Here I am again, deciding to write on the spur of the moment. I see it’s been many months since my last entry and may be many more until my next. But today is a good day to write. Why? Because I’m here, with nothing pressing on my mind and it’s about time that I do it!
It’s about time… think about the different meanings of that phrase. It could mean, as I’m meaning it, that it’s been a long time since something was done and it’s time to do it. Or, it could mean that the issue is about time.
I have issues about time. I expect people to do what they say in the time period that they say they’ll do it. Is that too much to ask? I get frustrated when someone promises something and is consistently not able to come through when they say they will. I understand that life happens, and occasionally, things can’t happen when we promise them.
But, if you aren’t sure you can deliver in the timely manner that you’re saying you can, then tell someone that you aren’t sure; that you’ll do your best; that you’ll do it as soon as possible, without giving an exact time.
There are ways to take care of yourself to make sure you don’t promise what you can’t keep… like the words above.
And, for people like me, who know others who consistently don’t deliver when they say they will, you just have to accept them as they are. That means not believing them when they say something about timing. You can still enjoy their company, or use their services. Just know that it’s all about time. And they are who they are, with probably nothing that will change them.
So, enjoy your time. Keep the words you make to others about time. And I’ll see you next time! Aloha…
It’s almost March, and it’s a Friday morning in Paradise… Tonight Elton John performs on Maui! It’s a big event here, whereas in New York, LA, London, or Paris, perhaps it would be viewed as just another day.
Maui has a population of about 150,000. So, having a big name performer show up is big news. (And he’s not even playing in Honolulu, btw!) With that excitement, what can I add?
Only that there are ways I continue to notice how I don’t live in my own power still! I keep learning, and that is all any of us can do… to keep on learning how to be more confident, in our personal power (not power over others), and to also find the joy, peace, and love that exists daily in our world.
If we have fighting parents, kids, or see poverty and/or destruction around us, we can still find the peace and joy within. It’s certainly harder to do with all the dissonance around you, but the reward is great. What can you do today to bring more joy, love, and peace into your world?
As usual, I’m not consistent at this blog posting… Perhaps someday I will be, but don’t hold your breath. One of the pieces of not being a good girl anymore is knowing yourself–your wants, needs, loves, talents, skills, and weaknesses or challenges. I am challenged in the area of consistency, and that’s why you shouldn’t hold your breath! 
But I decided tonight, while taking a short break from packing for an exciting trip, that I would post something just for fun… I am traveling from my home on Maui to S. California, then going to Quito, Ecuador, then London, England, and returning home again, all in a three week period.
I believe in choice, therefore I want to have as many choices as possible during this trip. And, I must squeeze them all into one bag–cocktail dresses and heels (3 dresses for 4 different events), raincoats, and warm clothes for cold England, plus the typical travel wear of jeans and walking boots and shoes, and warm-weather wear for the mini-heat wave in S.CA!
Packing will be another challenge, as will be returning, directly from England to Maui–almost exactly half-way around the world… and all in one day!
I hope to do better in the packing and jet-lag challenges than I have in consistency!
What are your challenges?
Well, I apparently have taken a nine month break… Since I’m not promoting this site, I figured why bother? But, as I begin to (possibly) teach some courses through University of Hawaii’s Maui College, I think, “Maybe I should try one more time.” No promises this time. I will or won’t write, depending on where I’m called to spend my time and energy.
But I thought it appropriate that I try again, given the new circumstances. I have prepared my first day’s class outline for “Finding Your Free Spirit,” a class on creativity. I don’t have enough people signed up yet, but I look at each new offering as kind of like advertising. People have to see it multiple times before it registers… So I’m not bothered if it doesn’t “go.” I’m acting as if it will and I will be fully prepared either way.
Next step, if it doesn’t go, is to invite friends to partake of a sampling of the six-week class. The way I see this class is like having a party and playing like a kid for three hours every week. It’s totally fun and, at the same time, stretching your brain, and exercising your creativity muscle. So, it’s highly beneficial (because it will help you see multiple solutions to any future problem), and you get to have fun while you’re taking the class. If my friends have fun (and they will), then I hope they’ll talk it up to their friends when it’s offered next.
Off to write first, then continue putting the final touches on my class outline. Let me know if you’re reading this, what you’re trying to start (or complete) again. Aloha!
Today is Sunday… a day for rest, for community (including spiritual community), for fun… and for some of us–work. I live in Paradise–on the island of Maui, up in the clouds at 3,000 ft. elevation and it’s damn cold this morning. My little ohana (that word means family) cottage has no heating. So that means the inside is as cold as the outside–like around 50 degrees right now. (It will warm up to about 70 mid day, however).
And my Sunday is just like yours–a little of this, a little of that, including work. When you work for yourself, there is no “day off.” And you can also play in the middle of a week day too… There are definite pros and cons to anything. But what makes my place Paradise and not where you are? Nothing except my attitude. I used to live in Phoenix, where the summer temps averaged about 110 degrees for about three months. I was able to find Paradise there too, even though my heart and soul are happier in the tropics.
I’ve found that Paradise is all a matter of your perspective. I know people who live here in Hawaii, and find lots of things to complain about… and people in Arizona during the summers who are happy as clams. The only difference is their attitude, their perspective on their lives.
It’s true that when there are circumstances–illness of ourselves or our loved ones, most notably–when it’s hard to feel like having a positive attitude. And there are people who live in such denial that they act as if all is well and they’re happy when they are in pain inside. One may not be in Paradise 24/7/365. But hopefully it can be found much of the time! So how do you find Paradise in all of this?
It’s finding that happy medium… Finding the silver lining (often after a painful event), realizing there’s a Bigger Something out there (I use the word God) that is in control and that “this too shall pass.” The happy medium also includes dealing with whatever emotion is showing up… If you’re feeling angry, beat a tennis ball or your pillow. If you’re sad, cry. If you’re afraid, write out your worst “what if’s” and then ask that Bigger Something to help you find the answers. Lastly the happy medium means having the courage to make changes, to take risks to follow your heart and soul to wherever you need to go, and do whatever you need to do.
Your Sunday in Paradise is just waiting for you… Stay inside, go outside. Whatever you do doesn’t matter. Whatever you have (or don’t have) doesn’t matter. What matters is “who you be.” And in being what matters is your attitude and finding your own Paradise within. Happy Sunday!
It’s a new year and I thought I’d be back in the saddle again about writing a blog. That’s another wrong assumption. So, today, a new year, and a new start… with NO promises about how often I will do this. I don’t have to be a good girl and write it every day! Ah, that feels better already…
Today, while my hair was getting “done,” another woman, my hairdresser and I all had a discussion about good girls; bad girls, and the difference. Good girls give themselves away; do things to please others at the expense of themselves. Bad girls don’t give themselves away to others, but instead react by usually being contrary to what someone else wants them to do. The opposite of both of these polar extremes is what my friend calls “an awake girl.” When Betsy said that to me, I loved that word.
Yes, being awake is being aware of (and acting with) a healthy response to anything in life. I’m awake after more than fifty years of mostly being asleep. (I became more awake each year, thank God!) Are you awake or asleep? Do you give yourself away because “it’s the right thing to do,” or you “don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings,” or “they’re relying on me,” or… or … or… The list goes on. What excuse are you using for co-dependent behavior? And more importantly, what can you do to become awake in whatever way you can? How can I help support you in doing so?
It’s a new year, and I propose it’s time to wake up and be more empowered in every aspect of your life. Exciting to think about that, isn’t it? It can be done. It just takes courage, and I know you already have that. It’s God-given; we just have to dig it up, clean it off, and show it off… What a way to start the year!
I JUST started writing the sequel to Recovering Good Girl yesterday, the tentative title is A Year in the Clouds. The title refers to the fact that I literally live in the clouds. Everyone thinks one moves to Maui and lives on or near the beach… Wrong! I’m living at 3,000 ft. elevation on the side of the dormant volcano, Haleakala. When I moved here last February, it was colder than I imagined in the mornings and evenings. I was living in sweats for most of the day (and still do).
Even though Recovering Good Girl isn’t published yet, the new book wanted to be birthed. My book coach, Tom Bird, gave me instructions that will help me get back in the saddle again. Other than short pieces like this blog, I haven’t written anything creative in almost a year…
I know it’s just like riding a bicycle, or a horse. When you fall off, you must get back on and get over the fear to ride again. And it’s the same with this blog. I started being a regular writer last September. That lasted a month… Now I’m back in the saddle again again again…
How regular will I be until I start working with another Tom (Antion) who I’ve signed up to be my mentor on internet marketing? I don’t know. Next January, just around the corner, things will change and I will be learning how to market my talents, services, books, and artwork, on the web. Exciting, but a bit scary. Can I do it? Will I succeed? Just like getting back in the saddle again; the same questions surface no matter what it seems. Life long questions to be explored at times in our lives…
I’m back in the saddle again. I hope you are too.
What distractions are getting in the way of you doing your life’s purpose? I am good at letting all kinds of distractions affect me… most importantly, my relationships–of all kinds, though the intimate relationship is the most distracting of all. I let my sweetheart invade my space and I move out somewhere else. Today, I am reclaiming my space; today I’m holding off the distractions and beginning (again) to focus on the things that need to be done in the writing/editing of my memoir.
Good girls let their significant others–partners, children, bosses, even colleagues–distract them from what they need and want to do. Recovering good girls are at least aware of this and do their best to keep focused on what is in their highest good… the highest good for themselves, not the others around them.
The reason my book title is Recovering Good Girl, is that like any addiction, pleasing others at the distraction of our own needs, is something that must be recovered daily, every minute, every hour. No one is ever completely recovered. Oh yes, you’ll get better and better at reclaiming yourself, as have I. And, at the same time, there will always be challenges to your stance.
You think you’ve recovered, only to find the little nuances of life distracting you from your course. This is insidious and you must be vigilant about your recovery. Yes, like me, you’ll fall off your horse from time to time, but it’s the getting back on it again that’s important! May we all ride our horses beautifully off into the sunset.
It’s raining outside, but the rest of Maui (or most of it) is sunny and warm. It’s always cooler in Kula, they say, and as I’ve written before I live in a cloud. Right now it’s raining in this cloud… and it’s expressing my own tears… My tears are for the spam I’ve been receiving in response to my first entry. It comes from the same Russian guy. (I guess it could be a gal, but his supposed email address is bob@gmail.com. But the other address that I can decipher between all the Russian alphabet is something that says “.ru” I know that means Russia.
Why would anyone create spam to an unknown person? I don’t like, but I understand spam that is attempting to sell something, but why does someone just press a button to create spam for no meaning at all? Doesn’t he/she have anything better to do with their time?
I am tired from pressing “spam” as a moderator of this site too. I know I have better things to do with my time. Can someone out there help me? I’ve emailed my webhost, and am awaiting a real answer. But it’s now about ten days of constant annoyance. What am I to learn from this?
“To allow the rain to come and stop the sun, temporarily. To allow the spam to come, temporarily. All will be restored. Keep hope and faith alive. Live with your hopes and dreams and positivity in the forefront. Don’t let the dark times trodden you down completely. You need to allow the rain, the tears, the shadow-stuff of life to be present and again the sun will shine. Breathe Suzy. All continues to be well.”
Those words are in quotes because they were coming through me, not of my mind. Sounds good to me. Now I’m about to go dance in the rain and allow the darkness and allow the spam. All is well in my world!
I turned over a new leaf this last Labor Day; one week ago today. I decided I needed to keep things simple, do less, sleep and relax more, and to attempt to live life slower and less stressed. So far, so good! And it’s not been that simple either.
Of course, when we make declarations, the Universe steps in to challenge us to keep to our word. I said that and had two out-of-state visitors on different days last week. I would normally drive all over the island (which to outsiders may not seem like much, but from where I live to the west end, where one was staying is a good 1-1.5 hours. The other visitor was about 45 min. away. And I had work to do on my manuscript.
A good girl–not recovered–would have said, “Oh yes. I want to see you. Sure, I’ll drive over your way.” I said the first part; that I wanted to see them (which I did), but I mentioned that I needed to stay “up-country.” I truly didn’t have the time to be driving all over the place. Plus, this last month taught me that I must slow down otherwise I could get a migraine.
My dear friends met me half-way, or closer to my haven. I had a wonderful visit with both, and got to try my favorite restaurant at lunch-time. (I’d only been there for dinner and lunch was just as delicious. Okay, for those of you who are like me and now want to know what the restaurant it is, it’s Hali’imaile General Store!)
I feel virtuous and keep hopin’ and prayin’ that I can keep these good boundaries by keeping my life simpler and slower. Have you ever wanted to slow down? What’s stopping you? I used to think that I couldn’t do this, and now I recognize that I can… and I am. Hallelujah!
