Empowering Women to Celebrate Early Midlife
Here’s an interesting story of three friends who were experiencing their “quarter-life crisis” simultaneously, and decided to drop everything and take off for a year-long journey of self-discovery. Not something all of us are able to do, but still an inspiring story just the same. Enjoy!
In Celebration,
‘The Lost Girls’ of New York learn to embrace the journey – USATODAY.com.
I was just introduced to Christy Whitman yesterday and she’s got some great material. Here’s a post she wrote on The Law of Reflection. In the post she shares a great exercise on how to see and honor the good in yourself in any situation. I’m really enjoying her work, I hope you will too!
We’ve been watching A LOT of Disney’s Princess and The Frog lately and the whole family has a string of favorite musical numbers and we all get up and dance and sing along whenever they come on.
One of our favorites is Dig a Little Deeper by Mama Odie (voiced by Jenifer Lewis). Mama Odie is a 197-year-old spunky voodoo lady who lives in an old boat in a tree deep in the Bayou. When Tiana and Prince Naveen seek her out to turn them human again, Mama Odie tries to teach them an important lesson that what they wanted was not the same as what they needed. When the message doesn’t quite sink in, she breaks into her musical number.
Below are the lyrics and coming up is a link to the video of this scene. I apologize that I’m not able to place the video in the post but the best clips I found on YouTube all disabled the embedding feature so all I can give ya is the link. Still worth hopping over to a new window to see. Check it out here and then come back and tell me whatchathink…
Mama Odie: Don’t matter what you look like
Don’t matter what you wear
How many rings you got on your finger
We don’t care
Choir: (No we don’t care)
Don’t matter where you come from
Don’t even matter what you are
A dog, a pig, a cow, a goat
Had ‘em all in here (we had ‘em all in here)
And they all knew what they wanted
What they wanted me to do
I told ‘em what they needed
Just like I be telling you
You got to dig a little deeper
Find out who you are
You got to dig a little deeper
It really ain’t that far
When you find out who you are
You’ll find out what you need
Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed
You got to dig (dig)
You got to dig (dig)
Prince Froggy is a rich little boy
You wanna be rich again
That ain’t gonna make you happy now
Did it make you happy then? No!
Money ain’t got no soul
Money ain’t got no heart
All you need is some self-control
Make yourself a brand new start
You got to dig a little deeper
Don’t have far to go
You got to dig a little deeper
Tell the people Mama told you so
Can’t tell you what you’ll find
Maybe love will grant you peace of mind
Dig a little deeper and you’ll know
Miss Froggy, might I have a word?
You’s a hard one, that’s what I heard
Your daddy was a loving man
Family through and through
You your daddy’s daughter
What he had in him you got in you
You got to dig a little deeper
For you it’s gonna be tough
You got to dig a little deeper
You ain’t dug near far enough
Dig down deep inside yourself
You’ll find out what you need
Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed
Open up the windows
Let in the light children
(Blue skies and sunshine)
(Blue skies and sunshine)
Tiana: Blue skies and sunshine
Mama Odie: Guaranteed
Choir: (Ahhh…)
So did you enjoy it? Mama Odie teaches a very important lesson that we all have the ability inside of us to be have and do whatever we desire so long as it is congruent with what we need. When we are aligned with who we truly are and what we need, things flow effortlessly. But when we are out of alignment, that’s when things are tough. I know from experience that when I’ve tried to force a thing it is never a simple process. But when I just say yes to what is for my highest and greatest good, even if it doesn’t look like what my ego self wants, I am always blown away by how effortless things fall into place.
So when you are faced with challenges be they big or small, reach inside and ask yourself is this current situation based on a want or a need. If it’s based on a want, dig a little deeper and ask yourself what you truly need to bring peace to the situation. At first blush the answer that comes may not look like what you thought you wanted, but in the end if it is best for you you’ll find without a doubt that it is exactly what you needed!
I hope you enjoyed one of our current family favs. Let me know your thoughts and if it moves you, please pass along to your friends. Take care!
In Celebration,
I’ve always enjoyed watching Will Smith, and today I’d like to share with you a very uplifting video that features a variety of clips of him speaking about how to make a difference in this world.
So what did you think? Did you enjoy this as much as I did? Please share your thoughts below, and if this post could be empowering to someone else, please pass it on!
I had to go Hollywood on myself and do a director’s clapboard CUT! while taping my welcome message last week.
My original message is good, IMO, but too long. Originally over 12 minutes I had to slice this down to the YouTube required 10 minutes. And even though I taped a shorter version that is featured to your right, this edited original version still offers some valuable insights so I’m going to share it with you anyway. No sense in scrapping perfectly good material. Take a look:
So, what did you think? Did this longer version provide you with something that is useful to you? I hope so! Please comment below as I’d love to hear any takeaways you may have gained from this or how this was helpful to you in some way. Thanks!
In Celebration,
I was reminded of a great principle in church today that reminds us to not ignore the call within us to do more, be more and have more than we are right now.
I’d love to take a few moments to share this wonderful concept with you. Just click on the play button below and check it out!
Is there something inside of you that has been speaking to you but perhaps you’ve been ignoring it because you’re not sure how to make this thing real? If so, that’s okay! A lot of times when something bigger than us is calling us to action it can be scary because we have no idea how to make those small little seeds that have been planted within us grow into something amazing. We can’t see beyond where we are currently of how to make it possible. But if we only take the first step and say “yes”, I promise you, your path will be revealed to you step by step. But it won’t happen until you say “yes”….even if you have to say “I have no idea what this means and I don’t have a clue as to how to make all of this work, but I am going to trust what I am being lead to do and say YES.”
Did that resonate with you in some way? I’d love to hear about it so please share your thoughts and insights below as they can be a blessing others. Oh, and re-tweets and Facebook love are always appreciated! Have a fantastic day!
In Celebration,
P.S. Please excuse the wobbly video and the occasional sighs in the background….my cameraboy is nine and his arms were giving out on him!
Do you ever have those days where you feel like your energy is stuck? Where you feel like you’re blocked up inside and can’t really be as creative or productive as you know you have the potential to be? Well, I was feeling that way recently… And fortunately for me, one of my good friends, colleagues, and now mentors, Marie Forleo, gave me some priceless tips to help ‘unblock’ my energy.
In Celebration,
As I lay in bed the other night before drifting off to sleep, something profound occurred to me. I realized that a lot more work is yet to be done in me….not that I didn’t already know this, but the realization was of the work that I’m not even aware of that has yet to be done.
I realized that there are a lot of things that I know to be true. I currently have some health concerns that I would like to release once and for all, and two things that I know to be absolutely true are 1. that ANYTHING is possible with faith and 2. the body can heal itself of any imbalance or disease. I know these things to be true because I have seen and heard countless stories of people healing themselves through faith and action of what doctors deemed as “incurable”, and I have personally cleared my body of an imbalance that my own doctor was recommending a “slice and burn” remedy, through faith and the actions of forgiveness, love and an altered diet. So I know from personal experience that those above statements are absolute truths.
HOWEVER, what occurred to me the other night is that while I know these things to be true, for me to still have some health concerns must only mean one thing: my belief system is not in total alignment with what I know to be true, otherwise, I wouldn’t have these issues.
What I realized is that somewhere deep inside is a belief that is the complete opposite of what I know to be true. And, it is probably buried so deep that I can’t even recognize what it is. This is frustrating to say the least because how can I know what to address if I don’t even know what I’m addressing?
Sure, there are things that I am currently working on and I would imagine, as it has happened several times already, that as I work on one area or issue, other things come up that require attention and I work on releasing those things as well. It’s just part of the process. But hoping that I can uncover it on my own may not be enough.
So, instead of me trying to fumble around in the dark, I simply did the only thing I knew how to do. I asked for help. I asked God/Creator to help me recognize and release those beliefs that are not in total alignment with what I know to be true about abundant health and healing. And now that I’ve asked, I am changing my request for help to a prayer of gratitude for the help: “Thank you for helping me to recognize and change the belief or beliefs in me that was or were not in alignment with my truth. And thank you for allowing my beliefs to now be in total alignment with my truth.” Being grateful for something before it has materialized in your life is a powerful act of faith.
So as you go through each day managing your midlife celebration, ask yourself what it is that you know to be absolutely true (what you have experienced personally in the past or witnessed in others). It could be health related or it could have to do with your career, finances, family, spirituality, friendships, love relationships, how you feel about yourself, your ability to experience success, anything. Then ask yourself if what you know to be true is in alignment with your belief system. Here’s another example:
If you know it to be true that it IS possible to be successful and not live paycheck to paycheck worrying about expenses, but your life is not producing those same results, chances are that somewhere inside, your belief system and what you know to be true are not in total alignment. One sure way to know this is that if you constantly tell yourself success-filled thoughts, but find yourself regularly speaking words like “I’m broke”, “I can’t afford”, “I can’t seem to get ahead”, “The recession…”, “Everything is so expensive…” to family, friends, co-workers and strangers in the checkout line at the grocery store, then there is surely a disconnect.
Once you’ve identified the disconnect, simply ask for help. Whatever higher power you believe in, start there, and if needed branch out to family members, friends, your church, and communities of like minded people. Help is ALWAYS available, you just have to reach out and ask for it.
As you receive the help you’ve sought out, get moving. If you receive help in the form of advice that makes sense and does not compromise your sense of integrity, take action! As you continue to move forward and towards your greater good, only good can unfold as a result of it. I know that to be true in my own life. But it cannot and will not happen if you receive help that you do not act on.
Even if your beliefs are not in total alignment with what you know to be true YET, they can and will be. Have faith, trust the process and take action. Together, we’ll get there.
In Celebration,
A couple of Sundays ago in church the message we received for the day was about “Buckets of Blessings”. The topic was based on the book, How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D.
A brief overview of the premise of the book is that everyone inside of them has an invisible bucket. When we are filled with love, joy, gratitude, happiness, etc., our buckets are full and overflowing. But on the opposite end of the spectrum, when we are feeling angry, sad, bitter, unforgiving, etc. our buckets are very low if not completely depleted. And whether our buckets are full or empty, we project the contents of our buckets to others through our words and actions.
Now, the other part to this topic of having invisible internal buckets is that we each are also equipped with dippers, which would resemble a ladle. As we share love, kind words, encouragement, support, a smile, a laugh and compassion with others, we are filling their buckets, even if they have not been filling their own buckets. Yet, when we judge, condemn, refuse to forgive, hold anger and bitterness in our hearts towards others, we are dipping into their buckets and taking away their supply of good. But the most powerful lesson of all is that as we give or take away from someone else’s bucket, we do the same to our own supply. So the question we were left with was “Are you a bucket filler or a bucket dipper?” We were then each handed a miniature sized bucket that had someone’s name written on a piece of paper inside and throughout the week we were to be bucket fillers by sending positive and well-meaning intentions and energy to the names on those slips of paper.
In my own experience from doing the exercise, it felt good to feel my own energy level rise as a result of doing something good for someone else….even something as simple as sending positive thoughts. So my question to you as it was placed to me, are you a bucket filler or a bucket dipper?
If you are striving to be a bucket FILLER, here are five strategies that were shared with us on how to keep your buckets and others’ buckets overflowing:
1. Prevent Bucket Dipping
(So avoid negative thoughts, words, energy and actions as much as possible. It isn’t always easy, but it is possible if you step back and observe yourself more closely. By doing this you will quickly recognize if you’re dippin’)
2. Shine a Light on What is Right
(Love and praise all that is good and keep your comments to yourself when someone makes a mistake. For those of us who are parents, we strive to practice this daily by encouraging and being coaches to our kids and praising them for their good instead of condemning them for what they do wrong. If you absolutely HAVE to shine light on a mistake, choose your words carefully and correct with love)
3. Make Best Friends
(Value the people who come into your life for everyone comes into your life for a reason or a season. Appreciate and honor them and take the time to foster a friendship with them as when done in love, friendships are mutually beneficial)
4. Give Unexpectedly
(Do something nice for someone that isn’t expected. Treat a co-worker to lunch, iron your husband’s shirts, watch your neighbor’s kids for a couple of hours so they can go on a date. All of these and so many others are little things that can mean so much to someone else. And in doing something from the heart that is unexpected, it makes you feel great!)
5. Reverse the Golden Rule
(The Golden Rule states “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, which deals with reciprocity and the idea that so as you give, so you receive. But why not give without expecting anything in return? Why not give of yourself freely and joyfully to others without expectation of them returning the favor? How freeing would it be to do a favor for someone without expecting them to “owe you back”, or giving a few dollars to a homeless man on the street without questioning whether or not he keeps his word to you and really uses it for the food he says he’s hungry for or if he uses it for something else? Think of how good it will feel to do something good from the heart just because)
I encourage everyone as we travel through this midlife celebration to think of ways we can be bucket fillers instead of dippers. Bless others with the gift of who you are authentically and your bucket will constantly runneth over.
In Celebration,
 |
 |
 |
 |