Poverty.

What pictures spring to mind when you think of poverty?  Perhaps a street person in your town who is dirty and a little scary.  Or a single mom who is doing her best to raise four kids in a 1-bedroom, run-down apartment on the dangerous side of town.  What about those starving children from the TV commercials with the swollen stomachs and the big, hungry eyes.

These people feel a strong need for basic resources like money, food or shelter.  It's probably the central thought of their lives and drives most of their daily actions.

Now I'd like to ask you to look at a different part of town with me.  Let's zoom over to the "right" side of the tracks where, over the past few weeks, America has been in the midst of an economic crisis that has caused a serious drop in confidence among its citizens.  Lack of confidence affected the stock market resulting in record drops.  Everywhere I go someone tells me a story about losing $20,000 in their 401k in one day.  They are suddenly in real fear of losing their job, of not being able to make the mortgage payment, or belong to the right clubs.

We are in a panic of national proportions, fanned by the media and the current government.  It's a different kind of poverty, but just as real and pervasive:  an impoverished spirit.  With so many people thinking about what is lacking or threatened in their life, we are bound for some pretty hopeless times unless we can turn this trend around.  If you're reading this you probably have a computer and a place to live rather than a cardboard box under a bridge.  You can fight your feeling of poverty by being grateful for what you do have and for all the success you have achieved in your life.  What will it hurt to be optimistic in the face of this panic?  What if everyone was a little more optimistic today?

My personal challenge for today is to be deeply happy and grateful, and to spread hope to the people who are suffering from spiritual poverty.  We can only make the world, and poverty, better by our thoughts of abundance, our optimistic words, and our hope-filled deeds.  Will you join me?


My Kiva Start Up

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This post is part of Blog Action Day 09 - Climate Change

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This post is part of Blog Action Day 08 - Poverty

    

October 15, 2008 is Blog Action Day, an annual nonprofit event that brings bloggers and podcasters together around one issue.  The focus this year is Poverty.

I'll write more about it on October 15th, but in the meantime I wanted to give you a chance to join in.  What do you think about poverty?  Have you heard about Kiva microloans or Women for Women International?  Perhaps you do volunteer work that helps?

My Kiva Start Up

    

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

    

Let's add up the stress points for today using a scale of 1-10 (10 being high stress):

It's Monday - 2 points
Not enough sleep - 4 points
Running late - 3 points
Behind on a few projects at work - 5 points
Wondering if we will start re-training the admin soon - 5 points
Computer won't work in new meeting room - 2 points
Can't have agency meeting because computer won't work - 4 points
Fellow employee explains, through tears, that I'm the meanest person on the planet - 10 points
Fun lunch with understanding, super-wise friend - 1 point (talked about the situation)
Residual stress from earlier encounter - 8

Total points:  44 out of a possible 100

Giving a grade to each situation helped clarify everything.  A few incidents had high stress, but taken as a whole I see that I was below the halfway mark for the day.  So I think I'll just quit feeling sad and worrying about how to fix this.  There's always tomorrow . . .

    

I always thought of myself as a "circle of life" pet owner - you have pets that you love, take care of, and eventually they grow old and die.  It's perfectly natural, even though it's sad.

This time I lost 2 pets at once and they were likely killed by coyotes.  Talk about the circle of life!

Sometimes I'm so mad at the coyotes I would strangle them if they walked up to me.  Other times I hope the coyotes are making their way in the city.  And I can also spend time wondering if there is a way to alert my neighbors.

But I miss my cats.  I miss having someone to talk to and take care of, and I miss their love and attention.  I've been depressed, of course, and feel too overwhelmed to be very creative.  Every day gets a little easier.

I can't even imagine how hard it will be to lose a family member or friend, although the loss of my cats is teaching me alot about relationships without regrets.

Boo and Cleo - thanks for everything.  I miss you!

    

Father's Day morning, June 15, 2008. My sweet, loving tabby cat Cleo went out after midnight and didn't come home for breakfast. A week and a half later, Boo, my devoted, bumbling, black cat was gone the same way.<< MORE >>

Check out the totally on-target, and completely free ebook written by Chris Guillebeau, from The Art of Non-Conformity.  A Brief Guide to World Domination can be read in one sitting, and I can't say enough good things about it.  The first time I read it I felt like I had "come home" - a feeling I get when there's nothing to prove or justify because I'm among people who know me, or in a place that is so perfect it invites complete rest.

Have you ever felt like that?  Isn't it a great feeling?

If you believe that life is supposed to be wonderful, but you haven't figured it all out yet, download and read about World Domination.  Let Chris know what you think and come back and tell me, too!

    

    

One of my dreams is to have a daily spiritual practice like meditation or yoga.  I have wanted this for quite some time and have tried and tried to develop a habit around this goal.  Well, I'm trying again.  This time I have decided to follow the guidelines for creating new habits from ZenHabits  and I've outlined the plan below.  The first habit I want to install is tapping for stress relief.  I recently used tapping to fight jet lag on an international flight, ease indigestion and reduce feelings of irritation toward a friend.  So I already know it works miracles!

1.  Write out and visualize goal clearly:

By September 2008, I want to be DEEPLY HAPPY by becoming grounded with a daily spiritual practice, getting clear about my desires and having success in all areas of my life.

First step:  I want to have 30-60 minutes of spiritual practice every day, or as much as I need to stay in a state of peace.

2.  Think about the steps needed to reach the goal:  Visualization, visual reminders (anchors) everywhere, tapping, meditation and/or yoga
3.  Determine the daily/weekly actions needed to reach the goal:  Add being DEEPLY HAPPY and practicing tapping to morning shower Virtual Reality time, starting with my next shower tonight or in the morning.
4.  Put anchors in at least 5 places to remind me of goal:  Print and cut them out tonight.  Find places at home for them, one in my car and several at work.
5.  Pick a start date, get supporters on board, and build motivation:  I started tapping on 6/11, now I need to get supporters, etc.
6.  The Plan:

• Start with 5 minutes of tapping every morning when I arrive at work, before leaving my car.     
  
• Add 5 minutes every evening when I get back in my car to drive home.
  
• Add 2 more 5 minute segments during the day - find a trigger to help these stick.
  
• Add morning tapping or meditation 1st thing after feeding the cats
  
• Add evening tapping or meditation 1st thing after feeding the cats
  

7.  Focus on the 1st habit for at least one month
8.  Get support:  KristinCoach, a few friends, perhaps Tapping.com or ZenHabits forums
9.  Log my progress:  Blog it, use iPhone charts, Goals Focus Form, forums
10.  Be accountable to a person or group:  My blog, KristinCoach, maybe StickK.com
11.  Plan for triggers:  Covered above
12.  Read about it, be immersed in it:  Tapping newsletters, meditation info, tapping ebook
13.  After about a month, enjoy the habit being on autopilot, and celebrate my sucess!   Rewards:  3 days - ?; 10 days - ?; 20 days - ?; 30 days - ?!
14.  Add the second habit and repeat the process

    

I discovered that I can get a little uncomfortable when someone gives me a really big gift.  While on vacation in France, my sister made dinner for us almost every night.  Wonderful, marvelous dinners.  She told us before we left home that she wanted to do that for us and it seemed like it would be a real treat.

On the third night, I was feeling a little weird about how much work she was doing and how much I wasn’t doing!  Of course I helped her as much as I could - I followed orders, since I’m not much of a cook myself. It was quite a surprise and I had to give myself a little shake so that I could stay gracious and appreciative.

I remember working with someone who liked to give gifts.  Some were just trinkets while others were larger, and she had a habit of bringing something in every week.  That felt weird, too, because I wasn’t buying her gifts other than birthdays or Christmas.  I finally had to ask her to stop because the it became way too lopsided for me.

What do you think?  Is there a limit to your gifts?