Tag Archives: inspiration

20 Quotes about Luck for the Lunar New Year: Realizing You Are Lucky

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Wherever I go, whatever I do, whatever life gives me makes me realize I am lucky!

The standard greeting for Lunar New Year here in South Korea is a wish for lots of luck in the new year.

Luck is always within our reach. It’s not an external factor you may or may not win. Realizing that we are lucky, feeling lucky.. is something we can always choose!

Here are 20 quotes about luck to help you indeed have a lucky new year!  Quote number 20 is from me, Joan Gregerson, author of “Tuning In to Inner Peace: The Surprisingly Fun Way to Transform Your Life”

20 Quotes to help you make good luck!

  1. “Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.”― Dalai Lama XIV
  2. “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”― Thomas Jefferson
  3. “Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson
  4. “I wandered everywhere, through cities and countries wide. And everywhere I went, the world was on my side.”― Roman Payne, Rooftop Soliloquy
  5. “Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known. ”― Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegon U.S.A.
  6. “People always call it luck when you’ve acted more sensibly than they have. ”― Anne Tyler
  7. “When life gets you down, improvise as if crawling was part of the choreography.”― Iveta Cherneva
  8. “He was just a coward and that was the worst luck any many could have.”― Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls
  9. “I think we consider too much the luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.”― Franklin D. Roosevelt
  10. “Luck is a word the bitter teach to the ignorant.”― Steve Maraboli
  11. “Learn to recognize good luck when it’s waving at you, hoping to get your attention.”― Sally Koslow
  12. “Above all, he liked it that everything was one’s own fault. There was only oneself to praise or blame. Luck was a servant and not a master. Luck had to be accepted with a shrug or taken advantage of up to the hilt. But it had to be understood and recognized for what it was and not confused with a faulty appreciation of the odds, for, at gambling, the deadly sin is to mistake bad play for bad luck. And luck in all its moods had to be loved and not feared”― Ian Fleming, Casino Royale
  13. “Concentration attracts luck factor.”― Amit Ray, Yoga and Vipassana: An Integrated Life Style
  14. “He is where he is supposed to be. And yet the place he has found is also of his own choosing. That is a piece of luck not to be despised.”― Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing
  15. “I feel as though my life has been orchestrated for me to recognize just how fortunate I truly am.”― Brandon A. Trean
  16. “If I could, I’d write a huge encyclopedia just about the words luck and coincidence”― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
  17. “I’ve been fortunate to have interventions at my most ignorant moments in life.”― Brandon A. Trean
  18. “The reason I like the game chess is because each move has countless repercussions, but you’re in charge of them. And it’s your ability to see into the future and the effects of the decisions you’ve made that males you either a good or not a good chess player. It’s not luck.”― Bono, Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas
  19. “But bad luck makes good stories.”― Bernard Evslin
  20. “When you say, ‘Good Luck!’, I hope you mean: appreciate your blessings, notice the moments of ease, and welcome the challenges, so you will always know how to feel extremely lucky.”

- Joan Gregerson, author of “Tuning In to Inner Peace: The Surprisingly Fun Way to Transform Your Life”

Ch09 Perfectionism: The Party Pooper You Can Stop Inviting

Of all the bad habits you can pick up, perfectionism has very little to show for itself on the upside.

 

Other bad habits at least let you enjoy your life, if briefly. If you’re lazy, you can sleep in. If you’re going for a big drinking fest, you can enjoy the beer or the feeling of escape for awhile.

 

But perfectionism never gives you a break. It won’t let you rest when you do your best, and even worse, pesters you to give up on your dreams before you’ve even tried.

 

No matter how well you’ve done, there’s still a reason for a good beating. The perfectionist keeps hounding you to go, go faster, try harder to attain perfection. Like a dog chasing tail, you’re trying to achieve an unattainable goal.

 

Beating Ourselves Up

The perfectionist critic has a constant supply of new material to hound us with. Because, nobody’s perfect!

 

Perfectionism finds something to berate in the normal activities of a day. When we make a mistake, forget to make a phone call, or send out an email with an error, we feel stupid, terrible, and are likely to beat ourselves up.

 

Beating ourselves up…what a strange way to live!

 

Speaking as you would never dare speak to a friend or, even enemy, the internal rants begin. “You stupid idiot!” “I can’t believe you did that!”…and on and on. Even for the smallest mistakes, the perfectionist critic is blasting away.

 

But even in areas where you have worked diligently and achieved a level of skill and success, perfectionism can ruin the best of moments.

  • Compose a ballad. It could have been better.
  • Win an award. Sure, but now you’re going to need to work harder for district competition, then state, then national.
  • Anything less than number one is a failure, and even number one is temporary so there’s no time to rest.

 

Perfectionism is the party pooper we keep inviting. It’s  the uncle that farts during the toast at an otherwise-perfect wedding.

 

Obstacle to a Dream: Demanding Guaranteed Success

But possibly even worse than hounding you for what you have done, perfectionism can convince you to give up on your dreams.

 

Instead of encouraging you with a “Life is meant to be enjoyed! Go for it! Try it!,” kind of support, perfectionism dumps a bucket of water on the sparks of creativity and passion that might just be connecting you to your purpose for living.

 

You’re not talented enough, smart enough, rich enough. You’ll never make it. Do you have any idea how unlikely it is that you’d actually be able to do that? You’ll just be wasting time and money. Just give up and take the sure thing.

 

But dreams come true only for those that take the chance.

 

Lady Gaga, at age 25, is a familiar and beloved pop musician with fans all over the world. She wrote her first song at age 13, performed singing at open mic shows and with her church, and studied music in college. She released her first album in 2008, at age 22, and the album reached number one on the record charts of six countries. This kind of thing still happens! It’s not all about the politics of the music business. At the core of this story, is a woman who did not cosign on her inner critic or any critic.

 

If a girl born as Stefani Germanotta, had required guaranteed success before making an album, Lady Gaga would not now be an international household name. She chooses styles and writes and performs songs that others loudly demean, but one thing is sure. She continues to be her own authentic self with no apologies.

 

Perfectionism asks you to prove that what you want to try will be a success. But the most rewarding things you try, you can’t prove that you will succeed at and might even be worthwhile if you fail.

 

The High Cost of Perfectionism

Normal striving towards perfection helps you feel better and encourages you to reach your goals.

 

But perfectionism as the unrelenting taskmaster can have devastating consequences, including depression. You lose that sense of the intrinsic value of a person, and may give up entirely trying to achieve the impossible, ever-expanding to-do-perfectly list. Depression takes the joy out of living and is a dominant cause of suicide.

 

Depression can be healed. Tools may include medication, but always include some form of cognitive therapy to help retrain a person’s thinking. Helping people get off the path of unrealistic and overly critical thinking is fundamental. This retraining is at the core of relief, allowing the person to enjoy life again.

 

Everybody makes mistakes.

 

Embracing mistakes

My meditation instructor once forgot my name when introducing me in a group. Later, he apologized, and said his ego must have been getting overblown. He explained that making a ‘stupid mistake’ has the benefit of quickly humbling him. It’s a quick way of detaching from the headstrong, prideful aspects of character, and instantly becoming more centered.

 

Perfectionism demands the unattainable and wants us to be superhuman in all endeavors 24/7, as well as instantly great and guaranteed to succeed at anything we try.

 

The deeper self knows that the level of skill and the admiration earned from doing something well, are not what life’s all about anyway.

 

So, as we move through life, and trip up here and there, maybe there’s a higher purpose. Maybe this keeps us from attaching our identity to being the great fill-in-the-blank. Being The Great One in any area of life sets us up for feeling self-important, for that manic drive for more success, and often thinking less of others.

 

So, when we make silly blunders here and there throughout our days, the ego is deflated quickly. We can laugh at our mistakes and not take ourselves so seriously. We can lighten up and enjoy things more.

 

Because from this vantage point, we can recognize the true perfection of the human condition. Ourselves included.

 

Write a polite note to the perfectionist critic, and send it packing! Let’s stop inviting the party pooper to the parties!

 

To err is human.

 

 

 

Exercises

  • Listen to the mental chatter about the big and little mistakes you make. Observe the tone of voice and words used. Would you use the same words to a friend? Would your assessment be so harsh? Is there a way to be honest, yet more gentle and encouraging with yourself?
  • Make a list of dreams pushed aside. Have you wanted to read a poem at Open Mic night? Did you want to learn guitar? Dream of having a painting exhibit? Want to learn ballroom dancing?
  • Is there a pushed-aside dream you could nudge over to your “To Try List”?
  • If your friend was doing the same analysis about her life, what would you encourage her to do? Can you accept that advice for yourself?
  • Notice the things you think you’d like to do, but decline with, “No, I can’t.”  Is there a more gentle answer that could provide an opening, such as, “I tried it when I was younger, but I was too shy. Maybe I’ll try it again.”
  • If you can’t get up the courage to try something for your own enjoyment, can you for someone else? Try playing tennis with your five-year-old niece, even though you haven’t tried to hit a ball for a decade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve:

the fear of failure.”

― Paulo Coelho

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ch26 Being, then Doing, and Having

What is it about camping that’s appealing? Why put up with mosquitoes, rocks under sleeping bags and wet clothes? Or if camping isn’t your thing, how about simply watching a sunset?

When you’re in these settings, you’re removed from the comforts you have worked so hard to surround yourself with. At home, you may identify with the size of your house, the location, or the stuff in it. Out and about, maybe it’s the car or what you’re wearing. Surrounded by stuff, it’s easy to focus on ‘Having’.

But, without a television, comfy leather couch, gourmet carrot peeler, or soft bed, you are forced to shift your focus. Activities with less stuff naturally direct our attention away from Having, to more profound levels.

Moving beyond a focus on materials things, the next level is Doing. Making a to-do list and ticking items off, you’re focused on Doing. And yes, doing is important. But if you do activities mindlessly, rushed or begrudgingly, you’re not Doing your best.

When you focus on Having and Doing, it’s easy to feel that you can’t succeed. You don’t have the right materials or you can’t accomplish everything you set out to do. So, you feel like you’re failing. And what naturally follows are feelings of low self-worth, and berating yourself or others who expect more of you than you can do.

But, no matter what you have or do, you can always Be your best. When you focus on Being you savor the interaction or time spent alone. You tune in to the impermanence of what is before you right now. You feel honored to have this sacred moment and grateful for the divine beings in your presence.

Shakti Gawain explains this elegantly.

“We can think of living having three dimensions: being, doing, and having. Often we attempt to live our lives backwards. We try to have more money in order to feel we can do more of what we want, so we can be happier. The way it actually works is the revers. We must first be who we really are, then do what we feel guided to do, in order to have what we want.”

Being

Easy ways to shift your attention include focusing on Being:

  • Being calm
  • Being compassionate
  • Being understanding
  • Being here
  • Being in awe
  • Being grateful
  • Being humble
  • Being authentic
  • Being funny

Whoa, sounds kind of fruity, kind of floaty, right? How does it work in the hectic pace of real life?

Example: ‘Being’ in the Classroom

I’m a teacher. I have an ideal in mind of what my students need to flourish: a comfortable classroom with natural daylighting, whiteboard with colorful markers, a computer and internet, ample space and supplies for each student, and the list can go on. But, it’s rare to actually have all of these. Attention on this level is a focus on ‘Having’.

But, what do we do in class? Teachers design lesson plans to achieve the goals set out for each class. In designing these activities, there is a lot I’d like to know: my students’ strengths and needs, and understanding their culture, research about the best ways to teach the materials, more games to make it fun, and the list goes on. As dedicated and creative as I am, I can always think of more to do.

I walk into class with a lesson plan, with an aim to achieve the goals I’ve set for the class. A teacher that focuses on this level is focusing on ‘Doing’.

Students may suspect, but teachers know, that classes rarely go as planned! The students unexpectedly struggle with a basic concept or whiz through a complicated activity. The teacher tries to adjust on the fly, and can’t always Do enough to keep on track for completing tasks and achieving learning goals.

But when I can hold onto the concept that Being is the most important level, I have a better chance of success!

There’s always more that we could have or do. But Being my best only requires that I am open and willing to experience my students fully. At my best, I am reminded that my students are unparalleled divine beings who I’m sharing some moments with! We are overlapping souls. Learning English is an excuse to have these sacred interactions.

So when the persistent hiccups in the lesson plan and equipment glitches happen, freaking out isn’t very useful!

Teaching English to international students or traveling to another country to teach is a great way to remind myself that these interactions are precious miracles of space and time. The fact that we are together is this window in time is an undeniably brief encounter.

Take that same awe and apply it to all interactions, whether it’s a cross-cultural interaction with a visitor from afar or a day-to-day interaction with your family.

 


 

Exercises

  • Think of times you have been able to improve a situation with a shift from doing to being. Perhaps you changed the mood or a frustrating situation by being funny, calm, or grateful.
  • How about times when you weren’t able to have something you’d planned on. Have you been able to shift things for the better by being compassionate, understanding or humorous?
  • When you feel a sense of panic rising, ask yourself: Am I focusing on: Having, Doing or Being?  Can I focus on Being? How would that change how I act and how I treat myself and others?
  • What part of your day is often stressful? Can you shift your focus from Having or Doing, to Being? See if it opens up a window for being successful and content at that most important level of life: love.

We are

“human beings”,

not

“human doings”.

Ch30 Appendix: Resources and Inspirations

Here is a sample of favorite inspirational teachers that took me by the hand and guided me. On your journey, reach out to these and other authors, support groups and classes that fit your life! Find a teacher who was learned to overcome the problems that you want to solve.

These writers have helped me learn what my inner circle of family and friends mostly did not know, or else, we all began learning together. These authors have written several books each. I list one or two of the more well-known titles, but peruse and you may find something that more directly suits you.

Louise Hay

You Can Heal Your Life

101 Power Thoughts

Lack of self love is the root of all of our problems, Louise explains. Her sweet voice comes through in her stories, affirmations and insights, like that wise, loving older sister we could all benefit from. For a simple overall affirmation series, listen to 101 Power Thoughts morning and night.

Byron Katie

Loving What Is

I Need Your Love, Is it True?

Ms. Katie provides four simple questions to help us unravel the rationale we use to make ourselves miserable! Listen to the audio to hear real-life examples of how this process works. This is a simple system you can apply daily to help you laugh at your serious side, and enjoy life more.

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment and Your Life

Guided Mindfulness Meditation Series

Jon Kabat-Zinn has a way of writing and talking to beginners in a manner that is inviting and convincing. Try a slim book or an audio CD. If ‘meditation’ sounds too daunting, try a book on ‘mindfulness’ for starters.

Melody Beattie

Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring For Yourself

This is one of those books I listened to in my car. I laughed so hard as Beattie described standard manipulation and guilt tactics that we often use, but are ineffective and often damaging. The humorous part is that I never realized I was doing it, that I could stop, or how much fun life would be without it. I came across this as part of my Al-Anon work, but would recommend it to anyone. As kids, we are all dependent. Maturing and becoming interdependent adults, rather than codependent, usually requires some conscientious retraining. This and other books by Beattie are spot on!

Cyndi Dale

The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy

Did you know that cultures around the world have remarkably similar descriptions of the human body’s subtle system? Call it chakras or meridians. Use Kabbalah or native American terminology, but cultures agree that there is more to our health than meets the eye. This illustrated book is stunning in its breadth, insights and beauty.

Dr. Daniel Amen

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life

Dr. Amen’s many books give you a glimpse into how our brain works. His approach is to consider faulty brains, in the same non-judgmental way we’d consider someone with tennis elbow, or a persistent slight limp. Brain issues are often fixable and can be the root cause of many problems in your life.

Eckhart Tolle

The Power of Now

A New Earth

After sitting on park benches for a couple years, Mr. Tolle finally understood something that he’d been missing in his earlier life. Eckhart Tolle shares his insights about how the only time we ever have is right now. If you’re not a big fan of self-help books, try Guardians of Being, the book that combines pet illustrations from Mutts comic strip artist with Tolle quotes. Learning the power of now from dogs and cats might be our most direct route!

 

His Holiness the Dalai Lama

How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life

How to See Yourself as You Really Are

The Dalai Lama, winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, has written dozens of books that relate Buddhist teachings to the social ills of modern Western society. The Dalai Lama retains that joyful, little-kid way of relating to people that is irresistible to me.

 

 

Pema Chodron

How to Meditate with Pema Chodron: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind

Did you know that when people first try to meditate, instead of quieting their thoughts, it’s common for people to curse themselves and get angry about it! Well, this is obviously the wrong reaction. Pema Chodron talks about this and instructs beginners to go for gentle amusement rather than any level of achievement. Her voice reflects this. Try an audio CD and hang out with Pema, to experience it yourself.

 

Thich Nhat Hanh

Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life

Thich Nhat Hanh has written 100 books, and 40 available in English, so you have many to choose from! He has great ways to show how to experience deep meditative ways in everyday experiences: walking, in the garden or at mealtime. In addition, he writes directly to children, and about social work andenvironmentalism as different aspects of mindful living. Savor, with Dr. Lilian Cheung, makes the  link between eating and mindfulness.

Gay Hendricks, Kathlyn Hendricks

Attracting Authentic Love

This pocket-sized book and audio present an easy way to get yourself ready for a mature, healthy relationship. It gives you a solid foundation for authentic love through: listening to your body, clearing conditioning from your past, and considering what factors a healthy partner needs.

David Richo

How to Be an Adult in Relationships: The Five Keys to Mindful Loving

Richo presents an approach that feels calm and encouraging. As a Buddhist, marriage counselor, he gives examples of how couples tend to recreate the circumstances of our childhood, and how to accept that and work through that and evolve with your partner. His five A’s system recommends that loving relationships need: Attention, Appreciation, Affection, Allowing, and Acceptance. Would your partner be up for working through this (or a similar book) with you?

Shakti Gawain

Creative Visualization

Living in the Light

It was from reading Shakti Gawain’s Creative Visualization that I solved a recurring afternoon problem I had with my toddler, years ago. This was my first taste of learning a skill from an author, that my friends and family didn’t know. Shakti Gawain has continued to write helpful, insightful books on healing, energy, grief and living large spiritually.

And you?

When will you

begin that

long journey

into

yourself?

- Rumi

 

Most  of these are included in my Amazon.com Listmania List:

http://www.amazon.com/Books-that-help-you-Tune-In-to-Inner-Peace-Transform-and-Enjoy-Life/lm/R2OK9DCKXN7O47/ref=cm_srch_res_rpli_alt_1

Can’t you see…How unique and beautiful you already are?

If you can’t see that about yourself, whatever you do, do NOT look in the mirror. Look deeper.

(And if you feel like poopoo, you probably invited the party pooper, perfectionism to the party!)

Ch11 Thinking is Limited

Don’t confuse words with the truth. It’s like confusing a map with the earth. Words are a map. The truth is the ground we are standing on, that always supports us fully. And the truth is love.

 

It was during a meditation class that I first heard the concept, “Thinking is limited.” It hit me as both impossible and obvious, throwing my mind (thinking!) into immediate gridlock. I was 47 years old at that time. In the meditation class I was taking, they went on to teach about “thoughtless awareness”, and how to trust this over rational thinking alone.

 

Blasphemy, I thought! But, in the coming days, dozens of examples of exactly this principle flooded my mind.

 

I studied engineering in college. Engineering is nothing, if not thinking. I took semester after semester crammed with various math and science classes. As the coursework progressed, I knew less and less what it all meant. “If a 5-volt DC power source is located at grid location x1,y5 and a 87 v, 60Hz AC power source is located at x3, y4, what is the strength of the field at x1,y1?”A question like this would take me a few pages of equations to get the answer. I was happy to get the right number, but had no sense of what the heck we were doing or why.

 

But, class after class, I honed my thinking skills so I could get the right answer, more often than not. And over time, I figured out how to do it with less and less effort. As long as I ignored the feelings of discomfort about not understanding, I was okay. Using this strategy, I succeeded and graduated from college.

 

I worked in various engineering positions. At one point, I was doing research and writing. In that position, I was tasked with identifying the advantages and disadvantages of new energy-efficient technologies. My job was to complete a 20 to 40-page report complete with dozens of footnotes. That’s what it looked like from the outside.

 

From the inside, though, it was a mess. I often took on subjects I had no background in, so learned as I went. I would do research, interview some folks, work with my editor and cobble together a draft. I’d then send that out for review. My reviewers all had their own take on reality, as product manufacturers, users or program managers. What followed would be trying to wade through their written comments and long telephone conversations trying to get to my version of ‘truth’.

 

And at times, things got really contentious and crazy. At that time, I thought that the only way to solve things was more writing and talking. Sometimes, that really did make things worse. Seemingly minor issues would spiral into big issues, with no apparent logical basis. I would find myself in heated discussions but not understand why the heck we weren’t cool.

 

I knew in my gut that there was something else happening on some other level. But, engineers aren’t known as the touchy-feely type so if there was another level, we were not going to let on.

 

So, like a blind juggler, I would toss around knives, oranges, and watermelons until I got cut or tired. And I would call my report ‘done’.

 

Not once did “thinking is limited” or “thoughtless awareness” ever come up.

 

 

Allowing Solutions to Show Up

I had heard in our meditation class that Einstein had a sudden flash of inspiration one day when he was outside playing with bubbles. He often advised that to figure something out, you had to stop consciously thinking about it and let the answer come to you.

 

A few weeks later, I’d been working on a database project for work. It was almost ready to go, except there was one sticky point that I couldn’t resolve. I’d called tech support and talked about it a few times. I’d tried a few workarounds but couldn’t solve it. It was urgent that I complete the project but I was stuck.

 

I was constantly picking the problem up mentally, turning it around, looking at it from every aspect. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. I was driving myself crazy!

 

Out of desperation, I tried meditating. No, you can’t even call it that. I was driving, so I just tried to silence my mind..

 

When I do, it feels like the power going off on a spaceship. The flashing lights and beeping stop quickly. Whooooooosh. Only a dim glow, the heartbeat of the power supply is evident. A bit too dramatic? Maybe, but this is what’s happening in there when I can turn off the manic thinking.

Anywho… as I drove, I felt this sudden state of peace. I accepted the fact that either I could figure it out or I couldn’t. …. …. …. Yep, that’s about it.  … … silence …

 

A few minutes later, I arrived at work, refreshed. Peaceful.

 

I sat down at my computer and opened the program. I suddenly knew exactly what to do.

 

This was a situation in life that parallels what we do in meditation when we sit with our hands open. When my hands are closed tight, I am grasping, holding to the past, rigid, inflexible, panicked. Open …a solution just falls onto my palm.

 

“Logic will get you from A to Z.

Imagination will get you everywhere.” – Einstein

 

Deeply Moving: No Words are Needed

As alluded to, our meditation class taught me about something called “thoughtless awareness.” This is a tough one to grasp for those of us in the West. But, once I got a glimpse of this concept, I realized it explained a lot.

 

Newly single and without kids, I went to Ghana for a drumming and dance workshop. We started every day with a one hour dance class and a second hour of drumming. Both included singing. The healing power of this experience was profound and not something I could name or easily explain to others.

 

But, once I knew about thoughtless awareness, I realized Aha! This was a time that I was not thinking. It was my first regular break from thinking. I noticed that if I did think during these classes, my thoughts were unhelpful: You’ll never learn this. You can’t do this. Why are you even trying?

 

But, if I turned my thinking off or at least down, I was fine.

 

I realized, too, that experiences in my life that were profound were not defined by words. And, the most profound experiences were times without words: dancing, drumming, having sex, holding a baby, walking in nature, doing sports, making art, or playing with a child.

 

Words cannot convey the depth of my feelings …sounds like a greeting card cliché (and like most cliché’s, it’s true.)

 

Defintion: Profound (noun): deep, bottomless, vast

 

 

 

 

Exercises

  • Tomorrow, notice if there are any parts of your day where your thinking is on overdrive. When? How does it make you feel? What are you thinking about? Is it the same thing, over and over, or are you getting new insights?
  • Have you ever had sudden inspirations that showed up when you were not thinking?
  • Are there situations where you feel yourself getting caught up in thinking, but know that at some deeper level, it’s not true?
  • Do you have activities that you enjoy where no thinking is involved? What are they? How do they feel? What is their impact on your life?
  • What are the most profound experiences of your life? Are they word-based or something else?
  • Try sitting on the floor for five minutes, doing nothing. Watch your thoughts with an amused chuckle. Don’t try to stop anything or change anything. Notice if you feel any different as your day progresses.

 

“Don’t believe everything you think.”

- Byron Katie

 

 

 

Stuck? Go to the library!

View from the 2nd Floor of the Denver Library

Lately, I’ve been feeling pretty good in most areas of my life: eating, exercise, family relationships, friendships. It wasn’t always this way. On these topics, I’ve learned a lot from many programs, books, audio books and DVDs.

Right now, the area I could improve is my finances. I used to be pretty on top of this, but over the past few years, my stellar reputation with finances has been tarnished.

It’s tough to get out of a rut on your own. Think about it! If you learned these patterns from your family and friends, you’re probably not going to get out of the same habits by repeatedly talking to them.

That’s why I love the library! This week, I got Suze Orman’s DVD “Women & Money” and I’ve already picked up a few new concepts.

For one, she says, usually women care about relationships more than things. The mistake is that we treat money as a thing. But really, money is something we need to have a healthy relationship with. We should treat it like a friend. If we take care of it, it can take care of us when we need help.

Another thing that rang true for me is that women tend to be overly generous. I got into trouble with this when I first got connected to Africa. But, she says, Generosity is just one of the eight qualities of a wealthy woman. And you need to be generous to yourself too.

I want to be a wealthy woman because I want to do really big things, in many countries, throughout my life. And for that, I want money to be there to support me in those dreams.

Here are the eight qualities:

  • Harmony & Balance
  • Wisdom & Courage
  • Generosity & Happiness
  • Cleanliness & Beauty

I really appreciated learning about this because I have found each of these qualities to be extremely valuable in my life. But before I watched the video, I didn’t really connect them to my relationship with money.

So, if you’re feeling stuck, I hope you will find some inspiration and relief, quickly and easily at the library! Whether it’s a bad habit, an addiction, a compulsive behavior, or just some new aspect you want to explore, go!

Why the library and not the internet? For those aspects I’ve been doing my best to ignore, having a physical book or DVD sitting there reminds me that I do want to learn and grow in this area.

If you try it, let me know how it goes and your strategies for getting unstuck!  And, you can read more: Ch16: Get Yerself Some New Friends