‘Tis the season! Yes, the celebration of this magical time of the year is upon us. Perhaps you feel stretched and challenged…after all, you should have a balanced life – correct? You should be able to manage all of the parts that contribute to the impeccable functioning of the whole person you are. Would you consider taking a risk and IGNORING BALANCE? As Marcus Buckingham, author and coach, says, “When you are balanced, you are stationary, holding your breath … you are at a standstill.” “Balance is the opposite of movement; movement implies a tilt, a tipping, a reaching toward something.”  Are you guilty of the balance myth? Do you try to do all things, at all times, for all people…is your goal to multitask to the maximum and then collapse in exhaustion because whatever you do is never quite enough?

“If you look at what you have in life, you will always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you will never have enough.”

~ Oprah Winfrey, talk show host, producer, philanthropist ~

Do you look at the “half full glass” inferred by Ms. Winfrey, or are you proned to the “half empty glass?” Does the influence of this time of year support your attitude of gratitude we talked about in last week’s post, or are you caught in the web of trying to grab it all because every inch of your being is screaming, more, more, more? Do you have a singular focus and a sense that you are “full,” or do you strive relentlessly to acquire what you do not have? Would you consider intentionally placing an emphasis on one aspect of your life that would give you the greatest sense of fullness – of fulfillment?

As you pick up your pen and ponder this post in your coziest of cozy corners, write your truth and how it would be to feel the bountiful abundance that is already YOU!!

Looking forward to Spinning a Good Yarn next time on December 11!

Happy JOURNALING ~ Hope to see you on my COMMENT page!

As Americans, we typically enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday weekend during these end-of-November-days. Clinging to the stark remnants of the autumn season – leaves have fallen, colder weather approaches – we are reminded of the bountiful gifts that we all enjoy, and perhaps often take for granted.  Thanksgiving Day probably offered most of us a chance to overtly verbalize our personal gratitude to family and friends . . . and silently within our hearts and spirits. Yet, is saying thank you enough? Consider the words of President John Kennedy below:

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”  

     ~   John Fitzgerald Kennedy, President of the United States ~

Is it enough to say thank you? Have you ever considered the concept of active appreciation? Is this important to you? If so, why? How do you live your daily life by your expression of gratitude, or not? If active appreciation is important to you, how can you become more active in the months ahead? Write one goal. Make sure your goal is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and has a Timeline)!

As you snuggle up to a cozy corner and spin your yarn today, I hope these words inspire you and help you to prepare for the magical season ahead and the new year to follow.

Sometimes it does take a village to build and maintain a great life. . . . Won’t you consider sharing your SMART goal on my COMMENT PAGE?

Thank you for stopping by and HAPPY JOURNALING!

See you back at the cozy corner on December 4th!

“To become a grandparent is to enjoy one of the few pleasures in life for which the consequences have been paid in advance.”                                                                                                                           ~  Robert Brault (www.robertbrault.com), Freelance Writer and Author

Today was the annual Grandparents Day celebration at the school of my two young grandchildren — of course my husband and I wouldn’t have missed it for any amount of cash or treasure! Being at their school and seeing the pride in their eyes as we sat in their classrooms and walked about the school campus was decidedly a grand reward for the multitude of joyful sacrifices made through the parenthood journey only a few decades earlier.

Being a grandparent is not a prerequisite for writing your truth this week, but if you are, you may have a unique inroad in considering this prompt.  As you snuggle up to the cozy corner to Spin a Good Yarn, can you think of a time(s) in your life experience when you have paid it forward for a reward, positive experience, special result?  Write about your experience. Was the  payback worth the cost? Would you do it again? Do you have advice for others as a result of your wisdom and personal experience?

Happy Journaling and I will see you on “Black Friday,”                   November 27th!

Your comments are always welcome – Happy Thanksgiving, too!!

“There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse! As I have often found in travelling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one’s position, and be bruised in a new place.”

  ~~Washington Irving, 18th Century author, biographer, essayist and historian, was exposed to means of travel quite archaic to our 21st Century experience. However, we can all appreciate the rugged exposure that a “stagecoach” must have offered to passengers of the time. 

Have you ever experienced a situation in your life that went from bad to worse? Write about what happened. Where were you?  What was your age? Who was with you?

Do you agree with Irving’s optimistic perspective or not? At any level, did you feel any comfort/satisfaction/relief?  Perhaps, a window was opened in the distant future when your door was slammed shut . . . and, then again? Ponder this paradox carefully . . . where could relief ever be found in such a setting?

HAPPY JOURNALING!

What a delight to meet you once again this week – – – thank you for stopping by the cozy corner and Spinning a Good Yarn!

I look forward to seeing you next Friday, November 19th.

“What one actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him/her. What he/she needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him/her.”                                               Victor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, as well as a Holocaust survivor.

Frankl reminds us that a call for change is a call to action that may truly bring greater fulfillment and happiness to our lives, if we only accept the challenge. On the contrary, when we take no action, we make a choice to accept the status quo as is!  Frankl suggests that the tension resulting from a call to action  – change – is a gift that beckons us toward personal fulfillment. This type of tension is a eustress or a state of anxiety that leads us toward positive feelings or a sense of fulfillment and success. Eustress is the opposite of distress and is that tension that offers opportunity for positive change.

This week, we consider the tension state of change as a condition of eustress rather than distress. Has eustress entered your life, beckoning change in a positive direction? What were those glowing and rewarding outcomes? What were your experiences as you journeyed that path that led to your own personal pot of gold? Or perhaps it was only a “gold nugget” but the outcome was definitely worth the state of tension that preceded it.

Many thanks for Spinning a Good Yarn at the cozy corner this week – can’t wait until we meet again on November 13!

~ ~ HAPPY JOURNALING ~ ~

Please make a stop at my Comment page before you leave.  I would love to hear from you.