Thursday, December 22, 2011

Jolly joy

I first want to say, Happy Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, Merry Christmas, and for those who do not celebrate those...delicious December to you.  I felt moved to write about the real meaning of Christmas, that magical Christmas spirit. It sounds cliche to some, but I love a good cliche, with cheesy goodness mixed in, when it fits.  This morning, I decided to try to hunt for the elf on the shelf book, which my four year old has been bugging me about.  He kept asking me, when the elf was going to come, since he heard about it at school.  I had already looked for one at a store, but they didn't have it, so I figured we would have to wait until next year.  I told him that maybe there were not enough elves this year.  His response, "Mom, there are like twenty-one (like that's an astronomical number) and one might be in my head."  LOL.  Giving it another try, I called a store in town and they had it.  My Mom picked it up for me, cause she's the best.  I just love when things are easy.  Finn was overjoyed when he saw the elf. 

After we read the story, I cleaned up in the kitchen.  Finn said, "Mom don't listen, I have to tell the elf something."  And for those without small children, when they whisper, it's either is really loud, or so soft it's like gibberish.  I heard him say to the elf,  "Please make Christmas special of everyone."  That, there, is my Christmas present.  My heart is full.  I told him that he made Christmas really special for me.  And he said I made all the holidays special for him, even the scary one, like Halloween.  In that moment, I realized a huge thing.  I thought back to when I was in my twenties and felt like I was not a good enough mother, unless I could buy the right things, do traditions like other people did them, and all that crap.  My Mom always gave me and my little sisters pins to wear, candy, and cards for every holiday.  I thought if I did not do it that way, it would not be special.  And some years, I couldn't buy certain things for my kids, or do all the holiday things other people did, like taking them to see Disney on Ice or go skiing.  I felt like a failure and that my kids would feel deprived.  This, my friends, was all in my mind.  My kids always had so many wonderful things, we went to New York to see a holiday show, and went to Disney world several times.  It was just me comparing my life to others and wasn't really seeing the beauty that there was.  It was seeing what was going wrong and not what was going right. 

Today, it really dawned on me, that what I give my kids, in the way of enthusiasm for the holidays means more than any trinket I could buy them.  I do not remember all those little pins my Mom gave us for holidays, but I remember the decorations and the feeling.  I am so glad she gave me that love for holidays and life.  My kids will remember me playing Christmas music all the time, the cookie extravaganza, the Christmas movies, me wearing a Santa hat and being really excited about Christmas.  They will remember the magical feeling, that, yes comes with awesome gifts.  But they will not remember the gifts when they get older, but rather, that they felt loved and special.  My older ones will tell stories of complaining about driving around to see Christmas lights, when they just wanted to go home.  They will remember, somehow slowly Dad took over holiday decorating and he enjoys it, and since Mom was no longer a control freak, she let him have free reign.  That he also would make foot prints from Santa and knock over stuff so it looked realistic.  They will have pictures of all four kids wearing some sort of Christmas pajamas, since I gave up on the matching ones.  And we are always starting new traditions.  We might even do New Years cards this year, who knows? 

Lesson is:  Let yourself off the hook, of trying to be perfect, or do it how other people do it.  I think every family can have their OWN traditions that are unique to them.  Have fun, the holidays are suppose to be a merry time, so if something stresses you out, re-think it.  Just because you always did something, doesn't mean you can't change it up.  Make it easy and joyful and if you can't change it, change you attitude about it.  If you can't stand having to buy gifts for all these people, think about how awesome it is, that you have the money to buy the stuff.  Count your blessings, you will truly feel the Christmas spirit then.  Love to all!!!  I wish I could send you all a cookie.  I make the BEST chocolate chip cookies.  I am calling them Jennylicious Joy cookies.  Carry on with the merriment, my friends.  :)

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Bliss List

I love the quote:  "Follow your bliss," by Joseph Campbell.  I love the idea of finding your bliss and living your life to the fullest.  Instead of a bucket list, I am writing bliss list.  These are things that speak to my soul, that the very idea of them brings me joy.  By writing them down, you gain more clarity surrounding them and you are telling the Universe that's what you want.  Nothing is to big, too small, to superficial, too ludicrous, because it is YOUR list.  How the hell does anyone know what is possible for you?  Anything is possible.  I'll start with twenty things.  Let's start having some fun. 

1.   To skydive
2.   To go into the jewelry store and buy myself diamonds
3.   To learn to surf
4.   To learn to play guitar
5.   To be on the NY Times Bestseller's list
6.   To meet Oprah
7.   To take dance lessons
8.   To take singing lessons
9.   To have a hot tub
10.  To go to Paris
11.  To take my parents on a tropical vacation
12.  To fly on a private jet
13.  To buy a stranger a house
14.  To go to Africa and bring presents for children
15.  To drink Cristal
16.  To swim with dolphins
17.  Own a pair of Louboutins
18.  Have a show on stage, to uplift & inspire others
19.  Have a dog, or two.
20.  Zipline in Hawaii

These are just off the top of my head.  There are so many beautiful places that I want to see like Costa Rica, Bora Bora, Redwoods, Red Rocks in New Mexico, Greece, Italy, Ireland, and places with volcanoes, geysers, and many more beautiful natural wonders.  I am going places, baby! 

For me, it's freeing to do this publicly, but you can keep yours private.  I say, this is me, people...take it or leave it, but these are some of MY desires.  I will come up with even more, even later on today.  I am a dreamer, a believer.  I am already so damn happy, just eating a yummy lunch, that I cannot even imagine how fun these will be.  Let your imagination go wild.  Why not live this life to that max.  Take a risk, to BE your true self.  You are free to think whatever you want, want whatever you want, and be whatever you want.  No excuses, dare to be true to you, regardless of what others think.  If you feel drawn to something, pay attention to that.  You higher self, soul, inner being is your guide.  Your soul stirrings are for YOU, to see which path to take.  Don't worry about others paths, that is theirs, keep your eyes on the road.  BE YOU!  Write your bliss list, make a vision board.  What are you waiting for?  

Friday, December 2, 2011

You got this, Girl!

I was on the treadmill yesterday and I was thinking about how excited I am about my life.  I am going to be choosing a cover design for my book this weekend.  I'm doing it!  I live consciously, training myself to think positively and keep my vibrations high.  I have no room for doubt, if I want to live the life I see myself living. Can I speak on stage?  Hell yeah!  Can I write more delicious fiction?  Sure can!  Do I have distinct outlook that would make a great self-improvement book?  Of course.  If you think that there is nothing special about you, or that there are so many writers out there, why bother...you have sealed your fate.  You gotta go for it.  Even if you don't know exactly what that is, dwell in the possibilities and daydream about what you LOVE.  There are little signs and nudges you'll get from the Universe.  I don't know exactly know if it was my inner being/soul, talking to Jennylicious, or vice versa.  But we all talk to ourselves internally, just by our train of thinking.  If you vocalized what you thought, you may see a subconscious pattern.  You can always start telling yourself nice things, which is why I will share what I told myself.  It went like this:

You got this, Girl.  Success is knockin' at your door and you are ready.  You have what it takes.  You're a rockstar!  You just gotta be true to you and stay centered.  You really can't care what anyone thinks, good or bad, or else you won't be at your full potential.  Stay in your zone, create from there and others will be inspired.  If you go in their zone, you get mixed up in their opinions.  Come on, you feel it. You know you are special and it's time to shine, showing others how they can do it to.  Just keep loving yourself.  You know you are good enough and worthy.  You've done the work, you studied the Law of Attraction, you've let go of limited beliefs, you have made your high-good-fab-vibes your life.  You created a new you, every day, perfecting your thinking and attitude.  This is gonna be awesome!  You are going to rock this!  It's gonna be fun!  Thank you, Universe.  I just love you.  Thank you me, my beautiful family, my parents, sister, friends, trees, life, chocolate, Christmas... I can't even remember what else because I was caught up in the moment.  Appreciation is powerful.  (I love a good pep talk-YAY me!)  * Why not try it yourself? 

So naysayers, haters, doubters, pessimists, need not bother...I  believe in me and that is all that every matters.  And people love and cheer me on anyway.  It's just sometimes people mean well, they just don't want you to aim for the sky, sitting your bar high, dreaming big.  Anyone who has achieved big things has started with an idea, a thought, a concept that was not real yet.  It was not born yet, it had to be created.  I do not believe in luck.  We attract what we expect.  If we embody success, prosperity, creativity, confidence, WATCH OUT WORLD!  Tip:  You can always talk yourself out of fear or doubt.  You do not have to believe every random thought that comes in your head. 

I could write every minute, of every day, but get nowhere.  What it takes, on a thinking level, is a positive attitude.  Check!  Step by step, everyday, I am closer to my goals, BUT I live in the now.  Love right now to make your future bright.  Start listing what you like bout life, even the littlest things.  Your outlook will transform and you will see things differently.  GO YOU!