Inspiration for Today

Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality.

-Nikos Kazantzakis

Start off the Week Right!

Add more time to your life by identifying your priorities! What is really important to you? What do you want to accomplish this week at home and at work? Take 5 minutes each day to write down the 3 most important things for you to get done. Then, stay committed to these and don't let other distractions keep you from honoring your priorities.

Is Your Job Stressing You Out?

If you answered yes, read on. The first step to solve this problem is to stop and find some simple ways to take care of yourself. Usually when we feel stress, self care is the first thing to go. How much time do you have? 5 minutes? 30 minutes? An hour? What can you do for yourself that will bring enjoyment and relaxation into your life?

For more ideas on this subject, email me and I'll send you more steps to help eliminate stress from your job!

Happy Thanksgiving

Besides just sitting down to give thanks today, make sure that the people you love and care about know how much you are grateful for them in your life!

Keeping Fit During the Holidays

What are the 2 main problems with eating during the holidays? 1) We tend to over eat. 2) We cut back on our exercise. The solution. 1) Set limits for yourself at holiday parties. Give yourself a pep talk and decide how many appetizers or desserts you will allow yourself. Drink water inbetween each of your other drinks to stay full and hydrated. 2) Keep exercising. Look at your calendar at the beginning of the week and decide when you can fit in your normal workout. If you need to cut back a little bit, try to push yourself a little harder when you are exercising.

If you want more tips, email me and I'll send you a copy of my staying fit article!

Good Luck and please share what other ideas have helped you.

Creating Abundance part 2

One simple way to bring gratitude into your life is by reaching out to others. Do you volunteer your time? If not, try going to www.volunteer.com if you'd like get started. Or, if you just want to keep it simple, reach out to a friend, neighbor, or family member who could use a little boost. I know I forget sometimes how powerful the act of giving impacts my life.

How do you like to reach out?

Great Healthy Eating Resource

For those of you without kids, visit www.kashi.com for some healthy eating tips and links to other great websites.

For those of you with kids, there is a wonderful free resource out there. Look in Parent Magazines or on the box of Kashi's Mighty Bites cereal for a free book offer or just try emailing Kashi directly. The book is called Brain Foods for Kids, Over a 100 receipes to boost your child's intelligence, by Nicola Graimes. It is available to purchase, but hopefully you can also send in for it. The book publisher also has a website www.bantamdell.com.

Pure Joy

My husband was commenting on children and I wanted to share the ideas we were talking about. Picture a young child you know. Imagine what it would be like to experience and feel the pure joy that is expressed by a young child. Children are in essence the finest examples of living in the moment. They have no worry of the future, no concern of the past. What would your life be like if you lived it this way? How would it be different? How can you bring that pure joy into your life more?

Please share!

Six Tips to Curb Holiday Eating

It can be very easy to get off track of healthy eating habits during the holidays. Extra calories quickly pile up with the tempting desserts, appetizers, and holiday meals. Here are a few tips to help you.

1) If you are going to a party, eat a small snack or meal ahead of time to avoid binging.

2) Drink a decent amount of water before going and at the party. This helps keep you full and digest your food.

3) Decide ahead of time how many desserts you are going to have and stick to that number.

4) Try to put everything on your plate instead of grazing, so you can see exactly what you are eating.

5) Fill up on fruits and veggies. You can eat as many of these as you want without adding extra calories.

6) Try to enjoy yourself, without being obsessed over the food.

So, what tips do you use during the holidays?

Creating Abundance part 1

With thanksgiving approaching, I've been thinking more about the idea of noticing, appreciating, and creating abundance in my life.

To begin with, I've reminded myself of how easy it is to forget to focus on the good in our lives and everything we have to be grateful for!

Then, I was reminded of the book Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. In her book, you can take a daily with her and the tools she has to offer. Looking at her book today, I found this to share:

"You need enough breathing space to allow your heart to ponder what is precious"

I'd love to hear your ideas and thoughts about abundance!

Save Time & Money this Holiday

Saving time is key during the holidays. If you are interested in online shopping, or just want to find some good bargains this year, I thought I would share a few websites I recently heard about.

www.nextag.com (Comparison Shopping)
www.froogle.com (Comparison Shopping, in a google format)
www.cairo.com (Enter your zip code to find the best price near you. You can also look at weekly ads from local shops)
www.savester.com (Find coupons for your favorite items)

What are your holiday money and time saving tips?

Help My Job is Draining Me

If you find yourself in a situation where you feel like your work is draining you, there is help!

For starters, try to identify the aspects of your job that energize you and those that drain you.

Next, figure out what part of the problem you have control over and pick 2 things that you can do to make a change.

Make a commitment to do this, by telling a friend or writing it down.

Check back in with yourself in a week. If things haven't improved much, seek support from others, considering a professional.

Have you overcome this challenge before? What are your tips?

What Have You Done Today?

I overheard the end of the Oprah today and I really liked her new challenge to people. So, here it is. What have you done today? What she means is how have you helped someone or brightened the life of another person? She asked the viewers to keep a diary of this each day. Can you imagine the powerful impact this can have if we are more focused on our giving than our getting! Thanks Oprah!

So, What have you done today?

3 Reasons You Should Work Out

Why exercise? Very simply. It keeps us healthy, it gives us energy, and reduces stress. That being said, do you want some new ideas?

Check out the link above to prevention.com and go to the fitness section. They share a wealth of information about different types of exercise, what it does for you, and where you can find out more.

Consider a few things: 1) I'm not a personal trainer, but I do know that it is important to have 3 compoments of your fitness routine. The cardiovascular, the muscle building, and the flexibility. For example, (running, lifting weights, yoga).

2)Women tend to shy away from the muscle building part, but don't be afraid. You can even have small weights at home to get yourself started. Please share your ideas and resources for other women. It's important to exercise, even when we are busy because it gives us energy, keeps us healthy, and reduces stress!

3) One more idea...try to make working out fun. Find a buddy or engage in a new activity that sounds exciting to you.

Please share your ideas!

Step out and Pay it Forward

Stepping out of the box allows us to get out of feeling stuck and down about ourself. When we're needing a little uplift in our lives, one way to feel better is to reach out to others and do something for them. So, today ask yourself what can you do to better someone else's life? Have you heard of the concept of "pay it forward"? You can find out more at www.payitforward.com. Another idea, find out how you can become an active volunteer in your community. Check out the link above!

Where's the Exercise?

One of the best ways to stay centered is to make sure you are adding a little exercise to your life. There are lots of excuses why not to...no time, it's boring, I'm not athletic. Well, here's a few ideas to help you get started.

1)If you feel like you have no time, then try to look at your schedule for the week and write in 3 times you can exercise. Also, add extra walking into your day by parking further away, walking up steps, etc...

2)Bored? Try a new activity. Check out your local YMCA or community college, or just partner up with a friend for a different activity.

3)You don't need to be athletic to walk or do most exercises. Just try something I guarantee you'll feel better.

And, of course, I'd love to hear your ideas!

3 Steps to Lessen Stressful Holiday Spending

Don't let holiday spending stress you out! Here are a few ideas to get you on the right path!

1) Be realistic: Decide who you want to shop for and what they really need or like. What is going to be meaningful to them?

2) Set up a budget: Decide how much you want to spend and then look at your list of who you'd like to buy gifts for this year.

3)Get Creative! How can you add a personal twist on gift giving this year? What are your talents and how can you utlilize them during the holidays? Can you offer free babysitting to your sister? Are you an artist? Maybe you could make something instead of buying gifts.

What has worked for you?

Relationships Matter

Take a minute to inventory the important relationships in your life. How are you doing as a parent, mother, significant other, sister, brother, etc....What things are going well in your relationships? What would you like to improve? Do you want to spend more time with a certain person? Have more meaningful conversations? Decide which one person you'd like to improve the quality of your relationship with and start today!

The First 3 Steps to Get What You Want

So often we think we know how to get what we want, but I'll share three secrets to the process that are often overlooked.

1) For starters, we need to get clear about what we really want. Decide what you want your life to be or the outcome you want to achieve.

2) Once we are clear, establish why you want to achieve this particular goal. Without a strong why, it is difficult to keep your momentum going.

3) Write out a descriptive vision about what it is you want to achieve and how the rest of your life looks. Read your vision every day and provide as much detail as possible.

These are only the beginning to achieving your goals. What other steps have helped you?

Choices

I stumbled across Debbie Ford's book, The Right Questions. In this simple, yet profound book, she reminds us of the power of our choices. She outlines 10 questions to guide people to a "extraordinary life" One question that I'd like to share with you is this.

Am I looking for what's right or Am I looking for what's wrong?