| June 22, 2001 Full Engagement
Updates & New Ideas
Have you ever caught yourself nodding and talking back to a movie or TV show? A book?
Perhaps a sporting event?
Well, I certainly have, more embarrassing times than I care to admit.
Most recently, I caught myself in "full engagement" mode with a documentary
film about an Ultra Marathon*. Many, many times I found myself at the front of my seat,
smiling, and nodding, while everyone around me munched popcorn... oops!
In my own case, I have seen a very direct link from times in my life that I have
experienced this 'engagement by media,' and the actual events (or places) I have later
experienced. In nearly every case, within 2 years I was doing what I was I found myself
engaged by. How about you? How often do you get to the ball game... or doing whatever?!
As an aside, I also stay away from too much commercial television for this very reason
... If I often wind up doing what I see, do I really want to "head for the mountains
with Bush beer" or "double my pleasure with double mint gum"?! Consciously
limiting commercials has removed many of the distractions from Madison-Avenue inspired
emotion, so that I might more clearly see the real thing.
Life is full of so many things to jangle our emotions, to peak our interest and to get
us juiced, even if everyone else is sitting there quietly... Pay attention to what perks
you, and what you WANT to perk you in the future.
You've got some control over your destiny here. Enjoy exercising it, and toss that
popcorn in the air!
With love and respect,
Elizabeth
mailto:webmaster@cornerstonecoaching.commailto:webmaster@cornerstonecoaching.com
* the movie is "Running on the Sun" and can be purchased at
this site www.runningonthesun.com The race
itself is described at www.badwaterultra.com
A Good Time July 19, 2001
This week I'll be doing something highly impractical,
that makes no sense considering my current work load and financial situation. I will be
lucky to get enough sleep and decent food to eat; I'll be sweating and working --and
physically taxed beyond what I am used to.. I'll be stretching my ideas about what is
possible, gathering information, learning, doing and working... I'll be challenging my
beliefs, and trying to keep my head on straight, and my feet firmly on the ground.
This is my idea of a good time... and it hasn't changed
much over the course of my life. It's just that this year I'll be helping out the runners
at the Badwater Ultra Marathon, a 135 mile race through Death Valley California.
It will be hot, and long, and there will be some grumpy
and sick people to contend with... but I couldn't be happier. Somebody somewhere will
surely need some extra help, and I can only but hope that I'll be at the right place at
the right time... This is fun for me.
I guess I've changed over the last few years... there
was a time when the first paragraph would be a description of a night out drinking, or
socializing around a television set... Maybe a shopping trip or an excursion to some
entertainment wonderdome.
Funny, how similar "essences" of experience
still call to me (extremeness, new places and faces, the unknown) ... just now I've added
serving others into the mix, and the quality of what I am actually DOING is transformed.
For this shift, I am grateful...
I hope for you the rewards of this kind of a personal
transformation. My life feels a whole lot more fulfilling now (and the fun just got funner
too!!)
What is the essence of YOUR good time? and how can you
step it up a notch today?!
With love and respect and a barrel full of monkeys,
July 12, 2001 Mastery Platform: Backsliding is a
Lie
Have you ever heard the expression "the last ten pounds are the hardest to
lose"? or thought that if you did invest your energy in mastering anything,
that then you'd "have to" work hard to maintain it?
You may also have been led to believe that if you get yourself into great shape, for
instance, that you will then have to devote your energy to maintaining it, lest you
lose everything. Since maintenance has hardly been an appealing reward for gallant
effort, this thought has often stopped even the most desiring from moving on what they
really want..
This week's idea is meant to shed some light on this concept: to separate the fact from
fiction, so that you might move forward with greater energy, and face challenges
with greater anticipation of the REAL rewards that lie ahead.
 It
is true that challenges often come right before you leap into another level of mastery
(whether physical or emotional; or just before you attain your dream job, or any other big
goal). What is also true is that once you face that challenge-- and make the leap--
that the new level of mastery becomes a BASELINE from which you move. Your plateau
actually functions like a platform. In other words, you can't lose it (though you
can give your attainments away, but why would any master do that?!)
So the idea that if you become good at something, that then you'll have something to
baby and obsess about it is absolutely false. Babying and obsessing tends to only happen
on a plateau/platform, or at the very beginning of ascent. At the start of your ascent--it
is true--you must exert effort and do things differently. But if you can ever remember
losing the FIRST 10 pounds, you know that this is actually relatively easy.
The middle portion of your ascent can be a time of great momentum (when you experience
new results every day). And when you reach the inevitable challenge, keep in mind that this
IS your ticket to a higher ground, so push upward and rest AFTER you get there!
See you at the summit Sweetie!
Copyright 2000 By Elizabeth Mullen. All rights reserved. May be
duplicated in its entirety with contact information intact for not-for-profit purposes
only. Contact: em@cornerstonecoaching.com
www.cornerstonecoaching.com or
call toll free 1-877-532-0403. |
