Marita, Author at MaritaSteffe.com

How We Can Accept Getting Old

How We Can Accept Getting Old

Can you do it or can't you do it? This is a very personal subject for most women and there are many different ideas about aging. Some people like the approach of denial and postponing the visual effects of aging with facelifts, all kinds of surgeries and treatment, which is totally fine.

But eventually there is no escape and as my every day practice in life is acceptance, I thought for myself it would be a good idea to come to terms with some of the effects of aging, like gray hair, white patches, dark spots and I hate to say it: sagging skin 🙂

"You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old." George Burns

You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old.

George Burns

You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old.

George Burns

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/getting_older.html#ABL21IzaK0mjPwbK.99

You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old.

George Burns

At 48 I started dying my hair to cover the gray. That was 10 years ago, a long time of applying toxic dye to my head. Last Year I let my hair turn gray. Every time I got it cut, more gray showed and after my last cut today, I am proud to say that my hair is all gray.

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Be Creative And Empower Your Life – Make a Vision Board

Be Creative And Empower Your Life – Make a Vision Board

Hi, Marita here, I hope YOU are well and will find a little bit of inspiration, or a glimpse of hope in this post. Today I want to share one of my favorite tools with YOU, the process of making a vision board. I have to admit, I am a vision board junkie once I start I cannot stop. But what the heck, to get lost in creativity is a good thing and it's healthy, better than to get lost in drama, resentments, drugs or alcohol………. I know, I've been there 🙂

I just completed a whole wall in my new apartment in Germany. All my beautiful art is in boxes in California, so my designer friend had the splendit idea to transform some walls into vision walls. MY first wall is about 10 feet long by 5 feet tall. I look at it and it makes me laugh, I look at the paint brush loaded with paint and I want to paint……. I look at all the wonderful people and it inspires the wish to organize a community of like minded people. The wish brews to help transform peoples lives, by inpiring hope and possibility that DREAMS are not frivolous, but are our birthright.

Three questions to ask yourself before YOU start.

Where am I
Where do I want to be
What do I need to do

A vision board is a roadmap to your dreams, to help YOU find out what YOU would love to do and get in touch with YOUR life purpose. The great news is that YOU have the answer inside of YOU…. the bad new is: it's not obvious, but hidden inside the subconscious mind. Please don't despair, because a vision board is a magical tool that can help YOU to get access to the unconscious and will find the answers and motivation to keep YOU focused on YOUR dreams and goals.

Do I hear YOU say: this is too simple it cannot work for me, my life is complicated? I know, I had the same thought in my head. Accept the voice, but let it know that you want to try it anyway, While working and training in the field of human potential and spirituality, I learned to not listen to the "dreambuster" in my head, but to be willing to do it anyway. I actually would say that this has been the highest achievement over the last 10 years of transformation: to be open, to believe in possibility and to do it anyway.

To be creative, is to be in YOUR element, to be in your zone of joy and contentment, to express the gift you came into this world for. It's a happy place to be. Can you imagine to be able to enjoy this state of being and to empower your life at the same time? Make a vision board it's empowering, it's very creative and it's fun! Vision boards are collages with intentions, they can be simple and they can get very artistic and elaborate. A hand drawn creation can be just as effective as the more complicated, layered collages.

What matters is the intentions YOU have and how meaningful these intentions are in YOUR life and for others. If YOU have an intention of becoming a millionaire, that's fine, but it might not really inspire YOU to do the steps required and your subconscious mind might not be motivated enough to spring into action to help get YOU there. The key is: YOU need to be inspired to get your subconscious mind into action!

So make it juicy, be inspired about something worthwhile. YOU do not have to save the world, but try and find something that inspires positive change, maybe in YOUR circle of friends, or neighborhood. Let YOUR heart speak and bring love to the world, might just be enough already!

What you need to make a vision board

Glue sticks or yes paste
Scissors
Posterboard
Your choice of magazines
Printed images (optional)
Patience
Trust
Willingness

How to make a vision board

Start with a 5 minute meditation
Listen to your favorite music
Tear out the images that inspire you
Start attaching the images onto the board
Finish with inspiring words

What To do With a Vision Board

Hang the vision board where you can see it
Look at it as much as you can
Feel the images
Believe that you can achieve your dreams

By Making a vision board YOU take inspired action, it's a tool to "create your life your way". Let me know how it's going 🙂

Please enjoy my custom meditation to get YOU into the creative zone. The meditation is lead by my healer friend Marcela Manesis.

How to make a vision board to attract the perfect partner

How To Be More Confident

How To Be More Confident

Have you noticed how our attitude determines the quality of our lives? The more awareness we have to control our attitude and our thoughts, the happier and more creative we can be. Supportive friends can be a huge help to keep us on track. There is a multitde of support available in form of: books, audios, workshops, webinars, forums, facebook groups.

Another great place to find like minded people is at meetup groups.

Step one is to sign up,
Step two is to find a group in your field of interest
Step three is to connect, easy breathy…..

Sometimes it's hard to have one more thing to do, but it's essential to connect with people and to network….. Not only for our personal well being but it's great for business too.

"Remember, the thoughts that you think and the statements you make regarding yourself determine your mental attitude. If you have a worthwhile objective, find the one reason why you can achieve it rather than hundreds of reasons why you can't." Napoleon Hill

Support is essential, unfortunately our friends and family members do not always share our need to change and grow. The desire to follow our dreams, to break out of the mold scares the heck out of some people. But we need support in order to move forward. If we cannot find this within our circle of friends and family, we have to look in other places.

Where do we find people who are on a similar path?

I've been lucky to meet a lot of like minded people in personal development seminars. The network is international and I don't have to rely on my "local friends". Whenever I have a hard time to believe in myself or I lose faith that I can achieve my dreams and goals, I can contact someone who will help me through the challenges, back to being in a space of possibility. Feeling good and believing in ourselves is the key to success.

If you get discouraged……… your vision and your support system will keep you on track. Pay attention to how you feel and where you feel it in your body. It might be uncomfortable at the beginning, but you get used to it, just keep practicing to feel "uncomfortable," The feeling of fear and discomfort are part of the process, so just accept it and do what you need to do. Working with a coach is also very effective, if you have not tried it give it a chance and try a few sessions, it's one of the best support systems I know.

Pema Chodron, a buddhist nun, wrote a wonderful book, called. "Go to the places that scare you"

Every time we overcome our fear and do it anyway, we empower our life.

Where do you find support? Please leave a comment and share it with us.

Law of Attraction – The Secret Law Of The Universe

Law of Attraction – The Secret Law Of The Universe

Most of us know that the law of attraction states that "like energy attracts like energy." This simply means that the thoughts we think, the actions we perform, the feelings we feel, the words we say, all vibrate at a certain frequency. So whatever frequency our thoughts and beliefs are, that's exactly the same frequency we attract. Now that's a scary thought, do you agree?

You can compare it to a radio receiver, which only receives a channel when it's tuned to the right frequency. You think about 50000 thoughts a day and most of them are not conscious to you, they just run like a background program. It's not only your thoughts, it's other people's thoughts too. Yes it's like living in a soup of thoughts and it can get messy 🙂

Depending on how you were brought up, how confident you are, how creative you are, how courageous you are, how aware you are, you might have a hard time to be in charge of your feelings, thoughts and actions. Maybe you have reacted to the same situations and people for decades. It's pretty much like a "robot state", the reactions are triggered by old memories and they happen automatically.

The most important fact about the law of attraction is that you must be aware of all this, if you want to attract your dreams and desire. Below are a few simple tips that will help you to apply the law of attraction to your life.

Meditation will increase your awareness, it's like getting stronger antennas and you will be able to make a choice of how you want to react to certain people or situations.
The Sedona methode will help to let go of old patterns. You can do it yourself by going to the website, getting the book, or the audio. It's pretty much just asking series of questions and being willing to let this stuff go, but the results are profound. If you are willing it just happens!
Another effective way to reprogram old stuff is by listening to brain entrainement audios. The most effective ones I have found are: Quantum Mind Power Triliminals" by Morry Zelcovitch. They are very soothing to listen to and I love the results. Some patterns are hard to change, they were created on a subconscious level, so it makes sense that they can only be changed or let go on a subconscious level.
In order to help you with the visualization process you might find it very helpful and meditative to make a vision board. A vision board is a collection of very inspiring images and words or phrases. The main purpose is to help you visualize and focus on what you love and desire, to help you achieve you life dreams. It's a simple map to create your dream life. The more you focus the better it gets. If you use all these practical simple methods you will see results in your life.

If you use all these practical simple methods you will see results in your life. Try it out and let me know how it goes.

Visualisation Exercises

Visualization Exercises

Do you have a problem with visualization?

Don't know how to visualize?

No problem, I found some easy to do visualization exercises for YOU.

It's interesting how many people have a hard time with visualization. "Our intellect tends to complicate everything." It can be the most simple thing and our mind makes it complicated, can you relate? 🙂

Visualization is an intuitive process and not very logical. You just do it and by practicing the principles you will get more comfortable with the process. The most important step is: leave logic out of it and just do it! Some people see very clearly and some do not, I sure don't, but I have strong feelings. I imagine I see things and that works too.

Visualization is important if you want to achieve your life dreams and life goals. It will help you to create the life of YOUR dreams.

I found this article by Brian Tracy, "The Master of Efficiency" very helpful, especially for people who need more instructions and answers.

Visualization Exercises in 4 Easy Steps

How Often?

The first aspect of visualization is frequency. This is the number of times that you visualize yourself performing in an excellent way, in a particular event or circumstance, to achieve a particular goal. The more frequently you repeat a clear mental picture of your very best performance or result, the more rapidly it will appear as part of your reality.

How Long?

The second element of visualization is the duration of the mental image, the length of time that you can hold the picture in your mind each time you replay it. When you deeply relax, you can often hold a mental picture of yourself performing at your best for several seconds, and even several minutes. The longer you can hold your mental picture, the more deeply it will be impressed into your subconscious mind and the more rapidly it will express itself in your subsequent performance.

How Clearly?

The third element of visualization is vividness. There is a direct relationship between how clearly you can see your desired goal or result in your mind and how quickly it comes into your reality. This element of visualization is what explains the powers of the Law of Attraction and the Law of Correspondence. The vividness of your desire directly determines how quickly it materializes in the world around you.
Here is an interesting point: When you set a new goal for yourself, your image or picture of this goal will usually be vague and fuzzy. But the more often you write it, review it, and repeat it mentally, the clearer it becomes for you. Eventually, it will become crystal clear. At that point, the goal will suddenly appear in your world exactly as you imagined it.

How Intensely?

The fourth element of visualization is intensity, the amount of emotion that you attach to your visual image. In reality, this is the most important and powerful part of the visualization process. Sometimes, if your emotion is intense enough and your visual image is clear enough, you will immediately achieve it.

Of course, the elements of frequency, duration, vividness, and intensity can help you or hurt you. Like nature, the power of visualization is neutral. Like a two-edged sword, it can cut in either direction. It can either make you a success or make you a failure. Visualization brings you whatever you vividly and intensely imagine, whether good or bad.

Action Exercise

Continually feed your mind with clear, exciting, emotional pictures. Remember, your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions. Learn how to accomplish all of your goals here.

Great advice and great tips, thank you Brian.

Visualization and goal settings are 2 of the most important ingredients in order to create success. It's also very helpful to create a vision board, it will help you with the visualization process. Keep in mind that the more you practice, the easier and more effective it gets. The only way to mess it up is by not doing it, so get started NOW.

Do you have any other visualization techiques? Please share them with us and leave a comment 🙂

You Can’t Use Up Creativity

You Can't Use Up Creativity

The more you use it, the more you have. Are you creative? Sure you are! Creativity does not mean you have to paint like Monet or write like Ernest Hemingway. Creativity shows itself in many ways and it can be simple things like flower arrangements, table arrangements, your garden, taking pictures. Expressing yourself with how you dress, the jewelry you wear, the make up you choose, the way you communicate, it's all creative.

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Letting Go Of Family Secrets

Letting Go Family Secrets

Do you have any? To be honest I did not think I had them, but eventually I realized I had to accept them and let them go, one secret at a time.

Up until 10 years ago I thought my life was great. I lived in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. We owned a nice house with a huge garden and had 2 beautiful, healthy kids. The beach was our playground, we had good friends and we were creative. My husband worked in special effects and I had a successful business, so it all looked pretty good.

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Empower Yourself – Nourish Your Soul

Empower Yourself – Nourish Your Soul

Instead of making goals for your business or material needs, why not set some soul intentions for the well being of YOU, your spirit.
I read it somewhere and thought: "what a splendid idea". So what's the difference between soul intentions and other intentions, or life goals?
For example most intentions or resolutions are kind of competitive. We want to make more money, do more work, be better at something, look better for others, in short have more and be more.

Soul intentions are about our soul needs, which is: more love, more compassion, more forgiveness and more acceptance.
Below are my soul intentions and if you don’t know what yours are, please borrow some of mine…………………………soul needs are universal🙂

I will do things that make me happy
I will float in hot water as much as I can
I will get at least one massage per month
I will eat food that nourishes my body
I will walk and go to the gym
Sometimes I will allow myself a burger, bacon and eggs and a cookie
I will find a spiritual group and 12 step meetings in Germany
I will connect more with real people in life
I will be creative
I will accept and love my parents and kids just the way they are, even when they annoy me.
I will be aware of what I do and how I react
I do whatever I can to be kind and of service to others
I will do the things I need to do even when it scares the hell out of me.

Ok, I’m overdoing it, but this is what I need to do in order to be content. Most of the items are incorporated into my life already, so it does not feel like “oh my god I have to do all this”. No it’s how I love to live my life. My life is a spiritual practice and sometimes it’s all great and sometimes it’s the pits, but its ok.

Sometimes everything is easy and flows like a miracle and the next day nothing flows. I’m learning that if I don’t get so attached to the good days, it’s not so hard to not get attached to the "not so good days". It’s all just energy, good, bad, negative, positive vibration.

It is very important to not make important decisions when angry, tired or disconnected. Self care is improving your connection to your life force and the more you take care of your body mind and spirit needs, the better you will feel.
We live in a world where stress, workaholism and self abuse is awarded. So it’s time to undo the damage and incorporate play, fun and some serious "self indulgance" into life.

Some simple tips how you can do it:

Do some lovingkindness meditation
Create a vision board
Keep a journal and write down your soul intentions
Create a ceremony about giving your vows to your soul intentions

Place your vision board or a poster board with your written intentions, where you can see it. You will notice that the more you will take care of your needs, the happier you will be. This in turn will attract more of the same energy into your life. It’s a miracle, it truly is. Make a commitment to yourself!

A simple lovingkindness meditation for you from Jack Kornfield.

May I be filled with lovingkindness.
May I be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May I be well in body and mind.
May I be at ease and happy.
May you be filled with lovingkindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be well in body and mind.
May you be at ease and happy

What have you noticed when you take care of your needs and you nourish your soul? Please leave a comment 🙂

How To Stay Positive In A Negative Environment

How To Stay Positive In A Negative Environment

You might say that it's not a good idea to hang around negative people and I would say the same. But sometimes these people are close family and we might not want to stay away.

For example parents: They might be getting old, in pain, scared and in a situation where they have to let go of control. Can YOU see how hard this is? I sure can and if someone does not have training in spiritual principles, or personal development it's hard to deal with these facts and the default might be: NEGATIVITY.

My choice was to move back to Germany to be closer to my parents. After living in California for 34 years, this was a hard decision, but somehow my feeling told me: Marita it's time to go back and be there for them. One problem is that there is a lot of negativity in my parents environment and I will need a strong practice and support system in order to not get sucked in.

Watching the news several times a day, complaining about the state of the world, the greed, the problems, the cheeting. Getting together with others, all this gets discussed and it's a vicious cycle of a hostile world, injustice, powerlessness and sickness. Wow it's no fun, I don't even want to know.

A toxic environment, but I make it my practice to be present and to stay positive, I want to be a "breath of fresh air". Detachment with love is the practice and I watch everything around me like a movie. The practice is to not react and to be loving and patient. Thank god I have a good meditation practice and support system of friends who will keep me on track.

I am so amazed and grateful about my progress. All the work with 12 step groups, spiritual programs, personal development and coaching have made such a difference in my life. It empowers and supports me through difficult times. The important lesson for me is to know that not everybody around me has the awareness to be on this path of forgiveness, acceptance and letting go and I have to accept this.

Living in a space of mystery and not knowing what tomorrow will bring is also challenging, to say the least. Living life outside of the comfortzone, having faith that everything is the way it's supposed to be and just flowing with whatever happens. That's the space where miracles happen.

My " Simple Miracle"

The beginning of December I applied for an apartment in Germany, I was hoping to be able to move in January 1, but I will not be able to move in until February 1. The thought of staying with my parents for another month was hard for me and for them. Now the miracle was, that I applied for US citizenship and the only thing left to do was my "Swearing in Ceremony, which I did not have a date for at the time. One day later my friend checked my mail and I got the date for the ceremony, January 8th. I booked a flight and decided to stay in California until the end of January. So, it worked out perfectly!

These miracles strenghen my trust in the universe and the more I notice them, the more I can let go of trying to control everything. What a relief that is.

What's your recent miracle?

Wie Macht Man Ein Vision Board?

Herzlich willkommen, ich habe diese Seite für meine Deutschen "Vision Board Freunde" kreiert. Es ist leider minimal, da ich nicht die Zeit habe, in Deutsch zu bloggen. Aber wenigstens kann ich Ihnen die wichtigsten Fakten hier übermitteln. Ich schreibe normalerweise in English und mein Deutsch ist etwas rostig, bitte haben Sie Verständnis, daß es nicht perfekt ist. Mein Business Guru: Alex Mandossian sagt immer "Besser etwas fehlerhaft in die Tat umsetzen, als etwas "perfekt "nicht machen." Na ja die Übersetzung tut's nicht ganz aber ich hoffe man versteht es. Am Ende finden sie ein Paar Videos!

Was ist ein Vision Board? Es ist eine Collage, zusammengeklebt aus Bildern, die Ihre innersten Träume, Ziele und Wünsche für Ihr Leben darstellen. Manchmal entdecken sie sogar Träume und Ziele, die Ihnen vorher noch nicht bewußt waren. Es ist ein wunderbarer Prozess, mit einer Prise Kreativität und 2 Prisen Zauber. Es ist wichtig, daß Sie einfach loslassen und spielen. Lassen Sie sich überraschen.

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