Entries For: December 2008

1. Write a Future Vision Letter to yourself and date it January 1, 2010. Pretend it’s one year from now and you’re feeling delighted and joyful about your successes.  The goal of this exercise is to help you identify your objectives for the coming year, so consider including the following:

-    what your ideal days look like

-    who you're spending time with

-    what adventures are you having

-    your personal/professional life balance

Focus on how you are feeling during this exercise. Are you joyful? Free? Peaceful? Revved up? Get into the flow and see what shows up.

2. Create a Vision Board for the New Year. One of my favorite activities, this is a powerful way to ring in the New Year. Gather stacks of magazines, poster board, glue sticks and scissors and you've got the makings of a fun afternoon or evening! Take time choosing images that call to you - whether for their direct or indirect meaning - and words or phrases that inspire and uplift you. Piece everything together in a brilliant collage that can serve as your roadmap for the coming year. (PS If you live near Tally and you read this in time, you can still join me on retreat on Jan 1st. Click here for details!)

 3. Decide on a theme for your year. They say between 60-80% of New Years' resolutions are broken within the first two weeks of the New Year. Those aren't such good odds, eh? So I say, skip the resolutions and create a theme for your year instead!  Some ideas...

1. Sabbath - Wayne Muller writes a beautiful book about the importance of rest, retreat and renewal. He brings in stories from all different spiritual paths and points out that all religious institutions sanction and support rest as a natural part of the life cycle. Mirroring nature, which is about the only thing that is perfect, and alternating cycles of activity and rest is critical to the survival of any living being. If you work too much or are on the "go" all the time, I urge you to read this book!

2. Success Intelligence - I saw Robert Holden speak at the Hay House Conference in Tampa this fall and I fell in love. Yes, he is quite charming, but I fell in love with his work... the notion that we need to define success for ourselves clearly so that it can help direct the other decisions we make in our lives. I am still working through this one chapter by chapter and enjoying journaling to questions like "What are your wisest thoughts about success? What is your wisdom trying to teach you? And if God had one thought for you today, what would it be?"

3. Love Your Self, Live Your Spirit - Sonia Choquette cracks me up! Her humorous stories remind me of the power of connecting with our intuition which is available to us always. Here's my story of connecting with my intuition: When I sat in her audience recently, I knew that she gave her products away during her sessions. I set a clear intention at the beginning of the event that I would love to receive her newest book as a gift. Sure enough, her spirit "heard" my spirit's request and when she called "this is for the lady in the green!" I jumped up with a knowing grin and gratefully accepted her gift!

4. Home with God - When Eric's Dad got sick with cancer earlier this year, this book practically jumped off my shelf begging to be read. Neale Donald Walsch's dialog with God in this extraordinary book helped me to look at death and dying in a whole new light. It was comforting, uplifting and above all, empowering. The message is one of deep, abiding love. Anyone facing the death of a loved one - or who has concerns about your own mortality - should read this book.

5. Waiting for Daisy - the subtitle is "A Tale of Two Continents, Three Religions, Five Infertility Doctors, an Oscar, an Atomic Bomb, a Romantic Night and One Woman's Quest to Become a Mother." That pretty well describes Peggy Orenstein's journey in a nutshell. Another friend struggling with fertility challenges (who is now blissfully pregnant with twins!) recommended I read this book this summer.  I even read parts of it out loud to my husband who nodded his head saying "yes, honey, you do that. yes, honey, you do that too!" It made me not feel so crazy and it made me feel connected to other women who have been on this road before me. Anyone who has a deep desire to create a family and has had to follow the road less traveled in the pursuit of the dream will really connect with this book.

So those are my picks for 2008. What are yours? Please comment...

Holidays can put a lot of pressure on finding just the "perfect gift" for friends, family and clients. While it's important to consider the recipient's needs and values, it's equally important to consider your own.

What kind of gift giver do you want to be?

1. Creative Gift Giver - Give the gift of art. Store bought or hand made. Something that will spark the imagination and inspire a little bit of right brained celebration.

2. Intellectual Gift Giver - Give books. Give educational games and toys that open the mind. My new favorite place to shop for kid's gifts is Mindware. Their tagline is "Brainy Gifts for Kids of All Ages". Cool, eh?

3.Wise Investor Gift Giver - This is my husband! Oh so mindful about educating his two nephews about the value of the dollar. Give U.S. Savings Bonds.

4. Experiential Gift Giver - Buy tickets for an experience - a sporting event, the theatre, a concert - or a gift certificate to a favorite restaurant or local spa.

5. Green Gift Giver - Be mindful of Mother Earth! Be a patron of organizations and companies that support our planet. One of my favorite resources for green gifts is Low Impact Living.

Obviously there are many, many types of gift givers in this world! I'd love to hear ideas from you about what kind of gift giver you are going to be this year?