Managing JoyFull living

There is a lot of fear and anger around right now that I can't ignore.

Health scares and the economy reacting to health scares, and more

economy and it goes on. We've talked each week about how to be with

all of this. How to find our way to being in balance while everything is

all over the scale. In doing this, find your joy outside of the stories of

the time. Some reminders:

Life works in cycles. We have been through difficult times before and

we can and will cycle through this one again. Remind yourself what is

important to you right here and right now. If your health is

important, redesign the way you are eating, even if you are eating

well tweak that a little to practice your power. For relationships,

redesign the way you spend time with the other people, or recreate

how you are going to meet people and bring them to you as a perfect

match.  Money: find one way to manage it differently today.

This is more opportunity to declutter old thoughts, old ways of doing

things, and to keep what is important to you. The fear and anger is

filling a lot of space and taking up a lot of energy for many people. I

see it in the way people are driving and reacting to one another. I

hear it in voices at the store and see it in aggression. Look at your

anger levels and see if that is your truth. We talked about integrity

and is anger part of your integrity? Anger is a reaction to not having

your way or being afraid about something. IF it is popping up a lot,

then what are you willing to look at and take care of for yourself? Are

you blaming others for the way you feel?

If you are calling other people stupid for the way they are driving and

barreling your car through a pedestrian thoroughfare, what could the

consequences be if you actually hit someone right now? Do you really

want to do that? And if you do, please get support for that anger with

a professional, a spiritual advisor or your doctor.

1. Find a place to vent, even the little stuff. Create a blog, get a

venting group together -- we have a politically incorrect night where

we don't have to worry about being good, eating good or what we

watch on tv and we do it with full intention and know it is the same

time every week. We watch bad movies and expect them to be bad.

Get a team together. Time for a good walk? a workout? Find a friend

who knows and loves you well and ask them to listen to your

frustrations for a few minutes. Keep a time commitment that they

agree to, set a timer and when it goes off stop venting even in mid

sentence. Train yourself to move on in that moment.

2. What are you grateful for? If it's hard to come up with anything

because you feel full up with frustrations and fear, make that ok and

be grateful that you are ok with that. Be with that for a moment. Be

with one small gratitude in one small moment and notice how it feels.

Ask others what they are grateful for in their lives and they may

trigger some ideas for you as well!

3. If you're angry, write down all the reasons you’re angry and see if

they are really true. Be honest. How is it showing up in your life?

Writing it down and spending some time looking at it can help you see

what is real and what is really about something else. You may be

finding yourself angry in your car but you are really angry about

something totally unrelated to driving and you may be able to do

something about that. You may not have the answer right now but

naming what it is really about helps redirect to find the truth in your

life.

Take a deep breath. I've mentioned this before but that is something

that is so important and when we stress we tense up and hold our

breath. So deep breaths, lots of water, lots of good nutrition and get

through this new cycle of opportunity! Find joy instead!