We begin our year with hopes aimed at greater happiness. A new job or relationship. Shedding some pounds.
But, what is happiness?
Usually, it’s connected to what you can get from others and your environment.
CHI FOR YOURSELF asks you to re-think happiness- by making it broader. It’s also about what you can give to others, and how giving gives you a purpose and a connection to your community.
Here are some ways you might put giving into your happiness formula:
By giving, you’re creating connections with those around you. Life stops being just about seeking satisfaction and it takes on a deeper layer of commitment.
Life is no longer all about you. It’s about creating a positive effect on other people’s lives.
CHI FOR YOURSELF sends you only the best energies for the coming year! We hope all your intentions will be or are about to be realized.
But maybe you’re less than optimistic. In the 10 years that CHI FOR YOURSELF has been in existence, we’ve heard one complaint above most any other.
It starts with the questions…
Are you in a job or career you hate? Is it sucking the life out of you?
So many people answer yes to both of these questions. This is no way to achieve any kind of inner peace.
Imagine doing something different than what you currently do. Then imagine what your life would be like if you had a passion for your life’s work. You are much more likely to excel at what you are doing.
This is not to say that everything you do in your passion will be without problems. That’s unrealistic.
There are always going to be challenges and some of them may prove difficult at times. But being equal to those challenges will help you reinforce your passion.
If you do anything long enough, even something you love, you run the risk of burning out. This is why you need to take breaks.
Take a vacation. Join in activities that are not related to your work.
Consider hiring someone you can trust to run your operation, so you free up some of your time. Doing this, you can even choose to create other ventures or passions.
Start a foundation to help others. This can reignite the passion.
If you do get burned out, there’s nothing to stop you from selling your venture and moving on to something better. You can use the money from the sale to start up another passion you’ve been holding on the sidelines.
This doesn’t mean you should give up on something because you have days that are less than exciting. No matter what you do, this is going to happen on occasion. It’s when it happens more often than not that you have to decide if you’re at the end of the road.
Only you can make that decision, but it can help to talk to your spouse and/or friends when you feel like you’re at that point.
If you dread going to work every day you could become apathetic toward your company or business. Staying in that situation is going to make you miserable.
Switching to something you’ve wanted to do will give you a sense of accomplishment. That’s a contributor to inner peace.
It’s the time of the year when the word “peace” makes its big appearance. We see it on greeting cards, on holiday wreaths, and in department store display windows.
CHI FOR YOURSELF has its own take on peace. This graphic pretty much says it all.
The CHI FOR YOURSELF interview with Scott Stabile offered us plenty of inspiration with a nice helping of humor. If you weren’t with us on the call you can hear the conversation by scrolling down the page to the audio player. Scott Stabile is the author of BIG LOVE: The Power of Living With a Wide-Open Heart.
Talking points from the show:
Why Scott chose the name “Big Love” for the book
The most important lesson from his parents’ death
His compassion showed early in life
Scott’s emotions today
Forgiving his parents’ killer
An example of “Genuine Living”
Scott’s big “flop”
Takeaway from the book
If the player doesn’t start, click on the Blog Talk Radio logo to listen–
Finding your why. That’s our intention in this continuing CHI FOR YOURSELF series. In today’s installment, we look at your childhood dreams and what they may be telling you all these years later. Keep dreaming!
Do you remember the dreams that you had in your childhood? The ones that centered around what you would like to do when you grew up. Did you ever follow those dreams or have they been pushed into the depths of your mind?
If you are feeling as though your life is missing something then you may want to take a look at the dreams you had as a child. If you still carry them with you, chances are they are things that you are passionate about.
Think back and let your childhood memories surface. Back then did you want to fly a plane, be a fireman or doctor, or travel to the other side of the world? Did you want to play in a band or write poetry all day?
Just a dream
Of course, some of your childhood dreams may not have been practical. Especially those based around space travel or adventures on the high seas!
Once you have uncovered your dreams, are there any that now seem more reachable? If so, then why not attempt to make one of them come true?
If you wanted to be a singer, act in a play or write a novel, why not start now and do those things? You really are never too old to try something new, and it’s never too late to take up a new hobby.
What are your current talents and gifts? Can you combine one of your talents with a dream? Maybe as a child, you wanted to travel the world on a ship. Why not write a novel based on this?
Maybe you have a talent for art and graphics. Can you combine this with an old dream? You could look into ways of helping young children become graphic artists. Or use your talents to support a local charity or cause.
Just because you have matured, it doesn’t mean that you can’t have dreams and desires anymore. Take your life experiences and mix them with your desires and create a new passion or interest in your life.
It actually takes risks and courage to follow a dream at any age. Are you prepared to finally make one of your childhood dreams come true? If you don’t take a chance on yourself, you are missing out on fulfilling your life. Remember that no one else is going to do it for you!
Here it is, another Monday, and you’re hard at work. Maybe you’re thinking about someone who seems to be blessed with knowing just exactly what to do with his or her life. Maybe you’d like to know that feeling, too. And maybe you know there’s something special you’re meant to do but you’re not sure how to go about it. CHI FOR YOURSELF continues the series into “Finding Your Why” with ideas to help you move closer to your purpose.
Uncovering Your True Calling in Life
Many people believe that they have a true calling in life. This is something that they feel compelled to do, regardless of the odds. When you have this feeling, you are driven towards taking action. But what happens when you are not confident of where your true calling may take you?
It is very easy to mistake your true calling as nothing more than a mere dream or desire. You may feel as though you were meant to do this thing but finding the opportunity to follow your dream is holding you back. It can also be a frightening experience, to suddenly give up a stable job in order to follow a new path.
Many musicians and authors felt as though they had a true calling in life. They were always drawn to words or music in such a way that they couldn’t help themselves. There are many professional musicians who didn’t have the support of their relatives. Not until a family member saw them perform and saw how the magical allure drew the audience in, did they understand the passion.
Authors are the same way. They feel as though they have to write, no matter what. They lock themselves away for days or weeks so that they can put all those words onto paper.
Even if you can’t manage to follow your true calling in life full time. There is no reason why you can’t put time and effort into it on a more part time basis. If you have that longing to write a book, then start writing it in your spare time. At least you are allowing yourself to follow your passion.
Not sure if you even have a true calling in your life? Most people do.The problem lies in recognizing it. Look toward your dreams and desires. Is there one thing that keeps popping over and over again?
If so, this could be your true calling. Examples of a true calling include becoming a doctor or nurse. Travelling to a distant country and doing mission work. Or your true calling could be raising money for a charity or working with young children or animals.
The next time you are sitting bored at your desk, let some of those dreams come to the surface. Then look for a way that you can work on one of them to make your dream a reality. Once you do, you’ll finally be following your true calling.
You can listen to this article on an mp3 file by clicking on this player:
I’m sure you found last week’s interview with Susan Anderson helpful. She’s dedicated a lot of her working life on the subject of abandonment, and she’s felt so much of that pain herself! There are two interviews with Susan Anderson on this page:
This interview was recorded this past Thursday (Aug. 25th) when we discussed THE ABANDONMENT RECOVERY WORKBOOK: Guidance through the Five Stages of Healing from Abandonment, Heartbreak, and Loss. In it Susan shares some of her tools for dealing with the pain of abandonment in a number of areas. If you missed the program you can hear it by clicking on the Blog Talk Radio logo:
Here’s a list of talking points from the show:
Abandonment defined
Susan’s dealings with abandonment
How abandonment affects social status
S.W.I.R.L.
Death, rage, and abandonment
How abandonment is similar to PTSD
Overeating as abandonment
What we can do to heal right now
This interview was recorded in 2015 and it deals with Susan’s book Taming Your Outer Child: Overcoming Self-Sabotage and Healing from Abandonment. Click on the Blog Talk Radio logo to be taken to the show.
Last week we posed the question “do you know where your passion is?” Today we drill down a bit more on the topic. You can read the article or listen to the mp3 which follows.
Use the following ways to easily uncover your passions and discover your why in life. Make a list of all the things that you have always dreamed about doing. These should be all those items that you haven’t done because of a lack of money, time or they seemed to be impractical.
Use these questions to uncover your dreams:
1. What is the one thing that you are always dreaming about but haven’t done yet?
2. What did you want to do or be when you were growing up?
3. Have you ever abandoned a dream?
4. What is it that you want to do, but are afraid of doing?
Once you have identified your dreams your next step is to create a plan of action. You may have ended up with a relatively long list. If so make time to start doing a few of them each month. If you have to schedule time for them into your work calendar.
For those dreams that require more effort and time look for a way that you can attempt to do one. Your dream may be to visit an exotic country or help build a new school in an under-developed country. Look for ways to make this come true. This would be your long term passion and why.
If you don’t have too many dreams, try the same experiment with your hobbies. Write out a list of hobbies that you have done at one time, those that you currently do and those that you would love to do.
Don’t have a list of hobbies, what are the things you currently spend time on that make you feel happy and fulfilled? Look for ways to turn these into a hobby.
You may even be at a point in your life where you wish to turn a part-time hobby into a full-time one. If you enjoy art, ceramics, poetry, music, writing, dance or a particular exercise. Look to see if you can do this full time. Can you become a yoga instructor, ceramics or art teacher or write your own novel?
If your hobby or interest doesn’t transition well into a way of making you money see if you can get involved in a different way. You may love to run marathons and smaller events for a local charity. Look for a way to get involved in running that could provide you with an income.
You will be participating in your passion and this will make you feel happier with life.
This week on CHI FOR YOURSELF:
Susan Anderson, author of THE ABANDONMENT RECOVERY WORKBOOK: Guidance Through the 5 Stages of Healing from Abandonment, Heartbreak, and Loss. Thursday at 4pm Eastern, 1pm Pacific
If you’re feeling the flood of feelings brought on by abandonment listen up! Our next CHI FOR YOURSELF guest makes her second visit to bring us tools and exercises intended to help you discover and heal underlying issues, identify self-defeating behaviors of mistrust and insecurity, and build self-esteem. Susan Anderson is the author of THE ABANDONMENT RECOVERY WORKBOOK: Guidance Through the 5 Stages of Healing from Abandonment, Heartbreak, and Loss.
Susan Anderson
She’ll be with us on Thursday, August 25th at 4pm Eastern, 1pm Pacific time at chiforyourself.com
This week CHI FOR YOURSELF began a series on finding your passion. If you missed the post you can hear it by clicking on this player..
If you haven’t done so make sure you sign up for updates from GenuLines. You can do that by putting your email address into the box at the top of the page!
…and, if you’re eating out this weekend- Choose whole grains over flour products. Something like oatmeal is more nutritious and has less fat than bagels, French toast, pancakes, or sugary cereals. For dinner, try a Thai or Chinese restaurant that serves brown rice rather than going for pizza and pasta.
Overheard: “Enthusiasm moves the world.”
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