BRRRRR...... If you are somewhere warm, be very grateful. And can I come visit for awhile? Please??? Here's to 2010!
January is going to be a month of planning and learning. I'm joining my colleague, Sandy Dempsey of The Dreaming
Café, to brainstorm and plot together what the rest of 2010 will look like for
each of us. We're going to go "down the shore" next week for a mini
retreat of sorts. Hey, if you are going to be freezing cold, you might as well
be looking at the beach!
I've stopped making resolutions but I do follow others who pick a Theme for the Year.This
is a phrase or a word that describes the big picture of what you'd like to
accomplish or a new attitude you'd like to adopt. Think words like Adventurous or Curiosity or Imagine or phrases like Live Out Loud or Rise to the Challenge of _______.
Once you select your theme, print it out in a big
colorful font or get out your paints or crayons and create a banner. Then post
it on the frig, the bathroom mirror or on the wall in your office. And send it
to me in an email here.
I'll share them all next month along with mine.
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My new blog site is up and
going - go to this link So
What's Next?to read it.There is an RSS button -
click on it and sign up to receive an email in your inbox each time I post -
once or twice a week.I'll
be adding some of the better past stories back into it as well as some new
features next year.
The Decade of the 00's
Where were you 10 years ago?Think back to the end of December 1999.With the change of the year at the end
of the century, the world feared that computers, ATMs, and anything that keyed
to a date would implode when their internal clocks moved from 1999 to
2000.What a non-event that
turned out to be!
I'm not one to look back or dwell on the past very much,
but when I realized last week that we were approaching the end of the decade of
the "00"s, and paused to remember where I was 10 years ago, I knew I needed to
review all the events, decisions and accomplishments that occurred. Not the big
and sometimes disastrous ones that affected the whole world, but the very
personal ones that changed my life.
I started out in January of 2000 newly divorced. It was a
mixed bag of emotions. I was free to make my own decisions and embark on a
whole new life in a new city and that was exciting. But I was alone and living
in a small studio apartment with rental furniture. The future was sort of foggy, but I kept putting one foot in front of the other because that's all I could do. I knew my decision was
the best one for me and I began my own personal extreme makeover.
Over the next 10 years I sold a business, took a job,
bought a house and remodeled it, lost my job, became a grandmother, sold the
house, moved to PA, endured a year of depression, took
another job, quit that one, started my own small biz only to ditch that one
in order to develop Life and Work by Design in 2007.
Whew - what a decade! (and a very long sentence - sorry)
When I think back to some of the things I did I wonder at my own courage. But I
have survived all the obstacles and speed bumps and life is good again.
All those changes required much soul-searching and a lot
of trial and error.At my mid-life
point, I realized I was living by the expectations of others and working at
jobs that did not reflect my values.Nothing about my life expressed the ideals or dreams of my youth.
The great thing about being in the third stage of our lives
is that we can pause long enough to reassess our path and set a new
course.
So, take a little time to think about where you were when
this decade started.And then look
at where you are now.
What's good about your life and what needs to be
changed?
Start the next 10 years off right with a determination to
begin making small changes that will bring you closer to your values and ideal
life.
We're going to talk about lots of ways to do that this
year.Stay tuned...
Nobody can go back and change the past but everyone can
begin to write a new ending.
Creating Your Legacy
Legacy - not a word we use very often - it is defined
simply as money or something that is left to future generations.In my mind it implies large and lofty
concepts or philosophies.It's
certainly not a word that has found its way to my list of goals very often. But
that's only because I hadn't thought about it in a concrete way.
Like many of us who grew up in the 60's I've always
wanted to save the world somehow and, in the best job I ever had, I suppose I
left a legacy for about 300 children I guided through their pre-school
years.But I didn't truly
understand the possibilities until I met Barbara Shaiman about a year ago.
Barbara is the author of "Live Your Legacy Now!"-10
Simple Steps to Find Your Passion and Change the World. She tells the inspiring
story of her family's experience during the Holocaust and the lessons she
learned as the child of survivors. Then, at her mid-life, she decided to honor
her parents' story by creating a foundation to help young people learn to be
social entrepreneurs.
Champions of Caring has touched over 10,000 students in
the Philadelphia area and in Cape Town, South Africa over the last 15
years.Each student is encouraged
to figure out something they can do to improve life right in their own
neighborhood or around the globe. They learn to "see" problems and to
brainstorm solutions.
What I love about Barbara's kids is that their projects
demonstrate that your legacy doesn't have to be huge and grand (or expensive) -
it can be small and meaningful to just a few.I'm going to write about some of them on my blog in the
coming months to hopefully inspire some of you.
Meanwhile, if you have seriously thought that you would
like to develop a non-profit project to solve a problem you care about, I
highly recommend her book.She
provides an excellent 10- step map to success and lots of helpful
resources.It is available in my
Amazon bookstore that you can access through the website BOOKS page.
If you've read a book you'd like to recommend, please share it with us.
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Remember that my recommended books are available through the BOOKS page on my web-site from Amazon. You get the same free shipping deals and I get a small commission for sorting them all out for you. Thanks!
Barbara Shaiman's story is a truly remarkable one. One
thing I admire is her willingness to put herself out there and go after what
she wants.You have to read the
book to find out how she approached Steven Spielberg and Nelson Mandela for
help - now that takes courage and faith!
Her next project is to promote the creation of Legacy
Clubs so caring folks can join together to help each other find solutions. You
can learn more at www.embrace-your-legacy.com.
"Words are mere bubbles of water, but deeds are drops of
gold."Chinese Proverb
"All the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less
than a single lovely action."James Russell Lowell
"Action is the antidote to despair"Joan Baez
My e-mail box is always open if you'd just like to chat..
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