I’ve Always Been a Bit Odd...

…then again, who isn’t? As a child I was often bullied and called names for being different; whether it was my appearance or my tendency to befriend “outsiders” I was often picked on and just didn’t fit in. And although I tried to hide behind my odd clothes, short hair and pretend that it didn’t hurt, I believed what they said about me! And it had a profound affect on my self esteem. But do you know something? They lied! And deep down, I think that a part of me always knew it.

I was lucky that I never gave up doing the things that I was good at, even though they teased me and I have to credit my Mom for that! Although when I look back now, I wonder how many things

might I have been good at and I just didn’t try out of fear for giving them more ammunition? I stuck with what I knew, what was safe!

I am learning, as I get older to celebrate my uniqueness. It still doesn’t always make me the most popular person but living my life being true to who I REALLY am has become my mission of sorts. And a part of being true to me is to challenge myself and push myself outside of my comfort zone. Doing things that scare me or that I might fail miserably at, are a part of my life on a regular basis these days. Hey, I figure,if you can’t laugh at yourself, don’t dare laugh at someone else!

Do you live your life playing it safe? Or do your challenge and push yourself? Do you take the risks or do you just hope to muddle through to tomorrow unscathed? Or maybe the real question is....is that really living?

New Year, New Beginning

I am not a fan of New Year's resolutions. I am not saying that I have not made them in the past, but in my old age I have come to figure that if something needs fixing, why wait? Why leave it to a special day on the calendar? What makes January 1st such a special day anyway?

To me New Year's Resolutions hold too much weight - too much pressure. When the motivation and excitement wanes (which it ALWAYS does) then we start to fall back into old patterns and behaviors. Then the cycle begins again and we feel that we have failed in our quest for perfection.

My theory is to make changes as we see the need. If that happens to be on a wednesday afternoon then so be it! This has come to me as I am working on being more present. Not living in the past or waiting for the future....monday morning will come, each and every week, and hopefully I'll be around to see it but I am not living for the waiting if you know what I mean. Why eat crap on thursday because your diet will start on monday - which monday will it be? There happens to be one every seven days or so right?

Personally, I like to take the new year as a time to reflect and set new goals, make plans for the coming year. I am a planner by nature and although I do struggle to stay present in my life, in the here and now, I still do find it very useful to have a map to help guide me in the day to day decisions. But it is just that, a guideline not hard and fast the way it has to be.

Something I read recently that really stuck with me and I have started to incorporate into my thinking and decision making is this: in the overall scheme of your life, even if you live to be 102, what are your five top priorities? What do you want your life to be? Then take those 5 things and make sure that you are doing something every single day that reflects those. Or use them as a guideline to making choices - to ensure that what you choose is in alignment with what you really hold dear. This has been especially helpful to me in learning to say no to things that do not fit into that list.

Whatever your take on the whole tradition, it is never a bad idea to start working on you and making positive changes in your life. My wish for you is that in doing so, you be gentle and kind with yourself. Be true to yourself and to your core values and be always aware that when you empower yourself you are inspiring others in the process!

Health and Happiness,
Lesley