Adventures in Life Design

You Can Create the Life You Want...Even If It's Raining

 

“Life’s not about waiting for the storms to pass…
It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

                                        --Vivian Greene

 

This quote beautifully summarizes the true nature of life design. Life design isn't about creating some fantasy life in a perfect world. It's about creating the life you really want...in spite of life’s challenges.

So many people I talk to are convinced that creating a life they love is simply something that is beyond their reach. They list all the problems and responsibilities that they believe prevent them from having the life they really want. 

They keep thinking, "Someday, maybe." But "someday" never comes because there is no such thing as a problem-free life.

Problems, challenges and adversity are unfortunately a natural part of life. What matters is how we choose to respond to them.

During tough times, we can either sit around feeling sorry for ourselves and lamenting about what's missing from our lives. Or we can focus on and be grateful for the abundance we do have and learn to thrive in spite of the challenges.

Creating a life you love is not about waiting for "someday." It's about steering your life where you really want it to go...everyday. It's not about waiting for the storms to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain.

The Power of Hope

 

In my line of work I see so many people who hunger for some sort of meaning, purpose and fulfillment in their lives.

Each day we face our daily grind. We go to work, juggle our personal obligations, try to squeeze some tiny shred of sanity into our frenetic schedules, and reluctantly resign ourselves to the “fact” that life is simply a journey of struggle.

Yet, somehow, somewhere deep inside us is a faint glimmer of hope that maybe—just maybe—there is a teeny, tiny possibility that our lives can be something “more”…something better, bigger, grander, more noble. 

This hunger for “more” doesn’t just exist on our own individual levels. Our society as a whole has been starving as well. For many years here in the US, it’s seemed to me as though the “soul” of this country had been neglected and left to wither and die on the vine. Our collective spirit hungers for inspiration, hope and vision for a better future.

It was amazing to watch the inauguration of President Barack Obama yesterday. To see how he has touched so many people in such a profound way and re-ignited their sense of possibility is truly awe-inspiring. Regardless of whether or not you like him or agree with his political views, it’s hard to deny that he has a remarkable ability to inspire people and engender hope.

So what does this have to do with life design?

We can’t achieve our dreams and create the lives we yearn for if we don’t have hope.
Hope coupled with action has the power to move mountains. Without hope, we would never even entertain the idea, let alone make the attempt.

Hope is also a vital element in helping us ride out the rough seas that are inevitably part of life’s journey. This coming year promises to be an exceptionally difficult time for our country and for us as individuals:

• The economy is in shambles and unraveling more with each passing day
• We have two unfinished wars going on
• Homes are being foreclosed in record numbers
• Jobs are being lost at an alarming rate
• Businesses, large and small, are forced to close their doors
• More and more people are losing access to affordable health care
• Retirement funds are evaporating at a rapid rate due to economic turmoil

This is going to be a very scary and challenging time. But focusing on our fears will definately not help us. Fear weakens and paralyses. It makes a bad situation even worse.

As we navigate the difficult times ahead, it’s imperative that we focus on hope, not on fear. Hope strengthens us and inspires us to move into action.

We are capable of overcoming the tough challenges we face. In fact, we are capable of much more than we realize. As Thomas Edison pointed out, "If we all did the things we were capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."

Well, it’s time for us to astound ourselves.

It’s time for us to change our habits, our attitudes, and our paradigms. It's time for us to tap into our creativity, our ingenuity and our resourcefulness.

Our survival depends on it.

As always, in crisis there is opportunity. Not only are we (individually and collectively) capable of weathering this economic crisis, but we can also make our own lives and our country the better for it. But first, ya gotta have hope.

New Year, New Perspective

I'd like to wish all of you a very Happy New Year!

As the New Year begins, we enter a time when many of us explore the changes and adjustments that we want to make in our lives in the year ahead.

During the month of January I'll be focusing my blog posts on ideas, topics and concepts that I believe will help you to kick-start your New Year and create a foundation for the lasting, positive change you desire.

The first item I wanted to share with you is a quote from George Bernard Shaw. It offers a powerful “big picture perspective” that has long inspired me and has become a guiding principle in how I try to live my life. I hope it will inspire and guide you as well.

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

--George Bernard Shaw

Giving Thanks in Tough Times

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.  ~Epictetus

With all the difficult circumstances and economic woes facing our country and trickling down into our lives these days, it's easy to lose our perspective and become bogged down in fear and anxiety. We stop counting our blessings and instead focus our thoughts on what we feel is missing in our lives.

But if we give ourselves the opportunity to pause, step back and really examine our lives, we'll see that we do indeed have much to be grateful for, inspite of our problems and difficulties.

This Thanksgiving Day, take a few moments from the holiday activities to get quiet and give some thought to all the things in your life for which you are grateful. Write them down on an index card or a little slip of paper and put it in your wallet. Then in the days ahead when you catch yourself feeling anxious and focused on scarcity, reset your frame of mind by reviewing your list and reminding yourself that you really do have much to be grateful for.

Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Always Remember...

This little gem from a children's book should be a manditory mantra for all of us...

"Promise me you'll always remember: you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." (Christopher Robin to Pooh)

- A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

Amazing Free Gifts Inside!

I came across a quote the other day that really summarizes, not only my own personal life philosophy, but is also a key theme in my Dreamnautics materials and the work that I do.

"My business is not to remake myself, but to make the absolute best of what God made." --Robert Browning

TV commercials, magazine ads and the media in general keep pointing out to us all the ways in which we don't measure up. We need whiter teeth, a snazzier car, bigger breasts, shinier hair, sexier jeans, more money...the list goes on and on.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to improve ourselves. However, if we focus too much on the outside we often loose sight of the fact that we already have remarkable innate gifts on the inside.

Although we are born with these gifts, we often play down their importance or are completely unaware that we even have them, but they are definately there. Mother Nature put them there for a reason...to help us thrive. If we tap into our innate gifts and leverage them, they can bring us more success and fulfillment in life than we can even imagine.

So, what are you really good at? What comes so easily for you that you often don't even have to think about it? Are you good with numbers? Are you good at using your hands to make things? Do you have a keen sense of colors, textures or shapes? Do you have an uncanny ability to connect with animals? Do you love movement? Are you especially empathetic to the plight of others?

Over the next few weeks, as you go through your day-to-day activities, pay particular attention to those times when things seem easy, fun, interesting or fulfilling. Also, take note of any enjoyable activities where you lose track of time. That's usually a good sign that you are involved in something that taps into at least one of your gifts.

Get a journal or small notebook and write down the insights and discoveries you make about yourself over time. You'll start to gain a whole new appreciation for the wonderful creature that you really are!

What Kind of New Year Do You Really Want?

As 2006 draws to a close, I'm reminded of just how quickly our lives fly by. It seems like I was just out here (Chicago) for my dad's surgery...but that was a year ago! In the time since then a lot has happened, not the least of which was sprucing up and selling our house, packing up our stuff (including more than 60 boxes of books) and moving 850 miles to create a new life and lifestyle. The weeks, months and year flew by in a blur of activity. What scares me is that time seems to be flying by faster and faster as I get older.

With the New Year just around the corner, I find myself asking, "What kind of life do I want to build this coming year?" I'll be spending the next few weeks giving that some very serious thought and then putting it in writing. (It's important to not only invest the time to think about the big questions in life, but it's critical to write down your intentions in order to foster their implementation.)

Over the next few weeks, instead of coming up with a bunch of New Years resolutions that probably won't be kept, I encourage you to ask your self that same question. What kind of life do you want to build this coming year? Giving that question some serious consideration and writing down your insights and intentions will take you farther toward creating the life you really want this coming year than any well-intended but impotent "resolutions" will.

To help put you in the proper frame of mind to answer this big question, here's a resource that I think you will find inspiring, thought provoking and deeply moving. It's Linda Ellis' poem The Dash. I think you'll enjoy this movie version of the poem. I'll be very surprised if it doesn't make you look at your life differently from now on.

I wish you health, joy, peace and fulfillment in the coming year! Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Nadia

An Inner Christmas

As the holidays draw near, the frenetic activities and preparations continue to approach a fever pitch for many people. Some people go into overdrive and rush around completing their holiday shopping with almost mercinary zeal. I was very dismayed--though not at all surprised--to read stories about "mall rage" again. Unfortunately, so often the reality of the holiday season is quite different from the "peace, love and joy" version we all yearn for.

So I was very pleased to come across this timely little gem: http://www.theinnerchristmasmovie.com. It's a beautiful little holiday presentation created by Lynn Jericho. (Thanks to Rob Schultz of Audacious Audio for passing along the link to his newsletter subscribers.)

I encourage you to take a few moments to watch this movie. I think you will find it inspiring, reaffirming and thought-provoking.

If I was within my power, there is one Christmas gift that I would love to give you. That gift would be a glimpse of just how unique and special you are and how much is truly possible for you. But, unfortunately, that is not within my power to give that gift to you. Only you can do that for yourself.

So my holiday wish for you, if you'll forgive my spin on a classic Christmas song, is that you have yourself a very "inner Christmas" time.

Wishing you peace, joy and fulfillment. Merry Christmas!

Impossible? Maybe not...

From time to time I will post quotes that I feel offer nourishing food for thought on some aspect of life design (or are just plain fun.) They will come from various sources including real people from the past or present, as well as fictional characters from literature, film or television.

To start things off, today's quote is from one of my favorite characters from the Star Trek universe. She has the analytical skills of a computer, the intellect of a scholar and the candor of a child...and her comment confirms my own personal observations.

"'Impossible' is a word that humans use far too often."--Seven of Nine (Star Trek: Voyager)