Some Advice from Dr. Wayne Dyer

One of my absolute favorite spiritual teachers speaks to us:


Sweep It Clean, Inside & Out

a message from Wayne W. Dyer
Sunday, 30 August, 2009

For a moment, let’s imagine what it would be like to be fully alive without a physical shell or any of the stuff we need and desire for maintaining life on Earth. We’d have a mental energy that allowed us to move forward or backward, up or down, instantly creating whatever we desired. We’d be free to wallow in an exquisite existence without time or space as we know it. We’d be in a state of pure bliss, in love with everything and everyone. We’d have no duties or bills to tend to, no fear of losing anything, no one judging us, no possessions to insure, no demands on our time, and no goals to achieve.

What we’re envisioning is actually the world of Spirit, which we experienced before we came here and will return to when we shed our body (or as William Butler Yeats poetically called it, our “tattered coat upon a stick”).

Inspiration is a state of being here now in this material world, while at the same time reconnecting to our spiritual origins. In order to be receptive to inspiration, we need to eliminate the ego clutter that accumulates all too easily for most of us—after all, if we’re preoccupied with events and activities that have nothing to do with inspiration, we’re unlikely to notice its summons. So in order to achieve a reunion with our ultimate calling, we need to emulate the clear, uncomplicated world of Spirit.

This doesn’t mean that we should sit around doing nothing, awaiting Spirit’s arrival; instead, it means having faith that our spiritual connection flourishes in a life dedicated to joy, love, and peace. If our daily activities are so overwhelming that we don’t make these things our priority, then we’re disregarding the value of living a simple life.
My 12-Step Program To Simplicity

Here are 12 very specific tools for simplifying your life. Begin using them today if you’re serious about hearing that ultimate call to inspiration.

Unclutter your life. You’ll feel a real rush of inspiration when you clear out stuff that’s no longer useful in your life:
If you haven’t worn it in the past year or two, recycle it for others to use. Get rid of old files that take up space and are seldom, if ever, needed. Donate unused toys, tools, books, bicycles, and dishes to a charitable organization.

Get rid of anything that keeps you mired in acquisitions that contribute to a cluttered life. In the words of Socrates, “He is nearest to God who needs the fewest things.” So the less you need to insure, protect, dust, reorganize, and move, the closer you’ll be to hearing inspiration’s call.

Clear your calendar of unwanted and unnecessary activities and obligations. If you’re unavailable for Spirit, you’re unlikely to know the glow of inspiration. God will indeed work with you and send you the guidance—and the people—you need, but if you’re grossly overscheduled, you’re going to miss these life-altering gifts. So practice saying no to excessive demands and don’t feel guilty about injecting a dose of leisure time into your daily routine.

Be sure to keep your free time free. Be on the lookout for invitations to functions that may keep you on top of society’s pyramid, but which inhibit your access to joyful inspiration. If cocktail parties, social get-togethers, fund-raising events, or even drinking-and-gossiping gatherings with friends aren’t really how you want to spend your free time, then don’t. Begin declining invitations that don’t activate feelings of inspiration.

I find that an evening spent reading or writing letters, watching a movie with a loved one, having dinner with my children, or even exercising alone is far more inspiring than getting dressed to attend a function often filled with small talk. I’ve learned to be unavailable for such events without apologizing, and consequently have more inspired moments freed up.

Take time for meditation and yoga. Give yourself at least 20 minutes a day to sit quietly and make conscious contact with God. I’ve written an entire book on this subject called Getting in the Gap, so I won’t belabor it here. I will say that I’ve received thousands of messages from people all over the world, who have expressed their appreciation for learning how to simplify their life by taking the time to meditate.

I also encourage you to find a yoga center near you and begin a regular practice. The rewards are so powerful: You’ll feel healthier, less stressed, and inspired by what you’ll be able to do with and for your body in a very short time.

Return to the simplicity of nature. There’s nothing more awe inspiring than nature itself. The fantasy to return to a less tumultuous life almost always involves living in the splendor of the mountains, the forests, or the tundra; on an island; near the ocean; or beside a lake. These are universal urges, since nature is created by the same Source as we are, and we’re made up of the same chemicals as all of nature (we’re stardust, remember?).

Your urge to simplify and feel inspired is fueled by the desire to be your natural self—that is, your nature self. So give yourself permission to get away to trek or camp in the woods; swim in a river, lake, or ocean; sit by an open fire; ride horseback through trails; or ski down a mountain slope. This doesn’t have to mean long, planned vacations that are months away—no matter where you live, you’re only a few hours or even moments away from a park, campground, or trail that will allow you to enjoy a feeling of being connected to the entire Universe.

Put distance between you and your critics. Choose to align yourself with people who are like-minded in their search for simplified inspiration. Give those who find fault or who are confrontational a silent blessing and remove yourself from their energy as quickly as possible. Your life is simplified enormously when you don’t have to defend yourself to anyone, and when you receive support rather than criticism. You don’t have to endure the criticism with anything other than a polite thank-you and a promise to consider what’s been said—anything else is a state of conflict that erases the possibility of your feeling inspired. You never need to defend yourself or your desires to anyone, as those inner feelings are Spirit speaking to you. Those thoughts are sacred, so don’t ever let anyone trample on them.

Take some time for your health. Consider that the number one health problem in America seems to be obesity. How can you feel inspired and live in simplicity if you’re gorging on excessive amounts of food and eliminating the exercise that the body craves? Recall that your body is a sacred temple where you reside for this lifetime, so make some time every single day for exercising it. Even if you can only manage a walk around the block, just do it. Similarly, keep the words portion control uppermost in your consciousness—your stomach is the size of your fist, not a wheelbarrow! Respect your sacred temple and simplify your life by being an exerciser and a sensible eater. I promise that you’ll feel inspired if you act on this today!

Play, play, play! You’ll simplify your life and feel inspired if you learn to play rather than work your way through life. I love to be around kids because they inspire me with their laughter and frivolity. In fact, if I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times: “Wayne, you’ve never grown up—you’re always playing.” I take great pride in this! I play onstage when I speak, and I’m playing now as I write.

Many years ago I was given a tremendous opportunity to appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. The man who took a chance on me, booking me even though I was an unknown at the time, was a talent coordinator named Howard Papush. It was my first big break, and I went on to appear on The Tonight Show 36 additional times. Now it’s my turn to say thank you to Howard. He’s written a wonderful book titled When’s Recess? Playing Your Way Through the Stresses of Life, which I encourage you to read. (Howard also conducts workshops that teach people how to play and have fun in life.) In the book, Howard shares this great quote from Richard Bach: “You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self.” I couldn’t agree more—by all means, get back in touch with your real, playful self, and take every opportunity to play! Notice how it makes everything so sweet, and so simple.

Slow down. One of Gandhi’s most illuminating observations reminds us that “there is more to life than increasing its speed.” This is great advice for simplifying your life—in fact, slow everything way down for a few moments right here and now. Slowly read these words. Slow your breathing down so that you’re aware of each inhalation and exhalation...

When you’re in your car, downshift and relax. Slow down your speech, your inner thoughts, and the frantic pace of everything you do. Take more time to hear others. Notice your inclination to interrupt and get the conversation over with, and then choose to listen instead. Stop to enjoy the stars on a clear night and the cloud formations on a crisp day. Sit down in a mall and just observe how everyone seems in a hurry to get nowhere.

By slowing down, you’ll simplify and rejoin the perfect pace at which creation works. Imagine trying to hurry nature up by tugging at an emerging tomato plant—you’re as natural as that plant, so let yourself be at peace with the perfection of nature’s plan.

Do everything you can to eschew debt. Remember that you’re attempting to simplify your life here, so you don’t need to purchase more of what will complicate and clutter your life. If you can’t afford it, let it go until you can. By going into debt, you’ll just add layers of anxiety onto your life. That anxiety will then take you away from your peace, which is where you are when you’re in-Spirit. When you have to work extra hard to pay off debts, the present moments of your life are less enjoyable; consequently, you’re further away from the joy and peace that are the trademarks of inspiration. You’re far better off to have less and enjoy the days of your life than to take on debt and invite stress and anxiety where peace and tranquility could have reigned. And remember that the money you have in your possession is nothing but energy—so refuse to plug in to an energy system that’s not even there.

Forget about the cash value. I try not to think about money too frequently because it’s been my observation that people who do so tend to think about almost nothing else. So do what your heart tells you will bring you joy, rather than determining whether it will be cost-effective. If you’d really enjoy that whale-watching trip, for instance, make the decision to do so—don’t deny yourself the pleasures of life because of some monetary detail. Don’t base your purchases on getting a discount, and don’t rob yourself of a simple joy because you didn’t get a break on the price. You can afford a happy, fulfilling life, and if you’re busy right now thinking that I have some nerve telling you this because of your bleak financial picture, then you have your own barrier of resistance.

Make an attempt to free yourself from placing a price tag on everything you have and do—after all, in the world of Spirit, there are no price tags. Don’t make money the guiding principle for what you have or do; rather, simplify your life and return to Spirit by finding the inherent value in everything. A dollar does not determine worth, even though you live in a world that attempts to convince you otherwise.

Remember your spirit. When life tends to get overly complex, too fast, too cluttered, too deadline oriented, or too type A for you, stop and remember your own spirit. You’re headed for inspiration, a simple, peaceful place where you’re in harmony with the perfect timing of all creation. Go there in your mind, and stop frequently to remember what you really want.

A man who personified success at the highest intellectual and social levels would hardly seem one to quote on simplifying our life, yet here’s what Albert Einstein offers us on this subject: “Possessions, outward success, publicity, luxury—to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.”

Wow! I’d say this is pretty good advice, wouldn’t you?

Wayne.

When It's All Just Too Much

So you have lots of great ideas banging around in your head now.

You need to clean the kitchen each day. Do Simpleology. Meditate. Take your kids to school. Pick them up...

Oh boy. How did you end up here?

Well, remember that we're working on creating a habit per month. So what about these other habits that are so important, so meaningful, so valuable?

This is one of the things that the Dream-a-Dream box is for. Go in the other room. Write down the habit you want to form. Put it into the Dream-a-Dream box.

When you write it down, though, don't just write down the habit: "Make my bed every morning."

Instead, write down the habit as if it's already created, and what it feels like when you imagine it already created: "I love it that I make my bed each morning. When I walk up into my room at bed time, it always looks so lovely, so organized, and so welcoming. It feels so good to know that my bed is made before I get into it, and that if someone stops by today, they can visit my bedroom and I will feel proud of myself and my room."

Keep it positive, don't include things like, "I won't be embarrassed," instead make it, "I feel proud." Take the fear, and turn it around into its opposite. "I won't be fat" becomes "I look slender and strong."

Then when it comes time to begin creating your next habit, go to your Dream-a-Dream box. Find the dream you feel is highest priority, and turn that one into habit.

One step at a time. One day at a time.

Now that you have a Dream-a-Dream box, you know that it's just a matter of time before each of these habits you want to form become reality for you. No longer is it overwhelming, but now it's just a matter of time. You don't have to do it today-- and you probably wouldn't even if you tried to force yourself to.

So let it come in its own time. Prioritize and put the rest of your dreams back. They'll keep. :)



~ Livin' the Rhythm with Kimberly Weston

The First Rhythm: Charting Your Menses

It comes every month, for most of us. We're all familiar with it. The bleeding, the cramping (for some), the discomfort.

But are we really all that familiar with it? There's more to it than these discomforts. More than the painful symptoms, the irritability, the mood swings, and the rest of the commonly associated discomforts.

If you're familiar with these, but not the benefits, then it's time to sit yourself down and honestly, openly revisit your monthly. It's time to start charting it. Because there are benefits, and it's these that we wish to begin to not only explore, but to make copious use of.

Also, we want to start supplementing in such a way that we are supported in having fewer negatives. Wouldn't that be nice? Less irritability, less stress, less cramping, better sleep. Imagine that, who would have thought these things were possible?

I mean, we're women, aren't we just supposed to endure, no matter what it takes? Aren't we supposed to just live with it, and struggle through like a trooper?

I'm not sure where this idea comes from, and I'm not going to start guessing (that's a controversy for a different blog, were I to start one). However, I do know that it's not an appropriate or worthwhile idea.

There's no reason whatsoever why we should force ourselves to just struggle through when there are not only options for supplementation to help us ease our symptoms, but there are ways of living that are actually *gasp* in harmony with our feminine cycles!

But the first step, the first habit for us to create is for us to chart our cycle. This is as important as Simpleology-- Simpleology only more important as far as this blog goes because it supports us in charting our Menses!

Why do I think charting is so very important?

Because of the differences it can, and probably will, make in our lives. Here are some points to ponder:

Did you know that at certain times of the month....

• you are more organized than others?
• you are literally physically stronger?
• your body purposely and with intent tries to put on weight?
• your body purposely and happily loses weight?
• you sleep better?
• your mood deteriorates rapidly?

Some of these, I'm sure you knew. But these are only a few of the changes going on constantly in your body and your mood and your mindset. I list these to illustrate the fact that we often work against, rather than with, the natural rhythms of our monthly hormonal changes.

Our body changes can be tracked. Once we begin to track them, the changes that happen are amazing. Once we know when to tell ourselves, "Not to worry, this is just hormones. This too, shall pass," and we know when to expect our bodies to be weaker and when stronger... then we can change the way we live our lives.

We can also change the way we feel about ourselves.

Our Menses can be a gift, rather than a curse.

What I personally chart:

• Date
• Cycle day (1-28)
• Weight
• Bloat (location, amount)
• Mood (irritable, positive, unpredictable, moody, etc.)
• Focus (how well am I focusing on tasks?)
• Organization (am I feeling like organizing, or just maintaining?)
• Stress Level
• Energy Level
• Pain (degree and location)
• Hunger Level
• Strength
• Sleep (amount and quality)
• Libido
• Sexual Responsiveness
• Meditation (amount and focus/quantity)

Once I know these things, and have knowledge of the length of my cycle (normally it's 28 days, some vary, however), then I can begin to make changes accordingly.

So this is the first step. Once you have this particular step down, and you have a few months' worth of charting under your belt, you'll start to see a real pattern. You'll begin to understand how your hormones are effecting your day to day life.

You cannot make changes around your cycle until you really, truly, understand and know your cycle. If you don't really know your cycle, and how you feel at each day of your cycle, then how can you possibly really know yourself?

A small note on your cycle days:

• Day 1 = First day of your Menses/Period
• Day 5 = Beginning of the weaker, weight loss period
• Day 19 = Beginning of the stronger, but usually hungrier stage

So, for now, chart your cycle. If you haven't started your period recently, then just begin charting without the "cycle day" notation filled in just yet. Even if it's a couple of weeks before you have a Period, you still have the beginning of a pattern established.

No excuses. Start today, no matter whether you know when to expect your next Period or not.

Change your life by getting to know yourself and your body. It has more impact on you than many of us wish to admit-- and than nearly any of us have been taught to acknowledge.

Well, it's past time to not only acknowledge our bodies and their rhythms, but time to turn them into our dancing partners, and Live the Rhythm every day of our lives.



~ Livin' the Rhythm with Kimberly Weston

What Motivates You? (Click title for Podcast)

I want to talk today about getting motivated. It's fairly easy to get motivated on a single moment basis. Read something inspiring for the first time, and you're all fired up. But each time you read it, it seems to lose its power to punch through the inertia that most of us share.

Thus how do we get ourselves motivated? How do we get ourselves to perform on a daily basis?

The answer is Living a Legacy.

Nearly every spiritual teaching, be it the Bible, the Tao, the Sutras, the Quran... they all remind us that service to others is where the real joy, satisfaction, and even motivation is found.

What does this mean in practical terms for a mother with one or more kids, who's not really in the position to forsake all and simply run off to another country or to the dark parts of the inner city? What about us regular Janes and Joes living day-to-day and with many obligations and few inspirations?

Well, this is an answer for us, as well. When we go into the kitchen and see how dirty it is, and try to motivate ourselves to clean it, what are the most common methods?

1. Yell at ourselves
2. Remind ourselves how important it is because dirty is ugly
3. Guilt trip ourselves
4. Tell ourselves how stupid and lazy we are
5. Complain that it's too hard
6. Imagine what it will look like when it's done
7. Push ourselves to do it even if it feels horrible (and we don't feel well, either)

There are all sorts of methods. Most of them involve some sort of self-torture, self-loathing, and or other forms of trying to shame or force ourselves.

But let's face it, shaming and forcing just aren't motivating. They really aren't.

What is there to do, then? We could decide that it's important to do it because we would feel so much better if we did. A clean kitchen feels better than a dirty one, that's for sure.

But that's long-term, and most people recognize the fact that the long term, future possible reward is a cheap trade for the immediate gratification of "screw it, I'm gonna watch some TV first."

Most of us really do wish for a clean and tidy and organized home, though. How then, do we get there from here? What might really, truly motivate us?

I think it might really help people to recognize that at every moment of every day, we're creating a Legacy for our children. We either leave them the Legacy of a clean house, a healthy body, and a positive social life... or we leave them a Legacy of obesity, lack of motivation, and a general sense of prevailing malaise.

There's no possible way to leave no Legacy.

So if you want to motivate yourself, choose today what Legacy you want to leave. Do you want to leave a Legacy of a healthy body, a healthy eating lifestyle, a healthy home, a healthy social life?

Then sit down, and write down what you want your Legacy to be. Sit down and write down what your life would look like if it were leaving the Legacy you wish you could for your children.

When you sit there and you think that you don't want to clean the kitchen, ask yourself this question, "What Legacy am I leaving if I walk out of this kitchen without at least cleaning a dish, maybe two?"

Then ask yourself this, "Is this what I want to leave as my child's Legacy for his/her future? Is this what I want my grandchildren to live like?"

And when you answer those questions, you'll understand at last what is meant by happiness being found in service to others. Because when you take that extra step each day to clean a couple or five extra dishes, and you one day wake up to a clean kitchen...

You'll be happy.

Not only because you'll be happier with a clean kitchen, but because you'll realize something profound on that day.

"THIS is my Legacy!"

It seems like such a small thing. So simple. It's JUST a clean kitchen.

But think about how depressing and oppressive a dirty kitchen is. Think how great you feel when your kitchen is clean. When you feel healthy and whole and you have good habits.

THAT is your Legacy! The clean kitchen? That's just the surface vision of what lies beneath.

Live a Legacy. You are doing so, whether you want to or not. So go ahead, use the comments section here to write down the Legacy you want to leave.

And when you're done, you will have created a Long Term Goal for yourself for your Simpleology practice.

Well done, my friend, well done!


~ Livin' the Rhythm with Kimberly Weston

Keeping Simpleology simple...

Just to make sure that people understand this... don't bother with all the other stuff involved in Simpleology yet. Like downloading the cockpit and various stuff like that.

Bypass all of that and go to the lessons first, then fuss with the downloads if you find them useful and prefer to do it on the computer instead of on paper.

With a name like Simpleology, you wouldn't think Mark would complicate it so, would you!

Do I Really Need Simpleology?

The question has arisen towards me several times now. A cursory glance or listening to or reading the first lessons seems to convince people that it's too obvious and too simple.

So if you're one asking, 'Do I really need it?' here,'s my answer to you.

If you can answer all of the following questions with a 'yes' answer, then you don't need it. In fact, you don't even need to read this blog (unless you want a chuckle or two):

1. Do you have long term, medium term, and short term goals that you get at least a little something done towards every day?
2. Do you get your priority work done early in the day, and have the rest of the day to do with as you need or want to?
3. Do you find it easy to prioritize each day, what really does need to get done now, and what can wait?
4. Do you do something every few days to increase your strength in areas of finance, energy, and time management?
5. Have you managed to create, on a regular basis, the new habits that you want to create in your life, by doing something that you'd normally do every day, anyway?
   

These are but a few of the benefits that you get from Simpleology.

As an easy example, my mother often told me, "Do your homework first, and then you can have the rest of the evening to play."

Do you do your homework first, and then have the rest of the day to "play" outside of basic daily requirements such as making meals or dropping your children off to their various activities? This is what Simpleology helps make simple and easy to complete every day.

It all seems obvious and clear, but if it were so obvious, easy, and clear for you already, you'd be doing it.

The course is free. It will change your life. It takes 15 minutes each morning.

Yet still, people will tell me, "But why bother?"

I don't know. I guess because you want a better life. I guess because you really, truly do want to make changes and stick with it and really accomplish it.

I guess because you want a household that WORKS.

And that's what this is all about. Living a life that feels fulfilled instead of one of overwhelm, stress, and a sense of being closed in. A life with less embarrassment at the state of the house, a life with less sense of over-weening guilt and shame that we're not what we want to be.

Let's be what we want to be, together.

I'm not where I want to be yet, but I've made so much progress that I really want to share what I've managed so far. You may choose to listen to only those who are "there" if you like. But I think often times, it's the person just a bit further ahead of me that helps me most.

Sometimes I think that the person far ahead of me has forgotten what it really feels like to be me. How hard it is sometimes to get my day going well.

Because she already has a habit that makes it easy for her.

Well, this course gives you the habit that makes it easy for you. It really is the missing step to creating the life you want. It includes the visualizing that we all know we're called to do. It includes so many aspects of working the Law of Attraction.

It does, however, take things a step farther than that. It helps us create the habit of taking daily action, and it removes the guilt from every day living (or at least the "I didn't get anything done today" portion of it).

We're to be reaching for a better feeling place. To do the work of desiring it but without living all day with the sense that it hasn't happened yet.

This program is the key that unlocks that magical place. The place where we do something in the morning towards our short-term goal, and then we can move through the rest of the day with confidence.

Because I no longer have a day when I don't at least do SOMETHING towards my greater goals. And that is a fantastic feeling.

At minimum, I keep up with my house on any given day, and on some days, I even make progress.

And progress, my dear friend, is perfection!



~ Livin' the Rhythm with Kimberly Weston

The Single Most Important Change

If I could convince you to make one single change, it would be this one.

If you asked me, "Kimberly, how can I change my life, right now, for the better. I want a lasting, real change, that will change everything else, too," then this is what it would be.

If you asked me, "How can I overcome overwhelm, create new habits, eliminate much (or even all) of my daily guilt about not getting things done, and make my life easier?" Then I would tell you to do this, and that these things would flow from it.

But then you'd tell me this before you even heard me out:

• "I probably can't afford it." I have news for you. It's free.
• "I don't have time." News there, too. It takes 15 minutes a day. If you make time for it, you'll free up most of the rest of your day, too. So making time for this, makes time for other, more fun things.
• "Nothing can really change your life that way." Nothing that motivates you and then leaves you to your own devices can. But this is an ongoing support for your entire life.

I have seen so many things advertising that they have "The Secret that The Secret™ didn't tell you," and yet none of them have pointed to this program. I wish I didn't have to get in the "The Secret to The Secret™" line, but let's face it, none of these programs have worked for me. I suspect that, if you've tried them, they didn't work for you, either.

So, I want you to succeed. I'm giving out a lot of tips and tricks that will improve your life if you practice them on a consistent basis.

But you've learned a lot that would help you, if you practiced it on a consistent basis, haven't you? You've been inspired before, have you not?

Thought to yourself, "Oh wow! That's amazing. I'm going to do that!" and a week or so later, you've lost that Git-Up-And-Go attitude and you're feeling like it's too much work or not enough time or...

For some reason, it's just not happening.

This is a familiar feeling for almost all of us. And that guilt that follows not following through is even more familiar. The nagging sense of something undone. The nagging feeling that we should be doing more. We should be accomplishing something...

Something. Something more. Something better. Something...

The free program that I'm talking about here will almost certainly eliminate that nagging feeling if you make the decision to put this single habit FIRST on your list of what to turn into a lifetime habit.

I have experienced the life change that comes from daily practice of this action habit. This one habit is the fulcrum upon which your ability to create other new habits hinges. It's the foundation for everything that I'm teaching you. The foundation for creating and maintaining ANY habit or motivational action that ANYONE teaches you.

I don't get paid when you join Simpleology. I don't get paid if you decide later to get any of his other programs.

My recommendation of this program to you is without any strings attached. I simply, truly, sincerely believe in it. I KNOW it WILL change your life if you will dedicate yourself to this one thing first.

It will bring the rest of your life together.

It's called Simpleology by Mark Joyner.

What it has done for me, and I believe with absolute certainty it will do for you if you make it into a habit:

• Eliminated "I didn't get enough done today" guilt that considerably adds to overwhelm
• Helped me create other new habits that have changed my life and helped keep my house clean
• Improved my ability with money
• Kept me consistent in my diet and exercise plan
• Kept me consistent in disciplining Kira
• Assisted me in a consistent practice of visualization and meditation
• Freed up time in my day for guiltless pleasure passtimes
  

In fact, I can't really record all the ways that it has changed and improved my life. Because to do so, I would have to list all the benefits of a regular exercise program, of eating well, of a regular meditation practice, of improvements in money management, etc.

So as you can see, this is the ONE thing you can do, starting today, for FREE, that has the potential to create exponential changes in your life.

I want you to succeed. I want to give you tips that you can come back to a month from now and implement, with an ongoing, lifetime success rate.

This is the foundation. With this, you can create the success you want in creating new habits, be they habits with money, habits of cleaning house, habits with your children, going to school and actually following through on it... whatever.

If you take absolutely nothing away from this blog, please take this. If you do so, then I have succeeded in my ultimate goal:

To give you the tools to change your own life for the better.

Because only YOU can change your life. And the only true way to do that is to be consistent enough to create new habits. Humans require slow changes if they're going to stick. Daily, consistent application of this single program will lay the foundation for all of the changes you want in your life.

www.simpleology.com

Just do it.

~ Livin' the Rhythm with Kimberly Weston

Overwhelm and failure

Another thing that leads to overwhelm for a lot of people is when they feel like they have failed.

For example, let's take something simple. Amy gets into cleaning her kitchen. She's cruising along, doing great. Then one day, her son gets sick.

So for a week, she's busy going to doctor appointments, giving meds, and otherwise just taking care of her son. At the end of the week, she looks at her kitchen. She thinks that all of her progress is gone. It's a mess.

Rather than clean up from dinner, she goes in and hides in the Tv. Why?

Because she failed, didn't she? She quit doing it, so now it's going to take another month to get the habit established. It's just too hard....

The problem here is that she's looking at it from the wrong perspective. Instead of seeing that she can go forward from here, she looks back and thinks about failure.

If she'd look at it as having taken a vacation from forming the habit because a higher priority came up, her whole perspective would change.

Yes, the kitchen got dirty. But let's see... a sick child, or a dirty kitchen... yeah, no brainer for most of us, isn't it?

Okay, now you're back from vacation. You don't have to catch up with the last week today. Just keep up with today, and two extra dishes.

That's it. You're not starting all over, you're reinforcing the work you've done so far by "getting back on the horse."

You've shown yourself, your mind, and your life that you're committed to making the change, even if you do take a vacation here and there for higher priorities.

Don't give up just because you missed a week.

Don't give up just because you're changing your eating lifestyle and you "fell off" and had a cupcake. Just go back to what you were doing. It's a setback, not the end of all hope.

Learn to see setbacks as vacations, setbacks, pauses... not failures.

You can't fail at creating a new habit, unless you give up entirely. Remember, you're not going to "create the habit and then I'm all done." It's an ongoing process! It doesn't get easier to clean... it just becomes habit to do so.

And the point isn't to make it easier to clean, the point is to have a clean house that you can ENJOY and FEEL GOOD in!

It's about the results. The result of forming a habit to have a clean house? Feeling rested, relaxed, and happy in your home. That's the reward!


~ Livin' the Rhythm with Kimberly Weston

Let's talk Overwhelm

The thought manifests as the word; The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit; And habit hardens into character.
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings.
– Buddha

___________________________

Today, I'd like to address this issue of Overwhelm. How often I've stood facing my kitchen, and just didn't want to deal with it. I wanted a clean house, but I didn't want to face the fact of getting to the clean house.

Having a clean house = awesome idea

Cleaning my house = maybe tomorrow, if I have time, if I have energy, if...

And then, of course, there was the dirty bathroom. And there was the dirty living room. The unmade bed and the socks on the floor.

When you get right down to it, too, even if I clean the kitchen today, it'll just be trashed again by tomorrow, won't it? So what's the point?

Here's step 1 of the first problem with overwhelm. I want to be at the end. I don't want to get to the end, I want to be there. Preferably yesterday. And the fact is, I can't get there yesterday. So I get bummed out and just walk away from it. I put it off until later, not because I'm lazy, but because it's simply too big of a chore.

And you know what? That's usually true. It usually is too big of a chore to finish in the time I have at the moment.

But every day, it gets worse. That's the secret little problem behind the feeling that I will do it later because it'll only get messy again tomorrow. It doesn't get messy again-- it gets messier. And thus it builds up and becomes a problem.

I end up with no clean dishes, no counter space, a messy floor (why clean the floor when the rest is dirty?), and a terrible dread of going into the kitchen or having anyone over.

Well, what did I do, then? I made a single decision. Rather than cleaning my kitchen in one day, I decided to maintain the kitchen where it is. When I make breakfast this morning, I clean up after breakfast.

Plus two or three other dishes.

That's it.

And I made that into a daily habit. The point here was to establish a habit of cleaning up after myself in that one room. And by the time I had established that habit, I had also cleaned the kitchen.

You see, if you want to fight overwhelm, one of the best ways to do it is to make incremental changes. Don't get caught in the trap of thinking that something's only worth doing if you do it all at once.

This leads to "forget it, I'll do it later."

Tonight, when you make dinner, clean up after tonight's dinner. Wash two more dishes, or just clean the floor. That's it, that's all the time you need to take today.

Because:

• You don't have time to waste on cleaning the whole dang thing right now
• You're not going to do it when you look at it and feel like it's all too much
• It's easy to wash two dishes or to just quickly sweep the floor
• It waited this long, you know it isn't going anywhere, so it's not like you won't get another chance

So start building the habit of cleaning up after meals. That's it, that's all. Build a single habit today.

I remember in Al-Anon, which I attended in my youth, they had a saying, "Progress, not perfection." I altered that, and my motto became, "Progress is perfection."

Imagine this. If you go along the way you're going, you'll just keep having a dirty house. Nothing will really be different. Life will be the same as it is. But if you build one habit at a time, in 6 months, you'll have a different house. That's six rooms that you'll have and keep clean.

What do you think, a 6 rooms clean habit, or the same ol' thing?

Progress is perfection, my friend. Don't reach for the stars, just reach for the next step towards them. Then one day, you'll wake up and realize you've reached the stars. And how did you get there? You didn't jump right up into the sky from the ground. You climbed there, one new habit at a time.

I'm afraid that you're not going to wake up tomorrow, clean your whole house, and keep it that way for the rest of your life.

You have to get to the point where you're that kind of housekeeper by forming habits. Because at the end of the day, your habits will win over your desires. I guarantee it.

And how can I guarantee that?

Because humans are habitual creatures. Our minds very much desire to go on auto-pilot. So if you want to change the direction your house takes, change where your auto-pilot is directed to go.

Make auto-pilot take you into the realm of cleaning up after your meal and cleaning two other things, too. Eventually, you'll run out of extra things to clean up. That's the day that you've arrived at a brand new habit.

Your life experience is rooted in your habits. Habits of thought, and habits of action.

If you have and keep dirty habits, you have a dirty house.

Change your habits, change your life.


_______________________________


We'll talk more about overwhelm later. It's a huge issue for most people!

~ Livin' the Rhythm with Kimberly Weston

The Dream Shelf

One of the big problems that I had when I began this little adventure was the fact that I tend to get very good ideas. No, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that they were flashes of insight that would burn brightly, and then be gone.

Few things are quite so disheartening as losing a great idea!

So I made a "Dream Shelf." This is in a prominent position in the house. It's in a place where you and your family congregate. This might mean a kitchen or dining room. It might be a living room or a family room. And if you don't have a place you congregate, pick something that seems appropriate.

Here, you will put several boxes. Make them lovely, this is here to help you, to help your family. In fact, if you possibly can, make them together with your family, especially if you have young children.

Whatever you do, make this spot a priority to be kept neat and clean. Even if you just start out with simply shoe boxes, that's fine! It's better to do it, than to wait until you can pretty it up. That day may never come.

So start where you are. Don't wait for a better time-- there is no better time. Now is the time. Today is the point of Power.

Do it now. Replace the boxes if/as you get time to make prettier ones.

It's supposed to be fun, not just "yet another project" that you feel overwhelmed by. It's also supposed to be utilitarian, so if you can't have the fun, then accept the utilitarian.

You'll need about 5 boxes to start with. Label one of them the Dream-a-Dream box. Label one the Food Dreams box. Then we'll talk about the other three over the next few days.

Get it started today. Get the boxes, and pretty them up later as you get time.

Remember, it's better to do anything that's really helpful in your life in a bare bones way, than it is to wait until you can do it "perfectly."

Too often we wait until it can be done perfectly before even starting. And this is what leads to overwhelm much of the time.

Speaking of overwhelm, that will be the topic of an upcoming post, rest assured.

~ Livin' the Rhythm with Kimberly Weston

Simple way to make meal planning easier

I make weekly menus and shopping lists. I highly recommend this for everyone who wants an orderly home, especially when they are very busy and have a large household.

There's a very simple way to make this easier. What I usually hear people say are two things:

1. I don't have time.
2. I don't know what to make.

We can knock both of these issues out at the same time, in the same way. The best way to do this is to get your family involved. The most common reason why we don't have time is family.

There are multiple reasons why this is the best thing for you to do. First off, let's look at the statistics. People with families tend to be healthier. Not only that, but the more time spent with family, the healthier both mentally and physically people are. So getting your family to do something together can help their health as well as yours.

This is an excellent learning opportunity for children, too. They learn how to prepare shopping lists, how to designate time, and how to eat nutritionally through planning.

Also, it's important to remember that food is a requirement for life. So if you are going to be living, you're going to be eating. Let's pass on to our children the legacy of having healthy food in the house.

A huge side benefit of this is that you will decrease the likelihood of getting junk food into the house. When you go to the store with a list, you're less likely to wander aimlessly and follow the dictates of your taste buds.

So prepare a weekly menu and shopping list. Then have a place in your kitchen for your family to write down things that you need for next week's list. For example, if you run low on ketchup this week, you can write it on the list. That's something you're not likely to write down if you decide to have hamburgers on Tuesday.

Then, here's the key to making it all come together. During the week, as you go about your day, you're likely to come up with something you'd like to eat. You are out and about, and you smell a restaurant. This makes you realize how much you're craving some yummy fried chicken.

This is a perfect opportunity to sit down a few days later with your kids and look together on the internet to find some baked chicken alternatives to the less-healthy fried chicken. This is time well spent, because you're together, and you're teaching them healthy choices.

But here's the thing. By Saturday when you do your shopping list, what if you've forgotten, and here you sit once more, wondering what the heck to make for a whole entire week!

That's where my secret box trick comes in. It's the food dreamers' box. We'll talk next time about making a Dreamer's Shelf, and that's where your food dreamer box will be.

Use a small, pretty box and label it "Food Dreamer Box," and put it on the Dreamers' Shelf. Then, when you get a craving, or your husband does, or your kids do... you'll write your craving down, and drop it in the box.

Then come Saturday, you can pull out the FDB and check out what your family has been craving this week. If you have left-over dreams, date them, and try to take them before the next week's dreams.

In this simple way, you acknowledge the desires of your family. You get them involved.

And you don't have to wonder, "What am I going to make for dinner tonight?"

So by the simple expedient of a Dreamers' Box, you can begin to pull together the necessary ingredients to make food less of a daily grinding chore. You will make shopping easier and less stressful. You will make it less likely that you'll fill your cabinet with junk food.

And last but not least, you will have assistance in taking care of this very important need on your family's part.


~ Livin' the Rhythm with Kimberly Weston

Up and Running!

Welcome to Livin' the Rhythm!

Just to tell you a bit more about me, I live in Stratham, NH with my husband John, daughter Kira, and my cat, Kitty.

I will be including some spiritual aspects in the blog, so I thought I'd just let you know ahead of time that I follow the Toa as translated by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer in Living the Wisdom of the Tao: The Complete Tao Te Ching and Affirmations
.

Now, on to the important stuff. I'm not Susie Homemaker. My house isn't perfect. So when you read, you'll know where I'm coming from.

So why am I posting all of this? Because even though my house isn't perfect, it works for me and my family. It's not squalor, and it doesn't have that "pleasantly lived in [by a slob]" look. It's reasonably clean, somewhat tidy, but very workable.

And that's what I'm passing on to you. Getting a household that works, shooting for the possible. I'm not particularly wealthy, so I won't be offering you solutions that will have a huge price tag.

I'm coming from "been there, done that, here's what helped me" perspective. And getting a household that WORKS versus shooting for a household that's perfect, is what this is all about. Because let's face it, shooting for perfect is a recipe for giving up.

So let's make your household workable. Let's make it comfortable. Even if it's not Martha Stewart's mansion, it can be a place where you can live without feeling like it's closing in on you. My home is humble, but I still have to live in it. I'd rather be able to live comfortably in it, wouldn't you?

I believe that the main ingredient we women are missing in making our households function better is that we try to live against, or in spite of, the natural cycles of life. I'd like to see more women honor and live with the cycles of life. Be they menstrual cycles, life cycles, seasonal cycles, or even simple daily cycles.

That's the heart of this blog. Empowering women to live with their cycles, to live with their natural strengths, and honor and enjoy them.

Isn't it about time?


~ Livin' the Rhythm with Kimberly Weston