Burn baby burn!

And then I fell in love with life all over again.

Sometimes we set off on a path, and before we know it, the success it brings has other people rolling out the red carpet, with invitations coming from every which way to appear in the media and be the special guest here, there, and everywhere.

And our ego loves it.

We think we are on the path to the positive global impact and riches of the soul (and the wallet) we so desired when first starting out. Then in a moment of clarity, we realise it was all a pile of crock, and the vanity vampires, along with the energy vampires, have sucked us into a vortex where we have lost who we truly are and who we want to BE.

Quite frankly, they have sucked the life out of us; and we allowed it.

Last month I wrote about how a man almost died in my arms and the events that followed, leading up to me finally deleting my social media platforms after nearly a year of wanting to do so.

Deleting my social media accounts, firing my marketing team, deleting more than 60% of my email list and firing four clients this year alone could, to some, be signs of an emotional breakdown.

Still, the truth of the matter is… it was the start of me reclaiming who I truly am and my purpose in life.

And the best part?

My business is so much better for it all, so much so, I have fallen madly in love with my business all over again, like, truly fallen head over heels with her.

And yes, I say her because she is an extension of who I am, the amplification of my voice and the catalyst of change I want to see within myself and throughout the world.

I may be a red-headed, hot and fiery, passionate woman committed to creating positive change in the world, but I am more than that.

I am a mother, a lover of great books, someone who loves to sing and dance in the kitchen whilst cooking for friends and family, and who loves to disappear into a hot bath for hours on end. Someone who loves long walks in the countryside with my two dogs, yet when introduced on stages, no one is interested in any of this.

They want to know what I have achieved, who I am connected to, where I studied and where in the world I am and where I am heading to next. They miss the very core of who I am and what makes me choose the work I choose.

This cleansing process started with a choice I made to rediscover and realign myself with those core values that lie at the heart of who I am, a bit like the crop burning of yesteryear at harvest time.

For those who did not grow up in the rural countryside as I did, every year just after the crops had been harvested, ‘us kids’ would gather and watch the farmer set fire to the crop.

For us, it was almost as good as Guy Fawkes Night, where bonfires wouldn’t just be heating us up on a cold night, but they would be cooking the jacket potatoes we would eat for our tea, served with cheese and beans before we enjoyed the fireworks.

For the farmer, it was a way of him nourishing the soil and increasing revenue because he knew that the carbon in the ashes would improve the quality of the soil, making the crop stronger the following year, providing more yield as well as immunity from the insects and pests that would present themselves.

This process I have just been through is no different; in fact, the similarities are uncanny.

Nourishing my soul to focus on what I truly wish to build, creating an even stronger foundation for my business as it transitions to the next level of impact and abundance, means I also get to enjoy a private life again; something many of us have lost on our road to success along the path of social media.

It also means I get to rid myself of those who choose to post slanderous, nasty and jealous fuelled comments due to the perceived lifestyle they believe I lead and the discomfort they experience due to the kind of subjects I choose to write about and discuss.

Many people will not dare to venture down (or approve of) this path, much like the authorities when they banned stubble burning worldwide, to push the mass agrochemicals and toxins market forward to help fund the pharmaceutical and petrochemical companies – as well as their own election campaigns.

People were led to believe the brief moments of smoke in the air for a few days of the year would cause us all more harm than the poisonous gases sprayed on crops every day around the world today; the very same gases used in the concentration camps in Germany which were simply rebranded as your common all garden weedkiller RoundUp.

Falling in love is a beautiful experience, whether it is with another human, a new fur baby, yourself or even your business, and like any relationship it needs nurturing, needs new perspectives over time, and we have to be willing to let go of what we have created in order to flourish even more.

We have to be willing to risk losing it all to have it all, and only when the foundations are strong and the vision for both parties crystal clear will we ever have a healthy relationship and succeed beyond our wildest dreams.

Remembering, or discovering, the most important entity in all of our life is our very own soul, and its purpose here on earth is the way we gain true clarity and inner peace.

When we lose who we are or allow our ego to take over, our businesses suffer, our families suffer, and our health suffers, and no amount of success, ego or money is worth losing who we truly are.

So here’s to risking it all, to having it all and living a life of true abundance on every level in every realm of existence.

Until the next time my lovelies,

Enjoy being. Being in love, being in business, and being YOU!

Ciao for now from Colombia!

Dawn

Dawn Bates International

Thought-provoking content is what Dawn is known for, as well as her non-stop travel around the world by sailboat and her trademark giggle. To learn more about Dawn, visit www.geni.us/dawnbates.