Stop the World, I Want to Get Off! Overcoming Stress During Life Transitions

'With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.' Dr. Wayne Dyer

What's Bothering You? 

What life events are you currently reacting to? What's bothering you? Where do you feel everything's about to change and you don't have a handle on it?

Are you:

• Worrying about the Presidential Race not going in the direction you want? 
• Worrying about other people taking your rights away or your children's future opportunities?
• Stepping into a relationship or contemplating tying or untying the knot?
• Moving from renting into home ownership or thinking about purchasing a home?
• Becoming or thinking about becoming a parent, or sending a child off to school?
• Changing jobs or figuring out retirement?
• Dealing with chronic health, pain or abuse issues--or the loss of a loved one?

'No one can create negativity or stress within you. Only you can do that by virtue of how you process your world.' Dr. Wayne Dyer

Times of Transition are Unsettling 

Recently, I've had conversations with people dealing with one or more of these life transitions. As this IS life, no one is immune to dealing with the ever-evolving landscape of life. 

No matter who we are, or what life changes we're experiencing--whether 'good' or 'bad'--times of transition are unsettling and disruptive. Our fears and concerns during these transitions lead us to initially freeze up, and temporarily suspend us in a frozen state of inertia as we try to figure things out in our heads.

Sometimes the number of transitions and worries stack up and we're overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. Even if we try to push the fear and worry out of our head, we can still feel the dread deep in our guts making us even more anxious about the now unnamed, free floating fear.

In the midst of it we want answers NOW as we tire of feeling we're all alone living in limbo and we contemplate the future uncertainty and what it all means. We want the pain and uncertainty to go away. We want a moment of peace and tranquility.

But we don't always get what we want when we want it. More often we're left to figure out how we can persevere and endure the uncertain times and changes.  And through these difficult times we find our strength and resiliency and learn what strong stuff we're really made of.

'Relaxation is who you are; Tension is who you think you should be.'

Future Focus Creates Fear and Worry

What makes us tense in transitions is our focus on the future. We fear what won't happen that we want to have happen, and we fear what will happen we don't want to happen. Our fears, expectations and should-thinking leak into our consciousness and muddle our ability to think and act clearly so we do nothing at all.

'Never underestimate your power to change yourself; never overestimate your power to change others.' Dr. Wayne Dyer

Change Your Focus from Future Tense to Present Ease

How do we ease our minds and begin the journey back to taking positive actions to lead us forward to the next stage of a fully-engaged and worthy life?

When you feel overwhelmed and stuck in 'future tense', stop, take a breath, and ease back into the present. Get off the worry track. Take a day off from fixating on your fears or thinking about 'your situation', and engage in activities that let you know you are glad to be alive.

Let it be. Let today unfold without you worrying it to death. 

Give Voice to Your Inner Thoughts. Get your fears and expectations out of the dryer drum churning round and round in your head by talking with a confidant. As long as you keep the same stuff churning in your head, you maintain your fear and faulty thinking. By openly giving voice to your thoughts, you open yourself up to taking action today in ways to positively influence tomorrow.

Take One Positive Step. Step into the day with one action that brings you into enjoying today. Get out and spend time with people you are happy to have in your life NOW to laugh and celebrate your friendship.  Find a way to make a difference in one person's life each day.

Sometimes we just need to remember--life is to be enjoyed. Stop letting your life be determined by fear and worry. Focus on putting memorable activities into your life each day instead.

'To change one's life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions.'   William James

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Susan J Meyerott loves helping people become more fully themselves, particularly those working through anxiety, life and career transitions, relationships, and self-esteem issues. She provides a nonjudgmental, growth-oriented environment for you to become the person you’re meant to be—while appreciating the richness of who you already are. Learn more at Lightarted Living Blog

Hafiz: You Are the Elegant Host to All the Marvels in Creation

Throw Wild Parties in a Tree House--On a Limb--In Your Heart!

Light will someday split you open

Even if your life is now a cage,

For a divine seed, the crown of destiny,

Is hidden and sown on an ancient, fertile plain

You hold the title to.

Love will surely bust you wide open

Into an unfettered, blooming new galaxy

Even if your mind is now

A spoiled mule.

A life-giving radiance will come;

The Friend's gratuity will come—

O look again within yourself,

For I know you were once the elegant host

To all the marvels in creation.

 From a sacred crevice in your body

a bow rises each night

And shoots your soul into God.

Behold the Beautiful Drunk Singing One:

From the lunar vantage point of love.

He is conducting the affairs

Of the whole universe

While throwing wild parties

In a tree house--on a limb

In your heart.

Hafiz, 13th century Persian Poet

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before.


Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list. 

Joy Unconfined! Life as an Interpretive Dance!

How Will You Color Your Life?

'How do I create a vision of 'life as an interpretive dance' that is joyful, meaningful and inspiring despite the pain?'

We all start life with an empty stage and a blank dance card. We make the steps up as we go--improvising and interpreting along the way. What does your interpretive dance convey? Our dance steps and our interpretations are our own. We decide what moves us and what a moving experience looks like.

How will you color your life? How will you interpret your dance? What meaning will you give your daily dance? How will you use up all the space on your stage? How will you keep dancing when you get blisters on your feet and it feels too hard to go on? How will you put it all together? What words of wisdom will you surround yourself with on the outside, and within the confines of your heart?

I've been playing with the 'Life is an Interpretive Dance' coloring template--playing around with colors, themes, and embellishments. I've included the template here for you to copy, enlarge, and use as a meditative coloring page if you'd like to do the same.

And this is how it all got started......

The Conversational Dance 

'What started as an every day conversational dance between mother and child~with one waltzing in to interject a thought and the other following with an impromptu quick step to embellish and finish the other's thought~soon became a stage for all of us to examine the dance of life~with each of us giving it our own interpretation.'

Zorba the Greek Speaks!

'On with the dance! Let joy be unconfined.' Lord Byron

As a toddler, my friend's son, Brendan, was so joyfully engaged tasting life he earned the nickname Zorba the Greek. I remember watching him the day he sat in his high chair experiencing--rather than eating--his yogurt. 

As he gleefully sang 'blahhh, blah, blahhh, blah' a mouthful of yogurt tickled his tongue and softly leapt into the air, creating a mishmash of delightful experiences for all of his senses. His body danced with 'joy unconfined' (thank you Lord Brendan) as he immersed himself in an exquisitely sensual experience. In that moment every cell in his body conveyed the goodness of life.

Brendan, now in his 20s, is about to graduate with a degree in film. I had the pleasure of chatting with him on a recent trip to visit with his mother, Stephanie, a very expressive and free spirit with a ready laugh--who has recently emerged on the other side of treatment for breast cancer. 

As we chatted about the differences in temperament fully apparent from childhood between his older brother who has become an Accountant and himself, Brendan's mother stepped into the room and joined the conversation.

'It was clear early on', I said, 'that your brother was a more linear and orderly person. He would organize his crayons by color and in order. He was very methodical and careful when he colored. His choosing to become an accountant is a perfect path for him. It allows him to utilize his natural preferences to be more specific, factual, and orderly when dealing with the world.' 

'I on the other hand, his mother interjected as she swooped into the conversation with a graceful and expansive sweep of her hands, 'am more of..'

'...an Interpretive Dancer!' Brendan blurted out--sending us all into fits of laughter and mirth. 

...And thus spoke Zorba the Greek, sending us leaping and twirling down the joyful path of exploring life as an interpretive dance!

Life Is An Interpretive Dance 

...And We are All Interpretive Dancers! 

What a brilliant moment of silly insight: Life Is An Interpretive Dance! 

In a split second I realized Brendan had articulated a fabulous filter for viewing life. Just as I've held a picture of baby 'Zorba' enjoying life--now 25 years later, his spontaneous and creative outburst filled me with a new colorful vision of 'Life as an Interpretive Dance' to inspire me for many years to come. 

And his mother--with her continued upbeat and determined attitude despite the difficulties of dealing with 2 years of grueling cancer treatment--provided me an uplifting picture of an interpretive tap dancer able to artfully keep high spirited and high-stepping while stomping and leaping beyond the most difficult dance of her life.

We are all interpretive dancers providing the meaning to our own personal dance of life--accountants and creatives alike.

The Color of Our Lives

It's not just the creative, exuberant people who are the interpretive dancers. And it's not just those without struggles who dance. It's all of us--accountants and creatives alike, from birth to our last breath, who provide the meaning to our lives. We are all the dancers on the stage of life. How will you lead and interpret your life dance?

A single moment or comment can linger in our memories for a lifetime coloring our entire view of life. For me the question is 'how do I create a vision of 'life as an interpretive dance' that is joyful, meaningful and inspiring despite the pain?' How do I inspire myself?

As Carlyle says, we make each day a dance, a dirge or a life march. What will you do to make your days a dance that is more uplifting and joyful to help carry you through the more difficult moments?

'Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of 

music and rings the whole day through, and you make of it a 

dance, a dirge, or a life march, as you will.' Thomas Carlyle

'On with the dance! Let joy be unconfined.' Lord Byron

We're the interpreters~

We're the ones who take words and thoughts 

and bring them to life~

We are born to sing and dance and laugh our lives~

Dance is the song of the soul.

Nobody cares if you can't dance well~Just get up and dance

Dave Barry

The world is full of poetry. 

The air is living with its spirit; and the 

waves dance to the music of its melodies, 

and sparkle in its brightness. 

James Gates Percival

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Susan J Meyerott loves helping people become more fully themselves, particularly those working through anxiety, life and career transitions, relationships, and self-doubt. She provides a nonjudgmental, growth-oriented environment for you to become the person you’re meant to be—while appreciating the richness of who you already are. Learn more at Lightarted Living Blog

Let Go: Live a Life that Causes Your Soul to Dance

I wish to live a life 

That causes my soul to dance inside my body. 

Let Go and Express Yourself.

Choose to Live a Life that Causes Your Soul to Dance 

'Please send me your last pair of shoes, 

worn out with dancing as

you mentioned in your letter, 

so that I might have something 

to press against my heart.'

 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.

Japanese Proverb

Quote Credits: 

'I wish to live a life that causes my soul to dance inside my body.'

Dele Olanubi



'Dance is the hidden language of the soul.' 

Martha Graham


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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before.

Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list.

A Nostalgic Moment to Say Goodbye to Soft Summer Days

LAVENDER BLUE DILLY DILLY

Lavender's blue dilly dilly,

Lavender's green,

You'll be my king, dilly dilly,

I'll be your queen.

Who told you so, dilly dilly,

Who told you so?

Twas my own heart, dilly dilly

That told me so.

Lavender's Blue sometimes called Lavender Blue is an English folk song and nursery rhyme dating to the 17th century. 


Wishing you sweet moments of lolly-gagging and dilly dallying~ and good memories ~to keep yourself warm in winter as summer draws to a close.

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before. 

Stressed? Try Coloring to Still Your Mind

STRESSED?

BE BOLD!

LET GO AND CREATE Q'ART

Why Color When You're Stressed?

Centering and Stress Relief

Quiet and Active Reflection

Puts you in a State of Flow

Coloring Q'Art to Quiet Your Mind

I've been using Q'Art~or quote art~as a form of quiet meditation for years. Years ago I traveled a lot on business and learned to take my coloring tools with me to relax in airports, hotels and restaurants. I'd get lost in a world of coloring in the midst of airport hurry and worry. 

Sure, at first I tried to hide my silly and childish coloring activity from the other adults doing serious adult things and looking extremely important. But over time I just let it be and openly let it be known I was a silly person who colors in public (despite being a very busy and important business woman....).

At the airport other business people would stare at me in wonder before asking, 'what are you doing?'.  

'I'm coloring,' I'd reply unabashedly. 

Despite my apparent 'serious lack of seriousness' for a business person 'coloring' in the airport~you could see the longing in these time-constrained people who wanted to join me in picking up the pens and losing themselves in a moment of quiet, yet colorful, reflection. 

There is nothing like coloring to give your mind and spirit a lift during a stressful day. 

A few short minutes of mental rest is all you need to retreat and renew your spirit. 

When you pick up coloring pens and begin to embellish a quote you naturally move into a state of flow and relaxation. And while you only need a few minutes to get into this flow state from coloring you can get lost in it for hours.

In a few inspired moments of coloring~your heart rate and breathing slow and become regular as the outside world disappears~you move out of your stressed and more serious part of your brain into your creative, and nonjudgmental mind and into a state of flow.

Q'Art~5 Easy Steps to Getting Started 

Quote Art is an easy and fun way to delve deeper into your favorite quotes, still your mind and center yourself.  Since many of you have asked  how to get started doing your own coloring (why should I have all the fun?) I am providing you the imperfectionist's guide to getting started. 

Here are 5 easy steps to getting started with your own colorful stress relief activity. 

The mind loves color so anything you do to illustrate your favorite quotes will help you absorb the message.

Hi my name is Susan and I like to color.....

Set Up Stress Survival Toolbox 

You can make it easy to renew your spirit wherever you are just by having a coloring toolbox with you that includes: 

• Pencil with eraser
• Black pen
• Colored pencils or watercolor pens (start with a pack of fat bright felt pens)
• Copy Paper  (or coloring book)

These spirit survival supplies don't take up much room and they travel well. You can create your own quote art with kids~the gurus of coloring play~or sitting alone by the pool, in the garden, at the office, the airport or easy chair. 

1.  Develop a Template. Keep it simple so you don't overwhelm yourself. I like to use ordinary copy paper (so I don't take myself too seriously) cut in 1/2 with a place for a quote in the middle and separate squares around to individually play with. If you are a perfectionist, use a ruler; If you can live with imperfection, don't. Once you have a format you like, make copies of your template to take with you anywhere to play with and calm your mind.

2. Collect Quotes.   You don't need to be a calligraphist  to create the quote. Just play with the lettering or use the computer to create the written word. The point is to do this in a way that is enjoyable, not stressful. If you don't like what you create you can erase it or toss it. 

3.  Choose a Motif to Decorate the Border. Sometimes I use geometric shapes with a repeating pattern and sometimes I choose to expand outside the lines of the squares. There are no rules that say you have to stay within the lines. Use pencil to layout your design then outline with black pen to create the pattern in each square.

4. Color and Embellish. Use the color pencils or pens to color in your design. Embellish with gold or silver pen.

5. Practice Playing. I consider everything I do as 'practice'. I have been practicing playing with art for 45 years. When you keep your eyes on 'practicing at playing' rather than trying to create art you'll discover it is much easier to leave judgment at the door.

Rest Your Brain and Have Fun

Now don't just sit there--go play. You know you want to do it! Doodle, color, and have fun NOW! You probably have felt pens, black ink pens and paper at your fingertips. If you have difficulty getting started, go find some kids to work with you. They'll show you the way to let go and create.

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before.

Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list.