I saw him a few feet away from the gushing water.

“Oh! I wonder what happened?” I thought.

I kept running and realized that he was a city worker cleaning the gutters before the rainy season kicks in.  I wanted to say thank you to him for helping us create such a beautiful community, but my pace carried me through the puddles quickly and he was already behind me.

“Oh well.  Maybe next time.” I consoled myself knowing that I wouldn’t say it next time either.  It’s just too weird for some random runner to say something so personal to a stranger.  So I let it all go with my next exhale and got on with my run.

On the way home, I rounded the corner by the church and low and behold who do you think was now cleaning the gutters up ahead a block?! Yup, it was him.  The city worker had progressed down the street and I was once again approaching him.  But, this time I had plenty of time to figure out what I was going to say and say it.  Crap! Why did the “next time” have to be so close to the first time?

The voice of fear kicked in and said, “What kind of freak gives compliments to city workers? He doesn’t care what you think.  Just keep on running.  No one will ever know you thought about saying thanks and didn’t.”

Whew.  What was I going to do? Was I going to give in to fear and say nothing? Or was I going to risk looking like a freak?

One step in front of the next.

Heart pounding.

Out of breath.

Here he is.

“Thank you!” I said and smiled at him.

He looked up startled.

We made eye contact.

“For all that you do for our community,” I explained.

His expression softened into a smile, “You’re welcome.”

The surge of exhilaration I felt prompted me to jump over the next puddle!  I almost cleared it.  Instead I splashed right on by and ran the rest of the way home with a big ass smile.

–

This 100 Things I Fear challenge rocks it!  Feel free to join us at any time.

You guys, I’m so excited!  Why? you ask. Because I’m in the process of putting together a group call all about:

PRESSURE!

Pressure is by far the biggest barrier that stops people from living their Simply Fearless life and I can’t wait to get this discussion started.  Stay tuned for more information and an invitation.  In the meantime, let go of the pressure! How? you ask. Join the call to find out :~)

Seriously.  Have you ever noticed how when you are tired it’s so easy to be grumpy.  In fact, when you’re tired enough even the thought of happiness can be irritating.  The truth is…happy people are well-rested people.

It really is this simple.  If you want more happiness in your life, then take a look at your sleeping patterns and decide if they are working for you or not.

A few years ago I took a look at my sleeping habits and decided to make a commitment to sleep from 10pm to 6am every night – weekend and weeknight alike.  I realized that my body didn’t know the difference between a weeknight and a weekday and found that when I sleep the same hours I feel better and have more energy.

A few years down the road and I am one of the most positive and upbeat persons I know.  Yes, I have my moments – don’t we all? – and yet, I am known for my heart smile, good moods, and general all-around happiness.  I admit that there are more factors to my joy-filled life, but it really truly begins with a good night’s rest…or a good day’s rest depending on when your body sleeps the best.

Happy sleeping!

I draft blog posts in my head all the time.  Then I don’t post them.  And they are erased like a swipe across the white board.  Clean.  Gone.

Do you ever wish you could do that with your life? Wipe it clean and the thoughts you don’t want to torture you with are simply gone. The doubts you don’t want are replaced by the crisp, clean expanse of white possibility.

I’m tempted to edit and erase as I type, but I’m not going to so that I can appreciate the letters and words as they emerge for what they are.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  Experience does tell me that the first draft is always the most powerful.  It might be the most raw, but is that a bad thing?

I know I’m rambling.  And I’m tempted to think real hard and tie it all together with something clever and thoughtful.  But, I’m going to pass on that too.  Because sometimes life rambles and thinking too hard only leads to headaches.

It’s too early in the morning for a headache.  Actually, no time of day is a good time for a headache.

I better go now.  My chiropractor told me that it’s super important to exercise right now as I go through some challenging times.  So off I go to stretch, run, and sweat.  I always feel better after a run.

How do you recharge your energy?

So back during the Christmas season of 2007 I came up with a cool acronym for energy that I revisit anytime I feel low on energy.  Here it is:

E is for exercise: How much exercise are you receiving?

N is for nurture: What part or parts of you need some nurturing?

E is for eat: How much food are you receiving? And is it healthy?

R is for rest and relaxation: How much relaxation are you receiving?

G is for give: What are you willing to give to yourself?

Y is for you: What are you willing to ask for? Or ask for help with?

As you can see most of it is about receiving.  Most of us are really good about giving, but the truth is if we give, give, give and not receive, then we run out.  And when we run out, we’re out of commission, which doesn’t help anyone.  So be sure to throw some giving to yourself into your daily life.  Oh…and don’t be shy about asking for more energy from the Universe.  There’s plenty to go around!

The plain and simple truth about recharging your energy is that it almost all comes down to your sleeping, diet, and exercise habits.  You don’t have to make major changes in your lifestyle.  Focus on adding one new healthy habit at a time and sit back to watch how your life can change and your energy can soar!

This book wil NOT teach you new parenting skills and strategies.  It will give you a comprehensive understanding of a potentially boring and dry topic (brain development) in an interesting and readable way.  The author (a health and medical science editor) weaves in personal stories with facts and research findings about the teenage brain, which makes this non-fiction book a page turner.

The bottom line is that the human brain is under major construction (some might even say destruction!) during the teen years and if you’re frustrated with your teen’s inability to think things through ahead of time, then stop judging your teen and your parenting skills and read this book.  This is ground-breaking news that every parent should know because it will change how you look at your teen and your expectations.  Add this knowledge to your parenting toolbox today.

p.s. There is also some interesting information about the toddler brain in this book, so if you have babies and young children I highly recommend you read this book too.  Besides the more you know before your child is a tween and teen, the better off you are!

Truth be told, sometimes it’s easier to help others to think big than to do it ourselves. And here is the gift of thinking big… the process of helping others is what builds our confidence and increases our capacity for doing big things in the world.

So today, as a big thinker I very respectfully and humbly request that you tell 3 people about the Think Big Manifesto.

Together, we can make the world a better place. Together, we can make history. Here’s the link to Amazon.com for The Think Big Manifesto:”

And so while I was online buying the Think Big Manifesto I also picked up:

And in order to get “free” shipping I also bought: