Instead of the typical “every man for himself” ideology, my husband Howard and I have joined forces with 3 other writers and members of our cohousing community in an effort to win the Next Top Spiritual Author contest.
Susan McFee, Daniel Lindenberger, Lauren Plaviak, Miriam Evers & Howard Staples
This morning I felt myself slipping from excitement about our book project into overwhelm. I kept thinking about all the things we still needed to do. Heck, here we are– a third of the way into this contest for Next Top Spiritual Author and we don’t even have a Facebook fan page up yet. Indeed I had only told my family, our neighbors, and a handful of people that we are even in this contest. I felt the pit in my stomach grow even deeper as I thought about all the things I still needed and wanted to do.
I am delighted to announce that my husband Howard Staples and I have just entered the “Next Top Spiritual Author” contest with our upcoming book: Feel Great Naked – A Spiritual Guide for Enjoying the Journey.
The prize is a book publishing contract with Hampton Roads plus $50,000 to promote the book. Over 2,500 authors have already entered and we move to subsequent rounds in the contest depending on the number of votes we get. continue reading “Feel Great Naked”
Last night I did not follow what I know to be true. I know that I need to reach for good feeling thoughts before I jump into action – especially if something about the action I need or want to take is bothering me.
If I first soothe my anxiety often the thing that is disturbing my peace of mind dissolves, sometimes even without any action on my part, and any task or activity I undertake unfolds simply and easily. I’ve had countless of affirming experiences that from a peaceful perspective any action required becomes inspired – no action is wasted.
[In my previous blog post I wrote about an incredible tool that you can use to get into a positive flow and create what you want. It’s called "what-if-up."
Once I was feeling good and in the flow I had amazing, dramatic results. Using the “what-if-up” tool, I joyously created and delivered an awesome speech. Here’s what happened.]
“What-if-up” improved my mood and made me feel happy and relaxed about my upcoming speech. I was in the flow and ideas for my speech began to pour in. When I stood in the shower in the morning I remembered stories that illustrated how law of attraction works. Later, when I sat in my “creative genius” chair, I came up with an outline. When I was lying in bed that night, I came up with a powerful introduction and an idea for how to give my audience an actual experience of “what-if-up.”
Recently I found myself committed to giving a speech I didn’t want to prepare for. I was puzzled; when I had accepted the invitation the prospect of giving this talk excited me.
As the date of the speech approached, it became more and more obvious to me that the thought of writing another speech, let alone memorizing and practicing it, was eating into my peace of mind. And yet I felt I just couldn’t bow out – others were counting on me and it wouldn’t look very good. I knew that, if I kept up this resistant train of thought, I might end up, ultimately, embarrassed and disappointed with myself. continue reading “Easiest Speech Ever (Part 1 of 2): What-If-Up”
This morning I recorded my first ever JOY FIRST show on BlogTalkRadio.
The short and sweet solution to ease holiday stress.
No reading required.
Just sit back with your favorite beverage and listen to this 20 minute December special for the season of hustle and bustle.
In this program I explain exactly what steps to take to create the kind of holiday season you want with lots of good examples so you’ll be inspired to start right away.
Too busy to even go to the bathroom? No problem. You can also download the show to your computer or ipod and listen where ever you are.
If you are visiting this site after the holiday season, listen to the radio show anyway. The tips for shifting from a feeling of overwhelm to a feeling of joy are timeless.
“I’ve had enough,” Carol exploded. “It’s been a bad week: I’ve lost my favourite scarf, my house is a mess, my teenage son is failing school, and my husband spends all his time working or watching TV.” She burst into tears. “And when I stepped on the scale this morning, I’d put on three pounds.”
Overwhelmed by the sheer pace of her life, Carol, my normally fun-loving and competent client, was at the end of her rope.
“I’m mad at myself – I can’t find any joyful thoughts,” she continued. “And now I’m worried that with all these depressing thoughts the only thing I’m going to attract is more depressing events.”
Have you ever felt like this – worried, frustrated, and overwhelmed? It happens to all of us from time to time.
When you are feeling worried and overwhelmed, you don’t have access to bliss – sometimes you can’t even get to just OK. But it takes reaching for joy to turn things around. What a paradox! So what can you do? continue reading Remedies for Rotten Moods
This morning I stopped in to visit a girlfriend. She invited me in; she made us a lovely breakfast of crepes with strawberries and we had a lively discussion of ideas for making our businesses grow.
When I was preparing to leave I noticed that my car and house keys weren’t in their usual place in my purse. I checked my coat pockets. No keys. My sweater pockets. No keys. Strange, I thought, I’m not one to misplace my keys. continue reading to find out how this mystery was solved
My sister Lydia sent me these beautiful pictures that she and her husband Ray took on a recent hike with two friends to Lake O’Hara in Yoho National Park. The pictures are so beautiful that I look at them over and over again.
I want to be able to hike in nature, like these folks. I want to be in great physical shape too like these folks.
But…
But… I resist walking outside in the rain. I don’t feel like jumping on the trampoline when it’s wet outside. I’m even reluctant to drag my butt off the chair and do a set of tai chi in the multi-purpose room.
