How to make yourself larger than life--or not

I just wanted to post this picture because I thought it was funny that I could get the 'ole boyfriend, who stands six feet tall, to pose in front of this old Cottonwood tree near Sierra Vista, Ariz. That's one big tree! And, yes, the BF responded well to my command, "Now hold your arms high up in the air." 

If you have a funny picture that represents something you can't believe you were able to get someone in your family to do, post it on your blog and and comment with the link here. I'll add an addendum to this post with links to your funny pictures.

If you don't have any such pictures yet, it's not too late to go take one and play along.

Coping strategy: Spend time in the great outdoors

I just returned from a 20-minute walk around my neighborhood. Nothing grand like my canyon hike to the Travertine creek pictured above. Nothing lengthy, either. Just a quick walk around a couple of blocks to refresh. It made me realize I'm lucky to appreciate the outdoors in such a way that even the heat (The temperature out there is at least 111 degrees this afternoon) won't keep me from stepping out when I know I can use the break.

I learned a long time ago that spending time outside is a great coping strategy. You don't have to do much. You don't have have a big plan to follow. A simple walk, as I did, around a block or two will relieve a little stress, ease a little ache, and relax the busy mind. Even if I'd just decided to sit outside on the patio and feel the fresh air on my skin or take in the still blue color of the sky, I would have returned to my desk with a different perspective.

From time to time I'll be posting a quick coping strategy that you can try at home or at your office when you're feeling a bit stressed during these tough economic times. It won't be anything inaccessible. The tips will be easy enough to accomplish on your end. If you need to re-work them a bit to fit your situation, I'll leave that creative challenge up to you. My purpose will simply be to help you awaken the idea that no matter the challenge you face in your daily life, you are well-equipped to overcome it--one coping strategy at a time.

And if you're wondering why I took that short walk today, it was for one reason. I'm participating in a daily challenge with other writers I know on Facebook. Called "Writers on the Move," its purpose is to get writers up and out from behind the desk in order to create a healthier life. When I'd realized I'd not participated yet today, I thought I should get up and move so I could post my update. I decided a walk would do. It did. And I feel accomplished. See how it works?

Wouldn't you feel better about something that's been bugging you or nagging at you or otherwise challenging you if you took a few moments to spend some time outdoors and get away from it all?

If you want to know why this works so well, this article (even though it focuses on the benefits for kids) explains it well.  If that doesn't convince you, here's an article that explores more reasons why the outdoors are good for adults, too.

Enjoy!

Check out Modern Love Rejects

If you've ever been rejected, like I have, from the New York Time's Modern Love editor, you know it's disheartening. Essays are personal. They're fun to write. And dammit, we want to see them published. Luckily for us rejectees, Modern Love Rejects came to the rescue. It's a site that gives us another chance for our essays to see the light of day--and maybe a few readers as well. Not NYT's number of readers, but readers nonetheless.

Today, I became one of those lucky ones. Modern Love Rejects (@ModLoveRejects on Twitter) accepted my essay called "Acting Out." If you visit the site to give my words a read, please leave a comment. And if you've ever been rejected by Modern Love, post a comment here on my site.

If you want to know how to submit to either, visit Modern Love Rejects. The editors tell you how to do both. It's a great resource for essay writers who have an essay they truly believe in and want to see published so badly they'll forfeit the pay.

Inspiration from the Happy Yoga book

This weekend, I finished reading the Happy Yoga book and took away so much from it, so much that I had to share some specific messages with you. This is a book that inspires. Enjoy!

_If you're looking for happiness, make sure you're looking within. Happiness is not located in your new car, that bigger home, nor the European vacation. Happiness is in you.

_Your thoughts, attitudes and intentions will dictate your life experience. It's the same as saying, "As one thinks, so one becomes."

_Can you let go of your attachments? Can you accept that you are brunette and not blonde, brown-eyed and not blue, short and not tall? Does it really matter? Forget about how your body looks. Ask instead: How do I feel?

_When you think of yoga, you may think only about postures. Yoga is more than that. It is about the philosophy, the chanting, the meditation. Real yoga involves the mind-body-spirit connection and a devotion to the mystery of existence.

_Pay attention. Life will keep reminding you of who you really are and what you're here to do.

_I am no shape, no size, no color. I am simply me. I exist.
 
_Happiness occurs in the present moment.

_Breaking an addiction (no matter what kind of compulsion) requires three things: self-examination; self-forgiveness; and letting go.

_Who is your true soul mate? You are. How do you mate with yourself? Through yoga.

_Make inner peace your first priority.

_I am not my past or future. I am now, this moment, as it is right now.

_Yoga practice can focus the mind, open the heart, and reveal inner peace.

_If you engage negativity, you empower and strengthen it. Disarm it with love, for self and others.

_Our fears and anxieties exist so that we can transcend them.

_When you are no longer afraid of the world and when you are no longer desperately craving fulfillment from the world, there is truly nothing to worry about. 

_The key to everything is awareness. But first you have to silence the mind, listen and pay attention. Jesus referred to this awareness as "the peace that passeth all understanding."

_The yearning to know the divine is natural and innate, inherent in the human condition.

_Why not be happy right now, right where you are? 

Thank you, Steve Ross, for your wisdom.