January 15, 2007
January 15, 2007 Issue #36
Welcome to the newsletter where playing more and stressing less is taken seriously. It's written with the intention to support you in living a life with more passion and play and less worry and work.IN THIS ISSUE...
No Excuses. No Settling. No Kidding.
Retreating to New Zealand
StumbleUpon
The Pursuit of Happyness
The Treadmill Dance
Ways to Play Today:
Pay for the Other Guy's Coffee
Hug Until You Feel a Heartbeat
Something to Ponder:
What's your excuse?
"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious."
~Rumi
My Playground
The article, the message, the thing to make you go hmmm...
~No Excuses. No Settling. No Kidding.
Happy New Year! I hope your holiday celebrations were fun and festive and the first fifteen days of 2007 have been memorable ones for you. If you were one of the millions of people that made resolutions or set intentions a little more than two weeks ago, congrats on being goal-oriented and committed to creating and having something you want in your life. I made a few of them myself and some cause my heart to thump harder than others. Despite the rapid palpitations I'm experiencing right now as I write this sentence, I'm going to share the two that make me shake in my shoes the most. I will write my book this year and I want to inspire millions of people in my lifetime.
Yeah, I said millions. Does that sound a little out there? Perhaps a wee bit unrealistic? I thought so too when I first decided it was something I wanted to do. It's a pretty big number and I really don't have a way of measuring it, but it's the number I keep coming back to and it's what I've committed to. I didn't attend the party that my ego hosted in favor of my decision. Instead I listened to the words my spirit spoke which were, "You don't need to know HOW, just KNOW that you will." Yeah, I thought that sentiment sounded a little woo-woo to me as well, but I listened to it just the same. Like most things in life, it's much easier said than done. But then, is it? Is it possible that we can achieve anything we set our hearts ands minds to if we're really clear about what we want and we take consistent steps towards having it? If we live our lives according to our own truths, how can we not pay attention to the voice within that knows us so well?
Here's a Truth...Women Retreats are a beautiful thing.
Here's the cog in the wheel though; many of us don't tell the truth. We lie to ourselves. We make excuses. We settle. And I'll be the first one to raise my hand and say I've done all three of those things. I'm sure there are a few ex-boyfriends that would vouch for me in the "Liar, liar pants on fire" department. Seriously, I am so done with pointing the finger at someone else, coming up with reasons that make no sense and talking myself out of things I really want. Discovering our own truths is a life-long process, but telling the truth begins the moment you take full responsibility for everything that is your life. Yep, I said everything. How's that for some New Year wisdom? Listen to some wisdom of your own by considering the things in your life you're not telling the truth about.
Five Little Lies of My Own
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Think of one thing that you know you really want. Consider what your life would be like if you had it right now. How do you feel? What do you notice? Which one of your lies keeps you from having the very thing you want? I'm here to tell you that telling yourself the truth and living an authentic life IS all it's cracked up to be. Is it painful at times? Yes. Does it impact the lives of others? For sure. Will it help you have what you want in life? Absolutely. When you honestly take a good look at how you show up in your job, your relationships, in any area of your life and there's something you either don't like or don't want, take a closer look. Where are you not being real with yourself and/or with others? Consider that the lies we tell ourselves are usually much bigger than the ones we tell others. When you start telling yourself the truth about your own life, it will open up in ways you might not have ever imagined. You may not know HOW it will open up, but KNOW it will. Life with no excuses and no settling is an amazing life. No kidding.
Personal Recommendations for books, music, websites and all resources fun!
StumbleUpon This website comes with the following warning: Some of the videos you may come across (or stumble upon as it were) will cause uncontrollable laughter, profound disgust, a sense of awe and/or utter confusion. If you're tired of looking for entertaining videos by playing with the search engines, play with this website instead. You can select from a variety of categories such as dancing, humor or sports and with a click of a button, a random assortment of films will play according to your interests. You can also rank videos with a thumbs-up or down and the program will find ones for your viewing pleasure that are somewhat similar to those you enjoy. Click away, I say!
The Pursuit of Happyness - A Movie
In a nutshell, Will Smith rocks. I've always enjoyed his comedic roles and after seeing this movie, he gets my respect and admiration as a 'serious' actor. Oftentimes, actors get pegged into playing the same kind of characters over and over not only because they're good at playing them, but because their fans expect them to be in certain roles. It's refreshing to see a celebrity who's known for a specific type of work taking on something different. Based on a true-life story, the movie tells the tale of a man named Chris Gardner who is a struggling single dad trying to create a better life for himself and his son. With not much education or job experience, he uses his sales abilities and personable nature to convince some stuffy suits in a prestigious stock brokerage firm to accept him into a six-week, non-paid internship program. Hope lies in the promise of a job at the firm if he ends up being the one person they select out of twenty candidates. It's certainly a story of struggle, sacrifice and determination, but it's also a tender story of incredible love between a father and a son. Will Smith's son plays the role of Chris' son and his performance is just as credible as his dad's. Once you see the movie, you'll never look at Rubik's Cubes in the same way. And yes, I know how to spell happiness. See the movie and you'll understand the "y".
What's Up at Playful Spirit?
This past weekend I had the immense pleasure of facilitating a retreat for eight women at the beach. We laughed. We cried. We learned a lot from each other. I say 'we' as opposed to 'they' because I felt just as much a participant as I did as a facilitator. The fact that these eight women were personal friends of mine certainly made it easy to engage in the activities and conversations we had, but the truth is...I wouldn't lead a workshop or retreat any other way. Yes, I plan our agenda. Yes, I create a safe and comfortable space for the women to share their thoughts and feelings. However, it's much different now than when I first began leading workshops seven years ago. I am no longer the person standing in front of the room delivering the message. I am the woman sitting in the circle being the message. At a certain point during the weekend, the message became very clear. This showing up, being real and playing big stuff is all about inspiring people to tell the truth. I'M all about inspiring people to tell the truth and how I do that is by doing it myself. Gulp. I can hardly wait to meet the women who will be attending my next retreat that I'm co-facilitating with Carla Blazek at Breitenbush Hot Springs. I hope you'll be one of them.
I'm excited to share with you I'm now a columnist for the Cannon Beach Gazette newspaper which serves the beach community my husband and I live in part-time. The column is called "A Sense of Place" and twice a month, I'll be writing stories about the people who live there and the reasons why they do. The editor/owner and I are still developing the column's identity, but I just know it's going to be great fun. The first article came out a few days ago and I've already received an email from someone who responded to my request for story ideas. I don't aspire to be a full-time journalist, but I have to say I'm pretty thrilled to have my own column. Watch out, Dear Abby.
In nine days, I'll be traveling with my husband and his son to the other side of the planet for three weeks of summertime. New Zealand in January and February is the perfect place to be. Even though my white legs will be a scary sight initially, I'm looking forward to wearing shorts and slapping on some sunscreen. I'm looking forward to writing while I'm away and sharing stories of the South Pacific with you on my blog. The day we arrive, James' dad will be turning ninety years old. Traveling six thousand miles to see the look on those two men's faces when they see each other will be the best part of this trip.
Life is good.
Giggles & Guffaws
An amusing story, joke, anecdote or picture to tickle your funnybone
This video is more entertaining than funny, but if you can imagine one of the four guys forgetting their 'dance steps' on the treadmills, you'd have yourself a very good giggle indeed. Check out: Ok Go
Ways to Play Today
Why not...pay for the other guy's coffee?
The next time you're standing in line for your favorite cup of joe, plunk a few more dollars down on the counter and buy a cup of morning goodness for someone else. Spending that extra $5.00 will make you and the two recipients of your considerate gesture feel wonderful the rest of the day. Why $5.00? Tell the cashier to keep whatever change is left over from the next person's order. Never underestimate the power of those small and random acts of kindness. Don't be surprised when you take the first sip of your own beverage and find it's the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had.
Why not...hug until you feel a heartbeat?
One of my girlfriends inspired me to come up with this way to play. She knows how to give the kind of hugs that leave you breathless. I'm not talking about the kind where it feels like an anaconda is squeezing the very life out of you. I'm talking about the kind of nurturing hug that lets you know how much someone loves you. You know, the kind you never want to let go of. I've seen people who hug and try to avoid touching each other. It looks like a hug, but it's really not. It's an air-hug because there's really no body contact. If you don't want to really hug someone, shake their hand instead. A hug that feels as though no one is there is no kind of hug at all. Hug hard and hug long. If you hug someone as though it might be the last time you'll get a chance to do so, you're likely to not only feel that person's heartbeat, but you'll feel them hugging you back just the same. And that is a very good thing.
Something to Ponder
Questions designed to stimulate your thinking AND encourage you to take action towards what you want.
Where in your life are you making excuses or settling?
Why are you doing either or both of those things?
Care to share what these questions stir up in you?
Send me an e-mail.
I welcome your thoughts and will respond to all e-mails received.
If you want to find out more about the work I do as a facilitator, writer and inspirational speaker check out Playful Spirit. Make sure you come back and visit every so often as you never know what kind of resources and fun stuff I'll be playing around with and adding to the website.
Thanks for reading this issue of Lighten Up! If you enjoyed it, please pass it along to your friends, your family, your co-workers...You get the idea. May this year be the one in which you find the courage and confidence to tell your own truths and live up to them.
See you on February 19th!
Lisa
~Playful Spirit's mission is to inspire people to show up, be real and play big.~
lisa@playful-spirit.com www.playful-spirit.com