Transcript
[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to The Love and Compassion Podcast with Gisele. We believe that love and compassion have the power to heal our lives in our world.
Gissele: Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more amazing content. On today’s podcast, we’ll be talking about Becoming Unlimited with Greta Pontarelli, she has coached thousands of people in businesses worldwide. She’s been a keynote speaker and featured on numerous television shows in magazines, most notably, inside Edition, A O L Cs, Steve Harvey l the New York Post, Anne Marie Claire.
She has mentored celebrities, world-class athletes, and ordinary people with extraordinary dreams and help them kickstart their mojo to bring their dreams to life. In 2012, she was invited to compete in American Ninja Warrior, which is a great show by the way, and was shocked to learn that she was [00:01:00] the oldest person to ever attempt the course.
She thought, where’s everyone else? And in that moment she had an epiphany to use her art form to motivate others to become the very best they can become. She is a 12 time world pole art master champion and from conquering Mount Everest to becoming part of Chuck Norris’s stunt team, greater maxi, seemingly impossible scene possible.
Please join me in welcoming Greta Pontarelli. Hi Greta.
Greta: Hi. Thank you so much. I’m honored to be here and I want to in some way inspire people to let them know that they could become the very best they can become. Cuz I see so many people stop short of the finish line. Yeah. So many people give up and the possibilities within all of us is it’s miraculous.
Yeah. So I hope it’s some way that I can be a, a catalyst to help them know that [00:02:00] age or any limitation should not keep them from. Passionately pursuing their dreams.
Gissele: Yeah. Thank you so much for mentioning that. Cause that’s exactly why I wanted to have this conversation with you. we were introduced to our mutual friend called Julia at another conference.
And when I heard your story and saw you perform, I thought to myself, wow, it’s so amazing how we limit ourselves, with our own mind and our own limited thinking. and so I was wondering if you can begin by telling the audience a little bit about your childhood and maybe some of the messaging you that you may have received that may have helped you on this journey.
Greta: Well, it might, my mother always taught us in life to not ask for a lighter load to develop stronger, should. So she always said, your challenges can become your strengths if you allow them to be your thrusting walk instead of debilitating you. So that’s something that has always stuck with me. So no matter what I did, if [00:03:00] something didn’t go out right, I go, okay, there’s a lesson here.
There’s something to learn here that is going to develop muscles that I didn’t know I had. So I carried that with me my whole life. I was the oldest of six, so I had a lot of responsibility. And I think learning to work hard learning, if the road turns left, sometimes you turn left. In other words, things don’t always go the way you plan, but you always say, okay, what are the other possibilities?
And you just keep going. And it’s been, it’s been a great blessing to have so many wonderful mentors around me in my life. I just, I feel extremely humbled and grateful because if I could give back even a piece of what they have given to me, my heart will be full .
Gissele: Thank you. you mentioned talking about, you know, the reframe your mom used when facing challenges, cuz I think that’s one of the things that limits people [00:04:00] is that fear is, is that it’s the not wanting to face those fears and face those challenges.
can you think of a time when it was challenging for you in maybe what helped you kind of overcome?
Greta: Well, one thing is I’ve had both of my hips replaced. Mm. because I did gymnastics when I was younger and I competed on hard floor . There were no spring floors back then. And so when I started hitting my sixties, I started losing my flexibility, my splits, and I started getting pain.
And I think, I thought, okay, what can my body do? Mm-hmm. . And I started building in my strengths and saying, okay, I, this, this is not the way I was 20 years ago. I just kept losing flexibility. So I developed other things and eventually I got to the point where I had to have both of them, fixed because I had a lot of pain nights.
So I went forward, but I still, I probably won five world championships while my hips were [00:05:00] completely compromised. As a matter of fact, when I was at the airport, like traveling to these world championships, I had to be taken in a wheelchair. And they had to take me back in a wheelchair and then I would go there and win because I would find, okay, I can’t show that, but there’s something else I could do.
And I would build on that. I think that’s what we need to do. We need to look at possibilities and if you look at possibilities, there’s always something out there that you know, will manifest your dreams. I was you. It sometimes when that happens, it actually becomes a strength because in my case, it made me become stronger and develop more strength moves and other moves that, that were really not being done at my age.
And so when I finally got them done, then I got my flexibility back and it was, you know, it was a home run for me because now I had the strength and the flexibility. So I just feel so grateful that I just kept going because most people would say, okay, I can’t keep going. You know, [00:06:00] my body is compromised.
But sometimes that’s the time to really look deep inside and say, There’s something else I’m supposed to do. I’m supposed to keep going, but the room turns left and so you turn left.
Gissele: Yeah. Oh, that’s so beautifully said. And I think that, like, as you mentioned, I think that really is the key to facing success rather than failure, is really turning those moments when we have probably the greatest fear and the, and we see the greatest challenge that you were able in those moments to shift your perspective and say, okay, so if I can’t do that, then maybe I can do this and be still be able to win.
I mean, that’s extraordinary to be able to be, I mean, you win in a wheelchair, , you did, you perform something, won a world champion and they’re back in the wheelchair, . I mean, there’s gotta be, like, in those moments, what do you say to yourself? You just say to yourself, just keep going or,
Greta: yes. In those moments, you just, you just keep going.
You don’t allow that to hold you back. You just do, and then you just have to say, okay, [00:07:00] there’s, I’ve, I’ve well prepared, I’ve built on my strengths and. You open doorways where you thought there were walls, you just don’t stop. You can’t let yourself stop and say, okay, this isn’t going to work for me. I’m not gonna be able to compete.
I’m not gonna be able to train because I have these challenges. I just kept working. I was fortunate enough that I was in a art forum that I could do that. If I was a runner, that would be a different story. I might not have been able to do that, and then I, I probably would’ve transitioned into another sport or something else at that point.
But mine, I just had to transition into different moves and be creative and work on choreography and, and actually all my choreography is about transformation. All of it. So it’s about the Phoenix rising out of the ashes. So it gave me, it gave me an impetus to share that story because that’s, I was living that story.
Mm-hmm. , I was living that story where I felt like I was, like, I was being [00:08:00] burned and I was. Losing something that really meant a lot to me. Mm-hmm. to be able to do my art form and then to realize that I rose out of the ashes with, you know, more for than I had before that I found I was able to be more authentic.
There was, you know, there was more conviction in what I was doing because I lived it. Mm-hmm. , you know, I lived that and it was something that was, you know, a part of my soul and my beings. So, I think you just have to dig deep and share your story. Everybody has a story. Mm-hmm. , and, I love the journey.
I mean, the stage to me is just a platform. Mm-hmm. , it’s, it’s really, not about the medals. I mean, the medals gave me visibility on a world stage, which was wonderful in some way. I can inspire other people, but it, it really was about sharing that story. It was, it’s the journey. It’s not the end point. [00:09:00] So, that gives me great fulfillment, inside.
Mm-hmm. ,
Gissele: I love what you said, because as you were thinking about, like, you know, you said had running been, had I been a runner, maybe it would’ve been a different story, but then the subsequent sentence you said was, well, I would’ve just would’ve shifted to something. Yeah. I would’ve shifted to, it wasn’t like it’s over, it’s done.
Right. Right. It’s like, okay, how do I maneuver? There’s a flexibility there and ability to see, I’m still gonna hold onto the vision. Yes. It just, maybe I’m willing to to flex the vision
Greta: e Exactly. Yeah. Because it’s, it’s unlimited.
Gissele: Yeah. And I, and I think so, the other thing that I think that I, have observed about you and your work is, is really the, the joy of the journey, which so often we don’t really.
Allow ourselves to savor. Like, so rather than, because you’ve been able to shift the, okay, ev, if every challenge is an opportunity and a gift, right? It does open you up to, to [00:10:00] savoring the experiences. Whereas often we are so bent on getting to the destination that so, so what is it about that, that’s, do, do you find that enjoying the journey helps you get to the destination or, or enjoy it more?
Maybe
Greta: It does. It does. Because in the journey, I celebrate every little victory. I mean, there’s sometimes you try things and you struggle for a while, and then finally some little thing about it works out. And that gives me great joy. So that to me is the journey. I mean, the endpoint is a, is a performance on a world stage that lasts four minutes.
It can’t, it can’t be about that. It really can’t be about that. I have to love the process and I have to say, how can I bring my character to life? You know, and how can I need more of my heart on the stage? And, and when I tear that it, you develop a, a kind of a, an elixir inside of you. You know, the endorphins, they [00:11:00] talk about the oxytocin, whatever.
It’s that, that, that feel good feelings that as you work out and train, it’s exhilarating and it really feeds your heart and your soul because it’s not just working out that is allowing these to, to manifest. You’re actually. Working on the creative plane and it’s kind of like sometimes you feel like it’s a little bit of an alchemy because you are taking something that is very raw and trying to turn it into gold and trying to turn it into something that is, that is magical in a way that touches the heart of the audience.
That in some way they take something home with them that changes their life in some way. And that’s, and that’s the goal. And it’s something that I always work on and I am very in touch with people send me these emails and say, because of you, you have changed my life because of you. I saw you do this.
And I thought, wow, I had given up at age 30 or 40, and then I see you do this and you have just mantled all [00:12:00] of my excuses. So that’s the journey part, you know, seeing the people that write to me, and by the way, I love people to write, to connect with me. my social media, I’m not. Super active on it, but every time somebody writes to me, I do try to respond and I do try to keep my foot in the door there.
I just don’t have a lot of time to post every day. But, I really, would love people if they want to reach out to reach out to me on Facebook. it’s really about people, you know, I love people and I, my mission is to, in some way, you know, in empower their lives in a way they weren’t empowered before and make them believe in themselves.
Cause people need, oh, they need so much inspiration and healing. I mean, as a, as a human race, we’ve gone through a lot the last few years. Mm-hmm. , there’ve been a lot of challenges and they can either strengthen us or debilitate us. And I, I choose. I choose to love and [00:13:00] to strengthen me and to allow me to keep going.
Gissele: Yeah. And that is so inspirational in, in a world where we’re taught or we align to, to beliefs where that things are negative. And to look at the, at the, at the negative or to be very fear-based, to, to focus on really on the joy and the journey in, in thinking Unlimited really is, inspirational. It really does help people because that’s all that people hear is, is it really that negative messaging?
What got you interested in that, that in pole dancing? well, I always think I, I always follow my passions, but what happened is both of my sisters who are younger than I am, came down with beginnings of osteopenia and it runs osteoporosis.
Greta: runs in my family. Yeah. And so I thought, I’m not gonna take drugs, so I’m going to find out what can I do to remineralize my bones, because if they have it I’m sure I do. [00:14:00] So, even though I was in good shape, I thought I was, I was not. I didn’t have a program that really gave me what I needed to strengthen my bones.
So I looked online, we say, lift weights or lift your body. And I found these beautiful artists on YouTube and it looked like Circus de Soleil, they were joining mm-hmm. acrobatics and spinning. And I just, watching them was just so magical and so beautiful. And the feeling of just almost like they were flying, you know, as you rotate around the pole, you get this kind euphoria and I thought, this is what I wanna do.
That’s how started it was in my head and about. It was fortuitous, but about two or three weeks later I got a card in the mail. Would you like a free poll lesson? Oh wow. It’s to me there. Yeah, I think, I think the teacher thought, oh, she’ll never be back. Cuz it [00:15:00] was not easy. Mm. It was not easy for me at first.
but it wasn’t until I thought, well, let me come back a few times a week. I’ll sign up for a month and see how it goes. And then things that were hard suddenly became easier.
Greta: And that’s what I talked about earlier. I celebrated those little victories and I thought, oh, I can do something that I couldn’t do last week. And very soon it became a positive addiction. I just, I loved it. I loved the, the artistry. The artistry was a big part of it. Not just joy moves or tricks, but being able to share an empowering story, that is what I started seeing in it.
Mm-hmm. And if when you share that story, you are bringing a character to life, you work on the costume. You work on, usually they have like an l e d screen or video in the background that frames it. You find music that brings it to life, and then you create the storyline and the character and the moves the way the character would do it.
So it’s, [00:16:00] it’s really a production and I really, I’ve loved all part of it because it just allowed me to be artistic in many ways that I wasn’t before. And it allowed myself to, to grow and to unveil gifts that I didn’t know I had. Hmm. Wow.
As you were talking, it occurred to me that, you know, one of the things you said was that you had to make a decision to keep showing up, right?
Gissele: Because in the beginning it wasn’t, yes, it wasn’t easy. But you had made that commitment, and I think that was one of the things you also had mentioned earlier, which is so many people quit before they get to the end. Why do you think that is?
I think it’s, I think it’s for a lot of people, it’s just human nature in a way that when they see a challenge that instead of wanting to move through it, it kind of debilitates them in a way.
I don’t know if it’s something that we’ve been programmed, I mean, [00:17:00] in life. I mean, a lot of people like to take the easy way. Mm-hmm. When you think about it, a lot of people, when you think about losing weight, how easy is it just to eat a little less and to exercise more, but they’ll go through surgery.
Greta: Mm-hmm. and I understand that some people don’t have the willpower, but inside of them, that willpower exists. And if they dug deep enough and found the right mentors and right catalyst, they could have completely done it on their own. So I think that that transforms into many different, this, this, it transforms you when you find that part within you that you thought you couldn’t do and you could do it.
And I really believe that there is so much within all of us. I mean, it’s, it’s unlimited universe. Mm-hmm. , and I think picking mentors like positive, empowering people like you, your website and surrounding yourself with people that are going after their dreams. If they did that, then they wouldn’t have [00:18:00] given up because the catalyst to move forward would be all around them.
But so often people want the easy way. They just want the easy way. It’s part of, I think it’s part of, it’s kinda cultural in a way. Cause when you think about what. Oh, ancestors did like coming across in a wagon right. Across How many people could do that today? They wouldn’t even know I, right. Not too many people going on those wagons.
what you take, what do you take? We’re
Gissele: farming. Farming is a, is kind of a dying art right? Yeah. At least in the North America. Lot of the farms.
Greta: I, I really believe, I really believe that the, if particularly starting with children, if your children don’t have struggles in life, you need to somehow create them.
For them. You need to give them challenges, right? Yeah. The more, when they overcome challenges, they develop an inner strength, an inner power. Mm-hmm. , and then whatever challenge comes before [00:19:00] them in life, they’ll know how to deal with it. Because you’ve had these little victories of being able to overcome things and that develops personal power.
And I really believe they need that. If they have the easy way, they’ll always be looking for the easy one. So I, I kinda embrace the challenges because I always feel like it’s moving me to grow in, in ways that I would’ve never grown without them. And I think it’s a, it’s a mindset. Mm-hmm. , and I just encourage everybody not to give up before you hit the finish line.
Not to give up, just say, okay, I can do this, I can do this. I’ve got the strength exists within me and I’m gonna do it. Mm-hmm. and empower themselves through positive affirmations. Mm-hmm. , and from people that, move that towards their dreams. Mm. That’s so great.
Gissele: It takes courage, right?
One of the things that I’ve seen, in the people that I’ve worked with and even in my own journey as well, is sometimes we’re like, okay, I [00:20:00] desire to create this. Where is it? Right. It’s sort of that, that immediate gratification, okay, where is it, okay, therefore it not showing up means it’s not there or it’s not happening.
And so how do we kind of ignore or not pay attention to that and really pay more attention to our vision in our dream?
So what helped you get, keep the journey, especially when you were going to win all of these awards? you know, all of these titles, which, you know, you said obviously is, is like the icing on the cake. But when you’re even gearing up for a competition, what helps you just stay motivated?
I think it’s because I really, in my heart, my mission is I really want to inspire people.
Greta: Mm. In way, in some small way. So I realize if I, if, if I don’t show up, let’s say I said, well, I have an injury, which I’ve competed with injuries. I’m just gonna pass on this one. It’s not as powerful as if I say I have an [00:21:00] injury, but I’m gonna do what I can do and I’m gonna move through this and I’m gonna, I’m going to do well anyhow, because that’ll inspire other people.
So I, I don’t wanna let myself down or other people down. Mm-hmm. So I wanna show them they can keep going. And I think, I think one of the championships that I won, that I was most proud of, you know, in Italy and Florence Italy, was I had my second hip done and the provisions were removed the beginning of December.
And it was, it was the middle of February. Oh, wow. And I went into that championship, Definitely had some challenges, but not only did I win, I got the highest score that I’ve ever gotten. And I think that part of it was because it wa, I mean, it wasn’t just about the tricks. I was so into this, and this was one where I was a tree, that it came to life in a forest and all of a sudden was hit by a forest fire.
And [00:22:00] so I, I was like down, crawling in the ashes and all of a sudden I, I, you know, go through my routine and I feel, I, I don’t wanna give up, but I’m burnt. I’m ashes, I, I want my life back. And all of a sudden a sprout begins to grow. Mm-hmm. And I say, ah, that’s, you need a forest fire for forest sprouts to go.
So every time things don’t go right. I remember that. And so I was so into that, you know, I believed that I. Poured so much of my heart and soul in it, I think that it really connected. Mm-hmm. with the audience. So I believe that you, you have to find that, you have to really find that in, when you, when you practice, when you’re working on it, you are enjoying the moment.
You’re definitely in the eternal now. You’re here right now, and you just enjoy the moment. You feel the, the endorphins. You feel the passion for sharing this story in this moment, that’s what moves me. You gotta find [00:23:00] the archetypes. I work a lot with archetypes and finding the muse within, like, there’s archetypes to me.
I work a lot with Joseph Campbell, the Heroes Journey. Yeah. You know, I work a lot with, he’s one I really love. I love geology. Rumi, the poets, you know, that says the wound is the place that the light enters. So every time you find a wound or something doesn’t go right, you say, this is where the light enters.
you know, you open your heart to that light and it’s there and it arrives. You just have to keep visualizing that. That’s why I say surrounding yourself with, with all kind of positive catalyst is paramount. It’s paramount. And once you’ve done this enough, then that becomes part of your nature. Hmm. you be, it becomes part of your nature because you realize that no matter what happens, that the power exists within you to go after your dreams.
Mm-hmm. and make them happen.
Gissele: Mm-hmm. [00:24:00] That’s amazing. Did you find that you, when you were ready, your mentors came? Or did you go looking for them? Like, how is it that you actually get got to meet these different people that were helpful in your journey?
Greta: I believe, I believe I was, from the time I was very young, particularly in college, I was, there was a kind of part of me that was spiritually seeking.
What’s the purpose of life? What’s, why am I here? What’s my mission? And I found that when you open your heart to that, they say, when, when a student is ready, a teacher arrives. And so I started studying with many different teachers. And the more I saw how they enriched my life, I kept casting my net broader and went to Gen H and Scotland, the community that, that really inspired me because they had done some amazing things on the planet and different shamans and people that, that had really lived, [00:25:00] very.
Very spiritual lives. I mean, the stories that they tell, the things they have done, being in the Himalayas with rishi’s that were living in the snow and you know, with just a loin cloth, you think this is capable, this is what’s one of the, some of the possibilities within us. they are at a level that most of us can’t even conceive.
If, I can’t imagine being out in the snow with basically just something very small . Yeah. I don’t like being cold that much, but Yeah. But you start seeing that they have gone to a level, they have done things, and I have, you know, I’ve met people, they’ve been drawn to me and I’ve been drawn to them all over the planet, who, when I see the things that they have done, it’s just, I know, it’s, it’s incredible.
Like I met a lady. She goes to the North Pole in the wintertime in g Greenland. Uh,you know, when it’s, when most people wouldn’t wanna be there, , most people run away. She us on iceberg. I go, what if you fall into the Arctic? [00:26:00] She goes, oh, I jump in. And she said, I spent an hour in there. I said, an hour. I said, what’s it like?
She goes for seven minutes. I feel like I’m being boiling alive now. See, I couldn’t take that for seven minutes,
Gissele: but she doesn’t. Yeah. And that’s, that’s too many minutes. But she
Greta: said, you don’t die of cold, you die of fear. Because when you, when you, when there’s that much fear, you are, you can’t, your heart is beaten so fast you can’t catch your breath and you pass out and you go on and you drown.
Oh, wow. And I said her, I said, I think you’re a mutation. She goes, no, I’m just using a part of my brain that most people don’t. So you can apply that principle to many different things. I don’t know if that would be my thing, but I, I, that principle, that principle applies to many facets of my life. And, she, she moves me.
And when you look at her, there’s so much light in her eyes. Mm-hmm. And look, when [00:27:00] she looks at you, like she’s looking at the Aurora Borealis . Wow. You know, she says, I love icebergs. I love the purity of the snow. You know, she just, you, you can imagine, you know, obviously that’s a crystalline dimension. Yeah, yeah. Of course.
That I allow people like that, that I need to influence me. And I look for people, I look for people like this everywhere. That in some way, Can en enrich my life in a way that it wasn’t before I met them. So you have to be open, you have to surrender to learning and growing. Mm-hmm. , you know, and realize that this is an abundant universe.
Everything exists, rebound around us, and you start seeing the magnitude of what we can do. Wow. Yeah. It’s, you rekindle that magic within mm-hmm. .
Gissele: Yeah. And it’s, it’s so nice to be able to see or hear those stories about people that have overcome this [00:28:00] sort of like, limited thinking, because we kind of have a lots of limited thinking about within what we can or cannot do.
And did you f do you find, like, I find this more, it seems to be more and more constraining, right? Like it, we seem to be more and more, we can’t do this and we can’t do that. Or that’ll hurt us. This’ll hurt us, this’ll, and then, so, and we, we kind of box, box ourselves in little cages. and I feel this way about aging.
So let’s talk about aging, cuz that’s a huge thing, especially for you in terms of your experience with Ninja Warrior. what are your thoughts on how we manage aging right now and, and how, how we can maybe start
Greta: shifting that? I really do think age is just a number. I really do. And it’s not that I’m in denial, but yes, we do age, but I do believe that it’s, a lot of it is mental.
Yeah. It’s the way, the way you think. The way you feel. And then there’s not enough talk about wellness and [00:29:00] taking good care of ourself, eating right. And I mean, I know when I had physical therapy after I had my hips, He said, I can’t believe what you’re doing. He says, nobody comes in here and does this.
And I go, well, they see, they stop short of the finish line. They thought, okay, I’ve had my hips replaced. I’m old. And they walk in with their walker. And many of them probably would never need that, but they, it’s a mindset. So I believe, you do everything you can to create wellness in your body through exercise, through thinking positive thoughts through eating.
Right? I mean, diet is really important to me. I eat pretty much a paleo diet. I use organic as possible. I don’t eat junk food, and I eat what my body means. I, my body tells me when I’m done. So I’ve always been the same weight. I’ve always been the normal weight because I don’t like the feeling about reading.
I listen to my body. Mm-hmm. , you know, and so I, [00:30:00] I think that if people listen to their body more, I don’t care if something tastes good, if I, I don’t like that full feeling . So if I have that feeling afterwards, it’s not, it’s not fulfilling to me. And if people just have not been taught to listen, I’ve been so blessed.
I haven’t been, I mean, in the last 25 years, I have not gotten sick. I got food poisoning once, but , . But I mean, as far as being sick, I’m, I think maybe I have one cold when my traveling or something, but I’ve just been really blessed that I have, and I really believe a lot of it is just listening to your body when your body says, okay, I need a little more rest right now.
Or sometimes there’s food or your body’s telling you you need more water. You know, you can just listen it, we’ll tell you. And I think a lot of us have forgotten that. They just don’t tune into that and see what they need. It’s, I, I’ve been so grateful that I [00:31:00] haven’t had to take any kind of medication. I don’t have problems sleeping at night.
Mm-hmm. . and I try to do things that I think will really facilitate me to be wealthy in a W E l l t H y . Yeah. Like being well, right? Yeah. You know what they say, you’re not richuntil you have something that money can’t buy. Mm-hmm. and that is happiness, joy in your life and health. You can’t really buy this.
Gissele: Yeah. Peace of mind. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you, you said some, a number of really a key things. I just wanna talk about the, the part where I think intuitive eating is so important. I think that’s why, weight loss is so hard, right? Because I think people do what they think they should be doing rather than really listening, like you said, to their body about what feels good or so they, so they get very regimented, they follow certain things and it doesn’t align with their body.
And so it’s a really challenging thing to. To do, [00:32:00] and therefore they’re not successful. And so I think intuitive eating and listening to your body is, is a really
Greta: important, yes. And it’s, it’s challenging for a lot of people because we’re marketed too all the time for fast food and junk food and whatever.
And, it’s not that I’m austere. If I go to a birthday party and they have a cake or sugar, I might have one bite or two bites, but I’m not gonna eat the whole piece. Yeah. I’ll taste, that’s really good. And I like it. That’s all I need. So it’s not like I’m austere. But my, I know that I don’t want the whole piece cuz I don’t want that sugar rush and I know how I’ll feel afterwards.
Mm-hmm. . So I think it’s, it’s about that starting to look at, you know, put going to places where you can get like farmer’s markets or wherever you can get the best foods and just don’t have those things around you. Then when you do that, you cut down on sugar and the extra salt they put in everything.
When you taste something that has a lot, it’s either too sweet or too salty because you’ve learned to like the taste of natural foods. Mm-hmm. . [00:33:00]
Gissele: Yeah. That’s, that’s really, really good. the, the other part that I wanted to mention was I, you know, I, as you were talking, you know, I’ve been thinking a lot about my parents’ journey and I love my parents very much.
They’re, they’re wonderful people. When I talk to them though, it’s usually about them, them saying, How hard aging is, how difficult it is. Don’t get old. It sucks to get old. You know, people that live for doctor’s appointments and I’m like, that’s not living, that’s surviving. and so what helped you kind of get beyond that image of aging?
Cuz that’s the image that people project that over time things start to decline and you have to abide by the, so, so to some extent you’re almost like, okay, pe most people are going this way. I’m going that way. . What helped you make that choice for yourself
Greta: beginnings of I guess because I don’t buy into victimhood, I think it can be a victim or you can be victorious. Everything in life, so many people, it’s like, poor me, or I’ve been a victim, I had an abuse childhood, [00:34:00] or somebody did whatever. It’s, they carry that with them and we’ve all gone through stuff.
Yeah, we’ve all gone lost people that we love deep. We’ve all been hurt in ways and gone through things in our life. But there again, did that, did those challenges make us stronger? Did we grow from them or did we become a victim? So I don’t buy into victimhood, and I think victimhood ages you tremendously because it mitigates your ability to use your gifts because it pushes them under.
As soon as you say, I can’t do this, or you want somebody else to do something for you, you’re not developing the skills to do it for yourself. So I have been taught to be self-reliant, not to count on anybody, to do anything for me, and to find a way to do it for myself, whatever it is. I try to in any way that I can to, to a point of course.
But, so I think that’s part of it. I think that they become victims. I’m older, this is what happens. I. [00:35:00] I found that yes, I’ve gone through aches and pains and all that, mostly before I had my hips done. Sometimes I had trouble sleeping at night because, yeah, they would get cramped or I’d feel the pain, but then you do what you have to do and then you get back to normal again.
And if I had those challenges today, I would say, okay, I would research. What can I do? Do I need to, maybe there’s some minerals that I need. Mm-hmm. , maybe I’m not drinking enough water. Maybe I need to do some exercises or whatever the kind of. Allows this message to relax. So I would find, I would research and find what I could do to, to overcome that challenge.
So it would challenge me to say, okay, I’m gonna overcome this. I’m gonna make this happen. I’m not taking drugs to go to sleep, whatever it is. And that’s what I did back then. Now it did get to the point where it was pretty painful, then Yes. Then I said, okay, I’m ready. I’ve tried all the natural things for my hips.
I tried p r p autologous stem cell, transplants, which gave me some [00:36:00] time. Mm. But they’ve all said, this is a temporary fix. Yeah. You know, long term you’re gonna need this because we’re not at a point yet where we can develop the bone. You know, I mean, they’re working on it, they guess they have done in a test tube in a lab, but they don’t have the scaffolding.
There has to be an architecture within your body for it to take place, and, and you’re young, so you’ll see it in your lifetime. Wow. Okay. But, you know, I don’t, don’t know if I’ll see it in mine. Depends how long I live. But it’s, you know, around the corner from all those things. And, so to me, I think everything that I go through in my life, I always think that a challenge is there for a reason.
I really believe a challenge is there for a reason. I just, my brain thinks that way. I think you can rewire your brain. Yeah. I think you can, you can wire it in a way to maximize your success in life. Mm-hmm. , you know, I mean, things happen. If something, if something [00:37:00] happens, like I have let’s, I have a, a business appointment that, that I thought was really going to be lucrative in some way and it cancels and doesn’t move forward, I’ll think, oh, something better’s gonna happen.
Yeah. You know, I wasn’t supposed to waste my time there, so I’m gonna this. Yay. You know, I, you just, if you think that way, you’ll manifest it because it’s law of attraction. Mm-hmm. , you know, It’s an, it’s an abundant universe. You start attracting that. So if I, let’s say that I got on the phone and started calling and somebody that I connected with felt that enthusiasm there, there would be, there’d be a resonance there between us that would allow that to manifest.
Mm-hmm. . Yeah. So I, I can’t tell you how many I’ve been through challenges. I’ve been through a lot of challenges. You know, my husband almost died 20 some years ago. He had a very serious form of leukemia. Oh, no. And yeah, and he’s, he’s, he’s fine now, but it, he was in the hospital for six months and, I thought, okay, how am I gonna, I’ve got kids at [00:38:00] home and how am I gonna do this?
And I thought I’m going to, you know, mm-hmm. . And it was, it was a huge challenge, you know, and I had to run to the hospital, which was about 90 miles away. I was three or four times a week up to Los Angeles and take care of kids and business and all kinds of things. And yet, I know the universe doesn’t give you more than you can handle.
I know that somehow I could get through that. And it’s kind of like, you know, when you have a child, nobody likes to wake up in the middle of the night, really, you know, for a full call, . But when a baby cries in the middle of the light, there’s so much love for that baby, you don’t mind it. Mm-hmm. , you really don’t, you say, oh, it needs me, this child needs me.
And there’s so much joy that, you know, and I kind of say that kind of transforms to a lot of areas of my life. So for people that have had children, they can relate to that. If you haven’t, there’s, you can develop empathy to somebody that has, you can still, you don’t have to go through everything. You can do it vicariously and still learn [00:39:00] from it and grow from it.
Gissele: Yeah. It really is about like the mindset, right? You, you were mentioning before about that victim consciousness, and I don’t think we realize how much power we give to these other things. We give power to those thoughts that aging has to look a specific way. We give power to the thoughts that we are limited, that we are smaller than we think we are, right?
and so it, it takes, it takes vision and takes courage and it takes determination to hold onto that vision regardless of what’s happening out there.
Greta: I know you really, you have to, you can’t let in our lives, you know, there’s a lot of tumultuous things going on in the world, but you, you wanna know about it, you wanna be aware, but you can’t let it live rent free in your head.
Mm-hmm. , you can’t let it get you down. You say, okay, so I’m gonna do the, you start with yourself. I’m gonna do the best that I can, and you. [00:40:00] Try to do it one by one with people. I think the more that we share, love, compassion, and peace in our lives with other people, it starts to grow. Mm-hmm. , you know, and help other people go through their challenges.
So I just, I feel that Yeah. You know, people are paramount to me. Yeah. I mean, people have enriched my life so much. They, they really have. And I think, I believe that that is a big part of what just keeps me going. Mm-hmm. is, I, I want, I want to become the best I can become so I can be a good model for those people, like you said, that, that are younger to kind of given up on their dreams or give it up, you know, health-wise on things.
But I hear so many miraculous stories of people that just have overcome things and it just touches my heart and mm-hmm. lets me know that I can. Continue on my journey and overcome my obstacles because I look at them and they have [00:41:00] catapulting me to another level where I see the whole my life through a different lens.
Mm-hmm. , there you go. It’s like one of those epi aha moments you see, see them do something you thought that wasn’t possible and they’re doing it. And, I embrace that. I embrace that it enriches my life. Mm-hmm. .
Gissele: Yeah. It’s so inspirational. Like you are, like in your, your life. It’s an inspiration to other people as well.
And so, what a gift to be able to love people.
Greta: Sorry. Good. It just seems normal to me because people deserve so much love. Right? Yeah. It’s, so to me it just, it, it seems normal and in every moment, you know, trying to take challenges we go through in life. Like I said something to somebody today actually, I said, you know, nothing offends me.
Because, you know, people get so offended by things, and that’s the impact that’s victimhood. And I go nothing against me. If somebody said something that offended me, that was unkind to me, I would, instead of me being angry [00:42:00] about that, I’d say, oh, it speaks volumes about what they’re going through. They’re probably really hurting inside.
They, they my love, they need my compassion. I’d wanna give them a big hug or embrace them. Because to me, that’s how the, that’s how the world changes. That’s how it changes. It has to be loving compassion. Yeah. It really has to be like the religion of kindness. It really has to be them. So how can words possibly offending if you, if you, if you know who you are, you can’t be, you can’t be offended when you are in your heart center, which the heart is light, how can you offend light?
Right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. How can you offend the sun? Cause so to me, the heart center, which is, you know, this is the center of our universe, like the sun’s, the center of the universe. It can’t be offended. And so that gives you a lot of power in a, in a way, because people and energy, I have no problem with energy because people give up their energy all day long.
As soon as [00:43:00] you become offended by something, now you are upset. You’ve , you’re, you’ve contracted, you’ve contracted your body in a way where the venous gland does not flow back to the heart and remove the toxins. And so there’s toxic, you become toxic in a way. and it’s, and now you are upset . Yeah. And in that moment you have a choice.
You could be a victorious, you could, when you leave, if you take that person and transmute them, let’s say they were really upset and said something really unkind, and you transmute them and give ’em a hug, and then they, you feel their heart and they give you a hug back. That’s empowering. That’s, that’s, that’s the true alchemist, that’s the true alchemist of turning base metal onto gold.
Taking some, something like that. Something that is hurtful and transmuting and into love, like compassion. That’s new what it’s all about in my world. Yeah. Yeah. Completely agree with that. Be able to do that. Cause that’s a, that’s a challenge when I [00:44:00] see somebody upset. I, I, I’m really challenged to Hilton.
Mm-hmm. , why would I waste my energy getting offended when I can use that energy to come make a difference in some way?
Gissele: When, when you are offended for me, like I find that everyone’s a mirror of me, and so if I get triggered by something, there’s something within me that I need to heal that is being mirrored back to me because why would I give that person more power to determine my worth or how I feel about myself. And so for me it’s more like if I’m triggered by something, I’m like, okay, so thank you for this lesson. There’s something there for me to heal. It really has nothing to do with this other person. it really has to do with how, what’s going on for me. and I love what you said about love because one of the questions that we’re asking in this new season of our show is really, we’re looking for people’s definition of unconditional love, which is what we’re hoping to get.
Like, you know, from my perspective, unconditional love is without conditions. I don’t need the other person to change or to be more loving. They [00:45:00] just, they’re worthy of love. So I was wondering what you could share, if you could share your definition of what you think unconditional love
Greta: is. To me, unconditional love is the antithesis of, I will love you if, if you do this, if you behave the way I want you to do, or if you unconditional love.
That doesn’t exist. You just love them because they are mm-hmm. , you just love them. Just love If they disappoint you, you still love them, let you down. You still love them. If they hurt you, you still love them. There’s no conditions and it’s, it is funny. That sweet spot in your heart is really,
it’s just such a pristine place to be because when you, when you get into that center, I mean, all of life becomes a living miracle to you because life is all about love. I mean, [00:46:00] that’s what it’s about. And, and people that have conditions, they’re only hurting themselves. They’re taking a love away. They’re mitigating the love within them for themselves because they may be in that moment that they would interacted with that person and they thought it, but they’re gonna carry that with them.
So, it’s something, it’s a journey. I mean, as I’ve grown older, it becomes easier to do. I think it’s harder when you’re younger, but then you get to the point in life where you go through things that really are life changing and you do not sweat the small stuff you say about like, really, you know? So I think it, part of it’s, I think it’s a maturity at a, at a spiritual awakening, self realization.
It’s a combination. And, when you go through challenges of life, like losing somebody very close to you that you love, something very traumatic happens, you start really seeing life through a whole [00:47:00] different vantage point. And, and you realize that all those things that you got upset about before, or.
They don’t matter. So to me that’s what it’s, you just have to take the IFF at it. I love you. I love you. If you remove the, if I love you unconditionally, no matter what you do, I love you because that love eternal and there’s no conditions on that love and it’s easier than people think, you know? And really, cuz in that moment you have a choice.
Mm-hmm. , you have a choice. You have a choice at that moment to say, am I gonna choose peace or am I going to to write or am I going to tell them what I think? ? Yeah. And like peace is a lot easier. Just let it go. ,
Gissele: I love the gift for yourself, right? Like that piece.
Greta: Mm-hmm. peace is so important in my life. I mean it really, I love that inner peace.[00:48:00]
So I really aspire all the time. That’s why I like, To always try to be transmuting things because I don’t want anything to take away that, that inner peace within me. And so I, so it’s my responsibility, it’s not theirs. I mean, no matter what they do, if I allow it to affect me, then I buy into it. But if I, if I maintain that center, nothing can take it away from
Gissele: you.
Yeah. And I think that’s true power because you don’t need the external to be a specific way in order for you to feel a specific way. You don’t need people to behave a certain way or circumstances to be right. It is being in your own power, in your own authority, right, of like, I choose peace and nobody can impact that choice unless I choose different.
Greta: So that’s, exactly. And that’s why I really connect with these internal archetypes and muse that really affect all of us. So if you connect with that, you can, people call it different names, but you know, it’s. [00:49:00] Something that is, is affects everybody. All of us have that. Like there’s really, at some level, there’s really one mind, so to speak, where we all become omnipotent.
And when you see this within yourself, when you, when you get to that place where you see those archetypes, those archetypes have a, they become an elixir or a power. If you tune into that, you know, it kind of means you threw things. Some people call it like an eternal spirit or a guardian angel, whatever it is.
And then those archetypes take different forms. Like I really love the archetype of transformation. I think that’s the one I connect most with, because you’re always transforming things and that manifests inspiration and manifests healing because you’re transforming. It kind of permeates how your entire life, always transforming things and.
I think that, you know, relates a lot to like [00:50:00] Jungian philosophy. You know, that’s about the archetypes. There’s, that’s something that really has influenced me a lot. Like studying, studying philosophers that had saw life through a, a lens that really enriched my life. Like I said, this is their vision. I’m going to try to see like the way they see it.
Mm-hmm. , you know, an as maybe just an aspect. Maybe it’s the whole thing. But, I mean, just to see things like Joel Rumi or Joseph Campbell, just to see like that way mm-hmm. , you know, and just see that, you know, when you follow your bliss, you will find those doorways when you want saw walls, really, you will find them and you’ll open those and you’ll find a whole universe await you.
Where before you were just looking at the wall. You know, and it’s kind of like when a bird flies in your house and you open all the windows and it keeps hitting the wall, and you go, the windows are open, fly away, but it keeps hitting the [00:51:00] wall, right? Mm-hmm. , and that’s what people are. And yet you, you try to coax it to the, see, how can I coax it to the window?
And I think that’s, that’s a metaphor for our lives. I really believe that a lot of people keep see that wall. And if they just looked around, they would see that doorway is wide open. It awaits them. Oh, universe awaits them if they only allow it. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. .
so it’s so funny because when you’re in fear, like your vision narrows , so you don’t see the opportunities, what do you think helps people be in allowance?
Gissele: Because I’ve heard that my husband and I have lots of conversations about allowing, about allowing, you know, you good to come to you, allowing yourself to follow your bliss instead of what you think you should be doing instead of, you know, like, oh, I should follow my bliss. Well, my bliss right now may be just sitting in meditation for three days.
Well, I still, should I be doing something? Should I have bills to pay? So, how, what, what helps us with allowance?
I think ev it’s [00:52:00] very individual. I think it’s very individual. For some people, maybe for that period, three days might be exactly what they needed to, to, dial their life down in certain ways and to, to flourish. I mean, there’s people that do that, they get away. But I think for, for people that the average person, They didn’t, they wouldn’t need, they wouldn’t need that much.
Greta: So you have to like, in that moment say, okay, I love sitting a meditation and I’m gonna try to get what I should get in three days, in 10 minutes. , right. , you know? Right. I’m not gonna, I’m not gonna let my mind wander. I’m just gonna get in there and I’m gonna decompress and I’m gonna really experience, I’m gonna take that magic with me into my life.
So you have to, we all have things that we have to do, and you can take it into a moving meditation to pay in your bills or working whatever you’re doing. So you carry that with you. So you say, how can I optimize what I’m doing? How can I take what, take this, you know, whatever it is. I don’t have a problem with, personally, with, some [00:53:00] people do, they get stuck on TV or that sort of thing.
I don’t watch TV or any of this. People say, you haven’t seen this movie. How much a show again? No, I was too busy creating. . Mm. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I mean, lots of people get a lot of enjoyment out of that, but I’m just saying that. But there’s a point where that becomes too much, too, you know, where they have things that they need to be doing and they don’t join because they’re playing computer games or whatever.
And so you have to like discipline yourself and say, okay, I’m gonna accomplish what I need to do and then I’ll reward myself with this. So I think it has to do more with a reward system that I give myself challenges and then when I’m done, I work hard first, then I play hard. Mm-hmm. . So I think if you play hard first, you might keep playing
So I think you kinda have to you some psychology on yourself. Sometimes you gotta find out. That’s why I say it’s so personal. You have to find out what works for you. Mm. What works for you. And for some people they work really well with [00:54:00] positive affirmations about things. Mm-hmm. , some people, they just create.
They create a, a structure, you know, they create bar, they pay perimeters for certain things. Okay, I’m gonna work for this amount of time, time and then I’m going to do this for this amount of time. They’re very structured. everybody is so, all unique individuals, but I think if you explore, get to know yourself, you’ll know what works for you and you’ll know what you need to do.
I mean, I, everybody needs to make a living. Life makes, you know, money makes you comfortable. I don’t know if it really makes you happier, but it makes you comfortable and everybody needs to take care of that because if you don’t go do that, then that stress, you don’t have money to pay the bills. It’s very stressful.
So I do everything. I can’t avoid stress, but there again, I don’t wanna create more money than I need. Mm-hmm. , I know what I need. I know what I enjoy. My time and my time with people enjoy my art form is very important to me. So if, if I try to create a lot more [00:55:00] money and really grow my business more, and it takes away from that, then I’ve lost some of my purpose.
So it’s all balance. You have to always seek equilibrium and say, where’s the balance from me? And like I said, everybody’s a little different, so you have to really get to know yourself. But when you find that it’s not a problem, if you have trouble finding it, then you see mentors that can help you find it, because there’s a lot of people that, that, that is their gift to be able to see things that you don’t see and then mirror them back to you.
Then you go, okay, this is great. I’m, I’m, I’m the kind of person that would work well. This way. You create something, you create a, a structure that works for you, right?
Gissele: Yeah, absolutely. Absolut. so just a couple more final questions. I, I, I had heard, and I heard you mention it, and I think I’ve also read this in Joseph Campbell, it’s follow your bliss.
Like you’re the master of your destiny. Follow your bliss. Have you find in your life that by following your bliss, it led to more bliss?
Greta: It [00:56:00] does. It’s like, it’s like gratitude. The more grateful you are to people, the more they wanna do for you, and then you have more gratitude. Right? Nobody likes to keep doing things for people that aren’t grateful.
Yeah. right? And so is kinda the same way. When you follow it, it magnifies, it just keeps magnify. Yeah. And, and so I tell people like, just, you just, you gotta start somewhere. Wherever you are, start somewhere and it’s going to magnify and it’s going to grow. the people, people are unique individuals.
Mm-hmm. , I find some people it’s a little bit at a time. Some people are farmers. It’s like tilling the soil, getting ready and some people are like hunters just, you know, yeah. They don’t wanna, you know, but, but you have to find out what works for you. Every person is different and you’ve got to find out, you know what, that’s why I say it’s so important to read cuz you read things or you are [00:57:00] around mentors or work with, with life coaches who, whoever enriches your life, you work with those people and they, they do become a catalyst for those things.
And it’s, it’s an abundant universe. They can manifest those in their own way, and that’s the beauty of it. And we all work together and empower the lives of each other. I, like I said, people have enriched my life so much. Mm-hmm. I tell people like, if you could own, if I could only give back a portion of what you’ve given to me with what you’ve just said to me or what you’ve, or just watching your life mm-hmm.
Right. I said that it’s, you know, it’s, it, my heart will be full because it’s, it’s, there is, the journey is endless. An extraordinary have you have to love it. And every day I do. I wake up and I said, let’s see, gonna send me today? Mm-hmm. , you know what’s, [00:58:00] there’s always something. Mm-hmm. in some way, you know, moves me to a different level of self realization.
Like, who am I going to meet or what am I better read or what? And it always happens. Mm-hmm. and sometimes in many different ways, but there’s always something there. I think as you start looking for that, you find it because thoughts become things. Mm-hmm. , you know, it’s one of the laws of manifestation. So just understanding the law of manifestation and understanding, you know, how things manifest in the.
And how things start out, like in the, in the realm of idea and come the whole way down and manifest sort of like the tree of life. Mm-hmm. down into the physical reality. And you start seeing that and you start realizing that you are the master of your universe. Yeah. You know, God, you know, and if you’re not happy with your [00:59:00] universe, change it.
Like I guess there’s a zen cone where a student comes to a teacher and the teacher, they had a couple of said, you likes straights, pour the tea and the tea runs over the cup and starts going down the steps.
Greta: And he goes, what are you doing? He said, the tea’s running down the steps. He says, that’s how you come to me with a full cup. I can’t add anything to come with an open cup. You have to open your heart and you’re being to want to learn and do hope. If you don’t surrender to that, you come with a full cup.
Nothing can be added. So when you open that natures a vacuum, right?
Is filled with with treasures.
Hmm. You know, the treasures, like inner treasures. Mm-hmm. , you know, like the treasures that are priceless, the treasures that [01:00:00] enrich our life. But like we said, the love, the compassion, the inner peace, the wellness that, well, you want in our hearts, if you want that we have the ability to manifest. We just have to believe it.
Yeah. Yeah.
Gissele: And then we have to choose it and, and commit to it. Because I think that’s where the commitment, people just wave around the commitment. They choose it, they think that they’re choosing it, but then as soon as things don’t align or they don’t see it, then they’re like, oh, well that, that didn’t work.
And so I think you have to believe in it more than you believe what you see. So,
Greta: yeah. And sometimes when it doesn’t work, it’s really that aha moment. I talked about in the last seminar that at one point I really was kinda fascinated about going to Mount Everest, maybe in a base camp, maybe climbing it.
and I was just fascinated about people that had admission to tell a story and they wanted to give visibility. So they went through all that training and [01:01:00] hardship to go to the pick Mount Everest to tell the story. And then my hip started going. I go, okay, this is not going to happen for me. So I wanna get, tell my story.
Greta: I wanna do something that has a, a planetary influence. And then the Pole came. And when I first started working out, I never thought that that was gonna be the platform, but as I look back at it now, in retrospect, I was climbing to new heights. You know, I was climbing, I was filling the ecstasy of the heights, and being able to share that message on a world’s stage and give visibility to my mission.
Oh. Manifested through it. And at that time I would’ve never seen it. But the universe said, there’s a shift coming. There’s a shift coming. So the Pole became my Everest. Yeah. And everybody has an Everest within them. There’s something within them and you just have to keep going. And, and I said when I [01:02:00] started doing that, I never thought I was gonna compete.
I’d never did. Cuz I, my competition is in the mirror and when I go to still compete, I call it I’m going to perform or I’m going to a championship. I’m not competing with my friends or all my friends. Mm. I look at it really as I’m there to share a message. So I never thought I was gonna keep it. But you know, universe had different plans for me.
I realized that it, I, to give visibility to my message, I had to go out and do something that was going to create interest on a world stage. And it wouldn’t happen if I just. Have a good time training at home. Yeah. You know, you had, I had to like get outta my comfort zone. Mm-hmm. . Yeah.
Gissele: You have to be, we had to be willing to get outta your comfort zone.
You also were willing, the, you have a great flexibility, which I think, because sometimes we have a vision of something and then we’re like, no, this is the vision. But [01:03:00] sometimes, as you say, the universe or higher self or source or God is saying, no, no. The, the vision is there. It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s foundationally the same.
You’re, you’re climbing the pole instead of climbing Mount Everest. if you were willing to see it, but sometimes we’re so stuck in how the vision should look, that we miss our, our opportunity like that we may not, that it’s not gonna come, it couldn’t come back. But sometimes that we miss the gifts that are being offered to us in different ways.
And so you seem to have this incredible flexibility to be able to say, okay, maybe not this then what? right. Than, than this or this or this or
Greta: this. It’s, yes. It’s kinda like, and you, it kinda like, you’re always improvising . It’s like, make mistake kinda sounds like, oh, that was interesting. So it’s kind like you’re always improvising, so when something doesn’t work out that way, I, I know it’s, something else is gonna work out even better.
If you believe that you’ll [01:04:00] manifest it, you’ll, I mean, and something will be better about it. I mean maybe, maybe it’s not the exact, maybe you thought this was the apex right here and maybe it’s really something over here and maybe it doesn’t seem as high to you, but it’s just as fulfilling. Yeah. It’s just as fulfilling.
I mean, what I, if you find you can find fulfillment in the little things. Mm-hmm. the tiny things in life, you know, sometimes the simplest things give you the fulfillment. So you’re not doing it for this, this big climax here. You’re doing it. For this, this inner feeling that you have within this sense of wellbeing that somehow that you’re living life to its fullest.
Mm-hmm. and sharing in it. Sometimes it’s very small things, sometimes it, you know, bigger things, but it’s, it’s, it’s really the, it’s the quality of what you feel. It’s, there’s something within you that is just priceless and it’s just a sweet spot [01:05:00] within all of us that all of us could live there more. I mean, this would be a different world people lived in that, you know, that center spot, like the Dai Lama says, you know, practicing kindness.
That’s, that’s the message. It’s all about kindness. If we all had kindness in this planet for each other, imagine the kind of world that we would live in. Mm-hmm. It’s all about kindness, and we have to think in every moment, how can I be kinder to myself, to my friends, to the people I come in contact with?
How can I have more compassion? We can never have too much compassion. We can never have too much love. We just, you just have to allow it to keep blossoming and blossoming and blossom. So it contains the entire universe. Mm-hmm. , I guess that’s what Rumi talks a lot about that in his poetry. Yeah. About it just containing the universe.
And he says, you’re not a drop in the ocean. You are the, you are the [01:06:00] ocean, you are the, but we think we’re just this little tiny person in this world. We’re the magnitude of what we can become. It’s just, it’s unlimited. Mm-hmm. . And I believe that people just have to open their hearts to that vision. And the more you open that heart, the little pieces at a time, Some, sometimes you have, there’s a quantum leap, an epiphany or something just, it just changes overnight.
You know, you just feel this effervescence within you and that becomes life enhancing. So to me that I try to make choices that keep maintaining that, that’s, that’s the goal. And if you don’t, you don’t beat yourself up and. You know, I’ve learned something from this and I’m going to grow from it, right?
Gissele: Yeah. You choose again. Yeah.
Greta: Oh, yes, yes. Go ahead. Moments . It’s ok. .
thank you Greta, you’re such an inspiration. I wanted to give you an opportunity to share with people where they can find you. So name your [01:07:00] Instagram, your website, anything that you wanted or anything that you’re working on that you want people to, to know.
thank you. Thank you. And you’re such an inspiration. thank you on Yes, youre on Facebook. and YouTube. It is under my name Greta, g r e t a. Pontarelli, P as in Paul, o N as in Nancy, T as in Tom, A r e l l I. I have a handle on Instagram. It’s Ariel Zen, like Ariel, A e r i a l z E N. Because when I first did it, I thought, this is my meditation, you know, you know my aerial zen, like zen being something that takes you to another plane or level, you know, that, that defines words.
Greta: You say you can’t define zen in words because it’s just, just is. And so that aerial zen and follow me on all of ’em. I’d love to connect with people if you don’t hear from me. Reach out again. Sometimes things go into these [01:08:00] folders, you know, that, you know, and I go, wait, there’s a folder here that I didn’t know was there, and I haven’t looked there for a month.
I don’t mean to ignore anybody. Just find, just keep looking. You’ll find me. Because sometimes I don’t check those. I think you have to approve somebody first before you can visually see it. But then the Fuller’s still there. But, I love hearing success stories. I love people that reach out. people ask me a lot of questions about things.
and I really believe in my heart. I love, love, love serving people, because I find that it allows my mission to grow. And it’s all about manifesting that of an abundant life. Mm-hmm. and abundance is within Right. . But, so I love your message and I thank you so much for sharing. Thank you so much for being on the show and, and creating a platform of people to, to know that that life is truly a, a miracle and they can create those [01:09:00] miracles.
Greta: These like everyday miracles, everyday omens, they’re all around us. And the more grateful you are for everyone that comes in your life, like we talked about earlier, they magnify and they keep growing. Mm-hmm. . And, I’m just so grateful for people like you that enriched my life beyond measure. Thank you.
Gissele: Thank you, thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. To everyone at Tune in as well. Please go check, Greta’s website, Greta’s, Instagram as well as get in touch with her. and please join us again for another episode of the Love and Compassion podcast. So
Thank you
Greta: for sharing the love. Namaste.