Feb8

The Space Within Your Bubble

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The Space Within Your Bubble

acceptingYour whole life glistens like a soap bubble in the bright summer sun. When you think of your life as a bubble, your first vision of it is from the outside. You focus on the glistening surface that separates what is outside the bubble from what is within it. You focus on the fragile film.

You know that danger lies on the outside of the bubble. You’ve seen many a bubble lose its life to a razor sharp blade of grass. Sometimes, an errant wind is too much for the bubble to withstand. Looking at life from the outside is a scary proposition!

When you consider all of the dangers that lie outside the bubble, you spend your energy finding ways to protect it instead of enjoying its beauty, however fleeting. We expend way too much energy protecting what we have rather than enjoying its beauty.

You do not know how long your bubble will last. You do not know when you will be released back to Spirit. So time is irrelevant. Your job is to keep the inside of the bubble clear and crisp and beautifully individuated from the other bubbles floating in your breeze for as long as you live.

Your job is not to protect what is yours, but to enjoy life as the gift it is intended to be. Your job is not to live outside the bubble, but to live within it. When Spirit breathed life into your bubble, Spirit intended your bubble to bring happiness to you and everyone who saw it. The only way to keep that intention alive – the only way to truly live – is to enjoy the beauty of the space within the bubble.

Jan30

Our Scentual Memory

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Our Scentual Memory

joyful memoriesCertain scents immediately transport me to a time in the past.

My grandfather wore white work shirts every day to build houses.  When I spent the night at Nana and Papaw’s house, I had the privilege of wearing his big t-shirts as pajamas!  Their soft, warm smell made me feel so safe and snug.

Imagine my surprise the day I opened my husband’s drawer of work shirts and the scent placed my Papaw back by my side!  Now, I wear my husband’s t-shirts to bed, and feel like the princess Papaw told me I am.

Aromas work magic on us, in part because they skip over the verbal side of our brain and head straight for the heart.  A scent can cause tears before you even have the words to describe why you’re crying; a scent can cause giggles before you guess why you’re laughing.  Scents elicit images and feelings, calling almost forgotten scenes into the present moment.  Aromas awaken imagination.

Instead of picking up another impulse buy the next time you are shopping, plan to buy a special item that replicates your happy scent.  You deserve to live, love, remember and imagine freely too!

What scents transport you to happy memories?

Jan29

Bad Ideas

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Bad Ideas

Many of the ideas and beliefs ingrained into our minds are actually very bad ones. Here are five of the worst bad ideas you can allow to control your thinking:

Everything in my inner life has to be going perfectly before I can do what I want to do.

bad ideasShort answer: “Life is a process.” With so many aspects of life being both out of our control and messy (i.e. politics, traffic, etc.), the temptation to have what you can control completely subdued can be strong, especially if you have any tendencies toward perfectionism.

You wouldn’t go out with your makeup only partially applied—how could you go forth into this mad churning world without having all your internal ducks in a row? The difference is that putting on makeup for the day has a definite goal… when it’s done, it’s pretty much done.

Life is more dynamic; by its very nature, there is always pulling and pushing going on. The pitfall of wanting to have everything just right before you go ahead is that life doesn’t play fair. Weeds pulled from your garden grow right back. Dishes absolutely refuse to stay washed (and, I am convinced, reproduce like rabbits out of pure spite).

Our minds, spirits and bodies—therefore our lives—are like that. They need gentle maintenance as long as they’re around, as opposed to a one-time fix. Read the rest of this entry →

Jan29

Procrastination

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Procrastination

Procrastination

Miracles happen after all! Your husband called from work and volunteered to take the kids out for pizza, video games, and a movie! They could be gone all evening, and you will finally have some all-important time for yourself!

Ideas start running through your head… you could make your special blend of coffee, light your candles, put on your relaxing CD, and break in your new journal!

But wait – you absolutely must bathe and dress kids for their night out, do the dishes from lunch, clean off the table so you have comfortable space to write in your journal, and oh – you absolutely must prepare your family’s clothes for the afternoon wedding tomorrow.

There goes your wonderful evening all to yourself. Now you have to clean, do laundry, iron and maybe have a little leftover time and energy for doting on yourself.  UGH. Read the rest of this entry →

Jan29

Check Your Self-Talk

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Check Your Self-Talk

responsible thinkingWhen is the last time you really thought about your thoughts? So many times we live our lives day to day, saying the same ol’ things to ourselves.

You drop another plate that shatters on the floor and you say to yourself, “You’re so stupid. Why do you always drop plates?” Or, you go to the store pick up a cart full of things only to get home and realize that you didn’t get the one thing you were after. Then what do you say? Probably something like, “I’m so stupid. Why am I so forgetful?”

Do you hear how many times you tell yourself that you are stupid?!

The thing that you probably don’t realize is when you talk so mean to yourself day in and day out, you are programming your life. You are telling your subconscious what to believe – and what to make happen.

Really think about your thinking, journal about it, list your thoughts… whatever you have to do. Pay attention to yourself. Change how you talk to yourself, and you will change your life. Be responsible to you. You are worth it!

Here’s Your Question

What disastrous things do I say to myself every day? How can I change my thoughts to make my life more productive?

Jan29

Is Your Schedule Making You Crazy?

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Is Your Schedule Making You Crazy?

prepared scheduleI used to feel crazy all of the time.  I would schedule myself down to the minute.  Much to my frustration, my rigid schedules broke apart day in and day out! Most of the time, motherhood will not conform to even a seemingly perfect schedule.

If I spent time with my children when I was scheduled to be working, I would beat myself up for not sticking to “The Schedule.”  Plus, time with my children was scheduled for later in the day, which meant that I couldn’t possibly make up the work I’d missed!

When I spent the scheduled time with my boys, I resented it and thought about work.  The next day when I worked, I felt guilty for resenting the time spent with my children.  I felt further and further behind, and less and less of a good mother.  Yucky stuff.

Time as Bubbles

One thing that works for me is to think of time as ‘bubbles’ instead of a line, and then I choose my time bubbles carefully.  For example, some of my bubbles are: Read the rest of this entry →

Jan27

The Balance Point

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The Balance Point

balanceWhat happens around and inside of you determines where you place your balance point.

For example, you may want to spend more time on fitness and less time on housework. When you adjust your schedule to give fitness priority, then you are in balance.But if your white-gloved Auntie is coming for tea, then you may feel more in balance by attacking your dust-bunnies in lieu of an extra ten minutes on the treadmill! Read the rest of this entry →

Jan27

Finding Our Balance

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Finding Our Balance

balanced virtueWe talk about finding balance in our lives…but what does that mean?

To many of us, balance equals time management.

Time management is the practice of allocating time every day to perform tasks we feel passionless about, but feel obligated to do because (fill in your reason here).

When was the last time “Sing for 15 minutes,” “doodle,” or “day dream” made an appearance on your To-Do list? We don’t value dreaming, creating, or being still enough to make them everyday To-Do’s.

It’s true that the laundry won’t wash itself and someone has to pull out the checkbook and pay the bills! Everyday drudgery is a necessity, to be sure. But that doesn’t mean those necessities must have more priority than your passions, dreams, and imagination. Read the rest of this entry →

Jan24

Is It My Spirit or My Mind?

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Is It My Spirit or My Mind?

Dear Meme,

I am so confused….How do I know if I am listening to my spirit or to my mind?

Dear So Confused,

body mind connection logo

Think back to when you were 4 or 5. It is summer and you were outside all day exploring. You can still feel the warmth of the sun on your back although the grass is now dewy.

You have imagined that you were a pirate, a magical fairy, a detective (because your mom watches reruns of Rockford Files) and now you are an Indian Princess taking an arm load of wild flowers to your mother. Your mom has a warm bubble bath waiting then holds you securely as she reads your favorite bedtime story. You drift of to peaceful slumber and realize what a good day this has been. Read the rest of this entry →

Jan23

Change The Aroma Around You

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Change The Aroma Around You

peaceful aromaImagine yourself sitting on a stone bench, the sun warming your skin, and surrounded by gardens of flowers. Tulips, daffodils, wild flowers and lavender. You feel a slight breeze blow through your hair and on your face. You can smell all the aromas around you, and a happiness glows white from your heart.

Close your eyes, take a deep breath through your nose, and then slowly release your breath. What did you just smell?

If the aroma you smelled was NOT a pleasant one, then it is time to do something about it. You spend way too much time at your computer to smell nothing (or worse)!

Quick – go and grab one of the pretty scented candles you’ve saved for something special. Light it at your desk, and start creating a beautiful environment for yourself.

If you don’t have a candle, I’m sure that there is at least one “smell good” product in your home. Dig out your incense, potpourri, scented oils – whatever you have. Place them near your work area and begin enjoying time spent at your computer!