Author: Bridget Zappa Hahn

One of the most important things I’ve learned over the past few years is that balance starts within first, which requires letting go and tuning into me. One of the ways balance happened inside is through the chakras. 

You may wonder WTF is a chakra? Chakras are the powerful life-force energy that courses through your body at key places in your body – and you can learn to harness this power. 

The word chakra means “wheel” or “disc” in Sanskrit, and that’s exactly what they are—spinning hubs of energy that run up your spine. We are all energy. To get to the root of everything we can turn to the chakras, when your chakras are out of balance, your life can be out of balance.

Look at this image. It’s how your chakras, energy centers, align. For example, if your throat chakra is off, you don’t speak your mind or your truth. The heart chakra connects you to love – of self and others. 

These are just examples, but the energy is strong and true – and something to treasure and build. After all, at the end of the day, your energy is something to protect vigorously. It’s part of who you are at your core and how others see you – or feel your presence. 

My bestie and I are witches. Let me explain. We are called to nature, feel the pull of the moon, and know we all have light and dark within us. This will be especially heightened during the Gaelic festival of Samhain. 

Samhain, otherwise known as Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve, marks the end of the harvest season. It’s about halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It’s part of the wheel of the year or the annual cycle of seasonal festivals consisting of the year’s chief solar events (solstices and equinoxes) and the midpoints between them.

It’s a time to honor the changing seasons of nature. Samhain marks the journey into the darker lunar months and colder weather in the northern hemisphere. It’s when the veil between this world and the spirit world thins and you can connect with the magic within you – your inner witch and mystical/spiritual self. 

Reflect and let go of what doesn’t serve you energetically, especially now. Just as the sun and moon are mirrors and the sun always rises, so it is with us. Our dark times reflect our light – and we can rise to shine each day. 

AH!! I’ll be a wife one month from this week. This is almost 10 years in the making. It’s pretty remarkable that Rob and I have been in each other’s lives this long so far. Even so, we’ll be together forever – and I’m so ready for this wonderful adventure to begin!

What’s great about us, if I may say so, is that we are best friends. Also, we’re focused on being better people individually, which makes us an even stronger couple. We know that the success of our relationship and marriage depends on our commitment to working on us every single day – and not taking each other or our relationship for granted. 

It seems pretty simple or intuitive, but we know it won’t always be easy and fun. We know we’ll have our challenges and harder times. That’s when the rubber will meet the road and we’ll need to dig deep. I know we’ll be able to move through those times together. 

Without making all of you gag from our love story, I’ll wrap it up. Suffice to say, relationships are work. Rob and I are realistic and in “lala land” at the same time. I think that’s how we are as individuals and a couple: Real, in love, and ready!

I’v been listening to a lot of podcasts lately. I try to keep them positive and with messages that support my way of looking at things. One of the podcasts that I’m totally jammin’ on now is Oprah’s SuperSoul conversations. One of her podcasts was about people who ended up on a wrong path, either though no fault of their own or just bad luck. One of the phrases she kept repeating to them was, “when you know better, you do better.” 

Wow! That phrase is a game changer for me. Basically Oprah was saying that, in fact, you’re never on the wrong path. Along the way, your inner guide continually gives you signals. We just need to trust that. 

I’ve mentioned in my blogs, multiple times, that healing is a journey and that it’s up to us to manage our lives better. I know that my life path has healed me.  I know I’m meant to help others heal themselves. I’m called to serve. 

I need to remember that all is well and I just need to step into my abundance. It’s all up to me. It doesn’t matter what’s happened so far – because now that I know better, I can do better. 

I’m going to try to fall asleep with a dream and wake up with a purpose. I’ve got a purpose for my life in serving other – now I gotta stop playing small and do it! Now that I know better, I”ll do better.

My birthday is this week – and I’m one year closer to 50 (note: I’m not 50 YET!). Looking at my life so far (and as I continue to write my memoir in fits and starts), I’ve survived a lot. And I’ve learned how to thrive no matter what. 

In my life, part of how I’ve thrived is by learning a lot about my mindset and how to let go of control. In essence, your mindset or outlook on life is all you can truly control. That’s even more vital when so much else in your life is not in your control. As I learn a lesson in life, I move forward. Basically I’m breaking things down only to break through to growth and a better version of me.

As we pass through challenges and seasons in our life, so do the seasons of the year. For example, this week there is an Autumnal Equinox. The sun is passing by the equator, which means we’re entering fall and it’s light out for fewer and fewer hours. 

Just as our life has light and dark, so does the evolution of the earth around the sun. We have phases in our lives, as does the moon. So much of the celestial mirrors life.

It’s actually reassuring, that no matter what we’re going through, we simply need to look up to know the sun always rises and the moon always starts over again with its new moon phase. 

Part of my verbiage and beliefs over the past couple of years has included  “Universe,” “Source,” “the Divine” – basically my reliance on a higher power. I’ve trusted the Universe and surrendered and allowed myself to feel abundant. That didn’t happen overnight, however. Regardless, I trust that I’m always supported.

As part of that trust, I know that what’s truly meant for me will not pass me by. I’ll repeat that – what’s meant for me will not pass me by.  That’s a statement of complete trust in the Universe or God or the Divine. I’m truly being held. Not only will nothing come to me that I cannot handle, but I’ll receive only what’s meant to be mine.

Even with this belief, it doesn’t mean you can’t manifest what you want in your life or what you want your life to be – you definitely can. The balance is allowing your life to happen and for everything to simply flow.

If you’ve read and followed my blog, you know that Rob left me unexpectedly after nearly 8 years together. I never stopped loving him, even though I tried to forget him. During that time, I included him on my vision boards. It was as simple as including his initials in a small corner. 

While I was manifesting him back into my life, I repeated to myself that what was meant for me would not pass me by. If Rob and I were meant to be, it would happen. I just needed to allow and trust that the Universe had my back. 

Fast forward 18 months and we are together again and are better, stronger and more in love than ever.

I trusted, allowed, surrendered and believed.

I get married in two months! I know, that’s crazy, but I’m so ready to marry Rob it blows my mind! Sometimes it’s difficult for me to put into words how I feel about this time in my life, but I think “joy” sums it up pretty well. 

Joy. What a powerful word! Living with joy, to me, means living in a state of pure happiness and wonder. I think it also means living with real openness to life. Being with Rob and looking ahead to our life together gives me real joy. 

I know, I’ve written a lot in my blogs about my pain and heartbreak and healing journey. Yes, that was about Rob, too. I’m proof that life is an adventure and you never know what it holds for you from month to month or year to year.

All I know is I’m living in joy and allowing myself to enjoy it fully. I really feel like I deserve that. We all deserve a life lived that deeply in joy. We just need to slow down and allow it into our lives!

If there’s one thing that’s constant, it’s change. It’s happening again for me. Just as I’m planning one of the happiest and biggest changes of my life with my wedding, I’m moving on again professionally. 

For the first time in my 20-year-plus career, I was a contract employee for the past 10 months. It had some very real benefits, not least of which was the ability to work a few hours of overtime each week. I also had the flexibility to work long hours Monday through Thursday and work a few hours from home every Friday. Originally, this was a one-year contract. Almost a month ago, however, I found out they were ending my contract two months early – this week. 

I was surprised, disappointed and a bit panicked. With a wedding in two months, we have a lot of expenses, even though our wedding is small. I started by reacting negatively – and that’s not me. 

Over the past two years I’ve learned that it doesn’t serve me to be overly concerned about things I can’t control. I can’t control that they ended my contract early. But what I can control is how I react to it. I can control the energy I emit. I can control the grace with which I simply move on. That’s how I’ve tried to conduct myself in my last weeks. Once I made that switch, I felt so much negativity lift from me. 

My last day is this week and I’m ready. In fact, I’m excited. Will I find something else? Maybe. I’m doing more internal work and trying to decide what I’m meant to do with my life. I may be done with corporate America. I may be done going into an office.

This may be the Universe knocking me over the head again that I’ve got to stop playing small and step into my purpose. It’s time for me to build my business and practice and take it into the world to help and serve others. I’m feeling it in my bones. I need to sit with it, feel it and DO IT! It’s time for me to get out of my own way and take that leap. 

Watch out world, Bridget is shaking the dust of dead corporate jobs from her feet and moving forward!

Words matter. There are few things more important to the success of a relationship than how you communicate as a couple. How you speak to your partner, what you talk about and what you share about yourself, builds and deepens the bond. But you must speak simply – anything other than direct English won’t work. 

Now, I’m not saying that a physical attraction and bond isn’t important. It sure as hell is! In fact, save the French action for the kissing! But being physical doesn’t matter if you can’t talk about your lives, what matters to you, your values, what you want as an individual and a couple now and in the future. 

I’m lucky. Rob and I are best friends first. It’s our most important relationship. We talk and share all the time – from the moment we wake up to when we turn out the lights for the night. In fact, one of my favorite times is when we talk just before we fall asleep. It’s intimate, quiet, and just a wonderful way to end our day. 

Also, we completely have each other’s back. That level of trust only comes from deep, honest, and regular communication. We’ve actually talked about how important it is for us to keep talking. It’s one of the ways we know we need to work on our relationship every single day, now and once we’re married – so forever! 

The more you communicate, the closer you are, the more real you can be with each other – and the better the intimacy! So communicate in real, simple English. Don’t complicate it. Focus on honest communication and you’ll always be moving forward instead of standing still as a couple. 

Don’t live in the past. You can’t change it. I’ve learned that the hard way. Thinking of something painful from your past doesn’t usually serve you. If you can learn to let that go, you can change your life.

Instead, you need to control your thoughts. Learn to understand when your ego takes over instead of your higher self. If you can identify difficult thoughts or memories of the past and feel it, you can then choose to let it go and not take any bad energy forward into your today and future.

In terms of the future, don’t live there either. We aren’t guaranteed any tomorrows. I’m the first to admit that it’s exciting to plan for the future. When Rob and I think about our future together, it makes us happy, hopeful and really pumped. But we’re much more focused on the today.

It is vital to fully living to be in the moment, in the present. Try to feel the here and now. Rob and I are really mindful of this. We have so much going on now as we plan our wedding that we have a lot to enjoy today. We really try to slow down and embrace each individual moment.

Know you hold the power to change your reality in any moment by changing your thoughts. Lift your thinking, raise your vibes, change your life.