Knowing what you want, of course.
Here’s a woman who knows what she wants. Who knows if she’ll get it. But she sure had enough clarity to answer this on-the-spot reporter’s questions.
For the writer and author in you, listen to Author Casey Sherman on the art of writing and publishing.
Mr. Sherman, born in 1969, is the bestselling author of five books, including “The Finest Hours”; “A Rose for Mary: The Hunt for the Real Boston Strangler”; and, “Black Irish, Black Dragon and Bad Blood: Freedom and Death in the White Mountains.” Me thinks he knows of what he speaks!
Don’t miss this video!
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Here’s just a little ditty about feminist rap.
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Watch this video, if you dare. Watch it twice. And then, get up and do something.
The text below comes directly from the YouTube page.
The lovely and amazing performance poet Gabrielle Bouliane performs for the audience at the Austin Poetry Slam.
This would be her last public performance.
Gabrielle was diagnosed with Stage Four Cancer shortly before this video was filmed. Our dear sister fought hard, but she ended her fight January 29, 2010. She was surrounded by family and friends, and her passing was in a very quiet, peaceful room full of love and affection. She was so brave.
Please share this video with everyone you know. I am sure it would tickle her to no end to have this video get as viral as a video can be. Tell the world.
Bunny up!
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Did you know that life actually provides many opportunities for laughter?
Laughter is good for both my body and mind, so I make a point of cultivating humor in my life.
Sometimes humor comes to me in flashy neon pink, billboard-style, and can’t be missed. But much of the time the laughter in my life springs from everyday things: a child first learning to kick a ball or a cat chasing her shadow.
I slow down and pay attention to what is going on around me so that I do not miss out on these moments.
If my daughter paints her face with my lipstick, I can wail about the waste or moan about the necessary clean up. Or I can laugh at her youthful silliness and grab my camera, choosing to relish this special moment.
I can choose to laugh at myself, too. By seeing the humor in my occasional mishaps, I avoid taking myself too seriously and keep minor annoyances in perspective.
Such obvious enjoyment of life makes me more approachable to others and leads to better and more productive relationships.
I let go of the idea that life must always be serious. I create opportunities to seek out people who also see the humorous side of life. I indulge in comedy often, knowing that hearty laughter makes me healthier in my body, mind, and spirit.
Self-Reflection Questions:
- Do I respond with humor to my own mistakes?
- Do I slow down enough to see the humor in everyday events?
- What activity can I plan that will bring some extra laughter to my life?
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Would you like to see some changes in your life? You can begin making these changes by building self-awareness. Self-awareness is a self-conscious state where you’re focused on yourself and your well being.
It’s often said, “We cannot change what we will not see.” Self-awareness is the process of acknowledging not only our strengths, but our weaknesses as well. Becoming self-aware entails listening to your body and feelings and taking action based on what you hear.
If you’re in tune with your body, you’ll know when to say no to that extra piece of cake or say no to staying up late. You’ll become more in tune with your body the more often you respect it. Self-awareness is a process. The more we do it, the better we become at it.
How do you become self-aware? These tips will help you in your journey to self-awareness:
- Reflect on who you are and who you’d like to become. While it’s important to notice your faults and weaknesses, it’s equally important to acknowledge your strengths.The better you understand yourself, the better you’re able to accept yourself as you are or change the things you’d like to be different. Self-awareness requires you to be honest with yourself and have the courage to change the things you can.A full recognition of yourself gives you the opportunity to become the self-fulfilled person you’re destined to be.Looking deep within your soul, you’ll find the many character traits that make you unique. Begin by acknowledging the positive things. This will strengthen and encourage you to face the less favorable character traits without abandoning your new venture.On the other hand, when evaluating your strengths, don’t let your ego get the best of you. If you magnify either your strengths or your weaknesses, you can’t possibly get a realistic picture of yourself.
* Until you examine the truth of who you are, you cannot move into the person you can become.
- Pay attention to your likes and dislikes. Far too often, people make life-changing choices without acknowledging deeply rooted personal preferences.Before you embark on goals for your future, have a full awareness of the things you especially enjoy and those you prefer not to have in your life.
- Face your inner self. During your self-awareness process, think about your motivations, dreams, fears and stressors. Think about why you feel the way you do, then begin to work toward overcoming these inner battles.
- Ask your loved ones’ opinions. Talk to people who know you best and really listen to what they see as your dominant character traits and motivations. Ask them to be completely honest with you and be prepared to hear their opinions.You may not be your own best judge of character. Accept the way your loved ones see you as part of this process. Consider their opinions along with your own analysis in order to see the full picture of who you are.
Self-awareness is a necessary part of self-esteem and change. If you want to grow as an individual, begin with a complete and honest picture of who you are now. This total awareness will start your journey to becoming the best you can be.
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In order to live a full and complete life, we must learn how to let go of past failures and disappointments and not carry them with us into our future.
Hanging on to pain, bitterness and disappointment from a past conflict is a heavy burden. It affects your moods, attitudes, relationships, job and all aspects of your life. Negativity eats away at your self-esteem and destroys any possibility of a life free from pain.
Fortunately, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel! Your future doesn’t have to be a repetition of your past. You don’t need to be destined to a life of pain, regardless of what you’ve already been through. You can lay down your burdens. It’s okay for you to be free. In fact, you deserve it!
These five steps will help you move forward and find the freedom you need to begin living a fuller, more enjoyable life, regardless of what lies in your past:
- Talk about it. Discuss your past pain, fear, disappointment or trauma with a trusted friend or family member. Fully express the feelings associated with the situation: cry, scream, or do whatever you need to do to release the bottled up emotions in a safe way.Until you really talk about the feelings connected to your past, you may not be able to move past them. Once you’ve spoken the words, release them from your mind forever. As hard as it may be, it’s the only way to free yourself from your past.
- Use a journal. Writing in a journal is an excellent way to pour out your pain. A journal offers the safety of knowing your words are just for you and won’t be read by anyone else. Don’t worry about spelling, grammar, or even if the words follow a logical progression, simply write from the heart.Physically writing your thoughts and feelings can release your emotions so you can move past them.
- Seek forgiveness. Many people misunderstand the meaning of forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn’t mean what happened to you is unimportant or you’re saying it’s “okay.” In fact, forgiveness isn’t about the other person at all.Forgiveness simply means that you’ve made the choice to let go of the desire to exact revenge and punishment, and you’ve found closure within your heart and soul. Forgiveness releases you from the burden of carrying the pain any longer. By choosing to forgive, you can stop thinking about the past so it won’t control your future.
- Seek professional guidance. You can choose to get help from a life coach or therapist. The people closest to us aren’t always the best choice to help us work through our pain. It may be difficult for us to fully open up about our deepest pain or it may be hard for them to step back far enough to help us through it.Seeking guidance from a professional gives us the safety of relative anonymity, which can make it easier to share our problems. Often a coach or counselor can help us see a new point of view, which can help us move forward.
- Use alternative therapies. There are many techniques you can use to help change your mindset, which can be instrumental in leaving the past behind.
Hanging onto past negativity isn’t necessary. No matter what your history contains, you can learn to release it and move forward into a life filled with contentment and joy. Find a method that works for you and begin, today, to let go of the past and move into the life you deserve!
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This week’s article is on how to discover purpose in your life and avoid boredom.
Do you ever feel like your life has no purpose – like you’re just going from one day to the next, without really loving or hating it? If you’re in this situation, boredom is your enemy.
We all experience boredom at some point in life, and it stops us from meeting our full potential. If you want to get out of this rut and onto the fast track to success and fulfillment, you’re going to have to give up boredom. It’s time to say you’ll never be bored again!
Boredom is detrimental to your physical and mental health. It makes you feel unfulfilled, unhappy, and tired. It’s a fact – inactivity leads to more inactivity, plus it leaves you feeling empty and miserable. The cycle becomes ongoing, and you’ve got to consciously break its path.
If you’re feeling bored and want to get out of the slump, do something – anything! It doesn’t matter what. Just get moving. If you don’t like your chosen activity, change to something else.
<h5>Boredom and Purpose</h5>
How does boredom relate to finding your purpose? It’s simple. If you’re allowing yourself to be bored, you’re putting roadblocks in the way of finding the path that will lead you to the top of your personal mountain.
It’s important to have a purpose, because that purpose will allow you to feel happy and give you a reason to get out of bed every day. It will keep you moving, active, and healthy.
Your special purpose doesn’t necessarily have to be a career; it could be a hobby or charitable cause.
It’s also important to love what you’re doing. The ideal, of course, is to turn your life’s passion into a full time career. No matter what you’re doing, if you don’t love it, you need to find something else to pursue.
Some people are able to pursue their passion during the time when they’re not working, because some passions may not make the best careers. For example, there are few highly paid stamp collectors.
<h5>How Do You Find Your Purpose?</h5>
How can you discover your special purpose? The answer is simple, but the process might be a tough one. You need to open yourself to all new experiences and get out there and do things. You mustn’t allow yourself to say you’re bored anymore!
Exploring the world around you is a great way to discover your purpose or passion.
Whether you’re reading new books, exploring parts of your city you’ve never been to, or talking to people you’ve never met, you’ll discover new things about yourself, learn more about your surroundings, and experience new adventures.
New experiences have a lot to offer. They get you out of the same old mindset and into one where you have more passion and interest in the world. New encounters encourage you to try new things, develop new skill sets, and find out what you excel at.
You can find purpose in the strangest places, so don’t rule out any activity. After all, if you try something and don’t like it, you don’t have to go back to it.
It’s having passions, and the perseverance to pursue them, that makes us stars. If you’ve been feeling like your life is empty, it’s time to fill it with some passion!
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In preparation for the inevitable New Year’s resolutions, this week we’re going to talk about how to reprogram your subconscious mind
Many people go through their lives without understanding why they make the same mistakes, follow the same patterns, and live in the same ruts. They aren’t happy with their present situation, but they seem to be unable to make any lasting changes. Are you one of these people?
Perhaps you’ve attend seminars, read books, and taken courses, but, in the end, fallen back into the same dysfunctional patterns you’ve always followed! Why does it always turn out this way?
We struggle to make permanent changes in our lives because we input information only into our conscious mind. Here’s the problem: your conscious mind is not what directs your behaviors and belief system.
To change your behaviors, you must first reprogram the hard-wired center of your mind: the subconscious mind.
<h5>How Does Your Subconscious Mind Work?</h5>
The subconscious is the largest part of our mind. It contains all the messages we’ve received throughout our lives. It holds millions and millions of thoughts grouped into clusters that form beliefs, mindsets and character traits.
The relationship between the conscious and subconscious minds is like an iceberg. The conscious mind is represented by the visible tip of the iceberg, while the subconscious is represented by the gigantic lower portion of the iceberg hidden from view.
You can’t see the subconscious in action, but it certainly has a major impact on the voyage you take in your life.
The subconscious is the place where all of your learned behaviors reside. Once you learn to walk, you don’t need to consider how to lift and place each foot to take the next step, do you? Of course not! Your subconscious mind automatically controls your steps.
Your subconscious learns behavior through repetition and practice. Just as it learned to control your footsteps when you learned to walk, it also controls your footsteps in your life’s journey based on what you’ve reinforced throughout your life.
The good news is you can reprogram your subconscious mind by inputting and reinforcing new thoughts and actions! There are several different techniques you can use to tap into the subconscious mind and reprogram how it works.
Here are some strategies you can use to change your mind and change your life:
- Affirmations. Affirmations work to change your subconscious mind by using positive, personal, present tense statements to override the embedded negative thinking. By repeating these positive thoughts, you can create new pathways in your subconscious, giving it new attitudes Then your subconscious causes you to act in new ways that agree with these new attitudes. For example, repeating: “I choose healthy foods at each meal” can change your mindset about what you eat and why!
- Visualization. Visualization is the act of creating detailed mental pictures that depict a desired outcome so you can see success for yourself. These images stimulate the subconscious into accepting them as reality, which then directs behavior accordingly. Top athletes around the world use this technique during game-time.
- Hypnosis. Some types of therapy work with the subconscious mind, including hypnosis. Hypnosis works by easing you into a state of extreme relaxation. Once you’re in this state, the conscious mind releases its grip, and the subconscious mind is easier to access.
While under hypnosis, it’s much easier to reprogram the subconscious into accepting new thoughts as reality. - Subliminal Audios. You can use subliminal audios while you sleep. The conscious mind listens to music or someone speaking on one level, but the subconscious mind hears another layer of information recorded underneath the audible portion. When awake, the conscious mind is distracted with the audible portion of the audio, making it harder to tap into the subconscious mind. Using techniques like these can help you reprogram your subconscious mind and remove the burden of the negative thoughts buried there. Imagine the freedom of living your life without the automatic dysfunctional behaviors you’ve had driving you for years! When you transform your negative outlook into a positive one, you can accomplish so much more. In doing so, your mind will be released from negative programming, allowing you to excel and succeed throughout your life.
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