May your day be filled with love. May you rest if that is what you need. I pray your environment is filled with positivity, creativity and endless opportunities for you to show up as your authentic self.
Today, I want to express my gratitude for your presence as a valued community member of Origins of Peace, LLC.
I believe in the process of Peace by Design to overcome personal and professional conflict and the power that we each have to change our life. Whether you’ve joined this community as a client, customer or someone who simply enjoys reading our newsletters and blog posts, your involvement enriches our community in many ways.
Your support and engagement add value to this community. I am truly grateful for every comment, every share, and every view.
I am committed to providing you with more enriching content and opportunities to connect. Together, we can continue the process of Peace by Design by inspiring you to Heal Recover and Grow!
As we head into the holiday season and prepare for 2024, we are doubling down on our mission to support you and provide products and services that will help you reclaim your peace and choose people, places and situations that support your mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.
Make plans to join us on December 9th at 5:30pm for our Vision Board Party. Your presence is necessary, and admission is absolutely free. Here is the link to join.
I am accepting new clients into my Peace by Design Coaching Program. Two of our programs are currently being offered at a discount of $200 and there is a monthly option available if you prefer group coaching. Here is the link to learn more.
Once again, thank you for being a significant part of our community. I look forward to connecting with you soon.
💫 Last week was full of insight for me. With the constant going, pushing and striving to do more, be more, create more and get booked more, I hit a wall.
I found myself way past exhaustion. I could barely hold my head up.
After a much need coaching session (yes, coaches need coaching too), I took time to identify what was challenging me, and then I made a plan to improve those things.
I realized that I had not taken any time to celebrate my accomplishments before moving to the next “thing” on my list. The constant pushing and striving caught up to me and left me feeling totally and completely spent.
In need of a rapid improvement plan, I left my house, hair undone, natural face with a t-shirt and shorts on, and I found a swing.
I swung until my heart was content, tension released, and contentment filled my spirit.
I know it sounds simple, but sometimes that is all you need to change the energy and momentum around you.
From this experience, I learned that just like I schedule those 4:45am treadmill sessions, I need to schedule celebration sessions too.
(Let me warn you ahead of time. The audio within this video is LOUD. In addition to humming, you will also hear the sound of traffic passing by. If you are in a quiet setting, proceed with caution!)
So what am I celebrating?
💫 Completing Professional and Executive Coaching Training Intensive through the CaPP Institute
💫 Completing Equity in Contracting Training through CPCC
💫 Acceptance into the Women’s Entrepreneurship Program at
eCornell University and completing my first course with a perfect score.
💫 Becoming a member of ForbesBLK
💫 Acceptance into the 2023-24 Milestone Circles Program at the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center
💫 Gaining two new coaching clients
After taking a moment to reflect, I realize that I have a lot to celebrate (I am sure that I left something off of my list).
Celebrations are important.
If you have a hard time celebrating your achievements, you are not alone, but just like I hit a brick wall last week from overwhelm and exhaustion, you can too.
Let’s hold one another accountable for showing up as our best self by taking important moments to celebrate.
Labor Day unofficially ushers in the arrival of Fall, and with the arrival of new things, the ending of things that are no longer beneficial is often a companion. What better time is there to be intentional about how you use your effort and where you direct your energy.
If lately you’ve felt like you’re going nowhere fast, use this time to explore new opportunities.
I know you’ve heard the cliche’, when one door closes, another door opens. It is time to be more intentional about those doors. Are there things in your life that no longer serve a purpose for you? Is it time to release them and try something new?
What new ideas or opportunities areyou interested in exploring?
Are you ready to move past anything that has been holding you back?
Start the process by, taking time today to self-reflect and focus on how you want your week to go.
What are your intentions for the week?
Do you have clear expectations for positive, forward motion.
Next, set aside time to write down your intentions in the 4 areas below.
Faith
Love
Mindfulness
Self-Care
Why are your intentions important?
What will you do to make them happen?
After you’ve created your plan for the week, add another week and then keep the momentum going by creating a fully thought-out plan.
If you would like Coaching and Consulting assistance to help you set your intentions, use the link below to get started.
Join me on Sunday, August 27th for the next Peaceful Co-Working Lifestyle. We are talking about PEACE Goals and the 7 Building Blocks you need in order to make them sustainable.
I quoted the time incorrectly in the video, so please make note of the correct time: 4pm-5:30pm.
According to the June 2015 Forbes article entitled, Can A Creative Person Survive Corporate Life, a creative person can survive in a corporate environment by taking the following five actions:
Decide what you want
Make a plan to get what you decided you want.
Look at the ways your current situation can help you get what you want.
Practice self-awareness.
Speak your truth
I believe in today’s corporate climate, an intentional practice of number four, self-awareness is one that must be done on a consistent, and continuous basis.
As a creative in corporate, I fully realize that my adherence to timelines is sometimes variable. I begin with the greatest of intentions to complete a task on time but find myself off kilter when urgent requests arise or when something happens to redirect my focus. When this occurs, I am fully aware that it takes me a while to find my way back to the original focal point.
So what am I doing to correct this?
In total transparency, this is a current situation that I struggle with. I have recently started using new tools to help with time management and productivity, but it all boils down to the type of projects that drive your creativity and knowing when you’ve done enough creating to move forward to next steps.
If you are a creative struggling in your current work environment, ask yourself, “what do I want?”
Is it time to move forward to something new or will you take the necessary steps to make improvements in your current work environment? As a creative, it is totally up to you.
As you move through this week, be gentle with yourself and know that your creativity is not an impediment to your success, it is a gift. Value it, but make sure your protect it.
Is there someone that you admire personally or professionally? Is there a colleague or friend that has certain qualities that you desire to exhibit more of in your life?
If this holds true for you, what actions can you take to move from your current reality to the desired reality that you want. Is it as simple as taking the appropriate steps to mimic what you see in others, or do you need to create a more structured plan to make to make it happen.
Personally, I am working on intentionally strengthening the qualities of curiosity, spontaneity, and adventure in my life. Years of overbooking my schedule and failing to prioritize, caused these attributes to become basically nonexistent.
For me curiosity involves traveling to places that I’ve never been, seeking out alternative ways to work and experience financial freedom. Spontaneity and adventure resemble taking the trip prior to feeling burned out and overwhelmed.
On Friday, August 4th at 11:30am, I am hosting a Lunch and Learn Planning Session with step-by-step guidance on how you can move from your current reality to the life you desire. Join me to get the 5-step blueprint, which can be applied to all areas of your life where change is desired.
Let me help you find your #originsofpeace. Email melissa_rivers@originsofpeace.com to receive the meeting details.
If the definition of worrying is using your imagination to create something you don’t want, what is the definition of manifesting?
It is extremely easy to waste time worry about things that you do not want in your life. Troubled relationships, career challenges and financial setbacks are just a few issues that can have your thoughts wondering aimlessly out of control.
Several years ago, as I experienced several major crises simultaneously, I often worried if I would survive it all.
First there was the divorce. It was hard and I was stressed. How would I survive, how would it affect my daughter, how would dating and relationships look for me afterwards and how would others perceive my choice? That 12 months of required separation in the state of NC was difficult.
I worried myself to the point of being unhealthy. I was stressed, consistently anxious, not sleeping well, over-weight and extremely unhappy with myself. Just when I thought things were about to get better, the cancer diagnosis appeared.
The week of my divorce hearing, I took time off of work to spring clean my home. I was ready for new beginnings and a fresh start. I wanted so badly to cleanse myself of the constant turmoil and self-imposed worrying. I had my first mammogram, which lead to a callback and subsequently to the diagnosis.
Up until the point of getting married, I was fairly consistent with my physical and nutritional health. Marriage added a level of stress in my life that I wasn’t fully prepared for.
How could this be?
On my last day of radiation treatment, I lost my job and the constant worry continued.
What now & What next?
I share part of my story today because this week marks my 8-year survival story!
I am surviving and thriving. 8 years post-divorce & post-cancer
My journey hasn’t been the easiest, and there have definitely been a few setbacks. What I’ve learned along the way is to focus my time, energy and attention toward the things that I actually want for my life.
I am spending less time focused on things that do not bring me peace, joy or purpose. This involves understanding and owning my values and taking intentional action to reset my personal expectations. It takes discipline to train your mind to focus on manifesting and not worrying.
Many of the traditional methods that are talked about for stress reduction and developing discipline actually work if you work them to your advantage.
Journaling is great for getting your thoughts and concerns out of your head and down on paper so that you can create a strategy to effectively manage your challenges. I recently saw a post on Instagram that says, “If you avoid conflict to keep the peace, you start a war inside yourself. I couldn’t agree more”. Get those thoughts out of your mind and create peace within!
Exercising is a great way to re-direct your energy and improve your ability to do everyday activities. Imagine the heightened sense of awareness you can generate from a little physical movement.
Understanding earth’s elements are a non-traditional method of dealing with stress and redirecting your thoughts from worry to manifest. The elements are air, water, fire, earth and space. Find the element that speaks to you intently. I personally feel most relaxed by varying bodies of water. The crashing sound of ocean waves, or the stillness of a calming lake are both great at helping me to relax and find peace.
For my present and future, I am manifesting an everyday life that is filled with reciprocal love, amazing opportunities, genuine friendships, harmonious family interactions and all the blessings that God has planned and purposed for me.
On June 2, 2015, I had surgery to remove the cancer tumors from my body and on June 4, 2018, I re-entered the workforce with new skills and a highly viable career path. Origins of Peace exist today because of the multiple challenges that I experienced in 2015.
Dating and relationships in this survivor era offer the biggest area of opportunity for me. I’ve come close to manifesting the relationship that I desire, but nothing has panned out completely as of yet. Stay tuned for future posts to see how that plays out. I am hopeful.
What am I manifesting for this area of my life?
A love that is never selfish, always of service, and precisely on purpose.
From My Mouth to God’s ears
My definition for manifesting is to demonstrate the things that I desire in life prior to actually obtaining them. This is easier said than done, but it is possible, and I am actively doing it.
As I celebrate 8 years of surviving and thriving, I choose to demonstrate good health, love and understanding, progressiveness and forward thinking, spiritual fortitude, and all the desires of my heart while God continues to add blessing upon blessing to my life.
My prayer is that you will change the narrative that you repeat to yourself. May your thoughts of worry turn to offerings of praise and gratitude.
Peace & Blessings to you!
If you are ready to create a strategy of manifestation for your life, let’s work together. Schedule a complimentary consultation today by clicking here.
Please forgive my nearly closed eyes, but I’ve been dealing with some major sinus congestion for more than a week now. Sheer agony!
Anyway, for weeks I had been searching for a beach lounger, when I came across the perfect one on the Academy Sports Website. The color scheme perfectly matched my beach dining accessories from Tabitha Brown’s latest release at Target, it was light weight, and the straps were perfect for easy portability.
I ordered the lounger using a gift card that I received on my birthday last year. When I arrived at the store to pick up my order, I decided to use curbside pickup, since I was not feeling well. I selected the appropriate options to alert an associate that I was outside waiting. When the associate arrived, he immediately asked me for my ID. This posed a problem for me because I had lost my driver’s license at the beach, the previous weekend. Before uttering a word, I looked in my purse and retrieved the gift card that I used to make the purchase, my confirmation email, and my temporary driver’s license.
As I am doing all of this, I told the associate that I had lost my driver’s license, but I had all the items that I listed above as verification that I was in fact the person that placed and paid for the order.
The associate’s initial response was to refuse delivery. My response was, how will my picture ID assure you that I am the person who made the online purchase? Your website didn’t ask for a picture, so how would that help you validate the purchase and me as the purchaser?
We discussed the dilemma for a few minutes and then a second associate came out to my car whom I assume was a manager.
After about a 10-minute delay, I was able to get my order.
As I began driving away, I immediately thought to myself, I need this kind of protection in my life.
Protect Me Like Academy Sports Protects its Online Purchases!
The intention, the verification, and the validation of transacting with the appropriate party was top tier for me. Although I was the one who could not provide the needed information, I appreciate the steps taken by the store to ensure that I was in fact who I claimed to be.
Imagine if each of us took that same level of care in our everyday relationships. Instead of rushing into agreements with others, what if we took time to actually validate who they really are? I was able to gain the trust of the associates because I described the color of my dining accessories and how the colors complimented the lounger that I purchased. I also talked about my past trip to the beach and my intention of going back. All of this discussion helped the associates get to know a little about me and become comfortable with the decision to give me my lounger.
I’ve had a number of representatives show up in my life claiming to be someone whom they really were not. When I thought that I was dealing with someone who had integrity and was trustworthy, but in reality, they turned out to be just the opposite.
The lessons that I am taking from this encounter are:
I will always show up as my authentic self, and I will expect others to do the same
I will value the connections that can be made by simply engaging in a little small talk
I will respect the boundaries and values of others, and I will expect others to show the same respect to me
These are simple truths that are now part of my #originsofpeace.
How about you? Are you showing up authentically, and do you have set expectations and values that others must adhere to?
There is a quote that says,
“Intention is one of the most powerful forces there is.What you mean when you do a thing will always determine the outcome.The law creates the world.”
My intention is to be protected as well as Academy Sports protects its online purchases! What’s your intention?
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here:
Cookie Policy
