Exploring our Limits : Finding Gratitude, Generosity & Curiosity

We must explore our limits if we want to find ways to become more generous, curious and grateful. Our limits are found at the edges of our comfort zone. Expanding our comfort zone only happens by hurling ourselves at the walls that contain who we are now and expanding them so that we live into who we are meant to be. By doing so our world becomes bigger, and our experience deeper and more vivid. Attending these efforts, we will find the characteristics of gratitude, generosity and curiosity. Gratitude Through exploration and expansion of our limits that we will find gratitude for the foundation that enabled us the run-way. Gratitude for the dirt, grass or concrete that broke our fall when we failed – for the pain that affirmed we had landed, however ungracefully. Gratitude that at least we were no longer falling. Gratitude also for the hands reaching down to pick us back up so we can have another

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Choose Gratitude over Apology

I find there are far too many instances where people, when accepting help, generosity, or when perceiving that they have created any minor inconvenience, will say “I’m sorry” instead of “thank you”. Why is it that when accepting gifts, however small, we bow our heads, avoid eye contact and just toss our penitence to the gifting person. What might we feel like if instead of habitually uttering the shame-filled and insecure words, “I’m sorry” when accepting a small gift of generosity, we chose two entirely different words – “thank you”. Thank you pulls both the sayer and the receiver up. Thank you requires the confidence of the sayer to believe (or act like they believe) they are a person deserving of the gift they are receiving and shows the receiver recognizes that the giver has both the resource and the generosity to be able to give. The two words build both people up. “I’m sorry”, on the other hand, pulls

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Engagement: A Good Place to Start

In my life I have found, that whenever I’ve felt lost, or questioned my direction or where to start, the best place for me has always been to start with engagement. I start with something present in my life and choose to become engaged in it and suddenly good things happen. Engagement is great because it is free, you either choose to engage, or you don’t. But when you do, magical things start to happen. The magic happens because when you become engaged, your identity shifts to that of a performer. As a performer you concern and align yourself with performance. When you are concerned with performance you think in terms of actions and effects. You perform an action and you create an effect. This combination of activity and effect builds over time and serves to orient you when you are lost, strengthen you when you feel weak, and distinguish you when you feel ugly or worthless. The key is

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Plastic Pollutes: Why should I Care?

Welcome Habit Earthers. Habit Earth sets out to help identify the habits in our daily lives that create plastic waste and replace them with better habits for a better planet. In order to change any behavior you have to have a motivation to do so. That motivation often comes from emotional reactions “I want” (seeking) or “I don’t want” (avoidance). This week we’ll focus on some “I don’t want” (avoidance) motivators. So, whether your emotional reaction the last time you saw a plastic bag hanging from a tree was mildly annoyed, or ALL-OUT-TRIGGERED. I hope these four reasons help you find motivation to take a few steps towards reducing your single use plastic consumption. Production: We produce a lot because we use a lot. Plastics are derived from fossil fuels like Oil and Natural gas. The extraction of oil and natural gas has many negative effects on the environment, including ground-water pollution (you know… the stuff you drink), decimation of

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Welcome to Habit Earth

Welcome and Happy Earth Day! This is my first post for Habit Earth, and I’m excited for the journey ahead. The content on Habit Earth is meant to encourage incremental changes in everyday behaviors that reduce consumption of and dependence on single use plastics. My role is equal parts student, instructor and your enthusiastic supporter on the path to creating better habits and a better planet. Earth, we have a giant plastic problem. Plastic waste is an issue developing into a crisis and is caused by hundreds of choices we make every day. Choices we make on autopilot without even thinking of an alternative. We run into reminders of these choices almost everywhere, it is nearly impossible to go on a hike on a popular trail or walk through your neighborhood without seeing single use plastics littering the way. It doesn’t have to be this way, but where should we start? When I think of how to make an immediate

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