None of us wants to fail. Yet, everyone fails sometimes.
Take my new year's goal for example. I set a goal to track everything I eat, only eat my allotted weight-watcher's points every day, and exercise 5 days a week, thus allowing me to lose those pesky pounds. It was so perfect too, because the new year started on the first day of the week. What could be more perfect? I was very motivated! I put it on my vision board.
I did not take into account that there was a LOT of junk from Christmas still floating around the kitchen, the kind of chocolate yumminess that makes dieting virtually impossible. I also did not take into account my son's wedding, also the first week of January, which would not only throw off my exercise schedule, but also present lots of festivities that deter dieting. And so I failed the very first week. I did not stick to my plan, my goal, and thus I failed. Or did I?
Does someone who falls off a bike on their first attempt fail to learn to ride? Does a baby who falls on their first attempt to take steps fail to learn to walk? Does a woman who fails the first week of her diet fail to lose weight? I give you a resounding "no!"
I recently learned a wonderful acronym that puts attempts to succeed into perspective. F.A.I.L. This stands for First Attempt In Learning. In the song from the movie Zootopia "Try Everything" one of the great lines is, "No one learns without getting it wrong". This is true of virtually everything we do. We try and get it wrong, then we get up and try again, and again, and again until we succeed.
Allow yourself the chance to learn, to attempt and fail, and attempt again. After all, the great Abraham Lincoln lost 8 elections before being elected president, and failed twice in business. Milton Hershey started and failed with three candy companies before he was successful at Hershey's Chocolates. And then of course there is Thomas Edison, who failed 1,000 times before successfully inventing the light bulb. When asked how it felt to fail 1,000 times, Edison replied, "I didn't fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps." He found 999 ways how not to invent a light bulb, but he only needed to find one way to make it work.
Success does not mean that you never fail. It means that you are persistent until you succeed.
This week I will get up off the ground, track everything I eat, eat only my allotted weight-watcher's points every day, exercise, and use my vision board, thus allowing me to lose those pesky pounds.
Will I do everything the same as last week? No, I will not. Because, as you may already know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
I have learned from the mistakes of last week, and have made small changes to help me succeed. And what if I only succeed 5 out of 7 days? Is that still a win? It is a huge win over giving up, is it not? And I will keep trying until I succeed!
No success is easy, but giving up ensures failure. So remember F.A.I.L., First Attempt In Learning, and guess what? You get a second attempt, and a third attempt, and as many as it takes to win your goal. So hang in there! You are amazing! Those goals you set last week are still just as valid. So get back up and keep going until you succeed.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Sunday, January 1, 2017
A NEW New Years Goal
All my adult life I have set goals on New Year's Day. Sometimes I accomplished them, sometimes I didn't. Last year I learned a new way of setting goals that has put me on the path to success! Today I would like to share it with you.
The traditional way of setting goals is to write down what you want to accomplish. (Yes, I did say write it down.) Then write out details of how you plan to accomplish your goals. Ideally, one should review those goals frequently and work on them. Most people give up or lose motivation by March, if not sooner. Every year at the gym I go to, it is suddenly packed at the beginning of January. You can hardly find a parking spot, much less a tread mill. Within a few weeks it starts to dwindle, and by March everything is back to normal. This is a yearly pattern.
As I said, all my adult life I have set goals on New Year's day, then worked on them on and off throughout the year. Sometimes I would forget to work on them throughout the year. At then beginning of the next year I would go back and review my goals from last year. Sometimes I had accomplished them, sometimes I had not.
Last year I learned something new about goal setting and how to actually have continuous motivation and SUCCESS! It is called a vision board. You have probably heard of it. Last year I set and accomplished EIGHT goals. Some were little, and some were huge and life-changing goals!
There are a myriad of ideas out there about how to do a vision board. What I am going to share with you has worked for me, and for many people around me as well. Using a vision board has been revolutionary in my life! A vision board is like goals on steroids when you do them the way I am about to describe. This really works!
First you need something to put your goals on that has a border around it. This can be as simple as painters tape on the wall in the shape of a square, or as elaborate as a frame with cork board or a metal backing.
Next you need pictures and/or words to put on your vision board. The more senses you can appeal to with your brain the better, so I recommend pictures AND words. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. You can draw, cut pictures out of magazines, or print them off. Make sure you have all positive pictures and positive words. For example, if you were trying to overcome a fear of something, you would use a word like "fearless", which is positive instead of "no fear", which is negative. Feeding your brain positive information will lead to positive results.
You can start with just one goal, or you can set quite a few. They should not overlap on your vision board.
One thing that is different about this type of goal setting as opposed to the traditional way is that you don't actually need to know HOW you are going to get to your goal when you set it. You know what you want, but you don't necessarily need to know at the beginning how you are going to get it. Just set the goal.
Once you have your vision board ready with pictures and words you will want to find a place to put it that is close to your bed. You are going to spend 3 minutes looking at it first thing in the morning right when you wake up when your brain is the most impressionable, and 3 minutes looking at it last thing before you close your eyes to go to sleep at night. This allows your brain to work on your goal while you are sleeping. During these 3-minute time periods you need to employ as many of your senses as possible to envision that you have just accomplished your goal. What does it feel like? What does it taste like? What does it look like? Is there a smell associated? What is going on around you? Envision your goal like you are re-living a memory. Focus, repetition and intensity are key! 3 minutes first thing in the morning and 3 minutes last thing at night..... every day.
"Does just thinking about it make it happen?" you ask. No, but the brain has immense power to make things happen in your life, and visualizing it as though it is already real is half the battle.
"But how do you figure out the HOW?" you may wonder. Your brain is so amazing. It is so amazing that it already knows the answer. The problem is that you don't know that it knows the answer. How do you find out then? It is called meditation. Meditation is a most amazing tool that I never knew existed. Find a quiet time and place for 5-10 minutes a day. I like to sit next to my bed by my vision board. Get in a comfortable position. Close your eyes. Have a pen and paper ready. Then clear your mind of everything except the thing on your vision board that you are working on. Don't try to direct your brain, just let it go where it wants on the subject you are contemplating. It is the strangest secret in the world. As you sit and meditate and let your brain go where it will with your goal, you will find ideas coming to you. Write them down as they come. Then do them, preferably in the order you received them. You will find that you will get ideas that you have never thought of before. Ideas that are new and amazing.
As you concentrate on your vision board 3 minutes first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and spend a few minutes meditating every day, you will find that things will start to come off your vision board. You will find that you will begin to have success. You will start to accomplish your goals!
So this year try something different! Try a vision board. You will thank me later!
Happy New Year! May it bring you great success!
The traditional way of setting goals is to write down what you want to accomplish. (Yes, I did say write it down.) Then write out details of how you plan to accomplish your goals. Ideally, one should review those goals frequently and work on them. Most people give up or lose motivation by March, if not sooner. Every year at the gym I go to, it is suddenly packed at the beginning of January. You can hardly find a parking spot, much less a tread mill. Within a few weeks it starts to dwindle, and by March everything is back to normal. This is a yearly pattern.
As I said, all my adult life I have set goals on New Year's day, then worked on them on and off throughout the year. Sometimes I would forget to work on them throughout the year. At then beginning of the next year I would go back and review my goals from last year. Sometimes I had accomplished them, sometimes I had not.
Last year I learned something new about goal setting and how to actually have continuous motivation and SUCCESS! It is called a vision board. You have probably heard of it. Last year I set and accomplished EIGHT goals. Some were little, and some were huge and life-changing goals!
There are a myriad of ideas out there about how to do a vision board. What I am going to share with you has worked for me, and for many people around me as well. Using a vision board has been revolutionary in my life! A vision board is like goals on steroids when you do them the way I am about to describe. This really works!
First you need something to put your goals on that has a border around it. This can be as simple as painters tape on the wall in the shape of a square, or as elaborate as a frame with cork board or a metal backing.
Next you need pictures and/or words to put on your vision board. The more senses you can appeal to with your brain the better, so I recommend pictures AND words. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. You can draw, cut pictures out of magazines, or print them off. Make sure you have all positive pictures and positive words. For example, if you were trying to overcome a fear of something, you would use a word like "fearless", which is positive instead of "no fear", which is negative. Feeding your brain positive information will lead to positive results.
You can start with just one goal, or you can set quite a few. They should not overlap on your vision board.
One thing that is different about this type of goal setting as opposed to the traditional way is that you don't actually need to know HOW you are going to get to your goal when you set it. You know what you want, but you don't necessarily need to know at the beginning how you are going to get it. Just set the goal.
Once you have your vision board ready with pictures and words you will want to find a place to put it that is close to your bed. You are going to spend 3 minutes looking at it first thing in the morning right when you wake up when your brain is the most impressionable, and 3 minutes looking at it last thing before you close your eyes to go to sleep at night. This allows your brain to work on your goal while you are sleeping. During these 3-minute time periods you need to employ as many of your senses as possible to envision that you have just accomplished your goal. What does it feel like? What does it taste like? What does it look like? Is there a smell associated? What is going on around you? Envision your goal like you are re-living a memory. Focus, repetition and intensity are key! 3 minutes first thing in the morning and 3 minutes last thing at night..... every day.
"Does just thinking about it make it happen?" you ask. No, but the brain has immense power to make things happen in your life, and visualizing it as though it is already real is half the battle.
"But how do you figure out the HOW?" you may wonder. Your brain is so amazing. It is so amazing that it already knows the answer. The problem is that you don't know that it knows the answer. How do you find out then? It is called meditation. Meditation is a most amazing tool that I never knew existed. Find a quiet time and place for 5-10 minutes a day. I like to sit next to my bed by my vision board. Get in a comfortable position. Close your eyes. Have a pen and paper ready. Then clear your mind of everything except the thing on your vision board that you are working on. Don't try to direct your brain, just let it go where it wants on the subject you are contemplating. It is the strangest secret in the world. As you sit and meditate and let your brain go where it will with your goal, you will find ideas coming to you. Write them down as they come. Then do them, preferably in the order you received them. You will find that you will get ideas that you have never thought of before. Ideas that are new and amazing.
As you concentrate on your vision board 3 minutes first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and spend a few minutes meditating every day, you will find that things will start to come off your vision board. You will find that you will begin to have success. You will start to accomplish your goals!
So this year try something different! Try a vision board. You will thank me later!
Happy New Year! May it bring you great success!
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Lighting the World
Twenty five acts of service in twenty five days during the month of December to "Light the World" - that was the invitation from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the world for this Christmas season.
Let me share a few of the wonderful acts that I have seen and heard about:
* A single mother, her 2 daughters and her 9-year-old foster daughter were driving along and came across a car accident. One of the drivers had only a sweater and flip flops on in the very cold winter air. The family stopped and gave them a coat they had in the car. Then they went home and got some socks that they had bought for their son for Christmas and took those back as well for the driver's cold feet. They left with their own hearts warmed as well as the driver's.
*A young stay-at-home mom with two tiny children wondered what she could do to serve during this holiday season. Then she realized the many things she does in her own home every day and started paying attention to the service and love she was bringing to her own little corner of the world, and the positive difference she was making in the lives of her own children and husband.
*A busy mom found she had a flat tire. A neighbor offered to fix it for her while his wife took her to pick up her daughter and take them to their appointment at the doctor's office so she wouldn't miss it. Another woman brought back the purse that she accidentally had left at the doctor's office during that stressful time.
*One morning someone scraped off the windows of a truck that did not belong to him. When the woman went out to leave for the day she was so grateful because she could not reach to scrape off the middle of the windows herself.
* One woman paid attention to who was feeling down, or overwhelmed, or just needed a smile. She baked them something special and took it to them so they would know they were loved. It made her feel wonderful to know that they felt cared about.
*Another woman had the privilege of honoring her mother by lovingly dressing her body for burial on the day that "Jesus honored his mother and so can you" was the "Light the World" invitation. She said it was a sacred experience.
* Some children took the time to write handwritten notes to their parents telling them why they were lucky to have grown up in their home.
*A man walked up to a woman about to get gas, swiped his credit card to pay for it, and said, "Light the world!" and walked away. What he didn't know was that she was using the last of her money to get gas that day.
This is just a smattering of many thousands of acts of kindness that have been done this month to help light the world. It has been a magical and heartwarming experience to be part of. May this kind of love, awareness of others and good-heartedness continue throughout the new year. What a positive difference it would it would make to "light the world" the whole year long!
Merry Christmas!
Love,
Shiree
Sunday, December 11, 2016
It Is Not Where You Live That Matters
Recently I read a wonderful book called "The Rent Collector" by Camron Wright. It is the story of a young mother who lives at the dump near a Cambodian city with her husband and infant son. They survive from day to day by what they can find at the dump. This young mother is influenced by an old woman who also lives at the dump. The old woman helps her learn many great things. One piece of wisdom that fairly flew off the page at me was this: "It is not where you live, but how you live that matters". The idea that HOW you choose to live your life regardless of your circumstances puts a whole new spin on what is important. It does not matter whether you are among the most humble and poor, as was this young mother from the dump, or whether you are wealthy and well-known. What matters is HOW you live your life.
Anyone can be kind to others, regardless of their circumstances. Anyone can build up other people, notice and point out the good, and be positive. Anyone can serve others. These things are true to all of us, regardless of our circumstances. We all have the innate ability to treat others well. We all have the ability to make the world a better place.
Most often making a positive difference in the world happens in the smallest of ways on a daily basis. These little things add up to make us what we are. Just as a painting comes together one stroke at a time, or a beautiful quilt is made one stitch at a time, or a lake is filled one drop at a time, living a good and meaningful life comes one moment at a time, and one tiny act at a time. These small moments manifest in a million tiny ways that add up over the years. Things like being kind to your family, even when it is hard; giving a soft answer to someone who is less than kind; smiling, giving encouragement to a child or others, letting someone else go first, showing respect, striving to slowly root out character flaws and replace them with positive virtues, being patient and forgiving. It means correcting children in love. It means forgiving as fast as possible. It means being a light to those around us; being a good listener; being caring and non-judgmental. It means being kind to strangers. It means giving all those around us the best of ourselves. It also means being patient and loving with ourselves, which allows us to love others better.
This month the LDS Church has a wonderful campaign of service called "Light the World". Serve others in 25 ways in 25 days. The suggestions for each day are small and simple yet meaningful ways to make the world a better place.
https://www.lds.org/blog/25-ways-to-lighttheworld-this-christmas?cid=HP_TH_1-12-2016_dOCS_fBLOG_xLIDyL2-2_
As my family and I have worked to accomplish some small act of service every day for someone else, we have felt the joy that comes from doing something meaningful to make someone else's day a little brighter. What I have discovered is that it not only lights someone else's day when I give, but it also lights my own, probably even more than theirs. That warm and wonderful feeling inside is one of the best feelings there is!
It is not where you live, but how you live that matters. How will you live your life? How will you light the world? How will your being here make the world a better place?
Anyone can be kind to others, regardless of their circumstances. Anyone can build up other people, notice and point out the good, and be positive. Anyone can serve others. These things are true to all of us, regardless of our circumstances. We all have the innate ability to treat others well. We all have the ability to make the world a better place.
Most often making a positive difference in the world happens in the smallest of ways on a daily basis. These little things add up to make us what we are. Just as a painting comes together one stroke at a time, or a beautiful quilt is made one stitch at a time, or a lake is filled one drop at a time, living a good and meaningful life comes one moment at a time, and one tiny act at a time. These small moments manifest in a million tiny ways that add up over the years. Things like being kind to your family, even when it is hard; giving a soft answer to someone who is less than kind; smiling, giving encouragement to a child or others, letting someone else go first, showing respect, striving to slowly root out character flaws and replace them with positive virtues, being patient and forgiving. It means correcting children in love. It means forgiving as fast as possible. It means being a light to those around us; being a good listener; being caring and non-judgmental. It means being kind to strangers. It means giving all those around us the best of ourselves. It also means being patient and loving with ourselves, which allows us to love others better.
This month the LDS Church has a wonderful campaign of service called "Light the World". Serve others in 25 ways in 25 days. The suggestions for each day are small and simple yet meaningful ways to make the world a better place.
https://www.lds.org/blog/25-ways-to-lighttheworld-this-christmas?cid=HP_TH_1-12-2016_dOCS_fBLOG_xLIDyL2-2_
As my family and I have worked to accomplish some small act of service every day for someone else, we have felt the joy that comes from doing something meaningful to make someone else's day a little brighter. What I have discovered is that it not only lights someone else's day when I give, but it also lights my own, probably even more than theirs. That warm and wonderful feeling inside is one of the best feelings there is!
It is not where you live, but how you live that matters. How will you live your life? How will you light the world? How will your being here make the world a better place?
Monday, December 5, 2016
What I Learned From a Pine Tree
What I Learned From a Pine Tree: Actually, it was a giant sequoia, it just looks like a mammoth pine tree. Recently I happened to spent some time studying the giant sequoia, which is the largest tree on the planet.
These giant Christmas-looking trees are native to California. I was very surprised to learn that they can grow taller than the Statue of Liberty and are extremely heavy, weighing more than a million pounds each at maturity. Surprisingly, their roots grow shallow and wide rather than narrow and deep. These giant trees can survive the strongest and fiercest winds and storms without being blown over. As I wondered at this and explored further I learned that this is because the sequoia trees grow together in groups and intertwine their roots with their neighboring trees to share resources and strengthen each other. When storms come, they literally hold each other up. When these trees grow alone they often fall when heavy winds and storms come. They need to grow in groups. They need each other to survive.
I could not help but think about the lessons these trees offer us. The one that hit me most strongly was that none of us thrives well when left to ourselves. We all need the support of those around us. When we intertwine our lives with the lives of those around us, family, neighbors, friends, coworkers and community, then we are able to stand strong together when hard times comes, when storms rage and winds blow.
Each Christmas I think back on years past when other people's intertwined "roots" kept our family vertical during strong storms at this season of the year. Christmas is a difficult time to have trials, be they financial struggle, grieving, or a myriad of other possible hardships. During our trials I felt like we were in the middle of a raging storm, but we did not fall. Many around us kept us standing. Strength came to us in so many forms and from so many people, especially at this season of the year. We received emotional support from many around us. We were given means to provide Christmas for our children when we had no means of our own. We were doorbell ditched with gifts, food and money. Those around us intertwined their roots with ours in amazing and meaningful ways to strengthen us and hold us up so we would not crash to the ground. I will NEVER be able to thank those people enough for the service they rendered us, for intertwining their roots with ours to hold us up and strengthen us.
Christmas is a special time where we have more opportunity than the rest of the year to look around us, intertwine our lives with others, serve, share resources, and uplift and hold each other up. As we do this we stand strong together, just like the sequoia.
These giant Christmas-looking trees are native to California. I was very surprised to learn that they can grow taller than the Statue of Liberty and are extremely heavy, weighing more than a million pounds each at maturity. Surprisingly, their roots grow shallow and wide rather than narrow and deep. These giant trees can survive the strongest and fiercest winds and storms without being blown over. As I wondered at this and explored further I learned that this is because the sequoia trees grow together in groups and intertwine their roots with their neighboring trees to share resources and strengthen each other. When storms come, they literally hold each other up. When these trees grow alone they often fall when heavy winds and storms come. They need to grow in groups. They need each other to survive.
I could not help but think about the lessons these trees offer us. The one that hit me most strongly was that none of us thrives well when left to ourselves. We all need the support of those around us. When we intertwine our lives with the lives of those around us, family, neighbors, friends, coworkers and community, then we are able to stand strong together when hard times comes, when storms rage and winds blow.
Each Christmas I think back on years past when other people's intertwined "roots" kept our family vertical during strong storms at this season of the year. Christmas is a difficult time to have trials, be they financial struggle, grieving, or a myriad of other possible hardships. During our trials I felt like we were in the middle of a raging storm, but we did not fall. Many around us kept us standing. Strength came to us in so many forms and from so many people, especially at this season of the year. We received emotional support from many around us. We were given means to provide Christmas for our children when we had no means of our own. We were doorbell ditched with gifts, food and money. Those around us intertwined their roots with ours in amazing and meaningful ways to strengthen us and hold us up so we would not crash to the ground. I will NEVER be able to thank those people enough for the service they rendered us, for intertwining their roots with ours to hold us up and strengthen us.
Christmas is a special time where we have more opportunity than the rest of the year to look around us, intertwine our lives with others, serve, share resources, and uplift and hold each other up. As we do this we stand strong together, just like the sequoia.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
An Empty Basket
If you are ever placed in a situation where you need to interact with people who seem less than friendly, then this post is for you.
Consider that you carry an invisible and empty basket with you. When any positive interaction happens between you and another person it is like they are putting a beautiful egg in your basket. When you respond positively back it is like you are putting one in theirs. Where do these eggs come from? They are in a pouch that you carry on your side, also invisible, of course.
If you go into these types of situations with your empty basket and expect to leave with it still empty, then any eggs that end up in your basket will be a bonus, as will any that you give out.
This analogy came to me after a particularly difficult interaction in which I felt that I had failed. I had gone into the less than friendly situation determined to look for and see positive, but I was not successful. What I saw instead was negative, and it drained my energy for some time afterward in mulling it over. Had I envisioned every interaction with the above analogy in mind, I would have left that situation feeling good about myself and others.
Next time I am faced with such a situation, I will indeed take my invisible basket with me and expect to leave with it empty. Any positive eggs that come my way will be considered as a treasure, and I will seek to also give those treasured eggs to others as well.
This analogy seems much more appropriate for another holiday coming up next spring, but I felt I should share it now. Perhaps someone out there has some holiday interactions coming up that this could help with.
May we all seek to see the positive around us as we go into this holiday season:)
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Learning to Live in Balance
Learning to have balance in my life has been an ongoing process for many years. Even though I teach classes about living a balanced life, I am still figuring it out myself. It comes in layers.
For many years I have been so busy that when I look at my calendar with every day filled in with many things, it is a bit overwhelming, yet all those things have felt necessary, like I had no choice but to do them.
Amazing how standing back and looking at life from a different perspective changes the definition of priorities and balance.
Two months ago I had surgery. My doctor told me I could not exercise or lift over 10 pounds for two months. That took exercise and babysitting grand kids, as well as many chores off my plate immediately and without my consent. In addition, my recovery was much harder and slower than expected, so I spent a lot of time in bed. My energy level was very low, so I spend a lot of time reading and thinking. (and watching movies, which was super fun!)
When you step out of your life like that, it allows you to look at your life from an outside viewpoint, rather than from being in the middle of it. I was amazed at what I saw and learned!
One thing I started doing was writing down my favorite thing at the end of each day. I started this in an effort to focus on the positive. I did this for two months. When I went back and read all the things that I had written, nearly all of them were relationship focused, not task focused. Surprisingly, I discovered that getting things done off a list was not what brought me joy and satisfaction. This was especially interesting considering that I am have been such a task-oriented person in the past. You know, the kind that makes lists every morning and then feels discouraged if most of those things are not crossed off every night. What I realized was that while my life focus had been on getting things done, the things that brought me the most joy were from investing in relationships that matter to me. This conflict of focus has kept me out of balance for years and I had no idea! It was a true aha moment for me.
Now as I slowly add things back into my life with my improving health, I am making a conscious shift to make the things that make me happy my highest priority, which includes putting a few fun things as priorities. And that endless task list... well, some of those things still have to happen, but how I feel at the end of the day no longer depends on what tasks I accomplished.
I have realized that being happy is the biggest factor in having a balanced life. It is, in fact, the purpose of finding balance. You don't need to have surgery to get a perspective shift. Take the time to write down your favorite thing about each day before you go to bed. Do this for a month. You will find definite patterns that will lead you to know which way to shift your priorities to have greater balance and happiness in your life.
For many years I have been so busy that when I look at my calendar with every day filled in with many things, it is a bit overwhelming, yet all those things have felt necessary, like I had no choice but to do them.
Amazing how standing back and looking at life from a different perspective changes the definition of priorities and balance.
Two months ago I had surgery. My doctor told me I could not exercise or lift over 10 pounds for two months. That took exercise and babysitting grand kids, as well as many chores off my plate immediately and without my consent. In addition, my recovery was much harder and slower than expected, so I spent a lot of time in bed. My energy level was very low, so I spend a lot of time reading and thinking. (and watching movies, which was super fun!)
When you step out of your life like that, it allows you to look at your life from an outside viewpoint, rather than from being in the middle of it. I was amazed at what I saw and learned!
One thing I started doing was writing down my favorite thing at the end of each day. I started this in an effort to focus on the positive. I did this for two months. When I went back and read all the things that I had written, nearly all of them were relationship focused, not task focused. Surprisingly, I discovered that getting things done off a list was not what brought me joy and satisfaction. This was especially interesting considering that I am have been such a task-oriented person in the past. You know, the kind that makes lists every morning and then feels discouraged if most of those things are not crossed off every night. What I realized was that while my life focus had been on getting things done, the things that brought me the most joy were from investing in relationships that matter to me. This conflict of focus has kept me out of balance for years and I had no idea! It was a true aha moment for me.
Now as I slowly add things back into my life with my improving health, I am making a conscious shift to make the things that make me happy my highest priority, which includes putting a few fun things as priorities. And that endless task list... well, some of those things still have to happen, but how I feel at the end of the day no longer depends on what tasks I accomplished.
I have realized that being happy is the biggest factor in having a balanced life. It is, in fact, the purpose of finding balance. You don't need to have surgery to get a perspective shift. Take the time to write down your favorite thing about each day before you go to bed. Do this for a month. You will find definite patterns that will lead you to know which way to shift your priorities to have greater balance and happiness in your life.
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