2nd Class Tonight...

...and I'm looking forward to it.  Topic:  How to find your life's purpose?  I've been looking for some time now and hope this class gives me some tips.  I'll share my findings soon.

New course

Facing Life's Challenges with Love.  My first class is tonight and I'm attending with 3 other friends.  I'm looking forward to it as I am realizing how much work it takes to live in the now.  I'll let you know how it goes.

We remember...

...those who put their lives on the line in order to ensure that others live a better one.  Thank you.

my strategic direction

At work, we are planning our new strategic direction for the next few years which made me think, every person should have a strategic direction of their own because without one, it's hard to know which way to go.  Here's what I came up with - it's a start:

What is my life’s purpose?

To experience and inspire joy, love and laughter. 

My plan:

1.       Continue my blog

2.       Live by example

3.       Be a lifelong learner

4.       Slow down to observe and listen to the signs and whispers that exist

5.       Surround myself with people that nourish my soul – keep me on the path

6.       Love unconditionally

7.       Appreciate what already exists

8.       Tend to my mind, body and spirit

9.       Trust in what is

I believe:

·         I am a leader

·         I have integrity

·         I am resilient

·         I am creative

·         I am intelligent

·         I am strong

·         I am real

·         I can

Live Now

Living in the moment is difficult.  I've been working at this for some time now and in moments of turbulence, it always amazes me how life, if you're willing to see them, sends you little reminders.  Yesterday was especially hard for me as I was consumed with worry about meeting work deadlines, paying bills, parenting and the list goes on and on and when I visited FB, the first thing I saw was this quote from the Dalai Lama - a good little reality check on life.  Thank you for the reminder Dalai Lama.

Quote I Love

Work Life & Personal Life - Two pieces of the same Pie

For a long time I've talked about Work Life as if it was separate from my Personal life, but recently decided that it's not. 

I used to say "My real life (i.e. personal life) starts after 5pm" but realized that by saying that, I was saying that between the hours of 9am-5pm (now 8:30am-4:30pm), I wasn't really living, nor making the effort to make my time at work the best it could be.
This way of thinking is no longer acceptable.

Yesterday I participated in a webinar in my "work life" and it focused on how charities (I work for one) could build effective long-term relationships with corporate partners in order to accomplish our mission (basically what I do).   The speaker focused on 3 main points:

1. Figure out - What are your values?
2. What are you good at? and,
3. Always lead with your goals

I realized that in my "personal life", these are questions I'm asking myself right now.  What are my values? what am I good at? and what are the goals I want to accomplish in life?  It's ironic that my work life summarized the questions I want to answer in my personal life and as I listened on, many of the same principles that I need to use to be successful at work are the same as what would work in my personal life.

So I'm back to the conclusion I made at the beginning - Work Life and Personal Life are not  as separate as I once believed, nor are they that different - they're just two pieces of the same Pie.  And I'm going to enjoy every morsel of that Pie.* 
_________________________

*A note about Pie (and completely unrelated to above): 
One thing about me that you need to know (if you don't already) is that I LOVE and appreciate good food especially if it's made with all-natural ingredients.  I decided to use the Pie reference because yesterday, I went to a farmer's market and picked up an organic sirloin steak pie made by The Canadian Pie company and it was delicious!  I'm still thinking about it and it makes my mouth water.  When I love something, I have to share it, so here's a link: http://www.thecanadianpiecompany.com/website/  If you love pie this place is definitely worth checking out.  It was only when looking for the website that I found that there was a retail store in Toronto.  So, when I'm on vacation next week - this will be a for-sure stop.