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Getting viral with it
On Thursday, I decided to treat myself to fifteen dollars worth of white tulips. They are beautiful. I’d love to say that I’m romantic and poetic enough to sit and gaze wondrously upon the miracle that is their creation, but really…who has time? But they are really beautiful…they’re a welcome shot of youthfulness and spring in our winter-stuffy dining room. Every time I pass them by they make me smile. I thought it was just me….but since Thursday, we’ve had many guests come through the house. Everyone comments on them…in particular, our daughter’s playmates. I heard one little girl tell her mother breathlessly “you should see the flowers they have!” Maybe the mother will think to indulge herself in a simple way too…or maybe not. But maybe seeing her daughter beam was enough to make her smile too.
Our favourite yogi, Eoin Finn, challenges his students to notice and enjoy the sensations of savasana and to “spread it around”. I love the sentiment…but I also love the potential ambiguity of the “it”. Clearly, he’s referring to the dual feelings of peace and vitality that a good practice will give you. For me, it made me wonder what “it” I would love to spread around. What is “it” that the world seems to be lacking, and do I have enough of “it” to give? So much of what I’d like to see more of are things that I myself sometimes lack: patience, serenity, generosity, selflessness, kindness (on bad days) etc etc. But maybe, just maybe, that’s where the work is…to give “it” away even if you don’t have “it” in abundance. Karma baby. Viral karma
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Gratitude
I am officially nine days early to talk about love. Luckily, I never worried too much about these formalities. I devote this blog to a trinity of support and inspiration around me...people that I love: Kate – you nailed the logo that meant everything to me…tirelessly…with patience and a side of Wyclef.
Jonah – for reasons I’ll never know, you’ve walked patiently beside me down the path of web development...for not much gain. What I do know, is that you’re in my heart.
Lisa – you’ve been a beacon of reason, intelligence and have been down-right demanding of me with your weekly challenges, which, as you’ve always known, resonate like sweet nothings in my ear.
Thank you all for having faith in me. Smooch.
Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.
- M. M. Bethune
Check out my free training on the 5 Shifts Our Clients Use to Overcome the Imposter Complex and Grow their Income and their Impact
Where I pull back the curtain on five shifts to start raising voices, rates, and hands all while being the kind, congruent, and authentic leader I know you to be.
Groundhog Day
We have had two consecutive beautiful sunny days in Toronto (yup…you read that right).
As we basked in the sun on our back deck yesterday, rejuvenating our vitamin D-starved cells, I considered how blissful a short winter would be if Wiarton Willie didn't see his shadow today. I love winter…I really do. But I think that like all good party guests, orators and aging rock stars, the season should know when to make a graceful exit.
Further, this solidifies my belief that people should often reconsider their investment of time in pursuits that should have ended a while ago. For me, that has meant staying in jobs that stopped enriching my life long ago, but that I stayed in simply out of inertia. I have since given myself the gift of "no".
We don't have much say in how much longer the weather will stay warm, or if it will turn dastardly for another 6 weeks…but we can take pause and consider where we're giving our time away…and if we want to say "yes" or "no" to that.
Check out my free training on the 5 Shifts Our Clients Use to Overcome the Imposter Complex and Grow their Income and their Impact
Where I pull back the curtain on five shifts to start raising voices, rates, and hands all while being the kind, congruent, and authentic leader I know you to be.
Doing just enough to just get by...
Did you know that 60% of the Canadian workforce goes to their jobs every day with the singular intention of doing just enough to not get fired? Only 15% go to their desks with the intention of making a difference. Really? Flying just under the radar is an acceptable way to live and be?
I see the grey faces going to work on public transit and know that they must have more life in them on the weekend….but I guess we’re predisposed to assume that work is drudgery and play is fun.
Wouldn't it be lovelier to be part of that 15% who embrace the words of Katharine Graham:
"To love what you do and feel that it matters – how could anything be more fun?"
Check out my free training on the 5 Shifts Our Clients Use to Overcome the Imposter Complex and Grow their Income and their Impact
Where I pull back the curtain on five shifts to start raising voices, rates, and hands all while being the kind, congruent, and authentic leader I know you to be.
Goal-tending
We're coming up on February 1st, so I thought I’d reflect on my Jan 1st resolve.
Another New Year’s Eve came and went. So too, has the annual dump on the idea of resolutions. We’ve all grumbled about unrealistic expectations of ourselves for the year to come that will be long forgotten by Jan 17th. But really, is it so very wrong to will out the old, and will in the new? And if not on January 1st, then when?
This year, my husband and I did our annual quiet reflection of the previous year and forward-thinking for the next, in part aided by Lululemon’s goal-setting program. I say “in part” as this 1 and 5 year approach to the health, career and personal realms of our lives has been the focus of my husband’s and my quarterly assessment of our own goal-tending for a number of years now (though the 10 year plan is new). I love that the program has you discerning your own values and doing some blue-sky thinking…both are exercises that I am well-versed in as they are cornerstones of the Board of Your Life program. Critical first steps in revealing underlying potential for great peace (or happiness…whichever speaks to your personal objectives).
So I am clear about my 1, 5 and 10 year goals…and have the plans in place. But step 3? To check in every day that I’m staying the course…in health, business, relationships and spirituality. It reminds me of the simple yogic principle about each breath being a new chance to get the next one right.
So far so good.
Check out my free training on the 5 Shifts Our Clients Use to Overcome the Imposter Complex and Grow their Income and their Impact
Where I pull back the curtain on five shifts to start raising voices, rates, and hands all while being the kind, congruent, and authentic leader I know you to be.
Who do you want to be, really?
In the Globe and Mail’s New Year’s edition, new trends in technology were highlighted for 2009. Top of the list? Avatars. Apparently we can anticipate much greater mainstream acceptance of these for 2009. The article goes on to cite a case in Japan wherein a woman is facing charges related to \"murdering\" her husband\'s avatar in an online video game. A British couple is divorcing after a woman caught her partner’s avatar \"cheating\" with another woman’s. I know that the premise behind the rise of the avatar is the novelty of being able to digitally act out your fantasies. The article asks the question: “Who do you want to be, digitally speaking?” I wonder if the couple in Japan would have answered “murderer/murder victim” or the British couple “adulterer/divorcee”.
I wonder also where they’d be if someone had have asked them: “Who do you want to be, really?” How much better off would we all be if we checked in frequently with who we are, how we can be our best selves FOR ourselves and others, where we’re going, and how we can positively impact one another.
In considering this, it reminded me of an article I read a long, LONG time ago about being who you are and living your truth (Daily OM). The idea is that as children, we are our authentic selves and as we age, we move away from that.
Wouldn’t it be a wonderful if as adults we tried harder to tap into our authentic selves rather than reasonably drawn facsimiles?
Check out my free training on the 5 Shifts Our Clients Use to Overcome the Imposter Complex and Grow their Income and their Impact
Where I pull back the curtain on five shifts to start raising voices, rates, and hands all while being the kind, congruent, and authentic leader I know you to be.