Carolyne Rashford's BlogJust another WordPress weblog

What does it take to live an inspired life, a life that is of our own choosing and one that we can be proud of?  I envision life like a journey, in order for us to get to our chosen destination we should begin with a map.  Our plan will act like our north star and point us in the right direction.  More importantly, our map will signal to us when we are off course and navigate us to the correct route.

Additionally, I believe it takes an attitude of optimism.   It really is a decision what kind of day, month or year we are going to have.  Deciding to see the positives in our lives rather than focusing on the negative will push us closer to achieving our objective.

Here are five simple steps that will help you on your journey to living an inspired life:

1. Know what you are looking for – our roadmap to our life’s journey begins with first deciding for ourselves what we want our life to look like.  At the end of my life I want to know that I lived my life with passion, enjoyed what I did and that I did something that made a difference.  Is all this possible? Absolutely!
2. Do something every day that will get you closer to the life that you want – simply knowing what you want is not enough.  When we are pursuing a dream or goal we have to put action steps in place in order for us to achieve our objective.  We have to be willing to do what it takes no matter how inconvenient it may be or how hard we think it is going to be.
3. Recognize your a-ha moments – we all have these, sometimes we are just not paying attention and they pass us by.  Stilling our minds and really listening to what we want can be a scary venture.  In these days of blackberries, iphones and ear buds hanging out of our head when does one find a quiet moment?  Although difficult, learning to steal a few calm, silent and solitary moments from our extremely noisy lives is the only way we can get in touch with our inner self.  It is amazing what you can hear when you are completely still.
4. Live in the moment – we often mistake this to mean that we live just for today without regard for what is to come tomorrow.   The reality is very different.  Living in the moment simply means that rather than doing five things at the same time, we concentrate on one thing and really relish the moment.  I think this allows us the satisfaction of understanding what is taking place at singular moment in time, one that we can never get back.
5. Check-in – review your roadmap and ensure you are on the right track.  Sometimes we get so caught up in our daily activities that we forget what direction we are headed in.  Assessing our roadmap on occasion will confirm for us whether we are on track or help us change course when we find that we are headed down the wrong road. 

 This month’s example of someone living an inspired life is Conner Long.

Conner Long is a seven year old boy whose brother Cayden (5) has Cerebral palsy.  According to his parents Conner had always felt bad when he was playing and his brother was on the sidelines.  Last year’s Nashville Kids Triathlon saw Conner pull his brother through the swim and the bike portion of the race and then push him for the run.  After the race when speaking to reporters Conner said, “Me and him don’t get to do a lot of stuff together. It felt really connecting.

I was in tears watching this episode on E60.  I think the emotion came from the realization that it does not matter how old or how young we are to know what inspires us.  I hope that you can find inspiration everyday of your life.

 Make it a great month,

Carolyne

Happy New Year everyone, I hope that you were able to share special time with your loved ones, and enjoyed some down time.  Each New Year comes with great expectations and as usual it is this time of year that we establish goals for the calendar year. .

The theme for this year’s blog is finding inspiration in our own life.  It is funny how it often appears as though other people’s lives are more interesting, more adventurous, more meaningful, more … we sometimes translate this to mean that our lives have somehow fallen short.  Our lives are far richer and fuller than we know, we simply need to take a deeper look.  I am often reminded of Britney Spears a few short years ago.  For a young lady who was the envy of many, there was obviously something significant missing from her life that led her to self-destruct. 

My challenge for this year to all of us (myself included) is to find our own recipe for success.  Mine is going to include a dash of passion, a pinch of motivation, a splash of patience and a heavy dose of persistence.  I have set some audacious goals for myself this year and I intend to achieve them.  Along the way I am sure to find that there are other ingredients that will be needed for my recipe for success, I will take each lesson on with the knowledge that every step forward takes me closer to my goal. 

I encourage you to aim high, because goals that are easily achieved will only limit your potential.  On the other hand setting more challenging objectives will always move us forward even, even if we fail to   achieve them.  Yes there will be obstacles along the way but it is important to remember that these are merely lessons in disguise.  When the message has been learned you will be amazed at the outcome.

Choose to live this year without regret!  Dig deep into your imagination and let your mind lead you on a journey of self-discovery.  Learn who you really are and what you want to accomplish and then don’t hesitate, just get started.  I look forward to hearing from you and how your journey is going.  I will certainly keep you updated with my conquests.

This month’s example of someone who is living an inspired life is Jennifer Hudson.  From the girl who lost on American Idle, to losing her family to a crazed gunman, Hudson has chosen to fight on.  She is the new face of Weight Watchers after successfully dropping over 80 pounds.  Her acting debut in Dream Girls won her an Academy award at the age of 26 and by the time she was 28 she had captured a Grammy.   The manner in which she has dealt with the murder of her mother, brother and nephew in October 2008 has been for me the most telling sign of her courage and resilience.  She refused to quit and is giving back to her community in Chicago, assisting children during Christmas.  She has mentioned that she uses the memories of her family to keep moving forward.  Jennifer Hudson reminds us that even when we face catastrophic obstacles, we should never give up, as a result she is living the life of her dreams.

Make it a great month,

Carolyne

The Tip For Owning Your Power This Month Celebrating Your Uniqueness

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” Dr. Seuss

It is hard to believe that this is going to be the last blog of the year.  As I stated at the beginning of the year, my vision for the information shared through the blogs was that it would in some way enhance your life.  The final blog for this year is celebrating who we are.

I recently spent an afternoon at a girl’s conference with some incredible young women who were the epitome of celebrating their unique characteristics.  At the beginning of the session we asked each of the girls to write down three positive attributes about themselves.  It was surprising how many times the girls would qualify an attribute by downplaying it.  Eventually my partner in the workshop stopped the girls and told them not to qualify their talent.  She told them that if they knew they possessed a talent, they did not need to compare themselves to anyone else. 

I find this to be true in my own life, sometimes trying to live up to an expectation placed on my by outside influences.  Why we do this to ourselves is a mystery.  Success should be determined by our own dreams and goals not by what the media tells us we should be driving, wearing or what we should look like.  Rather than buying into some trendy notion of what accomplishment looks like, I choose to make my own map and follow it where ever it leads me.  At least then I am truly responsible for the outcome.

We are only a few weeks away from the beginning of a new year.  My prayer for you is that you have learned the lessons that have crossed your path this year no matter how difficult they may have been, that you have learned a little bit more about yourself and appreciate you for who you are.  Finally, I wish that you have celebrated yourself throughout the year and that you are proud of your accomplishments over the past year.

In 2012 I challenge you to dream bigger, have a stronger resolve and be true to your beliefs for it is the only way to live the life of your choice.  As for myself, I look forward to new challenges in the New Year, and I vow to do my best to live my best life.  Celebrate what differentiates you from others because it is in discovering your differences that you can make an impact in the world. 

Make it a great month,

Carolyne   

The Tip For Owning Your Power This Month Self-Reflection

Welcome to the first Monday in November!  Wow, I can hardly believe that we are into the last two months of the year.  Back in January when I begun writing the Own Your Power series, my hope was to furnish you with information that would help you live up to your potential.  Well, I am now asking you to take a look back over the last ten months and see how you have done. 

While preparing for this month’s blog, I came upon an article that I think is helpful to anyone who wishes to move ahead in their life by using self-reflection as a measuring tool.  I hope you enjoy the article, I know I am certainly going to use it in my own journey to ensure that I am taking the necessary steps to achieve my goals. 

Enjoy the article and as always, let me know how you are making out with it.

Make it a great month,

Carolyne

Life Coaching Tips – The Art of Self-Reflection – 5 Exercises to Get Clear on your Direction in Life

Publication date: Dec 27, 2008  | author/source: Brought to you by Coaches Plus 

What is it you want to do with your life? How do you think you’re going to make it happen? If you’re not sure, then self-reflection is in order.

Even if you have an idea where you want to go, you may want to consider doing self-reflection exercises to ensure that you remain on the path toward success. When you are on the right path, you can also find peace in your life.

Here are 5 self-reflection exercises that you can use to put things into perspective. These exercises can help you to get clear, relax, and work towards peace in your life:

1.      Compose affirmations. Write a list of at least 50 affirmations. These affirmations should embrace what you want to achieve and what you want to become in your life.

Write them in present tense and be sure to use the word “I” throughout the list. For example, “I am always good at my job.”It is important to focus on the things that are occurring now that will lead to your future success.

 You may hear words in your head such as, “But you messed this up the other day” or “You weren’t as productive a few days ago.” If you are hearing things like this, then banish those negative thoughts. It can take some time to get used to positive thinking, but it’ll be time well-spent.

Repeating your affirmations aloud will enable you confirm your positive thoughts.

2.      Tap into your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind is where your self-image is stored. All of your attitudes, experiences, beliefs, and values are here. Your subconscious mind is the core of who you are and it’s a very powerful force.

If you go inward and reflect upon what’s inside this storehouse within the mind, you can gain a better sense of self-awareness. Some may call this meditation. Regardless of what you call it, this process helps you to attain a higher level of consciousness.

Better self-awareness can provide you with many answers about yourself and your true beliefs.

3.      Visualize creatively. This is a fun way to self-reflect! Make yourself a box to show your hopes and dreams. Or you can create a vision board. Place pictures and words that represent you and your thoughts into your box or on your board. The more details you include, the better it works!

Imagination is the key and the sky is the limit!

4.      Ask yourself questions. Ask yourself questions about yourself. Write down your questions and your answers. Ask yourself questions about the present and the future and provide yourself with positive answers. You can be creative with your questions because only you know what’s inside of you.

Be sure to structure your questions to include details about your hopes and dreams.

5.      Write and reflect. Purchase a journal and write in that journal every single day. Each day, first write down something positive that occurred that day. Next, write down a question for yourself. Don’t answer that question then and there. Reflect on that question and write your answer the next day as a part of your journal entry.

As you can see, self-reflection truly is an art. It involves tapping your inner being and using that to work out what it is you really want. In time, your reflections will enable you to achieve the peace and serenity you deserve.  

Brought to you by www.coachesplus.com

The Tip For Owning Your Power This Month is Forgiveness

He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven.  Thomas Fuller  

Forgiveness is something that we seem to struggle with.  We often hold onto the negative energy associated with a grudge failing to understand that the emotional toil affects us more than the person we are upset with. Learning how to let go of the hurts that we encounter in our lives is the focus of this month’s article.

The reality is that it is difficult to forgive others when we think they have slighted us.  In our minds we believe that the individual has gone out of their way to make sure we suffer betrayal, shame and frustration and possibly many other feelings.  In an attempt to project the pain that we are feeling we become bitter and bear ill will towards the offender.  What we fail to realize is that our intended target may not even be aware that we are upset with them.  Secondly, by holding onto destructive emotions we are allowing ourselves to be victimized over and over again every time we think about the incident.  We find ourselves trapped and the only way out is to learn how to forgive.

There is scientific proof that forgiveness has an effect on our health from lower heart rates to lower blood pressure and stress relief.  Additionally, our moods are better when we are not focused on what someone else had done to us, we feel like we are in control of our own happiness.  Learning how to forgive will allow us to live a more positive and fulfilling life.

I wish you a month filled with forgiveness.

Make it a great month,

Carolyne

Tip For Owning Your Power This Month Resilience

This morning my family and I watched the 10^th anniversary commemoration of 9/11.  The one thing that stood out for me was the resiliency of all those that were affected.  From the emergency services men and women, to the survivors of the twin towers and Pentagon catastrophes and finally to the family members left behind, there was a strength demonstrated by all that was awe inspiring.

In the years since the disaster, America has stood up and refused to allow the events of 9/11 shake their nation.  The outcome of that dark day ten years ago has given way to a strength demonstrated by people all around the world exemplifying the incredible human spirit.  The stories of some of the survivors reminded me that no matter how dark the day seems, there is always another day.  This quote by a twin tower survivor drove the point home for me, “… any day you wake up and you don’t have a plane coming through your window that is a good day.” (author unknown).

We each face obstacles in our lives and there are times when they may seem insurmountable.  What we have to remember is that we are capable of overcoming these hurdles.  It may require us to dig deep and be resilient but I know that it is in our spirit to triumph.

Make it a great month,

Carolyne

Tip For Owning Your Power This Month is Imagination

Our mind has the incredible power to take us on incredible journeys, we simply have to allow ourselves to go along for the ride.  With positive affirmations and self-confidence, we can overcome obstacles and discover our greatness, alternatively self- doubt and excuses will limit our mind’s potential.  This month’s tip is directed at using our imagination, dispelling our excuses and reaching for our goals.

As I was making dinner last night, I had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Wayne DYER discussing his book Excuses Begone.  Having read the book myself, I knew that the fundamental message in the book is that we all have control of our minds and with that we have all the power we need to change anything about ourselves that we do not like.  The theme is not a complicated one to understand, putting into practice is where the work begins.

I think the ability to imagine what our success should look, smell or feel like is a gift that we often take for granted.  Truly understanding what this means requires us to put faith not only in our dreams but also demands us to change and discard our self-doubt long enough to enjoy positive results.  When we make excuses, we deny ourselves the opportunity to grow, and by not growing we can never fully realize our potential.

This month I challenge you to imagine yourself being successful by your own definition.  Once you have a clear picture of what that is, take the excuses out of the equation and go for it!  Whether you are successful at attaining your goal is not the true measure of success.  Experiencing the journey is a better indicator of what one has gained. 

“Trust that little voice in your head that says ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting if…’; And then do it.”  - Duane Michals 

Make it a great month,

Carolyne

July’s Tip For Owning Your Power is Embracing Risk

“Behold the turtle.  He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.”  James Bryant Conant

Stepping out of one’s comfort zone is not an easy or welcome journey for most of us.  It means throwing caution to the wind and hoping that the reward is worth the worry, fear and sometimes even the embarrassment that may come with trying something new.

I was watching a report on the Space program today, and was fascinated by an interview with the widow of Ellison Onizuka.   Onizuka was one of the crew members of the Shuttle Challenger mission which ended in tragedy 73 seconds after take-off on Tuesday, January 28, 1986.  When asked whether she had any regrets she replied that she did not. She said that with any new invention, a price had to be paid and that her husband had long ago accepted the risk that came with his wonderful opportunity.

Knowing this to be true, we still struggle with having to face change, many of us choosing to run away from it rather than deal with it.  The reality is most obstacles are put before us so that we can learn a lesson about ourselves.  I can honestly say that I am most impressed with myself when I have had to fight through difficult circumstances.  Coming out on the other end usually leaves me feeling a great sense of accomplishment.  If however we avoid any challenging situations we leave ourselves living a life that does not allow us to stretch and discover our true potential.

Owning our power requires us to face our hurdles head on and learn the message that comes with them no matter what.  In most cases we are often surprised at the outcome because it is not as bad as we thought it was going to be.   In the end what we gain if we choose to do so is another piece of the puzzle to help us complete the picture of our life.

Make it a great month,

Carolyne

May’s Tip For Owning Your Power is Patience

I suspect we have all heard the old adage ‘…patience is a virtue’ but we often do not appreciate the true meaning of it.  What does it really mean to be patient?  I found out on a recent trip to my birth country, Uganda (East Africa).

This past May I took my mother back to Uganda and stayed long enough to get her settled in her new surroundings. The lesson of patience begun at the airport, an hour waiting in line to purchase our visas (little did I know that this would be the shortest line I would experience). 

The next day I discovered that there is no such thing as a quick visit to the bank.  My cousin and I spent innumerable hours at different banks trying to get matters sorted out for my mother as well as my cousin (she re-located to Uganda in December).  I recall waiting in line at one bank and two different people jumping the line.  To my amazement no one said anything including my cousin.  When the third person tried to jump ahead of us, I couldn’t take it anymore so I nudged my cousin and asked her why no one was irate about this pattern.  She replied that this is the way things were done in Uganda.  We finally got to the teller only to be told that we had to return the next day as the service we required was not available that day.  I left fuming and could hardly contain my anger.  My cousin sensing this told me that she had been just like me when she had first moved back to Uganda.  What she quickly realized was that the locals thought that she was the one that was crazy as they were operating on a different clock. 

Clearly there was a lesson tangled up in all of the frustration that I was experiencing.  My Canadian expectations were not going to sway anyone.  I came to understand that it was not up to others to change to suit me, I had to adjust my attitude in order to enjoy my time in Uganda. 

Patience asks us to take a step back and think before reacting.  When we practice patience we allow ourselves the time we need to value each other as the amazing people we are.  Ultimately, we grow a little bit more every time we use this tip. 

Make it a great month,

Carolyne

May’s Tip For Owning Your Power is Appreciation

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.  ~Washington Irving

 This blog is dedicated to all the mothers out there and everything they do for us.  Mother’s Day reminds us that we should appreciate them every day for helping us become the people we are.

 I have been blessed to have an amazing mother, wonderful mentor and in my adulthood a great friend.  Mom taught me from an early age the importance of core values such as honesty and integrity.  She demonstrated to us by her example that we could do anything we put our minds to and always encouraged us to dream. She believed in the importance of education so deeply that she moved her family half way around the world so her children could have a better education than they were getting.  Her passion to serve others led her to pursue a nursing career that helped provide for four growing children.  I do not ever recall Mom whining about how difficult her life was even though she was a single mother in a new country, with a new job and no friends.  She just kept on going and was appreciative of everything she had.

 The biggest lesson that my mother taught me is an attitude of gratitude.  When I find myself being selfish and feeling sorry for myself, I remember everything my mother has been through and quickly realize just how lucky I am. 

THANKS MOM FOR ALL THAT YOU ARE AND ALL THAT YOU DO

Make it a great month,

Carolyne