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happy living

Making It Through The Chaos and Noise

December 31, 2017 By Michele Woodward Leave a Comment

I saw my friend Nancy at a party the other night. After the obligatory, “Oh, it’s been too long!” and “You look great!” and “How are your kids?”, she said:

“Michele, you used to write your blog every week. Every Sunday I looked forward to hearing from you and getting a little insight and inspiration. What happened?”

Nancy said what’s been in my own mind. I started writing you all in 2006. Every week – every week for over ten years. It has been a very big part of what I do. And for some reason, I just stopped doing it.

I got into 2017 and felt myself sputter. I mean, over more than ten years hadn’t I said everything that needed saying?

Then, too, I started experimenting with longer posts on Facebook to great results. (If we’re not friends there, you can find me here.) So my writing needs felt somewhat satisfied.

But not totally.

The Wise Nancy said, “Michele, write about transitions. Write about dealing with the chaos we find ourselves in. Write about change, and coping with all the craziness. Write about that.”

Which is somewhat ironic because I have found myself in the same transition Nancy’s feeling. And I bet you’re feeling it, too. How could you not?

I used to think about transition in a very linear way – you started here, traveled a bit, then found yourself there. Finally, blessedly, relieve-adly there.

But now I see transition in a different way. It’s a bunch of stuff going on all at once. Different starting points, different middles, different endings, simultaneously.

You could be a person who’s sending a youngest child off to school while changing jobs while guiding an elderly loved one through hospice while starting a healthier routine while settling into a new house and getting marriage counseling.

Am I right?

And rather than there being a definite end point where you can breathe a sigh of relief and say, “Woosh. Glad that’s done” you end up saying, “OK, done. What’s next on my plate?”

Right again?

My best advice to you if you are human and dealing with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, as Shakespeare would say, is to appreciate that a continual loop of  beginnings, middles and endings is the nature of our existence. It’s living.

Rather than resist, or pretend that it’s not happening by sticking your fingers in your ears while muttering “nanna nanna nanna, I can’t hear you!”, why not get curious? Ask yourself what there is to learn at this point of the process. Learn whatever it is. Then find the way to love that you are on a distinctly human journey, accompanied by other people on their own human journey.

You can call it transition if you want – but really what it is… is living.

 

Filed Under: Authenticity, Blog, Getting Unstuck, Happier Living Tagged With: chaos, coping, coping with change, happy living, transition, transitions

The Journey Of A Lifetime

September 13, 2015 By Michele Woodward Leave a Comment

 

the close-up human eye imageOnce, I traveled to a mountain top to seek out wisdom.

It was a long, arduous journey full of peril. Finally, at the summit, I met the person who could help me understand. I sat and waited.

The wise woman said, “Sometimes you must be utterly quiet to really be able to hear.

“It takes stillness to make any progress.

“You must find introspection to be able to live in the world.

“And when you take the time to get quiet, still and introspective, it’s possible to find understanding.”

I waited. There must be more. Had to be more!

“Is it possible,” I started, “to live a life that matters in a world that is fast and noisy? Where there is no time to think? It doesn’t seem possible.”

The wise woman smiled with kindness, nodded her head and said, “Oh, yes, it is possible. And I will reveal to you exactly how to do it. These are the principles which support a long, happy meaningful life. Pay attention – some are harder to achieve than you might think.”

And these are the words she said to me that day:

Live gratitude.

Be kind.

Love yourself.

Accept that how others live is their choice, and they are entitled to their own choices.

Honor your self-ness and the self-ness of others.

Notice.

Ask questions with no agenda.

Your most awesome power is your power to create.

Set goals and be prepared to let go of them if the situation changes.

Be the friend you’d want to have.

Do not pass suffering along.

Day turned to night and night to day as I pondered these revelations. Could it be that these principles were all I needed to live a life that matters?

Finally, it all made sense to me. I took a deep breath and pledged to move forward living as she suggested and I rose to thank the woman for her help, her guidance and her wisdom.

And the reflection in my mirror smiled and nodded her gratitude back to me.

 

 

Filed Under: Authenticity, Blog, Clarity, Getting Unstuck, Happier Living, Uncategorized Tagged With: happiness, happy living, how to live a better life, integrity, principles

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