Today you’re going to receive your permission to matter. Real big. It all matters because you matter.
Kim McMillen said, “When I loved myself enough I quit having to be right which makes being wrong meaningless.”
If being wrong is meaningless, then so is being right.
So what makes life meaningful?
YOU.
A newer client recently told me, “Sometimes I feel like life is empty and meaningless.”
This is what I said. “That’s because it is…”
We’ve all heard about the glass being half full or half happy, right?
For a long time I saw it half full, but many years I decided that half full wasn’t enough. I chose to see it FULL.
FULL. FILLED.
Then several years ago I said, the heck with half full, half empty, or full. I’m the glass.
And as I told my client, “You’re the glass.”
And yes, you’re empty. Until you fill yourself up with what means something to you.
The only meaning is the meaning that you give it.
What does it mean to YOU?
What do YOU choose to fill yourself up with?
Yesterday we talked about The Cost Of Not Loving Yourself.
This is one of the costs of NOT loving yourself.
Your cup will be empty, or filled with meaningless stuff that brings you no joy and slowly sucks the life out of you.
But you can CHOOSE A DIFFERENT WAY…
Today I posted a pic on Instagram of my daughter and I on the Brooklyn Bridge. It was from a few years ago, you know the infamous #TBT pic.
It really got me thinking…and feeling.
I ended up writing a very long post, but when I went to put it on IG, it was so long it wouldn’t let me post it. I didn’t even know that IG had a limit!
So I posted a Part 1 rendition, and chose to post the rest tomorrow via the podcast because I believe YOU need to hear what I shared.
I’m going to read it you, and then I’m posting this as a podcast video post on IG and FB tomorrow.
You can also check it out there.
Here it goes…
“#TBT This was taken on the Brooklyn Bridge with my dear daughter, Anni a few years ago. 2014 to be exact. A few days after Anni’s birthday. I remember it like it was yesterday because…
A) I was with my precious Anni girl.
B) It was her birthday week.
C) I was on the Brooklyn Bridge for the very FIRST TIME…yep, first time…loved it!
D) I had recently moved to NYC and I LOVE MYCity…MY beloved MANhattan!
E) While we were taking these pics, Anni saw a tragic and shocking post on Facebook…Robin Williams had lost his life to suicide!
I felt it so personally. I remember the intense pain I felt in my chest and stomach. Like I had just been punched in the gut.
I think we all felt it at some level. But I had a deeper reason for feeling it…
My favorite movie of all time is What Dreams May Come starring Robin Williams. It’s about a man who takes it upon himself to go into the pits of hell and back to rescue his beloved wife after her suicide.
This movie has had a significant impact on my life for SO many reasons.
After watching it the first time, God shared with me that my purpose on planet earth is being a Messenger. A Messenger of Hope.
Wow…I was so excited! (And I still am.) It was the beginning of my quest and mission of knowing what it really means to be a Messenger, and knowing the truest definition of “HOPE.”
The second time I watched it…it was something that he said in the movie about people who experience death by suicide, that changed my life FOREVER!
At one of the lowest times in my life, it were these words that rung in my head as I contemplated ending it all in order to stop the pain I was living in. In the movie he said, “Suicides go to hell.” I remember hearing this so loudly in my head…screaming…as I was bargaining with God…sitting in my vehicle, in my garage, gas tank full, ready to turn the key.
It was if that movie and those exact words were JUST for me. To get me to reconsider. If even for a moment. To consider something else.
It’s one of the reasons, besides choosing LOVE, that I reconsidered my plan and chose to take a different route. (Thank God!) One that’s rooted in TRUTH. LOVE. LIFE. HEAVEN ON EARTH.
Whether people who die by suicide go to heaven or not, isn’t for me to say. All I know is that on that day, on this bridge, when I got the news about dear Robin Williams, I chose to believe that they do.
And on that day, so many years ago, when I chose to find a new way to end the pain and suffering I was in, it began with LOVE. Loving God, loving myself, loving my life, and loving my life’s work well.
I didn’t know that what my life was missing was ME…
I didn’t know that I wasn’t loving myself…
I didn’t know how much it would end up costing me…
I didn’t know that the reason I had been contemplating doing such a horrific thing to myself and life was rooted in lies, and rooted in NOT loving myself and all the chaos and confusion that comes with it. I didn’t know…
I knew the truth, but I didn’t know the WHOLE TRUTH.
I didn’t know that I was whole, even if I felt broken.
I didn’t know ME. So how could I love me?
I didn’t spend time with me. So how could I know me?
I didn’t love me.
I didn’t know that by fully accepting me I no longer had to accept anything less than my heart’s desires.
I didn’t know that my “Happy Ever After” was something that I could create WITH ME.
I didn’t know that I could still love and live my dreams…and beyond.
When I finally made the decision to go deeper than the pain, I stopped trying to “fix Shannon,” but instead I committed to “find her.”
I started dating myself well…AND EVERYTHING (AND I MEAN EVERYTHING) BEGAN TO SHIFT.
It shifted into alignment with TRUTH, and knowledge of the truth that led to FREEDOM. My freedom.
This is the LOVE + FREEDOM I now love to live and love in…and I’m beyond grateful that I got to stand on the Brooklyn Bridge decades later with my sweet precious daughter because I chose LOVE. I chose LIFE.
I get to stand WITH ME. In a city that I choose to love and live in because I chose to follow my heart and soul— BIG DREAMS AND ALL.
This is what happens when YOU CHOOSE a new day, and a new way to love yourself (and others.)
What’s the cost of NOT loving yourself well?
It’s your love.
It’s your love life.
It’s your LIFE.
When you can count the cost, you can begin to create the value that you desire. You can begin to choose something different, to see something different, because you are seeing differently.
Today on the Women Sipping On Life podcast I share the WHOLE S.O.L. STORY.
Thanks for listening. Thanks for loving. Thanks for sharing with someone who needs to be reminded of truth today. You are loved. Love yourself well. xo
To learn how to become The Great Lover Of Your Life, I’m giving YOU a FREE copy of my best-selling book, Date Yourself Well (all you’ll pay for is shipping.) Why? Because I love you. That’s why!Go to www.dateyourselfwell.com today.”
So with that, I’m going to remind you of the same thing.
Your SACRED S.O.L. STEP for today is this…
Go to www.dateyourselfwell.com today, and get yourself a FREE copy of my book. All you’ll pay for is shipping.
(This is based on the profound little book, When I Loved Myself Enough by Kim McMillen and Alison McMillen-Givnish. You can order a copy HERE.)
Thank you for being here, and allowing me to Sip On Life with you.
Request a FREE copy of my best-selling book, Date Yourself Well — The Best-Selling 12 Engagements Of Becoming The Great Lover Of Your Life (all you’ll pay for is shipping.) www.dateyourselfwell.com
I’m going to be inviting listeners onto the program. If you have a story you’d like to share — a song to sing (but not a Poor Me Story) — send me an email at: drshannon@doctorshannon.com and put SHARE MY STORY in the subject line.
If you’ve received value from the podcast, please let me know. I’d LOVE to hear from you — please email me at: drshannon@doctorshannon.com
AND PLEASE TELL YOUR BESTIES AND INVITE THEM TO SIP ON LIFE WITH US.
FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM @doctorshannon! See you there…
And learn about an incredible opportunity for a select sacred group of 25 women who are ready and willing to RISE UP AND BE THE WOMAN.
If you’ve been feeling like you’re stuck, overwhelmed, or perhaps you still feel like you’re drowning, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
I’d be more than happy to schedule a Discovery Call with you to see if Healing Life Coaching is a good fit for you. Email me at drshannon@doctorshannon.com
Come over to the WOMEN SIPPING ON LIFE S.O.L. MOVEMENT Closed FB Group and Join the MOVEMENT: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WSOLMovement/
By the way, if you haven’t already listened/downloaded my new song (EPISODE 291), you can also listen to it here: letsnottalkaboutex.com, and cast your vote for your favorite version.
Visit WomenSippingOnLife.com for more free resources, including my CHECKLIST FOR CHANGE, Engagement Checklist + Evaluation Rating, Six Sacred S.O.L. DATE Secrets…and a FREE copy of my best-selling book, Date Yourself Well. You can also check out my Dr. Shannon Facebook Page for more daily S.O.L. TRAINING.
I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Please invite your best girlfriends to come and join our S.O.L. PARTY.
xo Dr. Shannon. Inspiring minds that want to grow and hearts that want to know, so you can love you, your life, and your life’s work well. ONE SIP AT A TIME.
A special thanks to the following souls for helping me launch our WOMEN SIPPING ON LIFE podcast…
Intro/Outro done by UNI V. SOL
Outro music by Jay Man: Mind Over Matter (www.ourmusicbox.com)
Podcast cover design and web site done by: Pablo Aguilar (www.webdesigncreator.com)
Podcast cover photo by Kate Montague of KM Captured (www.kmcaptured.com)