Misunderstood

"When you choose to forgive the same people over and over again you do so because you don't want to believe your time loving them was wasted. Bad relationships, over time, can be investments that are hard to let fo of. the key to freedom is to realize that love is never wasted. The only thing wasted in life is the time you spend focusing on an unhappy situation that will never change to fit your needs, and not realizing the true investment of time and love are the lessons God wanted you to learn."

- Shannon L. Alder

"This above all: to thine own self be true."

- William Shakespeare

What if I told you, you are your ultimate problem and brightest solution in every way? What if every blurry-eyed morning, the issue and the answer are in the mirror staring right back at you? What if I told you that you hold the power to create your very best life, and the process can begin right now?

According to Dictionary.com, the word allow means:

• to give permission to or for; permit: to allow a student to be absent; No swimming allowed.
• to let have; give as one's share; grant as one's right: to allow a person $100 for expenses.
• to permit by neglect, oversight, or the like: to allow a door to remain open.
• to admit; acknowledge; concede: to allow a claim.
• to take into consideration, as by adding or subtracting; set apart: to allow an hour for changing trains.
• to permit something to happen or to exist; admit

The hard truth is, none of these conditions can exist for long periods of time without your permission. If you are in situations or relationships in which negative feelings are your result, there is something happening that you are co-signing, something that you're allowing. These long-term states don't happen by accident; they require your compliance.

Welcome to Misunderstood, a journey inward in which you will look at what you are allowing in your life. This book is the manual I wish the generations before me and I had been born with. It is the offering of wisdom, insight, and tools to help you take full responsibility for your life. Misunderstood is an inner journey of self-discovery, honesty, and personal accountability to shine light into the deepest corners of your feelings, thoughts, beliefs, needs, habits, and patterns. We will explore the ways you've been misinformed, confused, selling yourself out, settling, working too hard, and working against yourself. Then, you'll be offered the tools, script, and resources to choose differently.

This journey is not one for the faint of heart. Awareness can be a double-edged sword. In fact, some have cautioned that this work should come with a warning label because once you venture in, you can't unlearn or unsee all you discover. Acceptance is part of wisdom, the journey. It's about understanding that you don't always get what you want in life, but as Mick Jagger so wisely offers, "If you try sometimes, you'll find you get what you need."