Stress-Reducing Ideas You May Not Have Thought About

~Dedicated to my May "Stress-Less Evening" Participants~

...May the Calm Be with You!

1. Make sure your goals align with your values.

2. Declutter. You'll be amazed at how much stress it was causing you!

3. Trust. Author Dr. Susan Jeffers says, "Trust the grand design."

4. Be of service. Gandhi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

5. Be a life-long learner.

6. Learn to be mindful in the moment while keeping the big picture in view.

7. Be proactive. It's the polar opposite of procrastination, and it feels great!

8. Be part of a community.

9. Were you taught that "little white lies" were no big deal? I'd rethink that. As nationally-known coach and author Cheryl Richardson says, "Learn to speak the truth with grace and love."

10. Be sure you have clear personal boundaries in place about what you're willing to do, and what you consider to be acceptable behavior toward you from others.

11. Embrace simplicity.

12. Be selective about the amount and the type of information you allow into your head. Consider joining the growing number of us that rarely watch TV, especially the news!

Serenely yours,

Susan

P.S. Email me for more info on a discounted introductory coaching session by phone or in person. Discounted introductory pricing is also available for your first Reiki treatment!

***All of Susan's creative4life posts are copyright of Susan Cleaver.***

***Member of the TriCounty Community Network, a local organization at www.tcnetwork.info.***

Talking to Volleyballs and Beyond

This post ties into my last topic (June 2), about imagination and journaling, even though I didn't plan it that way. So much the better! I credit my subconscious with much of what ends up here on my blog, anyway. :-)

Remember Tom Hanks' character in the movie "Cast Away," who was stranded alone on a deserted island? Taking on an imaginary friend (in his case it was a volleyball, animated only by his imagination) was probably the sanest thing he could have done! Refer back to my June 2 post for more about imaginary friends and how this helpful psychological tool grows with us and shows up in different forms at different stages of our lives.

If you remember the details of the movie, you'll recall one conversation in particular that Hanks' character, Chuck, had with the volleyball that saved his life. Chuck was preparing to commit suicide, when he imagined the ball (whom he named Wilson) advising him to test his method of demise first. He did so, and after the test clearly failed, Chuck had a change of heart and decided to focus on staying alive instead.

On the movie site, http://www.imdb.com/, Wilson the Volleyball is listed as a character, played by himself. :-) He even has a short bio on the site! He's also mentioned in the awards list for the film. The Broadcast Film Critics Association named him "Best Inanimate Object" for 2001, while the Teen Choice Awards recognized Wilson and Tom Hanks for their on-screen "chemistry"! MTV Movie Awards nominated Hanks and Wilson for "Best On-Screen Team."

Most of us who have had imaginary friends in some form have had ones without movie credits, but they may have served an important function in our personal lives, as they did for Chuck.

The whole concept reminds me of Gestalt Therapy (see my June 2 post), but Chuck didn't have a name for it. He just developed his relationship with Wilson in a seemingly spontaneous way that his instincts led him toward to safeguard his sanity and clarify his thinking. He even had arguments with Wilson, and complained to him about the "laxative effect" of coconut milk! :-)

Maybe your "Wilson" is your journal or what you call your Muse. In any case, never underestimate the power of the imagination. As Einstein said, it's "more important than knowledge." And Einstein did all right for himself!

Imagining the best for you,
Susan

P.S. Two quick reminders:

*'Didn't quite get to your spring cleaning before spring slipped away? Join us in tele-space for the complimentary Summer Cleaning Dig-In Tele-Party this Saturday, June 28, from 9 am to noon Eastern. Contact me by Friday at scleaver@dejazzd.com for the call-in codes and more info.

*This blog now has an alter ego! No, I don't call it Wilson! :-) It's my snail-mail newsletter called "Susan, Unplugged...Your 'Slow-Tech' Source for Creative and Healthy Living Tips." It's complimentary in the continental US; elsewhere I'll ask you to pay for the postage only. Contact me at scleaver@dejazzd.com and give me your snail-mail address to receive this light and informative newsletter. Thanks for being part of my self-development and learning community!

***All of Susan's creative4life posts are copyright of Susan Cleaver.***

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Getting Serious About Humor

It's 2008. Do You Know Where Your Sense of Humor Is?

Actress Cheryl Ladd says you must keep your sense of humor, even when you think "it's two towns over, in a ditch." Einstein explains why: "You can't solve a problem with the same level of mind that created it."

It's true, humor can change your brain chemically (by causing endorphins to be produced) and physically (by creating new connections of neurons). Humor can get you out of a thinking rut, often in a relatively short period of time.

''Good-humored" humor (without malice) contributes to our well-being holistically, with benefits in these areas and probably more:

Creativity

Have you heard the expression, "Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly"? Humor raises our vibration to make it easier to gain intuitive input. Creativity is also enhanced by new connections among the neurons in the brain.

Learning

Learning is more effective and long-lasting if it's presented in a humorous way.

Motivation and Morale

Humor helps us to draw on our intrinsic motivation. It helps pull us toward what we want to accomplish. Motivation from an outside source, such as a demanding boss, pushes us forward. Feeling pushed can cause the quality of our work to decline, and morale will suffer.

Relationships

Because humor raises our vibration, we are more likely to be drawn to others who have raised their vibrations, too, and you will find the quality of your relationships improving.

Health

All areas of your health can be improved by humor: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Laughter has been likened to an internal massage! Humor helps to dispel negative, lower energies, and replace them with lighter, more positive ones, which over time can enhance healing.

*****

Life Is Messy

Being able to laugh at yourself is very important. We make mistakes. There are things about ourselves we wish we could change.

Take a tip from Abraham Lincoln. His life was riddled with personal and public defeats. And his physical appearance was somewhat awkward and homely.

One day as Lincoln was speaking in public, someone called him "two-faced." Lincoln probably knew that this person's mind was made up, so instead of trying to reason with him, he chose humor for his response. Lincoln said, "Sir, if I had two faces, do you think I'd be wearing this one??"

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Humor and creativity come very naturally to children, and it's a great way to communicate with them. Maybe some of that amazing humor and creativity that we were schooled out of will be rejuvenated!

So, when we think we're too busy for "fun and games," we need to reconsider our position. We often resist what we need the most!

The Conscious Mind Can't Go It Alone

We can shut down, hunker down, and try to create with the limited material in our conscious minds, but this is often a self-contained loop that gets us nowhere. Or we can lighten up, loosen up, and open up to the vast creative opportunities available to us when we allow the input of our unconscious mind and the collective unconscious.

Let Your Sense of Humor Bridge the Gap

Humor takes down the walls that are blocking your creativity and uses them for bridges!

Here's to a New Year filled with laughter and creativity,

Susan

P.S. 'Need any help getting the New Year off to a great start? See my Dec. 11 post on creative resolutions and/or email me at scleaver@dejazzd.com to set up a complimentary coaching tele-session!

**All of Susan's creative4life posts are copyright of Susan Cleaver.**

Fast-Forward to Motivation, Passion, and Flow

Feeling Stuck? Do you know what the next step is, but you just can't seem to get there from here? We can miss a lot of great opportunities by getting bogged down in what we think "should" come next.

When possible, fast-forward to the part that ignites your passion, then go back and do that other step. You will be amazed at how much easier it will seem, if indeed it needs to be done at all!

When you feel resistance to your work, it's often a sign that you're not going with the flow. Remember Dr. Charles Emerson Winchester III from the TV series, M*A*S*H? His mantra was, "I do one thing, I do it well, and then I move on." That may have worked well for him back in Boston, but in war-torn Korea his rigidity was out of place. Despite the pleading of his co-workers, he simply refused to go with the flow, causing problems for himself and others.

Fast-Forwarding: Why You'll Love It...

Fast-forwarding to another step can help by:

• allowing incubation time for one part of your project while you move ahead to another.
• helping you flow around temporary obstacles such as fear, a creative block, procrastination, or having to wait for another person to respond in some way.
• engaging the Law of Attraction on your behalf. (See http://www.thesecret.tv/.)
• helping you get a fresh perspective on something. This may motivate you and stir the passion you need for the more difficult parts of the project. On the other hand, it may help you see that this is not a project you're passionate about, which will free you up to move on to something that really makes your heart sing.

Take Einstein for Example...

Remember, Einstein intuited the Law of Relativity, and then went back and did the math! We are in good company when we use fast-forwarding!

Suppose you are job-hunting and have been taught that updating your resume is the first step. Sounds easy enough, so why can't you seem to make yourself do it? It's because the passion isn't there. You might try fast-forwarding past that step and do some informal networking instead. If you hear of a job that stirs your passion, you will breeze through that update in no time. Also, you'll have a better idea of what experience will be most relevant to include.

Maybe you need to do some writing that requires an outline, and you've been taught that the outline must come first. But your creativity cowers in the corner at the sight of those Roman numerals! Fast-forward over that step. Write the piece and create your outline from that. It's OK, really!

When coach Winston Connor was a beginning trainee at my alma mater, Coach U, he wanted to get involved in the coaching community as quickly as possible. He ended up starting an alumni group long before he was an alumnus himself. His willingness to reach out without saying, "But first I have to graduate..." paid great dividends for him in this situation and others during his coaching career.

Suppose you want to be a potter. Maybe you're thinking, "But first I have to learn to make my pieces perfectly symmetrical." Maybe not! I attended a craft show where a clever potter was selling very wobbly-looking mugs called "Bad-Day Mugs"!

Maybe you want to write a book, but you hate to do traditional research. You could replace that step with interviews, questionnaires, and/or teaching classes about the subject.

OK, now your book is done, but you're concerned that the information will be outdated by the time it makes it way around the New York publishers' circuit. You could skip that step and self-publish, especially if you have access to your niche market. And you will if you continue to teach the class!

You Get the Idea...

Give fast-forwarding a try the next time you feel stuck, and let us know what happens by stopping by to leave a comment.

Need a lift for your fast-forward leap? Email me at scleaver@dejazzd.com to set up a complimentary trial coaching tele-session.

May the flow be with you,

Susan