Those Confounding Gremlins

April 10th, 2015
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Off and on for about the last month, I have had what the awesome Dr. Brene Brown (author of the New York Times bestselling book Daring Greatly) calls “gremlins” in my head, talking to me in a way that makes me occasionally question the validity of some of my decisions and personal projects.

You know those gremlins.  The inner voices which can cause you to second guess what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.  Or they make you feel uncomfortable or afraid about life in general.  Sometimes I let the gremlins in and sometimes I don’t.  I try … Read More

Balancing Our Busy Brain

March 30th, 2015
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Hey there! It’s Monday morning already! Wherever did the weekend go?  It’s not as if I didn’t make myself productive because I did.  It just amazes me the speed with which Saturday and Sunday seems to fly by. I did learn something new this weekend that I would love to share with you.  During my yoga class on Saturday morning, my teacher talked about how doing new things makes our brain smarter.  Okay maybe you already knew this but I didn’t so please indulge me a bit because I think this is really interesting. Now I’m not a scientist, and… Read More

Personal Boot Camp

March 24th, 2015
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Dear Resilient Readers: You know that quote from Mahatma Gandhi that says something like if you change yourself you can change your world? It’s a bold thought and one I decided I should check out for myself.  On one level, I have always known that if I change certain things in my life that my world will change.  Take for example if I change what I eat or  how much I exercise.  I understand the different results I will get when I pursue those kinds of changes in my life. But what would happen if I changed the way I… Read More

A Daring Thought

March 4th, 2015
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It’s winter here in my part of the world and that means weather has continued to be dreary and cold.  It’s also the middle of the week and I’m looking for inspiration to give me a boost and I can’t think of a better person to do that than the fabulous Brene Brown! If you don’t know Brene Brown, she is an author, mother, wife and also a Ph.D. research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work.  If you get a chance check out her TED talk.  It blew me away! Brene Brown has an amazing… Read More

Traveling in Hope

February 23rd, 2015
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Wow! What a weekend! Here in Washington, DC, we received 6 to 8 inches of steady snow on Saturday but then by Sunday the temperatures rose up to the 40’s!  As my neighbor and I were out shoveling the slushy mesh, we both remarked that it was warm enough to take off our coats. Today the temperatures are dropping back down again to February coldness so it just goes to show that you never know what Mother Nature is going to bring to us in terms of weather!  I also have that same kind of uncertain feeling about this upcoming… Read More

Creating An Oasis of Calm

February 16th, 2015
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When I read the above sign, I knew I was in the right place. Isn’t it just great? I love the simplicity and comfort of this message and the fact that it was posted on a black bench in the lobby of a local yoga studio where I took my first lesson over the weekend made the idea behind the message even better. I was in a new place about to begin a new experience but felt immediately welcomed. Taking off my shoes became the first step to creating a calming place for myself.  As I pulled my boots off… Read More

A Plucky Poem of Resilience

February 11th, 2015
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// When I open my personal email early in the morning, one of my favorite things to see is an email from my son.  I don’t get them as much I did when he was in college because now I receive more text messages.  But still, receiving an email from him always makes me smile. The email that I write about today arrived over the weekend and in it my son wrote that a friend of his had seen the poem featured below and wanted to pass it along to me so that I could post it on Cry Laugh… Read More

Resisting The Reaction

January 7th, 2015
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“Mom. You don’t have to react to everything.” These pearls of incredible wisdom came out of the mouth of my son when he was very young, maybe ten or eleven years old.  We were in the car driving to some sports activity and I was trying to squeeze in an errand or two before practice started.  The tight schedule led me to comment (read rant) about the lack of driving skills of those sharing the road with me and a few other hot buttons issues that we were talking about while I was driving. “Mom.  You don’t have to react… Read More

A New Year Unwritten

January 2nd, 2015
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A brand new fresh and clean calendar is amazing, yes? 2015 is here and as I flip through my new calendar, I’m excited to see a new year of endless possibilities, a year of new opportunities just waiting for me and you; days where we can make the first moves, put our plans into motion and make our dreams become reality. I don’t make resolutions for the New Year because I find that taking each day as it comes and trying to do my best works for me.  But that’s just me.  Maybe resolutions help keep you on track so… Read More