A Balanced Life, LLC

A Road Map for Your Life

Like any other trip, we need a road map as we navigate through the journey of our life. Before the time of GPS or phone apps, I would often contact AAA and have them send me a TripTik before a road trip. They would ask me what was my ultimate destination. In addition, they would also ask me if there were any cities or points of interests that I wanted to see while on my trip. AAA did a great job of plotting out my road trip. They would send me maps of the states I would be traveling through and my designated route would be highlighted. All I had to do was get in the car and follow their directions.

We recently entered into a new year. Now is the time to stop and map out where we want to go and what we want to accomplish this year. Now is also the time to stop and plan how we are going to get our desired results. Having a resolution or an idea of what we want to accomplish is not good enough. We owe it to ourselves to stop and really plan how we are going to accomplish out goals and our dreams. This is what living intentionally is all about.

The Essence of New Day

Recently, I read Commanding Your Morning, by Dr. Cindy Trimm .  Wow, the book was really powerful!   It opened my eyes to the fact that I have power to command my morning each day.  My attitude and approach to each day can determine the what I get in return.   At the end of book was a poem that really resonated with me.  It had such an impact that I wanted to share it with you.

The Essence of a New Day

This is the beginning of a new day

You will be given this day to use as you will

You can waste it or use it for good.

What you do today is important.

Because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.

When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever.

In its place is something that you have left behind.......

Let it be someting good.

                                    - Author Unknown

Excited About Tomorrow

I believe there is a big difference between living and existing.  When I have experienced different valley's in my life I was not necessarily excited about the possibilities of each new day.  My outlook of each day changed once I began to live my life instead of just existing.  Once I started to live my life, I began to be excited about each brand new day I was blessed to see. 

I was even able to deal with my challenges differently because I changed my outlook.  Now as I am getting ready for the next day I start to get excited about the possibilities of tomorrow.  When I wake up in the morning part of my prayer is that I thank God for a  new day that I have never seen before.  Then I think, WOW what an honor.  God granted me the opportunity to experience brand day!

When we give our children or loved ones give we want them to show some sort of appreciation.  As a parent, I think I would be disappointed if my daughter just disregared a gift that I gave her.  I would wonder what is going on if she did not say thank you.  And I might even get mad if I saw the gift just tossed in the corner.  I belive God feels the same when he grants us blessing, like being able to see a new day.

Since each day is a gift  I want to live so that I show God that I appreciate the gift that He has given me.  I want to take care of my gift and nurture my precious gift.  I want to handle the disappointments, challenges and triumphs in a way that brings honor to His name.  I want to make Him proud.  So, that is why I am excited about tomorrow!

Self Improvement Month

The month of September signifies many different things to me.  I immediately think that September is a chance to sneak in a last minute summer get away during the Labor Day weekend.  It also marks that time when kids go back to school.  This means that the warm lazy days of summer are over and they will soon be traded in for the fun fall leaves that will shortly be falling from the trees.  September is really special to me because I share September as my birthday month with many of my close friends.  So in my mind, September is a month of transition physically and mentally.

I was pleased to discover that September is Self Improvement Month. This is the perfect time of year to recognize what areas in our lives in which we can make improvements. There are many different things about each of us that use some improvement. Some of the areas we may look to improve can be :

• How well do we think we are balancing the various roles in our lives
• Health
• Relationships with family and friends
• Finances
• Giving our personal, spiritual and professional goals some clarity

Including September, there are 4 more months left in the year.  This is the perfect time to pause, be a little selfish and do some "me" work.  It is critical that we don't loose our sense of self or loose focus of our goals because we are busy with helping others be their best and achieve their own goals.  Remember, it is never too late to rebuild any part of our lives.

Glued in Place

Have there ever been periods in your life when you have felt that you are just plain stuck?  You may feel   as if you can't get your motor going and it's easier just to let life happen.  In your mind you may think about the many things that you know you could or should be doing.  But you just don't have the energy to invoke change.  During these times you may even feel as if one day just flows into the next with any effort on your part. Yu may also feel  like your just going through the motions. 

When I have experienced these feelings I would feel like I was stuck in one place; almost like I was glued in place.  Even though I had these feelings it was important that I couldn't allow myself to surrender to being glued in place.  I had to remember that I had the choice and the power to become unstuck.

Each of us is endowed with personal power. There are certain circumstances and situations that we can control. It comes down to 2 choices. We have the power to choose to take control of our life or we can continue to allow our lives to take control of us.  I will admit there are times when I have felt that it was much easier to go with the flow and accept whatever life happened to bring my way.  I would allow myself to just be glued in place and I would react to my circumstances. The danger with this strategy is that staying glued in placed and in reactionary mode did not allow me to be empowered to design my life. 

International Self Esteem Month

The month of February is International Boost Your Self Esteem Month.  Self Esteem is what a person actually thinks about themselves internally.  We can have a strong sense of self esteem or our opinions can cause us to think negatively about ourselves and our circumstances.  It is natural that throughout our lifetime we will experience peaks and valleys in our amounts of self esteem.  However, no matter the what life situations we face it is important for us as women to always strive to increase our self esteem and have a high opinion of ourselves.  We have to start thinking about ourselves in positive manner.

An important factor about self esteem is that is maintained and cultivated in our mind.  Self esteem is NOT about how we look, what we wear, who we are related to or what others think about us.  But the tricky thing is that if we don’t have a healthy sense of self esteem then others may have a lower opinion of us.  Self esteem is only increased or decreased by the thoughts we have toward ourselves.

Be on Purpose

January is National Be on Purpose Month. I don't think that this is a concoindince. January is typically the time fo year that people develop resolutions and goals for the new year. However, instead of developing resolutions this year, I am going to develop intentions for the year.

I believe for us to live our lives to the fullest extent that we have to live intentionally. Living intentionally means that we are living our lives with a purpose. This means that we are living our lives with intergrity. I challenge each of us to start out this new year by living with a purpose. We also need to have to courage to make changes when our purpose changes. Periodically throughout the year we should check in with ourselves. We should evaluate if the same things that had meaning and purpose to us in the beginning of the year still have the same meaning. If they do, then continue living purposefully. If not, then take some to evaluate the changes and plan your new purpose.

This is another exciting year full of exciting new possibilities. Be on Purpose!

Why Women Settle

Why Women Settle, and Give Up On Their Dreams And What Can Be Done to Reverse It

    By Allison Maslan, HHP, CCH

When women come to see me for life and career coaching or homeopathy, I often find myself saying, “ You really do deserve to be happy.” With this statement I often receive a perplexed expression as their reply. Such a simple and somewhat obvious statement, but surprisingly for many women, it rings distant from their reality.

Their confused stare translates to, “Really? But how can this be? How could that actually happen? True happiness seems so far from my life that I honestly have no idea how to get there.”

I don’t mean that all women are walking around miserable. Far from that. However, deserving to be happy can have many connotations. It can mean the opportunity to have all they desire in life, to reach their dreams or to be completely fulfilled and content right where they are.

Many women tell me they remember having dreams and longings at some point in their lives, but over time, have lost touch with these aspirations. At this junction, these desires seem more like fantasies. Many women have expressed to me that they feel so trapped within their circumstances that happiness has meant settling, or making the best of what they really do not want.

Why is this so? And how did this happen? Is it a message we have unconsciously inherited from our mothers that says, “This is the best you’ll get or the best you can do, so deal with it”? Is it ideology from Cinderella and Superwoman gone astray? Or has it been the many disappointments in love, a dead-end quest for a dream career or never making it past surviving on a month-to-month income while juggling the responsibilities of home, work and family? Or maybe one has a great job, but it leaves no time for anything but the job? And the push for all of this has left many women feeling overwhelmed, lost and just plain tired.

Maintaining Balance

It is hard to believe that we are in the middle of January in the year 2010. The new year brought in new expectations, dreams and intentions.  We are now reaching the point in the new year when some start to revert back to old habits.  However, now more than every it is time to stay focused and keep our New Year intentions in the front of our mind.  Having a sense of balance in our lives can assist us in achieving our new intentions.  There are several things we can keep in mind to assist us in feeling balanced every day.  Try to remember to:  

• Be realistic with your time.  Don't over schedule yourself.  Allot a few more minutes to complete a task then you think it requires.  Avoid calendar congestion by writing your schedule on a calendar or keep it in your Smartphone.  Consult it before scheduling commitments.

• Prepare the night before.  To help you get back in the saddle, it's a good idea to get ready the night before.  This doesn't just mean picking our your clothes and packing the kids lunches.  It can also include looking at your calendar and to-do list for the next day.  Consider all your obligations; not just what you have going on in the office.  Taking a glance at you commitments can help put you in the right mindset for the morning.

• Carefully evaluate all of your commitments.  It's great to be the one who volunteers for an extra project at work or sign up to make 3 dozen cupcakes for your child's class party.  However, before you raise your hand it is important to make sure that it's the right time and the right commitment.  You don't have to be everything to everybody.

• All the planning the world can't prevent the unexpected from happening.  It is critical for you to be flexible.  Being able to adapt to the unexpected is crucial when planning for the days, weeks and months ahead.

Keeping these things in mind will allow you to design a life that is balanced.  Remember, maintaining a sense of work life balance is a daily LIFESTYLE not just a New Year's Resolution. You can keep your momentum going!

New Years Intentions

Wow, a New Year and a New Decade!!! What an exciting time.  Yesterday, I spent time going back through my calendar. I used this time to help me reflect and think about 2009.  There were aspects of 2009 that brought joy, sorrow, frustration, happiness, etc. 

After reflecting on the past year I became excited with the possibilities of 2010.  I am ready to let go of 2009 and start to think about my plan for 2010.  A little light bulb went off in my head when I read a post by Ariane de Bonvoisin.  Instead of making resolutions, this year I am going to live INTENTIONALLY.

Intentions are goals and objectives.  I am determined to live each day, week, month, quarter and the entire year intentionally.  My actions, attitude, conversations, and the people I surround myself with will propel me toward achieving my 2010 objectives.  Each new day is a new opportunity for me to move toward my goals.  It doesn't matter if these action steps are big or small.  What matters is that I am making progress.

Being in tune with myself will help shape my intentions. This means I will be able to recognize if my intentions need to be shifted.  Constant evaluation is critical to living intentionally.  Intentions are quite different from traditional resolutions.  Typically with resolutions, we make a list of those things we want to accomplish or change.  The problem with this is our lives are ever changing and are fluid.  Because of this, it is good to recognize when we need to change directions. In fact, recognizing a need for change and invoking change is courageous. It's living intentionally!

Take the next couple of days and the upcoming weeks to truly define what your intentions are for 2010.  You don't  have to accept what life brings you. Within you lies the power to live INTENTIONALLY!