Archive for Comfort Secrets
Comfort Secrets #11
Posted by: | CommentsIn Chapter 11 of Comfort Secrets for Busy Women
And you have to keep waking yourself up and reminding yourself of your fierce desire to choose your life.
A question she poses: If I could do or be or feel anything in the coming days, what would it be? For me the answer would be peaceful.
Comfort Secrets #10
Posted by: | CommentsIn Chapter Ten of Comfort Secrets for Busy Women
A question she poses: How am I spending my time in a way that doesn’t support me? My answer: TV (I recently cut out Sunday night TV and felt much better and more prepared for the week ahead), mindless web surfing claiming to be “research”, getting upset about something that is not worth it. How about you?
Comfort Secrets #9
Posted by: | CommentsIn Chapter Nine of Comfort Secrets for Busy Women
Comfort is really about what is best for us, not what feels good. Comfort is sometimes uncomfortable because it requires you to live your life fully. Comfort means to strengthen, soothe, befriend, refresh. Queen means to the right to rule your own life as you while being accountable to God and others of your own choosing. Comfort strengthens and is about becoming powerful.
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So often when I talk to women about self-care, they think it’s all about pampering and other things they don’t have time for. Really, it’s more about making daily choices that are the best for you. Choosing to go to bed early instead of watching late night TV. Getting up to exercise instead of sleeping in. Eating the orange instead of the donut. Making yourself feel more energetic and alive. What is one step you can take to comfort yourself?
Comfort Secrets #8
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s more than Intuition. In this chapter, Jennifer Louden, discusses Divine Balance. Continually listening and sorting through the voices you hear. Let go of your need to know everything and be open to what you hear. It should feel as “effortless as floating on your back.”
Question from the book, “How can I act as if I believe that I am worthy of creating a life?”
~ taking the time, asking the questions, listening, making conscious choices
Comfort Secrets #7
Posted by: | CommentsThe next part of listening from the book Comfort Secrets by Jennifer Louden, is letting go of your self-imposed ideas on how things should go. Listen and remain alert for the next prompting – instead of focusing on an outside reaction. Or forcing your own ideas on life.
Question: What one thing could I do this week to become the person I most want to be?
My answer: Relaxing perfectionistic standards
What is your answer?
Comfort Secrets #6
Posted by: | CommentsLiving first by what we treasure. This chapter is about how you are creating your life and how you aren’t. Do you deliberately create your life? Or do you spend most of your life trying to gain external reinforcement?
One question- What is one thing I’m feeling stress or discomfort about? Too much work and falling behind. What could this stress be asking me to develop? Prioritizing, discipline, and stretching myself.
Comfort Secret #5
Posted by: | CommentsIn Chapter 5 of Comfort Secrets for Busy Women, Louden answers the question – why questions? Questions make sure you are following your unique answers and path. “You have the choice to build your life around inner direction or on the externet, eternal whine, “Look how much I have to do.”
My take- I am adamant that you don’t need to live your life the way others tell you to. So many women have taken society’s “shoulds” so seriously they have built their lives around them. Everyone is different, with different purposes. Only you know where you need to go, what path you hear calling you. Questions are one of the best ways to be able to listen to that inner voice or God’s voice, guiding you.
A question from the book- What places will cause you stress this month?
~ getting the kids back into school time mode
And then how can I nurture myself through the stress?
~ take a day off once the kids get into school
~create routines with the kids and post them
~ go to bed earlier
~ music
~ writing
~ yoga
Comfort Secrets cpt 4
Posted by: | CommentsLounging on a bed. Jennifer Louden writes that often times we forget we have the power to change some things – especially our attitude. Instead we get stuck doing the same things in the same ways. Instead of just following routine, we can stop and listen for guidance.
Her comfort queen says, “You’ve got to create with what you’ve been given rather than obsess about what you’d wish you’d been given.” Let’s shape our lives from the inside out, instead of letting the outside shape our lives. Do we really want work, worries about what people will think about us, or other’s expectations be the guide to our lives?
A question: “What are the signs that I am getting out of harmony?” I sleep too long, eat too much, zone out to books or the computer, lose focus and concentration, feel blah, get grumpy, come down with headaches, feel constantly rushed, miss fun and nurturing activities because I ‘don’t have time’, find negative thoughts cropping up more frequently and I get insomnia.
How do you tell when you are getting out of harmony?
Comfort Secrets Cpt. 2 & 3
Posted by: | CommentsIn this chapter the Comfort Queen is introduced. Not your quiet, fairy godmother type. Instead she is brash, blunt and does as she pleases.
In chapter three we learn about ‘divine balance’. “Perfect balance is a magazine article, not a life.” But, by slowing down and asking thought provoking questions we can find a wholeness, centeredness and a connection with God.
So how do we ask the questions : write them, journal them, walk them, dance them, sculpt them, sing them, do yoga with them, meditate them or pray them. Decide on a regular, listening habit.
Jennifer says you can shift into listening mode by doing some sun salutations, breathing deeply, going outside, reading something inspirational, or taking a bath.
A Question- What do I need less of in my life? Seriousness.
What is one modest step I can take? I will allow interupptions. So often these are the divine guidances – they are what is missing. They are what is important, not necessarily what I am doing right now.
Off to play a game with my daughter who needs me right now.
Comfort Secrets
Posted by: | CommentsI am re-reading one of my favorite books, Comfort Secrets for Busy Women
Cpt 1. On one of her speaking trips, talking about mindful listening, Jennifer realizes she hasn’t done this in ages. She quotes Sue Monk Kidd, “There is an art to living your questions. You peel them. You listen to them. You let them spawn new questions. You hold the unknowing inside.” It’s not just the knowing you want to uncover, but feeling o.k. with the unknowing.
The first question from the book, I asked myself last night, “What one thing do I need most in the days ahead?” The first thing that popped into my head is sleep. For some reason sleep has been erratic for me. Not drifting off to sleep as usual and not wanting to get out of bed. I slept for nine hours last night and feel much better, already.
