The Importance of Doing Nothing

June 26th, 2008, by Shelley Riutta

We had a great time talking, going out to dinner, talking, walking, talking some more, watching a movie, watching some live music outside on the Terrace at UW-Madison (it was a beautiful night).  My brother-in law, Aaron, did not join us (probably from his trauma from last year of having to take all of the goofy pictures of us–see the previous newsletter for details–the link is above.) Here we are out for dinner.

 
We went swimming on Saturday and my sister Nessa and I were laughing about how little of a tan we have.  For years we have been taking the warnings of sun damage seriously and wear 30 spf block every time we are outside.  We have a picture of us vacationing in Florida and we are so white we blend in with the sand! We look like Casper the friendly ghost–but hey, we have great skin:)

Wishing you lots of full moments of doing “nothing”!

Warmly,

Shelley

The Importance of Doing Nothing

“There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace.  You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub.”                 Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Chances are you are very busy, maybe even too busy.  If that is the case taking time to “do nothing” is even more important for you.  We are meant to have a balance of active, doing time–and then a balance of time for relaxation.  So often we keep going and going without a break–this generally  leads to a decrease in our productivity, irritability and feeling drained.  How Doing Nothing Helps You: 1.Taking time to relax and do nothing helps you physically.  During relaxation our body is able to devote more energy to healing and repairing itself.   It also helps you to de-stress and reduce the negative impact of stress on your body. 2. Letting go of the mental chatter that accompanies being busy allows you to ”hear” the more subtle messages of your Spirit.  Your intuition is like a soft voice which you need to be quiet to be able to hear its messages.  These intuitive messages can give you guidance on how to handle the situations in your life.  The more you worry and get stressed–the more you block the subtle answers that are trying to come through from your intuition.  So give yourself permission to relax and let go—trusting that the answers you are chasing will be able to come to you–and you will be able to hear them in the quiet. 3. Doing nothing with others helps you to connect more deeply with them.  A story that I read years ago that really stuck with me was about a family in New York City that regularly had “do nothing” weekends.  They all would stay in their pajamas for the weekend and just hang out together.  They would talk a lot, do skits for one another and make up games.  They limited the outside activities that their kids were involved in to protect the time that they had to be together.  So often we are so busy with outside activities that we become strangers to the people we are closest to. Having big chunks of time together can create safety for more vulnerable information to be shared.  This is what happened this past weekend with my sisters. What we shared on day 3 of being together was deeper, more vulnerable information then the first initial sharing during day 1.   4. Doing nothing can help you get more done!  The analogy I use is that it is like we have a kid inside of us that needs rest and play.  If we just are busy and don’t stop to rest and play this little kid gets very cranky and starts to cause some problems.  These problems look like procrastination, forgetfullness, working slower etc.  If we do take the time to rest and play the kid inside of us is happy.  Then when we start to work again it will be very cooperative with what we want to get done and things will go smoother. Ideas to add doing Nothing to Your Schedule 1. Have “do nothing” breaks during the day.  Go outside and lay on the grass for 10 minutes and look at the sky.  If you are in your office shut off your computer, take off your shoes and close your eyes for 10 minutes and do nothing. 2. Take a nap.  If you have never taken a nap–give it a try. It’s OK if you don’t sleep, just resting with your eyes closed can be very relaxing.  Try taking a nap in a hammock.  There is something about being outside and gently swinging that is very soothing and peaceful. 3. Go to a coffee shop where you don’t know anybody and hang out.  I am writing this article at a coffee shop and there is a woman sitting alone reading a book and another woman alone working on the computer.  Go somewhere where there are no distractions, so you can focus on whatever you would like to –reading a good book, journaling or just relaxing and being.  Check out all of the coffee shops in your area and find a special place that feels relaxing to you. 4. Go on a Retreat.  A wonderful way to do nothing and connect more deeply with yourself is to go on a retreat.  You can find a place that is a short drive away from you that you can go to for the day or for the weekend.  A place locally that some of my friends have gone to is “The Bridge Between” which is just outside of Green Bay.  You can plan a retreat in your own home too.  Plan a time when no one will be there and eliminate distractions–turn off the phone, the computer etc.  Block out a designated time as your “retreat” time–you could do a half of a day or a whole day. 5. Find a place in your house that you designate as your “do nothing” place.  This is a place that you can go for peace and quiet when you need it.  Eliminate distractions and also let the people in your home know that when you are in this place that you are to not be interrupted. 6. If things are really busy for you and you feel like you don’t have any time—take a 5 minute break to do nothing.  You would be surprised at how even a small amount of time like 5 minutes can make a big difference in helping you relax.  You can focus on your breath and make sure you are breathing deeply.  When we are busy we often  hold our breath–so taking this break and breathing fully can relax you and help your body release tension. 7. Designate one day a week to take off.  Have one day a week where you aren’t doing any work–no errands, no work around the house etc.  Just a day to be and do as you please.  When you have a full day off you can really get into a relaxed state and enjoy the full benefit of this.   Then when you go back to work you will feel energized, more focused and you will be more productive. Give yourself the gift of putting more time in your schedule just to “do nothing” and watch your life become more peaceful, productive and rich with a deeper connection with yourself and others! What are your favorite things to do–to do nothing? Please share these below.

Niyo’s Tip of the Week Tip from Niyo my four year old Golden Retriever!  Here is his message for this issue of the newsletter!   “Wishing you a wonderful 4th of July with lots of fun for you and all of your friends” Love- Your Friend Niyo

Are You Having Fun Yet?

June 22nd, 2008, by Shelley Riutta

Are You Having Fun Yet?

“Unless each day can be looked back upon by an individual as one in which she has had some fun, some joy, some real satisfaction, that day is a loss.” Anonymous

“Fun is Good.” Dr. Seuss

Are you having enough fun in your life? Belly laughs that make your stomach hurt, laughing so hard that you are crying (one of my favorites), that light open feeling in your body of pure fun.  You will probably know the answer to this quickly and if you are like many people today, the answer will be NO.

Traveling in Bali—Balinese Culture compared to the United States

When I was traveling in Bali, one of the things that I learned that really stuck with me was that when the Balinese have a spiritual ceremony they will not begin the ceremony until they feel the presence of the God’s and Goddesses they have invited.  One of the things that they believe draws these spiritual presences near is celebration and fun.  So if they are not feeling the energy of the God’s and Goddesses, they know they are not having enough fun, so they need to step it up a notch and celebrate even more, open their hearts even more to raise the vibration to a higher level.   They know when they are on track when they feel the energy shift with the presence of the Gods.

Now imagine in our culture if spiritual traditions would not begin unless everyone felt this shift happen. The Pastor or Priest saying to the crowd  “I’m sorry folks but we can’t begin until you are having more fun out there—come on—have some fun.” Could you imagine the look of bewilderment on people’s faces getting this kind of instruction “What do they mean fun—right now?!”  Yes, this would be shocking for a lot of people
in our culture.  We aren’t used to celebrating and having fun together—this is not something that comes easily and naturally for most people.

Our Innate Capacity to Have Fun

The capacity to have fun is something that we are born with, it is innate. Just looking at small children and you will see the natural capacity to play and have fun.  What happens to this as we get older?  Some people are able to retain this ability to have fun, play with others and laugh easily.

For many people this capacity gets lost with increased responsibilities of a job, having children, caring for elderly parents —feeling overwhelmed with the stress of everyday living. There can be an attitude that the fun will happen when the work is done—but you know the work is never really done.

Fun tends to get put on the back burner—and for many people it is on the back burner for so long they forget even how to have it or what it is like.  I have clients who say to me “I don’t even know how to have fun, I don’t even know where to start.”

This article will give you ideas on how to start having more fun, but first I want to share with you some compelling reasons why Fun needs to be a priority in YOUR life.

WHY FUN IS GOOD FOR YOU

1. Having Fun is your Natural State

   We were born to have fun. Look at little babies they are giggling and laughing—they are little fun machines—having fun is like breathing for them.  This is who we are deep inside—we are little fun machines—wanting to have fun and play.  That is why it feels so good to be around babies and children—they remind us of who we really are and we connect with that energy just by being around them.

2. Having Fun Helps Your Life Work Better

   When we are more aligned with our natural state our lives work better, we are more in the flow. When our bodies are tense with being serious, worrying, being so busy– life becomes hard and a struggle—we are out of alignment with our natural state.  When we are relaxed, having fun—things flow easier—solutions to what we need to do in our life come easier to us in this state.  When we are in alignment with our natural state are bodies can be healthier and stronger.  Just like a car out of alignment doesn’t function optimally—we too function better when we are in alignment with our natural state—how we are designed to function.  We are designed to function with having a lot of fun and ease in our life.

3. Having Fun Gives You More Energy

   Having fun feeds your Spirit. Using the car analogy again-just like a car needs certain things to give it energy to
   operate.  We need basic things for our body to function- like air, food, water and shelter. But we are much more than our bodies, we are Spirits housed in our bodies.  We also need fuel for our Spirits to thrive and feel uplifted.  You know what it is like to feel like your Spirit is sagging—life becomes dull and lifeless and you think—“what is the point?”  That is when you know you need to feed your Spirit.

   What feeds our Spirit is the intangible but crucial aspects of living—love, fun, pleasure, intimacy with others, and connection to Spirit. I have health conscious clients who are doing wonderful things to support their physical bodies, yet they are still feeling sick or have low energy.  That is because they are not attending to the feeding of their Spirit.  By starting to feed their Spirit with having fun they are amazed at how much energy this brings.

4. Having Fun Attracts Good Things to You

   Years ago I was out to dinner with some good friends and we were having so much fun that other people in the restaurant would come up and talk with us. One woman came up and said that she couldn’t keep her eyes off of us, we were having so much fun that she wanted to join us.  Everybody likes to have fun and when we are having a lot of fun—we are a like a magnet to others—they want to be around us and have fun too.  We are like the Balinese Gods and Goddesses—wanting to come near when there is fun and celebration.

   Fun attracts in another way as well.  Fun is a higher frequency. To explainwhat this means—think of a time when you walked into a room where people were getting along and having a lot of fun—didn’t the energy of the room feel “lighter” Now think of a time when you walked into a room where people were arguing and there was anger—didn’t the energy feel “heavy” and dense. This is an example of the difference in energy frequencies that we can be in.Like frequencies tend to gravitate towards each other—light energy tends to draw light energy—dense energy tends to draw other dense energy.  So when we are having more fun, our energy is lighter and will tend to attract other light  energy things—whether it’s other people who are having fun, or experiences that are more positive and “light.”

5. Having Fun has a Positive Ripple Effect on Those Around You

   Think about what it is like to be in a room with someone who is really happy and having fun—this energy is contagious and pretty soon you start to feel good too.

One of the most dramatic examples I have of this is a few years ago I was at the Boston airport catching a flight back to Wisconsin. When I walked into the airport I could feel the energy of tension and stress—-I soon discovered that many of the flights had been cancelled because of the weather.  Because of my interest in positive emotional states, I decided to do a research experiment.

My experiment was to see what would happen if I would maintain a real happy, joyful emotional state in the midst of all of this stress and tension. I walked through the airport smiling at people—maintaining my state of joy and
relaxation.  When I went through security I was picked to go through the more
in depth search line.  The people in this line were even more frustrated and upset.

I continued to maintain my positive state and started to joke around with the man ahead of me. Within 10 minutes the entire line was joking and laughing.  Some really funny things started to happen too.  One young man had to take his belt off his jeans that were so baggy that as soon as he took his belt off his jeans dropped exposing his boxer shorts.  We all started laughing and he joined in at how funny this was.

What I believe is that we are easily influenced by the emotional states of those around us. Like my example above—holding a positive state of having fun and lightness can easily shift those around you into a lighter state as well.  And isn’t this the kind of effect you want to have on those around you!

HOW TO HAVE MORE FUN

1. Make a List of What You Love to Do for Fun

   Even if your list is short,still write it down. It is like priming the pump to write these things down.  Then what happens is your inner fun machine will start to come up with even more ideas.  Give yourself permission to write down anything, even if it seems silly to you.  Then begin to integrate these fun things into your day and see what happens.

2. Make Fun a Priority in Your Life

   Begin your day with an intention to have a lot of fun. People who have a lot of fun in their life—have made
   fun a priority and routinely do things that create fun throughout their days.
   It could be turning a boring meeting into one that is fun and productive.  I have done this with meetings I have attended.  One meeting where we were going to be working on a difficult situation—I suggested we start the meeting with telling jokes and goofing around.  Everyone was game to do this and we had a lot of fun for about 10 minutes then we shifted into the issue we were trying to resolve.  Much to everyone’s surprise we resolved the issue quickly and easily because we were in a more relaxed creative state because of the fun we had at the start of the meeting.

   If you make fun a priority in your life you will be more productive with your time. One way to understand this is using the analogy of having a child inside of you.  If you just work all of the time—the child inside of you begins to get frustrated because of the lack of fun—and begins to rebel.  This rebellion shows up in your life as procrastination, low energy, lack of focus—it is like a drag on your energy.  It is like the child says—“If you don’t listen to me, I’m not going to cooperate with the things your trying to get done.” Integrating fun into your days satisfies this child inside of you and then it cooperates with the other things you want to get done. Even though you are taking time to have fun—you actually don’t lose any time because the time you do work is very productive.  I have seen this work over and over again with clients—the more fun they have, the more they get done.  Try it and see for yourself!

3. Let Go of False Beliefs  About Fun

   What kind of beliefs do you have about about having fun?  List these beliefs on a piece of paper. They could be “It’s irresponsible to have too much fun.”  “Fun is just for kids, not for adults.” “I’ll look stupid if I’m having fun” “I don’t have enough time to have fun.” “Having fun is a waste of time, it’s frivolous.”  Examine these messages and decide if you want to continue to hold these beliefs. These false beliefs can be holding you back from a world of fun.  Write
   new messages about fun that you want to embrace-i.e. “Having fun helps me to be more creative and productive in my whole life.”  “Fun feels good and I deserve to feel good.” “Fun brings me closer to those around me.” “Fun leads to great things happening in my life.” Embracing these new beliefs will open the doorway for more Fun in your life.

4. Be a Fun Initiator in Your Life

   Think of ways that you can bring more fun to yourself and others throughout the day. When you are in conversation with people use humor and lightness to create fun rather than letting the conversation slip into negativity.  Many people are in the habit of connecting with one another through discussing problems and gossiping.  Just notice if you are in this habit by monitoring what you tend to focus on in your conversations with others. See if you can allow yourself to connect with others with fun and joy.  When others ask you how you are doing say “I am having so much fun in my life, I am so happy!”

   Think of fun activities that you can do with your friends and family—have a theme party that has a silly theme or designate a day to celebrate something fun. I heard from some friends that there was a day a few months ago that was “Talk like a Pirate Day” and they were having fun planning a party on that day.  Be willing to take risks and try new things.

   Re-connect with that fun-machine inside of you that is just waiting to have more fun than you have been having. Click into what you knew innately as a baby and a child—that having fun is a big part of what we are here for. So don’t waste another minute and —-go have some fun!

Simplify, Simplify, Simplify!

June 22nd, 2008, by Shelley Riutta

SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY!

“Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed and in such desperate enterprises?  If a person does not keep pace with their companions, perhaps it is because they hear a different drummer.  Let them step to the music which they hear,
however measured or far away.”                 Henry David Thoreau

I made my writing debut in Healthy Thoughts in 1998 with an article I co- wrote with my friend Tom Triatik titled “Voluntary Simplicity.”  In the article we were announcing the start of a Simplicity Circle that we were starting in January of 1999.  The first meeting of that group was in the basement of Earthheart Deli/Café—we were taken aback by the level of the response to the group—23 people attended that first meeting!

Even though the group hasn’t met for a few years -we simplified our lives so much we didn’t need to meet anymore! I still get calls asking about the group.  I wish I could say that the art of simplifying ones life to what is most nourishing and important has been mastered by most people, but the reality is it seems to be even more challenging to do than ever.  We all need to develop skills to handle all of the information, requests of our time, opportunities that come our way.  It is so easy to get side-tracked and lose our focus as to what is truly important and a priority in our life.  This idea hit home for me recently when a business coach that I work with gave me the feedback “Your getting scattered, you’re losing your focus.”  That statement was so helpful to me, it jarred me out of a pattern of getting so captivated and interested in all of the different opportunities that come my way that I was getting off track with my original intentions.  It also reminded me of a recent trip to Home Depot with my Mom to pick up stuff to re-do my bathroom.  Instead of staying focused on what we needed to get for the bathroom we began looking at all the things we could do to renovate my kitchen and other areas of my home.  A trip that should have taken about an hour, turned into a four hour excursion.  Does this sound familiar to you?

For many people this scenario at Home Depot can be an analogy for getting off track in one’s life in larger ways. Examples like: “I was clear and focused on going to school for art and than my husband wanted to move to another area and they didn’t have the kind of school I was looking for, so I just got a job and forgot about art school.” Or “I have always wanted to have my own business, but I am so busy doing my work projects and pleasing my employer that I just don’t have any extra time.” Or “I have always wanted to travel but my husband hates it, he likes golfing instead, so I have tried to like golfing and forget about travel because he wants us to be together.”

All the possibilities of our modern day life can be exciting, but also can pull us off track from what we truly want in our deepest self.  All of the information, activities, projects of all kinds, other people’s requests can shift us in one moment into a different direction that may not be in alignment with where we truly want to go.  Why is it challenging to stay focused on our deepest self and our true path? It’s important to understand the underlying reasons why staying focused can be so challenging.  By gaining a deeper understanding about your own inner dynamics, you are better able to make conscious choices about what you want to do and make changes.  The following are reasons for lack of focus that I have discovered over the years in working with clients around this issue of focus and simplicity.  After each reason I have included solutions

1. A Disconnection from Your True Self: What do you really want in your life?  What is your main priority for how you want to spend your time?  Do you have clarity about this or does it feel all jumbled and unclear?  Are you too busy just handling what is going on in your life to even contemplate these questions?  Your true self, your authentic self is always crystal clear about what is most important and what would make you happiest. SOLUTION: Take time to get to know your true self, your true desires.  Time together with your true self is what builds the connection.  The more you tune into this deeper part of you, the stronger and clearer the information becomes. Take a day to spend with yourself—journal, walk in the woods, go somewhere uplifting and inspirational—reflect on what is most important to you at this time of your life.  Plan for what you can you do to adjust your life to make these things top priority.  In this moment, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths, ask your true self “What is most important to me to focus on right now in my life, the top 4 priorities?” and now just listen.  Write these 4 things down on index cards and place them around your house and in your car so you can see these all the time to help you stay focused.  When requests of your time come in you can check to see if doing what is requested fits in with your priorities right now.
2. Difficulty Saying NO: How comfortable are you saying No to those around you?  If it is really impossible for you to say no, than it is a given that you will routinely be pulled off track from what is most important for you.  What are the fears in saying No?  Many people fear that others will get mad, withdraw from them or end the relationship.  If it is an employer, there may be a fear that you won’t be considered a good, dedicated worker.  You may fear others judgments of you if you say No—judgments like “Who does she think she is?” or “He is selfish” or “She is mean”. In order to stay on track in your life you have to be willing to let go of what others think of you and even risk upsetting them.  If you are unwilling to do this it is a guarantee that you will get off track in staying focused on the desires of your authentic self. SOLUTION: Give yourself permission to say NO and have it be OK—you are not intentionally trying to hurt someone else, just trying to stay on track with your own life.  This is not a bad thing to do.  If you know there are situations where you have a hard time time saying NO, practice what to say with a friend.  Having the words, and how to say it, can make it easier when the time comes to say No.  Examples could be: “Sam, I would really love to help you out with that project, but I have another project that is taking up all of my time, so I have to say No.” or “Thank you for the invitation, but I’m going to have to pass.” The more simple and direct you communicate your “No”, the better.  You don’t need to offer elaborate explanations or justifications for your NO, we all have the right to say No simply because we just don’t want to.  The more you develop the skill of saying No, the more focused and clear you will feel in your life.
3. Addiction to being Busy: There can be many reasons why people get addicted to being busy.  For some people who grew up in a chaotic household, busy-ness and chaos feels “normal” to them and living in a more relaxed and balanced way can feel awkward and uncomfortable.  When it is calm and quiet, there is no distraction from the feelings on the inner level, which they never learned how to deal with when they were young. The interesting thing with this dynamic is that the creation of the chaos in their current life can be unconscious, so they aren’t aware that they are the one creating the busy-ness by their choices over and over. Many people stuck in this pattern are convinced that this busy-ness is inevitable because of their unique life situation “I have kids, life is just chaotic when you have kids.” Or “I have to work this many hours at work, they expect this from me at work, I have no choice.”SOLUTION: If this is a pattern for you, it is important for you to see it clearly- make the unconscious, conscious by getting clear that it is the pattern of your choices that has led to the current situation and that you can make different choices to create something different.  Make the shift from a victim stance “This is just how it is, I am helpless to make it different” to a more empowered stance “I have the power to change this and create a loving balance for myself.”  The other piece of making this shift from chaos to more balance is to also address ways to cope with the underlying feelings that you have been avoiding.  You will keep creating chaos if there is no plan to deal effectively with the old painful feelings from your childhood and also to deal with feelings in general in your life.  Seeing a therapist to work with these underlying feelings can be very helpful in shifting this pattern.
4. Desire for Excitement: For some people their authentic self loves excitement and
   adventure.  They like to travel, explore and experience life in a larger way—as a grand adventure.  It is important to know if this is who you are in your deepest self and to make sure you are consciously meeting this need for exciting experiences.  What can happen if these people aren’t meeting this need is that they can create the excitement in an unhealthy way by creating chaos in their lives and than trying to manage it—it gives a similar adrenalin rush as an exciting adventure.  This can also be created by engaging in addictions of various sorts as well. It is important to notice the difference in this vs. the previous addiction to busy-ness—rather than the excitement being an avoidance of feelings it is actually a true desire of the authentic self that needs to be expressed—but in a healthy, safe way.  Clients who I have worked with feel a sense of relief when they discover this is what they have been doing in their life. Once they consciously start meeting this need in healthy ways, like planning regular adventures, their unhealthy patterns of getting excitement fall away. SOLUTION: If you know this is true for you, start planning exciting adventures for yourself—whether it is a trip to South America or a planning an exciting day long adventure.  Infusing excitement and adventure in healthy ways will help your authentic self feel satisfied and you will be able to stay more focused and clear in your day to day life.
5. Not Feeling “Good Enough”-If you are not clear about your intrinsic worth and lovability you will try to get approval from others through doing things to please them.
   This will have a big effect on how you manage your time by causing you to stretch beyond your limits of available time, in order to please others to get their approval.
   You will watch your friend’s kids even though you don’t have time that day. You will agree to do a project at work to please your co-workers and boss, even though you don’t have time. You will stay talking on the phone with a friend longer than you want to so they won’t get upset and disapprove of you. You aren’t able to be honest with them because it is more important to get them to approve of you, so you feel “good enough”, than it is to honor your own time. SOLUTION: At the deepest part of you, what you truly long for is a deep connection with who you truly are and to have a deep knowing that you are a wonderful, amazing, loveable and loving being who is perfect just as you are.  Your worth is not contingent on; how much you work, if your house is clean, how much money you make, if your kids get good grades, who you are pleasing, what you are doing for others—you are worthy just for being you.  You have intrinsic worth that does not fluctuate with others’ opinions of you.  Getting real clear on your lovability by starting to be the loving parent to yourself — letting yourself know in this very moment you are ”good enough”–will make it easier to slow down and make loving choices about your time.
6. Lack of Simplifying Skills-If the above underlying emotional issues are addressed
   and you are still challenged with not being able to be focused, it may be due to a lack of simplifying skills.  Simplifying skills are: being able to declutter and organize the areas around you—at home and at work—so you can easily focus when you are in them.  For most people, if there is lots of clutter and things are disorganized around them, it is easily to get distracted and off track.  What I have found is some people have more developed skills in this area than others.  For example, my brother and sister are very organized and this comes fairly naturally for them.  I, on the other hand did not inherit this natural ability, and so for me it is a process of learning the skills of simplifying and organizing and then putting them into practice.  One of the ways to develop these skills is to learn from those people who are naturally organized and then adapt it to what will be workable for you.  I have done this by hiring a professional organizer(Jackie Kleinschmidt from Everyday Organizing) to assist me with organizing by paperwork and business materials. As she is assisting me, I am also learning because she is teaching me a method of organizing that I can replicate on my own.  I’m learning those skills that are not innate for me. This has made a world of difference for me in functioning more effectively and efficiently in my life.  An example for me was that shortly after we had organized all of my business paperwork I needed to plan for an upcoming Workshop.  It took me half the time to prepare because with my papers being organized I could easily get to all of the different materials I needed.  I called Jackie that day and exclaimed “I’m so happy, it was so much fun preparing for the Workshop because I wasn’t spending all of my time looking for things!” SOLUTION: If you realize you are lacking in simplifying skills find ways to learn those skills.  There are wonderful books, tapes and other materials that have wonderful simplifying information. Ask for assistance from someone in your life who is naturally organized.  Either pick their brain for tips on how to organize or have them come to your home or office and go through things with you.  Sometimes getting support when it feels overwhelming can make a world of difference in making these changes.  If you are learning the skills and have read a lot of organizing materials for tips and things have not changed for you, it means you have an underlying emotional issue that needs to be addressed before you can move forward.  It doesn’t necessarily mean that you need years of therapy, it may be an issue that can be resolved in one session. Once you address this, implementing new simplifying skills will be much easier and effective. Take steps to give yourself the gift of a Simple life, one that is filled with all of the things that are most meaningful to you and also enough time to enjoy them.

The Power of Inspiration

June 13th, 2008, by Shelley Riutta

The Power of Inspiration

“I love to laugh, it keeps my soul alive.” Mark, River Falls, WI “An Inspired Life Can’t be Planned” We are Spirits housed in human bodies.  There are things that fuel our bodies and things that fuel our Spirit.  If you neglect feeding your Spirit –you will feel drained and like you are a robot going through life.  Being inspired is a powerful way of nourishing and uplifting your Spirit.  What inspires you?  How often are you around the things and people that inspire you?  Just reflecting on what inspires you and making sure you are surrounding yourself with these things will lift your Spirit and energize you. Tips To Get Yourself Inspired 1. Who are the people in your life that inspire you.  What about them inspires you?  This is a quality that you value and more than likely possess yourself but maybe you aren’t expressing in your life. Use this to open up more to this quality in your own life.  Make sure the people you have in your life inspire you. 2. What music inspires you?  What about the music uplifts you—is it the voice of the singer—the words–the rhythm?  Do you like music that you can dance to or music that is calm and soothing. 3. What things visually inspire you?  Is it certain things in nature—the ocean, mountains, trees?  Is it certain colors?  Is is certain architeture of builidngs? 4. Which restaurants inspire you?  What food do you love?  What decor do you find appealing?  Do you make sure to go to restaurants that inspire you.  I love going to Cafe’ Mario’s because I love how they have decorated it, the music they play (Andrea Bocelli–my favorite:), the smells of the food, the laughter and connection that happens there. 5. What books do you find inspirational?  What words uplift you?  What authors inspire you? 6. What creative activity inspires you?  Dancing, painting, playing music, singing, making jewlery. 7. Do you inspire yourself?  Are you daring to live your dreams, express your creativity–living with passion?  Are you committed to a vibrant, inspired life?  Like the quote above–an inspired life can’t be planned.  Are you willing to let go and allow yourself to be inspired—and more importantly to act on these inspirational impulses? 8. What geographic areas inspire you?  Does your Spirit lift just thinking about Italy, Hawaii, Alaska or the California coast?  Make a plan to travel to the areas that inspire you.  There is a reason you are drawn to that area—it is a place that will feed your soul.  If you can’t travel there just yet, put up pictures of that area that you can see every day. 9. What movies inspire you?  Look for movies that inspire you—don’t settle for anything less than that . For those of you who have read the “What Do You Really Want Workbook”, I mentioned one of my favorite inspirational movies, “Miss Potter”, about the amazing life of Beatrice Potter (the artist who created Peter Rabbit).   10. Talk to your friends and family about what inspires them—you will deepen your connection with them from having this discussion.  Ask them “What inspires you?” 11. Surround yourself with things that inspire you.  When you look around your home—are you inspired?  Put up pictures that uplift you–buy art work that inspires you.  Buy flowers that you love. Open up to feeding your Spirit with all the the things that inspire you—and watch your energy level soar and your life expand into grand new possiblities! I would love to hear what Inspires YOU.  Please share this below (in the comments section).

Niyo’s Tip of the Week Tip from Niyo my four year old Golden Retriever!  Here is his message for this issue of the newsletter!    ”This is me and my best friend Breezy–and her Mom, Ines.  I love Breezy and Ines SO much.  Breezy has been staying with us for the past week and a half because Ines is traveling.  We have been having so much fun–we went to doggy day care yesterday.  My Mom was late coming to pick us up because the power was out and she couldn’t open the gargage door to get the car out. Our neighbor, Paul, gave her a ride to come pick us up.  Paul is one of my favorite friends in the neighborhood because when he is out sitting in his backyard he lets me out of his bowl of Cheetos–I LOVE Cheetos.  I told Breezy about this and she wants to come with me next time to see Paul and his Cheetos. Thanks Paul for the ride home AND the Cheetos!”   To learn more about Niyo, the stinky dog who LOVES summer,  go here:  Niyo’s Notes

Hanging out in the Garden

June 13th, 2008, by Shelley Riutta

Last weekend I took a trip to the Green Bay Botanical Gardens with my friend Michael. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Here is Michael taking a rest on the shoulder of this very kind woman:)