YOUR LIFE A-Z:XANDU

XANADU

XANADU is a place of great beauty. XANADU is the name of Kublai Khan’s summer home in South East Mongolia.  Where is your XANADU?  In many of the previous blogs, the Twenty-Minute Coach has spoken about the need to have a special place in your home that makes you want to be in that space.  XANADU is a perfect name for that space.  XANADU goes beyond ordinary beauty and speaks of luxury.  Part of this A-Z process is to provide you with motivation to take care of yourself in very positive and enriching ways. The last “E” word was exquisite.  XANADU speaks to the luxury of EXQUISITE and is a definitive space and place.  Create your XANADU place.  Perhaps, you don’t even know how to start decorating a place of XANADU in your home and maybe you feel too overwhelmed to start.  First, make a decision you deserve XANADU.  Second, choose a space in your home (or outside garden area) that you want to transform.  Once you decide where XANADU will be created then ask, “What do I really want in that space?”  Do I want a comfy chair, where I can read and meditate?”  How about lighting?   Proper light is necessary to lift your spirit.  What colors do you want in your space?  And what art-work do you want on the walls?  Next take a look at Pin Interest, decorating magazines or websites.  Pull some pictures together that represent XANADU to you and sit with them for a couple of weeks while your ideas begin to take XANADU form.  Enjoy.

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: KALON

The Leaf and the Bloom are Just as Beautiful as the Flower

KALON

KALON is a word that means more beautiful than skin deep and exquisite beyond the naked eye.  Ancient Greeks referred to it as the highest beauty!  Robert Mondavi, renowned wine maker, started one of the world’s earliest vineyards, KALON VINEYARD in KALON Valley, which is rich in fertile soil and perfect grape growing climates.  Do you see beyond your skin into your heart and do you nourish the goodness that already lies within you?  KALON the beauty beyond your eye is what you are looking for.  Our bodies are all flawed in one-way or the other.  Even Barbra Streisand hates her nose and will only let photos be taken from a certain side of her face.  If Barbra Streisand were to get a “nose job” it would affect her perfect voice in negative ways, so she learns to live with it.  So can you.  What part of your life are you destroying by focusing on the imperfections or the ugly?  Have you considered if your soil is fertile like Robert Mondavi? It is your choice where you choose to focus and you must ask yourself the real question, “What am I getting out of focusing on the negative parts of me?  Is my soil the best it can be?” There are many positive parts.  Who did you connect with today? Did I their day a bit easier or sunnier?  What do you do for others that often go unnoticed but you feel good about reaching out?  What are the things you do like about your KALON?  See your KALON TODAY. 

YOUR LIFE A-Z:LUSH

LET YOUR COLORS SHINE TODAY

LUSH

Do something today to make your environment LUSH.  As Merriam Webster says: “be lavishly productive.” You are the KINGFISH of your life.  Yesterday you discarded, tossed, and deleted unnecessary chatter in your life.  Today spice up you life with accents that highlight your heart. Add flowers, music, candles, and light to your space.  Be colorful in your clothes and add a special touch to your hair. Smile.  Bring the outside in to the inside of your life.  Create in ways that make your life feel fertile with expectation of change. JUMP into your life in a new way today, exploring the abundance of your blessings and gratitude, and allowing new opportunities to flourish by nurturing them.  Fertilize areas that need attention so that they can be all that you want them to be.  Dance, sing, make today count in LUSH ways that make your feel like, “Oh, yeah.  I want to be here now.  I like my self and my space.  I enjoy being alive this moment.”  This is soLUSH that I want to drink in every moment of now.  We once had someone tell us that if we tossed some green around our house that we would highlight our art.  They were right.  We finally understood what those fake green plants at department stores were for.  What can you do today to jump in and add some LUSH to your life?  Brighten up and smile.

YOUR LIFE A-Z:FINISH

WHEN IT IS FINISHED IT LEAVES A SPOTLIGHT
ON YOUR EFFORT

FINISH

Nothing feels better than a finished project, a made bed, an empty sink, or a completed dream off of your bucket list.  Finishing things that we have been meaning to get to creates an open space within where the unfinished project has been taking up worrisome space or creating distracting background noise.  Thus, we get new energy each time we mark something off of out to do list.  I have said that unless we write our goals down and look at them often we will loose interest, become distracted, and often even forget what our goal was.  In order to be productive it is important to keep track of where you are by listing what it is that you want to do.  I have a daily to do list, weekly to do list, monthly to do list and soon to do list.  The soon to do list has things that I want to do or might even be things on my bucket list.  I move them from the soon list to another list by deciding when is it that I want to accomplish the “soon” item.  Listing keeps us organized and finishing keeps us motivated.  If you are procrastinating about something you need to ask yourself three simple questions: 
1. What is the personal benefit of not completing project A? 
2. What will I do after I complete project A?
3. What am I doing instead of completing project A?
There is a psychological benefit in keeping a task incomplete and once we understand the cause and effect of not doing something usually that will move us toward the finish line.  So look at that list, mark down a time to finish and execute the plan.