The Trouble with Receiving What You Want
“I don’t deserve it!” As soon as the words blurted from my mouth, I felt tears of embarrassment. How could I say something so stupid — after all the work I’ve done, too!
I was at Miraval Spa in Tuscon AZ as part of my year-long Sassy Mastermind 
business-and- spirit adventure with mentor Lisa Sasevich, and I’d just been asked by fellow member Amethyst Wyldfyre (right) why I wasn’t willing to spend $65 on a spa treatment I wanted.
Because I’ve never been to a spa. Because I don’t “waste money.” Because I’m not like the “spoiled rich people” who go to spas.(!?) Because I don’t deserve to do nice things for myself….
Yikes. As Amethyst and I talked, I saw how deeply this limiting belief has been sabotaging my business and my life (and distanced me from all the perfectly lovely “rich people” out there). It’s stopped me from:
* asking for help when I could have really used it. (Anyone else out there feel you always gotta handle it yourself?)
* charging for my services according to the value I deliver. (Anyone else out there waaay undercharging?)
* receiving what I want and need to fulfill what matters to me — $$, self-care, time off, taking in all the love and support around me. (Anyone else who’s struggled and stressed and not taken care of yourself, although you KNOW you have a lot to contribute and can’t when you’re stressed out?)
Even though I could see how how destructive my limiting belief was, I knew it’d come up again…
So I created an alternative thought to tell myself when “I don’t deserve it” shows up: “I am SO worth it!” –with hand on hip, tee hee. (We call this “reframing your limiting belief” in Vision-Powered Planning.)
I’m also practicing an affirmation I got at Miraval: “I am open to receiving my heart’s desire.”
And darned if I didn’t receive one of my heart’s desires just a few hours later: in my “hotseat” coaching with Lisa Sasevich and Lisa Cherney, above, I received deep affirmation of the value and uniqueness of my Possibility Portraits — and the path to serving many more people, at a much higher level, for far more money, than I’d ever imagined.
In fact I’ve experiencing “receiving my heart’s desire” many times since then. Like in this moment: the late winter sun, surprisingly warm, just blazed out from behind the clouds. What more could my winter-weary heart desire?
Part of receiving all the good around me is also acknowledging it: for example telling the Miraval massage therapist how blessed I felt by his work and all that I received from it. (Added joy: seeing how touched he was by my appreciation…)
Lisa Zimmerman of www.soullevelsolutions.com calls receiving “the energy of allowing love (undefended) to flow into your heart” and says receiving is a spiritual practice for all “serial givers.” Are you a “giver” — or thwarted giver — too?
We can only give fully to others when we treat ourselves with love, respect and kindness. And the world needs each of our gifts! So what’s something kind you can do for yourself today? How much are you willing to receive?
