Update and Seven Words of Well-Being.
I'm still working on my 101 questions in 1001 days, but I'm almost done; I just have to figure out the last ten, go over it one more time, type it into my computer, and post it. Any ideas for that would be appreciated. I saw this post and thought it had some good advice worth reposting, so here goes...
SEVEN WORDS OF WELL-BEING
written by Rachel Snyder
MOVE
Your address, your bed, your body, your bookshelf. Take a walk, take
a hike,
take a
step away from stagnating jobs, relationships and life patterns.
Change
perspective.
Move closer to people who meet you with authenticity and nourish your
wildest dreams. You don't have to move mountains, shifting a single
pebble
can work wonders.
TOUCH
Touch the part of your own body that you love. Embrace in the
bakery, in the
parking
lot, in the doorways all over town. Kiss people on the cheek. Stroke
your
cat more, pet
your dog more. Savor the sensation of a silky scarf, of a well-
sanded piece
of wood, of
the triad of textures in an Almond Joy. Moss, bark, rocks and the
water work
too. The
more you do it, the less you bump up against the "ouch" in touch.
LISTEN
Sit in silence and see how much there is to hear. Listen to people.
What are
they really
saying? Listen to the very last notes of every song. Listen to your
own
inner voice -
the one you hear only when the dim of every day is diminished. Hear
the
rustle of a
leaf, the call of a bullfrog, the pop and crackle of your wood
stove. Listen
with your
toes, listen with your heart and always listen to that which is
never spoken
FEEL
Feel the pain, feel the joy, until you feel you'll surely evaporate.
Stop
holding back
from laughing with your belly, loving from the deepest places of
your heart,
swooning
with the sensuality of life itself. When another's disregard or
arrogance
enrages you,
feel the anger rise up and roar! If you're not truly feeling, you're
not
truly alive -
you're just going through the motions.
TRUST
Stop second-guessing yourself. You know what you know, you know?
That inner
tickling is your highest truth. It will serve you well; the backfire
comes
when you deny or
discount it. Take in information, from all sides, yet trust, in the
end,
that you - and yo! u
alone - know what's best for you. If all day you pine to paint, then
that is
what you must do. If you ache to walk beside the ocean, find a way
to get
there. Without complete trust, you are left only to rust.
GATHER
Gather together with women and men you love. Sip tea together, walk
in the
woods together, talk and talk and talk, read aloud to each other, do
absolutely nothing together. Revel in how your hair and your skin
and your
bodies and your stories are so
different - and so utterly alike. Cook and eat together, stand
beside the
washing machine and cry and hug and wail together. And most
assuredly, laugh
together until your sides ache.
RECEIVE
For once, stop giving, giving, giving to everyone but yourself.
Accept a
compliment with grace. Voice what you need - be it a hug, a moment
of talk,
food for your table, a loan of money - and know that it will be
provided.
Loosen your white-knuckled,
stressed-out grasp on life, and then let the palms of your hands
fill to
overflowing.
Know that you deserve all you receive, and remember to show your
gratitude
for the sheer magnificence of a life lived well.