Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Your Moment of Bliss

November 9, 2009 by Peggy Nolan

Richard and I vacation every year in Ft Myers, Florida.  We usually go in March.  After a long winter, the warmth of the sandy shores of Florida’s west coast is so very needed! 

This past March, Richard and I toured the Edison House.  There are a number of Palm Tree varities on the property…I think these are the Relaxing kind…

Palm Trees

“I know this world is ruled by infinite intelligence. Everything that surrounds us- everything that exists – proves that there are infinite laws behind it. There can be no denying this fact. It is mathematical in its precision. “

~ Thomas Edison

Posted in Your Moment of Bliss | Tagged , , | 12 Comments »

The Hum and the Buzz of a Great Community

November 6, 2009 by Peggy Nolan

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately.  The blogs I read on a regular basis are humming and I just love the vibration that’s eminating from the creative minds of my blog friends.

hearts

Earlier this week, Megan introduced us to Chaundra McGill and her free eBook on Reflective Writing as Therapy.  Most of my writing is my own free therapy.  I’ve written my way through tough stuff.  I’ve written my way out of anger, rage and hostility.  I wrote my own road map towards a more peaceful, less stressful life. The comment I left for Megan created a “little buzz” and since the blogosphere corner I live in is humming, it stands to reason there should be a little buzzing, too.  Thank you again, Megan, for introducing me to Chaundra and for giving Chaundra the spotlight!

Last night I read Joy’s beautiful yet bittersweet post.  With a tapestry of words she weaves a story that needs to be circulated throughout our community.  It’s deserving of a space in Good Housekeeping or Ladies Home Journal.  It needs to be in a magazine that gets national exposure and is sold at grocery stores around our country.  Yes, Joy, it’s that good. 

This morning I read Nadia’s article on Woundology. How many people do we know that walk around with their pain on their sleeves?  I can understand if something happened to you yesterday, but gosh darn it already, heal thy wounded child.  Life isn’t about what comes our way, it’s about how we deal with it.  It’s about our attitude.  Sure, sucky stuff happens and I’ve had my share of it.  But I refuse to let the wounds of my past hold me hostage to a perpetual state of victim hood.  It’s an exhausting way to live.

Over on Wilma’s blog, the hum is buzzing about asking and listening.  The conversation is lively and while I’m really good at asking, my listening skills need an adjustment.  I readily admit I want to get better at this.  My husband is a fabulous listener and when he listens to me, he gives me is undivided attention.  Somedays, he’s lucky if he gets half my attention.  Because my mind is anticipating his next word and I’ve already formed a response. I can’t wait for Richard to come home next week so I can practice listening.  Until then, I’ve been practicing with Junior, my seventeen year old stepson.

Wednesday night I came home overtired and Junior was trying to tell me his plan to join the Army.  I wasn’t listening.  I was thinking of all the reasons why he’d get sent home before he reached day ten of basic training.  His Auntie, who was with us for dinner, touched my arm and reminded me that Junior will hang onto the one negative I said and stew on it for days.  Knowing how right Auntie was, I wrote Junior a note Thursday morning and let him know how much I appreciate him and his efforts to do better.  I told him that I support his goal to enlist in the Army and I’d do whatever I could to help him acheive that.

Listening…Thanks Wilma and Ann-Marie!

Tess made me THINK this week.  Thinking can be overrated at times, but not when Tess asks you a question.  Funny thing…my response was about decluttering my home.  Daphne…I must be channeling you or something.

I’m happy to see my friend, Jodi, back this week (I nearly sent out an APB because I thought she was MIA) and with a great post on blooming where you’re planted…and if you’re not, to take a look at your environment.  Ok…it’s an official consipiracy…I will take care of my cluttered closets this weekend!

Last, but certainly not least, Walter has a great article on death and how, in our fear, we go through life’s motions seeing with our eyes closed.  Check it out and ask yourself if you can make a few adjustments to open your eyes and your heart a bit more in order to live a life of your full potential.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

raOKAPS…don’t forget to add a little RAOKA to your days!  November’s theme is BEAUTY.  How can you add beauty to your life and the lives of others?  I’ll be working on a holiday project for the next six weeks or so and it’s all about creating, adding, and giving someting beautiful to someone else.

blog4cause1PPS…Many of us contributed to Lance and Joanna’s Blog4Cause. I thank each of you for participating, donating, and caring.  I envision a future where no woman will ever hear the words, “You have breast cancer.”

Posted in Friday Fives | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments »

Emotionally Intelligent Advertising

November 4, 2009 by Peggy Nolan

quotesIf you’ve checked out this month’s issue of Yoga Journal, you’ve probably seen the ad from lululemon athletica.  I love it.  I ever so gently tore it out of my copy and after I write this, I’m hanging it in my cube to brighten and inspire my stale, soul-less work space.

 

 

“Life is full of setbacks.  Success is determined by how you handle setbacks.”

“Your outlook on life is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself.”

“FRIENDS are more important than money.”

 

“Breathe deeply and APPRECIATE the moment.  Living in the moment could be the meaning of LIFE.”

 

“That which matters THE MOST should never give way to that which matters THE LEAST.”

 

“Stress is related to 99% of ALL illness.”

 

“Jealousy works the opposite way you want it to.”

“Successful people replace the words “wish,” “should,” and “try” with “I WILL.”

 

“A daily hit of athletic-induced endorphins gives you the power to make better decisions, helps you be at peace with yourself, and offsets stress.”

“SWEAT once a day to regenerate your skin!”

“DANCE, SING, FLOSS, TRAVEL”

 

“Observe a plant before and after watering it and relate these benefits to your body and brain.”

Posted in Quotes | Tagged , , | 24 Comments »

Your Moment of Bliss

November 2, 2009 by Peggy Nolan

Yoga is a way for us to get back to the happy feeling of touching our toes…the way babies do when they discover they can lift their legs up and then grab their toes and hold onto them.

DSC01893Olivia practicing her first yoga pose…Happy Baby in Happy Baby!

Happy Baby or Ananda Balasana is a great hip opener.  It brings so much awareness to an area that tightens up from every day living.  This pose releases your lower back and it’s great to relax your spine.  Happy baby calms your brain and greatly helps to relieve stress and fatigue.  For me, this is one of my favorite “bliss” poses.  Ananda Balsana is yummy and I usually do this at the end of my practice, right before I go into Shavasana!

Enjoy today because Now is all you have!

Posted in Your Moment of Bliss | Tagged , , | 14 Comments »

Autum’s Last Hoorah

October 30, 2009 by Peggy Nolan

Last Sunday was a glorious “do nothing” day for me.  Sometimes doing nothing means letting whatever seems like a good idea of doing worth doing.  The sun was bright, the sky was bluer than blue and the leaves on the trees were calling me.  Somehow I knew it would be the last picture perfect day to capture the brilliant yellows, reds and oranges of fall in my little town of Derry, NH.  I’m glad I listened.

 

Autum’s Last Hoorah

 

DSC01995Shall We Rake?

DSC02003I asked the tree to pose just this way…

DSC02010By Tuesday, this tree was bare…

DSC02017They Call Me “Mellow Yellow”…

DSC02056I Stand in MY Power

DSC02069Mother Nature in all Her Glory…

DSC02073Happy Halloween!  Enjoy Your Weekend!

 

Posted in Friday Fives, Joy | Tagged | 22 Comments »

Tess Marshall on The Stepmom’s Toolbox!

October 27, 2009 by Peggy Nolan

fbtsomsTess

Over on my other blog, The Stepmom’s Toolbox, I’ve been hosting an all star lineup all month long.  On Wednesday, October 28, 2009, I wrap it up with the one and only Tess Marshall!  If you’re a stepmom, know a stepmom or just want to hang out with us and ask Tess the meaning of life ;-) I hope you will join us!  I saved the best for last and it’s going to be a GREAT day!

Posted in Odds and Ends | Tagged , | 9 Comments »

What’s Your Excuse?

October 26, 2009 by Peggy Nolan

What’s Your Excuse?

I’ve been reading a number of blog articles about knowing versus doing.  And it’s certainly striking a nerve in our community of like minded bloggers!  It’s causing most of us to reassess and take a self-inventory.  Are we walking our talk or just blabbing on and on?

nano_09_blk_participant_100x100_1I recently signed on to do the NaNoWriMo challenge – write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days.  The challenge’s mission is to help aspiring writers to get out of their head and out of their own way.  I know a few aspiring writers.  I’m one of them.  One of my very published writer blogger friends signed up – and it was through her that I signed up.  Hec, if DJ Kirkby can do this, so can I.  And she has Asperger’s!  (Check out her blog if you really want to see what her obstacles are…this woman inspires me every darn day!)

I have another aspiring writer friend who is in my stepmom posse.  I so want her to get out of her own way. She says wants to be a writer but her actions oppose what she says she wants.

And that got me to thinking.  What am I saying that’s in direct opposition to what I’m actually doing?

yogamartialartsNot to long ago I posted about how I’m a certified yoga teacher and well on my way to becoming a sensei in the martial arts.  That nothing in this world would bring me more joy than to be a Teacher with a capital T.

The Universe delivers on HER time table.  Not on yours and certainly not on mine.

This past Thursday I was asked by my sensei if I would be interested in teaching and being a program director at the martial arts studio I belong to.  They need a business savvy person who can teach.  I was the first person sensei thought of.  I nearly jumped through my skin.  Excited?  You betcha!  Scared to death? Yup!

Why am I scared?  Isn’t this exactly what I want?  I’m not scared of doing it or being it.  I’m scared of the transition from my stale and soul-less day job that quite frankly brings in an income that’s tough to say NO to.  But I’m not about money.  I never have been.

How do I go from making X to making half of X?

bottomline1Once upon at time I went from making 1/4 of X to X. It took fifteen years of going to school and working my way up an invisible ladder.  Hec, I even went and got a masters degree!

And now here I am, seven years into my yoga journey and nearly three years into my martial arts journey (six if you include the three years in the mid 1990’s when I practiced Tae-Kwon-Do) and the Universe is delivering NOW.

Right now.  My inner wheels have been burning the midnight oil.  I can’t keep up with half the ideas that are flooding my waking brain.  Because surely I’ll have to find a way to make up for a portion of the loss of income.  From writing?  From monetizing a blog?  From the genius of my own creativity?

Right now.  I’m waging war against my inner demons.  You know, those crappy little noodges that speak ugly things, “You’re not good enough.”  “No one will ever buy that.”  “Who wants to read what you write anyway?”  Shuddup already!

choiceI’ve caught myself bargining with myself.  Perhaps I can stradle the fence with one foot in the martial arts studio and one foot in my boring but well paid job?  I can write in the morning. I can create my photo art after my husband goes to bed.  Sleep is overrated right?  Did I mention that I’m starting a monthly radio show for stepmoms?  And that novel I signed up to write in November? (Thank goodness spelling and grammar don’t count!) And how do I pacify my travel habit?  I already know I’m going to Florida, Ireland and Utah all before June 1, 2010! I suppose I can sleep when I’m dead.

How do I act on what the Universe is delivering…right now?

My husband, bless his heart, is all about me doing what makes me happy.

And I’m happiest when I’m creating, teaching, and traveling.

________

Just a little update: After Thai Kickboxing class tonight, I talked to Sensei and told her that I’ve been thinking a LOT about coming onboard but that our time tables and road maps needed to be in alignment.  So I asked (asking…another thing we’ve been talking about in the blogosphere!) what the time table was for Professor (her husband and owner) to open his new school.  Twelve to eighteen months.

How serendipitous…that’s my time table to bail from that stale, soul-less job of mine!

;-)

Posted in The Journey, Turning Dreams Into Reality | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments »

Your Moment of Bliss ~ Gloucester, MA

October 25, 2009 by Peggy Nolan

Introducing the amazing and talented photographer, Christina, who just happens to be my daughter…

thephotographer

Gloucester, Massachusetts

glouchester

By the Sea

glouchester2

The Cove

glouchestercalm1

Calm Serenity

atlanticocean

Fishing Boats

fishing boats

Lobster Pots

lobster pots

The Light House

lighthouse

Sun Bathing

glouchesterbird

What a View!

thruthedoor

© Photos by Christina Campbell

Posted in Your Moment of Bliss | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments »

What Are You Afraid Of?

October 22, 2009 by Peggy Nolan

What are you afraid of? That is today’s Group Blog Thursday question and for the better part of today, I’ve been thinking about this.

Kudos to Steph for such a great blog prompt!

What are you afraid of?

  • Being alone
  • Not being good enough
  • Failure
  • Success
  • Feeling unloved
  • Not having your parents approval
  • Not getting promoted
  • He won’t call again
  • She won’t go out with me
  • Commitment
  • Divorce
  • Raising kids
  • Confrontation
  • Trying something new
  • Making a change
  • Thinking differently
  • Making better decisions
  • Hurting someone’s feelings
  • Not being liked

I could keep going with this list.

What are you afraid of?

fearWhen I was going through my divorce, I thought the world had ended and I would surely die from a broken heart.  After nineteen years of marriage, this was a tough change and it scared the daylights (and nightlights) out of me!  But I struggled and persevered!  I came through the other side 180 pounds lighter (no, I didn’t lose that much weight!) and surprisingly enough, I didn’t die from a broken heart.  I mended that just fine all by myself.

What are you afraid of?

Shortly after I received my divorce diploma, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Talk about scary stuff!  Something I could really die from.  Scared?  You betcha!  I have a whole list of things I was scared about.  What scared me most was not being around to do all the things I hadn’t done yet

  • See my daughters graduate from high school and college
  • Shop for wedding dresses with my daughters
  • Watch my daughters walk down the aisle and say “I Do”
  • Hold my grandbabies
  • Find my own Truly Madly Deeply
  • Travel all over the world
  • Become who I’m supposed to be

The list I originally wrote in my poem, Can’t Die Mom, is longer…a lot longer…but as I go through the list of everything I was afraid of not doing, I realize I have done it or I am doing it!  Why?  Because my fear turned to courage.  Fear was the catalyst that showed me the way to find my courage (thank you Joan Chittister!)

  • I witnessed Jessica graduate from college in 2006.
  • I watched as Christina received her high school diploma in 2006.
  • I’ve shopped for wedding dresses with Jessica, Katie, and Kelly (Katie and Kelly are my stepdaughters) and I know I’ll be shopping with Christina when it’s her turn.
  • I sat in the front row as Katie said “I do” to Jon…and it won’t be long before I see Jessica married to Noel and Kelly married to Dave.
  • Olivia, my first grand-baby was born June 15, 2009.  I was there in the waiting room when she was born and 30 minutes later, she was in my arms.
  • I found my Truly Madly Deeply in Richard…the man who once was the boy I first fell in love with…
  • Travel?  Oh my…we travel!  Since Richard and I got married in 2006 we’ve been to Orlando, Fl, Italy, Charleston, SC, Ft. Myers, Fl (twice – we vacation there in the winter), Turks and Caicos, and next year we’ve got Florida, Ireland and Utah on the radar.
  • And I’m pretty sure I’m on the path of becoming who I’m supposed to be.

What are you afraid of?  What roadblocks and excuses are you making up inside your head that stops you from being the best you?  Are you willing to allow your fear to guide you to your courage?

Posted in Love, The Journey | Tagged , , , | 24 Comments »

FNLEHPY

October 20, 2009 by Peggy Nolan

FNLEHPY

I’ll give you one red light cycle to figure out the license plate I saw yesterday.

[Humming the theme song from Jeopardy!]

behappyFinally Happy.

It got me thinking…why did it take so long?  What are you happy about?  As I waited for the light to turn green, I wanted to ask the driver from where did he or she find happiness.  Inside or outside?  Inner or outer?  Internally or externally?  Did you connect your mind with the seat of your soul or was it a connection between a thing and your credit card? 

Finally Happy.

So much is written about finding happiness.  I subscribe to a few blogs that talk about cultivating happiness.  Ten steps to happiness! Start your own Happiness Project!  Happiness for sale!  Don’t Worry ~ Be Happy! 

Finally Happy.

What works for me may not work for you.  I’m an inside girl.  But I wasn’t always an inside girl.  I used to travel frequently for business…and for me it was like a free pass to run away from home.  A home that was tainted with infidelity and divorce.  It didn’t matter that my ex-husband had long since gone.  Everytime I walked through the front door it was as if the dark cloud of doom and gloom followed me inside and took up permanent residence.

I sold the house and nearly everything in it.  “A fresh start,” I thought.

I remember thinking that as soon as I moved from “the house of pain” into my brand new home my life would be so much better.

Only it wasn’t.

Because I discovered that no matter where I went, my life followed me.  All my pain, all my suffering, all my fears jumped into my suitcases and moving boxes and moved into my new house. 

Finally Happy.

I unpacked the nooks and crannies of my life, set up a new house, and plastered a smile on my face when all I wanted to do was crawl into a fetal position, suck my thumb and tell the world to go away.   How could I quit?  How could I just give up? Throw in the towel?  That’s just not in my vocabulary.  I was emotionally sick.  I was physically tired.  I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. 

“E.N.O.U.G.H.”  I wrote in bright red lipstick on my bathroom.  Enough already. 

Like the cyrsallis, no one could help me find my wings.  No one could do my mental and emotional pushups.  No one could help me pull myself up by my combat bootstraps.  No one could do for me that which I was fully capable and responsible to do on my own. 

Finally Happy.

It started with my choice to no longer be miserable.

Posted in The Journey | Tagged , , | 20 Comments »

Older Posts »