Do you want to learn to find the place where troubles melt like lemon drops?

I'm your host Kara Stein-Conaway, and this is The Business Mamas Podcast. The Business Mamas Podcast is made for women who know they should be doing more self-care and practicing more self-love, but are overrun with balancing it all. This podcast provides the tools and support you need so you can have a successful career while also being a present and loving mom.

With this season of the podcast, I am sharing with you a song that I sing to my children at night when I'm putting them to sleep. After I share the song with you, I'll tell you the lesson that I hope to be teaching both myself and my children with the song, and I hope it's a lesson that will resonate with you too. 

Somewhere Over the Rainbow 

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true

Someday I’ll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you’ll find me 

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Bluebirds fly over the rainbow why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why, oh why, oh why can't I?

Somewhere Over the Rainbow, sung by Judy Garland, has always been a song that I find soothing, and comforting. And it is definitely one that I love to sing to my kids at night.

Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue

And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true

To me, this is about a state of mind and a way of being.

Once we practice seeing the blueness of the sky that is right before us, then the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.

But so often, we can stop ourselves from dreaming those big dreams that she sings about at the beginning of this song.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow is such a powerful reminder that you can allow yourself to dream those big dreams! 

Someday I’ll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops

Where is the place where troubles melt like lemon drops?

I feel like I have experienced this place in my own life.

And when I sing this song to my children, it's my hope that they too will come to realize that the place where troubles melt like lemon drops is within your own mind and within your own heart. And that by creating and nurturing a safe space within yourself, you can always find the place where troubles melt like lemon drops.

When you develop a practice of observing your feelings, then you can notice your troubles. And in noticing your troubles, you can invite them to be felt, and you can hold space for those feelings.

In holding space for those feelings and in approaching yourself from a non-judgmental place of love and compassion, those troubles do melt away like lemon drops.

And for the troubles that don't melt away like lemon drops, when we approach them from this way that I've described, that's when we get to reach out to other people and say, “Hey, I'm struggling. I'm having trouble. I’m having a worry.” Then, we are able to find the support that we need in order to allow those troubles to melt away too.

I firmly believe that with self-love and self-kindness practices, that we can create those beautiful places within ourselves where troubles melt, like lemon drops.

And for when we encounter those troubles, that when we use our own self care practices, we find that they are not melting away, like lemon drops, we can come from a place of love and compassion and find the help that we need in order to give our self that kindness, that support, and that help that we may need with whatever trouble we may be encountering. 

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Bluebirds fly over the rainbow why then, oh why can't I?

But we can.

But you can.

You can absolutely fly over the rainbow and into this beautiful place of feeling self-compassion and feeling self-appreciation and feeling a desire to give to and nurture yourself when you are feeling down, from a place of pure compassion.

From that place, you can fly.

From that place, you are free.

When we can count on ourselves to be there for ourselves, we build that accountability with ourselves. When we make the promise to ourselves to always comfort ourselves when we feel sad, when we start showing up for ourselves in that way, it's not just bluebirds that fly, we get to fly too.

And we get to feel that freedom.

We get to dream those big dreams.

You get to dare to dream in a way where you don't shut down that dreaming process; you let it flow, and you let it go wherever it may go. And you get to do that, because you also know that you are there for yourself to support and nurture yourself when you need that support. You also get to reach out to others when you need more support and nurturing than what it is you are also providing to yourself.

To me, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, is a song of opportunity, a song of seeing what is possible, and a song about creating that beautiful life, that rainbow color-filled life that feels so right and so special.

Know that it's there for you; it's available to you. And that you can create that for yourself.

As a mother, I want my children to feel like little bluebirds that are exploring their hearts’ desires, allowing themselves to feel into their creativity, into what they are drawn to, and to do what makes them feel alive, and happy, and on purpose.

And as I dream of this for my children, and sing them this song, I also hold in my heart from the deepest place, and the deepest desire that you too, will take flight and will allow yourself to dream big.

Feel that freedom of going after and doing what it is your heart is calling you to do, knowing that if you fall, or if you need a rest, and if you need a place of comfort and compassion, that you get to be that place for yourself.

You can sing yourself Somewhere Over the Rainbow or come up with other ways that feel good to you to remind yourself that you are that special, safe place, always.

If you enjoyed Episode 30 and this blog post, I would love it if you shared the blog or the podcast with someone you think could benefit from them. I would also be incredibly grateful if you could leave an honest rating and review of The Business Mamas Podcast on Apple Podcasts as that helps more people find the show and it helps me in sharing this message of practicing self-love and self-care with more people whose lives I know could be enriched by hearing it. Sign up to download my Morning Routine Guide and receive my twice-monthly newsletter at The Business Mamas Podcast. Until next time and with gratitude, Kara Stein-Conaway, @karasteinconaway on Instagram.