A TIME FOR THANKSGIVING AND REMEMBERING OTHERS - CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS

Because of the holiday I am taking a few days off from blogging to spend time with my daughter who just arrived this afternoon from New York.  She lives in Manhattan, and I live in California so it is always a wonderful blessing to have her visit.

I have so much for which to be thankful, and I hope you also do.  Let us also remember those who are less fortunate as we start off this wonderful holiday season.  Each of us can do something even if we cannot do everything.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOUR AND YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

ARE YOU A COPYCAT? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 181

As children we often try to emulate our parents, teachers, friends, siblings, athletes or stars.  That is a natural part of growing up, and it is how we experiment to learn who we truly are so that as we grow older we will become our own persons.  As adults some of us become leaders and some become followers.  Are you copying a celebrity's style, a star's choice of clothing, some one's choice of automobile, a colleague's choice of a good neighborhood, a friend's decorating style, or the lifestyle of your parents? Be aware of how much you may be copying the choices of others, and ask yourself if you are doing it because you truly like the choices or if it is just easier to be a copycat.

It is okay to copy some things in life, but I encourage you to try very hard to march to your own music and to make your own choices.  In other words,

BE ORIGINAL!

DO YOU ALLOW YOURSELF TO THINK FREELY? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 180

As children we allowed our minds to be free from restrictions.  We used our imaginations, and our thoughts ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime.  As we grew up some of us were able to retain that flexibility to permit our thoughts to take us at certain times from the wild and free thoughts to the conservative, practical and pragmatic thoughts encouraged by parents and teachers.  For adults who continued to be creative thinkers society labeled them "free spirits" meaning that they were not confined by customs, mores or other people who had authority over them.

While we all have to grow up eventually, we should still take time to allow our thoughts to wander.  Who knows what great ideas, marvelous inventions, or works of art have been created because of free thinking? You might be the next great scientist, painter, doctor, philosopher, or anything else if you sometimes allow yourself to still

HAVE CRAZY THOUGHTS!

ARE YOU A GOOD NEGOTIATOR? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 179

Chaos enters all of our lives, some more frequently than others.  What do you do when you find you are in the midst of chaos?  It can be personal, professional, or general chaos, and it can be miserable and stress producing.

Rather than succumbing to the chaos, you can take action to escape from it and not just by leaving the place where it is currently reigning.  If your home life is chaotic do you truly know what is causing it?  Do you feel it is the fault of another person living in the home, or is it caused by something as simple as lack of planning or oversleeping?  In your business life do you feel the chaos is caused by a superior or by subordinates?  Trying to end chaos caused by a superior is not as easy as ending chaos caused by subordinates for obvious reasons.

If you hate chaos and prefer peace and tranquility then you must take it upon yourself to learn to find the source and find the solution. Either learn how to do it yourself or avail yourself of one of the many resources of professional help available to us today.  Whether on line, in a book, on TV, or in person there are people who have mastered this and you can learn to do it. You can and will be able to do that if you learn to

NEGOTIATE CHAOS!

HOW HIGH ARE YOUR WALLS? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 178

There are walls in and around homes, apartment buildings, businesses parks.  Those walls do not present many problems.  However, the walls we build around ourselves can be very daunting.  Almost everyone at sometime in life puts up walls to protect themselves mentally, emotionally, or even physically. The walls that we build do not shut others out but rather they shut us in which is really not very smart.

If you have internal walls to prevent you from being hurt (possibly again) or from allowing people to really get close to you and to know you, then ask yourself if you are truly benefiting from them?  I know someone who has managed to build strong and big walls to protect her emotionally and mentally from anyone coming into her life.  On the surface she is charming, attractive, very smart and vivacious and fun.  That is the side she presents to the world.  She gets along well with her business colleagues and others, but she is now 50 years old and totally alone.  She has kept everyone at arms' length for so many years that she has only a couple of friends from earlier years who live in other states so she may or may not have a telephone conversation with them a couple of times a year.  She has avoided personal relationships because of the damage done to her by two relationships when she was young and had her heart broken.

As we get older we rely more and more on our friends and family.  When our parents are gone, and if we are not close to siblings or have none, we are going to need our spouses, significant others, and friends.

Have you done anything to wall yourself off from others?  If so, think carefully about it and realize that before it is too late it is time to tell yourself daily to

SCALE MY WALLS!

HOW FAST DOES ONE HAVE TO GO? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 177

Does it seem like everything is moving too fast?  Do you feel as if your life is spinning out of control at times? Do you have difficulty keeping up with everything?  The truth of the matter is that as a society we have allowed things to get out of control.  Some things happen too quickly, some things happen too slowly, and you can feel as if you are victimized by the timetables and schedules of others.  When that happens try to take a step back and really look at yourself.

There are things you have to do, things you should do, and things you want to do.  For the things you have to do (things required by law, employers, health) you most likely will have to accept the timetables of others. However, for the things you should do or want to do you can set your own schedule and time frame for accomplishing them.  That can make you feel less stress, can make you enjoy the processes followed to accomplish these things, and most likely improve your rate of completion.

Each week look at your calendar, schedule, to-do list or whatever method you use to manage your time, and say to yourself, "I can

SET MY OWN PACE."

WHEN WILL YOUR DREAM COME TRUE? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 176

2013 will come to an end in a little over 5 weeks from now.  Your  to-do list is probably very long as you prepare for any  or all of the upcoming holidays.  When you reflect on 2013 do you think you were successful in achieving your goals?  Did you even set goals for 2013?  Did you make any of your dreams come true? 

2014 is like a brand new slate on which you can write your hopes, your plans, your dreams, your goals, and most important the steps you must take to accomplish those things.  Make a vow to yourself. Repeat it each day by saying, "In 2014 I will

ATTAIN MY DREAMS."