Fall Down Seven Times Get Up Eight

I got stuck at Step #1

Yup...I did.  I got stuck on Step #1 on how to unplug your fog machine.  I said I would always be honest with you always...so I am.

Step #1 is being Clear.  Writing down as clearly as you can what you want.  I didn't do it yet.  I think I am scared to do it.  Why be scared? 

It is only a paper and pencil list...it cannot bite you!  It CAN however make things real and that can be more scary than fog. Apparently to me it is... Here is why - twice in five years I have had my life implode.  Twice. 

BOOM...BOOM!

I think part of me likes being in a fog.  You cannot be held to a goal that is foggy.  You cannot be disappointed if you cannot name what you actually want.

But here is the giant ThUnDeRbOlT...

you never move off the dime either!  You wander and wonder.  It can be a way of life.  Only you...and me...can decided when we have had enough wandering and wondering.

In the last week I have come to realize that my wandering and wondering has slowly lost it's appeal.  Time to Walk the Talk again.  I use to be fabulous at that if I do say so myself!  And I shall be again. 

It starts now. 

I am writing clearly what I want. 

Your list is probably already done...sorry you had to wait for me to finish mine.

Tomorrow I will let you know what we do next...  :)

 

Unplug the dang fog machine - Step 1

If fog is... well ...fogging up your life you can actually do something about it.  You can unplug the dang fog machine! Yep...unplug the machine and clear the air.

That can be pretty scary for some of us.  It's safer to be in the fog and say we continue to try to find our way.  Safety in staying.  It's a hallmark in behavior for many, many people...

You want to be different?  Then clear the air and be CLEAR!  Being clear can show you where you are.  That's the first step in movement.

How do you be clear?  You decide what you really want.  Take out a piece a paper or fire up your laptop and write down what you want.  In as clear as terms as you possibly can.

Hint:  writing "I want a good life" is NOT clear.  What does a good life look like to you.  What does that mean?

It's the first step in unplugging the machine...okay get writing...I will wait.  See you back here tomorrow.

 

What does fog get you?

Actually fog...in your head or in your life can give you a lot.  The number one thing fog can give you is ...  a place to hide if you are looking for one.

When it's foggy you cannot or should not move full steam ahead.  Fog makes you more cautious which you should be if you are driving a moving vehicle.  Consider that my safety tip for you today!

Fog can create lots of stumbling blocks for you too if you are trying to move forward in your life.

Over the next couple days I will share some tips for turning off that dang fog machine and help you clear the air.  It's not as hard as you think to unplug the machine.  You just have to know where the plug is.  Lucky for both of us I know :)  See you tomorrow...

When was the last time you felt happy for someone else?

When was the last time you felt really happy to your toes for someone else?  Hmmm....think about it...when was it?

I got a call today about something great happening to someone I know.  :)  My first, second and third thoughts were all...

"HOW FABULOUS FOR HIM!"

Not "why wasn't it me?"  Not anything but joy for him.

I have long said I am not a jealous person.  I believe that.  I can be very wistful though :)   I am so glad this happened to you...and I would like it too.  Not in spite of you but with you.

There is a profound difference in the two.  If I am jealous and want it in spite of you that is really saying that the world doesn't hold "enough" of anything to allow us all what we desire.  It re-enforces an idea of lack.

I simply refute that idea to be depth of my being.  I believe there is more than enough of anything we seek.  It is up to us to figure out how to find it :) and that path is made much easier when we celebrate someone's finding "theirs". 

To me that means "mine" is within reach :)

The secret of being joyful revealed!

Well here it is...the big secret...ready?

You have to want to be joyful!

Really... that's it.  You have to want to be happy.

If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me how I can be so happy I would be writing this from a topical island with a lovely beverage in my hand.  (That would make writing tough...but I would work it out!)

Seriously it is amazing.  Happened yesterday again at work.  Three men I was waiting on asked me if they could have some of the drugs I must be on.  One said he was watching me...I looked so happy...I had to be on something and would I share?  :)

I just laughed and said I choose to be happy and joyful.  One of them said "You cannot be like this every day."  My response was 9 out of 10 days I am or try to be. 

Being joyful is a state of mind. Do I go through periods when I am not ?  Well of course I do.  I am human and my life in the last five years has had more twists and turns than the best roller coaster ever built.

But everyone has a choice every day...really every minute but that's a bit much for most folks to wrap their heads around...so we will go with "every day".  Every day we have a choice about how we want to view our world. 

I wake up every morning and in my prayer/meditation I ask that my heart be filled with joy and that is shows in my face.  I stand up with open arms as I ask.  I apparently think that makes it look like I am ready for a divine "download"!!  :) Which by the way I am :)

Some days I can feel the joy and some days I can't.  But starting out with that intention puts in me the best place to make it so.

Not drugs, not medication...something even better and FREE...

a simple desire to live in a state of joy. 

The best zip code you could ever imagine.

 

I was in the presence of love yesterday and it felt good.

I was a witness yesterday at a wedding of a couple who decided to remarry.  It was just a delight to be there and to witness the event.

My favorite part...as one daughter video taped it ...their son stood with the dad and the other daughter stood next to the mom.  As the parents took their vows the kids were acting like little support people.  :)

The son shook his head "yes" a lot as his dad repeated his vows...then the second daughter rubbed her mom's back as she repeated hers.  There were eyes twinkling and wide smiles.

I was in the presence of love yesterday and it felt good.

Celebrate the love you have!

It's Valentine's Day! 

A day that folks focus on the people they love.  That can be nice...

but it can also feel crappy if you don't have anyone in your life.  Just try to avoidthose Hallmark and flower and jewelry commercials!

 It can feel equally crappy if you are with someone who doesn't have a romantic bone in their body.  If that is the case you have to know that is about them...not you. 

I was thinking about that this week.  The two men I have been in love with in my life never gave me acard, flowers ... jewerly on Valentine's Day.  Both interestingly said they gave the "holiday" little notice. I, on the other hand, felt bad...actually put away the cards and candy I had gotten for them...feeling pretty awkward as I recall.  Fifteen years separated them in my life experience...but the same feelings. That gets one thinking!

So what the heck does this walk down memory lane have with the here and now?  The message is simply.  Always has been...you and I need to celebrate the love we have in our way.

Celebrate the love we have! Not look outside ourselves for defining how and when that happens...or for that matter when we do the celebrating. 

Life is short...Celebrate daily! 

If it comes back to you that is a divine...but it's the sending it out that is your gift to the folks in your world. You can never say "I love you" enough in my opinion.  Storing it up for one day seems like such a waste...

Celebrate the love you do have.  Look around your life and see who is there.  The "package" may not be what you are looking for but that doesn't mean there is not a gift there all the same. :) And once you "see" it....celebrate it any day you wish!

Happy Valentine's Day!  You are loved!  That I know for sure....

 

You need to be as nimble as a billy goat.

That was my answer today when I had coffee with someone who asked me how I keep "coming back" after so much has happened over the last couple of years. 

That was my answer...I am as nimble as a billy goat who keeps climbing up the side of those mountains in the old Heidi movies! Whoa!  That just dated me!  LOL...

But it's true.  When the ground shifts out from under you ...you have to keep jumping around until you find the solid stuff again.  Sure you might tumble down the hill over and over again (been there...done that...not as fun as it looks!) but sooner or later you have to stop rolling!  Sure you may smack into a giant rock but you stop all the same.

Then you take a breath or two or three and start the climb again.  It's the only way to get to the top where the sun is really shining :)

You need to stop so you can really start.

No matter what you are doing...there comes a time when you need to stop so you can really start!  Truly...

You need to stop:

• collecting ideas
• information
• opinions

And you need to simply start with what you have where you are.

We are surrounded by information.  I like to call it information overload. Turn your head to the left...there's information.  Turnit to the right and there is more.  Pretty soon you just find yourself in a continous information gathering mode and you never actually get off the dime and do what you say you want to do.

I neeeeed just a littleeeeee more information then I will be ready.  Ah...no you won't.  Endless information gathering can keep you stuck.

 Be like Nike ... you need to Just Do It.

You can always improve and tweak it.  But you need to start.

I saw this quote on-line today...forgot to write down who said it because I was link following :)  but it's good...

The world doesn't need more information or more techniques. 

We need energy, confidence, faith and a kick in the ass.

Consider this your gentle...or not so gentle...kick in the ass to get started!

 

What is your "Why"?

There is usually a reason for everything we do...even if we don't know what it is on a conscious level.

Knowing our "Why" is very helpful.  Clears the air and can give us the motivation to accomplish what we set out to do.  Our "Why" is personal.  It can be influenced by outside forces but in the end it's ours.

Our "Why" is where our power is.  It's the fuel that can get us to where we say we want to be.  So today take a minute and ask yourself what is my "Why" for what I say I want. 

It may be the thing that has been holding you back...the not clearly knowing your "Why".

Today is your day to power up!