Hiatus

As I take some time to recover from an unexpected surgery, I’ll be taking a short break from writing in this blog.  Back with you soon!

Honoring Your Values: Discovery 2

Attributes (What It Looks Like)
observe, uncover, distinguish, learn, locate, detect, perceive, realize, discern
How It Shines (Ways A Value May Express Itself)
You are curious.  You may be the type who wants to know the how and why of things.  You may seek out opportunities to learn something new.  You may enjoy a mystery and be something of an armchair detective or a even a real-life one.  You may also work in scientific and medical research, law enforcement, archaeology, genealogy or other fields in which uncovering the unknown is a key component.  You may enjoy visiting new places, exotic lands and historic destinations.  You may enjoy taking the path least traveled on.  You may enjoy meeting with others who share your passion for discovery.
Tip to Honor this Value In a Positive Way
Although the concept of treasure hunting has been around for centuries, the advent of GPS has allowed the creation of a fascinating new hobby called geocaching.  Geocaching has been around since 2000.  Basically, geocachers both hide and seek out waterproof containers with logbooks and sometimes, small trinkets using GPS.  When you locate a geocache, you can record your find in the logbook and online. There are quite a variety in the type and location of geocaches and it is estimated that there are close to a million of them around the world today.

Geocaching may be an attractive and trendy way of honoring the value of discovery for someone who also enjoys mystery and using technology and traveling.  If you are someone who values discovery and also enjoys movies like “Indiana Jones” or “National Treasure”, then geocaching may be just the thing for you.  To learn more about it, go to this Wikipedia entry: Geocaching.  Also, one of the more popular geocaching organizations, “Geocaching”, has great information on their site.

Living in the Present “Sense”: Smell 7

There’s not a lot of innovation in the field of cross-stitch and embroidery.  While I enjoy it as a hobby, it’s not exactly “cutting edge.”  So, imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail advertising a new concept in the field: scented embroidery thread.  Yup, you read that right.  Get your aromatherapy and crafts at the same time.

I’ve seen scented stationery and ink and we’re all familiar with scratch n’ sniff stickers, but what’s next?  Aromatherapy glue?  Will people be sniffing it for a completely new reason?  Believe it or not, it’s already on the market.  Online store Everything Smells specializes in well, everything that smells.  Scented keyboard pillows, slippers, and paint are displayed right along with candles, lotions and other traditionally scented products.

Apparently, while some people are shunning artificial scents and reaching for the “fragrance-free” products on the shelf, others of us are thinking, “almond scented glue stick?  Really?  Cool!”

Transition Tip: General—What Not to Do

So many articles focus on what to do during a transition.  Here are some things NOT to do during a transition, whether it’s relocation or the end of a relationship or a job change.

Don’t freeze up.  Transitions can sometimes be incredibly traumatic.  Certainly, it’s understandable if you want to take it easy for a while.  At the same time, it’s important to not stop everything in your life all at the same time.  Hunkering down inside your home, ignoring the phone, and failing to bathe or eat regularly for more than a few days is unhealthy and unhelpful.  Pulling back from certain social situations, slowing down your lifestyle and eating some ice cream is maybe to be expected but don’t let it all go.  You are just sabotaging your own regroup and recovery efforts and sometimes, that is hard enough without adding more obstacles to it.

Because transitions involve the unknown and unexpected, it is easy to fall prey to anxiety and fear.  While it is important to stay informed, don’t let yourself get bombarded with only negative news and influences.  If you’re used to immersing yourself in the misery that is the daily news media, limit that exposure.  If you have energy vampires in your life, don’t spend as much time with them.  Your defenses are down and you are incredibly vulnerable when you are in transition.  Just like when you are fighting off an infection, you need your strength so erect those boundaries and keep the negative stuff out!

At the same time, don’t shut out your good friends and colleagues.  The urge to hide and handle things on your own can be strong.  You may be dealing with feelings of guilt, shame, despair, frustration, anger, and sadness all at the same time and might be reluctant to share this side of you with people.  Perhaps you have had prior experiences where people didn’t react well when you did.  Maybe they abandoned you, gave you bad advice or took advantage of you.  Also, it can be difficult to ask for help if you are uncertain of the response or if you are used to being the one who helps others.  Ultimately, though, true friends will stand by you in the bad times just like they did in the good times.  A lot of times people want to help but they don’t want to presume and they often just don’t know how.  Instead of closing down communications, open up a dialogue and get their support.  While it is painful to find out that some of your friends really aren’t, it can be a character growth opportunity.

Getting Your Needs Met: Accomplish 2

Attributes (What It Looks Like)
attain, achieve, reach, fulfill, realize, victory, consummate, profit, yield
The Ugly (When the Need Is Not Getting Met)
You may…
be irritated with people who don’t place an importance on goals and objectives
be frustrated by either not having a goal or not being able to achieve it
drive those around you to achieve things or put them down if they don’t or don’t want to
burn yourself out in your quest for victory
neglect other aspects of your life, such as loved ones and your health, in order to reach a goal
Tip to Get this Need Met Appropriately
Nothing frustrates someone with a need for accomplishment than the feeling that there are not getting anywhere.  This is a particularly thorny problem when the amount of things on the to-do list reach the point of overwhelm.  People who need to accomplish things are notorious list makers and in the traditional context, it seems that their lists are never-ending.  There are two aspects to this problem.  One, there could just be too many things on the list.  Two, there may be an undue focus on what remains to be done and little acknowledgement of achievements.

If you have this need and are feeling a bit overwhelmed, then examine your list and see if there is anything that you can eliminate.  Often, people will put “should-dos” on their list and it takes up a permanent residence there since although they have the best intentions, they may not have the commitment or desire to get that thing done.  As well as getting rid of the should-dos, it’s also a good idea to eliminate wishes, want-tos and dreams from this list.  While these have a legitimate place in your life, a “to-do” list which by its very name, demands action, may not be the right place if you find that you are not taking action on them.   Whittling down the list to something manageable and truly obtainable is a necessary step to setting yourself up for success.

To address the second problem, you could try supplementing (or completely replacing) your to-do list with a “done” list.  One of the paradoxical things about to-do lists is that often our way of noting that they are done is to cross them out.  In doing this, though, you lose sight of the fact that you completed or achieved something.  All you can see is what is still left to do.  So, if you make a list of all that you actually did do in a day or a week, it can help to meet your need for accomplishment.