Did You Know That You Matter?

Posted by random olio

Do you ever have those days when you wonder if what you do matters? That you matter? I recently read a good Daily Om article that was a good reminder that each of us matters.

There are so many areas in our personal and work lives that are perfect opportunities for helping others remember that they matter. Internal communications within an organization is a great way to utilize messaging to remind employees that what they do matters. It is an opportunity to share vision, team success, gratitude, and push employees to look to the future, grow, and challenge themselves. Managers have the opportunity to find ways to show their employees that they matter. Whether they manage a fast food restaurant, a department store, or a large corporation, managers have an opportunity to coach, guide, and find different ways to help employees feel valued for the work they are doing to drive the company in a forward direction.

In your personal life, do you go out of your way to tell your spouse or partner that you are grateful for them? Do you know if it means more to them when they hear your words of affirmation? Some of us have more confidence than others, and some of us are refueled by the words of those that love us the most. It is always something I try to keep in my thought, that just because someone I know and love is confident, it does not mean that individual does not need reminders of my gratitude for them and their place in my life. I love this quote from the Daily Om article:

“Our very existence affects countless people in countless ways. And because we are each essentially a microcosm of the larger universe, our internal experiences affect the whole of life more than we could ever imagine.”

If you do anything today, tell someone at work or in your personal life that they matter. Be sure to be genuine about it. Find something in the other person that you are truly grateful for, and tell them. You never know what your words can do to change and add life to someone’s day.

You matter.

A Letter From Your Little Bug

Posted by random olio

For those of you that have been following my blog for a bit know that I have been thinking about motherhood. I recently found this great letter on The Huffington Post website. It is from their “Honest Toddler” section with the tag: “Not potty trained. Not trying.” It is a letter from a little one to their mother. It is cleverly written, honest, and direct. I wonder if I could birth a child with such an eloquent way of writing while so young (wink. wink). I am not going to copy the letter in its entirety, but will share this excerpt:

“You seem tired and short-tempered this morning which is why I felt more comfortable writing this than having a face-to-face. Can I get you anything? A cup of coffee? While you’re up please bring me a sippy cup of juice and some unbroken crackers. Oh that’s right. We don’t have crackers… I recall you saying that around 1:15. That’s OK. Why keep the house stocked with my favorite foods? I’m sure we have two kinds of wine though. But that’s fine.”

Intrigued? You will have to click the above link to read the entire letter.

I also wanted to share a good reminder from David Kanigan’s blog, which I have featured before on my blog. He posts the quote:

“The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.” -Peggy O’Mara (www.silverpen.com)

Oh how true that is. How many times do I go to do things and think about how my reasoning has to do with something my mom or dad said to me when I was young. It is even a good reminder for all of us in how we talk to others.

Your Intuition. Your Inner Voice.

Posted by random olio

I subscribe to Oprah’s emails. Sometimes I like what I read, other times I could care less. One of the quotes I read in a recent Oprah email lead me to make a post-it of the quote and I even wrote the date of when it was included in her email:

August 22, 2012

“Somewhere in there, among the worries, questions, advice and advertising jingles, lives your intuition, your true ‘inner voice.’ You can hear it to the extent that you give it your attention.”

— Martha Beck

I love this. So often we become caught up in life’s responsibilities that we forget to listen. We get so caught up in hearing all the other voices, that we do not listen to the voice we should be attuned to hearing. Our own voice. The better we get at shutting the door to all the crap, the voices that tell us we are not good enough, not strong enough, not smart enough, the better we get at hearing the calm. The confidence that says you are doing a good job. You are enough. You matter. You got to where you are today for a reason. You impressed someone. Maybe that was by your true employable skills, or maybe it was your attitude. Be it confident, or cocky, or energetic, or positive… Someone saw something in you that made them want you to stick around.

Are you listening to your inner voice? Is it telling you that you are in the very right place this moment? Does it tell you that you are happy? That you have all you need right now? Most likely you do have everything you need. Often it seems that in keeping up with the Jones’, we push so hard to be and have something we are not or do not need. We accumulate clutter and crap that only adds to our worries. Do we need it? Were we fine without it?

How much do you give your inner voice attention? How often do you listen to that voice? The one that tells you that you are full, but you still proceed to eat and stuff yourself (because it is so good, right)? Do you often sway to the side of what you want, when that voice inside tells you otherwise?

I am a big proponent of listening to intuition. If I cannot feel clear about an answer, or I do not hear my inner voice speaking to me, then I wait. Yes. I wait. It probably drives my husband bonkers, but it is what I have to do to be me. I have learned that if I wait when I am not clear, something usually happens that makes my decision for me. Sometimes it is more information than I had in the beginning, or other times a situation happens that sheds light (some might call it a sign) on what steps I need to take.

How do you know if you are listening to your inner voice?

Girls Speaking Out = Change

Posted by random olio

Speaking your mind and putting yourself out there can make a difference. It can make a change in the world. I am all for it. Change.org is a website that allows individuals to start petitions. Three sixteen year old girls learned in their civics class that it had been 20 years since the last female moderated the presidential debate. They proceeded to start a petition to push for a female to moderate the debate this election and received over 180,000 signatures. This article from New York Daily News shares more details and also states:

“The commission did not immediately respond to requests for further information. But an official downplayed the teens’ role in the selection of moderators, noting the process has been in the works for nearly two years.”

Regardless of whether that is true or not, I am in awe of the perseverance and passion of these three teenagers to speak their minds and put their beliefs into action. A woman will be moderating one of three of this year’s presidential debates. Candy Crowley will be moderating one presidential debate, and Martha Raddatz the Vice Presidential debate.

I love the quote from one of the teenagers in this Christian Science Monitor article:

“It’s really important for young women and boys to see women as role models, in position of power,” Tsemberis says. “It’s about getting women to be visible in society, and not being discouraged because they’re being judged by what they look like.”

I agree. 2012 continues to be the year of the woman!

You go girls!

A Message to Todd Akin

Posted by random olio

I do not even know where to start on this debate. If I were in a cartoon I would have fire coming out my ears, and fireworks coming out of my mouth. I would be censored left and right. I just am flabbergasted by this politician’s comments. Seriously? There must not be a woman in his life that has ever been raped. Either that or he just has no respect for women. If he did he would eat his words.

What I am talking about pertains to Republican Senate Nominee, Todd Akin. Akin discussed his opposition to abortion rights “even in case of rape with a claim that victims of ‘legitimate rape’ have unnamed biological defenses that prevent pregnancy.” This quote was from this article about the TV interview with Akin on Sunday. In his interview, Akin said the following:

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

OMG. I am speechless. But only speechless because all of the words I want to say just are not nice. I am working on speaking up with clear, direct words, that are not @#$#%#$@$. The article states that rape is not “rare” and that “32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year.” Maybe Akin should go through a simulation of what it is like for a woman to be raped, and then tell him he has to carry the baby he is now pregnant with – oh yeah, and Akin, remember you never consented to the sex you have just been forced into.

Why do men and politicians feel that they have any say in what a woman does with her body? What woman should ever be forced to have a baby, after being raped? Then be reminded that they must have that man’s baby in their body for 9 months and then raise it? How is that bringing a child into this world with all the love, happiness, and consensual desire to raise a child? Maybe Akin would think differently if he had to grow a baby in his belly after nine months, and then raise it. BY. HIMSELF.

I would love for someone, anyone to tell me how to look at this from another view, because right now I am just livid. I cannot seem to find any silver lining in this debate at all. I really do not like to talk about politics at all, but this is more than politics. This a woman who has been forced to have sex against her will. Oh yeah, and in Akin’s words: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Seriously? Akin, what part of the female body has a way to shut the whole damn thing down?

Please tell me.