Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Put A Little ________ In It!!

What's missing.... the presents of which would make a significant difference?!!???

Do you ever get to the end of your day or week and all you feel like you did was check off all these things on your list? 

I am a check list junkie...its really the only way I can stay organized and move with velocity...but as I expand my life and the things I am up...the check lists expanded as well....and while I was feeling accomplished I said...what's missing...that which the presents of would really make a real difference??!! And I got it....FUN!!

So it got me thinking...have our workouts, jobs, relationships, sex, parenting, and life in general... started to lack fun? Do we actually resist doing something, do it poorly or maybe don't do it at all...because the fun meter is buried at ZERO??!! 




I have a now 6 year old :) and she can literally have fun EVERYWHERE.  Do you have a little person in your life or know of someone who has a little person?  Think about them for a moment....I take my daughter to the grocery store...she has a blast..."mom, let me be the checker!" she makes the ding sound every time she puts something in the cart.  We go to the library and she gets such a giggle out of checking her own books out.  She sings songs & performs dance routines in the shower, skips to get the mail, asks to vacuum the kitchen floor, and brushes her teeth to Justin Bieber.  Do you get it...every day mundane tasks taken on with child like fun & play??!!

So I set up an experiment...add FUN to everything... and got the most UNEXPECTED WORKOUT...had a fun-rampage of a lifetime and got a whole new view!!

Friday was girls day...Dad was off to play golf and we were left to our own demise!!  Savannah has only had her training wheels off for a maybe 2 months and has only ever rode in our court.  Friday morning comes...the check list starts...the mind is racing...I want to go for a run...but I can't cause I didn't get up while everyone was still sleeping...its a beautiful day...in my mind...the opportunity for a run/workout is over....UGG. 

I was committed to fun (can you hear it kind of starts out forced, stomping my foot..LOL)...so I say to my daughter...what do you want to do...its your day!?  She says...I want to ride my bike...so I'm like...well we could go to Grants Trail.  You ride, I will run with Xander (the dog) and we will have some FUN!! She was totally pumped!! Now she had never been and I was really mentally prepared for us to be out there maybe 20 - 30 mins...I figured it would be maybe a mile, mile and a half at best...she would be bored or tired....boy was I wrong!!! 

Here we are 3 miles in and she is CONVINCED we are doing the whole 18!!




I know she had fun...but I had the time of my life!! We talked and sang the whole way...pointed out animals & flowers we saw along the way.  I was so present to putting fun back in my run, it gave me a whole new perspective to working out!!   By the way...I had to shut her down at mile 5!! LOL

So what's next?  We jump roped, hula hooped, bounced on the trampoline, played soccer in the back yard...you name it...our bodies were moving!!  I felt like I was on an Olympic track and field special event.  We bonded, giggled, burned calories and now have memories of a lifetime!!

So needless to say the experiment was a success and the results were...workouts don't have to be what you think they have to be.  Put a little FUN in it and see what you can create!! 

What other areas could benefit from the fun meter rising??!! TAKE IT ON!! I promise you...just being AWARE of your FUN meter in one area will shine lights on other areas...this is an extraordinary opportunity to PLAY! Life is short...its your GAME!!

PLAY like your 6 again...TAG YOUR IT!!

Want a nutritional supplement to support the game you are out to play? Get it NOW

Join my sexy readers club and LIKE ME on Facebook or TWEET ME on Twitter so you are continually plugged into a community committed to GREATNESS!!

If this moved you to action today...SHARE BELOW...your story may inspire someone else and change their life!!

Join the movement...Donate today to Living Water International, because THIS community right here...that you are a part of... is out to make a measurable difference in 2012!!

B the Light!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Who Will Cry When You Die?

I usually post by Tuesday...here it is Thursday and I find myself struggling to get words on paper.  I am committed to being the light and I find the flame dim this week.  I pray that you find inspiration and take action in your own life with what I have to share.

This week I am present to Who Will Cry When You Die? Morbid yes...but let me paint this picture for you.   My grandmother died at 89 years old with no will,  5 funeral attendees and less in assets than what it would take a family of 4 to go to a Blues Hockey game. 

With that... we can walk away with 2 big ideas:

1.  Do you have your paperwork taken care of...will or trust?
2.  How many lives will you impact in your lifetime? 



Get your paperwork taken care of

What is in the mind of an 89 year old person who has survived 3 types of cancer, lung replacement, mastectomy, and a gamut of other health issues...to die without a will?  Did she think she didn't have enough to matter? Did she think if she didn't have a will she wouldn't die?  Death is inevitable, folks.   You may not have much or you may have millions...but if you don't designate where things are to go you are leaving that up to our court system and a trail of destruction for your loved ones. 

I spent 6 hours in court on Tuesday watching my mother melt away in tears of hurt and anger as we were forced to testify before a probate judge...Happy Valentine's day to us!!!   My grandmother borrowed a significant amount of money over 5 year period to help supplement her expenses.  We were told by my grandmother, it was in writing, that the means of repayment was upon death out of the sale of her condo, her only asset.  Of which was worth 1/3 of what my grandparents originally paid for it.

No will, no writing...repayment of this loan in the hands of a judge...and what's left after that....peanuts.  89 years of life of nothing and a trail of destruction for your loved ones.

Why do I share this intimate conversation with you?  Because this ordeal with my grandma it gave me the courage to ask my dad...hey do you have your shit in writing so I don't have to go through this with you...and guess what? He doesn't either. 

Maybe its just my family...ask your parents...get a copy and get your will done too right??!!  Yeah...its an uncomfortable conversation...but is so important.  Peace of mind and power can me found in the courage to take this on!!

My husband and I will have ours done by the end of 2012....you have my word.

How many lives are you impacting in your lifetime?

I think I am most impacted by this question this week.  Who will cry when you die?  Will the funeral home be busting at the seams with people coming to pay respect, give thanks and share the stories about how YOU impacted thier life?  I would like to think if you are reading this you are one of the great ones out to make a difference.  It takes something to BE that.  What legacy will you leave behind for your kids and grandkids?  What will they remember you for?  Who are they because you helped them find their light?

Take 10 minutes right now and look into your life and your actions...will you be the 89 year old with no will, 5 funeral attendees and enough in assets to cover a night at a hockey game?  What actions can you take today to begin to create a life bigger than you know yourself to be?

Join my sexy readers club and LIKE ME on Facebook or TWEET ME on Twitter so you are continually plugged into a community committed to GREATNESS!!

If this moved you to action today...SHARE BELOW...your story may inspire someone else and change their life!!

Join the movement...Donate today to Living Water International, because THIS community right here...that you are a part of... is out to make a measurable difference in 2012!!

B the Light!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

What Can You Possibly See?

Are you ready for the BIG KAHUNA? Fasten your seat belts for this wicked ride!!  This idea is RADICALLY transformational, can be applied to EVERY area of your life, and is the key to an EXTRAORDINARY-U!!  Thank you Landmark Education!!

Is it possible our whole life is DRIVEN by the VIEW behind OUR CURRENT SET OF GOGGLES?


What do I mean by that?  What is possible or not possible for you comes from the CONTEXT from which you are living.

What's context? The dictionary defines context as the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc.

Let me be clear here...you ALREADY have a context for each and every area of your life...whether you know it or not...your body, health, relationships, your job, money, family, friends, anything...everything...

Where do these contexts come from...SHIT HAPPENS... and we as humans make something up about what happened....from that... a context is formed in our mind...we put on a pair of goggles that ALTERS the view of reality...and then we go out and try to live life!!

What shows up?

CONTEXT DECIDES.  There are things you cannot see or hear inside of your context.  And its these things that you cannot see or hear that LIMIT YOU from living an extraordinary life...having it all or maybe anything at all...living and playing full out... 

Want to know the key to access to a new set of goggles??!!
  1. Distinguish the context you are already in....identify it...I will give you some examples in a moment.  But when you distinguish the context you are living... in a particular area of your life...it disappears it!! 
  2. Practice CREATING a context that GIVES you LIFE
Simple and profound.  But when you get this big idea...when you know it...you will never be the same because you now have ACCESS to transform each and every area of your life that is important to you.  Yes it takes some practice as the old context will try to creep in from time to time...that's why you are plugged in here...a community committed to greatness...we can remind you...to try on a new pair of goggles...and see what you might see...



Let's play with this a bit so you get what I am talking about here...so take a peek into your life...take a look at what is the context from which you are living?

When I did this I saw for myself...I'm not good enough and I have to work hard.  So if I am walking around with the goggles of I'm not good enough and I have to work hard....what shows up?

Let me REALLY wrap your brain around the ideas of possible and not possible here...I want this to be so clear when you take it back to your life....

So when you think of possible or not possible think of yellow and blue...What's possible? Light, dark, green...you tracking with me? yeah...

What's NOT possible? Red right...inside the context of yellow and blue...you will never get (see or hear) red....clear??!!


Ok back to life...So if I am walking around with the goggles of I'm not good enough and I have to work hard...

What's possible (yellow and blue)?  Failure, exhaustion, no satisfaction, undeserving, losing, divorce, obesity, never realizing my greatest potential, never making a difference

What's NOT possible (red)?  Success, accomplishment, love, being loved, wining, ease, joy, making a difference, being valued, self worth, fun, abundance

Can you begin to see it?  So I got my goggles on of I'm not good enough and I have to work hard...and I am beating my self up trying to win the game of life that is NOT even possible from the context that I am living.  Someone says...I love you...I don't hear it.  Someone says awesome job on that project...I don't hear it, feel it, receive it.  Someone says you look amazing...I don't believe it.  Are you beginning to get the big idea here? 

What else happens...I play small. Why? I'm not good enough and I am sick and tired of working HARD.  But is that reality? NO that's the story I made up because of junk in my truck (my past).

What can you begin to see in your own life?  What is the context in which you have been living?  This may feel like a splash in the face for some...its ok...really...its just the human machine!!

And these contexts are a familiar strings that runs through our lives right...like I didn't make this up last week...you get that? I can look down memory lane and see I'm not good enough and I have to work hard all over the place....its ugly...and we get stopped based on a historical conversation.

So what do we do about it?  1.  Distinguish it....go oh...there it is...and the goggles fall off.  And what are you left with?  A BLANK CANVAS FROM WHICH TO DESIGN YOUR LIFE!! 2.  Create new!! Its your life you get to SAY...your actions will be a direct result from the CONTEXT FROM WHICH YOU CREATE....watch...

Let's create a new context....This body is the vehicle for the rest of my life that's going to go out into the world and accomplish what there is to accomplish.  PUT THE GOGGLES ON...


What's possible (yellow and blue)? health, vitality, joy, youth into my 90s, success, action, kicking the pants out of cancer, running your first race, love, sex, intimacy, self satisfaction

What's NOT possible (red)?

So what is beginning to open up for you here? What do you see possible? What context have you been living from?  What context do you want to take on?

Join my sexy readers club and LIKE MEon Facebook or TWEET ME on Twitter so you are continually plugged into a community committed to GREATNESS!!

If this moved you to action today...SHARE BELOW...your story may inspire someone else and change their life!!

Join the movement...Donate today to Living Water International, because THIS community right here...that you are a part of... is out to make a measurable difference in 2012!!

B the Light!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

What is in your Grinch Sack?

October 2007 I got real clear...I was living life with a big ol' sack o' crap swung over my shoulder...and it was doing me no good! 



What do I mean by this?  When I was roughly 15, my mom lost her job and my dad left us in the same month...those are the facts right?  But WHAT DID I DO?  I made it MEAN something...like I'm not good enough, men are going to leave me, there is nothing safe or stable in my life...are you trackin' with me?  And then what?  I stuffed it in a sack and swung it over my shoulder and kept on truckin' through life...right? 

We as humans...this is what we do!! Oh things are FINE...the past is the past....blah blah blah. NO...my behavior, my actions, my way of being GOT ALTERED.

So me and this altered way of being entered into a few more "relationships" that end in dismal failure and then I say  See? See? Look... there's confirmation of all that crap in my sack!!  And my behavior, my actions, my way of being got altered some more.  Again and again and again...

Then... Tada....I enter into a marriage. 


You know what I am talking about, right?  This is hilarious to me now but so true...but I invite you to take a look at your own life... what keep showing up for you?  What are the patterns running in your life?  What is in your Grinch Sack that you have swung over your shoulder that is draggin' you down??!! Like you are tip toeing around, hunched over and this Grinch Sack...it's stealing your identity...it's robbing you of life, vitality, SELF, happiness, success...and so much more...Can you see it?

Now we as humans don't do this intentionally of course...but when we don't look at our life or go to work on an area that is important to us...we just are NOT PRESENT to the IMPACT of our past...it DRAMATICALLY ALTERS THE FUTURE WE ARE LIVING INTO

Make sense?  Yeah...and your past is going to keep showing up unless you go to work on it....THEN what is possible? ANYTHING!!!  Like you get to be YOU and not the sum of the crap in your sack...EXTRAORDINARY. Yes??!! 

Is your big ol Grinch Sack keeping you from the life you have always wanted?  Does it keep you playing small?  Are you living your life, marriage, relationships, or even your job...with one foot out the door?  Are you behaving in a way that really leaves them no option but to leave or fire you?

Use your power hour today to really look at your life and just notice the difference between the facts...like something happened.... and the STORY WE MADE UP about what happened.  And DO NOT make yourself wrong about the story...just go...OH...I made that up...look at that...and begin to watch your Grinch Sack evaporate!!

Take on being COURAGEOUS today and look inside your big sack...you will begin to see patterns... When you begin to see patterns, you can begin to make better choices. With better choices you will get extraordinary results! 

Don't know what the power hour is?  Check out Can you REALLY have it all?

Join my sexy readers club and LIKE ME on Facebook or TWEET ME on Twitter so you are continually plugged into a community committed to GREATNESS!!

If this moved you to action today...SHARE BELOW...your story may inspire someone else and change their life!! 

Join the movement...Donate today to Living Water International, because THIS community right here...that you are a part of... is out to make a measurable difference in 2012!! 


B the Light!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Can you REALLY have it ALL?

Can you REALLY have it ALL? Can you have work life balance?  Can you take on a 5k, spend more quality time with your family and get promoted?  This is a great question posed by one of my readers and I think it is one that plagues so many of us.  I will respectfully propose to you... ABSOLUTELY!! 

What is "work life balance" anyway? 

Work Life Balance is really a balance between PERFORMANCE and PLEASURE


I go to work on this DAILY. It really is daily choices over time and practice to get it right....but once you do...you have this AHA moment (thank you Oprah)...it feels SO good and you are like...I did it!  I rocked this day! I have it ALL and I figure out the DANCE between performance and pleasure. WOOT WOOT!!

SMALL DAILY CHANGES OVER TIME...
 LEAD TO EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS!! 

4 simple and essential steps to get EXTRAORDINARY-U to work life balance:

1.  TAKE ON YOUR HEALTH.

How do I know this?  I have experienced this in my own life!  2 years ago, I couldn't run a city block, rapidly approaching 200 pounds, my job in jeopardy, my marriage on the rocks, my mothering...well what example was I REALLY setting? 

Now I am running marathons, lost almost 50 pounds, getting raises, reconciling relationships,..I am doing things I have never done before, really don't know how to do technically but I am pushing myself bigger than I ever knew possible.

HOW??!! Because I took on my health!! Robin Sharma will say, "You can't do good unless you feel good."   Your PERFORMANCE at work is ENHANCED.  You are more EFFICIENT and JOYFUL.  And then at the end of the day you still have the ENERGY to play with your kids or go visit your parents, cook a healthy meal, or take on a new adventure.  My husband lost 25 pounds just because I was cooking differently and we were making different choices. 

So TAKE ON YOUR HEALTH!  Be Sexy! 

2.  JOIN THE 5 O'CLOCK CLUB

What is this?  So many of us are like...well I wanna take on my health and I wanna lose 15 pounds but I just don't have the time!! (as we stop our foot) 

You want work life balance? SET YOUR ALARM FOR 5AM!! It may be the most powerful thing you do all year.  What is the big idea here? You get up just 1 hour before the rest of the household and take that hour for YOU. 

Do you realize if you get up just 1 hour earlier each day at the end of the week you would have 7 extra hours...that's almost a full work day!  At the end of the month you would have almost 30 extra hours!! At the end of the year you would actually have gained 365 hours or 15.2 DAYS...that's over 2 weeks!!  In 10 years...3,610 hours or 150 days!! DO YOU GET THAT??!! You have the knowledge and power to gain almost a HALF A YEAR to your life!! WOW that's a BIG IDEA!! What are you going to do with it??!!

Take this hour as your POWER HOUR!! Go to the gym, yoga, meditate, journal, blog, or just sit and BE, envision your dreams, plan your day, and drink your coffee. When you take this hour for you...you begin to know yourself...and when you begin to know yourself...you can begin to make better choices....with better choices you will get better results.

How do I know this? My alarm goes off at 4:30 am, I lace up my shoes and bust a run in.  I come back and meditate (something new I am taking on), hit the showers and rock out my day!  I FOUND me...in this hour....like IT TAKES SOMETHING to have this commitment...you take this on...it will open up new possibilities in your life you NEVER thought possible!!


3.  IDENTIFY YOUR COMMITMENTS & COMMUNICATE THEM

So we all have things we are committed to in different areas of our lives...like this blog...I am committed to being the light, inspiring and motivating with posts a minimum of 2 times a week...right?  So I just told you that and you can hold me to that :)

Let's take that to the work life balance dance floor....  What are you really committed to in that area of your life?

Well, what I did was literally took out a piece of paper and around the area of work life balance (with really work in mind) I answered the question.  Here was the list I came up with:

I am committed to:
  • My word...like if I say I going to do something...I do it
  • Quality work
  • Our shareholders
  • Deadlines
  • Being a team player...like you need me...I am there
  • Respect and honoring my leaders
  • Having a LIFE that works
I took my list and had a meeting with my manager...(btw...your list is no good if you don't let others in on what you are up to and what you are creating) and I said...look I am committed to these things, like this is who I AM.  Now my manager KNOWS what I am committed to and really can hold me accountable for these commitments. POWERFUL, yes??!! 

This is where the balance comes in...so INSIDE my commitments... I am committed to having A LIFE THAT WORKS....and a life that works for me means being there at special moments of my daughter's life (this is just one example so you get the point). So I ask for an adjustment to my schedule to be able to attend my daughter's holiday parties at school. She has 3 a year, they are 1 hour long, 1:30pm - 2:30pm and it is IMPORTANT to me that I attend these. I want to know my daughter's world, ya know??!!

So when these holiday parties came up...my managers and I created a plan around my schedule that works! Each time maybe alittle different depending on the timing of the year and the flow of work. But we got it...a beautiful dance to the melody of work life balance....my work gets a POWERFUL, COMMITTED, DEDICATED ME and I get this amazing moment in my daughter's life where I can meet her friends and really see who she is in her world...all in the same day!

So what are you committed to? Communicate that and begin to unlock that area of your life that is important to you!

4.  SCHEDULE EVERYTHING

Schedule everything!!! What gets scheduled gets done...that's a big idea! 

You have a meeting at work...you get an invite...you accept the invite...and you show up at the meeting right? Easy. Same thing...you make a doctor or hair appointment...you put it on your calender...you arrive on site on the day of your appointment at the appropriate time. No brainer...yes?

Back on the work life balance dance floor....So now you take on this new adventure of your health...schedule it! 5k training runs...schedule it!! Church...schedule it! Sexy adventures...schedule it! The power hour...schedule it!! Sleep...sometimes I have to schedule it!!!  What gets scheduled gets done!!

I am sure you are like really??!! YES REALLY!! Your calendar is the perfect picture (its proof) of what you are committed too...whoa!  What do I mean here?  Ok...I live and breathe by Google Calender...if you are not familiar with it...it is an amazingly powerful tool...I have a calender set up for my daughter (blue), husband (red), family (orange) work(purple), me (green), personal development (dark green), my business (bright green), birthdays, etc etc....and each one is assigned  a different color.  I can view my calenders layered on each other or alone.  You can access via the web or my phone, set alarms, pop ups etc.  At one glance, in vivid color...I can see my day...

SMALL DAILY CHANGES OVER TIME...
LEAD TO EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS!!

So if you are striving for work life balance...your calender should look like a rainbow...filled with a BALANCE between PERFORMANCE & PLEASURE!!

Join my sexy readers club and LIKE ME on Facebook or TWEET ME on Twitter so you are continually plugged into a community committed to GREATNESS!! 

If this moved you to action today...SHARE BELOW...your story may inspire someone else and change thier life!!

B the Light!!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Did you see me?!?? Did you, huh? Huh?

Did you ever show up and show off and it seemed like no one even noticed? 


What do I mean by that...did you cook a great meal that your family didn't appreciate? Did you really ROCK a project at work and they said hey that's "doing your job"?  Maybe you spent all day cleaning the house, went out of your way to do that extra then you turn around to see your family dump their junk all over the kitchen table.


So you get it...you go and do something but when you stop, look around... no one saw or cared.  What was the impact of that in your life?  How did that make you feel?


I got REALLY present to this tonight.  My 5 year old daughter attends Little Gym.   She traditionally is the youngest and smallest in her class but seems to excel at a rapid rate...and I asked myself WHY?  I was never in gymnastics or really never played a sport.  My husband was a soccer stud but hang from bars and balance beams were not his thing :)  We don't work on this stuff at home etc etc...  HOW? WHY?


So I look around the room and really noticed something...actually frightful to me...every parent in the room was sitting there with their heads down on their ipads, ipods, phones, blackberry...whatever, you get the idea. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.  I had noticed this before but it really clicked for me tonight...


Now don't get me wrong, I am a work in progress. I have screwed up a ton in the past and will continue to screw a ton up in the future...


BUT for that 1 hour my daughter is in Little Gym my eyes are all on HER.  I get to see her COURAGE and DETERMINATION.  Her TRIUMPHS and STRUGGLES.  I am so often moved to tears when I watch her...in awe with every challenge she takes on!!


She is SHOWING UP and SHOWING OFF and just wants someone to notice.  And what's the impact of that??!! She gets more courage, confidence, joy,  and fun and eventually excels at what she does.  


We all get these tiny moments to build trust, love & respect with our kids...they are tiny blocks on top of blocks.  Don't miss this one.


I encourage you...next time you are at your kids function...LOOK UP!  Keep the phone, ipads, ipods, blackberry IN THE CAR.


Appreciate them for all they are and all they are not...and then share what you saw with them!!!


I guarantee the impact of THAT moment will be MORE fulfilling than unlocking the 9th level of Angry Birds. 


B the light (your kids are watching)

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