Think Big

 

I’ve been thinking about stress management and what are the ways I lower my stress. Here’s my list of the top 7 important ones. The list will change. Everything changes and being open and accepting it makes it easy to adapt when need be and it lowers stress.

Here’s my Top 7 Priorities:

1. Eat healthy! Because it makes me feel better and have more energy. Moderation is important as well as not being deprived. When I eat well, I live well and feel well. For me it starts with eating healthy. I don’t have aches and pains because of the food I eat either physically or mentally. This allows me to have the capacity for more love for myself and others.

2: Stress management! I take time to journal everyday in the morning and at night.  In the morning I write 5 gratitude, 5 affirmations, a letter to my future self and a letter from my future self to me.  I allow about 1/2 hour to do this.  At night, I journal again anything that bothered me during the day and what I accomplished. The evening writing takes about 15 minutes.  With the mental chatter on paper and out of my head, I can fall asleep much easier and stay asleep.  Insomnia comes in 2 forms, falling a sleep and staying a sleep.  Journaling helps with both of these.  It’s important to quiet the monkey mind.  The brain switches gears and does the job of sleeping, dreaming healing the body. Also, the negative voices become positive voices and I am able to see another solution to the problem.

3: Working out / Moving More! It doesn’t matter so much what I do as long as I do it. I’ve also learned that it takes about 15 minutes for the body to get warmed up and added blood circulation makes me feel better I want to be happy. The release of endorphins makes me happy. For me that’s the name of the game. Plus a lot of what I do in the form of exercise feels like playing. I have a playful spirit. I always want to go out and play. If you want to make a play date to go for a walk, ride a bike, go for a run, go out dancing, play running bases, I’m your girl.

4: Family! I love mine and enjoy spending time with them. My parents taught us to go out of your way for family and friends and to have a generous spirit.

5: Seeing More Possibilities (SMP)! Because I take good care of myself, I am able to be fully present for my business, family and friends.  It takes a lot of work, energy, faith and networking to start a new business. But it’s been my dream to work for myself as a life coach. I believe in living our dreams and I am excited to share this one with you. 

6: Friends! It was hard not include friends with family since most of my friends are like family. I separated it out because I’ve had to learn that SMP comes before socializing with my friends. It’s been fun working part time and having the freedom to play during the day, but my focus has shifted.

7: Chores! It has always been last on my list. There’s always time to do the laundry, clean the bathroom, go grocery shopping.

Think Big By: Jim Rennert
Think Big
By: Jim Rennert

The beauty of knowing where I stand with my priorities is that it keeps my life in balance. It helps me to practice self-love and kindness. Those 2 attributes help me to be happy, grounded and available for my family, friends, clients.  I also get to Think Big.

I challenge you to write out a list of your top priorities and why. I wonder what you’ll learn about yourself.  Please feel free to share them with me in the comments section.

 

Best Day Ever!

My how the years come and go so quickly!?  Have you had the feeling after an outing with family, friends or yourself that this was the Best Day Ever (BDE)!? As one day turns into a week, a week into a month and a month into a year, these days become memories.  They hide out in the deep recesses of your mind.  You know it was a good day, but… After having one of these kinds of days it occurred to me to keep a BDE list so they wouldn’t get lost in recesses of my mind.  I want to be able to recall on them when I need inspiration or a new focal point. One’s life is a piece of fabric and our experiences are the embroidery.  There are no 2 pieces.  Each year you get a new piece of fabric.

Kibbutz Sde Boker Nature Reserve
Kibbutz Sde Boker Nature Reserve

Life is broken down into threads and stitches.  You have your favorite colors & stitches.  You might have 1, 2, 3, 4 or more threads or stitches.  There are no rules.  The 1st thread is used for the compilation of days that are unique to each and every one of us.  Those are the days that make you You. Birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, vacations, milestone, anything that is an important event’s in one’s life.  These form the major images in your embroidery of life.  Then there are the global ones that we all share with each other, religious, national and hallmark holiday.  Now, just because these are special days in our year, it doesn’t make it a BDE.  We’ve all had disappointments on these days that too becomes part of the embroidery.  Then there are the Best Days Ever.  These can be the unique days, the global days, or days that surprise you when your joy is emanating off your skin like steam rising from hot spring.

I keep a gratitude / affirmation / prayer journal and write 5 of each every day.  In a few moments, I reset my mood, get a boost of positive energy & am focused for the day.  After my morning writing on Saturday, Sept 2, 2017, I woke up, thinking of the day before, my unique day that I share with millions of people, my birthday.  It was a BDE experience.  I was with my husband, Joel Perlman, & dear friends, Lisa Fane and Maggie Lally.  We went to Coney Island.  It wasn’t the one thing that we did as much as the joy and laughter that we did it with.  As I am in the latter half of my life, I am thrilled to access untainted childlike joy from simple pleasures.  We laughed! We rode rides that made us scream.  We ate yummy Mexican street food from Dona Zita.  We got to the boardwalk as the fireworks started.  Coney Island puts on a goooood fireworks show.  It dawned on me that during the year I lose the details of a BDE.

So what made this night a BDE experience?  It isn’t the what, but the how.  It’s the excitement, joy and love that I felt during and after the night.  There isn’t a recipe for BDEs. They are an organic event.  My father, Bill Krivit, was a wise man.  He would say you’re lucky if you can count your good friends on 1 hand.  I’m going to reframe that and say you’re lucky if you can count on 1 hand your BDEs each year.  My year started on my birthday Sept. 1st.  When will yours start?  Keep a list of your Best Days Ever.  When you need some inspiration take it out and meditate on the experience.