Personal Growth Planet Blog

It can start with a knick while shaving, coffee spilling on your clean clothes or someone cutting you off in traffic.

Your lousy, no-good day can seem like an unending, downward spiral of irritations, annoyances, bad news and maybe a crisis or two thrown in as well.

If you’re having that kind of day (week, month or lifetime) try this…

#1: Have a 3 minute “pity party.”

C’mon, you know you want to. When nothing is going right, many of us feel sorry for ourselves. Yes, embarrassing, but it’s actually a pretty normal reaction. The trick is not to get stuck in a “poor me” mindset because this won’t improve your day.

I don’t like to think of myself as a manipulative person. I don’t like to think about myself as driven by the desire to be rewarded for my “good” or benevolent acts.

But, when I’m really honest with myself, I can see this in there. Rarely is it conscious, yet, when I look at the range of what motivates and propels me to say and do the things I do… it’s there.

The craving for and expectation of a reward.

I didn’t plan on purchasing a brand new car at the start of this new year, but this is what has happened. I’m grateful for my well-being after a car wreck that totaled my old car and also for the ability to purchase a new car.

You may have never owned a brand new car, but perhaps you’ve ridden in one. You know that smell? It’s a sort of rubber-fabric-plastic smell that you encounter in a new car (possibly due to some hideous chemicals that, frankly, I don’t want to think about).

We’ll reach the darkest day of the year on December 22nd. The winter solstice is a turning point in the year. For those of us who live in the northern hemisphere, we experience the fewest number of hours of direct sunlight on this day, but the shift toward more light begins.

Pagans celebrate the winter solstice, called Yule, as the return of the Sun. The shift from dark to light, and all that means both symbolically and literally, is what both ancient and present day pagans celebrate.

Tis the season. Lots and lots of folks are crowding shopping malls, surfing the net and busily crafting the perfect gifts for loved ones.

There’s so much that’s wonderful about giving.

The thoughtful and creative gift that you make or buy can be one way to show others how important they are to you. The money, food, coats and gloves that you give to non-profit organizations go a long way to help those whose very survival might depend on the generosity of strangers.

Without a doubt, giving is beautiful and spreads joy and benevolence.

The look of determination and focus. The sheer will to get something done…even if it’s something that’s a huge challenge or seemingly impossible.

That is being in “The Zone.”

If you look at the face of a basketball player about to shoot a free throw, you’ll see it.

If you watch a preschooler crossing shoelaces while learning to tie a bow, you’ll see it.

If you get up close to a performer on stage who is singing, dancing, playing a guitar or another instrument, you’ll see it.

You’ll see that person (or those people) in the zone.

Over the weekend I attended a fabulous concert by the band Fitz and the Tantrums. It was a sold out show and the venue was general admission, standing room only. This means lots of people (many drunk or otherwise inebriated) crammed together enjoying the music.

We purposely arrived early to the show so that we could get a choice spot to stand. Mid-way through the concert, a woman forcefully barged in between me and another woman, shoving us both to the side.

The secret was kept by many.

8 boys were sexually abused by Jerry Sandusky, former Penn State assistant coach over a period of approximately 14 years.

What is also upsetting about this case is that the crime was witnessed by another adult and reported to superiors– allegedly including head football coach Joe Paterno, among others who were in positions to take action.

It is incredible to imagine that this abuse was allowed to continue for so long and that Sandusky was not stopped.

There are many possible reasons why secrets were kept at Penn State…

When I log into my Facebook page this time of year, I am especially inspired by my friends who post the things in their lives for which they are grateful. Many people declare their gratitude for their precious family and friends. Others share that they are grateful for a sunny day.

In a moment of calm, those aspects of our lives that make us feel so abundant, loved, cared for and happy are prominent and easy to see. It is such a powerful practice to shine a light of awareness on those people and things in our lives for which we are grateful.

What scares you?

Plenty of people love to be scared. They watch horror films and, especially this time of year, they seek out haunted houses and delight in being frightened by ghosts, ghouls and zombies.

It’s all fun…when it’s all fun.

Of course, I’m talking about that kind of fear that makes you jump and possibly even scream when you’re not actually in danger. It’s all pretend or it’s fiction you’re reading or watching on a movie screen.