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Welcome to the 14th issue of Your Guide to the Life You Love! You are receiving this newsletter because you signed up for the newsletter or its companion Ebook, 101 Simple Ways to Kick the Depression Habit & Get Happier without Prozac. Learn how real people have overcome real challenges and worked to get the life they love! We also share ideas about how you can make a positive impact or leave a legacy. Thanks for being here. You are appreciated and you are blessed! DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPYHey, guess what--as if you need to be told--when you're watching the news, "if it bleeds, it leads"--that's why, even though violent crime went down by 20% between 1990 and 1998, COVERAGE of crime went up by 600% on TV news! Number one reason that watching TV news is bad for your health: absorbing information like this, especially with strong visuals, causes your stress hormones to shoot up. Who needs it? Well, here's an antidote, which I tried recently for the first time: Laughter Yoga--no joke! I'd heard about it for a few years, and as a Registered Yoga Teacher myself I thought it would be cool to call it Haha Yoga--get it? Our teacher mentioned a woman in her class who has been crippled with arthritis. After several weeks of getting together once a week for 45 minutes of belly laughing, her symptoms are beginning to diminish. She feels better! Laughter Yoga's known benefits include decreasing stress hormones and enhancing weight reduction, reducing blood pressure and heart rate, boosting the immune system, conditioning the abdominals, and helping increase ventilation while flushing a lot of toxins out of the lungs. Plus, you can do it while sitting in a chair, so if you aren't mobile enough to get down on a mat, you still have a way to enjoy the results. These benefits don't even touch the improvement in attitude triggered by the smile on your face. A MERRY HEARTSeveral years ago, doing public relations for a major Atlanta hospital, I was responsible for putting messages on our electronic billboard above the interstate. One time I displayed the proverb "A merry heart does good like a medicine" and, guess what, one of the doctors objected! Apparently, such levity on display about boosting the immune system through optimism was not part of his medical model. But modern science is proving the laughter/optimism model correct! ANATOMY OF AN ILLNESSNorman Cousins, (1915-1990) writer, editor, citizen diplomat, promoter of holistic healing, and unflagging optimist, discovered the healing powers of laughter when he was faced with a progressively crippling illness, spondylitis ankylosing. Grim-faced doctors told him there was no cure and he would die an agonizing death. That's when he tapped into the Marx Brothers. Literally. For weeks and months on end he spent his waking hours watching the funniest films he could find, and literally laughed himself back to health. He wrote about his journey in the groundbreaking work Anatomy of An Illness. MY LITTLE HEART SONGJust yesterday I was on the phone with another friend who teaches yoga, talking with her about a lumpectomy scheduled for breast cancer today. She found it during her routine monthly personal screening, and caught it early, so she has every cause for optimism. I have complete confidence that she'll be just fine. Even today, a cancer diagnosis tends to strike fear in our hearts, although with so many treatments available it's now more like a rite of passage for many, rather than an early death sentence. But in the wee hours of the morning when you can't sleep and thoughts of mortality creep in, who ya gonna call? It was so gratifying to me that she said she picked up my book, BACK TO THE GARDEN: Getting from Shadow to Joy, and re-read some passages, and sang "My Little Heart Song" to herself. She felt better and was able to go back to sleep. I wrote the lyrics to "My Little Heart Song" when I was absolutely devastated over a major break-up, and I sang it over and over to myself while walking around a lake in Sapphire Valley, NC. The song helped me lift myself up. Its tune is the old Methodist hymn, "This Is My Father's World" which is one of my favorites. I'll share it here with you, in case you need some lifting up today: "I love my little heart; I make room for it to grow... When it peeps out, I want to shout, 'My heart, I love you so!' My Little Purple Heart! It expands as it grows whole. And all God's love flowing from above Fills up my hopeful soul." All well wishes to you--may it soothe your soul.
Need some uplift in getting back on track with your life? Contact me to coach you there! This is the 8th year I've taught "Get the Life You Love" at Evening at Emory, and when each class ends people clamor, "What's next?" That's why I became a Registered Corporate Coach/Life Transition Coach several years back. From attorneys to top salespeople to engineers, my clients have come to me singing, "Is that all there is?" (Thank you, Peggy Lee) and wondering how they can make some shifts to move forward. If you're struggling to find your heartfelt path and want to work with someone who elicits real results, please contact me at pdcom@mindspring.com. Visit my website at www.patricedickey.com to see how I've helped others get there.
Soothe your brain and get over your Bad Self with just released: BACK TO THE GARDEN: 21 Selected Chapters on Audio! Here's a note from a single mother and entrepreneur who recently got a copy of the CD, Selected Chapters from BACK TO THE GARDEN: Getting from Shadow to Joy, available on my website: "I just wanted to take a minute and let you know just how much I appreciate the CD book. I had it for a week or three, carrying it around in my purse, trying to decide where to play it. Then I decided to get over myself and put it in my CD-alarm clock. For the past few mornings, I've woken up to Patrice's healing and inspiring words, and Andrea's soothing reassuring voice. The combination is incredible. I have the volume down so that I wake up naturally, so each morning it's been a different part of the CD that I actually come fully awake to. Know matter where my conscious mind is when I am fully awake, I know that my subconscious has heard and absorbed plenty. How?? Because this past week has been a huge roller coaster, and while I have definitely been re-active and had low moments, I have also found some place within to go to and remind myself - it won't be like this forever, and I do have all the tools necessary to end up just where I belong and desire to be (to include friends who hear me and encourage me to move forward). Earlier this week, a friend reminded me that change was good. She also reminded me that whenever I ask for something by a certain time, the universe always delivers. So I did. I asked for clarity and resolution to several situations by Friday. In the interim, there was quite a bit of turmoil and angst - like being a dinghy on the ocean in the middle of a class 5 storm. But, I now have my clarity and resolution. I claimed the living space of my heart - and I got it! I asked that a few situations resolve themselves - and they have. I asked to be given viable options - and they are revealing themselves. And I haven't even stated my Treasure Map yet, but I see it in my mind's eye, and I know that can only make it all better. And oh, can you two PLEASE just do a series of these?? You know, one on relationships, one on healing your past, one on preparing for your future, parents and family, etc.... You two are a dynamic team. The combination of your talents really works. It really does. I am living the benefits right now. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! To both of you. April VanMansfeld TigerWolf, Inc. www.EarthMuther.com Visit my website at www.patricedickey.com to order the CD Audiobook Selected Chapters from BACK TO THE GARDEN: Getting from Shadow to Joy for only $12.95 (plus S&H) and book discounted online to $14.95 or a combination of the CD and book for only $24.95! (Georgia residents will be taxed 7%). The combined order regular price is almost $30 for a discount on a collector's book and inspirational CD. LinksOUR EMAIL LIST SERVICE: Many people ask me how I manage this email list. I use a great service called AWeber. Find out more about them at www.aweber.com ATTRACT MORE CLIENTS: If you want to attract more clients more consistently I highly recommend the Action Plan Marketing web site. It includes a lot of free information and great products that help you be a better marketer, including a great Marketing Start-up Kit. http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=496309 EARN A LIVING WRITING: The Well Fed Writer (& Self-Publisher) offers lots of great tips on how you can convert your passion for the word into actual dollars--he managed to do it and tells you how! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/cmd.php?af=507664 |
Upcoming Keynotes & Training EngagementsAssociation of Image Consultants International Forsyth County Newcomers Avondale Women's Club Fire Up Your Group-Hire me to Speak!Testimonial from my workshop for Community Bankers Assn of GA Influence Made Easy: Making Connections that Sell The workshop was excellent--the most important ideas were that people are either moving toward pleasure or moving away from pain; that they buy based on emotion but justify with logic. Cool Mind CandyOne day I was ready to quit--my job, my relationship, friendships, the whole bit. I even wanted to quit my life, but hadn't gotten quite far enough to begin "figuring out how." I went into the woods to have a talk with God. "Lord, if I've ever needed your guidance, I need it now. Can you give me one good reason not to quit?" His answer surprised me. "Look around. Do you see the fern and the bamboo?" "Yes," I replied. "When the fern and bamboo seeds drifted into the forest, I took very good care of them--I gave them light and water, and the fern grew quickly. Its brilliant green covered the forest floor. Imagine what came from the bamboo seed--Nothing! Yet I didn't quit on the bamboo. "In the second year the fern grew more vibrant & plentiful--and again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I didn't quit on the bamboo. "In the third year, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I wouldn't quit. "It was the same in the fourth year--but I wouldn't quit on the bamboo. "In the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged fro the earth. Compared with the fern it seemed small and insignificant. "But just over 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the first five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I wouldn't give any of my creations a challenge it couldn't handle." He then said to me, "Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots? I wouldn't quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you. Don't compare yourself to others." He added, "The bamboo had a different purpose from the fern, yet they both make the forest beautiful. "Your time will come. You will rise high!" "How high should I rise?" I asked. "How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return. "As high as it can?" I questioned. "Yes," He said. "Rise as high as you can. Strive for excellence, your own personal excellence, rather than perfection. And rise as high as you can." Join My Celebration!Writer's Digest recently notified me that my book BACK TO THE GARDEN: Getting from Shadow to Joy was chosen as an Honorable Mention in the Inspirational category of the 14th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards, so I'm offering an Internet special! Visit www.PatriceDickey.com and the book is yours for only $14.95 plus shipping and tax where applicable. The cover letter said, "Competition was particularly fierce this year so (the) accomplishment is truly impressive."--I'll toast that! Here's what Judge #39 said about BACK TO THE GARDEN. "This really is a delightful book, full of pithy, wise, fun, real, honest, short selections, each to the point and with a message one can carry away to ponder. Written by a woman who has obviously Been There, the book shares, directs, reflects wisdom and understanding at every possible turn--and quite painlessly. The writing is witty, accessible, easy and enjoyable to read, chatty or conversational, on universal subjects, what we will all encounter as we lead full lives. Dickey offers effective ideas, new fresh perspectives, techniques or tools to deal with these everyday problems or situations... The subject titles are fresh and catchy; and the interior design and cover are attractive. I like this book." I'm also honored to mention that the book has previously won Inspirational, Spiritual, Aging, Death & Dying, and 1st Place Nonfiction awards from the IPPYs 2006, Best Books 2006 (two categories) and Atlanta Writers Club, respectively. |
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If you find this Ezine refreshing, please pass it along to your friends and colleagues. Much appreciated! Your Guide to the Life You Love™ Patrice Dickey is a coach, motivational speaker and author of the internationally award-winning book Back to the Garden: Getting from Shadow to Joy. Learn more at www.artofchange.org. If you'd like to submit some Cool Mind Candy for consideration, please email me at pdcom@mindspring.com Thanks! 8/9/07 Copyright © Patrice Dickey 2007. All rights reserved. PERMISSION TO REPRINT: You may reprint any items from "Your Guide to the Life You Love(TM)" in your print or electronic newsletter. But please include the following paragraph: Reprinted from "Your Guide to the Life You Love(TM)" a complimentary Ezine featuring tools & tips, perspective shifts to help enrich your life, expand your horizons and experience Your Personal Definition of success—always including cool mind candy with that hopeful flavor. To subscribe, please visit www.artofchange.org and, if you like, download the Ebook "101 Simple Ways to Kick the Depression Habit and Get Happier Without Prozac." PRIVACY STATEMENT: Your Guide to the Life You Love(TM) will never distribute your address to anyone—honest! ***
Patrice Dickey
Phone: 404-294-9333 |