Posts tagged ‘Martha Beck’

March 29th, 2010

We have a Winner!

photo by: ADoseofShipBoy’s

I just wanted to thank Carol McClelland (author of Green Careers For Dummies
and founder of Green Career Central) again for visiting 2inspired last week and for all of you who tuned in, asking great insightful questions and for helping to spread the word. It’s all of you who help make my own inspiring dreams come true.

But this post isn’t about me, it’s all about our winner. So Raechel Conover come on down…Congratulations you won! Hope you love your new Green Careers for Dummies book!

And as for the rest of the week, I’ll be posting on the third week of my joy diet. (If you’re behind and missed week one, click here.)

This week is all about desire. After doing nothing, and uncovering truth, so far I’ve learned that joy is a whole lot of work. It makes sense that some would sacrifice lasting happiness for a temporary fix.

That’s cause to live your life joyfully, you need to live it consciously. That means no more filling your time with stuff (shopping, food, errands, etc.) to avoid feeling _____ (fill-in-the-blank with your own personal emotion). Beck’s forcing me to deal head on with my demons with the ultimate goal of experiencing life to its fullest. It’s reinforcing my past belief that we avoid painful emotions out of fear. And that the fear, like all fear, is a lot worse than the fear itself.

Case in point: Last week I had two fears. Fears so great that I was in anguish the whole night before the day I was expecting fear 1 and fear 2. The next morning I woke up to both fears. The very thing I was worried would happen did. And you know what? It wasn’t even that bad. The day passed and the event became a nonevent. I learned quickly that it’s what we do to avoid the fear (drink, drugs, destruct) that’s tons more harmful than the actual emotion itself.

So anyone with me? Would love to hear about your own personal mission to joy, diet or not.

CategoryFacing Fears, Following your dreams, Happiness | Comment4 Comments »

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March 26th, 2010

Wondering if I fell off the joy wagon?

I haven’t posted about my first week on the joy diet, now have I? In case you’re wondering how it all went, I’ll tell ya.

I might have fell off the wagon a bit during the end of the first week.

Why?!

I know shocking right. I’m not blaming it on time or energy or even boredom. Instead, I went straight to the source:The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life.

Chapter 2: TRUTH

“If you can’t get yourself to do Menu Item #1 (nothing), you’re not ready for Menu Item #2.”

Beck says our resistance to doing nothing is a good indication that there is something we’re not wanting to deal with. Truth be told, after I read this chapter and forced myself to sit in nothing, a lot of dark somethings were unearthed. Truth behold waves of worries and a sudden uncovering of past events ran amock. I sat there for 15 minutes thinking, “Wow nothing! What a concept. Why didn’t I think of that!”

Nothing was the answer to a lot of my questions and the best part was that all I had to was sit there and do absolutely nothing. Imagine doing that for a living!

There’s something very healing about doing nothing. I wonder how much time each of us spends running around doing errands, typing on our computers and blackberries and how much energy that drains us and how much farther we get from our own truth.

If I could, I’d thank Ms. Beck for that one chapter alone. (Who I’ve actually met in person by the way and who recently Tweeted me, “Yay! I’m so excited you’re trying my “diet.” It’s still working for me, so my hopes for you are high.Keep me posted!” No joke. Really. I would not joke about this.)

Somehow all the stubborn attachments, fierce denial and false realities I’ve created over the years only to cover up fear and insecurity ended up imprisoning me. When I let certain situations be, I realized that they weren’t as scary as I thought. And the result was freeing.

I dare anyone to try it. Sit for 15 minutes and reflect on something painful you’re going through. I bet it won’t be as scary as you make it. In fact, you might learn that the story you told yourself about the event (a rejection from a publication, a conflict with a friend) was a lot worse than the even itself.

Then, come back here and tell me what you’ve experienced. It’s great to know I’m not in this alone.

CategoryFacing Fears | CommentNo Comments »

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March 15th, 2010

A Joyful Diet

A joyful diet sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it? But as spring approaches, I’m dieting to find out.

First of all, I have to say I’m not a dieting girl. Every time I attempt to go on a diet, it lasts all of 6 hours and then I’m spent. I think the problem is that most diets are all about deprivation. And frankly, I don’t have the time and energy for that.

But JOY?! That I could get into. Especially since the person who wrote it is one of my favorite authors: life coach, O magazine contributor and best-selling author Ms. Martha Beck.

After reading two of her books, I was craving more. More importantly joy is actually something I wouldn’t mind going on a diet for.

So here’s the deal:

There’s 10 tips for Martha Beck’s Joy Diet. I’m going to try it, one a week for the next 10 weeks and see if it brings me more joy.

Are you in?

You can follow along here or get your own book (The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life) and try it with me.

*Haven’t forgot about my BIG surprise yet? Have you? Well stick around because I’m unveiling the green treat this Wednesday, March 17th.

CategoryBook Reviews, Happiness, How to | Comment1 Comment »

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October 2nd, 2009

My Story

Open doorA friend asked me recently how I find the inspiring people I’ve interviewed here.  I think it’s really all about soul sisters Faith and Fate.  When I first started blogging in 2004, 5 years ago, I did it because the people I knew then were doing it.  Though I started writing since I was 6, I was a bit wary of going online and sharing my thoughts with the world.  But I did, eventually.

My first blog was all about me.  My personal thoughts about navigating my way through my twenties.  A newspaper editor who read it said I sounded like him when he was that age.  So yeah it was more of an online diary than anything else.

I later moved on to blogging professionally when I lucked out and scored a job at Tiny Prints, an online stationery store.  Although I didn’t know it at the time, my experience writing for them and their sister site Wedding Paper Divas would help catapult me into copywriting, web writing, blogging and ultimately the freelance writing world.

On an interview once, I received the most valuable advice ever from the interviewee.  He said, “I believe that whatever job we take now should be a stepping stone to what we really want to do in the future.”  For me this was a revelation.  Previously, I was job hopping without considering my dreams. From then on, I decided I was going to stop floating and get anchored in my writing.  Although I’ve taken the odd job here and there for money, I’ve still held on.

I might be only a pebble closer to my dreams but I’m comforted in knowing that at least I’m doing it.  I’m creating my own reality.  The people I’ve found on my journey came out of nowhere just because I opened myself up to possibility.  I’m actually on Martha Beck’s second book following, “Following Your Own North Star” called “Steering by Starlight.”  And it’s all about the magic that happens when you have the courage to life in.  I think too many people are scared of disappointment, afraid of not being worthy of their dreams.

The truth is.  The fact that we are here means that we’ve already encountered a life’s worth of struggle and hardship.  There’s a reason why we’ve had to endure it.  Everyone has a purpose in life.  Everyone has a dream.  Believe in yourself and know that what makes you unique is invaluable to the world.  Share your dreams with others and open the door to the possibility that life is a lot more magical than it seems.

I did.  And that’s the long winded answer to how I have so much amazing people on this blog to share their inspirational stories with.  How about you?  What’s your story?

CategoryFollowing your dreams | CommentNo Comments »

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June 9th, 2009

Now What?!

You’ve done it!  You’ve made that big decision, dealt with your feelings of impending fear and doom, and you’ve acted on it.  So now what?!  

In Martha Beck’s book Finding Your Own North Star, that period between your old and new self is where “square one” takes place.  So if you’re experiencing even more fear now than before and questioning if you made the right decision, know that you’re on the right path.  Square one is all about figuring out who you are now.  

Now that for example, you’re _____ (Pregnant, married, divorced or unemployed?  Fill in the blank with your change in identity here.), you might feel like you’re going through an identity crisis.  This decision may have caused a change in who you thought you were or who you thought you would become.  

The best way to deal?  

  1. Look forward not behind.  Remind yourself of why you made the decision in the first place and focus on that.
  2. Get protected.  Protect yourself by surrounding yourself with others who have gone through similar circumstances or read about them in books or online.  Find great friends and loved ones who you can rely on to vent during these uncertain times.
  3. Be kind to yourself.  Know that what you’re feeling is normal and realize that you’ll eventually get through it.  Most importantly, it’ll be a whole lot easier, the faster you’re able to accept yourself and your situation.

Carmel

CategoryInspirational Stories, job, Life | CommentNo Comments »

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May 5th, 2009

Anger Redefined

Anger is one of those emotions we’d rather not express, experience, talk about or feel.  In fact, especially as women, it’s one emotion we like to keep hidden.  We store away this socially unacceptable emotion until we can’t hold it in any longer and let it out on who else, but our family.  Yet, have you ever watched a child when they get upset?  There’s no holding back with kids.  Anger is seen in loud outbursts, arms flailing, and sometimes a bit of stomping.  Even my little rabbit will thump and growl when he’s upset.  So why is that when we get older we try so hard to dishonor it?

For one thing, no one wants to see an adult throwing a tantrum.  And for another, anger has been given such a bad rap.  When we see someone red faced and yelling, the last thing we want to do is be around them.  And the act of holding in our anger is absurdly valued and believed to be a virtue instead of a flaw.  Yet, holding in your anger can be like holding in a sneeze.  Instead of getting rid of all those toxins from your body and releasing the energy into something that feels good, you’re inhaling, repressing, and storing all of that negative energy and irritants inside.  Ironically, although we might avoid confrontation with friends or hold back our anger at work to prevent fights and the end of a relationship, the opposite tends to happen when we don’t act on it.  

The good news?  Expressing anger isn’t as scary as you may think.  In Finding Your Own North Star, Martha Beck’s statement that “well-used anger lies at the heart and soul of making the world a better, more humane place” floored me.  She gives examples in her book of how Rosa Parks and Gandhi, people who we revere as peacemakers, used their anger to change the world.  That gave me goose bumps because previously my impression of anger was of the “throwing your hands and feet on the floor” type.  I didn’t realize that anger could be the catalyst for positive change.  It’s already helped me on one occasion where I chose to use my anger toward a few drunk people’s insensitive remarks to help me write a new article on racism.  Because anger is such a powerful, adrenaline inducing emotion, it can help motivate you to do something significant and life changing.  So the next time you’re feeling angry, remember that this seemingly negative emotion can contribute positively to the world.

CategoryHow to | CommentNo Comments »

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