Tag: thoughts on life

link love

Posted on by jplatt27

There is nothing better than waking up on Saturday morning, getting coffee, and reading. Each Friday, I’ll share some links that I think are worthy of falling into that precious Saturday morning time.

Chaippucino and crossaint.jpg

 

1. I’ve been feeling intense sadness lately and appreciate this post from Danielle LaPorte about the difference between depression and sadness. I’m definitely sad, not depressed.

2. Members of Congress meditating? Yep, you read that right. I’m really interested in Congressman Tim Ryan’s work and spent last Saturday morning reading his book A Mindful Nation: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit. I’m excited to share this Huffington Post article about his efforts to bring mindfulness meditation to Capitol Hill.

3. I spent the month of June creating space in my life so when I read this post about an anti-frantic life, I was like yes. This post totally gives words for what I’ve experienced and what I’d like to create. If you’re a go-go-go-go-go type of person, read this.

4. Need a little pep talk? Watch this. Gets me every time. (Maybe schedule a calendar reminder to watch it on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.)

Only one new post on the blog this week:

I’ll be back with more new posts next week. Have a great weekend!

 

daring greatly: a must read

Posted on by jplatt27

I finished Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown last weekend. I’m still trying to process it all, and actually plan to go back to the beginning to re-read the parts I’ve underlined and maybe compile a series of posts here, but I wanted to share this first.

Daring Greatly

This book is a must-read.

This book is a must-read for anyone in a position to influence others, ie everyone. This book will be especially powerful for teachers, managers, and parents.

Brené Brown is a researcher that focuses on shame and vulnerability. While based in years of academic research, the message of this book is practical and accessible to everyone.

To get a preview of what Daring Greatly is all about, watch Brené’s TED talk.

Have you read Daring Greatly? What was one ah-ha moment you had as a result?

 

i don’t finish every book i start

Posted on by jplatt27

I was reading The Dinner recently. Even though I was more than half way through, I just wasn’t into it. I was bored. And even though there is supposed to be a twist or something interesting happening at the end, I didn’t really care to get to the end.

One of my core desired feelings (Danielle LaPorte, anyone?) is to be engaged. To be excited and pulled into something. And this book just wasn’t doing it for me.

So, I let it go. I closed it with no intention to pick it back up. And honestly, that small decision made me feel powerful.

Life’s too short to do things that don’t make you feel good. Life’s filled with too many opportunities for things that make us feel good to hang on to arbitrary obligations. So I try not to do that anymore.

Ok, talk to me in the comments:

What’s something in your life that’s not grasping you in the way you’d like? What would it be like to let it go?

What’s the last book you read that you could. not. put. down??

 

failure to launch

Posted on by jplatt27

I had big plans for the launch of my new blog. Fireworks. Lots of buzz. Lots of excitement.

But honestly, I have no idea what that meant. And I wanted to start writing again. To start sharing again. That’s why I blog–to share. Not to get famous or have people cheering and whistling.

So I decided to just go ahead, get a few things re-organized, update some pages and click publish. Nothing big, nothing crazy. Everything not perfectly figured out.

Sometimes you just have to do that in life. Make a move without everything perfectly figured out. Just get started.

So, hello again.

It’s been a while, and I’m happy to be back. 

Want to help me celebrate? Pick your favorite post and share it on social media.

what i want right now

Posted on by jplatt27

What I want in my life right now, more than anything, is time for me. Time to lay in bed and look out the window. Time to cook delicious meals for myself and my husband.  Time to read and read and read some more.

I want to get my nails done. I want to go to the grocery store. I want to go to yoga and really feel my body. I want to be home. I want to do laundry. I want to make dinner with my husband and dance in the kitchen.  I want to be so in the moment that tears come to my eyes.

I want to remember. I want my mind to drift back to 7-up in CCD, to remember when Mike picked me up from the SATs and brought me a double cheeseburger from McDonalds.

I want time for deep reflection. For learning. For creating. For being.

So even as I work full-time and try to build a business on the side, I’m allowing myself to slow down. Because I suspect that giving myself this time and space will actually attract more of what I want into my life and may actually get me to peace, happiness, and freedom more quickly.

three links and another for good luck

Posted on by jplatt27

Happy Monday!

Yesterday, we saw a purple-ish hue around the Tidal Basin, signs that the Cherry Blossoms are going to start blooming soon! Then this morning, we woke up to a winter wonderland. I wish I would’ve taken a picture during my commute this morning.  The trees were perfectly snow coated and looked so magical against a snow-covered Cathedral.

Today I want to share three posts that were shared with me this weekend that really spoke to me.  If you’re looking for something fun to do on your lunch break, take a look!

My best friend, Tina, and I are doing a 21-day meditation challenge and can totally relate to the realizations about spirituality and meditation shared in this article from hellogiggles.com.

It’s hard having friends all over the place, at “home,” in New York, and with work and other responsibilities, it’s hard to see friends that are even just scattered across DC as much as I’d like to.  I often wish my favorite people lived in my apartment building and I loved how that sentiment was shared in this post and the questions the author poses about it. Thanks for sharing, Jen!

And last, but certainly not least, I loved this post and recipe that Kristen shared in Friday Favorites this week. I agree that sometimes we just need to shake things up and I loved how she applied that message to this recipe.  Mike and I made this for dinner last night and it was yummy.  We used turkey sausage and I think it would’ve had deeper flavor with pork sausage so we’ll definitely use that next time!

And, because I truly believe that just because someone says you “should” do something doesn’t mean it’s the right thing for you, another one for good luck: Danielle LaPorte’s newest.

what i do as a life coach

Posted on by jplatt27

In September 2011, I wrote this on my blog:

We were on the boardwalk and a little girl was sitting two benches down from us admiring a new hermit crab and holding onto a green balloon.  It’s pretty windy here today and the balloon got caught in the wind and started bouncing down the boardwalk.  Did the little girl cry?  Nope.  She said “let’s get it” and started running after it with a big smile on her face.  She and her uncle finally caught up to it and she walked back our way with her arms around the balloon and a huge smile on her face.  They walked past us on their way to do whatever it is they were going to do next.  Two or three minutes later, we see a green balloon bouncing by again. It brushes Mike’s leg as it bounces under the bench we’re sitting on and a pinkish red one follows.  And here comes the uncle chasing after it again, the little girl following quickly behind, still with a big smile on her face.  And i thought, this is a great metaphor for life.  If your green balloon starts to blow or bounce away, just run after it with a big smile on your face. You’ll get it.

This is what I do now. As a life coach, I help my clients chase after their balloons with a smiles on their faces.

thoughts from Juliet

Posted on by jplatt27

I was flipping through some old journal notes and came upon this quote  I jotted down from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It still resonated with me when I reread it so I thought I’d share it with you.

“I don’t want to be married just to be married. I can’t think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with someone I can’t talk to, or worse, someone I can’t be silent with.” ~Juliet, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, page 8

Two questions:

1) Thoughts on the passage?

2) Have you read this book? I read it around Christmas time and really enjoyed it. It’s told through a series of letters and it’s interesting to see how the plot and characters develop through notes to and from different characters.

i can't believe it

Posted on by jplatt27

I can’t believe it! My husband can not read my mind.

Things I’ve been thinking about for a while, he doesn’t know.

Things I’ve been thinking about over and over and over again, he’s hearing for the first time.  Woah.

It’s like if I don’t say it, he doesn’t know it.

But he’s my husband–shouldn’t he know these things?

I mean we sleep next to each other, we share a bed–how can he not know what I like, what’s got me stressed, what I’m most interested in at the moment? How can he not know when I’m totally at peace, when I’m full of anxiety, or when I’m experiencing pure bliss?

I don’t get it.

But, then again, I can’t read his mind either.

a powerful gift

Posted on by jplatt27

In coach training this weekend, I realized the best gift Mike has ever given me.

The greatest gift Mike has given me is the freedom to be who I am, accepting and loving me just the way I am.  As long as I’ve known him (since middle school), he has not tried to change me. He meets me where I am without judgement, only openness and love.

My first thought in response to this realization was pure gratitude and wonder.

Next thought: My wish is that I can give him the same gift in return.

Now I realize a gift even more powerful than either of these, one I wish to give as well.

I could give this gift to myself. Imagine if I gave myself 100% freedom to be who I am.  What if I began to love and accept myself as the person I am in this moment?

Most of the stress and unhappiness in my life comes from self-criticism.  From believing that I’m not good enough, that I should be more, do more.  That I should be x, y, or z, even though that’s not me. So imagine how wonderful it would be, how my life would change, if I was kind to myself.  If I was as loving and accepting of myself as Mike is to me.

Starting today, I will give myself this gift. And I will receive this gift from myself.

As I type this I’m a little scared. Like wow, this is a big commitment. But I have the power to make this change, one thought at a time. Though it won’t be easy, it will be worth it.