Complicated and Simple Defined

Wester defines the word complicate as "to make or become complex, intricate, or bewildering," or "to twist or become twisted together." If something is complicated, it is difficult to understand. However, simple is defined as "having or composed of only one think or part," "not complex: EASY", "without modifications or additions, unassuming or unpretentious, not deceitful: SINCERE"

When we are complicated inside, then everything else in life seems that way to us. Joyce Meyer (in her book Enjoying where you are on the way to where you are going" tells us that sometimes our desire torment us and keep us from enjoying life. I know that at this stage of my life there is very little that I want or desire. That in itself has made my heart a lot lighter and me much more content. Over the past few years I have been intermittently "de-cluttering" my house. Today for instance, I went through my closet and by the time I was finished, I had filled the dining room table with clothes, purses, and shoes that I will never wear again. I only wear a handful of clothes over and over again anyway. I don't really need all that much.

Over the years, as Meyer states, I too have learned the Peace and Joy are more valuable than things. The simpler I make my life, the more peace I tend to enjoy.

What does your sculpture look like today?

All of life is a sculpture that continues to evolve as unwanted bits and pieces of wood and marble are chipped away. Simplicity is creation without baggage. As we get rid of the bits and pieces of emotional and physical garbage our personal sculpture evolves closer towards our authentic selves. As the carving evolves, it becomes more distinguishable and simpler in form.

A simple life has a different meaning and a different value for every person. For me, it means eliminating all but the essential, eschewing chaos for peace, and spending my time doing what is important to me. I am not always successful. In fact, my life is chaos about as much as it is simple. I can tell you, however, that at one time in my life it was utter chaos so to be able to allow myself time to “live simply and in the moment” is quite an accomplishment for me.

Living simply is also about surrounding yourself with people who love and care about you for your unique individualism. There is this individual in my life in which I need to begin to distance myself. Lets call her Jane. When I am around her, I let her make me feel small, insignificant, and I lose confidence. For instance, the other night, she came to my home to pick up her child. Within the first two minutes of being there, her phone rang so she began talking on the phone with another friend of hers. For the next 10-15 minutes or so, she carried on a conversation with her friend, and then, invited her friend to my house for a drink. She continued to speak to her friend until the individual arrived at my house. Over the next 30 minutes, they talked and drank in my kitchen. When she left, I was angry and frustrated. I thought that her cell phone etiquette was extremely poor (in that she was there to visit with me but spent time with somebody else) and I felt used.

Do you know that type of person that comes barreling in and just sort of takes over whether they are asked to or not? This describes Jane. If the situation isn’t to her liking, she makes it that way. I could sit here and discuss instance after instance but that is really counterproductive to the point in which I am trying to make. My point is that Jane is too narcissistic to care about anyone but herself as evident through her behavior the other night. Also, Jane doesn’t care enough about me to consider how I would feel when she asserts herself. Jane is the type of person that complicates my life, creates drama where drama shouldn’t exist. I have spent a lot of time and energy being angry and frustrated with Jane. So part of my new existence is to distance myself from the Jane(s) of the world and let in only those individuals who respect and care for me.

Simplicity is about getting rid of many of the things you do so you can spend time with people you love and do the things you love. It means getting rid of the clutter so you are left with only that which gives you value. In a sense, this is the next “chipping away” of my sculpture. While I know this won’t be an easy task (especially because our kids love each other) I also know that when I am around her, I feel bad about myself. So my inner artist will focus on this bit while I continue to search and define my authentic self.

Life's Symphony

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony."

-- William Henry Channing

Image from Google Images

Is Your Life Simple or Complicated

Image from Google Images

Is your life complicated or simple? I know that my life used to be extremely complicated. It has taken me years to get to where I am in my simplistic journey and I still have a long way to go. I would rate myself as being half-way there (which is much better than having never begun the journey at all).

Simplicity is a process used to describe a lifestyle in which people opt out of a harried modern day life and choose to live one of frugality. I don’t mean that we necessarily live in poverty, its more a state of shifting our value systems in order to enjoy every minute of life’s energy. Simplicity means taking time for yourself in a hectic world.

While I have had some excellent teachers, I still have a long way to go in my own journey. I am working on clearing out the superfluous in my life to make room for more passion, depth and joy. I have some good friends coming along with me that make the road that much easier. One good friend came in to my house a couple of years ago and helped me get rid of so much stuff. It was just stuff that was cluttering my environment. I really wish we could do that exercise together again. It was incredible cathartic for me. We gathered items for the Good Will and what couldn’t go there.

As people, we become more and more stressed out from the pace of modern life and forget to LIVE life. It’s important to be mindful of each and every moment and dwell deeply in the present moment knowing that there is only one opportunity and it will never come again.

When we begin to search for meaning in our lives, we start to become aware of the emptiness and shallowness that surrounds us. This shallowness is primarily steeped in materialism and consumerism. We expend an tremendous amount of energy trying to keep up with the rat race. But, when we start to seek out a deeper meaning to our existence, we begin to ask ourselves, “What truly brings us joy?” Its so important that as human beings we are able to connect with our external environment as well as our internal spirituality, otherwise, we are out of balance with our surroundings.

Some tips for Simple Living:

1.De-clutter your surroundings. Ask yourself: “Do I use this? When did I use it last? Will I ever use it?” If the answer is no, get rid of it.

2.Decide what is really working in your life and let go of that which no longer serves you.

3.Encircle yourself with people who feed your soul. Shed those individuals from your life that you allow to make yourself feel small, insignificant, or lose confidence. Find friends who know that their glass is half-full and/or share the same value system as you.

4.Surround yourself with what you really need and love.

5.Carve some space for ‘mindful living’ so that you have time for ‘beingness’ rather than ‘doingness.’

Inspiration for this blog was at: http://www.pioneerthinking.com/gns_simplicity.html

Joy and Peace are Never Released Through Unbelief

“Joy is never released through unbelief, but it is always present where there is belief” –Joyce Meyer

Throughout this job search journey I was becoming increasingly negative. As each door closed it seemed like another was NOT opening. It was just one closed door after another. The one door that frustrated me greatly was from a recruiter in England. His name is Darren and he has ads running all the time for employees through a group that I belong to on Linked-in. Several times he advertised for positions which I felt fit me absolutely perfectly. I could not get that man to call me back. I would occasionally receive some short and snide comment from him over my “linked in” e-mail that said something to the effect of, “I’m sorry but we have nothing that fit your qualifications at this time but we will keep your resume on file.” How in the HE—did he know he had nothing that fit my qualifications when as far as I was concerned the job description outlined fit me to a tee! Because I was unable to connect with him personally he had no idea who I was or what I could do for his client. He never even made the attempt to try to get to know me past the paper. I tried to explain to him (electronically of course) that I was indeed able to work in the UK and throughout the EEU, I e-mailed him my resume and a separate explanation of my qualifications, I left him a message on his voice-mail in the UK. I don’t understand these people. My interaction (or lack thereof) made me feel undervalued as a potential employee and I started believing that I would never get a job.

While I know that I LET him make me feel this way, it caused a downward spiral in both my self esteem and self worth. I didn’t think I was ever going to get a job. In the end, I gave up “looking” about February and started this blog. All of the few interviews I had after that came from HR professionals pulling my resume off of Career Builders but to be honest, I had come to a low point in my career that I didn’t even really care anymore. Basically, I stopped believing that I would ever get a job and became increasingly depressed.

Just as regret and dread are “thieves of joy”, doubt and unbelief equally take the joy out of our lives.

I vow to work hard at believing that it will happen (whatever it may be at the time), that I can do it (whatever it may fall), and that it will all work out (whatever all defines).

Regret and Dread

“Regret of the past and dread of the future are both thieves of joy” – Joyce Meyer


Personal image from El Camino


There are many individuals out there that keep themselves ensnared in the times of yore. But you know what? The past is the past! Forget about it! You can’t undo what has already been done. The question you should be asking yourself is “what did I learn from my past so I can live today without regret or dread?”

When we make mistakes, how much time to we put into “stewing” over the episode? How much drama do we create around the incident? We are upset, we are angry, we go through this process of grieving instead of allowing ourselves to be human, making the appropriate apologies to our loved ones (or even to our inner consciousness) and then moving on to enjoy life. Why be miserable? Again, as Joyce Meyer tells us, regret and dread steal our joy.

I am sitting here now, dreading grading the papers that I have put off for half of the college semester. There were so many so I just kept saying I will get to them. Every day, for about three weeks now, I have said to myself, “I have to get those papers graded.” I have stressed over it and worried about it but have I graded them? Well, no! If I had, I wouldn’t be sitting here dreading the task. That dread has stolen my joy for the past few weeks. Even now, as I sit here talking about it with total strangers, I am stalling in the task. I am living for tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come. I was reminded of this the latter part of last week when my neighbor suddenly died.

As I was getting the kids ready for school, I looked out the window for the bus and there was my neighbor, in his driveway across the street, surrounded by the local police department. You see, he had this little routine. We’ll call him Joe. Joe would wake up each morning and walk down to the end of the block, and then he would pick up his daily paper and go inside his house. The next thing we would see is that Joe would back his car out of the driveway and head down the road for a couple of hours. (Rumor had it that he was meeting his girlfriend at a local restaurant for coffee – Joe was a widow, in his 70’s). A couple of hours later, Joe would return and if I was outside I would get a wave. He was rarely outside, he rarely spoke. I got the feeling that Joe was a little on the shy/quiet side.

My point is, we have lived next door to him for 16 years and didn’t even know his last name. He came. He went. Then, he was gone.

I don’t want to have any more dread or regret. I am going to get those papers graded today. I am going to do my Sarano Kelley mind dump and take care of all those items that are weighing on my mind that I keep putting off because “I can do them tomorrow”. I am going to believe that the universe will take care of me and live for today because tomorrow may not come.

So I will live life for today and let my inner child enjoy every ounce that time has to offer. I will “Be a now person!” – Joyce Meyer

Make the Decision to Enjoy Life

Image from Google Images

I decided to continue the discussion of Joyce Meyer’s book “Enjoying where you are on the way to where you are going”. In the second chapter, she states “Make the Decision to Enjoy Life”. I have often asked the question, “How do you make your current job, your dream job?” I think that the answer lies in chapter two of Joyce’s book, “make the decision to enjoy life”. If you make the DECISION to enjoy life, then you can learn to enjoy your work and your accomplishments as well as the ride to work in the morning, the sweet aroma of that first cup of coffee in the morning, the chirping of the birds on a bright sunny day, etc.

“The Station is tucked away in our subconscious. It is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are traveling by train” -Joyce Meyer. The “Station” is this imaginary destination. We say to ourselves, “When we land a job we will…..when the kids grow up we will….when we get this paid off we will do that…..when we retire we will…” So we wait and we wait and we wait. In the action of waiting, we forget to live. We are so busy planning for what we will do next that we forget that we are HERE NOW! I know that I have been guilty of this for soooo long.

The trip isn’t about what will/may/might/could happen in the future. The trip is certainly (to use a cliché) the journey itself and every ounce of enjoyment we can squeeze from each and every moment. So, I CHOOSE to enjoy life. I CHOOSE Happiness. In the words of Jana Stanfield, I CHOOSE to “Enjoy the Ride”.

“Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough” – Joyce Meyer

Life is a Journey

I GOT A JOB! Its been a long hard search and I have learned a lot along the way but yes my friends, I accepted a job offer this week. Is it my dream job? I don’t know yet. That’s why I asked the question earlier, “How do you make your current job into your dream job?” So, what do I write about now? I guess we will just take that one day at a time.

My friend Amy gave me a book last night by Joyce Meyer entitled “Enjoying where you are on the way to where you are going”. I think this is one of the biggest lessons that I am trying to learn. I have been spending a lot of energy working on “Living in the Moment”. I have been reflecting on my life and there were so many times that while I was always headed somewhere, I never truly enjoyed anywhere.

Joyce Meyer states, “Life is a journey. Everything in it is a process. It has a beginning, middle and an end. All aspects of life are always developing. Life is motion. Without movement, advancement and progression, there is no life. Once a thing has ceased to progress, it is dead.”

We are always headed somewhere and we should be enjoying the journey. I believe that I change daily. I learn, I grow, I make mistakes and sometimes I have little triumphs. I know that this time next year I will be a different person than I am today. This is a conscience decision that I have made. I know that I will continue to make mistakes but if we stop learning, we stop growing and if we stop growing then life ceases. One thing that we can’t do is focus on those negative experiences because they become all consuming and suck the life out of our soul. Make peace with it and move on with life. Learn from it and grow. Enjoy life in the moment in which you are living the experience. That is my journey….learning to live life in the instance in which it occurs.

Turn Passion to Reality and Income

“Dreams are like the paints of a great artist. Your dreams are your paints, the world is your canvas. Believing, is the brush that converts your dreams into a masterpiece of reality.” - unknown

I dream about turning my love of Adventure Travel into a business. I know that I won’t make a lot of money at it but it is what I dream about. I have always dreamed about doing this for a living. So I have tried to get creative. I Dream a little - or dream a lot. I ask myself: is it feasible? Is it a remote possibility? Could it work? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then I have a starting point. Next, I have to consider how much income my dream job will generate, what the schedule will be like, then work my other job options around it.

So, taking a job that is less desirable could lead to my dream job because it would give me the time and money to put the dream into reality. I have thought that my first formal adventure tour would be to go back to the Camino de Santiago with a group of women who would really love to hike the northern part of Spain but are too afraid to do it on their own. I have such a group in my circle of influence. I know that I would not make a lot of money out this venture but that’s ok for starters. I don’t even know if running adventure tours is something I would be good at anyway.

I also thought that I could take a group of women who always wanted to do some backwoods hiking but were again, afraid to do it on their own, down to Red River Gorge in Kentucky for long week-end treks, gourmet over the fire meals and fun, fun, fun.

My brother’s dream is to run Outfitter hunting tours out west. We talked once about how both of our dreams of running adventure tour companies and our love of the outdoors could be merged together. Who knows….but I am still dreaming.

So have you thought about turning your passion into an income stream? If so, were you successful? How did you do it? Let me know.

Confucius Say So I AM Confused

Confucius said, "Find a job you enjoy, and you'll never work a day in your life."




What's Your Dream Job?

What type of job do you dream about? Some of us know from the time we are very young what we want to do when we grow up. Others are still trying to figure that out. Still others have tried a career or two, then went on to do something completely different with their lives. The days of working for the same company for a lifetime are long gone and in some industries having one job for a significant period of time is frowned upon rather than considered an asset. So, it's quite acceptable in today's workplace to consider a variety of career options.

My second question to you is this, "How do you turn your current job into your dream job?" I ask this question because I am about to accept a position that is not exactly my dream job but is a stepping stone towards what I really want to do for a career. At an interview the other day (my third interview) the employer told me that after my first task, they are looking at my educational expertise to provide that service to the entire company since they currently do not have anyone in that role. I would like to perform that position more so than the one in which I am applying.

The dilemma that I am currently facing is that I have interviewed (and I know I am in the running) for two positions. One of the positions I want much more than the other. However, there is another candidate with a totally opposite skill set that has performed the role of Director of Sales and Marketing in the past for a competitive company that is also being considered for the job. The recruiter has no idea which way the employer will go with his decision. So do I accept the less desirable position? I won’t know until May about the job that I really want and even then it could drag out longer or the employer could choose the other candidate and then where will I be in my job search….uh….nowhere!

But, how ethical is it for me to take the job behind Door #2 when I have a 50/50 chance of being offered the job behind door #1? My justification is that people do it all the time. I currently sit with no full-time job opportunities but these two and this economy is difficult right now.

1. If I don’t accept it and I am never offered the other, then I have no job.
2. If I do accept it, and then get offered the other, then I feel that I have been deceptive in my portrayed interest of my pursuit when I give my notice.
3. If I do accept it, and I am not offered the other job then at least I will have a job and that leads to:

So, I ask again, “How do you turn your current job into your dream job?”

April Fool's Day

What is April Fool's Day anyway? I know its the day that you get to play tricks on all your friends and family without the fear of retribrution but did you really stop and think about how the holiday came into being? I did a little search and found several different theories but the one that I can buy into the best is the one that I found at:


http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html
(image from Google images)

So enjoy and Happy April Fool's Day!

"April Fools' Day, sometimes called All Fools' Day, is one of the most light-hearted days of the year. Its origins are uncertain. Some see it as a celebration related to the turn of the seasons, while others believe it stems from the adoption of a new calendar.

New Year's Day Moves

Ancient cultures, including those of the Romans and Hindus, celebrated New Year's Day on or around April 1. It closely follows the vernal equinox (March 20th or March 21st.) In medieval times, much of Europe celebrated March 25, the Feast of Annunciation, as the beginning of the new year.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian Calendar) to replace the old Julian Calendar. The new calendar called for New Year's Day to be celebrated Jan. 1. That year, France adopted the reformed calendar and shifted New Year's day to Jan. 1. According to a popular explanation, many people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people began to make fun of these traditionalists, sending them on "fool's errands" or trying to trick them into believing something false. Eventually, the practice spread throughout Europe."