Letter To Santa

On a day that was supposed to be relaxing and mellow, my husband announced that the time had come for us to clean out the garage. Seeing the look of horror on my face, he quickly rephrased his statement. Acknowledging how much I do during the week, he suggested that I sit and do nothing while he attended to the chore.

Doing nothing is not something I know how to do, nevertheless it sounded much more appealing than cleaning the garage. To avoid feeling guilty, I went upstairs and attempted to do nothing

A few hours later, my husband came in to our bedroom with a smile on his face and a stack of papers in his hand. “Letters to Santa,” he announced. He dropped them on the bed and headed back to the garage.

As I began reading the letter our kids wrote many years ago, I couldn’t help but smile at how silly and gullible they were then and how grown up and mature they have become. Then I had an idea -- why not get everyone to write a letter to Santa this year? It would be fun and interesting to see how their wish lists changed as they have grown up.

At dinner, I announced my idea and was pleasantly surprised when my “gang” didn’t think that I had lost a marble or two. Afterwards, everyone disappeared into their rooms to compose their letters. Surprisingly, it took them much longer this time around.

As I read their “grown up” letters, it quickly became evident that their priorities have changed but their values haven’t. I found that toys were replaced with “boys” or “girls.” Getting good grades was replaced with getting a good solid degree. Health and happiness was a priority for all, and peace on earth was an important concern. It warmed my heart to see that my husband and I did something right, that we raised kids with good values and gold hearts.

My husband and I had similar requests of Santa. But I, of course, had many more. First on my list was immunity from acquiring any more pounds as I get older (enough is enough!). I want that awesome body I never had, the legs that turn heads, and the flawless skin without wrinkles. I want my 20/20 vision to stick around just a bit longer and menopause to pass me by unnoticed. I want to be constantly, obliviously happy. And did I mention I want to be skinny?

These were fun things to ask for, but if you were to read my entire list you would see that the truly important items came towards the end. I want our world to be at peace. I asked for my family to be happy and healthy. I asked for our parents and grandparents to be around us for many years to come. I asked to be able to enjoy my children and their children, and I wanted to continue to be in love with my husband as much as the day I married him.

After this fun exercise, we all sat down to talk about what we wanted and how we are going to get it. Regardless of what we asked for, we all agreed on one thing -- whether you believe in Santa or not is irrelevant. The key is to believe in yourself, then write down your list and go after it. When you believe in yourself, the sky is the limit!

Happy Holidays to you and yours,

Yana


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Staying focused on What’s Really Important

At one time or another, we all have doubts, questions and concerns about our personal productivity. Most of us are overwhelmed by the responsibilities that we face daily. There are always errands to run, bills to pay, dinners to cook, lunches to make, children to worry about, and husbands or partners to attend to.

Ever since that milestone 40th birthday, it seems that time has been moving faster and faster. In order to slow down time, or at least increase my productivity, I decided to sit down and outline what is really important to me at the moment and what I should focus on.





By now, most of us know what we really want out of life. Yet, for some reason most of us don’t do much about it. As we get older, our priorities change, and I have found that taking the time to write down what’s most important can help to see the bigger picture -- and usually a clearer one, too.

A few months ago, I watched a very powerful movie called “The Secret.” What is this secret and why didn’t I hear about it 20 years ago? It has to do with the “Law Of Attraction,” meaning that we attract what we think about. Thoughts become things, and every thought has a frequency. As a result, we consciously or unconsciously attract the energy around us.

Remember the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for?” Until I watched this wonderful movie, I couldn’t comprehend its true meaning. Now I completely understand that what we want and what we believe in is what we will become.

To begin our journey to live the life we want, we need to alter a few things in our daily behavior:

First and foremost, we need to write down our goals. Goals should be divided in two columns -- immediate and future. Everyone should have goals in both categories.

Second, we need to prioritize. Prioritizing allows us to move forward and achieve success.

It’s all in the attitude. I barely stand 5’4”, and that’s on a good day. Yet, most people will tell you that I’m 5’6” or taller. Why? Because I come with the right attitude. If you’re positive, upbeat and happy, people will cling to you like bees on honey. Conversely, if you’re constantly down and miserable, no one will join your party.

Stay focused and track your progress. Set out your plan and follow it, but be realistic. If something doesn’t work, alter your plan and work through it.

Eliminate “failure” from your vocabulary. If something doesn’t work right away, view it as a stepping-stone to success rather than a permanent setback. Life has many lessons for us, and only when all of them are learned do we achieve what we set out to do. If it was easy, we wouldn’t appreciate our success.

Remove everything that interferes with your success. In other words, don’t give in to temptation or allow yourself to be distracted. If you can see it and feel it, you will own it.

Use the power of positive reinforcement. Five years ago, I would have laughed at this statement. Today I consider ongoing positive reinforcement (through self-help books, CD’s, DVD’s, tapes and positive surroundings) as the ticket to life-changing experiences.

Before going to sleep every night, think of all the wonderful things that happened to you during the day. Tell yourself that tomorrow will be a very good day.

Before getting out of bed in the morning, think of all the good things that will happen to you today.

Finally, remember that the first 30 minutes after waking should be very positive because they set the tone for the whole day. Think of how good your day will be if you sit down and write a few things that you would like to accomplish on that day. I usually write seven things that I want to achieve during the day, and when I lay down to sleep I usually smile to myself knowing that everything on that morning’s list got done. My day was a complete success -- and tomorrow looks even better!


Cheers,
Yana

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Let's Stay Positive

Sometimes despite the fact when everything is going our way, we anticipate that something bad is about to happen. We even ask ourselves is to day the day?

If we could see into the future beforehand, our lives would be pain and worry free. But we can’t, can we?

Actually, we can, here is how:

Stop the negative thought process, just let it go.

Don’t get caught up in ‘”your reality” of daily overload.

Clear your mind that will allow you to make better choices.

It’s the easiest thing to be a victim. It’s so much harder to have a positive attitude at all times, but I assure you it can be done.

Let today be the day you start the positive thought process.



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