I have listened to both the calls and thought I would share what came up for me when I was listening to you all today. @Jolene Goodson I related to what you were saying about the fitness part today. I have noticed that 'health' and 'fitness' are big areas of focus for me right now. I have been reflecting on the past year and planning for the year ahead and there are a number of fitness/strength related 'goals' on there. There has also been an idea about getting back into tennis which is something that was a huge part of my life growing up. So that is interesting. A friend is keen to do a weekly pickleball game so I am thinking that could be fun and also good for fitness etc. But immediately, the thought that came into my mind was, "Oh, you're going to be 'THAT' kind of woman now. The expat wife who plays tennis and goes to coffee. So funny! 😆 So, instead of that thought, I will try to reframe it in a way that encompasses the "Who am I being?" way of thinking. I am being the kind of woman who values a fit and healthy body as she heads into her mid-fifties, values social connection and loves the competitiveness of playing tennis and pickleball on a regular basis.

I am working my way through the book, The Power of Systems, by Steve Chandler and Trevor Timbeck. Not sure what chapter, but towards the end, Steve mentioned he was asked if "systems bypass out humanity." Steve asked in return if the man were just imagining that would happen or if that was his experience. Steve then observed that his own experience was that fully engaging in a workable system gave him more personal love and life, not less. The quote from Seneca was included: "we suffer more in imagination than in reality." Has anyone else read this book yet? What have been your discoveries?

This morning reading "The Artist's Way" regarding perfectionism, I am reminded of 80-20 dash it off. Behaviors of the perfectionist when writing, painting, creating creates having one eye on her audience instead of being in the process, the perfectionist is constantly grading results. For the perfectionist there are no rough sketches--every draft is meant to be final. In reality it is the ego. I have learned the most from my "mistakes". My new system is having it 80% good enough--put it out in the world for critique and see what else has to happen. The painting is never finished. It simply stops in interesting places.

After participating in the new year long group Wendy is starting and hearing some inspired revelations there, I was watching the mapping over video about switching back and forth between opposing feelings. And how, with practice, one can get better at choosing how one feels in a given moment... I had an "Ah ha" moment about how mapping over is really changing our state of "being". I can be "...oh, I have to hike this mountain..." or I can be "Oh! Wow! I get to hike this mountain!" The former is heavy and not fun, the second is a fun challenge to be explored.

In the Power of Systems book, reinventing yourself is discussed. The author mentioned a quote from Alan Watts: "You're under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago." This sentence ignites something deep within me to be at peace with profound, deep changes happening in my life. It sparks a permission note to myself that change is safe.