Monthly Archives: February 2012

Why Is It So Hard for Me to Walk Away from My Marriage?

Posted on February 14, 2012 | 6 comments

Hi Melissa,

I am in the midst of a life transition. My husband and I are on a path to divorce. Our life paths have been veering in different directions for a long time. My husband has not worked in 4 years and any savings or retirement we had is long gone as I have struggled to keep our family above water. Unfortunately I am losing that battle too.

That is just a little background…. I have been offered a place to live for the price of maintaining the property and paying utilities. The home was in very poor shape so I have been working on painting and repairs for several months.

My question is, why is it that I can’t seem to make the actual move into the other home and begin actual divorce proceedings? I seem to be stuck in this role of continued support for my ‘husband’ whom I haven’t had an actual relationship with in years.

The worst part of this is I know so much about the laws of attraction, yet seem unable to maintain prosperous thoughts during this time.

Thank you in advance for your reply. It has been a long time since you counseled me and I know your reply will help guide me as it has in the past.

Much love to you!

From the land of Oz

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Hi Sweetheart,

First of all, let’s take a moment to be really, really gentle with you right now. Darlin’, I don’t know who would be able to think prosperous thoughts while going through all of this necessary but painful life gunk. How about we take “Having prosperous thoughts” off of your to-do plate because my guess is every time you think that you “should” be more positive, you feel more intensely in the opposite direction. There is a reason for that—because having prosperous thoughts is not in alignment with what you are feeling right now. What’s true right now is that there is a lot of scary business unfolding in your life and you feel shitty, and scared with occasional tiny glimpses of excitement for what can be thrown in there…but my guess is that you are mostly feeling pretty shitty, right now. (It’s my blog, I can swear if I want to. :)) The law of attraction is not about thoughts—it is about the feelings that our thoughts create. Right now, having a really good cry, getting angry, allowing yourself to face all of the fears that this time is conjuring up is going to FEEL a whole lot better than forcing yourself to have prosperous thoughts. Buddhist non-attachment teaches us that we have to fully feel all of our feelings and allow them to pass through us—we neither avoid them nor cling to them. You’ve been so focused on trying not to feel your challenging feelings that they are chasing you around with a vengeance. Just let it out, Sister—now is the time to grieve, to release. Only when you are good and ready (that could be months from now) can you truly start taking stock of what you’ve gained in this painful time and explore what you want to grow in your newly tilled soil. (I’m surrounding you with love right now. You are completely safe in this space.) You will find that once you face all of these painful feelings, that the path forward will come with great clarity and ease.

I want you to take some time and really look at your fear—there is a lot of it here, and it is trying to love you. Part of the grieving process means allowing yourself to look at and really feel the loss. I want you to write down everything that is terrifying and painful about this time—all of the scary knowns and unknowns. What are all of the things that your mind believes you are losing?—sometimes that loss can be simply in the form of ideas that we have (the idea of the perfect marriage, the idea that marriage is supposed to be forever, the idea that our partner needs us & vice versa).

You have come to identify for so long as the caretaker, the one who holds it all together, that it can be terrifying to let that go. I’m hearing a great sense of responsibility for your husband’s well-being in your actions. I see that some of your fear lies in what will happen to him if you leave—I hear guilt in there over wanting to pursue your own happiness as well. I also hear that you’ve come to identify much of your self-worth with this care-taking role. Your mind is saying, “Who the heck are you if you’re not caring for this man?!” I invite you to answer that question, My Dear. Who are you longing to be outside of this relationship? Who is the you that you are READY to fall madly in love with? What qualities within you are just dying to come out and breathe without all of this responsibility around your neck? Your worth is not measured by your ability to sacrifice yourself. What beautiful opportunities are you creating for you AND your husband by choosing to walk away?

It takes a long time to build a marriage and a long time to take it apart. It’s ok to take your time in growing your new self-care legs. You are infinitely supported in this process, Dear Heart. So, is your husband. There is no wrong step—tune into your heart for guidance, face those fears with compassion, and you will get to where you want to go in the perfect, right timing.

I want to leave you with my song “Be Here Now”—I wrote it at a time of great strife for both me and my mama. Let the words be healing for you today.

The Lyrics:

My bills are late. I’m underpaid.
I’m on my way to work again,
And I can’t seem to find my way out of this.
My thoughts are tired. My body aches.
I’m climbin’ up without a break.
And I can’t seem to find my way out of this,
But somehow I’ve gotta get out of this.

Chorus:
So I’m gonna be here now.
Yeah, I’m gonna be here now.
All I need is here right now.
So I’m gonna be here now.

I gave my heart and watched it break.
There’s not much more that I can take.
And I can’t seem to find my way out of this.
I’ve tried to sleep. I’m still awake.
I’m plagued with thoughts of yesterday.
And I can’t seem to find my way out of this,
But somehow I know I’ll get out of this.

Chorus

The moment before me is all that I need
The fear and the sadness, my guide
The more that I open to all that I see
The more I see it all dissolve into love
Love. Love. Love. Love.
Love. Love. Love.

Chorus

©Melissa Simonson. All rights reserved.

I send you much love.

:)Melissa A.K.A. The JoyDiva

©2012 Melissa Simonson

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Posted in Love and Relationships, Spirituality

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What if I Make the Wrong Decision?

Posted on February 7, 2012 | 1 comment

This Q&A comes directly from me today. I found myself journaling this morning and coming up on some fear around a big decision. “What if I make the wrong choice?” said the voice in my head. In my five years of coaching clients one-on-one, this is one of the most common questions that rears its head as I witness my clients trying to make decisions for themselves. The mind says, “There is a right choice and a wrong choice, and you better not mess up.” Oh, the pressure! The truth is that when it comes to choosing along our life’s journey, we can’t actually make a wrong choice.

One of my favorite quotations that I’ve been reflecting on a lot lately is that of Yogi Berra: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” In our search for joy and fulfillment, we can paralyze ourselves with thoughts of “right turn, wrong turn.” The irony is that it is our INACTION that ends up leaving us feeling stuck in a dreary ditch, not a “wrong turn.”

I want you to imagine for a moment that God/Universe/Spirit/Source is like a GPS system. You set the intention, the destination, and you are infinitely supported in getting there. What happens when you make a “wrong turn?” Your GPS system recalculates to help you arrive at your destination. So really, you didn’t take a wrong turn, you simply took the scenic route.

Just like a GPS system, the Universe is with us every step, supporting us along the way–our inner “yes’s” and “no’s” help us to know how on track that we are. If we choose something that ends up not feeling quite right, the Universe helps us recalculate until we find something that does. We are never truly off-path, just going through some twists and turns. We are loved by every process that unfolds and never abandoned. It is only when we stop and turn off the engine, or choose not to act when hitting that fork in the road, that we keep ourselves from our destination. AND rather than finding happiness at the END of the road, we discover that taking action itself creates a deep sense of fulfillment, no matter which way we turn.

One way to work through the fear so that you can take action is to dialogue with it. When I was journaling this morning, my dialogue looked something like this:

Fear: I’m afraid you are going to make the wrong choice.

Consciousness: Thank you so much for always looking out for me. Can you tell me more about what you mean by a “wrong choice?”

Fear: I’m afraid that you will be unhappy and that you will fail in what you set out to do.

Consciousness: I hear you. The thing is that in all of your protectiveness, I’m not actually feeling very happy. Is there a way that we can work together so that we can ensure my success?

Fear: It would make me feel better if you were clear about where you want to go and had a plan.

Consciousness: What a great idea! That makes me feel very grounded. I’m going to get really clear by breaking my goal down into tiny steps right now….

This process of dialoging with my fear gave me a wonderful insight into the ways that even my fear was trying to love me, and I followed up that dialogue with a great plan of action that left me feeling grounded and clear on how to achieve my goal.

In what ways have you found yourself paralyzed by your fear of making a “wrong choice?” I would love nothing more than to support you and celebrate you as we create a plan for you to step beyond your fear and take action on the things that matter most to you. Feel free to contact me and set up a free consult.

In the meantime, I invite you to celebrate each and every step that you take (especially the little ones)–they all count!

Much love,

:)Melissa A.K.A The JoyDiva

©2012 Melissa Simonson

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Posted in Personal Growth

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What is the Best Way to Cope With My Anger When I Witness People Judging Others?

Posted on February 7, 2012 | 1 comment

Dear Melissa,

I have been finding lately that I have become particularly sensitive to one of my pet-peeves–when others are judgmental or demeaning of others. For a while, I used to be able to turn the other cheek to it, and sort of coach myself into not letting it affect me (“Oh, you know that isn’t really true,” “What a person says about someone else really has more to do with how they feel about themselves than the other person,” etc.) While intellectually I know these are true (and are also applying to myself in this instance), I still have been finding myself fuming when I hear these harsh criticisms, and it is hard for me not to snap, and if I don’t snap I find myself taking it out passive-aggressively at that person.

I can see part of my sensitivities being that I can relate to the person they are criticizing and in turn feeling belittled myself. I also see that I, too, am being critical of these people in their judgmental moments.

Needless to say, while I can recognize these things intellectually, I still get so caught up in my anger that I really can’t experience things that way at the moment. Do you have any advice for moving through these feelings and cultivating more acceptance for those people and myself? Also, do you have any recommendations for ways to acknowledge my feelings in the moment, but not create a “scene” when I start to fume?

To be honest, as I am writing this I am starting to see that I am afraid of those people thinking that I am less than perfect by giving in to my anger…and also afraid that I might really let loose if I allow myself. But I would still really appreciate your thoughts.

Sincerely,
The Hulk

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Dear Hulk (great name) :),

There are a couple of things here that I want to touch upon. First of all, you bring much wisdom with this inquiry: Your anger is most certainly exacerbated by your own self-judgments. Your mind is telling you in those moments that it is not ok to have a voice, that your thoughts and feelings are in the wrong, that you shouldn’t get angry, and well, that would make the best of us scream in frustration. Your anger comes in reaction to a thought that is untrue: “You shouldn’t judge people.” What is reality telling you? That this person is judging people. That you are judging this person. That you are judging yourself. The truth is, this is what we as people do. We judge. “The sky is blue.” “He’s really tall.” “She’s black.” “She’s white.” “I’m smart.” “I’m too emotional.” “My anger is wrong.” People judge–being “perfectly” human means being a judging being.

You are, of course, smart in seeing that you are merely exercising your own judgment when you tell others they shouldn’t judge. That is a great moment to come back to your own business and step away from what you can’t actually control (the other person’s business). Who would you be, how would you react if you didn’t believe the thought, “You shouldn’t judge people?” Experience that person saying something judgmental. Really go into that space and envision yourself without the thought, “You shouldn’t judge people.” Would you perhaps feel less responsible for correcting it, more understanding, more patient, etc.? You fill in the blanks. Now I want you to turn it around–in what ways are you judging both yourself and that other person? (You gave a great example of self-judgment by recognizing that you react to those judgments made by others in part because you believe that those are true judgments about yourself). Look at you and that person doing what humans do. The more that you question these thoughts, the more you will discover your inherent compassion for yourself and the other person.

Similarly, when you find yourself angry and believe the thought, “I shouldn’t get angry,” you are again, out of alignment with reality and intensifying the anger. We create suffering when we attach to thoughts that are untrue. Question your thoughts and you will discover your freedom every time. Here is a video from Byron Katie that will teach you how to fill out a “Judge Your Neighbor Worksheet”–I think you will find a lot of richness from going through this exercise.

Much love to you!

:)Melissa A.K.A The JoyDiva

©2012 Melissa Simonson

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Posted in Personal Growth

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