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The Caterpillar Story

Two caterpillars spy a butterfly overhead. One turns to the other and says “You’ll never get me up in one of those things.”

Do you ever feel like that caterpillar?  Part of you wants to fly. Another part clearly doesn’t.

That’s precisely what’s going on when you feel stuck–an internal conflict. Part wants to. Part doesn’t.

The trick to getting unstuck isn’t by denying or disputing your resistance. What you ignore, you empower. What you resist, persists.

I speak from experience. After my divorce, I tried hard to learn about money. But nothing worked. I’d pick up a book, attend a class only to fog up, glaze over, give up. Until one day, a therapist challenged me. 

“You know Barbara,” he said bluntly, “you really don’t want to get smart about money.”

I couldn’t argue. In that moment, I met the part of me that desperately wanted to stay ignorant. The part that was terrified of angering her parents, losing everything, and most of all, afraid no man would love a financially savvy woman. 

I spent months getting to know this part. But I also did something quite smart. I kept repeating affirmations in an effort to fortify the other part. I AM smart about money. I AM excited to learn. I AM a great role model for my kids. I AM attracting a man who loves a powerful woman.

I now realize I was literally rewiring my brain. Instead of dwelling on what scared me, I focused on what I wanted to create, how I wanted to feel…even if it seemed impossible.  As neuroscientists tell us, what flows through the mind creates pathways that wires the brain 

Slowly the fog lifted. I actually began enjoying the learning process, seeing results, relishing how powerful I felt. Those feelings haven’t changed in over 30 years. 

How do you focus on the change you want to create? Leave a comment below.


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Comments & Feedback

  • Mary Ellen

    Thx for helping me re-learn the importance of affirmations.

    One that’s particularly resonating these days: I’m a good person to have on my team. I can count on myself.

  • Cara Day

    I have two hedge trees in front of my house. One winter we got a wet heavy snow that was weighing down the branches (kind of like what debt, fear, and shame does oneself). Eventually the weight broke a branch of one of the bushes.

    In doing so it released the crushing weight from the body.

    Then, gradually, the sunlight began to warm and melt the remaining snow leaving the broken, living tree free of the weight.

    I considered pulling the tree out by its roots. But it was still alive. It still, even in its broken state, served a purpose so the two trees remained. Side by side.

    Over the course of several years I watched from my window as it provided coverage to the nesting songbirds. Shaded my room during hot summer days. And stood steadfast.

    The other tree? It had borne the same crushing burden but it had not broken. As the days grew into years it grew taller and more spindley, providing scattered, broken shade. The songbirds flew precariously through its branches, choosing instead to nest under the other tree because, as it was relieved of its burden, it had grown fuller, and yes, stronger.

  • Amy

    I like to incorporate little parts of my future goals in my present day, so I can live my affirmations and get used to the ‘feeling’ of the future state I desire. Almost to proceed I’m ready and remind myself why I’m doing what I’m doing!

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Meet Barbara Huson

When a devastating financial crisis rocked her world, Barbara Huson knew she had to get smart about money… and she did. Now, she wants to empower every women to take charge of their money and take charge of their lives! She’s doing just that with her best-selling books, life changing retreats and private financial coaching.

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