Age is only a number, but....

Challenge #72

Do you lie about your age? Why? There is a difference between chronological age, which is simply your age in years, and biological which is your age at a cellular level. Your quality of life can determine at what rate your cellular growth will be. Lifestyle factors such as stress level, nutritional balance, exercise and weight management  are all going to affect your biology.  A person can be 50 and look and feel like they are 35, 70 and look like they are 60, or, 50 and their biological age is 65. It all depends on how their life has been played out. For example, I don't know him personally, however, he man pictured is 64 chronologically, but is 50 biologically....

Now, a person who deliberately lies to you about their age for their benefit is really only hurting themselves.  Say for example, you meet someone with the expectation that they are the age that they represent themselves to you prior, then is actually over 10-15 years their real age, and sadly looks it, is....deceitful not only to you but to themselves. For both sexes, denial is a very common when dealing with age....

Embracing your chronological age and then finding out that your biological age is much lower and not knowing it, is a delight.  Finding out it is much older, is a wake up call to look at your life and how to make some changes.

I challenge you to take a look at your chronological age and find out what your biological age is. There are numerous online free tests that you can find to determine yours. My chronological age is 49 and my biological age is 32. Happy hunting!!

What's in a Name...

Challenge #71

According to Wikipedia, Onomastics is the study of the origin and meanings of names of all kinds. Anthroponomastics is the study of personal names. A given name is purposefully given, usually by a child's parents at or near birth, in contrast to an inherited one such as a family name.Given names are often used in a familiar and friendly manner in informal situations. In more formal situations the surname is used instead, unless it is necessary to distinguish between people with the same surname. They go on to say...."The western style of having both a family name and a given name (Christian name or forename) is far from universal. In many countries it is common for ordinary people to have only one name."
 
I challenge you to take a look at your name and discover the origin of it as well as your sur or family name. Do you like your name? Does your name truly define who you are? Were you given a middle name, do you use it. Do you want to change your name, the spelling or the entire name?

Safety and Calm

Challenge #70

Wake up and look outside the window. Are you feeling safe and calm? Savor what you see and feel. Be in a state of blissful gratitude for all the goodness around you.   Carry that feeling with you as you get ready for the day, driving or getting to work, errands or whatever the tasks are for you. See how long you are able to hold onto the feelings of calm and safety.  I challenge you to try to maintain these feelings throughout an entire 24 hour period and see how it changes your day....

9/11

Challenge #69

September 11, 2001, the day the world stood still in the wake of 4 deliberate massive terrorist attacks on the US. Two attempts on Washington DC and the two world trade towers in the financial district of New York City.

I was a flight attendant for both American and United airlines years ago, and know that you don't have to put on a uniform, pin on wings, drive to work, do a safety check of your aircraft and strap into your jumpseat to have  affinity and sorrow for the people lost, the fallen heroes of everyone on those 4 horrific flights. The sorrow and loss of the hundreds of thousands and of others directly affected on that day will be forever revered and remembered by all.

 I am proud of the US for the dignity and strength it has shown as a nation to pull together and rise above the hatred of others, to assess and change perceptions to help understand each other and make a difference in the world.  As the 10th year anniversary, I challenge you to take a moment of silence and give gratitude and reverence to not only the heroes but also for the lives lost that fateful day and may you never forget ...

The Art of Tea

Challenge #68

Tea plants originated in Asia as early as the 11th century and spread throughout the world by the the mid 17th century.  Tea is a popular alternative to coffee as a beverage and has had medicinal benefit and uses through time.  Globally tea has become a main focus in  social events, such as the Japanese, Chinese and Indian ceremonies in which tea has a special process of creation, preparation, handling, serving and then...drinking. In Britain, early afternoon and high teas are served in combination with foods such as special sandwiches, biscuits and cookies. Americans have recently in this century adopted tea as a daily ritual beverage and have harvested unique marketing concepts as herbals, botanical mixes and infusions that are sold in boutiques everywhere. The idea of the art of tea is to appreciate the essence and flavor of the tea, the taste, and the break in your day to relax and enjoy it.
I challenge you to find a tea that you love and take the time to savor the taste and allow yourself to take a 15 minute break during your day to kick back, relax and enjoy...

Final Resting Place

Challenge #67

As we embark upon the 10 year anniversary of one of the most tragic days in world history known as "9/11", when, on Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks hailed their mighty reign over the US for one monstrous day that will never be forgotten. Thousands of lives were immediately impacted, death, terror and mystery unfolded into a stream of unraveling for years as the message became clearer and clearer, that the US is not spared one moment of safety and mortality in the face of global hatred.  Have you looked at the subject of your own mortality lately? It is not something that we typically get up in the morning and do. In fact, we never plan for it or even want to think of it. However, when loved ones are lost, when death is experienced unexpectedly to someone we know and impacts us, how do we react? I challenge  you to take a look in silence to yourself and ask yourself, where do you want your final resting place to be? Is it near friends and family? Is it spread out over the ocean or special place to you? Spend a few moments in meditation and consider this....it is inevitable, our souls live on, but our bodies expire, where do you want your body to laid to rest when it is time?

awareness of your surroundings

Challenge #66

What do you pay attention to the most in your surroundings? Inside your home or other's homes and outdoors. Is it noise, people, visual things. Ask yourself what it is the most that you notice when you enter a room or leave a place. I challenge you to narrow it down to the one thing that you become aware of in your surroundings in a moment of your everyday life. Ponder that and ask yourself what it is about that one thing that makes you more aware of it....

Labor Day

Challenge #65

The holiday began as an observance of the working force in the united states. It is marked as the first Monday in September and most employers are closed so that workers can take the day off and enjoy with their families. Labor Day is also the mark of the end of summer and the last weekend before school begins. Many families will celebrate with a gathering of friends and hold a weekend cookout, mini-vacation or retail therapy


On this Labor Day, I challenge you to look at your work, your career and see if it is fulfilling you in the way you need it to. Not all work needs to fulfill us, but if you are on a career track, take a look at where you are in it. Do you need to progress, do you feel stagnant? Are you right where you want to be? If you are not currently in the work you really would like to be doing, give thought as to what you truly want. Take a moment to assess and to give thanks that you are where you are, regardless of the level. Be in gratitude for the gift of having work, as still so many are unemployed throughout the nation. ...

19...63

Challenge #63

Since we are on Challenge # 63 today, I chose this year, 1963 as a tellingly significant year in my personal history. I lost my leaders, my parents and my family. This is the year that was chosen that I be put up for adoption among hundreds of thousands of other children in my native country of Seoul Korea. I was in fact adopted and taken away from my native country to live in the US, the western world, a life very different than what might have been. I was given a new life in a very tiny town in the midwestern state of Ohio, where at a very young age, learning to live with uniqueness became necessity, my survival.

With an innocent visual to represent the year 1963, of what brings to mind a simplistic, semi-rural Mayberry USA, The year in pictures actually held alot of complicated and rich US and global history, and in parallel to my life, alot of ...loss. Most memorably in the US, it was the year in which JFK was assassinated. Significant social, political, technological and environmental events pressed on and by years end, the entire world was in shock as a major national leader was now gone. 1963 also witnessed the death of Pope John Paul XXIII at the Vatican. Globally, political problems in Vietnam were mounting and South Korea had returned to civilian rule. Hurricanes in in Bangladesh, Saipan and Haiti caused massive flooding and killed almost 30,000 people. Earthquakes in Libya and Yugoslavia killed hundreds and destroyed cities. Polio vaccines were given in the US and UK with a lump of sugar. Martin Luther King, Jr delivered his "I have a Dream Speech" and Kenya gained independence from Britain.

And, in pop culture, some may recall the song from 1975 by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, "December 1963, Oh what A Night". 

So, I challenge you to take a look at a significant year for you and see what happened in history. Allow the flood of memories to soak in and realize that you too are a significant part of history. It's not just the people around you that you think made history, you are historic in your own, by just being. Stand in your moment of importance and realize that you are here on earth to make history even greater....

Emancipation

Challenge #62

At some point in our lives, we need to break free from the chains that hold us back, that no longer serve us. Those chains, seen as emotional ties and beliefs, may originate from early childhood experiences with memories that keep us from moving forward, taking the steps we need to and being able to see ahead. They leave us feeling stuck, bound and sometimes depressed. They stem mostly from fear resulting in the lack of trust in ourselves, judgmentalism, criticism, disbelief in positive outcomes, and low self esteem and low self-love.

I challenge you to begin to notice your chains, how heavy they are, what they mean to you, how they hold you back, and allow yourself to break free of them. Sometimes they are referred to as the ethereal cords - negative psychic cords that tie you to others and seems impossible to break free of. Imagine yourself bound by these cords and then see a big pair of scissors or a machete come doen and cut them away in one swoop. Feel the lightness you suddenly feel....do this for each one you feel and acknowledge gratitude and vow protection for having completed this....

Mornings

Challenge #61

That quiet time when we first wake up and allow our consciousness to be felt. It is a feeling of newness. Whatever happened the night before good or bad, is always a secondary feeling to when we first greet the morning.
 
I challenge you to take a look at the way you feel when you wake up in the morning. Relish the opportunity to start fresh and anew upon each dawning of the day. Appreciate the stillness and quiet at those moments and make the most of it thru either 5-10 minutes of focused meditation, deep breathing, exercising, journaling or just simply being in silent gratitude. I used to make a thermos of coffee and walk down to the beach every morning with my camp chair, set up, listen to the gulls, the waves lapping softly on the shore and watch as the light began to get brighter. 30 minutes to enjoy and appreciate your mornings by yourself can alter your entire day, raising your vibration, allowing clarity to come to you.....

Animal Magnetism

Challenge #60

Happy September 1st, days after the dawn of a new moon and only 121 days or 17 weeks and 2 days left until the dawn of a new year. Three more months left to carve out a new you!!
Sexual attraction or raw charisma is usually termed as animal magnetism these days. The factor that is irresistible between humans to date, mate and otherwise copulate. We know it when we see it and feel it.  

I Challenge you to take a look at your animal magnetism meter and see where it is now....and where you would like it to be. Flirt today, taunt, take a look at someone in a different way that says, you are charismatic and see what kind of reaction you get...

Co-dependence

Challenge #59

We can tend to mistake a desire to feel like we belong to someone in a relationship as having actual co-dependency upon them. When we stop exercising independence within our relationships, we are exerting dependence on the partner resulting in an imbalanced and ultimately disintegrating and dissatisfying situation. In an energetic sense, if we are overly giving of our energy to our partner, they may reject it feeling as though it is either too overwhelming, stifling, or feel as though they don't need it. We not only exhaust our supply on them, usually with an attachment or expectation of the outcome in either praise or reward, and then feel bad because we didn't get what we wanted.
 
I challenge you to look at your relationship and see where your energy is going. See the pattern that your energy has taken in the relationship. Is it time to not be so giving, and allow your partner to give to you? Are you really happy in the way your relationship is, what can you do to become less co-dependent on them and to become more of yourself so that you have more to give, share and cherish?

Intervention

Challenge #58

Do you need an intervention? Do you know of others that you think are in need of an intervention? That is, the support of a number of people to help from an addiction of substance abuse? Interventions are typically designed for someone who is unable to stop abuse on their own. Sometimes we don't realize when we do need an intervention from something addictive that others may see as harmful or destructive to us. This can go from drugs and alcohol to addictive behavior in relationships leading to physical harm and domestic abuse. Some people will shy away from speaking their mind and taking action in such a situation, not wanting to get too involved or may think that it could make matters worse.

I challenge you to be proactive and step up to the plate if there is a situation in which you feel and think an intervention would help. It can be done gently or aggressively, depending on the severity of the situation. Also realize that you aren't alone, that you can do this with a group of others that share in the desire to help another. One intervention could save a life...ask yourself which you choose to do...

A Diamond in the Rough

Challenge #57

Sometimes we cannot see the brilliance of others or ourselves because of exterior cloudiness in the cuts, scratches, and scrapes that show... but everyone of us has the potential to be a gleaming radiant "gem" of a person. Perfection in every facet of ourselves is not only achievable but easy to attain.
 
I challenge you to seek out to polish the diamond in the rough that you are and to ease up and see the potential in others. It won't happen over night, but in time, as you chisel away the imperfections, smooth out the scrapes and continue working on yourself to clear up the wounds and work towards purity, you will begin to radiate the perfection that you always were on the inside outwards.....

Adoption

Challenge #56
Adoption in the most recognized public form is the legal acceptance of the responsibilities for a child or pet and that includes providing a home and incorporating them into their families.
As a child of adoption, I can say that it is not always a perfect picture. It can be a wonderful thing, provided that the motives of the parents adopting are really doing it for the child's best interest. It depends on whether or not the focus is truly on the child's best interest or on the selfishness of the parent's desire to have a family, no matter what, or to look good in the eyes of society as having taken in a disadvantaged child. Sometimes people think that what they have to offer, materially or emotionally is for the child's good, when in fact it can be just the opposite. The child is coming from a place of true pure innocence, the adults are the one's that for whatever reasons, create the problems.

Here is a quote from Abraham-Hicks to take into consideration when adopting or raising any child:
"The child is thinking, and receiving vibrational thought from you on the day that he enters your environment. That is the reason that beliefs are transmitted so easily from parent to child, from parent to child, from parent to child. The child is vibrationally receiving your fears, your beliefs, even without your spoken word... If you want to do that which is of greatest value for your child, give thought only to that which you want, and your child will receive only those wanted thoughts."

--- Abraham
Excerpted from "The Law of Attraction, The Basics of the Teachings of Abraham" # 179

A child will remember 1 negative thought and action regardless of the hundreds of positive ones from their childhood, so always be willing to be positive with your children.

Fear based forms of discipline such as control and guilt only serve to shut the child down....do you really want to treat the child like an animal?

If you have thoughts of adopting a child, or even in raising your living children now, I challenge you to really ask yourself what is your true belief and reason to adopt a child or pet in this world into your own? Take a look down the road 10, 15, 20, 15 years down the road and see that child in it's adult form. How have you helped them? What are you doing to do your part to make them a better person, to help them learn and grow? Are you really willing to invest the time and yourself to do this? Look at your personality types, are you really the type of person who can selflessly give to help another? Does your ego allow you to be wrong at times or do you always have to be right and in control? Do you think you are so right you have to make others decisions for them? Do you think you have to tell them what to think, dress and act like to make them better and to be a better reflection of you? Are you able to provide the college education you swore that you would when you filled out the initial adoption paperwork? Do you really have the financial means to take care of the child in a suitable way that you swore to? What are your thoughts surrounding discipline and how do you discipline? Is it through fear based models such as control or guilt to get others to do what you want them to? Will you allow that child to embrace and develop a relationship with their culture if they are from another country, and their own personality? Or, would you force them to live with your beliefs, your way of thinking only? Is your life really about you and how they fit in? Or, can you be open to really allow them to fit in and provide all the nurturing and caring without passing it off to the babysitters? Can you let go when you need to? Can you support them in finding their birth parents should they desire so? Are you open or closed? Giving or selfish? Fearless or fearful?

Solar System

Challenge #55

Seeing yourself as the sun and the center of your world, and the planets as the varying orbiting entities in your life can shift your thinking from feeling that you are stuck, as planets are always moving, and you are always changing. Notice if it makes you uneasy to think that you are the center of your world, as opposed to others being the center.  

I challenge you to look at your world as a solar system, your own galaxy, complete with planets, stars and black holes. See the planets as the fixed entities in your life that are elemental to the existence within your galaxy, Mars as money, children, spouse as your Earth, Mercury as work and career, Venus as love, relationships, Saturn as spirituality, and so forth, etc. See vortexes, meteor showers and black holes as occurrences. Draw it out, put names into your planets, create your own galaxy as noone else can.

Eye of the Hurricane

Challenge #54

Tropical storms are no stranger to residents of the Eastern US Seaboard. In recent years there has been much material and emotional devastation due to them, what with Katrina, Andrew, Hugo and others. People have lost their history, biography and biology and some risked their lives to help save others. The safest calmest element within a tropical cyclone storm or hurricane is the Eye. The eye can span as little at 2 miles to 200 miles, varying on the speed and temperatures of the winds that govern the storm. While it is impossible and not suggestible to ever try to be in the "eye of the hurricane" during a live tropical storm event, it is a metaphor to follow the path of least resistance in the face of tumultuous times around you, maintaining calm in the swirl of high pressure.
 
I challenge you to not get caught up in what is going around you for the day and to see yourself in remaining calm and within the eye of the storm. If you are in an area today that could be affected by Hurricane Irene, think wisely, safely and calmly. Do what you need to do while keeping a sense of peace about you.

Popping the Question

Challenge #53
In light of two states allowing gay marriages to come forth on the legal front and be realized, what are your feelings towards them? I challenge you to look inside yourself and see what it is that you feel. What you really feel, not what society tells you that you should be feeling. Anger, doubt, agreement, resentment, unfairness, peace, fear, love? Write these feelings and thoughts out on paper and then ask yourself why and how you might be able to change them if they are not positive. This doesn't mean that you have to agree or be positive about it, but to find you own inner resolution that brings peace to you as to why you have these thoughts and feelings about this topic.

Legacy

Challenge #52
Have you taken the time lately to look at what you will leave behind for your loved ones? What is it that you want to be remembered by and as. Are there possessions that personify you that you desire others to have? How do you desire others to cherish thoughts of you? I challenge you to take a look at what you want to leave behind when you leave this earth plane. Make a list of what you want to give to others, how you want to give it to them, and when you desire the tasks be done. Create a folder and begin to collect the necessary documents in preparation to carry out your desires properly. Write out your legacy, your history. Make it humorous, or serious, heavy or light. What are the things that you have done to contribute to society in a positive light? Think of how you want others to carry on memories of you and your life. If anything, this will help you to realize that you have a place on this earth and that you have the right to be remembered as you wish, you just have to create it...