1.  Organize your bedroom so that when you first open your eyes you will see beauty. Consider placing art on your walls that brightens your mood, living plants on the dressers that serve as a reminder that you are a part of the cycle of life, and planting a tree or flowering shrubs outside your bedroom window for beauty. 

2.  When you first wake up take a few long, slow, deep intentional breaths. 

3.  Wake up and remind yourself to live your day as if you’ll die tomorrow, and at the same time as though you’ll live 200 years. 

4.  Even before getting out of bed, say something meaningful to yourself out loud. It doesn’t have to be profound, just a few words that affirm that this is your day to live, to make meaningful choices, and to celebrate. 

5.  Playing music in the morning can set your mood for the day. Consider creating a playlist of your Top 20 Feel Good Songs. Soothing music can help relax, while rhythmic beats might get you dancing in the shower, and party beats can provide a sense of fun. 

6.  Be mindful of the quality of air in your bedroom. Open the windows often to let out the stale air and let in air that is fresh and full of oxygen. 

7.  Turn your bedroom into a serene oasis where the worries of the day melt away, and the grand potentials of life greet your eyes in the morning. Choose luxurious bedding, elegant sheets, perfect pillows, and a quality mattress. You deserve it! 

8.  The colors in your bedroom can have an astounding effect on your mood. Choose a color scheme for your bedroom that creates the type of mood you are looking for. Cool colors such as blues and greens tend to evoke serenity and peace. Pink is extremely calming. Shades of red are energizing and intimate. Pale shades of yellow will reflect light and make the room feel airy and bright. Earth tones are gentle and can create a cozy feeling. 

9.  Develop a pleasant morning routine that makes you eager to get out of bed. Try going for a light morning walk before showering, meditating, doing some light yoga stretches to get your body moving, or writing in a journal. Experiment and find a routine that works best for you. 

10.  Have something to be excited about today. When you wake up, think about one specific action or nice thing you can do for yourself that day… then make a solid decision to do it. When you have something you are excited about, you are more likely to get out of bed alert and looking forward to the day. 

If you tend to wake up feeling groggy, grumpy, or even sad, consider using one or more of the above tips to help boost your morning mood. These easy ways to perk up help you take charge and feeling more confident to face whatever the day may bring.

One of the greatest creative gifts that you already have is the power of your imagination. It will take you to grand places and it will align your desires with love. Your imagination forms new potentials about how you want to live your days on Earth, how much joy you want to have, and how much abundance.

Imagination isn’t structured thoughts or a visual picture of what you want. It is an experience of wandering anywhere your heart and soul choose to go. Imagination is a living relationship with what you want. It’s a new potential for a completely new way of experiencing living life, imagined right here in this present moment.

If you are having a difficult day, if you are stuck and don’t know what to do next, if you have depression and darkness, it can be so easy to get sucked deep down into the pit of doubt and despair. Don’t struggle to get out, because struggling only makes matters worse. Don’t get stumped because you don’t know the specific steps of how to get what you want. Rather imagine connecting with the grandness of who you are. Imagine yourself already living the way you would prefer to be living right now.

Imagination works to create a new potential that did not exist before. It’s like a bubble of possibilities that you produce from the inside out. As that potential takes hold and matures, the first step will naturally show itself to you when the time is right.

Imagination is your greatest tool and it’s with you right now. Imagination unlocks the creative energy within that adds spark to your life, along with purpose, new direction, and confidence. Each day make the effort to not focus so intently on the lack of what you most want, but on imagining the potential of, “I can have what I want.” 

Dad would be outside on the ladder cleaning out the gutters, washing down the siding of the house, and scrubbing the outside of the windows. When he was done, he’d reorganize the detached garage. After that, he’d be down in the garden turning over the compost pile in anticipation of planting the garden. 

Inside, mom and Oma were busy washing every curtain and window lace, and then removing the blinds so they could be washed by hand in the bathtub. Every light fixture was meticulously made to sparkle. The entire contents of the china hutch, including the china, crystal, and silver, was washed, dried, and polished. Each piece of furniture was dusted and then moved so the carpets could be scrupulously deep cleaned and the wooden floors buffed. When those tasks were complete, there was also an attic and basement that required attention. 

My sister Elke and I didn’t escape the flurry of spring cleaning activity. As part of the family we had our many chores… and there was no playing until those chores were complete. 

Today’s spring cleaning may not be as involved, but when the warmer weather arrives, it’s a perfect time to great time to generate some new energy by packing away cold weather clothing, engaging in clutter control, and playing in the yard. Here are four reasons spring cleaning will immediately invigorate your life. 

Clutter Control
There’s nothing like the entrance of springtime to prompt us to clear out clutter and make space for new energy and opportunities. Clutter usually accumulates over time. We become used to living with closets stuffed with too many clothes and shoes, kitchens filled with old boxes of food and trashy catchall drawers, and workspaces overflowing with piles of magazines, stacks of paper, and unfiled receipts. All that clutter can leave us with low energy levels, feeling irritable, inefficient, and even mildly depressed. It’s never easy to start cleaning your clutter. But as spring offers our bodies a burst of liveliness, we can funnel that energy into organizing our living spaces. When it’s done, you’ll be feeling confident, accomplished, and ready to enjoy life!   

Enjoy the Great Outdoors
After hibernating indoors all winter, spring offers a great excuse to get out into the fresh air and sunshine. On those perfect spring warm weather days, get yourself outside and spruce up the yard. Being in nature can have a profound effect on both our psyche and our health. Sometimes we need to feel the earth under our feet, to dig in the earth and plant flowers joyfully with enthusiasm. Spring is when we reawaken our quiet fascination with life. 

Unleash Your Creative Spirit
Spring is characterized by excitement, energy spurts, and an air of creativity. By channeling some of the energy into opening up space in your home, you also provide an opportunity to open up new spaces within your creative spirit. You can be quite surprised to suddenly discover so many new ideas for creative ventures. By lightening your load and cleaning your environment, you gain a sense of what it is like to be unburdened. New avenues of flow open up and with that flow comes a new excitement about how you want to spend your time.   

Focus on Dreams from the Heart
Spring cleaning offers a unique opportunity to inspect all the dark corners of the closet, seldom looked at shelves, and deep inside cabinets. As you pick up your items and clean them off, you get to ask yourself, “Do I need this? Do I use it? Do I love it?” These types of introspective questions allow you to look inside and set your priorities. Instead of going through your days on autopilot, you stop and question what is important to you at this stage of your life. Sort through your clothes, knick knacks, office supplies, and reading materials and ask yourself, “Is this a reflection of who I am right now?” As closets are organized, drawers tidied up, and garages cleaned, you allow yourself a sacred opportunity to lovingly say goodbye to who you once were and create a new space to welcome who you will become.   

Spring cleaning your home and yard is deeply satisfying on many levels of your mind, body, and spirit. Whether you’re an advocate of an all-out session of spring cleaning, or tend more toward the small, simple jobs, both can bring the season’s fresh energy into your life.

What role does spring cleaning play in your life? Share your experiences below and let us know how spring cleaning energizes your life!

That quote had me thinking about how often during a day I do things differently or how set in my ways I actually am. 

Today I’m sitting here getting used to a new keyboard and new type of roller ball mouse—and realizing how much the brain does not like new ways. Something as simple as typing and using the new mouse is no longer automatic. The keys aren’t where they once were, and the mouse works completely differently. I can feel the frustration build as things do not work as they once did. 

Positive Expectations Lead to the Reality of Frustration
As with all self-imposed change, there is the positive expectation that of course there will be some adjustments necessary, but how hard could that be? But then, as the day wears on the new skills aren’t integrated so quickly, there’s the temptation to throw it all away and go back to the way things were. The tried and true, although filled with limitation, was at least working. 

How many times do we find ourselves trying to move forward on a new path, or a new decision, filled with hope and optimism, but then face the frustration of attempting to do something we are not yet skilled at? The newness feels uncomfortable and frustration builds quickly. If the frustration gets big and discomforting, it often seems easier to back to the way things once were. 

Moving Forward With the Easy Button
How do we move forward with change when things just don’t seem like they are working out as anticipated? Here’s a few steps that I take to make change easier: 

Before moving forward, stop, breathe, and let the frustration dissipate. Nothing good comes from having the stress of frustration in the lead.

Next, remember why you wanted change in the first place. What was the change going to allow that you didn’t have before? In my case, I wanted the feelings of more comfort for my wrists and body, and the ease of more creative flow for my writing, as I sit at my desk typing. 

It’s only now, when frustration has ebbed, that it’s time to remember the original vision and bring the excitement back to life. The original idea for change was good and had enough energy to compel action, and even though the reality of change must be navigated, the idea is still a good idea. Close your eyes, breathe in the good feeling and let it expand. 

With that good feeling embodied, imagine having an internal easy button. Talk to your mind, talk to your body, and let yourself know that you would like to move through the learning curve with grace and ease. Breathe and make the decision, from your heart, that this change can flow quickly. 

Then, for me, it’s back to typing and using the mouse. Conscious breath, the release of frustration, and imagination can make the journey easier and more rewarding, but the journey is still required to learn, grow, and evolve.

It was already late                                                                                   
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do ‑
determined to save
the only life you could save.

~ Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver’s poetry, with her lyrical connection to the natural world, has firmly established her in the highest realm of American poets. She is renowned for her evocative and precise imagery, which brings nature into clear focus, transforming the everyday world into a place of magic and discovery. Her recent books include Owls and Other Fantasies, Why I Wake Early, and New and Selected Poems, Volume Two. As poet Stanley Kunitz has said, “Mary Oliver’s poetry is fine and deep; it reads like a blessing.” Oliver lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Amazon’s Mary Oliver Page
http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Oliver/e/B000APELGO/ref=sr_tc_2_0

 To invoke your creative thinking and creative actions, you do not have to be a special type of person—everyone can do it. Creativity is a skill and talent that can be developed through practice. To get your creative solutions flowing, invoke these elements: 

See problems as interesting and acceptable.

We often see problems or challenges in life as unacceptable. We avoid pain or suppress it, and in doing so do not listen to the symptoms that are there to tell us something important.

Creative people accept problems as a natural and normal part of life. They understand that moving through these challenges will allow them to reach greater heights of skill, ability, or talent.

 Become curious.

Curiosity allows you to shed new light on your personal challenges. Look at your problem from multiple angles and learn to ask “what would happen if” and “I wonder….” questions to awaken your creativity. 

Curiosity-based questions are a way to explore, examine, and play with things from new angles and perspectives. Take out your journal and begin to look at your situation with interest. Become an explorer! Act like an investigative reporter who is excited about uncovering secrets and looking at the story from all angles. Learning to relax your mind allows you to embrace the situation and listen to inspiration that originates from within. 

Confront challenge.

When facing a difficult situation, most of us would rather retreat and avoid uncomfortable anxiety and fear. In truth, backing away from your challenge does relieve the anxiety, at least temporarily. In the long-term, avoiding action can lead to lowered self-esteem, feeling powerless and frustrated, and sabotaging your success. Find new ways to face your challenge rather than running from it. Begin to ask yourself, “I wonder how can I overcome this?” 

Constructively Complain.

Articulate what is wrong with your world, and allow your discontent to be a motivation to do something. 

Taking action to achieve your dreams or overcome challenges is important. Yet, you already know that sometimes we base our actions on things we think we “should” be doing. Those types of forced actions tend to kill motivation. Check with your heart and find the creative action that feels inspired. Invite the supportive “just right” type of creative solutions that feel fulfilling and satisfying. Look into your creative soul and invite the right creative action for right now.

The painting of the walls is complete, the fixtures are replaced, the trash is picked up, the carpet is vacuumed, and the furniture is back in place! I’m breathing a huge sigh of relief. A new foundation is set.

The clutter is gone. The chaos is vanished. But the journey isn’t over yet. Ahead lays the task of building upon the foundation and establishing cohesion and flow. If you recall, with the radical paint change nothing from my old reality matches. The honey-oak color of the built-in cabinets and writing desk, the empty bookshelves, the dark orange curtains, the soft caramel leather counseling furniture, and even the beige carpet―all were cozy, comforting, and cocoon-like―no longer fit within the expansive gray color scheme.

I have found new homes for all my gently used office belongings. The curtains were divided with sister Elke and best friend Adrienne. The gently used Berber carpet will soon be repurposed into a good home. The furniture is going into Ray’s new office. Call me crazy, more repainting / remodeling is in the near future as we create an in-home office for my sweetheart Ray.

Currently, I’m working in what feels like a surreal landscape. Although I’ve been to what seems like over twenty different furniture stores, I haven’t found the loveseat, chairs, curtains, or desk that match my inner vision. So for the time being, hopefully a short interval, I’m now living / working in an office that is neat, has new energy, yet still carries remnants of the old world. It’s a mismatched hodgepodge of old and new, and the two definitely do not go together.

The journey of change is often unpredictable and not always on our mental time-line. Things sometimes take as long as they take. What is important to acknowledge and accept the current reality while also maintaining focus on the overall outcome. Just because something isn’t complete yet, doesn’t mean we have to quit or settle for less than our vision.

Today’s Invitation: Acknowledge where you are on your journey of change. You wanted the outcome of your goal when you first started the journey, and what you wanted is still important now. Even though you might be facing unexpected challenges, obstacles, or hindrances, it doesn’t mean the journey is over. Assess your situation, accept current circumstances, and then rededicate yourself to allowing a desirable outcome to unfold.

P.S. If you’re going through change yourself, or if you have any helpful inspiration, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. Your insights may be just the light of hope or help that someone else is searching for.

Most of my office is painted, with the exception of the trim work at the top of the ceilings. We took several days off and just left everything sitting where it was. What an explosion of disorder!

 Part of me loves the new expansive feeling the gray color brings. It emits a sense of freedom and expansion. There is light and openness. However, there still exists the part of me that misses the warm cozy cocoon of my former room design. I’m aware of an internal conflict brewing between the love of my former office and all that it represented, and the new expression of myself.

Sitting here in the unfinished chaos of my office reminds me of many clients I’ve worked with, both past and present. We begin our work together with a genuine sense of optimism and excitement. Tired of past ways of dealing with issues, they are eager to understand something new, something beyond what they had experienced previously.

We set our course and move forward. This means introducing new ways of thinking, new awareness of true feelings, and creating a new unity between mind, body, emotions, and spirit. At first, it’s all lovely. The new ideas and perspectives resonate with trueness, and the old ways lose their power. Then real change begins to happen and the transition initiates internal chaos. On the inside, I imagine they look and feel just like my office looks today: Confused. Cluttered. Disordered.

Naturally, there’s a strong pull to go back into the familiar, along with a sadness about leaving something behind. But there is also a heartfelt yearning to move forward into something new. Between these two opposing desires and emotions, an internal conflict takes form.

The most important thing for anyone to do at the onset of this conflict is to take a breath, acknowledge the natural sadness, grief, and fear that change brings, and honor those feelings. Those feelings are not silly because often changing even one small thing changes everything. Small changes frequently have a big effect, and somewhere inside we sense the significance of the change that is in progress.

By allowing ourselves the self-respect to move through our feelings, we can honor who we were and where we were. Then owe it to ourselves to choose a path that feels most true for who we are now.

While moving forward may still provoke uncertainty and apprehension, inside we do know which choice feels most compelling. Once we take responsibility and actually choose a path, we must then stand solid in that decision, no matter what fears and emotions attempt to beat us up for the decision.

What happens often is that people wind up caught in the internal conflict. Fearing change or the emotions that change brings, they sit down in the middle of the clutter and stay there. They don’t commit to going back into the familiar but neither do they commit to move forward.

While it’s okay to sit down for awhile, it’s also immensely uncomfortable mentally, spiritually, and physically. There’s a saying that I often refer to that goes something like this, “Best not to begin. Once begun, best to finish.” Sitting in the middle of change and chaos, between “the what was” and “the what will be” is an awful, heavy feeling that begins to wear a person down. The stress of the conflict eventually leaves a person lethargic, and feeling helpless or even hopeless.

So today, I choose to get back to my painting project and finish what I can. My sister Elke is still willing to offer her immense talents to getting this task complete. The time has come to finish the last of the painting, replace the electrical plates, pick up the drop cloths, and put back the old furniture for now.

Today’s Invitation: Did you move forward on a personal goal, desire, or dream only to find yourself stuck or frozen in the middle of the transition? If so, take time to notice the internal conflict. Feel into emotions enticing you back into the old familiar territory. Also, feel into the choice to move forward. Which choice feels good and true for who you are right now? What small, doable action would break the stalemate and get your life flowing forward once again?

P.S. If you’re going through change yourself, or if you have any helpful inspiration, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. Your insights may be just the light of hope or help that someone else is searching for.

My office is 95% painted and I’m feeling in shock. The new color is absolutely breath taking, but… it is SO different. Instead of the warm and comforting gold, crimson, and earthy brownish undertones, this new color is expansive.

Part of me loves it! But the part of me that loved being embraced by my warm cocoon-like office is throwing a tantrum. It’s wants to panic, doubt my decision, and most of all―return to the familiar. I can hear it shouting, “Go back now before it’s too late. Go back, before buying the new curtains, new furniture, and new accessories. Go back now before you go any further.”

Renovation is messy and distressing. Everything is in a complete upheaval. I’ve donated three quarters of my beloved books and now the bookshelves stand empty. The dark crimson gold curtains are down leaving behind naked windows. The furniture―and even the carpet―no longer matches the paint color. Plastic sheets and drop cloths litter the floor. Ladders stand like frozen soldiers in the middle of the room. Paint cans and used blue masking tape trash the room.  

While change often seems thrilling in the beginning, change of any kind is unsettling. Typically, the results are always beautiful. But somewhere between the “before” and the “after” things are disorganized. Change is bigger than we imagined, involving more time and more resources than initially imagined.

We tend to make the typical assumption that because we wanted change to happen, it would happen smoothly, and the whole process would be one big happy adventure. Turns out is an adventure, but one that involves disorder, chaos, and often unexpected emotions.

Change shakes things up and leads us into new territory. First, it brings us into the cluttered middle of what was and what will be. It’s a no man’s land where things are torn apart. We don’t yet know how to reorganize, or how things will turn out. Did we make a mistake in giving up the old? Is it too late to turn back? There’s an opportunity that comes from starting over with a clean slate, but do we really want to embrace the new?

Today’s Invitation: If you are in the middle of change, allow yourself a big breath of compassion. Change brings up old issues, but it also allows you to process your feelings and move into new states of awareness. Honor and support your journey, and know you will find your own way through the chaos.

P.S. If you’re going through change yourself, or if you have any helpful inspiration, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. Your insights may be just the light of hope or help that someone else is searching for.

I am a huge proponent of moving forward with purpose while moving at our own pace. Like the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, I find that when I move forward at my own inner purposeful pace, I am more likely to achieve my goal… with an added bonus of enjoying the journey.

Today, all of us gathered in my office to achieve a common goal. Yet from the moment we began working, each of us had to run our own race at our own pace. This involved choosing tasks appropriate to our individual strengths, and settling into the task at hand with intention and pace.  

To be successful, you have to do what works for you. For example, have you ever gone to an outdoor swimming pool at the end of the season? The nights are colder and naturally so is the water. How we get into chilly water is quite personal. Some people find it best to dive right in. They take the shock all at once, and for them this works. Others get in the water inch by inch. While still others avoid the process all together. 

When it comes to cold water, I’m a big weenie. The only way I can handle the cold temperature is by getting in slowly, at my own pace, and in my own unique style. At the end of last summer, to prolong outdoor lap swimming at my favorite LifeTime Fitness gym, I perfected a three-step approach. Here’s how it goes: First, I settle into the hot tub until the heat warms up my core temperature. Next, I ease into the indoor pool, which is colder than the hot tub, but warmer than the outdoor pool. Finally, I slip into the outdoor lap pool. 

While some may laugh at my peculiar style, it works for me. Not only do I take ownership of taking care of my needs, I also achieve my goal of swimming and enjoying the water for several more weeks.  

Finding your own pace entails stopping for a moment, taking several deep breaths, and bringing into focus the bigger picture of what you want to accomplish. It then requires feeling inward, sensing your intuition, and taking your next step in a way that works best for you.

No matter what action we are involved in, whether it is climbing a mountain, quitting smoking, ending overeating, overcoming depression, or painting a room, we have to find our purpose and our own pace. Different people take life at different speeds and one way is not necessarily superior to another. What matters most is knowing what actions and challenges are important to our true authentic self, and honoring our own process to the finish line.  

Today’s Invitation: Are you running your race or running someone else’s race? Notice if you are letting others set the pace. If so, you are probably ignoring your own needs, intuition, and unique ability to get the job done.

Also, are you running around with great ideas in your head? If so, find the courage to leap and bring those ideas into reality. But, do so at your own pace, with purpose, and with your own unique style! 

P.S. If you’re going through change yourself, or if you have any helpful inspiration, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. Your insights may be just the light of hope or help that someone else is searching for.