Jan Denise, author, speaker, relationships & self-worth consultant

And … of course, it was never really about finding a princess, either. It was always about becoming a prince. … More

Sitting in the hall waiting for an aide, my 93-year-old mom said, “I’m losing my strength just sitting here.” The aide kindly responded, “I think you’re losing your patience.” Mom wasn’t losing her strength by sitting there. She was losing her strength by embracing impatience.

That’s what we often do. We trade our strength, our peace, our joy, for negative emotion. Getting impatient, angry, or jealous drains us. It’s not the waiting; it’s losing our patience while we wait. It’s not falling on our face; it’s getting angry about it that knocks the wind out of us. And embracing negative emotion is a choice. Consciously or unconsciously, we embrace the “good” or the “bad.” It’s true in every area of our life. It’s not a person or situation that drains us. It’s choosing to stray from love.

Mom could have sat there patiently and enjoyed the view and a deep breath. She got impatient, instead; maybe because she felt indignant or left behind. And when we embrace fear-based emotion, it displaces love. Love is unthreatened. Love is at peace. Love is happy.

Positive emotion gives us a second wind. It’s birthed by love, rather than fear. And love continually fuels the truth that everything we encounter is designed to serve our highest good.… More