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Gratitude…

This morning, I lit the candles in my sacred space then paused with that first cup of coffee. As I looked around slowly and really took in each object in the room, I noticed something: so many gifts from so many people! 

RoomPict

Gifts filled with many shapes and sizes of love:

  • furniture from the estate of that very special aunt
  • retirement gifts that came with a huge dose of encouragement and appreciation
  • thoughtful gifts that my husband knew would make my life better and easier
  • handmade gifts from our children
  • music reminding me of those who started my journey with the piano, guitar and songwriting
  • gifts from collaborators and relatives and colleagues
  • purchases I made with the gift of money left to me

What do you see when you look around you?

Behind those physical gifts, I feel the depth of love from people who helped me on this journey, who opened their hearts and their homes, who were friends through thick and thin. I feel the impact of those who believed in me and invested in my growth throughout the 30 years in a technology career.

What do you feel when you  gaze behind the physical?

I witness here the creativity that has come through me which wouldn’t have been possible without my sacred support team who always saw more in me than I saw in myself and didn’t let me forget it.

Who has helped to mold the person that you are?

It is through tears of gratitude that I enter this day. To each one of you who sees yourself in this post, there are no words to express how much I appreciate you. Know, however, that I am committed to let my life reflect your gift today and every day that I am blessed with life on this planet.

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Unlimited Vacation

Perhaps you’ve heard of the handful number of companies in the US offering unlimited vacation to their employees (read more here). The piece that caught my interest was the fact that Americans, on average, take only 60% of the vacation days given to them!

Does that concern YOU?

Here’s the thing. When I think of vacation, I think: time away to recharge, rest, restore play, see the world from another perspective.

Yet we don’t.
We WORK.

We stay busy. We try harder. We stay in the hamster wheel or on the rat race. And we complain about all the work we have to do!

Until we don’t.

That’s right. Until we (and “we” equals “me” and “you”) choose differently. Until we choose to stop and breathe. Until we choose to love ourselves enough to rest. Until we choose to let go of the fear that’s holding us stuck in the never ending cycle of work and dare to step away from the action. Our European friends know how to do this. Every other time I speak with one of them they are either planning for the next holiday, returning from the last holiday, or unable to talk to me because they are on a holiday! Okay, only a MINOR exaggeration there.

I leave you with a dare. Dare to respond to these questions for yourself and dare to take action on your answers:

What am I afraid of?
What if I don’t vacate my work place?
What might I experience if I do?

Make It Happen!

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Beyond refusal …

CutToTheCore

Bring to mind a situation, relationship, belief that both challenges you and that you are ready to experience shift around.  

Got it?  Now:

 

  • What would you like to see?
  • What stops you from seeing it?
  • What possible solutions do you see?
  • Which do you refuse to speak aloud?
  • What next?
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Lessons from trees

TreeAlt

Ever appreciative of nature, today when I let my gaze focus softly on the fall color around me I became very aware of the many lessons to be learned from trees. Now, I am aware that this is NOT a new topic. In fact, when I reached the end of my journaling about trees, I recalled one of my favorite books, Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree:

TheGivingTree

If you are not familiar with this one, please check it out. It is one of the most precious gifts I think I’ve given.

That said, today’s version of tree exploration landed in a very different place than did The Giving Tree. As I let my awareness focus on the tree and all the ways I might align my life with that of the beautiful deciduous trees I so love, I discovered that sometimes a tree is just a tree, being a tree. Yet sometimes:

  • it is an umbrella giving protection from the rain or the sun
  • it is sustenance as the leaves it drops decompose and nourish the soil or its sap, nuts and berries provide food for animal and human
  • it is beauty – majestic, tall, strong
  • it grows, expands its reach each year with tender, small, vulnerable branches which, over time, grow stronger
  • it needs to let go, needs pruning, that what remains has room to blossom
  • it suffers greatly from the elements
  • it needs the help of mankind or other trees for support
  • it cycles annually through rich and visible outer manifestation and the outwardly barren yet inwardly alive winter hibernation

I am SO like that tree! Sometimes, I get to be just me being me. At other times I am helper or helped — beauty or barren — expressive or inward focused.

What season is your tree navigating now?

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Blurred Vision

Blurred vision — not the vision we speak of in coaching — that rich and powerful life vision that is the foundation for our choices. Though this is very important vision!

Rather, the vision that we see with day in and day out.

Sometimes, we see clearly. We know, and we proceed in this very specific, pointed, limited, clearly defined direction. Our vision is not blurred. And there are times when this is perfect. And there are times when it is not.

Sometimes such clear vision is preventing us from opening, from seeing possibility, from looking outside the box. It is keeping us stuck. At these times, consider the impact of blurred vision. Try it. Softly let your eyes cross ever so slightly to reveal a world less defined, less certain, less concrete, more unknown. Now let your mind blur a bit, release what you think you know and open to the looser, softer, even the unknowable.

What sensations fill you?
 What do you *know* intuitively?

How will you let blurred vision guide you?