As a Federal worker still working who is waiting and wondering if Congress is going to get the legislation necessary to fund my payroll or not passed soon, I have allowed myself to fall into the negativity trap again, and am not sending the positive energy out into the world that I know in my heart I should.
I was reminded of this through the workshop I attended yesterday and the most recent Philosophers Notes from Brian Johnson at the En*Theos Academy.
As a voting constituent I can - and have - let my elected officials know how I feel and what I think should be done. And, if they continue down the road they are currently on, I will remind them of that as necessary. And...that is all I can do. I can't force all of Congress into a rubber room and feed them bread and water until they do the right thing for our nation and the Federal workers who support her - however appealing that sounds at times.
I, as a responsible adult, need to realize what I can affect change upon and what I can't, and have the maturity and the wisdom to affect it where I can - starting with myself - and to let the rest go. The only person I can control is myself, and I need to get back to doing that and focusing my energies on making sure I am living the best life that I can right here, right now.
I want to sow positive energy that will come back to me in rapids, ripples, and tidal waves - I really do! So that is where my focus is right here, right now. The rest will take care of itself.
Namaste!
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Sunday, September 8, 2013
MaXIMIze - Taking Care of You
A recent conversation with a dear friend reminded me that - as those lovely flight attendants tell us during the safety briefing at the beginning of every flight - we cannot take care of others if we do not take care of ourselves first. And beyond that, if we are doing for others all the time, we could become depressed and resentful because our needs are not being fulfilled and our emotional bank accounts are being drained rather than replenished and balanced.
So, are you doing enough for yourself? Do you practice extreme self-care? Or are you always giving to others, perhaps even to others who do not give back in return?
You are the only person you can control, therefore you are the only person you can change. If you need to change gears and take more care of yourself, do it!
Those who truly care for you will adapt, support, and understand. Those who don't - well, you'll find out who really cares for you and wants what's best for you when you start doing what is best for yourself.
You are worth it!
Namaste!
So, are you doing enough for yourself? Do you practice extreme self-care? Or are you always giving to others, perhaps even to others who do not give back in return?
You are the only person you can control, therefore you are the only person you can change. If you need to change gears and take more care of yourself, do it!
Those who truly care for you will adapt, support, and understand. Those who don't - well, you'll find out who really cares for you and wants what's best for you when you start doing what is best for yourself.
You are worth it!
Namaste!
Sunday, September 1, 2013
MaXIMIze - Take a Cleansing Vacation
When did you last take a real vacation - one where you fully let
go of the day-to-day trivialities and just enjoyed where you were?
Are you tending your garden,
your medicine, the balm of your soul?
Are you regularly cleansing
your persona?
Like our homes get dusty,dirty and cluttered, so do our personae. Whether it is a nine-day vacation away from home (like I just did) or a few hours focused on something other than the day-to-day stuff, we all need to cleanse our souls from time to time so that we can come back to "real life" renewed and refreshed.
By being focused in the here and now, we leave the worries of yesterday in the past and the ones of tomorrow in the future, enabling ourselves to live each day as fully as possible.
So take some time to cleanse your persona on a regular basis, whether it is via a class you can lose yourself in, a trip to the zoo, a solitary walk near in a creek, time spent with someone special away from home and work focused on nature, or whatever feeds your soul and allows you to let go of that which no longer serves.
Namaste!
Friday, July 19, 2013
MaXIMIze - Declutter Your Life
As I read Cheryl Richardson's book Take Time for Your Life for the perhaps sixth or seventh time, I find a theme that is going through my life reverberating in her writing. It is the theme of leaving behind those things that no longer serve you in living your best life now.
As we move up the spiral staircase to our highest, most MaXIMIzed life, we must leave behind those things - ideas, habits, thoughts, people, situations - that no longer serve us. This can be difficult to do, as they are usually a part of our comfort zone, much like Linus' blanket or our child's favorite toy.
As a child puts away those toys he has outgrown, however, so too must we put aside those things that no longer serve to move us up the spiral staircase, and, in some cases, are pulling us down the bannister back toward the bottom step.
What things in your life - ideas, habits, thoughts, people, situations - are hindering you from living your best life now?
As we move up the spiral staircase to our highest, most MaXIMIzed life, we must leave behind those things - ideas, habits, thoughts, people, situations - that no longer serve us. This can be difficult to do, as they are usually a part of our comfort zone, much like Linus' blanket or our child's favorite toy.
As a child puts away those toys he has outgrown, however, so too must we put aside those things that no longer serve to move us up the spiral staircase, and, in some cases, are pulling us down the bannister back toward the bottom step.
What things in your life - ideas, habits, thoughts, people, situations - are hindering you from living your best life now?
Monday, July 1, 2013
MaXIMIze - The Space between Reaction and Response
This one has been percolating away for a couple of months now, and is an amalgamation of several items/events recently - the phrase "put away childish things" appeared in a Daily Read from Science of Mind, a discussion on FaceBook regarding a post/picture I shared, and other things in my own life as well as the life of others.
Action, Reaction - Reactive
Action, Response - Responsive
When we are children, we are dependent upon others - our parents, our teachers, our preachers, and yes, even our peers. The action/reaction chain, nay, dance becomes ingrained from an early age in our subconscious.
When we react to the actions of another, the subconscious remembers similar previous actions - either by that particular person or a more general group that person may or may not represent - and we do not consciously consider our response - we simply, well, react. This is the action/reaction dance - quick, choppy, prone to missteps and misunderstandings.
The action/response dance has a much different form, and in order to learn and master this form we need to learn to let go of what has been ingrained in us since an early age that no longer serves us. We need to learn to step back, take a breath, move outside the circle of the action, and really look at the situation from all sides. We must determine if the reaction we feel welling up is a valid one that fits the situation or if it is one that is borne out of remembered fear, pain, loss, rejection, etc. from a seemingly similar situation that does not fit the current one.
When we choose to choose our reaction instead of allowing our reaction to choose us, we are then responding to the action/situation rather than reacting to it.
So, the next time you feel an extreme, visceral reaction coming on the heels of someone else's action - stop; breathe; step outside the circle; and look at the whole picture. Then, choose your response.
Action, Reaction - Reactive
Action, Response - Responsive
When we are children, we are dependent upon others - our parents, our teachers, our preachers, and yes, even our peers. The action/reaction chain, nay, dance becomes ingrained from an early age in our subconscious.
When we react to the actions of another, the subconscious remembers similar previous actions - either by that particular person or a more general group that person may or may not represent - and we do not consciously consider our response - we simply, well, react. This is the action/reaction dance - quick, choppy, prone to missteps and misunderstandings.
The action/response dance has a much different form, and in order to learn and master this form we need to learn to let go of what has been ingrained in us since an early age that no longer serves us. We need to learn to step back, take a breath, move outside the circle of the action, and really look at the situation from all sides. We must determine if the reaction we feel welling up is a valid one that fits the situation or if it is one that is borne out of remembered fear, pain, loss, rejection, etc. from a seemingly similar situation that does not fit the current one.
When we choose to choose our reaction instead of allowing our reaction to choose us, we are then responding to the action/situation rather than reacting to it.
So, the next time you feel an extreme, visceral reaction coming on the heels of someone else's action - stop; breathe; step outside the circle; and look at the whole picture. Then, choose your response.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
MaXIMIze - Right Here, Right Now
All you have is right here, right now - worrying about anything else robs today of its pleasure. Everyone has a past, everyone has a future - 'tis true - and how we choose to live today determines both.
The here and now is what we really have - and we can choose to look back to the past, look forward to the future, or look moment by moment to the day at hand. Life is built moment by moment by the choices we make here and now.
What choices are you making as you live today?
The here and now is what we really have - and we can choose to look back to the past, look forward to the future, or look moment by moment to the day at hand. Life is built moment by moment by the choices we make here and now.
What choices are you making as you live today?
Sunday, April 14, 2013
MaXIMIze - Self Confidence
So, today's blog has several inspirations - my dear friend, a link from a Twitter post, and Sheryl Sandberg's new book.
First, everyone should have at least one dear friend who is a luminary as well as matter of fact support. Someone who reminds you not to put anyone in a box, least of all yourself.
Second, I am always interested in figuring out what makes people tick - whether it's through the Meyers-Briggs testing, Strength Finders, astrology (oh come on - it is older than and therefore at least as valid as the others - and I'm not talking daily horoscopes from the paper either...), and now, the newest discovery of mine - blood type. Yes, blood type. Who knew?
And third, Sheryl Sandberg - this woman is bloody amazing! She is the COO (chief operating officer) of Facebook, among other things. Her book reinforces my belief and message that we are all human beings first - all else comes after that.
Now on to the recent ah ha moment...
I was sharing the post about blood types mentioned above, and reading mine to my dear friend - I'm type O, by the way - and noted that while it says I am supposed to be extremely self-confident, I disagreed with that part of the description. My friend then informed me that yes, I am indeed self-cofnident...when I allow myself to be. Bing! Light bulb moment!
When I concentrate on my abilities, my talents, the things that make me damned good at my job as well as helping me with the other successes in my life - yes, I am self-confident. When I focus on my failures in life, then not so much. And I am the first to say focus on the positive and turn your face to the sun, the light. Yet, I, as much as anyone else, can allow what I consider failures to fill my mind instead of the successes.
And why shouldn't I be self confident about what I have achieved to date? I have a good job, have raised relatively happy, healthy and responsible children, and and happy, healthy and responsible myself. So, by my own definition, I am successful. I do not hesitate to give a hand up to others, and truly enjoy being of service where I can.
So why shouldn't I believe in and build upon my own abilities? Why shouldn't I be confident in them, and thereby self-confident?
And - why shouldn't you be equally confident in your abilities and thereby self-confident?
As per Eleanor Roosevelt, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent - so why are you allowing yourself to undermine your confidence?
Get out there and share your own special light!
First, everyone should have at least one dear friend who is a luminary as well as matter of fact support. Someone who reminds you not to put anyone in a box, least of all yourself.
Second, I am always interested in figuring out what makes people tick - whether it's through the Meyers-Briggs testing, Strength Finders, astrology (oh come on - it is older than and therefore at least as valid as the others - and I'm not talking daily horoscopes from the paper either...), and now, the newest discovery of mine - blood type. Yes, blood type. Who knew?
And third, Sheryl Sandberg - this woman is bloody amazing! She is the COO (chief operating officer) of Facebook, among other things. Her book reinforces my belief and message that we are all human beings first - all else comes after that.
Now on to the recent ah ha moment...
I was sharing the post about blood types mentioned above, and reading mine to my dear friend - I'm type O, by the way - and noted that while it says I am supposed to be extremely self-confident, I disagreed with that part of the description. My friend then informed me that yes, I am indeed self-cofnident...when I allow myself to be. Bing! Light bulb moment!
When I concentrate on my abilities, my talents, the things that make me damned good at my job as well as helping me with the other successes in my life - yes, I am self-confident. When I focus on my failures in life, then not so much. And I am the first to say focus on the positive and turn your face to the sun, the light. Yet, I, as much as anyone else, can allow what I consider failures to fill my mind instead of the successes.
And why shouldn't I be self confident about what I have achieved to date? I have a good job, have raised relatively happy, healthy and responsible children, and and happy, healthy and responsible myself. So, by my own definition, I am successful. I do not hesitate to give a hand up to others, and truly enjoy being of service where I can.
So why shouldn't I believe in and build upon my own abilities? Why shouldn't I be confident in them, and thereby self-confident?
And - why shouldn't you be equally confident in your abilities and thereby self-confident?
As per Eleanor Roosevelt, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent - so why are you allowing yourself to undermine your confidence?
Get out there and share your own special light!
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