Yesterday was my birthday and I am blessed with friends who encouraged me to slow down, celebrate and truly honor life. Many years my birthday passed by with small celebrations, as mothers tend to do when they focus so much time and energy on their kids. As my son gets older and I recapture time I haven’t had in years. I can now choose with a sense of freedom and creativity, what I want to do with my time. In this week's Sun-day design I want you to join me in choosing how you spend time on you, just think of it as a little birthday gift to me. My one wish for you is to find a sliver of time that you can dedicate to you and something you love. For my birthday I chose dinner with friends and 2 days at Oprah’s The Life You Want Weekend. Taking time for you may mean les time for your family, kids, or coworkers. The activity you choose will recharge you, infusing with more love and energy, which everyone around you benefits from. Here are some other ideas for celebrating you:
Whatever activity you decide on, let it awaken your spirit and nourish your soul. I love this time of the year! My son is on summer break from school, we've reviewed his report card - celebrated his achievements and thanked the heavens the tough academic drudgery has ended for a little while. For adults this period marks the middle of the calendar year, also a time to celebrate success, get back on track (again), refine dreams, and begin to push further, faster, grasping, and going for more. If you’ve been playing this game called life, then you’ve been working hard and there’s a point where you’ve got exactly what you wanted. The very thing you've been laboring over and wishing for. So now what? If you rest on your laurels you can loose everything you’ve worked so long to achieve. No, it’s time to keep growing and learning, taking your life to the next level. This week’s Sun-day design is all about ascension. Think about an area of your life where you’re rocking it out, really thriving even beyond your dreams. Now create a list of 3 ways you can take it to the next level. You may feel things are good where they are, I want to even go past your version of success. Are you saving more than you initially planned, then raise your financial goals for the year. Did you fall in love even as you swore off dating, now create a love dream for how you want to show up in your new relationship. Let me share a personal example of what I mean. I feel really good about my relationship with my son and I want to strengthen it further. We’ve recently had great conversations about life, love, being a teenager, building his future and even mine when he leaves for college. In taking my life as a parent to the next level I’m choosing to:
Life is a journey; our dreams a vehicle to experience our life lessons. There is no single destination; simply what we and love we pick up along the way. Let’s honor what’s working in our lives. Don’t stop, keep on, ascend. Which area of your life are you ready to push forward? Leave a comment below. If you're like me your days are way beyond busy, sometimes life can feel like a video stream on fast-forward – reaching the end of the week with flashbacks of unremarkable moments. Despite your best directorial efforts too many actors want their screen time and no one’s appreciating this flick. Even your down time involves doing something for someone else – your kids, parents, partner, even that one friend who insists on vying for your time and attention despite your polite pleas for pardon. You find yourself stressed, happy, excited, and worried that vacation can’t come soon enough. And you’re right you need a break now! This week's Sun-day design stillness, which is exactly the place you’ll find your much needed reprieve. I want you to pause, sit still, listen, and learn. Introduce yourself to you. Say hello. Hear the sound of your breath, see how tight you hold your shoulders or clench your jaw when some thoughts come to mind. Click HERE learn ways to relax and create a mini-vacation in your week. Take a look at your schedule for the coming week. Now find 30 minutes out of the 10,080 available to just sit still. No talking, no TV, no ear buds, just YOU. If possible do this exercise outside. Watch the trees in the wind, the branches stretch out long to kiss the sun. Feel the earth beneath you. Watch the world, star gaze. This is not meditation. I want you to be totally in tuned of your inner and outer world. What do you notice? What captures your attention when you’re alone with your own thoughts? Do you immediately start worrying about work, other people. Catch yourself and try to bring the focus back to you. Consider:
If you can, write in a journal your responses to these questions. Take note of what you learn about yourself. Show yourself some gratitude for your amazing body that despite your complaints about its size and shape takes care of you. Resist the urge to get up and move. This is the one vacation where you want to lose your baggage. Share your experience in the comments below. Today marks the first day of Sun-day Designs, the new format for this blog designed to help you declare and draw in light, love, and leadership into your coming week. Each Sunday I'll share a bit of coaching that will feel like the sunshine in your life - bringing warmth, a smile, and serving as a source of energy while shining a light on areas in your life where you can use some encouragement and support. This day is also Easter Sunday, a day a great celebration for Christians and really people all around the world. Regardless of your religious beliefs and background this day of resurrection is a lesson we can all consider within our own lives. What areas of your life can use some attention? What areas have you ignored or lost track of because you were so focused on other things. For me, I've been so focused on my work life, building my coaching practice, and raising my son that my self-care practices had pretty much dissipated. Worst of all, I know better. I know the impact of NOT meditating, not exercising, not getting enough sleep. I become physically fatigued, mentally exhausted, and emotionally unavailable to the people I love most. Yet I still chose to prioritize other activities as more important. And maybe for some time those things were in fact a higher priority but there come a time to reevaluate that list. What dream of yours feels like it's fading away? Is it your financial savings plan? Because of course there are too many bills to pay right now. While that may in fact be true, you can always stash away even a dollar a day. Maybe it's calling a friend you haven't connected with in years because you feel bad about your last conversation. Again that may be true. Ultimately if you choose to be a leader in your life that sometimes means taking a risk, and what better step to take than reaching out to convey your desire for connection. The effort is always worth it even to release yourself from feeing bad. The Sun-day Design for this week is to revive the dream you want to give more time and attention to. Go back to your vision board, your resolutions, or goals of the year and take a hard look at what yo've intended for your year. What pictures or words feel like a kick in the gut or an ache in the heart because its feels neglected. Identify the elements of those dreams you want to change or areas for which you'd like to shift your energy. Simply choose one thing you will do to revitalize that dream this week. For one day, one hour, one moment, breathe life into that space. Love and Life Lessons, Design You Coaching |
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Lessons LearnedThe life we experience is designed to help us grow. My wish is that you learn from me as much as I learn from you. Share your life lessons and let's build together. Archives
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