This weekend I am giving myself a personal retreat, the 2nd one this year.  As I write this I am feeling very relaxed, unhurried, peaceful, curious, happy, content and full of intuition and insight.  I pulled the desk over so that I could look out of the 15th floor hotel window onto downtown Dallas, the city where I was born.

It's a time for reflection:

• I see the grassy knoll where President Kennedy was shot, and I remember hearing about it in the 2nd floor library of my elementary school in nearby Oak Cliff.  School closed that day, and I'll never forget the B/W Magruder film nor the coverage of the funeral.
  
• I see the red Pegasus atop the Magnolia building in the center of town.  When I was a child it was the second highest building in downtown.  Now you can barely see it because of all the skyscrapers.  My firstborn son was 2 years old when he declared that he worked in the building with the red flying horse.
  
• I'm very near One Main Place.  My father worked as an electrician to help build that building, and probably several others in the area.  As a child I could feel the struggle of keeping a family of six fed, clothed and happy.
• I work downtown now, and I enjoy my work, my title and my paycheck.  I am proud of how far I've come and of my accomplishments.  I'm looking forward to Act II, whatever that is for me.
  

It's a time for looking forward:

• I am here seeking clarity about my life and the next steps for accomplishing my dreams.  Can I imagine and feel what it would be like to have a super successful blog, life coaching practice, extreme self care and a healthy, trim body?
• What do I want to accomplish at work?  How long will that take?
• If I focused on my relationships, how would I enhance them? What are the best ways to touch the lives of my grandchildren - what do I want to teach them?
• Can I change my financial situation so that I can easily retire to a new career of helping people to create a life with their highest visions?

Seems like a long list doesn't it!  My heart sings with the possibilities, and I know I will go as far as I choose to.

When was the last time you took time for yourself?  Have you EVER put aside all your responsibilities for an hour, a day, or a weekend to dream and plan and refresh yourself?  I encourage you to take some time soon.  In fact, if you're reading this you should take it as a sign and pick a day on your calendar right now.  You can borrow someone's house who is out of town, or take a trip, or bid really low on Priceline for a hotel nearby.  You CAN make this work.  Take a project or two with you.  And some music you love.  Do what your intuition tells you - something that has been nudging you "think about this, what if you did this."  You know what you need to do.

Those times when you feel like you have no power over what is happening in your life are exactly the times to make a different choice.  How you relate to what's going on around you, your reactions and your next steps are all up to you.  You'll see this more clearly if you give yourself a break every now and then.


Current inspiration from:
Dream to Reality: How I Quit My Day Job | ThinkSimpleNow.com
So I Quit My Day Job - Holy Cow! I Took the Plunge | Zen Habits
Conversations with God Book 1 by Neale Donald Walsch
Money and Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks
Ladies Who Launch by Victoria Colligan & Beth Schoenfeldt with Amy Swift
You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L. Hay
and many others