A Conversation with Gabrielle Bernstein

Guideposts Video: Inspiring True Stories

Video 1: The Miracle That Saved Me
I’m Gabby Bernstein and it’s awesome to be connecting with Mysterious Ways. I’m a no. 1 bestselling New York Times author and a motivational speaker.

I’ve been sober now for 12 years, and in 2005, when I was 25 years old, I hit a beauiful bottom—I say “beautiful” because it was the catalyst for everything I am today, for the woman I am today.

I was running a nightlife PR business, I was looking for my self-worth and my happiness in all the wrong places—looking for it in my credentials, looking for it in the nightlife scene—and eventually that spun into a deep and dark drug addiction. That outside search for my happiness and my self-worth really got me into a scary place.

So I was 25 years old, I was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and I needed a change or I was going to go down the wrong path that would probably lead to a lot of destruction. Thankfully, I had a spiritual connection that was behind me, really a faith in something greater. 

On October 2nd of 2005, I really hit that bottom. I looked at my life and I thought to myself, “Is this it? This is  not where I’m supposed to be.” And on that day, I actually asked for a miracle; I said, “I need a miracle; this is not working.” And that was the day that I really made the commitment to get sober. I heard a voice of my intuition say, “Get clean, and you will live a life beyond your wildest dreams.” And I listened to that voice, and I’ve now been sober 12 years. 

And that was the day that I really made the commitment to turn my search for happiness and success and self-worth inward and begin to seek that sense of self-worth and peace in my relationship to a spiritual connection and deepening my sense of intuition and inspiration. 

And it’s been 12 years now. I’m very proud to share that. 

Video 2: Listening to Your Inner Voice
I’m Gabby Bernstein and it’s awesome to be connecting to Mysterious Ways. I’m a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author and a motivational speaker. 

The greatest way to listen to your inner guidance system is to slow down and to allow yourself to connect to your breath, have some kind of meditation practice. Even 15 minutes can get you into a state where you can release any resistance that’s blocking you from hearing that voice of your inner guidance system.

The difference between your inner guide and your ego is that your ego has an agenda, your ego is often future-tripping or pulling things from the past. Whereas your inner guidance system is really in the moment; it’s very present. It’s a voice of inspiration and it makes you feel good. 

Sometimes the voice of the ego is very clear because there’s resistance and there’s a feeling of lack or uncertainty, whereas the voice of your inner guidance system always feels good.

Video 3: How to Ask God for a Sign
I’m Gabby Bernstein and it’s awesome to be connecting to Mysterious Ways. I’m a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author and a motivational speaker. 

In my book The Universe Has Your Back, I have a whole chapter on how to ask the universe for a sign. It was a really, really fun chapter that a lot of my audience members loved and they were so excited to start to get into the practice of inviting in that guidance.

So the simplicity is to be very clear about what your sign may be. My sign is an owl. I made it very loud and clear. And you just say something very simple: “Thank you, Universe, for revealing to me my sign if I am on the right path.” Or you can be very specific: “If I am meant to take this job, show me my sign.” You can be even more specific: “If I am meant to date this person, show me my sign within 24 hours.”

So the more specific you are, the clearer the guidance may be, and in some cases you can even say, “I want a billboard. Show me something major. I need to know that I am on the right track. Thank you for showing me my sign.”

And also remember, if you don’t get your sign, that’s a sign, too. Don’t read into i too much if you don’t see your sign, because I think a lot of people get really upset—”I didn’t get my sign!”—but the biggest practice is to trust and allow and be patient and surrender. So the guidance that we’re receiving may not always be what we want it to be, but we have to trust that there’s a plan far greater than our own.

Video 4: Tips for Healing from Addiction
I’m Gabby Bernstein and it’s awesome to be connecting to Mysterious Ways. I’m a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author and a motivational speaker.

The first tip I have for people struggling with addiction is that they have to be willing. They have to have the willingness to change. If you don’t want to change, then you can’t, and it’s really humbling yourself and getting to a place where you are willing to see things differently, willing to change your patterns and willing to seek help.

So really, if you’re in the throes of addiction, ask yourself: Am I willing to make this better, am I willing to see things differently? That’s really the first step. That willingness opens a lot of invisible doors for you. People will begin to show up in your life, books may land on your shelf, maybe you’ll end up watching a video like this. There’s that willingness that opens up this invisible door, and all that guidance that you need begins to come through.

Another step that I would offer someone who is struggling with addiction is just to be consistent, to take small, right actions daily toward the desired goal—that desire of healing, that desire of putting down the substance or the addictive pattern. And the small, right actions can be anything from calling somebody for help or reading a spiritual self-help book or going to a recovery meeting or doing anything that can be one step in the direction of your recovery.

They always say in the recovery meetigns to keep it simple, so don’t try to do everything overnight; just take those small steps toward your own path of recovery.

I think the most beautiful prayer for anyone struggling with addiction is the Serenity Prayer, and the Serenity Prayer is, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

These days I don’t really have many cravings. I’ve been off sugar for four years, I’v been sober for 12 years; I’ve been working really hard to really stay clean in all areas of my life, but one addiction that comes up for me sometimes can be getting into the addictive pattern of workaholism. So really getting so stressed out about the things I have to do or adding more to my list when I don’t need to. 

So when I notice that behavior coming up, the first thing I do is I out it. I say out loud, “I’m here again. Here is this addiction, right in front of me,” and then I say this mantra: “I’m willing to change; I’m willing to see things differently.” And the moment that I get back into the willingness to change is when I allow people to help me or I say no to certain things that people are asking of me and I really allow the presence of a higher power to step the moment that I say, “I’m willing to change.”

When you’re struggling with addiction, you can always sense the presence of a higher power when you open up to receive guidance, and that guidance can come when you say a prayer: “I need a miracle; I need to see things differently.” That guidance can come, again, with that place of willingness, that desire to change. That guidance can come the moment that you ask for it. 

So the presence is always there; it’s just our responsibility to ask.