Love Yourself

A great reminder and lesson from Charlie Chaplin on self-respect. While I don't encourage egotism, there is a difference between an over-inflated ego and a healthy respect for oneself.


Get a free copy of Charlie Chaplin's manifesto from Mindvalley here:

http://mindvalleyacademy.com/featured/celebrating-life-manifesto-infographic

Thankful for Chef Bondurant

After having an adventurous summer getting married, camping, traveling and living like hippies, my husband Stuart and I are currently situated in a small rental in the Rockies enjoying an early winter and preparing for the upcoming holidays. We have been looking forward to our first Thanksgiving together nearly all year. Well, technically, we have been looking forward to it nearly all our lives. We first met and fell in love with each other during our early teen years, but could not be together until we were nearly fifty. That is a story (or blog) for another day.
Getting back to our first Thanksgiving Day together, I am not sure it started out exactly the way I had imagined. Stuart is a terrific cook. So, since we have been together, I have stepped back and allowed him to do most of the cooking. I must say that I enjoy his cooking and waiting on me immensely, especially since I spent many years cooking for and waiting on others.  Because of his fabulous cooking skills, Stuart of course took the largest part in preparing the Thanksgiving meal, with me sort of acting as his sous chef.   My first blunder today was sleeping until 10:30 this morning. Who sleeps that late on Thanksgiving Day when there are preparations to be done? Stuart was too considerate to wake me up and had already gone to the store to get last minute needed items. He had also done a wonderful job of preparing the turkey. However, it finished cooking much sooner than we had planned, thanks to me of course.  The night before, my head chef had asked me to research the length of time it would take to bake a nineteen-pound turkey.  I dutifully searched the internet and told him to cook it for six hours. However, this teacher with a master's degree must have looked at the wrong information. That bird was done in three and one half hours.
So, there sits the turkey at 12:30 p.m, waiting for the rest of the meal to be prepared. It is way too early to eat now. It was also my job to prepare the stuffing. But, since I snoozed the morning away, Stuart went ahead and patiently made the stuffing while simultaneously preparing the most delicious homemade cranberry dish I had ever tasted.  That left me with the simple jobs of baking the ham and peeling the potatoes.  Well, I tried. At least I can take charge of clean-up without being a slacker. We will see how that goes.

Taking that Leap and Creating Some Meaning Out of This Life

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." -- Steve Jobs

I love this quote from Steve Jobs. It reminds me of the many small battles I have had to fight throughout my life to follow my own dreams and desires and to shut out the world and its naysayers. Upon entering adulthood, my life did not start out very promising due to some physical, and emotional health issues and severe financial and relationship difficulties. 

Going to college in my mid-thirties to become a teacher was one of many big and satisfying steps I have taken during my journey toward progress and healing.  Walking into that first college classroom was the culmination of many years spent dreaming and wondering if I could really do it, as well as watching and waiting for the right time.

There are always many obstacles in the way of our wants and dreams.  The primary obstacles include a lack of funds, lack of time, fear of failure ( that is a big one for many) and worry over what other people think of us. If you can get past those last two concerns, then it a matter of planning, maneuvering and scheming ( I use the word scheme in a positive sense) until you are in a position to take the opportunity.

If you are too concerned with stepping out of your comfort zone, shaking up your life a bit or facing failure, then the timing and financial issues are not going to matter anyway, because you will never take that first step. 
To me, Steve Job's point is to not let anyone or anything get in the way of making positive changes that will help you become whatever you want. 
When my life ends, I hope I can leave peacefully, with the satisfaction of knowing that I pushed myself to obtain small and large successes along the way and make meaning out of my life.