What do I truly Love? 5 Ways to find your answer.

Perhaps loving something is the only starting place there is for making your life your own. - Alice Koeler

February is the month dedicated to LOVE.  This month holds the promise, that if we make what we truly love a part of our everyday, each day (regardless of the challenges) will be fully lived and fully enjoyed.


What do you truly love?  If you do not have an answer, do not worry, you are not alone.  The reality is - most of us do not know what we love.  During the course of our lives, other people's ideas about what we should love, and when, and how,  blur and hide our "real" answer.  Eventually, we have no idea what we truly love.  Thankfully, we can find the answer(s) by doing any or all of the following:

• Carry a small note book - each time you say to yourself, "I wish I could do that" - write it down.
• In your note book, record what you like about what other people are wearing - earrings, handbags, tee shirts, boots/shoes -  no plan, no judgement just appreciation.
• Carry a camera or use your phone camera to take pictures of things that catch your attention - patterns, furniture, signs, color combinations, shapes....any and everything.
• Start a Pintrest Board - this is an online "scrapbook"/pin board, which allows you to collect (and share if you like) images of things that you find interesting, as you cruise cyberspace -  www.pintrest.com 
• Visit local places - parks, restaurants, stores, malls - that has "something" special that resonates with you.  Allow yourself time to just sit and take in the atmosphere.

Here are just a few of my favorite, inspiring places:

• ABC Carpet & Home, NYC
• Cloisters Museum, NYC
• Lafayette Village, Raleigh, NC
• The Siena Hotel, Chapel Hill, NC
• Bikram Yoga Raleigh 
• Bookstores - any size, anywhere in the world
• Flea Markets

This is an exciting adventure, that will immediately change our lives, since we will be focusing on all that is good in our lives.  Who knows what the "records" will show by month's end, and how our lives will change as we fill our days with our true loves.

Serene Serendipity - Divine Events and Retreats has set up some exciting "adventures" that makes it easy for  you to explore and uncover your loves.  Check in at www.sereneserendipity.com.

it is a beautiful, winter day, at last!! I have some work to do on a great project that landed on my lap.

www.serenesharon@blogspot.com

New Year, New You, New Groove!

I exhaled at the end of 2011.  I had made it.  I exhaled because I had made progress.  I had accomplishments that mattered to me. I was living my life according to me.   In the past, that exhalation on New Year's Eve, was one of defeated hopelessness, surprised that I had not succumbed to life pressures, wondering if it will ever end.  Fear and anxiety were constant, my life was definitely NOT FUN.

MY LIFE.  It was mine, and I had no control of it.  I was tired of feeling like a rag doll, at the whim of whatever happened during the day.  I wanted to choose how I  experienced my life.  If I could not always control what was happening outside of my body, I at least wanted control of what was happening inside, especially   my reactions to circumstances, and the people around me.  I wanted to be happy.... I wanted some of that "peace that passes understanding" I was hearing and reading about.  I wanted to look forward to each day with joyful anticipation.  So, since I had nothing to lose, I made a commitment to myself to have My Best Year Ever! 

•  I talked to a Life Coach, who helped with a "life perspective re-adjustment."

• She helped me view my life objectively, and showed me where I had choices and opportunities to reclaim control.  I looked at all aspects of my life and rated how I felt about each (some examples are below).

• Friendships and other relationships
• Finances
• Job/work
• Health
• Love and Romance
• House and physical surroundings

• At the start of each day - I focused on how I felt when I opened my eyes
• what was causing the feelings
• what/who I wanted to avoid - the impact of facing or avoiding
• what I was looking forward to

• I looked at the big picture and started to implement small changes.  I identified:  
• what I enjoyed doing and wanted more of
• what I hated/resented doing and wanted less of
• what I ultimately wanted my life to look like.  
• who made me feel great/aweful (how and why)

Just taking a look at my life, and knowing where everything stood, was an immense relief. "Acceptance brings peace"  -  that is the absolute truth.  It is from this perspective, I could see clearly where to make changes, I could understand where the "blockades" were, and where my easiest paths to change lay.

I am happy, even with the challenges that come and go each day.  I have a real life that consists of several aspects of my ultimate dream life.

This year, I wish everyone the gift of a "life perspective-adjustment." This gift will put you on the journey towards living the life you always imagined.

You can find some life assessment forms to help you evaluate you life at Serene Serendipity Life Evaluation Series

Make Space For Your Dreams & Wishes

Reclaim your day, reclaim your life.  Your life is what you are doing now, and not what you want to be doing or wish you could be doing.   How did you spend today?  How much fun did you have?  How much of your day was focused on your personal passion or purpose?  Do you even know where the time went?  If you are like most people - you ran along with your day, or rather, you ran behind it - barely keeping up.  Many of us want a life that is a happier, more interesting, reflection of who we are and what we are all about.  It is not that we do not try, every January, we make resolutions, and every February, we fall off the wagon, and don’t try to get back on until January comes along again. 

We can all live happy, bubbling-over-with-joy lives every single day. Notice, I did not say perfect-without-challenges-or-disappointment lives.  It starts with knowing where you are now.  Only then, can you identify what stays, and what can be changed, deleted or improved. Only then, can you start adding the ‘dreams’ and ‘wishes’.  It really is that simple.

On Serene Serendipity.com, I have posted questions and downloadable forms, which can help anyone identify how they are spending their time, and how they are feeling as they move through the 'stuff' that is their current life.  It takes commitment (not just trying).  Seven days, just one-week of self observation.  Awareness is a powerful catalyst for change.  I know, because it changed my life, even as I was conducting the “research”, I was identifying areas ripe for change.

Here is how it works: 

• Make a list of Wishes and Regrets (covered in my last blog Wishes & Regrets)
• Commit to a thorough self evaluation for 7-days Track your time ‘spent’ on various tasks during the course of the day  
• Complete a daily log – which covers how you felt, what you wore, what you ate, who you spent time with, among other things. 
• At the end of each day you could color-in the 24-segment pie-chart – which will give a  "day in the life".

You will make some surprising discoveries about yourself and your life.  I realized that I did not do as much domestic related work as I had thought I did (I checked the figures twice!).  I realized that grocery shopping took about,  one and a half  hours because I wandered  around “just looking”.  I also found out that I drive about 3-hours every day!

I discovered, that my life was filled with opportunities to include my personal passion and purpose.  My personal happiness and fulfillment positively affects the people around me.  So this investment is worth it and you already have everything you need to start your Life Evaluation today.  Serendipity wants to help - just give her space.

Wishes & Regrets

In a couple of months, many of us will be thinking about our New Year's resolutions.  We are going to start with the best intentions of making positive changes in our lives.  The sad truth is, few of us will be successful.  One of the major reasons people do not follow through with their New Year's resolutions, is that they do not consider where the need for change was coming from.  They do not really look at their lives, and determine how the change would be accommodated, and the emotional and mental toll it will take.

I started to think about the change I want to make in my life.  I am not sure I want to use the term "New Year's resolution".  I want to make a lifestyle change that will last.  I want to make the changes that will take me  in the direction of the life I desire.  So, I decided to take a look at my dreams, my wishes, and my regrets.  I also want to know what I am spending my time on? I need to take a look at my life, identify what stays, what goes and what needs to be revised.

So, I am following a Life Evaluation Plan, so that when January comes along I will be ready!

I have posted the Life Evaluation questions at https://sites.google.com/a/sereneserendipity.com/serene-serendipity/life-evaluation-series