Posts tagged ‘Having faith’

April 24th, 2010

How Goofing Off Can Make You More Productive

I’m stuck on item #6 of The Joy Diet and would like to stay here awhile please. Making 2 treats a part of my every day has been a blessing. Not just for my soul, but for my wallet too.

Sometimes we get so focused on our goals or obsessed with daily superficialities (iphone, ipads, gossip, buying a home, etc.) that we lose sight of the here and now. This actually works against us and our ultimate goals-to be happy, successful and to feel whole.

I know because I’ve been a workaholic lately. Digging my nails deep into the present and throwing it all in there. I’ve been reading books and articles online, crafting not2shabby things and taking classes all in the hope of making me better at something. I ended up spreading myself thin with nothing left to give and worse-with nothing left to show for it.

Have you ever been there before?

Sometimes like the empty room in a home that needs to be filled we allow worry and fear to inhabit it instead of giving time, patience and faith to let things fill it organically.

Know what I mean?

It’s what happens when an empty dining room table gets replaced with junk or why the fear of no job/relationship makes way for jobs/relationships you don’t want. Out of fear comes desperation and more things we don’t want or need in our lives. Out of faith comes the life we’re destined to live. The latter takes courage to get there.

Goofing off helps.

Last week of The Joy Diet was an easy one. And surprisingly it brought my passion back. I stopped crafting, writing, and reading things related to my career. Instead, I flipped through fun magazines and watched a few episodes of Oprah. It just so happens that I caught two shows related to my passions (Earth Day and a show about people in their dream jobs). It reminded me about my passion to help the environment, why I write, and why I sacrifice time and money to do what I do. It inspired me to write this post and gave me the hope I needed to continue on the journey in faith, not fear.

Here’s a Joy Diet Challenge:

Take an hour or a few hours a day or even a week if you can and devote the time solely to you and your passion. It could be riding a bike, taking a hike, rediscovering your love for art by visiting a museum or watching a movie. Just do something unrelated to your career. Have fun and you’ll see passion, excitement and joy returning to your life-the fuel necessary to help manifest the life of your dreams.

CategoryFollowing your dreams | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
June 30th, 2009

How to Cover a Blunder

A pimple can be covered with concealer but a blunder?  A blunder may need to be exposed no matter how unattractive it is to its beholder.  Whether you failed a test, stuck your foot in your mouth, hit send on an angry “I will never send” email, blunders are truth tellers and you’ll be better off listening to what they’re trying to say.

The hard part may be taking it.  Sure the lesson may be to spend more time checking your work in advance, or rereading your email, but your head may be saying, “You idiot!”  

So what do you do when you’ve encountered a personal blunder? 

While failing has the power to make others quit before they’re ahead, it fuels my fire.  Yes messing up doesn’t feel good but there are ways to get around it so that you get all the benefits of learning a lesson without torturing yourself to get there.

Get Physical!  “When the going gets tough, the tough gets moving.”  Get up and get out and do something!  I love zumba because it’s fun and challenging to the point that I can’t think about anything else but what I’m doing in the moment.  The key is to find something that changes your thinking from past thoughts “Why didn’t I?” to present minded thinking “What am I doing now?”

Forgive Yourself.  I’m sure we all know that no one is perfect. Yet, we often don’t give ourselves the break that we give others.  The next time you feel like you “messed up,” imagine what you would say to a friend and then say it to yourself.

Have Faith.  “It ain’t over ’til the _____.”  I once heard a quote that said if everything hasn’t worked itself out, then it isn’t over.  I agree.  You never know why whatever happened did.  Maybe you “messed up” an interview because subconsciously you didn’t really want it.  Or maybe you loss one job or relationship only to find a better one to come along later.  You never know what will happen or why it happens and it’s better that way.  Have faith that things happen for a reason, you may just not know what that is yet.

So the next time you are faced with a blunder, don’t hide from it, cover it up or pretend it doesn’t exist.  Instead, look it right in the face and say thank you because you never know what lessons it has in store for you.

CategoryInspirational Stories, job, Life, work | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
June 5th, 2009

Giving It All Up Ain't So Bad

You know the saying, “One door opens as another one closes,” or “let go and let God?” In the moment of surrender, our once empty hands often become filled with a life better than we had planned. Yet, in moments of despair all we want to do is hold on tight, grasping anything and everything around us.

When there is nothing visible in front of us, we can either blindly and courageously take the next step or we can turn around and return to the path we’ve already crossed. Each step either gets us that much closer to our goals or that much further away.

Recently, I spoke to a friend who decided to finally let go of a job that was holding her back. Although she was applying to other positions left and right, it was only after she made up her mind to resign from the former position, that a better offer came along.

I’ve heard this story multiple times before. It’s the story of how when Oprah finally surrendered and let go of her expectations to be in The Color Purple, that she scored the role.  Or how a guest on her show said he “gave up” on his dream that Oprah would see his performance in Chicago and then Gayle King showed up instead.

Sometimes the right decision is the one that is the scariest, that pulls us uncomfortably out of our comfort zones and face our own insecurities and self-doubt. Only when we let go, surrender and have faith will that unseen force materialize supporting our next step towards our dreams.

Sunset

CategoryFacing Fears, Inspirational Stories | Comment2 Comments »

Tags: