Find Your Safe Space

Professional Speaker-Personal Development-Positive Attitude

We are having an artic blast in the Midwest.  I’ve been born and raised in Chicago, so you would think I’d be used to the cold.  But I swear, it has never been this frigid.

As I sit in my home, wearing flannel everything and still feeling chilled, I couldn’t help but think about my trip to Churchill, Canada.  I traveled there a couple of years ago to see the polar bears emerge from hibernation and meander to the Hudson Bay, looking for food.  It was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Looking at the pictures, I was extremely touched by this one of a mother bear and her cub.  They both seem so content and comfortable and trustful.  Yes, that’s the word I’m looking for – trustful.  They have both found their spot where they feel safe.

That’s what I wish for you – and for me.  To find your safe space, your snuggle-up-and-believe-everything-will-be-alright space.  It’s nothing that can be ordered on Amazon or researched by Alexa.  It’s a place you have to discover on your own.  One that makes you feel all cozy inside with a belief that all is right with the world.

Yes, that’s what I wish for you on this cold and frigid night.  Along with a hot chocolate and a belief that warmer weather IS coming.

Categories: Personal Development Positive Attitude Professional Development Professional Speaker
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Starting with a Blank Page

Professional Speaker-Personal Development-Positive Attitude

Sometimes we can get overwhelmed with all the possible choices we have.  Think about it.  There was a time when you ordered a cup of coffee – that’s it.  Coffee.  Now??? We have an infinite number of decisions to make.  Let’s see: I’ll have a blonde latte with soy milk and only one pump of vanilla, please.  And that’s considered an easy order.  I’ve heard others that are far more complicated.

And it doesn’t stop there.  We make choices when it comes to color and price and health and so much more.  It’s no wonder we get overwhelmed and often paralyzed with the infinite number of possibilities we face every day. How do you get past this? 

Here’s the way I see it – When we start with a blank page we can create anything at all , we can decide on whatever is possible, and that can be very daunting and downright scary.  Everything, both large and small, is a decision to be made and we become paralyzed.  So, to help get through this, I’m trying to limit my list of choices.  I’ve decided to pick three of whatever it is.  Three – that’s it.  Then I research those three and make my decision at that time.  It’s tempting to check out everything that pops up on the internet, but I’ve gotten a lot better at hitting that delete button.

So, the next time you are planning a vacation, deciding what to make for dinner or researching a new car, pick three, limit your choices, and research those.  Don’t allow yourself to get bogged down with all the details.  See if that works for you.  It might make all those decisions a little bit easier.

Now, back to my blonde latte with soy milk and only one pump of vanilla.  This barista even wrote my name in the foam.  Nice choice!

 

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I Ain’t No Quitter

Professional Speaker-Personal Development-Positive Attitude

National Quitters Day.  Have you heard of it? 

Apparently, it’s a day that has been set aside to recognize when most people abandon their New Year’s resolution.  Yes, they’ve actually done research to show that your motivation begins to waiver on the second Friday in January. This year it was January 12th.  So, all those goals you set, all those promises you made to yourself, are discarded.  Whether you vowed to exercise more, spend less money or take more time for yourself, you leave all that behind and fall back into your old habits.  It takes only two weeks to surrender to your old self.

Well, if you fall into the category of resolution quitter, all is not lost.  Let’s think about this in a different way:

What if we stop thinking of our resolutions as goals.  Instead, envision them as patterns that need to be tweaked.  What if we committed to 1%.  That’s it – only 1%, to being better every day.  That’s doable, isn’t it?   Not overwhelming at all.  Think about it.  Just 1% better at:

  • Losing that extra weight
  • Saving more money
  • Being kinder to our neighbor, our family, ourselves! 

I’m going to start my 1% tomorrow.  NO – I’m going to start RIGHT NOW.  Yes.  I envision a healthier lifestyle for myself.  I’m packing my bag for the gym tonight and won’t let excuses get in my way.  Yes, my 1% starts right now.  What about you?  Want to give it a try?

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The Perfect Picture (Almost)

Professional Speaker, Personal Development, Positive Attitude

In my last blog, I talked about fitting the pieces of the New Year together.  I got that idea from a 500- piece puzzle that was given to me over a year ago. I wasn’t eager to start it.  In fact, it sat on the shelf for many, many months.  Then for some reason, right before the holidays, I pulled it out, poured the pieces on a small card table, and began to piece it together.  I got hooked.  Every night, I sat at that table and tried to complete the scene that decorated the front of the box.

I don’t understand it.  I’m not a game person, and certainly not a puzzle person.  So why did this captivate me so much?  Around this same time, a movie was released titled Puzzle about a woman who enters a jigsaw puzzle competition.  Really?  There’s such a thing???

Well, that movie came and went from the theaters.  I never got around to watching it – until last night.  And I found the story totally captivating.

In one scene of the movie, the male character describes his obsession with puzzles.  He says:

“Life is messy, random and there is nothing you can do to control anything, but when you complete a puzzle, you know you’ve made all the right choices.  At the very end, the puzzle gives you a perfect picture.”

That’s it!  That’s why I’m enjoying this puzzle so much.  For one short part of my day, I’m guaranteed to make all the right choices.  I don’t have to guess.  Either the piece fits or it doesn’t.  I have it all under control.  For one short part of my day, I have all the answers.

With the challenges we face every single day, and the choices we lament over wondering if we’ve made the right one, I welcome the relief of this puzzle.

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Fitting the Pieces of 2019 Together

Professional Speaker-Personal Development-Positive Attitude

It’s a New Year, and the way I see it, it’s like fitting the pieces of a puzzle together.  Now that 2018 is over, I find some missing pieces that somehow didn’t fit last year.  Let’s see:

Whoops, there’s the piece that said I was going to lose 10 pounds.  That one must have fallen on the floor.

Yikes, here’s the piece that was supposed to bring me more business.  That one must have stuck to another piece and I just didn’t see it.

Uh-Oh, here’s the piece that was going to help me slow down and enjoy the things that are important to me  That one must have stuck to the bottom of my shoe.

There’s a lot of missing pieces and a lot of goals I didn’t quite accomplish, but you know what?  I get to try again.  It’s a New Year and I can make a promise to myself to pick up those missing pieces, turn them inside out and upside down, and work with them until they fit.  I have the power to complete the picture that I see for my future. 

So, you see, you don’t have to throw the entire puzzle away.  You just have to look at it differently and see how you can make 2019 a better year.  Personally, I doubt that my own puzzle will ever be completed – and I’ve come to accept that.  My goal is to take my ever-changing life and cherish that unfinished puzzle, find the missing pieces that make it more complete, and be kind to myself, knowing I am doing the best that I can.  I truly wish you all a New Year filled with all the love, happiness and success your heart can handle.  After all, those are the most important pieces of all.

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