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(Recently posted at www.lifebeforebusiness.com)
In Don Miguel Ruiz’ “The Four Agreements”, the fourth agreement is “Always Do Your Best”. If you’re like me, when I first heard that I should always do my best my definition of what that meant skated mighty closely to the edge of what I understood “being perfect” meant. (more…)
(recently posted at www.lifebeforebusiness.com)
Recently, I heard a report on NPR about soldiers being diagnosed with PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome) and was reminded about my own battle with PTSD many years ago. My youth, to say the least, was a constant battle of turnover and turmoil with the ultimate crescendo being a violent automobile accident that put me in the hospital for two months. During that year I died twice and through the beauty of health and science was brought back to face another day. (more…)
Since November of last year I’ve been on my own special kind of “sacred path” which has included understanding what I love to do for my work (life coaching, writing, being on the radio) and realizing the major beliefs that I’ve been operating under (people will think I’m a mix-matched plaid suited wearing salesperson if I ask them to coach with me, I don’t have the educational background to be a good writer and I’m too old to make a career of being on the radio). (more…)
(recently posted at www.lifebeforebusiness.com)
I’m still mulling over the movie “Pan’s Labyrinth” three days later. It is an “adult” fairy tale set in 1944 Spain during the Franco regime. The heroine is an 11-year old girl named Ofelia who travels with her pregnant mother to live with the evil step-father who commands a fascist outpost. The movie, which is directed by Guillermo Del Toro, exquisitely tells the story of the horrors of the reality of Ofelia’s life under the control of her step-father while allowing us to escape into Ofelia’s fantasy world filled with fairies and fauns. Like the DNA double helix the stories intertwine to the very end so that you are left wondering what was real and what may have been a creative psychological outlet for the overwhelming experiences of a little girl. The fantasy fairy tale outlet makes it safer for us to realize the reality of what is really going on. (more…)
(recently published at www.lifebeforebusiness.com)
If there is a way for me to take a benign positive movie such as “The Secret” and turn it into a rocket ship fueled by neurosis to ponder and argue within my head about every positive point made in the movie—then I have done it. I conducted this “mind dance” for several months before I realized that I had caught myself up inside of a hopeless spiral with no end in sight. (more…)
(currently posted at www.lifebeforebusiness.com)
I’m a citizen of the great ole U.S. of A. which means that during this time of year, “we” celebrate Thanksgiving. At this time, most of us gather with family and friends to give thanks for the country that we are blessed to live within. (more…)
Much has been written and talked about “Affirmations”. Every day we are assuaged with negativity from our radios, televisions, newspapers, internet, the way we treat each other, and from our own brains. Some of us have extremely sensitive nervous systems and “feel” all this negativity on all of our conscious levels, some–not so sensitive–but still receiving the negativity. Any way we look at it, countering all the negativity with affirmations can only help us. (more…)
Consultants from around the world coming into Austin, I can see where my friend may have had a point. We are each diplomats of our own country. More importantly we are diplomats of the human race. Through the years I’ve come to know many peoples from India and have queried them (as much as they would allow!) about their experience being Indian. What does that mean to them? How has being born in different areas of India impacted them? What are their beliefs? Same with people from other countries such as Pakistan, China, Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa, Viet Nam. The list is endless. The questions are too! The most valuable gift I received from a Cultural Discrimination class was to ask people their experience of being them–don’t assume you know, because you don’t. (more…)
One of my greatest strengths is my ability to walk into a room full of people and, at least most of the time, have a good sense of where most of the people are “coming from” so that I can act in away that allows the people that I meet to feel comfortable and safe. This ability is also a double-edged sword because I can slip deeply into a vague way of communicating without being aware of it. In other words, I water down who I am so that I can be perceived well from many view points. (more…)
Have you seen the very end of “Men in Black” where the aliens are playing dice with planets (and Earth is one of them!)? It reminds me that there are all these little worlds within our world. I’ve always been fascinated by groups of people who seem to be in their “own little world” — pick a subject: Scuba divers, runners, doll collectors, digital photographers, Coaches, therapists..etc. etc. etc. Like a Venn Diagram our worlds overlap each other constantly. (more…)