Abstention

Abstention 

By: Jessica Chase

The tension pushes, pulls, tugs in my core.

Breathe, meditate, calm this tension with anxiety, with love.

What lessons is the universe trying to teach me?

Testing my sense of self.

Testing my loyalty to light.

Words fly from every direction like an intersection.

Green light - positive thoughts, words of encouragement.

Red light - gossip, betrayal.

Stop. Listen. Learn.

Refrain from participation or contribution to the negativity.

Who am I?

Who do I want to be?

Breathe in, breathe out. 

Growth, forgiveness, healing.

An endless cycle of a soul seeking enlightenment. 

Actions speak louder than words. 

The Art of Racing in the Rain Book Review

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was good for so many reasons. I am a dog lover, so it was great hearing a story from the perspective of a dog. When you think about it, dogs do seem more enlightened then most humans anyway (probably because they can't talk and they have to listen so much) - so it makes sense to right a book from their perspective.

"Learn to listen! I beg of you. Pretend you are a dog like me and listen to other people rather than steal their stories."

This book definitely made me look at my own dog differently. Dogs are a lot smarter than we think they are and we can learn a lot from them. Along with the listening thing, they are extremely loyal  and they live in the moment (which I know I could learn a thing or two about).

"People are always worried about what's happening next. They often find it difficult to stand still, to occupy the now without worrying about the future. People are not generally satisfied with what they have; they are very concerned with what they are going to have."

Some of the people in my book club refused to read the book because they heard it was sad. The book was sad, but life can be sad... and there were so many great moments in the book that weren't sad. In fact, I think one of the points of this book was to help people understand that life can be sad and death is a part of life - so why not embrace it? If you believe in reincarnation like Enzo did - Death seems less scary.

"To live every day as if it had been stolen from death, that is how I would like to live. To feel the joy of life. To separate oneself form the burden, the angst, the anguish that we all encounter every day. To say that I am alive, I am wonderful, I am, I am. That is something to aspire to."

I really loved the relationship between Enzo and his owner - how they helped each other escape fear. I loved all of the things they taught each other. It made me realize that it's so important to be open to learning things about yourself from places you don't expect - whether it's your dog, a friend, a family member, a co-worker, myself, etc. Learning's come from all directions at all times - you just have to learn to listen to find and learn from them.

"Such a simple concept, yet so true: that which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our success and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves."

The parallels between racing and life were very interesting as well. I never realized that racing was such a mental game. I've had a lot of friends give up in life and some that have actually ended their lives because they felt that they couldn't go on, but I think it's so important to remember that we are here on this earth for a reason - to grown and learn and defeat trials. It's not always easy, but it's so important to continue fighting through this life so that we can find our true purpose as Denny did.

"There is no dishonor in losing the race. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose."

"A winner, a champion, will accept his fate. He will continue with his wheels in the dirt. He will do his best to maintain his line and gradually get himself back on the track when it is safe to do so. Yes, he loses a few places in the race. Yes, he is at a disadvantage. But he is still racing. He is still alive."

So many great quotes in "The Art of Racing in the Rain". Such a great book!



View all my reviews

Anchors or Motors? Your choice : )

I’ve been lucky to have a lot of friends in this lifetime. Some of my friendships have remained intact throughout my lifetime, some have fallen by the way-side, and some are more casual friendships where we only chat a couple of times a year. With the new year coming, it’s got me to thinking about all the friendships and relationships that I’ve had in my life. I truly do value all of the friendships and relationships that I’ve had because they’ve all taught me something new about people, life, love, etc. etc. The new year also got me thinking about those relationships that have fallen by the way-side and why that’s happened.

There’s a quote that I have posted on my computer monitor at work -

"There are two types of people--anchors and motors. You want to lose the anchors and get with the motors because the motors are going somewhere and they're having more fun. The anchors will just drag you down." ~ Wyland Quotes

and as much as I’d say I like to live by it… it truly is hard to let go of those anchors, energy vampires or toxic relationships in your life. Everyone has encountered a toxic person in their life – whether it’s a friend, co-worker, or family member that can’t ever stand to say a positive thing about life, that is always taking advantage of others, or is generally abusive to themselves or others over and over again… everyone knows that person and wonders if they will change. I’ve always been the type of person to hope for change, but the reality is…. Some people just won’t change. If they do – great for them! But how long can we all wait around for that to happen?

“Better to lose the anchor than the whole ship.” ~ Dutch Proverb

The older I get, the more I start prioritizing where to give out my energy… I think of my mental, physical, spiritual and emotional self as a ship as the quote mentions above. Many of the times that I have felt the most down in life are because of anchors in my life (whether it’s a person or a negative thought) and the older I get, the more I realize that I have no choice… I HAVE to let these things go out of my life…especially now that I am bringing a new little baby into this world.

It’s funny how the world works too, because just in time for the new year, my forecast on astro.com sent me the following message about reevaluating my relationships…

“This influence signifies a time of severe testing in your relationships with others. The demands of your life will force you to reevaluate which relationships in your life are worth keeping and which are not. If you do not face this challenge consciously, the pressure of events will force you to do so, because people who have been with you for a long time will leave against your wishes. This may represent a temporary state of affairs or a passing mood. Or it may represent a serious breakdown in your relationships because of misplaced priorities in the past or because of associating with people who were wrong for you in terms of your personal goals and needs. The problem is that in terms of your direction in life, the people you associate with are a distraction or are actually opposed to your interests. In this case, no matter how much you love them, walls will form between you and them, and you will have to begin a new life without them. With this influence several significant relationships will inevitably end. But if you have a clear idea of where you are going, this will not be a great disadvantage. Whatever remorse you feel will be quickly displaced by a new sense of freedom, because you are no longer wasting energy in trying to maintain inappropriate relationships.”

Very interesting – eh?

Whether you decide to get rid of the anchors and stick with the motors in 2012, or not, I hope you have an amazing new year and hope that I can be a positive “motor” in your life in 2012. Love to you all!

This blogpost was inspired by this great blog http://montyrainey.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/anchors-away/ – thank goodness for good bloggers!

Mentoring 101

It’s funny how the universe sends you just what you need right when you ask for it – I mean, let’s be honest – the universe isn’t going to send you EVERYTHING you want, whenever you want it – but in general, I think that if you send the universe positivity and ask for what you want – it will send it right back at you in one form or another.

I’ve been feeling a lack of a challenge as of late and have needed to figure out something new that would bring some excitement to my world – Yes, I am aware that I am bringing a new life into the world in March or April of next year and that will be plenty of a challenge – but life is short – so why not find something new to experience in the mean time?

Westminster College, where I went to school, reached out to me about a month ago giving me an “alumni calling”. They asked if I would be willing to mentor an undergraduate student at Westminster for a couple of semesters. Not only was I flattered, but surprised that my qualifications made me eligible to be a mentor. I’ve always been interested in mentoring and really enjoyed mentoring the students I teached and managed at the Westminster Newspaper when I was editor-and-chief, but I haven’t had much of a chance to mentor as much as I’d like to the past couple of years.

I was nervous about our first meeting, because let’s face it – I am still young and wanted to be able to offer this person something great and memorable from this experience… so I started brainstorming what I wanted to give and get from this mentoring experience. I thought about all of the great mentors that I have had in my life – from teachers, to co-workers, to friends and family members.

One person in particular always sticks out for me when I think of a good mentor – Kevin McCallum. I worked for him when I first got into marketing at 1-800 CONTACTS. I’ve spoken a lot about Kevin in my blogs in the past, but it’s because I’ve never had a comparable mentor. I valued SO many things about him. He was unselfish – he always wanted those who worked for him to learn something new, to be pushed out of their comfort zone, to feel encouraged and supported beyond belief to do and achieve anything they dreamed about. There was never a dream that wasn’t achievable with him. He delegated challenging projects and opportunities to those who didn’t necessarily have the qualifications, but had trust that they could achieve and learn from the experience. No one wanted to disappoint him because everyone loved him and felt his positivity exude throughout our department – so everyone over-achieved and we met our goals without a problem. Also – he was extremely confident and well respected in the company and in the marketing world so he had a lot to offer and everyone learned something new every time they had a conversation with him. I think a lot of the reason he was so respected in the marketing community is that he hired people who were very qualified in various fields of marketing – and let them learn and grow through various projects and challenges and he learned from them. He didn’t assume he knew everything – he constantly felt he could learn something new from any individual he came in contact with.

I could go on and on about Kevin and how much of a positive impact he’s made on my life… but now it was my turn to be a good mentor… and what does that mean?

Looking back on what I learned from Kevin, I knew a few things right off the bat –
1) I don’t know everything about marketing, but I can help this person understand what I do know and learn from them as well. (Help the person I am mentoring learn something new – not only about work, but life.)
2) I can be a positive role model and share my passion for what I do and how I feel about life.
3) I can help with goal setting, and accountability.
4) I can motivate this individual to achieve what they’d like to achieve.
5) I can teach “the power of networking”.
6) I can work towards getting this person promoted in life and in work.
7) I can help this person focus on their accomplishments and strengths.
8) I can teach this person to behave like an owner and help them focus on mastering their projects, and delivering on what they promise.
9) I can teach this person to have an opinion and share that opinion.
10) I can teach this person the importance of accuracy and thoroughness.

How I started this process was by asking a few questions:
1) What are your goals in this mentoring process? What do you want to learn (please give me at least 10)?
2) Have you faced any problems in your work or school environments that you'd like to work through?
3) What are your strengths (please give me at least 5)?
4) What are your favorite successes in life thus far (please give me at least 5)?

I am really looking forward to learning from this experience.

"A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you."

Bob Proctor
Author, Speaker and Success Coach

Prague, Day 1 and 2 - Manifesting Happiness

I cannot even tell you what an amazing year it's been so far. I am a true believer in manifesting your own happiness through the power of positive thought and sending positive energy to the universe.

It's been one of the luckiest years of my life, and let me tell you how that started.... My mom and step-father brought me up going to all different types of churches (which I am very grateful for because I feel blessed to have a background in all different types of religious faith and truly have a respect for all). One year, they took me and my little brother to the Unitarian church on New Years Eve to a ceremony called "The Burning Bowl". I know that may sound a little "shady" to you all, but it was something that has changed my life for the better.

What you do (and what I've continued to try to repeat with either friends or family each year on New Years)- You write down all of the things you want to get rid of about yourself and your life from the past year on a piece of tissue paper. You then burn it in a bowl of fire with all of your friends, releasing that energy and putting that energy behind you. Then, you write a letter to God (or whoever you believe in - heck, it could even be one of your mentors if you don't believe in a higher power), it's all about getting out what you want to manifest for yourself in the next year... To be clear - you write a letter with what you want to accomplish in the next year and try to be as descriptive as possible.

I invited some friends over to my house for this ritual last New Year's and let me tell you the things that have come true for me...

1. I have a new job with great co-workers and leaders that mentor me, believe in me, and want me to grow professionally and personally.
2. I got a new car (I've been avoiding this for years... what a cluster experience!).
3. I am happy, genuinely and fully. I feel full of life, love, energy and health.
4. I've been doing more service for our community. Be it volunteering for races raising money for different charities, donating for causes, helping friends and loved one's move, and have a plan to make blankets for Primary Children's in Nov.
5. I'm traveling to a country I've never been to with Scotty (something I thought wouldn't come true, but I've recently been blessed to have this come into my life).

So...this brings me to where I am at now - Prague.

I won a free trip to Europe through work. I know, how does that happen right?! Well, it has been a true blessing and one of the funnest experiences of my life so far.

Day one was filled with a lot of travel. 13 hours on a plane and about an hour car ride to our hotel. We are staying in a hotel near Old Town Square right by the Astrological Clock. If you haven't researched the clock, you must. It's one of the coolest things in this world (in my opinion). It's nice that we are in they city, because last time I went to Prague (which was also an amazing experience), we were out of the town about 20 minutes and had to take a train in.

I REALLY tried to sleep well on the plane so I wouldn't be jet-lagged, but that didn't work very well and I made the mistake of taking a nap in my hotel room when I got to the hotel so I didn't sleep at all last night. Oh well, hopefully I will sleep better tonight? ; )

Even thought I didn't sleep well last night, the first night before I tried to sleep was a success. We are here with a great group of people (five of us).

We all made a bad tourist mistake right when we got in (because we were all delirious from the time change and long flights). We dropped a lot of money on bottled waters at an Irish, yes, I said IRISH pub (why we decided to go to such a place in Prague for breakfast versus an authentic Prague pub or restaurant, I do not know). Oh well, we learned from it and the food wasn't that bad.

We took a tour of the city today and saw the beautiful Gothic castle/cathedral. Our tour guide was a doll. She said that people on average only make $18,000 a year here. Us American's are blessed whether we'd like to believe it or not. As mentioned, the astrological clock is one of my favorite landmarks that I've ever seen (you know what a geek I am about astrology) ; ] Our tour guide was a Libra by the way and she got a kick out of the fact that I knew all about the clock. She kept saying "you are so smart with this stuff and looking at me funny". Well, that's what most people do when I talk to them about astrology, so I am used to it : )

It is a bit cold, but we are making the best of it. The fall colors are beautiful and I feel very blessed that I've been able to see Prague in the spring AND in the fall.

I am also very lucky to have Scotty here. I came to Prague without him last time (when I went for school), and it was very hard to be in one of the most romantic places on earth without him.

We are off to Amsterdam soon, I've never been there, but I am looking forward to see where Ann Frank lived (she's one of the only historical figures I know of that has the same birthday as me and her story is truly inspirational). I am also looking forward to seeing Van Gogh's art gallery and more Gothic/Baroque architecture. Pictures soon.

Much love - J*