It's That Time of Year Again... Re-evaluation of the Current Situation

 “One of the biggest reasons we don’t achieve our goals is we say yes to too many things that are not our priority and no to too many things that are our priority.” – Jay Shetty

*More later

 

Miracles of Daily Life

 

Yoga teacher and spiritual leader Sadhguru on the miracles of daily life:

"Every moment there are a million miracles happening around you:
a flower blossoming, a bird tweeting,
a bee humming, a raindrop falling,
a snowflake wafting along
the clear evening air.
There is magic everywhere.
If you learn how to live it,
life is nothing short of a daily miracle."

Source: Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy

 

From:  James Clear's 3-2-1 weekly newsletter (10/19/2023)
​Author of Atomic Habits and keynote speaker​

 

Mind-Body Connection - It's a Thing!

How Being Too Nice Can Destroy You: A Story You've Never Heard with Dr Gabor Mate - Your Inner Child Matters (11:49 minute YouTube Video)

Overview:

The video is about our basic needs for attachment and authenticity as developing children, and if/when we don't receive the message from our parents/care giver(s) that our authentic self is okay, what develops is shame and internal suffering - which often manifests in us through dis-ease.

 

What's on YOUR Life List? Part I

Reading this post on The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau got me to thinking more about my own life list... or "The Things I want to Do Before I Die" - also known as a Bucket List or a Life List - the idea originated by John Goddard.

I know I have an old post somewhere already started that has a list of goals I want to accomplish, places I want to travel to and experience, and experiences I want to do (like zip-line in Hawaii). I don't know if I want to take the time to find it, though.

I just finished a training course related to real estate called "The Ninja Installation" and feel a shift in what my life has been about. Reviewing your "Life List" is one of the things to do every morning as part of a daily routine for success. Along with some other activities, the Life List Review is to help keep me focused on where I'm going and WHY I'm doing what I'm doing.

One of the things we did while in the training was "Life List Bingo" and it was finding people in our 30+ member class who had done some of these incredible things... 

Saved a Life
Completed a Marathon
Climbed a 14,000' Mountain
Seen a Volcano while it is erupting
Climbed the Eiffel Tower
Scuba Dived
Jumped Out of an Airplane*
Gone Hang Gliding*
Been on a Cruise Ship*
Written a Book*
Been to the Great Wall of China*
Visited all 50 States*
Been to Australia*
Played in a Rock Band
Played professional sports
Completed a Triathlon
Been to more than 30 countries
Piloted a helicopter or an airplane
Has been on television
Professional Singer or recording artist (mine on the Bingo card)
An artist or sculptor

It seems like there were at least 5 people who got a Bingo :-)

Asteriks (*) means that is something I want to do

I think I limit myself so much - my current Life List that I created on day one of the class, that I'm starting the habit of reviewing at the start of every day is this:

Take the Young side of my family on a All Inclusive Cruise/Resort (annually)
Make Enough money so that Himself can retire
Make enough money in case mom needs a care facility
Family reunions

Make the Top Level of my company's Internal Recognition
Be a full-time published writer
Income retirement over $1 Million
Have passive income in the form of rental properties and/or AirBnB's
Be a professional Singer/Studio Singer/Role on Broadway (Broadway Star)
Be Financially independent

Be able to take 4 months annually during the hot season and travel around the USA with my truck and trailer, reconnecting with family and friends - seeing all 50 states & experiencing each state's top 10-25 attractions
Visit all the continents
Take a Luxury African Safari
Take a smaller Luxury Cruise, or series of Cruises - European river cruises appeal to me more than tropical ones
Be the "Grand Instigator" of a small, excellent singing ensemble

Have $2 Million to start/fund a tiny house community in/around Tucson for homeless
Fund a no-kill dog shelter
Write my book, "Everyone Can Sing*"
Give talks about my "Everyone Can Sing*" book
Do a TedTalk on "Everyone Can Sing*"
Donate to any and all causes whenever and however much I want
Be Healthy (no medications), flexible & energetic (walking and stretching daily) and have other people say or think "How is it she's aging so gracefully?"

Not everything on this list requires a lot of money... but quite a bit of it does!

And I want to be sure and give myself credit for the things I've already done... like Live in a foreign country when I write my list. And where do I keep this list? Blog? Notebook? Journal? Scrapbook kind of thing?

... To Be Continued ...

Family, the other "F" word (?)

Discussing with a friend a current situation that is happening between myself and a very close member of my family, she said her husband calls family the other "F" word. That made me laugh. But this situation in which I find myself is anything but funny.

I'm not going to publish what I started writing about the situation that is happening that made me write the title of this post. 

If you pray, please pray. If you send good vibes, please send those. 

I hate that this is the second post of 2023. There's been some great things happening, but when I received the text on 1/15/2023 that started this, the big dark cloud came and hasn't really left. 

"Nothing I say will change it." ~ wise words from my colleague. 

I cannot control what someone else understands. 

"God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference."

This makes more and more sense as I get older.

Don't Know What to Say (song)

https://youtu.be/_RuOCCjSae4I bought some music on iTunes recently... "Liv On" is the collaborative album with Olivia Newton John, Amy Sky & one of my favorite artists, Beth Nielsen Chapman. This song, "Don't Know What to Say" expressed beautifully how awkward it is when grief hits.

You don't know what to say

You don't know what to do

When life delivers this

The right words don't exist

The fault is not with you

Now everybody's come

My loved ones file by

I stand here feeling numb

while family and friends

Hug me as they cry

There is no language for this loss

Grief is a bridge that can't be crossed

Until you've felt someone you love slipping away

You don't know what to say

Now so much time has passed

For me it's standing still

and way too soon they'll ask

That I stop looking back

I hope someday I will

Thanks for being here

And listening to me

And letting me be sad

And letting me be mad

Just letting me be

There is no language for this loss

Grief is a bridge that can't be crossed

Until you've felt someone you love slipping away

You don't know what to say

Just know that it's okay

Love's the only way

When you don't know what to say

And here's the song:
https://youtu.be/_RuOCCjSae4