The Wonder in a Day Full of Moments.

Hi Friends,

A few years ago I heard Byron Katie (author of Loving What Is) speak for the first time. And the thing I remember most is the moment when she faced the audience and said “You know, I’ve waited my whole life to meet you, and here you are! Isn’t it wonderful?” And she gazed at as many of us as she could take in, with such love and adoration.

That moment changed my life. That statement and her wonder and love blew me away with its beauty. It created such a new opening for me. In that moment I became so much more aware of the opportunity for wonder, beauty and love in each new moment. I became deeply aware that each of our lives is so full of moments like this. One moment you might be talking with a friend in a coffee shop and then you feel a light touch on your shoulder, turn around and notice someone new. Maybe you see another friend who has come to join you, or maybe someone you’ve never met smiles and asks if he can sit next to you - and it might even turn out that that stranger is the love of your life. Who knew?

Each day, one moment after another greets us and we can’t possibly know what each will hold. We plan and plan and sometimes what shows up looks and feels like our plan. And often it doesn’t. It’s such a mystery; such a beautiful, spectacular mystery if we’re able to see it and feel it that way. When I’m awake to this mystery, I feel what I imagine a baby or toddler might feel, wide eyed and in wonder at each new thing they encounter. They can’t predict what is next and they don’t even try. They’re just involved in each moment – that is, until the next one comes along.

Yesterday was full of magical moments I couldn’t have seen coming. I attended a Women’s Empowerment Conference that I’d received a ticket to via an unexpected turn of events. I remember entering the conference meeting room at the start of the day and noticing that many seats were occupied and many women were still on their way. Where would I sit? A simple choice that would shape my day and change my life, a little or a lot – how could I know? So I savoured the moment of not knowing, and then found myself greeting a women sitting alone and asking her if I could join her.

Lucky me. I waited my whole life to meet her and there she was, waiting for me! She was fabulous and the moment was perfect. And we discovered that we each had something of great value to offer the other and so we’ll likely meet again, that is if it turns out that way. How could either of us have known the fun and help we’d be blessed with simply by meeting at the right time? Not a moment too soon, or too late.

And today? Right now I’m writing a blog about an idea I didn’t see coming thirty minutes ago. I remember sitting down, tuning into my heart and asking “what do I want to say?” Ideas then popped into my mind, my fingers grasped the pen, and now those same fingers are tapping letters on a keyboard, and soon (if it works out this way) I’ll press the “post blog” key. And maybe tomorrow, one moment you’ll be surfing the net, and the next moment your eyes will notice the blog entry and you’ll read these words. Or maybe you’ll see the blog entry and think “I don’t have time to read this” and you won’t. That’s good too. Life is good, all is well.

Now I’m going to put on my raincoat and step out the door for a lovely walk on the beach all by myself. But really, how could I know? All I know is that I’m open to that, or something even better.

Love and all green lights,
Lee

Best Practices - The Morning Questions

Hi Friends,

You know I just love it when a Divine idea just pops into your head or hands, freely delivered at just the right time. Do you know what I mean?

A few weeks ago my cousin introduced me to an author that was new to me, and now having read a couple of his books, I’m amazed that he’s new to me. His name is Robin Sharma and he’s a top leadership coach and speaker – he’s all about living his best life and inspiring others to do the same. I can relate! And I adore his writing, his work and his message.

If you want to take a look for yourself, I believe his first big bestseller was The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. Great title. The two books I’ve read are The Saint, The Surfer and The CEO, and The Greatness Guide. Easy reads, chock full of inspiration, powerful stories and powerful ideas.

One of the many things that I’ve discovered that Robin Sharma and I are both very big on is the value of self-care in propelling us forward to live our best life (to be our best at work, to feel happy in our own skin). Big, big, big. And if you’ve been following my blog, you know that I’ve really boosted my own self-care practices significantly in the last few months.

Okay, here’s where the Divine idea comes in. Thanks to Robin Sharma, I’ve added morning writing or journaling to my daily best practices package. I’ve sure done a lot of journaling in my life, on and off, and now this new set of morning questions I answer is noticeably boosting my ability to shine , and my experience of feeling fully guided and fully alive. It’s a very good thing.

What I do is set aside at least 15-30 minutes in the morning, sit with a cup of my favourite tea, take a deep breath and write the answers to these questions (if you read Sharma’s book, you’ll notice that I’ve used most of his suggested questions yet replaced some of his with my own – always good to make it your own). Here are my morning questions:

1. What am I irritated about? This is my feelings piece and I just write without thinking – free flow writing, just letting it come onto the paper. Interesting what shows up. Feels great to release it.
2. What do I want? What are the greatest desires of my heart? Again, it’s good to write freely and notice that as days go by, I get a deeper sense of what I really want. This helps to set priorities and feel passionate.
3. What do I have to be grateful for in my life?
4. What one thing could I do today to make my life extraordinary? When I get the answer, I set that as my intention for the day.
5. What can I do to feel some fun today?
6. How can I help someone today?
7. What does the Universe want me to know today?

Those are the seven questions that feel good to me right now. I usually don’t answer every morning question, every day. I look at my list of questions (after I’ve had that first sip of tea and a nice deep breath) and notice which ones I feel attracted to at that moment. And those are the ones I answer. It’s fun to notice how they switch day to day. And it’s absolutely amazing to see what comes out of me onto the paper each day. There’s always something juicy in there (little or big “ah has”) and I always feel lighter and more optimistic when I finish. And the answers shape my day, and my life.

This is my newest self-care practice and I love it. My intention is to answer the questions as long as I feel guided to – as long as they help me to shine. My best practices prayer is “This or something better”.

On that note, I send my best wishes for a wonderful weekend and for all of us to feel guided to our own unique best life practices, more and more all the time.

Sending you love and all green lights,
Lee

PS: Question number 2 might just be my favourite (today it is anyhow) because the answers often surprise me. I’d done so much life visioning and didn’t expect to get new insights this often. Fun.