Happy Holidays
from
Journey to Wellness
December
2011
Hello
to everyone from Davis, California, U.S.A. Welcome to this
issue of Journey to Wellness. I hope everything is well in your world,
wherever you happen to live on this globe we call home.
As 2011 draws to a close, so does this very stressful year for me. I am wrapping up my tenure as president of a 1700 member non-profit corporation, the primary support arm for one of the largest and most active Senior Centers in the United States. As you may recall I did not seek the office, but when the former president had to resign for health reasons, as vice president I was automatically elevated to the presidency.
It has indeed been a very interesting and rewarding experience, but it has gobbled up so much of my time that it has been a real challenge to keep up with my website and this newsletter. Believe me, I have had no time for mischief. Please know that you are all important to me, and I greatly look forward to my life getting back to normal the first week in January 2012 when a new president will be sworn into office.
This month is especially busy with lots of end-of-the-year activities, as well as preparing for the installation of a new president and new members of the Board of Directors, all at the same time hundreds of membership renewals are pouring in daily. So, this month Journey to Wellness is abbreviated to an expanded Holiday Greeting. It is my hope hope that something included in this short issue will "speak" to you in your own Journey to Wellness. Next month we will get back to our usual format.
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Remember when we were kids and played Hide and Seek, and if you were "it," you'd yell, "Ready or not here I come!" The holidays are much like that. And of course it certainly does seem that with each passing year they come around more and more frequently.
Whatever traditions your family has established around the holidays, I hope you all have a lovely Christmas, and that you'll keep your eyes peeled for the January issue of the Journey to Wellness newsletter, when my life gets back to normal and the newsletter will return to its normal format..
Meanwhile, perhaps you'd like to treat yourself to a new video, book, or exercise program to start your new year off with renewed enthusiasm. You'll find them all listed HERE.
Do you feel stuck, or discouraged, not making progress in your personal Journey to wellness? Perhaps giving yourself a Christmas gift of a personal consultation would help you move ahead. If you'd like to receive details, just click HERE to send me an e-mail request and I'll send them along.
My Christmas Wish for You
Remember the movie Avatar? I loved that movie. If you saw it, you will be familiar with the metaphysical undertones to the story which took place on earth and an alternative planet. And when I heard the young hero say to his sweetheart on the alternate planet, I "see" you, it was like a magic arrow directly to my brain. You see, that is what I attempt to do with all of you. And when I write to you, either individually or through this newsletter, or talk with you in a consultation, that is what I am saying with my soul to each of you. Because I truly do SEE YOU! I REALLY SEE YOU. I see who you are; I see where you are. And my passion is to get you to "see" yourself - the real you - the truly awesome person you truly are.
Please understand that the real you isn't the physical form you see in the mirror. The real you resides deep inside of you. It is by learning to go inside and tap into that unlimited well of our capabilities that we learn to heal our lives, and to create the life we want.
When I read the letters you write to me, you often write about your fears, about your disappointments, about the stresses and challenges in your lives, and how you are looking for some new discovery that will make your MS go away. You tell me about all the different therapies you have tried, and how they have failed, and you ask me what I recommend. And since most often the writer begins their e-mail by telling me that they have been reading my newsletters for years, and yet they ask me questions that I write about month after month. I have come to realize that we can read words and not "get it." Often you write about how your life used to be, and how you are fearful of the future, and I "see" that you need to get in touch with the real you.
PASSION AND CURIOSITY - THOSE ARE THINGS I HAVE ALWAYS HAD IN ABUNDANCE. Even as a very young person I did everything with passion. I learned from my father as a very young girl that failure was not an option! So early on in my MS journey I learned to apply that innate curiosity, coupled with a passion to prove not only that my body could heal itself, but that I could help others to believe that they could do it too!
You are your own CEO - Today, fourteen years since I began writing this newsletter, I am just as passionate about helping all of you discover that truth for yourself. I want you to learn that you are indeed the CEO of your body and your life. I find that a very exciting concept. In order to become the CEO of ourselves, our behavior must change. Our attitude must change. Our language must change. These changes will signal a change in purpose; then we will begin to really "see" who we are.
Hip hop mogul, raconteur and best-selling author Russell Simmons gives us this sage advice:
“Keep your head down and do the work . . . “Stay on your (course). . . You can’t fail until you quit.”
Russell's suggestions to help us truly "SEE" ourselves as winners:
Don't sweat the small stuff.
What doesn't matter doesn't matter.
Laugh every day, even if it is at yourself.
And love like there is no tomorrow!
GRATITUDE
I encourage you to take a few minutes to count your blessings. Today, not tomorrow-̶ actually right now! Often, especially when we deal with the day to day challenges of a physical problem like MS, many spend most of their time thinking about what they need and/or want instead of concentrating on all the wonderful things in their lives.
I suggest we begin with the simplest most basic things, like family, friends, food and shelter, etc, as well as what we can do as opposed to what we cannot do. Once we really concentrate on things we have to be grateful for, then it is easier to move on to more esoteric things -̶ perhaps things that are uniquely applicable to us.
I find that the more gratitude I express, the happier and more content I am. I have come to the conclusion that gratitude is also a healing tool, much like forgiveness of ourselves as well as others. Both gratitude and forgiveness are somewhat cleansing to the soul.
Maintaining a journal is a good way to get in the habit of being grateful and recognizing our blessings. Journaling is also a good way to become more aware of un-forgiven issues that may be hindering us from being all that we can be. The lessons we learn by practicing forgiveness many times become issues for which we become grateful.
Why not begin today. Jump in and get your feet wet as it were by starting now. Here's a beautiful poem, Why Not Today? from the Internet's Fly Lady. It is my special Christmas gift for every reader of Journey to Wellness
Why Not Today?
I've been waiting for just the right moment
To start living the life of my dreams
I was hoping some magical moment
Would come rescue me
But I realized today, there's no better time to begin
This day I've been given
Is my day to start living
So I'm jumping in
Why not today while the sun is shining?
Today while I know I can?
The past is behind me, tomorrow can't find me
Till I live today
So why not today while my heart is ready?
Today while it's in my grasp?
If I start out slowly, I'm confident knowing
I'm still on my way, so why not today?
I've been searching in all the wrong places
For the courage to follow my dreams
But I finally discovered the power
Lies inside of me
I could spend my life waiting
For something to show me the way
But I would be missing the wonderful blessing
Of embracing/using/living/starting today
Why not today while the sun is shining?
Today while I know I can?
The past is behind me, tomorrow can't find me
Till I live today
So why not today while my heart is ready?
Today while it's in my grasp?
If I start out slowly, I'm confident knowing
I'm still on my way -̶ So why not today?
I'm ready, I'm willing, I'm able
I'm learning to fly
How will I know how high I can soar
If I never try?
(Copyright FlyLady and Company Inc, 2006)
May you all have wonderful holidays, surrounded by the special people in your lives. And please remember to tell everyone of them how much you love them. We never know when we may not have another opportunity to just say . . .
I LOVE YOU!
Holiday Blessings to all.
Betty