Wishing You Blessings

May the blessings of the season be yours!

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Birthday Magic

Earlier this week, my son celebrated his 30th birthday. I’m still shaking my head, wondering where all those years have gone … and so quickly too!

He lives in Hong Kong, so I didn’t get to spend the day with him. However, I did revive a childhood tradition in his honor.

When my kids were little, we’d go for a “birthday walk” on their special day. It was a chance to get outside and see what was happening in the world around us. We’d usually explore the nearby woods, see what the birds and little creatures were up to, and then end up on the swings in the park.

I don’t know if either of my kids remember those walks, but I do.

So, on my son’s big birthday, I headed out for a walk in my neighborhood  It was a gorgeous day – sunshine, blue sky, a gentle breeze, leaves drifting softly to the ground and it was warm! Unusually so for late October. It was a day when it was a joy just to be alive and outside.

As I walked, I remembered some of the magical moments shared with my son over the years. And I started to gather some of the brightly colored leaves scattered across my path. Each one was unique in color combination, size and shape. It reminded me of how special we all are, and of the many ways we are able to bring beauty to our corner of the world.

When I returned home, I created a centerpiece for my table with the leaves – a spectacular tribute to a Canadian autumn day and to the memories of joy my son (and daughter) have brought into my life.

Glorious autumn colors!

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A Reason to Celebrate!

I was notified last week by my publisher that my book, Dream BIGGER: Reclaiming a Life of Joy and Ease, has received the Reader’s Choice Award. This is the top award category from iUniverse and is only given to books that have good sales AND have already achieved Rising Star and Editor’s Choice status. Three cheers for Dream BIGGER!

The recognition is also based on reviews on Amazon and similar sites. I’ve had positive reviews from readers ever since the book was published. It continues to make its way around the world, reaching out and touching many lives along the way.

I’m curious to know how many of my blog followers have read it. If you have, what was the highlight in the book for you? If you haven’t read it yet, hey, maybe it’s time you did!!

In other news, for those of you living in Waterloo Region, I’ll be sharing tips from Dream BIGGER in my workshop on October 25 in Cambridge, Ontario. It’s part of the Confident Women speaker series and I’d love to see you there.

My dream for the past two years has been to help 100,000 people achieve their dreams. With the book, the workshops and this blog, my dream is becoming reality.

What is needed for you to achieve your dream? How can I help?

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Make Her Day!

This month, a young woman name Teresa turned 58 years old. Teresa was born with cerebral palsy and was diagnosed with lupus several years ago. She has never been able to walk on her own and is now in a wheelchair. However, according to her brother, she is always in good spirits and never fails to send birthday cards out to friends and families.

To surprise her this year, her brother sent out a request via the internet asking people to send Teresa a birthday card to help her feel special and appreciated. His dream is for her to receive over 500 cards.

As of July 17, Teresa has received 375 cards from across the United States and as far away as Germany and Australia. And she has had great fun opening them and reading the messages.

I’ve always believed that birthdays are meant to be celebrated all year long, so if you want to join in the project, you can send Teresa a birthday card at: Teresa Scott, 235 Fairview School Lane, Gainesboro, TN, 38562.

It’s never too late to make someone’s day!

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Celebrating You!

“If anything is sacred, the human body is sacred.”

~ Walt Whitman

As the hectic month of December begins, taking care of ourselves (mind, body and spirit) is usually the last thing on our to-do list, isn’t it? Between the demands of work, holiday decorating and baking, attending or hosting parties, gift shopping (and wrapping), arranging for flights, bus or train rides home (or picking people up), there’s precious little time or energy left at the end of the day.

Yet, if we don’t take care of ourselves, we will end up merely trying to survive until January. Where’s the fun in that?

What if you try something different this year? What if you put yourself at the top of the list?

I know, radical thought!

In my last post, I wrote about the importance of blessing the people in your life, of truly appreciating what they bring to you each day. The same principle applies to your relationship with yourself.

Your mind, body and spirit are precious. They are unique to you and, together, have brought you to this moment in your life. They have served you to the best of their abilities, and deserve to be honoured and appreciated for their efforts.

How do you do that?

Take a minute to give yourself a hug and thank your physical body for carrying you through this lifetime. Sure, it may have some bumps and bruises, perhaps a few blemishes or parts that you don’t find appealing, but it’s still your body and your vehicle for experiencing life. Without your body, where would you be?

Your mind is brilliant, capable of handling and organizing a multitude of thoughts and activities all at the same time. A lot of what it does happens without your conscious involvement. It’s like your own internal computer complete with hard drive. Pretty amazing, isn’t it?

And then there’s your spirit, the spark that makes you so special. It’s elusive, intangible, impossible to capture, yet it shines through your eyes, is heard in your voice and inspires you to try new things and set new goals. It’s the essence of who you are – the core of life itself.

Without your mind, body and spirit, the plans you have for the coming month would not happen. You need your mind to create the plan, your body to take action, and your spirit to keep you going. So maybe, just maybe, it would be a good idea to nourish these three components of yourself today (and every day)?

Okay, so how do you find time in your busy schedule? It’s simple really. When you wake up in the morning, pause. Lie there for a moment and consciously thank your mind, body and spirit for being there for you. Take some slow deep breaths as you do. Then, get up slowly and get on with your day.

During the day, find moments to pause and repeat this. It helps to calm you down and makes you more conscious of the gift of life you hold within your being, a gift to be honoured and celebrated every single day of your life.

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Against All Odds

As February draws to a close, I want to share two love stories that defied the odds.

As teenagers, Howard and Nancy were imprisoned in separate sections of a Nazi concentration camp. When the camp was liberated in 1945, Nancy saw a body moving under a pile of rubble on the men’s side of the camp. She refused to leave the young man and, together with some other women, took him into the abandoned barracks to nurse him back to health. One day when he woke up, there was no one there, so he crawled to the nearest road. He was picked up by a British soldier and taken to a military hospital for care. When Nancy returned to the barracks, he was gone and she had no idea where he was.

Two years later, Howard immigrated to Toronto, Canada and discovered through other Holocaust survivors that Nancy was also in Toronto. He found out where she lived and went to her house. He knocked on the door and when she opened it, he handed her flowers.

“Remember me?” Howard asked.

Sixty-one years later, they’re still together, closer than ever.

Incredible, isn’t it? What were the chances they would both end up in Toronto, let alone find each other again?

*****

On February 22, 2011, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the city of Christchurch, New Zealand at lunchtime. Buildings crumbled and, to date, over 145 people have died. Thousands are without power and many homes are unsafe to live in. Emma lay trapped in the rubble of her office building for over six hours. She was just inches from where her desk had been crushed by a chunk of concrete ceiling from the offices above her. She texted her fiancé from beneath the debris and Chris ran to the building only to find ruins. He pulled out survivor after survivor as he searched for his bride-to-be.

Miraculously, Emma survived with only bruises to one arm. They kept their wedding date and were married three days later. All of their guests were there, some having been pulled from the rubble as well. The couple said they wanted to go ahead with the wedding to show that disaster cannot break people’s spirits.

As Truman Capote said, “Love, having no geography, knows no boundaries.”

*****

Do you have a story of love against all odds? A relationship that has stood the test of time, or survived in the face of some of life’s roughest challenges? Share it in a comment below. In these troubled times in our world, we can all use stories of love, hope and celebration!

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Out With The Old

As most people focus on last-minute Christmas shopping and organizing family get-togethers, I’m already looking ahead to the new year. For me, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the year that’s ending, take note of what worked, what didn’t and celebrate the highlights.

I find that spending time remembering the events of the past year helps me sort out my thoughts about what I’d like to bring into my life in the coming year. It’s a bit like cleaning out a closet – taking a good look at all the items that are there, picking and choosing what to keep and honouring the memories that surface. Once that’s done, I discard what no longer suits me to make room for new and wonderful things to come into my life.

So this week I’ve been making a list of everything that happened in 2010. As usual, the list is much longer than I expected! It’s amazing what you can remember if you take some time, maybe over a cup of tea or a glass of wine, and let your mind wander back through the year. It’s fun to do this as a couple or a family, sharing your successes, and celebrating with hugs and laughter. There are always some items on the list that didn’t turn out the way you hoped. I look for a lesson learned in those experiences, or perhaps a new direction that emerged as a result (and I had plenty of new directions in 2010).

After Christmas, I’ll take time to dream up my life for 2011! I’ll be considering what would make my heart sing and dance, what would bring a sense of fulfillment and meaning in the following areas:

• relationship
• family
• career
• friendships
• other (this can be travel, leisure activities, courses)

I’ll write down my dreams on a piece of paper. In past years, when I’ve done this, nearly everything on my dream list has happened in one form or another. Even if I don’t look at the list itself until next December.

This year, however, I’m going to be proactive. I’m going to ask myself a simple question,

“What’s one action I can take each month to make these dreams come true?”

At the start of every month in 2011, I’ll look at my dreams and assess where I’m at. Then I’ll commit to taking one more step in the following month. I plan to track my progress, and I’m curious to see how things evolve when I’m consciously involved in the manifestation process.

How about you? What was great about 2010? What are your dreams for 2011?

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Messing With Tradition

The holiday season is upon us, and with it comes the added stress of preparing for family gatherings, traditional meals and special celebrations. Although this is supposed to be a time of joy and festivity, our dreams of what could be often unravel in the face of what actually is. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to live up to expectations and often end up wishing the whole season would just go away.

Is there a way of doing things differently this year? There might be, if you’re willing to be proactive (take steps now), and let go of some of those heavy expectations (yours and other people’s).

Let’s start by making a the list of all the things that you believe have to happen. How many of those items are things you truly want to do? How many are you doing only to please others, or because it’s “always been done that way”? There are certain benefits in keeping with tradition, but only if it brings joy and meaning to your life and to those around you. Traditions can be revamped, updated or even scrapped in favour of creating new ones. I know, it sounds like sacrilege, doesn’t it?

When my children were little, we included traditions from around the world in our holiday celebrations. We also came up with a few of our own that occurred spontaneously initially. We enjoyed them so much that we decided to keep them.

Some of the items on your list may be sacred to you. Attending your place of worship at Christmas, lighting the menorah during Hanukkah, or making certain types of food, for example. Take a look at the other items now. Choose three that have special meaning for you this year. Now consider what to do with the rest. Here are some suggestions:

• scrap
• simplify
• delegate
• postpone (til next year)

“But I can’t!” I can hear the wails across the land. Of course you can. It’s your choice, believe it or not. What’s the worst that will happen? You know, you might discover that other family members have been secretly wishing that gift-giving would be eliminated this year because money is tight. Or that someone else would actually like to host the family dinner this year – or even go out for the meal instead of having to cook. Maybe your kids are tired of being ferried about between your parents and in-laws for two turkey dinners on Christmas Day, and would be much less cranky if you just stayed home.

Go ahead. Change it up this holiday season. Life’s too short for this much stress. Ho, ho, ho!

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Giving Thanks

This morning I sat and had a quiet time of reflection. Eyes closed, I relaxed into my chair and let thoughts float through my mind. As I moved into a meditative state, I heard a voice say, “Let this day be a meditation of joy and thanksgiving.”  How appropriate, I thought, because it’s Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Just like in Canada where Thanksgiving is celebrated in October, it’s a national holiday, a day when people gather with friends and family around a festive table laden (usually) with roast turkey and homemade apple or pumpkin pie. It’s a time to pause and give thanks for the bounty of the harvest, and of life.

It’s not a holiday generally celebrated elsewhere in the world which makes me wonder — why do we North Americans need to set aside a special day just to  give thanks? Are our lives so busy that we’d forget to do that otherwise?

What if every day was a day of celebration? A day to appreciate all that we have. For whether we have a lot or a little, we can always find something good in the day if we want to. There are many simple pleasures that we often take for granted. Breathing, for example. It’s something most of us do without thinking, yet just ask someone who suffers from asthma or emphysema how important each breath is. Walking and running is an act many people see as natural, but if you’re paralyzed from an accident or a stroke, it’s an action out of reach. What about being able to see the beauty of a sunny day, hear the voice of a loved one, or feel the comfort of a warm hug?

Thanksgiving Day also focuses on the meal itself, but what if every meal could be a ritual of thanks? It might be a bagel swallowed quickly on the way to work, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich wolfed down at your desk at lunch, or beans, eggs and toast whipped up for an easy supper. But each meal offers the opportunity for pause and appreciation. What if you took the time to sit and savour that bagel or sandwich, making each bite a moment to remember? In the evening, whether you live alone or with others, what if you set the table, lit candles, put on some music and made even a simple meal into a memorable event?

It’s not what we call the day that matters. It’s how we choose to experience it that makes all the difference. May this day, and every day, be a time to appreciate all that we have, and all that is yet to come.

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Speaking of Dreams

It’s November, and you know what that means – you only have a few weeks left to enter the Dream BIGGER contest! Did you know that you can submit a written story or a video of your dream? It’s your choice. Just for entering, you get a free list of tips on how to move your dream forward. And if you win, you’ll have three months of professional coaching as well as public relations and social media support to launch your dream.

Of course, November means other things as well. In the U.S., it’s a time of state elections and the Thanksgiving holiday. In Canada, people begin to decorate their houses for Christmas as the leaves tumble down from the trees.

On a more personal note, however, it’s time for my birthday! The date (and age!) aren’t important, but the way I approach birthdays may offer some insight into the reason why dreams are so important to me. You see, birthdays are more than just a day when I turn one year older.  For me, it’s the moment in the year when I pause to look back on the past twelve months, celebrate how far I’ve come, and then envision the year ahead.

I like to set aside time in the morning of my birthday to reflect on what’s happened in the previous year. I write down the highlights, changes, challenges and accomplishments. I like to acknowledge my growth and hard work so I give myself a treat. It’s usually something simple like a bubble bath and beautiful music, or a walk in the woods, or a bar of dark chocolate. It’s my birthday gift to myself, and only I know what the perfect gift is on that day.

Later in the day, I spend time dreaming and imagining the coming year. What would I like to bring into my life in terms of relationships, work, income, travel and other activities? After envisioning each aspect until it feels real and present, I write down a summary on a piece of paper. Then I tuck the paper into a special box and put it away. I’ll reopen the box and read the list at my next birthday. Invariably, everything I’ve dreamed of will have happened, in one form or another.

How do you celebrate your birthday? Is it a day that you dread, or one that you anticipate with delight? How can you make it more fun and enjoyable for yourself?

Happy dreaming!

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