Category Archives: gratitude

Effortless Perfection

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As a means to get back my focus on life, I’ve started to actively get back on Weight Watchers. It’s not like I ever really went off, I just got sick and got busy, and well, just got lazy. I went back to my old eating habits and shunned the exercise. Tomorrow will be my first weigh in in about a month. Judging from the way my clothes have been fitting, I’m not expecting good news.

But, since I’m on the one in charge of my life, I’m the one that can decide to hold my head up high and get back on track. So far I’ve been successfully tracking what I’m eating (even if I’m not always making the best choices…damn that Chipotle!) and today I made sure to get in a good workout.

I honestly don’t know why I don’t embrace the whole workout thing more. Whenever I’ve finished my workout and I sit down to log my activity (and munch my apple) I always feel so good. You’d think that alone would be enough to spur me on – not counting how it helps to lose the inches. Hopefully, by writing just that, I’ll remember to use it as my motivation on those days when I just.don’t.fell.like.it (or so it would seem).

I also decided to give meditation another try. I was honestly looking for my food & exercise mediation CD to work on a little subtle reprograming, but I can’t seem to find it. Instead, I pulled out my Getting Into the Gap by Wayne Dyer. And again, I forgot how much I enjoy the whole meditation experience. My favorite part has to be the actual floating experience you feel when you are between the gap. Such a fascinating feeling. And like Dr. Dyer says, it’s basically just effortless perfection.

I Miss My Boys!

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Wow, nearly two weeks away from my hubby is just too much. It’s just insane. I realized that while I was out of state and away from him, I missed him SO much. But once I got home, and was able to snuggle into bed with the boys, I really didn’t miss him so much. So I’m thinking, it’s really more about being away from home AND away from him.

The cool thing about this trip apart (I left for 5 days, then we met up in Austin for one night, then he came home 4 days later) was how often we were able to talk this time around. Usually, when he goes to Austin, he’s so busy going from show to show that we barely even talk. I’m fine with that, but really, this time around, it was nice to be able to talk from time to time.

But let’s just say…it’s so sweet when he comes home and we can all snuggle together. All the more reason to affirm that I am SO happy and grateful now that I’m in a loving, caring, affectionate, sex-filled, relationship!!

Live from SXSW Interactive!

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It’s day 27 in my 100 Day Challenge and I’m currently hanging out in Austin at the South by South West Interactive Conference. And while this has nothing in particularly to do directly with the Challenge itself, I’m learning SO much and really receiving a ton of good information that I’m certain is a direct result of the energy I’ve been putting out. And the best part, since I seem to have left my power cord at my friend’s house in Dallas, I’m forced to conserve my computer time and focus on the actual people and events, going with the flow instead of hanging out in my own head.

Quick parting words…I got the message at least twice to check out The E Myth by Michael H. Gerber that I actually drove out to the local bookstore on my lunch break to pick it up (and score some YUMMY Amy’s Mexican Vanilla ice cream!). It’s really shaping up to be EXACTLY the sort of book I needed to help me to clarify my business success goals. So talk about needing to be open to what messages the Universe sends your way.

And now, I have a party (with a free drink or two!) to get too. I’ll post more after I either get back to Dallas or get back to LA.

100 Day Challenge – Day 21

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I received the most interesting phone call the other day. Out of the blue I received a phone call about a job. Now that might not seem like a big deal, but I haven’t worked out of the home (not on my website, that is) for just over two years.

I haven’t even been looking for work for nearly two years now. I still have no idea how she found me, or even why she thought to give me a call (considering the caller herself said that I was over-qualified).

Since one of my focuses during this challenge right now is to bring in additional income from multiple sources and since I’m open to whatever the Universe might provide, I’m not the least bit surprised. In particular, I’m considering leaning towards doing some non-profit sort of work.

So again, I’m just loving this challenge and all the many things that are showing up in my life. Too cool!

* I am so happy and grateful now that our business is doing so well and earning $3000+ a month through multiple sources of revenue.

* I am so happy and grateful now that money comes to me in increasing quantities through multiple sources on a continuous basis, for the good of all involved.

100 Day Challenge – Day 18

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A Couple of Observations…

One – Everyone is going absolutely C.R.A.Z.Y. for The Secret!!! I tried to order a copy of the book off of Amazon last week and it had about a 2 week or so delay. I didn’t feel like waiting, so I canceled my order. Then today, I stopped by B&N to pick up a copy (and my next book club book – Lolly Winston’s Happiness Sold Separately, which they were sold out of!) and they were sold out! The woman said the publishers just can’t seem to publish enough for the demand. Man, that Oprah is amazing…what she can do for book and product sales!

Two – One of the biggest changes I’m noticing since participating in the 100 Day Challenge (aside from the money just showing up!!) is that I’ve become a lot more mellow. I’m noticing others getting upset and frustrated in lines, or in traffic, or whatnot. But me, I’m cool as a cucumber with no worries. And let me just say, I’m SO loving that. Talk about things to be grateful for!

Three – I also seem to be purging a lot of crap. In a good way. I wrote earlier about what appeared to be a little breakdown of sorts with plenty of tears and pent up frustrations getting cleared. This was great because it really seemed to give me some much needed clarity and it brought the hubby and I closer. But now I seem to be dealing with a sinus-turned-bronchitis sort of thing. I’d let it work it’s way out, but I’ll be flying in a few days and after having flown with some sinus congestion a month or so ago, there’s just NO WAY in hell, I’m going through that again. But I do recognize that it’s just my body’s way of purging some crap. So I can be more than grateful for this cleansing experience – and I’m more than open to medication & healing 😉

Who Can Complain About Free Money?

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It’s Day 14 of my 100 Day Challenge and let me say that things are running quite smoothly! I’d had two invitations to take part in consumer testing. Which basically translates to FREE money!! I mean all I had to do is talk about what I like or don’t like about certain products. So my multiple streams of income affirmation is working baby –> I am so happy and grateful now that money comes to me in increasing quantities through multiple sources on a continuous basis.

I also picked up my Ask and It is Given book the other day. You know, for some reason, I seem to have challenges staying focused when reading Positive Thinking/Law of Attraction sort of books. I tend to start day dreaming and going off on tangents, so last night was the first time I’d picked it up in a while.

Did you know that they have 22 lessons, affirmation or games, as they like to call them that are guaranteed to raise your vibrations and to help you get you get focused in co-creating? It’s very cool. I figure I can pick one “game” each night before going to bed and that will give me some focus. Pretty cool, huh?

Good Karma Baby!

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I’m working on making a couple of deposits to my Good Karma Bank! Well, truth be told, I’ve been doing a lot of work lately towards mellowing out – I seem to be able to yell at traffic and lousy drives like a trucker, but I’m getting better, I assure you 😉 But I’ve really been going out of my way to do some random acts of kindness and doing what I can do to help others.

And now, my main focus is on my sister-in-law’s (hereby known as SIL) upcoming baby shower this weekend. My new SIL is a lovely Indonesian woman with no family here in the US and very few friends or co-workers. So I’ve taken upon myself to plan her shower (I did her bridal shower as well) with my other SILs. It’s becoming a little frustrating in that 1) none of her friends are actually RSVPing, 2) my other co-hosting SILs aren’t returning my emails and 3) she’s missing quite a few key, modern, baby-raising, conveniences.

So instead of dwelling on all of that, I’m just moving forward and shopping up a storm! Lucky for me (well, for my pregger SIL really), a good friend of mine handed down some adorable baby clothes already. So at least we know the baby will have some of the basics, like onsies and blankets covered.

But man, I’ve been spending money left and right! I picked up three outfits last week on sale and now today I picked up two more cute t-shirt onsies to go with the overalls that my friend passed along. On top of that, I picked up a vibrating, bouncy chair, a boppy (with a too cool, reversible cover) and the head-thingie for the car seat – all things that she didn’t register for. Oh yeah, I’ve also picked up a cutie patootie pair of sneakers during the Old Navy sale (and a few things for myself – it’s why I was there to begin with!). Hopefully, she’ll like everything.

Now I just need to figure out what food-stuff I should make as well. I think, since it will be a small group that we’re just doing a sandwich tray with side salads, fruit and veggies. And let’s not forget the mango cake from the Asian bakery. Any other ideas?

And speaking of shopping, since I leave for SXSWi in a week, I’ve also been doing some shopping for myself. Maybe I’ll post some of my fun finds a little later in the week. For now, I have some bookkeeping entries to do since we’d like to have that done and handed off to a real bookkeeper before I leave for SXSWi.

100 Day Challenge – Day 11

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I haven’t been around much the past couple of days, but that doesn’t mean that things aren’t humming along just as expected. In fact, I had a bit of an epiphany this past weekend (at least that’s what I’m choosing to call it since it sounds SO much better than breakdown – LOL).

I think, for the most part, it was a time for purging and cleansing, both in the relationship department and the work department. For the first time, in a long time, the hubby and I had a real, heart to heart about stuff that was going on in our lives. This not only brought us closer as a couple (hello, smoochie smoochies!) but also helped us to clarify some of the bigger picture items

One of the bigger issues that we talked about was my job. As I’ve mentioned briefly in passing, I’m an administrator of a women’s online community. The interesting part, is that I kind of just fell into this. There was an opportunity, the hubby jumped on it, and wham-o, I’m an administrator. It turned out to be a wonderful thing, in so many ways, since just a month or so before (or after, I’m really not so sure) I had lost my job and shortly after that it turned out that I was the primary caregiver for my father-in-law. So everything really does happen for a reason.

Only catch…it’s not something I ever had any desire to do. Lucky for me, I enjoy it, I just sometimes have some challenges in finding focus or motivation regarding the site. So in my epiphany moment (thanks to my loving husband), we’ve talked about maybe turning the site into a non-profit sort of thing and spreading out further to helping other women create a web-based presence – roughly speaking. It’s still in the beginning stages.

So while I’m away at SXSWi I’ll be keeping my eyes and ears open to the opportunities that I’m certain will be presenting themselves. I haven’t given it a whole lot of thought just yet, but I really feel that this will be right for me (for us) and that it came into my life at this appropriate and perfect time. I love when it all works out this way.

And as a neat “look, here’s another example of how the Universe works!” event…after putting a new home on my affirmation list, we kind of just bumped into a perfectly suited home this weekend while out walking the boy. I believe it has everything we were looking for on the list and believe or not. Even the price was pretty right. I don’t believe that this one is The One, but I just love seeing how the Universe brings forth what you ask for.

So go baby, go! And just think, we’re only on Day 11!!

100 Day Challenge – Day 5

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While this entry isn’t specifically about my focus and the challenge itself, it is about what sort of things the Universe brings your way, and what lessons might be in it for you.

Friends have always been a very important part of my life. I like to think of friends as the family we choose to have in our lives. And while I’ve never had what some might consider a lot of friends, I’ve always been happy with the friendships that I have. I’m the type that would do anything for a friend.

Now the Lounge here isn’t my first and only blog. I also keep a pretty regular journal where I have developed some deep, online friendships. I don’t really mix the two and that’s mostly due to my job. As a website administrator in a women’s community, my life is a pretty open book and all of my journal friends, are part of that community (and therefore, my work environment). The Lounge, on the other hand is more for me and not so much about a community.

Well, as one would expect of a journal, I spend quite a bit of my time in there discussing the minutia of my day – work, errands, friends, family, vacations, what have you. And yesterday was no different. So there I was commenting on someone’s behavior (and more importantly, their reaction to a reprimand) on my site. I didn’t name names, nor did I get into specifics, which is how I typically do things. Yet somehow, what I said wound up being repeated in a friend’s journal (in a private – not for my eyes – post).

Interestingly, it was by the very same woman that took something I said once before and repeated it around my community trying to cause some drama. Thing is, when I seem to snark (as we tend to call it) about a situation or a member, it’s not something I haven’t already said to that very member through email or PMs. So basically, I own it. But somehow, I just felt so hurt.

To have this very same individual take something out of my safe zone and repeat it, and then lock me out of it, so basically, it’s all going on behind my back, left me a little shocked. Yet surprisingly, not really bothered. I mean, I had already forgiven this friend the first time around and let her continue to be a part of my journal and my life (never blocking her out to begin with, even after it all went down). This time, I was able to just send her an email to let her know that she hurt my feelings and move on.

This to me is pretty big. Normally I can perseverate on something like this for quite some time, ranting and raving about being violated and disappointed, playing the victim role perfectly. This time around, I just naturally and instinctively chose to handle it all from a higher place and move on. Heck, in my email with her I even wished her well in her future endeavors (she’s been looking for work).

So for me, this is just kind of proof that changing your focus and letting things go, is a much less stressful way of life. I really feel that this is all part of my plan, working in action. Did I not say just the other day that I am so happy and grateful now that I am a complete, confident and beautifully, fabulous woman.

I am grateful for this experience and acknowledgment today. I welcome this confidence with open arms. Thank you Spirit!!

100 Day Challenge – Day 4

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Today and everyday I am grateful for…

* my husband
* the unconditional love and warmth of my boys
* my home
* my friends
* my job (or my ability to call what it is that I do, my job)
* my yummy cheeseburger lunch – while not so WW-friendly, it sure was tasty!
* my car
* the weather – while most of the US has been having non-stop snow and freezing temps, here in SoCal it’s been downright beautiful!
* my new Bobbi Brown lipstick (hey, 5+ hours at the mall with a girlfriend and it’s ALL I bought – or even wanted to buy)
* my faith and my ability to see the positive and share that faith with my friends

Ten. Not such a bad number, if I do say so myself!