Healthy Happy Loving Life: Milestones and Clarity

Tags

achieving goals, goals, in the Flow, Kebba Buckley Button, The life you want, UpBeat Living

© 2022 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved. http://www.kebba.com

Are you flying through your year?

The last time I wrote here, In my April 30th post, I named some prominent milestones in my recent life. I expressed great gratitude for the progress I have made in the last year.  I urged all of us to think about how much we have dealt with and achieved.  I hoped everyone would give themselves credit for meeting the challenges of the previous year or so. A stalwart group of writer friends, and I, had just finished The Ultimate Blog Challenge, writing 30 articles over the course of April.  Wow!

For me, that was a joy.  It was what I wanted to do.  It took about 3-4 hours every day (EVERY DAY) for a month, but it was a thrill and a delight.  I looked forward, every afternoon, to creating my own piece and then seeing what my writer friends were sharing that day.  I was in the Flow.  The group that finished were in the Flow.  Our passion and the Flow carried us.

Today is the half-way point of the year!  And today, I invite you to think back to New Year’s 2022, and to what you thought you would like from your year.  Some of you wrote out goals or even posted them on your wall.  Some wrote “resolutions” that never resolved anything.  Most “resolutions” are forgotten within a couple of weeks.  What were yours?  Lose weight? Increase income? Have more satisfying relationships?  Plan/take a trip?  Organize your office?  Start posting book reviews?  Meet a famous person?  Take a minute or two to make notes on what you thought you wanted and what you actually got, so far; put those notes in your journal or in the Notes section of your smartphone, under “2022 Milestones”.  Now observe:

WHAT YOU GOT IS WHAT YOU REALLY WANTED.  PEOPLE VOTE WITH THEIR FEET.  WE PUT ENERGY INTO WHAT WE REALLY WANT.

So how do your milestones/achievements differ from what you said you wanted at the top of 2022? Now here you are, with half the year still available.  You have 182 1/2 days to steer toward your desired life, relationships and business.  I don’t need to know, but you do:  what do you really want the rest of your year to be like?  Six months from now, what qualities of Life and what achievements would you like to look back on with satisfaction? Who do you want to be in the remainder of 2022?

Are you flying easily through your year?  Then you are in synch with your goals and values, so carry on!  Yay you!

In my daily series this month, I hope to strongly convince you that positive living is the way to be, and it results in greater health and happiness and joy.  It’s more fun!  And that would be me and you, shaping our lives anew, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Kebba Buckley Button is a stress/energy management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   They are also available in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the Franciscan Renewal Center bookstore and at the bookstore at St. Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church. Or simply email us to order:  kebba@kebba.com .  Thank you!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: 3 Top Tips for Closet and Cabinet Control

Tags

energy, fatigue, Feeling energized, happy, less stuff, Organizing, stuck, Stuff, unstuck

© 2020 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

What if you came home to a lovely, relaxing, energizing and refreshing space?  Wouldn’t your home life be more enjoyable?  Wouldn’t you relax, rest, and sleep better?  Wouldn’t you wake up faster in the morning?  What if your office looked clean, neat, modern, and airy?  What if all your closets and cabinets looked organized and sharp, and worked that well?  As part of getting control of your Stuff, here are easy tips for conquering crowded closets and cabinets.  Take it one step at a time, and you’ll be amazed at how good you feel at each stage.

First, decide what really belongs in your closets and cabinets.  Files go in file cabinets.  Office supplies need their own area.  Clothing goes in clothing closets and drawers.  And indoor home improvement tools go in hallway closets and usually one kitchen drawer.  If you are storing lawn tools or potting soil inside, move them to an outside storage space.  If you are storing paint, properly dispose of any paint more than 3 years old, or dried-up paints.  Donate old linens to an animal shelter.  Cluster all the lightbulbs together.  Donate duplicate tools and discard dry glue and old tape of all types.  Put batteries in a cool cabinet or in clear plastic bags in the refrigerator.  Get clear plastic boxes the same width as your closet shelves, and store and label everything that can fit into the boxes.   The clear boxes speed up finding anything.  Get a $20 office labelmaker that makes white labels; you’ll be surprised at how readable the labels are.  Now you have retrievability.

Second, for your file cabinets, keep it simple.  Remember that most of your bank account records and charge account records are now online.  You do not have to keep paper copies of many things you had to keep years ago!  Forget color coding and simply label each file.  Make a file for “Taxes 2020”, for any records that may bear on this year’s taxes.  Have a file for “to be filed”, and go through it every few days.  Shred anything you no longer need.  If you teach and have class notes printed out, scan them and store the pdf versions on your computer.  A $30 software program can turn pdf files back into Word files later, so don’t keep your class records in file cabinets.

Third, for your clothing closets, pause and  imagine you could quickly glance over your collection and select an outfit.  Wow!  Now imagine all the pieces and accessories were clean, in good repair, a great fit, and easy to retrieve.  You can get to that stage in about one afternoon!  Ready to play?  Good! Then pull out every item in the closet, one at a time.  Each piece has to go in one of 3 piles:  “Love it”, “would love it if cleaned/repaired”, or “don’t love it”.  All the “don’t love it” clothes, shoes, and accessories now go into bags and directly to your car for donating.  For the “would love if…” group, use your labeler or masking tape and marking pen to label each piece with what it needs.  If you can hand wash it or repair it, set it in an area of the laundry room to be done in the next two days.  If it needs dry cleaning or a tailor’s attention, bag it and take it directly to your car to go to the dry cleaner/tailor today.  If some shoes need repair, are they really too old now?  If not… straight to the car and to your shoe repair shop today.  The “love it” items can now go back in the closet, unless you want to quickly use some of that extra paint to do the inside of the closet.

Now decide if your hats need to be on hooks on the wall, or in hat boxes on the upper shelf.  Purse collections can go in larger clear plastic boxes (visibility of contents saves time) on an upper shelf, and shoes in clear plastic shoe boxes, stacked as high as you like.  If you only have a few pairs of shoes, you may want to keep the clear shoe boxes on the floor of the closet, or use a floor shoe rack big enough for all of the shoes.  Shoe lovers can find over-the-door hanging shoe caddies or vertical caddies that hang from the closet rod.  Scarf lovers, get a special hanger that has a dozen holes in it, and thread the scarves through it.  No more hunting for the right scarf, now.

At last, your closets and cabinets are much easier to navigate.  File access, home repairs or getting dressed should now be far easier and take less time.  You’ve just eliminated a lot of stress and given yourself some time and freedom, which means more energy!  How can you take these tips and techniques into your workplace?  Are you closer to the life you want?  Post your results and comments!

In these strange times, just do your best to stay in your best, in Healthy Happy Loving Life^sm!  Are you in?

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Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She also has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

UpBeat Living: 5 Keys for Websites That Sell, a ReBlog from Colleen Wietmarschen

Tags

Business blog, Financial abundance, success, The life you want

Photo by iStockphoto

Yesterday, I wrote about increasing circulation to your blog, which is great, but once you have people to your site wouldn’t it be great if they “hung out” to see what else you had to offer? Today I’m going to talk about “5 Components for Creating Websites that Sell.”  Whether you design your website yourself or if you are looking for a website designer, remember your website is literally your storefront, your business card, and most significant marketing piece rolled into one.  How it affects your visitors and customers is essential to your success.  Provide a memorable experience and customers are sure to return time and time again.

Below are 5 components you want to make sure you include in your website to keep people coming back:

1.    Make your website interactive.

As the internet continues to grow and evolve it’s becoming more important to create a community around your business. To accomplish this you want to engage your visitors and customers.  This can be accomplished a number of ways.  You can:

• Provide a forum.
• Post surveys or polls.
• Enable visitors and customers to review or rank items.  For example, a “How valuable was this article?” question and a scale of 1 to 5 stars or a ranking from 1-10.
• Offer a blog and inspire comments and feedback.

• Host contests and sweepstakes.
• Publish video and audio content as well as written content.  This gives users another way to access you and your personality.

2.    Make sure your website provides value.

People go online for a number of reasons.  They go online to research a potential purchase, to seek solutions for a problem they’re having, and to be entertained.  If your website provides all three; products, information, and entertainment then you’re in tip-top shape.  The best news is your content can provide both the information and the entertainment and when written well, can also inspire purchases.  Here are a few ideas to provide value for your customers and prospects:

• How to articles, videos, and audio.
• Tips articles, videos, and audio.
• Case studies.
• Workbooks and reports.
• Interviews with experts.
• Product reviews.

3.    Make sure your website is easy to navigate.

It takes a visitor about 20 seconds to make a decision about whether they’re going to stay on your website or click away. If your site is laid out nicely, with products and services, information, prices, FAQs, and content easy to find then people are more likely to hang out – the longer they stay on your site the more likely they are to make a purchase or return again.

To make your site easy to navigate consider:

• Keeping your site simple.
• Keeping your pages uniform with the same options and appearance.
• If you have a lot of content, great!  Use drop-down menus and organize your content by topic for easier access.
• Offering a search function where users can search for products, services, or content topics quickly and easily.
• Providing a way for users to easily go back to previous pages.  A back key is an option; however, if every page has the same options and drop-down menus, including the ability to quickly return to the Home page, a visitor will always be able to find what they need.
• Testing your website’s appearance on different browsers to make sure every visitor has a nice experience.

4.    Make your website easy on the eyes.

Ever visit a website and the text was so small or the colors so incompatible that you couldn’t read a word?  Readability is critical to a selling website.  Make sure:

• Your colors are easy on the eyes.
• Your graphics aren’t distracting.
• You keep formatting like underlining, bold and italics to a minimum.
• Your spacing between sentences and paragraphs is adequate and consistent.
• Your font size is large enough for people to read and font is easy to read.

5.    Give them a soft sell.

People expect to be sold to and they’re looking for it.  Instead of hitting website visitors with a hard sell, provide information, solve their problems, and show them the benefits of your products or services.  They’ll be much more receptive and appreciative.

Creating a website that sells requires a structured approach and a desire to create the best experience possible for your visitors.  Once you’ve created your website, consider testing it and asking associates, friends and family for their opinion.

There you have it; along with increasing circulation to your blog, now you have five suggestions to consider when creating your website or to discuss with your website designer to make sure it sells and keeps people interested once they come and visit. Have you considered any of these before? I’d love to hear your thoughts.  –Colleen

Learn more about Colleen Wietmarschen, business coaching and support, and find the original post at:

http://www.clericalplusva.net/5-components-for-creating-websites-that-sell/

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a corporate stress management trainer and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (on Amazon.com >Books>Buckley), and the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (on Amazon.com >Books>Button).  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Your comments are welcome!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Possibilities, Choices, Changes

Tags

at choice, change, choices, Effective living, fulfilled, goals, Visioning

Possibilities
Photo by Fotolia

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

 

One of the most powerful things we can do for ourselves is to be open to positive possibilities in all aspects of life. Are you willing to allow yourself to get well? Are you willing to allow yourself to achieve a promotion? Are you willing to allow yourself a massive upswing in income? Are you willing to allow yourself a happy love relationship?

Have you ever noticed that there are some small or simple things you want to have in life but you don’t seem to go after them? Some of them are so easy to get, yet you don’t go get them. Why not? For example, many people complain about the chair they sit in the most. They say it just doesn’t fit them, it’s too high, it’s too deep, it’s too hard or unsupportive here or there. You have been in these conversations and heard the speeches. Some people can go on for years claiming they want a different desk chair, dining chair, or recliner. Do these folks act like they want to change the chair? Or do they act like people who want to talk about the chair and keep on talking about the chair? What is actually stopping the chair owner from changing the chair?

It is completely clear when we truly want something: we go after it. A morning coffee or mid-day lunch is an absolute goal, achieved daily and without fail, for many people. In larger decisions, we all know people who are sure of what they want. When their chair is not right, they try adjusting it and adding or subtracting pillows. If that doesn’t meet the requirement, then they go to stores that sell chairs in their price range and start auditioning chairs. Soon, they show you their wonderful new chair, beaming at how pleased they are with the both the comfort and the problem solution. These people are open to successful changes.

The classic formula for achieving something is:

1. Set the goal.
2. Set the approximate time frame and budget. List the steps needed.
3. Take action.
4. Stay focused until complete.
5. Enjoy your achievement.

So why do we so often fail to get to Step 3? I propose that there is a category of desire which is not a real desire. It’s the category of What We Want to Want (W4). If I only want-to-want my new chair, I will not take action. I am not willing to take action. Willingness is an element for success. Inaction is not just a matter of laziness, although it may appear so.   How many people do you know who want-to-want a new job or relationship?  What other examples of W4 can you think of?  You may want to journal about examples you have seen, or examples from your own life.

Do you really want it?  Or do you want-to-want it?  — Kebba Buckley Button

Here is a short method for you to try, in three steps.

1.  Write down your goal, such as: get comfortable chair, find someone new to date, get new job, increase income by $10K per year, get rid of scars, learn to program dreams, increase stamina 50%, lose fifteen pounds without their finding me again. Note how relatively willing you are to do anything about this. Do you want it? Or do you only wish you wanted it?

2.  Write down all your reasons for achieving this goal. What payoffs will you enjoy when the goal is achieved?  Again note your relative willingness to take action. It’s higher now, isn’t it? If not, figure out for whom this goal was really set. Was it for your parents, was it for appearances, or was it for someone else? Now, if this goal wasn’t really your desire, consider setting it aside! Otherwise, proceed.

3.  Vividly picture yourself having achieved this goal, and feel exactly how good it is to have this item, condition, or achievement in your life.

Plan to repeat Steps 2 and 3 daily. Vision it! Check your relative willingness again. Wow! Are you ready now? Then it’s time to stop wanting and go take action! Repeat as desired. Enjoy!

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a corporate stress management trainer and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You, and the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Your comments are welcome!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: What Are The Rules Your Body Is Trying to Teach You?

Tags

at choice, choices, Dealing with stress, Eating, Effective living, energy, Feeling energized, fulfilled, Health, Stress Management, vitality, What works best for YOU, Your body's rules

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Photo by Fotolia

Recently, I was privileged to attend seminars by Dr. Kenneth Muhich of Scottsdale, Arizona. Dr. Muhich is an expert on natural, yet medically proven, solutions for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. I was fascinated by the range of symptoms his fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue patients have. While following a general protocol, each patient must observe how her/his body responds to different stimuli and how s/he can best work with the condition. Each patient’s body is essentially teaching the patient what its rules are. The more closely the patient follows her/his body’s rules, the greater the recovery and the greater the chances of complete recovery. Many of Dr. Muhich’s patients have attained complete recovery.  I have met some of them, and they are not kidding about their debilitating experience and their recoveries.

This conversation made me think about the differences in body requirements among the many hundreds of patients and clients I have worked with. Each person’s body has preferences about stimuli, diet, sleep, level and type of activities, weather, and people and places it could be exposed to. These are only a few of the factors for which your body may have rules. It pays to ask yourself, “what rules is my body trying to teach me?”

Perhaps easiest to consider among your body’s rules are its preferences about foods.  Does your body love protein and feel weak on a high carbohydrate diet?  Is your mind most clear when you eat dark green leafy salads, while you lack concentration after eating sugary foods? Is your abdomen flatter when you eat yogurt with live cultures every few days? Do your hands swell after you drink alcohol? Then follow these clues to feel great.

What about sleep? Does your body get the best sleep in a cool room or a warm room, with heavy covers or light, on a firm or soft mattress, with your feet under or outside the covers? Do you get deeper sleep with total silence, with background noise like the hum of traffic, or with white noise like “surf” from a sound generator?  Does sleep work best for you between 10 pm and 6 am, or are you a natural night owl, lively until 4 or 5 am, then sleeping until noon? Do you feel refreshed after naps, or does napping make you tired? How can you better arrange your lifestyle to fit with your sleep metabolism? Several of my clients wake up for 3 hours in the middle of the night, do some paperwork, then go back to sleep for two hours; this has always been their pattern, and they make the most of it.

Some people I know are living life with one lung.  Their bodies’ rules include minimizing aerobic exercise. But many people need at least 90 minutes of high activity every day, or they feel stressed. Studies show postmenopausal women need an hour of active exercise a day for efficient metabolism and to basically “feel good”. Many people thrive on quiet exercise such as yoga, while others love the extroversion, music and group stimulation of classes like Zumba. With what activities and levels have you found your body feels great?

Some people are easily overstimulated and do best in quiet environments. Others feel best in busy environments, perhaps with phones ringing, music playing, and lots of conversation. When you go to a party, do you lose energy (introvert) or gain energy (extrovert) over a two-hour period? Your nervous system is trying to teach you how much quiet it needs.

Many aspects of natural environment may affect your body. A hot or cold climate, dry or moist air, presence of negative or positive ions, relative brightness of the skies, and frequently shifting weather fronts all affect the brain and nervous system. What elements does your body prefer?

Often, people are aware they are affected by places and people, in ways that are hard to define. We may enter a building and have a strong feeling of wanting to stay or go.  Around a new person, we may have a strong feeling we can’t explain, either of being very drawn to the person or of wanting to get away. We need to honor these sensations.

So what rules is your body trying to teach you? In this New Year, as you set your resolutions, why not resolve to honor more of your body’s rules, to cut stress, feel great, be sick less often, and enjoy your relationships more? After all, it’s your life. Only you can live it.

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a corporate stress management trainer and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You, and the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core.  She is also an ordained minister.

● Your comments are welcome!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column!

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

 

UpBeat Living: Rabbitt’s Legacy

Tags

at choice, choices, Effective living, friendships, happy, Kebba, legacy, Relationships

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Rabbitt Burns died at the hands of a friend, in January 2010, in Orange City, Florida. Everyone agreed that Rabbitt was a kind woman that everyone liked. When she failed to show up for her library job one morning, coworkers said she was too dependable to skip work without calling in.  A colleague went to her home and found her on the floor, shot.  Police observed that breakfast for two was on the table and Rabbitt’s laptop was missing.  Tracing the laptop, they found Rabbitt’s ex-boyfriend with it.

Rabbitt’s death hits me in different ways each time I think of her. More memories of different wonderful experiences with her keep bubbling up.  I keep thinking of a profound little poem, “The Dash”, by Linda Ellis.  The poem takes a look at the way our years are marked on a gravestone.  Most often, the years of birth and death, with a dash between them, are right under the name of the deceased.  Ellis say basically that it is neither the birth year nor the year of death that is most important.  Rather, it’s the dash between.  It’s the way you lived your life.  Abraham Lincoln expressed something similar, when he said, “And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

Now you may think I am going to wax eloquent about one’s accomplishments in life, the degrees, the honors, the acts, the things one did.  I am not.  I want to tell you why so many people miss Rabbitt Burns, and why we will remember her with great love and joy for many years:  Rabbitt honored everyone.  It wasn’t what Rabbitt did that made her extraordinary.  It was who she was and how she related to everyone.  Rabbitt was kind and attentive.  She spoke to each person with a loving regard, often asking thoughtful questions.  She intelligently treated each person as though s/he were precious and she was fortunate to be spending time with them.  She seemed limitlessly supportive to friends in unhappy times.  I have heard her talking to strangers on a CB radio, kindly asking them how their day was going and if they had a long drive ahead.  I will long remember her light, sweet tone in signing off, almost singing, “It was sure nice talkin’ to y’all.”  Their 18-wheeler pulled up beside our little car briefly, and the two men in the cab waved warmly before going on their way.  Rabbitt had transformed their trip with her extraordinary gentle warmth.  Will people remember you that way?

What will people say about each of us when we have just died?  Perhaps it depends on the qualities we choose to embrace and live out as we fill out that dash between birth certificate and death certificate.  Rabbitt Burns, it was sure nice talkin’ to y’all!

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a corporate stress management trainer and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You, and the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core.

● Your comments are welcome!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column!

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: What’s Your Excuse?

Tags

at choice, choices, Effective living, energy, Excuse removal, Excuses, Kebba, late, Relationships, responsibility, responsible, stress, stuck, unstuck

Karen Gridley- The Excuse Removal Expert

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved

When you were a kid, you probably remember some other kid telling the teacher, “[T]he dog ate my homework!’  The kid’s excuse was the reason s/he gave for not having the homework done, or at least not having it to turn in.  The “excuse” was offered in the hope of being exempted from responsibility for the commitment, in this case, arriving with completed homework.  The kid was not taking responsibility.

A friend produces an e-newsletter every week, for a large group.  Between list maintenance and editing the event submittals every week, she spends an average of a half day a week on the e-newsletter.  She finishes the newsletter event section each week, when a particular entertainment event submittal comes in.  That event depends on newspaper event  listings, which come out early a particular day each week.  Recently, my friend received an email request, just as she was finishing sending the week’s e-newsletter.  The requester wanted her to send out an event announcement for a couple of days forward.  My friend e-replied that she had needed the event information by the night before, or at the latest, by 9 am that morning.  She said, the e-newsletter has already gone out for the week.  The Editor highlighted the section of the e-newsletter that gave the deadline.  The requester wrote again, asking if the Editor couldn’t make an exception just this one time; the Requester said she had been waiting for the entertainment listing to be determined, so she would not create a conflict with the entertainment event for the same date.  The Editor had received the entertainment event information  5 hours before the late request.  She chose not to waste her time and energy replying again.

The Editor was curious as to what the late requester was doing during the 5 hours between the time the entertainment event details were emailed to her and the time the requester emailed the Editor.  And why did the requester not dial the phone and ask the Editor to “hold the presses”?  The Editor’s phone number is conveniently listed in every week’s e-newsletter, as well as in the print newsletter, and on the group’s websites.  If  you think the late requester could have been more effective, then you understand that “waiting for the entertainment event details” was simply an excuse.

If you love making excuses, rather than taking responsibility for making things go the way you want, then you will love this website:  http://madtbone.tripod.com/, or, “The Mother of All Excuses Place”.  The site was inspired by a wealth of excuses people in a particular workplace offered, for not coming to work for the day.  The collection was so entertaining that it expanded to include sections for:  missing school and homework excuses, police or accident excuses, kids excuses, getting out of family events and holiday functions, breaking dates, doctor excuses, doctors note, missing church, wedding, diet excuses, why I ate that, debt excuses, tax excuses, not paying the rent, getting out of home repair excuses, unwanted house guest excuses, jury duty, defense excuses, not voting, no sex, miscellaneous excuses, excuses for becoming addicted to online slots, excuse related humor, and more.

Professional coach and speaker Karen Gridley is known as The Excuse Removal Expert^TM . Gridley takes a kind, yet no-nonsense approach to excuse-making.  She wants you to take responsibility and see life as what you are creating.  She says excuse makers collect excuses and talk a lot about how their outcomes are out of their control.  Whereas, she says, recovering excuse makers continue to examine how their own thoughts, beliefs, and actions (or non-actions) actually created their outcomes.  Gridley says those who give up making excuses experience freedom and empowerment.

Is there something that didn’t come out the way you would have liked?  What was your role in creating that situation?  Ask Karen Gridley and she’ll tell you to take responsibility, in order to reap the rewards.  Why?  Because, after all, it’s your life.

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● Your comments are welcome!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column!

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Food & Drink for Desert Summer Thriving, Part 2

Tags

at choice, choices, Eating, Effective living, energy, energy foods, exhausted, fatigue, Feeling energized, food, happy, Health, Kebba, Summer, vitality

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Here are more recipes for cool, light, filling, energizing foods for sizzling summer days.  The curried shrimp/rice salad makes a complete meal.  The pan-broiled chicken recipe gives you delicious chicken to use cold in salads or as protein snacks, or cut into pieces to add to stir-fry dishes.  You can stay cool and stay energized!

Curried Shrimp Secret-Energy Salad for two

Prepare the rice:

In a saucepan, sauté ½ large yellow onion (mild), chopped, in 1-2 T olive oil.  When the edges are brown, add

1 c basmati rice

2 ½ c water

1 t sea salt

20 twists black or citrus pepper

1 T dried parsley flakes

Bring rice to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook on medium-low for about 20 minutes.  Batches will vary, so sample it and see if it needs more water.  When tender, fluff it.  Set aside 2 c of this to cool to room temperature.

Now prepare the shrimp:

Take 16 medium-large (31-40 per pound frozen cooked shrimp and drop them in a wok with 1 T olive oil and 1 t curry powder (or ½ t cumin + ½ t turmeric + dash of clove, + dash of cinnamon, + dash of red pepper powder).  Yes, this will seem like you are wokking rocks at first.  Keep stirring with a bamboo spatula so that the spices evenly coat the shrimp.  The shrimp are done when they are curled and firm.  Set aside to cool on a dish.  Remove the tails if they have them.

Now prepare the bed of the salad:

5-6 oz. organic baby romaine lettuce, baby Italian mix, or similar dark greens.  Favorite brands are Earthbound Farms and Private Selection organic.  You will get the most energy from baby greens and from organic greens, with organic baby greens having the most energy.

Use sharp kitchen shears to cut up the greens to bit-size.  Divide into 2 salad bowls.  Toss with Golden Yogurt Secret-Energy Dressing.

Golden Yogurt Secret-Energy Dressing  For 2

1 sweet golden tomato, chopped (can substitute 1 c

golden cherry tomatoes)

2 T olive oil

¼ c plain yogurt

10 mint leaves

1 t fresh lime juice

Pinch sea salt

20 twists white or pink pepper

In a mini-processor or small blender, blend until smooth.

Now layer on each salad artistically:

1 c chopped cucumber

1 c rice (sprinkle across)

8 shrimp

5 kalamata olives to trim, 1 in center

Parsley flakes—sprinkle across center

Mix the drinks and serve!                                                                                      –    –   –   –

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Now consider this simple recipe for chicken.  Chicken prepared like this can be used hot when just done, cold as a plain protein snack, or cut in chunks and added, a minute before completion, to a stir-fry dish.  Enjoy!

Pan-Broiled Chicken  for two and for later

5-6 chicken breasts (“family pack”)

Olive oil

Sea salt

Mixed peppercorns in grinder

Use sharp kitchen shears to cut away fat globs from the chicken pieces.  Lightly olive-oil 2 10” sauté pans and sprinkle salt and pepper across the oiled surface.  Heat to medium-high, until you see the oil shimmer.  Place 3 chicken pieces in each pan.  Cook on that side until well-browned.  For a char-grilled flavor, cook until just black.  Salt and pepper the uncooked side, and turn with tongs.  Cook the second side until well-browned.  Turn the heat to medium-low (4 of 10) and cover.  Set a timer for 8 minutes.  Check the thickest piece for doneness: it must have no pink showing in the center.  Cook for several more minutes, if necessary.  Let cool on a platter until ready to slice enough for your salads.  Note:  If frozen chicken breasts were not entirely thawed when you needed to brown them, don’t worry.  Just follow the directions and be sure they get cooked all the way through.

Note:  Do not microwave these chicken pieces instead, since the flavor will be nothing compared to pan-broiling.  Flavor satisfies and brightens life!  The more satisfied you are, the fewer calories you will eat before you feel full.  Eat well and feel full, yet light, with these refreshing summer foods.

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● Your comments are welcome!

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Energy of Your Gates and Gateways

Tags

at choice, choices, Effective living, energy, friendships, fulfilled, goals, grateful, Gratitude, Kebba, Mental equivalents

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Photo from Travel-Spot.com

Where is the most beautiful gate you’ve ever seen?  Was it modern or ancient?  What was it made of?  Was it the gate to a home, or a hotel entry gate?  Was it a vintage City entry gate?  What purposes did it serve?  How did you feel as you gazed at that gate?  There are a number of ways in which gates can serve us.

Gates are used mainly for security, to impress, or to commemorate something.  Most gates are designed to filter something, such as entrance gates for movie theaters, or the gate to a yard.  Paris has one of the world’s most famous gates, the Arc de Triomphe, a commemorative monument to those who served and/or died in the defense of France, in the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic War.

The most distinctive gate I have ever seen is the Stargate from the movie and TV show of the same name.  An ornate circle of “nahquadah” perhaps 20 feet across, the Stargate filters people and other living beings who want to be transferred quickly between planets.  People jump into its circumference, and they are conveyed instantly.  When the Stargate is switched off, no one can come in through it.  It conveys the good guys and prevents the enemy from arriving.

Now consider the gate to your yard.  It allows you ingress and egress for people and packages, and it keeps out some people and dogs you might not want straying into your yard.  In Feng Shui, your gate has energetics, which vary by its placement and its appearance.  It is important to keep your gate in good repair, and to keep it lovely, if possible.  Look at the next two pictures, which show the pieces of an old gate and then the gate after repair.

Photo by Kebba Buckley Button

Which gate would you rather have?  Which is more pleasing?  Which one has better energy?  Obviously, the “after” gate is more pleasing and has better energy.  That one will help energize your yard.  It will draw in great energy, perhaps vitality, great relationships, and prosperity.

One more level: what about your mental gateways?  How effectively do they protect your Inner Peace?  What are your mental gateways allowing in?  Are they welcoming vitality, great relationships, and prosperity?  Over time, you have learned to filter negative thoughts and not allow negative people to disturb your mental/emotional/spiritual peace. No doubt you are always learning better how to do this.  So on the flip side, what are you attracting?  Would you like to learn a simple exercise to attract more?

Photo by Kebba Buckley Button

Today, design your Lifegate and install it in your mind.  Imagine a beautiful gate, perhaps surrounded by lush plantings, or attached to a lovely wall made of stone.  Make your gate of any material you like.  Look in magazines, in Google Images, and in photo calendars for ideas.  You can always adjust your gate later, in materials, height, width, thickness and color(s).  When you have settled on your intial Lifegate, sit quietly for a few minutes, twice per day, and picture the energies you want flowing into your life through your gateway.  Picture vitality entering.  Picture your vitality arriving, then your prosperity, then any other qualities or energies you would like to have flowing in.  Be in touch with your gratitude, which will strongly support the good conditions flowing in…and staying.  Call up the mental image of your Lifegate often, see it in vivid detail, and see the flow you want coming in through it.  See the gate shut to negativity and takers.

It’s your Lifegate.  You are in charge.  Maintain all the gates of your life for the Highest and Best.  What will give you the best energy and the most of the life you want?  It’s up to you.

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● Your comments are welcome!

 

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Instant Yoga, Instant Energy

Tags

energy, exhausted, fatigue, Feeling energized, Instant Yoga, stress, tired, Yoga

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M.  World Rights Reserved.

Hands up, anyone who feels tired right now!  Oh yes.  Hands up, anyone who is routinely more tired than they want to be!  Oh yes.  By the way, you look like you’re tired.  Just kidding.  Some of you are wearing makeup, and it keeps you from looking so tired.

Not having the energy you want is a pervasive condition many have been noticing in recent years.  We have fatigue from sleep disorders including from breathing errors during sleep.  We have fatigue from stress overload or from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, overlapping with fatigue due to bad dreams.  We have fatigue from eating too much sugar, fatigue from eating foods containing microtoxins, fatigue from air pollution, and fatigue from drinking too little water.  We have Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome (CFIDS).  Substituting coffee for sleep can work for a while, then make us deeply fatigued.  There are many more causes for being too tired.

Tired people may have trouble concentrating, may ache all over, and may be cranky.  Their reflexes are impaired, slowing down their thinking and actions.  They may make be unproductive and make mistakes that result in losses at work.  They may cause accidents while driving and hurt relationships at home.  They get sick more easily.

In contrast, we feel great when we have lots of energy.  Vitality is a magic ingredient that can completely turn around attitudes, productivity, and relationships.  There are many ways to trade in stress and fatigue for energized living.  In the 2009 book, “Discover The Secret Energized You”, this writer provides hundreds of understandings, tips and tricks for literally trading in your stress for energy.

But what if you need some instant energy, you don’t have time to read, and you’ve had enough coffee for the day?  Some basic yoga, that doesn’t even look like yoga, can help.  This is called “invisible yoga”.  Everyone has seen regular yoga:  it looks like stretches and breath techniques.  Here are 2 subtle-looking yet powerful techniques you can do in almost any situation, no one will notice, and you will increase your vitality within two minutes.  Do either Instant Yoga Energizer for just one minute, if that’s all you have before your meeting starts.

Instant Yoga Energizer #1:  Find a spot where you can see a clock or your smartphone’s clock. Notice the time.  Now think of stretching as you roll your shoulders slowly, gently, “stretchingly” for 2 full minutes.  Roll them in the same direction and then in opposite directions.  Notice that your head seems to be down and forward compared to the refreshed shoulders.  Gently bring your head up and back, until it is centered over your shoulders.  Repeat.  Now notice the energy has reached your toes and the balls of your feet.  Notice the lightness in your head.  That is the improved circulation of blood and oxygen in and to your brain.  Enjoy!

Instant Yoga Energizer #2:  Seated, become aware of your fatigue and how your body is positioned.  Where is your fatigue?  If your shoulders are, for example, off to the left of your body’s center, gently glide them back to center.  If your head is down and forward, gently move it back to being upright and centered between your shoulders.  Now become aware of your breath.  How shallow or deep is it?  Begin to exhale out to the end of your breath.  Push the last bit of air out of your lungs and allow the reflexive inhale, or gasp.  The inhale will automatically fill your lungs completely, replacing the urban pollutant-filled air you just pushed out.  This is a complete breath, the exhale plus the inhale.  Do this twice more.  Notice the light sensation at the back of your head, plus the warming of your ankles and neck.

Congratulations!  You have just had your first Invisible Yoga Class.  Namaste!  Use these techniques often, and enjoy the effects.  After all, it’s your energy and your life.  Why be tired?

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●  Your comments welcome!

 

●  Reach the writer at Kebba@kebba.com