Lifestyle – Dawn Bates

Have you ever sat down, written “What are my options?” at the top of the page and then just sat there?

Then distracted yourself with this task, and then that task, before closing the journal and making yourself something to eat, just to avoid looking at what’s possible?

Yeah me too.

In fact, I did it again this morning.

Here I am, supposed to be on a global book tour, sailing around the world, and I am quarantined in a country where the restriction of movement is far stricter than government control restrictions in Egypt during the Uprising ten years ago.

Now that might sound a bit extreme, but trust me, not being able to travel more than 5 blocks in any direction, without permission papers, is a bit of a head fuck to be honest with you.

And yes, I know everyone is going through their own challenges in their own country, but to face arrest and a minimum of 6 months in jail for being more than 5 blocks from your quarantine home, not even my Mum is that strict!

I am itching to get going again, and I have had to re-frame this whole situation on a regular basis.

“I am waiting for the trade winds” is something I have reminded myself many times, and at this rate, it will more than likely be the case.

“I’ve got lots of work to be doing” and I have, new courses being launched, new clients coming on board, and a new book being written.

“It’s all Divine Timing, so what can I learn from this?” is a great journaling questions I have been diving deep into.

“This is happening for a reason, so what can I be grateful for during this time?” is another great journaling question and reveals to us just how lucky we are to have a place to stay, family to miss and the internet to connect with them all.

And you know what, this is all happening for a reason, and the reasons are as vast as the open oceans I wish I was on right now.

Each and every single one of us will have become aware of what, and who, is really important to us, and if we’ve been smart, we will have used this quarantine time to grow and evolve in each area of our lives.

The ladies and I at the House of Preeminence Magazine have launched the magazine, and released three breathtaking issues. We have held our first event and have another one coming up on the 16th June: The Ultimate Alignment makeover

The magazine has been hailed as the new ‘O’ magazine and leaves magazines such as ‘Entrepreneur’ flat and lifeless. Editor in Chief Jenni P Parker Brown has done an incredible job leading us all and creating such a luxurious experience for all you ambitious female entrepreneurs out there.

The One Tribe Magazine has also had a makeover both in terms of branding and design, as well as new guest writers. Subscribers to the magazine are getting ‘more bang for their buck’ than ever before and loving the personal and professional growth that goes with it.

I’ve almost finished my next book, a biography about an incredible woman, which will be published and launched in the next 6 weeks.

The Phoenix Rising 21 Day Challenge is creating some incredible results in the lives of the ladies who are taking part, not to mention providing daily accountability as well as insights and inspiration by the ocean load.

The ladies are using the challenge to dive deep into a new projects, side hustles, career and lifestyle goals, community projects and using it as the kick up the backside they were needing.

All the delays provided the Divine Timing needed to release it now, not to mention a gift of a great deal of learning for all involved in bringing it to fruition along the way.

Knowing my work is supporting more women achieve their goals, put a spring back in their step, a smile on their face and radiate with joy from deep within makes me incredibly happy.

As I ask myself ‘What are my options?’ right now, I am revisiting all the knowledge I have poured into the Phoenix Rising Challenge. It’s not enough for me to create it and sell it, I too have to live by the principles I am encouraging others to invest in.

Checking out the relevant embassy websites, the latest quarantine guidelines, and finding nothing new has been updated since March, April or May is a tad frustrating.

The British Embassy website is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard and the Argentinian one is even worse, if that’s at all possible!

I check news sites, ask the locals what the news is reporting. I check out international news websites and see more and more fear mongering and inconsistency in the information shared around the world.

When you consider the new findings on how this whole COVID-19 is impacting other countries, how they are treating and dealing with the situation, I find myself wishing I was already in Madagascar.

Madagascar is one of the destinations on my ocean circumnavigation, and my arrival there means I am almost at the finish line.

I say almost because there will still be the rest of the Indian Ocean to sail, and then up into Asia, Indonesia and Australia to do before I cross the Tasman Sea back into New Zealand.

I have a list of activities I want to achieve before I leave Argentina, but until quarantine rules are lifted, then like everyone else here, I just have to be patient and crack on with my work.

Speaking with my children via Zoom and Skype is the highlight of my day. I last hugged my eldest in July last year and my youngest in August, breathing in their very essence is something I long for.

Not being with them for this long was not part of the original plan I can tell you, and I cannot even begin to tell you how much I look forward to the day I get to see them in person, hugging the life out of them.

Being away from everyone I know, not having friends or family to hug, is incredibly difficult at times.

I’d only just arrived in South America for the next leg of the trip just 8 weeks before quarantine went into full on beast mode.

My trip into Central America has been delayed quite considerably, but the plus side is, all these delays have gifted me the time to prepare for the North American part of the book tour.

So, although I am quarantined in Argentina, restricted more than ever before, there are still plenty of options for me to create positive and powerful change in the world from my laptop and beautiful apartment.

It may not have an ocean view, but the marina is just down the road, and the locals are already calling me ‘mi amor’ in the shops, knowing what I like and making me feel very welcome.

I have the best landlords, and ‘tia’ aka ‘Aunty’ is taking great care of me. The fact that I am just like one of the family, and she is also a sailor girl and has lived on a boat for 9 years, also adds to the unexpected bonuses of being quarantined.

Asking myself ‘What are my options?’ always leads me to a full on dose of gratitude, and allows me to see the unexpected bonuses.

In that space we get to appreciate the challenges we face and get present to just how wonderful our lives really are… and that can only be a great thing, wouldn’t you agree?

One of the phrases I used to hear teachers say to pupils back in my teaching days was “Why can’t you just tell the truth?”.

One of the things we long for as parents, and actively encourage, is for our chidren to tell the truth.

In relationships we want the truth.

As employees, we want our bosses to tell us the truth about the future of our jobs.

Those of us who work in coaching, therapy or counselling roles make it clear to our clients that the process will only work if and only if there is complete honesty in the relationship.

So why is it then, when we are faced with someone else’s truth, we shy away or condemn them?

Why is it, we hide who we are, refusing to speak up about the things which matter most to us?

Why do we keep quiet about the things we truly feel?

And why do we allow others to silence us, make us feel as if we are the enemy when we speak our truths?

Over the last few months I have achieved more in my business than ever before. I have gained more clients, brought on a new team member, invested with a new coach, started the rebranding process of my business and invested in a business mastermind.

I am not telling you these things to brag, but things in the business world are not as scary as you have been led to believe they are.

Yes, some businesses are closing.

Yes, some people are signing on for government handouts and bail outs, but would these people be doing this if they were innovating and investing in themselves, and / or their businesses?

Not at all.

I have yet to meet a business owner in my circle who is going of out business, and I have yet to meet a person in my circle who is being made redundant.

Why?

Because we ALL INVEST in ourselves and our businesses.

I have been completely online for over 3 years, have always been at the forefront of bleeding edge technology.

As the first woman to sell touch screens and DVDs into the UK business market, I had to get used to the idea of people looking at me as if I was selling them something that had come from another galaxy.

Times are challenging at the moment for many people, and I have been shocked at the number of lies out there which people are buying into.

I am surprised at quite a few people in my circle of friends who have started lying to themselves and fooling themselves on so many levels.

People around the world are jumping on the bandwagon of celebrating the medical professionals for the work they are doing, and whilst this is commendable in many ways, it stinks of the hypocrisy I wrote about recently over on my facebook page.

The public are causing so many of their own health problems with the poisons they put in their body with each and every meal, and most of the drinks they consume throughout the day.

Governments around the world have closed the ‘non essential’ stores such as the health food stores, and left open the food delivery places which fill your body with processed this, that and the other; and the beloved white substance more addictive than cocaine, sugar.

Health care professionals, such as dentists, have been made to close their surgeries, leaving those of us who need treatments, operations and dental treatment the only option of purchasing anitbiotics and painkillers.

(Follow the money and where that leads).

Many of you who have been following this blog for a while now will remember how I wrote about needing new teeth following my ocean crossing from mainland Europe to the Canary Islands.

My front teeth need the next level of work doing, and I have an infection which needs to be dealt with.

I have already completed once course of antibiotics, and half way through the next course; and my body has responded in some interesting ways.

You see, I eat and drink clean.

I have not used deodorant in close to 3 years.

Now for many of you that might sound disgusting, but when you consider I work out 6 days out of 7, do not eat processed food, meat or dairy, my body doesn’t excrete the awful smells many of you will experience.

Since taking these antibiotics, I have had to dig out my salt crystal deodorant and start using it again. Ever wondered what truths your body is telling you about the things you eat and drink?

We want people to tell the truth, but the truth of the matter is, very few of us even know our own truth.

Millions of people around the world are obsessed with the “number of people dying because of COVID-19″ and yet we ignore the 500,000 people who die on average each year from human violence, or the 120,000 people who die due to war.

Or how about the 800,000 people who commit suicide due to various mental health issues and the 1.5 million people who die on average each year from diabetes?

These two illnesses are already on the increase due to the quarantine situations around the world, a situation which is making more people feel isolated and left to eat the crap food produced and approved of by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food Standards Agencies (FSA) around the world.

(Again, I encourage you to follow the money).

And if you ask me, the FSA’s, WHO, and governments around the world, which allow foods which increase ill health, contain weed killers, rat poisons and increase acidity in our bodies, which is a wonderful breeding ground for cancers by the way, are committing corporate manslaughter right underneath our noses; and yet we happily oblige them with our ignorance.

Why do you think they have been able to pull the wool over our eyes for so long and it has been so easy to roll out the passive aggressive, softly, softly catchy monkey style dictatorships across the ‘developed’ world in the recent months?

When looking at the vast differences in the restrictions being imposed on people around the world, and the reported number of so called COVID-19 deaths, which in my opinion are vastly exaggerated and inflated, as all government statistics have been since the 1100’s in Europe, and back to Pharaonic times in Ancient Egypt, it is as plain as day the corruption within governments and the big pharmas is rife.

Governments have been lying to us all for years, and trying to control us. If you have read my second book ‘Walaahi’ you’ll have already learnt how I dealt with living under ’emergency’ martial law and curfew during the Egyptian Uprising.

(You’ll also have learnt how I have never allowed any one or anything to stop me, and how you can learn to do the same).

You see, governments only try and control us because they are afraid of what will happen if they don’t. Fear is the fundamental basis of why anything is controlled.

Fear of a fire spreading.

Fear of wreckless driving.

Fear of freedom and independent speech.

It is why many people ask me “Aren’t you afraid of what might happen to you now you’ve shared what you have in your books?”

The answer is no. I am not afraid of what will happen to me.

I am more afraid of living a lie and letting my boys down.

When coaching my clients, one of the biggest transformations they have is the ability to own and speak their truth.

Why? because if we are afraid to speak our truth, we hold negative emotions inside of our bodies which lead to ill health and dis-ease.

Speaking my truth may not make me very popular with a lot of people, but it brings the right people into my inner circle, and makes my inner circle a very beautiful and powerful place to be.

It’s not always easy to speak our truth, but considering we want people to tell the truth when in our space, isn’t it about time we started to tell the truth ourselves?

Isn’t it about time we actively seek out the truth, rather than allowing ourselves to be lied to over and over again?

Isn’t it about time we demand the truth from ourselves and our governments, like we as parents and teachers ask the children in our care to tell the truth?

Or are we going to continue to live a life of ignorance and double standards?

*If you are ready to write with truth and integrity, fed up writing stuff that you know isn’t from your highest self, then book a Truth Slaying Writers Unblock session with me, and let’s take your writing to a whole new level of power.