YOUR LIFE A-Z: MARVEL

ALL OF LIFE IS A MARVEL

MARVEL

MARVEL is a word that when activated causes the soul to soar upwards in astonishment and delight.  A MARVEL can also be a pleasant surprise when you accomplish something you thought was impossible.   To set a new 10K record can be a MARVEL, an accomplishment in your eyes. Visit the Grand Canyon and allow the MARVEL of it expand your chest and break out a big smile and take glee in the photo opportunities that will MARVEL even the novice photographer.  The Grand Canyon as I suppose it is with Niagara Falls and other natural wonders is never the same twice.  Each day, each ray of light, each cloud, and the multi-dimensional backgrounds of color are always changing.   The only thing that prevents you from enjoying the MARVELOUS environments around you is your attitude and possible negative thoughts.  I use to think the Grand Canyon was one big hole in the ground until I spent several days in a row there where I could then experience the Canyon.  Once you experience something the MARVEL of if seeps in from the toes of your feet to the top of your head. There are many things to MARVEL and that are MARVELOUS.   Do not miss the opportunity to celebrate the MARVEL of the day, which provides you another opportunity to live and breath in meaningful and MARVELOUS ways.  To MARVEL is to be open to the experience of the present moment seeing it as if you have never seen it before.  

YOUR LIFE A-Z:JOB

NOW THIS IS A JOB!!

JOB

You are the one that can make a distinction between a JOB and a J-O-B.  The difference between those two words is found in the attitude.  The JOB you do for a living is an agreement between you and your employer to produce a certain amount of work in an agreed upon time for a said amount of pay.  If you don’t like this arrangement and do nothing to change it then you end up with a J-O-B.  A J-O-B becomes part of a daily grind where you of ten find yourself moaning and groaning about how awful your life is at you J-O-B.  This attitude will eventually cause emotional, physical, and spiritual decay to your soul and you may find yourself growing old and bitter, becoming that old person you judged when you were a child.  If you settle for a J-O-B that is your choice or you can do one of the two following options.  
1.) You can actively look for and discover things that you like about your J-O-B and learn to be grateful for the benefits of your J-O-B, thus elevating your mood and demeanor when at work and home about your J-O-B.  
2.) You can actively search for a different JOB that intrigues and interests you possibly opening new pathways of happiness for you.  
Either way we each need a way to be productive in this world and most of us need a JOB in order to provide the necessities of our daily life.  Being grateful for what it provides you is the first step between a JOB and a J-O-B.  

YOUR LIFE A-Z:QUILT

USE YOUR RESOURCES TO CREATE THE COLOR IN YOUR LIFE

QUILT

Yes, QUILT.   Do you have a favorite QUILT in your closet?  What makes that QUILT your favorite?  Was it the person that made if for you?  Or, if you purchased the QUILT, is it the theme or the colors that attracted you. Some people are talented and enjoy the art of QUILT making and others of us admire his/her art but feel as if we just cannot make something that is so intricate and time consuming.  That may very well be the case but today I want to introduce an art form of QUILT making that each of us can do.  Get an 8 ½ by 11-inch piece of paper and one side; write a list of 19 things for which you are thankful.  Once, you have reached 19, quit.   Look at the words you have written and allow your feelings of gratitude remember a situation that is connected to each word on the list.  Next, you have a choice of two options.  If you have a bunch of magazines at your disposal, some glue and scissors then search the magazine for pictures of each of your words on your list.  Once you collect 19 pictures (not the written words-only pictures) then carefully glue them on to the front of the paper creating your own QUILT of gratitude.  If option #1, sounds tedious and too much trouble, no problem, then choose 19 different colors from a crayon box and color and create a shape and color it in until every inch of your paper is covered.  Viola, you have created a QUILT of gratitude and practiced mindfulness at the same time. 

YOUR LIFE A-Z: PAY IT FORWARD

COMMUNITY 

PAY IT FORWARD

 The TWENT MINUTE COACH has spoken about kindness, compassion, and gratitude and now I am inviting you to play with PAY.   If you want to lift your mood, get out of yourself pity and do something meaningful then PAY IT FORWARD.   Today, find someone out there that needs something and do it for him or her just because you can.  Bless someone not necessarily because they may need it but because you can.  PAY for someone’s groceries in front of you or behind you at the store just because you can.  Send a gift card to someone just because you can. PAYING IT FORWARD can be an exhilarating boost of mood elevation and this simple offering of kindness can keep you moving forward all day lone.  PAYING IT FORWARD does not have to be big it can be any small act of kindness just because.  PAYING IT FORWARD is an action of personal gratitude because you are in a position to give and that is awesome.  To offer the person next to you your place in line is a PAY IT FORWARD action.  To offer something of yourself because you can is a PAY IT FORWARD action of gratitude.  There are many ways to get you yourself out of your myopic self-centeredness and PAY ahead for someone else in your daily life.  Go for it. Play with this. PAY IT FORWARD each day this week so that you can get into the habit of giving and then PAY IT FORWARD once a week until December 31st and notice how good and energized you begin to feel.  

YOUR LIFE A-Z: PRICELESS

BREATHING IS PRICELESS-KEEP IT UP

PRICELESS

There are some things in life that you cannot put a price tag on.  Take a moment and close your eyes and breathe deeply in and out slowly as if you are blowing out a candle.  Bring into your mind your family members, friends, colleagues, and connections.  They are PRICELESS.  Next, think about these realities: you are reading this and comprehending it, you are breathing, you are able to imagine blowing out a candle; and you are here.  Those gifts of life are PRICELESS.  If you are reading this, you probably have a roof over your head and food to eat.  That is also PRICELESS.  Other PRICELESS gifts in your life today are your health, your mobility, your heart’s desires, and you.  Yes, this sounds like a gratitude list and in one way it is.  

The TWENTY MINUTE COACH does not think that you can be reminded too often to reflect on the PRICELESS gifts of your life.  It is easy to get lured into the Western mind of advertisement and seducing unnecessary necessities, but the real day to day joy comes from everything around us that is in and of itself PRICELESS.  You cannot buy happiness, joy, or health.  Thus, it is important to focus on the PRICELESS gifts, which in reality you cannot live without.  PRICELESS is your brain.  Protect it, nourish it, and feed it with positive thoughts, exercise, and good food everyday.  Take care of your brain and it will take care of you.  Take care of your family and friends and they will be PRICELESS to you. 

YOUR LIFE A-Z: ABUNDANCE

LOVE IS ENOUGH

ABUNDANCE

ABUNDANCE is really a belief system.  Do you operate from a perspective that there will always be enough to do you come from a place of scarcity, where quantity can run out and there won’t be enough for you?  This is not about that worn out old saying, “Is your glass half-empty or half-full?”  It is about your deep down belief system.  Do you matter enough to be taken care of by the universe?  How much food do you throw away from your refrigerator each week?  How many extra pair of shoes do you have in your closet?  What other things fill your closet and drawer space?  You are not living in ABUNDANCE with extras, you are living in greed, fear and materialism.  ABUNDANCE is having enough, not more than you need.  The food system may not be able to support us in years to come and then our gluttony might have to come to an end, but there will be enough to sustain us.  What do you need to sustain you?   Living simply is ABUNDANT living.  Living within your financial means is ABUNDANT living?  Living on credit card debt is living frivolously and recklessly.  Yes, you may have debt from a medical bill that was a necessity, or a set of tires your are paying off for your safety, but if your credit card is filled with department store debt you are living irresponsibly.  If you want freedom then you must live in the ABUNDANCE of enough.  

YOUR LIFE A-Z: GRATITUDE

WHAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO START THE MONTH

GRATITUDE

I bet you were wondering when this “G” word was going to show-up?  Here it is and it is a very important word because without Gratitude, our lives become brittle; or we can become entitled selfish humans.  I believe as Americans we have a hard time with feeling entitled, somehow owed privileges that we really need to earn rather than just expect we deserve.  Being grateful or even keeping a gratitude journal where each evening you write down five things that you are grateful for during the last twenty -four hours will lift your attitude, energy and your self-esteem.  Gratitude helps us understand that life could be worse.  Gratitude helps us feel thankful for being alive.  Gratitude helps us respect our health, money, home, and other daily gifts that we so quickly take for granite.  Gratitude makes us happier people to be around and it also helps us like ourselves better.  Gratitude teaches us humility and acceptance.  Gratitude is a simple act of saying “thank-you” for another day.  Gratitude is saying thank-you to the server at the restraint that is hurried and distracted by their personal life.  Gratitude is a way of being gentle on this earth and taking our lives seriously.  Gratitude is living with a giving heart.  Today, I challenge you to name twenty-five things that you are grateful for.  Do not stop until you get to twenty-five.  Start with being grateful that you can see and read and that you have some electronic device that delivered this to your mail box.  Be specific, be deliberate, and be grateful. 

St Nicholas Day and the Labyrinth

Tomorrow, December 6, is St. Nick’s day. Legend has it that St. Nick was an orphan boy himself and that he always took special interest in giving to orphans and children. He would go throughout his village and toss sacks of coins through windows and if the windows were shut, then he would toss them on the roof, where they would come down the chimney. Thus, St. Nick’s legend developed from very humble beginnings and to the commercialism of Santa Claus that we have today.


Walking the Labyrinth while reflecting on the real meaning of Christmas, one that actually began out of benevolence and giving of the real St. Nick and not a baby in the manger, then Christmas can take on a whole different meaning for you, what can we give, vs. what can we get?

As you work on developing your own personal relationship with the Labyrinth, I would like to suggest that you take a Labyrinth walk in the spirit of giving. Start with presenting yourself at the opening of the Labyrinth and as you walk from circuit to circuit imagine holding your heart in the palms of your hands. Ask for the mystery of the Labyrinth to heal your heart and open it to be a heart of love and generosity. Each time you find yourself coming across a fearful thought, breath in deeply and let your breath go slowly, releasing the fear to the heart of the Labyrinth and taking the next step forward.

When you arrive at the center of the Labyrinth, imagine yourself placing your heart in the hands of a loving and generous Spirit of Kindness and allow the feeling of unconditional love to wash over you, releasing your hurt and fear and gifting you with an inner peace and unconditional acceptance.

Walk out of the Labyrinth with the gratitude of St. Nick, generous in spirit, full of hope, peace and unconditional love. From that space of gratitude, find ways to give generously this Holiday Season in meaningful ways.