Fall Down Seven Times Get Up Eight

Here's a way to take a peek at your well being.

I am working on my list of questions for us so we can check the state of our well being. 

But here is a first step to give us a clue about where we really are, where we are really living...listen to yourself for the next 24 hours.

Just listen. Don't judge. Just listen. And remember until tomorrow. Make a few notes if you need to.  Just observe yourself. How and what you talk about.  Just be you.

See you tomorrow.

How about moving to the state of well being? No packing required!

How about it?  Do you live there already?  The state of well being? Or do you think it's out of your price range? :)

We are two days away from the end of the first six months of the year.  What state are you living in? To be honest in my heart of hearts I would have to say I am living in the state of exhaustion.  Not the most pleasant place to be.

I am living there but planning on transplanting myself very, very soon. :)  I think I am ahead of the game...at least I know where I am.  For years when I worked like a crazy woman I never took the time to figure out how I felt.  I just worked nonstop, one foot in front of the other and kept moving.

I have learned much from my "fall"...I can at least identify when things are out of kilter and when I am in a place I do not want to stay.  That is HUGE for me! Really huge.  Now the key is to build on that knowledge and do something with it.

Tomorrow I will give you a list of questions to ask yourself...to check your state of well-being.  No right or wrong answers.  Just a chance to see where you are living and determine if you need to change zip codes.

See you then...

Phil Jackson - I like what he said.

I was reading a story on-line last night about Phil Jackson, the coach of the LA Lakers. He was talking about whether he will come back to coach another season.

What I found the most interesting in the story were the comments he made about his "recharge time".  Maybe he has talked about it before..and maybe right now it just got my attention.

He takes about two months to go by his lakeside home near Glacier National Park. He disconnects and takes time to recharge.  And he does not fly there...he drives there. Avoiding major highways, taking the back roads.  Taking in sights and sounds.

Now you are thinking you don't have a lakeside home or two months?  Well me neither ... yet :) But we all have the ability to carve out some time where we can disconnect. I know it's hard.  I work seven days a week not because I find it enchanting but because I am working my way out of the position I got myself in when I couldn't work for almost two years.

But I am taking some time next month.  Four days...not two months.  But four days where I will disconnect.  It will be hard I think.  I write every day and I have for over a year.  But I won't for four days.  I will just be. I am tempted to take lots to read and things to work on.  But I am holding that time to relax, renew and chat about the future.  That's what will fill my four days.

I work part time jobs so I don't get vacation days but I am scheduling it anyway.  We absolutely must take time for us. It gives us something to look forward to and it gives us time to rest and renew.  Even one day can feel like a gift so I am expecting four days to feel like Christmas in July!

 And we need to follow Phi Jackson's lead...we need to take some back roads to our renewal...and make sure to enjoy the view along the way.

 

It's Be Easy On Yourself Day. Feel free to celebrate or not :)

Today is a fine day to give yourself a break.  A day just to say...I am here and that is more than enough.  So feel free to celebrate or not! :)

Most of us have endless lists of things to do that could overwhelm a small army.  And most of us focus on what is left to still do at the end of the day.  We rarely take pleasure in what has been checked off that list.

Today I say...be easy on yourself.  Celebrate whatever you have done this past week.  And be easy of yourself for what's still left to be done. If you are under the illusion that you will ever get it all done...yikes life could be one loooooong frustration for you! :)

Don't apologize for any lacks you see...switch your mindset to to gratitude and thankfulness.  Then relax.

Tomorrow with it's lists and things to do will be here soon enough. :)

A life well lived is a life that involves some risk.

That's my theory and I am sticking to it! Is risk always pleasant?...No.  Do things always work out the way you want them to when you risk?...No.  Can you fall flat of your butt?...well hell yes! 

But...and here's the big but :) you can also get what you go after.  You can obtain that goal you went after.  Yes you can meet a nice person after you risked one more blind date.  Yes you can get the job of your dream if you risk going on one more interview.

Yes, yes, yes!  Whether it's trying a new recipe or just changing your routine for a day.  When you risk doing something different things shift.  But you have to do it.  You have to risk...as my handy dictionary says you have to take the chance.

I was reading the comments Abby Sunderland, the US teen sailor who was rescued, said yesterday. She talked about risk and taking all the precautions you can...but you cannot eliminate risk...you can minimize it but you cannot eliminate it. Well said.

When you look at the things you want that's important to keep in mind. You can do all you can to minimize the risk to you but then if you want it...you need to go for it. And even if you come up short of your goal...may you feel the same that Abby does when she said, "The past few months have been the best of my life.  I was on an adventure." 

May life always feel that way for both of us.  And if it hasn't lately maybe we need to adjust our sails a bit, check the course we are on and head off towards a new adventure.

Debate vs. Division. How one General learned the difference.

It has been an interesting thing to watch..the unfolding of the fall of General McChrystal.

I should clarify first that I am not a military person.  Members of my family have served in the military and the man I love spent a great share of his life in the military.  I have great respect for all of their service.  And thank them for it.

I never really considered joining the military for two reasons.  Number One if they had a mark on the wall that said you have to be this tall to enter...I would have been stopped at the door.  And Number Two...taking orders...ah that's not in me.  I would have been in trouble my entire career.  I know that. (Not that I didn't get in trouble along the way in my own career because of that... :) but I was never committed to a system where that was a given.)

But I do know management. I have managed 7 non profits in my life. And my management philosophy is a lot like President Obama's...I always encouraged debate but would not tolerate division.  In my mind debate among people who are involved in an organization is part of it's very life blood.  Even heated debate is good...sometimes it doesn't feel that way...but you cannot put the lid on some people's passion. That passion just needs to be channeled sometimes.

But there comes a time when the debate ends..the smoke clears and you line up behind the decision that has been made.  And if you cannot do that...you know then you need to leave the organization.  It is that simple.  I have done that.  I have left because I could not support how things were being done.

It's about picking up your marbles and moving on to another game.  It's life.  It's real and it's respectful. I have always believed it's not about "I am right and they are wrong".  I have believed it's been "this is how I see it and this is how you see it". We don't agree...you are in charge and I respectful will leave.

An organization...let alone an administration fighting a war...not of words but of bullets and bombs must speak and act from one "voice".  It's where your strength comes from.   You cannot stare down your enemy when one person on your team is rolling their eyes in the background.  It simply does not work.

It's a sign of lack of respect.  It's sign of nonsupport.  It's a time that someone has to go.  And it's clear this time it was General McChrystal.

My date with Woody, Buzz and Ken...

I went to the movie last night. I went with Woody, Buzz and Ken :).  Actually they were in the movie...Toy Story 3 and it was wonderful!

I read a review in USA Today that said it was as good as the first Toy Story movie and it was!  It was just delightful.

I have spent the week running around like a little monkey doing things for the people I am guardian for.  I have five chick-lettes as I call them.  I felt the need to do something for myself and because I did not have to work last night...I decided to go to the movie. So armed with a lovely bag of popcorn I sat down to watch the movie.

(I burst out laughing though at the previews...a new movie...The legend of the Guardians!  No kidding!!! I just laughed and laughed...can't escape being a guardian even in the movies!!!

I highly recommend Toy Story 3. All the regulars are there along with Ken who has a fashion sense like no other toy!  I ended up feeling bad for my Ken doll because he never had too many outfits to choose from.  After watching this Ken...mine missed the boat big time! Sorry about that Ken...

Toy Story 3 will take you back to your childhood with every toy that pops up. Had me remembering..." I had that one" or "I always wanted that one". :) As a lover of trolls the first scene had me smiling.

As I looked around the theater it was interesting to see that of the 20 to 30 people there only one that was a child...the rest of the people were adults...laughing and cheering as the movie went along. 

There were a lot of people connecting to toys in their past last night.  By the look on their faces when the lights came up that trip back to childhood seemed to be an enjoyable one for all of us.

Be nice Jean Ann. Be nice.

In a little while I will go pick up an older woman that I am guardian for.  We will go to lunch and go shopping.

She loves...absolutely loves going to lunch! This will make her happy...well almost.  I have been her guardian for over ten years and have watched out for her. (She has developmental disabilities.)  I have moved her three different times because the homes she was living in turned out to be not the best for her.  It takes paying attention, watching and listening to what is said and not said.  I have done it because I can.

But it is not easy.  Nothing is ever enough. I took her to see her sister once...899 miles round trip for me and when she got in the car to drive home the first thing she said was..."that was a short visit."  I smiled and said "but it was a lovely visit all the same." :)

So today I am spending the afternoon with her. It's an hour round trip to get her...we will have lunch and go shopping.  My focus will be on her...I will listen and I will make it the best afternoon outing I can because I can.

And when I take her back to the house and she will say..."that was a short afternoon." And I will say..."but it was a lovely one...don't you think?"

Where's your focus?

That's a simple question...but ah little grasshopper how simple is your answer?

Focus...sustained focus is what gets us to where we say we want to be.  So where is your focus?

Are you paying attention to your own life? Your own dreams and desires? Or are you looking over the fence at your neighbor, your family members, your best friends, your co-workers? 

Do you hear yourself say I could do that better? They should do it this way...How did they get that promotion and I didn't? What do they think with me?  

If you hear yourself saying any of those things or anything close to them then your focus in on other people and not on yourself.

You can exhaust yourself trying to change the world (AKA other people and how they do things) when the only control you really have is how you navigate your own world.  That is where your power is. That is where your focus should be.

Focus and see your world change before your eyes :)

PS The idea of focus showed up today in several things I received this morning. Thought is was a nudge from the universe to look at focus again in my life.  Consider the nudge passed on! :)

If John Travolta can do it...so can we!

I just watched the new movie "From Paris with Love" with John Travolta.  I thought it was a great movie...and what I thought was truly amazing is the transformation John - ya..like we are friends :) made in the movie.

He looks and acts totally different from any of his recent films.

Now I know he is an actor and gets paid very well to transform himself into someone else.  It got me thinking that we all have the same opportunity and our payoff is even higher in the end!

Here's my point...if you want to change your look, your life...heck if you want to change your shoes...you can.  It takes knowing what you want and the willingness to do it.  And the willingness to listen to your own voice. That part can be the hardest.  If you are stepping out of your comfort zone there could be a chorus of people saying no.  You have to want whatever you want enough to turn up your own voice loud enough to drown out those other "nos".

I am going to give you some ideas on how to do that tomorrow.  And if you have a chance...rent From Paris with Love. I think you will like it.