The last week has been a reminder about how we take for granted certain things that really matter to us. I’ve had this ongoing tooth drama happening since last summer. Most recently the last few weeks I had severe pain in a tooth near the one I had a root canal performed on back in December. The tooth was giving me intense pain when I ate something hot, cold, drank room temperature water, and even simply breathed the outside air (it is “cold” after all relatively speaking to our body’s temperature). Needless to say this was practically nonstop. This got me to thinking about the everyday sort of things that matter to us that we tend to take for granted.

When all is working well — you don’t really think about chewing, drinking, or breathing, do you? Yet, my guess is that if either of these became painful or difficult, you’d notice right away; I know I sure did! Since every little piece of our life is simply a reflection of the bigger picture (and other parts of our lives), I’d say there are probably other things in your life that you take for granted as well (until of course they are broken or gone). Read the rest of this entry »

I had the pleasure of being a guest blogger over at Mombian yesterday. While I geared the article toward the lesbian Mom’s out there, all the advice holds true for each and every woman attempting to juggle multiple things in her life. Hmmm, I guess that means all of us (me included!)

Check out the article “Taking Time for YOU” over at Mombian. Here’s a little snippet to get you intrigued….

Why is taking uninterrupted time just for yourself so important? Well, you wouldn’t drive your car on “Empty” without any gas in it, would you? You wouldn’t write checks from your bank account without first making a deposit, would you? Your personal engine works the same way and it needs to be recharged in more ways than one to keep running optimally.

So, as we approach the weekend, hop on over to read the article and see how you can start filling up your own personal gas tank.

If not now, when?

Happiness really is all it is cracked up to be. If you’re not happy with your life, then the days become something to be endured. And, since life is short and tomorrow is guaranteed to no one, why not be happy today? So often we go through our days waiting for something big to make us happy. We wait for the perfect girlfriend, job, house, vacation, etc. and then we’ll be happy. The problem with this is - nothing we can acquire can make us happy. And, even if and when we get what we want, we find we’re essentially unchanged. It didn’t make us happy? Why? Because only we can cultivate our own happiness starting from the inside.

I recently wrote an entended article entited “I Will Be Happy When…” on this very subject as part of my monthly newsletter. Here’s a snippet…

A great life is lived right here and now. If you can’t be happy, grateful, and fully alive with the current condition of your life, you won’t miraculously be transformed just because you get something (in the external world) that you say you want. That doesn’t mean making changes and achieving things you want can’t improve your life. It most certainly can and will. Yet, achieving goals is just a magnifier of what already IS whether that is a feeling of abundance or lack. How can that be you say?

Read the rest of the article here. And, if you’d like to receive more articles like this as well as special offers, deals, and information available first and sometimes exclusively only to members of my list, subscribe to the newsletter.

We’ve all had days where we just feel like we’re the walking dead. Going through the motions just trying to survive the day or week. I recently encountered a few of the walking dead but they were speeding like crazed monkeys rising from the grave proving to me that being checked out is not only a recipe for a life left to the whims of others, but also downright dangerous to others.

When I walk over to my yoga class I cross a small road (within my company’s campus I might add) and then go into a parking garage which leads me up a ramp and to the gated doorway. As soon as I enter the parking garage I always cross over so I can walk facing traffic. I know that people gone free from the prison of the corporate cube for a lunch hour can be in a wild hurry. Now I understand hurry. I also understand being so pissed off in your day job that you get behind the wheel at lunch or the end of the day just wanting to put as much distance between you and the office as fast as humanly possible. Yet, what I experienced still took me by surprise. Read the rest of this entry »

Whether in business or at home, things tend to ebb and flow. And when everything starts stacking up, if you’re anything like me, you’re likely to bite off more than you can chew and overcommit in an attempt to get it all done. Truth be told, you just can’t be all things to all people so don’t even try!

At the moment I seem to have an overabundance of things happening on multiple fronts. While I value being responsive, I often have to remind myself that if I don’t respond to someone the instant I get their e-mail or voicemail, all will still be OK. While I’m not saying the answer is blowing people off, sometimes there is just so much you can stuff into one evening. Waiting until tomorrow unless it is life or death (and in my book I mean REALLY life (breathing? pulse?) or death (not breathing, no pulse, bleeding profusely), is a viable option. Fortunately, I don’t work in an emergency services arena so next to nothing I do is life or death. That means I can cut myself some slack. That probably means you can cut yourself some slack too.

I was surfing around to see what other people’s take was on this same topic. I was happy to see that The Savvy Entrepreneur offers some good business related advice in “Are You Biting Off More Than You Can Chew?”. The same truth that you can’t be everything to everyone holds true for your career as well. Whether you are self-employed or living in the corporate halls, this means you. Read the rest of this entry »