Posts by Pat:
A gift for ourselves?
December is always a somewhat crazy month, and this year is even more so! A month of highs and lows, of stress and relaxation, of endings and beginnings.
And as we face the end of the holiday season, and as the year is ending, we may face a bit of melancholy sparked with a dab of hope:
- that the year to come will be better,
- that we will be better, and
- that life will be better.
So I’m suggesting we give ourselves a gift of some time to move us every-so-gently into a better year for us personally.
One new habit, one positive life change can provide us with a cornucopia of self-esteem, fulfillment, pride and happiness. But, since we all know real change takes work, we need to prepare for it now in order to experience it in January!
Here are some suggestions for us:
- Choose just one habit to create. Something small and easy that will take only 5 minutes a day for the first couple of weeks. (Rather than committing to a full overhaul of our diet, picking something small like adding an extra servings of vegetables to our daily meals.)
2. Plan the time when it will be easy to do it. We can set it up to immediately follow a “trigger.” (A trigger is an already established habit we do regularly, like doing a simple weight lifting exercise right after brushing our teeth.)
3. Ensure that we will follow through. Set up a system of accountability before hand. (a friend, on online support group, comments on your Facebook page.) And we know that it is smart to set up a reward system as well: giving ourselves a piece of dark chocolate perhaps?!
As for me…
I asked myself what I want and I’ve chosen my one new habit: started in December, and hoping to continue in January, I will add a 5 minute meditation just before going to bed. That’s really small!
What new habit would YOU be interested in starting?
All that really matters…
The rabbi Hillel was once asked to explain the Torah. “Love they neighbor as thyself,” he said, “all the rest is commentary.” Nothing could be more urgent right now during our pandemic and global economic crisis. It’s a time when individual decisions have massive health consequences for other people. Why should we wear a mask […]
Buy the pants that fit!
I’m fairly certain that I’m not alone in experiencing a weight gain or that I’m the only one still stress-eating chocolate and ice cream right now! Sometimes we pretend that we have to be the same as we were. We create a lot of internal suffering based on the expectations we place on ourselves about […]
a fable about peace…
There is a fable about a king who wanted to experience peace. As he wanted to know what peace looked like, he commissioned two artists to create the perfect picture of peace. The first artist created a beautiful mountain landscape in which gorgeous trees towered over a lake. The lake’s waters were so calm, tranquil […]
I’m ready to lighten up! Are you? I’d love to hear any funnies that you’d like to share. Just leave a comment below the post! I’m at that age where my mind still thinks I’m 29, my humor suggests that I’m 12, while my body mostly keeps asking if I’m sure I’m not dead yet. […]
Monkeys and golf balls…
Do you know this modern day parable? Author Gregory Knox Jones tells the story of a golf course built by the British in India. There was a unique obstacle, though, that caused some problems. For as golfers began to play, the monkeys in the surrounding jungles joined in the fun. They would pick up the […]
Being like water isn’t easy
“Nothing is weaker than water. But when it attacks something hard or resistant, then nothing withstands it, and nothing will alter its way.” from the Tao Te Ching Water is so fine that it’s impossible to grasp a handful of it. We can strike it, yet it doesn’t suffer hurt; stab it, and it is […]
Playing with words…
There’s too much going on! Too much stress! It’s time to play! And since I was an English teacher in a previous lifetime, I choose to play with WORDS. And today I choose “anagrams”. What’s an anagram? It’s a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters in another word or phrase. It’s important to […]
Average or Awesome?
“Average” wasn’t pitched to us in our high school guidance counselor’s office. Do you remember feeling and believing that you could do absolutely anything you set your mind to do? Oh, the places we’d go! We know that “average” in our culture often has a negative connotation. Do we perhaps keep striving to do more […]
What’s life to you?
If you were given a chance to choose your favorite life metaphor, what would it be? Do you agree with Forrest Gump’s mother that life is “a box of chocolates” because “you never know what you’re going to get”? Or do you prefer the phrase from the 1930’s tune that “life is just a bowl […]