Uplifting, Fun, Humbling, Exhilarating, Inspiring & Exhausting: All Rolled into One Great Weekend!
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Yeah, Summer Vacation is Here!
Your vacation is around the corner and you are anticipating time filled with play, filling up, and chilling out. You leave your troubles behind- no work, no worries, no business calls (???) A change of scenery and recharge is around the corner. You plan, pack, buy new clothes, get your toiletries and are finally ready to get in the car, or get on the plane to your well planned destination.
There is nothing in your way, except… Yourself!
YOU are the only thing that you must take with you. This is a problem because there is no escaping the way you deal with life. A coach once told me- how you do anything is how you do everything. You do vacation the way you do life. Here are a few examples:
You might be one or all of these.
The Sichel Vacation
My husband and I recently took a vacation to Maine and Nova Scotia. We planned and booked our flights, our B&B’s, rented a car, and off we went. My husband has trained me that vacation begins once the door to our home closes (such a wise man.) The trip to airport, the drive to hotel is all part of the vacation. I have chosen to take that philosophy as well and it works beautifully.
My personality is one of a bit of a combination from the above vacation approaches, and I constantly strive to do it differently. Here are a few examples:
1. The weather was not good for most of the trip. I had to constantly remind myself to let go of how I thought the weather would be and remind myself that the weather is not personal. Actually, the weather did not get in our way of what we wanted to do and my holding back on complaining (for the most part J) allowed us to have much more fun.
2. My “doing” personality was forced slowed down- we visited many beautiful sleepy towns.
3. I must add on an extra perk- The Food! Seafood… Memorable, delicious, and for the most part healthy. I think I took more pictures of the food than anything else!
4. Trip home- this could have really have put a damper on the last part of our vacation. We were delayed over 6 hours and did not take off from a small airport until 11:30 pm. I could have gotten frustrated, but instead I got out my Fit Bit and got someone’s child to join me and we walked over 3000 steps. His mom,brother, and my husband eventually joined us. I met some great people and joked and laughed. Delta, brought in pizzas and could not have been nicer.
So what does this have to do with calm living? Since you cannot leave yourself home from your vacation, you can give yourself permission to shift one small habit. You will catch yourself in old behavior, which will give you a choice to make a shift. Maybe a simple breath is all that is needed when you catch yourself.
Take a moment and notice how you show up to life. Find one area from my list (if you are the perfectionist, please only pick one) See what small shift you can make. Let me know how it goes.
Bon voyage!
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Leave a Comment (0) →Change, change, & more change- That is the only constant in life. I see it happening all around me, but when it is my time to change I hold on, leaving claw marks. I know I am not alone in this. What it is about change that is so challenging and scary?
Years back B.Y. (before yoga) I was a super duper sales person. I loved helping people and directing them to what would best suit their needs. I worked in a wholesale showroom geared to designers. I would have continued but my Lupus kicked in (and kicked my butt!) I took a leave of absence that is still going on – that was about 25 years ago (I guess that I have quit by now.)
While in the first few months of my leave, I tried a gentle yoga class and there my journey into the health and wellness field began. If you want to read more of that story, check out my bio page on my website.
The reason I bring this up is to let you know that in the past year, I have gradually stopped enjoying much of what I am doing in my work. I used to love it, but I am burning out. I am clear that one big reason is that I am way too isolated and I can say without hesitation – isolation is the enemy. It is definitely mine. I spend much too much time with my dog. Although she is very quirky, sometimes inspiring, it is no substitute for human beings. I am a people person and love to be part of, not apart from. I have asked myself, what would I tell a client? I would tell them to be kind to themselves, remember what makes your heart sing and take small action steps. Hmmm, maybe I should hire myself!
I began to explore what makes me light up and fill up in my current work. It is when I am speaking to groups, and teaching lunch and learn programs to organizations. I am eye to eye, relating to a group of people. I leave feeling exhilarated and am able to bring my fun, playful nature to this part of my work.
With this realization, I have decided that it is time to make a change. Change is one of those things that I have a love-hate relationship with. I am excited to see what is next, but very uncomfortable with the process. Here is my first incremental change:
I have resigned from the Chemotherapy center and will no longer take private clients. I will finish up the few private clients I am currently working with the passion I have always shown. I am still going to speak mostly to support groups, do book signings, and teach some lunch and learn programs for businesses. I will still write my newsletters – That is it.
I know that I love to be busy and have fun, so I am not ready to retire and probably will never be ready. I am looking to work with or for someone. Yes, a job!
Here is what I bring to the table and what I am looking for. Maybe you know someone you can introduce me to.
Those of you who know me know my strong suits. Those who do not, here is what a business colleague I had dinner with wrote about me:
“I met this woman once.
Spent about 2 hours with her.
And won’t ever forget her.
That’s just the kind of impact she has.
Bright. Witty. Intelligent beyond measure.
You’ll learn a lot from Ellen”
That is me in a nutshell, and so much more…
I am filled with gratitude for what I have done and the people I have met. I look forward to seeing what my next adventure will be. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, I will stay in touch, and hope you will, too.
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Leave a Comment (0) →Recently both of my daughters and myself flew to NY to spend Mother’s Day with my mom. It was a treat to have us all together with my sister and brother and their families.
Of course no NY visit would be complete without NY Bagels. If you are from the south and you think the bagels here at the chains are good bagels- you are mistaken. Most of their bagels are baked and I refer to them as “rolls with holes”. They are yummy, but not a true bagel. Bagels are boiled, not baked and what makes NY bagels superior to a real southern bagel is the water they are boiled in.
NY Bagels can even be colorful- a perfect match for my younger daughters hair!
Enough about your bagel lesson. What I want to share is a lesson I learned about the power of the bagel.
Before we left we visited our favorite bagel shop to purchase bagels to take home. My daughter was giving a dozen bagels as part of a house warming gift. All together we bought two dozen.
Since two dozen bagels are quite heavy, I got the bright idea to wrap them very well, pack them, and send them through luggage. All went well and our precious bagels arrived safely in Atlanta.
The problem arose when I opened my suitcase. The smell of the well packed onion bagels satiated every last item in my bag, including my bag! I had to take the bag out of our bedroom as it was stinking everything up.
I proceeded to wash everything, even my raincoat. Still a mild smell. I wiped out my bag with a surface wipe which did not help. Still onion smell. The icing on the cake (or bagel) was what happened the following morning when I went to open my makeup case, which smelled of bagels. When I applied my foundation, there was an odor coming from my makeup brushes-onions.
OY VEY! Big mistake.
Today I went to the store and bought heavy duty Mr. Clean- success at last! I can finally store my suitcase. As for my makeup brushes, a quick washing will hopefully work.
If you are around me and smell something mouthwatering, it is my new scent- Ode de NY Onion Bagel.
You might be wondering what this has to do with stress (or maybe you’re not.) The lessons here are:
For me, I have gained even more respect for the NY bagel. They do not skimp on the onions!
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Leave a Comment (0) →The past few weeks have been very difficult for our family. My brother-in-law passed away unexpectedly. In addition to grief and sadness, something else got my attention. My husband’s sadness was compounded by the reality that he waited to go to his dentist brother to fix his teeth. He kept putting it off partly because he hates going to the dentist and partly because he felt he could do it any time. Sadly, anytime will not come. This brings to mind an experience my mother had when her friend died- she regretted not having her to her house for a visit. She kept putting it off. Unfortunately these are not isolated incidents – we all do this.
We not only wait on planning events with others, we wait on everything- both serious and mundane:
You get the picture…
I still find myself waiting and I am going to stop the B.S. right now and make a commitment. I have put off the formal launch of my new program The No B.S. Calm Living Book Club, waiting for the best time.
If you are wondering just what kind of a teacher I am, I am offering you a free training:
Here’s what you’ll learn:
Don’t Wait! All you do is CLICK HERE to reserve your seat.
You will be glad you did. After all, free is an offer that you can’t resist.
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