This is the one thing most of my clients need: Courage to change
You are a pretty tough cookie for almost everything. You get things done at work, you meet your deadlines, take care of your family needs, protect your kids, keep the house in order, pay the bills on time, stay on top of car maintenance and you even make your voice heard politically. But when it comes to your own health you become a terrified person. For a long time you may have frozen in complete inaction or denial.
- This is going to be too hard
- I cannot do it
- I prefer to eat what I like while I can…if I get sick I can think about changing my lifestyle
- My doctor say my tests are normal (even though I still feel like crap)
- I like food too much (My choice of food – not all food)
- I’m going to hate the new healthy food
- People will look at me funny at the gym/ yoga studio
- My family & friends won’t support me
- I don’t have what it takes (money, time, skills, genes, etc)
- This health issue runs in my family so I cannot help it
Have you thought about these? Maybe you have even said some of them aloud. Most people do, and they use sarcasm or humor to hide the fear of change. They also use it to hide the unhappiness behind the way their body feels and looks and the secret wish they could be like “these people” that change their lives.
What if I told you that “these people” were afraid too (or still are). The difference is that they still do things. And you know what?…maybe they did very little at the beginning and saw no changes, but they got better at it and then results started happening. This is because changing is a practice. There’s a part of your brain that is being unused when you keep doing the same things all the time. That part is atrophying in a way, like a muscle that doesn’t get used. So as time goes by you get more and more set in your ways, until you get to an age when all the health issues your family members have had show up all over your body. At this point you can’t see a way out because you’d have too change too much – and your “change muscle” is deteriorated for lack of use.
The good news is that you don’t need a lot to stop that from happening. The only thing you need is the courage to change. When I say courage I mean willingness and determination. It doesn’t matter how big or small the change is. You master courage by changing constantly. You master courage by building a vessel in which the Universe can pour its unlimited blessings. You build courage so you can be used by that Power. It is never you alone pushing. Never. It is you walking forwards by the hand of God.
What can I give you to help you get this courage? I will give you two real life stories of clients that did this. I’m including every detail so you can see that these are not super heroes. These are people just like you. If they can do it so can you. You lack nothing other than a firm “I can do this”. They also went through this hesitant space and they failed many times. I promise you they were not wining warriors at first. They just whispered a yes…and kept stumbling forwards with Spirit by their sides in every step.
My first story is very heart warming. This person had been “flirting” with me for years. This is the term I use for people that read my blog & emails, like my social media posts and maybe ask questions and communicate with me occasionally, but they aren’t ready to take action. Each person has their excuse, but we stablished that the core emotion behind inaction is fear. Well, here’s what happened with this person. My personal belief is that Spirit gave her the push because of the big challenge that was coming her way (something no one could have guessed)
“I would first like to say, thank you! I am so grateful to have you in my life. You don’t understand how much you have impacted me just from your posts, your support, and your wisdom with what you have shared with me so far about your super foods and healthy lifestyle.
Before going through the 10day cleanse journey with you I vowed in 2016, to take that year for my health. I was in chronic pain all the time, with my muscles, joints, mood swings, etc. That is also the same year I did my yoga teacher training. At that time I had been complaining about lower back and hip pain for years. My doctor at the time wanted me to get a breast reduction. This was something I had thought about before, but it felt unnatural to me to do something so extreme without further test or change in lifestyle. After doing my yoga training and taking several workshops, I changed several toxic habits I once had. This helped me to feel stable up until this year. I could tell it was a temporary fix and my habits never really changed because I didn’t know what I was doing. When I connected with you about the cleanse and food list, I had a new goal. I wanted to change my habits, gain knowledge and improve my future. After the cleanse I realized my relationship with food was extremely unhealthy. I have to admit I was angry and hungry most of the 10 days. I talked myself in and out of quitting the cleanse. My body felt better, but my energy stayed the same. I actually forced myself to sleep more so I wouldn’t be hungry. Eating, honestly felt like a chore….I wanted to stop eating everything. But I didn’t and I kept going thanks to you and your motivating posts, and my family and friends who kept me accountable.
Overall, after the cleanse my mental state with food changed. I felt so aware of what I was putting into my body. How food reacted to my body and how I wanted to feel after every meal became important to me. I still say I have a long way to go with my mental relationship with food, but just knowing, is my first step and you helped me get there.
You also help give me hope. As I mentioned before, I am continuing my journey with my health and yesterday I found out I am diagnosed with Lupus. This is a scary thought for me because no one in my family has this and everyone I know who does, has severe symptoms. If I heard of this diagnosis maybe 4 years ago, I would have been in complete despair and feel hopeless. And if I would have heard this maybe last year I would have felt completely lost on where to start, but Maria, this is where you come in. When I heard this news yesterday and I heard the doctor say your case is mild at the moment, all I could think was thank you Maria. Learning about leaky gut, super food and listening to my body has transformed my mental outlook on my health. I feel hope and secure that I will be able to have a handle on what is happening within my body and educate myself on Autoimmune diseases because of you! I have a few vitamin deficiencies that I will need to monitor and I’m looking into foods that can help, but overall I feel optimistic. You have changed my life for the better even in this short amount of time.
…This is something I am still processing and allowing my family to process in their own way. My family has told me that they look up to me and are proud of where I have come from with my health journey. They joke and say I’m healthier than all of them and its comforting to know that they want to learn more about living a healthy lifestyle.
Anyway, I wish I could say more than just thank you because you probably saved my life, but I love you and appreciate you so much. You are a great mentor. I wish you all of the best and cant wait to keep you apart of my life.
The second courageous person came to me with a different set of needs. They needed burnout repair and conscious breathing tools. They had been through so much trial and error, from medication to other approaches to anxiety, they felt they could help other people. Still, they kept feeling they hadn’t overcome the real issue. When this person first contacted me, I knew from the choice of words and speed of the communication that they wanted help and they wanted it fast. Maybe all this trial and error, including a scientifically designed program guided by a University, were muscle training for their change-resilience part of the brain. This person was no stranger to the emergency room due to very severe panic attacks. I must say that I wasn’t sure how much I could do for them. But these past experiences, combined with their courage and my tools and approach became part of the solution. This is what this person wrote in my social media page:
“I came across Maria del Mar through a mutual friend and on my search for ways to deal with a severe anxiety and panic attack disorder. I started working with her a few months ago. I used to have several panic attacks a day and I am happy to report that thanks to this kind human been and all her knowledge and love, I have not have a panic attack in weeks. I now have tools such as breathing and healthy eating to improve not only my health but my life and the life of those around me. People always ask me: why hire a coach when there is so much information out there? Well, my answer to that is: YOU CAN’T MANAGE WHAT YOU CAN’T MEASURE. Maria del Mar does an amazing job identifying your needs and always follows up with specific instructions on how execute your plans which makes it so easy to do. You will never feel lost and she aways have answers to all your questions. I have nothing but great things to say about my coach Maria del Mar and I thank God for the opportunity to work with her. I 100% recommend her services to everyone looking to improve your health and life. 4 ever grateful!”
Courage to change comes with plenty of hesitation in the background. You can still be afraid, you can still have doubts , you can still make mistakes and be criticized, but at the same time you can be READY FOR CHANGE. You can still do something, feel a little better, and know deep down that that is good enough until one day it isn’t. That’s when you upgrade your plan. This person knew that numbing their body was not what they wanted. They wanted to feel empowered and that is why Spirit brought us together (By the way Maria del Mar is my first and middle name. Most Spanish people won’t call me simply Maria)
What are you feeling reading this stories? My hope is that you can see that if they could do it, so can you. Do not compare yourself to the “After” picture in those before and after testimonials. Understand the process and this will become very doable. I dare to say that without a coach these beautiful people would still be searching aimlessly, feeling lost and defeated, their courage still unknown to them.
I became a coach to facilitate this process. I don’t aim to rush anyone through their process, but I make sure change is a constant thing, however small. I encourage celebrating these benchmarks and when it’s needed I pick up the pace. This typically happens when that “change muscle” get’s strong and all the small ways the body and mind respond to healthy changes build a massive waive for my clients to ride.
This is my mission and my gift to you. But only you can accept it for yourself. May you begin changing everyday. Because like my teacher Max Strom says “Resistance to change is resistance to living”. Look around, study nature: Change is life. Stagnation is…well the opposite, or not living fully at the very least.
Leave me a comment sharing what small change you’ll start today to build up your “change-muscle”. Let’s manifest this for you starting with accountability
May change bless you every day!
XO,
Coach Maria Marcano
PS: I’m blessed to have you in my community. If you enjoy reading this, let me know in the comments, I love connecting with you! Also, consider sharing it with your friends. Let the ripple effect of change and support grow with your caring heart.
