Are you coming from the mind or the heart?

When we help others in our own special way, we open ourselves up to the magic of the soul, bathing us in its light. And isn’t that a great place to be?

Everyone has a life purpose; everyone has a message to share with the world. But how are they conveying this message? Are they basing their message on their own personal experience or on their “intellectual” knowledge? In other words, are they coming from the mind or the heart? Have they had a life event, which has taken them to the place where they have met their inner gremlins face on and have battled with them, only to embrace them afterwards and taken them on as allies instead of adversaries? Or is it an intellectual exercise, a means to gain admiration and attention for what they profess to know? Have you ever seen, heard or read about someone who takes a workshop or two on a subject that interests them and then hangs out their shingle as if to say they are now an expert? Can they really “connect” with a person at a soul level if they haven’t really “been there, done that?”

That’s where I was when I first started my coaching practice. Oh, I had the deep desire to be a life coach for women, based on my own 40 years of experience (at the time), but my focus on helping was outwardly based. I was being directed by my ego, that part of the mind that is focused on our outer reality: our self importance, our self esteem. And if one’s focus is on outer reality, how can one really connect with her clients deeply, at the place where a person’s seed of life begins to sprout, allowing them to blossom into the glorious creature that they are meant to be? Life doesn’t begin outside of oneself; it begins with the divine spark within that is her guiding principle. And how can one help facilitate her clients’ journey down the road to their self discovery if she hasn’t traveled the road herself? If she hasn’t gone through the muck of her own life, confronting the skeletons in her closet, the demons in the shadows of her psyche? Only then can she truly relate to her clients’ needs… because she HAS “been there, done that.”

Unfortunately (or should I say “fortunately”) for me, it took a stroke in June 2011 for me to learn this lesson. It was a gift of the soul. I went through a total transformation of self, where I moved from the ego-based “what’s in it for me?” mindset to a more heart-centric “how can I serve others?” ethos. And my own trauma served as the catalyst for my ability to really minister to others with compassion and empathy, because I HAD been there and done that! Before I had my stroke, I had developed a program for women called Yin Radiance: The Journey to Inner Balance, based on my book Zesty Womanhood at 40 and Beyond. Being 40+ myself, I thought I would be able to help guide women with ease through their own process of going through the stage of their life when they began to nurture their own souls, instead of being caregivers of everyone else as they had been for decades before. And I thought I was speaking from my “heart”, where the divine goddess resides and radiates her love outward embracing all in her path with her warm glow. This was the natural, authentic way of being for a woman, was it not?

But it took a life-changing event to make me realize that my message to women was being filtered through my egoic mind that was more concerned about my outer appearance and how I was perceived by others, rather than coming from my core essence from which compassion and love flow. When I had this revelation about a shift in consciousness, the work I had done before my stroke took on so much more meaning, as I began to really connect with my own inner goddess. I no longer needed validation from anything outside myself. I felt suffused with the divine spark that is a part of every living creature. It was MY guiding principle.

With this new awareness, with my heart as the crux of this sacred equation, I will take delight in ministering to women’s divine souls, instead of indulging my ego’s whims. I have also begun plans to develop a program as a trauma recovery coach, using my book on healing and recovery Radiant Survivor as its foundation. And I have found that as one facilitates the self discovery of others, she herself continues down her own path of illumination. Although this notion has existed in my mind since I became a life coach in 2010, it has now moved to my heart where it resonates profoundly. When we help others in our own special way, we open ourselves up to the magic of the soul, bathing us in its light. And isn’t that a great place to be?

So I leave you with this… Do you have a message that you wish to convey? Have you traveled through the murky waters of life and have a story to tell? Follow your heart’s song. Use your life experiences to create that missive that you wish to share. And know that as you become an agent of change for others, so too will you be transformed. You can be a part of the new consciousness of the world.

(Erica Tucci had a full life as a corporate manager of a Fortune 500 company, a healing arts business owner and an author. It all came to a screeching halt in June 2011 when she had a stroke. During her recovery, she gained much wisdom about what’s really important in life and she re-entered the world with a new mission in life. She now wishes to use her story as an inspiration for others facing life challenges, which we all have, big or small, as well as continuing the work she was doing before her stroke, helping women find their “yin radiance” through their authentic voice and their own healing. She considers herself the Radiance Muse, inspiring you to live your life brilliantly. For more information, visit www.ericatucci.com and www.radiantsurvivor.com.)

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