Tag: aha

Brilliant Sparks… Not

When you are feeling stuck in a rut what steps do you take to get out? I am discovering the steps that work for me but am wondering what works for others. I have been in a rut before and know the signs. When I am in a rut, I feel listless and dull. I have no energy and dread the day. I start believing everyone feels the same and that we are dragging each other deeper into the rut. Deeper and deeper, making escape seem impossible. I avoid people, I avoid social situations, I even avoid conversation, as they all irritate me. I try hard to not let others see my irritation but am not always successful.

Yes, when stuck in a rut I am not much fun to be around. Hey – don’t judge, I bet when you are stuck, you aren’t much fun either…

Image by rihaij from Pixabay
Continue reading “Brilliant Sparks… Not”

Finding it Impossible to Change? Try This!

I am a 50 something year old woman who is learning to embrace the gray by being comfortable in my own skin and by  letting go of societal expectations regarding what success, work, and retirement looks like. Several years ago, I took 2 months off to hang with Fran after hip surgery. After those 2 months, I went back to  full-time work as an Occupational Therapist in a Skilled Nursing Facility. But I returned a different person with a whole new set of priorities in life. My biggest goal became moving back to the Finger Lakes so I could be near my family, my honey and the lake.

Going back to work was tough!

Continue reading “Finding it Impossible to Change? Try This!”

Heads Up!

You know that feeling when you get into intense concentration mode? Your head is down and you are focused on the task at hand. You have a deadline to meet, a goal to reach, a task to complete. You don’t have time for anything else and you do not want to be disturbed. You won’t stop to stretch, to pee or even to get a drink of water. Depending on what you need to get done and how far along in the process, this can be overwhelming or satisfying.

Some of us are so stressed we never get out of this mode. We always feel under the gun, far behind and unable to catch up. Can you think back to a time when you felt like this? I know I can and my stomach turns just thinking about the pressure. When I am under a great deal of pressure, I start to shut down. I am unable to think about anything other than completing the work.

Heads Down leads to stress…

Continue reading “Heads Up!”

Looking for Inspiration

In a recent blog post, I wrote about when we get stuck going through the motions of life, not pursuing our personal destination. We become busy, busy, busy  spinning our wheels but not really getting anywhere. In that post I shared that sometimes we need to slow down, slow way down by taking quiet time on a daily basis to help us stay on the path toward our destination.

What can we do when our destination needs updating, needs some adjusting in order to remain viable? As we grow, we change and what we envisioned in the past would be an appropriate path to be on is not quiet right anymore.

What happens when we don’t know our destination? What can we do to help figure out how we want to live, how we want to spend our time, who we want to spend it with, what type of work would nourish our soul?

Maybe some changes are in order…

Continue reading “Looking for Inspiration”

Busy, Busy, Busy

When did busy become a good response to “how are you”? Do people take pride in being busy or is it just the state of affairs for many of us? Is it just a way to give a neutral one word response to a simple question or a reason to mutter it and keep hustling along to the next task that life throws our way?

We are busy. Busy busting our chops to earn an income, busy spending our hard-earned money on shiny new gadgets. Busy taking care of our families. Busy socializing with our friends.  Busy at work, busy at home – busy, busy, busy!

If you dream of living your life in a manner that maximizes health, wealth and happiness; then I suggest you slow down. Sometimes we get so caught up in being busy that we forget to think about the big picture. We forget our true goals and lose sight of; or worse never determine our destination.

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road can take you there”

Lewis Carroll

“If you don’t know where you are going, you might end up someplace else”

Yogi Berra

Continue reading “Busy, Busy, Busy”

Solve Impossible Problems

I spent the day in quiet solitude.

I had a few easy tasks to complete today, an interesting book to read and some thinking to do. I love days like this!

The high temperature today is 29 degrees here in the Finger Lake Region of New York State. There is a fresh coat of snow on the ground and it is calm and still outside. The sky is a beautiful blue with big, white clouds loitering on the horizon. The sun is shining brightly, reflecting off of the snow and it is blinding. Too bad I can’t find my sunglasses.

A day like this!

Other than venturing out to walk my dog, I have been inside of my house, sitting on the couch, relaxing all day. I consider myself blessed to have opportunities like this to regroup, to think, to unwind.

So many people simply don’t know how to relax. They are hyper-focused on one thing and never stop to smell the coffee much less the roses.

Take the time…

Continue reading “Solve Impossible Problems”

I Challenge YOU!

One year ago I picked up a book at the library by Allisom Rimm titled The Joy of Strategy: A Business Plan for Life”  The introduction begins with: “The joy of a life well lived – our work well done, our cherished ones well loved, our potential realized. Isn’t that what we’re all after? You don’t need to leave your dreams to chance.  However achieving this most fundamental and often elusive goal doesn’t just happen. It requires a strategy. To create a meaningful plan, you need a structured approach that guides your through the process of defining what is most important to you and what you must do to get it. The world’s most successful businesses do this as a matter of course, and there is no more essential business than the business of  your life”.

I read those words and got excited. I had already been doing a lot of soul searching and had a pretty good idea of what was important to me and the type of life I wanted to live. I had already gotten a taste of freedom by moving the lake and I wanted more!  At that time, the life I so desperately wanted looked like this:

idea-1855598_1920
What does your strategic life look like?

Continue reading “I Challenge YOU!”