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LIVING BY DESIGN NEWSLETTER
by Leslie Karen Sann, MA, LCPC
V5, #1
January 4, 2005
IN THIS ISSUE
Good
Enough is Good Enough
Quotes
Practically Speaking
Wonder Questions
GOOD
ENOUGH IS GOOD ENOUGH
Powerful People Make Things Easy (Part 21)
(This article is a continuation of a series
about our personal power to create the life we want)
The end of one year and the beginning of another are
times of extremes. We are often filled with the joys of our connections,
friends, family, associates, aware of the blessings of abundance in our
life. At the same time we are pushed, stressed, and rushed to catch up,
finish, get ready, get social. And on top of all that, the ending of a
year which leads into the beginning of another naturally leads us to
reflect on what has gone before and what is to come.
Wisdom grows from harvesting what has gone before
through reflection and wondering, especially when we ask the questions,
"How has this served me?", "What can I learn from
this?", "If I want to do better, what shifts can I make to
produce a more satisfactory outcome?"
While this process of review is very valuable, it
sometimes triggers automatic judgments when we notice what has been left
undone. It seems the busier our lives get, the more challenging it is to
feel satisfied at the end of the year. And no matter how evolved our work
flow systems are, or how much we've streamlined, or eliminated clutter,
our lives seem to continually fill up with more and more to process.
This year, while you are doing your year-end review
and next-year visioning, I suggest you notice the patterns of thought that
get in the way of you appreciating what you have done and who you are.
I have a client who is a steamroller. I am
continually amazed at how much she can accomplish. This year she also
rehabbed her office and her home. During a recent session she wanted to
work on becoming more efficient so she could get more done. She was
thinking she was very ineffective.
This no longer surprises me. I recognize it in
myself, and see it often in my clients. We focus on what is left undone
rather than what we have accomplished. We compare ourselves to some
illusion rather than accept ourselves the way we are. In doing so, we miss
the goodness we do and the goodness we are.
What if you were to give up making yourself wrong
for the way you relate your life?
What if you accepted that you are a person who works
best under pressure and is most creative close to a deadline? What if you
claimed that as your creative process rather than judging yourself lazy or
unmotivated?
What if you chose to stop auditioning for
SuperSpouse, SuperParent, SuperEmployee/Employer and accepted that you are
good enough and good enough is good enough?
What if you learned to be your own best friend
rather than waiting to love yourself until you find that perfect someone,
or lose weight, or make more money?
What if you ceased to label your high energy as
pushy and loud, and accepted your gift of enthusiasm, ambition, and drive?
What have you been judging in your behaviors, in
your style of expression, that drains your energy and keeps you from
claiming the goodness in your life, the goodness in yourself?
When you get to the end of your life what will have
the greatest meaning: that you accomplished everything you set out to do
and that you did it all 'right', or that you enjoyed the journey, shared
your loving, and were true to yourself?
Perhaps setting the intention to express loving
kindness and acceptance for ourselves and for others, and taking
continuous actions to support that intention, might create a different
experience of the year to come.
Let's check it out together.
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Related Articles:
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QUOTES:
"Man is disturbed not by things, but by his
opinion of things."
~ Epictetus ~
"Forgiveness does not change the past, but
it does enlarge the future."
~ Paul Boese ~
"No matter how think you slice it, there are
always two sides."
~ Anthony Robbins ~
"Be at peace with your own soul, then heaven
and earth will be at peace with you."
~ St. Isaac of Nineveh ~
"It only takes one person to change your
life -- you."
~ Ruth Casey ~
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PRACTICALLY SPEAKING:
- Set time aside to engage in a year end/year
beginning review.
- Notice the things that seem unfulfilled or
incomplete from the year that has gone before.
- Now notice your thoughts about these items,
resolutions, intentions. Are you engaging in supportive thinking or
are you undermining yourself with your interpretation of events?
- If you are self-supporting, give yourself a pat
on the back and keep up the good work.
- If you notice that you are judging yourself,
belittling yourself with opinion that you could have, should have,
ought to have done differently - STOP - and forgive yourself for
judging yourself, or anyone else.
- Now challenge yourself to see the situation
differently. How might the circumstances be serving you as they are?
What could you possibly be attempting to teach yourself with the
current set up? Don't move on until you have at least two positive,
empowering responses.
- Now that you know how your life is serving you as
it is - ask yourself - what could I focus on in the months to come to
bring these gifts more fully present in my life?
- Notice how you are experiencing yourself. If you
are feeling more expanded and empowered, you are on the right track.
Keep going.
WONDER QUESTIONS:
- Are you willing to choose to make lemonade out of
lemons, to turn whatever situation or circumstance you find yourself
into a gift of learning and growth?
- Are you willing to accept things as they are -
including yourself - so that you can build with what is, rather than
arguing with the materials you have on hand?
- Are you willing to be happy, joyful, and
celebrate your life, as you find it?
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COPYRIGHT/CONTACT INFO/REPRINT PERMISSION
c Copyright 2005 by Leslie Karen Sann, Living by Design
Visit this link for contact information:
leslie@living-bydesign.com
Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears in full:
Copyright 2005 by Leslie Karen Sann,
Living by Design.All rights reserved.
Web site. http://www.living-bydesign.com
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