U R gEniUs . . . aT bEiNg U!

Everybody is a genius; 

but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree,

it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.

~Albert Einstein

Dear Fun & Free Peeps!

Have you ever seen a school of fish swimming together? One thing that amazes me about fish is that when they swim in  a school, they work as a group--and they don't even touch each other or run into other fish! Check out this vid!

It's almost like they operate as one unified body, isn't it? How do they do that? I'm not a biology person, but there's something very natural about how these beautiful creatures operate as a school. I think it might be in their genes that they are naturally aware of other fish around them and gauge their speed and movement accordingly. I've also read that fish travel in a group because they are more protected, and they swim so close together so that from afar some predators view a school of fish as one big creature. I wonder if humans would benefit from a similar, more interconnected way of life. Hmnnnnn . . .

But I digress . . . Einstein's quote above brings me back to the subject of this blog: Each of us is, well, a GENIUS . . . at being uniquely ourselves! Because we humans are one species, we often kind of ASSume that other people should be like us, be good at the same things as we are, or like the similar stuff. I mean, we tend to judge other for not being or feeling or operating like we do, but we would never look at a fish and think, "Man, that fish is totally crappy at walking. That is well, unbelievable!"

Einstein's words are a nice reminder to me that everybody is exactly where they should be, and that my job is to keep my focus on Dana and allow others to be freely themselves; I am on this Earth to be uniquely and supremely myself, as are others. It also reminds me that my judgements are about ME, and are not really about the person I'm judging (and other people's judgements about me are also . . . not about me).

Anyway, when I was a kid, I used to want to be like others, but now I know that it's not even possible and insanely boring! I celebrate the fact that I'm sort of random, I laugh often and hard (and cry, too!), and feel deeply. I find joy in teensy-weensy stuff (like my favorite stickers or a yummy-smelling candle!) and I pay it forward by trying to smile and be kind to everyone I encounter. I have awkward dance moves, and love making faces. It's all good; it's just . . . ME!

What makes you unique? Leave a comment and share your awesomeness with us!

Lots of Love,

;0) Dana

sEE tHe bLeSSinGs . . .

"every cloud has a silver lining"

Dear FunFreePeeps:

Today I had an amazing day! Interesting that nothing really noteworthy or mind-blowing happened . . . but as I was sitting at my desk this morning, I thought to myself, "I'm going to have a wonderful day." In essence, I made a conscious decision at the beginning of my day that I was going to be in a great mood, I was going to pleasantly interact with those around me, and I was going to travel lightly, and engage fully with my students and colleagues. 

As my homeroom kids came in after the bell, I had meditation music playing in my classroom, and after the Pledge of Allegiance, we hung out together, chatted, and got ready for our day. 

Guess what? My intention made all the difference in my day, and I did HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY! 

I think starting to reread Gabrielle Bernstein's newest book, May Cause Miracles, may have something to do with my fresh-feeling mindset. Today, I was able to read some of the introduction, which focuses on creating a life surrounded by miracles, and getting into a "miracle mindset." Guess what she wrote about? Energy.  

Here are some of her words (as I shared with you yesterday):

"Your body is a molecular structure that is always vibrating energy. That energy is positive when thoughts are positive, and it is negative when your thoughts are negative. Our energy fields are like  magnets; they attract their likeness. Therefore, if your energy is negative . . . guess what? You're attracting negativity into your life. [ . . . ] The miracle-minded approach shows you how to shift your thoughts and energy, thereby attracting positivity into your life."

Bernstein, May Cause Miracles, p. 7

Yesterday I was talking to my best friend, about how tough it is to be away from my kids (and him, secretly). What he said to me was this: "Maybe we have to be apart so we have to consciously reconnect each time we come back together."

Oh, my gosh!. That is the most amazing statement, and it's true. Being divorced has made me more conscious in relationship with my children--which is a huge blessing. I have to be more present, more intentional, and more in the moment than I have ever been before. Each minute (seriously) is a blessing. And I consider myself so lucky. When I'm not with my kids, I am so blessed to have time to create a relationship with myself (for the first time of my life), and with my partner (who honors the fact that I need to put myself first--the only man in my life who has ever honored that, taught me about that, and believed it to be true)--Oh my.

I am a blessed woman. WOOO HOOO!

Today, I chose to rethink the challenges into positives. Remember, whatever energy we put out into the Universe in the form of thoughts-- is mirrored back to us in the original state--in the same form of energy. Today, I chose positive thoughts, and look where it brought me!

Can't wait to create a beautiful tomorrow!
Love you!
Dana

aSk & it sHaLL B giVen . . .

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you."

Matthew 7:7

Last week I wrote about how my kids have started helping me with running our home, and it's a great relief for me. And rather than expecting my kids to read my mind and know what to do without my asking, I learned that all I had to do was ask and they are more than happy to help!

I was watching "The Secret" with my best friend a couple of weeks ago--we highly recommend it! It's based on the book by the same name by Rhonda Byrne, and it's all about the law of attraction, which basically holds that whatever you put out into the Universe comes back to you. In other words, whatever state of mind we may find ourselves in, we will see reflected back to us in how we interpret events, relationships, and experiences in our lives.

Makes sense, doesn't it? After all, have you ever noticed that positive folks tend to see things in a positive light, and draw even more positive stuff into their lives? On the other hand, people who live in generally negative states of mind keep drawing the crappy stuff into their lives over and over, so that it becomes a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy that their lives pretty much suck.

This notion of the law of attraction is actually pretty powerful stuff, if you think about it. It means that we can actually determine to a great extent the shape of our lives by how we choose to see. Ask yourself:

Is your cup half-full, or is it half-empty?

Do you live in a paradigm of abundance, or one of lack?

Are you generally positive, or negative?

Do you live a life full of gratitude, or resentment?

Today, I challenge you to intentionally have an uber-positive attitude-- and be grateful and love everything that's right in front of you--even the crappy tough stuff. See what happens! And then--let us know in the comments tomorrow! In the meantime, checkout "The Secret" from Apple TV or NetFlix. It's amazing stuff!

Lots of Love,

Dana

tHere's nO pLaCe LikE hOmE . . .

There's No Place Like Home

Dear fun&frEE PeePS!

For some strange reason, I woke up in the middle of the night last night and was thinking about The Wizard of Oz!  It made me remember the times when I was away from home, and how good it was when I finally got back.

Home can be a lot of things, actually. It can be a place where you live (like a house), your very own special place (like your bedroom, or a secret fort), it can be the comfort of a smell (like when you're at your grandma's house), or even your favorite shirt. In my family, we try to make it feel like home in a lot of different ways, like . . .

• I give my kids the warm blankie treatment whenever they ask--it's when I take their favorite blankies and put them in the dryer and get them really hot, and then wrap up my kids really tight (usually in fromt of the TV).
• We have family snack time before bed.
• We do family bowling on our Wii.
• Sometimes we have jammy day all day on weekends--we never even get dressed!
• We have tickle parties and joke parties on Saturday mornings before we get up.
• and there's more stuff, too . . .

Anyway, when I was thinking about the idea of home, I remembered that Dorothy thought she couldn't go home without the help of the Wizard . . . when she really had the power all along: her ruby red slippers!

My thought is that many of us search for home all of our lives . . . and we often get confused and lose ourselves on and off along the way; we encounter evil (like the Wicked Witch, for example), but we also make some really good friend along the way who can travel with us on our journey!

And the good news for me (and you) is . . . I have the ability to tune in to home all the time, because I have ME as my best and most beloved companion! For those of us who have lost parts of ourselves along the way, coming home to our  truest nature is an amazing journey . . . and it feels familiar, and comforting, and real . . . just like the warm blankie treatment! 

So, I invite you to return home . . . (to wonderful, sparkly, fabulous, amazing, loving, . . . yOu, yO!)

fOLLow Ur yELLow bRicK rOaD!

hEaRts!

dana

p.s. leave me a comment and tell me what makes you feel at home!

I aM FrEe . . .

Dear Readers;

I am free. And I always have been.

You, too.

Here is my note from the Universe I got this morning:

You know you've made it, Dana Lynne, when you suddenly realize that there's

nothing in the world anyone might ever give you, no matter how grand or fabulous,
that you can't give to yourself.

Nothing.

You've so made it,
    The Universe

Whew. I guess I can take good care of myself.

And I always could. I just didn't know.

Love,

Me