Reflecting

How was Christmas for you? Did you have feelings of gratitude, excitement, peace, contentment...or did other feelings surface?

What needs were met for you? Connection, relaxation, stimulation...
As I reflect about my holiday I feel a smile coming on because it really met a lot of my needs and I believe the needs of my family.

It hasn't always been that way. As I grow and continue to listen to my deepest needs my family seems to come right along with me. We experimented with less material gifts this year. I noticed a greater appreciation for what each gift was and many were utilized right away. We spent much of Christmas day doing crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, eating great food, getting outdoors, and visiting with friends and neighbors.

I did find that being fully present was a much greater gift than any present under our tree.

Coaching for connection, balance and health.

Merry Christmas

Remember it's your presence more than the presents.

Its giving without expectation,
receiving with joy and appreciation,
caring and sharing,
moments of laughter,spontaneity, and play,
experiencing delight and awe of these precious moments
in this life!

Love,
Carol

Coaching for connection, health and balance!

Your Purpose

My coach gave me a homework assignment for the New Year and I want to share it with you. The exercise is designed to find your life purpose.

For five days as you go to bed at night ask yourself what your life purpose is. When you wake up in the morning before you do anything else write down whatever comes to mind about the subject. Don't think to hard. Write fast and spontaneously. Don't look at your writing after you are done. On the fifth day schedule in time to meditate and reflect. Find a place you can get quiet and present. Do what works for you to achieve that state. Then read over all you wrote. Now take time again to reflect by meditating or breathing consciously and when you are ready stop and write down what your life purpose is.

Now you have your purpose, don't panic, visualize it...recognize it is an unfolding. There are steps you will take to get there. Use it as a guide and trust your inner knowing.

If you choose to do it I'd love to hear you purpose!

Coaching for connection, health and balance.

Making a difference

There are so many moments, so many possibilities to make a difference. Large and small it's about being aware of the vast opportunities that abound in life.

I want to appreciate all of you who have given me the opportunity to make a difference. It truly lights up my life and engages my passion to be my best. Thank you!

This week in the hustle and bustle of the season take a moment to stop, breathe, and notice the possibilities. Then be in gratitude for yourself and the abundance in which you can give!

Make a difference, one moment at a time.

Coaching for connection, health and balance!

Global Climate Crisis

I had the opportunity to see a presentation on the Global Climate Crisis last evening. It was delivered by Bill Bradbury the Oregon Secretary of State.

I was inspired and encouraged to hear that Al Gore is training 1,000 people in the U.S. to deliver his message wherever they can. Bill Bradbury went through his training and is willing to come and talk to any group of 50 or more. He has parts of the power point from the film with some additional specific information about Oregon.

It is a grassroots approach to getting this message out to as many people as possible. And in the end the message is a hopeful one. We can change what needs to be changed to make a difference and we need to do it now.

Change happens when you choose it!

gifts that keep on giving

If you are looking for gifts that keep on giving here are two organizations that I have supported in the past and will continue to do so. One is Beads for Life. You can buy necklaces, bracelets, and other items. The money goes to create sustainable incomes for women in Uganda. The breakdown of where the money goes is available on the website.
The second organization is Trees for Life this organization gives a gift of fruit tree plantings in area's of the world in need. Both have a great mission and are doing amazing work in the world to eradicate poverty and hunger.

They also have price ranges to fit any budget. Check them out if you have a need to share gifts that keep on giving.

In the same spirit I am inspired to offer a free gift for those of you who feel you would benefit from a coaching session to create a vision for the New Year. I will offer five sessions to the first five women that respond. This offer is for women who have not worked with me in the past. If you are interested or know of someone else you want to share this with feel free to pass this on. These sessions are done on the phone. Call 389-0831 or email me at cdelmonico@my180.net to sign up.

A seed

"If somebody doesn't begin to provide some kind of harmony, we will not be able to develop sanity in this world at all.
Somebody has to plant the seed so that sanity can happen on this earth."
-Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Seems like there are more and more people out planting seeds. The thing is often you have to look outside the mainstream to see it. And therein lies the challenge much of the time for so many people.

How do I find the time to seek out the good news in the world?

Here is an opportunity for you to share where you get inspired, where you hear the news of "seeds being planted", where you see sanity happening...

Take a moment to write a comment and you will have supported someone else. I've already shared my favorite magazine "Ode" and there is Utne Reader, Orion and...Let us know!

Thank you, and may you get out there and plant your own seed.

A Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookie

I found this recipe years ago in a magazine and have tweaked it a bit. The cookies are sweet but not too sweet and we love them best out of the freezer. I often make these over the holidays so if I get a craving I can satisfy it without too much sugar.
2 cups spelt or whole wheat flour
2 ½ cups oats (toasted in oven at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes)
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup ground flax meal
2 cups toasted almonds, walnuts or pecans or a mixture of the three
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup canola oil
1 cup agave or maple syrup
4 tsp vanilla extract
To toast oats place on a baking sheet in the oven with temperature at 350degrees for 10-15 minutes then allow to cool. Grind the oats in a food processor to a coarse meal. You can toast your nuts the same way, keep a close eye as they don’t take long to toast 3-7 minutes. Coarsely chop nuts.
Position oven rack in middle of oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. (Because there is no butter these can stick to the pan if you don’t use parchment)
Place ground oats, flour, flax seed meal, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir well with a wire whisk. Add chocolate chips and nuts and stir again.
Combine oil, syrup, and vanilla in a bowl. Whisk vigorously until emulsified. Stir wet ingredients into dry, don’t over mix.
Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets about 11/2 inches apart. Flatten dough a bit and smooth edges.
Only bake one sheet of cookies at a time. The cookies take between 12-18 minutes they should be lightly browned on the bottom. Allow to cool on sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. They will keep a week in the refrigerator in an air tight container or in freezer for weeks.

Positive Qualities

In my practice women come to coaching for one of two reasons. They are struggling and recognize a need for help or they are ready to move forward and they want to develop new tools so that the forward motion is done with fulfillment, joy and balance in mind.

What I love about the coaching process is that I get to assist in transforming "mistakes" into learning, "what you didn't do" into "everything you did do" and to shine a light on how great you really are.

I recently gave a homework assignment to a client asking her to write out a list of ten positive qualities about herself and to read that list at least three times a day. On the hardest days if each of us can remember our goodness it can shift a hard day to a day of joy. It's the inner work that does that for you!

So give that assignment a try. Take a moment to jot down ten positive qualities about yourself and revel in your greatness!

"It is better to ask some questions than to know all the answers"
-James Thurber

"One of the marks of an intelligent person is to be able to distinguish what is worth doing and what isn't and to be able to set priorities"
-Anne Wilson Schraef

I don't know when this quote was written but I found it in a book by Julia Cameron. Again and again this seems to be the challenge of our lifetime.

How do you distinguish what is worth doing and what isn't?

How do we prioritize our choices?

For me again and again it comes back to my values. My values have remained fairly steady in the years of raising my children. My children continually validate my need to be connected. Be here with me now they say as they sit down for a snack, tell me a story, share their day,get frustrated, complain, laugh...

We've had conversations over the years so that they have more understanding about my spending time on myself and my passion for my work because in doing those things it brings me more present and fully alive. What is worth doing... being as alive as possible in the present moment.
That's worth prioritizing to me!

What's worth prioritizing to you?

Microcredit

In the season of giving I wanted to share with you another article about Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.

"Microcredit, the system he devised to extend small loans so the poor could start their own businesses, has expanded into the success story in the war on poverty and a vital instrument to promote sustainable peace in afflicted areas"
-Juriiaan Kamp and Marco Visscher

I find it helpful and inspiring to read about the ways in which our world is changing for the better and to recognize the stages of change. Understanding how we slowly embrace change is important in the big and little changes we can effect in our own lives and the lives of those around us.

Microcredit is one example of how to support others by giving them an opportunity to develop their own worth.

Worth

"Feelings of worth can flourish only
in an atmosphere where individual
differences are appreciated,
mistakes are tolerated,
communication is open,
and rules are flexible."
-Virginia Satir

Ain't that the truth.

How many of us have created an environment like the above in our lives?

How is your self worth?

If it's not so great look at the quote above and see if any of it is would be valuable for you to integrate into your daily life. Flexible rules is challenging for me. I know I could play with how that can look in my parenting and in my own set of personal life rules.

December can be such a stressful month. I'm going to nurture a place of learning and stretching on the inside so that potentially the external stuff won't feel as overwhelming.
I'll practice flexibility, what will you practice?