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Tag: awareness

Your job description

It’s likely you interviewed for a specific set of tasks and duties, and that these same expectations were reviewed after you took the job. You may notice, however, that the longer you spend in the position, the more you observe inefficiencies — perhaps even inequalities — in your workplace.
“It’s not my job,” is a feeble excuse for standing by when you could be stepping up. Caring often isn’t written explicitly on your contract, but caring is exactly what you should do if you want the next salary bump…and if you want to be a better human.

What does ease look like?

What does an “easy life” mean to you? What would you have time for? Do you see friends more often? Are you able to create, read, play? Do you eat differently, sleep better, take different care of your body? Are you more patient, relaxed, or kind?

Ease.

Dream about a life that feels like swimming through air. Meditate on it.

Then act.

Get rid of unnecessary stuff. Clean your house, clean your schedule, clean your body and mind. Slow down. Focus on one thing at a time (making lists can help with this). Wake up earlier and give yourself an extra twenty minutes to get to the office. Surround yourself with beauty: place freshly cut flowers on your desk, change your desktop photo, take morning walks, look up at the stars.

Inviting ease into your life opens the door to expansiveness, creativity, wonder, magic — and the unexpected. No, you won’t stop encountering difficult situations or irksome people, and your schedule won’t magically empty (you’ll have to do some work to clear out what is taking you away from your priorities). But you’ll start to move through life in a different way, and people will respond.

What does ease mean to you? Tweet me at @redheadlefthand.

What do you stand for?

How do you define yourself?
Who (and what) are you committed to?
When do you say No?
When (and how) have you failed?
Which decision would you remake?
Where do you spend most of your time?
Who (and what) do you love?
When was the last time you redefined yourself?
Are you afraid of change?

Restoring health

An ayurvedic center in Nepal offers one month programs for people who have fallen out of good health. The team of practitioners systematically target different elements in the body in the belief that once balance is restored, the person will return to a calmer, more peaceful state of wellbeing. Throughout the month, clients receive weekly recommendations designed to detoxify and restore the body. Therapies incorporate diet, yoga, cleansing, and a series of ayurvedic practices. Participants are discouraged from engaging in unnecessary work — especially online — and follow a daily schedule, waking around 6:30am and sleeping by 10pm.

The center is simply decorated, a table of organized bottles of herbs and oils resting beneath a bright window. “What happens when clients return home?” I asked.

“One of two things usually happens,” the manager replied, his smiling eyes gentle and kind. “The person returns to same challenges with a renewed perspective, better equipped to make decisions, or they make changes after realizing their situations no longer serve them.”

The truth is we all have some habit that could be reevaluated. I don’t think you need to come to Nepal and spend a month in a health facility to make adjustments in your life, but you will need focus and a commitment to yourself. And if you need guidance, please don’t hesitate to find a suitable health practitioner near you.

By bringing mindfulness to each day, it is possible to assess whether the decisions we make are helping us become healthy, informed, and balanced.

Choose your new year

Of course resolutions don’t need to happen only once a year, but the turn of a new year provides prime opportunity for reflection. Are you where you want to be? Are you who you want to be?
Do you want to become more generous? Click here for a 52-week challenge.
Do you want to become more thoughtful? Click here for a step-by-step guide to meditation.
Do you want to become more informed? Sign up for an online course.
Do you want to become more creative? Find a copy of The Artist’s Way in your local bookstore.
Do you want to become more adventurous? Click here to get out of your daily rut.
Do you want to become more kind? Click here to find volunteer opportunities near you.
Do you want to write a novel? Click here to get started.
Do you want to get healthy? Tackle daily challenges.
Do you want to be a better cook? Consider a meal plan to get started.
Do you want to meet someone new? Attend a dinner (or host one of your own).
Do you want more variety in life? Try these 30 challenges.
How lucky we are to be able to reassess, recreate, and redefine our goals! How lucky we are to have the choice to change! Here’s to a fantastic 2017. Tell me what you choose.

Do that thing you think you can’t

A small voice whispered, “Don’t bother, it’s a waste of time, it will never happen.” I listened. But thankfully, just for a day. My mind kept swirling, dreaming, going back to the idea. After last summer at the Byrdcliffe Artist in Residence program, I have been fantasizing for more uninterrupted time to devote to my manuscript.
My fingers hovered over the application. Why should they pick you? What are your chances? I revisited the site again and again, closing the browser, reopening the page, googling pictures of the area and reading reviews of past participants.
This tiny voice often appears. Sometimes I listen, other times I ignore. But it seems when I risk those scary words — EXPOSURE, FAILURE, REJECTION — beautiful things happen.
“Apply,” I told that voice, “You will regret it if you don’t.”
Do that thing you think you can’t. Even if you fall short and your efforts are flat, you’ll be glad. You’ll always wonder “what if” if you don’t at least try.