A Journey to Self-Love

KATHLEEN: Hello everyone and welcome to the Journey of an Awakening Spirit. This is Kathleen Flanagan, your host, and we're streaming on the Bold Brave TV network. The purpose of the show is to help you realize that you are not alone and that you are in control of your life. It doesn't matter where you came from or what your circumstances are.

KATHLEEN: We've all experienced pain, suffering, hurt. Abandonment, loneliness, and hopelessness. This show is here to help you turn those dark moments around and create a whole new you. Despite your success, have you felt lonely, angry, frustrated, or even suicidal? Do you long to be supported, recognized, and respected for who you are, and not just for the awards and accolades on your walls?

KATHLEEN: You don't want to be known, identified, or remembered in a way that feels fraudulent. Because you achieve things out of obligation and not passion. Do you find yourself sitting quietly at lunch, listening to what lights you up, only to feel shame, fear, frustration, and resentment?

KATHLEEN: Your inner turmoil and limiting beliefs surface, making you feel not good enough and afraid of doing something different. You've read the books, attended the seminars, and practiced new concepts and principles, yet you still find yourself in the same rut. The lies you tell yourself perpetuate a cycle of disappointment.

KATHLEEN: You say you'll change, but your self-limiting beliefs keep running the show, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. As a certified coach, I empower you to become your authentic self. My Soul Journey program aligns you with your true self and guides you to find your soul vision, helping you discover your purpose in life.

KATHLEEN: I provide tools to step into your true magnificence and remember who you are. If you're interested in learning more, contact me at bravetv at kathleenmflanagan.com. Each week, we start the show with the sounds of the tuning fork, bringing in love, happiness, and balance to set the tone for both myself and my guest. Let's begin.

KATHLEEN: Michael Mammina is a master life coach who helps successful individuals rediscover their life's vision and reinvent themselves. As a certified health coach, he guides clients towards transformation, healthy habits, and weight loss through a scientifically proven approach.

KATHLEEN: A certified life celebrant, he creates custom ceremonies celebrating life's pivotal moments from baby namings to retirement. His core mission is empowering people to live boldly and authentically, embracing confidence, health, and joy. His mantra, don't just live life, live your dreams. Welcome, Michael.

MICHAEL: Thank you so much, Kathleen. Thank you for having me. Yeah.

KATHLEEN: No, it's my pleasure to have you. Just a little backstory. I'm going to change this up a little bit. I met Michael at Books and Business back in... I think it was the first one was April.

MICHAEL: Correct.

KATHLEEN: Yeah. So that's where I met Michael. And this was when Amber Vihauer launched her book, Infinite Impact. And Michael and I both went through the alignment guide together. So we have been growing up together in this new field that we're both in. And watching his transformation has been amazing. To watch his journey.

KATHLEEN: And that's why I wanted to bring him on the show because I think what he has is very heartfelt and very profound in his changes that can help a lot of people. And since my show is about getting into the core of who we are and sharing that, I wanted to bring that on. So Michael, tell our viewers a little about your journey of becoming an awakening spirit.

MICHAEL: Yeah, thank you. And I love the tuning forks. I'm going to tell you that right from the beginning, that really just felt really good all the way down.

MICHAEL: Yeah. So my journey has been a long one, quite honestly. I am proud to say that I am 63 years old and it took me many, many years before I woke up to the person that I am today. My journey.

MICHAEL: Kept me in the dark for a very long time and as Kathleen was mentioning in the opening there were these beliefs that were holding me back so so strong in my life just because of the experiences that I had for a lot of my youth and I knew when I was young that I and I'm gonna sort of go back a little bit but when I was young I knew I was different I knew that I wasn't like everyone else and not in a special way I knew that there were parts of me that didn't feel okay and didn't feel like they were part of the world so I hid myself and I hid myself quite honestly in various ways one was through being overweight at eight years old I was 60 pounds overweight actually yes wow and I realized that now I realized that that was a way that I was really protecting myself.

MICHAEL: I know at that time, again, that I was different. So as a result of that, I dealt with a lot of bullying. I dealt with a lot of shame, some physical abuse from other kids. And I just kept retreating further and further inside of myself. And for years, I didn't really know what to do or where to go or what it was really all about.

MICHAEL: I just kept moving on in life. And what I wasn't realizing, Kathleen, was that deep inside, there was this, quite honestly, self-hatred that was growing, and it was growing and growing. And I just kept moving on through life and doing what kids do.

MICHAEL: I was very creative. I was an artist. I am an artist. And that helped me express some of the feelings that were going on inside of me. But again, didn't really ever know what to do with that. And I actually went on to go to art school, even though my family was sort of like, I don't know if this is really a career, like, you know, should you really be doing this?

MICHAEL: But I did go on and that's where I started to really awaken to myself. I realized when I was in art school that I was gay and that so much of my internal homophobia was really running rampant in my life. And again, didn't really understand what that meant or what to do with it.

MICHAEL: So it took me about two years to actually come out, as we call it. And I did and went on to start a life with lots of friends and doing great things and traveling. But deep down inside, I knew that I wasn't happy. I knew something was missing. And one of the things that kept me going was that deep down, I also knew that there was a level of protection that was present for me.

MICHAEL: And that was really undefined for me until I was about 30 years old. And I was in a gay bar, actually. And someone came up to me and started talking to me. About this spiritual center that they went to. And I was like, well, what's that all about?

MICHAEL: And I didn't really know much about it, but we wound up spending the evening together just talking about how spirit can actually be activated inside of you. So that was wonderful. And as a result of that, I joined the spiritual center and I became a participant there. And I was led to an amazing journey to go to Peru, to go to Machu Picchu.

MICHAEL: And there I completely was awoken. And that was really, I now call that my spiritual home.

MICHAEL: I can sort of transport myself there. But that was just the very beginning of my journey. That was really just the very awakening. And I actually went to Peru eight years in a row because I started bringing people on their awakening and their spiritual journey. But I still wasn't working on the stuff inside of me that really needed attention.

MICHAEL: I was still hiding. I was feeling good. Life looked good. Outwardly, the world looked great. People thought, hey, this guy's got it going on. Had lots of friends, great job, great career. I was a creative director for a very well-known company. Things were moving along, but deep down inside, I wasn't okay.

MICHAEL: I was holding myself back. What was happening was that internal homophobia, that self-hatred. Was really eating me alive on a much deeper level than I had really known. And I was very fortunate to have been led to a weekend workshop by the late Debbie Ford called The Shadow Process.

MICHAEL: And at that weekend, I discovered these things called limiting beliefs or these shadows where we hide parts of ourselves to navigate the world. And we learn very quickly how to shape ourself into what could be acceptable in the world. And when I realized that and saw the correlation in my life, that's when it really started to open up for me. Everything started to explode.

MICHAEL: I left that workshop and started working with a life coach. And that life coach really helped me get in touch with that internal shame.

MICHAEL: And that internal hatred and that then enlightened me to become much more connected to spirit and to trust the universe and to understand that was another aspect of my life that needed to be broken open so I then went on to become a life coach with Debbie Ford and was very very blessed to have been part of her organization and to learn from her.

MICHAEL: And I loved it, but I still was very protected in my my career. And, I just wasn't ready to make the leap.

MICHAEL: And then I met this woman, Nancy Levin, who is now one of my greatest mentors and my friend, I'm happy to say. And she has taken Debbie's work since she deceased, was deceased and moved it into.

MICHAEL: An organization or a program that she has called llca which is the life coach academy andI entered into life coach academy and I was able to really go deeper and really explore all of the shame all of the shadow and realize that even though the world looks certain ways to me it wasn't necessarily about me but the world and if I can shift and I could learn to love myself and to really forgive myself, everything would shift.

MICHAEL: And as a result of that, things really did. So now I actually have started again to take people to Peru. Actually, I have a tour happening this year, which I'm very excited about in June.

MICHAEL: And in addition to that, I do retreats where I take people to spiritual places in the world significant spiritual places so they can have spiritual journeys which is really awesome and I just continue to do my own work because every time I do that work yes I'm there to support people but what's happening for me is I'm holding up mirrors for myself and I'm learning more and more about me so my journey has been a long one and then recently as Kathleen mentioned I have become a certified alignment guide with Amber Vilhauer as a result of her book, Infinite Impact, where I got to meet Kathleen.

MICHAEL: And together with a group of other people, we are out there changing the world, helping people get in alignment, as we call it, to truly get a full understanding of who we are and what we are here to do. For me, the beautiful part of it is, yes, it has helped my business.

MICHAEL: It has helped me grow and identify. Like who I can help support in the world. But what it's really done for me is completely broken me open to a point now where I have never been. More guided and comfortable and sure of my universal guidance, my spirit guidance, and learning to trust myself in ways that I never have before.

MICHAEL: So one of the things that, one of my other mantras that I love to say is, I love to use the acronym of FLY, which is to fly, because I believe that when we first love ourself, then we're able to really impact the world.

MICHAEL: So that's quite a story, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it and I love it. And I love helping people to experience themselves wherever they are on their journey. Because as you heard from me, it wasn't like flip a switch and it's all good. Like you have to do the work.

MICHAEL: And it's always wonderful when you can find people who can support you and be on this journey with you. And I've been very blessed. To find those people, to find alignment with those people who have truly supported me and helped me get to where I am. So now I do that full-time as a coach and a certified guide.

KATHLEEN: Okay. Well, we're going to go ahead and take a quick commercial break.

MICHAEL: Okay.

KATHLEEN: Welcome back everyone to the Journey of an Awakening Spirit. This is Kathleen Flanagan, your host, and we're streaming on the Bold Brave TV network. And I have Michael Mammina in the room with us today. And you said so many amazing things.

KATHLEEN: And I think what I want to dive into a little bit more, because we're going to get into the heart of this, is some of the things of really, and I understand the journey of you can only do so much. Before you get into that really deep, hard work, because that's basically what we do as humans. We can't if we did that deep dive right off the bat. Who knows?

KATHLEEN: We may never come back and go off the loony bin. So I acknowledge that because I had a very similar life where I did work, but not enough. But it was always there. It was always there. And when you finally made that decision, whatever Nancy did, and Nancy's amazing. I love Nancy.

KATHLEEN: Was there something inside of you that you knew that it was the time to do it? Was it a safety factor that you felt? Was it just that it was time? Did you make a really solid, strong decision to do it? Because I know when I did it, it was, I want to be a better person. And I was committed to that. So was there something along those lines that took that deep dive into that very dark, painful place? Because we know it was.

MICHAEL: Yeah. I honestly, I think it was just never understanding why I truly wasn't living the life I desired. Why wasn't I again, outwardly, everything looked awesome, but there was a part of me that was missing, like a desire inside of me that or a hunger that could never be filled.

MICHAEL: And I just kept searching and searching and searching. And I'll try this book, as you mentioned earlier. I'll try this book. I'll try that. I'll go to this workshop. I'll do that. And when I hit on the shadow. And that the shadow was the thing that was holding me back.

MICHAEL: And I could trace it all the way back to when I was a child, when I developed those shadows and how these shadows or shadow beliefs then dictate our life. Once I was able to understand that, that's when I knew, okay, it's really time. It's time to really, if I really want to break through and I really want to make a change. In my life for me, then it's time to do the work.

MICHAEL: And the same thing happened with alignment. It's like, yes, that was then. That was now 10 years ago. But the alignment work and the Levin Life Coach Academy work has been in the last four years. And the alignment has been in this last year. And the alignment also, when I met it at the door, there was so much resistance to go deeper.

MICHAEL: But I pushed throug because I knew on the other side, when I can get through my resistance, I always know that there's a reason, when things show up, I just push through and I, go.

MICHAEL: So I don't know, does that sort of answer that for you or tell me if you need more?

KATHLEEN: No, I think.

KATHLEEN: When I, I'm trying to think of how I want to phrase this.

KATHLEEN: I know that the shadow work, because I'm, believe it or not, I'm 67. So I'm right there with you, Michael. And I know that when you?

MICHAEL: And we look great.

KATHLEEN: I mean, we look fabulous.

KATHLEEN: But What I know is that back in the days, and I remember Debbie Ford, I mean, she's definitely my era, and doing that shadow work, I remember when it started to come out. And I understood it, I knew what it was, but I wasn't going to touch it. I knew that because it was too painful for me. But touching on the alignment part, because when I did my Dark Night, the Dark Night of the Soul work.

KATHLEEN: I was in Chicago and I wrote the trilogy Dancing Souls and it was the journey of the awakening spirit. And it was a place of remembrance and understanding the lies that were perpetuated. And I didn't have those people around me because I trusted no one.

KATHLEEN: Everyone was out to get me because I was always being harmed and I never felt safe. So I trusted no one. And the beautiful thing that I... Want to tell people now is there is so much support that you never, ever have to do this work alone.

KATHLEEN: Because it's hard work to do on your own. And I almost did not survive this because it was so dark. And I was very suicidal during that period of time, when you're facing hopelessness and despair to a degree that you've never felt, and there was nobody there to help you.

KATHLEEN: I really had to dig deep to find me in that. And what a gift that you gave yourself, that you found the people and you trusted. You may have self-loathed yourself, but you trusted people enough to help you.

KATHLEEN: And that's what I want people to really understand is that this isn't easy work. And I watched Michael during the alignment process of his struggle of going that next level and how hard that was for him. But then we watched the shift. And I know that he and I are both participating in the anthology book for Infinite Impact, where we're going to tell our stories.

KATHLEEN: And I have a story that I've shared a little bit, not on the show yet, because it's too painful right now. But it was the thing that changed my entire life. It changed everything about me. And I did not know it. I remembered it, but I didn't know. The understanding. It is in my books.

KATHLEEN: I do talk about it, but doing this anthropology and just to for you guys, for the audience to understand. That alignment, you're always working on it. It always goes deeper and it goes broader. It does everything. It's an expansion concentric circle. When I was talking about it, I remembered more details about that event.

KATHLEEN: And I started to see the connecting dots that they want us to do, that theme that runs through our life from that event.

KATHLEEN: And I was invited. That I didn't have to share the story because I was crying on them. I mean, I bring this story up, I'm crying because it's still that impactful. I mean, it was like thinking I had anger. No, I had rage. I had rage. That's a totally different animal that I didn't know. And now it's like taking that whole new level of understanding what happened in that very traumatic period of my life.

KATHLEEN: And when I was invited not to share it, I said, no, people need to know this. People need to understand that the depth of what I took and what you've done and what a lot of people go through, that is the gift that we're bringing to the world to help other people wake up. And we're willing, we chose and we're willing to be that way shower, not lightworkers, way showers to do this work.

KATHLEEN: And you. We always see people on the outside, like, oh, they're just so happy and smiling. And, you've had a good life and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Because we see the outside. We don't see the inner turmoil that we went through. But the thing is, is that we can speak from our heart from it.

KATHLEEN: And that's what makes it different. And that's why I wanted Michael to come on. Because that struggle he went through in going one level deeper about self-love was huge for him. Because I know, and I want you to share this with the audience, is how did that change your life as you move through that awakening process and what has changed in your life from that process?

MICHAEL: That's, yeah, that's great. And I'm happy to share that because what happened for me was the thing I was carrying most in my life was shame.

MICHAEL: I was holding so much shame for who I was and, not fitting in or not being who I should be in the world, that that shame was like pressing me down and was holding me back on such a deep level that I wasn't really even aware of the impact. I wasn't aware that it was still happening after doing years of work.

MICHAEL: So what it did for me is it broke me to a point where I then was able to have full understanding of the fact that my deepest desire was to feel accepted in the world. And if I could feel accepted, then I didn't have to feel ashamed of who I was. So when I can clean out the shame, that's when I made room for me to finally love myself exactly as I am for everything that I am.

MICHAEL: And I gotta tell you, this just happened, in the last six months. And as a result of that, I have put myself first in everything in my life. And I never did that because again, good Italian boy from New York, everyone has to, get along and I learned to be a people pleaser and navigate life, to survive. And, you got to get out there and work hard.

MICHAEL: But now, now that I understand that I need to love myself first, no matter what, and it may sound selfish to some people, but I look at selfish now as a really good word because that's an indicator to me that I'm on the right path in taking care of myself.

MICHAEL: And I believe that the universe, spirit, whatever you want to call it, absolutely wants us to be 100% in alignment with ourself, loving ourself, feeling worthy of everything that we have. Because when we could do that, we then do become those way showers for other people. You know, as Kathleen said, no one needs to be alone anymore.

MICHAEL: There are so many ways. You know, there are good things about technology and there are challenges about technology. But in today's world, luckily, you could reach out to someone and there are so many people that are there to support you. So especially in the LGBTQA community that I am part of.

MICHAEL: There is so much shame identified there. So when I was able to go, oh, it's the shame that I have been carrying. I now can help people move past that shame. I was 150 pounds overweight when I was 20 years old. Do you think there was no shame underneath that? And after I lost the weight, I lost it in one year. After I lost the weight, I still couldn't look at myself in the mirror.

MICHAEL: Because all I saw was this person who was not worthy of love, who was filled with shame, who didn't feel good about themselves, which is why I also support people in understanding what's underneath the desire to use food as their way of navigating life. And that's been really helpful for me. You know, a year and a half ago, I...

MICHAEL: Even when I hadn't lost 60 pounds more, I work out with a trainer, I put myself first. But I have to tell you again, in the last six months, learning about alignment, getting myself into alignment, breaking through that extra level of resistance and understanding my most unmet need in my life, which was to feel accepted, was the thing that truly broke me to the point where it is about me now.

MICHAEL: And I want to help people. To truly understand what it is that they need and then know that I and other people are here to support them on that journey and make it happen.

KATHLEEN: And we're going to go ahead and take a quick commercial break and we'll continue this when we get back.

KATHLEEN: Welcome back everyone to the Journey of an Awakening Spirit. This is Kathleen Flanagan, your host, and we're streaming on the Bold Brave TV network. And I have Michael Mammina in the room with us.

KATHLEEN: And during the commercial break, we decided we're going to go down and explain the unmet need a little bit more so you understand what we're actually talking about, because I don't think that's very clear. And an unmet need for me, Michael talked about his, was about, his being accepted. Mine was safety. Because of what happened in my life, I never felt safe from all the abuse.

KATHLEEN: And I've said that word my whole life because I remembered that a couple of days ago that has always been my word is I just, it's like, you're safe, you're safe, you're safe. I tell that to myself. I tell that to people. I tell that to the animals. That's all that ever comes out of my mouth is you're safe. I say that to my cats all the time because we're still integrating Marco into the house.

KATHLEEN: And so everybody is safe. And when I realized what that meant, and then it's like, but how do I bring that out into the world to where I get that need met? And through this alignment process, it was part of that vision that I had that I knew what I wanted to do. I knew why I was here to help. But the one thing that I didn't know was how to create that.

KATHLEEN: But yet I did know how to do that because people, I had a sign on my chest and back that said, tell me your deepest, darkest secrets because I can handle it and I'll never share it. I never understood that, but I do now because they felt safe with me. And when they felt safe with me, I felt safe to share my deepest, darkest secrets sometimes, depending on what it was.

KATHLEEN: And that's what we're trying to like talk. That's what we're talking about when we're saying the unmet need is being met. Because when I'm doing the alignment session, my whole goal is I want them to feel safe in the space that I've created. And I will go all out to do that. When I had my spa I did the same thing. I created the most comfortable, sacred, safe space for people to be in so they can just breathe and let it all out.

KATHLEEN: And I didn't have to talk to him. I didn't have to do anything. It was just about that client and that safety factor. When I did that and they came out and they look like a million bucks, you know, like off in the cloud somewhere relaxed. I knew I did my job and that's what that reciprocation is with the vision.

KATHLEEN: And that whole alignment process is that it's a giving and receiving that we never do because as way showers and light workers we give we give we give and then we're depleted and we don't know the reciprocation and this alignment process brings that give and take that giving and receiving back to us that we're energized and whole and complete and that takes that out into the world and so Michael I want to hear how you interpret it, because that was my interpretation.

KATHLEEN: And I know this might be a little different.

MICHAEL: No, it was very good. You're right.

MICHAEL: Again, as I said, my deepest unmet need, and the way I define the deepest unmet need is truly what we desire on a very deep level, what we feel that we didn't have. And usually it's as a result of something that transpired in our life.

MICHAEL: So if there is a situation or a, yeah, I mean, a story that we still carry about, usually from our childhood, where we then desire to have this need, this deepest unmet need filled. So we go about life always looking for one evidence that we're not. Getting it and then ways to try and get it.

MICHAEL: So for instance, for me, not feeling accepted, I have a situation going all the way back to my childhood where I walked out into the room with my family and they all started laughing at me and I did not feel accepted. And it may sound simple, but I was also at that point.

MICHAEL: Trying to express myself creatively and when they laugh

KATHLEEN: That's a story I want you to share the story behind it okay so that way people understand what what the story is so they can identify with you.

MICHAEL: So I really wanted to wear knee socks when I was like six years old right so I took red masking tape still wearing red right and I taped up my socks so that I would have knee socks on.

MICHAEL: And I thought I was being like brilliant in, look at me, I have knee socks on, right? So here, this, obviously, this child was wanting to come out and see, you have people see him in his knee socks. So I walk out and everyone started laughing and they even filmed it. It was filmed like on the like old hand camera, right?

MICHAEL: And at that moment, actually, I went and I reached for my mom and she pushed me out of the way. So everyone just laughed at me. So at that moment, I felt the need for acceptance.

MICHAEL: So see how that works? So then through my life, okay, so now I'm 60.

MICHAEL: I'm an overweight kid at eight years old. I'm never picked for gym. I don't have any friends. I'm sitting in the corner by myself eating lunch, like, never feeling accepted.

MICHAEL: Then I move on to junior high school where I'm bullied even more, never feeling accepted, hiding who I am, if you remember my story, hiding the truth of who I am, not even realizing that there's this undercurrent of homophobia and feeling. Like I can't be who I am as a gay person. Didn't even know what that meant.

MICHAEL: So then I go to art school, right? And I get to, for the first time, express who I am. I could have worn those knee socks and it would have been fine. So that's the first time that I got to express who I am, but I didn't realize there was still an unmet need. So then I went into relationships where all I did was try and people please and be accepted and have people love me.

MICHAEL: But that wasn't healthy, but I didn't know that. So there wasn't an exchange of give and take. So again, learning about alignment, learning that my deepest unmet need traced all the way back. Now we're talking 58 years ago and how it navigated my life, created those shadow beliefs, kept me in the dark, made me afraid of life. Made me not feel accepted, learning that acceptance was the thing I needed.

MICHAEL: Now, everywhere I go, I learn how to give myself acceptance, how I can feel accepted, how I can protect myself in any situation. And when I'm feeling off, and this is the beautiful part about the unmet need, if I'm in a situation and I'm feeling like, I don't feel right, I can go, well, what's going on? And I go, oh, I don't feel accepted.

MICHAEL: So how do I then get my unmet need met? So the beautiful thing is I get to learn about my unmet need. And as a result of that, I believe my work is to help people feel connected, loved, and accepted. So I can enter a room and help people feel accepted because I'm the person who says, hey, come on over. Come say hi. Come sit with us. We learn that there are ways.

MICHAEL: That we can help people. As Kathleen was talking about creating safety, I'm creating acceptance. And when I can give acceptance, I get acceptance. And that reciprocation is quite heart opening. And that's really truly what I believe my work and my purpose is on this planet right now is to help create acceptance because there's so much fear of not being accepted.

MICHAEL: And there's so much separation happening. That the more I can go out there, learn how to give acceptance, I'm also getting acceptance. So my deepest unmet need is being filled every single day. And I'm also giving of that. I'm giving that need to other people. So it's not as complicated as it took me to tell the whole story. Hey, I'm Italian. I'm a storyteller. So it's very simple.

MICHAEL: Once you can identify going through these alignment sessions where you have this unmet need it will burst open your life in ways that you have never experienced I was on a spiritual retreat actually last summer and I just felt off and I didn't understand what I was trying to do I was trying to like talk to everyone and get to know everyone and I realized that instead of trying to create acceptance my unmet need was feeling like, hey, these people don't like me.

MICHAEL: Something's going on. It's not right. So what I was doing was I was trying really hard to be liked, which was out of alignment. So when I realized that, hey, you're not feeling accepted, I got to course correct my behavior and I got to then approach these people completely different.

MICHAEL: And by the end of the week, we were loving on each other and hugging. It was a beautiful experience, but I needed to create the shift for me, which then created the outward expression, as we project our light into the world, so we shall receive it. It's that type of thing. So that's my story all the way back from the red knee socks.

KATHLEEN: I love your red knee sock story because it made sense of, because we all have something that made the change in our life that altered the trajectory of our life. Because I was told that I was this happy-go-lucky little girl and I loved everyone.

KATHLEEN: And if I saw my relatives, I ran up to them because I was so happy to see them and wrapped my arms around them and just loved on them. And I remember when my uncle told me this when probably about 15 years ago.

KATHLEEN: Really?

KATHLEEN: I did that? What the hell did these people do to me? Because I did not know that about me. But there was a part of me that somewhere deep inside I knew that was there. Because it was like, I just want to be happy again. Because I wasn't happy. I was miserable. And I wanted that. And I always saw that. Here's the outside of me and here was the inside of me. And they were never in alignment.

KATHLEEN: And I watched myself over the years get closer and closer. And now I am truly in alignment to where that I created the best life for myself and only I could have done this. And I'm so grateful that I created this miserable life, so to speak, to be where I am today, because it's the gift that I'm bringing forward. And with that, we're going to go ahead and take a quick commercial break.

KATHLEEN: Welcome back, everyone, to the Journey of an Awakening Spirit. I am Kathleen Flanagan, your host, and we're streaming on the Bold Brave TV network. And I have Michael Mammina in the room with us today. And I know that we've touched on some really powerful... Topics and went pretty deep into sharing of what life really is for ourselves.

KATHLEEN: I know because when we speak from our heart and we come from our heart, that we're reaching you. And that is a knowing and a trust that I truly believe in. And those are the people that I choose to bring on my show. And I knew Michael was one of those gentlemen.

KATHLEEN: And when he wanted to be on a podcast show, I said, you could come on mine. So we finally got connected to do it. So I'm so excited. So Michael, what would be one piece of advice that you would recommend or to help our viewers either move into a different direction or to achieve their dreams?

MICHAEL: Good question. So I would say what was coming up, what I was hearing was don't wait.

MICHAEL: Like that's what was coming up for me. You know, yes, as Kathleen said, and for myself, did we have to take our full journey to get to where we are today? Do we still have more to go? Absolutely. But if you're feeling that there are parts of you that have been stirred up by this conversation, or in general, you feel stirred up, don't wait. Really take the time to connect to yourself.

MICHAEL: And that could be through meditation. It could be through taking a walk in nature. It could be through journaling. It could be through reaching out to someone who you feel that you can have a conversation with and allow yourself to quite honestly sort of just let it all out. And get whatever needs to come through you to come through.

MICHAEL: Like I will often journal and I will say, my journal prompt is, okay, God, what do I need to know today? And all of this stuff will come through. And that's when I find my truth. And that's where I find the truth. So instead of waiting and saying, oh, I'll do it when I have more money or, oh, I'll do it when... I have more friends or my job is better. Don't wait.

MICHAEL: Don't take the time and don't take extra time to really start moving into action. Even if, and this is what I say to clients all the time, micro actions create a long term effect. You know, when you think of someone who's running a marathon, it's step by step by step.

MICHAEL: It's not, I'm running those 26 miles and it's over. So take the first step. And the first step usually is to be honest with yourself, but don't wait if you really, really, because you don't need to.

MICHAEL: There are so many resources out there because the journey to self-love is one of the greatest gifts you will ever give yourself in this lifetime. And again, it may sound to some people like, oh, what does that really mean? But self-love for me is wholeness. It's accepting myself. Completely and whole exactly as I am.

MICHAEL: And when we can get to that or start moving in that direction, because there are days where I don't feel that, but I know that I have the awareness or I could reach out to someone, or again, I can hit my journal or I can take a walk or I could reconnect. I could say a prayer. I could listen to inspirational music. I could do whatever I need to do. I'm not alone because I'm taking myself on the journey. So don't wait.

KATHLEEN: That's what I would say love that I love that because none of us know how much time we have left on the planet and wouldn't you want to know that you at least attempted a journey of recovery or a self-acceptance self-love worthiness whatever that core value word is to you rather than coming dying and coming back and starting from scratch again because you didn't even start the journey so well said Michael. How can people get a hold of you?

MICHAEL: Well they can go to my website michaelmamina.com that's a great way to get a hold of me I do free coaching sessions I do a free coaching session just to get to know each other they can also follow me on social media Instagram is Michael Mamina same thing on on Facebook and on linkedin and I post there all the time. I post videos. I post a lot of questions for people.

MICHAEL: And I love to share inspiration through there. But primarily, I'd say, if you really want to get a hold of me, michaelmamina.com is the best way to do that, because I love to connect with people and just see how I can support them on their journey so that they can feel connected, loved, and accepted.

KATHLEEN: Well, I love that. And thank you so much, Michael, for being on the show with us today. I really do appreciate the depth that you went into to share your story of and your journey of becoming an awakening spirit as we are all always becoming, but to do the hard work. And that's the difference of those who are scratching the surface versus doing the hard work.

KATHLEEN: Because eventually the hard work's going to come in if you're scratching the surface. So I want to thank everyone for joining us today. And if you've got any inspiration or you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at at Brave TV. I don't know what it is. Brave TV at Kathleen M. Flanagan dot com. Or you can go ahead and reach out to Michael Manimina because he offered that as well.

KATHLEEN: And feel free to forward and hit the subscribe button and forward anything of value to your friends and family. I want to remind you that my books, Dancing Souls, The Call, The Dark Night of the Soul, and Awakened are on Amazon and Kathleen M. Flanagan. And if you go to the Kathleen M.

KATHLEEN: Flanagan site, I have a special running for all three books and they would be personally autographed for you. I do have a free de-stress meditation. That is the sound that is there for you as well. And, as well as my services that I provide. And that sums it up for today. And I will see all of you next Tuesday at 4pm Eastern Standard Time. And from my heart to yours, I hope you have a fabulous week.