What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?

It’s a given; We all want to live, we all want to love,  laugh, and experience a great life. It’s what humans want, to live a long and healthy life and have all the things we dream and desire.

In my 66 years I’ve learned that life is going to happen – no matter how well you plan or what you do. This is not a controlled experiment, there are too many variables. How can there be one formula to live a very long life that would fit all of us? Living well and living long depends on so many factors – geographical, societal, physical, familial, genetics, etc. etc.

My thoughts on living a long life? Do what you love and what you want to do right now – don’t wait. Eat healthy, eat less and move more. Be a part of community. Let hate go. Unforgiveness should not be on the menu at all.

Live in the moment and pay attention. Love with all of your might and as well as you can. Treat your bodies respectfully.  That is a good path. Is there more than that…?  I’m just not sure there’s anything or any more control we have over life than that. So maybe that is the secret… to let go of the control and not take everything so seriously…. and have a good damn time!

The holidays blew through quickly and are gone again. New Year’s Eve passed incognito, and New Year’s Day was as lazy as I had planned it to be. So where do we go from here?

I am sitting at the end of the first week of January 2019 without a thought to lofty goals. No big dream to kick off or list of priorities to begin. No big deal, right? Just another day, right? Well maybe, but there is something about January that urges me to plan, recreate, redefine, reinvent, and reprogram – but not in the way our popular culture would influence us to do. We are barraged daily with senseless noise exploiting narcissism and grandiose lifestyles that no one but the very rich can possibly attain to. The pursuit of which is killing us, separating us, and keeping us from our true selves. I want to approach this year practically and holistically. I want to rethink my daily efforts in order to be the best I can be in every situation that comes my way. This is the foundation I want to build for my life in 2019 and every year that follows.

Why not take a practical approach?

In my life I have learned that we are so easily distracted from the things that matter most. We are lured by the shiny object(s) that promises wealth, love, fame, speed, comfort and such. We sacrifice our awareness in the present moment for illusions of what could be in the future. It is an art to stay focused on the moment and to give 100% to the task at hand. If it’s time to work, just work. If it’s time to be with the family, put away your phones and BE with the family. Empty your mind of the past and the future and think about what needs to be done right here and now. Give weight to your intentions and do exactly what you need to do. Health and prosperity, love, joy and peace, are ultimately what we all strive for. The possibility to attain these dreams are within you, but if you are constantly looking elsewhere to be satisfied, it’s quite possible you will miss them altogether. Learn to master BEING in the moments you are given.

“If you walk, just walk. If you sit, just sit; but whatever you do, don’t wobble.”

~ Zen saying

This year, I resolve to pay attention and be a better mom, serve my clients more effectively, be my best creative self, learn on deeper levels, build and strengthen relationships, and love more selflessly. I will embrace the four agreements: To be honest and true to my word, to not take things so personally, to not assume anything, and to do my best in all these things. So, even though I don’t have an “official” resolution, my mind is full of ideas, dreams, goals, wants, and desires that will best be attained by my awareness of and participating in the moment. I will bring these things, and more, into reality with me.

Each day I challenge myself to do my very best to create, perform, be charitable and kind, to love, to serve, to achieve…and I know I will.  By next year I will have added to my cart of knowledge and wisdom more beautiful gems that I can share with the people in my life and that support the life I have chosen. That is the joy of January’s “blank canvas”.

Pay Attention 

Keep your mind in the present moment. Pay attention to what is going on around you and with the people in your life and give it your absolute best. Anxiety comes from staying focused too much on ourselves and our problems and worrying about the future. We will feel depressed when we dwell on the past, so stay in the now. Pay attention to your little ones, do less, BE more.

This year I challenge you to move beyond the resolutions of money, status, likes and influence, and try thinking on the things that have the potential to shape your life – for the rest of your life.

With much love,

“what screws us up most in life is the picture in our head of how it’s suppose to be”

Hey everyone and greetings from New York City!  I am here for a bit to work and play and observe!  When I am working in New York, I am always looking for new and creative ways to serve my clients – new marketing ideas, new projects, new trends, to feel the pulse of the people and the culture, what they want, how they respond and what they listen to!  We are always learning, yes?!

On a personal level, when I’m playing, I am always out for adventure and to explore the world and my life as it unfolds each moment, to learn new insights and look for examples of love in action.

So, this morning I started my day running up to Starbucks at 66th and 3rd to get my morning coffee.  After enjoying my tall-nonfat-one-splenda-extra-foam-latte I hit the street again for an exhilarating and exploring jog over to Central Park. As I found my way to the park and through and around some of the trails, I heard a saxophone playing and being a musician and lover of music, I of course pointed my body into that direction to find it.

When I came to a central area there was a musician playing his horn, and he was good.  As I ran upon him and then past him, I thought, “you know, I should just ask him if I can sing with him, I mean, how cool would it be to sing in Central Park on this day?! …..nah, that would be silly, I will just stay on my current path, keep running”.  So I ran on past him and soon stopped to get a few pics of the scenery [the thought of singing was still working in my mind, though].

As I continued to run, getting further away from the music, this bold thought jumped onto my mind, it was a decisive thought, a decision was made – “just do it, run right over to him and ask him if you can sing with him.  Do you want to miss this chance to sing with a GOOD MUSICIAN in CENTRAL PARK NEW YORK?  Are you crazy to miss out on this moment?  Practice what you preach girlfriend!!!”  So, I turned my jog around and headed straight to him.

He was about to play another song, so I motioned to him to hold up a minute, “hey! can I talk to you?” and he said “sure”.  I came to a quick stop and said to him “you are a really good  horn player (nearly out of breath) and I don’t have any money with me to tip you, but I am singer from Dallas and would love to sing a song with you”.  He looked at me and said “ok – go!”  So I started slowly and deliberately with one of my favorites, “Summertime”.  As I began singing he smiled, he started playing his horn around me, with me, between my phrases, and over my turns.  It was great!  Afterwards we talked music for a few minutes. He gave me his card  (Ralph U. Williams, Saxophones & Flute) and invited me back anytime to sing songs with him, and I jogged off.   What a great experience!  But wait, here’s what happens next…

So I start jogging again, huge smile on my face, breathing in the 66 degree, freshly rained on Central Park air, pretty much delighting in just BEING.  I stopped for a minute at the statue of Shakespeare to take a quick pic.  While I am there, this man approaches me (he was dressed in blues) and in his very heavy New York accent said to me:

“you just sang over there…?”
“Yes, that was me”, I responded.
“That was great”, he said, “you are really good,  I really enjoyed it.”
“Thanks so much!” I gleefully responded.
“I have had a really bad morning”, he continued, “and your song made me feel better.  I know I am gonna make it now and it will be fine – thanks for singing.”

Okay, wow.  Right?  I really don’t need to say anything about this, because I am sure you get it.  But just in case you don’t, here is the beautiful lesson I learned today – apply it to your life, your relationships, you, or your business, I don’t care, but apply it and embrace it!

When we live, really live, and listen, and follow our desire and our heart, we will make a difference in the lives of those around us – whether we know it or not – we will make a difference.  When we are urged in our minds to do something good, to embrace a moment, to follow a desire, do it.  That is real power.  That is real love.  That is real success. That is being alive!   Go for it!

Love and Peace!  Enjoy some of the pics below!
Sandy
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