DreamBits

An intentional start to the day

Carol McKay — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 16:59:19 GMT

For some time now, my husband and I have been starting each day by stating our intentions for the day. We usually each have about 4 or 5 things we want to activate in any given day. Sometimes the intentions are specific, while othes are far more "global".

So, funny thing...here's what's been happening. Since we started setting intentions, our days are simple and easy with an elegant flow. We hold our intentions throughout the day, and we generally find that most of our intentions are completed in very natural ways. There's no efforting involved - no "have tos" or "shoulds". There's only the idea born of a thought, brought forth into the day to manifest in reality.

Could it be that simple? We are repeatedly amazed at the ease.

Here are some areas of your life that may be just perfect for holding a daily intention:
- Your work
- Your relationships
- Your home
- Your commute and/or parking
- Your successes
- Your health
- Your body

An intention is just a statement, such as "My intention today is to make healthy food choices" or "My intention today is to recognize the perfection in every person I meet".

I invite you to take this challenge: Tomorrow morning, set one, single intention for your day. State it aloud, to someone or just to yourself. And allow it to wash over you.

Then, tomorrow evening, review your day and see whether your intention came to pass.

And let me know! I LOVE evidence!

What's right for you?

Carol McKay — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 18:33:42 GMT

Knowing What’s Right for YOU

You are very smart. You have an awesome power available to you every moment of every day. You use it all the time…you count on it to be there. Yet, there are times when you don’t trust it.

That power is your Intuition. Whether or not you are accustomed to tuning in to your intuition, you use it all the time. It’s that feeling – sometimes in the pit of your stomach, in your gut, sometimes in your heart – that says “you’re on the right path” or “turn back now!”

Intuition is often a gentle nudge in the direction that’s perfect for you in this moment. Or, intuition can also be as powerful as a freight train…pushing you to leap out of the way!

Intentional Intuition

Using your intuition in a more deliberate way will help you make decisions that support your dreams and desires. You know how it feels when you try to “talk yourself into” doing something that’s not right for you. Even the things you think you “should” do to move toward your goals may not, in fact, be right for you. Your intuition is a great consultant. It will help you determine what needs to be included in your plan, as well as those things you can just set free.

Playwork:

Building Your Intuition Muscle

Trusting your inner wisdom can feel awkward at first. The first step is remembering how your intuition speaks to you. Here’s a little exercise that can help:

Think about spending time with a person you do not enjoy – a person who is not really a good match for you. What does it feel like when you’re preparing to see that person? How does it feel while you’re in their company? How do the feelings present themselves in your body – can you actually “feel” discomfort in your body just thinking of that person? Allow yourself a moment to experience the way it feels to be in that person’s presence.

Now, imagine spending time with someone you love. What does it feel like when you’re preparing to see this person? How is it different than the previous visualization? Do you immediately feel relaxed when think about this person?

All those feelings…from the loving, magnetic feelings of spending time with someone you love, to the free-floating anxiety of spending time with someone who is not a match for you…those feelings are your intuition. The more “wrong” a situation is for you, the more you instinctively experience anxiety. The more “right” a situation, the more you feel calm and peace.

Think, right now, of a time when you followed your inner guidance – a time which allows you to look back and think, “I had a feeling that was the right thing to do”. Think about how it all worked out perfectly. Remember how it felt inside to be drawn to the choice that was best for you.

Now, think about a time when you didn’t trust your feelings and the result didn’t work as you had hoped. Trusting your intuition can help prevent you from going against what you instinctively know is right for you.

Your assignment today, and for as long as you like, is to increase your awareness of your inner guidance. Acknowledge times when you feel “information” coming into your awareness. As best you can, allow your truth to keep you on the course that best serves your desires.

Remember, your intuition is your best consultant…you know your own truth. Trust it.

The Joy of New-Ness

Carol McKay — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 07:49:00 GMT

The Joy of New-ness!

I've received some intriguing revelations during our recent relocation. I've felt a distinct joy and exuberance directly connected to a sense of renewal. It's not just the idea of being in a different home...it's looking at things differently. Here are a few examples:

Old appliances seem new when housed in a different cupboard
Old pictures appear new when positioned in a different room or on a different wall in the same room
It's easy to give things away when you're contemplating where they will fit in a new space
It's really easy to give things away when you realize you have no emotional connection to them

I've been surprised at how many seemingly important things I chose to pack and move, only to place directly in the "donations" box upon unpacking. What happened? My hunch is, in the flurry of overwhelm during packing, I lacked the capacity to rationally evaluate individual items.

I can't tell you how many things I've unpacked and asked myself, "Why did I pack THIS???"

It's interesting how feelings about things change.

New-ness Changes Feelings

The analogy I can find is when someone takes a new job or begins a new relationship. The "newness" always means something from the past changes. Maybe there's an outfit you used to love to wear, but for some reason it doesn't seem "right" in your new work situation. Maybe there's a restaurant you loved in the past, in which you'd never consider dining with your new partner.

It's important to remember the past is a memory. And, if we live our lives trying to make the memory real again, we can't possibly enjoy today.

I love the saying, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift...that's why they call it the present".

PLAYTIME

If you would like to experience feelings of newness and renewal, I have an idea for you. Schedule a little chunk of time...maybe as much as a few hours. Pick a room or an area in a room in which you'd like to experience a sense of renewal.

First, take everything off the walls and pack everything from the room into boxes. I know it seems funny, but I want you to touch everything. And, as you touch each item in the room, see if you feel an emotional connection. If not, put it directly into a "donation" box. You can always get it back out if you realize the connection is there. But, for now, put those things aside.

Once everything is off the walls and in boxes, change the furniture. Move it around. Add a piece from another room or take a piece away. If time, energy and finances permit, paint at least one wall in the room a different color. Any color. Something new, interesting, different.

As you "rebuild" your room, again touch each item, looking for the emotional connection. Allow yourself to add more things to the donation box if there's still a lack of connection.

Place items in new locations, group things differently, change as much as you can in your "renewed" space. And, when finished, allow yourself to feel and experience the new feelings that arise in your new space.

Choose to live In Joy!

Where does worry really get you?

Carol McKay — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 08:07:45 GMT

Worry Robs us of Today!

We're getting ready to relocate. It's always a challenge. Even though it seems we've been through this a hundred times before (OK, 5), it's a process that's filled with unexpected challenges.

There's exhilaration of taking the new job, then the ramifications of leaving our friends.

There's the excitement of finding a new home, followed by the realization of lenders, brokers, escrow, verifications, etc....

There's the anticipation of learning about a new community, tempered by the awareness of needing to arrange utilities, services, mail, drivers licenses, car registration....(yikes - what am I forgetting?????)

The monster called worry keeps trying to take over.

Fortunately, my awareness of worry has changed since my involvement with the Sedona Method. I now understand worry as just another feeling, accomplishing nothing. The only thing worry can do is get in the way of the process.

So, I've decided to let go of worry. To set it free.

I've decide it has no value.

What about you? Are you spending time and energy on worry? Do you let it take over? Do you try and push it down, medicate it, anesthetize it, consume it - or let it consume you?

Worry is a decision. So is choosing to stay in the flow and feel the ease that's always here - always available.

Starting right now, could you just make a decision to acknowledge the worry when it comes up, and then set it free?

It's amazing how much easier life can be without worry!

Carol

Is Over-Thinking Holding You Back?

Carol McKay — Thu, 25 May 2006 12:48:14 GMT

Is Over-Thinking Holding You Back?

When we moved to our current home, it looked like Jane and John Boring lived there. White walls. Oatmeal carpet. White vinyl kitchen floor. Snooooooooze.

Boring. Our initial reaction was, "Wow - we'll have to get some color in this house!"

So why, you might ask, did it take us over four years of living in John and Jane Boring's home before we finally put a little color on the wall?

Over-Thinking.

Instead of just making a trip to a home improvement store, choosing a few colors we liked and slapping them on the walls, we found ourselves paralyzed by too much thought.

"If we paint this wall, we'll have to paint that wall. That means we have to coordinate colors. What colors will go with our stuff? What about those light fixtures - they won't match our new color. And the furniture! It will have to be replaced. The carpet! We'll need new carpet. Window treatments! Aaaack!"

Our little "under $100" painting project just became a 5-figure remodel!

So, we did nothing. For four years.

Here's how it finally changed. Someone had given us a home improvement store gift certificate that was about to expire. When we realized that, we hastily chose some fun colors, bought the paint, took a day off and went for it.

Guess what - it's lovely.

And, guess what else - there's a lesson here. Any action is better than inaction!

Last month, I encouraged you to take a look around your life and uncover what your world is saying about you.

If you're not giving the message you mean to convey, it's time to take a step. Any step.

What's the first step you could take to move a little closer to your dream? What step would start the momentum you need to create your most perfect self? What do you need to do to allow yourself to take a leap forward?

Right now - today - could you allow yourself to take that step? Without "thinking yourself out of it"?

The paralysis of over-thinking has probably stopped you from pursuing your dreams in the past. Haven't you waited long enough?

One of the things I love about coaching (and for myself, being coached), is it can really help with defining a first step, developing an action to take, and encouraging a person to keep moving along the path. Sometimes it's not so much motivation as inertia. Coaching can be a little kick-in-the-pants!

PLAYTIME

Pick a step - choose one step you can take in the next two weeks to begin your forward momentum to your dream. Just choose one thing.

Now, write it down, in this type of phrasing:

"I am allowing myself to take the following step: (write it down)"

Next, look at a calendar, and set a date by which you will have taken this step.

Finally - tell someone, and ask that person to inquire about your progress.

Happy Journeys!

In Which Pocket Did I Leave My Dream?

Carol McKay — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 10:17:00 GMT

What do you do when you can’t find something? If you’re like me, you start with a calm, cursory search of the area. Not there? Now the search becomes a little more frantic. Next, an irrational excavation of every pile, every nook, every cranny. Still nothing? My search usually culminates in a retracing of steps. Where was I last? What about before that?

Usually…eventually…if I’m persistent, it turns up. That’s how I recently found my eyeglasses in the freezer. Don’t ask.

I propose a similar technique for identifying your dreams. Excluding, of course, the frantic part – it seems a bit unnecessary.

If it suits you, perhaps you could grab a note pad and actually jot down what you find. The answers might surprise you.

Step one: Give your life a “surface” look.

Look around the area you’re in right now. What are you surrounded by? What sorts of pictures are on your wall and books on your shelves? What colors do you surround yourself with? What sorts of furniture do you choose? Do you like to hang on to things, or do you easily let go of that which you’re no longer using?

Pretend, for a moment, you’re a social anthropologist, and you’ve been sent in to learn the personality of an unusual tribe of strangers. Pretend you’re walking into your home or office for the very first time. What do the things you see tell you about this person?

Take a moment and jot down your impressions of the stranger who inhabits this space. What do the surroundings state about that person’s dream?

Step two: Go a little deeper

Now that you have an idea of what this person is like, continue in anthropologist mode and make some assumptions about the person you’re investigating.

What does this person care about?

Who does this person love?

What are this person’s habits?

What things are important to this person?

Where does this person find inspiration?

Where does this person lose energy?

With what does this person struggle?

Again, jot down your notes about your deeper investigation of this person. What more do these questions tell you about this person’s dream?

Step three: Retrace your steps

Take off your anthropologist hat and let’s go back through your life. Again, if it feels useful, jot down the answers to these questions:

What did you think you would be when you grew up?

When you were in middle school (or junior high school), what did you enjoy doing?

Who was your best friend in high school? What did you like about that person?

Think about your first infatuation. What traits do you still remember about that person?

As a young adult, what things did you put on the “back burner”?

If you had unlimited time, energy and funds as a young adult, what would you have chosen to do?

Wherever you are right now, if everything was exactly perfect, what would your life look like?

What have you found?

As you ask yourself these questions, it’s likely that many images will surface for you. You may end up with more questions than answers. But that’s OK, because you have taken a big step. You’re now aware of what coaches call “the gap”. It’s the space between where you are right now, and where you’d love to be. Coaching can be a very effective way to bridge that!

As you begin to identify those big goals and big dreams, just welcome whatever comes up for you, without trying to evaluate or scrutinize them. Just follow wherever they lead.

Two questions to contemplate as you define your dream:

What is present when you are “at your best”?
What are you resisting?

PLAYTIME

Take a moment each day to step outside the window of your life and peek in as though you were watching a stranger. What do your choices say about you…and is that the message you mean to convey about yourself?

What's your value?

Carol McKay — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 20:36:04 GMT

Your home. Your car. Your computer. Your jewelry. Your furnishings.

All these things hold specific monetary value. When our neighbor's house sold recently, the first thing we wanted to know was, "How much did they get for it?" Our things have value.

But, how many of us look at ourselves as valuable? Not many of us put the same time, energy, commitment, resources and investment in ourselves as we do our things.

Wouldn't it be fantastic if we could cherish ourselves as the priceless beings we are?

Today, could you allow yourself to give yourself the appreciation and approval you deserve...for no reason whatsoever? Could you allow yourself to at least consider the possibilitly that you don't have to perform to be valuable?

Ponder this idea for a moment: What if you are the most valuable possession you'll ever have? If you start to place a real value on yourself, your health, your wellbeing - what would you be willing to do to take care of your most valuable asset?

Playtime: Choose three things to do, this week, to help yourself feel valuable.
Examples:
1. Take a long walk
2. Soak in a bubble bath
3. Write yourself a love letter
4. Sleep in
5. Hug every friend you meet
6. Laugh a little louder than you think you should

Take good care of yourself. You are a miracle. You deserve the very best.