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Has this ever happened to you? The other night I had a bad dream. The dream was so upsetting it woke me up. I remember laying there, first feeling scared and worn out-Then, I actually made the choice to go back into the same dream! Why?-Because I wanted to see how things played out. I felt the palpable pull to stay in a dark, uncomfortable place-not because it made me happy but because I felt somehow powerless to the story-and that someone or something else was at the helm and in the writers seat. So, I fell back asleep, re-entered this terrible dream (two more times!!) and then I remember (so vividly) how part of me woke up while still inside this nightmare and, as a protector would, this “part” commanded me to break away with the words “LAUREN, THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU! WAKE UP AND STOP THIS!” .. Then, for the third time, I woke up and my first thought was: “OMG-This is exactly what happens to people in life!” .. When we choose to continually entertain old, habitual (usually fear-based) patterns and attitudes, we become powerless to outside scenes, allowing them to dictate how we think, how we feel, how we respond-In essence, how we live. Because, so often, we humans fear the experience of loss, we give our power away-to anyone or anything that we feel has the ability to take something away. This “bad-dream night” reaffirmed that each one of us has the (inner and outer) power to say “NO!” – to entertaining fear, to giving-in to the tug to stay helpless to insecurities, to allowing another to write our script.

So, whether sleeping or awake, when tempted to stay in a dark, scary story, allow the words of your inner protector to remind you that you can always choose to change the channel- or, better yet, get up and make bread