It's Your Life......Own It!

by Christie Bakeman

Overview

We go through life asking questions; wondering how we got where we are, why is this happening to me, is this all there is and can I really improve my life? Sometimes we need help finding the answers. With humor and honesty, Christie Bakeman takes us through different areas of life, sharing her personal stories and processes to help you wake up to the possibilities. You deserve to be happy. Beginning from a place of acceptance, you are guided through exercises to assist you on your journey to improve your daily existence and create the life you desire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781504349475
Publisher:	Balboa Press
Publication date:	02/10/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	108
File size:	304 KB

About the Author

Christie Bakeman spent thirty years in management, juggling sixty-five-hour workweeks as a wife, mother, and volunteer.

A successful businessperson from a young age, she was listed as one of the ten executives to watch in 1992 by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. A lifelong journey of self-evaluation and spiritual fulfillment led to her transforming her ordinary life and creating a life filled with love and light. She is a founding partner of succeed at.life. You can connect with that community on Facebook. Christie currently lives with her family in Arizona.

Read an Excerpt

It's Your Life...... Own It!

---

By Christie Bakeman

Balboa Press

Copyright © 2016 Christie Bakeman
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5043-4948-2

---

CHAPTER 1

Changing Paths

You must have been living under a rock the past few years if you haven't heard of or talked about the law of attraction. Maybe you read the book The Secret, or you tuned in to Oprah and heard a stimulating conversation about attracting everything you want. Maybe you've read the teachings of Abraham or listened to talk radio. Whatever the catalyst was, you at some point thought about how cool it would be to attract everything you want. Then reality set in, along with thoughts about how this crap doesn't work — at least not for you. I understand that feeling, because I've been there.

I was so excited when I read The Secret that I bought two dozen copies so I could give them away. After all, I wanted all the folks who were important to me to have the same information. I gave a copy to each of the fifteen managers who worked for me. One of those managers, Julie, called me the day after I gave her the book to tell me how excited she was because she had stayed up all night reading. This information was new to her and created an increased level of excitement for life in her. I also gave the book to one of my youngest son's friends, Liam. He was a teenager who'd experienced more trauma in his life than most adults, and I wanted him to know that he could control his life. He was so grateful to be introduced to concepts that he'd never heard of that he couldn't stop reading the book.

So here I am, all excited about this book and about a universal law referred to as the law of attraction. I read the book, set some goals, and shared what I was thinking about with others — and my life didn't change. Damn! Okay, I said to myself, maybe you haven't really absorbed the true meaning of the material. I bought the CD set of The Secret, and I also bought a couple of Abraham CDs. Most folks don't know that the basis for The Secret began with the teachings of Abraham delivered by Esther Hicks. I spent a great deal of time driving for my job, so I figured I'd put all that drive time to good use and really absorb the material. Guess what happened? My life didn't change much at all. There were small victories in my attempts at manifestation, but nothing anyone else could recognize.

Right now, you might be saying, "See? It didn't work for her either," but you'd be wrong. It may have taken years, but once I finally got it, I was amazed. My intention with the book you are currently reading is to share enough examples and exercises with you that your journey into believing that you are in control of your life and happiness is a shorter one than what I experienced.

As above, so below. As within, so without. — The Emerald Tablets

In May of 2011, I was riding in a Jeep with the top off on some unknown road in Ohio. My oldest son, Cody, was driving. My youngest son, Ryan, and their friend, Taylor, were in the back of the Jeep. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the warm wind was blowing against my face and through my hair. I spent fifteen minutes trying to identify a feeling that came over me. Seriously. Okay, I'm blonde but not dumb, and it took me nearly fifteen minutes to identify that I was feeling happy. Wow! What a wake-up call. How freakin' sad that it had been so long since I had been happy that I didn't even recognize happiness when it showed up. Not to bore you with the details of my misery, but let's agree that whatever circumstances we become accustomed to become our normal. It is just how life is for us. Maybe it is a coping mechanism for the human race that we become complacent and accept life as it is without much thought as we go about our lives — until something occurs that wakes us up. My wake-up call was that Saturday afternoon, and it made me realize that I had to change something. I wasn't sure what at that point; I was just absolutely positive that I had to change something, because I wanted to be happy.

It wasn't until 2013, when I read the entire Emerald Tablets, that the above quote made sense to me. It took several more months for me to realize why I thought the law of attraction didn't work for me those many years ago when I was so enthused about it. You see, my perception was off — way off. What I didn't understand was that how we feel inside affects how we perceive the world, our relationships, and basically everything in our lives. As within, so without. I could only perceive or receive what I believed.

It took years for me to actually realize that the reason the law of attraction didn't seem to work for me was simply because my thoughts were all coming from a place of lack. I wanted abundance — hell, I would have been happy with a little extra cash after all the bills were paid, but my focus was on the bills and how little was in the bank account. I wanted my marriage to be better, but I focused on all of the negative aspects of my mate. I wanted my job to be less stressful, but my focus was on all of the things I had to do. My complete focus was on what wasn't in my life, so the affirmations I wrote or said or the desires I had couldn't show up, because I didn't truly believe they were available.

If you wish to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration. — Nikola Tesla

So let's cover some basics. You may know these or have had thoughts about them before, but until you accept them, it is going to be a bit difficult to change your circumstances.

You are energy.

You emit a vibration. People and things that vibrate at the same frequency are drawn to you.

You are a creator. Life doesn't happen to you, but rather is created by you.

Let's take these three truths and make sure that you understand the wonderful guidance system you were born with: your feelings. The true you, that source energy that is you, knows only your well-being. The true you is wise, healthy, happy, and continually vibrating at the best version of you. Think about a time when you felt really happy. Maybe it was a family event (where everyone was getting along), maybe it was when you achieved a goal that you'd been working toward, or maybe it was as simple as playing with your pet and being totally in the present moment. That happy feeling occurred because you were in alignment with the true you. Life was good — really good — at that moment. When you feel any type of negative emotion (frustration, anger, depression, etc.), you are out of alignment with the true you. Your feelings are simply alerting you that you need to change how you are thinking.

I realize that I'm making it sound simple, which it is and it isn't — at least, not until you have a conscious, working understanding. The first step is really more about being aware. We go through life on automatic pilot so much of the time that most of us aren't really operating at a conscious level. So how are you feeling right now? Are you close to your natural state ofjoy, feeling physically well and happy inside? If the answer were yes, you would be in alignment with the true you. If you are feeling something like hostility, then you may be experiencing discomfort in your abdomen and tension in your neck and shoulders, thus being out of alignment with your true self.

Simply being aware of how you feel can get you on the right path.

Oh dear, here's the point where you may get your feathers ruffled. Everything — every relationship, every circumstance, everything that has shown up in your life — is because you created it. Now, I know you are immediately thinking about all of the things that you didn't want that have shown up. Humor me. There may be things in your life that you didn't consciously attract; however, you did attract them because of the frequency at which you were vibrating. Like attracts like. Just as I couldn't attract a better marriage by focusing on what was wrong with mine, you can't put your attention on what you don't want or what is unsatisfying to you and expect that the opposite is going to show up just because that is what you desire.

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. — Lao Tzu

The most wonderful thing about this whole concept is that you can create something different. If you are happy with how your life is moving along, great! Keep doing what you are doing because it is obviously working for you. However, if you are interested in changing an area or two of your life, then please allow me to assist by providing some opportunities for you to view your life as you want it to be. I would love for you to come on this journey with me with the knowledge that my intention is for you to be happier and far more satisfied with your creation than you previously thought possible.

Let's get started. First, let me tell you that if you are the type who prefers to read books cover to cover, certainly do that; but if there is a specific area of your life that you want to focus on first, check out the table of contents and go straight to that chapter.

CHAPTER 2

Work and Your Job

You may wonder, Why start with a chapter on work instead of family, marriage, friends or spiritual growth? Aren't they more important than our jobs? Well, of course they are, but let me ask where you spend the most time: is it your job? Unfortunately, the majority of us spend the greatest portion of our lives chasing the dollar or "working so we can live." We ask small children what they want to be when they grow up, and the answers usually involve a job. They say, "I want to be a nurse" or "a football player" or "a fireman." In high school our children are given aptitude tests to provide them with the list of careers that are a good match to their personality and skill set. As adults, when we meet someone new we ask what they do, and what we mean is what do they do for a job. Our society has put a huge emphasis on what we do for a "living"; therefore, there should be something in this chapter that everyone can relate to.

Let us realize that: the privilege to work is a gift, the power to work is a blessing, the love of work is success! — David O. McKay

Let's identify some people or situations that we've dealt with during our work life with the purpose of raising our own awareness. As you read these stories about real people I have known, see if any of them are similar to people in your own life. I've changed the names to prevent the inevitable excuses and backlash that will occur unless these folks become truly aware of their own thinking and behavior. The fact is that situations are a result of our thinking, and nobody knows the truth about what you are thinking except you.

Amber has had eight different jobs in an eighteen-month timeframe, none lasting more than two months — so most of the time she's been unemployed. When you ask her what happened at any of these jobs, this is what you get: "My boss was unreasonable, they wanted me to change my schedule, the boss is crazy, the work is beneath my abilities, they fired me because I didn't work a few of the shifts I was scheduled, that company makes it impossible to go from temp to permanent, my boss always is telling me what to do, they want to control my life, and the pay sucked." Maybe it is easy for you to see that Amber plays the role of victim, but let me assure you that she doesn't see it that way.

In Amber's case, her thoughts or beliefs about herself continued to bring her similar circumstances. She had never learned to take responsibility for her own behaviors, let alone her thoughts. Amber would tell you that there are no jobs in the major city she lives in, and when she does find a job, her boss is always unreasonable regarding the job requirements.

Ever have a boss that likes everyone to be on edge and in fear of losing his or her job? Susan was a manager of thousands of employees in multiple locations. She had a habit of requesting information at the end of the day or calling her employees during dinnertime or on weekends to ensure they were focused on their jobs. When someone wasn't seeing it her way, she would bully the person into changing his or her opinion under the guise of trying to be helpful. When an employee survey showed that her people didn't trust her, she acted surprised. Hello! When you are trying to control everyone else's behavior and thoughts, you just might find out that you are creating resentment.

Susan was an intelligent woman by all accounts, but she was operating in an unaware state of mind. Rather than tackle the universal law of oneness, let's look at the oneness of a company. Presumably it could be understood that all employees in a company are working toward a common goal, such as sales, higher profits, market share, and so forth. If the majority of employees are focused in the same direction as the company, results are usually more favorable. Susan's management style created more of an us-versus- them mentality — or, more specifically, a me-versus-you mentality. She attracted exactly what she sent out vibrationally. One would assume that the micromanaging of her team members was due to a lack of trust in their decisions, so she shouldn't have been surprised that she received a lack of trust in return.

Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love, but only distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of a temple and take alms of those who work with joy. — Khalil Gibran

Elaine was in many ways the opposite of Susan, but she scared me much more. When you meet Elaine, your impression is that she is intelligent, caring, and a social individual. People like her. She was always polite when addressing someone directly and listened to what they were saying to her. Sounds like an awesome person to work with, right? Unfortunately, covert hostility is where her emotional tone was. Covert means hidden, and what you saw was not what was really happening behind your back or behind the scenes. Working with someone like this can make you feel like you are crazy or like your imagination has gone into overdrive. Elaine would say one thing to your face and then would go to someone else and make an off-handed comment that would plant the seeds of doubt.

JJ was one of the most interesting and versatile people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. After a career working in technical support for an incredibly popular singing group, he moved to Atlanta and became a floral designer — and a very good one at that. JJ was easygoing and friendly. The surprising thing was his lack of confidence. When a promotion was available, he didn't want to try for it; he would say he didn't think he had the abilities needed to perform the job. Although he was a creative designer, teaching others from a supervisory role scared him. I believed in him so much that I insisted he take the promotion and learn as he went. I saw potential beyond his obvious talent that he simply didn't recognize in himself. Six months after he'd been promoted he came to me to say thank you. He was grateful that I pushed him and forced him to confront his fear.

* * *

At this point you may be wondering how any of these stories can help you in the workplace. Well, let's start by talking about awareness. How aware are you of yourself and your capabilities? How aware are you about what your coworkers are thinking, feeling, and doing? What's real can certainly be up for debate — as quantum theory has proven that the observer can and does impact the reality — so I'm going to approach this from some common ground that most individuals can come to some agreement on.

Let's delve into Amber's situation a bit more. Think of someone with whom you've worked who always places blame on someone else and fails to take responsibility for what happens. Maybe this someone is you, and that's okay because only you know what you are thinking. When someone is working with us who continually plays the victim, the office becomes a nest of negativity. Those individuals who behave responsibly get frustrated, making negative comments, rolling their eyes, and pretty much making it known that they think their coworker is an idiot.

(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from It's Your Life...... Own It! by Christie Bakeman. Copyright © 2016 Christie Bakeman. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface, ix,
Chapter 1 Changing Paths, 1,
Chapter 2 Work and Your Job, 6,
Chapter 3 Life Partners/Spouses, 20,
Chapter 4 Health and Feeling Good, 35,
Chapter 5 Raising Happy Children, 48,
Chapter 6 Your Most Important Relationship — You, 59,
Chapter 7 Your Worst Enemy — Your Subconscious (until you make it your best friend), 74,
Chapter 8 The Oneness, 88,
About the Author, 95,
Notes and Inspirations, 96,