It's almost Autumn...

Autumn is when people prepare the garden for the quiet sleep of winter and the rebirth of spring. Late autumn has always been one of the favorite times of the year. It's lovely seeing trees ablaze with color, followed by the thick carpet of fallen leaves on the ground. Also, it's lovely to feel the cold and crisp air, along with the earthy smell that is so prevalent right now.

When I was younger, I remember watching movies of kids who were tired and complained of boredom around this time of year, their mum and dad would send them out to rake the back garden. Strangely enough, I loved this chore but almost never managed to finish the job. About the time I would manage to get a pile of leaves together, one of my dogs would show up and we would end up jumping into the leaves and flinging armfuls of them at each other until the garden was once again cluttered.

I have to confess that I haven't jumped into piles of leaves for a long time, but my enjoyment of late autumn has never dissipated. I look for as many opportunities to get out into the autumn environment as I can because it makes me feel alive and renewed.

I hope you are enjoying the nice autumn days, spending time outside when you can. If you have the time, go away for a day to the countryside or a local park for a nice long walk or hike. Even if you can't devote a lot of time, take advantage of the changing season by taking a brisk walk in your neighborhood or at a local park.

Even though the weather may be getting cooler and the days shorter, that doesn't mean you can't partake in the beauty of the season, just don't forget your coat and scarf. Have a nice weekend!

Take care of yourself

This week, I want to focus on the importance of taking care of ourselves. As our days become busier and more hectic, it can be difficult for us to take a needed and deserved break. I am sure that even an aware person like me, has experienced moments when you would have liked to have more time to yourself.

The truth is that even for those of us who are aware and clear on the importance of self-care, it is easy to get caught up in daily routines, events, special projects, and the like, to the point that you forget to take time out for yourself. As a result, you may find yourself feeling tired and out of sorts. However, I have a few suggestions for giving yourself time, slowing down your mind, enjoying your surroundings, and replenishing your energy.

My first suggestion is to walk where you need to go. If you walk to work or to the corner store instead of driving there, you get a chance to slow down your mind, enjoy the surroundings, and get some great exercise to boot! If you can afford it, consider joining a gym and making the commitment to go several times a week. Getting exercise is an excellent way to bring your mind and body back into alignment and boost your energy levels.

Another way to create self-time is to join a group or club that meets on a regular basis. It could be a gardening club, a choir, a photography class or scrap-booking group, or even a meditation or yoga group. The idea behind these suggestions is to have time that is separate from your work and daily activities.

Finally, I have other suggestions for making extra time. Leave work on time or arrive at appointments early, equipped with a favorite book so that you take advantage of the wait time for pleasure reading. Keep a book or magazine handy in your bag or briefcase for when you are unexpectedly stuck waiting for someone or something.

I'm sure, that you can come up with many more ways to take care of yourself than I shared here if you put your mind to it. I hope that you will find my suggestions useful and that you will take some time for yourself this week to have fun, relax, and rejuvenate. You deserve it!

Had any good meal lately?

When was the last time you enjoyed a nice leisurely meal? Do you know that one of the best ways to maintain a healthy weight and a trim figure is to slow down and savor the food you eat? As strange as this idea may seem, it works. Just look at the French! Their regular diet includes multiple course meals with creamy sauces, real butter, desserts, and wine.

On the flip side, consider American eating habits, which more often than not include skipping meals, having fast food on the run, or overindulging at an all-you-can-eat buffet. One might think that staying on the go helps to burn calories, but what it actually does is to create stress, and stress is a big deterrent to maintaining a healthy weight.

Never fear, all is not lost, because any habit that is learned can be unlearned. All you have to do is to slow down at mealtimes, begin to enjoy your food, take better care of yourself, and you can keep a trim, healthy figure without too much fuss or drastic shift.

But that will require some adjustments to your daily schedule. For your first meal of the day, go for something healthy, even if it is just some fruit and/or nuts as you head off to work. Studies show that starting your day with a healthy mix of protein and carbohydrate boosts your metabolism and helps you burn fat throughout the day. And if you have a mid-morning or afternoon snack, keep it light and nibble it a bit at a time if possible. Stretching it out will make it feel like more in the end.

At mealtimes, strive to eat a full, balanced meal that includes foods you like. As your digestive system was designed to break down natural foods, choose foods that aren't loaded with preservatives and chemicals. So that means staying away from prepared fast foods as much as possible. Also, eating more slowly and chewing your food well will help you enjoy the different tastes on your plate and make you more aware when your body is full.

Finally, don't forget to add some exercise to your daily routine. It doesn't have to be something strenuous or lengthy. Studies show that short bursts of activity throughout the day help to maintain an optimum weight. Some suggestions include taking a short walk after lunch, parking further out in the grocery store parking lot, walking to the corner store as opposed to driving, and opting to take the stairs as opposed to the elevator whenever you can. Those extra steps here and there add up, to a trim healthy body and a healthier lifestyle.

Friendships...

I want to share some interesting information I recently read on friendship. But first I'd like you to take a moment to think about your closest friends. Are you the type of person who has one best friend or one who prefers a few close friends? Well, if you answered yes to either of these questions, consider yourself fortunate, because dependable friendships bring some amazing benefits.

It is probably no surprise to you that close friendships are good for us. However, the list of actual medical advantages is quite remarkable. Research shows that our good friendships can help us to reduce our blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol levels, as well as to lower our stress levels. In other words, solid, dependable friendships help us to live a longer, healthier life.

The nice thing about our friendships is that they are ties we choose to develop, sustain and nurture. When we are young, we seek comfort in our companionship, by befriending dogs, cats, dolls and stuffed animals. As we grow into adolescence and later into adulthood, good friends can become more than just companions. A good friend is there through the good and bad times.

A good friend is someone who loves you in spite of yourself. They laugh with you, cry with you, listen to you when you need an ear, tell you the truth when you don't want to hear it and even keep your secrets. And now, you can add the positive health benefits of friendship to that list!

While this information probably won't make you change how you feel about your friends, it may make you appreciate them even more. And may I remind you, that the benefits of our friendships work both ways.

Have a nice weekend!

Desperate?

Have you ever wanted something desperately, but felt you could never get it? I think that many people probably experience this. We all have dreams and aspirations, but not all of us believe we can realize them. I believe that most dreams are attainable, provided that we are able to set realistic goals and take active steps to make them come true.

I want to share a story about one of my friend's that illustrates this. A young woman I'll call Helen came to me for some advice to find out why she wasn't achieving the thing she most wanted in life, to become a voice-over actress. She was frustrated and angry because her dream wasn't materializing, so I asked her what she was doing to realize this goal. She said she visualized every day but admitted that she had done little else, mostly because she really didn't know what to do.

Visualizing can be very effective, but Helen needed to exert physical and mental energy toward realizing her desired goal. I decided to introduce her to the law of attraction and the idea that every action that is focused on a goal actually helps to bring about that goal. After doing that, we came up with a plan to help her achieve her goal.

Helen's first step was to find out everything she could from the library and Internet about being a voice-over actress. Next, she had to research what kind of training she would need, where and how to get it, and how much it would cost. And finally, she had to figure out how much time she would need to complete a program, think of ways she could support herself during her training, locate ways to fund for her education, and then apply to institutions that specialize in voice-over programs.

As you might have guessed, the next time I heard from Helen, she was on cloud nine. She had been accepted to an acting school that specialized in voice-over and she had even found a job that was flexible with her new school schedule.

Helen says that she will be working in a studio within a year's time, earning a pretty good salary and doing what she'd always dreamed of. And this is all because she was finally able to put energy behind her dream by finding out how to realize it and then set about doing just that.

If there is something you have always wished you could do, I hope that Helen's story will inspire you to go after your own dream.

"Like attracts like?"

Are you familiar with the expression, "Like attracts like"? Recently I had an experience with a friend who was struggling with this idea. He was having difficulty coming to grips with certain emotions he was experiencing. He felt controlled by them and this was creating a lot of tension for him. The more he fought his feelings, the stronger their hold over him seemed to be.

I completely understood his frustration and assured him that his situation was not unusual. I told him that, with a little work, he could overcome this obstacle. I began by introducing him to the so-called "Universal Law of Attraction". According to this law, we attract that which we focus on with the most intensity, and this attraction can create a positive or negative experience depending on its nature. In my friend's case, it meant that when he focused on emotions or feelings that made him uncomfortable, he ended up creating more of those uncomfortable feelings in the process.

Of course, just telling him this wasn't enough. We needed a workable solution. I suggested that he try looking at his unresolved emotions in a different way. Instead of battling his feelings, I asked him to look at them without judgment. I wanted him to focus on the root of his emotional turmoil because, as that point, he would be in a position to make adjustments to his behavior.

My friend took my instructions to heart and began observing his difficult feelings. He told me that life flowed easier when he could refrain from making judgments on his emotions and, as a result, he was soon feeling much better about himself. By just listening to these emotional messages, rather than just getting upset or worried by them, he no longer felt so controlled by them. And, once he could really listen to his feelings, he was able to get a better grip on why those feelings were coming up.

Now, I hope that you will spend some time thinking about the Law of Attraction and the primary focus of your energy. What are you attracting into your life? My hope is that your health, wealth and happiness will provide you with some insights.

Manners & Etiquette

When you think about good manners, some people focus on proper etiquette at the table, but manners are so much more than that. Good manners extend to making eye contact and paying full attention to the person you are speaking to, saying yes, no, please and thank you, avoiding gossip and behaving in a way that puts other people at ease and makes them feel comfortable around you.

I was recently at a gathering where I ran into an old friend who had her two children in town The oldest, a boy, was 7 and the younger daughter was 4. Normally bringing children to a party can be risky, but these two had such excellent manners that one could easily forget that they were youngsters. Both were polite, spoke comfortably with adults and handled themselves appropriately around the buffet.

I commented to my friend about how wonderfully her children were behaving and she thanked me for my compliment, saying that she was very proud of how well her children handled themselves in public. Then she confided that they weren't always quite as well behaved at home, but she expressed great satisfaction about having been able to instill in them a sense of the importance of good manners, as this skill will enable them to function well in any situation as they become adults.

Another good friend of mine works in human resources in a large corporation and says that her company receives many resumes from applicants who can't even be considered for hire due to their poor manners. Some are clueless about good phone etiquette, while others use rude language when addressing the interviewer or speak far too loudly. This lack of basic manners can actually ruin opportunities for potential employees who would otherwise be quite capable.

Fortunately, good manners are something that anyone can learn, so it is very important that we all practice using good manners, especially around those who don't use them. You always have an opportunity to set a good example for others, especially children, by how you handle yourself in public.

We can actually help to make someone's day by using good manners. Maybe it means greeting others with direct eye contact, a smile and a firm handshake, or holding a door open for someone, or hanging up our cell phones when dealing with other people such as cashiers and newsagents. It is all about thoughtfulness in our daily interactions with the people around us.

Good manners reflect tact, diplomacy and consideration for our fellow man. Using good manners is a powerful way to show our respect for others and at the same time feel confident in every situation.