Vacation Week - Living As If

I am taking the first week of July as a vacation week. It's been a long time since I've had the ability to take an entire week off. I've done a few days here and there but that's all.

But this coming week I have the freedom (that's my 'soul' word) to do as I choose. Good thing to remember with Independence Day coming up here in the U.S.

I choose to live this week as if I'm a full-time, successful writer.

In all I say and do, I will act "as if".

How does a successful writer go grocery shopping? How does a successful writer spend time with her family? What does it look like when a successful writer walks her dog?

Yes, I will be writing as well, since successful writers do spent some part of their day writing.

What is great about this exercise is that there is no way to do it wrong. My day, my schedule, my actions may not match those of another successful writer, but that is okay. Because what's important is that I feel as if I am a successful writer. By feeling that way, no matter what I'm doing, I will bring it into my reality.

What will you be acting "as if" this week?

Technology Reminds Us to be Grateful

I've posted before about FutureMe.org, where you can send emails to yourself dated in the future (which I am loving, by the way).

Now there is a way to remind yourself to keep gratitude journal.

Gratitude160.com is a free service that texts you reminders about being grateful. You can choose how many times the service can text you each day, between one to four times. When you receive the text, just reply back with what you're grateful for at that moment. At the end of the week, the site sends you a report listing  everything you said you were grateful for.

My texts have been something tangible, such as a good lunch, to intangible, such as grateful for my family or a beautiful day.

The site asks for a donation of $10 per year for the bandwidth and technology they use. It's voluntary, so if you have it and you enjoy using the site, please make a donation.

No Accident Stories

My brother-in-law is a policeman. He's assigned to traffic duty, which means he spends the majority of his time doing various things like issuing traffic tickets but he also investigates accidents.

Each time we visit, we hear a new story about an accident. Sometimes they are funny, sometimes they are devastating. And I understand why he talks about them. To get some of what you see as a policeman out of your head, you need to talk.

But each time we've visited, we've either seen accidents while leaving town or had a few close calls -- someone merging into our lane and not seeing us or stopping suddenly.

We don't want to tell him not to tell the stories, but it is obviously reaching us in some way so that we manifest seeing or experiencing an accident of some type. This doesn't help me, since I have anxiety in large cities and in high traffic situations.

Before we go back for another visit, we have a plan set up to avoid accident stories and not let them come into our personal experience.

1. Set an intention that BIL will not discuss an accident.

Since we know that we are co-creating, BIL's intention may be stronger than ours, so --

2. If he does start a story, I will excuse myself to the kitchen or bathroom for a moment.

3. If still telling it when I return, we'll steer the subject to something else, something more positive.

4. Set intention that no matter what BIL says or believes - because with his job he's now seeing accidents everywhere, so it's now part of his belief system that they're inevitable - we will trust that we will be safe and that other drivers around us will also be safe.

Are there things that your friends or families discuss that you do not want as part of your belief system? How are you handling those situations?

Discover Who You Are

Here is a wonderful excercise to help you discover - and remember - who you are.

Write down five things about yourself. BUT they cannot include anything regarding your work status - your job title, if you're a student, full time parent, etc.

Here are some hints for things to include:

Hobbies
Favorite things
Something unusual about yourself
That dream deep in yourself, the one you don't usually talk about

Here are mine:

I love science fiction movies / TV shows, like Star Trek TNG, Firefly, Doctor Who.
I am the oldest of four and the only girl.
I love pizza, especially spinach Alfredo.
I have lived abroad for a time and visited England for three weeks during college.
I want to have some experience of extended travel, maybe for 3-6 months out of the year and then have a home base to return to.

What is the purpose of this exercise?

To remind us that we are unique and special. We are not our jobs or the amount of money we make, the degree we have, "just" a parent or "just" a spouse or significant other. We were created to love pizza, science fiction, new experiences and cultures.

Honor these things about yourself. Take some time every day and do something that is uniquely you. Honor your authentic self.