Everyone Needs a Little Lovin’
January 15, 2012 by Holly
It is 4:45 a.m., my absolute favorite time of the day. I am sitting with my tea, a book and a little ‘ginger boy’ named Clive snuggling (and purring) on my chest. Two months ago this skinny 5-month old kitten showed up on our daughter, Amy’s doorstep looking for affection. She said he was more interested in staying in her arms than eating food. As it has turned out, we adopted him from Amy. We thought Clive needed a buddy so we rescued another little guy, Henry from a shelter....
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Turning Down the Effort Knob
June 1, 2011 by Holly
I am taking a year-long intuitive coaching course and one of my biggest lessons has been turning down the Effort knob. I had no idea that I have a tendency to make life more difficult than it really is. For example…before I travel to courses I used to fret about the list of things I had to do for Dave, the house, preparing meals, our pets etc.
Last month I was speaking with a fellow colleague and telling her about my list and she simply said…”it doesn’t have to be hard”....
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The Dance
There is a beautiful song written by Garth Brooks titled the Dance. The first time I read part of the lyrics was in an obituary in 1988. A young friend of my son was in a tragic horse accident and her father wrote…”how could I have known you’d ever say goodbye. And now I’m glad I didn’t know the way it all would end the way it all would go. Our lives are better left to chance. I could have missed the pain But I’d of had to miss the dance Holding you”.
Every time I experience pain or...
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Don’t Make Assumptions
It is 5:30 in the morning and our ginger cat with white boots is knocking at the front door. Actually he is scratching at the side glass panels to let me know he has another present for me. Usually I see the minimal remains of his capture (a mouse) but this morning I guess he didn’t feel like eating fur and left most of it for me to pick up.
Living in the wild has its ups, downs, good and bad. I love living in the country but it isn’t always rosy. Just before letting our kitty kat in the front...
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Sprained Toe & the 5 Stages of Grieving
April 28, 2011 by Holly
Last Wednesday I sprained the base of my 3rd toe on my left foot on one of the boulders around our pond. I was cleaning the pond filter and in a bit of hurry to finish my to-do list before I left for a trip to Boulder, Colorado. I was so concerned with ticking off my list that I didn’t pay much attention to the pain in my foot—except that I had a scrape on the inside of my toe and some nail polish had come off. Little did I know that this (stupid little) toe would cause me significant ‘grief’...
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Loneliness and Caregiving
April 11, 2011 by Holly
I wrote this blog on caregiving.com and I wanted to share my message on my website as well…
Dr. Cacioppo wrote a book called Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection. He says that humans need a deep connection with the people around us and, without it, there is a higher risk for chronic disease and early death. There was a study in 2007 at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center that showed that lonely people were twice as likely to get Alzheimer’s disease late in life....
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Loving What You Do Today
Have you ever thought about what you would be doing if you had 6 months to live? I love this question because it makes me stop and think about my life and ask…am I doing what I love to do today?
I was reading an article the other day about a study with people who have terminal cancer and are given 6 months to live. Do you know why a significant number of them go into remission? Because for the first time in their life they ‘let go’ of pleasing other people. They aren’t concerned what...
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If You Have a Lemon, Make a Lemonade
March 21, 2011 by Holly
Sometimes when I read a personal growth book I like to open it at a random page to see my ‘message of the day’. Last night I started reading Dale Carnegie’s book—‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living’ and the chapter was titled…’if you have a lemon, make a lemonade’. It is a story about a woman, Thelma, who moves with her husband to a military training center in the middle of the Mojave Desert, California. She lives in a one-room shack in the unbearable heat–125 degrees in...
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Brain Rule #1
March 4, 2011 by Holly
Last night I snuggled into bed and opened up my new book titled Brain Rules by John Medina. He is a molecular biologist and research consultant. The book talks about how the brain works and the “12 rules” for getting the most out of it.
To no surprise, Rule #1 is Exercise. Medina said…”from an evolutionary perspective, our brains developed while working out–walking as many as 12 miles a day”. He said we aren’t made to sit at a desk for 8 hours and we crave that ‘active’ experience....
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Dealing With Sadness in Caregiving
February 14, 2011 by Holly
Once a month I’m a guest on Denise Brown’s radio show on caregiving.com. She comes up with interesting topics and this month it was Sadness in Caregiving.
Before the show airs, I like to do some prep work but I was having difficulty with this one. Why? Because by default, I run away from the feeling of sadness. I grew up in a family where we were reprimanded for crying. I didn’t want people to think that I was weak and couldn’t handle what life was giving me. I was also...
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