Resolutions getting you down?

January 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
resolutions get back on the horse

Image courtesy of AKARAKINGDOMS / FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

At the beginning of this year, barely more than 2 weeks ago, I embarked on a mission. A mission to successfully complete the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Call it a resolution, goal or whatever you want. I proclaimed it and away I went, like many people do. 31 blog posts in 31 days. It seemed like a reasonable challenge. Not too easy, but not impossible. Until.

Until, like many people who set New Year’s resolutions, things start to fall apart. It becomes more difficult. We slip. Sometimes just a bit. Sometimes a bit more. For me, things were going great. It wasn’t easy, but I was managing a post a day. Then I missed one, due to a trip with my son to the hospital. A reasonable excuse for sure, but still, it was just one day. Easy enough to make up. I just need to write 2 in a day at some point.

But then, a bigger thing happened: I dislocated my knee on Saturday. Off to the hospital I went. Jacked up on morphine. No blog post that day. Or the next, as I pretty much slept off the drugs, adrenaline and whatever else your body produces to cope with such a physical trauma. Monday, I still was feeling better, but still not quite ready to focus on anything. Tuesday, I said. That will be the day I get back in the swing of things. But I had already missed 3 days in a row at this point. What’s one more? How do you get back on track? Can I even make up all those days?

It started to seem like an overwhelming task, getting back on track and finishing the challenge. But then I realized two things. First, the only way to get back into writing my posts was to just do it. I recognized it doesn’t have to be fancy. Heck, I can even write about my struggle to write. It wouldn’t be the first time!

Second, I entered this challenge as a goal for myself. And, as part of the goal, there were results I had in mind. Some of these results were to increase content on my blog and connect with more readers. I’ve already done that with what I’ve written so far! So I’m already ahead. But remember, one of the things about goals is that they are adjustable. Life happens. So, maybe I won’t get my 31 posts in 31 days (although I’m not ready to concede yet). But if I don’t, I still did a great job, and I need to get back on this blogging horse and finish out the month!

And here’s a bonus: this post about me is actually about you, too! If you have come up against an obstacle in achieving your resolution or goal, don’t let it get you down. Check in with yourself and applaud your achievements to date. Accept that you are human and life happens. Figure out what the next step is to get you back on your horse, and then take that step!

Feel free to share if you have stumbled recently and need to re-declare your goals.

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Winter Warning: I Choose Life

January 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

winter

Image courtesy of Michal Marcol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last night, I came upstairs from my dungeon-like home office and noticed it had started to snow. By the time morning rolled around, the radio reported that Calgary had received 9cm of snow overnight (that’s about 3.5 inches for you non-metric folk), and was expecting 2cm more during the day. It’s 8pm now, and the snow hasn’t stopped. The City of Calgary has declared a Snow Event will be in effect tomorrow starting at 6am so they can get to work clearing the main roads properly. Traffic today, in a word, sucks.

Days like today, I’m glad I have my priorities straight. First and foremost, my life (and yours) are more important than any job.

If I don’t have to leave the house, I won’t. And I get to decide what determines the level of “have to”. Complete white-out conditions will ensure I stay put. I don’t care if I have to reschedule appointments. If I get into an accident, I’m not making it to the appointment anyway, and that’s not a chance I’m willing to take. If my client doesn’t understand that, then we aren’t a good fit. Luckily, I’ve never had such a client.

If I decide road and weather conditions are decent enough for me to leave the house, I will proceed with caution. I will do my best to arrive on time. If I have the option of leaving early, I will. But if I can’t, please understand I might be late. I like to think I control the world, but in reality, traffic and weather are beyond my reach. And I will drive as slow as the traffic and road conditions require.

Most of the people I encounter on days like today have a similar philosophy, at least regarding being late. And I reciprocate these courtesies to my clients. It’s just not worth risking your life (or mine) to be on time.

Filed Under: general

3 Simple Ways to Get Grounded

January 7, 2013 By 1 Comment

tree roots grounded

Image courtesy of Just2shutter / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We are just a week into the new year, and already I’m starting to feel a little crazy, in a scattered sort of way. It feels like my time is not my own. I rarely seem to know what the date is, and whenever I make plans to get work done, the universe seems to have something else in mind for me. It’s time for me to reconnect, or get grounded.

If you are ever feeling disconnected from yourself, or the universe, chances are you need to take some time to ground yourself. It’s easy to do, and there are so many ways to do it. Here are just a few:

1. Hug a tree

Interacting with nature helps us reconnect to the universe. You can literally hug a tree, or sit on the ground with your palms on the ground as well. You don’t even have to go outside. Find nature inside you via plants and rocks.

2. Grow roots

Imagine you are a tree. Plant your feet firmly on the floor. Imagine roots coming out of your feet. Imagine them digging into the ground (through however many floors they need to go to get to the bottom of the building you are in). Picture those roots digging deeper and deeper into the earth, until they reach the centre. Bring up all that good earthy energy through your roots, all the way up into your body, until you feel grounded.

3. Meditate

Meditating is probably my favourite way to get grounded again. It doesn’t have to be a long meditation, and you can choose from several styles, from “om-ing out” to using a guided meditation. I like going to a group meditation. There’s something powerful about everyone’s energy working together.

There are many more ways to get grounded, so if my suggestions aren’t a good fit for you, don’t despair. Sometimes you just have to get creative. If you have a favourite way to get grounded that I haven’t mentioned, please post below so everyone can benefit!

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Women’s Self-Empowerment Week

January 3, 2013 By 2 Comments

Celebrating women everywhere

Women's Self-Empowerment

Image courtesy of Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

Today marks the beginning of Women’s Self-Empowerment Week. For me, this is a time for self-reflection, as well as appreciation of others.

Personally, I fluctuate between thinking I’m strong, and wondering if I really am. But deep in my heart, I know I have strength. I am a mother and a daughter, a wife and a friend. I am independent, intelligent, and intuitive. I’ll do the rest of my self-reflection on my own, but now I’d like to show my appreciation for other women.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but I’d like to give a shout out to all the strong women I know who:

  • choose to stay at home with their children
  • dared to try something new, even if it might result in failure
  • fight illness with a positive and healthy attitude
  • have launched their own business
  • know how to change a tire
  • struggle with or have overcome depression
  • take time for themselves
  • teach our children and help them navigate the path to their future
  • watch others’ children so they can go to work
  • welcome others with open arms and hearts, and a genuine smile

You all inspire me in various ways, and I am glad our paths have crossed in this lifetime.

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Observations from the Sidelines

November 26, 2012 By 1 Comment
Children Playing sign

image courtesy of andrewatla

I’m sitting in the play area of every kid’s favourite burger joint, watching my six year old son play hide & seek with five other kids. For all the yelling and screaming and thumping around, I have to say this really is a beautiful thing.

None of these kids knew each other ten minutes ago. Heck, they still don’t. But they are running around treating each other like they have been best friends for years.

The thing that really amazes me is that nobody asked to play and nobody was invited to play. They just started playing.

They make no judgements and don’t care about their differences. They don’t see any differences. It doesn’t matter what their age, gender or names are. They don’t care about hair or skin colour. Short, tall skinny, or not. All they see is “friend”. Everyone is welcome. Just take your shoes off and join the fun!

The parents, on the other hand, are quite a different story. Everyone seems content to let their kids play together. But while the kids play, every single parent here is sitting alone and looking down, myself included. We are on our phones and iPads or reading a book. We don’t look at each other and we certainly don’t talk to each other. I can only imagine what would happen if I sat down next to one of them and just started talking. They’d think I was off my rocker!

When did it become socially acceptable to be so anti-social? Children are always being told to grow up and act more like grown ups. But really, I think I’d rather be more like a kid!

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Non-Traditional Thanksgiving Thoughts

October 8, 2012 By 4 Comments
broken bones cat

Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

I’ve never been a fan of the typical “let’s all go around the table and say what we’re thankful for” Thanksgiving tradition. I find most of the time, you hear the same generic stuff. My family. My health. Roof over my head, food on my plate. Not that I’m ungrateful for those things, but I feel like they are sort of a given.

It’s rare to hear someone say, “I’m thankful for the challenges I faced this year that helped me learn and grow and become a better person”. But these are some of the greatest things to be thankful for. It’s easy to find someone “worse off” than us, to find something we have that others don’t which we should be thankful for. But have you ever considered that their so-called “lack” may be something they are thankful for?

Would you believe that I am thankful that I broke my right foot last October? Sure, I couldn’t drive and it was difficult and slow getting to my son’s bus stop every day. Sure, it hurt and required lots of physiotherapy to reclaim full functionality again. But, it gave me the opportunity to reconsider the path I was on with my business, who I was, and what I wanted to do. And in the end, I came out a better person, with a new, but quickly thriving business!

Here’s another Thanksgiving twist to consider: harvest the power of positive thinking. Be thankful for situations, circumstances, things that you wish to have, even though you don’t currently have them. Believe that you will have them, and appreciate them now. For example, if you want a certain new job, be thankful now for that new job. I am thankful for all the new clients I will get to work with. (In addition to all the ones I currently have of course!)

So here’s your chance. What challenges and new opportunities are you thankful for? Share your stories in the comment section below, even if you aren’t celebrating Thanksgiving now like us folks in Canada.

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