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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Unplanned Inspiration - Priceless!!!

"Be bold in the dreams you dream for yourself."

This beautiful gem of inspiration showed up as I was doing something as mundane as waiting in the check-out line at Trader Joe's.

The wonderful thing about this is that I wasn't looking or hoping for inspiration. I was actually in the middle of preparing for the 3rd of 4 activities I had planned for the day. Ya, that's a lot of activities. I'll tackle that topic on another blog post.

Seeing that quote on the card by the check-out line got me out of the "mental checklist" mode for my day and got me dreaming bold dreams. What a wonderful place to be.

"Be bold in the dreams you dream for yourself."

Friday, August 26, 2011

Electronic Spring Cleaning

I have 873 contacts in my electronic "address" book. This is not something to brag about. This high number is due to a "glitch" in the synch process between my iPhone and Yahoo.

I've been "cleaning house" and removing the duplicates. I've also been removing the names of people with whom I haven't been in contact in years.

At first I felt guilty for "cleaning these people out" of my address book. I thought, "Hum, maybe I should get in touch." I then reminded myself that people come in and out of one's life for a reason. Now, as I delete each person, I bless them and wish them a wonderful life and am thankful they showed up in my life .

Who knew that a "housekeeping" task could become an exercise in gratitude.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The White Fabric Napkin Effect

Earlier this year I decided to move away from paper napkins and only use fabric napkins. I purchased sets of white napkins from Home Goods. I gave them a good washing and then put them into service.

It took me about a week to get accustomed to using a fabric napkin, no matter what was being eaten. Now it's second nature and I don't miss the paper.

The happy side effect is that my guests are impressed and I graciously accept their compliments. Another happy side effect is that I'm saving money by not constantly purchasing paper napkins.

Now, don't be totally impressed. My paper napkin habit wasn't completely broken. I still was guilty of using paper napkins at work. I was very proud to be using "real" plates & utensils but for some odd reason, I never carried the "real" to napkins.

Fast forward to today. As I was packing my lunch, I grabbed a stack of fabric napkins and felt quite proud of myself as I walked to the train to work. Yes, I'm a big fan of public transportation but that's for another blog post.

An interesting thing happened today at lunch. I noticed that I felt a little more special, as if I was at a beautiful restaurant instead of the work lunchroom. I sat a little taller and ate a little slower.

All of this civility because of a little square of fabric.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Don't Forget The Baby Steps

I've bought a bike. I'm so very excited for many reasons. Along with that excitement was a bit of stress. I worried about riding my bike in traffic and what are the least stressful routes to hit my desired destinations in my home town.

It wasn't until last week that I realized that I can actually take "baby steps" in my new bicycle adventure. I can start on the bike path until I gain a good comfort level with my bike. I can then take short rides on the dedicated bike paths in my home town during early/off hours. There are also group rides I can join to take advantage of the knowledge of experienced bicyclists. Then I can slowly add rides during more and more busy street hours.

By realizing that I can take "baby steps" I experienced a great reduction of stress and am excited to start riding my new bike.

Whatever you are facing, remember the take baby steps.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Letting My Inner Food Snob Call the Shot

I have the great fortune (or danger) of working where food trucks come every day. It's only for employees so the wait for a really good food truck is only about 20 minutes instead of 1 hour.

Today I tried Barbie's Q food truck. I ordered their cheesy grits in hopes of finding a west coast substitute for the AMAZING cheesy grits my sister-in-law serves from Switchin Kitchens in Charlotte, NC (http://switchinkitchens.com/).

I took the container of cheesy goodness to my desk only to have my excitement drop to massive disappointment when I took off the cover and saw what I thought were lumps. I stirred around and yes, they were lumpy. I tried a bite and the flavor was bland. I let my inner food snob out and I immediately threw the rest away.

Life is too short for bad grits.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Gift of an Injury and Turning off the Auto-Pilot

A few weeks ago I had pain in my shoulder and surrounding area and well I was in denial. I was on auto-pilot and just living through the pain thinking that it would go away.

Three weeks went by and the pain was still there. After some personal research about the timing of when the pain began I figured out that I had pulled muscles around my shoulder attempting a new exercise.

Starting with yesterday's workout, I lightened up on the intensity and was gentle with myself. As I approached my day with the same gentle spirit and paid attention to my posture and how my shoulder felt.

About half-way through the day I realized, that I had been more present in this half-day than I had been in the past week.

Basically, I had turned off the auto-pilot.

I was a bit sad that it took an injury to slow down a little and be a bit more present in my day. Now, I'm thankful for the gift of this injury that helped me slow down and turn off the auto-pilot. And, the pain around my shoulder is almost gone. Quelle surprise!!!

Don't wait for an injury to turn off the auto-pilot. Take the time to slow down and be present in your day.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Just Show Up

WOW!!! This morning was rough. The alarm went off and I just didn't want to get out of bed. My "internal little brat" was telling me, no screaming at me, to stay in my nice warm bed.

Fortunately, my "internal big girl" screamed louder and said, "Just show up!"

I got dressed, walked to the gym, and worked out. The workout wasn't pretty and my mood wasn't "bright Mary Sunshine" but I showed up. 

By just showing up I can now walk around in my day with pride that I worked out instead of feeling guilty for staying in bed.

The next time you are dreading something or your "internal little brat" screams, "I don't wanna"...

JUST SHOW UP!!!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Free Book - Read This Before Our Next Meeting

I love free although free doesn't always mean "quality."

I think this free Kindle book could be the worth more than what you pay for it, Read This Before Our Next Meeting.

If you have ever been in a waste-of-time meeting then this book is for you.

Here's the link on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0057ZER34/ref=mp_s_a_2?qid=1312384166&sr=8-2

The recommendation came courtesy of Seth Godin's daily emails. For those of you who don't know
Seth, I recommend you check out his book Linchpin as well as his blog.

Hurry and "buy" your free copy of the "meetings" book. It's for for only the next 7 days.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Breakfast Inspiration - Courtesy of a Flow Chart

(Originally posted on my blog "The Irony of the Last 10 Pounds" on http://www.weightwatchers.com/ .)

I am a HUGE fan of the blog Apartment Therapy (http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/) and it's sister blogs: The Kitchen http://www.thekitchn.com/ and Unplugged http://www.unplggd.com/ . I review them daily and usually a few times a day.

Today, on The Kitchen, there was an article featuring a breakfast flow chart. Being in a breakfast rut, I was so excited to have new ideas to chose from. The analyst in me totally geeked out over the flow chart format. The Weight Watcher member in me squealed for joy when I realized that this was a "healthy" breakfast flow chart.

Here is the link to the fabulous flow chart.
http://www.eatingrules.com/2011/07/healthy-breakfast-ideas/

Enjoy using this chart to add some fun and make your breakfast routine, well, less routine.