FEAR

To me, the most dreaded four letter word that exists. Fear can creep into your life and strip you of your dreams, it can steal your ability to accomplish the things you desire. and, worst of all, it destroys the joy of life itself.

Pause for a second and look at your life as it is right now. Ask yourself, "How is fear dominating the experience of my life?  How is fear tearing away the dreams and aspirations I have and making me live a life that is smaller than the one I want?"

So many tragic and challenging events are happening in the world today that we may sometimes find ourselves feeling helpless, fearful, aggressive, angry, outraged or complacent all within the course of a single day. Our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs are being challenged in ways we may never have experienced before, which can leave us feeling lost and disoriented.
 
Because these external events are extraordinary, they often induce extraordinary responses and emotions in us. Being unaccustomed to dealing with feelings like helplessness, anger, discouragement, and even hatred, we can easily become frantic in our search for an outlet for these negative energies. This is a time when compassion for both ourselves and others can turn the tide on these feelings of despair.

A guest blog from my friend Jodi Okun of College Finacial Aid Advisors on that holiday trip home for college freshmen. 

Even though you’ve enjoyed the time you’ve spent away at school, you may be looking forward to heading home for the first time. It may be for a long weekend, for Thanksgiving, or even for Winter Break. Regardless of when you go, you’ll most likely encounter some unexpected challenges.

My friend, Cynthia Bazin of SmartChic has some great ideas to keep you safe during the holiday shopping frenzy.

The holidays are a great time of year. The holiday lights; great food; giving gifts to those you love. The last thing you want or need during the holiday season is to be a victim of a crime. When you're rushing around, sometimes you can forget the little things that can keep you safe. Criminals like to take advantage of an opportunity. Don't give them that opportunity. Slow down some and make sure you are always thinking safety first.

There is a chill in the air as the days shorten and winter announces its arrival with the first storms of the season. During the colder days of winter with weather curtailing many outside activities, it can be easy to isolate yourself and disconnect from the world. Sometimes, though, that isolation can go beyond just winter nesting and turn into a deeper sense of not belonging and even depression.

Isolation can hamper our ability to feel good about ourselves and the lives we lead. It can make us question our value, our ability to give and receive love, and our place in our families and communities.

Many of us are committed to extremely busy lives, working from dawn until dusk and sometimes beyond with a 12 - 15 hour work day becoming more and more common.

But it is impossible to perform at your peak every minute of the entire day. So the question is, when are you at your ideal potential for performing each of the activities you need to accomplish during the day?

“You have to have a life to bring your best to the table as an actor” These words where surprisingly enough from my agent when I was talking to him about turning down a job because I was burned out and run down.  Although his percentage as my agent was on the line as well, he emphasized how vital it was for actors to get out and live a full life as an important facet of being a fully realized performer. Living a full life is a valuable catalyst for fueling the creative spark in all of us.

As kids, we tend to be more open to the idea of learning just for the fun of learning but as adults the cues aren't as clear and we often lose our inspiration to learn new things amid various commitments and responsibilities that demand our attention and time. When we do make time to learn a new skill it is often related to career advancement with the learning seen as a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Perhaps, just like kids returning to school, we can find methods of inspiring our adult selves to learn something new in an area that interests us and brings us enjoyment, just for the sake of learning.

Do you remember the first date you had with your current partner? Maybe there was a certain chemical reaction between the two of you? A quickening of your heartbeat, a sense of something magical in the air that was bigger than the two of you. Anything and everything seemed possible.

But as time went on, maybe a little of the magic vanished from your relationship. Abracadabra and life had stolen the initial passion that you had for each other. What can you do?

Summer is here and the drive to create and maintain that perfect swimsuit body is a goal many of you are trying to live up to each day. You find yourself at the gym, taking daily runs, and constantly focusing on defining that elusive six pack.

And while this commitment to maintaining the physical body is vitally important, there is another component to wellness that involves your inner being; let's call this inner fitness.

Wow it's only June and already we have had some ninety degree days here in Pasadena. The AC has been on a couple of times and I picked some lemons off the tree to makes fresh lemonade last night. As I poured a nice tall glass of fresh lemonade I was fascinated with how the ice floated and it got me thinking about a concept I had heard a few weeks earlier about icebergs. Yes, icebergs!