Archive for Quotes
Fully Alive
Posted by: | Comments“Simplicity is the examined life richly lived. It is asking ourselves what’s important, what matters. We all think that someday we’ll start living. But few of us feel fully alive.” -Cecile Andrews
If your idea of a good day is just making it through it, it may be time to ask yourself some questions. What’s important to you? What matters in your life? Who do you love? Where is your passion? What will make you feel fully alive?
Take some time this week to write/draw/paint some answers to these questions.
Has your life stopped at a pity party?
Posted by: | Comments“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” – William James
It could’ve seen like a bad day yesterday. Among other things I sent out a newsletter to all my subscribers with links leading to nothing. Because of all the activity the autoresponder made on my web host they made my site go down. No warning. One minute I sent out a newsletter. The next I am checking the site and nothing.
I thought it may have to do with a credit card that got a new expiration date this month. So after support sent me to billing, I put in my new card information. Later I got a note saying I was paid till next August.
That’s when they told me about the autoresponder situation. By this time I had quite a bit of email wondering why the links I sent them didn’t work.
I said I was moving systems anyway, which I am. They told me as long as I disabled the autoresponder they would put my site back up.
I emailed back letting them know I couldn’t disable the autoresponder because my site wasn’t up and I couldn’t get access to my control panel.
Finally hours later my site was up.
If I had spent my time whining about my site being down, wallowing in frustration or deciding it was too hard to deal with my site would probably still be down.
However, as David Allen says in his book, “Ready for Anything” when you find yourself faced with challenges you need to do one thing, “Determine the next move.” This is for small crises like a site being down or big setbacks like a bad health diagnosis or a job loss.
“How do you want to be feeling about your situation and what action will bring you closer to that reality?” If we fall into the trap of why me and life stinks we move no closer to where we want to be. Life is what it is and complaining about our fate doesn’t help us.
Where in your life have you allowed self-pity and panic bring your life to a stand still? What is the next small action you can take to move your life in the direction you want it to go?
Get more energy for the holiday season
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We are coming into the hectic holiday season. We all need as much energy as we can, yet this is the time of year we usually are sick and exhausted.
I have a few ideas to plan for more energy using mental, emotional, spiritual and physical ways to enhance our energy.
MENTAL
- Much of our loss of energy is not physical stress, but mental stress. We think about all the things we have to do as our energy seeps out. Let’s experiment. Next time you feel stressed by what you need to do, write it down on a list. Then forget about it, for now. Try to keep your mind on what you are doing. Focus yields better results. If your mind wanders, remind yourself that you already wrote it down and you are not on those tasks yet.
- One reason we lose energy is because we are procrastinating on something. If you bite the bullet and knock off a bunch of those draining to do’s you will feel lighter. Every accomplishment brings more energy.
- Another form of mental stress is negativity. If you are only thinking about how awful this project, situation, or chore is, you aren’t going to have the energy to do it. Instead focus on the bigger picture. What will having a clean kitchen do for your stress level? How will you feel once you finish that project? What is good that can be accomplished from this situation? Concentrate on the outcome you hope to achieve, rather than the work or difficulty involved.
PHYSICAL
- But, yes, some of our energy loss is physical. You need to exercise or at least do a small walk or yoga session to feel better. If you have time to watch TV, you have time to exercise. And after watching TV you probably feel like a lump, but after exercising you will most likelyfeel even more energized. Keep that vision of energy in your head to get yourself off the couch.
- Eating smaller meals, drinking more water, eating more fruits and vegetables, and taking your vitamins are all great ways to get more energy. If all you eat is fast food and junk food you aren’t going to feel fantastic.
- You really do need sleep. As much as you feel it is a waste of time, study after study prove that those who sleep 7-9 hours a night feel better, live longer, have better focus and productivity and are better able to control their emotions. What is the point of trying to get everything done by cutting back on sleep, if you are grumpy, unfocused, and feel awful? How much could you get done if you were energetic, bright-eyed and able to concentrate?
EMOTIONAL
- Some of our energy blocks come from emotions that aren’t dealt with. Writing in a journal is one of the best way to process your feelings from the day. Write out your anger, stress, sadness and fear. Sometimes you will come up with some action steps to work out your emotions. Sometimes just the act of writing puts them to rest.
- Having a support structure of friends and family will energize you. Feel how excited about life you are after getting together for a fun outing with friends. Notice you energy level as you feel connected and loved by someone. And giving support can sometimes give you energy, too. As long as it is a give and take relationship.
- Other ways to deal with your emotions: talk it out with someone, cry, think it through, laugh, pray, grieve. Allow yourself to feel, instead of stuffing your emotions away. You will be more alive!
SPIRITUAL
- Feeling connected to something higher than yourself, gives you a sense of purpose and direction. You are more energetic, when you feel there is a higer goal involved.
- Praying, meditating and reading spiritual literature can give you peace amidst the chaos of life. This time of rest, renews you for the work ahead.
- Giving in ways that have meaning to you can fill you with hope and love…and energy. If you find a cause you are passionate about, you will be so inspired. On the other hand, if you are volunteering often doing things you aren’t remotely interested in, step back. Allow someone else with that passion and purpose to find their cause. ÂÂ
One essential to success is that your desire be an all-obsessing one, your thoughts and aims be co-ordinated, and your energy be concentrated and applied without letup. – Claude M. Bristol
The Gifts of Waiting
Posted by: | CommentsStanding in line, waiting for the doctor, sitting in traffic do not sound like presents, but if we look closely at them we can see the gifts that waiting gives to us.
The Gift of Downtime
We complain that we have no downtime, but every time we wait in a line is an opportunity to slow down for a little while, to take a breather. No one is expecting anything from you at the moment. Often though, we are not relaxed in line. We complain, look at our watch, and think nasty thoughts about the people ahead of us in line. We have no control over how fast the line will move or traffic will go.
The great thing is-we do control our attitude. We can make waiting a time of rest or a waste of time just by what we concentrate on.
Anna C. Brackett wrote about waiting in her book The Technique of Rest in 1892. “When you are waiting for a train, don’t keep perpetually looking to see if it is coming. The time of its arrival is the business of the conductor, not yours. It will not come any sooner for all your nervous glances and your impatient pacing, and you will save strength if you will keep quiet. After we discover that the people who sit still on a long railroad journey reach that journey’s end at precisely the same time as those who “fuss” continually, we have a valuable piece of information which we should not fail to put to practical use.”
In line you can daydream. Visualize your goals. Picture a vacation. Let your mind wander. Pray. Or just breathe awhile.
The Gift of Patience
In our fast-paced society we all need a little practice in patience. Everyone is in such a hurry and no one is willing to wait for anything. Fast food, ATM’s, and the microwave provide things faster than ever and we don’t even want to wait for them.
One definition of patience is: Accepting a difficult situation without giving a deadline to remove it. If we practice patience in little things like being on hold, maybe we can be more patient waiting for our dreams to fall into place.
In order to be more patient in waiting times, it helps to leave early. It’s easier to wait if you are not going to be late. Leaving 10 minutes early for everything gives you the extra time in case something comes up. And something always comes up.
“No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.” -Epictetus
The Gift of the Present Moment
The grocery store line was huge right before dinner. People all around me were complaining about not having time for this and I was starting to get annoyed. My son was with me. He started talking and we had a whole conversation where I was able to concentrate solely on him. I had nothing else to do since I was waiting in a line. I felt so connected to my son at that moment, I was almost sorry when we got to the checkout counter.
Sometimes we can be in such a hurry to get where we want to be, that we forget how wonderful here is. Next time you are waiting, take a look around. There is always something interesting to look at or discover- paintings, fascinating people, things to read, or animals.
With kids, it seems I am waiting for hours a day. Children dawdle because they are so connected to the world around them. As adults in a hurry, we often miss what they see. If we slow down we can get that childlike spark back. Waiting is the perfect time to notice life.
“Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.” -Coreta Kent
The Gift of Compassion and Humility
In waiting we are always dealing with other people. What we think of those whom we are waiting behind is rarely compassionate. We need to change our attitude. You know the one- what we have to do is more important than what anyone else has to do. Road rage is an example -driving like a maniac, cutting people off, risking other drivers because where we are going is more “important� then where someone else is going. Being perpetually in a hurry and annoyed at being kept waiting is a sign that we are doing more than we need to. That’s the time to start cutting things out of our to do list.
I love people watching. Standing in line at the bank I see a young woman with her 3-yr-old as she tries desperately to hold on to everything. I ask if I can hold something and she thankfully gives me her bag. When you look around you with compassion you are in a position to help others. We can give kind words and warm smiles to brighten other people’s day. Plus, you will feel great afterwards and the wait won’t seem as long.
You also meet captivating people while waiting. Talking with others keeps you both from being fed up and you never know what you will learn. I got some fantastic Christmas gift ideas yesterday at the grocery store from the lady next to me.
“Humility is attentive patience.” -Simone Weil
It is in the small moments of life that we show who we are. How do you want to wait?
Habits
Posted by: | Comments“Habit is either the best of servants or the worst of masters.�
~ Nathaniel Emmons
One of the main differences between people that succeed in their plans and people who don’t, are their habits.
Picture someone who hits the snooze 5 times as is her habit. She groggily gets out of bed. Sometimes she exercises, has her quiet time, and picks up the house in the morning. But, as she hasn’t established any of them as a habit, so most of the time none of those things happen.
The house is chaotic as everyone fights over whose turn it is in the bathroom and who has to feed the cat.
She gets to work late, as is her habit. She’s not sure where to start, so she begins with what is on top of the pile. She is dealing with emergencies all the time. She gets a quick bite to eat from the vending machine and eats at her desk to try to catch up.
She picks up fast food on the way home, since she doesn’t know what is for dinner. Another evening spent watching TV, which is what her family usually does in the evening. She falls asleep eventually, but tosses and turns because she knows she has forgotten to do something. Sometimes she takes off her makeup, flosses and lays out her clothes ahead of time. But, as she hasn’t established any of them as a habit, most of the time none of those things happen.
In the next house over, another woman is drifting off to sleep. She has already laid out her clothes the night before, performed her evening beauty routine and wrote out a little to do list for the next day as are her habits. Since she usually goes to bed at the same time every night, she falls asleep right away.
The next morning, she gets up even before her alarm. She usually gets up at the same time every morning, so her body is already waking up. She has enough time for her quiet time, a walk for exercise and a quick pick up of the house as per her routine. Her kids have a routine also, so despite some last minute things she still gets out of the house on time. She has tried to establish the habit of being on time out of respect for herself and other people.
She made her work list before she left work yesterday, so she knows exactly what her priorities are today. Some interupptions have happened, but for the most part she deals with the most important actions of her job. She goes out to lunch with a friend as is her habit on Thursdays. They have a standing lunch date that doesn’t need to be rescheduled all the time.
After work she smells the crockpot meal cooking as she comes inside the door. She made up a menu plan on Sunday evening as she usually does. She peeked at it this morning, to make sure dinner was started.
Dinner is enjoyed, then the family works together for 1/2 hour on various chores to get the house back in shape.
Only one hour of TV is allowed so the kids are playing with their friends or they go on a little evening outing. She plans some family fun during her weekly planning session on Friday afternoon. Her habits nurture her and her family.
So, do your habits nurture you?
Free New Habit eCourse: http://www.encouragingcoach.com/programs-habits.htm
Getting back on track
Posted by: | Comments“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” – H.G. Wells
“Do not be afraid of growing slowly; be afraid of standing still.” – Chinese Proverb
I was trying to figure out why I have been having a tough time sleeping again. Then I realized I have been watching TV again right before bed, plus running around during the commercials to get stuff done.
Didn’t I already learn this lesson? Apparently not.
It’s easy to get frustrated with ourselves when we get off track. We think once we know what to do we should just be able to do it. However, habits and beliefs are ingrained and it takes a little time to adjust.
Each time you stumble is another chance to do it right. Another chance to remind yourself why you wanted this change. So ease up on yourself. Tell yourself, “Next time I am going to do it this way…” Learn, don’t lament.
Tonight, no TV before bed!
Mental Sunshine
Posted by: | Comments“Mental sunshine will cause the flowers of peace, happiness, and properity to grow upon the face of the Earth. Be a creator of mental sunshine” -graffiti on a wall in Berkely, California
“Joy is prayer – Joy is strength – Joy is love – Joy is a net of love which you can catch souls. She gives most who gives joy.” – Mother Teresa
and finally
“Life will bring you pain all by itself. Your responsibility is to create joy.” – Milton Erickson, M.D.
I got all these quotes from a little, but powerful book called, “Attitude of Gratitude” by M.J. Ryan.
We’ve all been around people that seem to suck the happiness right out of every moment. But, most of us have also known people that have such vibrancy and joy, we felt fantastic and lighter every time we meet.
My desire is to spread joy. I want people to feel hope, acceptance and optimism when we come in contact.
I’ve been told I am too unrealistic and I have an active imagination of how things could be. There is pain and hurt in this world. How dare I ignore it? But, you can spread joy and be compassionate. There is enough negativity and depression in the world. Why would I want to be another cool, cynical critic?
I’ve seen people face the worst things, but still feel the joy in the moment of sipping a perfect cup of hot cocoa. They feel their time of despair, but don’t allow themselves to stay there.
What is great about the moment you are in right now? Does sunshine warm your face? Or does rain wet the grass to make it greener? How are you going to look at things today?
Pay Attention
Posted by: | Comments“You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It’s just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.” ~ Paulo Coelho, Brazilian novelist
What can you pay attention to today that you normally miss?
Frittering away
Posted by: | CommentsOur life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify, simplify! … Simplicity of life and elevation of purpose.
- Henry David Thoreau (“Where I Lived and What I Lived For” Walden)
Where is your life being frittered away by detail?
So?
Posted by: | Comments“So you failed? Get up and start over.
So you lost your way? Go back and find it?
So you were rejected? It doesn’t change your worth.
So you slipped up? Regain your footing and keep going.
So you were defeated? One battle is not the war.
So you got off track? Get back on it.
So you hit bottom? Turn around and head back up to the top.”
From Wow! : Celebrations for the Successes of Life by Martha Bolton
