Take Back Your Life!

Hello fun folks!

Wishcasters are asked today what they would like to give. I’d like to give everyone who reads my blog today a breath of fresh air (ABOFA). You can take your ABOFA and use it to change anything you want in your life. Take a moment right now and state out loud what you want to change.

Or fill in the blank right here ________________________________.

Can you feel the ABOFA breezing over you?

Close your eyes. Let go of whatever fear keeps you from making this change. Yes, just let it go. The breeze will sweep it away.

Enjoy!

Muse thx, Giulietta

Hi!

I used to take writing rejections personally, analyzing what might have happened way too long. For example, if an essay was rejected it emotionally paralyzed me.  I thought my writing must be terrible. I should quit. No one wants my writing.

Bring out the violins.

As it turned out, I just needed to take a class, do some tweaking and send it to a different editor.  Once I did, it all fell into place and I learned from the experience. Do I still get my writing rejected? Sure. All writers do. It’s part of the deal when you take on writing. What’s changed is that I keep tweaking and sending it out. I don’t let myself get all teary eyed.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for a piece of writing is to send it out and get it rejected. Like magic, it becomes clear what I need to change. So, I do.

Self-pity is a bad play to visit. It’s o.k. to stop there briefly but if you find yourself showing up with a packed bag, do whatever it takes to get out of self-pity town. It’s filled with writers who couldn’t deal with rejection.

Remember, when someone rejects your writing for whatever reason that’s just that person’s opinion. It’s also a great learning opportunity.

If your writing gets rejected, ask yourself three questions.

Do I know for a fact it was rejected because it wasn’t good?

Does it change who I think I am as a person?

How can I learn from this rejection?

If you believe in a piece of writing, never stop working on it or sending it out. You will find a home for it …

Muse thanks,

Giulietta

Hi thankful ones,

On occasion, I buy 9 x 4 inspirational notepads. Love the unique size. Makes it easy to tuck a quick note in with a payment, a small gift or an article. One of my favorite notepads is produced by the fabulous NJ company, “How To Live” (www.how-to-live.com). It says on the top “Life is full of gifts …” and on the bottom “be thankful.”

I first discovered this notepad 5 years ago and have sent individual sheets to many friends. It really got me thinking about life in a new way. Society has us galloping so fast through our days that we rarely have time to stop and smell the daily roses, to be thankful for all the riches we already have. We’re constantly being shuffled toward the next “best” thing to supposedly make us complete and/or happy, which makes it hard to enjoy and be thankful for what’s here right now.

I don’t want to gallop through life. It goes by fast enough on its own without helping it along. I want to savor every delicious moment — hanging out with friends, laughing with my husband, going on walks, singing at karaoke nights, writing essays. If anything I’d like to slow life down to make it last longer.

Do you feel the push or pull to gallop? When you aren’t galloping, what are you thankful for?

Muse thx,

Giulietta

Hey rebellious ones!

It’s a complete myth that individuals cannot have any impact on the world. People say that out of fear, then hide behind that fear. One shared thought can start a ripple effect, gathering energy and power as it ripples across “Lake Status Quo.”

I participate in my small town’s government because if I don’t, I’ll get what a small group of people want and that might not be the best for me, my neighborhood or the planet. Last night I attended a very alive planning board meeting. A room teaming with life!

Lots of energy with great minds thinking & speaking up.

It’s amazing how good I feel when I’m fully awake participating in my world. When we don’t participate, we can fall into depression because there’s no overriding reason to get up in the morning. I call my twenties the lost decade. I didn’t engage with the world. I just reacted. Not fun.

The good news? If you stop treading water in Lake Status Quo, you’ll be able to swim to many different lakes, lakes you can name yourself. My favorite lake? Lake Participation.

How about you? What lakes have you named?

Already Wishcasting Wednesday again! This week Jamie asks us what we’d like to complete. My mind went in a million different directions! Honestly, I wake up every morning musing with ideas and while some people might say, “Giulietta, focus, focus” I see my cauldron of rich ideas as my greatness. It’s hard for me to be around people and not share the ideas that come to me in their presence.

Kinda like a greatness clairvoyant!

Whatever it is that you do that releases you from the “autopilot” so many of us find ourselves locked into day after day — that is your greatness.

I would like to complete my first info product on finding greatness. It’s been in the making for a medium time! I will offer the product and personal muse time with me. When I download products, I end up skimming through them once or twice, not getting too much out of the experience. My approach will be different. It will take into consideration that humans buy products but need human encouragement to move forward with the product’s content, especially something as personal and emotional as finding your greatness.

I’ve worked with lots of people in small groups or one and one, and it’s always a relief for them to find their greatness. Otherwise, we spend our lives searching, searching, searching … asking, “what am I here for?”

Do you know what your greatness is?

Muse thx,

Giulietta

Hey inspirational renegades,

I just love all the words associated with being a life rebel. We need more folks custom designing their own lives. It’s not even keeping up with the Joneses, it’s following the Joneses. Why do we do it? For the longest time I didn’t even question it. Talk about scary.

It feels good to step out of line, to stop following the pack that’s stampeding over some conformist cliff. Yes, it takes bravery at first, but soon enough it will become second nature or make that true nature, there’s nothing secondary about following your own heart.

Custom designing your own life can start small. Say “no” when you want to say “yes” or vice versa. This will free up time to do things that matter to you. It’s not selfish to enjoy your own life! The planet would be a much happier place if people filled their days doing things they loved. Lots of overt & covert anger out there. That tells me people feel powerless to custom design their own lives.

What one small thing can you do differently today?

Hey fabulous folks!

I’m sure you’re all aware (or will be shortly) of the two main voices in your head, the nasty negative one that shouts stuff at you in the second person like, “You can’t do that” or “They’ll laugh at you if you get up and speak” and the powerful positive one, “You can bike up that big hill,” or “You are soooo funny!”

For many years, I had a terrible time with the negative voice. She showed me little mercy, speaking to me in a tone  I wouldn’t use on my worst enemy. The positive voice couldn’t get a good word in edgewise. And without the positive voice cheering me on I couldn’t get any life traction. I couldn’t go where I wanted to go.

That is until the day back in the 90’s I decided to make my karaoke debut.

The negative she-voice kicked in saying, “You’ll sound terrible. No one will listen to you.”

For some reason, I flat out refused to believe her and said, “You’re lying. I’m going no matter what you say.” All that day and into the evening, I kept challenging what she said. This allowed my positive she-voice to build me up. “You sound just like Bobby Gentry!”

Well, my first karaoke night turned out wonderfully! I had a few women come up to me in the ladies room and say, “I love your voice” as well as a guy who kept asking me to sing more songs. My beau at the time also cheered me on.

From that point onward, I began talking to myself more and more like a cherished friend. It’s made all the difference.

Want to join my “talk good to yourself” experiment? Please leave a comment congratulating yourself for something fabulous you’ve done recently!

Muse thx,

Giulietta

Hey rebellious wishcasters!

I took a six-week listening course about 18 years ago that helped me realize I’d been hearing what people said but not listening. In fact, very few people learn to listen because it’s an active skill that takes practice and concentration. Ever since that ear-opening class I’ve tried to listen more deeply, to stop talking over people, to paraphrase what the person has said, to minimize being “on-deck” worrying what I’m going to say instead of paying attention to the human being in front of me.

Yet, I wish on this Wednesday to take my listening abilities down another layer, to start to listen as if my life depended on it. In a few posts before this one, I talk about people wanting to feel appreciated. I also believe people want to feel like they’ve been ‘heard.’ The way to do that is to listen with intent, to make every conversation an adventure in learning from another person.

There are no boring people on the planet. Just boring listeners.

What are your thoughts on listening?

Muse thx,

Giulietta

Despite living in a consumeristic society that urges us to buy, buy, buy, I contend that most people don’t really want more things. They’ve got more than enough things. I believe most people want to feel appreciated, to feel like they matter.  Once I figured out I needed this for myself, I started going out of my way to give the gift of appreciation to others.

Do I sometimes miss opportunities to do it? Of course. But I try to be more aware of it.

The gift of appreciation goes beyond a quick “thank you.” I may start with a thank you, but keep going. I say why I appreciate them. Sometimes a friend, family member or colleague may not realize how great they are unless someone tells them. It helps to build up another person. Yes, we are all quite good at tearing each other down. Much of the time when I pass people walking together, I hear them complaining about some absent person. I understand the urge to do this because I’ve been guilty of it myself.

Instead of looking for what the other person did wrong, why not try and look for what the other person did right? Then it’s easy to appreciate them! And the double secret bonus? By appreciating others, you’ll learn to appreciate yourself more.

Thank you for reading my blog. I appreciate that you are interested in what I have to say! Enjoy your day.

Muse thx,

Giulietta

Hey friends,

Am looking forward to tomorrow’s “Step Into Your Greatness & Make Your Own Economy” life shop.  If our society would focus on our greatness instead of our weakness, what an amazing world this would be.

Do you ever recall being encouraged at any time in your school or work life trajectory to find and build on your greatness? I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of an example and the closest would have been in my college speech class. The professor loved my zany, funny speeches and always introduced me as someone who would make you roll with laughter in the aisles.

Other than that, it seems I had to “improve” upon some perceived deficiency. In third grade I actually had to stand in the corner because I wouldn’t stop laughing and wouldn’t stop making the kids around me laugh. My teacher commanded to me, “Please stop laughing or you’ll stand the corner!”

Why is laughter thought of as disruptive? Why can’t we learn through laughter? Why not use it as a focal point instead of a punishment point?

I’d love to know times in your life, when someone in authority focused on your greatness.

Muse thx,

Giulietta