Fall Down Seven Times Get Up Eight

Are you worried today?

If you are then here is my advise... do what you can to address what you are worried about and then see how you feel.

I have been worried about something for awhile.  It has been at the back of my mind and I just did not want to deal with it.  It had to be dealt with and there was a deadline looming and I talked about it...but I did not DO anything about it.  I can get into magical thinking like everyone else. :)  Ignore it long enough and poof...it's magically fixed.

I don't know your experience with that kind of thinking...but it has never worked for me.  Just delayed my dealing with whatever it was a bit longer...and increased my anxiety along the way.  Not exactly a win-win for anyone involved.

I looked up worry in my dictionary this morning.  It says worry ...make or be troubled.  Wait!!!!  Hold the phone.  "Make" troubled.  It dawned on me like a light switch flipping on...yes...we slow learners can have moments of brilliance :) ... I was making me troubled...worried. 

The thing I was worried about had no power to do that.  I had made up all these scenarios in my head.  And trust me...I have quite an imagination!!! None of them were true and NONE...not ONE happened when I addressed the thing I was worried about.

I know I know this stuff but it is so easy to get all twisted up and let your imagination take you to places YOU NEED NOT GO! Things are just things.  Issues are just issues. We charge them with emotion and life.  We do that.  Okay there may be some outside forces that push us along...and we all are working from our sense of history and experience when we deal with anything.  But I for one am going to be more mindful every day of what power I do have.

And just like a jedi knight...I want to use my power for my own good. And that includesseeing life how I want to see it and parking all these worries at the curb. Issues I will deal with.  The worry surrounding them that I can create into tidal waves of emotion...I can do without.

Here's to light switches when they come on :) They are very good things.

 

Truer words have not been said...

I receive a quote of the day from several sources every morning.  I find them motivating and most of the time they are exactly what I need to "hear"!  How does that happen?!

Today...I received this one from Thomas Leonard..."until your needs are met, you really can't make the most of what God gave you."

That is just so true.  I think it is especially true when you are talking about your basic needs.  Maybe you are not in that position...say a silent prayer of thanks if you are NOT...but if you are...you know what a focus that can be.  It can be overwhelming.  It's all you think about.

I rented the DVD of the Blind Side.  The movie with Sandra Bullock that won her the oscar.  I love the movie.  I like getting DVDs because they usually have extras on them...including deleted scenes that did not make it into the movie.  I like watching them.

There is one deleted scene where Tim McGraw who plays Sandra's husband and the football coach are watching Michael in the lunchroom.  Michael is just sitting there staring off.  Tim says he thinks Michael is hungry.  He goes over and asks Michael what he had eaten today and Michael says something that doesn't really answer the question.

Tim goes back by the coach and says Michale is hungry and he will buy Michael lunch tickets. He says something about knowing what that feels like. 

Over the last year I have faced many issues around basic needs and I still don't have them all covered but I make progress every day.  What I know is this.  As long as you keep moving things change. You do the best you can and don't apologize for your truth. 

It is what it is.  Nobody else may appreciate where you have been or what you have been through...but I do.  To my soul I understand.

I think when you have fallen and gotten back up you have a deeper appreciation for the basics that others may take for granted. 

I think we are all here for a reason...and when we have our feet firmly planted on the ground again...and as we get the basics taken care of...we can take what we have learned from all of this and make the most of the gifts we have.  And along the way I know we will buy a few lunch tickets for the folks coming along behind us. 'cause we know what that feels like...

You have my permission to rest.

My dog Pumpkin has developed a strange habit.  I always leave her kennel open.  It is as cozy as I can make it.  Lots of fleece blankets..two teddy bears and fresh water.  When I come home at night and open the kennel she is most always wrapped up in the blankets ...the little weiner dog that she is...like they are a bun and she is inside it!

She has developed this habit of late though that is quite interesting...she will stand in front of the kennel door and make noises.  When I say , "you can go into your house"...she jumps in, has a drink and lays down.  It's like she is waiting for my permission to rest.  I don't know why.

Maybe you are waiting for permission to rest too.  Here it is YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO REST!

Rest is important.  It is restorative, it is regenerating and it just can feel good.  You need rest.  Your body will usually tell you when you need it.  Many of us toss those warnings aside and plow right past them.  NOT a good idea in the long run.

I have a relatively new warning sign. I had shingles awhile ago.  I actually just had one...thank the lord...and it was right in the middle of my forehead...and it left a small scar.  Yes, I would be the "let me plow right past that warning at lightening speed" gal.  A shingle...painful as it was in the middle of my forehead got my attention.  I notice now when I get too tired or stressed out a bit...my shingle scar hurts.  And I pay attention.

Maybe you need to make your own warning sign up that tells you that you need rest. Maybe it's that you get up crabby and are short with people.  Maybe you missed exercising three days in a row because you have too much to do.  Maybe you skipped "date night" with your partner four weeks in a row because things came up.  Signs, signs, signs...that you need to rest and then regroup.

I worked a zillion hours this past weekend and I am tired this morning.  All my plans for what I was going to do this morning have been set aside.  I will get to all those things later.  I need to rest.  I would like to believe I have learned from my past missteps...taking time this morning BEFORE my shingle starts to hurt says I have!  And for that I say...hallelujah!

 

I need a hug...and Pumpkin's arms are too short .

I am acutely awareness that I need a hug. And my weiner Pumpkin's little arms are just too short!

Funny how my "hug need" is such a prevailing feeling this morning.  It hit me when I was in the kitchen...and has followed along with me all morning.

Hugs are connection.  Hugs are warmth.  Hugs are tactile.  And I, my friend, am a very tactile person. :)

There is a poster that says you need so many hugs every day to remain healthy.  I don't remember the number but I think they are right.  I don't imagine that I will drop over today from lack...but...I find it quite interesting that I so clearly feel the absence of them. 

I think that happens more and more as you come to peace with yourself.  It's easy to ignore things even if they are shouting in your ears if your life is chaotic..and full of endless clutter.

It's when you strip that away...peel the layers away..that you get a clearer picture of what you have and what you don't.  What you truly want.  What you have created space for.

One of my intentions this year is to create a intimate family for myself.  I do not know what that will look like yet.  But as of this morning...I know that intimate family will have to like to hug at least once a day :)

I don't think that should scare them...I shall frame it like "an apple a day" and say it 's all about maintaining radianthealth.  I think they will be okay with that.  Ahhhh I know I will be :)

I choose peace.

Choosing peace means you say...I choose peace and turn away from chaos.  It is an active decision...not something that just happens.

After living in a swirl of chaos I have a clear framework for what kind of life I want.  I choose peace.

Like I said...choosing peace is an active decision.  And just because you choose to live with peace ...it ddoesn't mean that your world will never be rocked.  What it means is that you are more likely to find your center again.  If you are knocked to the ground...you are more likely to find your footing faster this time.

Here is what I have been choosing...and no matter where you are in your life...you can too:

Choosing peace means you have your mind set at looking for the good in the world and not looking for the bad.

Choosing peace means you take some time every morning to remember why you want peace.  You get centered.  You go forward expecting the best from your self and everyone around you.

Choosing peace means you are so involved in your own life that you cease trying to manage anyone else's.

Choosing peace means you allow people just to be...and then you get to be too.

Choosing peace means you take off your armour and set down your verbal weapons.  Not because you are not proficient with them...you set them down because you choose peace and you no longer need to be armed.

Armour is heavy...peace is lighter.  Choose to travel lighter.

Your personal peace plan. You get to decide...chaos or peace.

How do you want to see your world?  Chaos or peace?  You really get to decide.

Yesterday I wrote that some people like chaos.  They do.  They love the drama...they love the uncertainty and they love to talk about their drama endlessly.  They seem to thrive on it and don't appear to want anything else though they say they do.

If that is how you see the world...I am sure that is what you will find.  You will find chaos or the potential for it around every corner. 

You will be armed for war every day of your life.  You will believe that people are inherently bad and are out to get you...so you need to get them first.  I think that is an exhausting way to live.

To live on guard can take you to places that draws more chaos...

I understand that circumstances can cause you to feel you have to live that way.  I have been there. I took up residence there in chaos for about three years.  I think the gift of that residence is I have a true appreciation of the difference...chaos and peace.

I choose peace.  You can too no matter where you are this very second.  Tomorrow I will tell you how I have found it again....with a little help from my friends :)

Peace be with you. Your personal peace plan.

Yesterday was an idea swirling day for me...last night I could not sleep.  I watched movies.  I watched the Kingdom of Heaven for the zillionth time.

I like the part where two enemies part...after yet another battle and they say to each other...peace be with you.

That got me to thinking about peace...and my ongoing quest for joy.  I think peace and joy go hand in hand.  You cannot have joy if you don't have peace.  So that is what I plan to write about the next few days...developing your own peace plan.  Forget the Middle East...solving those issues may be easier for some people than finding peace for themselves.

First of all you have to decide if you want peace in your life.  Sounds easy but I don't think it is for some people.  Some people like chaos.  They like things stirred up.  They like living on the edge of disaster...and sharing that story with everyone they meet. Know anyone like that?

It can actually be a quite comfortable live style for some people.  They are so use to it that it feels normal.  Well I guess to them it is...

When you live like that it can color your world.  Tomorrow I will tell you how.

Today is an idea swirling kind of day.

Have you ever had the kind of day where you wake up and ideas are just swirling around in your mind? They just keep coming and you cannot seem to focus? 

Ahhh that would be me today.  I woke up a bit late and was immediately thinking about a million different things.  Ideas that went from point A to point Z with lightening speed.

I have these days every once in awhile.  I use to try to be disciplined and force myself to be focused.  But there is something not kind about making your creative side "tow the line".  Fall in step with what your schedule is for creative thinking. 

So now...I just let ideas come.  I just go about my day being aware that I may want to carry some paper and pencils with me so I can jot things down that strike me as things I want to do.  Not every idea is brilliant and not every idea will be acted on.  But some are pretty darn good and some I will take as far as I can at this point.  Others...may just have to wait their turn. And yet others will just be let go of.

May you enjoy an idea swirling day soon.  For me it tends to lift the veil a little higher on what's possible...

I just was thinking about sitting by the ocean and writing for a solid week.  I would have time to write and drink those lovely drinks with the umbrellas in them!  I need to make sure I write that idea down in very BIG letters!  :)

Life Lessons from blowing up my blender this morning!

Today...I blew up my blender.  Well it didn't explode...but the amount of smoke it generated...well I am pretty new to working in the kitchen...but I don't think it was a good sign!

And I take life lessons from everything so here is what I learned:

1.  Smoke is not always a good sign.  You hear people say "I'm smoking".  I am working so hard...things are really happening.  Well...maybe...but at what cost?  If you truly are burning the midnight oil...going through things at a rapid speed...what's the cost and how long can you sustain that? And when my blender starts smokin'...I thought it was time to pull the plug.

2.  Not everything has to be done on the maximum speed.  Faster does not always mean better. Faster can mean getting done first but unless you are truly in a foot race...the point is what?  Faster could mean not covering all your bases and it could mean not including other folks who could bring value to whatever you are doing.  Because you are bent on speed...you don't take the time to find out.  There are 7 buttons on my blender...why oh why I am drawn to the faster speed button every time?!

3.  Do Not introduce a foreign object at the wrong time.  Any idea needs time to come together.  Give your ideas time to do that before you add more things.  It's a building process...whatever you are creating.  A life, a business, a relationship, a job.  Give yourself time to build it so it has a foundation that can support more growth. Adding too much too soon...can cause problems..hence the wooden spoon in the blender at the wrong it.  Yikes!

4.  Maybe slow and steady is a way to go.  There is a lot to be said for pacing. We all want things yesterday but there is also great satisfaction in making something that can stand the test of time. And sometimes that takes time.  It takes pushing the first or second speed button in our lives and not aways pushing the faster one. 

 As the smoke cleared this morning I remembered that.  Too late to save the blender :) but it gave its life for a great cause...a couple of life lessons I guess I needed to remember.

Step 1 in being a puzzle wizard..know what your puzzle looks like!

I think that's the bottom line for being a puzzle wizard ...one who can put the pieces of a puzzle together with ease and grace.  You need to know what the end result will look like.

We are going to spend some time viewing our lives as a giant puzzle and we are indeed the puzzle wizards!  Wizard hat is optional!

I always call life a giant puzzle with magical pieces that I am putting together.  Each piece of my life fits with another until...it all comes together and I have created the life I have envisioned.

Put in order to put the pieces together...you need to have an idea what the puzzle is suppose to look like.

My mom loves to put puzzles together.  She always has the cover of the box with the puzzle's completed picture close at hand.  Why?  It's a guide.  It doesn't tell her exactly where every piece fits but it's a big picture that gives her a clue.

We need that too.  So today if you were looking at a picture..a snapshot of your life or the life you want...what would it look like? Think about that.

When you close your eyes and think about your life...what does it look like? Can you come up with a snapshot of it?

That's what you are aiming for.  That's what you are working to put together. That's the cover of the puzzle box that you keep close at hand as a guide.

Now how many pieces does your puzzle have?  Let's look at that tomorrow.