RemarkAble Women Speak

Life Doesn't Wait for the Best Time to Talk

Sometimes we put life on hold, as if we have a lifetime to wait.  But just like an inpatient caller, if life is on hold too long, you might get disconnected.  Hung up on.  With an endless dial tone.

If you'd rather have a long, lively conversation with life, this passage from Everyday Grace,by Marianne Williamson, offers her insights on how to robustly engage with life, in this moment, rather than postponing for a better time. 

"We need not wait for the world to become more mystical; the world is mystical.  Our problem is not that the world lacks magic; our problem is that we don't believe in its magic.  We do not show up fully for life, and then wonder why life is not showing up more fully for us...The time to show up fully for life is right now, whatever the circumstance....The only way to achieve an exciting life is to be excited and exciting.  The only way to achieve an excellent life is to be willing to be excellent.  The only way to achieve love is to be willing to be more loving."

How can you bring more excitement, excellence, and love into your life?  What are you willing to do?  What are you willing to stop doing?

Listening to Your Body

Earlier this week, I had a clear and distinct epiphany.  It came to me while listening to a teleclass on living creatively, not reactively.  It continued to evolve as I sat still with myself, and later still while I shared its story with my husband.  Not content to rest on its laurels, it resurfaced at a meeting that night as the featured presenter spoke of letting go.  It continued on its way as I drove home.

Throughout the course of its journey, I listened.  Intently.  With my entire body.

Do you know that the ears are among the earliest organs to develop in the human body?  While our embryos are taking shape, they already hear the sounds around them, including Mom's heart, the voices of those with whom she is in conversation, and the strains coming from her mp3 player. What you hear in the womb, and once you are out in the big wide world, are the sounds and noises of your external environments.  Human exchanges.  Musical tunes.  Animal language.  Atmospheric energies.  Lend an ear, and the frequencies will find you.

Taking Care of Yourself

Aaaaaaah!  I love that sound...the sound of exhaled breath after having inhaled a fresh supply of oxygen to enrich the blood and invigorate the soul. It's the sound of deep breathing, a healthy stress management technique that eases tension and reduces anxiety.  But sometimes we forget.

April is National Stress Awareness Month. The Institute of HeartMath, a renowned organization noted for scientific research and personal products dedicated to stress relief, recommends these tips, among others, for taking care of yourself. These ideas are not new; you've most likely heard them before.  But sometimes life gets too busy, and we all forget.

• Know what stresses you.  Typical triggers are your thoughts, emotions, and attitudes, and not so much what someone else has said or done. Your body doesn't care if you are experiencing a small stress or a bigger stress.  Whether you forgot to buy milk when you went grocery shopping or your flight has been delayed for 14 hours, the affect of stress on your body will be relatively the same. Take care of yourself.
• You can control how you respond to stress.  Rather than be a victim of it, become a champion over it.  Monitor those triggers before they become entrenched as physical and emotional reactions. Meditate, breathe deeply, talk to someone. Take care of yourself.
• Manage your stress in the moment. Why wait until a more perfect time?  There is no such thing. If you're holding out for that glass of wine after work, and it's only 10:00 in the morning, you are cheating your body of being in a healthier state. Take care of yourself.

You are a RemarkAble Woman who deserves to be taken care of in very healthy ways.  Be your own champion, and let it happen.

Let It Be Today

Earlier this week, I read an obituary of a woman, a retired nun.  She was quoted as having once said, "One of the most precious things about being retired is you have time to pray.  When you are working full-time, your efforts are all for the Lord, but your contemplative time is limited.  In retirement, you are free of those constraints and that is a lovely gift."

Yesterday, my 76-year old mother-in-law returned back home to Washington from Arizona for the spring and summer.  You may recall from earlier posts that her husband, my father-in-law, passed away last October.  For the first time since the two of them purchased a motor home (15 years ago?) as their transport between states, she flew home.  Though she is physically capable of driving it (she's a strong woman, in many ways), she is seriously considering selling the motor home.

She introduced us to a neighbor who came by to say, "Hello!  Welcome back!"  Rather than prepare a meal, we all went out to dinner.  Parts of the conversation were bits of her neighbor's life story, which included three marriages.  Her last husband recently died suddenly after a cancer diagnosis.