It doesn't matter.

#9. Today I'm grateful for the deeper insight to understand and accept that I can't control the thoughts, actions or behavior of others and it really doesn't matter.

In our house, we do love.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon transitioning our house out of our Christmas season decor. It's always surreal for me to watch the holiday ornaments collected over the years disappear for the year and there's a seemingly big whole in the living room where the Christmas tree lives for a month. It was an easy process & we got it done in one afternoon... just in time for friends to come over for a nice dinner & a movie.

#6. Today I'm grateful for the many lovely holiday traditions that we've kept in our home over the years.

Goals are dreams with deadlines.

Goals are dreams with deadlines. ~ Diana Scharf Hunt

#2 Today I am grateful to stay focused on the tasks that will ensure I meet my larger goal objectives by creating and keeping deadlines for myself.

The older I get, time seems to slip by faster and faster. Sometimes I have felt like hours have gone by and I know I was busy but I'm really not sure where the time went. Knowing that I have a tendency to become easily distracted, this year I'd like to improve upon setting and keeping deadlines to ensure success. As I wrote down my 2013 goals last week, I added deadlines to completing each project.

When I break down my long term goals into daily tasks, one way to ensure I am staying focused on meeting my deadlines is to set timers for each task. At home as I awake in the morning and my coffee is brewing, I spend that time cleaning the kitchen, emptying the dishwasher, wiping down the counters and tidying that area. By the time the coffee is brewed 10 minutes later, I have a nice clean space ready for preparing my meals for the day. I then sit down with my coffee and spend the next 30 minutes planning my day. I know from past experience that if I don't do this daily, my highest priority items will not be my focus and I'll continue to wonder where the time went.

While working, I set a timer to stay focused on each project. For example, a daily goal is to spend 1 hour a day on research and collecting data for an idea that I've wanted to implement for a while but haven't made time to do so as of yet. I now set a timer. When the timer ends, I move on to a different task. This helps me stay productive and organized while handling multiple priorities and obligations and keeps me from getting sidetracked by distractions.

As a recommendation, I really like this great egg timer project by David LeMieux. It's a great tool to stay focused on a task for a set period of time. I hope you enjoy using it as much as I do. :)

The first to apologize is the bravest...

The first to apologize is the bravest, the first to forgive is the strongest, and the first to forget is the happiest. So true! Thanks ThatOneRule.com.

Intelligence defined. ~ by Dodinsky

Great reminder! I'm looking forward to Dodinsky's upcoming book, the Garden of Thoughts in 2013... check him out! www.dodinsky.com

Take a chance & never let go.

Be Good To You!

~Author Unknown

The only thing standing between you and your goal

I'm going to post this picture in my bathroom, 
right over the toilet next to the mirror as a "note to self". 

A bit of history on the picture, friends were visiting me while I was living in Ireland in '07 and during our tour of the Ring of Kerry I took this shot right after my car overheated and the engine blew stranding us for several hours. Talk about getting stuck at a crossroads... my car had lost power steering going downhill towards a cliff and this is the spot we safely managed to land. But what started as a mishap ended up being one of the greatest adventures of our trip. The rest of the story can be read on my travel blog.

This image reminds me of a time frame where I continuously pushed and challenged myself and those around me to grow in ways that many questioned as impossible "because it had never been done before". But what kind of excuse is that anyways? So while the naysayers were busy neighing, we gathered the right people (ones that were willing to say yes and just do it), set goals and deadlines, and pushed ahead in leaps and bounds accomplishing things daily that had never been done before. 


What is most great is it's not just true of those experiences but a lesson to be reminded of repeatedly anytime I stop myself from staying on track as it speaks loudly to me, "Nothing is impossible. If I can accomplish "that"-- ie. taking the first step and moving to Ireland alone for 2 years, learning to cross the street by looking right first instead of left and then learning to drive  in the opposite side of the car on the opposite side of the road, eventually stopping that car from driving us off a cliff all while meeting new people, learning a new culture, successfully relocating a company abroad, and most important maintaining a sense of humor and a sense of adventure through all it was & wasn't according to my expectations at step 1 (moving to Ireland) -- I can accomplish anything."

One... ~Author Unknown

●●●

One tree can start a forest,

One bird can herald spring,

One smile can begin a friendship,

One hand can lift a soul,

One star can guide a ship at sea,

One word can frame the goal,

One vote can change a nation,

One sunbeam can light a room,

One candle can wipe out darkness,

One laugh can conquer gloom,

One hope can raise our spirits,

One touch can show you care,

One voice can wake up everybody,

One life can make the difference,

be that one today.

into a new way of thinking.

●●●

43 Rules To Live By ~Author Unknown

1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
2. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
4. When you say, "I love you", mean it.
5. When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye.
6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
7. Believe in love at first sight.
8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
11. Don't judge people by their relatives.
12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
15. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
16. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
17. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.
18. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
19. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
20. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
22. Spend some time alone.
23. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
24. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
25. Read more books and watch less TV.
26. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll get to enjoy it a second time.
27. Trust in God but lock your car.
28. A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you can to create a tranquil harmonious home.
29. In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
30. Read between the lines.
31. Share your knowledge... It's a way to achieve immortality.
32. Be gentle with the earth.
33. Pray. There's immeasurable power in it.
34. Never interrupt when you are being flattered.
35. Mind your own business.
36. Don't trust a man/woman who doesn't close his/her eyes when you kiss.
37. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
38. If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth's greatest satisfaction.
39. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck,
40. Learn the rules then break some.
41. Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each other is greater than your need for each other.
42. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
43. Remember that your character is your destiny.

JUST SMILE :)

Always be yourself...

●●●

To be nobody-but-yourself -- 

in a world which is doing its best, night and day, 

to make you everybody else -- 

means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; 

and never stop fighting.

~ E.E. Cummings

●●●

A Present on Presence

Think About It...

●●●

You can’t think your way

into a new way of living…

you have to live your way

into a new way of thinking.

●●●

A (wo)man travels the world over...

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it. ~ George Moore.
Photo Credit: Vanessa Gibson

where the magic happens.

This is your life.

"History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats." B.C. Forbes

A Song In Loving Memory of My Dear Friend Kindred Khan Nguyen

A dear friend of mine, Kindred Khan Nguyen, was doing one of his favorite and most enjoyable things, camping in Kings Canyon in the Sequoia's over the 4th of July holiday weekend when he left us unexpectedly in a tragic hiking accident on the 4th of July. I've been searching for two weeks to process this and to find the right words to give proper meaning to how special his life was to me and so many others, as well as searching for the right song to dedicate to him. His services and memorials are today and tomorrow. Today I finally found the right song. I'm still speechless in words as to how this great friend impacted my life and the life of the many people he encountered over the years. You can read the blog with some of his writings at http://kindredkhannguyen.blogspot.com/ as well as visit his memorial dedication site at http://www.khannguyen.com. I know I will have much more to share about the tremendous impact he has had on my life over the last few years as soon as I am able to process the part of me that is hurting, grieving and feeling such a great sense of loss... but for now, enjoy the song. It reminds me so much of what he stood for, love and life.

"I am a c'ode of Song. The moments are notes--strung together becoming a song of life. Consciousness is the melody. Tempo, the heart beating." ~Kindred Khan Nguyen 1970-2010