30. January 2010 by Patricia.

I sometimes add raisins to my lunchtime salad for variety. I usually do not notice raisins as I’m eating them. Today I stopped and forked a single raisin into my mouth and tasted it. There was something very satisfying about that one raisin and it reminded me how much I enjoy slowing down to really taste my food. The sweet squishiness of raisins provided a nice counterbalance to the crunch of the salty pumpkin seeds.

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23. January 2010 by Patricia.

As a personal coach I recognize the value of acknowledging my clients’ “wins,” while acknowledging their disappointments. The problem is that many of us tend to dwell on disappointments and this keeps us stuck.

A client goes home to visit her parents for the Holidays and binges seven of the ten days – just as she did as a child. She wants to spend time in our session talking about the binge, the way she “screwed up”, “didn’t follow through” and “failed.” While I’m all for acknowledging disappointments and believe this to be important, I am more interested and curious to find out what happened on the three days when she didn’t binge. How were they different? What can she learn from this comparison? Is she willing to congratulate herself for being binge-free for three days amid difficult circumstances?

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16. January 2010 by Patricia.

Too slow! This was a runner’s comment as she crossed the finish line. Her two companion runners felt the same way about their performance. I wondered how different our conversations would be, if we congratulated ourselves first for what we accomplished … and then dived into the “how do we do it better.”

Wouldn’t it be empowering to hear the runner say, “We did it! Yeah! Good for us! Let’s work on improving our pace.”

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9. January 2010 by Patricia.

I was with a group of women when the conversation turned to chocolate. One lady said that she loved Snickers Bars, but given the choice between a Snickers Bar or an Atkins Endulgence Bar she would choose the Endulgence Bar every time. Her rationale: the Endulgence Bar was only 140 calories – the Snickers Bar was 300. She considered this choice a “no brainer”!

The way I see it, the issue isn’t Snickers or Endulgence. The question is, “What am I hungry for (it could be food or something else) and what do I really want right now?” If the answer is the Snickers Bar, then go ahead and choose it. If we are mindful in this moment, perhaps we only need a quarter or a half of it. Focusing on calories as the basis of our choices keeps us stuck. Expanding the conversation to how we are thinking and feeling, and asking what do we really want, leads us to freedom.

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2. January 2010 by Patricia.

Another year has begun and these are some of the questions I am asking myself about 2009:

·         What were my most significant breakthroughs?

·         What blocked or held me back as I moved towards my heartfelt goals?

·         Did I connect deeply with my creative spirit and express my unique gifts and talents?

·         Who were the people who profoundly impacted me this year and what have I learned from them?

·         What aspect of my life no longer fits?

·         What am I most grateful for?

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