Day 333: Time-out Pep Talk

I'm so glad I talked myself into making these chicken salad pitas instead of nachos (hear: "I want nachos!!" in the whiniest voice ever).

They look bomb!

 

[Flash back to pre-meal prep]

 

Just imagine if this time-out pep talk was available for every moment of hesitation, conflict or self doubt.

It'd be like having our own coach with us at all times telling us the play! Helping us get our heads in the game.

What a game changer that would be.

Sport teams and individual athletes are credited much success when working with a good coach.

The same plays out in life.

But no one knows because no one is watching.

There is no giant arena for people to gather when you're making your most pressing decision of the moment.

Can you imagine if there was?

[Immediately, Hazey put in her two cents of how it would be intimidating and stressful. But once she was sent to her room and I had quiet to hear Mountain Man, I saw that it would be one of the most encouraging and supportive experiences ever. ]

A whole stadium of people gathered for you.

A whole stadium of people rooting for you.

A whole arena of people wanting you to succeed.

Wow.

Seriously, what if life was like that?!

Can you even imagine?

Whether you can picture it or not, dare to consider that it is a possibility.

(Well, the feeling that such a thing would create, that is.)

Because when we are willing to consider the possibility of something new, we leave room for it to grow into a reality.

Now's who's ready to get back on the field (/court/[insert your preferred sport setting here])??

The game is always going, the question is - do you want to play?

Day 332: Amateur

Well, I just realized that I did not fully know what the word amateur meant. 

 

I always thought an amateur was someone who was unskilled, a beginner, less knowledgeable.

But here I come to find out (while watching Fantastic Fungi on Netflix) that amateur also means:

someone who does something because they love it.

It comes from a French word meaning: 'lover of.' [Don't ask which French word, though 😜]

So, if I were to say I'm an 'amateur nature photographer' or even an 'amateur coach' that would be a good thing.

 

A preferable thing, even.

Because I want to do things that I love.

Now, let me phrase that in another way -

I want to love the things that I do.

I want to be an amateur of life.

In being an amateur my goal, aim, ambition is not to make money. That is never the focus of the amateur.

The focus is giving.

Contributing.

Making the world better by who you are and with what you have to offer.

May we all find the truth, ease and joy we desire in whatever we choose to do and whomever we choose to be.

Amateurs, live on!

Day 331: Religious Revelations

I've grown a LOT over the past few years - and especially this past year, 2022.

Over the course of the last 6 months or so a new subject matter slowly started becoming more and more prominent. 

The subject?
Religion and Spirituality

I'm learning a lot about religion - or rather, what religion is not. 

I knew this day would come. A day in which I'd learn that the traditions and routines I grew up with were really just that - Made by men and not by God. 

Or, should I say, put in place with the actionable intentions of men rather than the intentions of God. Or something like that . . .

Anywho, it's cool that as I am coming to find and understand how much of religion, the church - Catholicism, specifically - is rules created to restrict and control others, I'm still not completely turned off by the whole idea. 

I know there are some people that are very quick to dismiss the entire concept of organized religion. And I think that's okay, because, to quote the Bible: "In the beginning . . . "
. . . there was no religion. 

There was only love. 

I'm happy to find that while I feel less compelled to follow organized religion, I'm not turned off by it. 

I can see that there are fundamentally flawed rituals and ways of thinking in all religions. But there are also positive aspects and pieces of true messages from God* [*insert your name for a higher power here] that also exist, interwoven within the human-created. 

And that to me is an uplifting thought.
That, while not all ideas, practices, and organized religion will benefit followers or help them to fully become connected with God*, they do provide hope and basic teachings that people can hang on to. They do provide a sense of community. And perhaps this is a way to tap back into the sense of One Tribe.

I'm loving the absolution of gilt and fear. The encouragement and empowerment to do what I want, like, and enjoy. The removal of outside expectations (this one's just starting to take root).

The desire to really listen to and trust myself.

The desire and excitement to really experience life - and experience God* [aka pure creation].

I'm loving that the interworking between the physical and spiritual worlds are now becoming exposed and logical in my state of understanding.

I'm loving that learning all of this - and everything I've yet to learn - always comes back to me and my happiness.
Me and my wants.
Me and my passions.
Me and my love.

 

Our Love.

The only thing there really is.

I didn't actually get that phrase, before - "Love is all there is."

I don't think I understood it because I didn't really understand love.

But I'm starting to now. And boy does it look (and feel) a whole lot better than whatever else I've been doing my whole life.

Love, happiness, fulfillment, purpose all start and end with the same thing -
You.

Me.

Each of us.

All of us.

Get to know yourself.

It will be the start of your best life yet.

Day 330: Proving Yourself

Proving yourself is more effort than it's worth.

Seriously, it takes an insane amount of effort.

And causes so much unnecessary stress!

Just being around someone who feels the need to prove themself can produce stress energy that is palpable; others can feel the vibe.

What if instead of feeling the push to prove ourselves we felt the pull to explore ourselves? To try new things, to get out of our comfort zone, to learn and grow?

Despite what it may seem, life isn't about achieving, accomplishing, or proving.

Life is about learning, experiencing, and living.

 

What does that even mean???

What does that even feel like???

 

Why not test it out?
Next time you're feeling pushed to prove - pull back.  

Try replacing the push to 'prove' with the pull to do something else - perhaps experience, learn or explore.

 

"I want to accomplish something"  -->  'I want to experience something'
"I have something to prove"  -->  'I have something to learn'

"Achievement will make me happy"  -->  'Exploration will make me happy'

What feels different about those statements?

To prove is to justify - to yourself or someone else.

To explore is to embrace - the known and the unknown of yourself or others.

Day 329: Friday the 13th

It's a notoriously spooky day, people! 

. . . Friday the 13th . . .

What out-of-the-ordinary thing do you think is going to happen in your day?!

But remember - what you expect (and believe deep inside) is what you will experience.

That's not true. We won't experience something just because we expect it...

Oh, no?
Probably not if you only expect it - but if you deeply believe it, that's another story.

Why do you think there are people that buy into a bunch of different conspiracy theories? Because they believe it and look for proof of it.

Why do you think people feel they will never do/have/be 'as good as others'? Because they believe it and look for proof that they won't - fueling the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Why do you think weird things happen on Friday the 13th? Because we think, thus put into motion, that they will.

Our minds are powerful.
We are powerful.

Not so much in a 'fantastical-magic-and-super-powers' sort of way (though who knows, maybe that's true, too).

But in a 'we-are-capable-of-so-much-more-than-we-can-even-imagine-and-yet-we-are-constantly-restricting-ourselves' sort of way.

Once we start letting go of these restrictions, we can then start to learn -
how to use our minds
how to use our thoughts
how to use our power
-for good. 

Because when we allow ourselves to seek our own good, it extends out to the world - and everything changes.

Using power "for good" does not mean being selfless, putting others before yourself, or doing what you think a "good person" would do.

Using power "for good" means getting in tune with YOURSELF. Paying attention to what feels good to you - physically, emotionally, spiritually and prioritizing that. Seeking THAT out.

Because when we feel good - genuinely good (not due to a 'quick fix,' distraction, or escape) - we spread those good vibes all around us.

So, I'll say it again, what you expect and believe deep inside is what you will experience.

The thing is, you first have to believe.

Again, I'm definitely - mostly - talking about personal beliefs and what is possible for you, by you, as you when you reach a place of actually believing it's true. When you reach a place of believing [in] yourself.

Now that's an idea that might sound even spookier than Friday the 13th!

But, that's ok - because we love novelty.
And variety novelty is the spice of life, after all.

Now go make your life spicy!

*******************************
Feeling a little afraid or skeptical of experimenting with more spice?
Let's talk and we can figure out the perfect blend together!

Day 328: Gradual Perfection

I've said before that perfection doesn't exist . . .
But check out these nails!

 

 

Here, let me give you a closer look . . .

I mean - look at those clean lines!
They're almost as good as my lipstick application . . .
but I'll save that share for another day.

As illustrated above, perfection is not found in my nail polish application (shocking, I know).

Sure, I could have gone around the edge of every nail to touch it up and get it as close to 'perfect' as possible, but I didn't need to.

The reason being, with the passing of time imperfections and minor errors fade away. They seem to disappear - as any human who has painted their nails and then washed their hair can attest to.

This isn't only true of trivial, tangible things, but learnings as well.

When we start something new or try something different there are bound to be struggles, pitfalls, unintended outcomes, or unmet expectations. These things all come with learning,
with practicing,
with growing.

Over time these undesirable growing pains gradually subside, leaving us with more know-how, more confidence, and overall 'cleaner lines.'

When have you experienced this type of improvement over time?
What was it about you that made this positive progression possible?
And how might it serve you to apply these insights to a current endeavor?

 

Here's to trusting that time is always on our side, when we are willing to learn, and striving for continuous improvement rather than chasing perfection!

Day 327: Novelty

What is one thing guaranteed to make attention stick, excitement build, and curiosity soar?

Novelty.

The new, the original, the unusual.

I came across this TEDx Talk recently and the section on novelty really stood out to me.

The speaker was discussing ways in which we can increase our happiness. The concept of novelty was encouraged to be used in areas of life that seem to be anything but novel. Such as people we know well and see every day, things we do with routine familiarity and autopilot - you know, the pillars of American life:

- family

- work

The things that are not so easy to change or refresh when we start to feel bored or blind to them.

Or are they?

Gratitude and appreciatiation are toted as being key to grounding ourselves and being present in the moment. I certainly believe this is true.

Yet, I've now learned there is another trick (or tool, depending on how you look at it) available to us.

Novelty.

Plus a bit of imagination.

The idea is that when we set ourselves (brains) up to think something along the lines of, 

"oh, wow, I get to go home and see my family- I haven't seen them in 8 whole hours!" 

rather than 

"well, work's over, time to go home to predictable people and routine," 

we prime our brains for novelty. We prime our brains to see the novel in the familiar.

Which, in turn, may actually heighten appreciation and gratitude for the very items we are focusing on.

Adding novelty to a situation is really another way of saying or thinking about changing one's perspective. It takes effort, it takes time, and it takes practice.

It takes - that's for sure. And then it gives.

More than we can imagine.