One of the most important parts of my day is reflection.  To reflect is to look inside yourself and examine.  I ask clients to examine their belief system by walking through their day and writing down the "why" that goes with everything they do.  For example, if you must always put things back in their place or anxiety overwhelms you - there is a reason - a should.  Examining these should's is so very important in knowing yourself.  

Yesterday, a client who has a pretty intense anxiety disorder because of some of her "should's" did some amazing work on her life and it was beautiful to watch it unfold. She spent the holiday with her "crazy" family and she made a decision to remove guilt from her life.  Guilt is the emotion that follows every should if you don't carry it out.  We worked on the steps to create a more balanced life and she finally did it.  She examined her should about spending time with her grandmother to "carry on the family tradition" even though her siblings and their children are ungrateful, hateful, criminal minded people.  She attended the family dinner and reflected on her heart and realized that the anxiety was a result of not following her desire for a calm, sensible life.   She made the decision to leave the drama behind after talking with her grandmother and made a plan to come back when she could enjoy her more.  Her grandmother said, "bless you for following your heart and can I go with you?"  They embraced and she realized that at 43 years old, she made a decision that was good for her.  Oh my!  No greater feeling than helping another unlock their power.  She smiled after telling the story and said, "I got this!"