Cloud9000 – Special Contributors

Wow… this is my third draft of this…. this is going to be hecka fun.

* Avoid negative sources, people, places, things and habits.

As mentioned in my 3/7 blog the Darker Side (Need to learn how to do track backs here):

(Note to self as I write. (Pst: really, don’t worry about talking to yourself… you can and should be your best counsel and friend… and I personally make myself laugh.)

Avoiding what we consider negative is not the point…. the point is to spend sometime determining what is a negative energy draw on you. And, then measure whether it can be removed from your existence or not (not meaning remove that item, but remove yourself from it). If not, then how do you best manage it. You cannot remove emotion from your life, just do things that make you feel energized and alive more than you do the things that don’t.

So for instance:

People: I can’t avoid some of the people in my life that take a lot of energy from me. I love them, want them to be a part of my life and I hope for a better future with them. However, I now practice not calling them when I am low, or spending a lot of time with them when I am on a high (cause they will pull it down)…. but I do, manage my time much more carefully with them. I do this for my kids, so …. duh…. why not for myself?

Places: One of my negative places right now is my house. Obviously, I can’t avoid this. I can, however, take a look and let my emotions be to see why it is currently a negative for me. So far I have found, I WANT my HOME… and I want it to be this house…. so, clutter is a big thing, all my ex’s stuff still here, people not treating it with respect and projects undone. This actually came to the top of my priority list, as it IS the biggest pain point for me. I have started cleaning out the garage, prepping for a yard sale (several actually) and getting a permit so I can do some back to back. Called upon contractors to give me quotes and ideas on making things better and clearing out the clutter. This helps tremendously. And, I am sure I will write more on what I do in coming weeks.

Things: Wow, now that can be a slew of items depending on your definitions. I am going to categorize this right now on the same as places….. it is all the stuff, which is not mine, not my kids and doesn’t belong here. The lack of organization in my home and the allowing that I do to let people dump their stuff here. Though I want everyone to feel at home here, I want him or her to respect my place and take care of their and our things. This starts with me. Shed now in the back yard, shelving and workspace in the garage, staged area for upcoming yard sales… get rid of stuff that is NOT to be here and start a clean slate.

Habits: Interesting how these can all improve when you take conscious steps forward. I now do my dishes every day, pick up laundry every day (yeah…. still not folding), pick up garbage around the house nightly, have the kids starting their routines (including helping with the dogs – oh another posting opportunity: the benefits of pets when you have children). BAD or Unhealthy habits are really easy to put in place, we are raised to feel bad about ourselves or we have become accustom to the quick fix… Healthy and good habits are harder to put in place because it takes awhile to see the benefit. You REALLY must have faith that it will be good for you and take the steps to do it. And WRITE IT DOWN…. for those moments your don’t want to continue, you can see WHY you were doing it in the first place. Affirmations come in all sorts of forms.

Have a most blessed day! What step forward or moment did you take for yourself today?

I think most bloggers, if we’re really honest with ourselves, secretly hope that someone will read our site and determine that we are the Next Big Thing. Book deals flow in, and next thing we know we’re sharing our secrets to life with Oprah.

Something of the sort has happened to Wife in the North. An ex-Londoner who relocated to Northumberland with her husband and small children, Wife in the North began blogging to maintain her sanity. Her witty writing attracted a large readership, and she has been offered the chance to write a book.

I’m struck by what she said here:

Blogging is a strange and wonderful thing. I reached out into cyberspace because I needed to – not in any expectation of a book deal. What is a book deal after all? Better than a book deal, any book deal, have been the kindly comments, e-mails and messages from strangers who aren’t strangers any more who said: “I read you and you made me laugh” and “I read you and you made me cry”. My book deal isn’t so much about money, it is more to do with the fact that blogging is a force to be reckoned with. Ultimately blogging is people willing to commit time, effort and emotion. How cool is that?

Really, how cool is that?

Today’s blog was inspired by an email I received from www.women-at-heart.com and a word of heart from one of the readers -Bonnie Hutchinson

If you ask a question…. or in how we state what we want, we can bring about positive change or keep us receiving more of what we already get.

Would you REALLY want the answers to these kinds of questions:

• What’s wrong with me?
• How long could this take?
• What could go wrong?
• How much trouble could it be?
• How hard could it be?

Wouldn’t these be much more empowering:

• Is there a message for me in this experience?
• What’s the gift in this situation?
• What’s the most loving thing I could do now?
• How can I turn this into a positive experience?
• What would the grandest greatest version of me do now?

Making conscious decisions about how we perceive, think and act on things is how we empower ourselves to make better choice and allow good into our lives.  And in turn see more good in it.

“If we would have new knowledge, we must get a whole world of new questions.”

– Susanne K. Langer

What a wonderful gift.

This is my first blog and I am so looking forward to sharing my life studies with you all. I have had some challenges in my life (not that we all haven’t)… But, I believe the two things my parents taught me helped me to always keep my experience moving positively forward:

1) Everyone and Every situation has something to teach or from which you can learn.

2) Give yourself one year to settle into any new job, situation or relationship before giving up on it.

I am not going to say that “all of what I wanted” I got from my parents, but there are a lot of things I did get from them that were precious. We traveled, we were immersed in other cultures, we were taught to be respectful and we never really wanted for anything when it came to our hobbies, school or sports.

During one of my last experiences, I found that I had turned a lot of my life into being there for others and took very little time for self care or expression. It was a struggle to turn that around, but wow what a benefit. And I now spend time every day sharing good thoughts with my “circle group” and exploring more about the soul that I am.

Then I received this wonderful gift of being invited to blog for Cloud9000. As part of my new self care / awareness, I wanted to start a self care site and post links to other sites that I find to be wonderful and helpful. Then the founders of Cloud9000 told me about this opportunity and I about cried. I was so happy and supportive of what they wanted to do.

You will meet a lot of wonderful people here that all believe in self truth, generosity, and the enjoyment found in learning how to have a balanced life. And overall, making this life a fantastic experience.

I look forward to “spending” time with everyone and hope that you enjoy this as much as we all are.

Have a blessed day.