BALANCE AND HAPPINESS: KEY COMPONENTS OF THE SWEET SPOT

I've been doing a lot of writing for work these days. Lately that's included some work around balance and "rightness". In the writing I've been doing I speak of a "sweet spot" where everything in your life comes together.

The sweet spot in life is an interesting place, in that it's not A place. There's not one sweet spot where, when the stars are aligned everyone congregates. If you were able to map people's sweet spots and tell them to go stand in their sweet spot so that we can get a lay of the land, you'd see people all over the place.

Sure there'd be enclaves of collectives, but probably not as many as we might expect, and they'd have to be moving all the time in order to stay in their sweet spot. The pattern we'd gaze out over would be almost unrecognizable and nothing repeatable.

That's the way happiness is. It's unique and changing and doesn't always make a lot of sense to others. Yet happiness is something that we pursue with a passion. There's a line from a Sarah Teasdale poem that comes to mind when I think of happiness and the sweet spot and that is:

For one white singing hour of peace
Count many a year of strife well lost,
And for a breath of ecstasy
Give all you have been, or could be.

Why then do so many people "save" their sweet spot time for after work, or for weekends, or for "when I retire?" Why is it that so many people have come to feel that the sweet spot has to be earned, or is a privilege, or that you can have too much of it, or that too much isn't good? We are on this earth for such a short while. It would seem to me that as brief as our time is, wouldn't it be great to be happy?

Coming full circle I come back to balance and rightness and the very personal nature of how that plays out. I realize that I have patterns of balance in my life that invite happiness in and allow it to take hold and be a real part of my day to day life. As I investigate the nature of my personal sweet spot, I see balance as an important component.

Wishing you balance and happiness in the pursuit of your very personal sweet spot.

Hugs,

Betsy

Thought 12: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

There's nothing wrong with normal or average...it's just not me.
Here's a great Ted Talk on outliers and their importance in the scheme of things:
http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work

Thought 8: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

Don't walk away from what you are passionate about, run towards it!

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. . . . In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness." Henry D. Thoreau

For me, this stage of my life is about simplifying and moving towards that which I am passionate about. It's a great space to be in.

With Love,
Betsy

The Foundations of A "Day In The Life"

Habits are what form the foundation of who we are and what we become. Humanity is a collective of creatures of habit. Our species' history is rich with stories premised on the forming of habits, the sustaining of habits and the dissolution of habits. On a personal level, developing habits that are beneficial or not, is something I have turned into a life experiment.

Let me give you an example: Over the last couple of years I have adopted a start and finish to my day that has several key ingredients. Before I get out of bed each morning I take the time to feel what it's like to be in my body. I express gratitude for this body that I travel this life in. Then I take a step outward and recognize my surroundings, and I am grateful for all of the many things - the roof over my head, the food I have to eat, the many things that make my life easier, more enjoyable - I express and feel tremendous gratitude for all of this. And I keep moving out in my mind, away from myself and into the world recognizing all that I have to be grateful for, all that enriches and blesses my life. And I always end this gratitude exercise by visually opening the door wider to allow more blessings to flow, and to let more light into my personal world. And finally, I release it all out to the world, to humanity, dedicating it to the highest good of all.

When I end my day, right before I go to sleep, I offer thanks for the blessings of that day. And I wrap those blessings in the words of intent for what I would like to see in my life and in the world. I have nine attributes (plus one) that I speak to as I gratefully review the days events. These are:
Peace - That profound peace of deep inner calm that is beyond understanding - that it hold me and the world in the palm of its hand
Power - The ability to create my life as I choose - to make it my glorious work of art and to join with others doing the same
Prosperity - To be blessed with all that I need to accomplish what I wish to accomplish - that my life be abundantly blessed
LOVE - That I be immersed in that AGAPE form of LOVE that is unconditional and profound, that I am a vehicle for its spread in the world
Light - That I be anchored to the "light of the spirit" so that it shines through me, from me, and to me. That I recognize and engage with others who are doing the same
Life - That I be healthy, and happy, and content and balanced, and long lived
Joy - That it be a part of my life every day - in music, in voice, in touch, in dance, in song, in whatever way it plays may it enrich my life
Beauty - That it surround me and fill my environment. That it please me, surprise me, and embrace me in its myriad forms throughout the day
Compassion - That I be able to recognize the suffering of others and that I compassionately respond and help as I can while at the same time reaching out continuously to connected COMPASSION and LOVE to the world at large.
AND recently I added HAPPINESS. As I came to the realization that to feel good and content about all of this was dependent on happiness - on feeling complete and content and delighted with the totality of it all.

These are the nine attributes (plus one) that I close my day with, each day, and then again, in my mind, I open the door wider to allow more into my life and out to the world. And finally, right before going to sleep, I release it all to the world, dedicating it to the highest good of all.

I share this process because these daily habits have changed my life in positive and amazing ways and continue to do so. I have come to trust in these habits and to understand that the daily work of laying the foundation of who I am and what I am going to do, is as important as the actual doing.

With LOVE,
Betsy