Inspiration for Changing Times

I was thinking about what it means, what it feels like to be inspired. I know when I focus on inspiration I feel uplifted. Many of us at midlife are finding ourselves heading down a different path than we ever imagined when we were younger. Suddenly so many 'older' folks are taking different jobs, different careers in order to make ends meet. Yesterday I listened to something on NPR about survival jobs, jobs folks are taking that may be minimum wage but they are helping them survive.

What can we do to get ourselves through these times when it feels so many are getting laid off, needing to get creative and desperately in need of inspiration? I say keep focusing on what makes you happy. What gets your juices going? What lights you up? Identify that and move towards finding a way to incorporate it into your daily life through a part time job, hobby or just an excursion.

If we can stay aligned as much as possible with our true nature, we feel better and consequently we ooze that good feeling out to the world which makes other people respond in kind, feeling like "I want some of what she's got".

So what makes you smile? I was having a down day the other day, pathetically allowing myself to get down, which then kept me in that downward spiral. I decided I needed a break from office and computer and went to a local outdoor shopping center. The energy there uplifts me. There is a big square with a huge fountain, and kids and families are always drawn to the fountain, watching it, yelling with glee as it spouts up. Even if the stores are closed, you see people sitting together talking. It's just nice. So I walked around and the sunshine and happy people started working their magic. I went in one of my favorite 'looking around' stores - Anthropologie. They have such fun clothes with the kind of detail that I love - appliques, flowers, lace, fun buttons. I noticed how the clothes were making me smile. Ah, good feeling. I tried on some things and one blouse looked really good on me! More smiles. Now had I been in a place of looking for a job, this would be a store that would make me feel good when I came to work.

I'm not suggesting retail therapy is the way to go. I'm saying look for what makes you smile. Look for signs of things showing up in your universe that say Yes - go this way, do this thing and keep going in the direction of your dreams. It is when we allow ourselves to follow our dreams that we are being true to who we are and will ultimately feel happier.

So what small thing can you do today that makes you smile? If you are struggling financially what part time job could you take on that is of interest to you? Something that lights you up? Maybe it's not in your chosen career path but completely different. Inspiration and outside the box thinking are all that is required.

Coping with Post Christmas Blues?

Are you feeling it? Did you wake up as I did, thinking of all the things that make me feel sad or guilty? Why does Christmas happen this way so unrelentlessly every year? Despite my best intentions to have no expectations, I end up feeling some kind of remorse or sadness.

Today I felt a little guilty over my Christmas spending and my Christmas consuming of all goodies available to me yesterday. I had the intention to spend less this year but allowed myself to go over a bit. My overspending my budget for my son then resulted in me wondering if I'd spent enough on my daughter. And round and round I go. Top this off with the chaos of having my sister, her husband and their 6 kids for dinner last night, plus my niece and her two kids and my pregnant daughter with emotions running high over everything. Add to that the fact that my son traveled from southern California to be home for Christmas, something I've been anticipating, and in two days time he'll be leaving again. A recipe for sadness for me.

Is it because of the enormous build up that is difficult to avoid no matter what? Is it the culmination of all the Christmases of my past that leaves me wanting every year to make this one "perfect"? Oh gosh I gave that word up long ago. I'm a recovering perfectionist and yet I think underlying my feelings somewhere deep is that desire to create the cozy experience for all of those around me, which only leaves me feeling sad when it's over, because it can never be all of that.

It is a day after all, and an opportunity to share love with those I care about. My inner wisdom led me to take a walk this morning to sort things through. I said my gratitudes out loud while walking and realized how much any sadness I was feeling was a part of the past -- it's over, gone and I am missing this current moment in allowing these negative feelings to run me today. I have my son here today. My daughter has a healthy baby on the way. I have a large, loud crazy family with lots of loud kids, but we had fun yesterday. I may have spent more than I planned, but I know I will be OK, and all will be provided to me.

Really, when it comes down to it, the Beatles were so right -- all we need is love and I do have that abundantly.

May your post Christmas day be filled with gratitude of what you have, and what you look forward to in the new year. May you find peace in this present moment, right here right now.