T.W.I.S.T.

Oh! We are having fun with fierce women willing to have fierce conversations in the workshops! This week we discovered the secret to Getting Anyone to Do What You Want. T.he W.ay I. S.ee T.hings it's all about how you behave and what you say. BE the kind of person others are pleased to do things for - the kind of person others want to spend time with, to get along with, and to share themselves with.

Communicate honestly, directly, and clearly. EVERYTHING is about the nature and quality of our relationships. We succeed or fail one conversation at a time. Susan Scott, author of Fierce Conversations, says the conversation is not about the relationship - the conversation is the relationship.

She writes, "A fierce conversation? Doesn't fierce suggest menacing, cruel, barbarous, threatening? Sounds like raised voices, frowns, blood on the floor, no fun at all. In Roget's Thesaurus, the word fierce has the following synonyms: robust intense, strong, powerful, passionate, eager, unbridled, uncurbed, untamed. In it's simplest form, a fierce conversation is one in which we come out from behind ourselves into the conversation and make it real."

You know how I love a word study! I am loving the word fierce - don't you? Stay tuned for the 7 principles of Fierce conversations. Until then BE fierce.

Find Your Music

This week I had wonderful evening with some wonderful women. Lanette Rajski, my friend and colleague, and I facilitated a workshop called Quit the Chaos. Each woman came with some pretty daunting circumstances. Because they were willing to be honest and do some work, everyone left with tools to calm their minds, build energy reserves, and develop stress resiliency. Sometimes the biggest hurdle is carving out time for ourselves - seeing ourselves as worthy and giving ourselves permission to put everyone and everything else aside for few hours.

I want to invite you to do just that. Scroll down and register or click right here for an e-class (one that is delivered to your e-mail inbox and can be done on your own schedule) that will forever change the way you think of your wellness and the importance of taking time out to take good C.A.R.E of yourself! Don't hesitate. Don't tell yourself you will think it over. Don't wait for a "better" time. The time is now. Class begins Monday September 7! AND it is deeply discounted for this offering. See you there!

Now for more of When the Heart Waits. "It's anguish to come to that place in life where you know all of the words and none of the music."

She tells a story of taking a long walk on a chilly evening, feeling restless and frustrated. She came upon a cocoon and immediately knew it was an epiphany to grace her inner darkness; God speaking to her about waiting, transformation, and hope. She broke the twig off and carried it gingerly home where she grafted it, with duct tape, to her own backyard tree. "I stood at the window watching the cocoon, which hung in the winter air like an upside-down question mark. Live the question, God whispered. Crisis, change, all the myriad upheavals that blister the spirit and leave us groping - they aren't voices simply of pain but also of creativity. And if we would only listen, we might hear such times beckoning us to a season of waiting, to the place of fertile emptiness."

Summer days are dwindling. Fall is in the air with the promise of quieter and slower days. I know many of you resonate with Sue Monk Kidd's blistered spirit in the face of upheaval, change, and crisis. Are you being asked to enter a cocoon? Do you sense a shift ahead? Is transformation calling to your heart? Are you feeling anticipation - or anxiety - or both? Think of it as an invitation directly from God's heart to yours. Enter the chrysalis. Wait for the sound of the music - YOUR music.

When the Heart Waits

Goodness! The days fly by...I have had a great week with girlfriends at the lake and am currently ensconced in a Chicago suburb with my grandkids. On the way here I began a book given to me at the lake last week, When the Heart Waits by Sue Monk Kidd, written in 1990. If you have read any of her books (Secret Life of Bees) you know what a gifted author she is and how her style draws you in. This one is really resonating with me. She talks about change, waiting, and spiritual growth or "soulmaking".

"It's always difficult and risky to try to put soulmaking into words. In many ways waiting is the missing link in the transfromation process...waiting as the passionate and contempative crucible in which new life and spiritual wholeness can be birthed."

She describes her life as making no sense, "curled up into the frightening mark of a question." To all appearances she looked and seemed fine, but inside she was in turmoil with a "chorus of orphaned voices crying out for all the unlived parts of me."

"As a woman I sometimes felt that I had been scripted to be all things to all people. But when I tried, I usually ended up forfeiting my deepest identity, my own unique truth as God's creature."

She began her journey of transformation with T.S.Eliot's question, "Do I dare/Disturb the universe?/ She wondered, "Is it possible that I'm being summoned from some deep and holy place within? Am I being asked to enter a new passage in the spiritual life - the journey from the false self to the true self? Am I being asked to dismantle old masks and patterns and unfold a deeper, more authentic self - the one God created me to be? Am I being compelled to disturb my inner universe in quest of the undiscovered being who clamors from within?"

I wrote to you in the last newsletter that I woud be blogging this month about whatever was put on my heart. I love God's synchronicity and timing. Thank you, Kim for the gift of this book and for listening to the nudge to give it to me. My universe has been disturbed and I am stepping in. I am not yet sure of what I am being asked to do but I know I will be given the grace and strength to meet the challenge.

Mother's Day All Year Long!

You all know we talk a lot about self care here. Join me for an eClass designed to help you take very good C.A.R.E. of yourselves.This offering is a pilot group and is deeply discounted.
If you haven't seen it or have procrastinated you can get the information and register by clicking here.

The class will be delivered to your e-mail inbox each Monday in September. Look for your back to school, time for me, takin' good C.A.R.E. lessons on September 7, 14, 21, & 28.

We will be underway soon and spaces are going fast!
Click here to read more and register!

It's a Four Letter Word

Knowledge is power. Isn't it? We've always heard that is so. What does it mean? What constitutes knowledge and what kind of power does it hold?

Let's unpack the word KNOW and see what we find there.


K - Knowledge is a key to something powerful. I looked up the meaning of key. It's for opening that which was locked. It also means something explanatory, as in a key concept or idea and is part of a reference system. In the world of music key refers to tonality or pitch. Doesn't what we know - or don't know - set the tone or pitch of our thinking, perceptions, and attitudes?

N - Knowing is the ability to put a name to what we know - to directly appoint or
identify it. A name is a descriptive word, referring to a family or clan, It has a
reputation attached to it. How do your family and the way you grew up contribute to what you know? What do others know about you through your name and reputation?

O - There's an object of our knowledge - "a person to which action or feeling is directed". There is a two-fold objective as well. First, to have an objective as a purpose, goal, or aim. Second, to be objective by being unbiased and free from personal prejudices. How has your knowledge been gained? What is your objective?

W - We like to think of knowledge and wisdom walking hand in hand. To be wise is to possess the power of discernment and of judging rightly. Wise people have knowledge, learning, and experience. Wisdom is the power to see and choose the best and highest goal, and the surest means to attaining it. How do knowing and wisdom partner up for you? Are you able to be unbiased and judge rightly? Where would you like to gain knowledge and wisdom?

I have asked you several questions. I recently read an article about the value of inquiry. The author's query was about our children. Are we teaching them to ask questions, to gain knowledge, to become wise? Or are we teaching them that there is a simple, quick answer and it is either right or wrong? As a coach powerful, provocative questions are at the heart of what I do. I say, by all means - ask the question!

This week think about what you know and the wisdom in your knowing. Then decide what you will DO with it. What's your objective? Go! That's where the power is.

Let us know what you KNOW and what you will do with it! What is the gnawing, relentless, objective rolling around in there? I am going to do some serious exploration myself in the next month. I'll keep you posted on the blog as knowledge and wisdom show themselves.

Soon,
Beth

THOUGHT WATCH

Last week we talked about this year's second half. you know what that means about the summer don't you?! Despite the busyness and speed of the "lazy" days of summer, we can all take some time to stop, get quiet, and practice some mindfulness. Let's practice a little right now. Really! Just 90 seconds while you are taking time to read this. Take a moment to stand, relax your head and shoulders, and drop your arms comfortably at your sides. Feel all four corners of your feet (if you can be barefoot and/or outside, all the better) firmly on the floor or ground. Now take 4 or 5 deep breaths with a calming thought atached. For example, "I am totally at peace." or "All is well"

Add a breath mantra with each inhalation and exhalation. "I am breathing in joy. I am breathing out frustration." Use whatever you need in this moment.

Read the complete article here and come back and post your summer mindfulness thoughts and techniques. We all want to know so we can benefit too!
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Let Freedom RING

Webster defines Freedom:

The absence of coercion or constraint in choice or action; Liberation from the power of another; independence, exemption, release, liberty, or license.

With vast freedom comes great responsibility. Read the entire article here

(after Friday) and post your thoughts.

What is your definition of freedom? What does it mean in your life?