Life is my best teacher. It provides me with all I need to know if I am a good student and remember to listen to my heart instead of my head when I am in fear, lacking in direction, suffering from self-doubt or when the amount of money in my checking account is in triple digits instead of in six figures.

As an old adage says, “the teacher will appear when the student is ready.” For me the teacher comes in the form of life lessons. If I haven’t responded to God’s (Goddess, Universal Energy, whatever name you’re comfortable with) little nudges, I am forced to respond because something happens in my life.

For example, seven years ago my car was rear-ended. To recover from my injuries, I was forced to limit my activities to going to and from work, having sessions with my chiropractor and just literally being flat on my back just allowing my injuries to heal. My injuries  forced me to stay put and really feel physical and emotional pain associated with the accident as well as all the "stuff" that I tried to avoid since I was a small child. It was a hard way to learn that I can't "run away" from pain or disappointments. I need to acknowledge them, feel them and then release them. If I don't, they will seemingly hit me from behind.

Four years ago, I dislocated my left shoulder. That taught me to stop shouldering other people’s burdens, to ask for help and to graciously receive it. As somebody who prides herself in being so independent, this was a very humbling experience and, in a way, it prepared me for what's going on in my life now.

I’m currently learning life lessons from a freak occurrence that makes it difficult for me to raise my right arm above my waist. This started two years ago and, although it's gotten better, I still have limited use of my right arm and am in pain most of the time. The situation with my arm has forced me to look at old beliefs about myself and the world that are no longer in alignment with who I am and what I want out of life. I am facing lots of fears and finding out how courageous I truly am.

Because I could not drive or do the most basic of tasks, I was forced to be quiet and inner directed for 24 months. This is so opposite of my “type A” personality. Keeping me in one place for an extended period of time was God’s only way of getting me to slow down and quiet my mind so I could see how my thoughts, beliefs and actions caused my situation.

The lessons I’m now learning are fundamental. They deal with trusting my intuition, knowing that there are people who truly care about me and learning to say “no” without fear of any consequences. I’ve learned I have to take care of myself first and then I can take care of others. If I reverse the order, I become resentful and that doesn’t contribute to my well-being.

I've also learned that if I say "no" to an offer of help, I'm denying the other person the opportunity of feeling good. Giving and receiving are the opposite sides of the same coin. I'm not weak because I need help to do marketing, cleaning and occasionally driving. I'm just human. 

Life has also taught me that our days are numbered and that we need to express love, to experience joy, and to express gratitude as often as possible. We don’t know when the classes on planet earth will end.

I’m grateful for my life lessons. They have been challenging but I guess I signed u p for an advanced course in life. I love how each life lesson has taught me to love myself more, to release judgments about how things or people “should” be and to stop “bullying” myself into doing things that I intuitively know are not in my own best interest.

I now look at every situation in the past and the present as just another “homework assignment” that I’ll either complete or have to redo until the lesson is fully learned. It’s a never ending evolutionary process. There will always be something new to learn and I'm now a willing student of life.