December 2005

“Your life becomes the thing you have decided it shall be.” – Raymond Charles Barker

Just a quote I thought we could all keep in mind when we make (and keep) those New Year’s Resolutions!

Make each resolution stick!
~Joi

Check out the post on the slick Resolution Tracking System from UnCommon Goods.

With its help, who knows, maybe this could be the year we keep all those resolutions.

Make each resolution stick!
~Joi

“Every day is an opportunity to make a new happy ending.” - Author Unknown

There’s a great little article on Prevention.com about a few things we could do….should do…..each day to stay sharp.

Here’s the link…See what you think. >>>>> Maintain Your Brain

Make each moment count double,
~Joi

We’re a few weeks away from a ritualistic practice that we’ll all more than likely take part in - in one way or another. I will, that’s a given. I’m a resolutions junkie and I have been since I can remember. I’m convinced I was born thinking, “I want to crawl by 4 months, stand two weeks later, then walk unasisted two weeks after that….I’ll then work on getting off the bottle…”

The bad thing (and IMO, the only bad thing) about New Year’s Resolutions is they force you to look at your shortcomings, and face it that’s never any fun.

Educational, necessary, progressive - yes, yes, and yes. But also somewhat discouraging, a little defeating, and kind of a downer!

So, Joe…..I think another really good exercise to get into the habit of doing is - about a week before you confront your New Year’s Resolutions, take out pen and paper and celebrate your Old Year’s Absolutions: things you freed yourself of the past year or positive things you started doing within the past year…..accomplishments. Once you start thinking about it, you’ll be surprised at how many there are!

• Have you started eating more healthily?
• Have you begun to handle your temper better?
• Did you clean out the garage?
• Did you haul off bag after bag to a thrift store?
• Did you contact someone you hadn’t spoken to in a really long time?
• Did you start an exercise program?
• Did you start reading more educational, motivational and inspirational things?
• Did you show what you were made of by kicking a bad habit to the curb?
• Have you forgiven someone for something they’d done?
• Have you made a new friend?
• Did you learn a new trade?
• Has one of your relationships grown stronger?
• Did you lose a few extra pounds?
• Did you gain a few needed pounds?

The list goes on and on, and off in all kinds of directions. The point is, write down the things you feel good about. It’ll not only give you a much-deserved lift, it’ll serve as extra motivation in a few weeks when you’re making those resolutions.

When you write a resolution down, you’ll think of an absolution and realize that if you did that, you can surely do this!

Make each moment count double,
~Joi

If the holidays, of just life in general has you feeling on edge, below is a link to a very good article I came across when researching (of all things!) Chinese Healing.

So many people feel stressed and think that it’s something they just have to live with, until life’s circumstances change. Notatalltrue……you can change your outlook and responses right in the middle of life’s craziness. Doing so, of course, will help you ride out the waves life throws you without crashing.

Riding=good. Crashing=bad.

The article? Chill Out!

Make each moment chill out,
~Joi

I just spent a week so far “under the weather” that I forgot what it felt like to feel good. Now that I’m well again, I’m not sure what to do with myself!

One thing I know I want to do, however, is to post this message. When I was sick, I kept thinking about people who are critically ill. I mean, I had the flu - and that is so nothing compared to men and women who face this sort of feeling everyday. For most of us, a sickness is a bad break in our life - for others, the sickness is their life. The only one they know right now. That absolutely breaks my heart wide open.

You know how, when you’re sick, you lie in a heap on the couch - just watching life go on around you? Imagine doing that day after day….week after week….month after month…. My mind literally cannot even go there. As bad as I felt, I knew that each day would get better and inside of a week I’d be myself again. There are so many who don’t even have that comfort.

If there’s anyone you recognize from the words above, I hope you’ll give them extra care and attention. Whether they’re battling cancer, diabetes, old age, asthma, heart disease, etc.

Maybe just….

• Call them up just to say you were thinking about them.
• Send them a card that’s as bright and happy as you want their day to be. Everyone loves getting mail!
• Take them a gift basket. My husband brought me one yesterday from Harvest Bread with delicious breads, cookies (the best sugar cookies I’ve ever tasted!), jam, awesome tea, chocolate chip cookies and a yummy spread in a big, beautiful basket. Not only will it light their world up at that moment, it will everytime they look at it. I smile every time I look at my basket.
• Ask them, “How do you feel today?”, even if it seems like a ridiculous question, ask it anyway.
• Tell them you’re going to the store and want to know what they can bring you. Don’t ask if they want anything, they’ll probably say, “No, thanks.”….. trick them into it. Tell them they’re getting something, it can either be something they want or something you want them to have!

Always remember, no one knows we care until we show them.

Make each moment (spent for someone else) count double,
~Joi

I spent the night up sick…no make that, SICK with what seems to be a short vicious flu. So, I don’t trust my weak as a cat body and sleep deprived mind to post anything legible. I decided to go into my mental bank of quotes and find one from someone I have the utmost respect for. Someone smart and insightful…..(who didn’t spend the night on the porcelain bathroom floor!)

Here’s a great quote that I thought you’d like as much as I do:

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein

Back to my popcicles…
Stay well!

Make each moment count double,
~Joi

“Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower.”

Ever wanted someone to come up to you and say, “Okay, I have some news….there’s good news and there’s good news. Do you want the good news first, or the good news?”

Happy News.com is doing that. Just that. It’s like CNN but without the…oh, you know….killings, hate, bloodshed, heartache, heart break, etc.

Can you live a life with just happy news? No. But wouldn’t it be nice to try, even if just for a month!

Check the site out, you’ll leave with a smile on your face. I kind of think that’s the whole idea, and what a good one it is.

Make each smile count double,
~Joi

Are you a Lost junkie? Not as in a junkie that doesn’t have a clue where he is, of course…. Lost junkie as in a fellow addict of the amazingly addictive show Lost!

If you are….like I are…..here’s a little link to a little theory that you might enjoy. DO NOT GO TO IT IF YOU DON’T LIKE SCOOPS, though! Because although this person wouldn’t have any way of knowing for sure….methinks he’s on to something.

Here’s da link >>>> Ultimate Theory

Geez, it’s been too dang long since they’ve aired an original episode - of course, I say that when it’s just been two days. Yeah, I’m hooked.

Make each of life’s yummy addictions count double,
~Joi