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Making Your Life Easier TM There is an easier way. Let’s work together to create it! |
Insights on Living |
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Newsletter Date September 2004 |
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In This Issue: Resource link: http://www.wau.org The Word Among
Us Online offers daily meditations PRACTICAL
ANSWERS to real-life issues The BAM! coaching
experience What is going on in your life that you
would like to make easier? There is an easier way. Let’s work together to create it. Contact Us:
Making Your Life Easier TM 201.261.2990 Website: Email: info@bamcoaching.com Resource link: This site is for
parents, teachers and counselors. Parent Soup contains a wealth of health
information on a variety of topics such as bullying, teasing, stress, and
safety. Resource link: motivation and
personal development Contact Us:
Making Your Life Easier TM 201.261.2990 Website: Email: info@bamcoaching.com To receive a free copy of Insights on
Living, E-mail: Insights@bamcoaching.com Copyright © 2004 BAM! Coaching. Permission to distribute this material via email, or
individual copies, is automatically granted on the condition it will be used
for non-commercial purposes and will not be sold. To reproduce "Insights
on Living" in any other format, including Internet websites, written permission
is needed from |
Inspiration – Conversion of Life
We are loved
into life by three beings, human and divine. A man and a woman come together
in an intimate exchange of love. God’s loving touch gives us life and
introduces our soul with our life purpose hard wired within it. “You made
all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s
womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is
marvelous and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in
utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of her womb. You saw me
before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every
moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” (1) This
perspective enables us to see our lives and everything in it as gift. Conversion
means that we no longer want a worldly view of who we are and what we have.
We are no longer drawn by the desire to have more material goods and achieve
worldly acknowledgements at “all costs” – sacrificing our health, our
relationships, our minds and our soul in pursuit of those goods and
acknowledgements. Instead our conversion brings us to a viewpoint that all
things are gifts and a way of living that moves us to realize that it is our
responsibility to take great care of these gifts. Some of our greatest gifts
are our body, heart, mind and soul. How can we take great care of them? Body -
physical fitness, healthy eating habits, what we listen to, read, social
activities, chastity and celibacy if single and fidelity if married. Do we
treat our body as a gift and honor ourselves and God by taking great care of
it? Heart – our
relationships with family, friends, neighbors and even strangers. Respect for
human life from conception to death. Do we treat our relationships as gifts
and honor human life? Mind –
thinking positively and lovingly of ourselves and others, being free from
worry, ability to focus on work, home and play while in the moment. Living
with integrity, doing what is right. Do we treat our mind as a gift and honor
ourselves and God by taking great care of it? Soul – making
time to be quiet for reflection, or meditation to get in touch with our
creator, God. And listening to God’s voice of love and guidance. Taking time
to thank and praise God for His provision. Do we treat our faith as a gift
and honor our soul? We can not
do this work on our own. God is ready, willing and able to take us where He
wants us to be in our life. “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will
find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” (2) I invite you
to begin today to ask God for this new perspective of life as a gift. For
when we ask, seek and knock God will do His work of conversion in us from the
inside out. And we begin to truly see and live with this new perspective of
honoring the gifts we have been given. 1)
Psalm
139 2)
Matthew
7: 7 What
makes those kids tick? Children
are naturally curious. They want to know and sometimes they want to know NOW!
Curiosity helps the child figure out how life works. This aids in their
development and it is important for adults to help them find the answers they
seek. Helping them find the answers develops and builds a relationship of
trust between parent and child. I know
there are many times we just don’t have the answer. I have no problem saying that I don’t know
the answer to questions my sons may have. I am interested in them knowing me
as a person who has limited knowledge. I also like to use these opportunities
to figure out the answer with them by asking them what they think. It is a
subtle way to help them develop their “thinking muscle”, their brain. What
about teenagers, are they still curious? Oh yes, those teenage years. Do you
remember when you were a teenager? Teenagers are very curious and their
curiosity may be about some very adult activities such as drinking, drugs and
sex. How prepared are we to speak with our children, regardless of age, about
topics such as drinking, drugs and sex? As
parents, My husband and I made a commitment that our children would get this
very critical information for their healthy development from us. My husband
and I have been speaking with our children about these topics in age
appropriate language since they were two years old. It starts by calling the
anatomy of the body by its proper name. They will find out the proper name
sooner or later and we want them to know that they can TRUST us with telling them the TRUTH. Today our sons are 13 and 10 years old. They are
very comfortable speaking with us about their curious questions. The
teenage years are transition years – moving from childhood to adulthood. It
is a time of their life when they will be faced with making choices about
drinking, drugs and sex. A parent may not enjoy these years because their
teen may be combative. Try to remember that teenagers are working through
these transition years as best as they can. They are trying to apply the
teachings and guidance they have received from their parents up to this point
in their life to the daily situations they face. As parents we must look at
our parenting style and adjust to the changes occurring within our teen. This
adjustment may mean moving from controlling and telling to supporting and
coaching. Remember they are curious and want to know. They will find out one way or another. It is best for their development if this information comes from you, the person who loves them the most. How do
we communicate? Communication occurs verbally,
physically and mentally. We communicate verbally through words and tones, physically
through the written word, body language and emotions and mentally through our
thoughts. The way we communicate affects the outcome of our actions.
Whether our action is landing a new client or business deal, getting that
great job or asking our spouse/child to do something for us, our communication
style will determine our success. We begin our communication by being conscious of the
outcome we are looking for. If I speak to a colleague as if they are a
complete idiot, they will close down immediately and not hear a single thing
I say. And I will not get cooperation or collaboration from them in any
future interactions either. How do I change this? I change it by being conscious of
what I think and how I feel about my colleague. I look at my thoughts and
feelings toward this person and ask myself “what are they reflecting that
causes me to feel this way”? I spend
time getting to know the person by asking them open ended questions, such as; what are you
enjoying about summer? What did you do this weekend? What is your favorite
color? Then I take the conversation further by asking another question about
them or connecting a similarity between us. This evening I went to Staples with
a $10 coupon card that had the sticky glue on the back. I was peeling it off
and made a bit of a grunt sound when I had to hand it to the cashier. The
cashier said “I love peeling that off” and I said I do too (I grunted because
I didn’t have enough time to peel it all off but it was cool because he
immediately peeled off what was left and we were both smiling)! We made a
connection in a split second. This will be a memorable moment in our lives
because we had something in common and it lays the foundation for future
interactions. We
have a choice about how we are going to experience the world through the
people we meet. We can take the attitude of “people suck” (saw that on a
bumper sticker) or that people are infinitely interesting and unique. Your
choice will determine the outcome. Please forward to family and friends. Spread the word! |
