The Resume's the thing

Today I am going to rework my resume.

I have recently sent out my old resume. And I realized, as I pushed submit, that my resume actually has nothing to do with me anymore. It says very little about the work I really want to do; it shows neither the reader nor myself any of my awesome talents.

So I have secured a book from the library The Career Coward's Guide to Resumes (by Katy Piotrowski, M. Ed.) and already I am impressed. On page 7 it says, "I'd like you to think like a marketer aiming to sell a big-ticket item - yourself! - to a qualified buyer."

And wow, do I like that. Because that is total happiness practice right there. Looking at myself as a valuable product; looking at my skills as big ticket items.

So, today I am going to work on my resume. I hope we'll see the results in my website very shortly.

Doing what I want

Today I am practicing doing what I want - fulfilling my self imposed goals.

It can be pretty easy to tell myself, oh, you're feeling tired. Stop and take a break.

But I have noticed that sometimes taking a break doesn't feel good. It feels antsy. Like I want to be doing something else.

So today I am doing what I want.
 I am going outside (though only for a little while because it is COLD.)
 And I am writing a romance for 30 minutes.
 And I am going to change the sheets on the bed.
 And I'm going to start changing my resume.
 And I'm going to post this.
 And I am going to take a break, when I have done the things I want to have done. Because then, it'll be okay to sit. And snuggle. And start planning tomorrow.

Today I am going to do what I want. Because what I want brings me happiness.

Yay me!

I hope you're doing what you want, too.

Moving Forward

Today, I am not going to start over. I am not going to try and go back to the beginning. I am not going to pull out a clean sheet of paper and do it again.

Today I am going to move forward.

I am going to make corrections.

I am going to work with what I have.

I am going to look at my life straight on, see it for what it is, and turn it into something more beautiful to me.

Today, instead of starting over, I am moving forward.

-L

The Little Things

Today I am going to focus on the little things.

You might even say I'm going to sweat the small stuff.

Because everything is made up of small stuff.
Big journeys are traversed one step at a time.
Stories are created one detail at a time.
Transformation is lived through one moment at a time.

Life is loved one breath at a time.

So I am going to focus on the breath, the moment, the detail, the step. I am going to give my all to each little thing.

We are the sum of our parts. If the little things align with my happiness, the big thing will naturally bring happiness too.

I hope you have a great collection of moments!
-Lila

One thing at a time

Even though my brain runs with ideas, I can only do one thing at a time.

Even though I have 25 different ways to bring in money, I can only do one thing at a time.

Even though I want to read and write and do the housework, I can only do one thing at a time.

When I accept this, we'll move on to figuring out which thing is the one thing. At which time.

Dealing with Different

Today I am practicing dealing with different.
Not running away.
Not freaking out.
Definitely not judging before I figure out if it adds to or subtracts from my happiness.
Simply dealing.

Last night I had a semi-successful session with a CPAP machine (I actually drooled on my pillow. It's been so long!) Between that and the chiropractor, today I feel different.

My lungs, my head, my whole body feels different.

It is not painful.
It is uncomfortable.

And, as an adulting happiness practitioner, I know that uncomfortable is not necessarily harmful. Is it, well, just different.
And I know that eventually this feeling of "different" will pass. It simply requires a new awareness until it becomes part of usual.

I may move slower today. I may take more time to write a simple post, or even to formulate a sentence. I may require more rests, or I might want to wear my jammies all day.

But the "dealing with it" part means I am going to move through today. I am going to write this post, and do other writing work, and chores.They will be clean jammies.

Different is not a distraction. It is not an immediate need to go back under the covers. It is simply different. It is something that will become usual.
And my work feeds my happiness.

So today, (and probably tomorrow and tomorrow...) I will be dealing with different.

I hope you have a great day!
-Lila

Release myself

Today I am going to allow myself to have adventures; I am going to release myself from the prison of my fears.

As I was laying on the warm table at a new chiropractor's office, I was reflecting upon some of things he'd told me about how I was holding myself. And how long it takes to change habits. And I realized I had been caging myself in.

I have health issues. (I guess that is a part of the adulting - accepting what is, and being able to say it out loud.) And some of these issues have probably been issues since I was young. But back then, you had to be bleeding to know something was wrong.

Snoring was snoring. People were weak or strong. Wimpy or painless. Hyper or lazy.

Now we know how much the chemistry in our bodies contributes to our attitudes and our actions. Now we know that there is so much more going on in there than just a simple intact and outflow.

But the fear of my health issues has been caging me in. (Hmm, rephrase.) My concern over my health issues has dictated that I stay in. Don't go beyond the "safe" limits. Live in fear.

But staying inside, trapped, confined, at the mercy of someone else's decisions, that's a fearful thing to.

So today, after the table warmed me and massaged my lower back (Love this chiropractor!) I decided, I didn't want to live in fear. Or caged, by my issues. If I know what the results are, or the concerns are, I can prepare for them. But I'm not going to stay inside just because I'm afraid of the cold.

And I'm not going to freak out on the what if's just because I something new might happen. Who knows?

I am going to release....

I AM releasing myself to experience wonderful stuff, to heal slowly and easily, and to be free of the cage.

I hope that made sense, cuz this was a fly by post, and I'm not even editing. Too much to do today!

I hope you have a great one!
-Lila

Adulting - Does it align with what I want?

Today I am setting goals (am going to start the practice of setting goals) and part of that goal setting is asking myself - does this goal match what I really want?

That's a huge question right there. What do I want? And of course, my favorite line from Into the Woods, "How can you know what you want till you get what you want and you see if you like it?" ("He's a Very Nice Prince", Act 1).

At this point in my life, one thing I know - okay, one thing I think I know, is what I like. Let's hijack a cliche. "I don't know happiness, but I know what I like."

And what do I like? I like contentment. I like the feeling that one day follows another, and everything is sailing along beautifully. I like the feeling that all the difficulties and frustrations are just about life, because I'm doing what I want to be doing, loving my work and my people and my life, and it's one big ball of sunshiny happy.

How do I know I like this? (Which would be like testing the hypothesis, yes?)

Because it's what I'm drawn to. The shows I like to watch, the ones that feed me, that calm me at the end of the day, my fluffy blanket shows - are about people just doing their daily thing, living their lives with joy and contentment. Girl Meets World, Phineas and Ferb. Small, sweet, tame shows. No monsters, no soap opera drama other than the daily lives and loves as people grow.
Okay, I grant you, Phineas and Ferb actually does have some superhero adventure (dooby, dooby, doo-by) but since it's a cartoon, and it could all be part of the young boys' imaginations, it doesn't bother me.

Yes, I like to watch adventure movies, and I am a fan of Joss Whedon, but for what I want my life to feel like? It's calm, humorous, "average" daily lives, all the way.

And as for my reading! Straight to Louisa May Alcott. The most marvelous things happen in her books. People, real people, calm people, have their daily lives, have obstacles in love and life, and they keep moving forward with help from friends and the Divine. Average people, doing their work, and moving contentedly through life.

And yes, I am an avid reader of space opera, and mystery, and I love the supernatural. But, when I need to reconnect with myself, I find Louisa May Alcott in my hands.

So what I want is to have a simple and contented life. I know I want to write (and possibly teach, counsel, and coach as well.) And sing at bedside, and read and hang out with friends and family, and just enjoy. And travel. Calm and content.

Which means I don't have to be a super star. I don't WANT to be a super star. I'm much too introverted for that. But I can be successful without being a superstar.

Contentedly successful.

That feels good. That feels warm and snuggly.

That's what I want.

I hope you have a great day!
-Lila

Today I shall practice adulting

Today I shall practice adulting. Perhaps even this whole week.

This week's rune reading (LIR 10516 - Self) is about looking around us and seeing where we're at.

Adulting seems to be the same thing. Looking. Asking the questions. Accepting the current answers. Not ignoring sh... stuff. And not waiting and hoping someone else will take care of them.

Adulting may be stepping up.

And Adulting is something I hope to explore further in future posts.

Because in order to work at something, you need to figure out how it works, don't you?

Hmm, so much to think about.

Meanwhile, onto the next thing. Because I want to work. Because I care for myself and my family. Because, because, because.... (nebulous thoughts and lots of expressive arm waving.) Because.

I hope you have a great day!
-lila

Fill the Accounts

Today i am going to focus on the positive abundance of filling the accounts.

Honestly, and I hate to admit this, and I'm sure I've admitted it before, I freak out about money. And the freak out doesn't fit my personal truths, nor does it bring me happiness. But that's the way it is.

And I have been searching and practicing ways to reconcile the fact that I need money, I want money, I have chosen to live in a world that runs through money. Personal beliefs about how the world really SHOULD be run aside, I am currently living in the money run one.

But when one is practicing positive thinking and really feels that when you focus on something you bring it into your reality, it is difficult to figure out how to say "pay the bills." I mean, "Pay the bills" feels heavy - like an obligation. Like drudgery work. Like "I owe my soul to the company store." (Sixteen Tons, by Tennessee Ernie Ford )

And that feeling is antithetical to happiness.

But, it is a fact that I want the electricity to keep flowing, while we work to find a better means of power. I do want food on my table while I practice more healthy and organic ways of feeding myself. I do want to continue in our beautiful apartment, with the gorgeous view and the nurturing embrace of the mountains, while I help create a better place in which to live.
And yeah, I'm an American, so I do have credit cards.

So how do I visual paying off all those expenditures in a way that aligns with happiness, abundance, prosperity and, most of all, away from the feeling that money is associated with drudgery?

I fill the accounts.

I fill the credit card accounts with available credit.
I fill the electric account and I get energy.
I fill the rent account, and I have a roof over my head.
I fill the checking accounts - which allows for many different sources of money flowing in. And then, I fill the savings accounts, and the insurance accounts, and the tax accounts, and the food accounts.

I fill the accounts. And then I receive from the accounts. And then I fill my own energy. Then I send stuff out. Then I fill the accounts.

Energy flows.
Life flows.
Totally in sync with my view of reality, and money, and work, and happiness, and living in this world.

May our accounts always be filling!

-Lila