Beliefs

Have you ever thought about what it is you really believe?
Our beliefs are formed during our lives – in the first instance they come from our parents, grandparents and other caregivers we had as children. Then as we grow up it is our teachers, bosses, mentors and own life experiences that further shape our belief system.
Looking back on my life my parents, and the church formed my early belief system.
My parents were Dutch immigrants to New Zealand. They arrived in the 1950s and had 8 children - I'm number 5! They were also very religious and our world revolved around family and church. Financially we were probably classed as "poor" but our home was always full of love with an open door for people who were in need.
Positive beliefs that were instilled into me at a very young age and that are still at the very core of my being now as an adult are:
Family – I believe family comes first.
Faith – I believe there is a God and that we are spiritual beings.
Generosity – I believe I have to share what I have with people who have less than me and
Being of Service – I believe I have a duty to be of service to the community I live in.
What positive beliefs did you inherit from your childhood - are they still relevant to you today?
The interesting thing about beliefs is that along with our positive beliefs we all hold negative limiting beliefs as well and these are usually what are stopping us reach our true potential in life.
An example of a negative belief for me has been around money.
My parents were wonderfully good people but we were financially poor so I believed you had to be poor to be good. I also believed you had to work hard to earn money because I saw my father work hard to make ends meet and his favourite saying was “money doesn’t grow on trees"! Through my religious upbringing I also believed money was bad – it was the root of all evil and that it was easier to get to heaven poor than rich.
Realising that my childhood beliefs around money were incorrect I have worked on changing them and as we travel through life I think we continually need to work on changing limiting and negative beliefs that are holding us back.
So, along with your positive beliefs - are you holding onto negative beliefs too that are no longer serving you?
I encourage you to take some time this week to evaluate your beliefs. Who influenced you? What positive beliefs do you have? What negative beliefs do you need to get rid of?
If you're a woman and live in the Bay of Plenty area of New Zealand - then you may like to join me and Jasmine (another inspired spirit life coach) for a one day women's retreat where you can learn some self-help techniques to remove your limiting beliefs and any other stresses out of your life.
The retreat is on Saturday, 11th September from 10am to 4pm at the beautiful and tranquil Matahui Lodge in Katikati. Just email me if you're interested and I can send you full details: bernadette@thejoyfullife.com
Wishing you all a joyful week. Blessings Bernadette

Life's Purpose

Hello again - after a few month's break I'm back! I'm not going to offer any excuses. Life just got in the way - or maybe more accurately - sorting our the best way to fulfil my life purpose got in the way. So today's topic on life's purpose seems pretty appropriate.

Do you know your life's purpose? Or maybe firstly - do you know what life purpose is?

I held a workshop last week on life purpose and what stood out to me is that deep and meaningful questions are not easy for people to answer. So I thought I'd share my thoughts on what life purpose is and maybe get you to start thinking about what life purpose means to you...

Life Purpose is the Universal Law of Dharma. Deepak Chopra sums up life purpose (the law of Dharma) well by breaking it into 3 parts:

1. Discover our true and higher selves. That is knowing we are spiritual beings with a unique aspect of divine life wanting to express itself through us (life purpose) and consciously choosing to live in accordance with this.
2. Identifying our unique talents - our giftedness to the world - and finding ways to express those talents.
3. Putting our talents at the service of humanity - we are living at exactly the right time to express our talents because for each talent we have there is a corresponding need in the world for what we have to offer.

When we identify our talents and match those with the need in the world we align ourselves with infinite source and it's then that we prosper in every sense of the word!

So, believing you're unique, what are your talents? What have you got that only you can give to the world? Are you living your purpose?

My purpose is to show as many people as I can how to live a joyful life! I do this by being a life coach, trainer, speaker and writer - they are my talents! Sure, there are a lot of life coaches, trainers, speakers and writers out there - but each and everyone of us is unique - with our special message to deliver in our special way!

I've been offline for months sorting that one out - but nowI know - you'll be hearing a lot more from me!

Go out and enjoy this "fun" Monday!