As I was thinking about what this means to me, I was reminded that if each one of us sincerely gives our very best, then collectively we create a better world. Giving our very best invites us to be a constant expression of kindness, caring, honesty, generosity, forgiveness, joy, compassion and all the qualities that demonstrate the love of our hearts. The secret is that we have to be willing to put the effort and not to fall into the opposite behaviors. This new year gives us the opportunity to start clean slate.

As we commit to being consistent in the expression of these qualities, the wonderful news is that not only we impact our external world, but also, we are the ones that benefit the most. Remember, the law of cause and effect is working all the time. What you put out, comes back to you. Give your very best and the universe will return it back to you.

Giving our very best also means that when life hits us with challenges, we have the choice to respond with wisdom and courage instead of fear, doubt, guilt, blame or judgement. We must be willing to examine each situation and see what is the lesson that it’s trying to teach us. It could be forgiveness, or acceptance, maybe setting up boundaries with respect, or even deeper faith. What’s important is that there is a lesson behind the experience, then there is homework to do. It is like being in the university of life, which comes with studying and assignments. The more we are willing to do our part, the more we will be able to enjoy a harmonious life filled with love, peace and joy.

To support yourself in giving your very best, here are some ideas on how you can do it:

• Be willing to take action. It has been said that the best way to let go of a negative habit is by not giving it energy and by replacing it with a good new habit.
• Develop your faith. Have a constant relationship with your Higher Power. Become strong like an oak tree. Storms come and go and it remains untouched.
• Feed yourself with spiritual food. Read or listen or watch spiritual inspiration to keep you centered and focused.
• Seek the company of positive people. Surround yourself around people that are committed to their own path.
• Journal and honor your emotions. Write down your feelings and let them go. Then focus in creating a new experience.
• Focus on gratitude. Every time you are tempted to complain about something, think of ten things you are grateful for.
• Be diligent about the energy you are sending out into the world. Observe your thoughts, watch your language and pay attention to your attitude. They are creating your daily reality.
• Set up positive intentions. Wake up each morning affirming: Today I will give my very best. YES, I can!

All these ideas above are ways to invite yourself to give your very best. The rest is the dominion of the Universe. Have faith that at the end everything will work out for your highest good. You do your part and God takes care of the rest.

Affirm: I give my very best every day

I wish you have a very blessed new year,

In divine friendship,

It is amazing how, without realizing it, we block our own good by not feeling deserving of what God wants to bless us with. Not only we are deserving of love and affection but also, we are deserving of living and abundant and joyful life.

The consciousness of the masses has influenced us to be poor receivers, to feel unworthy when someone gives us a gift or a compliment. If, deep inside, we don’t feel, we are good enough, we are going to block the blessings that want to manifest in our lives.

It is important to become aware of the limiting beliefs hidden in our subconscious mind, and the unconscious ways we might be rejecting the gifts that want to come into our lives. One way we might be doing it is by not being good receivers. For example, when someone gives us, a compliment, or thanks us for something, out of modesty, we deny it when we respond with a negative comment like it is not important, or is nothing, or you are being too kind.

Our expectations, whether positive or negative, determine, to a large extent, wealth or poverty, success or failure, satisfaction or disappointment that we receive from life. In order to receive what we desire, we must become “good receptacles”. Here are 6 tips to being good receivers:

1. Embrace your Self-worth: You are a child of God created in His image and likeness and it’s your birthright to prosper and to enjoy the good things that life wants to offer.

2. Keep a Positive mental attitude: It is very important that we direct our mind to focus on thoughts that affirm abundance of health, harmonious relationships, prosperity, and well-being. Our thoughts are creating our reality moment to moment.

3. Learn to receive with joy: Be a joyful receiver. Celebrate that someone has thought of you to give you a gift or a compliment. Open your heart and mind to receive with joy and gratitude.

4. Give thanks in advance: Pray giving thanks in advance for the good that is coming to you. Use the power to decreeing a thing before it becomes manifested. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

5. Focus on the source of all abundance: Remember that God is the Source of all your abundance and as you focus on Him you will find out that His abundance is unlimited and that he really wants for you to live an abundant life. The secret is that you must cooperate by deepening your faith and opening your heart and mind to receive.

6. Use affirmations: Affirmations are positive declarations made in the present time and with feeling and conviction. As you repeat them consistently, they will replace any negative beliefs hidden in your subconscious mind and you will experience the manifestation of what you are decreeing. Here is an example from author Louise Hay that will help you to be a good receiver:

“I deserve life, a good life. I deserve love, an abundance of love. I deserve good health. I deserve to live comfortably and to prosper. I deserve joy and happiness. I deserve freedom to be all that I can be. I deserve more than that. I deserve all good. The Universe is more than willing to manifest my new beliefs. And I accept this abundant life with joy, pleasure, and gratitude. For I am deserving. I accept it; I know it to be true.”

To read this month’s Love in Action Newsletter, click here

To become the best possible version of yourself it is important to examine your life and be willing to change those aspects of your personality that might be blocking your self-growth. As you do this with a sense of self-compassion and eagerness, you will feel empowered to take action and then you will start witnessing the positive results of your actions. This is what taking responsibility is all about. It is not about feeling guilty, or criticizing yourself, or feeling ashamed. It is about loving yourself to the point that you want to let go of anything that blocks you from becoming the best version of yourself.

As you take responsibility for every aspect of your life, you let go of the temptation to live life as a victim. You learn to change yourself instead of trying to change the people and circumstances around you. Your positive attitude will make you stronger and more prepared to face anything life throws at you.

Here are some 7 ways to become the best possible version of yourself:

• Celebrate what you have already accomplished in your life and continue to strengthen the positive aspects of your personality.
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• Be willing to be honest as you look at your life and see the areas where you might be blaming others, or playing victim. Remember it is an invitation to see your part in it so you can work on that aspect of your personality. Write down the steps you are going to take to change your behavior. It could be forgiveness, or acceptance, or setting up boundaries, or more love and compassion. Start working on changing one behavior at a time.
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• Use affirmations to turn any negative thoughts into positive. Remember that your thoughts are creating your reality. Make sure they are positive.
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• Let go of criticism either of yourself or others. This is how you open your heart to love.
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• Identify with the higher aspects of yourself. Your Soul is already the best version of yourself, waiting for you to recognize and awaken in you the love, peace and joy that are your soul’s qualities. Every day, strive to move in the direction of your Soul’s essence.
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• Recognize that any challenges in your life are for your own benefit. They test you to see how you are either responding with peace and love to them, or reacting with blame, anger, fear, or doubt. To become the best possible version of yourself it is crucial that you learn to respond to your life experiences with an even mind and a loving heart.
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• Use empowering practices that help you on your journey to becoming the best possible version of yourself: Meditation, praying, good reading, uplifting videos, keeping good company, walking in nature, listening to music that expands your consciousness, allowing a coach to support you, using affirmations, and living in gratitude.

If you feel you need support in shifting from a negative habit to an empowering one, I am available to support you with a coaching session or with a series of Life Coaching sessions. We can meet by phone, Skype, FaceTime, or Zoom. Please visit my website or reply to this email for more information and to schedule a session.

For many years I struggled with self-doubt, insecurity, guilt, self-criticism, and feeling that I was not good enough. In summary, I was lacking self-love, I was at war with myself. I did not know, at the time, that I needed to learn to love and accept myself. Only when I finally understood this, everything in my life started to change, including my ability to love and accept others.

The first step was admitting that was in a vicious circle and I needed help. The thoughts that created the insanity in my life were not helping and I needed someone outside my mind to help me. This is when I decided to find a mentor and when I started to take self-growth classes. This decision transformed my life forever. It has been a beautiful journey of self-love, to the point that years later I wrote the book “Uncover Your Glorious Being”. I realized that I was not all the shortcomings that I had believed about myself and instead my essence was pure love.

Because the transformation that took place in my life was so remarkable, I continuously look for ways to support others to find the place within themselves where they know their own Self-worth. This week I start a new class series that will guide each participant to embark on a Journey of Self-Love. This will be truly a course that has the   potential to change the lives of participants forever. Click here to register and to learn more.

Every aspect of my life has been transformed as a result of loving and accepting myself, including relationships, work, success, prosperity, health, and my connection with God. I also feel more at peace with myself and the people around me. I also learned to be more accepting of others, to have more compassion, more understanding and humility, and deeper faith.

How do you travel the Journey of Self-Love?

1. Feel your emotions. If you feel sad, confused, angry, give yourself permission to feel your emotions. Face them with love and compassion and they will dissolve. Cry if you choose to cry, or write how you are feeling or call a confidant and let her/him know how you are feeling. Feeling your feelings is the best therapy because you respect what is coming up for you, deal with it as soon as you can with love and compassion and then let it go.

2. Let go of self-criticism. Be willing to forgive yourself for past mistakes and make the commitment to make the right choices that will move you in the direction of your highest potential.

2. Clear any resentments. Be willing to let go of the past and start the Journey of Self-Love

3. Access your Child Within. We all have an inner-child, who in many ways calls us, for us to heal the wounds of the past. Connect with love and compassion and feel the transformation.

4. Meditate: Take time every day to be in silence.

5. Be in Gratitude: In the morning Give thanks in advance for the wonderful day ahead of you. Before you go to sleep go over what happened during your day and give thanks for each situation, especially challenging ones, because they were an opportunity for you to grow. When you are in gratitude you are in prayer.

6. Keep centering your energy on the truth, your divine light.

7. Above all, have fun, play and enjoy your Journey of Self-Love

8. Give yourself the gift of participating in the 8-week class series Journey of Self-Love. Click here to register

Affirm: I love and accept myself exactly as I am

Gift: Listen to this inspiring message: Love Yourself with the Decisions You Make Every Day

To read this month’s Love in Action Newsletter, click here

How many times have you criticized yourself for having a habit that you are not happy with? Probably many times. The secret to letting go of negative habits is learning to replace them with good habits. Putting yourself down or criticizing yourself only increases the frustration, guilt and gives power to the old habit. Focusing on the solution by replacing the old habit with a new one is the way out and will bring you good results.

Each one of us has areas of our lives that we can improve by gaining good new habits. It is important to realize that the negative habits we have are the result of the conditioning from childhood and society and in many cases, there are so engrained in us that we do not even realize they are there. For example, family members treating each other with disrespect or abusive behavior by using language that is accusatory, demeaning, and even threatening. They might also show passive aggressive behaviors as not talking to each other for days or months. In many cases, there is anger that is expressed in very hurtful ways. It is a vicious circle that many times the family members do not realize that they are in it, and that their behavior is detrimental to themselves and others. These deep-seated behaviors have been passed down from generation to generation and if we do not stop to think about how we are affecting others, they will continue to spread like a virus. We do have the responsibility to become aware on how we are either infecting or positively impacting the world with our thoughts, language and attitude.

The first step is to be honest with ourselves and to be willing to let go of negative habits and replace them with good habits. We don’t have to accomplish this overnight and instead we can do it gradually until we are free from our old behavior.

Adopting a new habit takes courage, determination and will power. Here are some tips on how to do it:

Have a plan to replace the habit. Be intentional about putting the effort to adopt new habits. For example, when you find yourself in your old habit be willing to practice the new habit right there and then. As you continue to do this, the power of repetition will help you to finally succeed.

Cultivate your will power. Try first going for small accomplishments. Gradually you will get rid of tendencies you thought you could not overcome. Develop the habit of self-examination, of watching and analyzing your thoughts and behavior. Do not ever identify with your mistakes. Instead use your will power to change your behavior.

Use the power of the word to overcome negative self–talk. Be attentive to the way you use your words to either empower yourself or put yourself down. Your words are creating your reality and will help you to adopt the new habit if you affirm it with conviction. For example: “I can change. I have the will to change. I will change!”

Feed yourself with messages that will reinforce the way you want to live. Read inspiring books or listen to motivational messages, or watch inspirational videos. These will be all good companions on your journey to gaining good habits.

Surround yourself with good company. Seek people who are a positive influence in your life. Be with people who have positive minds, who use their will power to be the best version of themselves. Associate with those who have the consciousness of the good habit you are pursuing.

Use the power of affirmations. They will help you to change what is hidden in your subconscious mind and your consciousness will shift to the good habit.

Visualize yourself succeeding. Use all your senses as you visualize yourself succeeding in gaining the new habit.

Affirm: I am committed to cultivating good habits to bring joy and peace into my life

If you feel you need support in shifting from a negative habit to an empowering one, I am available to support you with a coaching session or with a series of Life Coaching sessions. We can meet by phone, Skype, FaceTime, or Zoom. Please visit my website or reply to this email for more information and to schedule a session.