Take Back Your Life!

Hey rebellious ones,

I got to thinking the other day about the whole notion of being rich. Does being rich mean having a lot of money or does it mean something else to you? Webster’s defines rich as, “Having abundant possessions and esp. material wealth.” I used to define it that way too until I got laid off from my high paying job about 8 years ago. Living on less money for awhile taught me a few things about being rich. The most important one learned that having such a narrow definition of rich ignores or downplays the riches most of us have in our lives whether we make a ton of mula or not.

It can make folks think their lives have been failures because they haven’t measured up to some income standard.

Let’s challenge that definition by acknowledging different ways to be and feel rich!

I feel rich when I kayak on a meandering river.
I feel rich when I sing at a karaoke night.
I feel rich when I’m sitting with a group of friends drinking wine and laughing.
I feel rich when I contribute to a discussion during a documentary night in my town.
I feel rich I when have life shop participants tell me it changed their lives.
I feel rich when Jimmy and I take a walk in the moonlight on a hot summer night.

How do you define rich? Lots of money or something else. I’d love to hear.

Muse thx, Giulietta

Hey friends!

It seems like we’re constantly being told to fix this or fix that about our relationships, our personalities, and our businesses. E-newsletters ask me if I’m procrastinating, if I’m afraid to sell, if I playing small, if I’m holding back, etc.

Maybe it makes more sense to concentrate on what’s really working in our lives and continue to do more of whatever that is. Expanding our greatest strengths forms the core of the burgeoning strengths movement. To keep this movement going, we’ll need to wean ourselves off of measuring everything in our lives to “see how we’re doing” or “how we compare to others.”

The problem with most metrics is that they keep you focused on the negative. Based on the results (often seemingly arbitrary), your boss, your teacher, your doctor or some other person of supposed authority in your life directs you to shore up your alleged weaknesses.

I say alleged because our society tends to fixate on weaknesses. I don’t believe in trying to fix weaknesses. Instead, I prefer to encourage and grow a person’s natural interests and inclinations. It’s pretty futile to force someone to get “good” at something they don’t care for.

Take math. I never liked math. It didn’t interest me. I wasn’t “good” at it. Yet, I spent a lot of time taking all kinds of math classes thinking I needed to be good in math. I even got a job that required me to do quite a bit of math. It started to eat me up alive because I didn’t want to do it.

Looking in life’s rear view mirror I can see now that the time I spent taking math classes kept me from taking more English classes and writing classes or just plain writing.

I loved writing and ended up doing math. Now that I’ve been back writing for about ten years, I feel like I’m where I want to be, where I was meant to be, where I got detoured from.

Our visits to Earth seem increasingly short to me, why not spend most of your precious time on this beautiful planet doing what you enjoy.

I’d love to hear what’s working in your life. What do you want more of in your life?

Muse thx,

Giulietta

Hey life lovers!

Glad you stopped by today. I didn’t watch all of the Superbowl – working on Son of a Preacher Man & Because the Night for karaoke — but I did catch parts of it and the winning speech by Drew Brees.

He said, “We just believed in ourselves and we knew we had an entire city and maybe an entire country behind us.”

You have to believe in yourself. It might sound overly simplistic to say that. Yet, I know it’s true for my own life and for the lives of others. If you believe in yourself, you can move mountains! Belief gives you the equivalent of “emotional adrenaline.”

So, how come more of us don’t believe in ourselves? A collective societal fear of the power & awesomeness that self-belief generates. Each generation holds the next generation back. Some of us manage to burst through the hands holding us back. Others don’t feel strong enough to do so.

I want you to know that you are strong enough! We are all strong enough. Do you notice yourself “holding back” anyone in your life? Perhaps, try encouraging them instead. We know the world we’ve created, where people hold each other back doesn’t work.

Let’s try believing in each other for a change!

Muse thx,

Giulietta

Hello fellow rebels and wishcasters,

I wish for folks to stop using the story, “I can’t do anything about it” as an excuse for not getting involved. Of course, you can do something about “it” – whatever your “it” is. In fact, it’s a lot easier to do something about “it” than you think. And you can start in your own backyard.

If you’re having a problem with yourself, write yourself a letter. Much will be revealed.

If you’re having a problem with a person, talk to that person.

If you’re having a problem with an issue in your town, talk to your board of selectmen and your neighbors.

If you’re having a problem with a larger local issue, write a letter to the editor or a guest column.

If you want to change something on a bigger scale, start a social movement. You’ll find that a lot of people feel just like you do. They’re ready to start the dance of change if someone else starts beating the drum.

Unless you participate, you’ll be stuck with the vision of whoever does chose to participate.

Muse thx,

Giulietta

p.s. Not having enough time does not count. We make time for the important things in our lives. There’s always time!