Lessons from the Movies - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

I was watching The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and we got to the part where Aslan is dead. Lucy and Susan are sitting next to his body on the stone table and a bunch of mice run up on top of Aslan. Susan starts saying, "Get away! Get away all of you!" as she reached to push them away. But Lucy stops her. Lucy waits for a minute to see what happens. She doesn't assume the mice are a problem, she waits to see what they are going to do. She SEES. She looks past an initial thought or stereotype to see what is really happening. After a minute she sees the mice are freeing Aslan's body from the ropes that bound him.

If your life isn't what you want it to be then perhaps there are ropes binding you. And perhaps there is a solution right in front of you that you aren't allowing to work for you. Just as the mice freed Aslan, so you have solutions just waiting to free you. Open your eyes, open your mind, and allow yourself to SEE.

Can you take a genie?

We were visiting my in-laws last night and my daughter asked everyone, “If you were going to live on a desert island and you could take one thing, what would you take?”

We’ve all played these games before and I always love to hear what people would take. However, what was most fascinating was listening to everyone think out loud. They were going through individual items and talking about which one they would take.

Then my kids started talking. My 12 year old said she would take a genie – and a real one at that, none of this limiting you to 3 wishes stuff. While all the other adults were busy telling her you couldn’t take a genie because they don’t exist, I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Why was I so happy? Because my daughter was Thinking Big.

My mother-in-law was trying to choose a book. My father-in-law was trying to choose a tool. My daughters knew they wouldn’t have to settle, and they were busy figuring out how to “have it all” on a desert island. Their sorting process - once the adults said “No genies; only things we’ve all seen and touched” - included things like a library and a mall.

I don’t know if they ever chose the one thing they would take because I was too busy being happy, knowing they believe they never have to settle.

Mind Control

Those two words, mind control, bring up thoughts of big brother, brainwashing and all sorts of icky images. But I actually advocate mind control. Yes, I believe you can choose your thoughts and the thoughts you choose will determine your life.

I know we are bombarded by images, events and people every day. Sometimes thoughts we don't want do pop into our minds. But it is your choice whether to dwell on them or release them and focus on something else.

My husband and I had an interesting experience with this recently. We were discussing a difficult situation that we have to deal with and got to a point where we both looked at each other and said, "I don't know what to do. I don't even see what our options are." Not fun - not a pleasant place to be. Needless to say, no one felt very good about that. This is the point where people let their thoughts run rampant and tear themselves (and those they care about) apart thinking about how they got them into this situation or how they should do more, be more, know more.

We made a different choice. We chose to control our thoughts.

First, we acknowledged that we don't see all the options - there have to be things we could do, we just don't know about them yet.

Next, we said we are open to seeing and hearing new options and we stated what we do want in our life.

Then we let it go and focused on the good things, thinking about them and acting on them.

What's really interesting is that within 24 hours we both felt good, and some small solutions already showed up, as well as seeing one possibility we hadn't really known about. By controling our thoughts, staying focused on solutions and good stuff, then taking action, we moved out of an icky situation and closer to what we want. Mind control - practice it today!

Lessons from the Movies - Dreamer

In the movie Dreamer there is a point where Mom tells Dad "Remember dreams? Well this one's Kale's let her live it. Let it take her as far as it can."

I love this part of the movie because it's a great reminder for me to just enjoy my dreams, enjoy living them out no matter what the "final outcome". That's the part that trips us up - we get focused on the outcome and declare our efforts to get there as a success or a failure.

What if you aren't being judged? What if it isn't about success and failure? What if it's about the ride?

Do what works

It never ceases to amaze me how we stop doing what works in our life. We hit a rought patch, or get uncomfortable, and find something that helps us through that. As soon as the discomfort eases, we stop.

Why do we stop? If it got us out of the a bad place and into a good place, couldn't it help us stay in that good place? Or couldn't it take us from a good place to a great place?

I've seen it over and over (and done it myself), from mediation to learning to excercise, we start and stop. What if we just stay the course, we just keep going?

What have you stopped doing that works?

Skipping just for fun

Do you ever just stop and watch kids play? Or do you get to play with some kids? They ask us to do silly things like skip and run for no reason. They just sit and let the sand run through their fingers. They swing until their stomach flops.

They don't think about it. They don't analyze it. They just do it because it feels good.

What are you doing today just because it feels good? I think I'll go skip with my kids.

Fun and Cell Phones

Today is cell phone day at our house. My phone took it's last gasping breaths yesterday so I ran off to Best Buy to get a new phone while the old one had one final breath of life (so they transfer my address book).

We ended up getting our girls cell phones (for Mom's peace of mind and Dad's convenience cuz Mom kept giving his phone to the girls:) and it was a fascinating experience. With all my focus on the positive, and all the growth I've done in enjoying the moment, I still had to stop myself and my husband from focusing on the do's and don't's, rules and consequences.

The kids were just plain excited. They had not expected to get phones for a couple years and this was thrilling for them. As soon as we started to talk about "the rules" I could see their expressions change, and the excitement dim. We let the lecture slide for the moment then covered it casually in 30 seconds this morning. Now I know there is a time and a place for covering the rules and explaining expectations. However, there is also a time for pure fun and excitement. Do you let yourself enjoy the excitement?

Let the fun times roll.

Lessons from the movies - Princess Bride

I was watching Princess Bride with my family and I was struck by the attitudes of the characters when they are in the fire swamp. Princess Buttercup is yelling, "We shall never succeed! We're going to die. We might as well die here." Yet Wesley tells her, "We have already succeeded. We know the secrets of the fire swamp and we can survive in here if we must."

Sometimes we have to go through a fire swamp when we change our lives. Things can get scary, uncomfortable or even painful. But . . . after you've gone through it once, you've learned the secrets and you know you can do it again if you need to - and it isn't nearly so scary.

When you get frustrated, or scared, remember Wesley's words, "We have already succeeded". Think of the things you've learned and all that you have accomplished on your journey; then know that you have what it takes, and you too can survive the fire swamp and live a life you love!

Prescription for the Blues

I woke up this morning feeling kind of blah. I had a whirl of things to do running through my head, "Yikes! It's the middle of March - gotta get the tax stuff to the accountant. Wait, did we get all the 1099s? Check on that. Oh yah, the investment advisor needed that info on purchase price. Forgot to call the orthodontist. Make sure you get the kids new bathing suits. Today's the last day to register for . . ."

Compounding that, I was just feeling kind of blue. Lots of gray, rainy weather lately and a lot of frustrating road blocks yesterday.

So what's a girl to do? Truthfully, my gut reaction is to jump in, start working and get stuff done. What I've discovered over the years is doing that just feeds the frenzy. It focuses my attention on all the "have to do" things and leaves me feeling behind and inadequate. What works much better is, oddly enough, to take a little "me" time. I'll take a half hour and read or meditate or focus on my dream board. Something to get me "back on track".

Doing this reminds me what I'm really about, focusing me back on my passion which is helping people live a happier life through simple choices. It gets me thinking about things that make me feel good. Then I write down a simple to-do list of just the key 2 or 3 things that I absolutely will do today. I don't focus on that overwhelming list of everything under sun, but rather what I know I can and will accomplish TODAY.

So now I've focused my thoughts on things that make me feel good and I've set myself up to have a good day. Now I feel good and I'm ready to enjoy my day!

Lessons from the beach - Soft and shifting sand

As I walk down to the beach I am surprised by soft and shifting sand. All winter long the beautiful sand has been frozen in time. Now, with just a few brief glimpses of spring, the warmth has touched this little patch of sand, giving me a peak into what’s to come.

And so it is in my life. As I create a new and different life it often feels like the frozen sand on the beach; wonderful in its own way, but unyielding to all my efforts just as the frozen sand is unyielding, even to the weight of bodies walking across it. But now, all the effort, all the discoveries, all the growing pains are bringing small patches of change into my life.

Little spots of “fresh and new”are peaking through and, while I enjoyed the beauty of the frozen landscape, I am excited about the possibilities in the soft and shifting sand.

What do you do?

What do you do? A simple question that we are asked on elevators, at parties, standing in line, anyplace we find ourselves talking to strangers. A simple question that asks us to sum up a life in 1-5 words.

What is your answer to this question? What do you do?

Most often people rattle off their occupation. After all, this is how we spend an incredibly large chunk of our life. But is this what you do? Is this the box you want to be put in when you’re meeting someone?

What do you do that you love? If it’s what you do for a living then count yourself lucky. If not, or even if you love your job, what else do you love to do? Could this be the answer to the question?

Imagine creating a “business card” for you life. What would you put on it? What colors would it be? What images would it have? What information would you put on it? Would you give a phone number? An email address? A physical address? How do you like to communicate with people? Think about it for a minute. Would you like them to stop by your house on the spur of the moment? This would be great if you love spontaneity. Maybe you hate the telephone and like to interact with people face to face. Perhaps you’d put down your email address or even a web page where the can pick a time on a calendar to meet up and do something. Maybe you like your privacy and don’t want just anyone contacting you so you wouldn’t put any contact information at all, maybe just your name. Then you can write you phone number on the card for the people you really want to see.

Think about it. Maybe even design one. If you do, I’d love to see it. My contact information is on my website www.ChooseMyLifeNow.com.

Have a great day – whatever you do.