Wishcasting Wednesday: One Step

It's Wednesday (barely, but it still is), and that means it's time for wishing. Today Jamie Ridler of Jamie Ridler Studios asks, "What do you wish for in the New Year?"

My mind raced as I thought of the extensive list of goals I always start to mentally jot down as the clock ticks down to the New Year. Which one would I pick for this post?

Save more. Spend less.
Give more. Take less.
Practice contentment.
Clear the clutter.
Submit those picture book manuscripts. (Finally.)
Create (and stick to) a more regular blog posting schedule.
Pitch a minimum of one magazine article idea per week.
Reconnect with God.
Nag my husband less.
Listen to my body.
Watch less TV. Read more books.
Resist trying to do it all.
Develop SMART goals for Re.Told Journals.
Develop SMART goals for Stepping Stone Studio's creativity workshops.
Reinvent my career.
Live intentionally, not fearfully.
Grow out my hair. (My hair has never been longer than my shoulders.)
Live authentically.
Be quiet. Listen more.
Drink more water.
Get to bed earlier.
Stick to a clean eating lifestyle.
Sit down and write already!
Get in the best shape of my life...not just physically, but mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Soon, the list had me feeling more exhausted than excited. Didn't I tell myself this would be a year defined by doing less so in the end I could be more? So often I find myself jumping from one new idea to the next, feeding off the excitement of new possibility and potential, but losing steam when the nitty-gritty, day-to-day work and challenges come in to play. Instead of seeing obstacles and challenges as opportunities to strengthen my fear muscles, I shrink away, telling myself that it must be a bad idea. The doors aren't flinging open before me, and therefore it just isn't meant to be. Time to turn back. Again.

Or, perhaps those obstacles mean I am on the right path after all.

As screenwriter Frank Howard Clark once said, "If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere. "

So what do I wish for in 2010? To take one step. Every day. To make room for and a conscious effort to take just a single step—even when it means stepping in, towards, over and around any obstacles in my path—just so long as that one step is moving me closer toward the life I was created to inhabit...fully.

Wishcasting Wednesday

Today's Wishcasting Wednesday prompt from Jamie Ridler Studios ask...

How Do I Wish to Soar?

With…


Self-Confidence…
in
my
steps;
my
    dreams; my creativity
                               my
                            choices;
                               my
                             talent;
                               my
abilities; my, decisions.
      

               Openness…to new ideas;
      challenging                 thoughts;
    different                           views; the         
  road less                                traveled;
unfamiliar                                faces who                    
are really                                     new friends                            
 in disguise;                              loving fully;
  loving more;                            letting go;
    falling flat                           on my face
      but getting                     up one more
         time; dreaming big; expecting more;
               being completely surprised.

     Attentiveness…toward
my goal;                 my vision;               
my dreams;            the life I’ve
secretly                   and not so
secretly felt             was always               
mine to                   behold; my
spirit; my               body; my
mind; my needs; time spent with
my spouse,             my family           
my friends;             when I need          
to  just                   stop and when
I need to                 press on just a
little more;               the tiny detials
and the                     grand view.


Resilience to obstacles, delays,
detours;                     opposing               
viewpoints;                the nay-                  
sayers;                      the many
stories                     and false-
hoods                     I make
up then                 wrestle
against; the many gremlins that
try to destroy my progress, tell
me it can’t               be done; that
it isn’t                        worth the
time;                                 jealousy;  
negative                                thinking;      
fatigue;                                    burnout;  
opinions                                    of others
that do                                         not really
matter;                                           self-doubt.

A Case of the Mondays

Poor Monday. If I were to poll a room of people as to which day of the week is their least favorite, I'm fairly certain Monday would win by a long shot.

But why do people dislike Monday so much? Because it marks the end of the weekend and the start of the work or school week? I get that. I've been there. But let's try reframing the idea of hating Mondays and see if struggling through that first day of the week is really worth it.

Let's say most people start school around age 5. (I'm not counting preschool for the purpose of this illustration). And let's say you work until age 65. And let's say you hate every single Monday of every single school week and work week from there on out. If there are approximately 52 Mondays in a year, that means you end up hating 3,120 days of your life. Or, to look at it another way a little more than 8-1/2 years.

That seems like a lot of wasted time to me.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not always Little Miss Sunshine, especially in the morning and definitely not before I've had my coffee. But greeting the days I've been given with optimism and wide open arms is something I'm working on. And I think Mondays are a great place to start, as it sets the tone for the rest of the work week.

Several weeks ago, on a Monday, I took myself on a little field trip to a nearby park over my lunch break. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day and slightly warmer than usual for a Wisconsin October day. As I sat at a picnic table reading my book, I noticed a majestic weeping willow with low hanging branches about a football field away.

That's a perfect climbing tree, I thought.

I quickly glanced around. The park was fairly empty, with just occasional jogger or cyclist moving through the area.

Oh why not! I said to myself, jumping to my feet and walking straight towards the grand tree.

If you're wondering whether or not I climbed a tree on my lunch break in office attire, yes I did. And it was SO MUCH FUN! I loved climbing trees as a kid. In fact, I had my My Tree in the front yard that I sit in for hours reading books.

I can honestly say adding that little bit of childlike play sent me back to the office in a much better mood.

Since then, every Monday lunch break has been marked with some sort of childlike play. I've turned my Monday lunch hour in Monday's recess. Think about it, doesn't the word "recess" bring with it a sense of play and fun and freedom that "lunch" or "lunch break" or "lunch hour" does not.

So my challenge to you is to redefine Mondays. Create your own Monday Recess Ritual. I'd love to here the creatively clever ideas you come up with. If you need a jump start, visit 25 Ways to Turn Your Lunch Break Into Recess.

Now go play!

25 Ways to Turn Your Lunch Break Into Recess

Put down the sandwich. You heard me. Before you even consider working through another lunch hour, I want you to go outside. Right now. Really. 

Confused? Befuddled? Let's take a short detour down Memory Lane.

When you were a kid, you never willingly chose to spend your recess indoors working on your homework, did you? So what's changed? What is holding you back from putting the same freedom, excitement and fun into that one precious hour in the middle of the workday that is completely, selfishly, wholly yours?


This week, I challenge you to obey your inner child and transform your lunch hour into recess. If you need a little help, here are 25 simple, creative ways to get started. Pick one...or two...and GO PLAY!

• Climb a tree
• Go to a park and swing on the swings
• Make a snow angel (just remember to pack an extra set of clothes)
• Study something small—a blade of grass, an ant, a lady bug
• Trade lunches with a coworker
• Draw a picture
• Keep a coloring book and crayons in your desk and color a picture

• Curl up with a good book
• Grab a coworker and head outside for a game of catch
• Find a bike shop and rent a bike for half an hour (if you bike to work, go for a ride)
• Round up a group of coworkers for a pickup game of capture the flag
• Practice Yoga or Pilates
• Make wishes on puffy white dandelions

• Visit a candy store and stock up on all your childhood favorites
• Who cares if you look silly. Grab your coworker buds for a game of freeze tag
• Watch the clouds

• Jump in a pile of leaves
• Jump rope (or grab a couple of work buds and enjoy some double-dutch)
• Gather small objects as if they were precious treasures
• Pick a dandelion bouquet 

• Create a scavenger hunt for your coworkers
• Head to your local coffee shop for a hot cup of tea or favorite coffee drink
• Make a friendship bracelet...and give it to your work BFF or the first kid you see
• Treat yourself to an ice cream cone
• Bring some sidewalk chalk for a game of hopscotch

Have other ideas? I'd love to here how you've turned your lunch break into a recess. Post them here!

Wishcasting Wednesday: Be the Caterpillar

I simply adore Wishcasting Wednesdays with Jamie Ridler of Jamie Ridler Studios. So often the right journaling prompt finds me at just the right time...and today was no different.


Today Jamie asked...

 What Do You Wish to Transform?

I wish to transform frustration into motivation...

My many excuses into falsehoods that I refuse to believe...

Another dreaded Monday into the beginning of another week's adventure...

Fear into excitement...

Distraction into focus...

A life that's ordinary into a life less ordinary...

It's easy to get comfortable and settle into the mindset that This, the Here and Now, is just the way life is and is going to be. That our dreams and hobbies can wait until later. That, really, they should wait until later. That we must be practical first, then dreamers.

I've decided that just can't be so for me.


My dreams can't wait.

 

So...I can either stay put and stay frustrated that Someday isn't here yet, or I can begin to "be the caterpillar" and take my chances with what's on the other side of Transformation.

I choose to be the caterpillar.