Hey, it’s Anne with your Coaching On The Go.

Today I’m preparing to celebrate my dad’s 98th birthday.

It was on the 13th, but today was a day that I could get access to this beach club that my partner Mike and I belong to.

Just a few, a small number of families have access to the shores of Lake Michigan on the beach.

It’s especially appropriate because my Dad and Mom started camping during the first year of my life.

My first birthday was spent in the woods.T

We began camping as a family for over a month every summer…doing laundry in town. 

The reason I’m bringing it up is that as I’m doing my regular Coaching on the Go this week, we are talking about advocating for your integrity and how important it is to have integrity.

This man in my life, this father of mine, although I didn’t always enjoy it, has been extremely consistent in his beliefs.

He has allowed his beliefs to navigate and allowed himself to learn and expand.

But the reason he’s still here is his strong belief in his integrity with self and spirit.

He had a major accident when I was in kindergarten.

He completely rehabbed through that.

He broke a bunch of ribs, slammed his head onto the pavement, and dropped down two and a half stories after being electrocuted, and shattered a vertebrae.

He rehabbed and then continued running for 30 more years.

He has a connection of steel with his purpose:  exercising six days a week like clockwork, not doing things that are not in alignment with what he believes, allowing people to believe what they believe and follow their alignment, but not participating when he is not in alignment with what they find to be best for them.

Lessons, lessons, lessons across the board.

I’m asking you today, how important is your integrity?

To advocate for yourself, you get to believe in what you are standing for and who you are.

You have to know it.

You do that by being connected to yourself, honoring yourself, and practicing.

People ask, “How can I do it?

“How can I keep my word to myself?”

“How can I set goals and follow through on those goals?”

“How can I take that seriously?”

It starts with baby steps.

When you say you are going to exercise every day, are you doing it?

When you are thirsty, are you drinking?

When part of you is saying you’re not comfortable watching that news segment, or that the movie contains content that’s making you sick and you are not aligned, why aren’t you listening?

The way you can strengthen yourself is to start listening.

If the daily news is getting you out of alignment what are you doing there?

Stop watching!

You might say here, “Anne! How will I know what’s going on?”

We live in an abundant universe where everybody can play in the space that they want to play in.

If you want to play in a the space where you are attuned to the news, seeing it, observing it, and maybe taking action on the things you can, you are just being.

You are just listening to it so you know it.

I guess the test is, do you feel neutral, triggered or agitated?

If you can retain your balance, your neutrality, then you’re okay.

If you can’t, it’s not a good spot for you.

Spending as little time as possible out of alignment doing things like participating in a conversation where people gossip or telling a story from your history.

Yes, it happened!

It’s true!

It’s a true part of your history, but to retell it feels terrible.

So why are you telling it?

Stop telling it!

Today, my ask for you and my coaching for you is starting with my dad’s birthday.

Because he represents someone who does not sacrifice his alignment for anything.

It has to align with him.

He’s open to learning new things.

He’s open to getting new perspectives and shifting.

But that’s his then.

That’s his alignment, belief and paradigm.

Are you in alignment with your beliefs?

If you’re not, you get to look at the beliefs.

Are they worth being in alignment with?

Do you want to shift them?

Do you get to shift them?

You can shift them.

Are you standing up for your beliefs in the way you are getting into proximity with things that are aligned with you?

When you’re talking, are your words in alignment with your beliefs and who you are authentically?

Are you saying things that are going against your nature or self?

These are big, big categories, not little.

They’re not flippant.

They are big investigations that can go on throughout your life.

Last week, I had you feeling if you are in integrity, feeling if things feel good when you are experiencing them.

That’s an initial clue for you to ask, “Is this situation, is this conversation, is what I am doing in alignment with me?”

These are opportunities for you.

You can’t advocate for yourself when you don’t know what to look for.

So today you’re feeling your way.

You’ve been doing this and taking notes on it.

Then you’re adding to that that, you’re taking action and you are either removing yourself from areas or situations that you’re not in alignment with, or investigating into those, deciding if your rules or structures can be tweaked, or expanded if there’s new information that’s causing you to adjust for a better life.

Sending you big love.
Just challenging you to dig in.

This is big stuff.

Dig into it so that you can have a life where you’re really in alignment, and healthy.

We will continue discussing what happens when you’re not in alignment, and the side effects of it, in the next coaching. 

Have a beautiful day.

Sending you love.