I had the pleasure of meeting Cheryl Grace when she gave an introductory talk on the Principles of Feng Shui at Wings Bookstore in St. Petersburg, FL. While the topic was super interesting, her delivery of the material in a highly entertaining and authentic way truly made it captivating.
I couldn’t resist the urge to get a few minutes of face time with her at the end of the talk . She’s the kind of lady you want to get a dirty martini with and “kibitz”. I had to ask for an interview, and she graciously granted it.
Cheryl Grace (www.CherylGrace.com) is the Hay House author of “Feng Shui Simply: Change Your Life from the Inside Out”, a Feng Shui consultant, Reiki Master, Watercolorist, and Motivational Speaker. Here’s what she had to share about creating change in your life to have what you truly desire:
Mary (M): You talk in the book about an inner knowing you had about making the switch in career, geography, everything! How did this present to you? And how did you know that you weren’t crazy?
Cheryl Grace (CG): I was travelling upward in the corporate world, achieving what society’s definition of was: wealth, status, and accumulating material objects. However, I wasn’t happy. The switch came to me while I was sitting on a beach in Dunedin, FL. It was rare that my life wasn’t wall-to-wall busy.
Quiet time on the beach gave me the chance to reflect on the life I was now living wasn’t satisfying and that I needed to find my life’s work. On the way home, I read the book, Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui and for some reason, this was the opening for me. I wanted to pursue this fascinating subject, and by doing so, it led me to being a full time feng shui practitioner. When you know, you know. I never felt crazy.
M: What was your greatest fear, and your greatest comfort about making this total life change?
CG: The greatest comfort was that I was now going to be permanently off of the hamster wheel of corporate business life and that I would be working for myself. I was excited to follow an industry that I felt passionate about. I wasn’t ever afraid. I’ve always managed to land on my feet and I’m a hard worker. What you fear you will draw to you, so I never indulged in fear.
M: What advice would you give someone who is contemplating changing every thing as they know it?
CG: I always say, “Never jump out of a plane without a parachute.” Create a business plan that addresses the financial impact of your decisions. If you chase the inspiration and not the money, you’re headed in the right direction. While there might be a few cross roads on your path, everything will fall into place exactly when it’s supposed to. You have to have faith in your future.
M: What advice can you give to someone who doesn’t think they know who their authentic self is at all? How would you tell them to find it?
CG: If you make a “bucket list” of all the things you like to do or hope to do in your lifetime and pursue one at a time, it’s a surefire way to your authentic self. If you are trying to find happiness outside of yourself (a job, another person) or doing anything that you are unable to connect with, then you’re living someone else’s life.
Your instinct and your intuition is the GPS system of your life.
M: What “inside” feng shui principle most impacted you and your life? What was the challenge to “getting it”?
CG: I’ve read a lot of feng shui books and I feel personally that I know more about feng shui than even the amount of reading or education I’ve been introduced to. It’s a God-given talent. For a student of feng shui, the material has to resonate with you before you can “buy into” it. I find that by applying the feng shui enhancements in your home and living by the feng shui principles has completely changed my life for the better. Anyone can benefit from the power of feng shui just by following the basic principles. Practice makes perfect.
M: What is the number one rule you live by? And did you always live by it?
CG: That everything that happens to me in life is a GIFT. It’s happening FOR me, not TO me. I’m not a victim. That no matter what an adverse or challenging a situation is, it was pass. “This too shall pass.” And no, I didn’t live by this until I discovered feng shui.
M: What’s the biggest thing you have learned from changing your life completely?
CG: That I’m always able to peacefully cope with challenges and change with the tools and wisdom I’ve learned from feng shui. There are always going to be obstacles, but I look at everything that happens to me as a gift. It’s there to take me to a better place.
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