Self Care 101 - Saying YES

In the Movie, Yes Man, Jim Carey's character had gotten stuck in his ways, saying No to all opportunities that came his way. After being challenged by a friend to attend a YES seminar, he made a covenant with himself to say Yes to all opportunities that presented themselves to him. (This is only good for a period of time. If we're used to saying No to everything, I found that to learn balance, I had to do the opposite for awhile and begin saying Yes to everything. Eventually, I could then check in with myself and ask the question, "Is this a Yes or a No?") Today the lesson in self care was with a younger friend whom I had met nearly 10 years ago when my hair dresser turned my hair brown! Heart attack for me! I came to the beach and was introduced to her and she gave me my blonde back! Whewww, that was close!~ Don't be messing with a blonde's.....blonde!!!!

On my visit this trip she explained to me that she had begun to start saying Yes to opportunities that presented themselves to her. She and I did a couple of really fun things because she said Yes to some new adventures and I said Yes to taking time away from my work.

We went kayaking in the bay, rode bikes along the beach to watch her husband surf, and then to breakfast downtown Huntington Beach. Saying Yes is so much for fun than staying stuck in BORING! Hey, I'm even doing some work too!:)

Self Care 101 -California Dreamin' OC Animal Pet Fair - Balance

My sister volunteers one day a week at the animal shelter in Orange, Ca, along with being a foster home for cats. I go to the shelter and visit her when I'm in town, helping her with any projects she's involved with. Each time, I scour the dog kennels, looking to see if anyone wants to come home with me. (Not at all sure if I want the responsibility and commitment.)

This time, there was a little fella, shitzu mix who we rescued. (The newest staff member of ETL) By the way, he's looking for his name.... (Of course the old saying, Who rescued who? I have been wanting a certified therapy dog since I saw a Youtube about Baxter, The Certified Therapy Dog. This Happy little guy will fit the bill. When I went to his cage and put my hand underneath, he rested his head in the palm of my hand...Ahhhhh. In the new Evolve to Live Playshops that we're creating, he will become a healing component.

So for one of the shelter's major events, I wanted to , 1. spend time with my sister and niece supporting what is important to them, 2. give back for my little doggie and 3. I was expecting to have FUN! Which I did all three. I had an ETL project that I was working on that I had wanted to complete, but knew that I needed a pretty solid block of time to devote to it and so I felt free to take the day off and play with my sister and nieces. (Balance)

Also in practicing balance, (truthfully, just not wanting to miss out on fun things to eat) I consciously (yeah right) chose to eat things not on my cleanse....like....hot dogs, homemade cupcakes and donuts...OMG!!! Consciously, I chose this, well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! There's always tomorrow to try A...G...A...I...N!

Self Care 101

At the beginning of my journey into self-discovery, or Becoming Real, as I refer to it in each of my two books, GPS for Living and Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven, Just Not NOW!, I got the brainy idea to tithe myself the amount of years that I have been on this earth to begin healing from the inside out. I gave myself permission to take off 5 years (as I was 50) from having to get a real job!. (That was 12 years ago!) Now, once again, as I find myself off balance with my projects and consciously trying to become skilled at finding balance in my life, I decided, once again, to tithe myself 2.4 hrs each day, for self-care. Time for ME. (Well, actually I rounded UP to 2.5 hrs :) Two and a half hours a day just for me, what in the heck will I do for 2 and a half hours for myself! Let's see, shower, hair and make-up, that's a total of 5 minutes....now what else? Read, meditate, exercise, play my native american flute....hmmmmm. For pete's sake Pati, you're at the beach....can't you find something to do for you?

As I walked along the beach, this scene in the sand caught my attention. I noticed that there were 5 different prints, all who shared this same space on this earth in a relatively short period of time. Had I not stopped, taken a walk and was conscious in my efforts, I would not have seen what I considered to be an incredible sight.

Now, I can think of a lot of things to do for myself, will I take the time? Can I do it....I'll try... and then I'm sure, I'll have to start over A....G...A...I...N...but eventually, the trying will become habit. That's the theory anyway!