It's not quite spring, but change is in the air.
Today was a challenging day in that the day thrust its need for change upon my work world.
A rock should never be shaken, for it is of the ground. So what happens when the entire earth below the rock gives way to the slope of hill upon which they both rest?
Changes happens. It's inevitable. It's scary. It challenges us and asks us to dig deep.
It also inspires. To dream. To go beyond. For as one door closes, another opens. What opportunity lay before you in this time of change? They key is being aware.
So today, I celebrate the change, even though it was challenging. Even though the days ahead, righting our footing from the avalanche, will continue to challenge us, it is an opportunity to reinvent ourselves.
And I think we are ready for that reinvention.
Moments being shaken to the core in an unforeseen avalanche.
Moments realizing, once the dust has settled, that it's time to rebuild.
Showing posts with label opportunity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label opportunity. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Moments D617: Resolutions and Self-Improvement
Today being New Year's Eve, people around me are talking about their coming New Year's resolution. I've never made a New Year's resolution. I never understood new year's resolutions. Okay, that's not entirely true. I never understood why at new year's beginning. I know, that seems silly and short-sighted of me because for most, the beginning of a new year offers the opportunity for reflection of the year past and the promise of new direction for the coming year. It's a tradition that has been handed down from the Babylonians who looked to start their year off on the right foot by earning the favour of their Gods via promises made at the turn of the year.
I get it. It's about renewal. Another chance to do something that you've been promising yourself for awhile. (How long has it been for you? Months? Years?) It's an opportunity to reflect on what you have (or not) accomplished off your list of goals and reset and refocus. By making a promise to yourself you might just push ahead to your goals.
But, did you know that "...88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail,despite the fact that 52% of the study's participants were confident of success at the beginning." It actually takes a lot of willpower to stick to big goals (and most New Year's resolutions are big goals). We struggle with that amount of willpower to be used in one sitting. According to those studies, it's best to break down your goals into smaller steps
So why is it that most wait a year to revisit that list? Why is it that it takes a change in the date for us to pause and reflect upon our path and direction it's taking us? Haven't we learned, through our failure rates over the years, that it's too much all at once to set lofty goals once a year?
I ask these questions because inevitably someone asks the question about resolutions on this day.
For me, I've always preferred to revisit my list of goals more often. It also allows for there to be multiple goals instead of one big one. I like to break out my goals into baby steps. Sometimes, as my nearest and dearest may attest to, I break them down into teeny-tiny steps. Some might call that micromanaging or overly attentive to detail, but for me, it's more about feeling like I can accomplish the steps I sets before me. I love to cross things off my list. What a sense of accomplishment that is for me.
Ultimately, I prefer to look upon every day as an opportunity to be a better me. An opportunity to revisit and refocus. It offers the ability to work on baby steps that I gravitate to that day, thus needing less willpower and energy. Every day I'm able to work just a little bit on the bigger picture. Does that mean I am successful daily? Hell no! But I guarantee you, that even with those failed days, I manage to move myself more forward at the end of a month than I would if I set myself a lofty one-off goal at the beginning of the year. For me, I need to pause and reflect often - each moment is a learning opportunity. I've never really formally dissected my beliefs on resolutions, so this has been a good exercise for me.
My resolution then, if push came to shove, is to be better at taking a moment every day to reflect upon the day passed. I want to continue to learn from the day before and to see opportunity in the day ahead of me in what I can do differently today. Sometimes it's to be more efficient. Sometimes it's to be more patient. Sometimes it's to be more kind to myself. Sometimes it's to focus more energy on my health, or offer more love to those in my circle. Some days I'm content to keep moving forward on that path and other days I find ways of slightly altering that path. You get the point.
I resolve to take a more conscious moment every day to reflect upon my path and the direction it's taking me. Every morning when I wake, I will pause and reflect upon the choices ahead of me for the day. Is today going to be a good day? Is today going to be a productive day? Is today going to be a day that I help someone else with their goals?
That's my moment today, recognizing that I have my own tradition of New Year's resolutions. And now, it will be a more formal daily activity. I wonder where that will take me.
One last thought for in my travels of finding the origins of resolutions I also came across this article about other New Year's traditions. Some of these other traditions celebrating the end of one year and the promise of a new one are interesting. Me, I think I may have to eat 12 grapes tonight and think of what I'd like each month to bring to me.
Moments reflection upon popular traditions that you don't follow.
Moments realizing you have your own and formalizing them.
I get it. It's about renewal. Another chance to do something that you've been promising yourself for awhile. (How long has it been for you? Months? Years?) It's an opportunity to reflect on what you have (or not) accomplished off your list of goals and reset and refocus. By making a promise to yourself you might just push ahead to your goals.
But, did you know that "...88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail,despite the fact that 52% of the study's participants were confident of success at the beginning." It actually takes a lot of willpower to stick to big goals (and most New Year's resolutions are big goals). We struggle with that amount of willpower to be used in one sitting. According to those studies, it's best to break down your goals into smaller steps
So why is it that most wait a year to revisit that list? Why is it that it takes a change in the date for us to pause and reflect upon our path and direction it's taking us? Haven't we learned, through our failure rates over the years, that it's too much all at once to set lofty goals once a year?
I ask these questions because inevitably someone asks the question about resolutions on this day.
For me, I've always preferred to revisit my list of goals more often. It also allows for there to be multiple goals instead of one big one. I like to break out my goals into baby steps. Sometimes, as my nearest and dearest may attest to, I break them down into teeny-tiny steps. Some might call that micromanaging or overly attentive to detail, but for me, it's more about feeling like I can accomplish the steps I sets before me. I love to cross things off my list. What a sense of accomplishment that is for me.
Ultimately, I prefer to look upon every day as an opportunity to be a better me. An opportunity to revisit and refocus. It offers the ability to work on baby steps that I gravitate to that day, thus needing less willpower and energy. Every day I'm able to work just a little bit on the bigger picture. Does that mean I am successful daily? Hell no! But I guarantee you, that even with those failed days, I manage to move myself more forward at the end of a month than I would if I set myself a lofty one-off goal at the beginning of the year. For me, I need to pause and reflect often - each moment is a learning opportunity. I've never really formally dissected my beliefs on resolutions, so this has been a good exercise for me.
My resolution then, if push came to shove, is to be better at taking a moment every day to reflect upon the day passed. I want to continue to learn from the day before and to see opportunity in the day ahead of me in what I can do differently today. Sometimes it's to be more efficient. Sometimes it's to be more patient. Sometimes it's to be more kind to myself. Sometimes it's to focus more energy on my health, or offer more love to those in my circle. Some days I'm content to keep moving forward on that path and other days I find ways of slightly altering that path. You get the point.
I resolve to take a more conscious moment every day to reflect upon my path and the direction it's taking me. Every morning when I wake, I will pause and reflect upon the choices ahead of me for the day. Is today going to be a good day? Is today going to be a productive day? Is today going to be a day that I help someone else with their goals?
That's my moment today, recognizing that I have my own tradition of New Year's resolutions. And now, it will be a more formal daily activity. I wonder where that will take me.
One last thought for in my travels of finding the origins of resolutions I also came across this article about other New Year's traditions. Some of these other traditions celebrating the end of one year and the promise of a new one are interesting. Me, I think I may have to eat 12 grapes tonight and think of what I'd like each month to bring to me.
Moments reflection upon popular traditions that you don't follow.
Moments realizing you have your own and formalizing them.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Moments D530: Dawn
Today I was up at 4 am so I could catch the first flight out to LA this morning. I needed to be there with EQ to support and participate in "Chicks Rock 2013". As I travelled West, I watched the sunrise from the air and I couldn't help but think about just how fitting that moment was for today's blog.
Fitting because it is my 600th blog. A milestone on its own.
Fitting because I continue to renew and redesign what my future path is. Every day offers me the opportunity to revisit and revise what it is I want and how I'm going to achieve that goal.
Fitting because today I am starting a new chapter in my life with this trip out to California.
A new dawn. Renewal. Rejuvenation. The promise of opportunity and adventure. No matter what comes next, it's coming. It's the ultimate promise of new beginnings.
There was a lot of emotion captured in those early morning moments of the morning. The depth of symbolism fit ever so perfectly.
Moments watching the sunrise.
Moments reflecting upon the opportunities that lie ahead - a new dawn.
Fitting because it is my 600th blog. A milestone on its own.
Fitting because I continue to renew and redesign what my future path is. Every day offers me the opportunity to revisit and revise what it is I want and how I'm going to achieve that goal.
Fitting because today I am starting a new chapter in my life with this trip out to California.
A new dawn. Renewal. Rejuvenation. The promise of opportunity and adventure. No matter what comes next, it's coming. It's the ultimate promise of new beginnings.
There was a lot of emotion captured in those early morning moments of the morning. The depth of symbolism fit ever so perfectly.
Moments watching the sunrise.
Moments reflecting upon the opportunities that lie ahead - a new dawn.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Moments D382: Contemplation Redux
Today was a bit of a strange day for me. I started this blog earlier, but wasn’t really sure, or able to find the words. Today, after a day spent sitting with the sadness and unease that fills me, I think I can explain.
I can sum it up by being a day of contemplation once again.
I suppose that’s what happens when things shift in your life and one is faced with the bigger questions in life. What’s the point? What’s my purpose. What is a need and what is a want. (Oh, my Mom would smile at that. She always asked us as kids to stop and consider if our request was a need or a want.) It’s that moment, after deep musings within, that you realize, or perhaps you are reminded, that every day is special. Every day is an opportunity to seize growth and learning and to push a little bit forward. To pause and be thankful for learning opportunities given to us, for without them we are stale, lost in the mundane day-to-day drudgery.
Yes, every day is special. How easily we forget this. And yet, how quickly we are reminded of that when a loved one faces an unnerving surgery.
That’s the moment when pieces of your past fall away and you realize that your present is everything. Every moment is special. And tomorrow, well, tomorrow is a gift. A gift of another opportunity. Another chance to do things better, more lovingly, more soulfully.
Sometimes sitting back and contemplating things is valuable to one’s perspective. Contemplating can (and did) stir up a flood of emotions. (Lost time, lost growth, missed opportunities, etc.) But what perspective it brings about what is most important.
Today - I celebrate that moment. That moment of meditative revelation of what’s most important in my life. And I turn to the universe and share that love out, in the hopes that it will be reflected back upon those I love most a million (or more…is that selfish?) times over.
Moments to dig deeper.
I can sum it up by being a day of contemplation once again.
I suppose that’s what happens when things shift in your life and one is faced with the bigger questions in life. What’s the point? What’s my purpose. What is a need and what is a want. (Oh, my Mom would smile at that. She always asked us as kids to stop and consider if our request was a need or a want.) It’s that moment, after deep musings within, that you realize, or perhaps you are reminded, that every day is special. Every day is an opportunity to seize growth and learning and to push a little bit forward. To pause and be thankful for learning opportunities given to us, for without them we are stale, lost in the mundane day-to-day drudgery.
Yes, every day is special. How easily we forget this. And yet, how quickly we are reminded of that when a loved one faces an unnerving surgery.
That’s the moment when pieces of your past fall away and you realize that your present is everything. Every moment is special. And tomorrow, well, tomorrow is a gift. A gift of another opportunity. Another chance to do things better, more lovingly, more soulfully.
Sometimes sitting back and contemplating things is valuable to one’s perspective. Contemplating can (and did) stir up a flood of emotions. (Lost time, lost growth, missed opportunities, etc.) But what perspective it brings about what is most important.
Today - I celebrate that moment. That moment of meditative revelation of what’s most important in my life. And I turn to the universe and share that love out, in the hopes that it will be reflected back upon those I love most a million (or more…is that selfish?) times over.
Moments to dig deeper.
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