Wildly Better

I read this today on The Daily Love and have grasped it with my whole body-mind.

“How is it that with so many brilliant beings on your planet, so few recognize that when one’s life encounters turbulence, choppy waters, or setbacks, it’s always a sign that things are about to get wildly better than they’ve ever been before?”
Anon

I so often choose to believe things that are wounding and that bind me to my sad & painful childhood. Today I choose this positive, freeing and hopeful belief to feed my abundant and loving reality.

Inspiration Comes…

…from Leo Babauta’s zenhabits and his post: The Rut, & the Way Out.

I’ve found that the best way out of a rut is with the smallest step possible. But that step can result in more than you realize. ….What if that smallest step is to announce a major challenge? In my recent past I’ve announced 30 days of yoga, writing a novel in 30 days, and some grueling physical challenges. In years past I’ve announced that I’m going to run a marathon, do a triathlon, start a blog, give up my car, give up meat, and so on. Here’s the thing: the first step wasn’t to take on a major challenge. It was simply announcing it. And announcing something is really really easy. Doing it is much harder, but once you’ve announced it, you have some momentum, and you’re committed to a direction. Making the announcement only takes the moving of your lips and some hot air, or the typing of your fingers while your email program is open, and let’s face it, you do those things even when you’re in a rut.

I’m certainly in a rut. My rut feels like a deep hole. To big a job for me to get of on my own. So I am so grateful for Leo’s post in my reader this morning, because learning that the way out of the rut is with one small step, is a relief.

His post goes on with the following inspiration:

What if you took on a challenge? What if you cleared the clutter from your desk? What if you went outside for a brisk walk? What if you quit your job and headed for southeast Asia with nothing but a small backpack? What if you started a blog about your biggest passion? What if you decided to paint a picture or snap a photograph every single day for the next month? What if you did 5 minutes of yoga each morning? What if you tossed out your to-do list and only did 1 important thing each day before doing the less important tasks? What if you proposed your dream project to your boss? What if you stopped asking permission and just started doing what you’ve been wanting to do? What if your life was a blank slate and you could fill it with only the things you love? What if you could change someone else’s life? What if you tossed out all your excuses? What if you were grateful for what you have, instead of complaining about what you don’t have? What if you tossed out your goals? What if you let go of your expectations? What if you got rid of everything you had?

So all I need to do is announce my intention, not to commit to a challenge, but to choose a direction and begin collecting momentum to move with it.

Watch this space for my announcement…

I’m So Happy

Late last night, as I was ending the quietest birthday ever, I checked my email one last time and found  a message from Gwen R of Sober Bloggers Directory. She was delivering great news. I have been honoured with Blog of the Month award. This is what the email said:

I fell in love with your blog the moment I read “Oh Wow!! Thank You.”  Although I don’t blog the way I once did I made a ton of sober friends all over the globe by doing so.  It is a very special connection that many people can not understand.  People who are not plugged into the cyber recovery community.

I am honoring your blog this month on the Sober Bloggers Directory.  What does this mean?  You will be featured at the top of the blog for the month of November.  You will be added to the list of featured bloggers on the Sober Sites Blog.  You will be posted on the Sober Sites Blog, in the Modem2Modem news letter, Tweeted and Facebooked.

Thank you for your contributions to the recovery community by sharing with others.

I have been feeling rather down and unappreciated lately, so was so pleased to get this email and feel so happy that my blog has touched people in the recovery community. That is what I hoped for when I started writing my blog. I want to feel that I am useful and wanted and this award makes me feel so.

Without a community of people in Recovery and those people sharing their experience, strength & hope, I wouldn’t be able to share mine. I am grateful for this community and really grateful for being seen as part of it.

Oh Wow!! Thank You

I met Amanda a couple of months ago through her blog — she’s one of the grittiest and most transparent ‘recovery’ bloggers I’ve come across in my journey around the internet. We’ve struck up a friendship around recovery and her blogging. Because she writes anonymously, this picture is how she looks in my mind even though now she is thirty something. Today is her birthday and as I go about my business, in the back of my mind I’m celebrating Amanda and the impact she has had on my life 7 timezones away here in Wisconsin…

Amanda, I hope this birthday finds you at peace with yourself, living ‘just for today’ and open to the possibility in the future that your best days are ahead of you! Thanks for being a blessing and encouragement in my life when I despair of ever being more than I am today. You inspire me…

via Todd’s Point of View

Attention

I read this on Chris Brogan’s Blog and once again, his writing hit the spot in me. I find him to be so insightful and just plain sensical.

The same experience is exactly true for adults. We all stumble around hoping to be understood. We all feel like we don’t belong somewhere. We all slip into that awkward feeling. It might come when we read something we don’t fully understand. It might come when we are pushed into a work environment that doesn’t suit our personalities. But we find ourselves there as adults, and those very rare moments when someone breaks the barrier and shows us that they see us, that they are giving us attention, that’s the magical moment.

via Chris Brogan: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/attention

I love that he brings universal, human wisdom to work related challenges, and I can take them right back to my human struggles again. Being seen is still (and probably forever) one of my most difficult desperations to deal with.

Chris, thank you once again for a fantastic post.

Zen Lessons

zenhabits posted some wonderful ideas in today’s entry, one of which describes briefly how Leo Babautu wrote a book ‘publicly’ using Google Docs. My new found love of writing (through this blog) causes me to be tickled by the thought of undertaking such a big task, with such vulnerability. I hope that Leo’s book is a huge success and that his risk pays off.

Back to the reason for this post

You Have What It Takes

Chris Brogan is a smart guy. Fortune 500 Companies pay him to speak. So the stuff that comes out of his mouth/off his pen, is worthy of attention. Today I need lots of up talk, because I am feeling low on energy, enthusiasm & hope. Read his post and learn….

YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES

You are a singer and a dancer and a storyteller and an artist. You are all the various things you want to be. If not professionally, then for passion. And never forget that little branch. You might never play basketball for the NBA, but why would you let that keep you off the playground? You might never see your painting in the Louvre (unless you’re fast and crafty!), but why would that keep your brushes dry?

via You Have What It Takes.

I love this post and am going to read it often.

What Would I Do?

This is the best post that I have read in days. It is speaking to my very core today:

Ask yourself this question: “If I REALLY loved myself, what would I do?”

via Mastin Kipp: http://thedailylove.com/we-date-who-we-are

I recommend that you read the full post because it is just so true, and you will find all kinds of other delicious (soul satisfying)  gifts there.

 

 

 

 

Daily Affirmation and Gratitude

I am feeling so grateful for the great things that are coming into my life. Today, particularly, I see the good at every turn and a smile on every face. I was looking at other people’s blogs for stories of gratitude and found the one below. It so simply, expresses that we literally have so much to be grateful for….

“I trust my inner wisdom”– Louise L Hay.

My intuition guides me through my life. My inner voice is wise and knows what’s best for me.

I am grateful for my friend’s who have been there for me and even giving me job leads. I am thankful my family is safe and happy. I am thankful I have good health and the power within myself to make myself happy through hard times. Only I can make myself happy and I’m grateful for the wisdom to know that.

via Daily Affirmation and Gratitude.

When I am feeling too bleak to conjure up my own gratitude, I am going to wonder over to The Gushwa Life, to borrow some gratitude from Christina.

Intoxicated by…

 

 

 

This image comes from Layla’s Blog:

http://laylasphotoblog.blogspot.com/