Hmmmmm...05-28-13

Hmmmmm…05-28-13

“When you can’t give no more, they want it all but you gotta say no.

I’m turning off the noise that makes me crazy. 

Lookin’ back with no regrets,

To forgive is to forget.  I want a little piece of mind to turn to.” –As written by

Jonathan Cain, Steve Perry, and Neal Schon of Journey

Oh, oh, be good to yourself!  Singing it is the easy part.  Doing it is another story altogether.

You intuitively know what’s good for you, though you may push those feelings aside and deny that they exist.  Maybe you feel too guilty or selfish if you put yourself first.  Perhaps you even feel nobler somehow when you neglect your own needs.  But somewhere at the center of your soul, you know what makes you happy.  Now how many people and things have you made a priority over your own physical, mental, and spiritual health?

What is more important than your well-being?  To become a well being, you must begin by treating your lifelong companion with the utmost respect.  No one is going to stand in line to floss your teeth for you or to make sure you eat your vegetables.  Nobody is patiently waiting to drive you to the gym after work, and then put you on the treadmill.  There isn’t a cheering squad waiting to applaud you when you walk in the door at the end of a long day.

Choose how you fuel your body and your mind.  Love yourself when nobody else will.  Oh, oh be good to yourself!

Turn it up,

Gina :-)

Hmmmmm...05-20-13

Hmmmmm…05-20-13

“In a world full of people who couldn’t care less, be someone who couldn’t care more.” –Author Unknown

It’s always something.  Whether people are complaining about taxes, politics, the economy, global warming, or even the younger generation, our famous last words usually are, “I wish they’d do something about this.”

But who exactly are they?  We make it sound like there’s a big think tank where the masterminds of the world are meeting to solve all of our problems, when the only problem we really have is not realizing that they are us.

So if you’re mad as hell and you’re not going to take it anymore—great!  Instead of being an expert complainer, begin right where you are to effect change by applying the catch phrase, “Think globally.  Act locally.”  What can you do on your own street, in your own neighborhood, in your own town to make a difference?  Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi—all people just like you.  They all started somewhere.

Lessons from the Lorax: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It’s not.”  He was the lone voice of reason in Thneed-ville.  Be the voice in Your-ville. 

Have a care in the world,

Gina J

Hmmmmm...05-13-13

Hmmmmm…05/13/13

"There's one sad truth in life I've found while journeying east and west. The only folks we really wound are those we love the best. We flatter those we scarcely know. We please the fleeting guest. And deal full many a thoughtless blow to those who love us best." -Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Have you hugged your child (spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, sister, or brother) today? 

As famous song lyrics remind us, “You always hurt the one you love, the one you shouldn’t hurt at all.”  And yet, we tend to give ourselves a Get Out of Jail Free card when we mistreat those closest to us.  We justify our behavior by telling ourselves that since our loved ones know us the best, they should understand.  They should forgive.  They should know we love them. 

While a certain amount of venting is healthy, be cautious about becoming the family fault-finder.  If you’ve become the armchair critic at home, it’s time to relinquish your La-Z-Boy. Ask yourself if you would ever treat your co-workers the same way you sometimes treat your spouse.  Are you as patient with your own child as you are with someone else’s?

Instead of folding your arms in disdain, how about opening them in a gesture of love?  There are physical benefits to hugging.  It reduces stress and improves the immune system of the hugger and the huggee!  The average person needs four hugs a day to reap these rewards.  Why not start with your own family?

Charity begins at home,

Gina J

Hmmmmm...05-06-13

Hmmmmm…05/06/13

“If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Attention Truth Seekers!  Let’s take a Transformational Moral Inventory—a TMI—right here, right now. 

You don’t need a shovel to dig up your truth.  And you don’t need a map to find it.  The only place you have to go is in, as indicated by the word ‘inventory’.  If other people outside of you were responsible for your thoughts and behavior, it would be called an ‘outventory’. 

Begin by asking yourself if you are harboring any ill will.  Are you hanging on to grudges, hates, jealousies, or resentments?  It can be oh-so-easy to justify your own unacceptable behavior.  Perhaps you’ve rationalized your feelings by reassuring yourself that you were provoked, that you had no choice.  Or you’ve tried to dismiss your actions, pretending that your wrongs don’t count, that everyone else does the same thing.

A TMI can reveal TMI—Too Much Information—that we would prefer not to uncover.  When we take cover and deny our weaknesses, we avoid our own truth. And then we can’t recover.

Discover who you are by going on a fact-finding mission.  Appreciate your strengths.Acknowledge your imperfections.  Transform who you are becoming.

Mission: Possible!

Gina J