Happy New Year!!!

hey y'all....!

look- we're at a NEW YEAR. amazing stuff! i've been thinking about it- seems every magazine has some article about healthy ways to approach new year goals.

dr. phil...i can hear the groans! but, he has some wonderful self examining bullet points to aid us in evaluating for change. he asks:

1. Is what you're doing in your life working?
2. Are your payoffs healthy?
3. Are you getting in the way of your own success?
4. Are you making everyone happy except yourself?
5. Is the most of what you're doing too high?
6. Are you living with a chip on your shoulder?
7. Has it been too long since you relaxed?
8. Have you gotten too comfortable?
9. Are you being spiritually fed?
10. Are you low on your own priority list?

the usual suspects aren't on this list but if you read between the lines, you will find wherein you know you need to make adjustments.

funny enough, i got to thinking of this list while i was in my vinyasa yoga class this morning. our instructor reminded us that stressful/painful/unhealthy memories are held in the hip joints. she led us through several poses to loosen the areas and then repeatedly asked us to exhale- deeply and vocally. it was interesting to me that at that moment i did feel different and invigorized to do more.

i wake up each year knowing that i want things to be better than the last. i'm thankful that as the years have progressed my goals have matured- this year no exception.

at the end of a good yoga class, the instructor will advise the group to get in 'corpse' pose. laying on your back, hearing the calming exercises for the mind to also rest, most participants lose themselves- almost drifting off to sleep. today the instructor walked around through the group and selected some here and there to nourish. i don't know what else to call it... and what she offers differs from one to another. when her feet approached our area i knew that she was coming to stand by me. i didn't have anything covering my eyes- which most in the class like to have- so she placed a warmed towel over my eyes, then gently pressed her hands into it, then to my shoulders, doing the same, and then finally letting her hand rest on my forhead. after she walked away i felt a tear dropping off my cheek.

we carry many things around with us each and every day- every moment- on our shoulders, on our minds, in our hearts. that small act of giving just touched me. and i realized that i need to find where my goals, dreams, and hurts are and address them.

along this line of thought- Randy Pausch (i'm sure you've heard of him)gave a lecture that ended up being on demand, picked up by tv, book rights sold, and moved into my world. i saw the advertisements, watched a bit of the special that was on tv, and heard the announcement of his death.

and, was given the book to read, which i did over this past week. i copied this summary from the website regarding what all the fuss was about:

"A lot of professors give talks titled “The Last Lecture.” Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?"

to summarize even further- his book talks about these bullet points:

1. Always Have Fun
2. Dream Big
3. Ask for What You Want
4. Dare To Take a Risk
5. Look for the Best In Everybody
6. Make Time for What Matters
7. Let Kids Be Themselves

it's a great book. he's funny and full of life and how he lived it- and how he'd love to see his children get to live theirs. great perpective and, definitely worth reading!

and that's it! i'm done being all new yearsie in this post! yea!!!

to add: i've placed tay's 7th letter on his blog. check it out and be a dear and leave him a comment. he loved the last ones! :)

i wanted to share a pic of a gift i received from michael, my friend from israel. he wanted to give me a christmas gift- i dare say it was the first such gift he's given. so cute, too, kept saying 'merry christmas' days after christmas was over. the reason i'm posting this is- he had many observations of being here during the holiday. he didn't think that our area seemed to really celebrate. he told me that christians love the jews- but most people 'don't love us so much'. i try to show him what being christian is, outside of what he sees working here in america. anyway, he gave me this:



he explained that he bought the necklace in israel when he was home last, and that it 'wasn't so much but thank you for being my friend.' he further explained that he didn't know who he would give it to- but that he had decided he wanted it to go to me, adding, he didn't understand why i wanted to be his friend. well, i just do.

it's sterling silver, the star of david, and as you may have guessed, the gift was perfect for me. i love it!

i found this interesting too... he forwarded this to me from his jewish friends. it had made the rounds in their peer group- and after i translated the hebrew (sample בן ביקש מאביו "אבי, האם תשתתף בריצת מרתון איתי?", האב אשר למרות היותו
סובל ממחלת לב אמר "כן". הם הלכו והתחרו במרתון ביחד. יום אחד ביקש הבן
מאביו "אבא, בא נשתתף בתחרות איש הברזל ביחד". האב אמר כן. כדאי להזכיר
כי תחרות איש הברזל כוללת שחיה בים למרחק של 3.86 ק"מ, רכיבה על אופנים
למרחק של 180.2 ק"מ וריצת מרתון של 42 ק"מ. האב ובנו התחרו בתחרות ביחד.
עכשיו תראו את הוידיאו המדהים הזה של שניהם מתחרים) to english found that they researched the story, added details AND LOVED the message. (yeah, i get a kick out of it translating what i can w/the help of a website) you just have to watch it to see why it's so interesting (and again, blogger won't let me just add a link so copy and paste plz):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJMbk9dtpdY&eurl

and finally, out of the blue, i was released from my church calling as a primary teacher and was not extended a new one. (i think the comment i made a few months back about single moms being called to teach primary was overkill) sigh. lol.
love ya and Happy New Year!!!