The Wisdom of Choice - While you still have some.

"Before, there were so many things that occupied my mind. When I learned how much time I had left, however, it became clear which things are really important."

~Unknown 24-year-old victim of Cancer

What is it that will steal your time or your emotion today without justly deserving it?

Maybe the coffee pot won't start as planned. Or perhaps your neighbor's dog will tear into your garbage can. Or maybe there's that person in the office that just will not stop talking when you really need to get to work. We all awake with a set amount of time ahead of us that we plan to be awake, and during that time, much of it is filled with choices set before us like an unopened gathering of presents.

And we make the assumption that we will have choices for the full brevity of the time allotted.

It's interesting, that even those of us closely touched by unexpected death still find ourselves living in lives that are filled with empty and unfulfilling moments. As I read the thoughts of the young man above, I was filled with a conviction that his message needed to be read every day. Not just on days I'm feeling discouraged or down, but on days when I'm feeling on top of the world too. Because in every day we meet choices, and those choices will not just determine our shortcomings, but also how we exist in the brief years we occupy this Earth.

So here are his four most important messages for those of us with time to spare*:

1. Don’t waste your time on work that you don’t enjoy. It is obvious that you cannot succeed in something that you don’t like. 
2. It’s stupid to be afraid of others’ opinions....Listen to your inner voice and go with it. 
3. Take control of your life. Take full responsibility for the things that happen to you. Let your life be shaped by decisions you made, not by the ones you didn’t.
4. Appreciate the people around you. Your friends and relatives will always be an infinite source of strength and love.

*For more, click here

My Wednesday Wisdom for you is to consider your choices - while you still have some.

Don't just click off this post and go back to normal.

Be brave enough to make a choice that is long past due.

Cheers.

Lessons Do Not Have To Hurt - Let Them Be Your Sculptor

“I’m grateful for past betrayals, heartaches, and challenges… I thought they were breaking me, 

but they were sculpting me.” 

~Steve Maraboli

It was 3 years ago today. I saw 'that' picture that made me wince.

It was a picture taken by a lovely friend of my daughters at her Baby Shower. It was me, standing happily on the back steps of our patio. I had a giant smile and happy face. That did not make me wince. It was the body placed beneath my neck. A body that was busting out of the cotton fitted Sun Dress. There was no room for imagination, and this although I knew I was sweating profusely from the shaper I was wearing underneath. 

I had allowed my lifestyle to get out of control, and my body was demonstrating just how much.

Somehow, although I knew I was a large person, I had been able to completely diminish the state of my body. I want to be clear here, it was not just that I was kind of fat, like obese. It was more than just my size. I was in pain as well. My joints hurt, my stomach was bothering me, and I had skin conditions developing around the flaps of my body. Little did I know at the time that I would find myself on a journey of self-improvement, borne out of physical necessity. As a result, I would make drastic changes to my life.

I would eventually learn to stop using my size and pain as an excuse not to exercise. I discovered what it meant to make a decision - to decide, really decide.

I would also find out that I am my own worst enemy, what with the constant barrage of negative thoughts that consumed every waking moment as I sought answers from what I had known from my past experiences and those who had succeeded in getting better. Through it all, I would discover the power of meditation and yoga to help me deal with life’s stresses (people or situations).

Three years later, this chronic pain and pressure are but a distant memory. From time to time it returns as nothing more than a mild muscle soreness or tension, usually when I push myself too hard. Through the years, I've attempted to encapsulate all the lessons I have learned through my journey to better health. 

The list is getting smaller, and I realize they have become my Sculptor. They are reshaping me all the time.

These are the lessons from my experience I wish to share with you today. I believe they can be associated with other burdens you might be carrying today:

The Sculpting lessons at a Glance

1. You are what you think. So, choose carefully!
2. Question your beliefs.
3. Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.
4. Stop finding excuses for why you can’t. This is called blaming. Instead, find reasons why you can. This is called taking the initiative.
5. Be thankful for both the good and the bad in your life for both are gifts.
6. Meditate
7. Really decide.

I used to wonder if, given a chance to be spared those three years of pain, infirmity, and uncertainty, would I take it?

My answer is no.

It’s made me the person I am today. I would have missed all those valuable lessons and tremendous opportunities for self-growth. More importantly, I would have missed sharing those lessons here today.

Cheers.

Do You Have Your Arrows Ready?

"Life can be like shooting an arrow. Sometimes you have to pull back 

hard so you can launch it forward." 

~Me

I've started to have a new appreciation for preparation lately.

I have a tendency to run head long into a project or passion. I get so excited about the vision that I believe the details of getting it accomplished will just fall into place. This philosophy still can actually work for many missions we set out on in life. Our intentions can be altered and fluid as we get to where we are going, and eventually, it all works out. But today, I was considered the more pointed and sharp targets we set for ourselves, and perhaps others. These can only be achieved via calculated actions, and they take a lot more spirited strength than the random goal.

You might say they are like an arrow shot from a bow toward a target.

Sometimes life provides us with an opportunity to aim a little higher or farther than we had originally thought we might. In these times, we have to take some time to consider our target how we might hit it. If we go right out and pick up that bow with Herculean enthusiasm and shoot, not only could we completely miss, but also fall flatly well before the target. All that effort wasted. What a shame. Or worse, we could find ourselves piercing an innocent bystander (Sorry about that arrow in the leg...).

No, like it or not, even a repeated pull and put down, pull and put down might be better. At least until we sense we see the target and have measured all the obstacles.

So let's be sure we have our arrows ready and the strength to pull back really hard.

And then maybe wait. 

Narrow your focus.

Take steady aim before you let it fly.

Cheers.

It Might Be Time To Stop Working It Out : Work Things In.

"The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision."

~Maimonides

It was 11 years ago today. My husband Chris smoked his last piece of a cigarette.

At least one that he actually wanted to smoke. Since that day, he has attempted to smoke a cigarette to see what it was like, and he nearly made himself sick. Chris has smoked since his early 20's, so smoking was a significant part of his daily life for over 20 years. It was what he did first thing in the morning, before he went to bed, during breaks at work, at a bar, at a game - it was more than a habit - it was a necessity. He had tried to work out in his head what life could be like without it, and he only saw a big gaping hole. Emptiness would exist where this action did. So much space to fill. 

We spend an awful lot of time trying to 'work things out' that are bothering us, don't we?

It might be a relationship or a career choice that we just think we have to stick to and make work. Or, like Chris, a thing that exists in our life that we know we would be better off without, but we can't work out if those reasons are better than dealing with their absence. In both cases, we might be focusing on the wrong goals, that is 'working something out.' What if, instead, we found reasonings or activities to 'work into' our lives? Choices we can make that will support the decision to work something out of our lives, once and for all?

Chris decided to stop being a participant and instead be the leader of his life.

He decided that he would not be told where he had to sit or not sit in a bar or restaurant. He decided he would stay in the hotel room he liked, not the one that was offered. He decided he would take breaks at work to rest his mind and body, and have real conversations with others, not just because his body was craving nicotine. He decided his air would be of his choosing, not of some source filtered through fire. He decided to take control and to start working all of these decisions 'in' to his life.

So what have you been trying to work out that can be handled by working a few things in?

Instead of focusing on what you need to stop doing, try thinking of what you can start doing. Rather than stressing over the emptiness, consider all the things you can now fill it with. 

Stop seeing the mountain, start seeing the peak.

Stop holding a door open, instead open a new door.

Don't be afraid, be brave, you got this.

Cheers.