Living A Life of Abundance

No sleep. Let it sweep you off your feet.

Hi, you're listening to find your joy. If you're looking for ways to thrive rather than survive in a world that can seem rather chaotic, you're in the right place. We will be sharing stories of our own, as well as those from guests who have found ways to bring hope, healing and freedom into places where trauma has impacted them. I'm Ali, author of the art of healing trauma. And I'm here to remind you that life is sweet. Now, let's dive in and find ways to create our joy. Hi, I'm Ali, and this is find your joy. And I'm really excited. I've wanted to talk to this woman for quite some time, Elaine Starling. She is the abundance ambassador. She's a TEDx speaker, an international coach, a trainer, successful entrepreneur. And she is going to tell us a little bit today about an unusual spiritual awakening that has prompted her to help people who crave to grow spiritually and in other ways. Ah, Elaine, I look at that I sent it out.

You did great. Great. And I'm thrilled to be here with you because you have such great energy. It's really fun to collaborate with somebody who is and you're all about joy. What's not to like about joy. It's not like,

Oh, joy, right. That's what I figured. That's why I've gone this route. And abundance ambassador, I mean, this is we were just we're gonna have to go on the road together. abundance of joy, here we come. So excited. Oh, my gosh. So first, I'm gonna ask you a question when just to get us started off. And then I'm really, really interested to hear about a lot of things that are pretty fascinating that have been happening in your life, of late, let alone for the years before that. You know, in the last few years, there's been a lot of distractions, maybe a little bit more than other times. And so in a world full of distractions, what is something that inspires you?

What really inspires me is gratitude. I noticed gratitude. And I noticed myself when I'm showing up in a space of gratitude or not, and it shifts everything because Gratitude is the doorway that you have to step through. Before you can experience all the other things that you want in your life, if you're busy resenting what's happening and disappointed in the experience that you're having or angry with yourself that for some reason, you didn't show up the way you were to hoped you would. You're wasting a lot of unnecessary time. Stop telling people I'm sorry all the time, because that's just a knee jerk reaction saying I need reassurance. It's all about me. And I need your attention right now. That's what you're saying when you say I'm sorry. Instead, I want you to say I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful that you stuck around. I'm sorry. And I was running a little late. I'm really grateful that you made time for me. I'm so grateful that we get to share this moment together. I'm grateful for your insights. I never would have thought about it quite like that.

Oh, I love that. I love that. Gratitude has been a big focus on me right now. I recently I've started a thing called mahalo Mondays where I do gratitude and mindfulness things on Facebook, I offer that free every Monday morning. So this is exciting to me. We are we're very Okay, so this is awesome. So tell me what's been happening lately.

Oh, man, so many wonderful things are opening up for me. And I want to just provide a tiny bit of background so that you know where I'm coming from. Because I did have a really unusual spiritual awakening, I was blessed on New Year's Day 2005 to have a stroke. And I say blessed because during my stroke, I had a conversation with our higher power. And I got a complete download about how everything works, and why we're alive, how we can live our best lives and what happens next after this life. And I gotta tell you, it was quite a shock to my system. Because before that conversation, I didn't woo let alone woo woo. And now it was like Holy mackerel, but what's going on here, right? I had to figure this out. And it took me a while because honestly, it felt like I just want to Google, you know, all the links, all the dye, all the videos, all the keywords, everything, and I have to systemize and organize this into something that's easy for people to understand and relate to and implement in their lives. That was what I was tasked with at the end of the conversation. It was really beautiful. I love the conversation was amazing. And then I got a little ticked off. Honestly, I got a little ticked off, because I'm like,

Why didn't you tell me this years ago?

What's wrong with you. And so the, I immediately heard that great, you get to summarize it for people. It took me a while to figure it out. But I created the abundance journey, which shares all of the things that I learned from the Divine during my stroke, and a lot of scientific documentation and easy steps that you can take so that you can live the life of your dreams. And you don't have to take as long as it took me to figure out how to explain it to people, you can just in six weeks, it's all yours.

Wow. And so. So give me the Reader's Digest version, like, what how does someone sign up for this? What types of things? What what's that going to look like a little bit.

So if you visit my website, the abundance journey.com. On the top is a navigation bar, and you can click on program. And underneath there, there's some information about the program and how to sign up. But basically, it turns out that there are four different stages that you're going through all the time, and they go in a specific order. Now, sometimes you can race through a couple of the stages, and then you'll get stuck somewhere. And so my goal with the abundance journey is to help you understand those four stages that you're constantly going through, and how you can quickly move with grace and ease through each one. Because when you look at it, and you look at the flow of it, you discover it's an infinity symbol that you're doing, oh, this is what you're doing throughout your life, it's foundational to everything you do in your entire life. And so it's really about who you can be, and how you show up. Because when you can be your full self, that's when everything opens up for us to many people are focused on doing. And that's just half of the equation. It's really about who you are being while you are doing that now.

Okay, so explain that, if you would to, like I understand what it means in my head, when you say that I have a I have a vision of what that means. But could you give some clarification or some or some explanation for maybe some flow for me, in case I'm thinking of something different? And for anyone else? who's listening? What does that mean, for a person who might not be there yet? To kind of grasp that?

Okay, so I would really encourage people to check out my TED Talk, which is called Abundance is a choice. Because the problem is a lot of people are living life on default. And when you come at life, by default, we tend to gravitate towards I need to protect myself. Pretty mindset. And there are two things that you control. You control your intention, which is how you want to feel and how you want others to feel when you are around them. It's basically how you are being in the moment. That's your intention, and your attention, what you're focused on. Those are the two things you control. And when you are doing it correctly, you have an abundance, mindset and abundance focus, and you notice all the blessings that are present for you in every single moment.

Oh, I love that. Yeah. And that's a beautiful description. So where my attention is, is what I'm doing, and how or what my attitude is, and what my intention is, is how I'm being. That's a really, really beautiful description of that much

different. It's a little different. But the thing that's so ironic, it's not hard.

No, it's really not hard. It's clear. Yeah, clear. Yeah. How do I do it? And why I do

it. Yeah. Now, there is a story that I'd love to share with you, because I think it's really relevant to you and to our audience today. And I really loved my conversation with the divine. I have never experienced so much intense love, I mean, down to every single molecule in my body. It was amazing. And when it came out of it, I was like, wow, I want more of that. That was like Niagara Falls of love. I'll take two of those. I don't want to speak it. So I can just like turn it on, on super high whenever I want. Okay, yeah. And so I started doing all this research to figure out how do you connect with the divine? How do you receive the messages? How do you get in the zone, to really be there with the Divine and everything I saw said you have to allow you have to allow an open, allow and open. So I was allowing, allowing, allowing and stuff to come through but it was not the same intensity and the same consistency. It was dribs and drabs is more like a plugged up watering Can the Niagara Falls, okay? And I thought she's this just is not cutting it for me. I want what I had before without the stroke. Thank you. And so I was sitting for guidance one day, and I asked the divine, why isn't this allowing thing working for me? And I immediately got the message. What's the image that comes to mind? When you think of the word allowing, and I instantly saw myself behind a door with a chain on the door, and I'm peeking out the door, the divine and I'm terrified, because I know I can't control the divine. I'm not in charge of the Divine, and it's making me really anxious. So I might slam the door at any moment. And that's when I realized the word allow for me, not for everybody. For me. The word allow is a mind word. Because our mind wants order and structure and promises, guarantees and control. Right, I thought, Okay, well, clearly, that's not working for me, because that's how I just get dribs and drabs, I want a wide open stream. So that's got to be a heart based word that really represents the kind of relationship I want to have with the divine. So I thought about it for a long time. And I finally realized, welcoming now I welcome the divine I welcome abundance, I welcome great conversations, I welcome new people, I welcome opportunities, I welcome everything that I want to experience into my life. And that changed everything. For me, language has huge power. So be aware of the words that you're using. And if they aren't delivering the kind of relationship that you want to have, you have permission to pick a different word, something that really resonates with you and opens your heart,

right? Oh, that's beautiful. There is so much power in language. And we think of it you know, sometimes we talk to kids about it and give them correction and direction around that. But to remember, as adults, even something as what you would think might be simple as allow, and welcoming. Or inviting or whatever. Within years, it was welcoming. I love that because it's it's a shift it is it is a very different thing. It's almost like we need to walk around with a Soros or something like that, to think of it. What might be a better choice for me right here. What might be what might block me and one might open the gates for me, I love that

you can do you can feel the energy of allowing feels a little more tight and controlling and welcoming. Yeah, no, there's no barriers there.

Exactly. And it's funny when you say that when you you say the word. So if I even say that to myself, we would sometimes jokingly say to each other, I will allow it. And when I say it that way, I know exactly what that means. I have decided I'll get control. And I'll tell you exactly where how much and and that right. That's it's a very different I live. That's, that's very interesting. So when that shift came that was very clear to you. How do you walk that out?

You know, it was amazing, because I came out of that stroke with no damage whatsoever. Wow. When the divine wants to have a conversation with you, you're gonna have a conversation. And I was told to get back and get busy. And it was not immediate, because like I said, I didn't Woo, let alone woo woo. And it really freaked me out. I also had a very ill father in law at the time, and I spent 10 years helping my parents and in laws with end of life issues. And I closed the business that I had, and I started figuring out now how do I explain this to somebody else? So it makes sense. And it's you know, organized and it's simple to do, you know, and so now I'm at this different space where I know how to talk about it. I know how to explain it to people, and there's just so much joy in everything. And I kind of tell you this, my the way I experienced the divine, I received the Divine is effervescent joy just over the top happiness, delight, wonder enthusiasm, silliness, they're constantly getting on me for being way too like organized and straight laced. They're like lighten it up honey play with us. Yay with us. Oh, I

love that. Oh my gosh. I I just am so so when you how long did it take you? You said it wasn't immediate so so you had things that needed to be done and I get that part right I mean, there's that's just life. So once the things that needed to be done, what happened? How did that start to look when it started to unfold for you and you realize you are you know, it's more than just for you

ever thing is guided, everything is guided. And that's why I felt very strongly about introducing the idea of intention and attention. So I've got another little story that kind of shows you how quickly things can happen. So I decided for this year, my focus this year is going to be on my health, I want to improve my physical health, but also emotional, mental, spiritual, everything health. And I looked at research and everything that I looked at said, meditation is one of those foundational things that you really need to do. And I've seen meditation practices, and I've just never been called to any of them. And I thought, Okay, well, I'm going to have to find a meditation practice, that will really work for me, that is my intention. And I know that it's bigger than just need, because it's not just my body that benefits. Clearly the Divine is telling me this is something they want me to be better at meditating, because then they can communicate with me better. And it helps me show up as a better person when I'm connecting with other people and allows me to be my full self. So it is truly a gift I'm able to give others when I'm willing to do the meditation. So I have this intention, I want to learn a form of meditation that really resonates for me. So I happened to be reading a book recently called the secret language of feelings. Great book has nothing to do with meditation, nothing. But there's one sentence in this book, where the guy referenced a specific meditation practice. And I felt like sirens were going off. And lights were like being like, okay, got the message, no problem. So I googled it. And I found some people in Wisconsin, they were doing a free orientation over zoom, I signed up, I was the only person there with these two guys, they were kind enough to kind of explain what's happening. And here's how it works. And if you're interested in getting training, you know, here's how you can sign up. And I was saying, Well, you know, I really want the training, and I want it soon. But they were in Wisconsin, I was in California, the weather was terrible, the airlines were canceling most of the flights. And like, Ah, I would love it if there was something closer to me. Intention, letting the universe know what you want. The guy sent me an email the very next day with a link to a group in Sacramento, that was teaching it the very next week. I mean, when you're clear on your intention, and you're willing to receive and you lean in, and you appreciate you're in gratitude for everything that shows up. So thank you for the book. Thank you for the insight about this particular practice. Thank you for these awesome guys who gave you the orientation. Thank you for guiding me to a local group. And thank you for putting the training next week. So I can go

yes, yes. What the chances are really fast. Yes. Yeah.

It doesn't have to be instantaneous. But it isn't. necessarily overnight. This was over, I think, a week and a half. But that's still pretty darn fast.

Oh, that's very, that's very quick, because it just takes time to even organize something right? Once you've decided when the intention. So you, are you still taking this course? Or is it?

I completed it. And I've been doing the practice ever since. And I really enjoy it. I'm noticing a big difference. Oh,

my goodness. And so you had mentioned that it was something that you felt like would open up your communication. I'm not sure if that's the word that you used, actually, but, but that would be something would help you to possibly communicate or receive messages. I think maybe that's what Yes. So how's that going?

It's going really well. Because what I like about the particular practice that I'm doing with says, I Shaya ascension, meditation, I che i Shaya I che ascension meditation. So they have four different statements that they use, that they call attitudes, you could call it a mantra. And so as thoughts come up, you repeat a mantra, and it's almost like there's a pond with a whole bunch of fish swimming around, which is all your thoughts. And every time you gently drop one of these attitudes mantras into the pond, the fish swim away, and there's an open space. And eventually, the fish come back, and then you drop another and the fish swim away. And that's how you open space between the thoughts and allow the divine to show you whatever you need to see. Now I do find that the divine will speak in images on occasion. And I'm very kinesthetic. So I almost always have a pen in hand or I'm typing on my computer, especially when I'm talking to another person because it helps me process and so I often sit for guidance, and I will ask a question, what does the divine want me to know right now? And I just sit and I start writing and often in the moment, it doesn't really make sense to me. But then I go back and I read it out loud. And it makes perfect sense.

Right? When as when more clarity comes sometimes too, right? Sometimes it's like, when I'm seeing something from a far distance, it doesn't look very clear. But as I get closer to it, or I'm looking behind me, and it's over my shoulder now, then it's like, Oh, that makes sense. I couldn't see it from the distance.

Yes, exactly. Oh,

I love that. So So what kinds of things are you doing with your practice them this year? Like, if I'm thinking that this, or I shouldn't? Is this shifting it at all for you? Or?

It is? It is, I think that partly, it's speeding things up for me. So that, you know, when I have an intention, the right people show up the right opportunities, show up the right experiences show up. And it's just so fun. I am enjoying playing in life more. And that's so important. Being willing, I call it yeah, baby energy, energy, when you're just excited, and you're happy, and you're grateful, and you're enthusiastic, and you don't know what's gonna happen, and it doesn't. It's gonna be fun. And if there's something there that's confusing, or you don't understand, or you don't have the answer right now, you'll be you'll figure it out later. But you're in the moment, and you're just joyous and happy and excited and delighted. And when you can lean in with that. Yeah, baby energy. You are so contagious. You are so magnetic. And so fun. People just want more of you. Because that's energy we all want. Yes. And that is the energy that starts to open everything you want. Right? So if you start with gratitude, and bring that yeah, energy through the door. Yeah. Now.

Awesome. So so when people first come to you tell me tell me a little bit how that looks. So when someone comes, however they find you when in whatever way that they find their self to you? How might that look for someone if someone's listening right now, and they're thinking, like I am, oh, my gosh, I want to

raise, there are a lot of different ways you can engage with me, and some of them are remote, and some of them are a bit more intimate. So you can definitely check out my TEDx talk. And I'll make sure that you have a link ally so that you can share it with everybody. Yeah, I'd love it if you'd watch it. And if you would comment, like and share on it, that would be great. I think I've got about 285,000 views so far. And my goal is 10 million. So I have a ways to go. But I think it's really important that people know abundance is a choice. So that's one thing that you can do. And then I also have a podcast and video show called The abundance journey, everything in my life, it's called the abundance stirring. And so you can check that out. And I do a segment at the end of every episode called activate abundance, where I take one thing that someone said, either me or the guest during the interview, and I help you activate that and actually turn it into abundance. So there's a transformation in every single episode. So that's a lot of fun. And that's an easy way for you to connect with me. And then also, I'm on Facebook, and LinkedIn, and YouTube. And occasionally on Instagram, I have an account there, I guess I'm active. But yeah, and visit my website because I do the abundance journey. I do it live periodically. And I'm actually turning it into an evergreen program so that people can participate in the videos, and I'll do a weekly coaching call. So wherever you are on your journey, it's fine for you to participate in the group and get the feedback on where you are. So yeah, it's really I love that, right?

Okay, so So someone decides today, that they're, they're going to do this so they can go check out your TEDx talk. So they listen to you now. And we're all falling in love with you. That's just a given. And then they go to your TEDx talk, and they start to, they start to see the abundance journey. And then they can check out all your other places, all your social media things, and then from there, so some of it would be a podcast, and they can start to receive because I always try to think of people from all different whatever their financial places right now. So here are the ways that we're going to get the most people to get the most out of whatever's going on. And I never want finances to be something that would slow them down. And I'm saying that because of this abundance, often when we think of abundance, or maybe it's just me, financial abundance, and prosperity is a beautiful thing as well. And sometimes, some of us who are it, whether it's in mental health, spiritual practices, all of In this kind of the wounds all the wounds, there can be a disconnect where we feel sometimes like there has been some teachings, I would say that been incorrect teachings along the way that somehow finances muddy those waters. And here's why I'm saying that is because what I want to encourage people is, is to start to listen to what's going on what Elaine's teaching, and then from there, you're going to actually start to have shifts? That's what I'm seeing right now, is that there are people that are listening, and that there's they're not feeling like they can they have a lot of butts, right? There's a lot of what I can't do is and I get that I've been there, like I've been that person, right? I what I can't do. So I'm going to ask if you would share just a snippet of that. And I don't and I'm sorry, I didn't even ask you first about this. But what's coming to me right now is that there is going to be a way that if someone is listening, and you feel like you can't afford something, that if you go to the places that are accessible, like the TEDx talks, and the podcasts, and start to bring some of this into your life. I'm gonna let you talk about that a little bit. Because I think that's your area of expertise. I just got excited about it. Because it's what came to my mind.

Absolutely. Absolutely. And the first thing is to stop telling yourself, you can't have it. Yeah. Okay. Because when you that was one of the things that was shown me very clearly, you know, when you're walking down the street, and you see some luxury car go by, or you're watching a movie, and you see this incredible home, or, you know, you see this beautiful romantic couple and you're thinking oh, man, you know, I wish that's never gonna happen for me. That's not what's going on. That's not at all. Have you ever seen proud parents with a little baby? That's preverbal? Have you ever noticed that mom's like, Oh, honey, would you like your binky? No. Do you want a bottle? No. Do you want your toy? No. Do you want? Can I can I turn you around so you can see more that's going on? I mean, the Divine is doing this for you all the time. Car? Do you want this incredible home? Do you want great relationships? What do you want, sweetie? I'm trying to get you to pick something, choose an intention of what's really important to you what will open your heart and benefit not just you, others to Yes. And that's really what's going on here is the Divine is trying to motivate you trying to get you to pick up something that will get you in action. You know, when you decide you want to have a New York Times bestselling book, that is a guiding light, it is not a distant shore. The Divine is trying to get you in action, because you cannot steer a parked car. But once you start taking action, you say I really want this and you're grateful for whatever shows up. I really want a new meditation practice. Check out this cool book, but has nothing to do with meditation.

Exactly.

There's a meditation practice referenced in here. Amazing. Be open to it, be receptive to it, Be grateful for it, and trust that you are guided in everything you do. And the thing that I think is really important for people to understand. You're actually in partnership with the divine. A lot of people mistakenly think they're these lowly little bugs, ants on the ground and the divine and some massive, you know, unseen deity up in the heavens, not so not so you're actually in partnership with the divine. This is how it was explained to me. If you imagine that the Divine is pure love and experiences everything as love. How can the divine expand love if it's already a love? Right? The Divine created us because we live in a world of duality we live in right and wrong, yes and no black and white, hot and gold. And because we experienced this duality, we can pretend that not everything is love. So we have a choice. We have a choice to show up as more love for ourselves and others. We have a choice to notice the love that's hidden in this experience for us and it's a scavenger hunt. It is not blatant. You gotta pry up the rocks and look under the bushes and and look for that love that's hidden in every situation for you. And then the third thing is every time you connect with another person, you collaborate and together, you amplify the love that is present. That is how the divine expands the divine through us and our willingness to be more love. Notice more More Love and create more love. You are in partnership with the Divine and they want you to win. They really want you to have a life you love that you enjoy. That's fun. That's exciting. That's inspiring. That is why you're here. You know, Joy is a very relevant topic.

Oh my gosh, I love this so much. You know what I'm going to say right now is for this episode. First, thank you so much for being here, I see that we have a whole other episode ahead of us, because I just got so excited that I thought we were just going to take off again. And that's awesome. And so I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to say thank you, Elaine, so much for being here today. I've learned a lot I'm sure our listeners have. I feel inspired, I feel encouraged, I feel moved. And I am so so grateful that you took time to be here today. And so thank you so much. Now you're going to be able to get a hold of Elaine we're going to have all that information will be attached to the to the Episode notes. And thank you so much everyone for coming and hanging out with us today. I'm Ali, this is find your joy, and we'll see you next time

thanks so much for joining me today. If you found a piece of your joy in this episode, I would love to hear about what came up for you so that we can continue to grow the impact of this show. Thanks again. See you soon and remember find your joy This