There is no competition for your calling!

One of the lies that adults tell their children and each other is that the world is a tough place and that we must compete in order to be successful.

In order to understand why competition is a myth, it’s first necessary to examine the word “successful.” With the traditional, society-based definition of the word, there is an enormous amount of “competition.” When there are too many people who are willing to settle for a safe, “successful” life when they are called to do something more, it creates an illusion of competition because the demand for "safe," "successful" jobs exceeds the availability. 

When people are focused on acquiring society’s accepted image of what constitutes success – far too often that definition is synonymous with mediocrity, with playing it safe. The irony of this belief is that so many people live lives that look successful, but just beneath the surface is a cesspool of fear, doubt and worry. 

When we are intent on discovering our purpose for being on the planet, when we open our minds and hearts to receiving what God is attempting to reveal through us, not only is there is no competition; but the fear, doubt and worry become transmuted into an empowering energy.

You’ve heard the saying, ‘what’s for you is for you.’ It’s true! And when we become aligned with that truth, nothing and no one can stop it from manifesting in and as our life. No one can compete with us for what is for us, just as we cannot compete with someone else for what is for them.

The real competition is in leaving behind the person we used to be in exchange for the person that we are here to become. In order to give birth to our purpose, a transformation must occur within us. The person that we are today must be willing to give way for the person within to emerge. 

 

This process does not involve competition with anyone except our self. The competitor is our ego, which wants to keep us stagnant, wants us to remain mired in status quo, and wants us to continue our dance with mediocrity.   

Trying to break free from our ego's plan for us is a challenge, but it’s actually an awesome space in which to exist. It’s divine discontent and it’s good because a part of you is waking up to the truth that there is more for you to be, more for you to do, more for you to allow to pour forth through you.

Spending time in silence and asking the right questions will reveal your purpose. And because God never reveals a purpose without also illuminating its path, you will be guided towards its manifestation.

So, who are you competing with and why?

Michelle Hollinger is the author of The Sisterhood Exchange. Purchase a copy at michellehollinger.com.

Just Beyond

The opposite of a "negative" thought, is just beyond it.

Just beyond fear is courage, but courage cannot be accessed by traveling around, over or under fear. 

Traveling through fear – stopping temporarily to illuminate it, to fully experience its essence, its wisdom, its gifts and ultimately its fallibility – is the only way to arrive at the courage that is just beyond it in a way that negates the necessity for idling in neutral or repeatedly shifting in reverse. 

Michelle Hollinger is the author of The Sisterhood Exchange. Purchase a copy at michellehollinger.com.

Power Nap

Some days my feelings threaten to immobilize me, lay me out with a justification that an afternoon nap is the only cure. On occasion, I give in to that part of me committed to being gentle with me; that part of me that knows that loving me is the best remedy for anything. 

I dismiss my whiner voice determined to label this respite as lazy, and embrace, instead, my winner voice that’s ready to speak truthfully and openly, sometimes uncomfortably; but with a discomfort that transforms to honor as it reveals hidden treasure. 

On those days, I take a long, slow look at myself, at my life, at where I am and I question, ever so gently, if this current spot is actually the best place for me. Wisdom has delivered acceptance that where I am right now is where I am supposed to be; however, courage whispers that where I go from here, from this now moment is best determined by what I allow to surface, now.

I nudge myself into exploring whether settling or playing small have coaxed me to this place. I look, with as nonjudgmental a glance as possible, at whether people-pleasing or a preoccupation with what “they” will think factored into my arrival here; and suddenly I am overtaken by immense gratitude for all of the telltale, nap-inducing feelings – feelings that must emerge because their job is to lull me into divine slumber – to put me on my back - not to really sleep - but to awaken.  

Michelle Hollinger is the author of The Sisterhood Exchange. Purchase an autographed, hard copy edition at michellehollinger.com.

Untouchable YOU

There is a part of you, deep within you, that has never and will never be harmed.

Despite experiences that tell you otherwise, despite feeling pain that you considered insurmountable, despite having been immersed in what feels like the most horrific, unshakeable darkness, there exists a space within you that remains untouched, pristinely protected and patiently awaiting your discovery of its presence.

The addictions that you plagued you, that you scrapped with, felt beaten down by and tried over and over to discard, were merely placeholders; temporary buffers that kept you in a “comfort zone” until you were ready for your “real zone;” only accessed in silence. It is the zone that is that sacred space within you, untouchable you.

Michelle Hollinger is the author of The Sisterhood Exchange. Purchase a copy at michellehollinger.com.