Springing Ahead to Day 7

Not only did we turn our clocks ahead due to daylight savings time today, I also jumped ahead to day seven of The Magic. Day six is about gratitude for work however I have Sunday off, so I'm switching the days around as suggested by Rhonda herself.

Today I attended my 2nd and last day at the Progoff Intensive Journaling workshop. I learned how to keep a very structured journal for deeper self exploration than you would get from a daily journal. Upon arrival I received a notebook with lots of colored divided sections. 

We did lots of great exercises during the weekend, the most powerful for me was a dialogue exercise with someone I consider wise. I chose someone from church who was likely at the 11:00 service at the moment, but no matter since I was only writing what I imagined they might say. Still, it was extremely powerful! I think what this exercise really helps you do is get in touch with the wisest part of yourself. 

Day 7 of The Magic is all about negativity. One of the last suggestions that Rhonda leaves us with is to try to get through the day without saying anything negative. I only made it until about dinner time, so I'll have a do over tomorrow! 

The other exercise is to look at a negative situation in your life and think of  ten reasons you're grateful for it. I chose a time when an acquaintance lied about what I had said. It was scary because I could have potentially lost my job and it may have damaged my reputation with others outside of the company. Luckily I had taken great notes during our meetings, and a coworker was there as well. Still it was very disturbing at the time and I still have some leftover anger about the situation. Writing out my list was difficult, but a great chance to look for something positive about it and the woman involved. 

Recently Beyond  Words published Unconditional Forgiveness by Mary Hayes Grieco. She uses an eight step process to help heal painful emotional issues once and for all. Luckily for me, the wonderful author was in town a few weeks ago and did a forgiveness workshop at my church so the steps are still fresh in my mind. And I am blessed that another friend who was also hurt by this woman is eager to go through the eight step process with me. It will be a relief for both of us since it happened several years ago and we're both still hurt and angry! 

I am so grateful that I work for a company that publishes such important works. Gratitude and forgiveness are two of the most powerful skills one can have and I'm pleased that I have such rich opportunities to learn from two very wise women. 

But now I'm skipping ahead, I do believe that gratitude for work is the subject tomorrow.

Cheers dears!

I Am So Blessed! Day 5

Yikes; I shouldn't have written about insomnia yesterday! After four hours of sleep I was running on fumes today, yet feel very energetic this evening. I'm guessing that's due in large part to my keyboard lessons early this evening.

My teacher Mike is so much fun and I'm outrageous there, cracking jokes and laughing at myself. I swear sometimes it's like I'm Sybil with different personalities in different places! Mike shakes his head and says I'm amazing and catching on fast. He's impressed with my knowledge of music and I feel smart. It's nice to shine somewhere!

However I spent the bulk of the day at a journaling workshop. I fell asleep twice while sitting upright in the midst of class, once completely missing the visualization exercise. My goal tonight is to go to bed on time and get some restorative sleep! Thus I'm keeping this short.

Day 5 is entitled Magic Money. I have to be very careful what I convey here but let's just say that  I'm not reading this book because I need more cash. I am blessed to have an unusually good relationship with money. I've never been in debt, own a home and sock away extra towards the principal so it will be paid off the month I retire. I feel very secure in the knowledge that if I need additional funds the universe will provide. Once right after my ex and I split and I was unusually low on funds I needed $6600 for a medical procedure. Within two weeks I received three separate checks totaling just shy of $6600. I am so blessed!

I never, ever complain about a lack of money and I am thankful for all the little extras that come my way. For example, today at my workshop they were selling the handbook for 10% off which comes out to $17 each. While I was considering whether to buy it, I overheard another participant  mentioning that she had bought three used ones from a website. I asked if she had an extra one she was willing to part with and got one in great shape for $4.00. Perhaps $13 doesn't sound like much of a savings to you, but day by day it adds up!

Okay, I'm starting to fade, so off I go. Blessings my dears...

Soothing My Soul - Day 4

Whoa, such a long day! Thankfully it's Friday and I have a weekend to recuperate from a stressful few days. I rush home for 45 minutes after work to eat, take care of Maizie and throw in a load of laundry. Too soon I leave again and start crossing a long list of errands off my list. It is 9:40 when I arrive home and 10:00 on the dot when I've finished taking Maizie for a walk and sink down to rest. 

Maizie Oct 2011

After a few minutes of petting Maizie I'm back up to write this blog. But my keyboards call my name! I have an early morning tomorrow so the mature thing to do would be to ignore it. Instead I play for about ten minutes and instantly relax. I don't know if music soothes the savage beast, but it surely soothes the soul!


It should be pointed out that I'm not proficient at playing. I've just started taking lessons where my teacher is insisting I use both hands. This is a problem as I'm not terribly familiar with the bass clef. I constantly remind myself that All Cows Eat Grass and Grizzly Bears Don't Fly Airplanes. It is slow going, but remarkably fun. 


But I digress; although I am grateful for those ten minutes of playing, music is not the topic of the day. It's all about health! Rhonda explains that in order to increase good health we must give thanks for the good health we have and also that you can tell the state of your health by "how amazing you feel everyday". 


Oh dear, this is quite worrisome. I sometimes drag myself through days. I get tired and lack energy. (Perhaps in part due to frequent insomnia?) In the fall I received an unpleasant health diagnosis so I'm doing this program in large part to improve my health. Thus I am very interested in the health practice reading that Rhonda devotes most of the chapter to. I read through it and her ending suggestion that we write THE GIFT OF HEALTH IS KEEPING ME ALIVE on a piece of paper or card to read several times during the day. I write THE GIFT OF HEALTH BLESSES ME instead on a 3 x 5 index card and slip it into my purse. I also type it on my iPhone calendar making sure to repeat it daily. Now it will pop up at 12:30 every day! 


At work I look up at the peace flags above my desk and read the inscription on the purple one: "I honor my intuition, I accept my path, I am healing body, mind and spirit". Perfect!

I love my colorful peace flags. I certainly honored my intuition when I spent the extra money to purchase them and I've never regretted it. I also don't have any qualms about my decision to play the keyboards tonight. Perhaps music will be a key to healing with my passion for it? I must think on that a bit, but it will have to wait as my comfy bed beckons. Nighty night!

Gratitude for People - Day Three

I am struggling with some of the technical aspects of doing my blog. Luckily I have a coworker named Leah who patiently reviews some of the basics with me today. I learn I can't paste and copy from a Word document as it mucks up the blog formatting. That explains the funky styles and sizes in my posts! 


I am very grateful for Leah. It's only because she taught a blogging class at work last week that I felt comfortable attempting this. However it's a darn shame that I didn't bring her home with me tonight as I've spent way too long trying to upload recalcitrant photos! 


Today's assignment is about relationships. I choose three people I am grateful for just the way they are and find photographs of each.  Looking at their photos I write five things I admire about each person. At least three times during the day, I look at the photos, silently thanking them. I choose my daughter Bethany, and good friends Aggie and Lauri.


It would take too long to write out all five admirable traits, so I'll edit it down a bit for you. Of course it's hard to limit myself on my daughter Bethany since I'm more than just a little biased! However I must say that I am extremely impressed with how thoughtful she is with others. For example she has a rare knack of choosing great presents for others and even personalizes them with hand drawn cards. 

Bethany December 2010

Aggie is an independent, can-do sort of woman. Perhaps because she grew up the youngest of ten children she's picked up good skills in most everything. She's an outstanding cook, can fix practically anything and understands graphs and numbers. I am impressed!

Aggie and I on the Portland Spirit

When I think of Lauri, I think of her laughing. I love her sense of humor and smile! She's very nurturing and is gifted in her work with children. 

Lauri, my good friend for almost 20 years!

Although it's fun to focus attention to these three special women I do realize that I am blessed to have many dynamite friends in my life. Rhonda suggests repeating this exercise with different people or even the same people each day. It's optional, but a great idea. (Just as long as I don't have to load photos of them!)

If at First You Don't Succeed - Day Two

It’s only day two and already I am off course. When I awoke I stretched and started off on my morning routine as usual. After a few minutes I realized that I was supposed to be writing down my ten blessings for the day. The only problem is that my dog, Miss Maizie insisted on going for a walk and being fed.

So I grabbed my iPhone and started recording my blessings (my first one about being grateful for the microphone feature on the iPhone.) I figured I could write them down later and read them before going to work. Honestly I believe this would have been an absolutely fabulous plan had I remembered sometime earlier than on my drive to work. Luckily I have 26 more days to make this a habit!

Actually at the beginning of the chapter about Day Two Rhonda Byrne does point out that “it takes concentrated days in a row to make gratitude a habit.” It’s like she’s writing this just to make me feel better; thanks Rhonda!  

Today’s practice starts with finding a gratitude rock like in The Secret. I begin by opening my jewelry box and pulling out a rock I painted at Girl Scouts when I was in grade school. It has crudely painted trees and mountains on it because back then I lived in the flat Midwest and I was obsessed with doodling pictures of mountains and trees. (Obviously I was destined to move to the beautiful Pacific Northwest.) 

(I think someone used a bowl to cut my hair!)

However the gratitude rock is supposed to be small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and this one is a bit too large for that. When I get to work I strike pay dirt. Around the base of a planter on my shelf I've arranged rocks including another Girl Scout rock that says "LOVE" in red bubble letters. Still too big, but there is a small clear crystal rock that is inscribed with the word "Gratitude." Talk about perfect! It was a gift last year from Bobbi, the other sales rep at work and my best friend there. 

Honestly the two of us are like an old married couple. We simultaneously love each other and drive each other completely up the wall. We are a lot like the Odd Couple. (Just call me Felix.) Today Bobbi snapped at me for trying to get us organized for a meeting. But she is on six different medications for a horrible cold and I've already asked her a very similar question. (I admit that I tend to obsess over details.) So we apologize to each other a few minutes later. Bobbi is one of the funniest people I know. I show her the rock and tell her about today's assignment, she points out that she gave it to me and we hug. 

Tonight, just before I go to sleep, I will hold my Gratitude rock in my hand and think about all the great things that happened today. My goal is to choose one thing I'm grateful for, feel gratitude and say thank you. As with the Day One exercise I am to repeat this every day. In the morning I'll list ten things I'm grateful for and why, feel gratitude and say thank you. At bedtime I'll review all the best parts of the day, choose one that I'm most grateful for and say thanks once again. 

I already know what I'm most grateful for today. Bobbi and I took a walk by the creek this afternoon where we saw a Great Blue Heron. I managed to snap two photos on my iPhone including one as the magnificent bird flew away. However there's no way that a still photo can capture the beauty of a Great Blue Heron in flight, so I'll leave you with the other photo. Blessings!

Painting Myself into a Corner - Day One

Day One - Painting Myself into a Corner

I chose to blog about my journey doing the 28 days of practices in The Magic because I am determined to improve my life and can easily predict that I won’t complete them if I don’t go public. My life is already busy and full. Thus I reason the best way to ensure I follow through is to paint myself into a corner. It’s a technique I used back in 2001 with great success.

Ten years ago I wanted to be healthy enough to finish a marathon and didn’t know how. Although I hadn’t even walked a 5K I told my friends and family that I planned to walk the Portland Marathon in the fall. At that point the furthest I was able to walk was 4 miles on a treadmill, but come the first Sunday in October, I completed 26.2 miles upright and smiling. I joined a group called Portland Fit and trained for six months. It was my first of four marathons and three mini triathlons with them.

It occurs to me that I’m doing something very similar here. I’ve told everyone that I plan to start a blog and yet I don’t even read blogs. I have a very fuzzy idea of how to write one or what people want to hear. How personal should I get? How do you write about friends or acquaintances without alienating them? Do people want to hear the nuts and bolts of the practices and what I’m doing or simply how I’m reacting to what I’m doing?

Should I post a link for my Facebook friends or wait until I learn if I’m any good at this? Will I need to find a new job or move to another state at the end of the month? Honestly I’m totally flying by the seat of my pants at this point!

So here it is, the publication date for The Magic and time for me to start already. I read the introduction and Day One last night and am already trying to find a way to weasel out of this. I’m shocked to see that that I must complete the first day practice every morning for 28 days! The goal is to write down ten blessings in my life that I’m grateful for and why and then read them with feeling every morning. 

I reread the instructions; indeed they should be different every day! A quick calculation tells me I’ll need to come up with 280 different things that I’m grateful for. Obviously Rhonda Byrne thinks I’m more creative and grateful than I feel at the moment. It occurs to me that it would be far easier to come up with a list of 280 things I don't like. Obviously I am in dire need of the 28 day program.

Day One at least should be pretty easy so here's my initial list:

Blessings I am Grateful For:

Chatting on the phone with my daughter Bethany last night.

My sweet little Maizie dog who follows me from room to room.

Terms of endearment. (In recent weeks I've started calling most other women "my dear". I feel unusually old fashioned.)

Dangley earrings. (Now that I have a short pixie cut I have totally embraced striving to look more feminine.)

Listening to great music on my commute like Take Five.

Watching Finding Joe with Mandy, Patty, Alison and Pamela Sunday night and the lively discussion we had during and after including answering what is your bliss? (Singing for me of course!)


The colorful photos a coworker showed me yesterday of the Northern Lights at the site of an active volcano.

Doing a breathing visualization with Leah Saturday.

Stretching my brain by practicing playing two different melodies on the keyboard at the same time last night.

Watching part of the Wayne Dyer PBS special last night, when I wasn’t napping in my chair. (Which is due to my insomnia, not the dynamic Wayne Dyer!)

The brilliance of David York, our Choir Director at NTCSL who picks such great songs and often arranges the different parts.

 

A Sweet Quote

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”

—  Charles William Eliot

A Fresh Start

I used to think of myself as a positive person, but during the last few years I’ve become more stressed and a little rougher around the edges. My health is teetering on the brink of betraying me and I don’t feel like I have as much control over my life and certainly not as much joy as I’d like. As much as I hate to admit it, I’m morphing into a negative person that holds grudges and is easily wounded by the comments of others.

Luckily I work at the Body, Mind and Spirit publishing house, Beyond Words. We’re best known for the 2006 book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne about the law of attraction. I was hired in sales about 3 years after it was published, but like millions of others I had watched the DVD and read the book. Actually I knew the book backwards and forwards since I had the audio book stashed in my car and listened to it frequently on my long drives to work and home. I finally walked into Beyond Words and asked for a job. I knew that I would be blessed to work at a place that was in alignment with my spiritual beliefs!

Since the blockbuster hit The Secret Byrne has written The Power, about the law of attraction as it relates to love and now on March 6^th her third book, The Magic will be released. It’s all about gratitude and features a 28 day program to bring more joy and gratitude into your life. Ever since I heard about the 28 day program I’ve felt intuitively that I am meant to embark on this journey. 

At the New Thought church I attend I fell in love with the song, Rolling River God. Some of the lyrics are:

The deepest part of you

is where I want to stay

and feel the sharpest edges wash away
 

That’s what I want to do, wash away those sharp edges. I plan to start day one of the 28 day program on the day the book is released, Tuesday, March 6^th. This will be my online journal of my journey and any changes that happen as a result. I would be honored if you’d like to accompany me as I embrace change.

Blessings,

Karen