“When you achieve your dreams it’s not so much what you get but what you have become in achieving them.”
It is possible that by now many of us have already given up on our New Year’s Resolutions.
I am inspired by Diana Nyad’s TED talk. If you have not yet seen it, I encourage you to watch it now!
1. Don’t Give Up
2. You Can Reach Your Dreams at Any Age
3. It Takes a Team
I started this blog a few years ago. After just a couple of posts the blog remained untouched as my focus was forced to shift to other areas in my life, particularly the fall-out of a long and difficult divorce.
I think of John Lennon’s lyrics, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” The interesting thing about time is that it continues to pass, regardless of what we are doing.
Hopefully, through this blog (and others I have started like One Loaf of Bread), I have posted ideas that have been useful to you. I hope it helps you laugh, cry, reach new heights, reevaluate time and realize that every second counts. I am reminded of this on a daily basis.
A BIG THANKS to everyone who has sent me messages and given me support.
Thanks also to the many unknown friends who stop by and read the blog.
I recently saw Soul Pancake’s Experiment in Gratitude and I want to share the video with you. It is 7 minutes, but definitely worth it.
Who has influenced you the most?
Express your gratitude to that person! It will make your day!
In this TED talk, Ric Elias describes what it was like being on the plane that was forced to land in the Hudson River.
He describes three lessons he learned from that experience:
As the plane was going down he thought about what he still wanted to do. He came up with a saying “I collect bad wines”. He has decided to not postpone anything in life.
He thought about the time he has wasted on things that do not matter with people who do matter. “I no longer need to be right. I choose to be happy.”
He wished for one thing as the plane was going down: He wished he could see his kids grow up.
Ric asks his audience to imagine being on a plane that is going to crash . . . How would you change if you were given a second chance to live?
What would you get done that you’re waiting to get done because you think you will be here forever?
How would you change your relationships and negative energy?
Are you being the best parent that you can?
We are lucky to be able to learn from Ric and consider what is important in our own lives, before it is too late.
I love the following entertaining TED talk with Benjamin Zander discussing the power of classical music.
(I am one of the 10-year-olds he refers to who gave up on the piano . . .)
Benjamin claims there are 3 major groups:
1. The first group is absolutely passionate about classical music. They listen to it all of the time, attend the symphony and they have children who play musical instruments. This is the smallest group.
2. The second group doesn’t mind classical music. They come home from a long day, take a glass of wine and put their feet up with a little Vivaldi in the background. (I fall into this group with an occasional trip to the symphony).
3. The third group never listen to classical music. It is simply not part of their lives. They might hear it like second-hand smoke at the airport and maybe a little bit of a march from Aida when they come into the hall, but otherwise they never hear it. This is the largest group of people.
Benjamin Zander wants everyone to understand and love classical music. His enthusiasm is contagious in this 20 minute talk.
I’m reminded of Billy Collins poem Piano Lessons where he writes:
“I am learning to play
“It Might as Well Be Spring”
but my left hand would rather be jingling
the change in the darkness of my pocket
or taking a nap on an armrest.
I have to drag him into the music
like a difficult and neglected child.
This is the revenge of the one who never gets
to hold the pen or wave good-bye,
and now, who never gets to play the melody.”
I love this graphic that was recently posted on Life Edited
“When we begin to understand the limitations of our material goods, we start acquiring stuff on an as-needed basis, not a this-will-change-my-life basis. This leads to a lot less stuff and, perhaps just as important, a lot less disappointment–we finally stop expecting our stuff to make us happy.”
“I am still learning.”
Michelangelo, age 87
Sometimes individuals are tormented by verbal abuse. The damage of verbal abuse is not easily seen like a cast on a broken arm, or bruises resulting from physical abuse. With verbal abuse, the individual usually suffers in silence.
I love this video because it visually shows how words can hurt. I hope this video will remind all of us to think about the power of our words. Hopefully we can use this knowledge to help others.
“We can’t change everything that happens in life but we can change the way we experience it.”
Andy Puddicombe
I absolutely love this TED talk by Andy Puddicombe where he explains the importance of meditation – or doing absolutely nothing for at least 10 minutes everyday.
Andy uses a juggling analogy to show the right balance. He suggests we should allow our thoughts to come and go without getting distracted by anxious thoughts.
Andy claims we spend half of life lost in thought and unhappy. He says we spend more time looking after our cars, clothes and hair than our minds.
My favorite time each day is when I practice t’ai chi and yoga. This time helps me refocus, clear my mind and relieve stress.
I love a meditation analogy used by Guillermo Gomez. He says to imagine a glass of water where you are pouring in a fist full of sand. In the beginning the water is disturbed by the sand, but if you leave it alone long enough that sand will find its way to the bottom of the glass.
As we relax, the sand settles and the water becomes still and clear.
It is important to practice being still and allowing the mind to become like that glass of water.
Do Nothing for 10 Minutes. It’s definitely worth it.
“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”
Diane Ackerman
twenty five seconds 