As a woman from the south, born in the ’50s, I was raised to be small, quiet, polite and inauthentic, a perfect southern belle. The instructions were to look and act pretty, speak when spoken to and keep a low profile, ESPECIALLY around men. I was groomed to be a perfect southern housewife, much like “the good wife” described in the May 1955 Good Housekeeping article. Here were just a few of the steps from that guide:

Have a delicious meal ready and on time for your husband. Prepare the children, eliminate the noise, light a fire and put out his slippers. Prepare yourself. Freshen up. Put a ribbon in your hair. Let him know you are thinking of him and concerned for his needs. This will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

Be happy to see him. His day may have been boring. Make him comfortable, have a cool drink ready for him, let him lie down if he needs to. Be sincere in your desire to please him and provide a place of peace and order where he can be renewed. This is your duty.

Do not ask questions. Do not complain. Listen to him. His topics of conversation are more important than yours. His is the master of the house. A good wife always knows her place…

Put a RIBBON in MY hair? Cater to HIS COMFORT? Never question HIS JUDGEMENT? Be sincere in my desire to PLEASE HIM?

Whew! Where is today’s amazing Southern woman in this description? No wonder Southern women of my era question who they are, what they are here to do and whether they need permission to follow their own inner guidance. No wonder southern women stay small avoid being bold or playing big in the world. And, this guide applies to all women, not just Southern women, right?!

As a coach, I work with remarkable, powerful and amazing women who know they are more than the roles they’ve played. They simply feel a little stuck and unsure of what to do next. These women have learned to be chameleons, becoming what they need to be, shifting roles from moment-to-moment; charming and graceful, weak and subservient or strong and powerful. They’re equipped to do it all.

So, what’s in the way? How is it that these Southern women, and many women for that matter, with these extraordinary skills frequently finds themselves wondering what’s next? Why do they question who they are and the value of their contribution to others? Why do these powerful women stay (or feel) so small?

Stay tuned for The Rebel Belle’s Top 8 Reasons Southern Women Stay Small….

Read the entire article

Have you ever dreamed of getting up in front of a room full of people and leading your very own creativity workshop? If so, I’ve got news for you!
 
My bellefriend and associate over at HowMuchJoy, Suzanne Falter-Barns, has put her very generous and fabulous Joy Facilitator’s Training on sale in her big annual Uber Joy Festival. It’s on right now, and lasts until August 27 at midnight EDT.

Folks …. this is the real deal … and it rocks!
 
Not only does this jam-packed home study course come with all kinds of creative bells and whistles … my favorite part… is that you can change it however you want.

Buy the license and lead this creativity workshop by the book, or … (this is the exciting part) … you can take your own ideas, mash them up with Suzanne’s, and come up with something unique and expressively you. I’ve actually used this program one on one with my clients.

If you’d like to see how other coaches and trainers (including MOI!) are using this program to create workshops that “spread the joy”, click here for a few excellent freebie Case Studies.  
 
Don’t miss this fabulous offer on both the FULL training and LITE version. Remember, this is the only creativity workshop training on the web that lets you morph the material to suit your own needs. Check it out here.

Here’s to juicin’ your life with joy!

P.S. Suzanne has the book that inspired this work available as a freebie at her website – How Much Joy Can You Stand? Snag your own copy here. 
 

I’m excited to share that I recently discovered, “The Divinity Movie”, a transformative meditation by author, healer and coach, Anita Pathik-Law.

It’s absolutely beautiful. I invite you to celebrate the truth of who you are.

You are Magnificent, Brilliant in Your Divinity!

Folks, my friend and “bellepal” Andrea Amador, The Juicy Woman, had an inspired response to the “1943 Guide to Hiring Women” blogpost.

Andrea has an amazing way of expressing her essence and uniqueness to world, with power, boldness, vulnerability and authenticity. She’s a juicy shot of joy and vitality! Check out her recent video response to my post: “Dieting Starts with Self Acceptance” .  

Thank you Andrea for your perseverance, and commitment to transformation, self love, self acknowledgement and self acceptance. You are a role model for women everywhere, a true “Belle with Balls”. I love ya!!

I would like to share the Abraham-Hicks quote I received this morning:

Many people focus upon unwanted things, with no deliberate attention to the emotional Guidance within them, and then they try to compensate for their lackful thinking with physical action. And because of the misalignment of Energy, they do not get results from their action, so then they try harder by offering more action, but still things do not improve.
Like the air you breathe, abundance in all things is available to you. Your life will simply be as good as you allow it to be.

As I read the quote I found myself smiling, and responding yes, yes, and yes! How true it is that life is, SIMPLY as good as you allow it to be. More importantly, how EASY it is to allow it to be, when you know your STRATEGY for life.

Human Energy Design is an amazing system of knowledge and Freedom Tool, that gives you that STRATEGY. One SIMPLE, easy to follow, no holes barred strategy for making choices and decisions that direct your life to be…. SIMPLY…. as fabulous and abundance as you allow it to be.

Check it out, and if you’d like to know your strategy for SIMPLY living and breathing in your abundant life, give me a Rebel Belle Yell! at 803-736-9240.

Are you ready… really ready…to realize your life-long dream?

Take the challenge. Start living your passion…NOW!

My good friend Lydia Proschinger (aka Serendipity Jane) is a co-sponsor of Bob Doyle’s “45 Days to the Life of Your Dream” challenge.

Lydia’s new book “Serendipity Jane’s Guide to Life Coaching, Let 8 coaches help you help yourself.” is part of the co-sponsorship.

One of the eight coaches…MOI!

Exerience the freedom to be who you are. I’m taking the challenge.

Want to join me? www.boundlessliving.com