I’m all fired up from spending the afternoon with a friend yesterday and talking about creativity, writing, and books. I love hanging out with other people who are actively engaged in their own creative process, daring to live their lives, and daring to live their full creative potential! The energy that arises organically from a conversation between two people on this path is astounding. I left the conversation with renewed enthusiasm for two projects on which I’m working as well as clarity about some decisions I’ve been trying to make for a month about two books I’m writing.

Yesterday afternoon, I was doing some research online related to the decisions that I made in conversation with my friend when I ran across something that reminded me of a creative project that I had considered doing four years ago. I was in process of moving, settling into a deeper commitment in a relationship, and changing my work then, so the project got dropped, but for a moment yesterday, I got clear about wanting to pursue it again. Within two hours, out of the blue, I received a call from someone who invited me to do exactly the kind of project that I had been imagining. I love it when this sort of synchronicity occurs. I’ve seen it time and time again: getting clear about our intentions opens the door of possibility.

Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist, coined the term synchronicity and used it to describe meaningful coincidences. I could take up an entire blog entry writing about synchronicity, and perhaps soon I shall, but for now, suffice it to say that Jung felt that synchronicity was about a an alignment of unifying forces in the universe. The moments of my life in which I’ve spent following the slender threads of synchronicity in my life and work have proven to be the most meaningful, enlivening, and creative moments of my life. And it seems that the synchronistic events happen most frequently when I’m living my own creative potential and stirring up resonant energy with others who are on the same path.

As artists and creative people, we must learn to navigate all of the seasons of our creativity. I receive emails often from friends, colleagues, or potential clients who say they are creatively blocked or stuck in some area of their lives. I hear from some of these same people amazing ideas that they aren’t pursuing for one reason or another. I hear from yet others who are in jobs that are killing their spirits and wearing them down. There are so many resources available to us. There are countless articles, therapists, coaches, workshops, or classes that can help us to move through creative blocks, manage or break free from what holds us back, and support us along the path.

There are plenty of people out there who will whine and commiserate with you about the circumstances of your ambivalence, indecision, or staying stuck, and staying in those conversations will likely help you to more deeply feel the rawness of your inability to change. But there are also plenty of people who are choosing to move forward, to create changes in their lives, to walk toward what they love in the face of their fear, anxiety, and self-doubt, and talking with those people will help you to do the same. Life is short. Don’t spend your life stuck in the muck! Stop wasting your time on the Internet in superficial disconnected relationships, watching TV, or spending your days randomly doing meaningless things. Get clear about your intentions for your life, and spend your waking hours doing things that are congruent with your intentions. Spend time with like-minded people who are on the same path. Open the doors of possibility in your own life. Are you ready to begin living your full creative potential? What step can you take in that direction today?

Jennifer Johnson is a psychotherapist, life and wellness coach, writer, and photographer. She coaches people to dare to live life through being well, managing stress, and living their full creative potential. Jennifer provides individual coaching internationally by phone and Skype. When Jennifer isn’t coaching people to dare to live their lives, she’s daring to live her own life through her writing and photography.

Jennifer Johnson, MS, MFA
http://www.daretolivelife.com
http://www.jenniferjohnsoncreative.com

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How’s your life going? Are you living it fully or you just getting by? Do you LOVE your life or do you feel like you’re just getting through day by day? We often hear about people making their dreams come true. There’s all sorts of advice out there telling you what your dreams should be and then giving you advice on how to obtain your dreams. Whether it’s losing weight or getting rich, chances are there are plenty of infomercials on every day trying to sell you “your dream”.

Don’t be fooled. Your dreams are yours and yours alone. No one else knows what they are. In fact, I’d be willing to say many of you don’t even know what your dreams are. You probably have some idea, but have you ever stopped to actually detail your dreams?

I can’t give you all the details on how to make your dreams come true, but I can definitely get you started. To live it, you have to define it. Even if you feel you’re living the life you’ve always wanted, it’s good to often take stock and re-define. A funny thing happens once we become perfectly clear about what we want – things begin to change. At first, it could be some very minor decisions you make because you have these goals in mind, but every step counts. Consciously knowing where you want to be in life will set you on the path to receiving all you want.

Define your dreams by being very specific about exactly what you want your life to look like. Take out a notebook and put down phrases, draw pictures, make notes. Anything goes here. Where are you living? Who are you with? What are you doing? Most importantly, how do you feel? Be creative, be specific, and certainly be true to yourself. Do this often and watch your life transform.

Betsy McGuire invites you to visit http://www.chickpeawellness.com/ and sign up to receive her mind, body, and spirit blog the day entries are made. You can also “like” Chickpea Wellness on Facebook and receive new articles on your wall.

Copyright 2011 Chickpea Wellness, LLC

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Editor’s Note: If you haven’t looked into the Encore Career Summit that is being held the 24th and 25th of this month, now would be a good time to do it. Click the little bright  blue flashing box in the right column. Register today so you don’t get left out. And guess what? You don’t have to go anywhere to attend and Its Free. It may be just what you’ve been looking for. Irene

I strongly believe it’s important to go on an internal journey to discover what you really want to be doing in your encore career. This is especially important if in previous transitions you made decisions based on what seemed like the next logical step or what was expected of you, but didn’t end up with a great fit, doing work you love, with people you enjoyed working with.

There are some pretty cool steps you can take that will help you determine what’s in your heart, what would keep you engaged, passionate and purposeful, or as I like to say, what would pull you out of bed each day excited about what the day will bring.

So, where do you start? By determining what it is you really want.

If you’re like 95% of all of my clients over the years, you’re starting out not having a clue what you want. No problem, because I’ll bet, again like my clients, you can be pretty articulate about what you don’t want. So that’s where we’re going to start.

The first step in determining what you want is a simple — yet powerful — exercise that goes like this:

1. Get quiet. Sit down in a quiet place with a pen and notepad, and draw a vertical line down the center of each page you use.

2. Career dislikes. In the left-hand column, start by writing down everything about your current (or previous) career that you don’t like (i.e. “being chained to my desk”, “the wicked commute”, “my boss’s nasty personality”, “too many rules and regulations”).

3. Note what worries you. Next, write down everything that makes you anxious, concerned, worried, or fearful about what might be next (i.e. “not having enough money”, “being bored”, “starting over again”, “being consumed by the work”, “having to go back to school”.)

4. Note your life dislikes. Finally, write down everything about your current life that you don’t like, or that worries you, makes you anxious, etc. (i.e. “living where the winters are cold”, “not being close enough to a town/city center to walk everywhere”, “being 30 pounds overweight”.)

Got a good long list? Great, now comes the fun part.

5. Reframe your thoughts. In the right hand column, one-by-one, reframe what you wrote down into a positive sentence, in the present tense.

Here are some examples of reframing those things that you don’t want:

6. Now you try it. One by one, reframe what you don’t want until it puts a smile on your face. If you’re smiling, or tingling inside, or just plain feeling good, you’ll know you’re on the right track. If you’re having trouble with one, skip over it, and come back to it later.

7. Break and return. Take a break for awhile, before reading through your reframed sentences.

When you read the right-hand column, you should see an excellent list beginning to reveal itself of what you want your encore career (and life) to look like. It’s not a complete picture yet, but it’s a terrific start. Meanwhile, keep adding to your “Don’t Wants” list and reframing them into your “Wants” to help you create your encore career and life.

Want more tips like this one?  Grab the Revolutionize Retirement Starter Kit.

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The holiday season is one of the best times of the year but it can also be the most taxing on our body. Nothing can put a damper on your holiday plans faster than getting sick. The best offense is a good defense. Don’t let yourself get run down. In this article I will give you some simple tips for keeping healthy during the holiday season.

First, don’t over commit yourself. This is one of the biggest mistakes we all make.You must learn to say no and balance your time correctly. Time management ks very important during the holiday season.

Secondly, don’t be afraid to ask for help. This applies both to at home and work. At home make sure your family is sharing with the holiday burdens. If your spouse and kids won’t help consider hiring some domestic help to share with the chores. At work consider hiring some part time help for the holidays.Many people will jump at the opportunity to earn a little extra cash at this time of the year.

Third, stick to your normal sleep schedule. It is essential you get at least 8 hours sleep during this busy time of the year.

Fourth, eat healthy, skipping meals and eating a lot of fast food meals is not the answer to staying healthy. It is essential you eat three good meals a day to maintain a good energy level.

Fifth, don’t skip exercise or meditation or Yoga or whatever you do to keep you balanced. It is more important now at this stressful time of the year then during your normal day to day routine.

Lastly, if you feel that you maybe coming down with something take care of yourself.Get rest, eat properly and take some over the counter medication. If this is not working you may want to pay your doctor a visit so they can stop it before it gets worse.

Find Healthy Eating Advice

Get Free Holiday Eating Help

Bryan Burbank is an expert in the field of Exercise and Fitness.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bryan_Burbank

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Most of us don’t get bogged down in definitions of words like “self” – we know we’re talking about the “I” that’s called “me.” For those of you who love definitions, “The self is a key construct in several schools of psychology, broadly referring to the cognitive and affective representation of one’s identity.” Wikipedia

But let’s don’t get bogged down in that bit of psychiatric hair splitting over a word we all understand. Hey, it’s me – the me inside this body that thinks, feels, knows, makes decisions, loves, longs for, and all those other things I do that differentiate me from any else. Oops, there I spilled the beans.

My “self” differentiates me from everyone else.

Are you telling me that I’m not supposed to be like anyone else?

Yep.

As humans we all have similarities and we all have uniqueness. For instance we all have likes and dislsikes but what those likes and dislikes are varies from person to person. We all experience hunger but what satisfies that hunger is unique. We each can hear the same music but how we experience it is distinctive to “me.”  Everything I see, hear, experience in anyway is filtered through my total experience throughout my lifetime and that makes it special to “me.” Get it? My self has to be different from your self because our total lifetime experience has varied.

Got it.  So?

Well, let’s talk about putting “self” back into self improvement. There are a lot of books on the shelves of bookstores and libraries offering “self help.”  In fact one web site lists the 50 top self help classics. Classics! (And I think they’re worth reading over a lifetime.) They cover almost any topic you can imagine from Anxiety control to zodiac signs and each has it’s own slant – you can get two books on the same topic that give you totally different advice. So which one is right? Perhaps both.  Perhaps neither. In my opinion most self help books are valuable as guidelines, as information to be considered before you make the decision based on who you are and what you want.

We are fortunate to have so much wonderful information at our fingertips. If we want to know how to do lose weight, for example, we can go to the bookstore, library, internet, your family physician or a bariatric specialist. When you have information from each of them then, looking at all the data and all the advice, you can make a decision that works for you. (Hopefully).  If you want to stop smoking you can do the same type of research and then make a choice – do you wear a patch, take a pill, visit a hypnotist, get acupuncture,  or just go “cold turkey?” It’s your choice – what works best for you.

It is my own personal opinion that we put too much confidence in the “experts” who know a lot about a subject but nothing about you – or me. I love the experts and I consult them often. You probably do, too. Fantastic. But do you take their words as “gospel truth” or do you weigh them carefully along with other “experts” on the same subject and made a decision based on your needs, wants and individual differences?

Yes?

Good for you.

We are gifted with good minds, a wide range of emotions, solid inner guidance and free will. We may be out of the habit of making good decisions for ourselves but we can get back into the swing of it soon with a little practice. It’s not too late to stop trying to be like everyone else and discover what’s so wonderfully special about your “self” and what about you is beautifully unique.

Join with me in the campaign to put “self” back into self improvement. It sounds like fun to me.

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By Irene Conlan -

My table is piled high with the things that are for Thanksgiving dinner. I have a tiny kitchen and there isn’t a lot of storage space, so the table catches the overflow – brown sugar, yams, walnuts, several packages of cranberries which will be prepared today, stuffing mix (no, I’m not a purest who has to bake my own bread and let it grow stale for stuffing). The turkey is supposedly thawing in the refrigerator but it still is like a brick and I’m wondering if it will be even close to thawed by Thursday morning. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

It’s easy to get caught up in the busyiness of preparing a feast for a large number of people – our three will expand to ten or so – we never know for sure until the final count just before we sit down to eat. It’s easy to think this is a day about having too much food followed by indigestion and football.

Essentially, Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for the harvest. The crops have been gathered, winter has set in, and it’s time to rejoice that we have food for a hard cold winter coming up. ( I live in Scottsdale, AZ so we don’t ever have a hard winter coming up but bear with me here).With a supermarket a block away from our house gathering the harvest isn’t a concern for us but being thankful is still as important as it was back in the days of the pilgrims.

We take so much for granted. We forget the people who plant, care for and harvest the food and the ones who transport it to the stores and stock the shelves. We expect food to be available in large quantities and vast varieties without questioning how it got there or the labor that was required to make it happen.

We forget that we are blessed beyond belief.

We forget that there are people, probably in our own neighborhood, who, because of the recession do not have money for enough food right now.

Thanksgiving is a time for remembering how blessed we are, what an abundance we have.

It is also a time to share.

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By Irene Conlan -

Self awareness is not for sissies. It is not easy. Self awareness is knowing why you do what you do, think like you think, react like you react, love what you love, dislike what you dislike. It means being aware of your thoughts, emotions, energy, spirit and body. This is what Richard Bach was getting at when he said:

We wait all these years to find someone who understands us, I thought, someone who accepts us as we are, someone with a wizard’s power to melt stone to sunlight, who can bring us happiness in spite of trials, who can face our dragons in the night, who can transform us into the soul we choose to be. Just yesterday I found that magical Someone is the face we see in the mirror: It’s us and our homemade masks.

Self awareness essentially takes off the mask, and learns who you are and what makes you tick, puts you in charge of your own life and your reactions. Who wouldn’t want that?

So what do you do when you want to learn something new? You study and you practice. Piano, for example. You study music theory, learn to read music (unless you’re a savant) and you practice, practice, practice. If you want to be a doctor you learn everything there is to know about the anatomy and physiology of the  human body, about diseases, malfunctions, treatments and medications. If you want to learn to play golf, or tennis you learn the rules of the games and you practice. If you want to be a writer, you learn your language – the grammar and the rules of punctuation – and you learn how to construct a story or an essay or a poem – and then you write and write. So how do you study self awareness? You study YOU and you practice paying attention until you come to some understanding of why you do what you do and think what you think.

You are the textbook and only you can read and understand it. To do that:

• You look at who you dislike and figure out why.
• You look at who you like or love and figure  out why about that, too.
• You study what makes you angry in a certain situation or toward a specific person until you figure out what’s at the bottom of it. Eventually you will be able to take the energy out of it.
• You study what makes you happy and what makes you sad and you figure out why.
• You study why you overeat or don’t eat enough,  drink too much, go on binges of any kind re tired?
• You watch your thoughts and your speech. What do you think about in the quiet times. What do you say when you get angry, when you feel loved, when you are afraid.?
• You notice who and what “pushes your buttons.”
• You are aware of your moods and how often they change.
• You leave no stone unturned.

I find that the best time to do this type of work is during meditation. That’s a time when you have more access to your subconscious mind and in a place that you may not be disturbed. There is no right way or wrong way to do this.

We have so many protective mechanisms that it is hard to find the truth about some things. One very helpful survey to give you some clues is on the website for Positive Psychology. You might take a look at http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx

You will find that this kind of study offers all kinds of  rewards. If nothing else you’ll define what really makes you happy and once you know you can go for it!

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Yesterday we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall.  For those old enough to remember the wall, it was a stark reminder of what happens when we lose our freedom. It was not built to keep people out but to keep people in – to prevent them from escaping to freedom, to stop the exodus from Communist rule. If you think Communism works, a tour of East Berlin and West Berlin in the 1970s would have shown you the clear differences between a  dictatorship and freedom.

I had such a privilege. I was part of a tour group and we visited both sides of the wall.  West Berlin was a thriving, alive, exciting city. Almost completely restored after WWII, it had a “cutting edge” feeling – a feeling of people on the move. The streets were filled with cars, the department stores were filled with shoppers (including us) and the cafes were filled with people enjoying their coffee or beer. The operative word here is “full.” Our group was given permission to tour East Berlin as well. Everything on that side was grey, the streets were empty, the stores looked empty, (I didn’t see any department stores), and we saw no cafes.  On every street corner stood an armed guard – dressed in gray, by the way. We  saw very few people.  The operative word here is “empty.” After fifteen minutes or so of “touring” I realized we were going around the same few blocks, over and over as the tour guide pointed out different “interests.”  Much of the WWII destruction still had to be restored. The city was lifeless.

It was on that same trip that we went to Potsdam. The bus was stopped and we were all threatened with imprisonment because one of our group took a picture of a quaint little “guardhouse” on the railroad tracks. They said this was a major secret military installation. Fortunately, they only confiscated her camera and we were spared prison. (We all knew they were not joking).

I was relieved when we returned to West Germany.  When I remembered the wall before it fell  it was with deep sadness as I thought of those people living in that dead place when freedom was just on the other side of the wall.

The wall has become a symbol to me of what we sometimes do to ourselves that keeps us away from enjoying the  freedom that is on the other side and the joys that go with it.  We build walls for all kinds of reasons – to keep things in and to keep things out. We build them for isolation and for protection.

For example, some of us build walls with pretty facades to keep others from seeing who we really are.  We pretend to be someone we aren’t to please others or to feel more like a part of the group. We imitate the way others walk, talk, laugh and look and may not know that at the same time they may be imitating us. It is a convoluted game and we all  end up as the same shad of gray like East Berlin.  It really is o.k. to be different. In fact it could be downright exciting.

Some walls go up to protect us and usually they go up so slowly that we hardly notice. Fear is the biggest building block. It keeps us from trying new things, from following our dream, from realizing our potential. It keeps us on the grey side of the wall. Anger, hatred, bitterness, and unforgiveness all add to its structure and isolate us more.

Take time to reflect on what your walls may be. Did they go up to serve a purpose that no longer exists? What are they keeping out? What are they keeping in? Take an honest look.

The great news is that generally the walls come down easily. It takes an act of the will, the decision to escape. The pickaxes and hammers are called love, determination, intention, forgiveness and letting go. You may need help to take your personal walls down but what do you have to lose? Freedom is just on the other side.

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Holistic Medicine refers to the system of health care that fosters a cooperative relationship among those involved and leads toward optimal attainment of physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual aspect of health.

The career outlook for a holistic health care provider is good. They make on average $45-$55 thousand a year. Holistic care is a growing field in the green market.

Some other terms associated with Holistic medicine are alternative medicine which is widely used by the public and many health care practitioners, complementary medicine which refers to the non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical techniques by conventional medical practitioners to complement conventional medical treatments like surgery, and natural healing which refers to the use of non-invasive and non-pharmaceutical techniques to help the patient heal.

Alternative medicine is usually applied to the medical techniques that are not considered traditional forms of healing and medicine. This also includes the practice of herbalism, acupuncture, and massage therapy.

Professional and Personal Qualities

Individuals interested in an alternative medicine career should be compassionate and willing to provide the necessary assistance to their patients. Since massage therapist usually work in health clubs, hospitals, corporate setting or in the field of education, a knowledge on basic holistic medical approach must also be considered and studied. Holistic health care providers should be able to look at the whole person, and analyze their physical, nutritional, environmental, emotional, social, and spiritual and lifestyle values.

Educational Requirements and Training Certifications

To be accepted into a program for holistic studies or alternative healing, schools usually require at least a two-year degree or bachelor’s degree. Many other schools offer professional certification and licensing in different areas such as acupuncture, massage therapy, and herbal medicine.

Most holistic healers however are self-employed. Their salaries vary depending on the field they have chosen. Holistic healers in the public sector such as hospitals, clinics, and universities make more than those who are self-employed.

Holistic health care providers includes herbalists, acupuncturists, and massage therapists. People interested in the field of herbal medicine may start their education by taking correspondence courses at their local community college. Professional groups provide certification to members who have attained a certain level of training as herbalist. A person interested in acupuncture may find many accredited schools in the US. On the average, an acupuncture program lasts for 2-4 years. There are also master’s degrees available for students and doctoral programs are being considered at many acupuncture schools. GreenCareersGuide.com is the #1 green careers website on Google. We have the most comprehensive database of articles on green jobs. Whatever your stage of life, we have you covered. Green careers, green training, and green entrepreneurship articles are only a small part of our exhaustive green career site. There are tremendous upsides to having a green career. http://www.GreenCareersGuide.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ezra_Drissman

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Are you doing the RIGHT stuff?

These days, it seems like we are being pulled in so many different directions. Priorities compete with each other, and it just seems like we can’t get everything done, doesn’t it?

What’s worse, it seems like our daily “to do” lists grow much faster than our abilities to check them off. No wonder the world is showing more stress.

Sometimes it is helpful to step back, and evaluate all those things we’re doing, to make sure that the important “stuff” is being addressed.

OK, so what’s the important “stuff?”

A lot of that is up to you to decide. I like to challenge my coaching clients to decide which “mountains they want to climb” (goals), and when they want to climb them. Then, we check their daily “to do” lists to see if their activities are related to climbing one of those mountains.

Funny thing about goals… You have a much better chance of achieving them when first, you HAVE them, and second, you write them down. And only 2% of the world has goals! Do you?

Let’s get back to those mountains you want to climb. Mountains are our analogy to life goals. If you picture a mountain climber, he or she doesn’t necessarily climb only one mountain in his or her lifetime, but several. And many of the preparations they make can keep them ready to climb any one of those mountains. So you can choose a number of mountains to climb over your lifetime, just as you can choose many life goals. They don’t necessarily compete when you spread them out over a reasonable time.

No, it is not all that easy to decide which mountains you plan to climb, or which things are most important in your life, but it is easier than you think.

When you write down all the roles you have, goals can naturally emanate from them. Examples of roles are parent, sister, son, soccer coach, community leader, musician, friend, nurse, etc. for instance, if one of your roles is parent, you can have goals related to the future of your children, or your relationships with them. You may have goals related to saving for college, or goals related to how much “alone time” you plan to spend with them each week.

Strive for Balance

Goals are lived best when you have balance in your life.  Fulfillment in one area fuels each other area.  Too much emphasis in one area can drain the others.  It’s important to assess your balance, from time to time, and to take steps to assure that your life is well rounded physically, emotionally, intellectually, attitudinally and purposefully. Staying in balance is a great strategy for fulfillment in life.

The mountains you want to climb should encompass each of the areas balancing your life. Goals around physical health, intellectual challenge, life purpose, and emotional satisfaction can form the base for you to climb those other mountains.

Do, Be or Have

The next choice in goals surrounds things that you may want to do, be or have in your life. Whether you want to drive cross country, learn to play the guitar, or be a doctor, these are the “mountains” you can place in your plans.

Putting it all together…

Once you’ve settled in on which mountains you want to climb, set plans to do it. By proactively working toward those goals, you’ll feel more energy and excitement about your life. And as you plan your months, weeks and days, make sure the actions you are taking are going in the direction of one or more of those mountains.

It’s an interesting exercise to look at someone’s daily “to do” list to see whether their activities match those mountains they’re planning to climb. Many of us spend more time doing things that are helping others meet their goals, putting our own goals on the back burner for another day…

Attitude Plays a Part

When you believe that only YOU control your attitude, and you combine it with recognizing your ability to live in the moment, you can truly control your enjoyment of life. That means the moment you are in. Right now. Too many people live in the past or the future, which adds stress (what about all those things I’m not getting done!)and it inhibits their ability to enjoy the actual moment they’re experiencing.  You have a CHOICE to enjoy the moment, to be happy or sad,  a CHOICE to worry or anticipate, a CHOICE to be positive or negative.  You have a choice to believe that you are working on the right stuff. It lowers stress, knowing that you’re working on the right priorities, and enjoying what you’re working on.

After all, its pretty exciting, thinking and planning for the next mountain you will climb!

Copyright, Marsha Egan, PCC, Marsha is a certified executive and success coach, and member of the National Speakers’ Association. She can be reached at http://marshaegan.com or 877-749-4036.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marsha_Egan

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