Questions to Ask Yourself When Something or Someone Upsets You

someone upsets
life coach

It’s so easy to get caught up in the drama, reacting to what is happening and feeling like you need to defend or protect yourself. The story of what is happening may even become amplified in your mind when it triggers fears, pain or echoes a past negative experience. But, the extra upset you create only hurts you and keeps you distracted from resolution.

Resolving things that feel upsetting happens best when you can be in a calm and rational state. When your energy is neutral you can be more thoughtful, open and find solutions for the issue at hand. Easier said then done. Right?

Keep in mind – It’s how you relate to the issue that matters most.

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10 Ways to Create a More Meaningful Life

meaningful life heartfelt life

There was a time in my life when I felt like I couldn’t even remember who I was. After years where I survived scary things as a child, was in an abusive relationship, grieved a man I loved and pushed myself to the limits as a single mom I was exhausted. I just put one foot in front of the other and never even considered there might be more to life.

As a coach, I talk to women experiencing the same thing almost every day. Sometimes it’s a life transition like menopause or an empty nest that helps them realize there are better things than what they are experiencing. And sometimes their soul calls out to them asking for change. Whatever the catalyst is, they begin to realize that there is hope, they can make choices and in order to thrive they need to listen to the calling of their heart.

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Riding the Waves of Our Emotions

emotions  
life coach

Recently, I was having dinner with my family when something said triggered a memory and I started crying. Everyone was surprised, especially me. The last time my family saw me cry was 6 years ago when I thought I lost my cat while moving. These tears seemed out of the blue.

I like to believe that I have resolved and healed the experiences from my past, and mostly I have. The time and energy I have put into healing and evolving has paid off, but I doubt anyone ever does it perfectly. There are different angles, remnants and nuances that can still be triggered and set off our emotions. Not as many, but there are usually some.

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Are You Stuffocating?

stuffocating

I don’t have the bumper sticker, but I am one of those people who brakes for garage sales. Hunting for hidden treasures is something I have always enjoyed. It probably goes back to my roots of wearing thrift store clothes as a kid and how much fun it was to find something I loved.

In more recent years I’ve become more selective about what I buy and often come home empty handed. What I enjoy now is looking and visiting with the people there. My dog Daisy loves to join me on these adventures and is pretty good at soliciting lots of pets and attention.

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3 Things to Remember When You are Feeling Sad

feeling sad

We all have our moments of sadness, whether they are based on something that happened or seem to just show up for no reason. For many of us, these sad moments can keep piling up, leading to long term low moods or even depression.

We can feel helpless when that happens.

But, we don’t have to if we remember these 3 things:

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Practice Mental Hygiene for a Lifetime of Better Moods

mental hygiene better moods

Have you ever noticed that as people get older they become more entrenched in the way they view the world? I remember one woman I met while volunteering at an Alzheimer’s facility. She was always smiling and would get really excited about simple things like a game of Bingo. Her positive mindset was helping her stay happy and enjoy better moods during a challenging time of her life.

And then, I remember my dad. He would complain endlessly about people who he felt took advantage of him or what was wrong with the world. Visiting him meant listening to much repeated stories of things that had gone wrong in his life. He was angry, hateful and sad and I always felt drained after visiting him.

Both of these people had chosen a way of thinking that programmed their brains year after year until they were living fully in the mindsets they created.

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Embracing Gratitude for Health and Happiness

gratitude grateful health happiness

I’ve recently returned to the practice of journaling gratitude at the end of each day. I was feeling off center and a bit ungrounded and this is something that has worked for me in the past. It has been one of my favorite practices since Oprah talked about it decades ago and recent studies have shown it improves mood and well-being.

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7 Meaningful Benefits of Living Simply

benefits of living simply
daisy flower

In the midst of our commercial world there is a quiet movement toward minimalism and simplicity. People are realizing that the drive to have more and more stuff, compare and keep up with others and try to cover their emotional pain with shopping sprees is not the answer.

They have frantically pursued shiny objects they thought would make them happy while burying their awareness that this way of life was harming their health, putting them in debt and causing them to stuffocate.

The question is: What is enough?

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7 Easy Ways to Transform Your Mornings & Start Your Days Right

transform your mornings start day right

How do you start your mornings? It’s easy to fall into the habit of letting negative thoughts lead the way. For many, their first thoughts are about what hurts, what they “have to” do that day, or rehashing something negative that has happened. You and I are likely to fall into that trap occasionally too, but we know there is a better way. And, it begins with morning habits that help you start your day right.

After all, how you start your day will impact how you feel and perform throughout the day.

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How to Figure Things Out

figure things out

“Everything is figureoutable.” – Marie Forleo

While I’m not sure that I agree that EVERYTHING is figureoutable, I’m pretty sure most things are. It’s not always easy though. Whether we are brainstorming or making decisions, the process will go more smoothly when we are focused and tap into what I call, empowered thinking.

Empowered thinking is when you bring your mind and your intuition together to help you discover what you need or want to know. If you only use one or the other the process can be hard, confusing and sometimes even impossible. It’s only when your intuition and mind work together that you can be your most effective and make the best choices.

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Simple Solutions: Feeling Too Busy

feeling too busy
busyness

When you say yes, yes, yes to too many things your schedule can become overwhelming. You may find yourself feeling too busy, stressed and spending time on things that don’t speak to your heart.

Your time is a precious commodity and it is limited. Giving yourself away to a cycle of being too busy can leave you feeling trapped and exhausted, without being able to see a way out. After all, you are the one everyone depends on. Right?

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Yesterday’s Dreams

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This morning, my journaling started with a little grumpiness about a few minor things going on in my life before shifting into gratitude and appreciation. As I wrote from my heart about what I was grateful for I had a realization.

The life I am living now was in many ways one I would have called a dream in my earlier years. I decided to play with this idea and write a vision for the years to come from the perspective of my 40ish self. It included things like:

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Simple Solutions: Making Decisions

making decisions
simple solutions

In our modern world we are faced with decisions all day long. Some big, some small.

What should I put in my coffee?

What should I wear?

Should I quit my job?

With the bigger questions it is easy to get caught in a thought loop with our mind spinning on pros and cons and never landing anywhere. Often, the information it provides is conflicting and confusing.

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I Never Imagined

imagined
follow your heart
hope for the future

Life is truly unpredictable and it can be fun to look back and realize how little we knew about how our lives would play out and who we would become.

For instance, I never imagined:

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