Promise #89: You have the time to rock the world
There comes a day when you realize you haven’t really realized anything yet
when now becomes more important than yesterday and matters twice as much as tomorrow
when love blossoms more often than it fades
when forgiveness burrows deep and takes its seat inside your soul
when big hellos and swallowing hugs remind you how much you are needed here and now
and that’s when you start to realize the magnitude of it all
the magnetic flow of good around you
the dizzying potential for growth
the joy of side-cramping-belly laughter and deeply deep-seated love
the sheer intensity of knowing that you are put on this earth to realize and be realized
and that somewhere in that moment
you have the time
you always have the time
to rock the world
Promise #82: See your forest for the trees
There is an entire place dedicated to enhancing clarity and understanding, peace and patience, kindness and gratitude.
Believe it or not, there’s no long line at the entry. There’s no need to make a reservation. There’s no admission fee. There’s nothing for sale. You can stay as long as you like. You can bring friends or go alone. You’re free to sit and think. You’re free to walk around, to run, to play. You can even just lay down and take a nap. You’re welcome every day, any time.
The air is fresh. The ground is solid. The atmosphere, embracing. It’s alarmingly quiet and quietly alarming.
And the best news is—it’s on the other side of your front door. Go on, open that door. Take a deep breath. Clear your head. Stand on top of the world.
Own. Your. Day.
Promise #76: Delete seven crappy hours of your life in 11 steps or less
My boys tell me that SCHOOL is an acronym for Seven Crappy Hours Of Our Life. Honestly? They have no idea what seven crappy hours of life are. Plus their math is totally wrong. It’s not seven crappy hours, it’s seven crappy hours every day—that’s not SCHOOL that’s SCHOOLED. We all know that being schooled on anything is never fun.
Seven hours can add up quickly. Nine to four. Ten to five. Midnight to seven. You can almost see the mojo flushing down the drain each hour.
I’m a little jealous that kids, students I should say, get to stand at the edge of a new school year ready to embrace a fresh start. A whole new group of friends. A new batch of teachers. New teams. New subjects. New opportunities. All for the taking.
Wouldn’t it be great to stand on that edge nine months after January’s (re)solution for hope and change has come and (possibly) gone?
My advice? Start small. Dream big. Delete one of seven crappy hours by doing something new, embracing the unknown, showing up (new shoes and all) to wrap your arms around J-O-Y.
Here’s a short list of 10 ways you can get a little mojo pumping through your veins:
- Sign up for an online e-course. Amanda’s Be Gentle Be Love course is full of awesomeness and pressure-free (no grading, work at your own inspired pace).
- Attend a networking event in your area. Connect with brilliant, like-minded people and prospects. Go on, shoo.
- Get involved in your community. Join a group that meets once a month (art, writing, photography, gardening, whatever YOU love to do in your uncopious free time).
- Volunteer one hour a week to a cause that you’re passionate about. Someone needs your help just as much as you need theirs. Guaranteed.
- Get social: start tweeting, get on facebook, enjoy Google+. Connect with that long-lost friend, reach out to a guru. You might be surprised at the new friends you’ll make.
- Join a gym. Buffing those muscles actually buffs your brain, too.
- Start looking for a new job. If you were shaking your head at enduring the full seven crappy hours then it’s time to consider a career change. If you weren’t doing THAT job then what would job would it be? Three words: go-for-it.
- Plan a party. Attend a party. Be the party.
- Write yourself a love note. Celebrate your awesomeness. Read it when life is dragging you down.
- Watch a (chick/guy) flick…with a big, fat tub of buttered popcorn and a (regular) soda. You can circle back to the gym suggestion tomorrow.
What can you add to this list? Share, share, share in the comments.
Promise #67: Regiveaway joy (A giveaway for you)
A joy that’s shared is a joy made double.
-American ProverbI am a big fan of joy. Who isn’t? Sure there’s that cranky old witch or warlock who lives on the corner of Such & Such Street who’s never smiled a day in your life. There’s that person. But who else? Thinking. T-h-i-n-k-i-n-g.
T—h—i—n———k———i———n———g.
Stumped? Me, too. I’m always in the mood for a little joy. It’s as free as a smile. It’s as genuine as child’s giggle. It’s soda-through-your-nose funny. Tears streaming from your eyes grateful. It’s easy to find, fun to remember, lovely to pass on. As if that’s not enough, it’s really the perfect antidote to all things joyless. No need to talk about those things today.
Let’s focus on the regive
This is not the same as a regift, mind you. Regift=bad. Regive=good, all good.
Think of the things worth regiving: sage advice, contagious laughter, pure honesty, deep love, hope, patience, kindness, courage, strength. Dig through a bottomless bag of virtues and you’ll find more worth the regive. More worth the share. While each is very different the end result is shockingly similar—it is joy.
Enter Regiving
A few months ago, Amanda Oaks of Kind Over Matter fame invited me to be a part of her Seven Souls One Musing interview series. Tickled pink, I signed on. All I needed to do was share a story about an experience that made me laugh to the core. Easy peasy? Not so. I realized there have been many.
There was that time I jumped in a crazy cab in NYC. My first week on the job. Leaving my “welcome” happy hour. Trying to catch a bus at Port Authority. The cab was chased by the cops to the center of Times Square. The cab driver spent the entire ride begging me to help him get off the hook. He forgot to turn on his occupied light, but I think there was more to his story. Not funny then, funny now.
There was that other time I yelled “TRAIIIIIIIIIIIIIN” when my 16-year-old-spanking-new-driver-brother drove over train tracks with no train in sight. Yes, he beat me senseless while driving with one hand of the wheel, but I didn’t mind cause I was too busy laughing.
And then there was that time that I wrote about on Amanda’s blog…which is now in her ebook along with 29 other funny stories written by 29 amazing contributors.
And now the Regiveaway
If you click the ebook link above you can see everything that Amanda managed to tuck inside this amazing collaboration of stories. There are a total of 60 stories, along with inspiring, downloadable art.
Each contributor shared stories of laughter and kindness. I had the pleasure of reading through the book and I can tell you I was blown away. The kindness stories are unbelievably touching. The laughter stories are laugh-out-loud funny. The art work is very cool.
While I was thrilled to contribute to this I must admit, I was just more taken away at the power of joy and how that power manifests itself when it’s shared.
I want to regiveaway that joy to you.
It’s simple…very simple: share a story or a note in the comments below that will bring joy to someone’s world. It can be a story about anything, but one that will provide truth to the proverb above: a joy that’s shared is a joy made double. That’s it. I’ll choose a random (seroiusly random) winner on Sunday, June 19, 2011, at noon. You’ll need to be a Twisted Pinky email subscriber to win (so if you’re not already a subscriber sign up here).
And if you can’t wait until Sunday, then by all means buy your book today. It would make a wonderful Father’s Day, graduation, thinking-of-you gift. It would also be an amazing gift for you to give yourself. Really. When’s the last time you did that?
Share your story today. I can’t wait to read it!
_____________
Artwork by Amanda Oaks. Disclosure: Please note that, although I was totally stoked to contribute to Regiving, I was also stoked to sign up as an affiliate. This means that if you purchase the book through the link provided in this post, I will receive a commission from Kind Over Matter. It’s probably worthy to note that not one word of this post would change if I were not an affiliate earning commission. The book rocks, plain and simple. When you win it, you’ll know.
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