Posts Tagged ‘Challenge’

Five Essential Questions to Ask Yourself Daily

April 21st, 2010 | 12 Comments »

I adore questions. Actually, I think I’m obsessed with questions. This strange love affair has led to tremendous self-discovery. Questions prompt me to dig deep and often unveil beautiful aha! moments. I journal daily and created a book solely devoted to journaling questions.

While flipping through my journal today, I realized that five questions appear over and over again. So I decided to write them on a sticky note and put the note inside my journal cover for easy reference. Now, I am challenging myself to answer these questions daily for 21 days. Up for a challenge? The single requirement: a desire to spend a few minutes each day connecting with your essential self.

The Daily Questions

  1. What am I feeling?
  2. What do I want to start?
  3. What is working? What isn’t working?
  4. What must I release or let go of?
  5. What am I grateful for? What made me smile today?

What question(s) would you add? Do you have a daily journaling ritual?

{image: papaya!}

Do You Live Like a Hummingbird?

March 25th, 2010 | 5 Comments »

Living mindfully is a daily practice – a moment-to-moment experience. It intensifies our interaction with the world, adding depth and pleasure to our lives. Living with our eyes wide open, curious to experience all that life has to offer, leads to deeply enriching and beautiful experiences.  Embracing the beauty that surrounds us and opening ourselves up to celebrate the everyday leaves us vulnerable, yet amazed and awe-inspired.

A year ago, I came across a little white card from Papyrus, a brand for social expression products. It is a beautiful reminder to live life in the moment and to savor the simple joys. On the little card, I wrote a note to myself: “Live Like a Hummingbird.”

Learning about the legends of hummingbirds and reflecting on their legacy in the world serve as a reminder of the sublimity of the world around us.  To live out this mantra – “to live like a hummingbird” – enhances our connectivity and personal enjoyment day in and day out.

I invite you to join me as I challenge myself to stay mindful of the meaning of the hummingbird – to be free of the constraints of time, to celebrate the everyday, and to enjoy the wonderment of our lives.

Are you ready to live like a hummingbird?

{hummingbird quote image via papyrus}

Dare to Turn Knowledge into Action

July 6th, 2009 | 8 Comments »

I am definitely suffering from blogger uncertainties. Or it may be blogger perfectionism — not sure, yet!

What I do know is that something is definitely interfering with my blogging abilities. I now post once a week on the Huffington Post and Psychology Today. I have been working really hard on these posts – a bit too hard due to the fear of the unknown, the large audience, and the extrinsic measures now in place. So I’m working to balance that blogging with my “personal” blogging on A Beautiful Ripple Effect.

Rather than just sit here and feel a rush of anxiety when I look at the blog, I am going to take some of my “tips” and put them into action! As I posted a few weeks ago, Actions Speak Louder Than Words.

So my plan is really no plan. Only one action per day: post on here. It may be short or it may be long. I have no idea! But I will only give myself 15-30 minutes to write and post the new content. The same limit I am using right now to write this post. That means no editing, no links, no formatting, and so on! Just my unfiltered thoughts for 5 straight days. On Friday, I’ll post reflections and hopefully will have determined my blogging dilemma during this “mini-challenge.”

If you’re up for a mini-challenge and would like to do some unfiltered blogging this week, post a link in the comments! I could definitely use the company :).

Okay, here are the rules to get started (and they can/may be modified by any participants at anytime):
- Post once a day for five days
- Limit “blogging” to 15-30 minutes
- Optional: Spend a max of 15 minutes adding links and editing
- “Regular” blog series do not count! You can post more than once a day so as to not interrupt “regular” series or decide to pause the series for 5 days!