Kathzoofus

"Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make yourself a happier and more productive person." ~Dr. David M. Burns From Morning Mantra .

Today in my email was my daily subscription to a daily hindu message from Beliefnet . It read: Meditation is needed Only when the mind is distracted By false imagining. Knowing this, I am here. Without joy or sorrow, Grasping at nothing, spurning nothing, O Master, I am here. -Ashtavakra Gita 12:3-4 From "The Heart of Awareness: A Translation of the Ashtavakra Gita," by Thomas Byrom, 1990. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston. www.shambhala.com. I especially liked the first part - meditation is needed when we distract ourselves with false imaginings. It reminded me of Max Ehrmann's Desiderata . This passage in particular: Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. There are so many thing...

"Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, make me feel important. Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life." Mary Kay Ash, Founder, Mary Kay Cosmetics

I just skimmed two articles on Beliefnet.com . I love that site. I thought that these might be of interest to some of you: Face your fear Does your job feed your soul? Enjoy!

1. Name a skill or characteristic you admire in other people that you wish you had. 2. Identify an example of a time that you saw that skill in action. 3. Share what you can do to fine-tune that skill for yourself.

"If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning." -Catherine Aird

"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are." ~Anais Nin Think of one thing that you can change your attitude about for the better.

I woke up this morning to the sound of nothing. Pure, uninteruppted silence. No cars, no snowmobiles, no barking dogs, no purring kittens, no wind through the trees. Just silence. I quietly rolled over and saw the bright sun fighting to get thru the shades. "It's going to be a sunny day", I thought to myself. I laid still for a bit completely in awe of the lack of noise when a quiet "Hoo! Hoo!" snuck my way from the woods. Then it was quiet again. A few minutes later another "Hoo! Hoo!" and eventually a little boy climbed up into my bed. "Shhhh...listen," I told him. "The owls are saying good morning." He curled up next too me quietly and together we waited. "Hoo! Hoo!" He slowly rolled over to face me, smiling from ear to ear. "I'm hungry." And there the silence ended. Replaced by the magical sounds of spoons on dishes and little voices filling the air. What...

What would it take for you to truly be happy?

We are ALL guilty of this. Each and every one of us can stand up, raise our hand and say "YUP. I've done that." The question is...for how LONG will we do it? Do what you ask? - TOLERATE - We tolerate different things in our lives at different times in our lives. Some are big, life changing things like tolerating a bad marriage. Others are less significant like tolerating a messy closet. But all of these tolerations - big and small - add up over time. They grow into these unmanageable beasts that we work hard to avoid. We become Masters of Distractions. We read books on how to get organized. We read books on how to deal with our crappy marriage. We spend hours talking to counselors and friends and neighbors looking for the right advice. Here is my advice: Put down the books. Stop the distractions. DO SOMETHING. Most things that we tolerate start out as these tiny little things - no big deal right? But we ignore them because there is so...

Quote of the Day: Habit 3 - Put First Things First "The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities." ~Stephen R. Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, founder of Covey Leadership Center.

I am a big believer in the power of positive thinking. List five things that are great about your day. My list: 1. Traffic was a breeze this morning. 2. The kids were up early - and cheerful about it! 3. I get free windshield wiper fluid refills anytime I need them from the place that changes my oil. Guess who is happy as can be that she doesn't have to figure out how to lift the hood on The Notrious SUV this afternoon!?!?! 4. The temperature is above freezing. CAR WASH!!!!!!!!! 5. Blueberry bread for breakfast.

What does it take to make a romantic relationship work long term? If people are always changing how do two people change in the same direction so that the relationship can survive? What do you think is the number one reason why relationships fail? Why do some people get bored in their relationships? What can be done about it? Is the idea that Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus real? Are gender differences really to blame for our inability to relate to one another? Discuss...

I am a big believer in choosing battles wisely. Mostly because I really hate confrontation but also because some things are simply not worth my time, energy or frustration. I also believe that avoiding issues that are important to us can be a big, big mistake. It is sometimes a fine line though, between choosing your battles wisely and avoiding them all together. How do you decide what issues to confront and what ones are best left alone?

So Ms. Howe asked me to write about my opinions on happiness and contentment. "Sure, I'd be HAPPY to do it." I replied. DAMN... there was that word happy again. And so, I went on a mission to understand my own opinions on the subject. Below is my random thoughts.... Happiness is a temporary state. Something that is outside my control and is triggered by an event or an item or a place. Contentment is something within my control based off myself. An example, you want an example, fine.... here it goes. I was HAPPY watching Garrett and his friend riding around in the Birthday Hummer. It was fun and exciting to watch the boy's face light up in excitement. The planning and the entire event was fun. I was quite happy doing it. I was content to just be able to spend Garrett's birthday with him. I was HAPPY painting ceramics with Kenzie today. I was content knowing that we were together spending time. To be content, to me, is being at peace with WHATEVER is happenin...

What is the difference between prejudice and opinion? Is one better than the other? Is one more socially acceptable than the other? Can you give any examples of a prejudice and an opinion?

Describe happiness. What makes you happy? How do you know when you are happy? How do you make yourself happy? How much do you rely on others for happiness? The dictionary definition of happiness says that happiness is characterized by good luck. Do you think happiness is directly connected to how lucky you are?

"Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better." -Sydney J. Harris

Today my daily appreciation is my organizational skills! There is NOTHING worst than feeling like your life is somehow chaotically out of control and I am so glad that mine is NOT! Clean closets and never being late for meetings makes me giddy!

WOW! My passion was active today! I had a tremendous personal victory today - a phone conversation alerted me to huge success in an area I have been spending a lot of time, money and energy on. I was giddy on the phone and didn't try to conceal or downplay my excitement. I WON DAMMIT! Victories are to be CELEBRATED so I made several calls to share my excitement - my passion!! I am so thrilled that my passion was touched today in such a monumental way. This has been a long time coming.