Posts Tagged ‘community involvement’

What’s On Your Incomplete List?

Monday, February 20th, 2012

Movers and shakers usually have a lot on the go. Are you one of them? It can be easy to take on more tasks, yet sometimes there are past tasks that just haven’t been completed yet. These incompletions can be an anchor that hold you back. They drag and suck your energy, enthusiasm, and energy.

But that was in the past, right? NOW, do something about it – just one thing. Check this out:

What one thing are you going to do today?

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Community Relationships Count

Saturday, November 5th, 2011

Relationships are everywhere!!

And it’s important to build them everywhere.

I know this is not about the “couple relationship” however it will give you perspectives about how you and your partner can affect a much bigger circle. It’s all about sharing love, and creating opportunities to experience greater happiness, joy, and fulfillment.

Check out the video and article about a one-of-a-kind investment co-op we’ve been involved with in our community.  It’s interesting to note that of the founding members, about half of them are rock-solid couples.

Go here and read down a bit to where you can watch the video and another link for the pdf file of the article. Please like them and share them around.

A critical starting place for us was recreation and kids, through support from Alberta Recreation and Parks Association (ARPA) and their Active Creative Engaged Program (ACE).  And another critical support component was from Alberta Community and Cooperatives Association (ACCA).

Might it be the kind of thing you can work on together in your community?  We’re happy to support and help however we can.

Have a super day!

Dan

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Can You Do Nothing

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Can You Do Nothing – Nothing?

A step toward conscious peace of mind

Busy, busy, busy.  That’s what I hear from most people I talk to.  Statistics Canada indicates that people are working more hours per week than ever.  Add in the demands of family, friends, and community, and the hours are over-spent.

I’m curious to know if this happens for you and how you handle it.

Most people give up things.  They give up hours of sleep, eliminate time for themselves, reduce physical activity, skip meals, miss family activities, and back out of community involvement. And then worry, guilt, and fear set in.  They “should” on themselves.

“I should get more sleep.”
“I should spend more time with my family.”
“I should get back into an exercise program.”
“I should have some time for just me.

All of this “shoulding” pollutes the brain.  It’s hard to be focused and productive with a quagmire of these bombarding thoughts. It’s stressful.

Stress happens when we don’t decide what to do.

So why not decide right now to give yourself at least a few minutes a day of clear, stress-free mind time – to do nothing, absolutely nothing?

This is easier said than done, my friend.  This means to refrain from: reading; writing; listening to music or the radio; watching TV; exercising; or any other activity.  It also means thinking about nothing.

Call it mediation if you like.  It’s a powerful method of becoming an observer of your thoughts, rather than becoming emotionally charged, and reacting to them.’

Practice these steps for 10 or 15 minutes a day and let me know how it goes for you.

  • Sit comfortably, relaxed, with a soft belly
  • Breathe in deeply and notice the feeling of your belly expanding and your chest rising
  • Exhale totally and notice the feeling of the air in your nostrils as your chest falls
  • Continue this, focusing your awareness on your breath
  • Focus your eyes on some non-moving object in front of you, and keep your focus there – thinking about nothing.

Unless you’ve practiced this many times, you’ll find your mind wandering to: a pain in your knee, a disagreement you just had, a work task, what you will eat for supper, sexual desires, and tons of other past and future thoughts.

In “The Wisdom Of Yoga,” Stephen Cope describes this as the mind being like a puppy in a field, running from tree to post, sniffing under a rock, romping after a bird, running continually to the point of exhaustion, but going nowhere in particular.  Through practice, we can tie the puppy to a post and learn to observe.  From there great peace and learning occurs.

I found this extremely frustrating – to notice all of my insignificant and unimportant past and future thoughts.  I was missing the peacefulness of now.  As I kept at it, the frustration changed to curiosity – an attitude of, “that’s interesting.”  And as I continue to practice, I’m finding it easier to focus on doing and thinking “nothing” in the moment.

I have greater clarity, awareness, appreciation, and creativity.  I experience less anger, frustration, fear, and guilt.  I like that trade and I now sleep well at night.  Hence, I have more energy for what I want to do in each moment.

Thich Nhat Hanh, in “Peace Is Every Step” said, “When we are in touch with the refreshing, peaceful, and healing elements within ourselves and around us, we learn how to cherish and protect these things and make them grow.  These elements of peace are available to us anytime.”

Are you thinking, “Great idea, Dan, but I don’t have time for that”?  Hmmm.  Either I communicated really poorly or you missed the point.  I suggest you read the article again.

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How Much Time Do You Spend With Negative People?

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

I had a visitor recently.  Over a coffee, I heard about his boss, a colleague, two suppliers, and his wife.  You can probably guess.  They were all jerks.

I was in an interesting position.  If I said something he didn’t like, would I be included in his Jerkdom Hall of Fame in his next conversation?

Actually, I didn’t really care.  But what was going on for him was a powerful lesson for me.  Life is such a good teacher.

This gentleman works a job whereby he is on his own much of the day. Through my questions, I learned that over the past week, he had actually communicated less than one hour with his boss.  Although he saw his colleague each morning and at the end of the day, they rarely talked.  One supplier had been on site twice in the week.  And he was with his wife less than four waking hours per day.  I doubt that every minute of those interactions was nasty.  But even if they were, it was less than 25% percent of his non-sleeping time.  And yet he had allowed his interactions and perceptions of those “negative” people to pollute his brain for the other 75% percent of his week.

I had two distinct thoughts with lessons for me.

First thought:
Were all of those other people as negative as he described?  Or was he the common link in the quality of those interactions?

The lesson:
I learned that I have the choice and control of my feelings at ALL times.  Nobody else can make me happy, jazzed, sad, or razzed.  It’s always my choice.  And as I consciously choose the fabulous feelings I want, it positively affects my relationships with others.

Does this same lesson apply for you?

Second thought:
Was this a time management habit?  Oh, this man may do exceptional work while on the job, but does his use of time give him a rejuvenating and satisfying quality of life?

The lesson:
I have exactly the same number of hours every day, and my days are limited.  I encounter negative people and undesirable situations.  As a percentage of my time, this is extremely small.  I can choose to let those few negative moments pollute my entire day as I drag those past situations into my present and project them into my future.  Or I can choose to be totally present in each moment.  In other words, I can effectively deal with the negative situations, let them go, and be totally joyous and appreciative of the other wonderful moments.  I “get to” choose to make the biggest part of my day fabulous.

Does this same lesson apply for you?

One final thought:
Thankfully, this gentleman is not a regular visitor.  We need to be conscious and mindful of the people we associate with on a regular basis.  My friend, Kevin Burns, says, “If you hang around with whiners and complainers, their numbers go up by one.”

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