SUNDAY SMILES – BIRTHDAYS AND OTHER SIGNS OF AGING . . .

WE’RE BAAACK!  We’ve been down since last Tuesday – technical difficulties . . .

Yesterday my Chinese computer Guru took my computer apart – and put it back together – it was fascinating to watch – but he shook his head at me and said, “Too old . . . too old. . .”  


I'm pretty sure he was talking about my computer...




Last week was not one of my favorites – things (including me!) were falling apart left and right.  I will confess that Wednesday I wanted to get under my bed and hang out there . . . 

A friend of mine told me 'Saturn was retrograde and that this explained everything!'  I had no idea what she was talking about but I decided to believe her anyway and immediately felt much better! 

Once upon a time – yes many years ago – a very wise older Russian lady told me to stop worrying about my age – I was turning 30 at the time.
She informed me that life didn’t even begin until age 40 . . .


What do ya think?  Can you get behind this one?



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LOOK INTO MY EYES. . . TALES OF HYPNOSIS

So this jock came to see me – at least 6’2” and 200+ pounds.

He was in a bind.  Sports was his thing – high school and now a college scholarship.  
BUT.

In the last game of the season he got hit by the ball – hard of course – in a very sensitive place!  Yikes!  One of those stories that makes you want to cover your crotch – even if you don’t have that kind of equipment!

So, he wanted me to help him get back in the game – literally!  See, since that strike he’d lost his pizzazz – to put it bluntly – he was scared sh*@***s!  And who could blame him? 

“Can you hypnotize me?” he asked.

Well, sure we could give it a shot (oops!) but he needed to realize that while hypnosis could deal with his fear, it sure couldn’t guarantee where that ball might go next!  

He understood and we got to work.


When the session was over, he informed me that I hadn’t managed to hypnotize him at all!  

But he did want to know how I had managed to move him (200+ pounds, remember) and the couch he was sitting on all over the room – whirling it really . . .

Yeah.

And yes, he did go back to playing ball – and winning games – often with a funny little grin on his face. . .

What do ya think?  Do you believe?




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SUNDAY SMILES – CAN YOU DO THIS?

Today’s quickie is from the category of:  ‘And we think we’re the superior species. . .’

Check out this little factoid from Wise Geek:

“Turtles have the ability to breathe out of their front sides as well as their back sides — yep, turtles can breathe through their bums. . .”

 

Now, I do know a few guys who claim they can do this – and certainly try to prove it – but I think they get their direction a little confused . . .


Of course we all have those days when it feels like we’re breathing through our behinds – but that’s another story!  

Have a wonderful Sunday no matter which end it feels like you’re breathing from!



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SERIOUSLY SPEAKING – THE SECRET OF STAYING IN THE NOW

Someone brilliant once described anxiety as the distance between 'here and there'…

In the 1960’s the concept of staying focused on the present moment became a part of our culture through popular music and literature.

We now have many phrases in our language to help us stay focused on the ‘here’.  Sayings like ‘Be here now’ and ‘One day (step) at a time’ are designed to remind us that being in the present instead of putting our focus on what comes later can improve the quality of our life.


To illustrate this point, Dr. Patrick Gallagher, the Chairman of the Anthropology Department at George Washington University in the 1960’s, used to tell his students that you can’t be late until you actually arrive at your destination, so worrying about it in the meantime didn’t make sense…




DANCE WITH IT!   EXPERIENTIAL APPS
An opportunity to experiment with some fun ideas...    

THE BEST EVER TRICK FOR STAYING IN THE NOW

BREATHE!

If you really focus on your breathing, especially if you include a ’count’ with it, it is just about impossible to focus on anything else!

The time honored formula is:

Take a deep breathe in on the count of 4

As you do this count ‘out-loud’ in your mind in a calming voice…
“In 2, 3, 4…”

Now as you exhale, once again use this same calming voice to count…
“Out 2, 3, 4…”

Do this several times (not while driving etc…)

After a few of these you will definitely be present and experience the joy of being in the moment.  Your sense of smell, your vision and sense of touch, all your senses heighten as you oxygenate your entire system. 

Giving ourselves totally present moments helps increase our ability to focus and deal with the ‘next steps’ or next pages in our lives with more wisdom and awareness.

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CAN YOU RESIST GOING TO THE END OF THIS STORY?

Ever read a mystery book and the anxiety starts getting to you… and the next thing you know you skip to the end of the story?

Okay.  No more anxiety – you know who done it.  

But really, doesn’t it ruin the story?

Unfortunately, many of us deal with life this same way.  When the anxiety starts getting to us – especially when we’re dealing with life’s challenges, we often write the end of the story – way before its time!

For most people who do this, the endings they write are almost always disastrous!  If they are diagnosed with an illness, they are already writing their obituary, if they have a tough test to take, they’ve already failed, financial challenges have them living under that proverbial bridge… 

Why? 

Well, like skipping to the end of the book, the mystery is over!  No more hope – no more anxiety.  Just dread…

Hmm…

When you think about it, is this really a good trade-off?

What do ya think? 

Ever done this one?



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SERIOUSLY SPEAKING – RELEASING HIDDEN ANGER IN 4 EASY STEPS

When we say we are feeling ‘blah’ or ‘down’ what we mean is that our affect is flat and our energy is low. 

It’s important to differentiate between a purely physical feeling like we can have when we are getting sick, or even sometimes on a medication.    

We often increase negative feelings by tormenting ourselves about feeling down!

The magic word is ‘awareness’.  

Once we identify what is actually going on we can begin to heal.




DANCE WITH IT!   EXPERIENTIAL APPS
An opportunity to experiment with some fun ideas...    

Try these four easy steps to releasing hidden anger!

1)    Identify the problem:  Ask yourself how you are feeling.  For instance with the blahs you might answer: “Today I am feeling ‘off’.   My energy is low and nothing feels particularly good…”

2)    Awareness Step I:  Check to see if there is a physical issue – are you getting sick?  Did you start a new medication?  Did you run a marathon yesterday?  If the answer to any of these is yes, give yourself a break!  Rest and look forward to tomorrow.

3)    Awareness Step II:  If all the purely physical issues are under control, ask yourself if anything has recently happened that you might be annoyed about.  Did you just have a nasty phone call?  Someone forget to call you?  A run in with a neighbor of friend?  Remember this might have happened yesterday – and it can also be one of those things that you judge to be ‘too minor to bother you’.  Feelings don’t always correspond to our requirements!

4)    The Release:  If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above, give yourself permission to be angry!  Try a few anger fantasies; a mean-spirited imaginary dialog with the offender goes a long way to relieving that tension that comes with pushed down anger. 

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WHAT EVERYBODY OUGHT TO KNOW ABOUT THE BLAHS!

Ever have one of those really blah days – lots of yucky stuff to do and not much that feels rewarding – and on top of that no one goes out of their way to call and say ‘hi I was thinking of you – you rock!’

One of those all work and no fun days…

Here’s an interesting thing to think about - Anger often hides in the guise of the blahs, in a feeling of frustration, sometimes in anxiety, sometimes in a sense of exhaustion…

And in these cases it is clearly hiding!  

Think about it…  

In any of these disguises anger is difficult to pin down and catch! 
It lurks and squiggles, ducks and feints like a boxer in self-protective mode…

As long as your anger is under wraps it's safe from the intense scrutiny – from the surgical spotlight - that allows us to exorcise and remove the rotting and puss filled sore…

Okay a little carried away there – but I think you get what I’m saying?

If you know you’re angry you can focus your attention on the cause – and do something about it!

Hidden anger is like a low-grade fever that you can’t quite get a handle on – you just know you feel off…

What do ya say?  How many disguises has your anger taken?



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