• I dont want to write

    I just had to share this post by the Fabulous Sandy Grason as I could relate to every word (except as a being with 8 years of recovery, I turn to food).
    Enjoy!!! Share your thought…

    I wrote this post a while ago to heal myself, it’s taken me this long to post it.

    (warning: rant coming…. if you’ve ever felt lost and little depressed and wasted too many hours of your life wallowing in it all, then perhaps you might relate to this post, but there aren’t any tips or action steps to turn your life around, it’s just a rant…would love to hear your thoughts)

    I don’t want to write about….ready. set. go.

    This is one of the writing prompts I use in my workshops. It has a way of cutting right to the heart of what you need to address in your life. And since I’ve spent a good amount of time lately moping around the house, reading blogs from people I don’t know and don’t really care about, obsessing about things that have absolutely nothing to do with my work, and asking myself questions that have no good answers like:

    why can’t I have a little bit of HER life?
    why does her life look so cool and easy?
    why can’t I be on this show?
    Basically I’ve been falling down rabbit holes faster than you can say Alice in Wonderland.
    I finally realized I needed to do this exercise on myself.

    So here goes.

    I don’t want to write about how I feel like I’ve lost a little part of my Self, my true voice. I’ve been so focused on bringing home the bacon that I can’t even remember what I used to write about before I was studying marketing and how to make money.

    I don’t want to write about how I feel YUCK today.

    I just want to stare out the window and do nothing.

    I don’t want to write about how all my friends are coaches and if I call them to dump, they will just try to ‘coach’ me out of it and I don’t want to be ‘coached’ out of it right now. I want to wallow in my stuff, like a warm fuzzy (yet slightly itchy) blanket. I want to wrap myself in the darkness for just a bit and let it consume me.

    I don’t want to write about how I’m tired and I don’t want to be happy, fun & sandylicious and I just want to down a bottle of champagne and orange juice, scratch that, that sounds too bubbly. I need something stronger, something meaner, something really macho, like whiskey or bourbon. Yeah, I want to down a bottle of bourbon and watch bad reality TV.

    I don’t want to write about how I’ve been endlessly comparing myself to other more famous, more rich, more beautiful, more accomplished writers and frankly, I’ll never measure up.

    And, by the way, I don’t think this exercise is helping me one damn bit.

    It’s been a long, long time since I posted something very personal, that had absolutely no advice, no tips, no action steps, no resolution, no words of wisdom. I think I’ve run out of wisdom, maybe I never had any to begin with…???

    I’ll go drink that bottle of bourbon (Diet Coke) and pass out (take a nap) on the couch, wrapped in my fuzzy, itchy blanket of darkness and decide later whether or not to share this rant with the world.

    (7:30am, next morning…..)

    So, that’s where I stopped writing, I shut down my computer and went in search of my Soul. I played with my girls, hung out with my family, we went skiing and soaked up the sun (I did my very first double black diamond & bashed my knee really hard when I fell down, down, down the mountain). And… eventually…. I started to feel like myself again.

    Okay, so here’s what to do when you’re feeling this way — I’ve laid out 3 simple steps for you to do .….just kidding.

    However, I did find this anecdote from Elizabeth Gilbert that helped give me a new perspective, so I’m going to share it with you, simply because it made me feel better.

    “I have a friend who’s an Italian filmmaker of great artistic sensibility. After years of struggling to get his films made, he sent an anguished letter to his hero, the brilliant (and perhaps half-insane) German filmmaker Werner Herzog. My friend complained about how difficult it is these days to be an independent filmmaker, how hard it is to find government arts grants, how the audiences have all been ruined by Hollywood and how the world has lost its taste…etc, etc. Herzog wrote back a personal letter to my friend that essentially ran along these lines: “Quit your complaining. It’s not the world’s fault that you wanted to be an artist. It’s not the world’s job to enjoy the films you make, and it’s certainly not the world’s obligation to pay for your dreams. Nobody wants to hear it. Steal a camera if you have to, but stop whining and get back to work.” I repeat those words back to myself whenever I start to feel resentful, entitled, competitive or unappreciated with regard to my writing: “It’s not the world’s fault that you want to be an artist…now get back to work.” Always, at the end of the day, the important thing is only and always that: Get back to work. This is a path for the courageous and the faithful. You must find another reason to work, other than the desire for success or recognition. It must come from another place.”

    After reading that, I felt like Liz Gilbert slapped me across the face and said “Sandy – Snap Out of It!”

    So, my friends, I am finding that “other place” to create from. Not for recognition or some desire for external success (or to sell something and bring home the bacon). I am getting back to work and doing the only thing I can really, truly call my work, write. I’m driven, like many of you, to search and dig and analyze and over-analyze my life, other people, our emotions, the reasons and the seasons, constantly trying to figure out this journey of my life.

    That’s why I named this blog The Road to Fabulous, because I believe we are all on this road together, sometimes it feels like we’ve arrived- we ARE Fabulous- and we’ve got it all figured out, and everything will fall perfectly into place from now on. Then life takes an unexpected turn, and we feel confused or betrayed: “Hey! I thought I was done with all of these life lessons. I thought I’d figured everything out. What happened?”

    Life happened. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be fabulous.

    Now I’m gonna quit my whining and get back to work.

    How about you? What do you do when things feel dark and depressing? How do you “get back to your work”? I’d love to hear from you….

    Sandy Grason is a Rock Star Author, Int’l Speaker, Radio Talk Show Host & Hot Mogul. Get on the GueSandy’s next Virtual Cocktail Party® or book a private one-on-one lifestyle design strategy session today at www.SandyGrason.com

  • Expert in personal transformation?

    Got a Vision Board? It’s January 2010 and starting off the new year with focus is essential! I just finished my vision board a few days ago, And recently attended a Millionaire Tour the other night. I was so inspired by what the speakers where presenting! So much of it was on cue with my practices of radical transformation, yet it all related to money, well, it was a Millionaire Tour! Who doesn’t want to make millions?  What really struck me is that Brad Hager (a Multi-Millionaire)  talked about writing out your dream list, what will your life look like on December 31st, 2010. He then then empowered us to rewrite it every day for 30 days. Record it and listen to it often and take action towards making it happen!  So I AM pumped up! I finished my vision board, got this amazing new journal F.U.E.L (Focused – Unlimited – Extraordinary  – Life) by Trisha L. Moore, and filled out my affirmations, my goals and intentions, my bucket list, and who I am attracting into my life.

    I had a little bit of time left before had to leave to pick up my daughter from school and head off to teach kids yoga, I picked up my iphone and drew a card from.. click on pic to get application.

    T. Hav Eker’s Secrets to Success of a Millionaire Mind application, and it said “BE THE BEST AT WHAT YOU DO” “To get paid the best you must be an the best, rich people are experts in their field…  this lead me to open up my journal and write and here is what showed up..

    Let me share with you that sometimes when I write I ask questions to a larger source, I really don’t give it a name, well, not true, I give it many names, such as Angels, guides, spirits, god, higher power, highest good.. something beyond my ego.. etc… you get the idea, I am not attached to a name, but this energy serves in guiding me..

    Here is  a journal entry from Wednesday January 20th, 2010

    Which leads me to where am I an expert? According to Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers” it’s an accumulation of 10 years in a specific field and spending over 10,000 hours in that area.  So clearly I am an expert in radically transforming myself. Being a personal trainer for 20 years, 10+ years of coaching and teaching yoga, I am all about growing and evolving as a human being and have succeed in making most of my dreams come true!

    So I come back to the how? How do I share my own transformation and get it out there that I am an expert in the transformation process? That I can guide others in this process, to help them manifest their dreams?  I don’t know what the answer is?  How do I authentically put myself out there and share my own transformation to other that will show that I am an expert in the field of using these tools? Ok, here is the answer…. share what you just wrote. Let people in! They don’t know you from adam, share your story, your fear, your process.. give them the juicy details and let them know it’s possible!   Today you drew the  Angel card “Listening”. Are you listening? We have been guiding you to get in your 7 practices daily, take the time to write, practice yoga, meditate, wonder, write about them… why do I keep crying here?….. because I am scared shirtless (;-) of rejection and having people laugh at me and making a complete fool of myself. Good awareness, now do it anyways, who cares what they think, do it and you may be serving in helping someone!

    Please, simply type this into your web site and put it out there daily. Don’t be afraid to share it, people need to see how real you are. You can’t hide anymore if you want to powerfully inspire and empower others beings. Yes, the tears are flowing as I write this and again as I type this, and I  know that this is really a part of the healing that really needs to happen. As you always said, JUST DO IT! Feel the fear and do it anyways.. As Bob Marley Says, Don’t worry about a thing, cause everything little thing is gonna be alright!  What a blast I had last week having my yoga students sing this song in shoulder-stand, 31  beginning yogis singing about it all being OK!  Time to run off and pick up grace and head off to teach some wonderful kids yoga… awe the life of a passionate single mom – big dreams and always searching for more time to make it all happen, its all good, dreams are being realized.

  • Create a dream life full of gratitude!

    The second Chakra is the goddess chakra, Swadistana, located just above the root. The element here is WATER. As beings, we arrive in the world, in a fluid environment, swimming around, full of potential and freedom. As creative beings at heart, we are here on this earth to express ourselves.

    Through the “Fun and Healthy Lifestyles” practices we explore the MIND to discover our unique expression of our purpose through journaling and other artistic pursuits with our BODY, and SPIRITUALLY we share our gratitude for all there is.

    Journaling

    Journaling is a creative tool that allows us to connect to mind with our thoughts, to our bodies with our hands, and to our spirits, that inner dwelling that is seeking our purpose or passion in this life. By simply writing things down, we communicate our needs, our wants, and our feelings. We use writing as a practical tool to communicate with others in our personal and business lives. Here, we use it to set goals, to write out our innermost feelings, and to heal.

    Free writing is the practice of writing for a commitment of time or pages, keeping the hand continuously moving, or in today’s day and age, continuously typing, and flowing with the stream of thoughts – whatever is coming and going from the top of the head, without letting the hand(s) stop. If you find that you get stuck in this practice, you simply write, “I don’t know what to say,” and something will arise. (Or – When we feel “stuck” in this practice, we simply write, “I don’t know what to say,” until something arises.)

    In Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist Way, she calls these writings, the morning pages. “Put simply, the morning pages are three pages of longhand writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness: ‘Oh god, another morning. I have NOTHING to say. I need to wash the curtains. Did I get my laundry yesterday? Blah, blah, blah….’ They might also, more ingloriously, be called brain drain, since that is one of their main functions.” The morning pages are simply a way to release all the ongoing thoughts that run through our minds like crazy. They are an outlet for us to open up to the creativity that is inside, but stuck behind the oodles and oodles of thoughts.

    We experience roughly 60,000 thoughts per minute. Amazing! While, many of these thoughts are repetitive, I have also read that we have to hear something 100 times before we really get it, understand it, and embody it. I am not a scientist, but I have spent many ( or ten? but not 37) years actively studying my own mind and have found writing to be a deep practice of connection to my whole being. The act of getting the thoughts and words out and down on paper, clears a space for discovering new, creative and divine thoughts to fill our minds and our lives.

    Goals and Dreams

    Why is it that we may have a dream or goal, but, can’t get ourselves to take action, or even initiate the effort toward making it happen? We want something so badly; yet, we aren’t willing to go through the process of bringing it to life. Often times we realize we have been in love with the idea of the impact it will have on others, the places it may take us, and the person that we will be when it is all done; yet we struggle on a daily basis, to sit down and create a plan of action. We want the results without doing the work, yet without action, goals remains dreams.

    Gratitude

    Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.–Oprah Winfrey

    Being grateful is being full of great! It’s appreciating the benefits you are receiving from a situation or object, the act of expressing gratitude.

    Gratitude is an attitude of thankfulness. When we have gratitude we go beyond the striving and clinging and hoping and wishing and wanting, we find ourselves in the present moment content with what we have. We embody the ability to appreciate all the goodness that is currently surrounding us. It is a space and of serenity, one of knowing that we are provided for and a place in which we can rest and feel a greater connection to all there is.

    Gratitude can be perceived as an emotion of experiencing and realizing value of what one is receiving or already has within ones life. Ones who practice gratitude daily experience higher levels of health and well being. Practicing gratitude brings more happiness, less stress, less depression, and more satisfaction in your life. The practices of gratitude will allow you to handle life transactions better as well as creating a positive way in which to deal with obstacles that may come up in life.

    Send a card of Gratitude on Me!