Losing Control to Gain Perspective

Motivation Monday with Brittany! I know this title may seem like an oxymoron, but I promise that it will make sense by the end. I feel that living inspired goes hand-in-hand with my eating and health. For the last 6 weeks I have felt slightly less inspired than I was previously, and thus, out of complete harmony with my eating (not bad just not as focused as I was previously). So what to do? Take off on an adventure of rediscovery of course. To be able to just be and not think. Friday morning I got in my car and took off with no definite plan of where I was going, but not caring and not hurrying. Previously I would have been afraid. How often do we have to have plans. We have our five-year and ten-year plans. We know what we’re doing tomorrow, we know what we’re doing in a week. We go on vacation and it’s pre-planned and an itinerary is in place (we have to see this and do that). This is typical of humans, we don’t necessarily like the unexpected. Moving into my shed, initially I was terrified. How long am I going to live here, what about the winter, on and on. But then I realized that that is what is wonderful about the whole thing and this is what I took from the weekend. Not knowing where I’m going to be tomorrow or in an hour is so freeing, it’s an adventure and let’s you treasure the moment that is here right now. It’s like Thoreau (someone I consider a true kindred spirit) said, “What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.”

I AM

I know my post is supposed to be on Mondays, but yesterday my father and I journeyed to Chicagoto listen to Dr. Dyer speak, so we’ll consider today Wisdom Wednesday instead of Motivational Monday. For those of you whom may not know Dr. Dyer’s books have changed my life (hence my favorite book Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life, as well as Excuses Begone, The Shift and The Power of Intention). The year 2011 has been the year of enlightenment and inspiration. We often discuss priorities or goals in  life, my main priority is simple: to be good (call it to be god-like or spiritual or inspired, whatever is least offensive to you). Often I find we say this, but when we really break down what takes up most of our time, it’s full of thoughts of work or problems. I dedicate a majority of my thoughts towards being good, living inspired, and evaluating how to change behavior (here I’m judging I need to work on that, for example). We think of ourselves and often end up complaining about life. Dr. Dyer came on stage, a man who was raised in foster homes, had a tough up bringing, who has been diagnosed with leukemia, whose wife left him; yet there he stood before 1,500 people speaking on how great life is and how to live inspired. Sure there are set backs in life, but you have the

Underestimated Play

Bike rides, especially in foreign locations (like here in Denver), are a great way to explore your surroundings

Today I’d like to discuss play. Yes, play. It may seem like a frivolous topic and definitely not something most would put on their list of wellness must do’s. This is sad because it has been an integral part of human existence and much like sleep and hiking, I don’t think that it gets the accreditation that it deserves and put off as something that we can do later. I’ve been reading a book on Play (yes they write entire books dedicated to play, wonderful books that just make you feel young and enthused to get outside), filled with study after study about the benefits of play. From a young age it seems we are molded to strive toward accomplishments. We spend our early life taking tests and preparing for the next phase of life. For high school, to get into college, for the ‘real world’, for retirement. It’s an assembly line, as if our futures are already mapped out and we spend our life with self-restrictions, trying to fit into the societal qualms of what is acceptable, being and doing what is considered right. Play and anything that doesn’t seem ‘productive’, is deemed unacceptable. Play isn’t something scheduled though. It is spontaneous, trying to define play takes away from the