A to Z Challenge the letter E= Energize

Meditation Banner from : Mandela Arts

How often have you started to take a photo and realized the battery in camera was dead? In the middle of a cell phone call, the battery goes dead or your laptop shuts down due to low battery while you are in the middle of an important piece of writing.

It stands to reason, if electronics lose their power due to low battery life, why can’t our “batteries” run down as well? We all know we need sleep to relieve tiredness and food to refuel our bodies, but what about our minds and spirits?

I have read that religious people who attend worship services of some sort feel their spirits are recharged afterwards. I feel that way when I go camping for a weekend, away from phones and demands of everyday life. I am sure everyone can think of a place that offers them the activity or even non activity that allows them to feel recharged and relaxed and energized.  An evening at the gym participating in a latin dance class, a poetry reading at a coffee shop or maybe even a Saturday morning writer’s group meeting have often been places I have sought to energize my mind, body and spirit.

We all have demands on our time and most of us to tend place others ahead of our own well-being. One friend says she has a playlist of upbeat dance music that plays while she is doing her house work. Another friend attends a weekly yoga class. My own recent energizing experience came during a busy work day when I simply went to a quiet restaurant with a good book for an hour. Losing myself in a world of historical fiction for those few minutes helped me conquer the busy afternoon with a little more energy and enthusiasm.

Take a few moments today to discover what makes you feel energized. Here is a link to an Instructable about How to Calm, Relax and Re-Energize Yourself in Five Minutes.  Feel free to leave suggestions and tell us what works for you!

A to Z Challenge the letter F = Five and a Quiz

A friend told me about this book several years ago and how it had helped her better understand the fellow she was dating. After a particularly horrifying breakup, I decided to add this one to the collection of self-help books I was reading.  I read it and took the quiz and it really brought out the differences in me and my former boyfriend. There were other factors involved in the demise of our relationship, but this book did explain some of the ways we were thinking.

Dr. Gary Chapman has written several of these books target at certain demographics, such as singles, teenagers, married couples and even children. I hope to read The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace soon.  He has a wonderful with a quick survey that will give you a better understanding of the language you prefer for communication.

The five languages he writes about are:

Acts of service

Physical Touch

Receiving Gifts

Quality Time

Words of Affirmation

After reading this book, I realized I am a huge Quality Time person and my ex was an Acts of Service person. (He even fixed my sink and took out my trash once when he was in the neighborhood to visit way after we broke up)

Today, if you get a few moments, take the quiz just for fun and see what the results are!

A to Z Challenge the letter D = Daring

“Faith is not trying to believe something regardless of the evidence.  Faith is DARING to do something regardless of the consequences.”  Sherwood Eddy

I remember when my son was little and my sentences often started with, “ Don’t you dare….” I was young and probably could have phrased “Don’t you dare drive the lawnmower until you are older” in a more positive manner, but keeping up with him was exhausting. Granted he was a very precocious child and I never dreamed he would stick a key in the electrical outlet or drive off on the lawnmower before he was two year old. He was a very DARING child and observant. He studied people and their actions (sometimes too closely J) and was convinced he could do whatever they did.

So many of the women I admire had a DARING spirit. Amelia Earhart, Josephine Baker, Mae West, and the list goes on. Most if not all of the daring women of history suffered hardships in their pursuit to express themselves. If you firmly believe in something however, you do so with the understanding that you will face hardships.

You need not fly around the world to trek all over the globe to be daring. DARING can start in your own back yard. It could be as simple as trying a new food, taking up a sport, or standing up for a cause. I took up roller derby and today I wore a small tiara to work. Yes, a tiara. It resembles a headband somewhat but it is still a tiara.  I have also gotten comments from women my age who say they would not DARE to try to skate, much less play roller derby.   I DARE you to do something today that is different from your normal routine.

This is my favorite bumper sticker quote of all time and it is one of my mottos:

The A –Z Challenge: CONFIDENT

From Dictionary.com: Sure of oneself; having no uncertainty about one's own abilities, correctness, successfulness, etc.; self-confident;bold: a confident speaker.

I love this photo. I think it pretty much describes most cats in general. I have also seen little dogs that weighed 4 pounds and were absolutely convinced they were the equal of a great dane. On the other hand, my sister has a Labrador that weighs about 110 pounds and he is convinced he is a lap dog. He has seen the terrier and yorkie sit with her in her chair, so why can’t he?

When I look in the mirror and see myself as put together well, I feel confident. I have an awesome pair of Italian pumps that I don’t get to wear often because of the color. I found an extremely discounted pair of pants last week and I am determined to wear those pumps until the pants or the shoes wear out. Those pumps boost my confidence and make me feel like a powerful strong woman for some reason.

What helps you feel your most confident? 

This little girl exudes confidence! What a cool skating photo.

A –Z Challenge: BELIEVE

I think this is truly my favorite word. I love the definition from Dictionary.Com “to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or thereliability of something, although without absolute proof thatone is right in doing so: Only if one believes in something can one act purposefully.”

I would also like to recommend a great book that deals with Positive Thinking. “Beyond Positive Thinking: A No-Nonsense Formula for Gettingthe Results You Want” By Robert Anthony.  I was gifted the audio version and listen to it quite a lot on my commute to and from work. The audio book is almost like having your own cheerleader in the car with you! I knew I had to purchase the Kindle version to be able to reinforce what I was hearing. (I hope I am not violating any copyright laws here, but I really do want to recommend this book for anyone wanting to boost their self-confidence.)

Chapter 3 “ What Are You Telling Yourself”, was really informative for me. Two points that I remember well are how children from the same family and growing up with the same experiences can perceive those experiences differently and this quote “Other people can hand us opinions about ourselves.”  This chapter really goes into detail and discusses several important topics such as : Building a Self-Image, Increasing Performance, Attitudes, the importance of Self Talk.

Chapter 4 “Believing is Seeing” discusses concepts for helping you to see the person you want to be and Chapter 5 discusses “Write Your Own Script”.

As we grow into adulthood we are conditioned into believing things about ourselves that are simply not true. These are the perceptions of other people and if we are not careful, they can become how we perceive ourselves. I wish I had had this book in my twenties to explain some of the ingrained self-beliefs I grew up with.  As a child, being compared to siblings or cousins even if at times somewhat favorably can be detrimental. I have one sibling, a sister that is two years younger, and she was referred to as “the pretty one”.  I can laugh at that now, (therapy does wonders lol) but imagine the effect it had on me as a teenager. 

Today, I BELIEVE things like: I will finish my Work in Progress, I will not only skate my 25 laps but make it to 27. I BELIEVE I will make it through all 26 letters because, after all, there are way more than 26 wonderful things to discover and write about!

The A-Z Challenge: Affirmations

Graphic from: Finerminds.com

Can you count the times during the day when you have been told something positive about yourself by another?  How often through the day do you tell others something positive about themselves?  

Affirmations are statements that declare truth within it. Take a moment to think about the things you said to yourself today. Were they positive or negative? Removing negative statements about ourselves from our thoughts is extremely difficult. Keeping a journal and recording those random thoughts will help as we learn to reprogram the negative into a positive experience.  I firmly believe we can be our own worst critics when in fact we should be our best cheerleaders!

How often have you heard someone say, I wish I had more money or I wish I had a better job? The key to making these wishes happen is to believe in our words and to go out there and use the resources available to make these wishes come true.  I have personally experienced affirmations that came true. I believed that they would happen and trusted that somehow the money would appear to make them happen.

I am passing on some links here that have been meaningful to me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR3rK0kZFkg – This little girl knows who she is and I hope she keeps this confidence throughout her lifetime!

http://affirmart.blogspot.com/2009/05/power-word-for-action.html - Awesome affirmations and motivational art.

http://www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au/2012/02/are-you-positive-how-and-why-affirmations-work/ - Jessica Ainscough from the Wellness Warrior and her story of how affirmations have helped her.

http://www.kindovermatter.com/2010/03/kind-over-matter-spring-collboration.html - This is an awesome free collection of printable affirmations along with a printable envelope.