Tag: Creativity

Guest Blogger Erika Liodice

Don't Drop It
Don't Drop It

“The Juggling Act of Life”

By Erika Liodice

As we get older, life, it seems, becomes increasingly filled with commitments and responsibilities. Most days I find myself running from one task to the next: eating lunch in my car as I frantically run errands over my lunch break, squeezing in phone calls to family and friends during my ten minute drive to work, and agonizing over work assignments and deadlines while I sleep. My car is my virtual office, my Facebook page is my only connection to my loved ones and I tend to think of life in key strokes, wishing I could CTRL + Z (undo) my error in judgement the other night when I added too much detergent to the laundry and found myself swimming in a sea of bubbles. Sometimes it feels like my mind and body never truly rest. And I’m not even 30.

Former CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises, Brian G. Dyson, describes it best, “Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit – and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.”

So how can we all do a better job of maintaining balance in our lives? Here are a five simple rules I try to live by:

  1. Decide what’s most important in your life and don’t take those things for granted.
  2. Learn the beauty and the power of the word “no.”
  3. Respect your time; don’t waste it on things that don’t matter to you.
  4. Do your best and learn to accept when that’s just not enough.
  5. Don’t take anything personally.

Erika Liodice is the author of Beyond the Gray, a motivational blog for anyone chasing a dream, and a regular contributor to travel e-zines Lehigh Valley Insite and The Savvy Explorer.

Wisdom Confidence Courage Joy

A Word Is Worth A Thousand Pictures
A Word Is Worth A Thousand Pictures

Do you have words that fill you with Joy?  Words that inspire you? Words that instantly create positive images in your mind?

Four favorites are in the Mid Life Celebration blog post title here – wisdom, confidence, courage, joy.

Do those do anything for you?  How about these:

  • Faith, Hope, Love
  • Peace, Harmony, Balance
  • Creativity, Innovation, Change
  • Laughter, Humor, Bliss
  • Hunger, Desire, Passion
  • Determination, Tenacity
  • Vision, Mission, Brand
  • Social Media, Blogs, Facebook
  • Mind, Body, Spirit, Money

Words. So many good ones. So much meaning.

Mid Life Crisis and Mid Life Celebration. Ya with me?

Unhappiness Is Our Fault

“Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations.” — Edward de Bono

There are many ways to start talking about this.  And initially, I was simply going to let the quote “speak for itself”, without any additional dialogue.

However, me being me, well, that obviously didn’t happen.

But compromise is in order and I will end this Mid Life Celebration blog post with a top-of-mind thought.

Once I started writing, consistently, back in March, a transformation began. As if something inside me was awakened and began to grow. And then suddenly realized, I hadn’t even begun to discover what was possible.

Talk about a joyful experience.  Undiscovered joy, newly found, was remarkably  humbling.  And humility brings incredible joy.

Oh, and by the way….

“Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations.”

Bear Hug

Are you thankful for the seemingly overwhelming obstacles that appear in front of you?  Many times, I’ve finally come to learn, the solutions are simple.

What began as anger turned into an amazing blessing.

Bear hugs began about seven years ago when I was struggling to adapt to a new rule our son’s child care provider put in place.

My wife takes our son to day care, I pick him up. Upon arrival, the first thing I’d do is scoop him up and give him a hug. In many cases, I had not seen him (awake) since the day before.

The new policy change had you remain in your vehicle as your child was placed in their car seat. You never got out of the car. Some parents liked this.

I did not. In fact, it made me really pissed off angry. Fuming mad.

Solutions are often simple and many times, come from unlikely sources. A friend, gay and never ever ging to be a parent, gave me the best parenting solution.

He said, “After you pick up your son, why don’t you drive around the corner, park, get out, and do your bear hug?”

Duh!  It was the perfect solution. Perfect.

There have been a few days where we are several miles from his school when one of us realizes we didn’t do our bear hug.  Do we wait until we get home? Nope.

What overwhelming challenge have you had that turned into one of your biggest mid life blessings?

Addicted to Thankfulness?

It is extraordinarily uncommon to be fully conscious and in the moment all day, every day.

Why?  No seriously, why?

If being thankful is such a blessing, why do we spend so little time doing it?  Perhaps the same can be said for being healthy.

If being healthy is such a blessing, why do we spend so little time getting and staying healthy?

I think it’s because we over commit, over schedule, and, under plan. There’s a saying, “Failure to plan is planning to fail.”

I’m addicted to thankfulness.  Grateful for the ability to think about issues like this. Excited to have daily challenges. Encouraged by slow and steady progress toward reconciliation.

Yes indeed, thankfulness is a drug. Don’t forget to take your medicine.