What the mind conceives: a good luck talisman for success

 

The other night at the gym, the women’s workout room was packed full of all ages, sizes and shapes. It can be a challenge, but I try to avoid comparison making. However, I must admit I struggled with envy over one woman. Not the way her hair remained perfect during her workout while my ponytail stuck to the back of my neck. Or how she didn’t break a sweat while she lifted yet I smelled, coincidentally, like an onion. Or how her outfit was color coordinated while I sported the throw-it-together-and-hope-I-match look. It was her pink workout gloves I couldn’t stop looking at. Seriously: pink workout gloves. In the past, I’ve attributed more focused yoga practices to a new mat or fun new shorts. So why not a stronger workout session with pretty workout gloves? Yes, I bought new ones. And yes, I lifted better. What the mind conceives, the body achieves. At least that’s the story I’m sticking to.

What is your good luck talisman for success?

Putting on my big girl panties

It’s not working. The path to my purpose, plan and joy; living in the ‘ah-ha’ moment; circumnavigating discontent; creating my own luck (and balance)… you name it: Just. Not. Happening. And I’m a broken record when it comes to the things in my life I’m unwilling to change in the first place. My sweet friend, Joan, said, Maybe you just can’t [do anything about it] right now. You’ve got lots of stuff going on… You’ll come out of this… then you’ll fix what ails you, a little at a time. She reminded me it’s all about baby steps. Yet, even indecision is a decision. So for now I’ve decided to flounder a bit, “cut myself slack” and indulge in a little selfishness—with my time and energies. To heck with the big girl panties. It’s time for me to stock up on chocolate, wine and paperbacks, and to stop waiting for Someday to arrive in order to start rocking my tutu Today.

How will you live out Today?

Image courtesy of DealDash’s Photos.

Manifesting positive results

Balance… simplicity… happiness. Only a fourth of the way into the new year, and I’m beginning to realize the manifestation of these elements as I actively pursue them. When I recently mentioned to a girlfriend that I wish I could clone myself to be in three places at once, she said: Just do one thing good. That advice, along with the vision board I crafted (see creating our own luck), is my new impetus. Rather than multitask a boatload of to dos, I’m honest with myself about what I will spend my time on. I might accomplish less, overall, yet I’m focusing my attention on those one or two things and “doing them good.” I also feel reduced pressure to say “yes,” and to go with the flow, instead. The days still fly by but, with a slower personal pace, I’m able to live more fully in each moment. Which makes space for a more simplified, balanced life. And a happier me.

How have you simplified your life?

Creating our own luck

Balance—that elusive entity that twists and turns and topples more than it should with a name like balance. It seems to always be out of my grasp; however, I recently learned you cannot find balance, but rather you must create it. And out of the same thing we all begin with—1,440 minutes, or 24 hours—in a single day. Yet it appears my quest for a balanced life in 2015 looks more like a hodgepodge of personal development classes and “how to” be fitter, happier, healthier, etc. To that end, I’ve been taking dance lessons, practicing more yoga, decluttering and decrapifying my home, playing in a brass worship ensemble, attending volunteer seminars and author readings. Most recently, I participated in a workshop called “lucky in life,” which centered on the law of attraction and how to consciously create the lives we desire, crafting vision boards to jump start our dreams—even if they just begin with balance.

What’s your secret to living a lucky, balanced life?

[Image credit Iamnee and freedigitalphotos.net]

When it rains, it pours

[Image credit: Idea go]

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does.  This is where you don’t say, “What more could go wrong?”  I’ve heard that bad things happen in threes.  It doesn’t matter if you’re already in debt or sick or your schedule is packed from the time you rise until you crawl into bed bone tired.  Because there’s no limit on hard luck.  When I finally went back to college, my daughter was a junior in high school and made some poor choices, my mom passed away the first month of classes which required me to travel out of state and the company I freelanced for switched its contractors to a different software.  It was challenging, but somehow I survived our family’s upheaval, maintained my 4.17 GPA and successfully navigated the new computer program.  Maybe it’s easier to simply accept that things are going to happen, whether we’re ready or not.  And to remember to start carrying an umbrella.

How do you prepare for life’s muddy waters?