PasadenaSue

I was singing a song I had on my iPod. I am working on my fear of singing in public. I figure if I get used to singing outside, where people may or may not hear me, it will be easier to sing where people can hear me. 2 months ago

I don’t actually go here very often, just the odd occasion when I want to sit outside and people watch. Today I stopped to watch people after riding in the mountains. Plus my coffee maker is still out of sorts. I had a large house coffee. It’s too strong for me to drink a lot of it. I took my time enjoying the coffee and enjoying the sunshine. And I watched people. It was a nice way to spend an hour. 2 months ago

I spent about 45 minutes in the mountains, enjoying the view and singing. I rode up the crest and found a good pullout where I could park my scooter. Then I hiked out on a hill and sang to my heart’s content. The bushes were in bloom with pretty yellow flowers. It was nice in the sun. :) 2 months ago

I sat out on my patio waiting for my sister to stop by. I read since it was nice outside. My neighbor stopped by, and we chatted for a while. And then, as we were sitting there I saw a strange animal across the street. “Look, a deer!” Well upon closer examination it wasn’t a deer, but a poor coyote who had mange so bad that he didn’t have any fur at all. His skin was a grey color, and because of the way he was bounding, he looked like a deer without any antlers.

Since it was still light out, and people had animals out, I didn’t want him to stay in the neighborhood. So I got on my scooter and “escorted” him out of the area, up to a road that he could follow, and get back into the area he came from. As I herded him up the road I could see that he was in bad shape because of the mange. I am not fond of coyotes in urban areas, especially my neighborhood. But this poor animal was obviously in very poor health and had major problems because of his mange.

Anyone who saw the photos of the raccoon with mange that was mistaken for a “Chupracaba” in the summer of 2011, and made the news, knows how different an animal looks without any fur. Mange is treatable according to what I am reading, I am just not sure I want to go looking for a coyote… 2 months ago

It was the result of the webinar I watched on the 18th, and the discussion was very enlightening. I learned a lot about myself in terms of how I would do running a business, and I learned about areas that I need to focus on. The discussion was a lot easier than I thought it would be. That was partially because I didn’t have a clear idea of what we would be talking about.

I have some homework to do. Focus on one business idea and start building a business plan. 2 months ago

I can tell that I have more confidence in many areas of my life. Though I took a personality test on Monday and received the results today. In one area of my life, my self confidence is lower than I would have liked. The person I was speaking with about the results is a business coach. He said that as I work on my external business ideas, my self confidence will increase. This makes sense because I haven’t ever worked on my own business before so this is new ground for me.

The areas that I scored very high in were theoretical (no surprise), altruism, and individualistic. These are in line with my behaviors, and views of the world. I was average for everything else, which did surprise me a bit. I thought I would have been lower in areas like political and regulatory.

So, I have a new area to work on, and I am doing fine in the other areas of my life. That is GOOD! 2 months ago

I am working hard at choosing positive thoughts over negative ones. And the more I work at it, the easier it is. I catch myself if I say something negative and then rephrase it. I feel better. My life is better, and people are starting to notice that I am much happier.

This is the best gift I can give myself!! 2 months ago

I ran some errands and just focused on being really nice to people. Everyone responded with a smile. One lady was especially sweet. She works at this little “crumble” shop in Pasadena (since the U.S. term has another meaning in the U.K.), and she was super nice. It was great talking with her and watching her response.

And on my way home the people in the car in front of me were obviously lost. I stopped and gave them directions based on the map they had. They were very happy to be helped out. That made me smile! 2 months ago

I was waiting for my scooter to get an oil change while I browsed the store and sipped on a cup of coffee. It was okay, Folger’s and not overcooked. Not my first choice but certainly it made the time pass faster. And the guys working at the shop were nice. 2 months ago

I took the course years ago at the local community college – and learned so much! The course was a challenge in a good way. It is amazing how often I use information I learned from that class in my personal life.

Good luck and study hard. This is important information. 2 months ago

My chiro treated me for some emotions today. He had a new protocol he wanted to try, and he came up with three “lost” emotions that were causing me physical problems. One was shame, from when I was 15. One was longing, when I was 17. The last one was when I was 28, but I don’t remember what it was – maybe embarrassment. Anyway, he cleared me on all three.

I think that this is good for several reasons. Since there were only a couple of emotions that needed treating, that is a good sign. The fact that they were later in life was also good. That means that we have cleared out any earlier stuff, which typically is more damaging. And any release of old emotions is always beneficial! All this stuff needs to be addressed to get to perfect health, so let’s get rid of it! :)

I also had him check me against a list of fears and I was fine on all of them. Yes! That’s wonderful. Some of the fears were things I had never thought about someone being afraid of – music, long words, and flowers – however I guess you can always find someone who is afraid of anything. It’s just how our minds work. I am happy that I am not afraid of things any more. 2 months ago

I was super nice to the waitress at lunch today. It was a nice day and she was trying to be attentive, which we appreciated. My friend and I got her smiling. 2 months ago

Your letter is incredible! Honest, loving, supportive, you have shared your inner feelings with us too. Thank you. As an adult, I can relate to some of what you wrote. How we make mistakes and over think them. How we shut people out because we were hurt when we were younger. You are not alone there.

The good news is that we can still have fun as adults, we can go out and ride bicycles, run, swim, float on inner tubes down rivers, and just be big kids if we want. It’s still fun. In some ways it is even more fun because we can have nicer “toys”.

I hope you have gotten over caring what other people think. That’s a challenge for most of us. If you have your morals, and you are honest, you are a success!

Great letter! 2 months ago

So your cats will have privacy and you will have piece of mind. :) 2 months ago

Islands used to have the best coffee – kona coffee. They now server Lyon’s brand (I think it is also Hawaiian). I had iced coffee since it was a warm day. It was a great way to accomplish one more portion of this goal. 2 months ago

One of my favorite things to do is eat outside. The day was warm and sunny so my friend and I sat outside and ate. It was perfect! The food was good, the weather wonderful, the conversation awesome!! 2 months ago

I sent an email to my university thanking them for their assistance with commencement. I received a nice email back. This is such an easy goal to accomplish, and my last entry was a year ago!

I am going to move this up in my list so that I do this more often. It is so simple to just say “Thank you” or “good job” and I need to make it a priority to tell more people. 2 months ago

Mindful shopping! We have so many things in our lives already that we often do not need more. I did something similar and was shocked at how many things I wanted to buy, that I didn’t need. But the urge to buy them was so strong. Once I forced myself to wait, I rarely wanted most of the items. And since that exercise, I have purchased very few items.

Keep posting your progress! 2 months ago

Because the motivation behind this goal is to do something that makes me uncomfortable. There are a few things that I need to do as part of this goal that are not based on fears, but are breaking habits. Like dress differently, or go somewhere I haven’t been before. Attend a concert, or go to a formal dance, or visit a restaurant that is totally new to me.

When I break this down, the only thing that is at work is my self confidence. If I feel that attending a formal dance is comfortable, then am I really out of my comfort zone? To be fair to myself I added this goal prior to “face my fears”. 2 months ago

I think it is worth a try. I am old enough that common sense will protect me from doing something really dangerous, so fear does not need to be an emotion I carry with me. I understand that it has a basis for survival. My fears are not helping me survive, they are holding me back from living.

OK, maybe the time I tried to “pet” the cobra in India should have been tempered with a touch of fear, however I did ask first, and he said “yes”. After the snake let me know that it did not want me petting it, I realized that perhaps the “yes” didn’t mean he was giving me permission. Still, it was a beautiful snake! Hooded cobras are awesome!

I digress. Being afraid of dancing in public is not helping my survival. Being afraid of flying (this is a minor fear) just makes traveling less fun. So I want to get rid of these fears – all fears!

My chiropractor is helping me, and I have some techniques I am using to clear my fears. Tomorrow I need to go over to the Colorado Street Bridge and see if I have any fear of heights left. My unconscious says I am clearing the fears. Let’s see. 2 months ago

I had my chiro treat me for this. Sometimes he thinks I ask him to do things that are beyond his capability, however I have tremendous faith in what he can accomplish. If it doesn’t work, no harm is done, so I tell him to give it his best attempt. He thinks, and then tries something. It usually works the first time. :)

Mind, body, emotions, they are all connected. To me it makes sense that if he can treat me for muscle memory about a fall, that he can also treat me for a memory that is not helping me. He is beginning to realize that he has far more ability to fix things than he thought. It’s a win/win for both of us! 2 months ago

And I am a bit surprised that we are still teaching kids to read a regular clock. Almost everything is digital now, it is more accurate, and it is easier to use.

It seems like this is leftover from decades ago when we needed to teach children to tell time, and the teachers haven’t caught up to society. 2 months ago

Not only will you get to the weight you want, you will be so much healthier! Eating healthy, being aware of your emotions, and practicing discipline – you are making excellent progress towards life! 2 months ago

Thank you, bluepeashooter! Your post provides incentive to get out and see the world again! 2 months ago

There were some excellent ideas presented. Some of them I had figured out from various things I had read, and some were new to me. The webinar had the desired result – it got me thinking about what business I want to start, and how I will set it up. I need to do some serious brainstorming about which ideas are most viable, and then get to work on them. This could be the life changing breakthrough I have in 2013. 2 months ago

Now that I have a newly issued passport it is time to think about an adventure! There is this week long bicycle tour through Quebec that I would love to go on. I could go back to Nova Scotia, and places east. I could visit some islands in the Caribbean. Or go to Europe. Or even Iceland!

I haven’t taken a real vacation in several years. 2013 may be the year I get back to traveling. I would even be happy heading back to Alaska and visiting some of Western Canada along the way.

Sigh… 2 months ago

This is becoming habit and I like it. Saturday morning I had to get up really early. I set up my coffee maker the night before so there would be coffee when I woke up. And when I went into the kitchen Saturday morning, the pot was half way full. I drank one cup of coffee, and noticed that steam was coming out where the water gets poured in. That’s not how it works…

Sad to say the coffeemaker is broken. The good news is that it made 2 cups of coffee before breaking – just enough to get me going that morning!! I was grateful for the coffee because it would have been difficult to get moving without it.

Even when things don’t go as planned, there are still things to be grateful for. 2 months ago

The only way to get over this “fear” is to sing in public! I was walking around the Rose Bowl, listening to music on my iPod and I decided to sing out loud. Now few people could actually hear me because most of the runners/walkers were listening to their own iPods. :) At first I just sang quietly out loud. Then I went to the little rose garden that I love, and I sang and sang louder. It was liberating in some ways. Cars drove by, people walked by and I knew they could hear me but I just focused on the music and sang.

Has that cured my fear? No. However it helped me to realize that singing is just a matter of practice and attitude. If I thought I was good at singing then I would be fine singing in public. If I practice, I will get better. It’s simple!

I’ll keep working on this. I have thought about driving up into the mountains, parking somewhere and singing to the coyotes and birds that live there. :) 2 months ago

It sounds like you had a great time. The good news is that you now know where you want to be in life, so you can work on getting there. :)

I hope 25 is a magical year for you! Enjoy!! 2 months ago

I will be following your planning since this is someplace I want to visit – and sooner rather than later. :)

Sounds exciting! Keep us posted! 2 months ago