"Ogres have layers, onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers"

"Oh, ok, but you know, not everyone likes onions. Cakes! Cakes have layers. Everyone likes a cakes!"

If you are a client of mine, you know I use a multitude of metaphors and movie references to get my points across using pictures that pop into full color clarity in your brain. Sometimes all the talk and discussion and persuasive pretty words won't turn on that light bulb the way a picture does.

We all have layers like Shrek. Whether you think of them as the layers of an onion, or the parfait that Donkey finally decides on, or the stories of a house, we are not simply a conglomeration of parts that can be removed, fixed and replaced like a car. The tricky part is that all of our layers are connected to all of the other layers that make up who we are and contribute to our overall health. However, we have been told over and over again that this isn't true. We have been told that you can just take this pill or just follow this diet or just do this workout or just say this prayer and everything will be fixed and you won't have to think about what's troubling you again.

Let's look at just one of the layers we're dealing with as humans. You know this one well because it is the focus of our Western way of living: the physical exterior. We are trained from an early age that our exterior is the most important layer we have. It is the focus of fame and fortune. It is the shell that gets all the attention from the diet industry, the manufacturing of beauty, and the celebrity machine. But, nearly all the efforts to perfect and maintain this exterior facade are at the expense of all the layers beneath that shell that actually make us human. The creams and shellacs, the chemicals and processed foods, the medications and surgeries, the deprivation and self-abuse, all lead us down an extremely unhealthy path in the long run. We may end up with a very pretty mask to wear, but just beneath that surface often lives a starved, scared, lonely, lost spark of conscious life that knows something is very wrong but has no idea how to fix it.

We have layers of consciousness, spirit, emotion, intellect, connection, and wonder. We have an inner Self that gets trampled in this Western world by the demands of Ego and it's drive for the perfect shell. We are subjected to a very effective marketing machine that tells our Ego it's doing the right thing. When we starve ourselves by withholding food or fun or friends or feelings, we play into this misguided drive for external perfection (which changes with the whim of fashion every few years). It's designed to be a losing battle and yet we strive for acceptance through this struggle to create the "right" facade. You see this in fashion, $50K cars, 10K square foot houses, extravagant vacations, $25K weddings, and the list goes on as if you could actually buy happiness and fulfillment by focusing solely on the one layer of what it means to be human that actually has the least to do with happiness or fulfillment.

I just had a conversation with a friend about how some of the wealthiest people he works with are the most miserable because they feel that they SHOULD be happy now and they are coming to the realization that they ultimately can't buy a membership to that club. Now I know most of you out there, and me included, don't have that problem (at least as defined by the Western idea of "wealth"). And yet, how many of us put off happiness? How many times do you find yourself saying "I'll be happy when I get that job", or "I'll be happy when this year is finally over", or "I'll be happy when I finally fit into those size 4 jeans"? I challenge you to start seeing from those other layers of who you are and finding ways to insert wonder, amazement and see how good your life actually is. I challenge you to start seeing your glass as half full. I challenge you to be your true self without apology.

Unveil the layers of your REAL Self. Let your spark shine. Get REAL.

A Revolutionary Idea

Are you one of the many thousands who make New Year's Resolutions? Do you start off with oodles of resolve and commitment only to get to the end of January and throw in the towel? The diet and fitness industries (and oh yes, we're talking huge money making industries!) count on you to fail. Yep, you read that right. They count on you to FAIL. Why? Simple math. Their marketing gurus can then guilt you into buying another diet food or signing up for another gym membership or purchasing another piece of bulky home equipment. All of these are destined to miss the mark as well. One of the things I tell my clients regularly is that the diet industry is not your friend. They are guaranteed to lighten your wallet but fail you in your well-intentioned desire for health. The biggest reason for this is every diet and exercise program is "bookended", meaning that there is a beginning and an end. Once you reach the end (or quit in frustration) you tend to return to the "real world" and all the old habits that got you in trouble in the first place. Lasting change is NOT what the diet industry wants! That would devastate their profit margin.

Reclaiming your health is nothing short of Revolutionary in this day and age. Truly. There are so many forces out there fighting against you! It takes courage and guts to claim your Self. We are lulled into oblivion by sales pitches, television, fake surgically-created celebrity bodies, quick fix promises and medications that seem to magically remove personal responsibility (until the side effects kick in). We are sold a load of garbage and told it's food. We are tricked into believing that we don't actually have to DO anything about our health, just take this new medication. Those clever marketing agents have discovered that people don't really want to hear the truth: if you want to attain and maintain health, you have to take an active role. You actually have to take responsibility and make changes that stick for a lifetime, not just until the end of January or until you make it to that high school reunion. You have to swim upstream against the marketing assaults that hit you in the gut at every turn. You have to start listening to what your body needs and break free from the hypnotic drone of the advertisements for no-calorie, no-fat triple chocolate layer cake, no-exercise, eat-all-you-want, lose-20-pounds-in-2-days, fat-flush fantasies. You have to get to that place where the proverbial line in the sand stops moving and you take the first step toward the You you know is in there buried under the cases of Slim Fast, Lean Cuisine and Vitamin Water. The REAL You. The Vibrant You. I won't pull punches, the beginning is difficult. The terrain is fraught with perilous pitfalls and dead ends. It requires moxie and stick-with-it-ness. But you know what? The challenge is worth it. YOU are worth it! I haven't worked with a single person who has made this commitment to care deeply for themselves and regretted it! I have met many people who have woken up out of their couch-glued, prime-time, high-fructose, guilt-induced-sound-bite stupors in wonder, gasping at their new-found sense of vitality. They wonder how they ever allowed themselves to slip into the rivers of snake oil. With new-found strength and determination they spring forward into the adventure called life that stretches out in front of them. Won't you join them?

Here is a radical idea: WAKE UP. TAKE CHARGE. GET REAL.