Yes!

Choosing You 

There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world.  Robert Louis Stevenson

There has been a lot of buzz as of late about choosing a word of the year. Usually I have many but this year I chose Yes!  Actually, I have been dabbling in Yes! for several years, since I started breaking apart my life, but this year I’m all in!

At first it may feel a bit selfish to say Yes! A bit unnatural.  But once you get the hang of it you will wonder why you waited so long.  Yes! is exciting and terrifying all in one.  Yes! opens doors, renews relationships and frees you to be you.  Choosing Yes! gives your children permission to say Yes!  To be authentic.  To live their truth.

This year I say…

Yes! to my health.

Yes! to my family.

Yes! to my dreams.

Yes! to abundance.

And

Yes! to No!

If you haven’t yet, watch Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday interview with Shonda Rhimes, creator and producer of the award winning series Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal to name a few.  She recently wrote a book called Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person (now on my must read list). She made the bold move two years ago of saying Yes! to her life and it changed her in ways she could not have imagined.  Her year of Yes! lead her to some incredible experiences she would not have otherwise had, losing weight, letting go of what no longer served her and most importantly, showing up for her children as the empowered, present mama she is.

Thank you Shonda! For being brave, sharing your story with the world and being you!

Wishing you well.

Tracy

Do you need help saying YES! to yourself?  Click Here to schedule your Mini Clarity Session today.

Photo Credit:  making choice © Eduardkraft  Dreamstime

 

Bring The Energy You’d Like To See

A Shift

“Whatever you focus on expands.”  – Pam Grout

Have you ever watched the energy shift as soon as someone walks into a room?  In my teaching days it became a daily practice to check my energy before walking in the door. It was a practice I had to cultivate.  If I happened to forget and bring my frenzied rush hour commute into the classroom, we were all doomed!

Yes.

I am that powerful.

And so are you.

One year I had the good fortune of working with a child who taught me a clear lesson about energy.  This child would literally climb the door frame if I wasn’t watching. Once I turned around to find him standing on the window ledge of our 3^rd story classroom!  His “I need help controlling my body” energy affected us all.  I was affected by his amped up energy that would in turn amp up the energy of the whole classroom.  It was a trying time to say the least.

Despite the difficulty of the year, I learned about energy. I learned that I could help this child and his classmates by changing MY energy, by changing MY thoughts.  I was better able to help him with his energy after I took care of my own.  It took practice (an ongoing practice) but it really served me, the children and ultimately my own family.

I’m still working on this…every day!

Wishing you well,

Tracy

I recently led a book study of Pam Grout’s E2 Nine Do It Yourself Energy Experiments To Prove That Your Thoughts Create Your Reality.  The Alby Einstein Principle, Experiment #3, involves creating a divining rod of sorts with wire hangers and straws.  Then, experimenting by thinking different thoughts and casting your attention in different directions to see what happens to the rods.  We all tried it with little expectation and were astounded at our ability to move the rods with our thoughts.  It was such a powerful experiment that we ended up using it to center our energy before each of the next six gatherings.  Try it!

Do you need help shifting your energy?  Click Here to schedule your Mini Clarity Session today.

Photo credit:  plasma © Rudi Jetten Dreamstime Stock Photos

High Energy Fun

The Joy Of Letting Go

“Look at me! Look at me! Look at me NOW! It is fun to have fun. But you have to know how.” – Dr. Seuss

Have you ever felt like you have forgotten how to have fun? That you used to laugh, feel free?  Sometimes we get so caught up in our world as parents that we forget that we used to thrive in nonsense.  At least I did…  In fact, the thing that most attracted me to my husband was his uncanny ability to have fun in just about any situation.

So, instead of taking the spectator stance, as I often do at children’s birthday parties, I decided to don those cool orange socks at Sky Zone and jump to my heart’s desire. For $11 I jumped, laughed and even peed a little…  And, had a great time doing it!

Yes, I played it safe despite my kids’ best efforts to get me to bounce off the wall.

Yes, I was breathless by the time I bounced off the mat.

Yes, there were many times when I was the only adult jumping.

But, I had a great time and most importantly, my kids saw me having high energy fun. They experienced me not as Mommy but as Tracy.  My daughter, jumping beside me, giggled with delight as we alternated mimicking each other’s jumping techniques.  I must say, I am quite the pro jumper now and am seriously considering a gig with Cirque de Soleil…

Wishing you well.

Tracy

Do you need help having fun?  Click Here to schedule your Mini Clarity Session today.

Intentions

Setting The Stage For The Year To Come

“The body appears to be largely self-motivated and independent, yet it actually responds only to the intentions of the mind.”—A Course in Miracles

 

In all of the years of setting New Year’s resolutions, I remember this one the most.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was the first intention I ever truly set.

While at the beach with some friends one New Year’s Eve, we shared our resolutions for the coming year. It didn’t take much that year to come up with this.  “I plan to do less of what I don’t want to do and more of what I do”.  There was much more to this than I let on at the table that night so on our way home I shared my “resolution”  with my fiancé.

“I want to get married, just the two of us, in Taos (our honey moon destination), and have a big celebration after.” I said, holding my breath. Wedding planning was just not my thing.  To my relief, he loved the idea so I started planning our elopement instead.  Ok, it wasn’t really an elopement as everyone knew we were getting married.  We planned a private ceremony sans everyone but the two of us.

When we returned home from our New Year’s trip I made a list of everything I would need to arrange and in one phone call to the Taos Chamber of Commerce I hung up with the information I needed to plan the entire ceremony, including a cake, photographer and flowers . All in thirty minutes!

Our “elopement” was amazing, with the focus on us and our marriage, just as I wanted it to be. We had an unforgettable celebration a few months later.   I have not had a second thought about our choice to this day…almost 17 years later!

How To Set An Intention:

~Trust in your inner guidance system

(I will do more of what I want to do and less of what I don’t) 

Meditate, center, find some stillness. Set a timer for 3 minutes.   Write down a list of possible intentions, whatever comes to mind, without censoring it, adding to it or changing it. Get it all out, even the ones that don’t make sense.  What does your heart desire?

~State a clear intention

(I will rearrange wedding plans and plan an elopement)

Choose the one you are most intuitively drawn to. The one with the most zing. Not necessarily the one you should.  Laser focus.  Get it crystal clear.

~Support the intention with action steps

Create clear action steps. How will you honor your intention? Put them on your calendar.

*(Call Taos Chamber of Commerce)

*(Arrange for a cake, photographer, flowers, B & B, minister, witness, marriage license)

*(Book flight)

*(Change local wedding plans to party – Call venue, caterer, DJ)

Wishing you well.

Tracy

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A Fond Farewell To 2015

Year End Reflection

“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” Wayne Dyer

In the past few weeks I’ve taken some time to reflect on 2015, with compassion and gratitude. It was an eventful year.  A year full of many blessings, in disguise and outright.  And some real opportunities for growth.  I have come out of it with a greater understanding of myself and a new perspective on my life and the way I wish to proceed into the New Year.

With my previous awareness I would have called it a BIG YEAR. A year of the good, the bad and the ugly.  Accentuating the ugly.  It happened to be a year that was unusually full of circumstances.  Some created by me and others by the grace of the divine.  I am finally beginning to understand that it is only BIG if I label it as such.  If I call it BIG it becomes bigger than me.  It’s the thought about the circumstance that makes it bigger than me.  The circumstance is just a circumstance.  A circumstance is “the way something happens” as Encarta describes it.

In all of the decades of knowing this, by George, I think I am finally getting it! It hasn’t happened over night.  I still find myself getting stuck in the thought about a circumstance.  Grabbing ahold of that thought and telling myself a tall tale about that circumstance.  But, now, my recovery time is quicker.  I know that this is a never ending process.  The redirection of my thoughts.  The lesson of a lifetime.  But I am grateful for the awareness and the opportunity to practice.

So…get out your calendar from 2015, a pen and your journal. Take a close look at the events that unfolded.  Journal it out.  Do a mind-dump.  Then, find the good in each circumstance.  Find the hidden blessings.  Rewrite last year’s story with compassion for the woman who experienced those circumstances and thank her for where she is today.

Wishing you well

Tracy

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Photo Credit:  fireworks2© Mike Watson Dreamstime

“We Can’t Redo Life Mommy”

A Six Year Old’s Words of Wisdom

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

My son, who was born at least 40 years old, said this when he was 5 or 6.  I have spent the past 8 years writing quotes from my children on scrap pieces of paper to do what with I am not quite sure but this quote, “we can’t redo life mommy”, is posted on my wall so I can see it every morning when I wake.  He has surprised me from the moment he started talking with the depth of his thinking and the insight he brings to my world.  His first word was clock.  Not mum or dada or dog or tat, but clock?!?

I can’t remember the context from which the quote came but I do remember the impact.  Have I lived?  If I were to die tomorrow or 50 years from now for that matter, how would I want to be remembered by my children?  How did my life impact them and how did my life impact their children?  Will they want to follow in my footsteps or will I be a faint memory of brown hair and blue eyes?

As I pondered this quote I made a list of all of the ways I’d like to be remembered… as a loving, happy, present, caring, compassionate, patient, wise, strong, playful, fun, funny, forgiving, grateful, giving, tender mother who makes a difference in the lives she touches. Most importantly, though, I want to be remembered as a mother who loved her life.  I want to be an inspiration to my children to love their lives.  This might have been the moment when I started breaking my life apart, inspecting it piece by piece under a microscope, and vowing to live the next half of my life much differently than the first if only to be an inspiration to my children.  I don’t recommend doing this all at once, as I did, as it really rocks the world of those around you and once it’s out it can’t be stuffed back in.  I know this…I tried!  I’m still working on it but I love my life so much more these days as I make a conscious effort to live authentically in hopes that my children will do the same.

Wishing you well.

Tracy

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Photo Credit:  Brown thank you card on pink and blue small bottle © Creative commons stock photos Dreamstime

 

 

 

The Kindness of Strangers

A Blessing in a Crisis

“The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful then a thousand heads bowing in prayer.” – Mahatma Ghandi

On the way home from the airport a few weeks ago our car was totaled in a hit and run DUI accident.  It happened in a surreal instant but the sights and sounds are imbedded in my brain.  I never knew that an accident could be associated with a color but mine was white…  The truck that struck us, the truck that followed, the airbags, the shattered glass, all white.  The sound was an ear shattering combination of metal on metal, squealing tires and breaking glass.  I have no explanation for the odd calm I felt through the entire incident.

What struck me profoundly was the incredible gratitude I felt and continue to feel.  The kindness of strangers and the willingness to serve another being in times of need makes my heart swell.  At 10PM on a Sunday night 3 cars stopped with their own distinct purpose.  One to see if we were ok, the other followed the offender and reported details to the police and the third stopped to comfort us…  Two police officers stopped to help the officer who was cleaning up the road…  The drivers of two competing towing companies helped each other put the cars involved on tow trucks…  This was a demonstration of incredible kindness.

I believe this was a gift, a reminder that life is precious and that goodness abounds.  I am grateful because seconds could have changed the outcome.  I am grateful because we were able to kiss our children good night as they were snug in their beds during the whole ordeal.  I am grateful that my husband and I held each other all night.  I am grateful that we walked away with some minor injuries.  I am grateful for insurance.  I am grateful for the kindness of strangers.  I am grateful for a new perspective.  And, I am grateful for another day of life.

Wishing you well.

Tracy

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Nurturing Creativity

The Magic Of Coloring

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
― Maya Angelou

My daughter and I took a trip to Michael’s the other day. As we entered the store we were met immediately with a display of coloring books and colored pencils designed for adults. My daughter, a prolific drawer, squealed with delight as we approached the lovely covers of over a dozen coloring books. I, myself, could not contain my “oooohhh” as I zeroed in on the beautiful books that featured mandalas in particular.

This morning I incorporated ten extra minutes into my morning routine to nurture my creativity. I set the timer, as I remember “the zone” pre-kid days, where hours would pass in the loving arms of inspiration. I carefully chose the colors that called to me and set off into the mindful activity of coloring. The stress of the morning quickly dissolved as soon as I put pencil to paper and I felt incredibly present as I chose the perfect pencil to represent each line. When the timer went off I was left with the lovely beginnings of my first mandala, free flowing ideas for my daily writing and a delightful start to what might otherwise be considered a dreary, rainy day.

I used to think that coloring was cheating and that to be creative I had to create something new but with this thinking I wasn’t being creative at all. The beautiful thing about coloring is that it can be done any time whether alone or with your children. What better way to spend quality time with your child than to create something beautiful. I continue to learn that I can do many of the things I used to do pre-kids in more compact amounts of time. A 30 minute walk, 15 minutes of yoga, 5 minutes of meditation, and 10 minutes of coloring now constitutes my morning routine. Yes, I have to get up at the crack of dawn but I start my day knowing that I have given to myself first. This in turn is a gift to my family and anyone else I encounter during the day.

Wishing you well.

Tracy

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The Dandy-lion

Beauty In A Weed

“Be present in all things and thankful for all things.” ― Maya Angelou

There is nothing quite like being with a child to bring you into the present moment.  Our family is big on walks.  When my children were very young I walked daily if not more.  There were many variations on the way I walked.  Sometimes with one baby strapped to my body and holding the other, sometimes two in the stroller, sometimes one in the stroller and the other straggling behind or running ahead and on very special days pushing an empty stroller and carrying two babies.  You get the picture.  I walked.  Most of time during the early years I was a walking zombie.  Present enough to put one foot in front of the other but not really present to life.

On one of our walks my daughter says “ohhh, dandy-lion.  I wuv dandy-lion”.  She walks over, picks one and hands it to me.  I stop, take her gift and look at it as if I am seeing one for the first time.  Sure enough, a dandy-lion is a PERFECT flower!  It is perfectly proportioned, like a mini me version of a mum!  All this time I thought dandy-lions were ugly weeds worthy of the compost pile.  My 18 month old has enlightened me.

An article rolled into my inbox recently touting the healing effects of dandy-lions.  Who knew???

Wishing you well.

Tracy

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Photo Credit:  CC0 Picture Bokeh Shot Of Yellow Flower During Daytime dreamstime

Smile

A Simply Profound Gesture 

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

A few months ago my favorite yoga instructor said something so simple yet so profound.  It was the 3^rd morning of a yoga teacher training weekend.  I headed out the door early that day, proud of myself I might add, with the intention of getting settled and centered well before the class started.  I wasn’t five minutes into the twenty minute drive (in a car that I cursed when I got into BTW) when the oil light came on.  Frustrated at having car trouble (and cursing the car yet again) I pulled over and texted her to tell her that instead of getting there early as I had planned, I was going to be late.  Her response was a single word.  “Smile!”  And so I did, through the whole car ordeal and into the studio.  I smiled.  It was a simple gesture with a profound effect.  It changed my whole perception about the incident as well as my energy around it.  I had a great experience that day and it trickled down to the others in the class and then that evening to my family.

It’s easy to smile at a passerby on the street, while reading a heart warming story or at a newborn baby.  Why not try on a smile for the day?  Put it on as you would your favorite jeans.  Try it out in the mirror before you head out the door, get it just right.  Share the gift of a smile with your kids, your husband, your mother in law, your friend, your dentist, a stranger on the street, the guy who cuts you off in traffic…

Wishing you well.

Tracy

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Photo Credit:  woman smiling © Liv Friis-larsen  Dreamstime