You Can Do It! A Merit Badge Handbook Just for Grown - Up Girls

I was standing in our town's Little Bookshop this morning browsing for a gift when my eyes quickly set upon this book.

YOU CAN DO IT!  A Merit Badge Handbook Just for Grown - Up Girls.
Dare to Dream  Learn Something New  Do something Just for You.
Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas

I added it to my puchases, farewelled Bob the Bookshop proprieter, brought the rubbish bin from the bottom of the drive AND then when  I sat down and flipped through the pages of this book realised what a fabulous purchase I had made.

It is about 500 pages (don't let this put you off) jam packed with hands- on practical advice which is set out in a really easy to read way. So you don't read it as you would a book if this makes sense.  And then as I continued to read and make sense of it all, I  realised I have purchased an entire experience with access to mentors to support me along the way.  (I paid $34.95).  They are all US based but they are there and accessible as I now look to take on some of the "to do's" in this book.

I take a look at one of the 60 badges in the book (will explain the badge bit a little later) Number 52, Get an Inner Life, and realise that it is a complete how to and checklist ie all I need to get started.  The quote, "who looks outside dreams, who looks inside wakes" Carl Jung jumps out at me and I think this is no coincidence that I opened the book here!!  Taking a deep breath and thinking 'way to go' this is amazing, I find book and website recommendations and instantly find myself surfing across the recommended sites.    

Back to the here and now and I decide to read about th author and here is what I found....

You Can Do it! was Lauren's idea, begun a year before she died on September 11, 2001, aboard UNited Flight 93.   A former Girl Scout, she saw the book as a way for women to re-create the feelings of accomplishment and community found in Scouts.  Lauren embodied the books goals.  Personally, professionally, athletically and creatively dynamic, she is remembered by her friends and family as their personal coach and champion.  She has 15 years of marketing and sales experience, started her own consulting company, and most recently served as an account executive for Good Housekeeping.  An avid biker, hiker, runner and on her thirtieth birthday a skydiver, she lived in the San Fancisco area for many years with her husband Jack Grandcolas.  With the special help of her sisters, Lauren's dream of empowering women to "go out and do it!" will now be realised.

And you have probably made the connection now about the 60 Badges that makes up the book.  These are like Scout badges for grown up girls. So I am now off to decide which badge I will go for first!!! 

Regards
Jo

                  

Find Comfort in Your Own Skin

On many occasions I have watched people in meetings, forums and at parties, dinners and conferences etc and been amazed at how comfortable some people appear and how easy these people are to be around ... and then how uncomfortable some people appear and how these people jsut aren't so easy to be around.  I have come to talk about this as how comfortable people are (or aren't as the case may be!) in their own.

It came back in to focus for me this week when I received an email from a colleague who I think sums this up beautifully.  She writes....
"Who are You?"
Truly confident people have already worked out who they are and what they stand for, and more importantly - what they will not stand for. Their personal constitution has already been written adn ratified so there is no need for pretense in any given situation.  There is very little "gap" between the public and private self.  They trust in themselves.  Confident people don't always need to be right, because deep down, they already live by their own moral code.  Similarly, confident people have no need to draw attention to themselves because they aren't particularly interested in what others think. They are too busy getting on with their own stuff.

And so the question everyone is likely to ask is so how do we set our own moral code and develop the confidence of those who have theirs already set?  These are great questions and here are a few tips that just might help...

Accept Yourself 
This is where confidence starts.  We were all born with gifts and all our gifts are different. Sure there are bits about us we don't necessarily love and even some things in our past and some decisions that we are not too proud of.  But these are the things that make us who we are.  We need to accept ourselves for who we are.  We are not perfect and nor will we ever be, so let's be confident with what we have.

Own it      
Own who you are.  No matter where you are in life, you have assets and positive strengths that you can and must own.  These are what make you great. You are valuable for who you are and the talents you have.

Stretch
We all seem more comfortable living inside our comfort zones, confidence comes when our comfort zones are stretched.  In fact once our comfort zones are stretched they never ever come back to their original size and the best part is our confidence grows and expands with it. So take a chance, learn something new and you will feel and see your acceptance of you and your world and hence your confidence grow.

Move
Healthy self esteem starts with caring for yourself and there is no better way to acheive this than with some sort of exercise or movement regime.  Daily exercise builds momemtum for a great day.  Try it!

So, it all starts from the inside out - it's an inside job!  Deep down inside and in some - very deep - tehre is a well of self esteem that knows exactly who we are and what we are all about.  It's not about the material things in our lives, its about confidence and honouring your own value and sense of self and developing an unshakeable trust in yourself.   
             

Self - Esteem - 5 Things You Should Know.

Took advantage of a lovely winter's day today and headed off to the annual second hand book sale in our local hall.  The Friends of the Library Group run the sale to raise money to buy new books for our library.  In one day, 5000 books walked out the door so they are well on their way to breaking a fund raising target.

After losing myself in the gardening, craft, business and fictions section,  I stumbled across a magazine.  The words, Life's Little Secrets - Five Things You Should Know about the Stuff That Really Matters.   Fifty cents later with magazine in hand (and a few other books as well) I left the hall.

The article, written by Carolyn Parfitt in the NOTEBOOK magazine was a great read and here are the 5 things you should know about Self - Esteem.  It's always good to remind ourselves of helpful hints and lessons for life!

1. The goal of high self-esteem can sometimes seem like a mysterious thing other people attain but not you.  It's not.  It is simply a matter of self talk - how you talk to yourself about yourself.

2. This quote from aothor Marianne Wilkinson is gold.  "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?'  Actually, who are you not to be?... Your playing small does not serve the world."

3. Shakespeare was right when he had Polonius (in Hamlet) give this advice to his son Laertes, about to leave for France: "This, above all, to thine own self be true.."  Certainly, being true to yourself, acting in the way you believe is right, is one of the keys to a healthy self-esteem and inner peace.

4. Give yourself a break by accepting that making mistakes is a universal human trait.  Treat it as a learning curve.

5. Habits that help build a healthy self-esteem are;

• Recognising your good points:
• Spending time with people who make you laugh:
• Doing things you enjoy:
• Taking care of yourself:
• Doing something to help someone else:
• Wearing clothes that make you feel good;
• Not comparing yourself to others.                

Quotes From the Eat Pray Love Journey

And just in case you don't get to read this book, here are some of my favorite quotes, hope you like them as much as I do.

"There is so much about my fate that I cannot control, but other things do fall under the jurisdiction. I can decide how I spend my time, whom I interact with, whom I share my body and life and money and energy with. I can select what I can read and eat and study. I can choose how I'm going to regard unfortunate circumstances in my life-whether I will see them as curses or opportunities. I can choose my words and the tone of voice in which I speak to others. And most of all, I can choose my thoughts."

"To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life"
"Tis' better to live your own life imperfectly than to imitate someone else's perfectly."

"Operation Self-Esteem--Day Fucking One."

"You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That's the only thing you should be trying to control."
"You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight."
We search for happiness everywhere, but we are like Tolstoy's fabled beggar who spent his life sitting on a pot of gold, under him the whole time. Your treasure--your perfection--is within you already. But to claim it, you must leave the buy commotion of the mind and abandon the desires of the ego and enter into the silence of the heart."
"Prayer is a relationship; half the job is mine. If I want transformation, but can't even be bothered to articulate what, exactly, I'm aiming for, how will it ever occur? Half the benefit of prayer is in the asking itself, in the offering of a clearly posed and well-considered intention. If you don't have this, all your pleas and desires are boneless, floppy, inert; they swirl at your feet in a cold fog and never lift."