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| Fueling Your Fire - August 28, 2007 |
Oscar the Grouch |
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 I headed out for a run last week and within the first three steps I knew I didn't want to run. I had planned on a run, I was dressed for a run, and I had blocked out the time to do a run. Though the Colorado weather was stunning and I had an unobstructed view of the Boulder foothills -- AND I was out there 100% by my own choice -- I moved with heavy feet, a heavier heart, and an Oscar the Grouch-esque scowl plastered on my face.
I told myself I was going to run, so I ran... for two blocks. Then I remembered a commitment I'd made to myself six months ago to, at every possible decision point, "Choose Joy!" (It's true--as I type this, I see the words still taped to my computer monitor). With my very next step I transitioned to a walk. My shoulders pulled back, I could feel the sun on my face and I giggled with gratitude as I looked at the foothills. My body began to respond to the slowed pace it was yearning for that particular day.
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| Being "In Joy" |
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Joy... the word itself feels light and full of possibility (just try to scowl and say "joy" out loud at the same time... makes you crack a smile trying, doesn't it?). When moving with joy, time and space begin to expand because what you're doing is exactly what you want to be doing-your mind and body are in the same place at the same time.
When was the last time you were truly "in joy"?
Were you working in the garage? Baking bread in the kitchen? Caught up in the meditative rhythm of pedaling your bike? Why was it so effortless, so easy? Because you were you honoring the essence of what makes you you! Joy is the place where your internal compass and external actions align. It is where your movement in the world harmonizes with the rhythms of your soul. |
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| Being "In Joy" |
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Joy... the word itself feels light and full of possibility (just try to scowl and say "joy" out loud at the same time... makes you crack a smile trying, doesn't it?). When moving with joy, time and space begin to expand because what you're doing is exactly what you want to be doing-your mind and body are in the same place at the same time.
When was the last time you were truly "in joy"?
Were you working in the garage? Baking bread in the kitchen? Caught up in the meditative rhythm of pedaling your bike? Why was it so effortless, so easy? Because you were you honoring the essence of what makes you you! Joy is the place where your internal compass and external actions align. It is where your movement in the world harmonizes with the rhythms of your soul. |
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| Daily Practices |
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What would happen if at every juncture, you chose to be "in joy"? Sound impossible? Humor yourself and try this: think about your day to this point. Every action-from the moment you woke up to the point of reading this email-how often were you moving with joy? How would your day have flowed differently if you'd chosen an action based in joy instead of obligation?
Does it seem like you would never get around to tasks like folding the laundry and balancing your checkbook? Sometimes choosing joy means that you change your action--like walking instead of running; and sometimes it just means you adjust your point of view--like deciding that balancing your checkbook is an act of tangibly experiencing the flow of abundance through your life instead of another item on your never-ending task list.
Start with something little... maybe you lie in bed for an extra five minutes and enjoy ("in-joy"?) the process of waking up. Maybe you make sure you read the sports section--cover to cover--before you leave the house. Or maybe you take the long way to work so you can hear that whole story on NPR... do you really need to be at your desk at 7 a.m. anyway? How much more centered would you be when you finally arrived if you had moved with joy all morning?
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| Your Homework... No Cheating! |
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Try this experiment... tape the reminder "Choose Joy!" to your computer, your car dash, or your bathroom mirror and take note of all the little places you get to make that choice every day.
Who knows... one day you might just realize that it's not so outlandish that you'd get to make that choice on life's "big things" as well as the "little ones." |
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| Speaking of Joy... |
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... I had the honor of being interviewed on Your Brand Radio last week... what fun! We talked about everything from the tear-filled beginnings of Kinetic Enterprise to the right daily practices used by the most successful "change mavens" use to fuel their own fires. Take a listen:
Your Brand Radio Interview
Run time: 48 minutes
First 10 minutes: KE's Dubious Beginnings
Next 38 minutes: Habits of the Successful |
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