A multi-coloured healing candle, infused with scented oils, and created specially for healing; another gift from a friend, and symbolic of the healing that is happening for us both right now.

And my laughing Buddha, who reminds me to take life lightly, laugh a lot and enjoy as much as I can!

They are all sitting on a hand-carved teak side table given to me by my parents.

I haven’t always had a meditation table like this; but right now it has pride of place in our sitting room, primarily because Philip is now wanting to meditate too, and so this is where we sit together, me on my meditation cushion on the floor, him sitting on the sofa.

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I was looking at a big scratch on a car door — the care that was parked next to mine in the library car park in Aberdeen. What on earth was I doing there? Good place to get online for free near the hospital.

Anyway, as I was getting out, the wind blew my door into her car, and resulted in the scratch. I peered at it, wiped a finger over it, and realised it wasn’t going to just disappear. I walked away — but only about five steps, realising that I couldn’t just leave like that. I would have to write a note — I’ve had my car scratched anonymously, and it’s not nice.

“Very sorry but the wind blew my door onto your car and scratched it. Please call me” and I wrote my telephone number.  Secretly, I hoped she wouldn’t.  I went into the library and got engrossed in the internet.

This morning, the phone rang.

“It’s the owner of the scratched car — I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated you leaving your phone number, and to say I won’t be doing anything about it. We need more people being honest in the world like this”

Wow.  I was so delighted. Attending to my intuitive promptings about what was the right thing to do had been noticed and appreciated.  What a lovely message that was to receive.

So no posts other than my regular articles from my newsletter — unless I get attacked by a desire to write that is so compelling that I have to find an internet cafe. Watch this space…

Back in early March.

According to North American folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on 2nd February (today), it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly “see its shadow” and retreat back into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks. How does this relate to your business?

Imagine you are a groundhog, and after a time of hibernation (often happens over Christmas and in the darkness of the winter), you are poking your nose out into the light and seeing your business with clear, fresh eyes. What would you see before you?

Tell the truth now! Is it time to come out into the open and show your self to the world? Or do you still need to go back into the darkness for a little bit longer, to incubate your latest idea?

Back in mid-December I wrote an article about the value of light and dark in your business, and mostly it was encouraging you to explore when you are in the darkness and discover the gift it has for you. But it is just as important to be willing to step out into the sunlight, like the groundhog eventually does.

When you step out into the full sunlight of yourself, the truth of who you really are, that can’t help but shine through your business. That means that your clients get a taste of the clarity that sunshine brings; your colleagues get to brush up against your sunny smiles and benefit from that; and even your website or brochures and literature take on a different feel.

To be in the sunshine of your self fully, you nearly always have to stop first.  Or at least pause in what you are doing, because the sunshine, while it is always there, is sometimes obscured by grey or even dark clouds – of doubt, worry, fear, wondering, agitation, anxiety, uncertainty and indecision.

When you’re stuck in the clouds, that’s when it’s easy to feel exhausted at the end of your working day (not just a good sense of tiredness). When you’re stuck in the clouds, it’s also easy to jump to negative conclusions and judgments about others, or to blame yourself for things not going as smoothly as you would like.  When you’re stuck in the clouds, you can’t see clearly and so end up making poor decisions, feeling like you never accomplish anything, and frustrated because you know you can do better.

Just like the real weather, when you know that the sun is shining beyond the clouds, your inner sunshine is always there. But it is up to you to clear the clouds away so that you can bathe fully in that light. The thing is:

• do you dare to let yourself bathe fully?
• do you dare to let the world see you shining, as the sunshine fills you and flows through you, out to the world?
• do you dare to let your clients see who you really are?

If your answers to these questions are less than a big yes, then pause just for a moment, right now. Think about where you want your business to go. If you set an ID (intention-direction) earlier this year, then bring that to mind. Then reflect on the following:

Are you needing to remain in your burrow like the groundhog, because there are still some things that need to be put in place before you can emerge and fully take your place in the light? Be honest here, because it’s too easy to stay stuck in the burrow long past your time!

Maybe you’re simply stuck in the greyness of cloudy weather, needing the sun to break through. If that’s the case, then pause and ask yourself, ‘On a scale of 1–10, where 10 is bright sunlight, and 1 very dark clouds, how much am I standing in the sunlight and letting myself shine in my business?’ Anything less than a 7 and I’d encourage you to turn your face to the real sunshine every moment you can, using it as a symbol to remind you to step out from behind the dark clouds and begin to embrace your own inner light, so it can shine through you more and more.  And if you live somewhere where there is not much sunlight, then do this exercise in your imagination – it can work just as well.

Perhaps you feel you are in somewhat hazy sunlight, still discovering what your business really is, who your ideal clients are, what your message to the world is. The remedy for this is the same – pause and notice how you feel about being in stronger light. Ask for the clarity that comes with strong light to shine on the answers to your questions about what your business is, and how you want to show up in the world, and who your ideal clients are.

Recently I made the decision to show up in the light much more, and part of that process is taking some time out (see my blog to read more). If you decide as a result of reading this that you want to step out more into the light, settle into a quiet place inside yourself, and ask your inner wise self what is the next step that needs to happen to facilitate the light shining through you more. Then take action on that information. This last step is crucial – there are plenty of people who get insight on what to do, and how to do it – but there are a lot less people who actually follow through and implement this information. So what will you do? Post a comment here if you’d like to share it.