Counting up….. 18,360 of 25,000

Rise and Shine, Shine, Shine!

This week, I’m revisiting a theme from two summers ago. It’s powerful enough a message that I think it worthwhile to share it again…

I am on vacation this week. I absolutely love it! It allows me a chance to savor every morning. When I have the time to awake and enjoy my summer vacation, I am reminded of an ad from a few years back produced by the Michigan Ad Council. The narrator talks about the fact that “25,000 mornings is all we humans get, give or take”. I just calculated the number of mornings into years.  If I heard the man correctly, this number works out to a life expectancy of 68.5 years.  According to my calculations, just 3 days after my 51^st Birthday, I’ve seen 18,630 of my mornings. Seeing that number in black and white makes me want to really rise to greet and appreciate every one of the remaining 6,370. By the way, I certainly expect to add about 7,305 (20 years) to that life’s average. Even with the additional 20 years, or 7,305, placing a number on it makes me more aware than ever that the resource called “time” is precious, and doesn’t get replenished. This is it. This is life. It’s not a dress rehearsal.

Each time I see it, the Pure Michigan ad makes me wonder, “Am I accomplishing what I’m here to accomplish? Am I trying too hard to have a unique and impactful life or am I not trying hard enough? Am I making the bold choices that will shape my destiny?” I think that I’m living to my potential and purpose but how can I really be sure? I’ve had hope and dream ripples within each decade of my adult life. I’m happy to report that I’m moving closer to my “dream life”. Are you?

More than ten years ago, I worked for a company that worked to the daily motto daily “Plan the Work. Work the Plan.” Each day, we reserved 45 minutes to plan the next day’s work. The following morning, we worked the plan created the afternoon before. In my professional work –  my speaking, workshops and training, I am making every effort to live to the wise corporate motto.

If you are experiencing a life transformation or transition that has you wondering “What Next?” or “What is my true purpose?”,  I invite you to sign up for my blog and pick up a copy of my book, Building A Powerful Vision Board (A Path to Achieving Your Goals and What You Want in Life). It’s a great clarification, inspiration and direction tool. You can link to electronic and print versions that fit your life at www.tessdenton.com.

Until we connect again, enjoy your sunrises and try to be present for as many of them as possible. How about starting tomorrow morning at 5:31 a.m., Central Daylight Time? There’s no time to waste! Make it a Powerful week. I welcome your questions and comments

Tess

Copyright 2012

Destiny Rising, LLC

“BHAG” vs. Quest

“We’ve Dreams to Achieve!”

For and Audio Version of this post, click here.

I first heard about the BHAG approximately 5 years ago. BHAG is not an attractive word, but the concept is interesting. BHAG is an acronym for a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. The BHAG’s description makes it sound as if it is a monster that must be vanquished and that if it is not vanquished, all is lost.

Suffice it to say, that  image is not at all inspiring to me. Such thoughts make me nervous, fearful and I feel ill-equipped for the challenge.  I prefer to look at what some would call a BHAG and rename it My Ultimate Quest.  A quest, to me, is more majestic than a BHAG. Achieving a BHAG has a sort of combative  swagger to it. A quest is more romantic. Perhaps takes a little more time to accomplish, but the adventure includes magic, lessons about what’s important in life and a regal feast at its conclusion.

In looking at childhood tales, perhaps a BHAG is the Hare and the Quest is the Tortoise.

How does this apply to you and to me and to what we want in life and our Vision?  A BHAG leaves me short of breath and a quest is inspiring. If you’ve read my book, Building A Powerful Vision Board (A Path to Achieving your Goals and What You Want in Life), you know that the journey to achieving your vision and goals is akin to a quest. You have to go inside and determine your priorities and reawaken your creativity before you can achieve your external results.

My Blog’s challenge for you this week: Find quiet time to go “inside”.   It may be hard to do with life’s demands calling upon you at all hours. However, know that getting quiet and listening to what both head and heart are saying is a great way to ignite the spark that will inspire your quest. A technique you might use to start listening is to turn off all distractions when you drive for an entire week:  No radio, no phone, no text, no I-Tunes. I put this to the test this week myself. I forgot my cell phone while on a business trip and decided to turn off the radio while on a four-hour drive.  The experience was reminiscent of days earlier in my career when I had to travel great distances and the cell phone and pager were still being perfected at Bell Labs and Motorola.

At the week’s end, jot down a few notes about the conflicting priorities you uncover, and consider what lies beneath the surface. You  might just have the makings of a quest in those notes. The conversation with yourself isn’t over. It is only beginning.  If this experience is a bit unsettling, do not worry.  Remember that “the unexamined life is not worth living”. Are you up for the adventure?

As always, I welcome your comments and wish you a great week 🙂

~ Tess

Copyright 2012

Destiny Rising, LLC

Your Brain and Creativity

It’s like landing in Oz!

Are you able to think and be creative every day? Here’s an anatomy lesson for you… Earlier this week, I received a picture from a colleague that sums up the amazing nature of creativity and where it resides.

My wish for you this week is that you have an opportunity to spend a portion of each day in the beautiful world of Right Brain thinking.

Make it a great week…

~ Tess

Copyright 2012

Destiny Rising, LLC