100 Ways

One of the best ways I’ve found to generate joy in my life is my gratitude practice.

I do it first thing in the morning as part of my morning ritual.

In my dedicated gratitude journal, every day.

I review the day before and create a simple list of 10 things I am grateful for.

Sometimes the items on the list are as basic as being grateful for my gratitude practice.

Other times they may involve something more complex, such as the day after my accident.

On that day, I was grateful for my life, that my children were snug in their beds at the time, and so much more.

Some days it is a challenge, depending on my thought management.

But it always helps me to see things differently.

To find the good, the joy, the beauty in life.

This has not always been easy for me.

In my former life, I saw the glass half empty.

But and what if were constants in my mind chatter and my word.

Now, I look forward to my gratitude practice, the opportunity to start the day with grateful eyes.

I kick started my gratitude practice by creating a list of 100 people I am grateful for.

At first this task felt daunting, so I wrote daily for a week, reflecting each day on my life.

I started with my present life and progressed backward in time…life with kids, life with my husband before kids, adult life before my husband, early adulthood, childhood…

I was amazed to find that when I was finished I had over 125 people on my list.

I am still adding to that list.

And you are on it:)

Wishing you well

Tracy

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What Brings You Life?

What kind of life would YOU love living?  YOU.  Not your family.  Not your friends.  Not the media.  YOU!

What would YOU love?

What brings YOU life?

What do YOU want to do or create or be in this life?

Think about it…really…let your imagination run wild…

Most of us, when we think about what we really want, start with what we think we could do, what we should do, what our present circumstances allow, what the economy is doing, what our bank account says…

It’s time to start asking different questions, bigger questions.

What do YOU desire?

What would fill YOU to the brim?

What would a wealthy life look like to YOU?  Wealth is not just about money.  Merriam-Webster defines wealth as abundant supply.  We can have wealth in any area of life.  We can be wealthy in health, wealthy in time, wealthy in love, wealthy in support…

Designing a wealthy life begins with knowing what you really want

What do you desire?

And what else and what else and what else…

 

Wishing you well,

Tracy

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Freedom Of Choice

Creating Reality With Thoughts

You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That’s the only thing you should be trying to control. Elizabeth Gilbert

We create the life we lead. Whether we mean to or not. Oftentimes, we create it exactly the way we did yesterday, the year before and the year before that. Like Ground Hog Day. Over and over and over again. The people and circumstances may change slightly but we have the same life, the same health, the same relationships, the same job. We may give our circumstances a face-lift.  A new house.  A new job.  But in essence, we stick with the pattern that has been ingrained in us, the pattern we have ingrained in ourselves. Our mind likes patterns.

We create the life we lead by the thoughts we think. Simple but true. If we ever wonder where our focus is, we need no more than to look at our lives.

Circumstances are circumstances. They are simply what happens around us.

Thoughts, about circumstances, create feelings.

Feelings generate actions.

Actions produce results.

Results are the lives we lead.

Good News!!! We have complete control over our thoughts. In fact, our thoughts are the only thing in life that we have complete control over.

Try this…

1. Identify a problem you are having.
2. Trace the problem back to a thought.
3. Up-level the thought to a more empowering one.  A slightly up-leveled thought will feel more realistic than going from anger straight to joy.  It will also have a slightly different feel to it.  Thought:  I am angry  Up-leveled thought:  I am disappointed.

Try this with all of your undesirable thoughts. It takes practice but it will change your life. One thought at a time.

Wishing you well.

Tracy

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Photo Credit:  © Cook doves flying Dreamstime

The Ripple

 

“Only in stillness does the imperceivable become discernible”
― Bryant McGill

How many times have you had a problem that you were trying to solve only to come up with the same 5 answers? Like Ground Hog Day…asking the same questions, getting the same answers that just don’t work.

I recently learned this cool concept about casting a thought into stillness. It’s not the concept that is new, but the way it was presented that made soooo much sense. It has completely changed my daily meditation practice.

Imagine the ripple a rock makes when thrown into a still pond. The ripple is clear and distinct and has far reaching effects. Now, imagine throwing a rock into the choppy surface of the same pond on a windy day. The ripple made by the rock gets absorbed by the chaos on the windy surface making it impossible to differentiate.

So, we can apply this concept to our minds as well. When we are faced with a problem and are searching for an answer, it is much more effective to throw a question into a still mind, as in meditation (or your “presence practice”), where the question permeates out into the “infi-net”. A question thrown into our daily consciousness is likely to get swept away with the 60,000 other thoughts that consume our minds, many of which are the same thoughts we had yesterday, making it impossible to differentiate one thought from the next.

Try this…

• Find a quiet place, anyplace you can be alone for 10 minutes – in a corner, in your bed, outside, in a closet…be creative!
• Set a timer for 10 minutes.
• Ask a question such as “What is the most elegant solution to…?” (What questions work better than how questions.)
• Quiet your mind, focus on your breath, count backwards, repeat a mantra, whatever method works best for you to bring your mind back to stillness.

The answers may not come immediately or in the usual ways, but be open to what comes into your awareness over the next few days in the form of thoughts, conversations, messages etc…

Shine Brightly,

Tracy

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Little Eyes, Ears and Hearts

Your life is a personal lesson. For everyone else it is a loud example.  Richelle E. Goodrich

Have you ever watched your children play or listened to their conversations?  Chances are you noticed a lot of yourself in those precious moments.  Sometimes our hearts swell with pride and other times, we are not so pleased with what we are unintentionally sharing with them.

We have an opportunity here, a gift. A gift that will last a lifetime. We can choose to model our best self for our children. We can choose to model the hero’s journey over the victim’s journey, the high road over the low road. We can choose to live authentic, empowered, balanced lives.  We have choice, always.

Our children are learning how to navigate through life by watching us. They are carefully tuned into us, their teachers, for direction. It is up to us to model what we’d most like to see.

It won’t be perfect, sometimes it will be frustrating as hell, we may not see it until they are in their thirties but by reaching deep within ourselves we are giving our children an immeasurable gift and the beginnings of a new legacy.

Little eyes, ears and hearts are always watching.  Let them see the best version of you.

Wishing you well.

Tracy

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Photo Credit:  © Vladimirnikulin Dreamstime.com Hands Holding The Sun

The Intention Box

A Safe Place to Hold Dreams

Your word is your wand. The words you speak create your own destiny.  Florence Scovel Shinn

After my Grandma Grace passed away I inherited a lovely box. It was given to her from a Shiseido rep when she worked the cosmetic counter of a department store.  Instead of housing the powder puff it used to, although it still holds the scent, it now holds my intentions, my dreams.

There is a certain power in writing down your dreams. It is as if by bringing the words out of your head and onto paper, you are presenting it to the Universe.  Placing your order with the Cosmic Waiter.

Periodically, I open the box to place a new intention in it. I never cease to be amazed that more often than not, my intentions have come to pass.

Pam Grout, author of E2 Nine Do-It-Yourself Energy Experiments That Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality, shares that there is an order to placing an intention, a process for success.

1. Write down what you want as clearly as possible and then back off. It is your business to be as clear as possible about WHAT you want but leave the HOW to the Cosmic Waiter.
2. Write a start date as well as a “due date”. A beginning and an end.
3. Visualize your intention as often as you can.

a. as if it has already happened

b. with all of your senses

Wishing you well.

Tracy

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Photo Credit:  © Ruletkka Dreamstime.com Magic Box Photo

Decide and Conquer

Opening The Door To Possibility

“You just have to persevere. One day that door will open.  If you don’t persevere, you won’t be there when it does.”  Carole King

I spent much of my adult life feeling as if I was on “the edge of greatness”. As if I was waiting for a lightning bolt to strike down and then I would know exactly what to do and when.  I was so afraid that I was going to make the “wrong” decision.  That my very being depended on being perfect and making “good” choices.  So, I stayed in indecision, and nothing happened.

It took a long time to learn that the next step is only revealed after we take the first step, any step, as uncertain as it may feel. It takes forward momentum to make a change, to live more fully, to experience more joy in our lives.  It could be a very tiny step.  Maybe it’s a phone call, hitting the I’M IN button on a website, making a different choice at the grocery store.

Taking a step opens the door for new possibilities. It’s like giving the universe your RSVP.  It’s a YES!  I’ll be there.

The only “wrong” decision is not making one at all.

So, make a decision, take a step and walk through that door.

Wishing you well.

Tracy

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Photo Credit: © Brown concrete door Creative commons stock photos Dreamstime

Ruby Slippers

The Way Back Home
“You don’t need to be helped any longer. You’ve always had the power to go back to Kansas.”  Glinda, the Good Witch  The Wizard Of Oz

For most of my adult life I searched for inner peace outside of myself. I looked for it in relationships, in education, in jobs, in books, in workshops, in exercise, in food, in alcohol, in this, in that, in the other thing.  Did I mention baked goods…???

I searched and searched for the magic bullet, the ruby slipper that would take me home to my essence, my joy, the happy life I so desired. Although I often felt like I was on the edge of greatness, my paradigms always managed to keep me stuck in my story, in my circumstances, in my regrets from the past and my fears about the future.

There was a shadow or two residing deep inside of me that held me back. That kept me from experiencing the peace, joy and happiness I sought.  There is an odd comfort in staying in the darkness.  We know it, it is familiar, we can relate to others because of it.  And, honestly, it may be an epic story.

My Highly Sensitive Child, my greatest teacher, taught me a lesson about staying in my story. That staying in my story kept my loved ones in the story as well.  He taught me that I really did have the Ruby Slippers I so desired.  All I needed to do was put them on.  Trust in the magic and I’d be on my way back home.

Life is not perfect, I am human. I am perfectly imperfect.  I sometimes lose track of my Ruby Slippers, think that I’ve lost them, but they are always there for me.  They always fit.

You have a pair too! Try them on.  They may feel a bit awkward at first, but I promise you will find your own way of wearing them.

Wishing you well.

Tracy

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Photo Credit: sequined red slippers on dark tile© Vclements Dreamstime

Helpful or Hurtful?

Pause and Ask

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Anne Frank

As a teacher, there were unlimited opportunities throughout the day to ask a child “Is this helpful or hurtful?” in my efforts to keep the peace and the tattling at bay. Asking this question of a child can empower them to come to a conclusion themselves and also to get them to really think about their words and actions and how they might affect others.

Is what you are doing helpful or hurtful?

Is what you are saying helpful or hurtful?

It wasn’t until I became a parent that I realized just how important this question really is. I still find myself asking my children this but now I realize the importance of asking this of myself.  In addition to asking myself “Is this helpful or hurtful?”  I might also ask:

Is what I’m about to say necessary?

Why am I saying it?

Can I say it another way?

If I must say it, can I soften it?  Keep it from becoming front page news?

Our words are powerful, so taking a moment to choose them carefully before speaking to our children, our spouse, the check-out person at the grocery store, especially if we are emotive, can be a game changer. It is perfectly acceptable to remove yourself, take a “time out”, ask for a moment before responding or simply pause before speaking.

So, pause, ask yourself this simple question. Is this helpful or hurtful?

Wishing you well.

Tracy

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Photo Credit:  Daniela Spyropoulou – Dreamstime

A Grand Entrance

It is a story of transformation, of metamorphosis.  I share this story in hopes that there is a Mama out there who needs to hear it, that this story can help her in some way.  This is a very condensed version of what transpired.  I have gone through an incredible transformation since then and although I wouldn’t wish the pain of it on anyone, I would most certainly wish the growth that has occurred because of it on everyone.

My son made a “grand entrance” in August of 2007.  He was born prematurely via emergency C-section (my birth plan said that I was going to have a natural, Bradley Method birth so this was quite unexpected) as a uterine infection caused my water to break.  He spent most of the first month of his life in the hospital.  Half of this time was due to his prematurity and the other half was because he turned blue in my arms and stopped breathing while at home in between.  After much poking and prodding they found that the breathing episode was caused by an odd UTI but they were never able to assure us that he wouldn’t stop breathing again.  Thus, I spent most of his first year of life awake, afraid that it would happen again or having nightmares that it did.

After my husband and family returned to work I was on my own during the day, feeling completely exhausted, overwhelmed and alone. The next challenge involved nursing a premature baby and consisted of weighing, nursing, tube feeding, bottle-feeding, weighing again and then pumping every 2 hours for the next month.  It was brutal but he became a champion nurser around his due date and also a champion screamer.  He literally woke up when he was due and cried almost non-stop for the next 7 months.  He was unable sleep longer than 2 hours at a time and required constant movement.  To say that he was colicky was an understatement.

His baby sister was born when he was 17 months old and he was in the height of what we soon learned was sensory processing disorder. Anything and everything startled him.  He was sensitive to light, sound, touch and movement.  Everything was over-stimulating and sent him into fits of crying.  Nursing baby in tow, we started seeing an OT who prescribed a “sensory diet” for him that included 6 weeks of sensory brushing every 90 minutes during waking hours.  He has been in and out of OT ever since along with periodic check ins with various specialists for other preemie conditions.

When he was around 4 or 5 I noticed that my son, who was seriously born at least 40 years old and is a highly sensitive person like me, was mirroring my least favorite negative traits and I realized that I needed to make some important changes in my life, to create a new legacy. I needed to learn how to love myself, take care of myself, live my truth and model empowerment for my children.  I then began breaking apart my life, dissecting it piece by piece, healing what needed to be healed, changing what needed to be changed.  I learned that nothing brings up your unhealed “stuff” like parenting.

I realized that a story is just a story.  It can be changed, retold, given a new twist.  The story does not define me.  The circumstances of my life have not changed but my perspective has.  The chaos of parenthood is still there, my past is still my past, what happened still happened, but now I can honestly say that I love and value myself, that I am living my truth.   It has been this “brutiful” unfolding (as Glennon Doyle Melton of Momastery might call it).  I now embrace my perfect imperfection, warts and all.

One Foot Up was born out of my experiences, what I most needed in my darkest hour.  So many little miracles happened along the way and I am grateful to be able to share what I have learned with you.  It is my wish that I may help you in your darkest hour, that my words will give you the glimmer of hope you need to take the next step.

Discover. Empower. Balance.

Be Well,

Tracy

*I am incredibly grateful for the support of my husband and all that he endured, my family for staying by my side when I was coming unglued, my friends who supported me even though they didn’t know what to do with me, my tribe who started showing up as I began my transformation, the life changing kindness of strangers and the “angels” I met during this time who gave me faith and hope in mankind.

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