… except maybe ones like “You don’t even KNOW!”

Today, May 20, the Sun enters Gemini, my birth sign. Time for me to do a little happy dance and celebrate my birth month! 😀
It’s the perfect time for you to get to know me a bit better. I realized that, holy moly, most of you don’t even KNOW my past. You don’t even KNOW who I used to be, or what my life was like. You don’t even KNOW…. how often I used to say that phrase to well-meaning people who were trying to save me from learning things the hard way.

I didn’t listen. I did things the hard way. Because I was >>different<< or HE was different, or, you don’t even KNOW what’s going on, how could you possibly?

Because I didn’t see. Like a child who can’t imagine that a grandparent was also once a child, I couldn’t see how these calm, stable, supportive humans in my life had possibly gone through anything remotely similar to my very intense personal drama.

So, just so that YOU know and can see that I have transformed my inner and outer worlds over the years, I’ll begin a daily transformation series for the duration of the Sun in Gemini. Why, Hippie Britt, why? You know the planets have moved and realigned over the years blah blah and astrology is blah blah blah, don’t you? (This is what Logical Science-Minded Britt thinks you’re all thinking). Anyway, why? Why not. Celebrating another rotation around the Sun is fun, spring is my favourite season (so full of hope and renewal!), and solar and lunar calendars make more sense than man-made 365 day yearly calendars.

The Sayings

On to the sayings!

Back when I was not listening to anybody, and not terribly discerning in who I let into my life (in other words, I saw the surface of a person, and was proud of “seeing their good” despite… well… their actions, past or present), back when boundaries were this floaty-out-there idea that I hadn’t learned about ever, back then… the few things I did hold on to were sayings that felt like truth to me.

Looking back now, I guess they’re a kind of affirmation. Repeating something over and over helps to rewire our neural pathways, create new beliefs, and change the way we interact with the world around us. When my brain was all fried and confused, and I was barely in the beginning stages of healing my body, soul, etc, the kind of deep inner work I do day-to-day now would have been super overwhelming. Even just lifting the curtain and peeking at my fears was enough to send me running off and crying in a corner for the rest of the day, so to speak. But repeating little sayings, little truths, little bite-sized affirmations, this, I could get behind. This, I could manage.

Here are a few:

• First things first
• Let go and let God
  • Please do not let “the God thing” stop you. Change the wording to whatever you need
  • Let go and trust, could be a better option if the G word gets you riled up
• Just for today
  • As in, just for today, I will eat more vegetables.
  • Just for today, I will not get angry
  • Just for today, I will not drink (alcohol, coffee, sodas, whatever your goal is)
  • Just for today, I will limit my screen time
  • By setting our goal for today, we make it less overwhelming and a whole lot more manageable
• One day at a time
• How can I be of service today?
• How can I love myself today?
• Count to ten before I answer
• When I’m overwhelmed, what are 3 things I can see? Hear? Touch? Smell?
  • Focusing on the senses in this way, and actually listing sensory things is an immediate grounding tool and gets you out of your head, stat.
• To build self-esteem, do esteemable things

Sometimes, these little sayings were the only thing that got me through the day, or through a moment. If I could just get through this scenario, I’d be fine. If I could just get to bed tonight without bumming a smoke off someone, I’d feel a little bit prouder of myself. Side note, I used to smoke a pack a day. I started smoking menthols at 18, because they were smoother than regular cigarettes. So when Canada banned flavoured tobacco products, in an effort to minimize appeal to young smokers, I fully, fully applauded. If I had to smoke nasty-ass tobacco from the start, I likely would have passed. How I quit smoking is a whole story on its own!

Anyway, I encourage you to give some of these little sayings or ideas a try, especially if you’re having a rough day, or are trying to get through something rough. The sun always rises, even if we can’t see it. Tomorrow’s a new day. Our past doesn’t have to define our future. You’ve got this. Yup, a bunch of little sayings, but they hold truth, they stand the test of time, and they helped get me where I am today.

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If you want to work with me one-on-one to work through something, to get a different perspective on what’s going on in your life, head over to my contact page and send me a message! I’d love to work with you. I also offer distance Reiki, which you can read more about here.