Life Dreaming

I just love this site. Every week They Draw and Cook post 6 recipes, linked in theme, illustrated by people around the world. The sheer diversity and exuberance of them is a joy, and if you sign up for the newsletter, they come right into your mailbox (scroll to the bottom of the site for the link).

Last week was a bit different. They featured recipes for a healthy life, and it just goes to show that one person’s fruit-and-nut mix is another person’s icy cold beer. Here’s 4 of the responses:

A Simple Recipe for a Happy Life by Demie Aas

Recipe for Life by Ashwin C

Kinsfolk Shindig by Maranda Cunningham

Dhyaana – Recipe for Healthy Living by Kamini Raghavan

=) Marc

Life Dreaming Activity
How long has it been since you played with some colored markers or scissors and glue? Go on, I bet you’d have a lot of fun if you gave it a try!

It’s been a few weeks since I wrote a post and I hope this one finds you well and healthy and full of energy.

I’ve been a sick puppy for coming on 3 weeks with a cold and cough that surprised me with its ferocity.

Most of the time I’m a healthy and energetic woman whose brain buzzes with ideas and I have more energy than the sun.

And while I can often be heard saying ‘I really treasure my health’ it has really come home to me how truly important it is.

It all started 3 weeks ago when I woke with a bit of a cold … no worries says me … a day in bed and I’ll be bouncing back.

Day 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 … bugger … I just felt worse and worse and had to cancel a weeks worth of activities as I lay in bed like a jellyfish with mush brain.

Coco dog was not impressed but staunchly stayed by my side.

Week one goes by and it’s another Monday … a new week of possibilities.

I have meetings every day that require me to have a functioning brain. I make it through the week … just. The meetings are lengthy [2 to 3 hours] and require a lot of  creativity and thinking and contribution on my part. I enjoy them very much as each one is with an interesting and engaging woman … and the topics are truly interesting.

Each day I wake up feeling tired [and coughing ... jeez ... it really exhausts the body] and go to bed tired.

I couldn’t write LD posts as the first week I was in La La Land and the second week I was too exhausted from meetings.

I woke on Monday this week hoping I’d be restored to my happy energy and healthy self … hasn’t happened yet and it’s now Thursday.

I am much better than week one and two but not yet in that happy energetic space.

And as ever … I learnt something about myself and have a few insights that might be useful.

Your health truly is your wealth

I am always grateful for a body that stays healthy most of the time. Our bodies have to hold so much energy from the other parts that make us human … our hearts and minds and whatever makes us our essential selves.

Living takes a lot of energy

Oh yeh baby … every day … every moment … it all takes energy. And the more engaged and aware and conscious and mindful we are … the more energy we use and gain and share. It’s very very powerful and pretty infinite … and we need to create time and space to replenish and recharge.

I know that I have an enormous well of energy … and I also know that I don’t always manage it as well as I could.

Being ill really takes a huge share of energy

I was astonished at how much energy it takes to be ill. It’s like a black hole. For the first week all I could do was lay in bed and barely move. I lost my appetite and my energy and just drifted through the days.

It’s now week 3 and although I’m much better than I was I know that it’ll take another few weeks to rebuild and replenish my energy stores.

It’s amazing how our bodies work to protect us.

Most things can be rescheduled or deferred or delegated

I cancelled a weeks worth of activities and meetings.

Nobody minded … countries didn’t fall … life went on around me.

I wrote about it a lot more here. – 4 Delicious & Dangerous things you can do to sort your life.

Illness can be a time to focus on what’s really important

My body made it very clear that it was not well and would not appreciate being dragged out of bed to meetings or even writing a Life Dreaming post … which I usually love. I had to listen and work at my body’s pace … which in the first week meant no work.

In the second week I was able to go to meetings … all important ones … and that’s all. The opportunity cost of doing those meetings was that I couldn’t do anything else as I was exhausted after 2 to 3 hours of intense concentration and discussion. That was the trade off and pay off.

And this week I decided that I would stay at home and catch up with my writing and other work … walk Coco … and prepare super healthy food to begin to rebuild my energy. I’m not going out or socialising as that will take energy I just don’t have at the moment.

I may stay at home next week to give my body the time it needs to recharge … and then I’m going out to Play!

Some of life’s stresses are self imposed

In all of this I won a contract … the first one in 9 months … yup there’s a recession in Ireland. I’m delighted as the work is with a great organisation and I really enjoy the woman I’m working with … and the work has real world impact.

I also began a new idea for an online business that I’ll be developing over the next year called Ninety Nine Cent Books … more on that anon.

I’m working with a friend to run a Dublin Fashion Swap Shop Event on May 21 and there’s a lot of fun stuff to organise.

And I still have a lot of rewriting and editing of the Life Dreaming Expedition to do so Marc can start design stuff.

When I woke on Monday I made a list of everything I’d be doing … and by yesterday I was like a pile of irritation and stress … tired and exhausted.

When I found myself being irritable with Coco dog I just stopped … sat down … and had a little chat with myself that went something like this …

‘Why are you so irritable Liz? It’s not like you.’

‘I’m so tired and pissed off that I don’t have my usual energy to get everything done. I have to design 4 online surveys by the end of the day and sometime this week I want to edit at least 3 LD modules and Coco needs a walk …’

‘What do you think is stressing you the most? Where is the pressure coming from?’

‘I feel that I’m not going to develop the surveys to a quality I want by the end of the day. I realise that I need to do some online research and develop some conceptual and contextual frameworks that can inform the survey design … and there’s not enough time to do both.’

‘Why don’t you make time … email the client and explain what you’re doing and say the surveys will be ready on Friday or even Monday. Once you get the surveys done you can concentrate on LD most of next week.’

And that’s what I did. And I felt myself relax and the pressure dropped.

The client had no problems and said she’d prefer really quality surveys and trusted my process.

I made time today to write this LD post because I really wanted to connect back to you.

The time I spent researching and thinking yesterday has resulted in an amazing 3D conceptual, temporal and contextual framework that now informs the whole project process … it’s awesome.

I realised that I was the one imposing the stress on myself … therefore I was the one with the power to release the pressure by rearranging deadlines.

And I walked Coco yesterday and we played and I sat on the grass in the sun.

Being ill can be a nice place to visit … just don’t live there

Being ill is interesting.

I got lots of attention … I was able to lay in bed all week and cancel any kind of activity or commitment … I could just let things go and not have to stick to deadlines or be responsible or bright or energetic.

In some ways it was like a vacation … except I felt crappy.

I realised that … for me … being ill can be a tempting place to be … too tempting.

And I choose to be well and energetic and engaged in my life … and I’ll take the time and tonics and healthy food to re energise myself.

I realised in the last few weeks that I love the life I live … and I want to have the energy to live it.

My health really is my wealth.

Life Dreaming Activity

How does your energy get used up?

How do you replenish your energy?

Have you ever felt the temptations of being ill?

How much of the stress and pressure in your life is self imposed?

What will you do to change that?

I’d love to hear what you think. Leave a comment below and let’s chat.

Lot’s of interesting words in todays title … barter … abundance … cash.

Anyone who has read my Liz Biz personal blog over the last few years will know that I have a mountain load of certain abundance in my life … and a certain lack of abundance in one area … cash … and cash flow.

I know that money and all the stuff around it [attracting it, keeping it, sharing it etc.] is one of my huge life lessons … and darlings … have I been given some huge kick ass lessons.

3 years ago I was at the cutting edge of the recession here in Ireland … paid work just dried up and in the next few years I got to really draw on all my skills and resources to keep a roof over my head and food on the table.

I was really challenged to live my core mantra … that I have the power to choose my attitude in any given situation.

I might have been cash poor but I was a time billionaire … Life Dreaming wouldn’t be where it is now without all the time I had to explore, design and develop it.

I’m not out of my personal cash recession yet and that doesn’t bother me because I’ve seen how bloody resilient and creative I can be in living the life I love.

My life is wonderfully abundant in so many ways … health, family, friends, fun, Coco dog, books, creativity, bubbles, etc etc … and I am grateful on a conscious and daily basis.

And here’s a good question I can hear some of you asking ‘ How do you get the life dreams that cost money when you have so little cash?’

Excellent question … and one I’d expect from such intelligent and gorgeous readers.

There are a number of ways that we can receive the things we need/want in our life:

• Cash – Pay for them with cash
• Free – Be given them for free
• Barter – Create an exchange of goods or services

They are all different forms of energy exchange between people and  they are all important in their own way.

There is another way that people exchange skills and services and it’s called L.E.T.S … Local Exchange Trading Systems. It was developed in Canada as a way for cash poor/skill rich communities to create and acknowledge the value of peoples skills, goods and experiences. I was very aware of it in Australia over 20 years ago … there are whole towns that work on L.E.T.S. It’s not as well developed in Ireland. Basically, you list your skills in a database and can then draw on other peoples skills. You sell your time for an imaginary currency and that is credited in a central database … and you draw down on your balance when you draw on someone elses skills. In one town you could go to a hairdresser/butcher/grocery and if they were in the L.E.T.S scheme you could pay part real cash and part imaginary currency … and they could then draw on their balance to maybe get in a painter or carpenter. I just found out that Western Australia [where I come from and my family still lives] has the most L.E.T.S schemes than anywhere else in the world. Here’s another site with loads of L.E.T.S info.

Cash – I still need cash for a range of transactions and am working on many ways to reduce the amount of money I need to live my life. My goal is to be debt free by the end of 2011, save money to live in Bali for a year and reduce my expenses. As I work to simplify my material life there is the beginnings of a sense that I only need to earn a certain [and not high] amount of cash in a year to meet my living needs [and still buy bubbles!]. The other thing I am doing is developing a few income earning streams rather than depending on one large income source … little streams can all join to form a larger cash flow.

Free – my life is choc full of really generous people. The year I turned 50 [2009] a number of friends and family sent me cash as presents and two friends paid for me to visit them in London and play in Dublin. Other friends gave me their cottage on a mountain free for a week so I could build the Life Dreaming Expedition modules in phase one. Friends have driven me to places without charging me … fed me when baked beans stopped being my favourite food … and treated me to bottles of bubbles.

There’s been a lovely lesson for me in how to graciously ask for and accept people’s help and generosity. Love you all.

Barter – in the last few years I have bartered my skills for goods and services. The more I write and talk about it … the more people ask and offer to barter. People often feel better when they can do an exchange rather than just receive something free.

In the last few weeks I have bartered and been offered barter in the following ways:

• I’m getting 1 to 1 tai chi lessons [1 hr a week for 4 to 6 weeks] in a gorgeous park in Dublin city in exchange for my help adding value to the design of the instructors wordpress site
• I’m doing 1 to 1 Life Dreaming sessions [up to 6 hours] in exchange for the professional services of a pr/communications person. She will develop my pr strategy for the Design Your Own Blogsite workshops I’ve started running … so I can get some of the cash I need on a more regular basis. The blogsite workshops are one of my little income streams
• I’m attracting house/pet sitting gigs so Coco dog and I can live rent and bill free for periods of time this year
• I’m getting a Mac Air in exchange for a friend attending one of my blogsite design workshops and giving some 1 to 1 help in building their business site
• I’m exchanging time I spend cleaning the house I’m renting a room in [and for the first time in my life I'm loving housework ... developed a passion for vacuuming stairs!] and the owners look after Coco dog when I have to be out for a day working or playing

In some cases I asked for the barter and in others people asked me …  usually because they knew I was open to it and therefore felt comfortable asking.

Barter Abundance is the new black and I am loving thinking of new ways to make it happen.

I’m also loving the different ways I’m creating cash earning opportunities by doing things I love … and I’ll always love getting presents and the odd freebie!

Life Dreaming Activity

1. Have you explored ways to reduce your expenses and increase multiple earning opportunities?

2. List all the skills, knowledge and experience that you could barter in exchange for goods and services.

3. Now start exploring who you could contact to start bartering … let people know you’re open to it.

4. List all the areas of abundance that you have in your life … now sit still and just feel happy to have all that in your life.

Please share you ideas on barter and abundance and earning streams … I’d love some new ideas and I’m sure other readers would love to hear as well. Write to me below.

If you liked this article then please Like it and Share with your friends.

In my last post I showed you the visual montage I created of my Life Dreaming for 2011.

I’ve had some lovely feedback from people and I love looking at it every time I open my computer and see it on the desktop.

It makes my LD’s visible.

Now my fabulous and truly wonderful readers … if that’s all I do with the montage then I’m wasting my time.

Yes … it helps me to see what I want to do and be.

Yes … it acts as an energiser for my ‘E’ factors.

Nope … by itself it sure ain’t going to make the dreams happen.

Now what?

Let me take one of the images as a real example of what I’ve been trying to do.

Restart Tai Chi

About 20 years ago I learnt tai chi 1 to 1 on a beach once a week for about 6 weeks.

Loved it.

On January 3 this year as part of an LD activity I listed a few things I wanted to reclaim from my younger years – tai chi was one of them.

So far so good.

I didn’t expect a tai chi instructor to turn up at my door [don't get me started on Luck] … I need to make it happen.

A few constraints  seriously hampered my search for a class:

• It needs to be in Dublin City centre so I can access it using public transport
• It needs to happen during the day [preferably morning] as I don’t want to travel after dark

I did a good old Google search and also left a note on my Facebook page asking people to recommend Tai Chi classes.

Guess what?

Most of them are at night and out in the suburbs.

Time to give up?

Well folks, that depends on how much this LD means to me … and it appears  it means a lot. Nothing like a teeny bit of adversity to test whether something is really important in my life.

I did another search tonight and found a woman who is running a 6 week course in Dublin city centre at 10am … perfect says you … not totally says I.

It’s on Sunday’s and starts this week.

My inner self talk starts going like this ….

” Lizzy Lizzy … Sunday is your lolling day  … Sunday is too hard … it’s too soon … where will I get the 80 euro … what will I wear … wait until there’s a course starting later … blah blah blah blah”

I decided it was time to GOYA [get off your arse] and make a commitment to action …to  fulfil the promise I made to myself to connect with activities that I loved doing years ago.

I emailed the contact person and booked myself in … and for the next 6 weeks I’ll be getting up at around 8am on Sundays and reconnecting with taichi … reconnecting to the joy I used to feel when I did the different taichi movements and felt time flow in different ways … felt my spirit and body and mind and heart all just relax and ease into a kind of bliss.

It’ll be worth getting up early to feel that good … it’ll be worth the money … it’ll be worth the effort … it’ll be worth the commitment.

Dear reader … living the life you want to live means making yourself act … taking the necessary steps [and stumbles] to make the dream a reality.

I took a reasonably easy LD and I’ve made it a reality … and that gives me the resolve and confidence to tackle the biggies … moving to Bali and launching the Life Dreaming Expedition.

I feel really happy  because I’m keeping promises I made to myself … I’m not just talking … I’m doing.

Life Dreaming Activity

Is there a reasonably simple LD that you have made and can make a reality before the end of January? What’s the next step … information … research … action?

Resolve and commit to taking the next step.

If you found this useful then Share away with your friends by pressing the Like button. I’d also love to hear what your next step might be … leave a comment.

I don’t know what I’m going to write here today but I’ve made a commitment to write 2 posts a week and I’ll honour it.

Those of you wonderful readers who have been with this blog since it’s beginning in the dim dark past of September will have read stuff I’ve written on the Change Rooms and The Space Between Two Trapezes.

You know how deeply I try and choose my attitude to every given situation.

And you also know how I treasure the connection I have with my heart, mind, body and spirit. It’s taken all my life to get to the point where they actually talk and listen to each other.

Well … right now my heart is having a bit of an altercation with my mind … my body feels out of sorts … and my spirit is just sitting quietly taking the long view.

So … what’s happening? … you ask.

I’m living the bloody stuff I write … that’s what’s happening!!

I’m definitely in the space between 2 trapezes and totally in the uncomfortable rooms of the Change Rooms.

My heart and unconscious are fighting a rear guard action to beat the band … they want to go back to the Comfort Room where all is known and … comfortable.

Having my mind tell them that we’re moving on isn’t helping at all.

You know how the heart gets when it’s not happy … oh yeh … irritation and exasperation.

On Friday I looked around my empty lounge room and nearly empty house after giving away everything I owned over the recent days … and my heart sank.

It actually yelled at me

‘WTF have you done? I want you to get everything back and just stay here until we move to Bali’.

Yup … mad as a bag of cats.

My mind laughed at the idea of going around to everyone and saying

‘ umm … you know the things I gave you … can I have them back please?’.

Laughing sooo doesn’t make my heart any happier.

My heart snapped at my mind

‘don’t laugh at me … you haven’t been any better … I can’t sleep for all the noise of your thoughts whirring around … listing this and sorting that and anticipating the other … shut the feather up!’

On the weekend my body decided it was missing out on all the fun so I got a small cold and a big headache.

At this point the part of me that is my spirit/inner power called everyone together and had a lovely quiet chat about staying calm and just taking it all a step at a time. It asked every part of me to be still and enjoy the time I have left here in Ballinamore.

It’s kind of working … there’s a tentative peace been called.

I took time to relax by the fire and not feel frazzled or think about the next things on the moving list or go exercising … I stopped for 2 days.

And now it’s Monday and all the uncertainty and fear and excitement are still here inside me. A kind of low level irritation is my happy companion … which in a funny way keeps me focussed.

Just because I know about the theory and concepts of change doesn’t mean that change is necessarily easier for me.

I still go through the yuk blah boo crap feelings and thoughts.

When the excitement of the decisions and actions around our Life Dreaming wear off we hit slumps along the way.

I take pitstops … chill out … and get ready to take the next steps.

I’m being very kind to myself as well as making fab lists … taking deep breaths … and getting on with the move.

I don’t underestimate the energy [heart, mind, body and spirit] that is needed to achieve my dreams … and I listen very carefully to all the parts that make up me.

Thank you for reading this.

I never really intended to use my own Life Dreams and the changes happening in my life in this blog … but that’s what’s happening.

I hope what I’m doing and learning helps you in some way … it certainly helps and centres me.

I’m off now to clean out one room and close the door.

Have a great week.

p.s Is there some kind of Cosmic Law that comes into effect when you feel a little irritated with the world? As I write this post I have only been able to upload one photo and can’t link you to my Change Rooms and Trapezes posts … really irritating.

Deep breathe Liz … deep breaths.

p.s.s if you think this wee ramble might entertain or be useful to your friends then please press the Like button and Share with your friends. You can also email them the link.

Some words and ideas get really bad press and I felt like championing a few today as they are helping me sort out everything for my move from Ballinamore to Dublin in 3 weeks [and I said that without screaming].

What If is one of the the sad ugly sisters of life’s journey … If Only is another one [and I'll write about her another time].

I don’t know how many people, gurus, self help books keep telling us not to dwell on the past [If Only] and not to think too negatively about the future [What If].

I don’t think life’s that simple … and you don’t either because you’re not only gorgeous … you’re also an aware and thoughtful person.

What If has been wandering around my head at all hours of the day and evening … and early morning … and it’s all to do with my impending move to Dublin [with Coco dog]… and eventual move to Bali at the end of 2011.

Let me share a few What If’s that have whispered [nay shouted] in my ear:

• I can’t get the money I’m owed for work I did before I move to Dublin
• I don’t find accommodation after January 6 for Coco dog and me
• I can’t access my money from Dublin
• I can’t get Coco and me to Dublin [no buses and trains take pets]
• I get kidnapped by monkeys [more likely to happen in Bali so I'll sort that when I get there].

I’ve talked before about fear and self talk. I feel that it is so important to listen to all the inner chatter that’s happening because if you don’t … you could really miss something.

I realised that those What If’s are all important and not necessarily negative.

I need to do something about all of them [reopen bank account; ask people to help me and go online to find accommodation; email my client about payment; ask a friend or pay a cab to make sure we get to Dublin].

chaos fractal … yup … looks like all the things I will do to move to Dublin.

I’ve put actions and plans in place for all the What If’s … and I’m really thankful for the inner chatter that looks negative and is actually quite helpful.

If I didn’t think about things that could go wrong or awry … if I didn’t anticipate potential difficulties and challenges … then you can bet they’ll creep up behind me and bite my fab arse.

And I am also spending time chatting to myself [do this in a private place!] about the exciting What If’s:

• I end up staying in fab places by the sea [for Coco to run] and close to food markets and bookstores [for moi].
• I end up sharing with really nice people who also have dogs and they become cool friends.
• I run lots of blogsite design workshops and save heaps of money

Can you see how doing What If’s can actually help you achieve what’s important in your life?

You can use What If to creatively explore possibilities and potentials in your life … as well as begin to define the challenges and opportunities ahead.

What If is now a glossy cool new sister in my creative Life Dreaming lexicon.

Hmmmm … what if:

• I went to Bali in February to do LD vids and check out where I’d like to live
• I ran a Life Dreaming Voyage over a weekend in a castle outside Dublin in 2011
• Lots of interesting contract work came along in 2011
• Heaps of people loved LD so much they bought the online LD Expedition
• I found a great villa to live in Bali that was safe for Coco dog and had enough rooms for all the people who want to visit … and a lap pool
• I created quiet space each day when I’m walking Coco or sitting by the fire to let myself be excited about all the new adventures … without making lists or sorting things out or being afraid

[I know it's not relaxing by the fire. I'm projecting into my relaxing in Bali future ... soon ... very soon]

Life Dreaming Activity

1. Think about something you are working towards and list all the What If’s that arise for you.
2. What can you do to deal with the challenging What If’s?
3. Have a play with some exciting What If’s in any area of your life.

Love to hear your thoughts and ideas about this Life Dreaming blog … what are you loving … what would you like to see more of … what’s not working for you?

Thanks

Liz

My fave hotel in Singapore … the Scarlett.

My brother Marc has suddenly taken to adding his thoughts at the end of my posts … and I love it. He always brings another fab perspective to the Life Dreaming table.

He wrote something on Mondays post and it’s been wandering around my head all week … and I’ve kept seeing examples of it everywhere.

Here’s what he wrote and I want to explore it more today.

But, in my experience, opportunity doesn’t always look like you expect it to.

It can be serendipitous, surprising, perhaps even course-altering.

It can be mischievous… perhaps showing up in disguise or requiring that you leap a small hurdle (or two, or three) before it reveals itself…

Wish and dream. Visualise and plan. GOYA. But don’t let it blinker you.

Stay open to the world and all the mad serendipity it contains. Treat it all (and yourself) with kindness and joy.

Because as long as you’re out there working towards your dreams, you might not need to find everything you need, it might find you.

For those of you that are curious about what serendipity is I wrote about it when I first launched my personal blog Liz Biz in early 2007 [where has the time gone?]. Here are a few lines that I quite enjoyed reading again …

Serendipity is one of my fave words. To me it means letting myself wander without any preplans, lists, agendas – and see what happens and where I end up. I love doing serendipity – letting go of the what ifs, the shoulds, the buts …and wandering into the unexpected.

The secrets of serendipity can be yours. Allow yourself to let go of constraints for a moment and then see where serendipity takes you. Give your brain a rest and let your intuition and imagination lead you. Feel the ‘tug’ towards a place – wander in and see/feel/hear/taste what’s there – wander on.

The paradox (another fave word) is that serendipity is a kind of unconscious consciousness – an awareness that if we listen … can take us down unexpected paths.

I always say that I have a bad sense of direction because I love getting lost. I end up seeing things and meeting people that I didn’t expect. See, that’s the magic of serendipitying – the unexpected.

I’ve serendipitied in Rome, Paris, London, Boston, New York, Dublin, Singapore, Oz & Ballinamore – wandered around and just listened to the ‘tug’ inside me that says ‘go down that street … go into that shop … smile at that person … taste that … touch that’.

In the process of serendipity we also give ourselves the space and time to see things in a different light – there can be a heightening of all the senses because we’re wandering without a plan … we use a radar that tunes in new opportunities.

Daydreaming is a great example of serendipitying in your conscious and unconscious – misty wanderings that have all sorts of images and sounds – sometime becoming a crystal idea – sometimes one of those mmmmmmmmm moments.

That’s the paradox that I try and blend into Life Dreaming … how to be open to new opportunities AND have some kind of sense of what’s important and what you’d love to do and be.

That’s how I live.

Those of you that have been following my writing and Life Dreaming know that one of my big LD’s is to move to Bali next year … fab.

I’m just back from 2 days working in Dublin [2 hours train trip from where I live] as well as catching up with a few friends.

And in all the serendipity of the last few days I also realised that I might need to move back to Dublin in 2011 before I move to Bali … for a range of reasons that are both personal and professional.

So I now blend the serendipity into my bigger LD plan … knowing that other opportunities to adapt and change my LD actions will arise [and as I write another one has arisen. A friend Facebooked asking if anyone would look after their dog for a month while they had a holiday in Oz. I had a very strong intuition to say I'd do it even though I already have a big dog to look after. Their dog was going to stay here and in the last 10 minutes my friend and I have agreed that I'll take Coco and live in their house in Dublin for the month over Xmas. I can then be in Dublin to explore house sitting/sharing opportunities for 2011. My Opportunity Radar is on high alert].

What doesn’t change regardless of the opportunities and serendipities is the clarity I have about what’s important to me right now … what drives me … how I want to be in the world. That keeps me sane and content  when all about me looks like creative chaos!

And I hear some of you ask … What if I seize an opportunity on this mad serendipity and it doesn’t work?

Fractals

Damn fine question.

The answer to that depends on a lot of things that I’ll write about in another post … for now let me give you an example from a dear friends life.

A dear friend … let’s call her Gorgeous … recently moved jobs to what looked like an awesome opportunity … and in many ways it was.

The new job had:

• More money
• Great co workers
• Amazing benefits
• Very cool working environment

So she took it … why not … it was an amazing opportunity.

Less than a month into the job I was talking with her and she was really puzzled about why she was feeling so unsettled and unhappy [have a read of Change Rooms].

We explored a pile of things including the new work environment [yup there were some difficulties but nothing she couldn't handle] and how she was looking after herself.

It felt to me that it wasn’t about the job at all … there was a broader question that she needed to explore …

Was she living her passion … was the job the most important thing?

Her answer was … Yes and No.

Yes … she knew what her passion was … and … No … it was getting crowded out by the demands of her new job.

My intuition [which I listen to very very closely] was telling me that she needed to leave the job … find a lower paying and less demanding job … and focus her attention, time and energy on manifesting her Passion [she's an amazing performer].

That’s exactly what she did and I saw her when I was in Dublin this week … she looks so much happier. She’s given her notice [even after the management offered her even more money] and is looking for a less demanding work position and starting to plan her big performance moves on a global scale!!!

Moral of this Story?

Sometimes opportunities arise that are so fabulous we are tempted to take them … even if it means losing sight of our passions for a while.

Temptation is sometimes an interesting test of whether we really really want to pursue our passions … to focus on what’s important to us in our lives.

Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t … that’s life.

What is critical to this story is that Gorgeous was open to new opportunities … she gave it a go … and then realised that it was taking her away from what was really important in her life. She then altered course to refocus on her passion … and will continue to be open to opportunities and serendipities. She’ll just be a little clearer in the future about why she takes and leaves them.

That’s known as the Opportunity Cost of a decision … there are only so many paths we can take at once.

Some opportunities … regardless of how fabulous and awesome they are … will be paths that we don’t travel because we’ve decided on another awesome one.

Life Dreaming Activity

Think about your life.

Can you remember times when what looked like an awesome opportunity arose  … you took it … and it ended up taking you away from your passion … away from what was really important in your life?

What did you do?

I’d love to hear what you did … leave me a note below.