Acceptance is a Gift 💝

Ahhhhh denial, it is a fun place to visit but not a great place to live.

Acceptance is certainly by no means an easy destination to travel to 🚙

First of all, there is usually not a clear roadmap 🧭 and defiantly no app with GPS that will easily guide us there, letting us know the best route, where the traffic is and perhaps where to stop and take breaks along the way…… I am sure that this app is in the works and maybe it is here and I do not know it. If it is, please let me know 😌

Acceptance is one of those road trips where you have to let go, sometimes meander, pay attention to the signs 🪧 and your surroundings and let the destination find you at the right time. It cannot be forced or pre planned.

It is a journey that will not be in a comfy first class airline seat ✈️ or high end luxury vehicle 🏎 and you cannot source it out to a Lyft or Uber to take you there. 

This journey is one that needs to be done step by step 🪜 one day or one minute at a time. You don’t get to pack, so you will need to muster up all the resilience, adaptability, and support you can along the way. It will be very uncomfortable, you often won’t recognize the beautiful spots along the way. At points this journey may be disheartening and darn right tortuous.

I do assure you though, once you arrive and you WILL ARRIVE, your SUFFERING will end and PEACE ☮️ will be restored. You will look back and see the journey in a whole new light 💡 It will be one of knowing, clarity and wisdom that will change your soul and your life forever. If I could tell you the who, what, why, where, when and the how I would as It crushes me to see people suffer………actually, I would not tell you. This journey is yours to be taken and in the end will be your gift 💝 …..your gift to yourself.I know, I know, you think I am being sadistic. The gift will be the metamorphic change that you will experience and your gift to others if you choose to share it. Share what you have learned and help those along the way find a little comfort knowing that they too can and will get to the other side and reach their destination .

Small steps 🐾 my friends, let people help along the way, use your resources, have faith in yourself, others and if you believe in a higher power have faith in your higher power. Be open and adaptable, have compassion for yourself and the situation/person and buckle up……..you will get to BIG THINGS.

I send you so much 💕 and 💡 

Would love to hear your stories of acceptance, thoughts or how you do acceptance :-). This is just my personal roadmap I thought I would share 

If looking for a quick pick me up check us out on Instagram @ Doggslife 

Overwhelm from ☹️ to 😊

 Overwhelm

They (all the sources that I read from) say anxiety is worrying about future events that haven’t happened yet ...if I reflect, I would say that is true...so now what????

I was talking to my sister and we were discussing what to do with all of the things in our parents house when they are both no longer here with us on earth 🌎..... she said “we will start room by room”

Now you would think from someone who writes a blog called small steps big things that this would be obvious!!! Right???

I think it just goes to show, when you are in your own problem, suffering, anxious or are navigating certain circumstances .....collaborating and having more than one set of eyes on the issue at hand can be revolutionary, liberating and eye opening!!!

I share this because that one suggestion really help put my mind at ease ....Yes!!! I can do one room at a time ...more importantly, 

We can do one room at a time, take time doing it and work together in a team 😊🥳😊

Let’s face it, life is challenging, especially when we try to take things on all by ourselves, live in our heads and try and tackle everything at once.

I love you sis and am grateful for you and our relationship.

I hope this helps put someone else’s mind at ease

Take small steps so you too can achieve big things!!!!

Xoxo

Two Steps Back or Perhaps Just Pruning for a New Season

This weekend I noticed quite a few mixed and conflicting feelings. I started to feel as though I had taken so many steps backward when I thought I was moving forward??? This felt distressing.

I decided to sit back, breath and observe the thoughts without judgement and let them pass through.  

Instead of fighting them as I normally might have done in the past.

Low and behold, although uncomfortable in the moment, I found myself up and moving much faster by this process and simply acknowledgement of how I felt.

Felt the feelings, let them pass through and then made a small step to get up and do some light tidying to clear my brain, which led to some writing and working out and I was well on my way :):):)

Today when I was doing my Yoga, I looked outside and thought about yesterday and the feeling of two steps back and realized maybe we are much like plants in a garden and just need to be pruned once in a while so we can be prepared to grow even fuller and more lush for the next season :)

Small Steps, Big Things 

Be patient and compassionate with yourself 

Xoxo

All In !!!

 

I am always talking about small steps and big things....well, I just took the big step!!! 

After years of taking small steps, working on infrastructure and branding and all the things in between :). I am thrilled and excited to have finally re launched my passion project Doggslife.com

It is funny how we work and work and pontificate along the way.  Sometimes it seems like we are taking steps forward and sometimes backwards. Often we question, what the heck are we doing anyway???

As I look upon this momentous day for me, it might seem like this was all done over a small time frame. As I look back to my vision, my plan, the learning/educating, collaborations and all the small steps along the way...that is the work that makes it happen.  There is the one thing today though that sets it apart ...that is the LEAP.... jumping all in and going for it!!!

I know there will be mistakes, more changes and evolution. Today I am going to bask in the excitement of making dreams reality.

If you would like to check out my dream go to Doggslife.com :):):)

What is your dream???

You Won!

You won!  Those two magic words.... or are they???

What if I was never at war with you?  Who really wins anyway and what is winning?

What if we both could win and be on the same team?

Winning is such an arbitrary and subjective word.

Wouldn’t it be better if we could all just take a step back, breathe and figure out what we are all looking for and find a way where we can meet in the middle and all get our needs met?

If we are being honest, aren’t we all just looking to be heard, understood and loved and valued for who we are?

The truth is, it is probably easier to have knee jerk reactions, stand by and defend our long held beliefs and convictions then to take the time to listen, absorb, educate, look at all points of view and then formulate a reaction, plan or stance.

Those things all take time, patience, an open mind and willingness to maybe even be and admit being wrong.........wait whaaattttttt???? Yup, I said it ....there is a possibility that you are wrong! 

Would you be surprised to know that when you are wrong you can actually be right? 

If you are willing to be wrong, you might just find there is a better way, a new idea, belief, thought process that is better than what you previously thought.

All that being said, a first step the next time you find yourself wanting to “win” a disagreement is:

Stop (imagine the person as their child self ...it is hard to be mad at a child)

Don’t React 

Listen

And see if there are more similarities than differences, or maybe what someone is saying actually makes sense. You may just find you are on the same side and fighting for the same things ...they are just wrapped in difference packages:)

I dare you :)

Take the first step, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised and that everyone ‘Wins”

XOXO

Things Will Happen - Control is an Illusion

No matter how hard you try and be the architect of your life, things will happen.  That is life....nothing new there.  As hopefully most of you are acutely aware, we cannot control everything ..... whatttttt?????

By the way Kudos to you if you have figured it out already ... it took me many decades on this planet to learn that.

Yup, hard as we try, we are not in the drivers seat of this wonderful journey we call life.  We cannot control others thoughts, emotions, choices, beliefs, ideas, etcetera...... we cannot even control many of the things that happen in our own life despite our many attempts at trying.

What we can control is how we respond, react and choose to show up.  Those things are under our control.

When life throws you a curve ball, you can resist, wonder why, wonder how and so on, generally that does not help the issue at hand.  Time and time again I have learned the sooner I give in re evaluate and readjust the sooner that gnawing, burning, frustrating feeling in my gut disappears and peace reappears. 

The older I get the more I value peace as my resting state.

I admit, some days are easier than others to give in ....... those are the days when my choices are more wise :-). PS. Giving in does not mean giving up by any stretch.  It means maybe it is time to stop fighting reality and find a better way and figure out what is truly important and how to best honor that.

As usual it is the small steps in shifting your mindset that will lead to bigger things :):):)

Maybe Good Enough is Enough

How many times do we put things off until we can get it right, do it right, not make a mistake....and so on and so on.  We torture ourselves over the minutia and the procrastination, the overwhelm that can just lead to apathy and then nothing happens :(

What if good enough is enough??? What if just taking one step towards doing one thing on that project your putting off or that task that needs to be done or that email you need to write??? 

What if you take one tiny step? If might not be the perfect step but it is the one that puts you in motion... it is the one that starts the process of kinetic energy. I am not sure why or how I remember that a body in motion stays in motion and a body at rest stays at rest....trust me I am no physicist ... I don’t even know if that is a principle of physics :-) If there was only a device I could quickly look that up on...oh yes there is and it is ...wow, I did learn something in school;):);)

What I do know is that once you start moving, it makes it much easier to continue to move and next thing you know you look back and accomplish something and it FEELS GREAT! 

Take this quick blog post today .... it started with one word, one concept and kept going until now.  It is not perfect but it is something.

So I ask you .... what is one step you could take?  You don’t know....if you did know, what would it be?

Take the step, I dare you .... then let us know what it was and we can celebrate together!!!!

Xoxo

Happy First Day of Spring