SERIOUSLY SPEAKING – GAME CHANGING STRATEGIES

THINK ABOUT THIS ONE:  Bullying yourself by demanding perfection creates stuck places! 

By harshly judging your “performance” you automatically set yourself up for failure!

Bullies create Victims and Rebels . . . ever catch yourself saying:
“I can’t” “It’s too hard…” (yes, the voice of the Victim!)

Or:
“I won’t” (the famous Rebel cry!).





DANCE WITH IT!   EXPERIENTIAL APPS

An opportunity to experiment with some fun ideas...

How many times have you said:  “It’s just too hard!  I can’t do it!”

More than likely, those are times your expectations of your own performance have been too rigid.

“I can’t” is usually a hint that your internal Bully is pushing too hard!  (“I can’t “is very different from “I don’t want to!”)

What’s this Bully business?

Usually learned at a young age and built upon over the years, this internal ‘Voice’ is 
extremely critical, incessant and demanding.  

The standards of performance it requires tend to be unrealistic,

To identify your Bully Voice, think back over the last time you said, “I can’t”.

What was the situation?

Now step it back and check out where the probable demand was coming from.

Who was telling you, “You have to…”?

Was it actually the outside world, or perhaps an internal demand that set the level of expectations?

Who do you think you learned this demanding behavior from?

Can you make a mental image of your Bully?
How big is it?
What color?
Is it human?
How does its voice sound?
Have some fun with this one.

The more clearly identified this voice is, the easier it is to give yourself permission to stop listening to its unrealistic demands and return to a more natural, organic way of being on your game!

To comment: click on the word "comments" below - write in the box, then go to "comment as" and choose how you want to sign in, then click publish. Check back for replies to your comments!

If you enjoyed this post and would like to share it, please click on one of the share buttons below

ARE YOU ‘ON YOUR GAME’?

“I just don’t get how you do it,” he said.  “You seem to always be 100% on your game.  100% focused.  The effort for me,” he continued, “is just too hard…”.


So, here’s the paradox:  

In order to be focused, you have to allow yourself to lose focus.

In order to be present, it has to be okay to be not present…


Sounds very Zen and a wee bit 1960’s touchy-feely, right? 

But think about it.

Nothing in nature stays in one position.  Everything is in flux.

Okay, sorry, there we go again with that Age of Aquarius stuff – but have you ever seen the ocean waves not move in and out?

If we fight our natural fluxes – our healthy tendencies to both contact and withdraw – by labeling these ins and outs as defects, then we set up an impossibly rigid and unnatural set of expectations…


What do ya think?  Can you get behind the logic of this one?



To comment: click on the word "comments" below - write in the box, then go to "comment as" and choose how you want to sign in, then click publish. Check back for replies to your comments!


If you enjoyed this post and would like to share it, please click on one of the share buttons below

SERIOUSLY SPEAKING – EVERYDAY MEDITATION MADE EASY!

The word ‘meditation’ comes from the Latin verb ‘meditari’ which means to think and contemplate.

It is believed that meditation in one form or another has been around since pre-historic times.  (The Biblical prophets were reputed to be meditators!)  There must be a reason, right? 

The reported benefits include relaxation, building energy, lowering blood pressure, lessening depression and anxiety, increasing concentration and memory, and increasing self esteem.




DANCE WITH IT!   EXPERIENTIAL APPS

An opportunity to experiment with some fun ideas...

Don’t have the time or inclination to sit around staring at a candle?
No problem. 

Turn everyday activities into meditative moments!

Meditation is about narrowing your focus, repetitive actions, and deep breathing…

Easy enough to build into some of our daily activities.

Here’s a list of some things that can easily turn into ‘Everyday Meditative Moments' (EMM'S):  

Check out this list of activities and experiment with turning them into EMM'S. Write down how you are feeling right before you try this experiment.

          Folding laundry
          
          Vacuuming
          
          Washing dishes
          
          Gardening
          
          Walking
          
          And yes, video games!

Breath deeply, narrow your visual focus, and feel the repetitive movement of the activity. . . 
Even hitting a tennis ball against a backboard can become a meditation! 
If you have a type of music that zones you out, try adding it to the mix.


 Jot down how you are feeling after your meditative moment (remember ‘moment’ - it doesn’t have to be long).

To comment: click on the word "comments" below - write in the box, then go to "comment as" and choose how you want to sign in, then click publish. Check back for replies to your comments!

If you enjoyed this post and would like to share it, please click on one of the share buttons below



  

IS THIS THE ANSWER?

“Everything’s a meditation,” she told me.

True we were in Japan…

But ironing?

Really?


I had just asked her why she smiled as she ironed my Dad’s uniforms.  I mean what could be more annoying than ironing?


Drove me crazy.

“No,” she told me. 

“Wrong attitude.”

“Get into it.”

“Breathe.”

“Enjoy the rhythm of your movement…”

I loved her message and have kept it with me over the years…

But, seriously, ironing?

What do ya think?

Can you get behind this one?



To comment: click on the word "comments" below - write in the box, then go to "comment as" and choose how you want to sign in, then click publish. Check back for replies to your comments!


If you enjoyed this post and would like to share it, please click on one of the share buttons below

SUNDAY SMILES – MY COUSIN THE FUNGUS

No, I am not dissing one of my blood relatives…

I am merely riffing on a post by Wisegeek:

“Mushrooms are more closely related to animals than to plants.

Mushrooms are fungi, which are actually genetically closer to animals that they are to plants.

Scientists use a genealogical path known as the Tree of Life to trace the evolution of living organisms, and they have determined that fungi share a common ancestor with animals and are completely branched off from plants…”

They share a common ancestor with – us? 

Is that bizarre or what?

And we have a difficult time accepting those sweet, furry chimps…

What do ya say?

PLEASE let us know what you think about this one!

To comment: click on the word "comments" below - write in the box, then go to "comment as" and choose how you want to sign in, then click publish. Check back for replies to your comments!


If you enjoyed this post and would like to share it, please click on one of the share buttons below

SERIOUSLY SPEAKING – WHO GETS YOUR BEST?

How did we learn to show our best ‘face’ to outsiders and give those we are closest to second best? 

There is some thought that this behavior was a survival mechanism that might have begun at a time of scarcity.  

Showing off material success to outsiders was a way to create status in our communities.





 DANCE WITH IT!   EXPERIENTIAL APPS

An opportunity to experiment with some fun ideas...

Think about this very interesting quirk of saving the ‘best’ of what we have and who we are, for those we are least close to.  
Does it make any sense?

How many times have you thought or said:

“Oh, it’s okay, I don’t have to____________ , it’s just family?
         
          Be polite
          
          Watch my manners
          
          Worry about what I’m wearing
          
          Be careful of what I say
          
          Clean the house
          
          Fix a nice meal
         
          Set the table
          
         Close the bathroom door …
          
         And I think you know the rest of this list, right?

Think about the theory behind this one!  Guests count more – deserve more – than the people you are closest to!  Yikes!

Imagine, just for a moment, reversing this policy! Go back to that list...  What would happen if you saved the best for those you are most intimate with…

To comment: click on the word "comments" below - write in the box, then go to "comment as" and choose how you want to sign in, then click publish. Check back for replies to your comments!

If you enjoyed this post and would like to share it, please click on one of the share buttons below

         

FAMILIARITY BREEDS…

Once upon a time a child wondered about his family’s dishes – I know, strange beginning of a story, right?

But this kid had an interesting point.

Why, he wondered, did his family have everyday dishes for the family … and good dishes for company?


To this young child it made no sense.

“Why, “he asked me, “do we save the good stuff for other people?”

Whoa!

What do ya think?  Out of the mouth of babes, right?



To comment: click on the word "comments" below - write in the box, then go to "comment as" and choose how you want to sign in, then click publish. Check back for replies to your comments!


If you enjoyed this post and would like to share it, please click on one of the share buttons below