Your Personal Mission Statement…The End View

Leave a comment December 14, 2015 debreen

Now that you have taken the first step towards preparing your Personal Mission Statement (PMS), the second step in planning your PMS is to look ahead, to your future. The first step asked you to consider those in your life whom you admire; those whose lives, abilities, ideals or passions resonated strongly with you. Your list might include descriptive qualities about these people like: compassionate, fearless, creative, forgiving, industrious, etc. Whatever your list contains realize this: it is a window into your soul. These are qualities or values that ‘ping’ you. These characteristics have captured your attention because they are important to you. These things are pointing you in the direction of your life’s purpose and mission. They are guiding you to your potential, to your passions.

Now for the second step in preparing your PMS ~ shift your focus to your distant future, and consider this: How do you want to be remembered? If you were to peek into your 90th birthday party celebration, who would be in that room with you celebrating your life? What kinds of things would these people say about how you lived? About what you mean to them? About what you taught them? What will the outstanding features of your years contain? In other words, what will your legacy be? You will no doubt hold many roles in 90 years of living. So whether you plan to leave a legacy or not, know this: you will leave a legacy, and you get to choose what it will become.

Please think about your legacy, because you are writing it everyday.
Gary Vaynerchuk

Once again, you will need to have pen and paper handy as you spend some time in the days ahead pondering these things for yourself. Remember the purpose of a PMS is to help you think deeply about your life, so that you may clarify and identify those things you value, what kind of person you want to become, and how you desire to accomplish these things.

Additionally, when you make the effort to write these items down on paper, you are strongly imprinting and impressing your values, goals and aspirations upon your mind. In essence, you are making a ‘hard copy’
document which may be revisited time and again so your mission is always at the forefront of your vision.

There is much for you to think and write about in this coming week. I trust you will enjoy this process as you write down your days…because your life is your very own Work of Art. And you are the only one who is uniquely qualified to make it a Master Piece!

The Master Piece

1 Comment December 9, 2015 debreen

What would your life look like if you considered living as though it were a commissioned work of art? Your very own master piece?

I am an artist at living, and my work of art is my life.
Suzuki Japanese philosopher

What media would you use to create your life? Would you sculpt in clay? Carve from wood? Chisel from stone? Write with pen? Color with water, or oil, or ink? Would you build your masterpiece from metal, rock or paper? Would you craft in the science of body, mind or spirit? Would you compose music with voice or instrument? Would you console with open heart, hands, and arms?

If we want our lives to be works of art, we must be willing to take the time and risk the intimacy required for creating an artisan life.
The Artisan Soul: Crafting Your Life into a Work of Art
Erwin Raphael McManus

When the art critics come to review and behold your art, what would they observe? How would they describe your masterpiece? How would you describe the work of your life? What do you desire for your masterpiece to communicate to those beholding it? What do you consider to be the crowning feature or achievement of your masterpiece? Does your masterpiece contain flaws or imperfections? Are those flaws to be hidden or exposed for their intrinsic value and beauty? Does your work of art excite, intrigue, inspire, or delight those who observe your creation?

Forgiveness. The ability to forgive oneself. Stop here for a few breaths and think about this because it is the key to making art, and very possibly the key to finding any semblance of happiness in life.
This is the Story of a Happy Marriage ~ Ann Patchett

Tell me…show me…I want to know and experience the shared joy of your Work of Art, your Life, your Master Piece!

Your Personal Mission Statement…First Step

1 Comment December 7, 2015 debreen

Last week I posted a blog which I hoped would inspire you, my reader, to engage the coming new year with full-on focus and purpose…to make 2016 the year you craft your very own Personal Mission Statement (PMS).

Today’s blog is the first step in drafting your PMS, and it is relatively simple. It may be something like treasure hunting for you. Just make sure you have pen and paper at hand and prepare yourself to wander into the misty wonder-land of your heart, soul and mind. Are you ready? Then get set…to think about people you know (past or present, living or dead) whom you admire.

It does not matter whether you are personally acquainted with these folks. They many be historical figures from the very distant past of whom you have read, or they may be modern day leaders within the domains of business, politics, entertainment, or athletics. And do not forget to consider the individuals with whom you have closest contact…those within your family, social and work environments.

Regardless of how you know these people, only include on your pad of paper those whom you admire. Then, and this is most important, consider what qualities of these individual’s lives ping you. What caught your attention, your admiration. Examine their lives. Then, jot these qualities down on your paper. These are clues into what you value in your own heart, in your own life. List these qualities in detail.

Give yourself the time and luxury to thoughtfully consider the lives of these folks, their attributes, their ambitions, their abilities…all those things of theirs which you admire. Your writing these things down will serve as your PMS repository. Give yourself permission to take some careful, reflective energies as you engage this process, and enjoy this most important first step in crafting your PMS.

It’s Not Too Soon

1 Comment December 1, 2015 debreen

Ready or not, today is the first day of the last month of 2015! For some, this may come as a welcome relief…the end of a long, hard year is almost over. For others, perhaps, the year has gone by too fast, leaving much undone on the ever present to-do list. Either way, I just wanted to take a moment to remind you and myself, that we still have time…before we say good bye to the old year and welcome the new.

Here’s the gist of my blog today: one month from now, we’ll be ringing in the new…hello 2016! Hello New Year’s resolution, right? I know, I know, this is so not going to happen. And I get that, because I don’t like New Year’s resolutions either. They are over done, over rated and their typical life span is shorter than that of the ordinary house fly. So with that said, I just wanted to give us a nudge to consider a better way…in regards to making our next year one of our best…a year of living which we can attend; on purpose; with intention and attention.

You may be wondering what I propose, so here’s the deal. What I am proposing is that you (we) consider preparing a Personal Mission Statement or PMS for short. Yes, a mission statement!

Now I know some of you are going to balk and say that only big business and corporations and agencies with donor dollars at stake have mission statements. And I agree…you are right about that, however, preparing your own PMS has its benefits. For instance, a thoughtful preparation can help you learn more about yourself; it can also provide you an opportunity to imagine and discover who you are, what you believe, what you value, what you want to do or create with your life, and how you will achieve those desired outcomes. Yes, and here’s the greatest benefit of all: you get to decide what you want your life to look like; and hopefully you’ll decide it will reflect the real you! It is your life after all, and it is the only one you have to live, so why not live it on purpose?

If you are intrigued or maybe even put off by the idea of creating your own PMS, you are in good company. This task is not something that can be accomplished over night or say, in the life time of an ordinary household fly. Yes, you’ll actually have some planning, thinking, and dreaming to do; and then after you spend some time wondering how you would actually describe your life and how you would plan on living it, you’ll then have some writing to do.

Well, what do you think? We have one month before we wave, good-bye to 2015. Are you on board to quash the resolution racket and make 2016 the most lived-in year of your life? If so, follow along with me as I toss some ideas and guidelines out on this blog in the days and weeks to come. There are so many good resources on line (and in your library and bookstores too), and all of these resources will provide more than enough substance to guide us through this most important and perhaps life changing or enhancing activity: creating and drafting our very own PMS.

Consider the Sacred

Leave a comment November 28, 2015 debreen

How often do I consider my life and all its proclivities in regards to the sacred? I’m not even sure why I have an attachment to write about this topic today. All I know is that I have found a strand of thought that has captured my attention for the moment, and it seems fitting to follow the strand where ever it wants to lead me for now.

It should not surprise me that one thought leads to another; whether a thought originates in my own thinking or whether it has been introduced by some one else, it does not matter. That the thought sparkled and dazzled and asked to be admired by me is reason enough to give it consideration for this moment.

Why do I bother attending to a fleeting thought? Because I trust that some thoughts are worthy of introspection. And in this space of now, I trust that this thought, with its attending question and percolating intrigue, has captured my attention because I am ready to receive a lesson. I have lived long enough to realize that a piqued interest is usually indication of openness to instruction.

So perhaps my intrigue has whet your curiosity too, and if that is the case, then I invite you to join me for awhile in this quest to apprehend reason on this little bypass, as I consider: What does it mean when we say some ‘thing’ is sacred to us?

Now remember, how I mentioned earlier how one thought often leads to another, then another. Well this thought about sacred things, I believe, was brought to my consciousness because of something I read a few days ago. (Note to self & note to reader: Be careful what you read!)

Anyway, I believe the question which took form before my mind this morning was smoldering as a result of this statement in the “Love Your Body” chapter of A Course in Weight Loss by Marianne Williamson: The purpose you ascribe to something determines its effect on your life. I am not sure why these two ideas feel connected to me, but they do. And I am not sure why I feel like these ideas are important to share within the space of a health and well-being blog, but I do. So be patient with me, as I attempt to connect some dots and unravel this ball of twine of mine.

When I think quickly about this idea of the sacred, all of a sudden the “S” word lifts ‘things’ up to a level above my eyes. It, the object, whatever is beheld as sacred, becomes instantly special, reserved, set aside, honored, revered. Do we use this word so frequently and loosely today, that its meaning and power is lost on our modern sensibilities? Perhaps. But what do I hold as sacred? What or where is the repository for the sacred in my life? What then does it mean when I attribute sacredness to something or someone?

I think the connection is this: What I believe and hold as sacred in my life, I will treat with special honor and reverence. The sacred will receive my best attention, care and protection. In other words, if I purpose some ‘thing’ as sacred, then my actions will support and be a natural outcome of my intentions and my beliefs. “The purpose you ascribe to something determines its effect on your life”.

As a married person (34+ years), I consider my relationship with my spouse as sacred. I am intimately bound up in his life and he in mine; we two have become and live as one. Our relationship is set-aside and unique from all our other relationships. I honor this sacred relationship and protect it by keeping my heart’s affections solely upon and for my husband.

As a spiritual being, I consider my relationship with the Divine One as sacred. Similar to my marriage, the Holy One and I co-exist in intimate, loving relationship. There is no way to separate Spirit from spirit. I honor my Spirit-life my spending time in worship and meditation. This relationship centers me and brings light and love to every area of my life.

As one who inhabits a physical body, I consider my relationship with my body as sacred. I am profoundly thankful for everything it does for me, this container which holds my soul. I honor my physical-life by making the time and taking efforts to exercise, nourish and rest my body in accordance to its needs.

As a personality who engages others within myriad roles and relationships (daughter, mother, wife, friend, etc.), I notice that my sacred intent takes less form here. I do not hold my relationships in such sacred esteem. And yet, I can see the merit in assigning them to a higher purpose in my life. We all have been created and set in this world to live in relationship to one another. Perhaps the disconnect I feel in many of my relationships is a result of my not assigning a higher purpose and value to them? Yes, this is surely a strand of thought which I must further consider and evaluate!

Finally, I have come to the end of the trail. I have made a connection, faint though it be, it is thus: That which I hold as sacred, I protect and honor. If I feel or experience disconnect in my body, spirit or in my relationships, then I have likely ascribed to it a lessor purpose or value in my life. “The purpose you ascribe to something determines its effect on your life.”

If I regard something as sacred or worthy, then I will act in ways which demonstrate my belief. That which I believe guides my intentions. My belief becomes my action. Those things which I focus my most care-full attentions and energies upon, also sheds light upon those things which I hold as sacred. What about you? What is sacred to you?