Happe Life Club

I love it when I get profound messages that mean much more than their surface meaning. I got such a message a few days ago.

A co-worker said he tried to send me an email and when he typed in my name he got an error message that said, “That person no longer exists.”

I laughed and he said he had to go to the main office to inquire if I was still an employee.

As he walked away, I thought his error message was quite profound because in so many ways I feel like a new person who’s constantly looking for ways to show up differently in the world.

I want to appreciate my friends more and celebrate all the little thing I normally take for granted. Here’s an example.

Last week I flew to Vegas to spend four days with a couple of girlfriends. Normally I experience severe anxiety before boarding the plane and it gets worse just as the plane starts to take off. I sit in the isle seat because the thought of looking out the window makes matters worse. To cope I count the seconds I feel utter panic which keeps me from screaming like a lunatic until the plane levels off. I especially dreaded this trip because it wasn’t a direct flight, which meant two take-offs.

This time was things were different.

Before the flight I focused on how grateful I was to have this fabulous opportunity to spend time with two of my closest friends. I relished the idea of three days off work and the opportunity to enjoy warm weather in a place I’ve always wanted to visit.

Thinking these thoughts produced a calming spirit I’ve never felt before a flight. It gave me the courage to sit near the window and I didn’t feel a second of anxiety as the plane barreled down the runway. When it swiftly lifted off the ground I celebrated my new found courage and even looked out the window.

In that moment the old me didn’t exist. The new me stood (or sat in my case) courageous over years of torment and anxiety and it felt good.

A few days later I conquered another first – a successful Happe Life Club conference call.

You see, I’ve scheduled free conference calls in the past and it was normally a lonely experience because I was the only participant. I thought this might be the case this time but the new and improved Sheryl envisioned what it would be like to share an amazing hour with people who, like me, were willing to do whatever it took to make drastic changes in their lives this year.

That’s just who showed up on the call and we had a blast.

We shared our fears, our insecurities and our hopes for a better life. We comforted and coached and listened with an open heart and grateful spirit.

I can honestly say it was one of the best conference calls I’ve ever been a part of and I was once again grateful for the experience.

What I’ve learned this month is that when you share your passion it brings joy to people who really need it and that’s when the magic happens.

This has been one of the most rewarding months I’ve experienced in a long time because  I’ve made a conscious effort to live differently and I’m seeing amazing results. I’m much more focused on moving towards what I want and less interested in dwelling on what hasn’t shown up yet.

It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been well worth the effort.

What changes do you want to see in your life this year? What would you like to have accomplished by this time next year? It’s not too late to download the January worksheets and listen to the conference call. I promise it’ll be time well spent.

Last week I recommitted to my exercise program and worked out three days. I missed a few days the prior week and felt a little defeated. Then I remembered why I want to be physical fit and decided it was okay that I slacked off.

It’s okay if you’ve slacked off on one or more of your goals as well, because you learn valuable lessons when you stop doing something you’ve set a goal to do.  You get to decide if it’s something you’re serious about doing or being and then you get to start all over again.

I think it’s okay to stop and start.

One way to work through this issue is to think of a time when you achieved a goal. Then try to remember if you became tired or discouraged or just plain angry during any part of the process because things weren’t going as fast as you hoped they would.

What did you do during this difficult time?

Did you give up and think, “What the hell! People like me don’t do or have or get to be (fill in the blank with your goal)?”

It’s that kind of thinking that keeps you where you’ve always been.

In this New Year I urge, no make that implore you, to never give up.

Whatever you want to have or be or do in your life wants you to have or be or do it. It’s just about thinking different thoughts and doing different actions.

Kinda like I did with my exercise program. It would have been easy for me to blame the weather. I love running outdoors and that keeps me physically fit and since I live in an area of the country that has severe winters it’s hard to run outside in the cold and… blah, blah, blah.

That kind of thinking has helped me gain unwanted pounds during the winter for as long as I can remember.

This year is different because I’m determined to end the winter in better shape than when it began and that involves working out and watching what I eat.

Yes it sucks, but the results are well worth the effort.

Have you made a commitment to change something this year? If so, have you begun to do something about it?

If not that’s okay. It’s not too late. The really good news is that it’s never too late to change something that’s not working for you.

All it takes is one tiny step in the right direction and before long you’re motivated to keep going. That’s how I started running. I used an app on my phone and would run for 30 seconds and walk for three minutes and eventually got to the point where I could run for 30 minutes.

Knowing that I had done something I never thought I’d be able to do was my reward and it felt great.

Your reward doesn’t have to be something you buy, although it could. It could simple be the smile on your face when you tell someone what you’ve done or how you’ve caught a negative thought or how you’ve started thinking about a problem in a brand new way.

It’s your life and you get to live it anyway you want.

I just think Happe works best.

Every morning I get a wonderful gift in my in box. It’s a short, often funny and thoroughly entertaining message from the Universe. This short, often prophetic and extremely insightful messages are written by Mike Dooley. Today my message read:

In a way, Sheryl, life itself tracks a person’s generosity, much like an airline might track frequent flyer miles. The more you give, the more you earn, the higher you fly, and the further you go.

Coffee, tea, or a flat screen TV?
The Universe

At the end of every email is another message.

“The one thing about generosity, Sheryl, is that you can’t ever overdo it.”

Generosity has been on my mind for the past few months.  I created this club because I really want to help as many people as I can live happy lives. I even wrote a blog on this very subject two weeks ago and love that this message made it’s way back to me today.

Sharing means you open up your heart and your life by sharing what you have with another person or place. It makes you feel good and makes you happe. It’s been a long time since I’ve given this much of myself away and I’ll never stop. The blessings keep coming and I’m so touched and grateful for them all.

Want your own private message from Mike Dooley’s amazing company? Sign up here.

Can’t wait to hear all about your prophetic messages.

The one thing I admire most about Martin Luther King, Jr is that he didn’t let fear stop him from doing what he was born to do. I couldn’t imagine going through life knowing that there’s thousands of people who want to kill me simply because I believe everyone should be treated equally.

I pretty sure I’m not that courageous and I’m incredibly grateful that he was.

On this day that celebrates his life and his legacy I’m making a commitment to dare to live a different life. It’s not easy making changes and some may question your reasons and your sanity. They most likely won’t understand why you’re doing it. They don’t have to because it’s simply none of their business.

You get to decide…

what you do

what you think

what you eat

what you wear

where you live

and who you live with.

Every single day you get to decide.

Then you get to do something about your decision.

I’m deciding to take out my bucket list and do a few of the things I’ve always wanted to do.

I’m going to Africa, a Superbowl game,  a NBA game, (can you tell I love sports?).

I’m making a commitment to travel, read more books and enjoy the company of people who make me laugh until one of the following happens: tears flow freely or I wet my pants. Now that’s  my definition a happe life!

What about you? It’s your turn to share your dreams…

Writing this week’s blog was tough. I wanted to write about goals and how important it is to make them and create little teeny, tiny happe steps to achieve them but the words just didn’t come. I’d write a few sentences then nothing.

So I decided to give up on this topic and write about my kitchen.

My whole life centers around home, work and an occasional shopping trip to a mall that’s about 30 minutes from my home. That’s as far as I travel especially – in winter.

Today was different.

A fellow life coach invited me to her fabulous presentation at an Ikea store an hour from my house and I decided to venture out of my comfort zone to see her presentation.

I’m glad I did because it gave me yet another thing to think about.

She had us fill out a worksheet about our kitchen. Here’s what I wrote:

“My kitchen is much too small. There’s not enough room to adequately cook. The appliances are outdated and the cabinetry is old and outdated.

I’ve done this exercise with clients so I knew what this meant the moment I wrote my answers.

Our homes and every room in them are a reflection or metaphor of our lives.

The fact that I think my kitchen is too small means I think my life is too small and that’s the God honest truth. I think I was born to help thousands of people live happe lives (which is the reason I started this club) and I’m not doing that everyday.

On average I interact with 150 students a day. I teach them English. Some get it. Some don’t.

Some days I enjoy my work. Some days I don’t which translates to me living small and not having enough room to adequately cook (or do the work that I’m passionate about doing).

That’s where goals come into play.

If I want to cook in a bigger kitchen I need to get the word out about what I have to offer so that more people will come and sample my food (join the happe life club) and perhaps stick around for a while (decide they’d like to hire me as their life coach) or at the very least tell their friends about me and what I do so that they’ll come take a gander (and join the club as well).

I love clarity and hope you do too.

Now it’s our turn.

I invite you to take a look at your kitchen and share what you don’t like about it. Then you get to see how that same thought relates to your life. Or you can email me if you don’t get the correlation.

I guess the fact that I’ve wanted to tear down the wall that separates my dining room from my tiny kitchen is another proper metaphor for how I want to tear down lots of other metaphorical walls in my life.

I think writing this blog several times a week is tearing down a few walls as well.

I can’t wait to read about your kitchens and how they relate to the yearnings or successes you have in your life.

Sheryl

A friend just sent me a link to a wonderful blog written by a nurse who worked with patients who had been sent home to die. She writes about the top five regrets people have on their death bed. It’s a quick read that’s guaranteed to help you change the way you look at your life. Happe Reading…

http://exposingthetruth.info/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying/

I’d love to know your thoughts after reading.

Sheryl