Who Sees Your Potential?

Posted by random olio

Do you see your full potential? Or, do you have someone in your life that sees what you are capable of? There are always times in our life when we feel stuck and we need someone else to help us to look at our life and world with a new lens. I recently found this quote by Susane Colasanti on the Aubrey Road blog:

“One of the most amazing things that can happen is finding someone who sees everything you are and won’t let you be anything less. They see the potential of you. They see endless possibilities. And through their eyes, you start to see yourself the same way.”

-Susane Colasanti

There are moments in all of our lives when we have a harder time seeing the full potential in ourselves. We may feel bogged down by work, stressed out by family obligations, or just unclear on what our purpose is in life. We need that person that sees us for all our sassiness and knows what we are capable of when we cannot see it for ourselves. The person that pushes us to turn over the lump of coal and see the diamond in the rough. Sometimes it is one person, and other times it could be multiple people in our life that see our potential and push us to look at life in new ways.

When we are too weak, cloudy, or broken down they help us to fight for ourselves. When we are not taking care of ourselves, or do not treat others well, this someone can act like a mirror for us to truly see how we are acting. It might mean they tell us that we need to work less and play more. Or maybe, we need to stop being scared and go back to school and take our career to new and different levels. Or it might be that we need to challenge and stand up to a family member, and past attempts have not been successful.

They cheer us on, anchor us, and coach. They praise and give us words of affirmation when we need them, hold us together when we need it most, and yell and challenge us when we need to hear something strong and loud. The result? We believe, get inspired, and move towards our potential. We thrive.

Who in your life sees your potential?

Underwear, Fresh Veggies, and Schools

Posted by random olio

Have you heard the song: “There is more than corn in Indiana?” They were wrong. Growing up in Indiana, the only vegetable I remember having fresh was corn. It took me to the age of 25 to truly adopt vegetables into my diet. Looking back, if I had the experience of truly understanding in a hands on way how our food is grown, and then had the opportunity to bite into that tomato knowing how much work it took to grow it, well my food consuming days might have been different.

I am passionate about the issue of childhood obesity in our country. Last week, I wrote about a show on Our America (on OWN) that airs this week. The episode is called “Generation XXL” and is about health for youths. One of the ways that we can begin to have an impact on childhood obesity is in our local communities. A friend of mine lives in Ojai, CA and is partnering with PACT (an underwear company) and Whole Kids Foundation to raise money for an urban garden at Topa Topa Elementary School. You can watch a bit more about this initiative here:

Hooked? I am! It makes me want to see if there are schools doing this initiative in my area. If you want to start by helping Topa Topa Elementary School with their urban garden you can donate on Indiegogo. Just like the kids in the video say, you can donate $200, or $500, or if more people get involved then $10. We need to start in our schools and teach kids where their food comes from, what it takes to create it, what it tastes like when it is real and natural, and to care what they put in their bodies.

Are you in?

Random Olio Snippets: 2

Posted by random olio

Amber Alert – There was an Amber Alert in Portland this week. The good news is the child was found within a few hours. While doing some research to learn what happened, I learned a few things. There is a new national initiative for alerting folks about Amber Alerts. I also admit that I did not know that “Amber Alert” was named after a girl named Amber that was abducted. I had always thought it was just an acronym, which it also is: America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. There are times when I am in awe of technology. This is one of those times. Read on:

“Unlike Wireless AMBER Alerts, the WEA AMBER Alerts use the latest technology to send messages to wireless customers with WEA-capable devices in the area where a child has been abducted, even if the wireless customer isn’t from the area. For example, if a Chicago resident was visiting Boston and a WEA AMBER Alert was issued in Boston, the subscriber would receive the alert. At the same time, if an alert was issued in Chicago, the subscriber would not receive it while in Boston.”

Lawmakers salaries go into escrow if they miss the April 15 deadline – This article from CNN Money explains what is happening with the debt ceiling. The gist of it is that the House will be voting on a bill regarding whether or not to raise the debt ceiling. If they vote to raise it, that means the government can continue to borrow money against the $16 trillion dollars that the country already has in debt. The fun part? If lawmakers do not agree to a budget resolution by April 15: “Their salaries would be held in escrow and paid out at some point later.” Fun. I wonder how much they will make in interest! In any case, it is a novel idea to get different sides to work together and come to a resolution or their pay will be frozen. Sort of like having your allowance held until you can stop bickering with your sister. Sound familiar?

Eating Ourselves to Death – I want to see this episode of Our America on OWN. The episode is called: “Generation XXL” and airs January 29, at 10/9 pm Central time. I am passionate about health for youth. Growing up I did not have access to excellent, flavorful health foods. I hated vegetables. You could not pay me to eat them. I was active as a kid, but not as much as I could have been if I had encouragement from my family, especially my parents. Obesity, especially with children, needs our attention. If you have a chance to watch this episode, let me know what you think. I will be setting the DVR.

NFC Tags – I am fascinated by these NFC tags. I had never heard of them before I read this Fast Company article. Have you heard of them? If not click the link to read the article. I cannot even begin to try to explain. Just to give you a bit of interest:

“An NFC tag placed at your desk can tell your phone to open Evernote, tether your phone’s 4G to your laptop, mute your ringer, and remind you in 30 minutes to get off Twitter. But the issue both companies have discovered with tags is that they’re, ultimately, too capable.”

That is it for my Random Snippets from this week. Happy Friday!

Get Your Shit Together

Posted by random olio

I am impressed. Trust me, it takes a lot to impress me. I have found a website about money, insurance, living wills, and other life planning needs that I will be able to remember for many years to come. It has a ring to it, and if I am talking to a friend or colleague, I will not have to rack my brain to remember their URL. Ready for it?

getyourshittogether.org

Clever right? They focus on creating a will, a living will, setting up your insurance…the list goes on. The creator of the site, Chanel Reynolds, lost her husband last summer when he was hit while on a bike ride. She spent months recreating her financial life, then decided to start her website (which just went live this month) to help others get their shit together.

While no one in my family was hit by a bike, I can relate to Chanel because of my own life experiences, all of which have made me passionate about these issues. When both of my parents passed on (I was 16 and 21), they had no life insurance, no health insurance, no living will, or will. When my mom passed on I was 16, which means I was still a minor. At the time, if my father did not take custody of me there was a possibility that I would have been taken under the care of the state. Did my parents ever think or plan for such occurrence? Probably not. If they had then there would have been documentation of what would happen to me. I like to think they would have done the due diligence to make sure that was in place, but it was not. Not a fun way to mourn.

At each point in my life when my parents passed on, my siblings and I had to come up with money to pay for both of my parent’s funerals, as well as incur different expenses to travel to and from their respective homes (they were divorced by then) to deal with any remaining possessions, most of which went to Goodwill. Rather than have the opportunity to grieve, we had to act fast, plan the cheapest funeral, and go through their possessions as quickly as possible in order to not have to continue to pay their rent and other expenses.

A will, life insurance, and directions on what arrangements they wanted at their death would have helped my brother, sister, me to have the option to be present in losing our parents at such a young age. Instead we had to make difficult choices very quickly during highly emotional times. I do not want to put my future children in that situation. It is important to take the time to legally document your financial and legal choices for your affairs. Once you have it documented, take the time to discuss with the necessary individuals (whether your children or siblings, etc.) so they understand your wishes. I can tell you from experience if you do not have those conversations now, it can cause riffs in a family during an already emotionally charged time.

Due to the situation I was in, I strongly encourage anyone with kids to take the time and proper steps to “get your shit together.” Do it for your spouse. Do it for your kids. Do it for your parents. Yes, it is morbid to talk about the “what-ifs” if you were to die. It is not fun, but it is reality. Take the time to have the hard conversations with your spouse and get your shit together.

Shift your attention

Posted by random olio

I recently found this great blog: The heART of Living by Emily. I cannot even remember how I came across it. She inspired me last week, and I want to share a quote from her blog post, in hopes that passing on her inspiration will help you as it did me:

“Our realities are shaped around where we place our attention. If we focus on negativity, then our life situations will reflect negativity. If we focus on qualities and behaviors that we would like to invite into our lives, then our life situations will eventually shift to reflect that reality. The difficulty is that often times we are unaware of what we’re focused on. Usually we’re unconsciously repeating habitual tendencies and patterns of thought that have been formed by the way we were raised and our life experiences. By practicing awareness on the yoga mat, in our interactions with others, or by simply observing our own thoughts and emotions, we start to realize where and how we place our attention.”

Recently I have felt bogged down by a few things that have not shifted or changed in my life. I find that in that struggle I can go the route of being negative, and dreading the outcome if things do not shift. I forget that focusing on the negative, or as some might call, the glass half empty, then that is the energy I am inviting into my life and experience. At times I am very aware of my negativity and at other times, I am completely oblivious.

What I need to do is focus on the good going on around me, and not focus on what has not happened. I actually really enjoy focusing on gratitude and appreciating the experience I am in, but there are times when I fear that the choices I have made are having a negative effect on other events in my life. If I move away from fear, and stay in the present, then I cannot get sucked into the negativity. The hope is that by staying in the present, my attention will go to what is happening right now. Where I spend my time, the event, activity, and individuals I am spending my time with will then find me with a glass half full. What we focus on is what we bring into our experience. Even on those rough days, we can take a break, take a breath, and remember to bring a half full, (or hey how about full) glass to the table. When it is full, there is more goodness to share!

What do you think?