See… I’ve been in sort of a low period over the last few weeks. I was feeling very blocked and every time I sat down to write I was just… stuck.  It was really frustrating and frankly it brought out all of those mean girl voices that say I am a fraud and a failure (you guys don’t have those do you?) which just made me feel more stuck and blocked. A vicious cycle.

I realize now (thanks to my business coachy folks and a great tarot reading from the amazing Tarot Lady), that really I have been in a period of integration and hibernation, and that’s actually a good thing.

Whenever there is a period of deep spiritual or personal shifting and growth, we need time to adjust. We need to step back and allow all of the things we have learned to settle in and the growing pains created by stretching ourselves farther than ever before need time to heal and strengthen.

So I am returning from hibernation with a new awareness and … not a new direction, but a new flavor to the direction I have been going in.

What i have realized is that I have a tendency to forget that what is “normal” to me, can really give a different perspective to what I do (I’ll expand more on that in a different post in a couple of weeks).  I realized that while I haven’t been hiding my self, I haven’t been using all of my experience and abilities in the best way possible.

I have spent years in deep spiritual and personal development, and while I’ve said before that I’m a spiritual person, I don’t think that I’ve ever come right out and said I’m a priestess and a witch. I’ve learned a lot about myself and about human nature though my studies of spirituality and the Craft and I want to bring that part of my life more fully into the work I do for you.

Here is what you can expect over the next few months here at Open Roads Coaching.

• There will be open dialogue on spiritual topics like meditation, tarot, prayer, etc. – Please note that spirituality DOES NOT mean any one specific religion. 
• A slight shift in the look (and possibly the feel) of the website.
• A new gift for folks who subscribe to my newsletter. I expect it will be ready in a couple of weeks. If you are already on the mailing list you may hear about it sooner.
• The return of the Life Keys Book Club which will be opened quarterly starting in Mid-June. Details coming up in the next week.
• The return of the Soul Salon blog circle.
• More stuff that I’m not really aware of right now

I hope you’ll join me as I step out into the next part of the evolution of Open Roads Coaching.

The post The Witch is In appeared first on Open Roads Coaching with Tina Robbins.

Just one…

For the past 7 years, it’s sprouted with leaves but never a blossom. This year, that one lonely daffodil, is about to burst open. I can’t even tell you how happy this makes me. Every spring, since we moved in, I’ve been hoping to see the bright yellow bloom only to be disappointed when wind, or snow, or dogs drag it down.

Today, that daffodil reminds me that sometimes things take patience and hope and trust.

There are things in life that are the same. Things that are planted, and then left to grow on their own, in their own time and we can only hold faith that they will eventually come through, even when conditions are less than ideal.

There are also times when you need more than hope & trust.

Times when you have to step forward and actually take the steps that will move you forward. Times when you have to do the work, make the call, sign up for the program, whatever it is that you need to move forward.

Too often lately, I see people say “I trust that it will all work out” and then they wait. And wait. And wait.

Then, when things don’t happen for them they become angry with the Universe, or with the prospect that didn’t follow through, or whatever (or whoever) they think has prevented their success. They fall into blame and judgment.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe that trust is imperative for success. If you don’t have that solid belief that things will work out, then more often than not, they won’t.

I am sure you have heard the story of the guy who prayed and prayed to win the lottery until finally, one day, God said “I’d love to help you out, but you have to buy a ticket first.”

You have to show up. You have to do your part.

I’ve been working on this a lot in a particular area of my life… balancing both trust and work in my quest for my goals.  It isn’t always easy. It isn’t always fun, but I am showing up and doing the work anyway, because I know it is all going to work out. I just need to do my part.

Have you been doing your part?

Where do you need to commit to showing up and participating in your own success?

How can I help you do that?

(Yes, that’s my daffodil. This was the day before it opened, and before the 6 inches of snow that took it down.)

The post It Can Take More Than Trust appeared first on Open Roads Coaching with Tina Robbins.

___________________________________________

When most of the people I know talk about transitions in their lives they usually mean something along the lines of changing jobs, relocating, or moving from one relationship to another.  These are the life shifts normal people make, right?

I’ve done those things. I’ve changed careers. I’ve moved across the country.  I’ve been divorced and remarried.  These are transitions we all can understand.

But five years ago, my definition of the word transition was forever changed.

Five years ago, my husband announced a transition of his own… he was going to become my wife.

Yeah… wife…

So many things ran through my mind that day in a crazy mish-mash of incoherent thoughts that I tried to express between my sobs.  I think the only reason I slept at all that night was because I was exhausted.

I woke up early the next morning and in the quiet solitude, I emailed my spiritual teacher, for support – yes, of course – but also for information, because she was the only person I knew who might have any experience with people in gender transition.

After the initial shock subsided, there was never any question that this was something that she had to do in order to be her happy, healthy, authentic self, but I had to make a choice. I had to cut through all of the noise and the drama and see what my heart really wanted.

Stay? Or go?

It didn’t take long for me to decide that this was a transition we were going to navigate together, and I knew that everything would be different, but I had no idea what that meant.

In an instant my life changed… and it’s also happening very slowly.

Gender transition is a process. It takes a long time to go through therapy, hormones, name changes, and surgeries. Each step of the process brings new challenges and new questions.  Her challenges are more obvious and visible, mine… not so much.

I’ve had to expand and deepen my understanding of what it means to be in a relationship with someone I love. (This kind of thing doesn’t usually come up when you’re daydreaming about your ideal match.)

I’ve had to deal with friends and family who don’t understand why this is happening and why I chose to stay because they can’t imagine doing the same. (I’ve lost a lot of time with my best friend because her boyfriend still can’t wrap his head around it.)

I’ve had to really step into my authentic self and not be afraid of standing up for what I believe when people around me question it and don’t understand. (Like when my mother in law, in the throes of her own shock and overwhelming emotion, told me that “at some point a woman needs a man in her life”. To which I reminded her that there are a lot of women who have never needed a man in that way.)

I’ve had to explore my reaction to having people assume I am a lesbian and I’ve had to take a hard lo

ok at how I felt about what that means. (As hard as it is to admit, we are often not as open minded as we think we are when the shoe is on our own foot.)

Right now, my life is in a constant state of transition. Every step in the transition journey brings new things to challenge me and that keep me in a perpetual state of growth and self-exploration.  There are so many things that we can’t foresee, so many questions we can’t answer about how our relationship will look in the future.

But here is the bottom line…

I fell in love with the person, not the parts. That person has changed in ways I couldn’t have possibly imagined and I chose to be a part of that. I’m still in the same relationship…only it’s different now.

I had to get very real with myself in order to decide if I wanted a traditional relationship or if I wanted THIS relationship. In the end, it’s not about external validation, or acceptance, or doing what’s expected.

It’s about allowing myself to trust one person completely and love them wholly.

Do I know where we will be in 5 years?
No… but who does?

What I do know is that this is true and authentic self-acceptance without a map or a label… and it’s real… and it’s hard… and it’s crazy sometimes, but right now, in this moment, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

The post How a Transition Has Made Me More Authentic appeared first on Open Roads Coaching with Tina Robbins.

Jean Hamilton Fford, DoHealth4You
Trust the Future

Marielle Borthwick, Passion Coaching
To Trust or Not to Trust

Stacey Donaldson, One Foot First
Trust is not what you think it is

Jennie Carlson, The Body Image Builder
Trust in Yourself

Tina Robbins, Open Roads Coaching
It Can Take More Than Trust

The post Soul Salon: Trust appeared first on Open Roads Coaching with Tina Robbins.

Tina Robbins, Open Roads Coaching
Your Own Personal Seva 

Jean Hamilton-Fford, DoHealth4U
Healing Essentials: Self-Care

Marielle Borthwick, Passion Coaching
What’s Love got to do with it?

Stacey Donaldson, One Foot First
Radical Selfish T.L.C.

Jennie Carlson, The Body Image Builder
My self-love promise

Robyn Lindsey
Self-Love is the Foundation of All Empowerment

The post Soul Salon: Self-Love and Self-Care appeared first on Open Roads Coaching with Tina Robbins.