Loving the blog that pulled these together in one place! Enjoy! http://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/blog/2007/08/15/22-of-the-best-motivational-videos-online-free/
Kindness
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” ~Plato A friend had mentioned how deeply unkind someone had been to her at work. It reminded me of the simplicity of kindness and the need for it on all fronts, work and home. But it also reminded me the first step in kindness is being kind to oneself. Why is being kind to ourselves so hard? We tend to put ourselves last on the list so often. Our ‘to do’ list grows, our time shrinks and the unrealistic goals and tasks laying before us we use to berate ourselves and tell ourselves we should be doing more. Well that is just ridiculous. Stop doing that to yourself. Being kind to yourself helps others in ways we do not always see or think of. First, it helps us stay in the present moment and when we give, we then give freely and authentically. People will feel the shift in how you give and they will know the sincerity of it. It also gives others permission to take care of themselves through our example. What better gift could there be during the holiday season than that! Argh, it exhaust me to see people trying to keep up appearances for each other and impress each other in a way that feeds nobody’s soul, only drains energy. And if it exhaust me to see it, I know it exhaust those doing it. So, this holiday season, and beyond, give yourself the gift of kindness. Once you do, you will find you automatically pass the gift on to others.
Taking Care Of Yourself
So I am moving tomorrow-two days earlier than planned, after travelling earlier this week and as an added bonus they say a snow storm is on its way. So here I am trying to pack everything up in under 48 hours, work some, not flip out and stay in happy mode. And I’m cruising around, hustling over to sign my lease and drop off a deposit and rent when I get a great offer to go see the symphony tonight. Impulsively I say ‘yes’ and keep moving. Around noon I see all that needs to be done and have a conversation with myself about over extending and over committing. Ahh, the realization, that even pleasant things can create an unmanageable situation. A text has been sent with a decline on the symphony and freeing up two additional hours of work and packing time. All this is to say what Buddha said so much better, “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” Be good to yourself. And sometimes being good to yourself means saying no to something that seems like a great idea, but perhaps may just be piling on a little too much and may result in unnecessary madness.
Aim High!
Focused?
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” ~Alexander Graham Bell Have you ever caught yourself thinking you haven’t gotten done all you want to and/or the pile seems to grow faster than you can address it? It is easy to feel caught up in an out of control avalanche. But is the avalanche really uncontrollable. Most often the answer is ‘no.’ Easier said than done, maybe, but a little discipline and focus make the efforts well worth the reward! Next time you are feeling inundated stop, take a breath and put the following in to practice… 1) Write down your ‘to do’ list for the day and the week 2) Write down what you are doing throughout the day (calls, visits, tasks, etc.) 3) Compare Is what you are spending your time on related or even supportive of what is on your list? Are you getting as much done during the day as you thought? Identify the ‘time sucks’ during your day. I promise you there are some there. Finally, eliminate any non-emergency items that do not support your goal of decreasing your behemoth of a pile. I’m confident you will find that while the pile may continue to exist, it will be smaller and at times disappear all together.
Present Moment
“Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.” ~Cherokee Indian Proverb Whether it is thinking about the past or future one thing is sure, either will afford you one opportunity, to miss out on the present moment. Especially during the holidays it seems that single point focus becomes a ‘luxury’ to us. It seems we have it all backwards because single point focus, living in the now, is a necessity. To truly enjoy or participate authentically on any given day requires we be fully present. So often we take this to mean sacrificing ourselves for others or giving, giving, giving until we feel depleted. Not only is this not the intent of being fully present, it is counterproductive towards the goal of being fully present. To be fully present you must embrace where YOU, not others are in the moment. You must be authentic in providing what YOU are thinking and feeling in order to best communicate with others. Others can’t create a road map for your happiness and fulfilment. Only you can. And doing so requires the first step of being fully present in the moment.
Wishing
Do you find yourself wishing things were different or better? Or do you find yourself believing you can make them that way? The difference is the difference in between status quo and success.
Nothing Seems Impossible
Do you feel it is true that nothing seems impossible if you believe? “Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution,” David Joseph Schwartz I feel many of us, including myself on some days, stumble on our paths, not because we do not have the talent and abilities to shine, but because we do not always believe we have talent and abilities to shine. It is not enough to believe in something. Belief must be in partnership with the emotion of knowing we have what we need to get and go where we want, to believe in ourselves. Then the question becomes…what do we want. “The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want,” – Ben Stein
Excuses
Whether it is work or home life it is so easy to let our paths be blazed by our excuses rather than our efforts. Why is that? Are we afraid of succeeding or failing? Is is that change is uncomfortable and mediocrity is much more comfy. I once had a friend who said she is at least comfortable being unhappy. She said happy is not something you can predict or control. Unhappy is at least stable. Whoa. What is more frightening to you…living a life and never finding out how much happier you could have been. Or is it living and risking and sometimes being disappointed? What is wrong with being disappointed? Does in not give us something to gauge, compare and contrast our experiences with. If every day was pure joy would we still appreciate joy as much?