I'm starting to get to the point where if I hear that phrase one more time ("Attitude of Gratitude"), I might hurl.
And, what can I say? It's good stuff. It just has an annoying outer package!
Seriously, not to be cliche, but 'tis the season, kinda like how we all like to give at Christmas, but why should December get all that fun anyway?? :-)
I am grateful for:
* Challenging relationships that require me to GROW, if I am to stay in them!
* The fact that my partner, Robert, is willing to warm my ice-cube-esque feet at bedtime every night of the year from September - late April
* The softness of my cats' fur...Spike's chin and chest, Kevin's neck, Chloe's front paws, and JoJo's whole bod!
* A community that inspires me to growth and learning that I never could have predicted
* Family that sticks together
* A posse of rock-star women who are my dear, badass friends
* Etc.!
We have a choice every day to live from this orientation of gratitude...to choose to see the world through the lenses of what we have and what we're grateful for, vs. what we don't have and what we can't seem to get our grubby mits on.
SO. I submit to the cheesy but vital question, my dear reader: what are you grateful for? What keeps you moving through life, without which the colors around you would pale? Where is abundance sitting right next to you, waiting to be acknowledged and embraced? You've got it...it's right there...
Monday, November 19, 2007
One more thought on fear...
Check this out...in addition to the questions posed at the bottom of the previous post, it's worthwhile to ask yourself this, too:
With whom in your life are YOU the one holding that tempting, fear-canape-laden hors d'oeuvre tray???
With whom in your life are YOU the one holding that tempting, fear-canape-laden hors d'oeuvre tray???
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Elizabeth Gilbert on FEAR
This week started off with a bang: I sat three rows back from the stage at Salem College's Hanes auditorium, listening in rapt attention as Elizabeth Gilbert, author of "Eat, Pray, Love" (among many other things) spoke for 45 minutes on "The Physics of the Quest--Some Thoughts on Journeys of Self-Discovery." Imposing title notwithstanding, it was an hour of me being a super-sponge!
And before I get to what she had to say about fear, I just have to note this one huge impression: she is someone who has found a glorious way of holding and balancing mastery with humanness. What I mean by that is this: for anyone who has ever stood in front of classroom, lecture hall, auditorium, or audience of any size, it's paramount to be able to impart what you have to say with such stature that people want to listen, but also with a way of being that says, "I know this stuff, but I'm one of you, too. This is within your reach, and I'm still on the journey!" Without that, connection can't happen, and to me, connection is becoming more and more of what's vital in any kind of interaction, be it one on one or one on three hundred. EG has that nailed!
So, back to fear. Here was the gist, which I pass on to you for your consideration:
She started out with this question: "At what point will we be allowed to not fear the work we were put on this earth to do?"
When she was a girl, she knew she wanted to devote her life to the craft of writing. As she grew, and as she shared this info, people would say things like, "aren't you afraid you'll never succeed?" and "aren't you afraid you'll never get anything published?" and "aren't you afraid no one will like what you have to say?" Now, standing on this side of wild success with Eat, Pray, Love, she hears, "aren't you afraid that success will ruin your life?" and "aren't you afraid you'll never write anything else as good as EPL?"
(Note from LCN: these questions can come from others, but can just as easily come from our inner critic.)
And so she observed that we are constantly offered this hors d'oeuvres tray of fear, no matter where we are in our journey, and people (and/or our inner critic) want you to eat off of that tray to appease their own sense of fear and what's "safe."
Another tidbit: a YMCA she used to visit offered this warning to its members: "Warning! Any movement whatsoever brings the possibility of injury!"
Hmmm...
Where, in your own life, are you being offered that hors d'oeuvre tray of fear?
Are you partaking?
What's the impact, either way?
And where are you staying stock still, for fear of injury?
What's the cost of THAT?
Ms. Gilbert spent a year abroad, living full on despite her fear. We don't all have to take such a huge step. Where, in your day, can you create your own adventure? Step out of your own comfort zone for the sake of growth and learning?
Ahhh...fear. Like it or not, it's a comrade on these journeys we're all on. How do YOU want to be with it?
And before I get to what she had to say about fear, I just have to note this one huge impression: she is someone who has found a glorious way of holding and balancing mastery with humanness. What I mean by that is this: for anyone who has ever stood in front of classroom, lecture hall, auditorium, or audience of any size, it's paramount to be able to impart what you have to say with such stature that people want to listen, but also with a way of being that says, "I know this stuff, but I'm one of you, too. This is within your reach, and I'm still on the journey!" Without that, connection can't happen, and to me, connection is becoming more and more of what's vital in any kind of interaction, be it one on one or one on three hundred. EG has that nailed!
So, back to fear. Here was the gist, which I pass on to you for your consideration:
She started out with this question: "At what point will we be allowed to not fear the work we were put on this earth to do?"
When she was a girl, she knew she wanted to devote her life to the craft of writing. As she grew, and as she shared this info, people would say things like, "aren't you afraid you'll never succeed?" and "aren't you afraid you'll never get anything published?" and "aren't you afraid no one will like what you have to say?" Now, standing on this side of wild success with Eat, Pray, Love, she hears, "aren't you afraid that success will ruin your life?" and "aren't you afraid you'll never write anything else as good as EPL?"
(Note from LCN: these questions can come from others, but can just as easily come from our inner critic.)
And so she observed that we are constantly offered this hors d'oeuvres tray of fear, no matter where we are in our journey, and people (and/or our inner critic) want you to eat off of that tray to appease their own sense of fear and what's "safe."
Another tidbit: a YMCA she used to visit offered this warning to its members: "Warning! Any movement whatsoever brings the possibility of injury!"
Hmmm...
Where, in your own life, are you being offered that hors d'oeuvre tray of fear?
Are you partaking?
What's the impact, either way?
And where are you staying stock still, for fear of injury?
What's the cost of THAT?
Ms. Gilbert spent a year abroad, living full on despite her fear. We don't all have to take such a huge step. Where, in your day, can you create your own adventure? Step out of your own comfort zone for the sake of growth and learning?
Ahhh...fear. Like it or not, it's a comrade on these journeys we're all on. How do YOU want to be with it?
Saturday, November 3, 2007
OFF Belay
My training at the US National Whitewater Center's high and low ropes course continues. Today, I made a major mistake...the kind that can result in possible major injury!
I admit it...I was excited. I was "in my element," so to speak, and so when I went to climb back up the course, entering via a pole with pegs and climbing holds, I didn't even think. I just went UP!
About two thirds of the way, I suddenly heard people sharply calling my name from a platform mid-way through the course. "Laura! Are you on belay?!"
Nope. I was basically free climbing up a 32' high telephone pole. Not smart!
So down I came. I think everyone else was more rattled than I was, but the lesson was definitely not lost on me, and it's not one that will happen again. There's a way that I got out of my head because I was so in love with what I was doing, and as a result, I put myself in a situation that could have had very negative consequences that would have impacted my ability to continue pursuing something I value highly.
So how about you? Where, in your life, might you be acting hazardously? (Is that a word? You know what I mean...) Where are you doing something, without thinking, that's endangering other aspects of your life that are so dear to you, you'd kick yourself endlessly if something happened?
It's worth looking at. Remember, this is about no regrets. Where are you "off belay?"
I admit it...I was excited. I was "in my element," so to speak, and so when I went to climb back up the course, entering via a pole with pegs and climbing holds, I didn't even think. I just went UP!
About two thirds of the way, I suddenly heard people sharply calling my name from a platform mid-way through the course. "Laura! Are you on belay?!"
Nope. I was basically free climbing up a 32' high telephone pole. Not smart!
So down I came. I think everyone else was more rattled than I was, but the lesson was definitely not lost on me, and it's not one that will happen again. There's a way that I got out of my head because I was so in love with what I was doing, and as a result, I put myself in a situation that could have had very negative consequences that would have impacted my ability to continue pursuing something I value highly.
So how about you? Where, in your life, might you be acting hazardously? (Is that a word? You know what I mean...) Where are you doing something, without thinking, that's endangering other aspects of your life that are so dear to you, you'd kick yourself endlessly if something happened?
It's worth looking at. Remember, this is about no regrets. Where are you "off belay?"
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