This is day 27 of the 30 day challenge.
Thanks to Deb for sharing her role model, an 88 year old woman named Gwendolyn who made a commitment to healthly living in her 50’s. Read Gwendolyn’s inspiring story and see that she’s a leader we can all follow.
Today’s tip:
We’ve almost come to the end of the 30 day challenge. Now is a good time to evaluate your progress.
How successful were you in meeting your goal?
What worked well?
Where did you get stuck or distracted?
What was the key to your success?
Is your new habit beginning to feel like part of your routine?
Take a few minutes to think about how far you’ve come in the past month. Check in with your buddy for some objective feedback.
Be honest with yourself. Did you stick with it or did you let yourself off the hook? Remember evaluation is just a place to pause before you take the next step.
Tune in tomorrow when we plan for what’s next.
Are you further ahead than you were 27 dys ago?
There’s an old saying that you can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep. I’m a big believer in surrounding yourself with what I call “hot people” - individuals who inspire, challenge and support you.
It’s easy to set the bar low for yourself. Mediocrity is a cultural norm.
I figure you have two choices in life:
half assed or kick ass
Which life you live depends a lot on who you hang out with. Hot people create a playground of rich conversation and joyful abundance where tackling fears and stretching yourself is encouraged and living your dreams is required.
I’m blessed to have lots of hot people in my life. Here’s what some of them are up to:
There’s Nancy, a woman of a certain age and not your typical athlete, who just participated in the Victoria Dragon Boat races to raise money for cancer.
There’s Virginia who has been known to spontaneously hop on a plane and land on my doorstep who is heading off to France for a couple of weeks of whatever adventure awaits her.
There’s Catherine who will be rappelling down the side of a 27 story building in Edmonton on September 8th to raise money for Easter Seals. Go girl.
There’s Gail who is facing a challenging illness with grace and optimism.
There’s Neela, a single parent of two daughters and closet writer, who delights me with thought provoking conversations about moments of revelation and deeper learning.
Pretty good company.
If you want to learn more about how hot people and ideas can set your life on fire, check out my new book Spontaneous Combustion.
What company do you keep?
Post a comment about your hot people.
Become a shameless idealist.
That was the call to action I received this year from Craig Kielburger. Craig and his brother Marc founded Free the Children, an organization dedicated to helping young people become socially conscious global citizens.
While Craig’s passion is directed at children helping children, his impact is not reserved for today’s youth. Inspiration is about putting an idea in people’s heads and having them act on it. There have been lots of times in the last few months when I have stopped and asked myself, “What would a shameless idealist do in this situation?” It’s been a great catalyst for moving past inevitable roadblocks and obstacles.
You never know how one thing will lead to another.
I became aware of Craig and Marc’s work when I stumbled upon their book Me to We one day while killing time in an airport in 2004. You never know how one thing will lead to another. I read the book and that led to an exchange of letters and a tour of the Free the Children headquarters in Toronto.
Impressed by the work that Free the Children was doing, I shared their story and website with my oldest daughter who was in her last year of high school at the time. Before I knew it she had begun the application process to participate in a Leaders Today volunteer project. Leaders Today is the youth leadership organization that extends the mission of Free the Children to empowering young people to create positive sustainable changes in the world.
In 2006 my daughter traveled with Leaders Today to Kenya to help build a school in a small village. It was a trip that had a powerful impact on her. Now a university student studying anthropology, she is currently in Tanzania for three months participating in a community health project that addresses malaria and HIV/AIDS.
Helping me set you on fire
Craig Kielburger is certainly a poster boy for making the seemingly impossible happen. He definitely doesn’t settle for mediocre. So it was a simple choice to ask him to write the foreword to my new book Spontaneous Combustion: Setting Your Life on Fire. He recounts how he set his life on fire and in his usual charming way he invites my readers to do the same.
Go ahead.
Spontaneously combust your life.
You never know where it might lead you.
What are YOU waiting for?
Tales from my Italian adventure
Friends sometimes give you the best gifts without even realizing it. That happened to me when my dear friend Victor sent me a David Whyte poem one day several years ago. It was my first encounter with David’s work and at the time it perfectly captured the emotion of the moment.
Over the years I’ve read pretty much all of David’s work and listened to his audio cds. And like that very first poem, I often find that there is one that speaks as if it were magically written just for me in that instant. I have my favourites - like The House of Belonging - which I return to again and again. When new works appear, they are savoured piece by piece with faith that they too will, in their own time, be written just for me.
Retreating to the tuscan countryside
Of course when the opportunity came to travel to Italy to take part in one of David’s week long retreats I jumped at the chance. He and his wonderful staff created an amazing week of conversation, culinary delights, cultural experiences and indeed poetry. It was an opportunity to experience his work in a new and rich way.
His beautiful command of language and metaphor inspires the writer in me.His urging to return to conversation with ourselves and others moves me to find a deeper dialogue.
If you have already enjoyed David’s work, then know you have a kindred spirit.
If this is your first encounter, consider it my gift to you.
What poetry inspires you?
Who would have thought that a simple reusable bag could start such a fascinating conversation? Edmonton Journal writer Paul Simons recently lamented the growing popularity of Lululemon bags.For those of you who haven’t yet encountered Lululemon, it’s a Canadian company which sells yoga inspired athletic apparel. Purchases are put into reusable bags which proclaim the company’s manifesto which includes such gems as:
Sweat once a day.
Creativity is maximized when you’re living in the moment.
Children are the orgasm of life.
Dance, sing, floss and travel.
Simons declared that spiritual advice from an eco friendly bag doesn’t sit well with her. Readers had lots to say about the article. Some felt that if the bags promoted good living, then what’s the problem? Others disagreed, including one who said if you are consulting a Lululemon bag for spiritual advice, then you honestly have no life!
I guess I must be part of the so-called Lululemon cult.
They make great clothes and have a cool philosophy. And yes I have a couple of bags that come in handy when transporting stuff. Maybe they don’t push my buttons because overall, their advice is a pretty good fit with my way of thinking.
Sure I get inspired by thought provoking books, great conversation and amazing people. But for me, inspiration also comes in the most interesting places…from my dog, Starbucks coffee cups and TV ads.
If something makes you stop and think, or prods you bit or even pushes your buttons, then I think hooray.
Where do you find your inspiration?
