Where is it time to zoom in on the details or zoom out on the big picture

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Where is it time to zoom in on the details or zoom out on the big picture? What type of focus is required in your current situation?

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Aaron Burden

Last month, many of us in the United States had the opportunity to see the solar eclipse. A family we know traveled 1500 miles from their home to see this event in San Antonio with their two young boys.

Road trips like these are an integral part of their home-schooling efforts and they took plenty of side trips along the way to zoom in and out to capture many other sights and wonders.

EXERCISE:

Where and how would your life improve with greater focus on more of the details of your world?

How might zooming out to a bigger, broader view of things offer you greater perspective and insight about the world?

Friday Review: Renewal

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Friday Review: Renewal

What do you do to renew and rejuvenate yourself? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.

When we feel burned out and depleted sometimes we need to plug into a new source of energy that renews and restores. Resting is only one available option.

 

 

 

“Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.”

 

 

 

 

“Exhaustion is not a status symbol.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be

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“The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed — to be seen, heard and companioned exactly as it is.”

—Parker Palmer, American author, educator, and activist

Image from Unsplash by Mohamed Nohassi

How much time do your spend soul searching and looking within for answers to your most pressing matters?

Where do you go and what do you do to free yourself to examine the inner wisdom to direct your life?

Sometimes instead of going within for clarity we seek to be advised by others.

Although these people are mostly well intended, they often share their own “been there / done that” experiences as the T-shirts they think we should wear.

In many of these cases, being saved or fixed by their solutions just doesn’t fit.

EXERCISE:

Where and how can you spend more time witnessing the unfolding of your soul?

How can you also advise the people in your world to quietly let you discover more of the answers for yourself?

The way you look at things is the most powerful force shaping your life

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“The way you look at things is the most powerful force shaping your life.”

—John O’ Donohue, late Irish poet, author, Hegelian philosopher

Image from Unsplash by Bradley Pisney

Today’s quote is an excellent reminder to develop and cultivate our self-awareness and mindfulness abilities.

When we choose to adopt constructive perspectives and attitudes, we can harness our powers of perception to create a more fulfilling and meaningful life.

If and when we look at things from a negative or closed mindset, we limit our abilities to navigate life’s challenges and complexities.

EXERCISE:

How can and will you exercise and develop your powers of perception to shape your life and your world for the better?

“When you spend serious time and effort on transcendental things, it puts your little world into…

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“When you spend serious time and effort on transcendental things, it puts your little world into proper context and takes the focus off yourself.”

—Arthur C. Brooks, American author and speaker

Image from Unsplash by Chang Duong

The few months we recently spent in Florida have been revealing in two significant ways:

The first is how often we design our lives from the outside in.

The second is that we have even more opportunities to design our lives from the inside out.

The warmer climate definitely offers us greater freedom from the choice of clothes we wore to the time we spent outdoors. Both increased the likelihood of daily exercise and the enjoyment of nature.

Spending time in our senior community also helped me see how people’s priorities shift as they age.

Although there is always a bit of gossip and the focus on little things, most people seemed far more interested in what was most significant and meaningful given the finite nature of their lives.

EXERCISE:

How and where are you spending your precious time as the days and years go by?

Where and how could more transcendental things fit into this picture?

Where do you experience the flow of life without interference

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Where do you experience the flow of life without interference? Go there when you wish to feel the sensation of effortless effort.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Mathew Schwart

How often do you feel you are swimming upstream, against the current? Where in your personal and professional life do you experience the greatest resistance to your best intentions and efforts?

What strategies and approaches are helpful when you feel you are about to go under?

With these examples in mind, shift your mental and emotional compasses 180 degrees to some of the effortless flow states you’ve experienced in the past.

EXERCISE:

Envision yourself as an eagle or another majestic bird soaring on the warm updrafts of air from their surroundings.  How can you revisit this and other sensations of effortless effort when the world gets you down?

“Always create before you consume.”

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“Always create before you consume.”

—Rich Litvin, co-author of The Prosperous Coach

Image from Unsplash by Alyson McPhee

During our time in Florida as snowbirds, we eat out at least once — and sometimes multiple times — each day.

When we are not sharing meals with friends, we are usually tired and find ourselves eating leftovers from our excursions.

Although it’s easy and nice to have food prepared for us, I find even greater pleasure and satisfaction eating the foods we prepare at home with our own hands.

Somehow each dish just tastes better with the added love and attention that went into it.

EXERCISE:

Where in your life do you enjoy the creative process before you consume?

How does doing so add more sweetness and flavor to your world?

The more comfortable you become in your skin

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“The more comfortable you become in your skin, the less you need to manufacture the world around you for comfort.”

—Cory Muscara, mindfulness advisor & Univ. of Pennsylvania instructor

Image from Unsplash by Coen Stahl

How many ways can you think of to seek comfort from the world around you? Explore this list and add a few more of your own:

  • The foods you eat
  • The temperature of your home
  • The clothes you wear
  • The time saving devices you use
  • The job you perform
  • The people with whom you associate
  • The apps on your computer or phone
  • Your focus on entertainment and leisure

EXERCISE:

Experiment with increasing longer blocks of time just sitting in the skin you are in.

Focus on just breathing and notice where your mind goes when you are not going anywhere or doing anything.

What insights can you take from this exercise that could apply to the rest of your day?

There are no traffic jams along the extra mile

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“There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.”

—Robert Staubach, former Dallas Cowboy Quarterback

Image from Unsplash by Kathy

My signature coaching program — Personal Excellence Training — includes six months of weekly one-on-one coaching to support my client’s personal and professional objectives.

Today’s quote encourages each of us to lace up our sneakers and go the extra mile.

It’s not just about reaching the finish line, it’s about how the journey shapes us along the way.

We know we are on to something special when we push beyond our comfort zones, embrace challenges and give our all when so many others settle for less.

EXERCISE:

Where and when do you strap on your determination and ignite your passions?

When traveling these less crowded roads, don’t be surprised if you meet other champions along the way!