Kategoriarkiv: Lärandeprocess

Möjligheten finns alltid

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Läste Sydsvenskan i morse ganska snabbt, för jag hade en CoachWalk kl 8. För en gångs skull fastnade mitt öga på serierna, och Nemi stack ut. Närmast ropade på mig, lite pockande så där. Så jag sprang in i köket och hämtade en sax, och klippte ut dagens klokskap:

Nemi does Dalai Lama

Citatet är av Dalai Lama och lyder:
Var snäll när det finns möjlighet till det. 
Möjligheten finns alltid.

Som en liten passus blev jag idag följd på Twitter av Dalai Lama, ja, ett av alla konton som gör anspråk på Dalai Lamas namn, åtminstone. Skulle tro det var för att jag twittrade ut strippen tidigare idag.

Dalai Lama

Vad har du gjort för något snällt idag?

Utmaningarnas tidevarv

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Igår var det skolstart för barnen och själv återgick jag till arbets-mode, fullt ut. Jag är egenföretagare sedan snart 7 år tillbaka och beroende på uppdragstyp styr jag över min tid mer eller mindre. Senaste 1,5 åren har jag inte haft något heltidsuppdrag – på eget bevåg – och jag trivs väldigt bra med min varierade arbetsvecka och -situation.

Igår drog jag dock igång ett antal utmaningar, närmare bestämt fem stycken, och det känns riktigt bra. En puff att faktiskt hoppa på allt detta fick jag då en vän bjöd in till en motionsutmaning på tio dagar som tog slut förra veckan. Följer du mig på Instagram, Facebook och/eller Twitter kanske du såg hashtaggen #McChallenge2014 i mitt flöde första halvan av augusti? Det var en väldigt fin påminnelse för mig att utmaningar funkar bra för mig.

Jag menar dock inte tävling, märk väl. Snarast tvärt om faktiskt. Jag tävlar inte med någon annan om nånting, för mig handlar det inte om att vara störst, bäst och vackrast på bekostnad av någon annan. Nä, utmaningen är snarast att tänja på mina egna gränser, se vad som väntar på andra sidan något för mig okänt, att se vad jag kan åstadkomma om jag tar mig förbi mina begränsande berättelser om mig själv, min kapacitet och förmåga. Att göra det med stöd och uppmuntran samt en viss grad av ansvarsskyldighet gentemot både mig själv och andra, det gör det enklare för mig att ta mig genom en utmaning.

Utmaningarna jag kör just nu, som jag beskriver i kommande inlägg, är:

  1. 7 minute workout for 7 months
  2. Headspace
  3. 90 day money game
  4. 100 conversations
  5. Do something solo

Dessutom är jag inne på min 25e dag i rad av tyskkursen på DuoLingo, vilket helt klart blivit del av min dagliga rutin.

Utmaningarnas tidevarv

Så för mig är det helt klart utmaningarnas tidevarv. När utmanade du dig senast? När gjorde du något som tänjde dina gränser och kanske tom förvånade dig själv?

We are who we are

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We are who we are by Little Mix, my daughters favourite group at the moment:

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”We Are Who We Are”

[Jade:]
Mama, mama, mama made me the way I am
My face, my eyes, someone turn me up, I’m speaking my mind[Leigh-Anne:]
And I, and I, I’ve been wasting a lot of time looking in mirrors
And hating on me, but now I like what I see[All:]
I know, I know, I’ll never be perfect
I know, I know, but I’m gonna work it
Let go, let go, put your new shoes on
The new you onWe are who we are, who we are, pretty’s just a petty word
And I’m gonna shine like a star, cause I’m the only me in this world
Throw away the books and the magazines, I’m never gonna look like a beauty queen
We are who we are, who we are, and I’m just doing me, just doing me
And I’m just doing me, just doing me[Jesy:]
Mama, mama, mama made me the way I am
She told me I should look up on the world with my head held high[Perrie:]
And I, and I, I’ve been wasting a lot of time looking in mirrors
And hating on me, but now I like what I see

[All:]
I know, I know, I’ll never be perfect
I know, I know, but I’m gonna work it
Let go, let go, put your new shoes on
The new you on

We are who we are, who we are, pretty’s just a petty word
And I’m gonna shine like a star, cause I’m the only me in this world
Throw away the books and the magazines, I’m never gonna look like a beauty queen
We are who we are, who we are, and I’m just doing me, just doing me
And I’m just doing me, just doing me

I know, I know, I’ll never be perfect
I know, I know, but I’m gonna work it
Let go, let go, put your new shoes on
The new you on

We are who we are, who we are, pretty’s just a petty word
And I’m gonna shine like a star, cause I’m the only me in this world
Throw away the books and the magazines, I’m never gonna look like a beauty queen
We are who we are, who we are, and I’m just doing me, just doing me

And I’m just doing me, just doing me
And I’m just doing me, just doing me

[Jade:]
And I’m just doing me, just doing me
And I’m just doing me, just doing me

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I made a commitment to myself during the end of the class in London in July. Since then, I am trying to do just that, the ‘I’m just doing me‘-bit. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been holding back. From fear, basically. Regardless of what thought/emotion we might claim is to blame, I believe fear is at the heart of the matter all the time. And since no one else can fill another persons shoes, why not rise to the challenge and do you?

Scared for nothing!

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Remove that I wrote about being scared shitless about attending The Joyride?

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Well.. The day is nearing its end and it hasn’t been scary at all. It’s been interesting, fascinating, I’ve explored feelings of shame, I’ve danced, I’ve shared, I’ve hugged and I’ve felt love. And this is what I was scared about? Once more I realise the futility of feeling scared for what might happen, for what I believe others will think, and/or for how it will feel.

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I basically never get it right, so why do I keep on believing that fear? Being scared for nothing. Surely I can use my energy in better ways than that?

Camp I CAN

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Idag hämtade jag hem dotra från Camp I CAN med DNG360-gänget med Pamela von Sabljar i spetsen. Fem dagar av awesomeness och livsglädje, och med tanke på hur mycket jag njöt av varje minut av den två-timmars Camp BITESIZE som föräldrar och nyfikna bjöds in till, som avslutning och provsmakning, så förvånas jag inte av dotras reaktion på upplevelsen.

i måndags när jag släppte av henne, nyfiken och öppen för vad som komma skulle, så hittade jag detta inne på toalettspegeln:

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Och idag när jag hämtade henne ville hon inte att lägret skulle ta slut. Underbar känsla! Jag ser, hör, upplever en dotter som varit med om något extraordinärt och avgörande. Har en känsla att hennes svar på frågan på toalettspegeln skulle skilja sig stort – till gagn för henne själv och hennes omgivning – från i måndags till idag.

Vad älskar Du med dig?

Divided or not?

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Thomas de Ming shared a YouTube clip on his Facebook-page, of Parker J Palmer talking about living a divided life. I got curious about it, and just watched it. I suggest you do to:

Isn’t it funny how life unfolds? Yesterday I wrote about Mind – Body – Spirit scaring me shitless, and I woke early this morning with a feeling that I wanted to come down and write more about this. Last night I saw the post linking to this clip, but didn’t watch it, so the first thing I did this morning, was to watch it. And there it was. Another nudge to live my life fully, as me, 100%, and to shine the light at the voids I still have within me. The voids that are really nothing more than places I have yet to discover, and perhaps even more importantly, accept.

I live a divided life, to some extent, but much less so than just a few years ago. I’ve found that the less divided my life is, the greater the quality of life I live is. What about you? Do you live a divided life? If so – are you happy with that? Or would you like to explore living life more fully as you, 100 %?

Duolingo

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While on vacation in the UK, my brother who lives there, told us about the app/website Duolingo, which he’s using to refresh his French. Me and my daughter Alma downloaded the app, and I got started on German, and Alma on Spanish. We were hooked.

Then we came home, and my son was so eager to download the app onto the kids IPad that we barely got the luggage inside the front door before he had the IPad in hand, demanding help.

He started off with Italian, and man, it’s amazing to see. He asked me if I’d help him, and while I told him the truth that his Italian surely was way better than mine after a day with the language course, he crawled up beside me in the sofa. And while I couldn’t actually help him in any way, I could provide some moral support and also get totally amazed.

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Then today he decided he wanted to learn German instead (after telling me and his father that he want’s to go to Germany for the fall break! Last year we did India, this year he want’s Germany.), so he switched language in the app and set off to gather points in the morning. I could hear the German phrases coming from the vicinity of the kitchen table, but then all of a sudden there was some Spanish as well… turns out my husband also got curious enough to download the app and start a Spanish course.

Have to say thanks to my brother for setting us all off on a wild dash for improved language-skills!

Being a glorious day, we all went to the deep sea swimming-place and were away all day, with my sons best friend tagging along as well. But when we got home, guess what happened? My son and his best friend curled up on the sofa, and immediately started to practice their German. AND their English, which is an added bonus!

We’re Swedish but the app works with English as the base language so here were these two 10-year old boys discussing German and English verbs, nouns, spelling, grammar, scoring points as they went along.

Absolutely fascinating to witness – talk about there being a lot of joy in learning! Or rather, there sure can be a lot of joy in learning. And that’s the way it should be, in my view. Do you agree or disagree with that?

Knock you upside the head with a shovel?

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I’ve written over and over again about the podcast of Julia Butterfly Hill interviewed by Chris Martenson on Peak Prosperity. Find it on iTunes or here: http://www.peakprosperity.com/podcast/85294/julia-butterfly-hill-living-meaning

I talked to you about how every so often, the way life works, sooner or later, life might pick up a shovel and knock you upside the head with it. When we get resentful, fearful, and anxious, it is like picking up the shovel and hitting ourselves back in the head with it. It does not actually pick up the shovel and use it for something constructive. It just knocks us back in the head with it. Whereas if we can shift our thoughts, we can maybe take that shovel and do something constructive with it.

Now. I know there is no way for me to control what thoughts come into my head. NO WAY! I cannot control this. However. If/When I get a ”You silly twat, I’m gonna hit you over the head with a shovel”-thought into my head, what I can do is control how I react on it. When Julia say ”shift your thoughts” this is how I interpret her. I don’t have to act on the thought, I don’t have to believe the thought, and I definitely don’t have to act in a way that doesn’t serve me. I can just as easily act in a way that does serve me.

It’s all thought, it’s not Truth.

I’ve become better and better at not hitting myself with said shovel. Because, you see, I used to be champion of the world in this field, for a long long time. But I realized that it’s not serving me AT ALL to hold this world championship title! So I’ve gradually learned not to go there, not to believe the ”You silly twat, I’m gonna hit you over the head with a shovel”-thoughts, and more importantly, not to hang onto them. When they come, they come. Nothing I can do about that. But I have a choice in how I respond and relate to that thought.

There’s a quote by Wayne Dyer that goes like this:

You create your thoughts,
your thoughts create your intentions,
and your intensions create your reality.

Now. I agree with the two latter parts, but not the ”I create my thoughts”-part. Because I don’t create them. So I’d like to rephrase:

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So, what do you do when you get a ”You silly twat, I’m gonna hit you over the head with a shovel”-thought? And does that response serve you?

Being human

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So, understanding that I create the reality of my world, I cannot put the responsibility for my created reality on anyone but myself. However, and this is something I’ve struggled with, does that mean I can or should put up with anything around me? Like a stampeding herd of elephants in my workplace for instance?

Well. No.

The only thing it tells me is I can’t blame anyone else for what I feel. But if I have a preference for one thing (feelings are created via my thoughts, so it’s a part of the reality I create for myself), why shouldn’t I go for it, just because I know where the preference comes from?

I talked to someone wise about this, who didn’t really get why this makes such a mess of my understanding. He just said ”We’re human. Why make it harder than that?”.

imageAnd boy is that a great question, why make it harder than it has to be, eh? It made me let out a bit of tension on it, and perhaps I also stopped clinging on to the thought, but it’s still there in the back of my mind sometimes.

And this makes me think of The little book of contentment that Leo Baubata wrote. He’s very clear that noone else makes him happy. The feeling of being happy comes from within himself. But that doesn’t stop him from being with someone that he likes. Not because he or she is responsible for Leos feelings, but because Leo himself generate feelings of being happy when he’s with said person. And that makes him have a preference for some people.

Steve Chandler also talk about this, and he says something in the order of happiness being a feeling I bring TO a relationship, rather than a feeling I get FROM a relationship. (Happiness being but one example. Insert feeling of choice.) Ponder that one, why don’t you. I sure do.

Hm. Sometimes I think I make it harder to be human than I need to. But perhaps that’s part of being human?

Where is away?

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I’ve written several times before about the podcast of Julia Butterfly Hill interviewed by Chris Martenson on Peak Prosperity. Find it on iTunes or here: http://www.peakprosperity.com/podcast/85294/julia-butterfly-hill-living-meaning

Here’s another part of that podcast that really hit me hard:
Unfortunately, in privileged societies, we are so disconnected from the impact of our choices. And one of the examples that I started using years ago that thankfully is now finally making it into the cultural conversation is:

When you say you are going to throw something away, where is away?

And the fact that we have that word proves how disconnected we have become because away is a place. And it is here. It might not be right in our backyard, but we all might have different houses; we share one home. There is no such thing as away. Away has people attached to it. It has places attached to it. It has animals attached to it. The fact that we think there is an ”away” is a magnifying glass into how little we realize how much of a difference we truly make.

imageHonest to God, I’ve never really thought about it this way. I mean, my lifestyle has a smaller ecological footprint today that it did ten years ago, and I try to minimize it more, but still, I’ve never gone fully into the thought of AWAY not existing, of it being a place. Which of course it is!

Huh. Have to ponder that one even more I feel. And perhaps it’s time for another listen to this podcast, that really made me go Oh, Ah, Uhuh, over and over again. Did it provoke the same responses in you?