What ingredients are in your life recipe...

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”-Aristotle Good morning! There is so much truth in this simple quote. Think about your day yesterday: what did you do? What did you practice-excellence? Kindness? Negativity? Your answers are the “ingredients” in your life recipe. As you live life, remember that if you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you have always gotten. If you seek new results in your life, you must change what you are doing. Your Turn: Today, practice what you want to...

Do more than…...

Do more than exist: live Do more than touch: feel. Do more than look: observe. Do more than hear: listen. Do more than listen: understand. Do more than think: reflect. Do more that just talk: say something – Author unknown Good morning! What wonderful guidelines this quote offers for truly living our life! What else can I add? Your Turn: Read this quote several times. Which lines speak to you most? Make a concerted effort to practice at least two of these philosophies today. Today’s Affirmation: Choose whichever lines speak to you most and write them as an...

Who owns your problems?...

“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.”-Albert Ellis Good morning! One of the most freeing moments in my life was when I truly understood that every problem in my life was just that: my problem. While others might play a part in it, the problem couldn’t exist or be my problem if I wasn’t involved! It sounds quite simple, but we so often blame our problems on everyone else-or some...

The hunt for happiness…...

 Some pursue happiness-others create it. Anonymous Good morning! Pursuing happiness is a difficult battle. Happiness is fleeting if we chase it. When we learn what makes us happy, we can create our own happiness instead of relying on something external (or something out of our control). Your Turn: Agnes Repplier said,”It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere. Do you know what makes you happy? Start a list in your journal or daily planner and record the moments that bring you happiness and pleasure. Once you have...

Do your actions match your beliefs?...

“There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do.”-Freya Stark Good morning! I love to create tools to help women discover the delta of what makes us happy-where we want to be-versus where we actually are. In today’s society, we have become experts at being busy, but we are often busy doing things that don’t matter or don’t match what we believe in. Your Turn: Answer quick: what are the three things you believe in most strongly? If you can’t answer within sixty seconds, consider spending some...

Underwater dreams…...

 ”Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”-Plato  It has been an interesting couple of weeks in southeastern Wisconsin and throughout neighboring states as we face record flooding. Despite the sandbags, many dreams cannot be saved and residents watch helplessly as homes of friends, neighbors, and town residents are ruined by rain-some washed away completely. Towns are under water. Roads are not drivable. Shelters are open. The regular routines of a month ago have been replaced by questions, disbelief, sadness and fear. I live on a hill so I...

Living gratitude…...

 ”To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.” Johannes A. Gaertner Good morning! I am grateful for the inspiration you send me each morning. You do a wonderful job with your writing. Thank you for helping me start my day with a smile. That is the first “great” thing that happens, which helps lead to more great things throughout the day! Yvette’s note brought a smile to my face and warmth to my heart. The reason it touched me so much is that Yvette goes...

Make today a masterpiece…...

“Too often we get distracted by what’s outside our control. The door to the past has been shut and the key thrown away. And you can’t do anything about tomorrow; it is yet to come. However, tomorrow is determined by what you do today. So make today a masterpiece.” -John Wooden, UCLA’s Hall of Fame basketball coach Good morning! I have an interesting challenge for you to try today-or any day that is “representative” of your normal day.” (Not while you are on vacation.) Here’s how it works. Every two hours, take a...

Thinking carefully…...

“A man becomes what he thinks about all day long.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson Good morning! This Emerson quote offers a quick and easy way to “step into the moment” and double-check our thinking. Read this quote at the end of your day. At midnight, instead of turning into a pumpkin like the Cinderella story, what would you turn into based on your thoughts? Ask yourself that question each evening this week. Write down your answers. This will quickly give you an “insider look” at where your life is headed. You certainly don’t need a...

Choosing to grow…...

“Between whatever happens to me and my response to it is a space. In that space is my freedom and power to choose my response. And in my response lies my growth and happiness.”-Stephen Covey Good morning! Kyrsti wrote this quote on an index card after reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and she reads it every day. She writes: It has had a big impact on my life. I knew that if I could cultivate the habit of being patient within this “space” after an event or words spoken to me, I would be able to get to a response that would promote...