|
21 October 2008
|
At
the moment you are most in awe of all there is about life
that you don't understand, you are closer to understanding
it all than at any other time.
Jane
Wagner |
Our
prayers are answered not when we are given what we ask but
when we are challenged to be what we can be.
Morris
Adler
|
|
Let
us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is
not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to
love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go;
first of all in your own home. Give love to your
children, to your wife or husband, to a next-door neighbor.
Mother
Teresa
|
Sometimes
it rains on the just. I believe that.
Sometimes it rains on the unjust. I believe that,
too.
But I also believe that sometimes it just rains.
Neither God nor Justice nor belief has anything to do with
it.
anonymous
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
An
Exercise in Consciousness
(an excerpt)
Vince Poscente
The answer to
our multitasking dilemma is to take a conscious, analytical
approach. We need to allow the disruptions that add speed,
but avoid the ones that detract from it. A basic
psychological premise states that some stimulation or arousal
increases our productivity, but too much reduces it.
Gloria Marks, a researcher at the University of California,
relates the principal directly to multitasking: "You
would expect that a certain amount of multitasking would
increase arousal, perhaps leading to greater efficiency.
But too much will produce declining performance." To
simplify our lifestyles and cut back on unnecessary drag, we
have to take control over what interruptions we accept and when
we choose to accept them--when to multitask and when to focus.
The first step
is to evaluate the importance of each task and decide whether to
let it be interrupted. Is the interruption more important
than the current task? Is it worth a half-hour's lost
productivity? This may seem a no-brainer, but we don't
always take the time to apply priorities to interruptions.
In a recent survey, 55 percent of workers said they opened
incoming email almost immediately, regardless of how busy they
were. But if we consciously assess the importance of the
interruption and decide it's worth the switch, our behavior and
results will more accurately reflect our priorities.
For decisions
about multitasking, ask yourself whether it's best to stay fully
engaged in the activity at hand.
|
|
|
If your child is
telling you about his day in school and you get a text message on
your cell phone, you should probably resist the urge to check the
message immediately; your child takes priority. But if
you're working on a long-term project and a client emails you with
an urgent question, your general productivity, work relationships,
and well-being probably won't be compromised if you accept the
interruption--in fact, they could suffer if you choose to ignore
it. Being conscious of these distinctions helps us to reap
the benefits that come with being fully engaged in moments of
significance--whether those moments are meetings with clients,
conversations with friends, or experiences with family--without
relinquishing the benefits of multitasking.
Next, we need to
examine the total number of interruptions we allow and how often
we multitask. Researchers at the University of Oregon found
that our memories are compromised when we let constant
interruptions distract us. The brain's memory and
organization centers can be damaged when flooded by stress
hormones--a common reaction to multitasking or
interruptions. By juggling too many tasks or allowing too
many distractions, you condition your brain to stay overstimulated,
weakening your ability to concentrate. Not only is
productivity (and therefore speed) compromised, but so is valuable
skill--being engaged when it can benefit you.
Finally, we need
to assess what kinds of tasks we're trying to perform
simultaneously. Multitasking is a good option only if what
we're doing is unimportant or simple enough that the decreased
brainpower (remember, it's cut in half when we do two things at
once) won't negatively affect our productivity or results.
To handle more than one complex task at a time, the brain, because
of its inherent information processing limitations, simply must
slow down. Otherwise, errors multiply and we end up taking
twice as long, or longer, to complete each task. One task
dominates the other in terms of brain function and attention, so
we're not really doing two things at once, we're just toggling
between the two tasks--each interrupting the other.
In the workplace,
excessive multitasking and unexamined interruptions hurt
productivity. So what can organizations do to avoid
slowdowns? Find ways to help employees take a step back and
focus, when they need to, and devote time to the high-value work
you want them to do. Some companies designate time each
week, each month, or each quarter for work only: no
meetings, no expectations for immediate response, no
pop-ins. Dow Corning sets aside one meeting-free week each
quarter. IBM reserves time on Fridays for employees to focus
on work they might otherwise have to complete outside regular work
hours. If such time is to be used effectively, interruptions
must be kept to a minimum. Doors should be closed, employees
should refrain from checking emails every five minutes (unless
it's essential to the job), and nobody should be stopping by to
share information that could be provided in an email or at another
time.
|
|
To
succeed in today's ever-accelerating world, speed is the
name of the game. Forget "slow and steady wins
the race." The key to getting ahead is not
fighting or hiding from speed, but embracing speed and
using its power to your advantage. As Vince Poscente
demonstrates in this rewarding and, yes, fast-paced book,
speed has a unique ability to enrich your life. He
empowers you to take control of your time, your tasks,
your priorities, and your talents, and start making life
everything you want it to be. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Living
Life Fully, the e-zine
exists to try to provide for visitors of the world wide web a
place
of growth, peace, inspiration, and encouragement. Our
articles
are presented as thoughts of the authors--by no means do
we
mean to present them as ways that anyone has to live
life. Take
from them what you will, and disagree with
whatever you disagree
with--just know that they'll be here for you
each week. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
We must
be willing to get rid of
the life we've planned, so as to have
the life that is waiting for us.
The old skin has to be shed
before the new one can come.
Joseph Campbell |
| |
Eyes Wide Open
tom walsh
Responsibility
There are
many people in this world who refuse to take responsibility for
their own actions. They prefer to pass the blame for
anything that's happened to them on to someone else, no matter
what the situation. It's sad to see these people living
their lives in misery, but until they're actually ready to claim
responsibility for their own actions--and for the results of
their own actions--they'll continue to be miserable people,
alienating others and feeling no sense of peace at all.
I've
known far too many people like this in my life. I've known
men who blame their wives for everything that happens, and their
relationships are full of friction and tension. I've known
wives who blame their husbands for everything, and their
relationships likewise are full of negative tension. I've
known people who claim that anything that goes wrong is their
co-workers' fault, and people who have lost their homes to
foreclosure, only to blame the results of their spending habits
on the banks or the mortgage companies.
I know of
one particular person who emotionally abused and neglected his wife and
children for thirteen years, until his wife finally had enough
and left him. After she left him, she met someone else and
got married, and has been quite happy ever since. Does he
take any responsibility at all for what happened?
None. This is someone who constantly criticized his wife,
cheated on her, took his family into bankruptcy twice because he
cheated on his taxes, destroyed his wife's credit record, forced
the family to move every couple of years because of conflicts
with landlords. . . . and the list goes on and on.
Yet his
response to the whole situation is to blame it all on his wife's
new husband. He's been harassing and trying to intimidate
his ex-wife and her husband for ten years now, and this fact has
alienated him from his children, who can't stand the way he
treats other people. Because of this and the way he lies
to his children, the children don't really want to have anything
to do with him--after all, would you want to spend time with
someone who does nothing but talk about his ex-wife and her new
husband in negative terms--eleven years after she left him?
The split
with his children, too, he blames on his ex-wife's new husband.
This man
is leading a very sad life, and it's completely his decision to
do so. He chooses not to take responsibility for anything
that's happened, and because he won't do so, he can't work his
way past anything. His inability to take responsibility
leads to denial, and how can any of us work through problems in
our lives when we simply deny that they exist?
His
children have suggested that he see a counselor, but of course
he refuses to do so. Letting go of his anger would mean
that he'd finally have to take responsibility for some of his
actions, and that's something that he's unwilling to do.
He's much more focused on blaming all of his unhappiness on
other people, and that keeps him quite angry.
If we
don't take responsibility for our actions, we're not affecting
ourselves alone. If we refuse to fully accept the fact
that we've caused some of the problems in our lives on our own,
then we never will be able to deal with those problems honestly
and fully. Taking responsibility is not a question of
beating ourselves up for actions that we've taken, but simply
looking at them honestly and recognizing the fact that we've
caused certain results on our own, and that if we pass on the
blame to someone else, the true cause never will be released.
In this
man's case, his ex-wife and children hope nothing more than for
him to be happy, nothing more than for him to move on with his
life. He never will, though, until he lets go of his need
to blame others and of his denial of his own part in the results
he's seen, and starts to take responsibility for his own
actions. After all, how can he be a happy person when he
refuses to allow others to be happy?
|
|
| |
|
Simply
to have all the necessities of life and three meals a day will
not bring happiness. Happiness is hidden in the unnecessary
and in
those impractical things that bring delight to the inner person. . .
,
When we lack proper time for the simple pleasures of life, for the
enjoyment of eating, drinking, playing, creating, visiting friends,
and watching children at play, then we have missed the purpose
of life. Not on bread alone do we live, but on
all these human and heart-hungry luxuries.
Ed
Hays |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Free
Wallpaper! Just click below on
the size your desktop is formatted to,
right-click on the picture that appears
in the new window, and choose
"Set as background."
(This
photo's from
Grand Teton
National Park, by the way.)
800
x 600 - 1024
x 768 |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Check out our bookstore,
which is full
of inspirational and motivational material! We'd also
appreciate any
suggestions you might have of what to stock it with--please
visit
our feedback page
to make recommendations! |
|
| |
Smelling
the Roses: Better Living Through Savoring
Maureen Killoran
"Stop
and smell the roses," people often say. Then they smile
ruefully, because everybody knows there isn’t enough TIME
to stop or, as my daughter says, to “chill.”
This is the
Conventional Wisdom – and I’m here to tell you that the
CW is simply WRONG. Researchers in Positive Psychology find
that people actually get more done if they take time out to
SAVOR their day. Not only that, but, over time, people who
set aside a few hours every week are likely to be healthier,
more relaxed, and better able to cope with the stresses of
everyday life.
Why not try
it? Give yourself the gift of Savoring. (Hey, stress is all
you have to lose!)
To start,
make a list of 10 things you REALLY enjoy doing, whether or
not you’ve made time for them lately. I’m talking about
stuff that gives you real pleasure. They may be things you
do alone, or with one other person, or with a group. Look
over the list, and see if one thing says “pick me.”
Choose one of those activities that you enjoy.
Now: Take
out your calendar, and SOME TIME IN THE NEXT MONTH, block
out at least a 2-hour period that is JUST FOR YOU. Half a
day is better. A whole day is best of all. Do whatever is
needed to make that time free. Ask a neighbor to baby-sit.
Tell your spouse you’ll be busy. Say "no" to the
half-dozen requests that will almost certainly challenge
your Savoring Time .
And when
Your Day comes . . . GO FOR IT, whether you’re making a
picture, walking in the woods, going to a movie, or just
sitting still. What matters is that you’re doing something
you really enjoy.
These
tricks will help you get the most out of your day:
- Give
yourself permission – this is Your Day. It is
absolutely 100% okay for you to be taking this time.
Leave your cel phone at home, or at least turned off.
When kill-joy thinking comes along (and it will), play
with it. Pretend it’s a stick floating in a stream,
and just let it drift away.
- Keep the
day alive – collect a souvenir or take mental
photographs to help you hold on to this special time.
- Focus
– as though you were taking a photograph, adjust the
"depth of field." Focus on selected aspects of
the experience and let the others go.
- Immerse
Yourself – Try not to analyze the experience, just be
there. You’re savoring, remember?
- Tell the
story – Share your experience with a friend or partner
– the joy that’s shared multiples by ten.
- Write it
down. Read it over as a reminder in a few days or weeks.
When your
Savoring time is over, celebrate! Pat yourself on the back
for challenging the Conventional Wisdom. And, while you’re
at it, why not take out your calendar and make another date
for Savoring Your Day?
About
the Author: Life Coach and Unitarian minister Maureen
Killoran expands the concept of 'savoring' in her popular
teleclass, "The Power of Positive Thanking." With graduate training in Life
Coaching and positive psychology, Masters degrees in family
sociology and divinity, and a doctorate in systems thinking,
Maureen brings a breadth of experience and a lot of joyful
energy to her intuitively-grounded practice. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
HOME - contents
abundance - acceptance
- achievement
- action
- adversity
- aging - anticipation
- appreciation - attitude
- authenticity
awareness
- balance - beauty
- being yourself - beliefs
- body - character
- children
- Christianity
- coincidence
commitment - common
sense - community - compassion
- compliments - compromise
- confidence - conscience
contentment
- courage - creativity
-
death
- determination
- earth - ego - encouragement
- enthusiasm - eternity
faith
- family
- flowers - forgiveness
- freedom - friendship
- fun - gardening
- gentleness - giving
- God - goodness
grace - gratitude
-growing up - happiness
- healing - helpfulness
- home - hope
- humility - imagination
integrity - joy
- kindness - laughter
- learning - letting
go - life
- listening - love
- marriage - miracles
- mystery
nature
- now - open-mindedness
- opportunity
- optimism - patience
- peace - perseverance
- perspective
play - prayer
- principle
- purpose - religion
- rest - role models
- sadness
- self - self-respect
- serving others - silence
simplicity - spirit - success
- time - today
- truth - values - war
- wisdom
- wonder - work
- worship
spring - summer
- fall - winter
- Christmas - Thanksgiving
- New Year - zen sayings
obstacles to living
life fully - e-zine archives
- quotations
contents |
| |
 |
® |
|
|
|
All contents
© 2008 Living Life Fully®,
all rights reserved.
Please feel
free to re-use material from this site other than
copyrighted articles--
contact each author for permission to use those.
If you use material, it would be
greatly appreciated if you would provide credit and
a link back to the original
source, and let us know where the material is
published. Thank you. |
|
| |
|
Be
grateful for what you do have, and
you will find it increases. I like to
bless with love all that is in my life
right now--my home, the heat, water,
light, telephone, furniture, plumbing, appliances, clothing,
transportation,
jobs--the money I do have, friends,
my ability to see and feel and taste
and touch and walk and to enjoy
this incredible planet.
Louise Hay
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
| |
Creative
Giving
Wilferd A. Peterson
These
words from Albert Schweitzer changed my life, and they may
change yours: "You are happy. Therefore
you are called to give up much. Whatever you have
received more than others in health, in talents, in ability,
in a pleasant childhood, in harmonious conditions of home
life, all this you must not take to yourself as a matter of
course. You must pay for it. You must render in
return an unusually great sacrifice of your life for other
lives."
Clara
McBride Hale, or "Mother Hale" as she is called,
loves children and when she began finding abused, abandoned,
and even infants infected with the AIDS virus, she took them
in and loved them as her own.
In
1969, Mother Hale opened Hale House, a shelter for children
and a lifesaving environment for young drug-addicted
mothers. In recognition of her contribution, President
Ronald Reagan named Mother Hale an American Hero in 1985.
An
attitude of creative giving can become the greatest creative
force in the world. When we consider all that others
have done for us since the world began, we become stimulated
and inspired to do something for the world. In a deep
sense we owe the world a creative spirit. There are
millions of ways, great and small, that creative energy may
be put to work.
Success
in life is too often measured by what a person
acquires. More meaningful is what a person
contributes.
And
this goes beyond the contribution of money to the
contribution of ideas, plans, methods, ideals, visions,
projects. Behind all material progress is mental and
spiritual progress. The creative thinkers start the
ball rolling. They visualize programs and goals.
They dream dreams. They help people to grow.
And
in a personal way they enrich themselves in something more
than dollars. They contribute love, hope, courage,
faith, peace, and joy to others. Such a spirit of
contribution has broad and long-lasting influence; a depth
of true success is experienced that can be attained in no
other way.
Go-givers
are far more effective than go-getters, and when you give
ideas, you give the most precious gifts life has to offer,
for everything begins with an idea! |
|
| |
|
