Day 30:
A word collage of goodness as the month of June closes and a new month of life adventures and lessons begins:
- best parts of me
- curiosity
- emotions
- embracing
- scar sparkle
- vulnerability
- authentic
- meditation
- naming our mastery
- beauty no matter my weight
- self-compassion
- inner goodness
- owning our goodness
- strengths
- writing
- reflecting
- unique light
- summer
- solstice
- inner relaxation
- Earth's goodness
- friendly universe
- honoring feelings
- practicing
- goodness in nature
- moving my goodness
- move energy
- quirkiness
- creative goodness
Day 27, 28 and 29:
- I get distracted easily.
- I move at a turtle's pace sometimes.
- I talk a lot.
- I can't get a handle on all the paper I collect.
- I can eat an unusually large amount of frozen mango chunks in one sitting.
- I overshare sometimes.
- I'm vulnerable and pretty open about my feelings and that sometimes scares people.
- I'm not a linear thinker (and I'm proud of that fact).
- I'm very vocal about the importance of recycling and supporting happier lives for the animals we eat and for fair treatment for all.
- I'm pretty random-abstract.
- I want to be a creativity coach and an intuitive healer. There. I put it out into the Universe in writing!
- I'm a dreamer.
- I talk to animals, trees & sometimes even my car.
- I'm quirky.
These are all aspects of my goodness though. It's just how I choose to view my quirkiness. I'm learning to laugh at my goofy ways and embrace all my goodness, rather than getting frustrated with myself and being hard on myself when I don't do things the way I think "normal" people do them. My creativity is my quirkiness; my goofy ways make me unique and special. I love being creative and goofy and unique and special.
I'm listening more and more to the words I choose to say to myself, in my head when I'm not doing what I'm "supposed" to be doing. Once you become aware or actually stop and listen, you can begin to take action and brainstorm more loving ways to talk to yourself. I'm not there yet but I'm aware and I'm trying.
None of this is about getting "there" or to a certain destination. It's in the practice that we begin to create more positive habits and ways to treating ourselves and then others.
Day 26:
When you don't feel like you have time for exercise, just jump around or skip around the house, instead of walking. It still moves your energy and you feel better as a result. This helps me physically feel my goodness. :)
Day 25:
http://ecua-gringa.blogspot.com/2014/06/moving-my-goodness.html
Day 24:
Day 23:
I have been practicing, somewhat unintentionally--almost organically, the act of accepting how I'm feeling at any given moment. I guess it's a combination of the daily work I've done this year on self-compassion and surrendering. It's like much of the wise human development articles I've read are finally clicking. But it's easy to fall back on old habits. Today I'm honoring the goodness I have inside for practicing and not being perfect and not always feeling wonderful. I'm honoring the rainbow of feelings we all experience, because those feelings are expressions of our inner goodness.
Day 22:
Day 25:
Moving My Goodness for my weekly wellness blog and Day # 25 of my goodness practice. :)
http://ecua-gringa.blogspot.com/2014/06/moving-my-goodness.html
Day 24:
Finding goodness in nature and movement:
Day 23:
I have been practicing, somewhat unintentionally--almost organically, the act of accepting how I'm feeling at any given moment. I guess it's a combination of the daily work I've done this year on self-compassion and surrendering. It's like much of the wise human development articles I've read are finally clicking. But it's easy to fall back on old habits. Today I'm honoring the goodness I have inside for practicing and not being perfect and not always feeling wonderful. I'm honoring the rainbow of feelings we all experience, because those feelings are expressions of our inner goodness.
Day 22:
I really love this quote:
"We live in a friendly universe. At the heart of all things is goodness. We receive this goodness in the measure to which we cultivate friendship with the universe."
~J P Vaswani
Day 21:
Day 20:
Day 21:
Celebrating not only our own goodness but also the Earth's goodness with the beginning of summer today. :)
Day 20:
A beautiful goodness quote for today:
"Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are."
~Chinese Proverb
Day 19:
I don't know about you but I feel a certain burst of energy, excitement, creativity, and GOODNESS in the air with the summer solstice being so near! I feel like celebrating!
Day 18:
Here is a beautiful quote from an excellent book I try to read a page from each day called Self-Care For Life by Skye Alexander, Meera Lester, & Carolyn Dean, MD, ND:
Day 19:
I don't know about you but I feel a certain burst of energy, excitement, creativity, and GOODNESS in the air with the summer solstice being so near! I feel like celebrating!
Day 18:
Here is a beautiful quote from an excellent book I try to read a page from each day called Self-Care For Life by Skye Alexander, Meera Lester, & Carolyn Dean, MD, ND:
"We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light."
~Mary Dunbar
Day 17:
Today I decided for my weekly wellness blog to reflect on my blogging/writing journey and all that I've learned. I only got through the first 4 months but I plan to continue this reflection in my next blog.
Day 17:
Today I decided for my weekly wellness blog to reflect on my blogging/writing journey and all that I've learned. I only got through the first 4 months but I plan to continue this reflection in my next blog.
http://ecua-gringa.blogspot.com/2014/06/this-blog-is-mirror-into-my-soul.html
Day 16:
Day 16:
Another quote focusing on strengths, a topic near and dear to by heart after becoming a Dependable Strengths instructor:
"The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength."
~Swami Vivekananda
Day 15:
Day 15:
An inspiring quote on owning our goodness:
"The things you are passionate about are not random, they are your calling."
~Fabienne Fredrickson
Day 14:
In recognizing, identifying and owning my goodness more intentionally this month, I'm getting a lot of practice showing my authentic self. It can be scary but also very rewarding, empowering and strengthening. My inspiring friend, Kathy Jenkins of Lessons From The Monk I Married and I chatted on Facebook about starting a special hashtag to be more authentic in our sharing of feelings online. We thought #PracticingAuthenticity would work nicely, so I'll add it when I share this post on social media today. It's a good reminder that the sometimes scary feelings I encounter are for a much greater purpose of practicing authenticity and follow a deep value I have in life of being true about who I am.
Day 13:
Day 14:
In recognizing, identifying and owning my goodness more intentionally this month, I'm getting a lot of practice showing my authentic self. It can be scary but also very rewarding, empowering and strengthening. My inspiring friend, Kathy Jenkins of Lessons From The Monk I Married and I chatted on Facebook about starting a special hashtag to be more authentic in our sharing of feelings online. We thought #PracticingAuthenticity would work nicely, so I'll add it when I share this post on social media today. It's a good reminder that the sometimes scary feelings I encounter are for a much greater purpose of practicing authenticity and follow a deep value I have in life of being true about who I am.
Day 13:
I found a nice quote on inner-goodness from Gandhi on this site that talks about the beliefs we hold about ourselves at: http://growinghumankindness.com/trusting-your-goodness/ .
"Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny."
~Gandhi
Day 12:
Day 11:
Day 10:
Day 9:
For Day 9, I wanted to share a beautiful quote I found about goodness:
Day 7 and 8:
Day 6:
I just watched a very powerful trailer for a documentary called Embrace that a woman named Taryn Brumfitt in Australia is trying to raise money to complete and I have been moved to tears. The trailer is about embracing our bodies and as John Legend sings, "all your perfect imperfections." I feel very emotional about this topic and I know how vital this work of body love truly is. So why then do I clam up and start to fret when I think of uploading a photo of my scar to support this worthy cause? What am I afraid of? Rejection? That people will be disgusted? Not like me anymore? Not respect me?
So I'm typing quickly before I change my mind, but I have decided I want to upload a photo of my scar right here, right now. And you can look at it if you want, and you can not look if you don't want. I don't want to apologize anymore. I don't want to be ashamed. I don't want to live in fear of people giving me disgusting looks when they see my scar.
If I saw my scar on someone else, I would not be disgusted, so why am I so repulsed by it sometimes? This makes me want to cry more. This Body Image Movement work makes me incredibly emotional, but I know it's necessary and needed in this world, right now, more than ever. So I'm taking a risk. And showing you a very special part of my Goodness. A part that is new to me, that I am still struggling to fully embrace. Her name is Sparkle.
Day 5:
I know I'm my true authentic self, alive and aware of my Goodness when I feel emotions deeply. For a long time, I felt embarrassment or shame for how emotional I can be, but in the past few years, I have experienced very intense emotions--incredibly euphoric and deep, deep pain and somewhere along the line, I decided to fully embrace my emotional side and see it as a strength I possess.
I was reminded of this because I felt very good on the way home today, outsmarting all the traffic and taking a scenic route instead, when I saw a woman gingerly cross the road with her whole torso wrapped up in some kind of cast. My heart really went out to her and I could almost feel her pain--it was almost palpable and tears came to my eyes for this woman I didn't even know. When this happens--both in witnessing pain AND intense joy, I know I'm living my Good and coming from my strengths as I live life and that makes me grateful.
Day 4:
Photo/Artwork by Aaron Lawrence.
Day 3:
For today, here is my blog post today on a new chapter of goodness:
http://ecua-gringa.blogspot.com/2014/06/a-new-chapter-of-goodness.html
Day 2:
On this second day of celebrating my goodness, I want to remember some of my favorite descriptive words that came up in yesterday's definition:
Virtue, kindness, generosity,
Excellence, essence, strength
The best part of anything
Isn't that lovely? What is the best part of each of us? And it doesn't have to be limited to only one thing either. We are each abundant in goodness. And I love how the word "strength" is in the definition of "goodness," because that makes my work facilitating the Dependable Strengths process so much more appropriate, meaningful and rewarding.
I would say that one of the best parts of me is my creativity and openness.
What's one of your best parts?
Day 1:
I think when I first thought of this theme for the month, I began to ask myself what the term "goodness" even means. There are so many different definitions and ways to use this word, so I would like to explore one of the definitions that resonates with me from Dictionary.com:
~Gandhi
Day 12:
In recognizing my Goodness, I am learning yet again how important it is to recognize self-compassion too. I am a self-identified recovering perfectionist, and those former tendencies sometimes pop in for a visit without calling first. So Oprah's quote below speaks to a more realistic intention for ourselves. And one I need to remember as I learn new things.
Day 11:
A little over 3 years ago, I began dancing three times a week and I joined Weight Watchers. And over about an 8-9 month period, I had lost nearly 35 pounds! I look back in amazement at my success after struggling for many years prior to lose some weight mainly to be healthier, but also because I wanted to wear cute clothes and feel lighter, I think. As when I traded in my big Jeep Liberty for my petite Honda Civic, at first I still felt like I was big, and in the case of the car, high up. And since losing the weight, which I have mostly managed to keep off--I'm not as skinny as I was in the second picture though but I'm healthier--I think I've mainly lived in fear of gaining the weight back. And I sometimes even negatively judge my now much thinner body. The weight was not really the issue, was it? It's how we talk to ourselves and how we view ourselves. So I challenge myself to love every part of my body's past and recognize my beauty no matter how much I weigh. I want to look back and see my goodness shining through throughout time and tell my 30-year-old self how beautiful I am.
Day 10:
My weekly wellness blog and Day 10 of my goodness practice are on mastery. Read more here:
http://ecua-gringa.blogspot.com/2014/06/naming-our-mastery.html
Day 9:
For Day 9, I wanted to share a beautiful quote I found about goodness:
Meditation is about learning to recognize our basic goodness in the immediacy of the present moment, and then nurturing this recognition until it seeps into the very core of our being. ~Mingyur Rinpoche
To be very honest, yesterday I had a kind of vulnerability hangover, as Brene Brown has described it, from my brave post on Day 6. I also felt this way after trying out the trapeze a month after my first surgery in 2012. I had hoped to feel empowered and more courageous than ever, ready for the health challenges that still faced me then, but instead I felt scared. Uneasy. Not what I was expecting.
The same happened for me after my body image post. I felt nervous--what would people think if they come across this photo? Would they judge me poorly? Would they be disgusted by my deformed belly? Would they wonder what the heck I was thinking? You may have felt this way before in other occasions, when you take a risk and show your authentic self. But from experience, I'm learning to recognize that what I am feeling is growth. The doubts that sometimes float up to the surface are results of stirring the status quo up and changing. And this experience is necessary for growth.
So today I recognize my goodness through being authentic.
Day 6:
I just watched a very powerful trailer for a documentary called Embrace that a woman named Taryn Brumfitt in Australia is trying to raise money to complete and I have been moved to tears. The trailer is about embracing our bodies and as John Legend sings, "all your perfect imperfections." I feel very emotional about this topic and I know how vital this work of body love truly is. So why then do I clam up and start to fret when I think of uploading a photo of my scar to support this worthy cause? What am I afraid of? Rejection? That people will be disgusted? Not like me anymore? Not respect me?
So I'm typing quickly before I change my mind, but I have decided I want to upload a photo of my scar right here, right now. And you can look at it if you want, and you can not look if you don't want. I don't want to apologize anymore. I don't want to be ashamed. I don't want to live in fear of people giving me disgusting looks when they see my scar.
If I saw my scar on someone else, I would not be disgusted, so why am I so repulsed by it sometimes? This makes me want to cry more. This Body Image Movement work makes me incredibly emotional, but I know it's necessary and needed in this world, right now, more than ever. So I'm taking a risk. And showing you a very special part of my Goodness. A part that is new to me, that I am still struggling to fully embrace. Her name is Sparkle.
Day 5:
I know I'm my true authentic self, alive and aware of my Goodness when I feel emotions deeply. For a long time, I felt embarrassment or shame for how emotional I can be, but in the past few years, I have experienced very intense emotions--incredibly euphoric and deep, deep pain and somewhere along the line, I decided to fully embrace my emotional side and see it as a strength I possess.
I was reminded of this because I felt very good on the way home today, outsmarting all the traffic and taking a scenic route instead, when I saw a woman gingerly cross the road with her whole torso wrapped up in some kind of cast. My heart really went out to her and I could almost feel her pain--it was almost palpable and tears came to my eyes for this woman I didn't even know. When this happens--both in witnessing pain AND intense joy, I know I'm living my Good and coming from my strengths as I live life and that makes me grateful.
Day 4:
Today I claim curiosity as part of my goodness. Being curious has helped me be more resourceful in both my personal and professional life, and I take pride and enjoyment in reading and learning about new ideas, places, people, and things. It also helps me keep my mind and heart open and gives me the freedom to view my circumstances and experiences differently, from a more positive stance, because I'm curious enough to try looking at things in another way.
Photo/Artwork by Aaron Lawrence.
Day 3:
For today, here is my blog post today on a new chapter of goodness:
http://ecua-gringa.blogspot.com/2014/06/a-new-chapter-of-goodness.html
Day 2:
On this second day of celebrating my goodness, I want to remember some of my favorite descriptive words that came up in yesterday's definition:
Virtue, kindness, generosity,
Excellence, essence, strength
The best part of anything
Isn't that lovely? What is the best part of each of us? And it doesn't have to be limited to only one thing either. We are each abundant in goodness. And I love how the word "strength" is in the definition of "goodness," because that makes my work facilitating the Dependable Strengths process so much more appropriate, meaningful and rewarding.
I would say that one of the best parts of me is my creativity and openness.
What's one of your best parts?
Day 1:
I think when I first thought of this theme for the month, I began to ask myself what the term "goodness" even means. There are so many different definitions and ways to use this word, so I would like to explore one of the definitions that resonates with me from Dictionary.com:
goodness
1. the state or quality of being good.
2. moral excellence; virtue.
3. kindly feeling; kindness; generosity.
4. excellence of quality.
5. the best part of anything; essence; strength.
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