Powerful You! Women's Network

By Kathy Fyler 

Something jolted me awake. My heart raced like crazy and fluttered uncomfortably in my chest. I felt as though my whole body was vibrating. I tried everything I knew to slow my heart—I coughed, turned onto my side, sat up, stretched, even pounded on my chest—but nothing calmed the rapid beating of my heart. It raced faster than I could even count. “Oh my God, is this it? I started to panic. “Am I going to die?” 

I realized I needed help. The ambulance arrived, and I was rushed to the hospital and whisked straight into the emergency room. Several nurses arrived and attached wires and tubes to my body. They discovered I was experiencing an arrhythmia called atrial fibrillation–-a misfiring of the electrical system of the heart that caused it to beat erratically—around one hundred and eighty beats per minute. They administered an intravenous drug called Cardizem, and thankfully my heartbeat returned to normal. A few hours later I was able to go home. 

The episode shocked me, despite the fact that I’d had open heart surgery twenty-two years earlier at the age of twenty-six. Now, forty-eight and healthy, I felt vulnerable for first time since then. I ran everyday on the beach, and felt strong and vibrant. Will this happen again? I worried. Could the a-fib be an indication that something is seriously wrong with my heart? Is this condition going change the theme of my life? I realized that only time would tell. 

Months went by and then a year and I was beginning to feel pretty confident that the episode had been a one-time event. I was in the clear. I could relax. 

Then it happened again. One day, out enjoying myself with friends, suddenly and without warning I felt the familiar, scary, mile-a-minute fluttering. “No, it can’t be!” I thought, and ended up again at the emergency room for another dose of Cardizem. It worked quickly and I was “fixed” a second time. Three days later the third bout of a-fib reared its ugly head. This time I wound up spending two days in the hospital. This “a-fib” was not a random thing. 

The doctors recommended I take a drug to prevent the a-fib from recurring and told me I would be on it forever. Not thrilled about the prospect of committing to a medication for the rest of my life, I was determined to find a different, more holistic approach to restore my physical body to vibrant health. For now, though, I’d use the medication as a bridge and safety net.

Meanwhile, I began to take an inventory of my life. Eager to know the root cause, I began to research whether what was showing up as this rapid heartbeat was a reflection of how I was living. 

I started by looking at my stressors. The year 2010 was a rough year financially. When I thought about it, I realized 2009 hadn’t been a great year either. Our business, slowed perhaps by the economy, wasn’t growing as fast as we had planned. Also, we were forced to cancel a large event we’d planned (to which a large sum of money had been committed) because the number of registrations needed hadn’t materialized in time. 

I knew that if I wanted to calm the chaos, I had to transform my thoughts. As I reflected on how I’d gotten through similar times previously, I realized how many great things I’ve manifested in my life. 

Reflections

In high school, things came easily to me. An honor student and gifted athlete, I played the piano with grace and ease. I was fearless because it seemed like anything I believed I could do, I did. 

I studied nursing in college, entered easily into my career, and continued to advance from floor nursing to the intensive care unit (ICU). When ready to transition to a corporate job, offers were plentiful and I was able to pick the best fit for me. Still fearless, I moved from my home in Connecticut to New Jersey. 

As I continued to grow in my business, personal, and spiritual life, I became an avid student of personal development. I absorbed as much as I could from many teachers who guided me in meditation, yoga, self love, business growth, and the importance of vision and goals. 

When I was forty, I read Effortless Prosperity by Bijan Anjomi—a spiritual book based on the teachings of A Course in Miracles. One of the daily lessons was about manifesting and it stated simply that all you have to do is ask the universe for what you want. You must state it exactly, clearly, in the present tense and first person. Currently house hunting, I knew that I needed additional funds, so playing along; I asked the universe for $500,000. 

At that time, I owned a sign and display company. The phone rang at the office the next day, and one our largest clients ordered five hundred neon signs. The order totaled $500,000! The most amazing part was that our average order was normally much closer to $15,000—nowhere near the $500,000 for which I’d asked. This really works! I thought, as I jumped up and down and danced around the office! I began to study and experiment with this even further and with greater passion. 

After attending a seminar on feng shui—the eastern practice of harmonizing space and placement to ease and enhance the flow of energy and life force—I learned that if you want to bring something into your life, you have to make room for it. I decided that it was time for an additional car. I looked at my garage and realized that, based on these principles, I wasn’t going to manifest a car if there was no space for it. So I took a couple of days and cleaned out the garage. I threw away or donated lots of things and created the void for the universe to fill. It looked so clean and fresh—perfect for a new car! 

The very next day, my dad called. He was buying a new car and asked if I wanted his old one. How quickly it worked! In just one day, I’d manifested a car! But I learned from this event that I’d missed an important step to manifesting: I must be very clear when describing what I want. Although I totally appreciated, and was grateful for, the car that my dad gave me—a thirteen year-old Honda with two hundred thousand miles and no air conditioning—I’d really wanted a brand new, fully-loaded SUV! 

Upon reflection, I realized how many other things I’d manifested in my life. Some of them were crystal clear to me when they happened, others not so much—perhaps I needed more time to see the real essence of what was happening and why. 

The next teacher in my life was Brian Tracy. I listened to a set of tapes titled Million Dollar Habits in which he strongly encouraged listeners to create goals. Following his instructions, I wrote my desires on paper, dated it, sealed the envelope, and put it away in a drawer. I didn’t look at them again. The year was 2001.

One of my goals was to help women entrepreneurs. This was a passion of mine because I knew the struggles and joys of being a female entrepreneur and what it was like to grow a business “by the seat of my pants.” If I could do something to help other women in the same position, I would be very happy. I wasn’t sure how to do this, I just knew I wanted to. 

While still involved in the sign and display company, we had a great deal of success, but I felt like there was something missing–-that there should be more to my career and life than making neon beer signs. We were growing, doubling our sales for the last few years, but I wanted more. I wanted to make a difference. Our company simply did not do this for me. 

I wanted to fill the great big void in my heart with something more fulfilling but I didn’t know how to sell or leave our company. Our employees and customers counted on us, and we had a long-term plan to eventually sell or open it up to other family members, but this seemed so very far in the future. I felt stuck. 

In 2002, a catastrophic turn of events forced us to close the business suddenly. There was nothing we could do to save it. It was gone, and somehow, miraculously, all of our workers were taken care of one way or another. I realized once again I had manifested what I asked for; and again I learned that I must be even more intentional and specific when I put forth my desires to the universe. 

Shortly thereafter, I attended my very first networking meeting. I had no idea what to expect or even what a network meeting was. All women, mostly entrepreneurs promoting their businesses, everyone was there to help and support each other. This is wonderful, I thought. This is what I want to do! But the real aha! moment occurred when I realized I’d manifested this! My goal of assisting women in business—that I’d set for myself and tucked away in the drawer—was coming to fruition. Powerful You! Women’s Network was born. 

Calming the Chaos

From my current perspective, it’s so easy to see how I’d allowed my imagination to run wild with fear. Eerily similar to the frantic racing in my heart, this fear slowly and consistently crept into my life and often raced through my mind. 

When times got tough and money was tight, I forgot the many lessons I learned and the power I held to manifest anything and everything I desire. I knew I had to get back to the basics that had served me so well throughout my life.

Today, meditation, yoga, and joy are a daily regimen for me. I focus and refocus my mind many times throughout the day to stay clear, in the present moment and on path. 

I am so happy to be off of medication and to feel the slow, strong, steady beat of my heart. As I practice calm and peace each day, I’ve not only calmed the chaos, I’ve found clarity and ease. One with all of life, I know that I continue to manifest whatever I think about. Now, my heart knows that I am truly the conscious co-creator of my life. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kathy Fyler’s diverse career includes being a Critical Care Nurse, Project Manager for a technology firm, and owner of a $5 million manufacturing company. In 2005, Kathy felt a calling to make “more of a contribution to what matters most in this world”. Using her experience and passion for technology and people, she co-founded Powerful You! Women’s Network and Powerful You! Publishing to fulfill her personal mission of assisting women in creating connections via the internet, live meetings and the published word. Kathy loves to travel the country connecting with the inspiring women of Powerful You!

Kathy Fyler
www.powerfulyou.com
www.powerfulyoupublishing.com
info@powerfulyou.com
973-248-1262

Do You Want to Wake Up and Live Consciously,
Or Let Life Do It for You? 

Conscious living is something to which you can aspire, awaken, and put into practice--no matter whether you’ve chosen it or it has chosen you; it can become a powerful way of life! 

Share the impassioned stories in this book by forty-seven women who’ve enriched and re-directed their lives to transform into a new way of being. Each author has experienced a major shift in consciousness either through outside-inflicted circumstances or by being inwardly called toward self-realized transformation. No matter the cause, the actions and practices they followed led each of them to a more integrated sense of wholeness and joyfulness of spirit which continues as they move through life.

This anthology book celebrates the strength and beauty that all women possess. It provides a resource, a sounding board and a path for you to follow. And mostly, it speaks the truth about surviving and thriving through uncertainty, growth and sometimes seemingly impossible circumstances. 

Buy the book Women Living Consciously on May 1st, and receive more than 50 bonus gifts from like-minded joint venture partners. 

To purchase the book and receive your special bonus gifts go to:
www.wlcbook.com

By Sue Urda 

I sat on the edge of my bed and wiped the sleep from my eyes when suddenly I realized my mother was standing before me. What’s she holding in her hand? I wondered. 

Her words rang in my head as an enormous surge of adrenalin rushed through my tired mind and my whole body went into high alert. “Code Red” as the government would say. 

“No, mom, I know what you saw but it doesn’t mean what you think it does!” 

“Sue, it’s not normal,” she told me. “But don’t worry. It’s okay. We can get you some help. We can go to the priest at church and they’ll be able to help you.” 

She held up the book in her hands and I saw it was the Bible. The Holy Bible. Oh shit, this is serious! 

I know the thoughts cascaded through my head only for a few seconds, but it seemed like hours. She thinks I need help. She thinks something is wrong with me. She thinks I’m not normal. Fear gripped my belly as her words and the fire in her frightened eyes ripped through me. 

I felt the heat rise up into my cheeks and my immediate response was to defend myself. Defend myself against my own mother. The thought was so foreign to me. And although I knew in my heart she loved me deeply and was doing what she thought she should to protect me, I could feel myself slipping away. 

I looked at my mother and recognized how incredibly vulnerable and afraid she must have felt. She didn’t really know what to do or think and she wanted us to seek answers and comfort from the source she’d relied upon for years–her faith in God and the Catholic Church. 

“Sue, answer me.” 

I remember looking directly into her eyes but I didn’t recognize her as my mother. Instead, what I saw before me was a woman who was afraid and grasping at straws. I felt as if she was incredibly angry, and I remember experiencing her pain and fear as she looked at me. She looked like a woman who didn’t know what to do. Perhaps for the first time in my twenty-one years, I saw my mother simply as a human being. 

Wasn’t my mother supposed to love me unconditionally; support me and protect me and have my back? Now who would I turn to for help in sorting through this confusion?  

“Mom, you’re wrong. It’s not what you think. It was just a kiss to say goodbye.” 

“You leaned into her car three times,” my mother replied. “I can see once or even twice, but not three times.” 

“Mom, I’m telling you you’re wrong. We’re just friends.” 

And So the Lies Began

I tried to convince myself that lying was the only way to protect myself. I mean, if a mother can’t accept her daughter for who she is, then what about the rest of the world? How was I going to live? The truth was that I didn’t even understand it myself.  

Years of conditioning had etched into me that I would go to college, get a job, get married, and have babies and grandbabies; yet, hard as I tried, I simply couldn’t see myself living this life. These newfound feelings had come forth to help me discover the truth of who I was. And as good as I felt when I was around “people like me” I felt a hundred times worse trying to be someone I wasn’t around everyone else. 

My world had become an unfamiliar landscape and, hard as it was to distance myself from my family and hide some of the best parts of my life–my loving relationships, my friends, what I did, and where I went—somehow I knew I had to live my own life. 

I treaded water for years and presented myself to the world as a career-driven woman because this took some of the obvious questions off the table: “No time for a relationship, Sue?” and “What’s a beautiful girl like you doing without a boyfriend?” All the while I was making my way and doing my best to accept the real me, but the lies continued. 

Old Habits Die Hard

The truth is that the habit of lying had started much earlier in my life. I always wanted to be a “good girl” and have my parents’ approval so I often hid things.  My earliest memories include sneaking food into my room because I didn’t want to be yelled at for eating too much. I was a butterball of a little girl, and it didn’t help that I had a very skinny sister only fifteen months older than me. 

My mother enjoyed dressing us alike and, while my sister wore slim size clothes, mom had to take me to the “chubby girls” department. I felt what I thought was her embarrassment and disappointment if we couldn’t find my size in the dresses she wanted me to wear, and I often ended up wearing ones that cut into me just so we could dress alike. Add to this the fact that often as kids one of our reward systems was snacks like candy, ice cream, and soda; I felt easily confused by the mixed messages. 

Shame and hunger haunted me at the same time. What I recognize now is that I wasn’t necessarily hungry for food, but for love. I wanted to fit in, make it easy for my mom, and look pretty and skinny like my sister, but I couldn’t help stuffing food into my mouth. Looking back at some of my old photos, I see that I wasn’t actually fat, just pleasantly plump—too bad I didn’t feel that way. 

I remember a specific question that still echoes in my head today, and probably even more profoundly at a subconscious level—“what will people think?”  This question comes to me as the voice of my mother and grandmother often around the issue of my weight, but also about attending church, achieving good grades, behaving obediently, dressing properly, and being clean and well-kept. I can’t help but wonder if that’s how they lived their whole lives too...worried about what others would think. So much pressure. So much wasted energy. Will the voice ever go away? 

It Only Hurts When I Move

A feeble laugh escaped my lips, followed by a mild groan. The pain ripped through my shoulders and neck, down my spine and arms, and even, it seemed, right down to my toes. Even laughter made my whole body hurt. In the past weeks, the pain had increased from annoying and sporadic to throbbing and ever-present…but only when I moved. It sounded like a bad joke, but it was the truth. 

This pain had popped in and out of my life for thirteen years. Some months passed with little or no discomfort, and then wham! I’d become incapacitated, weak, and itchy. The doctors had no idea what was going on and numerous inconclusive tests left them baffled. Various drugs masked or relieved the symptoms for a while, and then it—whatever it was—would rear its ugly head and I’d find myself unable to tackle even the simplest tasks. The eruptions on my skin made me feel like a leper, and I felt lucky to at least be able to hide them with clothing or to simply work from home. 

I kept my condition a secret largely because I didn’t want to appear weak or incapable of taking care of myself. Lucky for me, my amazing partner of nearly twenty years, Kathy, loved and cared for me through it all and understood my need for secrecy. 

Here We Go Again…Or Not

It was 2011 and my symptoms had exacerbated to the point that I could no longer stand the intense pain, massive inflammation, and unnatural discoloration of my skin. I decided this autoimmune disease—finally diagnosed—was not going to have its way with me any longer! 

I explored alternative therapies and finally, after many months and a few sessions with a shaman who reminded me “drugs are not a failure, they are an assist,” I resorted to steroids to help me function normally again. It was miraculous and immediate, and I wished I hadn’t waited so long. Perhaps the lie I’d been telling myself lately was the biggest one of all—that I could control everything myself. 

During the year I looked deeply into this disease that wracked my body. What I learned is that an autoimmune disease is one where the immune system malfunctions from its natural state and the body attacks itself. As I looked closely at my patterns of thought over the years and how I had been living my life, it became very clear to me that my body was mimicking my constant barrage of punishing thoughts about being fat, gay, and broke. I attacked myself—literally! And always I worried “what will people think?” 

All those years I’d been so unkind to myself! I’d looked in the mirror with disgust at my weight, which ranged from 5-50 lbs. heavier at any given time. I looked at my short hair and clothes, and bashed myself for not looking feminine enough. I looked at my bank account and the abundance I so desired that wasn’t flowing to me. I was most struck during this self-exploration by the stark realization that I was completely out of alignment with my own priorities and values—and ultimately, the truth of who I was. 

In this defining moment I realized the pattern I had lived my whole life: worrying what others would think. The time had come to stop! My mother had been a wonderful loving teacher and I would not be the woman I am today without her bravery, encouragement, and willingness to grow alongside me. And now the time had come for me to live my truth. 

Although I knew in my heart that my purpose was to empower and encourage women to wholeness and authentic ways of being, I also knew I was not living this way myself. I could easily speak to others and help them become more powerful in their lives, and in a flash of insight I recognized that my public persona was disconnected from my private one. I appeared to be strong, connected, loving, and powerful on the outside, but deep down I felt like a fraud because I felt none of these things for myself. I had stuffed the real me into something so small that I was almost non-existent. 

As I sit here in this moment, I know I must stop the secrets. Stop the fibs. Stop skirting my truth. I have made what may be the biggest, most empowering decision of my whole life—I have decided to live my life as me.  

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” - Anais Nin

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Sue Urda is known as ‘The Connections Expert’.  She is an Author, Speaker, Inspirer and Co-Founder of Powerful You! Women’s Network and Powerful You! Publishing. Sue is a two-time honoree on INC Magazine’s list of the 500 Fastest-Growing Private Companies. Her award-winning book, Powerful Intentions Everyday Gratitude is designed to inspire women tap the inner wisdom of their hearts, to feel their personal power, and to live each day through deliberate creation and intent. Sue loves assisting women in their own pursuit of success, joyful living & freedom. Her mission is to connect women to each other, their visions & themselves.

Sue Urda
Powerful You! Inc.
www.powerfulyou.com
www.sueurda.com
973-248-1262

Break down your barriers to health, healing and happiness!

It’s probably old news to you that your subconscious mind plays a huge role in your health, healing, and happiness. Nowadays even old-school medical and psychological establishments accept it as a fact. 

But until Dr. Henry Grayson developed Synergetic Therapy and healing, this knowledge was of limited usefulness. Nobody had put together all the elements necessary to blast away the subconscious barriers keeping you from being and feeling your best. 

Now, for the first time in book form, Dr. Grayson reveals the successful methods used in his private practice for decades to free patients from the unconscious negative thought patterns that undermine their health and happiness. Order it today during the official launch and get valuable free gifts as part of the launch promotion! 

By the time you finish this book, you’ll have greatly lessened your chances of debilitating disease, illness and unhappiness, and you’ll be in a great position to heal yourself in an ongoing way! 

Click on this link for more information, ordering and free gifts!
www.useyourbodytohealyourmind.com/

Love the True and Mysterious?

Suzanne O’Brien has written an amazing new book, A Heavenly Presence, and I really think you will benefit from reading it. A Heavenly Presence is an extraordinary and true, mind blowing, inspirational book. It conveys a positive and hopeful message, showing that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, even if we presently do not see it.
 
Suzanne O’Brien, author of A Heavenly Presence is a certified Reiki Master/Energy Healer, Medium, Pet Psychic, Artist, etc… who has been helping people for years to tap into their own innate healing abilities and develop a deeper understanding of our connection to all beings. Suzanne discovered her abilities after awakening from a life threatening surgery and meeting her, guardian angel. So she has finally put her story together in this fascinating book. 

Buy the book today during the official launch celebration and get access to many Fabulous uplifting, inspiring, and empowering Free Gifts.

www.aheavenlypresence.com/bkpromo